I want to start a new Tau army. I was thinking of getting the new boxed set with the Devil Fish and the Tau Firewarriors...any tips on what I should get next? Maybe a Tau Battle force pack...Then I'll really have a bulky force!! All I'll need is a couple of Broadsides and a Hammerhead or two...Please...Comment :)
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THey hate me because I'm a Liberal Thinker! Someone who thinks outside the Square...Is that so bad?...I got banned from B&C for that...Cheap bastards!
Think carefully about the style of Tau army you want,
Infantry based ; lots of firewarriors , devilfish transports, pathfinders and stealth suits, greta vs horde armies and imperial guard
Battlesuit ; A hard army to play but fun maxed out in battlesuits for HQ and elite and broadsides as hv support , sometimes lots of drones too. very good vs marines slow armies and armoured armies as broadsides kill tanks
Mech Tau; espeically with the new forge world Tetra and Piranha and hammerhead turrets, lots of vehicles lots of armour values looks great dont know how they'll play but will let you know
problem with battleforce pack is the Kroot some people love some hate them, have serious weaknesses under the new rules and I feel dilute the shooty hi tech feel of the Tau
Pathfinders ; again some people hate them some find them great , costly in £££/$$$ and points as need a devilfish
You will need HQ so think about either Ethereal and how to protect him or a battlesuit, Broadsides are lethal and almost cheesy/beardy they are so good especially with a sheild generator
If you are likely to fight nids then stealth suits rock
some very nice Tau stuff on forge world and rules downloadable at the moment, Imperial Armour update 2004 has rules for Tau heavy gun drones, fighters and skyray anti aircraft tank, and I believe drone turrets which are awesome in city fight
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"It matters not how you die,
If you have lived well"
I still have designs on collecting a Tau force. I was probably going to get a 400 Pt list first to see how I like it and to give me some variety from my AL. Its not a big commitment, and if you dont like them then it doesnt affect things too much because you can have fun painting them instead!
My Tau list isn't going to have any Kroot or Ethereals. I am going to put a lot of faith in Hammerhead tanks and Devilfish transports, and these are two of the things that drew me to Tau in the first place, because I feel that these are some of the best vehicles in the game.
My 400 Pt list would probably look like something like this:
The Tau's smooth lines and futuristic feel make them a very attractive prospect to paint. And, to me, their style of play is entirely different from what I'm used but I can't help but respect the Pulse Rifle, as being the best rapid fire weapon in the game. That for me, draws me to the Tau.
Sure some elements of their Codex are not particularly startling, to me anyhoos, the Kroot, Ethereals, Pathfinders (btw I can't understand for the life of me why any Command Organisation would opt to give these guys Rail Rifles, it makes no sense. They surely would do better targetting ANOTHER units Rail Rifles with their own markerlights... Rant over) But overall I think the Tau Army list is very good and I quite enjoy their background. Hope this helps!
