HELP i play tau

[gingerkid]

Hi everyone, I'm soon to play a friends nid list and was hoping for some feedback and advice against nids as I am a VERY new player with tau as for the past 4 years I've been playing marines.

Here's my list

HQ
Ethereal with 2 gun drones

HQ
Shas'o commander with 2 bodyguards
All with fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker, hard wired target lock, iridium armour (2+ sv) stim injector ( F,N,P)

Troops
12 fire warriors
Shield drone, photon grenades, marker light, drone controller

Troops
12 fire warriors
Shield drone, photon grenades, marker light, drone controller

Troops
12 kroot

Troops
11 kroot & krootox rider

Elites
3 suits
Plasma squad
2 gun drones

Elites
3 suits
Missile squad
2 gun drones

Elites
2 suits
Anti infantry squad
2 gun drones

Fast attack
6 pathfinders & devilfish

Fast attack
7 vespid

Heavy
Broadside
multi tracker

Heavy
Broadside
multi tracker

Heavy
Broadside
multi tracker..............

Thanks everyone, wish me look...........I bloody need it lol

[benzo12]

Seems pretty good, but why so little transport? I would probably run at least 1 hammerhead, it's a pretty solid vehicle.

[jifel]

As a nidsplayer, i really hate seeing Railguns. And make a wall of vehicles with flechette dischargers, then shoot the big ones. Fire warriors on rapid fire can clean out a gaunt brood, but the real danger to you is going to be Hive Guard, and Tyrannofex, as they are really the best Ranged AT we have. If he has Hive Guard, kill them first. Seriously, Hive Guard can wreck Tau. A word of advice, Hive Guard IGNORE that 4+ cover upgrade thingy that Tau can do, so those arent great except as a points filler. I dont really know what other models you have to replace them, but if I were you Id drop the Ethereal and the vespid. Basically you want a vehicle wall, then Kroot behind that for the light CC they can do and as a wall. Then, have the FW and suits behind that shooting everything. Markerlights should be targeting Hive Guard, Zoanthropes if he has them, anjd then anything Synapse after that. If he has Warriors, these are also good targets for Broadsides, as they are T4 and multi wound, plus they sometimes have a T5 independent character, so you can kill him too. Kill his large Synapse creatures and the little bugs will either remain motionless or charge the nearest target. If you're lucky, that ll be a DFish with Flechette.

Hope all that helps, and good luck!

EDIT: And yes, you could do with Transports. DFish are nasty. Nids have very little shooting, so the best way to kill things is charging for us. And those DFish with Flechettes are annoying to charge...

[gingerkid]

Thanks a lot that is a real help. The last time I played his nids was about 2 years ago with my dark Angel list and I got decimated so I've been avoiding his bugs ever since and would only play his orks or marines but now I have to face his EIGHT LEGGED FREEEEAAAAAKKKKS. Think might just hide a little longer :-)

[Defenestratus]

This belongs in the Army Lists/Tactics forum.

[Charistoph]

It's been a while since I've been through the codex, and I don't have it with me, so bear with me.

Here's my list

HQ
Ethereal with 2 gun drones

Shas'o commander with 2 bodyguards
All with fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker, hard wired target lock, iridium armour (2+ sv) stim injector ( F,N,P)

Unless you really need the points, drop the Ethereal. While he can be quite useful to an experienced player, he can be quite the handicap if your opponent knows anything about the Price of Failure (even more so if you don't!), but if you DO take an Ethereal, put some Shield Drones on his robed arse! He has no protection available to him besides these!

Iridium Armor can be useful, but will slow the unit down, limiting his ability to pop out, shoot, and then pop back in (and I think only one can take it?). Hard-Wire the Multitracker and get a Shield Generator on these guys. If you have points, give them all Shield Drones as well.

Troops
12 fire warriors
Shield drone, photon grenades, marker light, drone controller

12 fire warriors
Shield drone, photon grenades, marker light, drone controller

12 kroot

11 kroot & krootox rider

Shield Drone is almost useless to Fire Warrior squads, as you can only allocate one wound. If you really want to see Fire Warriors with Shield Drones, put them as Honor Guard for an Ethereal. 4 Shield Drones work far better protecting him. Also, they gain 1 BS. If you can find room, try to get them a Devilfish, too (stealing the Pathfinders' ride is okay).

What are you taking your Kroot for? If you plan on Outflanking or Infiltrating, the Krootox has to go. He's not bad (if expensive) for a shooting unit, but they better be in some trees. If you're looking for an Assault unit or Counter Assault unit, then get some Hounds with these guys.

Elites
3 suits
Plasma squad
2 gun drones

3 suits
Missile squad
2 gun drones

2 suits
Anti infantry squad
2 gun drones

Gun Drones are almost useless for Suit squads. They have lower toughness, which can make it easier to hurt your Suits (if you take enough of them), and otherwise, just add poorer Armor Save Wounds. If they are going to have Drones, Shield Drones for protection, or take advantage of the Jet Pack Relentless and put Marker Drones in the unit.

Fast attack
6 pathfinders & devilfish

7 vespid

Pathfinders are okay, but if you can squeeze two more in, I would. And don't forget to put the Disruption Pod on EVERY vehicle. It's cheap and SOOO worth the points.

Vespid are a bit schizophrenic. They have good guns, but very short range. They're very fast, but lack the strength and power weapons/Rending needed to take advantage of it. Like the Ethereals, they can be useful to an experienced player, but they are usually not the wisest choice for beginners. Piranhas or more Pathfinders are usually better bang for your Fast Attack buck.

Heavy
Broadside
multi tracker

Broadside
multi tracker

Broadside
multi tracker..............

If you're going to field them solo, take advantage of it. Hard-Wire the Multi-Tracker, plop either a Shield Generator or A.S.S. on them, and then Hard-Wire a Drone Controller as well and link up some Shield Drones. This will improve their mobility and/or their protection allowing them to keep doing their job.

... A word of advice, Hive Guard IGNORE that 4+ cover upgrade thingy that Tau can do, so those arent great except as a points filler..

Umm, I thought Hive Guard's guns Ignored LOS, not Cover... If so, the Disruption Pod still provides a Cover Save over 12" (since they are IN their Cover, and it's not intervening).

[Inquiring M1nd]

I think the Impaler Cannon will ignore the Disruption Pod's effect, as they count the target as obscured, not in cover. According to January's FAQ, the only cover save you can get from an impaler cannon is from touching or being inside cover-granting terrain.

[DarkLink]

Fire Warriors kinda suck. Take min squads in a Devilfish to claim objective. Use Kroot for most of your troops. They aren't great either, but tough luck there, they're better than Fire Warriors.

Pathfinders are good. Suits are good. Broadsides are good. Vespids are horrible, and the Ethreal is extremely questionable. Drop them, use the points on more suits and troops.

[Mr. Furious]

You've got to get those Firewarriors in transports. They don't have the survivability to foot slog.

I'd drop the ethereal for anotherbattlesuit HQ. I never had any success with the squishy HQ's.

[Charistoph]

I think the Impaler Cannon will ignore the Disruption Pod's effect, as they count the target as obscured, not in cover. According to January's FAQ, the only cover save you can get from an impaler cannon is from touching or being inside cover-granting terrain.

And how does a vehicle normally count as Obscured? By being 50+% in or behind Cover. Since the Disruption Pod is what creates the cover, and the vehicle is in it, it should still get the save.

Same thing applies for the Smart Missile System and Seeker Missile weapon system, and the Big Mek's Kustom Force Field.