Kroot in 10th

[Tawnis]

I've been playing a lot of Kroot since the new rules came out and figured I'd come share what I've found for anyone who might be more interested in the Auxiliary part of the Tau army. 

 

First off, especially with the new points released, the Kroot Hunting Pack is very strong and I think a lot of people are sleeping on it since it plays a fair bit different from a lot of armies. The 5+ invul you get at range on your base 6+ armour saves means that cover mostly doesn't matter to the Kroot anymore, so you're a lot more flexible in where you can position your army. In addition the buff of +1 to hit when targeting a unit below starting is really easy to turn on and the +1 to wound for targeting a unit below half comes up more often than I originally expected and plays well into the Kroot's aggressive hit and run style of combat. 

 

While on the surface, the Kroot don't look like they have a lot of damage output given that aside from the Lone Spear, their best weapon is BS 4+ S:7 Ap:-1 D:2, these profiles bely the Kroot's strength in overlapping many buffs to bring down largest targets, playing very much into the pack hunting mentality. 1v1, you're often going to loose, but set up a few 3v1's and scatter before relation and you're golden. 

First off is the aforementioned +1 to hit and +1 to wound if a target is below starting or half. You can field a lot of units in the Kroot list, so it's easy for one unit to pick off a model and set this up, or to use a grenade strat to enable this as well. Beyond that, the Kroot Lone Spears give you full re-rolls to hit against any target they hit. You've also got a strat in A Trap Well Laid to give a pip of AP to any unit that attacks a specific enemy that phase, you can also overlap this with the free strat from the War Shaper. Then suddenly the attack I mentioned earlier becomes BS:3+ with re-rolls S:7(sometimes with +1 to wound), AP:-3, D:2 which is a much scarier profile and when you consider that a 105pt unit tosses out 12 of these shots per turn at decent range, has a shoot back ability if nearby Infantry are targeted, and has a melee profile that is just as good. 

However, it's not just offence where the Kroot get some good stratagems as they gain a few really good defensive and utility ones too. Hidden Hunters lets you give any Kroot unit Lone Op. You have one for fall back and shoot/charge, another gives a target within 8" -1WS/-1BS this turn (which stacks with Stealth), and a CP one to bring back a giant blob of carnivores. The only meh one is the one to force battle shock in really specific situations, but still 5/6 solid stratagems is a good toolkit. In fact while I'm a full Kroot army advocate, the one unit I do consider running is an Etherael just to farm more CP, because you're always blazing through it. 

As for the units themselves, they're all very playable at their points level and provide key roles to the army. While I think that infantry spam will probably be the best competitive list, an all around list of all the units will still do very well (and IMHO is a lot more fun to play). 

Lone Spear: These are a key part of the army, giving you your full to hit re-rolls and being very evasive units with a large move and move/shoot/move on top of that. The only thing you'll want to be careful with is that while their accuracy is good, it's not guaranteed, so make sure you have a backup plan if you do wiff on the setup. Using the Froothawk flock on one of these is a great way to get a very mobile 12" no Deep Strike Bubble. 

Trail Shaper: While the unit is reasonably weak on it's own, you're paying for the great utility you get. This Shaper gives the attacked unit a reactive move of D6 as well as the ability to re-deploy 2 Kroot units at the start of the game. It also has the enhancement to give its unit +3" move and the Assault Keyword, making whatever unit to attack it to incredibly mobile. 

War Shaper: While weakened a little but the recent FAQ saying that it can't use it's free strat ability to use the revival strat, it still leaves us with a free extra activation of a Trap Well Laid each turn which is still a big damage buff, also letting a unit recover from battleshock is a handy tool too. I always take at least one of these with a bow because the Root Carved Weapons enhancement that gives them Dev Wounds and Precision on a weapon with Anti-Infantry 3+ is a reasonably good character sniper. 

Flesh Shaper: The big melee threat, the flesh shaper gives your unit Sustained Hits 1 in close combat and a 6+ FNP (upgrading to a 5+ after you kill a unit in melee.) It's a decent buffing character, but in most cases, just taking more carnivores is worth about the same amount of points. That is except for the Borthod Gland enhancement that gives them crits on 5+ which when addinng to the full re-rolls from the Lone Spear and the fact that they are likely hitting on 2's in close combat, generates an absurd ammount of hits (The highest I've gotten is 73 hits on 48 attacks) (This 5+ crit effects any other shaper you add to the squad too, so I like it with the Lethal Hits melee War Shaper)

Kroot Carnivores:  The backbone of the army. Even at T3 with Stealth, and a 5+ Invul, they're reasonably durable. They hit reasonably well in both ranged and close combat, move fast and sticky objectives. Great Battleline unit that you'll always want a lot of. In a balanced list, I find either 60 or 70 to be the sweet spot. 