First and foremost they are a stand and shoot army at this they are very very good, the basic weapon isnt great at getting through armour but hits very hard with each shot hitting as hard as a heavy bolter high toughness armies beware this also means that even a basic firewarrior unit can harm or destroy light armoured vehicles such as sentinels, and ork trucks. Firewarriors are plentiful and well armoured but get not optiosn for squad support weapons. Kroot are the Taus melee troops but although you can have a large unit they are very lightly armoured and to be frank a liability
Fast Attack
Here you can have the dreaded discos of death drones which are fast and annoying and although have a poor bs can pin and destroy vehicles if they get behind them (see above)
second chocie are the pathfinders costly as they must have a devil fish but then you really need one to carry seeker missiles and move the unit, they get a free after deployment move which is handy. Rail rifles are difficult to use but do give you a nice str 6 weapon so you can insta kill t3 guys like Eldar heroes. The pathfinders carry marker lights which can be used for making sure your heavy weapons hit or guiding in seekers
the new forge world stuff also will give the Tetra a bike like vehicle costly but cool
Elites
Battlesuits which are incredably flexible with loads of weapon chocies and good shoot and scoot ability or stealth suits which are lethal vs horde armour and great for those of you that love gatiling guns leader can also carry a makrer light
HQ
simple rock hard battlesuit commander and his body guards or pasty but useful ethereal , the two special characters are also cool
Heavy support
Broadsides , hmm tasty a twin linked rail gun best anti tank weapon in the whole game, can have an invunerable save if you take 9 you are cheesy but will wipe out all enemies vehicles in the first turn
Hammerheads very cooll tank , not as good as a landraider but can carry the rail gun which can also fire a handy area effect submuntion secondary wepaons are cool including the smart missiles which dont need line of sight, forge world varients are fun, also some very handy upgrades and remember its a Skimmer! basic box comes with ion cannon as a differetn weapon system which is very good vs horde armies
othere imperial armour options include a heavy gun drones, and deep striking sentry turrets, new forge world stuff includes a landspeeder like troop chocie
If you want to stand and wipe out whole chunks of your foes army turn 1 then the Tau are for you , clean lines , good guy fluff, hi tech weapons if you like to assault get another army
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"It matters not how you die,
If you have lived well"
Thanks...you are helping me sooo much! Now I have a basic understanding about tau...I hate to trouble you...but what is Sub-Munitions? I have read about them alot. But I dont posses a copy of the Tau Codex...(I'm getting Ideas from veteran Tau Players...interaction is better than reading) I still have many questions...
1) What is Submunitions?
2) would it be a good idea to get the new 'Transport and Troops' Boxed set from GW?
3) Should i get a battle force boxed set?
4) If i have two of the above...will i have a decent army?
5) Dos the Battle Force boxed set come with a Hammerhead?
6)If it dosnt, would I have a flexible army if I had...Battle force boxed set, Transport and Troops boxed set and A Hammerhead or two?
Thanks for all your inputs!! Greatly appreciated!!
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THey hate me because I'm a Liberal Thinker! Someone who thinks outside the Square...Is that so bad?...I got banned from B&C for that...Cheap bastards!
submuntions is an option for the Hammerhead carried Railgun only giving it a handy blast weapon otion instead of the str 10 anti amrour round you just choose which to fire each round
the transport and troops set is good value you dont get enough firewarriors to field a full size squad but enough for a transport option but no gun drones like you get in the full firewarrior boxed set (I plan to get a set as I have more than enough drones)
Battleforces set gives a spread of troops and is good value if you want them all personally I wouldnt use the trees or the kroot so its less of a bargin, a new starter army set is soon to be available advertised as an advance order online
I dont think you get a hammerhead with the battleforce set but check online for set contents, many people do without a hammerhead if you plan to use broadsides then you will have good anti tank anyway its just personel taste
yes a battleforce set and a hammerhead or two will give you a flexable army the hammerheads come with both main weapon options Railgun or ion cannon (a good str rapid fire weapon useful vs elite infantry and light vehciles ) and both options for secondary weapons burst cannons or smart missiles
most Tau players have crisis suits as they are flexible and fast , all Tau armies need plenty of fire warrirors
Imperial armour update 2004 has more options for the Tau such as aircraft and turrets and heavy drones but the forgeworld stuff is expensive but worth a look at as their are some very cool models. My Tau army is painted like storm troopers and the pathfinders as biker scouts.
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"It matters not how you die,
If you have lived well"
Firstly submunitions is a railgun shot option which carries the ordnance blast but is lower strenght and AP, and sadly allows Marines a save! It can only be fired from Hammerheads and not Broadsides but makes the Hammerhead much more versatile.
The new transport and troops set would be an excellent idea depending on how much you save. Devilfish is almost mandatory with the new rapid fire rules (imagine 24 s5 shots from a unit of 12!)
The Battle Force is not excellent, it contains 3 Crisis suits, 12 Fire Warriors and 12 Kroot, aswell as some jungle trees and 10 Gun Drones. I can't see me using the Kroot from this box so I'd rather buy the models seperately but it is up to you.
