My 1600 Point Tau Army

[Meady]

Ok, here is my 16 point Tau army. I want to try and get it down to 1500 points but I'm not sure how. Any improvements would be nice. Also I'm looking for a 1500 army list for CSM. I'm new to this so give me a break :bandit: Now, onto my list:


HQ
Ethereal w/Honor Blade & Hard Wired Drone Controller-62 points

Troops
x3 Squads of Fire Warriors w/3 Shas-Ui Team Leaders All 3 With Hard Wired Drone Controllers & x1 squad w/EMP Grenades -442 Points
x1 Squads of Kroot w/x1 Kroot Shapers-133 Points

Elites
X1 Stealth Team All 6 With Target Lock-222 Points
X3 Crisis Battlesuits-173 Points
1 w/ Flamer and Burst Cannon w/Hard Wired Multi Tracker-21 Points
1w/ Twin Linked Burst Cannon and Missle Pod- 29 Points
1w/ Fusion Blaster and Plasma Rifle w/Hard wired Multi Tracker-33 Points

Fast Attack
X1 Squads of Gun Drones-96 Points
X1 Squad of Pathfinders-96 Points
X1 Kroot Hound Squads-48 Points

Heavy Support
X2 Broadside Battle Suits w/x2 Shield Generators-180 Points
X1 Hammerhead Tank w/Twin Linked Burst Cannons And Railgun-150 Points

[Dimension]

want to make it cheaper?

give the broadside an ion, thats 20 points

make a 4 man stealth team, thats 30+30 points

the rest of the points can be achieved by getting cheaper XV8 suits (less hardwired stuff), and bringing one or both of the drone squads down to 7 or 6 (don't go lower, or the unit breaks too fast).

whoawhoa wait! the ONLY XV15 that can be given a target lock is the team leader.

same goes for the broadside team. only one can get the hardwired drone controller, unless the two XV88s are supposed to be in different squads.

also, except for the XV8 with TL burst and missile launcher your suits have not all 3 slots filled. that is not only an unsmart thing to do (hardwired stuff is more expensive than their external counterpart), but also illegal (all three slots must be filled)

[Chaos_Smurf]

meady has the power to make the peoples fall down

[ThirdDanScoota]

Why does your Ethereal have a hard-wired drone controller? Only a models in an XV Battlesuit can take them.

[Dimension]

no. all "leader" types can take hardwired stuff, including ethereals, commanders, team leaders of XV8, XV15 and XV88 teams, the commanders bodyguards, as well as teams leaders of pathfinder and fire warrior squads.

the only one that can't take hardwired stuff is a Gue'vesa'ui.

[Meady]

What were you saying about the x3 XV8 Crisis Suits? I thought each item filled a hard point. So I gave it 3 items each...So I can give it 3 weapons and a hard wired system???? I don't really understand that hard point rule...care to explain?

Cheers,
Meady

[ThirdDanScoota]

But that doesnt make sense. It says "A Drone Controller enables the suit wearer to select gun and shield drones." Hmm, thats strange actually. You're right, but the description implies that an XV BattleSuit is required. Thats odd.

[Meady]

Yeah, however what would the point of the gun drones in the Fire Warrior Box Set be if you couldn't field them right away?

[ThirdDanScoota]

I didnt know the FireWarrior box came with them. I dont collect them, i just happen to have the Codex.. Same with Space Wolves, Chaos, Eldar...

[CobraKessen]

take the drones out of the firewarrior squads and the EMP grenades,there shoot only squads then run,you shouldnt be getting into any situation where you need grenades.let your broadsides and hammerheads take on the vehicles,not your troops.

sheild drones are the only ones worth takeing to a squad,gun drones work best as a squad IMO and firewarriors arent worth protecting for their point value tere troops/cannon fodder.spend the points on bonding and you "can" lose the shasui's in the firewarriors i dont find they help much i find just bond the team almost fearless is a precious thing,with the etheral.

the crisis battlesuits again SHOULDNT be close enough to the enemy to use a flamer.my crisis use plamsa rifles,missle pod and multi tracker.depending on my foe shas'ui with drone controllers IF i see alot of las cannons and insta kill weapons.usually nothing.fusion blaster is useful but only in a heavy vehicle game,being as the plamsa rifle puches through the heaviest troop armour and has longer distance or 2 shots under 12" its far more usuful.hammerhead and broadsides are for taking out vehicles.

you could lose the 1 squad broadsides and keep those points swapable.suchas opponent feilds heavy armour keep the broads to take the armour out,space marines another crisis unit verstile especally plasma rifles for puching through thier armour saves,eldar/tyranid go stealth suits for mass amount of shots to pour at the enemy.target lock is good but not that good anyways im pretty sure you can only have the shas'ui with a target lock if you upgrade to one,the others cant take from the armoury so you should only have one if im not mistaken

kk why are your pathfinders squad at 96 point and no devilfish mentioned anywhere else you MUST take a devilfish.+80 points to your army or lose the pathfinders,id keep them and cut elsewhere

all this of course IMO,the great thing about warhammer 40k is its easy to find a army that suits you.my army might not fit your stratagies and thus would be hard for you to play.btw for your hammerhead tank i hope you didnt glue the railgun or ion cannon to the tank and used some bulke tac to hold it on,making the weapons interchangible.i have pics very nice depending on what army your facing.versitility with this army especally being able to change on the fly between battle is very nice and highly effective.

