Actually I am going to get off my arse and play the armies I have a dislike of due to their special rules (Tau, Eldar and Orks). No doubt I will have a better persopective from there.

For Tau however, no doubt Overwatch will play a big part of the strategy. Those 2 shots per stand with one being Disrupt is just over the top IMO. Especially with the Snipers (which you did not use by the way - thankfully for me) to get rid of characters is a goldmine of hurt to use against an opponent.

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The Tau special rules don't really play that big an effect on games for me, in an average game with eldar I'll use farsight most turns and hit+run multiple times a turn. In 20+ games with tau I've never used any but tau jetpacks.

If the tau player is relying on OW then he is really limiting himself by not taking advantage of the speed+crossfires created by that speed

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Not even Markerlights Steve...?


I find it all depends about the activation count and the composition of forces arrayed against me on what I do. I'd be crazy to throw forces into crossfires only to lose those same forces on over-extension.

In fact, I was using OW in the game versus the World Eaters because they were my BTS infantry and I knew Frogbear would try to bring his drop/teleport forces to try and kill it. OW isn't a strategy I use often unless called to do so by what army I'm up against. Plus I had about 2-3 activations more than Frogbear so I had the luxury to "hunt patiently" on OW waiting to smash his zerkers as they charged ... which of course didn't happen - even with a crossfire

A World Eaters army vs. a Tau army is probably always going to provide a lop-sided result. The forces are so diametrically opposed in playstyle.

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Markerlights really make a difference. If it is not being used effectively against you or by you, then they are not being played right.

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Frogbear in my experience with the Tau they are a very different army that require different tactics to defeat. IMHO they essentially play their own game. It takes a bit of experience to learn how to defeat. Tau for instance have great difficulty clearing enemy infantry out of cover. If you place you BTS formation in cover on over watch on your blitz (which I gather is a common chaos tactic) you can almost guarantee that the Tau will not achieve either objective. Also don't forget that the increased shooting prowess is to make up for a stunted FF ability. The list is also difficult to use and is quite unforgiving. It relies heavily on maintaining an activation advantage into turn 3.

I have great difficulty accepting that Tau shooting is under or over powered. The unit stats seems about right to me. My only real issues with the list is that some formations seem to be slightly over priced and the internal balance problem within the recon formation. I am also not convinced about the viability of the list as a tournament list in the long run. It struggles against marines and Necrons. Nids, Orks and Guard it is about on par with (my games against these armies normally come down to who gets first order in turn 2). It seems to have an advantage over Chaos, Eldar and Dark Eldar.

Played a games last night against E&C's Blood Angels.

My list:

Crisis + SC
FW + SR
FW + SR
Pathfinders
Pathfinders
Recon (all tetra)
Recon (all tetra)
Recon (all Piranha)
Broadsides
Manta
Barra Squadron

11 activations 3000 points

It was a 2-0 Tau win on turn 3. All in all the list worked well. The list in general seems about balanced. I still have concerns that the Manta and Ax-1-0 squadron are slightly overpriced and the internal balance issue with the recon but I'm fairly happy with it. E&C might post his thoughts and pics later.

Hello all, it's stupid question time!

1.) The army list states that "Crisis battlesuit cadres" have a 1+ activation, does that mean that Stealth battlesuits and Broadside battlesuits activate on a 2+? Or do they activate on a 1+ because they are battlesuit variants?

2.) The army list states that "marked" enemy formations can be hit by Guided Missiles. Tau aircraft carry Guided Missiles, so would marker lights give a +1 to-hit bonus to all aircraft weapons, not just their Guided Missiles?

Thanks for any help in advance.

1. Yes only Crisis get 1+
2. ML grant +1 to everything. Guided missiles require MLs to be able to fire.

Just as a point of clarification, the markerlight bonus can't be used for AA attacks. i.e. aircraft in the air (as in, not landed) can't be markerlit.

Ahh good catch Mike

I don't get on here much, but here are my comments on the Tau list from fairly extensive play (probably 10 games with the 6.4 list).

It's got a lot of flexibility; one of the things that I like is that you can do a variety of builds, and still have them be effective. Just about everything works, and just like in 40k, you HAVE to rely on combined arms, or "synergy", or whatever you want to call it.

Unlike 40k, 6.4 Tau in Epic are truly a shooting army, albeit oftentimes an up-close-and-personal one. I oftentimes will have 2-3 units supporting each other at close range (30cm or less), to get markerlights, combined fire, etc. Then, I have the mobility to move on to the next target... again, very similar in play-style to a successful 40k Tau army.

The only units that I haven't tried are Kroot, but only simply because there are so many other builds that I like. I am thinking about doing a kroot-heavy list and seeing if it's worth messing around with a little more.

Another style I haven't tried is gunline; with all firewarriors and broadsides. That said, it's not very "tau-like", but I think it could be a lot of fun. You'd lose your mobility, but if you had proper air support (or maybe a manta) you could rule the skies against just about anyone other than Eldar, and then force the opponent to come to you on your terms.

Manta seems costed appropriately, as do Hammerheads, crisis, and most other formations. Firewarriors seem a little "meh" to me, and I rarely take them, but it sounds like they work for other people. I t could just be my style of play prefers alpha strike capability.

Skyray formations seem a little pricey, but they definitely do shut down aircraft within their AA zone, so it's hard to pinpoint exactly what would be fair. Skyray upgrades almost always seem like a better buy for me, as they then have the ablative wounds of the Hammerheads to protect them.

Overall, I'd say the list feels pretty "complete" to me. It does what an Epic army list should do; it allows you to play multiple play styles effectively, and is true to the background and fluff of the Tau. If any changes are made, IMO, they should be minor from this point on.

Skyrays at 100 points each are overcosted for a skimmer AA vehicle with their weapons, to pay for their markerlights.

As an upgrade for Hammerhead or mounted Firewarrior formations they're completely worth it, giving the formations organic markerlights.

As a 300 point 3 skyray formation, they're overcosted, mainly as the benefits of multiple markerlights in a single formation is slim to none.

200 to 250 points for the formation would be a better point.

Incidentally, one of the benifits of a (mounted) firewarrior formation is that it can include a skyray with relative protection.

The Skysweep formation is 275pts at the moment.

You probably need to add Marines to Eldar there. I've played with 5 Skyrays and still not come close to slowing down Thunderhawks (4+Reinforced armour FTW).

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They'd be over-costed even at 250... I think that probably about 200 or 225 would make them more viable options. I don't take them for the AA capability alone, I want the markerlights, and a formation of 3 is redundant for that (much like a recon formation of only Tetras would be).



You're not often going to stop thunderhawks from landing (although I have gotten a few lucky criticals), that's why they're war engines... once they deploy their payloads, you can adjust and move accordingly. It's a lot of eggs in one basket.