help me make tau work at 205 points?

[Ezra Farber]

Hi! My local game store is running a kill-team event, which strikes me as the perfect way to start climbing back into the hobby.

you're allowed to bring 205 points, up to one elite, two troops, and one fast attack (no minimums). On the field, all units are broken up into individuals that act as independent characters.

Also, you get to pick 3 models as your "specialists." You can give each of them one universal special rule. Any special rule, as long as you don't pick the same rule more than once (eg shrouding, feel no pain, etc)


What are your thoughts on a list that would bring the hurt and have some survivability? Shooting is going to be a challenge, because you can't field anyone with a bs of 4 or higher, and only one unit at a time can benefit from markerlights.

Thanks!

[Fenriryan]

Ive had the same thing of late, though we are playing a flat 200pts.
I have gone for the following:
Elite Crisis Suit Team:
* Shas'Vre w/ Command and Control Node, Puretide Engram & 1 Shield Drone - Preferred Enemy
* Shas'Ui w/ Missile Pod, Missile Pod, Target Lock & 1 Shield Drone - Armourbane
* Shas'Ui w/ Burst Cannon, Burst Cannon & 1 Shield Drone - Fleshbane

Before any one says it - YES! Tau can now take Dual Wield weapons as well as Single or Twin Linked - I was surprised too, but check the FAQ.

So whilst 1 suit is not firing, you are still putting out a lot of fire power, thanks to the Shas'Vre, the other two suits are now Twin Linked on both weapons each during the shooting phase.
Couple that with Armourbane on the Missile Pods plus Tank Hunter from Puretide Engram gives you 4 TL BS3 36" S7 shots that roll two dice per hit for armour pen, rerollable.

Even if someone DOES bring an Iron Clad, they are not as impervious as they though.

And the other Shas'Ui with Burst Cannons has 8 TL BS3 S5 shots that thanks to Fleshbane wound on 2+, rerollable under Preferred Enemy.

And under Monster Hunter, even without Preferred Enemy to the C&C Node, you can reroll against any MCs you face.

And whilst you cannot afford shield gens, 3 Shield Drones should see you through the worst, thoughs you should be JSJ at long range with your missiles to take out anything AV and soften up anything else, before then closing to 18" to finish them off. If need be, sacrifice the Shas'Vre, even though he is the squad leader, as the weight of fire, even with the lack of AP3, is what will win you the day.

There are even enough point for:
Neuroweb Jammer - if you want to further potential add some screw you to anyone with high fire rates builds/weapons - nothing is funnier than a model killing itself when trying to kill you
Onager Gauntlet - No one expects an I3 powerfist, sure as hell not from Tau. So pimp hand that Powerfist Sgt before he gets you.

Only issue is your squad leader will likely not get any upgrades as he will be earning no kills directly, but hey, we're Tau, its not about glory, its about a job well done.

[Urza8188]

I feel tau REALLY shine in low points due to superior range and maneuverability. Personally I would go with 2 6 man firewarrior teams and a stealthsuit team with 1 fusion blaster. Now truth be told ive never actually PLAYED a kill team game but assuming the rules are pretty much the same the team sounds pretty strong. 20 s5 shots per turn (32 in rapid fire) can put a hurtin on generally anything and at points that low 1 fusion blaster should be able to take out whatever random vehicle you may encounter. The infiltrators can also give your fire warriors some breathing room from other infiltrators or scouts your enemy may bring if you get to deploy 1st.

If you're not too keen on stealthsuits (Why people dislike them I will never know) you can grab a couple missile pod crisis suits or a High yield Broadside. I wouldn't recommend dropping the fire warriors though. They put out a lot of shots for the points and from long range.

[Ezra Farber]

Cool! Thanks everyone!

I've been looking at the rules for the event and noticed some things.

First, I can put Torrent on any one weapon. This means Fusion blaster on the flamer template with a range of 12 inches! SWEET!
Second, I can put Blind on any one weapon. Think that might work well with an onager gauntlet (reduce their WS to 1, then charge)? or is that too big a risk with the low I and letting them hit on a 5+?
Third, I don't think command/control will work, as all models function as independent units.

Also, what do you use the puretide engram for?

Thanks!

[Fenriryan]

Which rule set are you using, as the official GW set we are using has a sizeable but limited pool of USRs are allowed and Torrent is not in that pool.

Also, I thought models still operated in squads as normal? - Just read the FAQ. Its odd that they do not specify this rather core element in the main rule pack. Looks like Ill be taking Stealth suits after all.

[Ezra Farber]

Which rule set are you using, as the official GW set we are using has a sizeable but limited pool of USRs are allowed and Torrent is not in that pool.

Also, I thought models still operated in squads as normal? - Just read the FAQ. Its odd that they do not specify this rather core element in the main rule pack. Looks like Ill be taking Stealth suits after all.

No, this is a home-brew event. Not using the official kill team rules, just something close to them. In some ways.

[Fenriryan]

Ah. Let me know how it goes.

I have just found an official FAQ for the GW rules though - didnt realise that existed!

Shame really as it knackers my idea - I was looking forward to trialling that Crisis Suit team.

Ill have to bring this FAQ to our Killteam TO.

Stealth Team and FWs looking the best bet, and Markerlight on FW Shas Ui may be of use. Drone Squadron might be abuseable too.