Topic: 1500 pts 1st TAU list

[2 SidED DiE]

HQ
 'el TL-missile,plasma,HW multi
 'el TL-missile,plasma,HW multi
Elite
 Crisis TL-fusion, flamer
 Crisis TL-fusion, flamer
 Stealth x6, leader,HW-drone,gun drones x2
Troops
 FW x12, 'ui, fish,decoy
 Kroot x20
Fast
 Drones x8
Heavy
 HH, rail, sms, target lock, multi , decoy
 HH, rail, sms, target lock, multi , decoy
 HH, rail, sms, target lock, multi , decoy

the one thing i worried about is only 1 unit of FW, but i'm a big fan of HH.
what problems can be with this list and agains which enemy?

[deadrose]

Hi and wecome to 40k.ca now to your list.

 HQ: there good its up to you but one will do.
 Elite: the twin link fusion are crap you got 3 hammer haeds for tank hunting so get rid of both. Go two with plasma missile multi-tracker thay work well for light tank hunting and space marine hunting dont ever deep strike xv8 do it with gun drones for thay are kings at rear armour.

 ELite: xv15 rock keep them to 6 no drones makes them bigger target no need for an leader there good as thay are.

 Troops: you will need 3 full fire fw squads takeing one will say to every 1 there in for an easy game to win fw are ur armys back bone you need them as a dog needs hes bone.fw devil fish fw units work well let the bad guys close in on them out zoom your fw unit bang bang no more bad guys but teams of 2 devil fish fw units work well one is ok but two work much better.

 Troops:kroot get rid of them thay only work by infilltrate 20 in woods just wont work ill go 10 kroot 8 kroot hounds thay work real good but i say go an fire warrior unit here.
 
 Fast Attack: Gun drones not hate but love these robot lads will get there points back so easy people think when thay see them(oh look flying tv's 2 turns later bang there go his leman russ rhino and so on) deep strike them for rear armour or weak armour troops to rape.

 Heavy support: THREE hammer heads in 1500 points what are u thinking mate i madly love my 3 hammer heads but in 1500 points its way to much u need at this level of  playing is only 2 the 3 are over kill i say drop 1 go get more fire warrior units.

  Your  list for an 1st try is ok just with a bit more work you have an ass kicker of an list on your hands i might post an list up to night to show you how i look at playing tau it might help you a bit.

[Lanfeix]

ELite: xv15 rock keep them to 6 no drones makes them bigger target no need for an leader there good as thay are.

Actual gun drones are allway useful (getting the extra kill close and far, saving my last and off course pining) on a stealth team actually saved me so many times their a good investment. Plus people forget that you have to be with in at least 36" to even see them so big team really good fun!!!!

rape..

please don't use Language like that it nasty and uncalled for

If your are facing armoured company its a good  list

[2 SidED DiE]

thnx.
yesterday i won only when 2 crisis deep strike on 3rd turn and kill 2 IG tanks. my 2 HH already was dead at this time.
stealth drones don't impress me much, 27 pts for only 2 shots with pinning... maybe IG's leadership makes me think so.

i drop 1 HH and krootes

hq
 'o, missile,plasma,multi
 'el, tw-missile,plasma,hw-multi
elite
 stealth x6
 crisis, plasma,missile,multi
 crisis, plasma,missile,multi
troops
 fw x12, 'ui,fish,decoy
 fw x12, 'ui,fish,decoy
fast
 drones x8
 drones x8
heavy
 hh, rail, sms, decoy, multi, lock
 hh, rail, sms, decoy, multi, lock

1499 pts

i hope drones can deep strike as good as crisis with fusion.
or else drop 2 crisis with fireknife and 2 drones and add 2 crisis with fusion and 1 team of pathfinders with 3 rail???

[Lanfeix]

stealth drones don't impress me much, 27 pts for only 2 shots with pinning... maybe IG's leadership makes me think so.

IG have the worst LD of every on their common LD is 7!!!!! only one which wost is guant's out of synapase range

[deadrose]

Not an bad list mate and good on you with the win.

[2 SidED DiE]

IG have the worst LD of every on their common LD is 7!!!!! only one which wost is guant's out of synapase range

he use Close Order and Vox Caster.. or smthng similar

which deep strike will be better 2 drone squad or 2 fusion-crisis?
if i take drones, then i have 4 fireknife suits in addition + stealth + 2fw+2hh = better with infantry and light vehicles
if i take pathfinders, i have 2 fireknife suits+2fusion suits+stealth(w/drones)+2fw+2hh = better with any vehicles and heavy infantry
what configuration seems more promising in all-purpose build?

[Rick]

stealth drones don't impress me much, 27 pts for only 2 shots with pinning...

thats 2 twin-linked shots with pinning

[2 SidED DiE]

thats 2 twin-linked shots with pinning

so, its slightly better than BS3.

i have 1 more question. the main idea of army is as much mobility as possible. and i'm afraid that pathfinders cannot provide enough mobility and efficienty. the only thing i need from pathfinders is to snipe with TL-rail (markers+rail = TL-rail, even bit better with 5 markers). so they are just Heavy3-unit for 206 points (ionhead costs 160, railhead costs 180, and still can move).

[Lanfeix]

he use Close Order and Vox Caster.. or smthng similar

I have one thing  and one thing only to say about "close order" and one thing only RAIL BLAST

vox caster isnt a problem just kill the command squad

[2 SidED DiE]

I have one thing  and one thing only to say about "close order" and one thing only RAIL BLAST

there are more targes to fire with rail - tanks and chimeras.

btw

and i'm afraid that pathfinders cannot provide enough mobility and efficienty. the only thing i need from pathfinders is to snipe with TL-rail (markers+rail = TL-rail, even bit better with 5 markers). so they are just Heavy3-unit for 206 points (ionhead costs 160, railhead costs 180, and still can move).

just read official FAQ. pathfinders cannot mark targets for their own rifles 
and now i can't undestand what use of pathfinders in tau army? mark targets for seeker missiles? HH hit on 3+, Broad even better TL 4+
this is really pity that tau get less and less difference in units for a mobile army.