I would buy a squad of Fire Warriors, a Crisis to use as a Commander, and a Transport and Troops box and play 400 Pt games with that first. This allows you to see how you like the army and gives you a chance to paint it up as well! To that I'd probably add a Hammerhead, a couple more Fire Warrior squads on foot and a couple more Crisis suits with gun drones. This would take you up to around 1000 Pts, but the composition all depends on your style of play.
This is what I want my Tau army to be like...It's not completed...feel free to make comments!---This is stragiht from my paper that I was scribling on while I was reading your replise...
-I want my Tau army to be Shooty
-Have small squads of 6 men per squad
-Have Big guns, Lotta firepower
-Tactical Options
-Make Tactical Oppotunities
My Draft List
3 Crisis Battle suits, 3 more crisis battlesuits 6 Fire warrior squads, 6 Fire Warrior Squads, 6 Fire Warriro Squads, 6 Fire Warrior Squads, 10 Gun Drones 2 Hammer Heads, 2 Broadsides, 1 Devil Fish Transport...
If you are wondering WHY I havnt categorized them, it's because I dont have a Tau Codex (YET)...I'm asking Veterans first...I dont want to waste $40US on a book that I might not need in the fututre...
So...if you could please categorize this for me :D
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THey hate me because I'm a Liberal Thinker! Someone who thinks outside the Square...Is that so bad?...I got banned from B&C for that...Cheap bastards!
3 Crisis Battle suits HQ, 1 commander and 2 bodyguards
3 more crisis battlesuits , Elite
6 man Firewarrior squads x4 Troops (these are minimum size squads !)
8 Gun Drones Fast attack (8 is the max size unit)
2 Hammer Heads Heavy Support (2 chocies)
2 Broadsides Heavy Support (1 chocie)
Devilfish is a transport option for troops or complusory for pathfinder unit
not a bad list from this bare bones lots of heavy support so good vs armoured armies , I would merge at least 1 firewarrior squad to make a 12 man full size unit, more survivable, without weapon chocies not possible to tell how many points this would be but approx 1500 pts plus
get the codex its well worth it and I can help you more once you know the rules
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"It matters not how you die,
If you have lived well"
I was going on the thing about CC...one main thing i want to is not get 12 tau firewarriors tied up in a CC with Ceramite Armor Dead weight...rendering them USELESS I could get 12 men choped to peices in a flash...so I was going for the whole..."LETS NOT BUNCH UP" thing I know that 90% people that I know and will play have Space Marines!!...where I got the idea of 6 man squads is form a battle report that was played in one of the white dwarf magazines...i forget which one. But I know it was Tau VS Witch Hunters!...the Tau lost because the WH broke the Tau fireing lines. They were hacked to bits before they even got another shot off! It was embarrassing really...for the Tau. It proved how BAD they were at CC. So I'm going to Modify the list...it'll cost a heap more...but it'll be more effective!
3 Crisis Battle suits HQ, 1 commander and 2 bodyguards
3 more crisis battlesuits , Elite
6 man Firewarrior squads x6 Troops (these are minimum size squads !)
10 Kroot Troops
8 Gun Drones Fast attack (8 is the max size unit)
2 Hammer Heads Heavy Support (2 chocies)
2 Broadsides Heavy Support (1 chocie)
Devilfish is a transport option for troops or complusory for pathfinder unit
The reason why I added Kroots is because the attacker will have a second thought before he decide to launch an assault on my main batle lines with the Kroots lingering about!
The reason why this army looks GOOD...is because it's adopted from that guy in the Battle Report! Oh...and does the Tau battleforce have a squad of Path Finders?
More Questions! lol...sorry...
What do the Pathfinders do?
What is the stats for a basic Fire Warrior?
Is the Ethereal worht the price and point cost?
And what does the Ethereal do??
I'm sorry...I really need to get a Codex...but i dont have time to go out and buy it yet...so i'll borrow one from my mate at skool! Hopefully...
Next time...i'll post which boxed sets i'll purchase!!
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THey hate me because I'm a Liberal Thinker! Someone who thinks outside the Square...Is that so bad?...I got banned from B&C for that...Cheap bastards!
Like I said before...here is the boxed sets that I'll buy...
