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Help With Vior’la


Skeggold

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Hello all,

 

I’m digging out my old childhood tau collection to give it a new lease of life. I am looking to create a fluffy army of the 4th sphere, using Vior’la sept tenets as I think they suit the theme. However, I want to remain as competitive as I can, without using different septs on different detachments.

 

What sort of stuff should I be focusing on, to take advantage of Vior’la tenet?

 

~Skeggold

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I haven't looked much at competetive T'au lists lately and saw even less reports of how T'au are doing in competetive environments but if you want to build a fluffy Vior'la list then there's only one thing to do: lots of Firewarrior!

Fortunately the Vior'la Stratagem is quite strong (double-tap but have to target the closest enemy unit).

 

I personally would go with Breacher in a Devilfish here for a few reasons. Breacher are good on their own already, the Vior'la Sept tenet adds quite some mobility while maintaining their accuracy and last but not least Breacher want to be as close as possible to their target anyway and their chance of survival stands and falls with how much of their target they actually kill the turn they get close.

So you put them in a Devilfish, advance it into position for next turn (or wait if you think the opponent comes to you), disembark 3", advance ~9.5", shoot something twice within 5"/10" (the second profile is still good!). That's a threat range of 17.5"/22.5" while being protected by T7 W12 Sv3+ until you decide to go for it.

Make no mistake tho, Breacher are pretty much still a suicide unit. Vior'la just increases their threat range and lets them hit twice as hard as other Septs.

 

Alternatively take a big (12) unit of Firewarriors with a Fireblade and have 72 shots at 15" at the nearest enemy unit.

Alternatively alternatively take some Stealth Suits (they are infantry as well) and let your Burst Cannons and Fusion Blasters shoot twice at the nearest enemy unit (a unit of 3 with Burst Cannons would have 24 shots then!).

 

Lastly there are still your trusty Ion Pathfinder (I prefer Rail rifles but that's just personal preference) which would put out 12 S8 AP-1 D2 shots at 30" at the nearest enemy unit if you take 3 in that unit ... plus a whole lot of Markerlights and/or Pulse shots from the other Pathfinder in that unit.

 

Just keep in mind that you can use a Stratagem only once per phase so make a plan of what you want to do during the match beforehand. Each Breacher unit and each Pathfinder unit with special rifles and probably each Stealth Suit unit would love to benefit from the Stratagem but only one unit can each turn so the others will have to be able to carry their own weight even without that Stratagem in a competetive list!

@Marshlands: definitely need to get a coldstar, purely because the model is so good! What loadouts have you found luck with? I've heard the quad fusion is good but I can't help but think it makes the commanders a bit like a suicide unit.

 

@sfPanzer: All brilliant stuff! I have an abundance of fire warriors left over from my old army, so I could definitely go down the massed infantry route. Is it more prudent to focus on either fire warriors and fireblade vs breacher and devilfish? E.g, bring only breachers in devilfish transports, or vice versa? 

 

I am looking at the Ghostkeel model with drool coming from my mouth... Is it a viable unit for a viorla list? I am thinking that I lack anti-armour but not sure the Ghostkeel fits that bracket. 


 

 

Quadfusion is potentially a suicide unit unless you hold him back for turn 2 and then airdrop some drones nearby. I run mine with 3 Fusions and a Shield Generator so he has some of his own innate survivability rather than relying on deep strike drones, he'll outpace everything else otherwise. He can be a nuclear missile, but he's worth more if you can keep him protected. 

 

Ghostkeels are good and certainly viable (I run two). Anything Ion is good now too. What you want to use Ghostkeels and Stealth suits for primarily is their infiltration allowing you to dominate certain areas of the battlefield. They're good board control pieces. 

 

For the troops I run my list with 2 Breacher squads in Devilfish for pushing the enemy off their objectives and then run 4 MSU squads of Firewarriors with 2 Fireblades to hold my backfield. They're cheap enough that you can run both. 

@Progenitor: I think I would probably go for the triple fusion and shield gen to give him that little bit extra survivability. Good to know about Ghostkeels too, will definitely have to pick up a couple for my list then. Cheers for the info! 

 

What do people reckon to Piranhas for the land grab ability? Bit of waste of points or something worth looking into?

