Farsight list

playing with an idea for a core to a farsight list, so far i got this after reading through many threads at advanced tau tactica:

Supplement: Farsight Enclave Roster

HQ:
Commander Farsight, 165 pts

ELITE:
Stealth Team, 250 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Stealth Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Homing Beacon; Markerlight and Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones)
  
• 1 Stealth Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster; Target Lock)
  
• 4 Stealth Shas'ui
  

Stealth Team, 250 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Stealth Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Homing Beacon; Markerlight and Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones)
  
• 1 Stealth Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster; Target Lock)
  
• 4 Stealth Shas'ui
  

TROOPS:
XV8 Crisis Team, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

XV8 Crisis Team, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

XV8 Crisis Team, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Fusion Blasters; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Fusion Blasters; Target Lock)
  

XV8 Crisis Team, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Fusion Blasters; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Fusion Blasters; Target Lock)
  

XV8 Crisis Team, 150 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Burst Cannons; Drone Controller; 2 Gun Drones)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (2 Burst Cannons; Drone Controller; 2 Gun Drones)
  

I'd drop a stealth team for a Riptide with...

Stimulant Injector, Early Warning override, and Earth Caste Pilot Array. (Reroll nova's and overheats)

I'd arm it with the burst cannon and probably the missiles.

Vectored Retrothrusters, fleet doesn't confer to the unit, does hit and run?

For 149 points you can have 3 suits with twin-linked fusion and a flamer each.

With scoring suits, you kindof define target priority for your opponent. It'll be interesting to see how it plays.

You don't want to take any of the Eight? I'd be tempted to grab a non-farsight commander and use the talisman for 25 pts if you're not using any of the Eight.

Lore Weaver wrote:

Vectored Retrothrusters, fleet doesn't confer to the unit, does hit and run?

No, currently your VRT's are a waste of points as they only convey hit and run to the model and not the squad. I also agree with having a riptide instead of one of the stealth squads and then distributing some more points to your XV8's. You won't regret giving them more awesome weaponry.

actually ian, your wrong. re-read the way Hit&Run works; if 'a' model in the unit has Hit&Run, its confered to the entire squad. but like mark mentioned, they dont all get fleet; you have to give them all VRTs to get fleet for the whole unit.

also, the core list here is only 1355. i could easily toss in a riptide as-is, since it'll be scaled up to 1750 once its all said and done. this is just the core of the army that every other unit choice i decide to take would be added onto

Mike is correct that "hit and run" effects the whole squad as long as one model has it.

I'm not sure with this "core" if I would take Farsight. As Mark pointed out the point of taking fasight vs a commander is either the bodyguard "bomb" or the 8. Although I will speak against internet wisdom and say that all of the 8 have a purpose, since they are the only way to get signature systems from the tau empire in a pure farsight list. 

I would play a couple of games with some proxies for the stealth teams. Some people love them, but I find them rather blah for the amount of points that have to be invested in them. For 30+points a model I expect something with either more defense (terminators) or more offense (drop pod sternguard). 

Also I personally don't like the heavy burst cannon on the riptide, since if you want to spam medium str/ap broadsides with HYMP are so much better. Especially if you take the IC from the 8 to do LOS! shenanigans. 

I would defiantly say to play some games with proxies before committing to anything though. Tau are very much a "you mileage may vary" type of army. Even more so with the new codex. Each person has a very different way to play them.

that's what i've been hearing alot, tom. i'm thinking of taking a couple of the eight now that i've looked at a couple of them. Torchstar is a good choice for added markerlights. and 9-0 isnt too bad either. sha'vastos doesnt interest me any, but bravestorm and arra'kon look like they might be fun. o'vesa's fairly expensive though. but it is a riptide.

the stealth suits is just one of those cases of i really like the models and just want to use them, even if it means sinking points in to make them useful. i understand that pathfinders would be considered 'better' for markerlight count, but i like the look of these more.

that said, looking at Torchstar, i may drop half the dudes in each squad, or one squad altogether. dropping half in each, and taking her brings me to only 1313pts

I like the riptide variant I proposed because you can nova charge the burst cannon, fire it at something you want dead (even strip 1-2 HP's off AV14), and do it again during your opponents phase when he brings something in from reserves.  Then nova for a 3++

I suppose the Ion cannon is cool this way too, a S9 Ap 2 large blast ordinance with higher range...