Tau Codex-$20US
Tau Battleforce-$90US
Tau Firewarriors-$35US
Tau Firewarriors-$35US
Tau Broadside-$40US
Tau Broadside-$40US
Tau Hammerhead-$50US
Tau Hammerhead-$50US
Tau Devil Fish-$35US
I hope this army will trun out how I want it to be. 1 Tau Fire warriors 12 men will ride in the Devilfish and support the ranks when CC is unstoppable in my fire lines. the broadsides will act as individual teams, each supporting the Hammerheads. The 3 Elite Battlesuits will guard the firewarriors unleashing on the advancing foes. The Gun Drone squad will try and create as much havoc in the assaulters lines as possible by pinning them. I'll try to make 2 squads of 6 gundrones so I have more Flexibility. This will let my firewarriors wipe out the advancing foes while the kroots rip throgh the immobilised men!! The hammerheads with their submunitions WILL take out the far awya support troops and the Broadsides will annihalate the transports/support tanks. I think that i have a pretty sweet team line up.
My hopes for FLEXIBILITY and Tacticle opportunities are coming to life! I think I can now begin construction of my Tau Army!! YAY!! this will of course take more than a year since I dont earn a hang-of-a-lot of money...I'll start with the Codex and A squad of Firewarriors. Then probabily the Battleforce or a broadside. I'll just keep collecting until my army is complete!
And since is the second time I'm collecting a army, I'll have no problems with what I need first and what i need last!-My previous army is the Dark Angels...still under construction. I need a few more men and a couple of Transports. A dreadnought will do finely! Check out my army list in the Dark Angels section of my forums!
Well...thanks for helping me out man...as a token of thanks and graditude, PM me and you'll know what I'm talking about...Hard Rain Falling! See you soon Hard Rain Falling!
Oh~I'll still need you to help me out from time to time...Well see you around!
-- Edited by Commander Esmerian at 22:13, 2004-10-05
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THey hate me because I'm a Liberal Thinker! Someone who thinks outside the Square...Is that so bad?...I got banned from B&C for that...Cheap bastards!
okay there has been much disucssion about the benefits of 6 man squads it will certainly give you flexabilty but vunerable to blast weapons and having to make morale tests for % caus to missile fire , keep your tau out of melee they will die big time , a small unit of kroot will not scare anyone , having no armour they will die to rapid fire or assault weapons as the enemy attack just not worth it they arent even that good in cc, gun drones have poor BS but still have str 5 weapons I have seen grey knight termies die to them so 2 6 drone units will be good of course you can add some drones to your crisis suit teams if you take drone controller to make them more survivable. Be flexiable with crisis suits they can be configured to carry anti armour or anti inf weapons , think very fast marines with lots of weapons , alos dont forget hammerheads and evilfish dont block line of sight so if your fire warrirors are behind them they can fire but the enemy inf must make a leadership role or be forced to fire on the tank instead of the firewarrirors behind it!
Pathfinders are same stats as firewarrirors can carry a rail rifle (rules in white dwarf) but all carry a marker light which can target a unit so other units hit on a 2+ or fire a seeker missile at them (inf range str 8 weapon 1 use bought as an upgrade for vehicles more than 1 per vehicle (not suits) can be bought, some people like the pathfinder scouts others dont they also get a free move after everyone has deployed, need skill to use properly and must have a devilfish transport
an ethereal helps with leadership roles for the whole army but if they die the whole army can run away vunerable and need protecting attach to a unit and if possible place in a transport
-- Edited by Hard Rain Falling at 09:19, 2004-10-07
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"It matters not how you die,
If you have lived well"
But overall I think the Tau Army list is very good and I quite enjoy their background. Hope this helps!
I could get 12 men choped to peices in a flash...so I was going for the whole..."LETS NOT BUNCH UP" thing
. But I know it was Tau VS Witch Hunters!...the Tau lost because the WH broke the Tau fireing lines. They were hacked to bits before they even got another shot off! It was embarrassing really...for the Tau. It proved how BAD they were at CC. So I'm going to Modify the list...it'll cost a heap more...but it'll be more effective!
