[Elliott]

Look, there are lots of threads about cheese on these forums, and this won't be one of them. Here's what I wanted to know:

I know 500 point games aren't all the rage on Tau Online, but we've all got to start some where. I was crunching the numbers, and realize I could take a really nice 500 point cadre that included an Ionhead: a Helios Shas'el, a Deathrain, two bonded squads of 10 Fire Warriors a piece - and an Ionhead with decoy launchers. Is this list fair? How socially acceptable is a tank in a 500 point army? Does it happen often?

[Falstead]

1 Tank in 500 points is fine.

That list looks pretty reasonable and acceptable to me, though personally I'd drop bonding knives and use the points to give the tank a multi tracker.

But yeah totally 100% fair.

[kurtisxxxv]

Your list is fair. You have all the required elements you need.

My take on it is if you play to the standard force organization chart and meet all the requirements of the codex, you should be able to play any army composition you want. Getting someone to play against you at that point level might be difficult, though, especially if they see two tanks on the board. (Long live the fear factor!)

There is a post either yesterday or today about a Tau player who got worked by a SM army at 400-500 pts. Tau can be hard pressed at this points level. Some armies can max out much higher than Tau at any points level.

The common argument is that since Tau are relatively light on heavy antitank firepower, any Hammerheads you can fit in are acceptable. It is a balance between enjoyment of the game, how you can justify it from a "fluff" aspect (if you care), and what kind of reputation you want to present to other gamers. There are all kinds of players, but often those labeled as "win-at-all-costs" powergamers are held in the least regard.

I find the best balance (generally speaking) is reflected in that both you and your opponent find the experience enjoyable, regardless of the outcome.

-Darklord

[MalVeauX]

Originally Posted by Elliott

Look, there are lots of threads about cheese on these forums, and this won't be one of them. Here's what I wanted to know:

I know 500 point games aren't all the rage on Tau Online, but we've all got to start some where. I was crunching the numbers, and realize I could take a really nice 500 point cadre that included an Ionhead: a Helios Shas'el, a Deathrain, two bonded squads of 10 Fire Warriors a piece - and an Ionhead with decoy launchers. Is this list fair? How socially acceptable is a tank in a 500 point army? Does it happen often?

Heya,

How socially acceptable it is, depends on your local group. I have two groups. In one group, it would raise eyebrows and get commentary if a Hammerhead appeared on the board in 500 points because it's more powerful than a simple transport. In another group, it's expected because they're going to have their predators and whirlwinds, ravagers and raiders, fire prisms, basilisks or russ, etc, where folk like to take their big hitters no matter the point value, because if you can do it, it's to be done and you should expect your opponent to give you a hard time and not just make it easy for you to stomp them out. So socially, this can go two ways very easily.

To me, it's fair either way, so long as you and your opponent are on the same page in terms of what kind of game you're playing. If you're playing someone who is really not much into this game, other than having it and playing sometimes, then stomping them out with a powerful heavy will likely get you some remarks. On the other hand, if you're playing someone who routinely is up for a solid game, you better bet they expect to see challenging units, and not just a bunch of Kroot and Pathfinders and GunDrones for his Librarian to end the game on in a single casting of Fear of Darkness. Get the idea?

That said, I personally don't see the reason for 500 point games. The game was designed to run at 1500 points. Anything fielded in 1500 points is fair game. Under that point limit, the game isn't balanced correctly for all codices and some codices will have a greater power potential than another. The I.G. for example has a much lower power base at 500 points than, say, a Space Marine army can get. But at 1500 points, they can both be expected to be fine.

So if you're going to play 500 points, I would highly suggest you use combat patrol rules and simply up the points from 400 to 500. Do this until you have at least 1,000 points. Then play however your group likes to play at 1,000 and go from there. Combat Patrol limits most armies from taking the most powerful of their powerful things. That doesn't mean you have to play a boring game of pawns. It just means you can't bring your super tanks, awesome monstrous creatures, insane independent characters and other such things as they're all limited. This is a more balanced way of playing at low points than a full on force organizational chart is. I highly recommend it.

Cheers,

[krupintupple]

Fluff wise, I just say it was a training excersize that someone decided to ambush. Works every time.