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Offline Ricburgis

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New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« on: July 13, 2013, 01:53:22 AM »
I'm picking up Tau in light of Apocalypse (got my really craving 40k lately!) and here's the first list I wrote for them.  I'll be playing a wide mix of opponents at a semi-competitve level.

I have just purchased one box of fire warriors and 5 XV8 suits, so I am completely open to adjusting any/all of this list, aside from somewhere including 5 suits (I'm a huge fan).

With this list, I'm hoping to end up with a solid 1250-point core of my army from which position I could play several games a) to get a feel for how Tau perform and b) to decide where to expand from here.

I have included a brief purpose for each unit in italics beneath each unit entry.


1250 Point Codex: Tau Army List
By: Ricburgis

[HQ] - Commander & Crisis Bodyguard: 293 Points
• Commander; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Twin-Linked Missile Pod; 2 Shield Drones
• Crisis Bodyguard; Plasma Rifle; Missile Pod; Vectored Retro-Thrusters
• Crisis Bodyguard; Cyclic Ion Blaster; Missile Pod; Stimulant Injector
Provide support where needed; use S6/7 firepower for anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle duties

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 79 Points
• Shas'ui; Markerlight and Target Lock
• 5 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives; apply markerlight

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 79 Points
• Shas'ui; Markerlight and Target Lock
• 5 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives; apply markerlight

[TROOPS] - Kroot Carnivore Squad: 89 Points
• 14 Kroot
• Kroot Hound
Outflank; attempt to take objectives

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 170 Points
• 10 Fire Warriors
• Devilfish
Form nucleus of deployment zone firebase; move to take objectives as necessary

[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 208 Points
• Shas'vre; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Shield Drone; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Vectored Retro-Thrusters; Shield Drone; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Bonding Knife
Bulk of anti-MEQ/TEQ and anti-armor duties

[ELITES] - Stealth Team: 180 Points
• Shas'vre; Homing Beacon; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Vectored Retro-Thrusters; Bonding Knife
• 3 Shas'ui; Bonding Knives
Infiltrate to allow accurate Crisis deep strike (if desired); provide anti-infantry support

[FAST ATTACK] - Pathfinder Team: 55 Points
• 5 Pathfinders
Markerlight allocation

[HEAVY SUPPORT] - XV88 Broadside Team: 97 Points
• Broadside; Twin-Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Drone Controller; 2 Missile Drones
Stay near Fire Warriors; provide massed S7 firepower

TOTAL: 1250 Points




Notes:


The basic concept I had for this army was to avoid enemy assaults through outmaneuvering and careful clustering of several small complementary units (I toyed with going MSU… not sure how that works in 6th/with Tau).  I'd likely deploy a firebase of fire warriors and the broadside to hold objectives in my own deployment zone, while I would infiltrate the stealth suits, advance the pathfinders, and either deep strike my crisis teams or leave them to support my fire warriors unit in the devilfish to deny/capture opponent's objectives.  I would likely outflank with the kroot to challenge/capture midfield objectives as necessary.


Questions:

1) Do fire warriors work in both of these configurations?  It seems there's no strong preference for how to field them; is this correct?

2) I'm lacking some high-AV tackling power, but I would ideally like to avoid a riptide, and I'm preferential to a Broadside over a Hammerhead.  Are the Fusion Blasters on the Crisis team enough?  Or should I consider Piranas with Fusion Blasters?  I'm stumped on this one.

3) Would it be worth trading one stealth suit for 2 more pathfinders and a seeker missile on the broadside?  It would give me a couple more markerlights and some long-ranged anti-tank at the cost of a less-durable stealth suit team.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Offline Wyddr

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2013, 07:04:14 AM »
First off, you're wasting a good amount of points in this list on stuff that you either shouldn't need or shouldn't use. To run unit by unit:

[HQ] - Commander & Crisis Bodyguard: 293 Points
• Commander; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Twin-Linked Missile Pod; 2 Shield Drones
• Crisis Bodyguard; Plasma Rifle; Missile Pod; Vectored Retro-Thrusters
• Crisis Bodyguard; Cyclic Ion Blaster; Missile Pod; Stimulant Injector
Provide support where needed; use S6/7 firepower for anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle duties

Twin-linking a commander's weapons gives very minimal returns, given his high BS. If you're taking Vectored Retro-Thrusters for this unit (which, by the way, I doubt you'll use very often and probably don't need), it would probably be better on the Commander (as he can split off and use it as well as use it with the unit). Additionally, this unit would benefit a lot from the Puretide Engram. Tank-hunters confers to the entire unit, and if these guys are going to be shooting Rhinos or Chimera or whatever, that will benefit this unit a lot. Lastly, I don't think the Stim Injector is really worth it, particularly not on a bodyguard.