The missile side unit, which I love, is 270 pts without support systems.  That's three with 6 missile drones.

Now that's 12 S7 twin linked, 12 S5 twin linked, and 12 more S7 shots from drones.... Adding in the dude from the eight is pretty tasty too.  Although, they'd make a great body guard for a farseer :-)

Edit: You only need one drone controller in a unit too.

Well there are a couple of things I don't particularly like about the burst cannon riptide. First as you pointed out the range is half of that of the Ion Accelerator, meaning you have significantly less deployment/movement options. Those are two huge phases for Tau*. Also the Ion Accelerator does not have to be nova charged each turn to be useful. Either basic firing mode is actually quite good (Since I have skyfire on mine I like the standard s7/ap2 heavy 3 to force grounding checks). I know that with the ECPA its basically a guaruntee that nova will go off, but a lot of times I enjoy the double tap secondary or 3++ or 4d6 jump move. Also @ Mike the shielded missile drones are a trap. Forcing moral checks on your riptide for killing one is terribad. Although it would be nice for the character riptide since you can LOS! the stuff you want onto the drones. Or have him join a squad. 

For the broadsides I'd invest in Target Locks for each of them. That way you can divide their firepower just how you want. 

Right now my biggest suggestion for reliable markerlights is the Mark'O and markerlight drones. Even if he doesn't join them the simple fact that they can move and fire is so huge. With the Mark'O the number of hits you get is generally overkill, but helpful for targeting deathstars and the like. 


*Common misconception with Tau. They are a mobility and precision army, not a shooty one. That title is more for Imperial Guard with the sheer firepower they can bring to bear. Most people who try to play Tau that way have a really hard time. They simply do not have the durability or availability of overpowering shooting to win games that way (against a good opponent).

the Mark'O keeps popping up alot in posts i read. what is that? a commander with max'd out marker drones?

so, with a couple small changes, i got this:
1499 Pts - Supplement: Farsight Enclave Roster

HQ:
Commander Farsight, 165 pts (Warlord)
The Eight:
Broadside Shas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0, 128 pts
(Seeker Missile; Twin Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Twin Linked Smart Missile System; 2 Missile Drone; Velocity Tracker(skyfire))
Sub-Commander Torchstar, 154 pts
(2 Flamers; Drone Controller; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones; Multi Spectrum Sensor Suite; Neuroweb System Jammer)

Elite:
Team Foxtrot, 152 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Stealth Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Homing Beacon; Markerlight and Target Lock; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones)
  
• 2 Stealth Shas'ui (Bonding Knife Ritual)
  

Team Golf, 152 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Stealth Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Homing Beacon; Markerlight and Target Lock; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones)
  
• 2 Stealth Shas'ui (Bonding Knife Ritual)
  

Troops:
Team Alpha, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 2 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

Team Bravo, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 2 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

Team Charlie, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Target Lock)
  

Team Delta, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Target Lock)
  

Team Echo, 142 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Burst Cannon x2; Drone Controller; 2 Gun Drones)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Burst Cannon x2; 2 Gun Drones)
  

Heavy Support:
XV88 Broadside Team, 66 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Broadside Shas'ui (Twin Linked Heavy Rail Rifle; Twin Linked Smart Missile System)
  

dusktiger wrote:the Mark'O keeps popping up alot in posts i read. what is that? a commander with max'd out marker drones?

