Digging Into the Auxiliary Cadre

[Tawnis]

So, I'll be the first to admit that as a die hard Kroot player, I was a bit luke-warm on the Auxiliary Cadre Detachemnt. However, now that I've looked at it a little more and see it as an interested hybrid / halfway point Detachment, it does bring some interesting tool to the table. I will be comparing this mostly to the Kroot Hunting Pack Detachment as that's what I have the most competitive experience with, so if there's anything I miss in relation to the other Tau Detachments, please feel free to jump in and discuss. 

 

Detachment Rules: 
Targeting Triangulation: 
Kroot and Vespid units are all quite mobile and it's not hard to get them within 9" of an enemy early on, especially if they forego a charge for an advance roll. Adding Ap-1 across the board to all Tau units that shoot an enemy within 9" of a Kroot or Vespid will add up to a lot of extra AP in the game. I feel like Breachers especially will see a lot of love in this Detachment as brining their guns up tp AP-2 (along with other buffs) will be huge. That being said, it leaves the squishy Kroot and Vespid units exposed to a counter-attack, and if they are cleaned off the board right away, it will heavily impede your army's damage output. 

Localized Stealth Projectors: 
Not being able to shoot Kroot or Vespid outside of 18" isn't going to be that impactful in a game where you want them within 9" for your main buffs. That being said, it's not nothing and might be able to protect you from a little first turn shooting if you happen to go second. 

 

Enhancements:
Student of Kauyon: Giving three Kroot units Deep Strike for 15 points sounds good on paper, but I don't see much practical use for it in this Detachment. You have to Deep Strike outside of the 9" range that gives you the AP buff so you can't set that up, and you've also very likely got a few Vespid units that can up/down every turn to take advantage of gaps in your opponents screen. I don't think I'd use this even if it was free. 

Admired Leader: Giving a Kroot or Vespid unit +1OC and +1Ld for 20pts doesn't sound that great even if it didn't have the caveat of  having to be within 12" of the Tau character you give this to at the start of the command phase. At 20 models per unit and OC2, Kroot already out OC a lot of things and it's just so niche that while it might occasionally get you on objective, more often than not, I see this being 20 points and doing nothing. 

Fanatical Convert:  For 10pts a Kroot unit can use FTGG. It's not flashy but it's solidly decent. You could put this on a Lone Spear to have an extra spotter, or to ensure they are guided to connect. Or you could put it on a character in a 20 blob of Carnivores to give the +1 BS for some more anti-infantry firepower and use them as guiding units when their numbers get low. I'd play it, but I think it's just okay. 

Transponder Lock Module: For 25 pts you can Deep Strike a unit of suits turn 1, but they have to be within 12" of a Vespid or Kroot unit (and not inside 9" as normal).  Between Hounds and Vespid both having crazy move profiles, it's not hard to set this suit unit up anywhere on the board within 9" of a target. Thing is, it's not like they wouldn't have been able to do that anyway on turn 2, and when they know you can do this, they can screen key targets on turn 1. It's something I'd have to play with more, but seems kinda meh to me. Best thing I can think of since Tau can get the buff if the Kroot are within 9", but they don't have to be, is to drop some Starscythe Suits into a sturdy infantry brick and go at them with 6 S:5 AP:-2 flamers, then do it again on your opponents move phase with overwatch. It's a lot of anti-infantry output, though with the amount of Kroot and Vespid you're brining to make this list work, I don't think you'll be that hard pressed to find anti-infantry fire, especially since I see Breachers being real good here. 

Stratagems:
Experimental Modifications: Kroot's main weakness is their lack of AP so giving them an extra pip is good. It's no Trap Well Laid, but it serves a slightly different function and works on Vespid to. Totally fine strat, will see lots of use. 

Multisensory Scanning: Now this is a good one. Re-roll 1's to wound for the phase, or if targeting a Kroot or Vespid unit, full re-rolls to wound. This has some serious damage output potential with a unit like Rampagers. 

Interlocking Manouevers: This is a neat one. At the end of the fight phase, a unit (that was eligible to fight) can either make a 6" move, or a fall back move. This is going to have a lot of positioning utility, and is just strictly better than fall back shoot/charge that most armies get. I like this a lot. 

