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FallingCalamity
02-13-2010, 09:24 PM
I'm still kinda new to 40k as a whole I just wanted to hear your idea's on my list and ways to improve it :D and if i need to twin link this stuff just checked it on (the Forge) came to 1726

Current List
HQ - Shas'o
Twin-Linked plasma rife
missile pod
drone controller (2 shield)
Hard-wired Multi-Tracker

2 bodyguards
2X TL PR
2X Targeting array

Elite - 3 Crisis Suits
(Leader) Missile Pod, Multi-Tracker
Twin-Linked plasma rife whole team

Elite - 3 Crisis Suits
(Leader) Missile Pod,Multi-Tracker
Twin-Linked Fusion whole team

Elite - 6 Stealth Suits
leader, leader marker-light, drone controller, (2 marker)
Burst Cannon whole team

Troop - 7 Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Rifles

Troop - 7 Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Rifles

Troop - 19 kroot 1 shaper

Transports - 2 Devil-fish
Multi-Tracker
Disruption Pod

Heavy - 1 Hammerhead Rail-gun
Multi-Tracker
Smart Missile system
Disruption Pod
Flechette Discharger

1 Sky Ray
Multi-Tracker
Smart Missile system
Disruption Pod
Flechette Discharger

Legoklods
02-18-2010, 02:21 PM
If you want to win you have forgotten the two most important things in a Tau army - Broadsides and marker lights.

Apart from that I don't know much about Tau.

Nabterayl
02-18-2010, 03:38 PM
I don't play Tau either, but I do play against them a fair amount, and have a fairly good win record against them. Based on my experiences of my opponents' mistakes I'd suggest the following:

I like twin-linking the suits' plasma rifles, and I like plasma rifles in general. With the exception of missile pod suits whose only role is to provide supplementary anti-transport fire, in my opinion crisis suits cannot afford to miss. The extra 11% chance to hit that twin-linking provides is worth it, in my opinion. The shas'o perhaps does not need a twin-linked plasma rifle, though ... without it, he's only 5% less accurate than a twin-linked BS4 bodyguard. If you want to save some points consider shaving them there.

I think it's suboptimal to have two shield drones on your shas'o when you could have one shield drone on the shas'o and one shield drone on one of his shas'vre. The unit still has two shield drones for the same price, but this way a single dead suit does not deprive the unit of both drones, and you add an extra wound allocation bucket to the team, which makes the shas'vre more survivable than they would otherwise be.

On your elite suits, what is the third system for the regular shas'ui?

I'm not personally sold on smart missile systems for multi-tracker Hammerheads. Yes, they have an extra 6" of range and ignore line of sight, but nothing else on the Hammerhead ignores line of sight, and the double burst cannons get 2 more shots for cheaper. I tend to feel that Hammerheads should generally be moving at cruising speed (cruising speed + flechette dischargers + multi-tracker makes them very hard to kill with even the fastest, toughest anti-tank assaulters), so I look at the burst cannons as a way to save points and get a more powerful close-range alpha strike (should the need for one ever come up) at the same time. I admit I've never had anybody try a smart missile Hammerhead on me before, though, so if you have something clever in mind give it a go.

Smart missiles on Devilfish, on the other hand, are an option I feel gets short shrift. My opponents tend to prefer gun drones on their Devilfish as an assault block and to save points. I agree that gun drones serve those purposes, but my point to them is that a gun drone Devilfish with a small fire warrior squad is really only good for opportunistic and last-turn objective grabs, whereas a smart missile Devilfish has the tools to contribute some firepower as it lurks on the edges of the battlefield. On the other hand, none of my opponents have taken me up on this suggestion, either, so make of it what you will.

The Sky Ray is a unit that lots of people pooh-pooh, and I admit that I've never seen one be awesome, but I'm convinced that's because it's consistently misused. What I think the Sky Ray offers that nothing else in the Tau list does is the ability to pop lots of transports simultaneously, on the cheap. The trouble I personally see my Tau opponents run into frequently is the inability to stop a fast advance after no more than one turn of movement and still have the firepower to finish the fight, and I think the Sky Ray is a perfect response to this problem. Looking at your list, it seems like this is probably the role you expect your Sky Ray to play.

