Let's talk T'au Kill Team

[MithrilForge]

my mates are running Killteam and i think even "I" can paint AND Finish 11 models!  ...

 

from memory - 

 

(LDR) XV-25, burst cannon & ML,TL.

(Sniper) - pathfinder gunner - Ion Rifle

(Demolitions) - Pathfinder Gunner - Rail rifle  

(Comms) - Fire warrior and DS8 Turret?...

1x  Recon drone

6x Gun drones (tentative)

 

 

Mithril

 

p.s. this is for matched play so only working with lvl 1 abilities in mind...

[Kythnos]

I will be testing my T'au kill team this evening in a few games against different armies. It consists of the contents of a box of stealth suits and pathfinders, including their drones. Do you have any recommendations for this kind of setup (which models and specialists to pick/tactics to use)? I will definitely report afterwards :)

[brother_b]

Leader stealth suit with target lock. Whatever weapon you like. You can advance and fire without penalty.

 

Heavy stealth suit. You can advance and fire without penalty.

 

Advance all the time. It lets you dictate the battle.

 

Coms specialist and pathfinder with rail rifle sniper specialist. Use together for bonuses to hit.

 

Recon drone. Use with above sniper for ignore obscured.

 

Rest of army cheap bros as you see fit.

[WickedJester1013]

How does the ion rifle compare to the rail rifle??? When would you want to take one other the other?

[WickedJester1013]

What are the preferred objective grabbers? Stealth suits, drones or breaches?

[Kythnos]

Leader stealth suit with target lock. Whatever weapon you like. You can advance and fire without penalty.

 

Heavy stealth suit. You can advance and fire without penalty.

 

Advance all the time. It lets you dictate the battle.

 

Coms specialist and pathfinder with rail rifle sniper specialist. Use together for bonuses to hit.

 

Recon drone. Use with above sniper for ignore obscured.

 

Rest of army cheap bros as you see fit.

 

Did exactly that and had a pretty good game against an Eldar kill team. The two suits and the sniper buff station did the heavy lifting for the whole team, while the remaining pathfinders did their best to be annoying without doing much actual damage. Though one pathfinder actually managed to clubber a storm guardian to death with his pulse carbine in close combat :D

 

How do we deal with close combat opponents who are hiding behind LOS-blocking terrain, especially if we have the initiative? I felt that moving around the terrain would expose my models to a charge before they get to shoot. Moving a bunch of models there at the same time for mutual overwatch support might work though.

[WickedJester1013]

 

 

How do we deal with close combat opponents who are hiding behind LOS-blocking terrain, especially if we have the initiative? I felt that moving around the terrain would expose my models to a charge before they get to shoot. Moving a bunch of models there at the same time for mutual overwatch support might work though.

 

Maybe the support turret? The smart misales don’t need the LOS

[MithrilForge]

@Kythnos - 

"WickedJester1013" has it exactly! -  The SMS turret, it hit's up to 30" out of LoS so your hitting on 6's   all the neg's on things considered it's funny how many others need 6's too !!

I Give the Ion rifle the sniper Specialty so he can Overcharge and reroll 1's  ... and the Rail rifle demolitions for the +1. 

 

Cheers, Mithril

[WickedJester1013]

This weekend I have some killteam action vs my friend, both of us have played only 1 game. He’s playing a space marine team and maybe we’ll play some other games, but he’s marines are the only team I know for sure. Also as far as I know he doesn’t like scouts so I expect marines and primaris with maybe 1 scout sniper.

Questions on my general 100pt list.

1 stealth suit shasvre leader with burst cannon, market light and target lock

1 stealth suit heavy spec, burst cannon, marker light and target lock,

Pathfinder sniper with rail rife,

Pathfinder comma with rail rifle,

Fire warrior, with smart middle drone,pulse rifle

Recon drone,

Gundrone

Gundrone.

Should be 100 on the nose

[Bryan Blaire]

1 stealth suit heavy spec, burst cannon, marker light and target lock

You may have already noticed, but from my Kill Team book, only the Stealth Shas'vre can take a marker light and target lock, and it looked like your list already had one of those. Only a 1 point savings though.

 

The Heavy ability takes care of what the Target Lock would have already anyway.

[Kythnos]

So, we're going to start a kill team campaign in January and I am currently thinking about my 12 model start setup. I only have the contents of one pathfinder box and one stealth suit box available and everything is built already. My biggest question is who is going to be a specialist. There will be one pathfinder with Comms, one pathfinder gunner with Sniper (rail rifle or ion rifle is the big question, though) and one stealth suit with heavy (though which one – burst cannon for the +1 shot tactic or fusion blaster for better advancing and shooting). But who is going to be the leader? A pathfinder shas’ui or a stealth suit shas’vre? For a thematic campaign I would like to use one of the unit leaders as the team leader as that seems more fitting.

 

What are your thoughts?

[brother_b]

Rail rifle reigns supreme. Rapid fire good str good range and a chance at a mortal wound.

[Panzer]

Agreed. As long as you can position your RR Pathfinder properly so you can shoot with him more than once before it gets killed he'll wreck any target.

[Kythnos]

Well, rail rifle it is!

How about the Heavy specialist. Burst cannon or fusion gun?

[brother_b]

Well, rail rifle it is!

How about the Heavy specialist. Burst cannon or fusion gun?

 

My stealth leader gets the fusion gun (or burst whatever really) and takes the target lock. Free advance and shoot no penalty.

 

My heavy was the other stealth with the burst cannon. Again, advance no penalty.

 

I was advancing all around with my suits, they can fly, haul butt, and set up good shots. Good luck in KT.