Final point: why Bodyguards? You have a free elites slot, just use it. Save yourself a lot of points. There isn't much here that Bodyguards can do that a couple regular suits can't. With the savings from dropping the Stims, the twinlinking, and the Vectored, I've saved you enough points to buy a lot of other stuff that will be more useful, like additional FWs, the aforementioned Puretide Engram, or the like.

Quote
[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 79 Points
• Shas'ui; Markerlight and Target Lock
• 5 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives; apply markerlight

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 79 Points
• Shas'ui; Markerlight and Target Lock
• 5 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives; apply markerlight

These guys won't be 'holding' much of anything if hit hard. They will fold in assault very quickly and aren't super durable against shooting, either. Your best option is to keep their target priority low by threatening the enemy with bigger problems. I, personally, am not crazy about the micro FW strategy. I'd rather see these two combined into one unit. In order to make MSU Tau work (and I don't think it works super well), you need four or five such units as this.

Quote
[TROOPS] - Kroot Carnivore Squad: 89 Points
• 14 Kroot
• Kroot Hound
Outflank; attempt to take objectives

These are okay. I don't think you need the extra four bodies. Better to trade them in for a Krootox, which grants you almost as many wounds for greater range and firepower. These guys can't assault worth a damn except against Guardsmen, and even then it's dicey.

Quote
[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 170 Points
• 10 Fire Warriors
• Devilfish
Form nucleus of deployment zone firebase; move to take objectives as necessary

Good unit. I'm usually a proponent of using Firewarriors aggressively, which is much of the reason to buy a Devilfish (ideally with a Disruption Pod). To do that well, however, you really need two units to operate in a pair. Since your points are short, however, and you're already building towards a static list, I'd say ditch the Devilfish and take another 8-9 firewarriors. New rapid fire rules mean you can fire just fine on the move, and that should be sufficient to take objectives. It also will draw firepower away from your smaller FW squads.

Quote
[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 208 Points
• Shas'vre; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Shield Drone; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Vectored Retro-Thrusters; Shield Drone; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Twin-Linked Plasma Rifle; Fusion Blaster; Bonding Knife
Bulk of anti-MEQ/TEQ and anti-armor duties

Ditch the Vectored again--they won't come up often enough to matter. One shield drone should do. The bonding knives are pretty much useless. There is no good reason to take a Shas'vre here--your leadership will be good enough at the basic level, and that extra attack the shas'vre is toting is pointless. With the point savings, I'd recommend twinlinking Fusion Blasters where possible. The single anti-tank shot is more important to get that hit than the plasma shots, I've found.

Quote
[ELITES] - Stealth Team: 180 Points
• Shas'vre; Homing Beacon; Bonding Knife
• Shas'ui; Vectored Retro-Thrusters; Bonding Knife
• 3 Shas'ui; Bonding Knives
Infiltrate to allow accurate Crisis deep strike (if desired); provide anti-infantry support

Solid unit. Again, Bonding knives are a waste and I'm skeptical of Vectored Retro-Thrusters. VRT implies you are charging enemies (usually a bad idea) or surviving a round of combat (dubious). The points are better spent elsewhere.

Quote
[FAST ATTACK] - Pathfinder Team: 55 Points
• 5 Pathfinders
Markerlight allocation

Okay. I'd expect them to die pretty quickly against experienced opponents, since they are fragile and dangerous (this is an unavoidable issue with Pathfinders, though). Be sure to deploy them in spots where they are hard to reach, but also where they can get good support to the rest of the army. It's a tricky business.

Quote
[HEAVY SUPPORT] - XV88 Broadside Team: 97 Points
• Broadside; Twin-Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Drone Controller; 2 Missile Drones
Stay near Fire Warriors; provide massed S7 firepower

Very good buy for a small game like this. Should pay off.


