Aqui...and the T'au.

[Aqui]

It's the very first time I've tried my hand at T'au. In my own mind, they, like Sisters, Dark Eldar and Necrons are still "New Races" as my first foray into 40k back in Rogue Trader and early Second edition, they didn't exist. With that in mind, I never really looked into them all that much when I returned at the back end of fifth edition. That said, I have a substantial Sisters army (circa 3-4k, half unpainted) and a few Drukhari that might see paint one day.

 

That leads me to T'au. I'm not entirely sure what has lead me to the Greater Good, but having read a little in the Xenos II book, it piqued my interest somewhat. It's pure coincidence that they're getting their Codex this weekend.

 

So far, i have a squad of Fire Warriors from the Kill Team box. I intend to get a few more models and get assembling soon. For now, i can only show you all what im working towards in the list below. Bear in mind I've never made a T'au lost before, so if I'm making any glaring errors, please let me know! :lol: It centres around Shadowsun and like most of my armies, my decisions on what to take are based on rule of cool just as much as strategic soundness.

 

 

Hidden Content

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (T'au Empire) [83 PL, 1497pts] ++

 

+ HQ +

 

Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit [8 PL, 166pts]: Advanced targeting system, Early warning override, High-output burst cannon, Missile pod, 2x MV4 Shield Drone, Puretide Engram Neurochip

 

Commander Shadowsun [9 PL, 184pts]: Exemplar of the Mont'ka, MV52 Shield Drone, MV62 Command-link Drone, Warlord

 

+ Troops +

 

Breacher Team [6 PL, 116pts]: DS8 Tactical Support Turret w/ Missile pod, 9x Fire Warrior, Fire Warrior Shas'ui, MV1 Gun Drone, MV4 Shield Drone

 

Breacher Team [6 PL, 116pts]: DS8 Tactical Support Turret w/ Missile pod, 9x Fire Warrior, Fire Warrior Shas'ui, 2x MV4 Shield Drone

 

Strike Team [6 PL, 116pts]: DS8 Tactical Support Turret w/ Missile pod, 2x MV1 Gun Drone

. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse rifle

. 4x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Carbine

. 5x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle

 

Strike Team [6 PL, 116pts]: DS8 Tactical Support Turret w/ Missile pod, 2x MV1 Gun Drone

. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse rifle

. 4x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Carbine

. 5x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle

 

+ Elites +

 

XV25 Stealth Battlesuits [6 PL, 90pts]

. 3x Stealth Shas'ui w/o support system: 3x Burst cannon

 

XV25 Stealth Battlesuits [13 PL, 174pts]: 2x MV4 Shield Drone

. Stealth Shas'ui w/ Early warning override: Burst cannon, Early warning override

. 3x Stealth Shas'ui w/o support system: 3x Burst cannon

. Stealth Shas'vre: Burst cannon

 

XV8 Crisis Battlesuits [14 PL, 223pts]: 6x MV4 Shield Drone

. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst cannon

. Crisis Shas'ui: Burst cannon

. Crisis Shas'vre: Burst cannon, Early warning override, Plasma rifle

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

XV88 Broadside Battlesuits [9 PL, 196pts]

. Broadside Shas'ui: 2x Smart missile system, Early warning override, Heavy rail rifle, Seeker missile

 

++ Total: [83 PL, 1497pts] ++

 

Created with BattleScribe

 

I'm also mulling over a few colour schemes. Whilst I want to stay fluffy with Shadowsun being in white, I'd prefer to honour my Liber roots and create a DIY Sept. I'll get back to you on what I decide on :)

 

Thanks for looking! ^_^

[Panzer]

Of course there are a lot of things that could be adjusted but the one thing that strikes out as overly odd/bad to me is the Crisis unit with only one weapon on each suit.

Crisis have 3 slots so you should give them 3 weapons or at least two weapons and a support system.

They are way too expensive per model to have only.one weapon each.

 

About the painting.

T'au paint the armor to blend in with the environment. Green in forests, grey for urban areas, red for volcanic environment and so on. What dedicates the Sept is the color of the Sept and rank markings.

There are some special things like Farsight painting his armor in a dark red to honor fallen T'au warriors or the Vior'la parade uniform being white with red undercloths etc.

With Shadowsun it's another case of exception. Some warrior are allowed to inverse their color scheme. So the Sept color (white in her case since she's from T'au Sept) as main color of the armor.

[Aqui]

Of course there are a lot of things that could be adjusted but the one thing that strikes out as overly odd/bad to me is the Crisis unit with only one weapon on each suit.

Crisis have 3 slots so you should give them 3 weapons or at least two weapons and a support system.

They are way too expensive per model to have only.one weapon each.

Ah, okay. That's down to me not knowing they can take more than one weapon. Thanks for pointing that out :) I'll take another look and add more to them.

 

About the painting.

T'au paint the armor to blend in with the environment. Green in forests, grey for urban areas, red for volcanic environment and so on. What dedicates the Sept is the color of the Sept and rank markings.

There are some special things like Farsight painting his armor in a dark red to honor fallen T'au warriors or the Vior'la parade uniform being white with red undercloths etc.

With Shadowsun it's another case of exception. Some warrior are allowed to inverse their color scheme. So the Sept color (white in her case since she's from T'au Sept) as main color of the armor.

I've considered a few schemes, the better one I made on the Tau painter being an icy blue with grey secondary colour. I've also seen some digital camo schemes that look quite nice on Tau, so I might go in that direction. I might paint Shadowsun white and have the rest of the Sept in another colour. Still have a fee ideas I want to try before posting the better ones.

