Topic: Setting up Tau [750 p]

[Rasmus]

So I am thinking of thinking of building some Tau. I was thinking of starting at 750 points to start off, and I figured Farsight was coolest for me, but I have no idea if this makes sense.

HQ - Commander, possibly meltas

Elites - Riptide, no idea what sort of weapons he gets, but Earthcast Pilot Array is a must.

Troops - 3 Crisis, meltas, with Commander
3 Crisis - suppressionfire

Fast Attack - Pathfinders with Homing beacon and caribnes/lights, no ion/rail

Heavy Support - 2 Broadsides with missiles

So the idea is to use the Broadsides and 3 crisis to suppress infantry and take out lighter vehicles with the help of the Pathfinders to "ping" good squads.
Then we use the Commander and his Crisis to drop further up field to hunt heavier vehicles and fortifications.
The Riptide anchors the army, draws fire and supports.

What do you think? Am I on the right track? Or am I a being a fool?

[Wyddr]

Not super familiar with the Farsight expansion, but in general terms this list looks workable, if a tidbit risky.

Basically you're fielding a 750 point army with 25-ish wounds, most of which are on instakillable Marine-save platforms. An army sporting a handful of lascannons/missile launchers is going to have themselves a turkey shoot (assuming, of course, they're smart enough to not bother shooting the Riptide). Were I you, I'd start everything on the board rather than leaving stuff hanging back in reserve.

If I start a game against this list and find myself facing a (1) Riptide, (2) Crisis Suits, (3) Pathfinders, and (4) Broadsides, all I'd do is aim my anti-infantry at the Pathfinders (and they'll die) and my antitank at the Crisis suits (and they'll die) and I'm one dead troops choice away from winning/drawing most objective games. Then again, terrain, deployment and the army I'm bringing may make it so I can't quite do that. I can think of lots of situations where it's very possible, though. Throwing the second group of suits on the board to start at least makes target priority more difficult for your opponent *and* guarantees they'll be contributing to offense on turn one, which is essential for a low-numbers list like this.

Oh, and simply accept that the Pathfinders will shoot once (maybe twice) and then die. It is almost guaranteed; Pathfinders are too dangerous and too easy to kill to let live, which is why I just don't take them anymore. I get more mileage from Marker Drones, Tetras, and Skyrays.

Final note: the Riptide should probably get an Ion Accelerator and a Early Warning Override with Smart missiles as the secondary. Cheap, effective, and very useful.

[Rasmus]

Those are fair points. Should I drop the broadsides to get another 3 crisis then? I don't think you can scare people well without the Riptide, leaving them free to pick off the Crisis suits. I am hoping to use the crisis' late-term thrusts to get into cover after shooting. Hopefully the Riptide will soak up a bit of firepower in the meantime.

[Wyddr]

I would generally favor Suits over 'Sides in almost any situation (there really isn't much Broadsides do better these days unless you're kitting the broadsides with missile drones).

If you can, scatter around a few shield drones to your crisis suit teams--it's amazing how much damage those one or two invulnerable saves can prevent, especially if it's S8+ incoming.

[Rasmus]

Things moved around a bit

Firecadre

6 Warriors + Devilfish
3 Suits, all missiles

Riptide - Ion

3 Marksmen with some sniperdrones

This will in theory give me enough markerlights to make my shots ring true, enough mobility ot capture objectives and stay away from dangerous melee-drops, and enough missiles to handle dropping dreads and incoming raiders.