I play Vior'la and everyone is probably going tell me I'm dumb, but I use 5 man carbine fire warriors to great effect. With the pulse accelerator drones and a fire blade these guys are constantly adcancing and firing of 15 str 5 shots at 24". And I use the Vior'la warlord trait so it's pretty easy to keep them in the fireblade's aura while grabbing objectives. This allows my fire warriors to play the role of fire support and board control all at once.

I play Vior'la and everyone is probably going tell me I'm dumb, but I use 5 man carbine fire warriors to great effect. With the pulse accelerator drones and a fire blade these guys are constantly adcancing and firing of 15 str 5 shots at 24". And I use the Vior'la warlord trait so it's pretty easy to keep them in the fireblade's aura while grabbing objectives. This allows my fire warriors to play the role of fire support and board control all at once.

 

I don't think you're dumb at all. Vior'la is the one Sept where Carbine Strike Teams actually make sense. With or without PA Drone and size is up to personal preference. Bigger units for more efficient CP usage, smaller units for the usual MSU benefits.

Just keep in mind the Fireblade adds a shot at half range, so a 5 man unit would have 10 shots at 24" and 15 shots at 12".

 

 

I play Vior'la and everyone is probably going tell me I'm dumb, but I use 5 man carbine fire warriors to great effect. With the pulse accelerator drones and a fire blade these guys are constantly adcancing and firing of 15 str 5 shots at 24". And I use the Vior'la warlord trait so it's pretty easy to keep them in the fireblade's aura while grabbing objectives. This allows my fire warriors to play the role of fire support and board control all at once.

I don't think you're dumb at all. Vior'la is the one Sept where Carbine Strike Teams actually make sense. With or without PA Drone and size is up to personal preference. Bigger units for more efficient CP usage, smaller units for the usual MSU benefits.

Just keep in mind the Fireblade adds a shot at half range, so a 5 man unit would have 10 shots at 24" and 15 shots at 12".

2nd this.. carbines can be viable for viorla. Generally im finding rifles better but its interesting in Viorla when you advance:

 

5 Viorla carbines advancing with PAD and fireblade = 10 at 24" and 15 at 12"

 

5 rifles advancing = 5 at 36" and 10 at 18"

 

5 rifles not advancing = 5 at 36" and 15 at 18"

 

So if you dont advance rifles are better apart from between 19 and 24" away but when advancing rifles are only better over 24"

 

Thing that leads me to rifles is that i tend to open with a sneaky Mont'ka, which allows the rifles to pretty much win out for that turn

 

EDIT: Mont'ka + Borkan rifles for 21" rapid fire

@ SFPanzer

 

Whoops, you are correct. I knew that a few games ago when I started tau, but forgor the past couple games. Thanks for the reminder. I owe a couple guys a beer.

 

@ Skeggold The key to vior'la is to keep moving and then at the right time focus your units in a concentrated strike. 6" + d6" and 8" + d6" is surprisingly quick. Make sure to use it.

Mobility is definitely what attracted me to Vior'la to be fair. So far since returning to 40K I have played Death Guard, Nurgle Daemons and Khorne Daemons. I am getting a bit fed up of being unable to either move anywhere (DG, Nurgle) or move quickly and get to shot to pieces (Khorne). Looking forward to have mobility to put constant pressure on the enemy.

 

Think I am going to go for the breacher + devilfish suicide strat. I have a devilfish, but I also have a hammerhead; is it worth converting the hammerhead to a devilfish to get more transports, or do hammerheads have a place in this type of list? 

  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry Progenitor, didn't see the response! I don't have the ion turret for some reason, must have misplaced it over the years! 

 

I have a light hearted tournament coming up of 1500 pts, single battalion, modified highlander (0-1 of each data sheet except for troops). Here's the list I have come up with; what do you guys reckon?

 

 
++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (T'au Empire) [88 PL, 1500pts] ++
 
+ No Force Org Slot +
 
Emergency Dispensation (1 Relic)
 
T'au Empire Sept Choice: Vior'la Sept
 
Use Beta Rules
 
+ HQ +
 
Cadre Fireblade [3 PL, 62pts]: Markerlight, 2x MV4 Shield Drone, Puretide engram neurochip
 
Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit [8 PL, 138pts]: 2. Through Unity, Devastation, Advanced targeting system, 2x Burst cannon, High-output burst cannon, Onager gauntlet, Warlord
 
+ Troops +
 
Breacher Team [4 PL, 70pts]
. 9x Fire Warrior
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse blaster
 
Strike Team [4 PL, 63pts]
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse rifle
. 8x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle
 
