[willtronic]

HQ
Shas’El 85 pts
- Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multitracker

ELITES
XV8 Crisis Suit (x3) 205 pts
- Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multitracker, Bonded

Stealth Suits (x6) 190 pts
- Bonded

Stealth Suits (x6) 190 pts
- Bonded

TROOPS
Fire Warriors (x12) 130 pts
- Shas’ui

Fire Warriors (x12) 130 pts
- Shas’ui

Fire Warriors (x12) 130 pts
- Shas’ui

Fire Warriors (x12) 130 pts
- Shas’ui

Fire Warriors (x12) 130 pts
- Shas’ui

HEAVY
Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock

Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock

Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock


Total: 1845 pts
Number of Models: 79



I don't like tooling an army for facing any one opponent, so I'm trying to make a list that is pretty versatile and that would not have to be changed much (think RTTs and whatnot).


from a strategic standpoint, the army sits and shoots stuff :P


The fire warriors are lined across the board so just about every possible line of fire is covered, while the hammerheads bombard the advancing enemy troops/tanks. The Shas'el and Crisis Suits provide support for the fire warriors, while the stealth suits are used to harass the flanks of the enemy, draw the enemy out into the open for the fire warriors/hammerheads to shoot, and to claim objectives and table quarters on the last turn.


the list itself is very repetitive when it comes to unit selection, and although I feel it is fairly solid, I have a few concerns:

1) close combat.... if the firewarriors get into close combat it would probably lead to the entire army's untimely demise... but isn't that always the case with tau? : that being said, I was contemplating replacing 1-2 of the fire warrior squads with kroot.

2) dealing with armor.... the only real tank busting I have is the 3 hammerheads, and if they are destroyed then heavy enemy armor will be able to run around virtually untouched. are 3 hammerheads enough anti-tank? if they are not, an idea would be to equip the crisis suits with fusion blasters and turn them into a tank hunting unit.


I'm looking for any and all feedback from the vets out there. Coming from a history of 'nids and 13th company, the tau are a completely new concept to me. I've read a lot from the tactics discussions, but haven't played that many games with them yet, so any input would be appreciated! thanks

[dizzygamer]

looks totally solid exept for the Troops section, drop it all is my advice, read the Mecha bible in my sig is the second peice of advice, if we do it right and drop it all we get 650pts, for that we buy :

12 FW
-Shas'Ui
-Devilfish
-DL
-TA
-MT
230pts

12 FW
-Shas'Ui
-Devilfish
-DL
-TA
-MT
230pts

20 Kroot
140pts

with 50pts left over we have some pts to garnish the rest of the list, we drop the bonding on all the elites squads and we have 80pts, just enough to make it annoyingly short of the pts for another 'EL at this point I'd suggest swapping the crisis for Deathrain monats, making it 168pts and leaving us with a total of 117pts, make 2 TLPR+MP+HWMT 'ELs and your golden.

HQ
Shas’El 97 pts
- TLPlasma Rifle, Missile Pod, HW Multitracker

Shas’El 97 pts
- TLPlasma Rifle, Missile Pod, HW Multitracker

ELITES
XV8 Crisis Suit (x3) 168 pts
-TLMP, TL

Stealth Suits (x6) 180 pts

Stealth Suits (x6) 180 pts

TROOPS
12 FW
-Shas'Ui
-Devilfish
-DL
-TA
-MT
230pts

12 FW
-Shas'Ui
-Devilfish
-DL
-TA
-MT
230pts

20 Kroot
140pts

HEAVY
Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock

Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock

Hammerhead 175 pts
- Railgun, Smart Missile System, Multitracker, Target Lock

and your done, nice and balanced and mobile.
FW in fish dont get assaulted, read the bible for some background and tactics.

[Waldo_Pepper]

I'd agree with Dizzy that your list is solid but the troops section is kind of crummy. You'd be better served by a couple of fish squads or a mixture of fish and static FWs. Having an entire army that just stands & shoots waiting to die is a recipe for disaster - many army's nowadays are geared towards very fast movement, infiltrate, or deep strike and they're going to eat your list alive (or at least the 'nids will ). You need to go with a hybrid or mech list to be truly competitive in a tournament environment.

Bonding is not worth it, even on the stealth teams.

An ethereal would be very helpful in a hybrid list and still comes in handy with a mech list against stuff like the all-too-common Boo! librarian.

I think Pathfinders would be a good idea if you're planning on competing at tournaments b/c it would give you a FA choice plus the MLs really improve the whole army.

3 railheads is a tad boring - you could save yourself a few points (to buy those PFs) by turning one into an ionhead. It would also help against MEQs (including necrons).

A couple units of kroot would really improve your ability to grab and hold on to objectives as well as give you some cheap counter-assault capability.

[MalVeauX]

Willtronic: First of all, welcome to the Tau boards, swing by the Introduce Yourself boards and let everyone know who you are and what you like, etc, whatever you want.

It would be helpful to let everyone know if you have any other models or if it's possible to change the configurations on your crisis suits and hammerheads to help prevent big changes or suggestions that you won't be capable of using.

A Fire Warrior list, quite nice!