Quote
Notes:
The basic concept I had for this army was to avoid enemy assaults through outmaneuvering and careful clustering of several small complementary units (I toyed with going MSU… not sure how that works in 6th/with Tau).  I'd likely deploy a firebase of fire warriors and the broadside to hold objectives in my own deployment zone, while I would infiltrate the stealth suits, advance the pathfinders, and either deep strike my crisis teams or leave them to support my fire warriors unit in the devilfish to deny/capture opponent's objectives.  I would likely outflank with the kroot to challenge/capture midfield objectives as necessary.

A couple things about this plan: I don't think firewarriors should just sit on their butts and hope. Move them and plan on moving them. Leaving one team with the broadside is fine (they can support each other), but I've never had luck with static Tau and I've never seen anyone else have much luck with them, either. If you are devoted to dropping down a bunch of firewarriors to sit there and take the pain, you really ought to get yourself an Ethereal or Cadre Fireblade for support. They are cheap supporting HQs (which you could easily afford by dropping a few VTRs and such) and add a lot to a gunline firebase.

Pathfinders should *not* advance. If anything, they should attempt to stay at the maximum range they can while retaining effectiveness. Pathfinders are a very high target priority, in that they are both dangerous and very easy to kill. Any opponent with experience against Tau are going to blow them up immediately with a bare minimum of investment on their part. The closer they get, the easier it is to kill them. Rhino stormbolters can do significant damage to them, just to give you an idea of how little resiliency the unit has and how easy it can be for opponents to take them down.

The Stealth Teams and Crisis teams should work. Keeping at least one Crisis team starting on the board is recommended, just to get that firepower early on. Don't overestimate the effectiveness of Kroot--they die to a stiff breeze and aren't great on offense. Their best ability is to be annoying and not worth bothering to kill, all while sitting on some out-of-the-way objective.

Quote
Questions:
1) Do fire warriors work in both of these configurations?  It seems there's no strong preference for how to field them; is this correct?

'Correct' is a strong word. There are two things important to note about Firewarriors: Poor leadership and good shooting en masse. Generally you want to have larger units, as they last longer and work better. That said, if you have a *lot* of small units, they can last simply because the enemy has to target each one separately. I don't think two small units will work as well as one large one. I think if you could get yourself 3 8-10 man firewarrior teams, you should be okay.

Quote
2) I'm lacking some high-AV tackling power, but I would ideally like to avoid a riptide, and I'm preferential to a Broadside over a Hammerhead.  Are the Fusion Blasters on the Crisis team enough?  Or should I consider Piranas with Fusion Blasters?  I'm stumped on this one.

In a 1250 point match, you shouldn't see a hell of a lot of AV14, so the crisis team might be enough. Conventionally, if this were a 1500 or 1750 point match, I'd say 'no way'. I am a big fan of Piranhas with Fusions, but not really because they kill tanks that often. They are great for diverting firepower and delivering lots of gun drones to awkward places and then, also, occasionally they kill a tank before they die. I don't think your list is set up to capitalize upon them. What you have should serve for the size games you're playing. If you are going to start playing larger games, I'd say you need to seriously consider either (1) more Suits w/Fusion, (2) at least 4 Fusion Piranha, or (3) a Hammerhead.

Quote
3) Would it be worth trading one stealth suit for 2 more pathfinders and a seeker missile on the broadside?  It would give me a couple more markerlights and some long-ranged anti-tank at the cost of a less-durable stealth suit team.

No. 100% no. Seeker Missiles work okay in salvos (i.e. skyrays), but a single one won't make any damned difference. Two more pathfinders would be better as *three* additional Pathfinders which would be then split into two teams of four. Two teams of four will last much, much longer than one team of 5-7.

Quote
Thank you so much for your feedback!

