Tau Theory Listing?

Hey,

I no longer have a Tau Codex, so I'm not sure on the points cost of things...

HQ---

Commander with TL Missile Pod and the short range big blast thingy?
(not sure what to do with this slot... this isn't the point of the list)

Elites---

3xCrisis Suits with TL-Burst Cannon & Flamer (the cheap suits)
(3 units of these)

Troops---

12 Fire Warriors
(2-4 units of these, depending on army size)

Fast Attack---

5 Pirhana's
2 units with fusion guns, 1 unit with burst cannons, keeping it on the cheap otherwise

Heavy---

3 Hammerheads with Disruption Pods

I suppose the first thing I'll ask is what the game plan is for this list. I don't see a lot of focus other than lots of S5 AP5 shooting. The two biggest things that jump out at me are no markerlight support, and Pirhanas.

Without Markerlight support those large units of fire warriors are significantly less effective. I would almost recommend doing Fish of Fury, with min sized squads to jump out at turn 5, if you are sold on no markerlights. Also one cannot discount the hilarity of removing the plethora of cover saves across the board (especially with Railguns).

I don't like Pirhanas mostly because they are overcosted for whatever benefit they bring. In 5th they could be used to block infantry and charge lanes. With the changed to assaulting vehicles and their frailty they are significantly less effective in this role. Also they cannot take advantage of Disruption pods anymore due to their weapon load-outs maxing at 18".

Hammerheads with D-pods are niffty, but I would probably spend the extra points to take SMS and a Target-lock to split fire it (I am assuming you are running them as Railheads).

How much are Pirhana's? I thought they were cheap ???

Maybe I should take a unit of Pathfinders and only 2 units of Pirhana's. I wanted lots of S5 shooting, and lots of vehicles on the board.

60 base. Standard points for all vehicle upgrades. 5 more to swap the burst cannon to a fusion blaster. (remember base bs is 3, 2 for the drones)

Unless you don't want forgeworld, Tetras are sooo much better than pathfinders. Although if you are going Fish of Fury having to buy those Devilfish isn't an issue so they become much closer in terms of Return of Investment.

I think I'll wait till the new books and pick between Eldar and Tau.

It pretty rough coming up with Tau lists. There are only a couple of solid options

There's a new battle report up on BoLS with a gawd-awful CSM list (duh) playing a decent-looking Tau list. The Tau list has some pretty greasy combos in that bastion.

Mark, I think burst cannons are fail on crisis suits. Especially with the changes to rapid fire weapons now, Tau armies don't need more 18" str5 shooting. Missile pods still keep the suits cheap and give them good range. I do love the Hammerheads, but I really think every Tau army benefits from at least one unit of broadsides.

I saw that, but haven't had a chance to watch with audio. I will try to check it out tonight.

Personally I'm not that much of a fan of the Railhead. It never performs for me, either by missing or scattering. I have been debating those forgeworld turret upgrade though. The Plasma one looks fairly decent IIRC.

Broadsides have always been a personal favorite.

I just like the idea of 9+1 suits on the board. TL Missile Pods are seksy, and don't really require markerlight support.

Lore Weaver wrote:I just like the idea of 9+1 suits on the board. TL Missile Pods are seksy, and don't really require markerlight support.

They are pretty awesome. You can get more than 9+1 if you do bodyguard on the Commander HQ choices.

I'm pretty sure you guys are still playing 5th edition if you're maxing out on suits. Check for some 6th tourney lists online. I think you'll find very few crisis suits. Maybe a unit here or there.

Tau are in a weird spot right now. Some of those tourney lists are neat.

To be honest, I like the Crisis suit theme... comes from being a Robotech fan as a kid.

I was just pointing it out for mark. Currently I only run 6+1 for my 1500. Honestly I don't even know if I'd get another squad at 2k (way to many other neat options, especially in the allies department).

With Allies, I don't think the Tau have any valid reason to ever field Kroot. Why field Kroot when you can have a unit of Ork Boyz.

Lore Weaver wrote:With Allies, I don't think the Tau have any valid reason to ever field Kroot. Why field Kroot when you can have a unit of Ork Boyz.

Outflanking?

That's a good point. Kroot do some things that Ork boyz cannot. And they are comparable price wise. The bugaboo is the Kroot's lousy LD. If you want infiltrating or outflanking troops perhaps space marine scouts would serve better?

Aegwymourn wrote:I was just pointing it out for mark. Currently I only run 6+1 for my 1500. Honestly I don't even know if I'd get another squad at 2k (way to many other neat options, especially in the allies department).

That's still really suit-heavy, especially in a 1500 point list. What types of suits do you use?

one team of helios (plasm/fusion). one dirt cheap with tl-missile pods and BSF. I fine that using the helios team to either deepstrike or protect against it (ask planes paladins or termagaunt's trygon? ) helps a lot with the number of power/terminator armour armies we have. the TL missile pod team has proven themselves to be decently cheap s7 ap4 shooting for anit-transport or anti-infantry. There is a copy of the list ive used for the last three 1500 games in the army list forums.