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Need advice on a tau list


Frostwolf240

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I’d start small. You’re far away from 2000 or 2500 points. Get a basic patrol done, based on the models needed from the main rule book. Then build up to a battalion. Make a goal of 500 or 750 points and add to it slowly. Build and paint then buy more. I’d be hesitant dropping a bunch of money for 2500 points and then being overwhelmed and never finishing.

This is my 3rd army. Have 7k or so Space Wolves and 4k Necrons.

 

Planning on building one of everything eventually.

I was looking at making a brigade with auxiliary super heavy for the stormsurge but not to knowlegeable on Tau HQ or best units for anti tank as thats my main opposition for friendly games.

This is the list I am thinking of. If anyone has better recommendations I'd love to know what I should change

 

 

130 PL

15 CP

2000 PTS

 

++ Brigade Detachment ++

 

+ HQ'S +

 

- Aun'Va, 2x Ethereal Guard 95 PTS

- Commander in XV81 Crisis Battle Suit 119 PTS

Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, Smart Missile Systems, Multi Tracker, Warlord - Exemplar of the Mont'ka, 1x Shield Drone

- Ethereal

Hover drone, Honour Blade, 2x Shield Drone

 

+ Troops +

 

- Kroot Carnivores x10

- Kroot Carnivores x10

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones

 

+ Elites +

 

- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors

- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors

- XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit

2x Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Raker, 2x Shield Drones, Shield Generator, Target Lock

 

+ Fast Attack +

 

- Pathfinder Team x10

2x Shield Drone, 8x Markerlight, Ion Rifle, Rail Rifle

-TX4 Piranhas x1

-TX4 Piranhas x1

-TX4 Piranhas x1

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

 

++ Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment ++

 

- KV28 Stormsurge

2x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors, Cluster Rocket System, 4x Destroyer Missile, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Pulse Driver Cannon, Advanced Targeting Systems, Shield Generator, Target Lock

 

 

 

 

Any changes, removals, adds? Keen on peoples input

This is my 3rd army. Have 7k or so Space Wolves and 4k Necrons.

Planning on building one of everything eventually.

I was looking at making a brigade with auxiliary super heavy for the stormsurge but not to knowlegeable on Tau HQ or best units for anti tank as thats my main opposition for friendly games.

Well you’re a vet already then! I’m looking forward to suggestions as well as I’ve been slowly building my Tau.

Ah yeah I already see some rookie mistakes. No worries, I'll explain why some of your choices aren't ideal (going to comment directly in your quote in red)

 

This is the list I am thinking of. If anyone has better recommendations I'd love to know what I should change


130 PL
15 CP
2000 PTS

++ Brigade Detachment ++

+ HQ'S +

- Aun'Va, 2x Ethereal Guard 95 PTS
- Commander in XV81 Crisis Battle Suit 119 PTS
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, Smart Missile Systems, Multi Tracker, Warlord - Exemplar of the Mont'ka, 1x Shield Drone
Simply put the AFP is not a good weapon and Multi Tracker is not a good support system. SMS are okay but kinda wasted on a Commander. The best Commander choices are either Coldstar Commanders, usually with 4 Fusion Blasters, or XV8 Commanders with Cyclic Ion Blasters and potentially the Iridium Battlesuit. If you want add a Shield Generator for durability or a Target Lock for mobility but it'll greatly reduce your damage output
- Ethereal
Hover drone, Honour Blade, 2x Shield Drone

 

Think about taking a Cadre Fireblade. Even if you had no Firewarriors to support he's worth it simply for the BS2+ Markerlight on a character keyword protected unit

+ Troops +

- Kroot Carnivores x10
- Kroot Carnivores x10
- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones
- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones
- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones
- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, 2x Shield Drones

 

Only take the Shield Drones here if you plan to use them to protect some Battlesuits. It's not worth it to sacrifice a 10p Drone to save a 6p Firewarrior. :wink:
Kroot are imo worse than Fire Warriors in every regard due lack of support and higher cost for a min-sized unit, but I take them regularly myself for fluff reasons and while worse they are still good enough usually. Just make sure to have an Ethereal nearby to boost their LD.


+ Elites +

- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors
- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors

Again, AFP are pretty crap. Plasma rifles and Cyclic Ion Blasters are good. Missile Pods are decent too if you want a more mobile missile platform than Broadsides. My personal favourite is a unit with 3 Flamers each surrounded by Shield Drones. They are far more durable than they are supposed to be and quite mobile when advancing with 8+3.5 inch and FLY. 9 Flamers put out on average 31.5 S4 AP0 hits (not shots, so it circumvets our rather bad BS4+) which should kill 5 Marines or ~18 Cultists on average.

- XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit
2x Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Raker, 2x Shield Drones, Shield Generator, Target Lock
A small mistake here, it can't take Shield Drones on its own. What it has are two STEALTH Drones.