Pheromone Waypoints: Auto advance 6 for Kroot or Vespid isn't very flashy, but there are times when it will be needed. It's not amazing, but a good little trick to have in your back pocket. 

Alien Expertise: Now we're talking, Kroot were sorely missing advance/charge in their detachment, but it does make a lot of sense going into the detachment where they will be used while being more squishy at the same time. Depending on how much CP you have to spare, you could rocket a large unit of Rampagers across the board and delete almost anything. 

Guided Fire: Giving a Tau unit +1S in shooting or +2 if they are within 9" of a Kroot unit doesn't seem like a lot at first, but I can see this being used to great effect on Breachers for some absurd damage output. 

Overall Thoughts:

- While squishier than the Kroot Hunting pack because you loose out on the 5+ invul at range, there are some good speed and damage output tools here to make up for that. While I think the Kroot units are still stronger in their own detachments, they get enough buffs here that I think it will draw a lot of people that are running hybrid lists in the Hunting Pack to this list instead and Hunting Pack will be just the Kroot purists like myself. 
- While the enhancements are lackluster, all the stratagems are at least decent, with most being very good. I expect you to want to take at least one Etheral in this army to farm more CP, you're going to need it. 

- Keeping your Kroot and Vespid alive to give your AP buff and use most of your strats is key. Hainvg hounds in the list will be a must, they can screen turn one and provide the buffs for your big guns, while enabling the rest of your Kroot and Vespid to stay safe for the turn 2 ambush. 
- There are some really good wombo combos to pull off here if you have enough CP to invest into them. Here are just a couple off the top of my head.
        - With a full unit or Rampagers, with the Experimental Modifications and Multisensor Scanning you are making 24 Attacks (Sustained 1) at WS: 3+ S: 6 AP: -2 D: 2 as well as 18 (Lance) WS: 3+ S: 5 AP: -2 D: 1, with full re-rolls to hit from a Lone Spear and full re-rolls to round with the strat. That's not even counting the mortals on the charge. That's going to delete pretty much anything that's not a super heavy. You can even advance and charge them if you have extra CP for more distance. 
        - Devilfish Breachers are no stranger to Tau lists, but wow can they output in this one. Taking them with a Cadre Fireblade and dropping them out next to a Kroot unit, guiding them, then using the Guided Fire strat gives you 30 BS: 2+ S:8 AP: -2 D:1 attacks. 

This Detachemnt feels like it can be very strong, but it's also a bit of a Glass Cannon and will require a lot of skill to pilot correctly. I think it's another good addition to the Tau Datasheets though, and while Hunting Pack is still by far my favourite, I look forward to a bit more testing with this one. 

 

Edited January 17 by Tawnis

[Happy-inquisitor]

I tried out the Aux Cadre at my latest RTT instead of my usual Kroot Hunting Pack

 

The list for a 1500 pt tournament was 

 

Commander Shadowsun (100pts): Warlord
Ethereal (70pts): Admired Leader, 2 Shield Drone
Kroot Lone-spear (100pts): Fanatical Convert, Blast javelin and hunting javelin
Kroot War Shaper (50pts): Kroot pistol, Shaper's blade, Dart-bow and tri-blade

10x Strike Team (75pts), Marker Drone, Guardian Drone
10x Strike Team (75pts), Marker Drone, Guardian Drone

10x Kroot Carnivores (65pts)
10x Kroot Carnivores (65pts)
3x Stealth Battlesuits (60pts)
5x Vespid Stingwings (65pts)
5x Vespid Stingwings (65pts)
3x Krootox Rampagers (95pts)
3x Krootox Riders (90pts) Repeater Cannon
3x Krootox Riders (90pts) Repeater Cannon
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) Rail, SMS, Support, 2 Shield Drone
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) Rail, SMS, Support, 2 Shield Drone
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) HYMP, SMS, Support, 2 Missile Drone
Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160pts): Ghostkeel fists, Battlesuit support system, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Twin burst cannon

 

I went 3-0 coming 2nd in the tournament. The winning player went 100, 100, 80 which I could not keep up with using this list.  My first opponent refused/declined to talk out the end of the game so was short on VP but even if they had I would have scored 79. 100, 81 and still been 2nd

 

Which brings me to my main observation on the detachment and the list - its very good and a lot of fun to play but its ability to score 90+ consistently across 3 games is just not as good as KHP. The KHP is a very single-minded VP scoring play style, AC is much more balanced between killing and scoring.