 

Thanks for your post :)

[Emicus]

Two commanders (coldstar and shadowsun) in 1 detachment alert?

[Aqui]

Two commanders (coldstar and shadowsun) in 1 detachment alert?

I checked Battlescribe before posting the list. It's a Battalion list, so 2 HQ's are fine as far as I remember :)

[Progenitor]

Has Battlescribe been updated for the new Codex though? Especially as it's not out until this weekend I'd not expect it to have all the modifications in there yet. 

[Aqui]

Has Battlescribe been updated for the new Codex though? Especially as it's not out until this weekend I'd not expect it to have all the modifications in there yet.

Not as far as I know. I just made this list to gauge whether or not I'm on the right track generally :)

 

Whilst in town, I decided to get a XV8 box, a start collecting box and the Tau Commander box at a 10% discount. I'll order Shadowsun to delivery to my local GW tonight. Should get her Thursday.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Aqui

[Emicus]

 

Two commanders (coldstar and shadowsun) in 1 detachment alert?

I checked Battlescribe before posting the list. It's a Battalion list, so 2 HQ's are fine as far as I remember

 

​As of the new Codex there is a restriction of 0-1 Commanders per Detachment.

 

Need to bust out the Ethereals or Fireblades!

[Aqui]

 

 

 

Two commanders (coldstar and shadowsun) in 1 detachment alert?

I checked Battlescribe before posting the list. It's a Battalion list, so 2 HQ's are fine as far as I remember

​As of the new Codex there is a restriction of 0-1 Commanders per Detachment.

 

Need to bust out the Ethereals or Fireblades!

Whoops! :lol: I might wait until saturday and work it out from there. Doesnt hurt to have a second HQ for alternative builds. That or i could get a seperate detachment and get around it like that! ^_^

[Marshal van Trapp]

I still think it's stupid you can only take one commander per attachment, it was the spamming of fusion blasters that caused them to do it

The only thing commanders like shadowsun, and farsight have in common with said quad fusion commanders is their special abilities. It should be a restriction on the commander entry not on commanders the keyword...

Edited March 14, 2018 by Marshal van Trapp

[Waking Dreamer]

I still think it's stupid you can only take one commander per attachment, it was the spamming of fusion blasters that caused them to do it

The only thing commanders like shadowsun, and farsight have in common with said quad fusion commanders is their special abilities. It should be a restriction on the commander entry not on commanders the keyword...

Totally agree. Farsight and Shadowsun are far from OP and should be clearly exempt from the restriction.

[Aqui]

Well, it hasn't caused me too much bother. As I now have the Start Collecting box, I have an Ethereal. I'd have preferred to not use one for fluff reasons, I'm not too worried about it :)

[Panzer]

Well, it hasn't caused me too much bother. As I now have the Start Collecting box, I have an Ethereal. I'd have preferred to not use one for fluff reasons, I'm not too worried about it :)

You could convert him into a cool Fireblade/Darkstrider with some Firewarrior bitz like many T'au player did in 7th. ;)

[Aqui]

 

Well, it hasn't caused me too much bother. As I now have the Start Collecting box, I have an Ethereal. I'd have preferred to not use one for fluff reasons, I'm not too worried about it :)

You could convert him into a cool Fireblade/Darkstrider with some Firewarrior bitz like many T'au player did in 7th. ;)

I'd have to take a look and see what people have done then. I have read as much as I can about the T'au over the last few days and there's still a lot to read up on! Just counting the days until Saturday now...

 

Just read up on Darkstrider. His fluff sounds cool and Shadowsun regards him highly, so it's quite fluffy. Hmmm....

Edited March 14, 2018 by Aqui

[Panzer]

 

 

Well, it hasn't caused me too much bother. As I now have the Start Collecting box, I have an Ethereal. I'd have preferred to not use one for fluff reasons, I'm not too worried about it

You could convert him into a cool Fireblade/Darkstrider with some Firewarrior bitz like many T'au player did in 7th.

I'd have to take a look and see what people have done then. I have read as much as I can about the T'au over the last few days and there's still a lot to read up on! Just counting the days until Saturday now...

 

 

Something nice and simple like this usually:

 

 

 

[Aqui]

I like the bottom one a lot. It's another option for me now, certainly :)

[MithrilForge]

welcome aboard the T'AU Train   

look forwards to seeing your take on them and what colour scheme you go with!.

 

@sfPanzer - yeah the bottom one rocks 

 

cheers ,Mithril

[Panzer]

Funny, the bottom one is the one I like the least of those three. :D

[MithrilForge]

Funny, the bottom one is the one I like the least of those three.

It's the one Untainted by an unfinished paint job  ,it's a clear canvas! 

 

Mithril

Edited March 15, 2018 by mithrilforge

[Aqui]

I picked up Shadowsun from my local GW yesterday and left with her, The Fang, Russ grey and Fenrisian grey paints, plus a Devilfish and a box of pathfinders :lol:

I managed to punch through some hobby ennui and get Shadowsun assembled at least. The antenna to the drones were too fragile to risk heating and bending straight, so I left them. The drone bases were the smallest in the box, but are still higher than typically pictured :lol: Oh well!

Just waiting until tomorrow, so I can download the eCodex so I can work out what weapons to equip everything :)

[Panzer]

Can't wait to see your Shadowsun painted! I'm mighty jealous of all T'au Sept and Dal'yth Sept Commander for having the option to field a stealth commander!