 It is a commander with whatever set up you want (I personally choose 2x missile pods, target lock, iridium armour) with a drone controller, who joins a unit of markerlight drones. This provides you with a decently mobile, tough, accurate blob of markerlights. I personally think 7-8 in the unit plus 2 from the commander (since they are cheaper if bought that way) is more than enough. Even suffering a few casualties you should still end up with 4+ markerlights on a target each turn.

ohhh, ok. then that gives me an idea of how to use Torchstar then:

1479 Pts - Supplement: Farsight Enclave Roster

HQ:
Commander Farsight, 165 pts (Warlord)
The Eight:
Broadside Shas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0, 128 pts (attaches to the other Broadside)
(Seeker Missile; Twin Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Twin Linked Smart Missile System; 2 Missile Drone; Velocity Tracker(skyfire))
Sub-Commander Torchstar, 154 pts (attaches to the Drone squad)
(2 Flamers; Drone Controller; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones; Multi Spectrum Sensor Suite; Neuroweb System Jammer)

Elite:
Team Foxtrot, 152 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Stealth Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Homing Beacon; Markerlight and Target Lock; Target Lock; 2 Marker Drones)
  
• 2 Stealth Shas'ui (Bonding Knife Ritual)
  

Troops:
Team Alpha, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 2 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

Team Bravo, 154 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'vre (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  
• 2 Crisis Shas'ui (Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Flamer)
  

Team Charlie, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Target Lock)
  

Team Delta, 116 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Vectored Retro-Thrusters)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Fusion Blaster x2; Target Lock)
  

Team Echo, 142 pts (Bonding Knife Ritual)

• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Burst Cannon x2; Drone Controller; 2 Gun Drones)
  
• 1 Crisis Shas'ui (Burst Cannon x2; 2 Gun Drones)
  

Fast Attack:
Drone Squadron, 112 pts (8 Marker Drones)

Heavy Support:
XV88 Broadside, 86 pts (Twin Linked High Yield Missile Pod; Twin Linked Smart Missile System; Velocity Tracker)

If you're going skyfire, I'd be tempted to keep the heavy rail rifle, but that's only theory from my brain and not practice.

I think torchstar is too many points for what you're doing with him. Take a regular commander dude guy with a drone controller. Maybe snag the talisman for a 5++ and 4d6 deny the witch.

85 for guy, 30 for two missile pods, 5 for target lock, 8 for a controller, +talisman == 153

im not really sure what way to go on that 88, to be honest. i thought of the rail so they're individual, but then skyfire with that many shots is the same as a mortis dread with only 3/4 the range. in the end it'll come down to a modeling choice for me. if i dont like the look of the missile one, i'll build it with a rail gun.

torchstar is just an interesting character, so thats why i want to throw her in there. a couple of her wargear options i would've gone a different route with, but after hearing what a Mark'O unit is, i think she's better fit for that. she's gonna cause a unit that gets within 12" to treat their guns as gets hot, and people here roll poorly enough when it counts to have that be a benefit. plus with 2 flamers, she can wall of death stuff that tries to assault the marker drones. giving the drones ignores cover to their flashlights is a little pointless for this setup, but if i was near something shooty, she could jump units and make that work.

in the end, its just a named char to pick from, and i like those because i can make them look more unique over other units. lately i've been wanting to do more conversion work, and this project happens to have alot of ideas i want to try, what with converting up lots of marker drones, and making each crisis squad look unique. its not likely that i'd take this to a tournament anyways, unless i was hoping to score points on creativity with it.

so far i've already got 3 marker drones converted using a gun drone and spare bits.

You miss out on the ignores cover aspect of the multi-spectrum suite, but she's the only one who can get it too.

I would agree with Mark that you are not getting the full benefit from Torchstar. Not a big deal, just something to keep aware of. Really I would try to use that MS3 with crisis and dual plasma or dual fusion. Ignoring cover with ap 1/2 weapons is good times  

For broadsides I really don't like the HRR. Maybe its because I was spoiled with the s10/ap1 version on them for so long. But with the HYMP I think they fill more roles better. 

If you want Mike I can toss up a link with the Markerlight drones I've converted so far. Uses a bit from the vehicle kit (the long antenna thingy) and the old targeting array from the crisis suit kit (since they are not usable anymore). I've been using magnets so I can keep options open in the future (eventually going to be able to swap between markerlight/gun drones. would like to add shield, but have to think of a way to show that). 

For Skyfire the only option I like is the Skyray. Other than that, 20 points is a lot to pay for one suit. I have it on my Riptides simply because they have fusion blasters (and if I nova I can shoot them twice). That way I don't really lose a turn of shooting since I can set them up for AA defense, intercept with the fusion blasters, then go do my regular thing with the Ion Accelerator.