A good choice with the Cyclic Ion Raker though. It is definitely better than the Fusion and you picked imo the best support systems. You could think about replacing either for an Advanced Target System to boost the Burst Cannons to AP-1, however personally I'd just switch the Burst Cannons for two Fusion Blasters and keep the Shield Gen and the Target Lock instead.

Make sure you support this guy with Shield Drones somehow (usually by deploying him together with some Stealth Suits) since once your opponent takes care of his Stealth Drones it'll  become MUCH less tanky.

+ Fast Attack +

- Pathfinder Team x10
2x Shield Drone, 8x Markerlight, Ion Rifle, Rail Rifle

That's a big target for your opponent. Everybody knows how important Markerlights are and Pathfinders are very squishy. It might help to split this unit into 2x5 instead so at least moral checks aren't as much of an issue. The Shield Drone here is fine for protecting the Rail rifle which is quite scary, however it's only a single one which won't do much on its own. Consider going either full Ion rifles or full Rail rifles and at least 2 of them.
-TX4 Piranhas x1
-TX4 Piranhas x1
-TX4 Piranhas x1

Love the Piranhas but I always have a hard time fitting them into my lists. There was recently a rather successfull Piranha spam list on one of the bigger tournaments which was all about the Seeker Missiles alpha strike but you'd have to focus your whole list on it to make it work.

Also which weapon do you plan to use? The Fusion Blaster is nice if you have multiples and are lacking anti-tank elsewhere but I often find myself whishing I went with the Burst Cannon instead since it has better synergy with the two Gun Drones and isn't as expensive.

+ Heavy Support +

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle
- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle
- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

A very solid choice. Make sure to support them with Kauyon from your commander in your first turn (if they can shoot at something good). Consider the Advaced Targeting System for the Smart Missile Systems to boost them to AP-1 (and the HRR to a ridiculous AP-5 lol)

 

 

++ Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment ++

- KV28 Stormsurge
2x Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors, Cluster Rocket System, 4x Destroyer Missile, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Pulse Driver Cannon, Advanced Targeting Systems, Shield Generator, Target Lock
Not much to say here since it's the one unit you definitely want to take. However again I wouldn't go with the AFP and instead take the Burst Cannons. Imo the Target Lock is kinda wasted since you usually don't want to move around much with this guy though. Consider the Velocity Tracker against units with FLY or the Counterfire Defense System for some mean Overwatch with all his dakka (especially if you are going with the T'au Sept).



Any changes, removals, adds? Keen on peoples input

Your bread and butter Stratagems will be "Uplinked Markerlight", "Command and Control Node" (at least for the first turn when you use Kauyon on your Broadsides), and depending on the Sept you chose potentially "Focused Fire" (T'au Sept), "Orbital Marker Distribution Uplink" (Sa'cea Sept, note that you can't combine this with the "Uplinked Markelight" since that one requires one of your units to actually shoot and hit with a Markerlight), or "Drop Zone Clear" (Farsight Enclaves).

The others are very situational or even just bad. Like the "Repulsor Impact Field" is nice if your Battlesuit unit gets charged and surrounded by like 30 Gaunts or something but otherwise not worth it.

Also don't fall into the trap of the "Automated Repair System" Stratagem. It's not bad but you quickly burn through all your CP if you try to out-heal your opponents damage that way and the unit will still die. Make good use of the "Stimulant Injector" instead.

Udated List

 

 

134 PL

15 CP

2000 PTS

T'au Sept

 

++ Brigade Detachment ++

 

+ HQ'S +

 

- Cadre Fireblade, 1x Shield Drone

- Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit, Warlord - Exemplar of the Mont'ka, 2x Fusion Blasters, 2x Fusion Blades ((signature systems), 2x Shield Drones

- Ethereal

Hover drone, Honour Blade, 2x Shield Drone

 

+ Troops +

 

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui with Pulse Pistol

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui with Pulse Pistol

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui with Pulse Pistol

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui with Pulse Pistol

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui with Pulse Pistol

- Strike Team, 5x Fire Warriors, Fire Warrior Shas,ui

 

+ Elites +

 

- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x 3 Flamers, 3x Shield Drones

- XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, 3x Crisis Shas'ui, 3x 3 Plasma Rifle, 3x Shield Drones

- XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit

2x Fusion Blasters, Cyclic Ion Raker, 2x Stealth Drones, Shield Generator, Target Lock

 

+ Fast Attack +

 

 

-TX4 Piranhas x1

-TX4 Piranhas x1

-TX4 Piranhas x1

All with Burst Cannons

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

- XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Shield Drone, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Heavy Rail Rifle

 

++ Super Heavy Auxiliary Detachment ++

 

- KV28 Stormsurge

2x Burst Cannons, Cluster Rocket System, 4x Destroyer Missile, 2x Smart Missile Systems, Pulse Driver Cannon, Advanced Targeting Systems, Shield Generator, Counterfire Defence System

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