[Dimension]

every XV8 has 3 hardpoints, that MUST be used for either weapons systems or support systems. hardwired stuff are implants and do not take up one of those slots (they are more expensive than their normal counterpart to balance this).

you have one legal suit, which has the TL bust cannon, and a missile pack (all 3 slots filled).

the other two XV8's are illegal. they have 2 slots taken by weaponry, and the last open, which is not allowed. also, only the XV8 team leader can take hardwired gear. just equip the two suits with regular multi trackers, its cheaper anyways.

furthermore, i don't know wtf i was talking about with the XV88 having drone controllers. I must have misread it to say "drone controllers with shield drones" or something, my bad. they're still illegal, as the XV88 cannot take any non-hardwired gear. both of its hand slots are taken either by the smart missile system, or the plasma cannons. both shoulder slots are taken up by the twinlinked railgun. yet you write you have a shield gen on it. ain't gonna work, and if you actually tried to build the model, you'd have noticed how theres no place for it anywhere.

and yeah, you forgot to equip your pathfinders with a devilfish.

[Ramrod]

dimmy, thats not true.



XV 88 BROADSIDE BATTLESUIT HARD POINT OPTIONS
See "Tau Battlesuit Technology".

Twin-linked railgun and smart missile system.

May replace smart missile system with twin-linked plasma rifle at +10 pts.

Choose one support system from the following list:

Multitracker..................................................+5 pts
Target lock...................................................+5 pts
Shield generator............................................+10 pts
Drone controller plus from 1 to 2 gun drones.......+10 pts each drone
Drone controller plus from 1 to 2 shield drones.....+15 pts each drone


and there is space to put two hardpoint options (although only one is legal), if you look on top of the railgun, there are little slots on each to put the support item, like these two broadsides (http://uk.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.uk?do=Individual&code=99140113005&orignav=10) have target lockers. if their wargear was 'hard-wired only', it would say so in the codex, and it doesn't. besides, the hard-wired gear is squad leaders only, no exceptions are made anywhere in the codex for basic broadsides.

i feel bad for your deprived broadsides :(. you're their daddy, you need to spoil them

[Dimension]

whoops. must memorize more accurately. THE SHAME!

however, there is one exception to the rule "hardwired only for team leaders". the commander's bodyguards may take hardwired gear even if they're not team leaders. otherwise its correct though. except gue'vesa team leaders don't get anything (except marker lights and a target lock). unless i'm mistaken there too.

well anyways, 2 XV8's are still illegal, so are those XV15's with target locks all around (what for anyways?) ;p
and the devilfish for the pathfinders isn't accounted for pointwise.

PS: I may be pimping broadsides, but I won't actually field them. doesn't fly with my army style. they come from a southern colony, and everything not mounted in a devilfish or without jump packs got eaten by nids ;)

[ThirdDanScoota]

Looks like the Tau are a bit more deceptive and cunning than we thought, hey Dimension? I cant believe i didnt notice the missing Devilfish. Ah well.

EDIT: Also Meady, its a 1600pt army, just a small grammar error. Look at the top.

[CobraKessen]

i think i tau noob thread is in order,with EXPERTS throwing in there 2 cents and then let the newbs ask questions.not that i consider myself the ultimate expert but i know the rules and what works for tau.and i have some tips alot of people ask my how i did when i feild my army at the gmes workshop when i play. :beer:

[ThirdDanScoota]

Actually, they were simple mistakes. So dont get ahead of yourself.

[Ramrod]

also, kessen, your advice is a tad dubious. you tell him fire warriors aren't worth their points, yet every tau player knows that the basic fire warrior is the most important troop the entire army can field. he's not tough, he's not armored, he's not brave, but he packs a punch and gives you more bang for your buck than almost any other basic troop of any race.

also, did you forget crisis suits have jump packs? a crisis squad with the shas'vre carrying a fusion blaster and TL plasma rifles with hardwired target lock will butcher a tank, but he needs to be damn close. so give his two teammates burst cannons, flamers and multitrackers to keep away any infantry while the shas'vre does his work. then use your jump packs to get out of the thick. simple tau tactic, as far as i'm concerned. and although TL burst cannons would be better than one BC and a flamer, this is just once instance when a flamer could be useful.

dimmy, i forgot about the bodyguards. i should memorise more accurately too =P. i have this recurring problem with remembering that pathfinders don't have a lower save than firewarriors! dammit, why can i not remember that?! but you're right, gue'vesa can't take hard-wired stuff, its tau-only.