[Lanfeix]

Path finders are for denying cover saves

[iDay]

thnx.
yesterday i won only when 2 crisis deep strike on 3rd turn and kill 2 IG tanks. my 2 HH already was dead at this time.
stealth drones don't impress me much, 27 pts for only 2 shots with pinning... maybe IG's leadership makes me think so.

well done . Plan on posting a battle report?

hq
 'o, missile,plasma,multi
 'el, tw-missile,plasma,hw-multi

i suggest upgrading you shas'el to a shas'o. Currently, you are spending half the upgrade cost on twin-linking your weapon and hardwiring the support system. By upgrading your 'el to an 'o there is no need for all of that, and you have a far far nicer upgrade in stat-line. That will only cost you 13 more points than your current 'el, and is a much more ideal investment. However, if you intend on keeping your 'el, then at least switch the twin-linker to the plasma weapon, as that will probably worse to miss with.

elite
 stealth x6
 crisis, plasma,missile,multi
 crisis, plasma,missile,multi

Perfect. I wouldn't change anything here.

troops
 fw x12, 'ui,fish,decoy
 fw x12, 'ui,fish,decoy

If you plan on playing IG more often, then mobility offered by devilfish is not that big of a deal. i would drop one of the devilfish (it doesn't matter which one) and instead field the points in more firewarrior models. Currently, your list is a little low on firewarriors (and model count for that matter), and most players would recommend at least 3 full squads in a 1.5k game. Dropping the devilfish will allow you increase your model count modestly and, those firewarriors will more likely earn their points back against IG. I don't have a single devil fish and have yet to lose a game against IG around here

fast
 drones x8
 drones x8

Nice choice. Drones are a decnt fast attack option to balance out any Tau army, though if you are having trouble with pinning guard then i would drop one squad in favor of more firewarriors.

heavy
 hh, rail, sms, decoy, multi, lock
 hh, rail, sms, decoy, multi, lock

1499 pts

just a piece of tactical advice here, if you are concerned over which target to pick with the rail gun - i.e. launch a pie plate on top of those guardsmen, or punch a hole through that chimera, always go for the tank/vehicle. By shooting your rail gun against other vehicles, not only are you eliminating the heaviest fire your opponents' army contains, but you will quickly earn back the cost of your own vehicle as well. Your SMS is always decent against his footsloggers and by sending a pie plate on top of a squad of guardsmen, you will probably a third of your cost back in one turn. Destroying a vehicle however, easily earns you back more than half your cost and even if you can stun that leman russ for one turn,you have effectively saved the lives of your firewarriors.*

* this is assuming that the hammerhead hits, of course

i hope drones can deep strike as good as crisis with fusion.
or else drop 2 crisis with fireknife and 2 drones and add 2 crisis with fusion and 1 team of pathfinders with 3 rail???

drones tend to function better than fusion suits. Just because they both stand decent chances of penetrating the rear armor of a vehicle, but the drones have a higher saturation of firepower. While the crisis fusion stands chance of penetrating once, the drones have multiple oppotunties of that, thus allowing a higher % chance for destruction.

[DammageInc]

Hrmm, the comment about railrifles with markerlights acting as twinlinked reminded me that i saw something about a TW rail riffle somewhere, the tradeoff was it was more costly and it "gets hot", seemed like a great trade off to me, 2x chance to hit and wounds those smurfs on 2+. never did find official word on it though, so not useing it ;(

[Lanfeix]

argh no thier isnt a twin link rail rifle, its a target locked rail rifle

that the problem with army builder

go to the chapter approved page to find out the rail rifles rules

[2 SidED DiE]

2 a devout follower :

Plan on posting a battle report?

maybe a bit later

i suggest upgrading you shas'el to a shas'o.

for 13 pts. shas'o gets:
 - +1WS. 'o - independent, so, he never go to front.
 - +1BS. 4BS TL-missile better than 5BS missile. 4BS rapid-plasma almost equal BS5 rapid-plasma.
 - +1Wound. 3 wounds enough for independent-shooter. and not enough to outlive instant-kill from any ordnance.
 - +1At. like WS
 - +1 Ld. i don't want to attach him to any squad. he is good shooter and independent.
so, i can spent 13 pts for a better army upgrade.

i would drop one of the devilfish

IG afraid of Stealth, HH and 'el. so they never shoot at FWs and Fish and i can move safely 12" in 1st turn and even 2nd turn, so i get good advantage for better disposition.
and i do not like stationary FWs.

though if you are having trouble with pinning guard then i would drop one squad in favor of more firewarriors.

i like them more, than FWs. they can deepstrike if necessary.

drones tend to function better than fusion suits

agreed

2 DammageInc :

Hrmm, the comment about railrifles with markerlights acting as twinlinked reminded me that i saw something about a TW rail riffle somewhere, the tradeoff was it was more costly and it "gets hot", seemed like a great trade off to me, 2x chance to hit and wounds those smurfs on 2+. never did find official word on it though, so not useing it

official words:

Question:
1. Can the Markerlights in a Pathfinder squad be used to benefit Railrifles within the same squad?
Andy Hoare's Answer:
All firing in the squad is declared and happens simultaneously. The description of Marker Lights in the Tau Codex says 'any units yet to fire', so no, the Rail rifles do not benefit from their own unit's marker lights.

[Pvt. Dancer]

You speak the truth boy, you speak the truth