Topic: Newb 1000pt list

[2quiet]

Hi, I have a young friend who has just begun playing 40K and has chosen to play Tau, an army of which I know very little about. I worked with him for a bit to make this list (I must apologise, We were working from the old Codex). Please tel me what you think as I play DE and this is very new to me as well as him. Thankyou.

H.Q.

Shas'o with plasma rifle, missile pod and multitracker: 110

Elites

Crisis Suit- Plasma rifle, missile pod and multitracker.

Crisis Suit- Plasma rifle, missile pod and multitracker.

Crisis Suit- Flamer, burst cannon and missile pod.

190pts for all 3 suits

Troops

Firewarriors(12) Shas'ui with markerlight and 1 gun drone: 152

Firewarriors(12) Shas'ui with markerlight and 1 gun drone: 152

Fast Attack

Pathfinders( 8 )
Devilfish with 2 Seeker Missiles, decoy launchers: 201

Heavy Support:

Hammerhead with Railgun, Smart missiles and 2x Seeker missiles, decoy launchers, multi-tracker, target lock: 200

TOTAL: 1005pts

Thank you for any comments you have, most of the models have not been bought yet, so this is pretty much planning for now, only the firewarriors and crisis suits have been bought.
Thank you

EDIT: Changed the list after talking to my friend and this is how it stands at the moment.

[The GrimSqueaker]

Halve the number of Seeker Missiles you have on the Hammerhead. Four is illegal. Ditch the Gun Drone from each of the Fire Warrior squads. One just isn't going to help much really. Throw Decoy Launchers on to at least the Hammerhead and hopefully the Devilfish as well.

[crazyguy832]

1) Shas'O's can have a fair bit more equipment than that.  My codex is two flights up, though, so don't count on me going and grabbing it at the moment.   

2) Take that one squad of elites, and split it into 3 squads!  Moral?  Pfft.  No checks when the whole unit is wiped out!

3) Your troops... yeah, it's a good base, I guess.  I would MUCH rather skip out on the gun drones and upgrade one of them to a Shas'ui (which I see you have done already).  Bond them, too, possibly (although this is slightly contraversiol [omg spelling]), if you think you'll need it.

4) Take out the pathfinders entirely and give both firewarrior squads a devilfish.  This is MERELY my opinion, pathfinders are pretty sweet, but think about it.

5) Hammerhead can't have 4x seeker missiles.  2 max.  Also, I would have to reccomend giving it a multi-tracker and dropping the smart missiles for burst cannons.  You save on points which can be used elswhere.

Just my opinion, take it or leave it.  And the new codex has a lot of lovely options which I HIGHLY reccomend looking at.  When I got the new codex (today!  ), immediately all my lists began getting rewritten.

Oh, and Barr'El's idea with decoy launchers is a MUST.

[The GrimSqueaker]

And the new codex has a lot of lovely options which I HIGHLY reccomend looking at.

Which does not mean pimping out your Battlesuits to the point where they become a detraction from your force rather than an advantage. Some of the Commanders I've seen even put "point sink" into a whole new realm. More "point gravity well." Always consider what you're adding in the way of support systems and war gear with the question of "will it help." Not "might it help." Consider costs and usefulness. 

[crazyguy832]

Hey, you're looking at the man who wants to stay away from suits as much as possible while still having a competitive army.  Give me more firewarriors in a devilfish any day.

 

[2quiet]

Thank you very much. Yes, they are all really good ideas and I will put most of them in. Two things though:

1) I want the Pathfinders as then my friend can play any battle type (as he has Fast Attack)

2) The gun drone in each squad increases the number of models to 13, meaning that an oponent now needs 4 kills rather than 3 to force a morale check, isn't this correct?

Thank you all, I will edit my post and update the list soon when I'v figured out what I want to do and how to do it.

[crazyguy832]

You don't NEED the Pathfinders to have fast attack.

Each squad of Firewarriors and each single Crisis suit comes with TWO gun drones each!  You got 10 drones in that list right there, far more than enough for a fast attack choice (enough for two, in fact!).

And, yes, you're right... but it's still rather a waste of points, imo.  If you're that worried about morale checks, just stick an ethereal on the board (if he's in a FW times, it's fearless, but sticking him behind your two FW squads works great as well, as he can't be targeted!).  Then, all Tau units (everything in that list, actually) with LoS to the Ethereal can re-roll ALL morale tests!  For 50 points, that's a friggin steal.

[2quiet]

Ok, will get an Etheral too when able to, but for now the drones will do (already got em) and I want my friend to experience a whole lot of different units rather than be a player who sticks to one style of play which is common around here. Thanks.

[2quiet]

Ok, took into account all advice given and I think we incorporated it all... Well, what do you think of the new list, did we miss anything? Thank you for all your help so far and please keep it coming. Thanx again.

[crazyguy832]

It looks pretty good, imo.  You're 5 points over 1000, but I really don't think that matters.  If someone starts be-atching, it aint that hard to just drop a seeker from one of your tanks.