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Getting started with the Tau
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Author:  Lalonde [ Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:07 am ]
Post subject:  Getting started with the Tau
Hiya.

As the topic title suggests (hopefully deposited in the appropriate forum) I'm looking to get me a Tau force. I've read through the list, read plenty of battle reports and viewed the Forgeworld site.

I'm now prepared to spend my money. The Tau don't really interest me in 40k, primarily because of the anime style battlesuits but at this scale it's less of an issue :)  and I do love the vehicle design and idea of the army in this system.

Plus have an idea for a nice colour scheme.

I've played against an earlier version of the Tau 18months ago and got spanked, but during the beating they always looked good. Especially that huuuuge Orca beast.   :p


So I've set myself the budget of ?200 (that's gonna hurt in the morning, but who needs to buy food anyway right?)

I've viewed plenty of the army lists in the bat reps

First number is the quantity of packs, the number in brackets the total number of men and vehicles I'll have.

2 x Fire Warriors (50)
4 x Pathfinders (40)
1 x Crisis Suits (8)
1 x Broadside Suits (6)
2 x Tau Recon Pack (6/4)
3 x Devilfish (9)
3 x Hammerhead - Rail Guns (9)
1 x Hammerhead - Ion Canon (3)
2 x Hammerhead - Missiles acting as Stingrays (6)
1 x Skyrays (3)
1 x Tigersharks (2)
1 x Orca Dropship (1)
2 x Barracudas (4)

I've worked out a 3000pt army list and with the above forces could squeeze out a 4000pt list as well. So plenty of choice available.

The one thing I haven't gone with is Kroot. Although I'd like a big pack (or 2) in my army, my budget won't stretch for the moment.

So a few questions, would this list be a good starting force;

Fire Warrior Cadre + Devilfish = 300pts
Crisis Suits = 250
Crisis Suits S/C = 350
Hammerhead Cadre (4 RG + 2 Ion) + Skyray = 450
Hammerhead Cadre (5 RG + 1 Ion) = 375

Pathfinders + Devilfish = 175
Pathfinders + Devilfish = 175
Stingrays + Skyrays = 325

Tigershark AX = 175
Tigershark AX = 175
Barracudas = 250

3000pts


Also what do people use as Swordfish, Scorpion and Dragonfish? Are they even a good choice for most?

My other question is what's a good loadout for an Orca?

Cheers

Lalonde. Soon to be L 'al 'onde I suppose  :;):

Edit: Oh I forgot to ask, what peoples thoughts on Stealth suits were? I'm still tempted by these guys and can't quite decide if they'd be useful. Teleporting scouts does appeal and they seem hardy and quite useful with the their 3+ hitting disrupt weapons. They seem more useful used in one formation, but it appears others add them to crisis suits as an upgrade.
Author:  The_Real_Chris [ Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Getting started with the Tau
Stealth suits - use empty scenic bases :) Maybe a hint of Tau....

Firewarrior wise the old 1st ed guardians make good firewarrior proxies.
Author:  Honda [ Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Getting started with the Tau

Also what do people use as Swordfish, Scorpion and Dragonfish? Are they even a good choice for most?

My other question is what's a good loadout for an Orca?


Swordfish = I use Skyrays and paint the missiles a different color than Skyrays.

Scorpionfish/Dragonfish = Use Orcas. You can do a couple of different things here. JG modeled some exterior changes to the ScF/DrF, which some have done. I took the route that any changes would be in the form of vertical missile launchers, hence, relatively invisible to the outside.

This allowed me to use the same vehicle to represent the Scorpionfish, Dragonfish, or Orca, depending on the game need.

As far as your basic force goes, I think yours is well rounded and something that you can learn with. After you play a few games, then you'll see your "style" come out a little more which invariably translates into a need for more/different figures. ?:/

How I play now, is different than how I started playing and I'm still experimenting and learning.

One comment on the HH's. It's been my experience, that blending the two types of guns has tended to strand the Ion Cannon shots as I haven't felt it worth the risk of closing to get the IC shots.

Instead, I've specialized my HH's and put all RG in a cadre and all IC's in another. This lets the IC's focus on AP targets, provide a modicum of AA support to my Barracudas and leave the RG's to focus on AT/LV targets.

However, you'll find out what works for you as you develop your style.



Author:  baronpiero [ Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Getting started with the Tau
1 x Crisis Suits (8)
1 x Broadside Suits (6)

I'll check this evening but such packaging seems odd.


The one thing I haven't gone with is Kroot.
For the moment, only take Kroot if you really like them.

Fire Warrior Cadre + Devilfish = 300pts
Crisis Suits = 250
Crisis Suits S/C = 350
Hammerhead Cadre (4 RG + 2 Ion) + Skyray = 450
Hammerhead Cadre (5 RG + 1 Ion) = 375

Pathfinders + Devilfish = 175
Pathfinders + Devilfish = 175
Stingrays + Skyrays = 325

Tigershark AX = 175
Tigershark AX = 175
Barracudas = 250

3000pts
Not bad at all. Just two things you should be wary of:


Mechanized Firewarrior Cadre:
- FWs are not an exceptionnal formation for the moment, but it would be absurd not to take some -> go for it.

Crisis Cadre:
- If you deploy the battlesuits normally, I would recommend to always add a Commander to Coordinate fire. It's good to introduce redundancy for special rules such as Coordinate Fire and Markerlights. With more key formations your opponent will have a hard time countering all CF attacks.
- I would also often recommend to give them extra bulk because 4 teams will break too easily when closing in: I ?generally add heavy drones or stealth to them, for both bring a lot of useful special rules to the formation -especially the Markerlights- as well as good AP.


Also what do people use as Swordfish, Scorpion and Dragonfish? Are they even a good choice for most?
Go there and you'll find excellent conversions of Swordfish and Scorpionfish.
http://www.epic40k.co.uk/epicomm....;t=4762
Just keep in mind that these units are 100% playtest and no one can tell if they will make it in the final list.

- The Swordfish requires a little planning in your buyings: For each two packs of Railgun Hammerheads, you'll be able to build 3 Swordfish and 3 spare Devilfish.

- Scorpionfish & Dragonfish are based on the Orca.


My other question is what's a good loadout for an Orca?
For the moment I see only two which are noticeably worthwhile: 4 Crisis or 4 Broadsides.

what peoples thoughts on Stealth suits were? I'm still tempted by these guys and can't quite decide if they'd be useful.
I consider them as jetpacked elite firewarriors. In fact an alternative to the Mechanized Firewarrior Cadre with a more agressive playstyle if you garrison them or teleport them. They share the same main drawback, which is being practically or even AT-less.

When building a Tau army, you may want to pay attention to the number of AT-less formations for having too much of them is a real issue when your opponent fields a lot of vehicles.



Author:  Lalonde [ Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Getting started with the Tau
Thanks Honda

I'll certainly bow to your experience then with the Railguns and IC's and specialise, I just felt the difference of 15cm was minimal.

The Orca idea sounds remarkably straight forward and the best approach for me as i'm not much of a modeller and using a ?16 Orca to experiment doesn't seem such a good idea.

At least i'm on the right track with the list. It's all a bit confusing reading the army stats as everything has sooo many weapons it's hard to figure out if I have too much AT and not enough AP
etc ...  :o0 Not to mention the mixture in ranges for those weapons.

(That's not me having a go BTW  :;):  )


Chris:

As a cost issue I had contemplated dropping the Fire Warrior formation all together, but felt uncomfortable with so few infantry. I may just use the 1st edition guardians if I can get some off ebay for a lair price.  :)
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