New-ish to Warhammer 40k, looking for advice - Tau

[Cheatle]

Hey guys,


So, I posted in the general forums about some armies I got for myself as well as my sister and her husband. I am looking for some advice on the Tau stuff I got for my brother in law. This is going to be semi-casual gaming, maybe some matched player later on at the local stores. 

This is what I have so far: 

Start Collecting! Tau Empire Box - x1 Ethereal on Hover Drone, x3 XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, x1 10-Man Fire Warriors, x2 Drones, x1 DS8 Support Drone
Tau Pathfinder Team - x1 10-Man Pathfinders, x1 Pulse Accelerator Drone, x1 Recon Drone, x1 Grav-inhibitor Drone, x1 TY7 Devilfish
x1 XV88 Broadside Battlesuit, x1 Shield Drone, x1 Missile Drone
x1 TX4 Piranha
x3 XV25 Stealth Battlesuits, x1 Markerlight Drone


I know this is a pretty small army, do you guys have any suggestions on what to add to this army?

[Panzer]

Looks like a very solid start. You got your markerlights, you got your special weapons, you got your infantry and Gun/Shield Drones.

 

Two advises here:

 - MAGNETIZE THE CRISIS! (seriously, it's not hard and it saves a LOT of trouble and money later on when you want to use different weapon loadouts)

 - A Commander would be great. Currently one of our best units (Quad Fusion Blaster loadout or Coldstar loadout are great!)

 - A second Start Collecting box never hurts. You could make 10 Strike Teams with Pulse Rifles and 10 Breacher (use them with a Devilfish only!) and have enough weapon bitz to represent most loadout options for the Crisis (the box unfortunately doesn't come with enough weapon bitz to give each Crisis 3 of each). And a ton more Drones. Shield Drones are great to protect your Suits and Gun Drones hurt a LOT if you can direct their shooting to the right targets.

The additional Ethereal is just the cherry on the top. If you don't want to use a second Ethereal (I wouldn't) use them to dabble into doing conversions. Different arms, a helmet, filing away the Ethereal Sept icon on the chest and you'd have a very differently looking Darkstrider/Fireblade/Pathfinder Shas'Ui.

 

 

Usually after 1-2 SC! boxes, a Commander and a Pathfinder box I don't give much further advice where to go since it's a solid basis and afterwards it really depends on what kind of army the player wants to play.

Could go with lots of bigger Battlesuits, lots if Infantry, lots of Drones, lots of Tanks, a mixed army, a Recon style army (Pathfinder, Stealth Suits, Ghostkeel, etc.)....so many possibilities. Some stronger, some less. Tho that shouldn't matter if you aren't having a very competetive local meta or plan to go on tournaments.

[Cheatle]

Looks like a very solid start. You got your markerlights, you got your special weapons, you got your infantry and Gun/Shield Drones.

 

Two advises here:

 - MAGNETIZE THE CRISIS! (seriously, it's not hard and it saves a LOT of trouble and money later on when you want to use different weapon loadouts)

 - A Commander would be great. Currently one of our best units (Quad Fusion Blaster loadout or Coldstar loadout are great!)

 - A second Start Collecting box never hurts. You could make 10 Strike Teams with Pulse Rifles and 10 Breacher (use them with a Devilfish only!) and have enough weapon bitz to represent most loadout options for the Crisis (the box unfortunately doesn't come with enough weapon bitz to give each Crisis 3 of each). And a ton more Drones. Shield Drones are great to protect your Suits and Gun Drones hurt a LOT if you can direct their shooting to the right targets.

The additional Ethereal is just the cherry on the top. If you don't want to use a second Ethereal (I wouldn't) use them to dabble into doing conversions. Different arms, a helmet, filing away the Ethereal Sept icon on the chest and you'd have a very differently looking Darkstrider/Fireblade/Pathfinder Shas'Ui.

 

 

Usually after 1-2 SC! boxes, a Commander and a Pathfinder box I don't give much further advice where to go since it's a solid basis and afterwards it really depends on what kind of army the player wants to play.

Could go with lots of bigger Battlesuits, lots if Infantry, lots of Drones, lots of Tanks, a mixed army, a Recon style army (Pathfinder, Stealth Suits, Ghostkeel, etc.)....so many possibilities. Some stronger, some less. Tho that shouldn't matter if you aren't having a very competetive local meta or plan to go on tournaments.

Ok so on my list I have: 

 

x1 Riptide Battlesuit + Drones

x1 Starter - Crisis Suits, Fire Team, + Drones

x1 Coalition Box - Ethereal + Commander + Drones

x1 Optimized Pathfinder Team - Pathfinder Team + Drones + Devilfish 

 

Does that look about right? 

 

[Panzer]

Is this additionally to what you posted in your first post? Then I would take a regular Commander over the Coalition box. Unless of course you plan to play a lot Ethereals or do more conversions with them.

The SC! box and the Optimised Pathfinder Team box are perfect to start with T'au. Gives you all you need for a solid basis you can build up on.

 

The Riptide. Well....it's an awesome model but currently a bit too expensive for what it does on the table (points-wise). So if you buy one be clear about why you want one. Not because it's a particularly strong unit, but because you like how it looks (basically how you should decide about buying most units unless you plan to play in a super competetive environment).

[Cheatle]

Is this additionally to what you posted in your first post? Then I would take a regular Commander over the Coalition box. Unless of course you plan to play a lot Ethereals or do more conversions with them.

The SC! box and the Optimised Pathfinder Team box are perfect to start with T'au. Gives you all you need for a solid basis you can build up on.

 

The Riptide. Well....it's an awesome model but currently a bit too expensive for what it does on the table (points-wise). So if you buy one be clear about why you want one. Not because it's a particularly strong unit, but because you like how it looks (basically how you should decide about buying most units unless you plan to play in a super competetive environment).

This is above what I already have, what would you suggest instead of the Riptide? 

 

 

[Cheatle]

Oh yeah, I also had Aun'va + 2 Ethereals 

[01RTB01]

Solid start. From here you can add other stuff.

 

Ghostkeels and stealths are fun and good. Hammerheads are a solid heavy support choice.

 

Sun shark bombers are good against massed infantry.

 

The forge world models are also all lovely and all very useful.

 

As it stands, your core is fine so sprinkle in some of what models you like :)

[Froglift]

Longstrike and Co. Maybe even magnetize/modify the chassis to be able to turn into a Sky Ray / Rail Rifle / Ion Cannon. Magnets will be your best friend. 

 

You can buy a Hammer Head and use the extra turret parts to modify the Devilfish if needs be.

 

Also a Cadre Fireblade  would not hurt as well. Unfortunately they are no longer being sold right now (repackaging?/new model?) so a Fire Warrior will have to proxy for now or Ebay.

 

It really depends on the play style of whoever is going to end up owning the army and playing it the most.