[Panzer]

 

Well, rail rifle it is!

How about the Heavy specialist. Burst cannon or fusion gun?

 

My stealth leader gets the fusion gun (or burst whatever really) and takes the target lock. Free advance and shoot no penalty.

 

My heavy was the other stealth with the burst cannon. Again, advance no penalty.

 

I was advancing all around with my suits, they can fly, haul butt, and set up good shots. Good luck in KT.

 

 

Same here. Mostly because all my Fusion Blaster wielding Stealth Suits are painted as Shas'Vre thanks to 40k tho, otherwise I probably would've given the Heavy the FB to spread out targets of value a bit more so my opponent can't take out the FB and the Leader by just killing one model. ;)

[Kythnos]

Thanks again for the feedback, Guys. So taking everything into account this is what I am thinking to start the campaign with - 12 models and standard limitations:

 

 

++ Kill Team List (T'au Empire) [132pts] ++

 

+ Configuration +

 

List Configuration: Matched Play: Kill Team

 

+ Leader +

 

Pathfinder Shas'ui [7pts]: Leader, Pulse pistol

 

+ Specialists +

 

Pathfinder [6pts]: Comms

 

Pathfinder Gunner [12pts]: Rail rifle, Sniper

 

XV25 Stealth Battlesuit Shas'ui [20pts]: Burst cannon, Heavy

 

+ Non-specialists +

 

MB3 Recon Drone [7pts]

 

MV33 Grav-inhibitor Drone [7pts]

 

Pathfinder [6pts]

 

Pathfinder [6pts]

 

Pathfinder [6pts]

 

Pathfinder Gunner [10pts]: Ion rifle

 

XV25 Stealth Battlesuit Shas'ui [20pts]: Burst cannon

 

XV25 Stealth Battlesuit Shas'vre [25pts]: Fusion blaster, Markerlight & Target lock

 

++ Total: [132pts] ++

 

Created with BattleScribe

 

One option might be to scrap one model on this roster and to another rail rifle pathfinder.

[MithrilForge]

i think people underestimate the power of the ion rifle overcharging as a sniper specialist... 

 

Mithril

[brother_b]

i think people underestimate the power of the ion rifle overcharging as a sniper specialist...

 

Mithril

I just can't get over how good the rail rifle is. Does anybody have good experience with the ion ?

[Kythnos]

So, just had my first campaign game with my T'au kill team. Won 6:3 as attacker at 'Disrupt Supply Lines' against Tyranids. It was a good day for the XV25's I must say. Basically did all the work after a lucky hit got rid of the rail rifle sniper early in the game. And he even died after the match... :'D

[Trevak Dal]

Why is there so many penalties for shooting? To give us a feeling of pride and accomplishment when we cause a fleshwound?

 

I've watched a couple of battle reports and it's slap fight city. Like seriously, 5th/6th edition kill team (200 points of models, no terminators no 3+ wounds...and go) was better.

[Panzer]

Why is there so many penalties for shooting? To give us a feeling of pride and accomplishment when we cause a fleshwound?

 

I've watched a couple of battle reports and it's slap fight city. Like seriously, 5th/6th edition kill team (200 points of models, no terminators no 3+ wounds...and go) was better.

 

Because every caused wound is potentially much more deadly than in 40k where you have tons of wounds on the board instead of just ~10. Also because it's supposed to be more about positioning and moving. Both give kill team matches some sense of danger and importance compared to 40k where you are expected to take dozens of models away per turn.

 

Imo it's worlds better than the previous kill team version. It just happens to feel not quite right for T'au because Markerlights have to hit first to provide some benefit as well but that's just our usual problem with to-hit penalties this edition.

 

However of course tastes are different and if you like the pseudo kill-team that was actually just low point 40k better than that's perfectly fine. If you can find people to play it with you even better. Just know that you are in the minority then so don't expect people to talk about it. ^^

[Brother Tyler]

Why is there so many penalties for shooting? To give us a feeling of pride and accomplishment when we cause a fleshwound?

 

I've watched a couple of battle reports and it's slap fight city. Like seriously, 5th/6th edition kill team (200 points of models, no terminators no 3+ wounds...and go) was better.

While the questions about shooting penalties are valid, they are more general in nature. These questions are better posed in a general discussion of the current Kill Team game, leaving this discussion to constructive comments about how to use the T'au effectively in the game.

[Kythnos]

How are everyones T'au kill teams doing?

 

I had a match not too long ago against AdMech in a take prisoners mission. My rail rifle sniper was on a roll and kept the AdMech's advance at bay, while one of my Stealth Suits punched an isolated ranger hard enough to take him out and capture him. I purposefully took one model less to win in case of a draw which paid off, as my opponent was suddenly forced to advance which his team was ill-suited for. The mobility of my Stealth Suits and the firepower of the buffed sniper made this a venture that he could hardly win.

 

All the other models where mostly looking pretty and trying to block avenues through which my opponent could have advanced.

[Panzer]

Actually it's not doing anything at all. Lately we haven't had as much time to game in our group so when we meet we prefer having actual 40k matches. Kill Team is fun every once in a while but not if it replaces regular 40k gaming. ^^

 

It also doesn't help that I'm currently working on my Blood Angels mainly and kinda ignoring my T'au. It's just so refreshing to be able to do stuff in the psychic and melee phase as well and having BS3+ feels so much more solid than BS4+ and relying on getting 5+ Markerlights to be able to hit properly. 

 

Anyway, congrats on your win! At least one Stealth Suit and a Rail rifle sniper have been in my Kill Team from the very beginning and they are definitely the powerhouses of T'au teams!