[OgreMkV]

Hi everyone,

My current Tau force stands at a paltry
12 firewarriors
12 kroot
1 hammerhead

I plan on making the hammerhead modular (i.e. I can change out weapons or even make it into a devil fish).

I've visited my local gaming center and observed what the others play there. I have seen the following: (please keep in mind that I have no other codexes, only played warhammer once, (add your own noob stuff here).

Necrons: (I actually got to play these guys)
2 squads of 20 warriors (maybe upgraded weapon?)
3 wraiths
5 scarab swarms
leader of some kind
maybe another, smaller infantry type unit

Orks:
Lots of unpainted orks
3 small 'mecha' with buzz-saws
3 'cannons' of some flavor
hordes of stuff that includes 'big shootas'
something with a blast template

Tryanids:
Lots of stuff

Eldar of some flavor:
some kind of small 'mecha' type unit

Marines? of some flavor:
infantry with rage for increasing movement
infantry with pistols
BIG winged demon thing

Space Marines of some flavor:
lots of power armor, but not so many units
one or two BIG suits of power armor
5 'motorcycle' vehicles
some big four-legged creature


With that in mind, and as I haven't seen any vehicles yet, I'm thinking of making the hammerhead into an ionhead first. In one tourney that's coming up, no template weapons are allowed so it negates the Rail Submunition.

Now, two questions:

1) What are my best options for configuring my Battlesuit Commander?

2) What additional forces should be at the top of my purchase list? I will definately be purchasing a 2nd squad of firewarriors. I like the sound of the stealth suits, but I just read the article on the pathfinders (however, I would also have to get a second skimmer). So what do you guys think?

BTW: I'm not going for any particular army size here, just a decent collection of stuff to start learning with. Maybe the 40min games to start with.

Thanks in advance
Kevin

[Savient]

You need crisis suits. And a HQ would come in handy. More FW. Maybe a Broadside or 2. Stealth suits.

The strength of tau comes not from one single unit (my squad of FW LOST to one squad of IG due to special/heavy weapons when I got my first squad painted finally.) but in the interconnectivity of the different units and how they mesh together (Same opponent, 1000 point list. Result: Massacre, I lost one burst cannon off of a devilfish, he lost every unit he had.) Tau dont get strong till you blend everything together.

[Nova]

wait... no templates (that's the flamethrower thing) or no area-effect weapons whatsoever?

I'm not sure that hurts everyone equally... even if you took the poor guardsmen out of the equation... I'm sure the necron and horde-tyranid players are screaming with joy though...

[OgreMkV]

Originally Posted by Nova

wait... no templates (that's the flamethrower thing) or no area-effect weapons whatsoever?

I'm not sure that hurts everyone equally... even if you took the poor guardsmen out of the equation... I'm sure the necron and horde-tyranid players are screaming with joy though...

I probably won't be playing in that tournament, but I mention it as something that may be a possible thing for consideration.

So Savient... in what order should I purchase?

HQ Crisis Suit
2 more Crisis Suits
Squad of firewarriors (definately on the top list)
Then broadside
Then Stealths...

looking at this as you like i beliueve that the most important order in which to purchase your stuff in is
1) Crisis HQ
2)Crisis suits
3)Fire Warriors
4)Stealths
5)Broadsides.

this is assuming of course that you want to play a hybrid/static force in the beggining, which i heavily advise.

as for crisis commander configs, i advise taking the Missle Pod, Burst Cannon (or Cyclic Ion Blaster) and multi tracker, along with any other wargear you wish to use.

[Eyce Breaker]

Savient said that a burst cannon was taken of his fish but only main weapons can be destroyed. corect me if I'm wrong.

no you can lose defensive weapons too, i do believe that you must lose all main weapons first though...

[Phausi]

The attacker picks which weapon; there is no stipulation as to which weapons should be taken first.

[DireStrike]

The first thing I notice about your opponents is the absolute dearth of vehicles. Railguns are not so important here, but still serve some functions. The submunitions will prove endlessly useful (maybe not in that crazy tournament...) And the solid shot can instantly kill toughness 5 things, like necron lords and some configurations of demon prince.

Therefore, you probably won't be needing broadsides. They lack the submunition, and you will rarely need the kind of firepower they can put out.