Kroot Farstalkers: Having an infiltrate screen so that all your scout moves go off is really important. I don't ever run less than 2 units and will often run the full 3. They're only a little stronger than baseline carnivores, but they ignore cover and their ability to target a single enemy unit to gain Lethal hits against is nice. They combo really well with the Trail Shaper being able to replace them if they are in a bad spot after first turn is rolled. One thing I tend to do is that if I get first turn, I'll use my Trail Shapers to re-deploy them 9" away from something I want dead, make it all of their bounty targets and just go to town. With a little support they can take out or cripple most units and then you've got 3 squads in your opponent's back line while the rest of your army has already flooded the midfield. 

Krootox: The best unit in the all Kroot lists, this unit is a solid workhorse dealing respectable damage in every phase of the game and supporting other units at the same time. I'm glad I already have 6 of these from the old days because I run a full 9 in every 2k list no question. This is your best way to deal with 2W units or to punch up into Monsters and Vehicles. 

Rampagers: While I think that the Krootox's far superior ranged firepower outclasses the Rampagers, it's still pretty close. They cost and extra 5 points per 3 and you don't get the big gun, but you do get assault pistols making this unit great for actions. In addition, they pick up sustained hits in melee, some extra lighter attacks from the rider, and the ability to deal mortals on the charge. I prefer running these in units of 3 to maximize what you can base in combat for mortals, but there is certainly an argument to be made for running a 6 man blob and protecting it with Hidden Hunters. 

Kroot Hounds: Last of the tournament legal units, hounds make very fast and cheap screening units that provide a great utility to the army. They can easily body block units turn 1, are reasonably hard to kill for their points, and work great to turn on A Trap Well Laid in close combat to allow your larger units to get the buff. 

Knarloc Riders (Legends): The Knarloc riders are reasonably well costed and serve as a lighter version of cavalry. They are the same cost as Rampagers, loose 1W and 1T, but pick up Stealth to replace it, which I think arguably makes them a but more durable. Their attacks are only D1, but at S:6 Lance, you're often hitting AND wounding on 2's. These straight up blender 1 any 1W infantry they come across.  

Great Knarlocs (Legends): Sadly after their time being way undercosted in 8th and a little undercosted in 9th, GW has overcorrected, both nerfing the Great Knarloc and almost doubling its points. At 100 points, this unit does very little for your army and I'd just run more Rampagers for almost the same amount of points. The one way I would still use 1 is the baggage one that gives ranges Sustained Hits in a 3" aura, put all 9 of my Krootox around it and protect it with Hidden Hunters. It's still not worth it unless you're already maxed out on Krootox, but it does add some extra firepower after that, and it's also a cool imposing model that can easily be a distraction Carnifex when needed. 

While our range is still limited, Kroot finally feel like a proper army and not just a Tau afterthought. I love the way the army plays and the models are great. They've even lightly hinted that there will be more to come one day, fingers crossed. 

How have you been finding the Kroot so far, either as support for a larger Tau army, or as a force in their own right? 

[Focslain]

I will be submitting your report to my sister, who is building a Kroot centric force, for review. 

 

Honestly I haven't had a chance to face a pure/mostly Kroot army just yet as they aren't popular in my local area. Hoping that changes as I can see these being a terror for those not prepared. 

[Hfran Morkai]

I haven't yet played around with the thought of a Kroot list or indeed Kroot in my purely hypothetical T'au list.

 

However I bought the Hunting Pack for the savings as I think the models are great. I fully intend on collecting at least one of everything in the range. 

 

I'm incredibly grateful they got such a range refresh because they're a cool race (I was captivated by the story in the, first(?) Tau codex of them ambushing Eldar (possibly Rangers?), they came across as horrifically alien).

 

 

[The Pounder]

Fantastic write up @Tawnis!

 

 I’m really grateful for the advice whilst I’m building my own force.

 

 

[Tawnis]

Glad you're all finding it useful. Here's a few other little tips that didn't really fit in above:

- Your Shapers provide a lot of key buffs, but are very fragile. Be weary of Precision weapons and Epic Challenges that can take them out easily. 

- The hit buff from Heavy Weapons like the Tanglecannon and the Lance buff from things like the Lone Spear's Hunting Javelin DO NOT stack with the buffs from targeting a unit below starting and half. If you have these in your army it's good to attack with them first and try to tip an enemy unit over the edge into buffing others. 
- In addition, though its a super corner case, the Lone Spear's ability also works on over watch, so if you hit a unit with it then that unit charges into one of your units, you will get full re-rolls to hit against it. 
- The Lone Spear's re-roll hit buff lasts until the end of the turn, so both your shooting and melee attacks will get full re-rolls. 

- Having both Lone Op and Fire and Fade, the Lone Spears can easily fight while staying safe, move them just close enough to throw their Javelins then back off keeping enough distance to protect them. 
- For more competitive lists, brining in Darkstrider from Tau proper is very strong. With him and a Kroothawk Flock on a Lone Spear, you have 2 mobile 12" no Deep strike bubbles.  
- I always tend to forget that the Kroothawk flock also gives their bearer's ranged weapons Ignores Cover.