Not much I would change, except making room for 2 transports (if you have the models) as has already been suggested. The reason for that is because your other units do not have true mobility when it comes to moving quickly to respond to a threat or take an objective. At the 1850 level, there is usually an over-abundance of anti-armor on the board so if you take minimal armored hulls, they'll receive too much attention and be ripped to bits. If you have a few more pieces of armor floating around, other than the hammerheads, it may just by then a few phases of not taking all 6 lascannon hits, but maybe just 4 (for example of course).

If you have not the models for making some changes, and all you have is a big nest of Fire Warriors, there's nothing wrong with that, but I think an Ethereal would be very helpful with that many Tau units on the board. Simply dropping bonding on the elites will help to generate room for his points if that's the case.

Three 3 railguns is enough for 1850, though some like to think that 4 is a more safe number. I tend to follow a railgun for each 500 points myself, and that's very close to what you're doing.

I would however suggest moving points for Decoy Launchers on those hammerheads. Those are your anti-tank bread and butter, and it would be a shame to be destroyed so easily. Those Decoy Launchers would help keep you afloat a bit longer (every shot counts with a railgun!).

I think the FireKnife Plasma and Missile Pod crisis are nice at the 1850 level due to versatility. Sometimes, plasma is just needed and sometimes the missiles are. Since you only have 4 crisis suits on the field, I think keeping them versatile a bit will be a good option for you considering you want to keep your list good for every opponent. So good choice there.

[Shasel_Aunat]

Welcom Willtronic to the everlasting TO Forum Boards!

OK, firstly, have you read the Tau Mecha Bible? If not then I suggest that you do!

Your army list is looking good, but with one exception...the FW are the only models on foot! I'll have to agree with Dizzy's list and get yourself some transports! Other than that...solid!

[willtronic]

thanks for the advice guys!


Dizzy: I've got the bible bookmarked and will be sitting down tonight to read it, and thanks for the modified list!

Waldo: I was thinking about pathfinders as well, or going the mech route. thanks for the tips!

MalVeauX: I'll stop by and introduce myself shortly. As far as available models go, I have access to just about everything, so feel free to suggest anything!

Shasel_Aunat: like I said to Dizzy, the bible is now bookmarked

[ShadowDeth]

Originally Posted by willtronic

thanks for the advice guys!


Dizzy: I've got the bible bookmarked and will be sitting down tonight to read it, and thanks for the modified list!

Waldo: I was thinking about pathfinders as well, or going the mech route. thanks for the tips!

MalVeauX: I'll stop by and introduce myself shortly. As far as available models go, I have access to just about everything, so feel free to suggest anything!

Shasel_Aunat: like I said to Dizzy, the bible is now bookmarked

Hey will, just some quick advice. Take the mech tau bible with a grain of salt. It's merely the ideas of a few guys that is pimped around a little bit too much. You'd do much better to merely be receptive to advice, but I wouldn't change your way of thinking just because some people on a message board tell you to.

That being said, MalVeauX is clearly the best player i've seen post on this board, from a strategic standpoint and from willingness to be open to new ideas. My suggestion to you is to pay more attention to his postings. But basically, the mech tau bible is just the cult of personality surrounding some tactics these guys here claim to have invented and praise as gospel now. If you want to try a static army, give it a shot. You said you're not new to warhammer so you shouldn't need too much advice anyways. If you *really* wanted advice on the army list after all that, I would suggest either twin linking the plasma or missile pods on the crisis suits. A 3 ballistic skill isn't reliable enough to acomplish whatever goal you want them to do. You lose volume of fire, but you will make up for it with accuracy whether you want to pop elites ( plasma) or lighter vehicles (Missiles).

Also, it couldn't hurt to turn a hammerhead into an ion cannon. Or better yet, my favorite setup for these points

Hammerhead [railgun]
Hammerhead [Ion Cannon]
2 (or 3)Broadside suits. 2 Is 140 without upgrades so they can squeeze into a hammerhead slot easy.

Good luck!

[CommanderNightstalker]

ShadowDeth...you need to fill all three hardpoints on the Broadside, meaning that it is at least 75 pts with the least upgrading possible.

[dizzygamer]

Originally Posted by ShadowDeth

Hey will, just some quick advice. Take the mech tau bible with a grain of salt. It's merely the ideas of a few guys that is pimped around a little bit too much. You'd do much better to merely be receptive to advice, but I wouldn't change your way of thinking just because some people on a message board tell you to.

Just to set the facts straight noone on this site claims to have written the Bible of Tau, its the collective wisdom of the MTT board (kindly formatted and graphiced by Tonka and Tael ) and has been contributed to by some of the finest strategists and tactical minds I've ever seen post on an internet forum.

[Shasel_Aunat]

Originally Posted by ShadowDeth

Hey will, just some quick advice. Take the mech tau bible with a grain of salt. It's merely the ideas of a few guys that is pimped around a little bit too much. You'd do much better to merely be receptive to advice, but I wouldn't change your way of thinking just because some people on a message board tell you to.

<rant> Rant removed by Shasel_Aunat due to fear of Karma! </rant>

ok, I'm good now! But we're all open to ideas, it's just that me a Dizzy really like mech and we thought that will would too seeing on how 3/4 of his army is mobile!