 

Interlocking manoeuvres is a great strat and the one I felt which shifted scores the most. Multisensory scanning allows krootox or rampager units to punch up into targets up to T11, don't bother when dealing with T12 so not really the best against AM tank lists.

 

Admired leader was less good than I expected it to be. On the other hand my dice suddenly rediscovered the ability to roll 4+ so the ethereal actually pulled her weight across the day pretty well. 

 

Fanatical Convert on a Lone Spear is just awesome and highly recommended. its a spotter that cannot usually be retaliated against but also its attack profile is very solid into quite a lot of targets and spotting for it with Stealth suits is just lovely. Hitting Votann on 3's rerolling 1's then wounding on 2's rerolling 1's and ignoring cover was chef's kiss.

 

My biggest recommendation would be to have plenty of big apes in your list and run them up a flank with something that has lone-op. Very points efficient and hard for a quite a few opponents to deal with. 

[Tawnis]

On 2/25/2025 at 1:42 PM, Happy-inquisitor said:

I tried out the Aux Cadre at my latest RTT instead of my usual Kroot Hunting Pack

 

The list for a 1500 pt tournament was 

 

Commander Shadowsun (100pts): Warlord
Ethereal (70pts): Admired Leader, 2 Shield Drone
Kroot Lone-spear (100pts): Fanatical Convert, Blast javelin and hunting javelin
Kroot War Shaper (50pts): Kroot pistol, Shaper's blade, Dart-bow and tri-blade

10x Strike Team (75pts), Marker Drone, Guardian Drone
10x Strike Team (75pts), Marker Drone, Guardian Drone

10x Kroot Carnivores (65pts)
10x Kroot Carnivores (65pts)
3x Stealth Battlesuits (60pts)
5x Vespid Stingwings (65pts)
5x Vespid Stingwings (65pts)
3x Krootox Rampagers (95pts)
3x Krootox Riders (90pts) Repeater Cannon
3x Krootox Riders (90pts) Repeater Cannon
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) Rail, SMS, Support, 2 Shield Drone
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) Rail, SMS, Support, 2 Shield Drone
Broadside Battlesuits (90pts) HYMP, SMS, Support, 2 Missile Drone
Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160pts): Ghostkeel fists, Battlesuit support system, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Twin burst cannon

 

I went 3-0 coming 2nd in the tournament. The winning player went 100, 100, 80 which I could not keep up with using this list.  My first opponent refused/declined to talk out the end of the game so was short on VP but even if they had I would have scored 79. 100, 81 and still been 2nd

 

Which brings me to my main observation on the detachment and the list - its very good and a lot of fun to play but its ability to score 90+ consistently across 3 games is just not as good as KHP. The KHP is a very single-minded VP scoring play style, AC is much more balanced between killing and scoring.

 

Interlocking manoeuvres is a great strat and the one I felt which shifted scores the most. Multisensory scanning allows krootox or rampager units to punch up into targets up to T11, don't bother when dealing with T12 so not really the best against AM tank lists.

 

Admired leader was less good than I expected it to be. On the other hand my dice suddenly rediscovered the ability to roll 4+ so the ethereal actually pulled her weight across the day pretty well. 

 

Fanatical Convert on a Lone Spear is just awesome and highly recommended. its a spotter that cannot usually be retaliated against but also its attack profile is very solid into quite a lot of targets and spotting for it with Stealth suits is just lovely. Hitting Votann on 3's rerolling 1's then wounding on 2's rerolling 1's and ignoring cover was chef's kiss.

 

My biggest recommendation would be to have plenty of big apes in your list and run them up a flank with something that has lone-op. Very points efficient and hard for a quite a few opponents to deal with. 

 

Looks like the day went pretty well for you, sorry to hear your first opponent seemed to be a little problematic, but at least it didn't effect your ranking. 

 

That was my suspicion about the list on points too, it being a glass cannon, it could leave you without the ability to score where KHP just doesn't have that issue. Even so, it's nice to see how well it actually did overall.

 

Looks pretty similar to how I would have built the list as well, not really anything to critique here, especially since you placed as well as you did. 