Pathfinders are also out for the time being. They're very fragile, so it's useful to try to hide them in a large force. They're also a support unit, and they have to be guaranteed something to support in order to be useful. If you imagine the pathfinders and their devilfish as two separate choices, the pathfinders themselves are not actually very expensive... but that devilfish will eat up points you might have wanted elsewhere. It's a good unit in itself though.

You are probably going to want some mechanization to protect your soft troops from all the assaulters. How much you want is up to you.

Your HQ should be anti-infantry (but use magnets for all crisis weapons always...) You need to choose if you want anti-horde or anti-heavy infantry. Anti-horde comes everywhere in the list, but anti-heavy is rare...

Anti-horde:
Burst Cannon, Missile Pod, Multitracker (FireStorm) - An extremely cheap config. Very plain for a commander... most people disdain burst cannons on crisis suits.
CIB, Missile Pod, Multitracker Has range and two ap4 weapons with a high shot volume. The missile pod can help steady the unreliable CIB.
CIB, Burst Cannon, Multitracker Maximum possible shot volume for a commander, this suit is sometimes taken for the novelty of rolling 8 dice when firing with one model. Should decimate hordes, and can be effective against heavier infantry as well.
The other special issue weapon, the AFP, can be used to great effect vs. hordes as well. It can go on a commander and waste his high BS, or go on an elite suit and bring it's cost through the roof... either way it's a bit of a loss, but could be fun if your opponents constantly bunch up or use cover. Should be on the cheapest commander possible.

Anti-Heavy Infantry:
Plasma, Missile pod, Multitracker (FireKnife) This is the most popular crisis config due to versatility. However, the missile pod won't be shooting your opponent's nonexistant light vehicles, and lacks the AP to kill heavy infantry.
Plasma, Fusion, Multitracker (Helios) This is the highest concentration of powerful shots you can get from a crisis suit (barring a lucky CIB roll.) 3 killing shots at close range, I think you will find it very useful against those huge disgusting chaos beasts that have a handful of wounds and 2+ armor. I made him my primary HQ exactly for dealing with that sort of threat. They will seek to advance to your lines right away where your short range doesn't matter.
CIB with other stuff Whatever you like with this thing. Plasma, Missiles, and Burst Cannon can all be made a case for. If you roll well it can be useful against any type of infantry. A commander carrying it should be BS5.

Commanders can get pretty expensive, but almost all the gear is unnecessary toys. Two weapons, and a third hardpoint (weapon or support) along with a hardwired multitracker will serve you well most of the time. Remember that a gun firing at twinlinked BS (X) is more accurate than a gun firing at BS (x+1).

[Norsehound]

You NEED a crisis suit, it's compulsary for Tau. Same thing with FWs, they MUST be one HQ/troop choice.

Oddly enough I've suceeded with my Tau without a lot of crisis suits- usually a fireknife (Plas, Miss, Multi) is enough to keep me going- most of my force relies on other elements.

A pack of gun drones would be a nice addition. I've deep-struck them before into cases and they've proven lethal (blew up a DN from behind...). They're about as cheap as fire warriors, all have twin-linked weapons, cause a pining check whenever they cause a wound, and have jump packs so they can deep strike and jet move in the assault phase.

Seconded on the pathfinders- you really want these guys in the support role. They don't do much offensively, as the carbine is usually fallen second to the Pulse rifle as prefered weapon for a FW. Other than their markerlights they have rail rifles, which give them some teeth only in a defensive situation and if you're sniping with your markerlights.

If you're going to make your tank interchangeable I suggest getting a Skyray box the next time you want a tank. It comes with all the parts needed for the Hammerhead, Devilfish, and Skyray, and it's easy to change out the turrets. You can also fix it so that the main guns are interchangeable with just parts of the sprue.

If you want to give your Kroot something for thier birthday, make it hounds. Hounds are nice in CC, Ox aren't. Ox seem to be for the fire support role, since a Kroot unit cannot deep-strike with one attatched. That said, I beleive they're worth their weight in close combat, but I'd still choose hounds over the ox, since hounds have better Initiative.

Stealth suits are just a good addition all-around, since they have their stealth feilds, burst cannons, and jump packs. Deep strike somewhere annoying and open fire. If anything else, it's a distraction from your fireline of Fire warriors.

And on that note, I usually take Two Firewarrior squadrons kitted with Pulse rifles into battle. Fish of Fury is a viable option in this case.

That's my...uh...0.02c anyway.