Strike Team [4 PL, 63pts]
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse rifle
. 8x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle
 
Strike Team [4 PL, 63pts]
. Fire Warrior Shas'ui: Pulse rifle
. 8x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle
 
+ Elites +
 
Firesight Marksman [1 PL, 25pts]: Markerlight, Pulse pistol
 
XV25 Stealth Battlesuits [13 PL, 150pts]: Homing beacon, MV4 Shield Drone
. Stealth Shas'ui w/ Burst Cannon: Burst cannon
. Stealth Shas'ui w/ Burst Cannon: Burst cannon
. Stealth Shas'ui w/ Burst Cannon: Burst cannon, Shield generator
. Stealth Shas'vre: Burst cannon
 
XV8 Crisis Battlesuits [14 PL, 251pts]: 4x MV1 Gun Drone
. Crisis Shas'ui: 3x Flamer
. Crisis Shas'ui: 3x Flamer
. Crisis Shas'vre: Drone controller, 2x Flamer
 
+ Fast Attack +
 
Pathfinder Team [6 PL, 100pts]: MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone
. 5x Pathfinder: 5x Markerlight
. Pathfinder Shas'ui: Markerlight
. 2x Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle: 2x Rail rifle
 
TX4 Piranhas [4 PL, 70pts]
. TX4 Piranha: 2x MV1 Gun Drone, Burst cannon
 
+ Heavy Support +
 
TX7 Hammerhead Gunship [9 PL, 178pts]: 2x Smart missile system, Railgun, 2x Seeker missile
 
XV88 Broadside Battlesuits [8 PL, 155pts]: 2x MV4 Shield Drone
. Broadside Shas'vre: 2x Smart missile system, Drone controller, Heavy rail rifle, Seeker missile
 
+ Dedicated Transport +
 
TY7 Devilfish [6 PL, 112pts]: 2x MV1 Gun Drone, Burst cannon
 
++ Total: [88 PL, 1500pts] ++
 
Created with BattleScribe

You've got Drone Controllers but no drones that you'll use them on (outside of the Crisis team), I'd be tempted to drop them and get some Markerlights on your Strike Team Shas'ui so you're not solely reliant on the Fireblade and non-rail Pathfinders. Personally, I like running 5 man Strike Teams to help with morale too. Yes, it's a potentially easier First Blood for an opponent but you can also spread out for objectives and the enemy has to split their fire more or only wipe out a 5 man squad. 

Oops, the XV88 Drone Controller was left over from when I had him accompanied by Sniper Drones. I forgot to change it to a target lock.

 

Yeah I see the logic with the 5 man Strike teams. I will have a play around and see how many I can fit into a battalion, although I may run into problems with the 0-3 limits on troop types enforced by the tournament. 

@Progenitor: Nope, just a 1500 point battalion with 0-1 on every choice apart from troops which are 0-3 per data sheet. Pretty strict!

 

@Focslain: Oh dear I must have missed that; I did wonder why battlescribe was flashing up with that error. It also says vectored manuevering thrusters are a no-no. Has that been FAQ'ed as well?

@Focslain: Oh dear I must have missed that; I did wonder why battlescribe was flashing up with that error. It also says vectored manuevering thrusters are a no-no. Has that been FAQ'ed as well?

 

That's a T'au Sept signature system. It's easy to miss, but T'au Sept != T'au army. ^^

Sorry to butt in hear but while the conversation was on Signature Systems I thought I’d ask a question.

My force is made of 2 battalions, 1 Bork’an, 1 T’au.

I have a Commander in each, I was hoping to give the Bork’an the Puretide Engram Neurochip and the T’au Commander Vectored Manouvring Thrusters. Is this allowed given that they are different Septs?

Sorry to butt in hear but while the conversation was on Signature Systems I thought I’d ask a question.

My force is made of 2 battalions, 1 Bork’an, 1 T’au.

I have a Commander in each, I was hoping to give the Bork’an the Puretide Engram Neurochip and the T’au Commander Vectored Manouvring Thrusters. Is this allowed given that they are different Septs?

 

Sure is. The PEN is not bound to any specific Sept anyway. You could even give your T'au Sept Commander the VMT, your Bork'an Sept Commander the Plasma accelerator rifle (the Bork'an Sept specific Signature System) and another character the PEN.

Just keep in mind that only the relic from your warlords detachment is for free and then you have to pay 1CP for the second and another 2CP for the third.

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