 

You also mentioned you've been playing a lot of KHP. How's your experience been there? 

Edited February 28 by Tawnis

[Happy-inquisitor]

2 hours ago, Tawnis said:

 

Looks like the day went pretty well for you, sorry to hear your first opponent seemed to be a little problematic, but at least it didn't effect your ranking. 

 

That was my suspicion about the list on points too, it being a glass cannon, it could leave you without the ability to score where KHP just doesn't have that issue. Even so, it's nice to see how well it actually did overall.

 

Looks pretty similar to how I would have built the list as well, not really anything to critique here, especially since you placed as well as you did. 

 

You also mentioned you've been playing a lot of KHP. How's your experience been there? 

 

I score better with KHP for sure. I've played 2 RTT with it and came first in one and 2nd in the other (I hate the unexploded ordnance mission with a passion - its ridiculously hard to score high when going second against a remotely capable opponent)

 

Its a very single-minded playstyle in which everything is about scoring VP and I only kill things sufficiently to protect my ability to do so. I generally find that so long as we finish games I will score 85-100 when playing KHP and therefore it hardly matters if my army is in tatters by the end.

 

But playing KHP is very single paced as you have the same basic gameplan every game. I wanted a change of pace and Aux Cadre gave me that.

[Tawnis]

1 hour ago, Happy-inquisitor said:

 

I score better with KHP for sure. I've played 2 RTT with it and came first in one and 2nd in the other (I hate the unexploded ordnance mission with a passion - its ridiculously hard to score high when going second against a remotely capable opponent)

 

Its a very single-minded playstyle in which everything is about scoring VP and I only kill things sufficiently to protect my ability to do so. I generally find that so long as we finish games I will score 85-100 when playing KHP and therefore it hardly matters if my army is in tatters by the end.

 

But playing KHP is very single paced as you have the same basic gameplan every game. I wanted a change of pace and Aux Cadre gave me that.

 

Yeah, I run KHP full Kroot, no Tau, and it always scores pretty high for me too; even if I don't win. My last major tournament was 88-100-86-76(loss)-93. And everyone I played against went 3-2 or better. 

 

Hmm that's interesting, I've found the army to be surprisingly killly and have tabled several of my opponents. The ones I don't, we're usually both mauled with next to nothing by turn 3 and just play objectives for the last little bit. One game I took down 5 War Dogs and an assortment of daemon allies on turn 1 (that was actually the game I lost, it's such a fun and crazy matchup as both armies basically counter each other.) 

 

That is true though, it is more-less the same plan, flood the mid-board and prioritize key threats. 

[Happy-inquisitor]

2 hours ago, Tawnis said:

 

 

 

Hmm that's interesting, I've found the army to be surprisingly killly and have tabled several of my opponents. The ones I don't, we're usually both mauled with next to nothing by turn 3 and just play objectives for the last little bit. One game I took down 5 War Dogs and an assortment of daemon allies on turn 1 (that was actually the game I lost, it's such a fun and crazy matchup as both armies basically counter each other.) 

 

 

 

I find I struggle to kill T12+ anything with KHP and I've run into a few lists like that. But T12+ units are big and expensive and they don't have many of them so I just OC them and win on objectives while doing what I can to kill everything else.

[Tawnis]

17 minutes ago, Happy-inquisitor said:

 

I find I struggle to kill T12+ anything with KHP and I've run into a few lists like that. But T12+ units are big and expensive and they don't have many of them so I just OC them and win on objectives while doing what I can to kill everything else.

 

Yeah exactly, T12+ is the breakpoint because we have so much S6. I find I can down one larger unit (especially if it doesn't have a 2+sv) if I put grenades, my Farstaker lethals and repeater cannons into it, but often I'll just ignore it and kill the rest of the army instead. Not much they can do if it's the only unit they have left. 

For instance in one previous tournament, I got turn 1 and got some Farstalkers into melee with a Baneblade that couldn't be seen by the rest of his army from that angle, locking him out of half the board. I spent EMP grenades on them every turn and that monster was hitting on 6's all game (or 5's until I downed his Lord Solar). He barely killed anything with it and I ran away with the game. I think I don't did 5 wounds to the Baneblade, but it didn't' really matter.