[Dimension]

well, tau need to be a bit deceptive cause... well, they suck ;D love'em though.

and yeah, i think if you really want to have some fun battles AND kick ass, i think its important that you sometimes risk stuff with your army.

crisis suits tooled for short-range shooting is a good idea, because it will confuse the enemy when he hasn't the whole army lined up in a neat firefront. infiltrated and deepstriked drone and suit squads are among the only things that you can surprise another player with if you're playing tau.

furthermore, the heavy support choices the Tau have are either somewhat immobile (XV88), or somewhat expensive (Hammerhead), all the while not being exceptionally armored. fielding an additional XV8 to take out monstrous creatures, tanks and characters can really help take the workload off your heavy support. especially hammerheads benefit from it, since you have either only one railgun shot, or might have to risk being in enemy sight due to the ion cannon's range.

[Ramrod]

if only rail rifles worked like IG sniper rifles... then they could take out high toughness creatures easily (for those not in-the-know, damage caused by sniper rifles is taken by adding +1 to the target's toughness. with no wounds and an armor save 4 or lower, thats a one-hit kill. and you have three of them).

but at least rail rifles can cause pinning (wooo!).

[ThirdDanScoota]

I.G snipers always wounding on a 3+? Must be a new addition in their new Codex. Thanks for sharing that. Now, i would definately have to agree that Firewarriors are by far worth their points. Consider it this way:

*12pts each, thats 144pts for a full 12 man squad, while 10 Marines costs 150.

*Taking that first point into consideration, they have 30" range weapons at S5, making them the deadliest ranged basic troops there are. THEY CAN TAKE OUT RHINOS AND RAZORBACKS WITH BASIC WEAPONRY!

*Their 4+ save might not be as good as Power Armour, which i'm certain thats what you're comparing it to Kessen, but it means that they have reasonable protection, while just about any basic weapons will allow these guys their saves, and take Heavy Weapons to pierce and completely ignore, unlike I.G or Eldar Guardians for example.

They are a SERIOUSLY good bargain, and my Daemonhunters Army is somewhat afraid to go up against alot of these guys (Grey Knights can die too quickly against such a barrage, and every armour save counts for them).

[Ramrod]

whoops scoota, no, they wound on a 4+, i made a typo.

[Dimension]

in fact, firewarriors are only 10 points. however, since marines have a better save (2/3 vs 50/50), better BS, shall know no fear, and can get heavy weapons, this is balanced. add that to the fact that a bolter is like 4/5 if I'm not mistaken, and its really a matter of taste. marines are probably better, but troops alone won't win you the game anyways, so wtf. they're adequatly balanced i suspect.

Pathfinders are 12 points.

[Piccolo]

First off drop the honor blade and drones from your etheral. you don't want him anywhere near combat so the blade is worthless and getting rid of the drones makes him an IC and that makes him much harder for your opponents to kill him.

Your troops don't need or want the drones on their shas'ui and the emp nades are worthless. The drones don't have the quality weapon of the fire warriors.

Drop the shaper from the kroot as well as their attached hound unit.

your stealth suits cannot all have target locks and even if they could it would be worthless.

your crisis suits are geared out all wrong. First make 1 of them a shas'el and the other 2 each a solo unit. Now when it comes to outfitting the Shas'el the best setup is Twin Linked Missile Pod + Plasma Rifle + hard wired multi-tracker. As for the solo suits stick with the fireknife configuration of plasma rifle, missile pod and multi-tracker.

your drone squad by itself is okay, personally I never got any good use out of them so I don't use them.

You pathfinders MUST take a Devilfish transport it is required. add a d-pod and decoy laucher to the devilfish and stick 4 seeker missiles on it so the pathfinders can take down some armor.

for your broadsides drop the shield generators and buy them drone controllers with 2 shield drones each, this way the squad can take 1 or 2 turns of shooting to remove the main armor threats of your opponents.

your hammer head needs a d-pod, decoy launcher and multi tracker to make it MUCH MUCH harder to destroy.

[Ramrod]

THANK you! someone who agrees shapers blow (more than kroot already do).

but piccolo, dimension already pointing out the glaring errors in his list.

stealth team with 3 target locks... :lol:

[Piccolo]

after reading the list I didn't want to take the time to read any "help" thought it best to just sit down and get to work

[Ramrod]

i suppose. and come to think of it, considering that he didn't read the codex right, he probably wouldn't read dimmy's posts right either. therefore you posting the same corrections might make him see the truth, lol. some people just need to have the facts drilled into their skulls.

[ThirdDanScoota]

WHOOPS! THOSE DAMN TAU AGAIN. Sorry, i was obviously thinking of Pathfinders whan i said "12pts", instead of 10. They are most certainly balanced though, just not multi-skilled like Marines. Like Dimension said, its all about taste.