You're welcome! I hope I was helpful!
« Last Edit: July 13, 2013, 07:10:13 AM by Wyddr, Evil Space Marine »

Offline Ricburgis

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2013, 05:59:34 PM »
Thank you for the list critiques!  After reviewing your comments (and talking through my list with some of my regular opponents), I've spent some time revising my list.  It now reads as follows (with additions in bold, green font and changes in bold, yellow font):


Codex: Tau 1250 Point List

[HQ] - Commander: 152 Points
• Commander; Missile Pod; Missile Pod; Target Lock; Drone Controller; 2 Marker Drones
Join Missile Pod XV8 team; drone controller gives 6 BS5 markerlights

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 81 Points
9 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 81 Points
9 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 72 Points
8 Fire Warriors
Hold deployment zone objectives

[TROOPS] - Kroot Carnivore Squad: 65 Points
10 Kroot
• Kroot Hound
Outflank; attempt to take objectives

[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 195 Points
• Shas'ui; Plasma Rifle; Twin-Linked Fusion Blaster; Shield Drone
• Shas'ui; Plasma Rifle; Twin-Linked Fusion Blaster; Shield Drone
• Shas'ui; Plasma Rifle; Twin-Linked Fusion Blaster
Bulk of anti-MEQ/TEQ duties; anti-armor capability

[ELITES] - Stealth Team: 180 Points
• Shas'vre; Fusion Blaster; Markerlight and Target Lock; Homing Beacon
• 4 Shas'ui
Infiltrate to allow accurate Crisis deep strike (if desired); provide anti-infantry support; Target Lock/Fusion Blaster on Shas'vre allows independent anti-armor redundancy

[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 162 Points
• Shas'ui; Missile Pod; Missile Pod; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones
• Shas'ui; Missile Pod; Missile Pod; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones

Joined by commander; provides concentrated missile pod fire & 6 BS5 markerlights

[FAST ATTACK] - Pathfinder Team: 44 Points
4 Pathfinders
Markerlight allocation

[FAST ATTACK] - Pathfinder Team: 44 Points
• 4 Pathfinders

Markerlight allocation

[HEAVY SUPPORT] - XV88 Broadside Team: 85 Points
• Broadside; Twin-Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Velocity Tracker
Anti-air capabilities

[HEAVY SUPPORT] - XV88 Broadside Team: 89 Points
• Broadside; Twin-Linked High Yield Missile Pod; 2 Missile Drones

Massed S7 firepower

TOTAL: 1250 Points



I am feeling much happier about this list, although I still have several questions/concerns in response to both my list changes and your critiques:

1) Do I now have too many markerlights?  I have 9@BS3 and 6@BS5

2) [Related to 1] Would it be worth ditching one of the pathfinders squads to upgrade one of the broadsides to a Hammerhead?  If so, what configuration would make the most sense?

3) In regards to number of drones attached to a crisis suit, doesn't it make sense to attach at least 2 (if you're going to attach any), as that will get the starting squad size to 5 for the 25%-of-original-unit-size morale benefit?  Or do drones not contribute to the "starting squad size"?

4) Is it worth the 15 points for target locks on the MP/MP w/ Marker Drones suit team? The idea was to have 6 marker drones at the commander's BS5 which could target something separate from the rest of the squad.

5) [Related to 4] If it makes sense to buy the commander's XV8 squad Target Locks, then does it also make any sense to consider varying the weapons within the squad?  I'm pretty happy with the 2x missile pod configuration right now (especially since the range synergizes well with the Markerlights), but it would allow for very easy variety.


Again, thank you so much for the feedback.  I have found it immensely useful!
« Last Edit: July 13, 2013, 06:04:19 PM by Ricburgis »

Offline Halollet

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2013, 07:47:20 PM »
Few things I have to point out right now.  Mainly I have no idea how you're actually going to win games.

First, put your pathfinder teams together.  4 guys is an easy first blood for the enemy.  Remember that only half of those marker lights are actually going to hit their target and putting 4 on one unit is great because it gives you all the bonuses.

Second, what happened to your devilfish?  Bring it back!  Make 2 teams of 12 fire warriors with a Shas'ui so they don't run away.  There's no such thing as overkill as one khrone bezerker is enough to trample a small squad of warriors! :p

Remember you need to take objectives 5 out of 6 missions meaning you have to go get in the enemy's face.  Have back up plans and redundancies.  One lucky shot from a battle cannon and you can kiss your suits g'bye!

I would drop one of the broadsides to get the devilfish as you already have enough str 7 attacks in 1250 points. 