With that in mind, I wonder if you can find the points for another markerlight or two, to increase your chances of being able to stop the enemy's motor pool on Turn 1? Right now you've got about two missiles' worth of markerlights, which I think could stand to be increased. Remember that while XV8s cannot fire heavy weapons on the move (unless you have a house rule to that effect, which in my opinion you should), marker drones attached to XV8s can. I think markerlights are also the key to getting the most out of your plasma rifles for anti-infantry work. It doesn't particularly matter if you've got AP2 if your targets can always hug cover to claim a 4+ save.

Finally, I question the value of the multi-tracker on the Sky Ray. It makes the Sky Ray faster, but in my opinion you want to empty those missile racks as fast as taumnly possible, and an empty Sky Ray is not exactly a high priority assault target. I suggest that a targeting array might serve you better in the long run.

Mobious
02-19-2010, 11:22 PM
I have a friend who plays Tau and I usually borrow his army because I love them. I also love the fact they are so horrendously under rated, and when you win people finally understand the power of Tau. From what I have learned this is the best tau get at 1750.

Commander Shas'el @ 87
(Multi-Tracker;Missile Pod & Plasma Rifle)
3 x Crisis Suits @ 186
(Multi-Tracker;Missile Pod & Plasma Rifle)
3 x Crisis Suits @ 186
(Multi-Tracker;Missile Pod & Plasma Rifle)
3 x Crisis Suits @ 186
(Multi-Tracker;Missile Pod & Plasma Rifle)

Fire Warrior @ 60

Kroot Carnivore Squad @ 112
(7 Kroot Hounds)
Kroot Carnivore Squad @ 112
(7 Kroot Hounds)

Piranha @ 65
(Fusion Blaster)
Piranha @ 65
(Fusion Blaster)
Pathfinders @ 157
(Devilfish; Disruption Pod)

Broadsides @ 200
(Team Leader; Hard-wired Drone Controller(2xShieldDrones); Hard-wired Targeting Array; 2xASS)
Hammerhead Gunship @165
(Railgun; Disruption Pod; Multi-tracker)
Hammerhead Gunship @165
(Railgun; Disruption Pod; Multi-tracker)

You are left with some extra points, so you can either buy something cool or drop a Piranha and pick up some upgrades on your vehicles.

Some people may disagree with the Suit configuration, but despite popular belief I think Fire Knives are best all around. I'll post some explanations on my opinion after.

Mobious
02-20-2010, 12:10 AM
Okay so with this list you want your suits to jump forward and peck away at 24" and then just jump back behind a Fish or Railhead to hide completely. The Kroot and Piranhas slow down anything thratening, and if they get through then you Markerlight and rapid fire them to death with the suits. Heavy armor die to the one-two punch of roadsides and Markerlights, and the Hammerheads fill in whatever gap you need filled.

It might not sounds scary, but when you can't get shots off against Suits because they are hidden behind the other layers of the army--you will get annoyed quickly. Plus the fact that Tau can just keep moving away and keep up the Fire Power. Do not under estimate tau's ability to slow you down.

FallingCalamity
02-23-2010, 02:57 AM
thanks every one for your input Will really help :P

Evil-Termite
02-23-2010, 01:39 PM
It looks like most people who posted aren't experienced Tau players so I figured I would chyme in to give you a hand.


HQ - Shas'o
Twin-Linked plasma rife
missile pod
drone controller (2 shield)
Hard-wired Multi-Tracker

2 bodyguards
2X TL PR
2X Targeting array
You can get a BS5 commander by taking a Shas'El with a targeting array. At BS5, you have a 5/6 chance to hit so twin linking isn't necessary. Plasma Rifle/Missile Pod/Targeting array w/ HW-MT are better set ups for your body guard because you get a longer range, more shots, and the ability to penetrate AV 12.