I'm actually interested to see how a support commander does.
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Offline Wiggus

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2013, 02:45:33 PM »
I hope you were joking about a khornate berzerker causing worry to Tau fire warriors? to pose any kind of threat they better be bringing at least 5 to you lines and my money would still be on the firewarriors. My set up has two 10 man squads with supporting fire range so that khornate squad will face at least 40 shots normally my pathfinders will be in range to give a marklight too. Then once our overwatch is over they get no benefit of charging thanks to photon so no +2 A no extra Stre etc. tau still will not win many combats but they arent the push over meat grinder they used to be. just last night i had 3 stealth suits take 3 combat phases to die to 10 dire avengers and exarch with a dire sword and thats with out photons
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Offline Halollet

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2013, 03:00:37 PM »
I hope you were joking about a khornate berzerker causing worry to Tau fire warriors? to pose any kind of threat they better be bringing at least 5 to you lines and my money would still be on the firewarriors. My set up has two 10 man squads with supporting fire range so that khornate squad will face at least 40 shots normally my pathfinders will be in range to give a marklight too. Then once our overwatch is over they get no benefit of charging thanks to photon so no +2 A no extra Stre etc. tau still will not win many combats but they arent the push over meat grinder they used to be. just last night i had 3 stealth suits take 3 combat phases to die to 10 dire avengers and exarch with a dire sword and thats with out photons

I was exaggerating, and I meant after they get into close combat, and a small unit like 6 or less.  Pretty easy to get a unit of 8-9 down to 6.  But yes, I was exaggerating to make a point.
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2013, 01:22:33 PM »
I am feeling much happier about this list, although I still have several questions/concerns in response to both my list changes and your critiques:

1) Do I now have too many markerlights?  I have 9@BS3 and 6@BS5

YES! Waaaay too many. Dump all your marker drones, as they will not pay off. Why? Well, the unit with all those drones can't actually use them and, furthermore, the thing you're shooting with that much S7 (presumably a transport or MC) is going to be mostly if not all the way dead after that unit shoots them. What on earth does that damaged enemy unit need 5 marker tokens for? Overkill and not terribly useful.

Nevermind--missed the target locks. See below.
 
The 9 Markerlights are more than enough.

Quote
2) [Related to 1] Would it be worth ditching one of the pathfinders squads to upgrade one of the broadsides to a Hammerhead?  If so, what configuration would make the most sense?

Keeping two pathfinder squads is the only way you will get to use pathfinders more than once. So, in other words, no, it isn't. It *is* however worth ditching 6 marker drones to upgrade to a hammerhead. Very much so. Hammerhead, Railgun, Submunition, SMS, and maybe a disruption pod. All you need. The problem you'll run into is that it will be the only vehicle in your list, and therefore will attract a lot of attention from dedicated AT units that have nothing else to shoot.

Quote
3) In regards to number of drones attached to a crisis suit, doesn't it make sense to attach at least 2 (if you're going to attach any), as that will get the starting squad size to 5 for the 25%-of-original-unit-size morale benefit?  Or do drones not contribute to the "starting squad size"?

<shrug> I get by just fine with the one shield drone on my crisis squads. To my mind, the extra morale check is worth then tradeoff of always being able to rally.

Quote
4) Is it worth the 15 points for target locks on the MP/MP w/ Marker Drones suit team? The idea was to have 6 marker drones at the commander's BS5 which could target something separate from the rest of the squad.

It's the only way the unit works, so keep them. My recommendations at this point are to keep the 6 marker drones but ditch *all* the pathfinders. 7 Markerlights are all the army needs, and the marker drones in the crisis squad are both accurate and should be able to stick around longer than the pathfinders.

Quote
5) [Related to 4] If it makes sense to buy the commander's XV8 squad Target Locks, then does it also make any sense to consider varying the weapons within the squad?  I'm pretty happy with the 2x missile pod configuration right now (especially since the range synergizes well with the Markerlights), but it would allow for very easy variety.

No, don't vary weapons. All of those missile pods will be shooting at the same target 95% of the time. That other 5% of the time, they *should* be shooting at the same target.  ;) Missile pods work best en masse, not piecemeal.

First, put your pathfinder teams together.  4 guys is an easy first blood for the enemy.  Remember that only half of those marker lights are actually going to hit their target and putting 4 on one unit is great because it gives you all the bonuses.