Elite - 3 Crisis Suits
(Leader) Missile Pod, Multi-Tracker
Twin-Linked plasma rife whole team

Elite - 3 Crisis Suits
(Leader) Missile Pod,Multi-Tracker
Twin-Linked Fusion whole teamIt looks like you REALLY want those plasma shots to hit, but 1 shot per guy at 12.1-24" just isn't that great. If you take plasma rifle/missile pods/multi-tracker you gain all the benefits of missile pods which are really important.


Elite - 6 Stealth Suits
leader, leader marker-light, drone controller, (2 marker)
Burst Cannon whole teamMarker lights and marker drones are REALLY expensive. You could drop the two marker drones and the marker light which will almost buy you a squad of pathfinders, which will give you even more markers.


Troop - 7 Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Rifles

Troop - 7 Fire Warriors w/ Pulse Riflesfine.


Troop - 19 kroot 1 shaper 2 squads of 10 without a shaper will work better for you. They do great as speed bumps, objectives in cover holders, out flankers, infiltraters. The problem is, that when they die, the die FAST so 1 squad of 20 will die almost as fast as 10. Might as well take 2 squads of 10 in order to split the fire required to kill them.


Transports - 2 Devil-fish
Multi-Tracker
Disruption PodMulti trackers are expensive for that three shots. Add SMS or drop the multi trackers.


Heavy - 1 Hammerhead Rail-gun
Multi-Tracker
Smart Missile system
Disruption Pod
Flechette DischargerLooks pretty OK. I always go for a black sun filter rather than the SMS and it's cheaper. The reason the SMS isn't that great, is that you can't shoot it when you move over 6", and it's often important to move that far in order to prevent getting assaulted, or if you do get assaulted, you don't get hit easily. The black sun filter isn't all that great in a lot of games, but when Dawn of War hits, or if you go to a tournament and have night fight missions, it can come in really handy.


1 Sky Ray
Multi-Tracker
Smart Missile system
Disruption Pod
Flechette DischargerThese things are SO much less effective than hammer heads. The reason is that AP1 on hammerheads helps bust vehicles so much better, strength 10 penetrates easier (and can double out T5 for instant deaths) and has the large blast to kill infantry. Also, the missiles with only AP3 are really frustrating when you want to kill things like obliterators, and monstrous creatures with 2+ armor.


All right, now that I've read and commented through your whole list, I see a distinct lack of anti vehicle. At 1750 you ought to have 3 to 4 railguns. I like running 2 broadsides and 2 hammerheads at 1750. Right now, you have a TON of anti-terminator fire power with your twin linked plasma gun suits, but you don't have that many shots. Adding in missile pods will rapidly increase the number of shots you have, and they will be able to shoot almost every turn due to the 36" range on them. As your opponents get close, you will get more and more plasma shots, and even at BS3, you will get a fair number of hits and they will do well for you. If you scrimp and pinch, you can get yourself some pathfinders which will dramatically increase the utility of plasma rifle, missile pod suits.

Good luck.

elrodogg
02-23-2010, 02:49 PM
As an aside, I'm a Tau player and I'm a big fan of the SMS. However, if you take the, make sure you take them in abundance. They work best when 4 or 5 of them are simultaneously shooting at a unit.

Shas'O D'Narb
02-25-2010, 09:32 PM
Re: SMS...

(1) Tau players want their Devilfish transports to contribute offensively.
(2) Tau players want their Fire Warrior passengers to claim objectives.
(3) Tau players don't want their Devilfish to get effectively assaulted.

Moving at cruising speed allows Devilfish to fire 5 shots with Gun Drones. This is superior to SMS. Moving at that speed also reduces the effectiveness of enemy assaults. Also, late game, Gun Drones can also be dropped off near the objective - behind the Devilfish - to contest. Therefore, although an enemy can shoot the Devilfish down and assault the Fire Warriors inside, the objective can still be contested by the Drones.

In other words, my humble opinion is thus: Drones > SMS.