I would argue that 8 pathfinders isn't substantially harder to drive off the board than 4, and that two teams of four means you will probably have at least one team of pathfinders left after the first one bites it. 8 also have a larger footprint, appear to be a larger threat, and therefore will attract more attention and die more quickly.

Then again, I don't take pathfinders at all, since all they seem to do is die or miss, so there's that.  ;)


Offline Ricburgis

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2013, 10:26:38 PM »
Thank you all for the feedback! I took your advice into consideration and played my first game with Tau against the new 6th edition Eldar, commanded by a long-time 40k/fantasy opponent of mine. It was neck-and-neck, but in the end I lost, 7 VPs to 10. We played Purge the Alien (+1 VP for each enemy unit completely cleared off the table), which made me come to a few stark realizations.

I've revised my list, and would love some more feedback, as I'm getting happier and happier with how this 1250 list is looking.


Here's the revised list:


[HQ] - Commander: 152 Points
•  Commander; 2x Missile Pod; Target Lock; Drone Controller; 2 Marker Drones

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 185 Points
• 10 Fire Warriors
• Devilfish; Disruption Pod

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 72 Points
• 8 Fire Warriors

[TROOPS] - Fire Warrior Team: 72 Points
• 8 Fire Warriors

[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 168 Points
• 3 Shas'ui; Plasma Rifles; Fusion Guns; 1 Shield Drone

[ELITES] - XV8 Crisis Team: 162 Points
• 2 Shas'ui; 2x Missile Pod; Target Locks; 4 Marker Drones

[FAST ATTACK] - Pathfinder Team: 55 Points
• 5 Pathfinders

[FAST ATTACK] - Sun Shark Bomber: 178 Points
•  Sun Shark Bomber; Decoy Launchers; Disruption Pod

[HEAVY SUPPORT] - XV88 Broadside Team: 89 Points
• Broadside; Twin-Linked High Yield Missile Pod; 2 Missile Drones

[HEAVY SUPPORT] - Hammerhead Gunship: 145 Points
• Hammerhead; Submunition Rounds; Twin-Linked Smart Missile System; Disruption Pod


TOTAL: 1278 Points


Now I think I'm getting towards a list I can be happy with... except I have to shave 30 points.  Anything glaring that I should address?  Or should I just drop a couple of d-pods to shave the points?

Thanks again!

Offline Wyddr

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2013, 08:58:48 AM »
Shave the D-pods. They probably won't come in handy all that much on those two units. The Sunshark really only benefits if taking Evasive Action and the Hammerhead has sufficient armor that the regular Jink save is good enough, not to mention the fact that it can operate at extreme range without a problem.

Offline Ricburgis

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2013, 11:51:48 AM »
Shave the D-pods. They probably won't come in handy all that much on those two units. The Sunshark really only benefits if taking Evasive Action and the Hammerhead has sufficient armor that the regular Jink save is good enough, not to mention the fact that it can operate at extreme range without a problem.

That's what my intuition was suggesting, but I wasn't sure.  Thanks!

And I'm assuming it's worth leaving the dpod on the fish?  I could see lots of potential uses there.

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Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2013, 12:28:41 PM »
Yes, absolutely. D-pods on Devilfish are very useful.

Offline Slick Samos

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  • Armies: Tau, Dark Angels & Salamanders
Re: New to Tau: 1250 Point Take All Comers List
« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2013, 07:22:12 PM »
Ricburgis, welcome to the Greater Good. Enjoy your stay :-P I see you're also using ATT which is shrewd and a little cheeky given their view on Army Lists.

Here are my thoughts, please keep in mind that I haven't played against the new  Eldar so can only offer tweaking what you've already got as opposed to tactics...
A Velocity Tracker on the XV88 would be ideal, costs 20
Twin-Link the XV8 Missile Pods, saves 20
Twin-Linking the Fusion Blasters would greatly improve success at tacking down high AV targets, costs 15
Drop a Plasma/Fusion XV8, saves 52 (57 if Twin-Linked)

Unit sizes of 4n+1 are great as it means that they can take one more hit before having to take a moral check. So with the remaining 44pts (assuming you've dropped 2 DPs) I'd make the Fire Warrior Squads up to 9 strong, leaving 26pts for you to play with...

Hope that helps some
Slick Samos
Play more games, paint more models...

 


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