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Monday, September 13, 2010

Email in: Hi Kirby, need a suggestion [Tau 1500]


"Hi Kirby, i read your blog and I thank you very much for your articles about Tau... I have some Tau and i'm starting playing 40k but can't do very well with them, expecially against my friends who are tournament level players with Marines armies like White Scars, Blood Angels or Space Wolves... Here is my army list, can you please help me improve it, or tell me the way should i play it to win some games against Marines? Expecially in mission with more than 2 objectives on the table or vs armies with Drop Pods. I feel i don't have enough troops to grab objectives, or that i am feeding my troops to the enemy to screen the rest of my army.

I usually play 1500 games.

HQ -
Shas’el w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker

Elites -
Crisis x2 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
Crisis x3 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker

Troops -
Fire Warriors x6
Fire Warriors x6
Kroot x10
Hounds x5

Fast Attack -
Pathfinders x5
Devilfish w/Disruption Pods
Piranhas x2 w/Fusion Blasters

Heavy Support -
Broadsides x3 w/Advanced Stablisation System, Team Leader w/hard-wired
Drone controller, 2 shield drones
Hammerhead w/Railgun, Burst Cannon, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod
Hammerhead w/Railgun, Burst Cannon, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod

Total: 1500

9 suits (+2 drones)
32 infantry
5 tanks"

At 1500 you don't need 5 railguns so dorpping the Broads to 2 strong can help you shore up your lack of Crisis suits. I'd try to run 3 squads of 2 and add the Shas'El to whatever unit you markerlight to drop MEQ squads. Make sure the Piranhas are two different squads and you don't need 2 FW squads. With the spare points you should be able to grab another Kroot squad and perhaps buff the PF squad. Otherwise solid.

In terms of objective games, knock out their Troops. You have the firepower to de-transport them then with your Crisis Suits + ML support, totally wipe the floor with them. Tau have issues in regards to objectives because their Troops are bubble-wrap but you only need one objective and contesting the others. I'll be doing a more in-depth post on this later hopefully.

In regards to playing Tau I'd read the How To on them in the top-left links page and the Armies in 5th articles if you haven't already. Once you've read those post any specific questions here and we can hopefully answer them!

4 pinkments:

Sage said...

Yeah, dropping the unit of Fire warriors + a Broadside should net you enough points for one or two more pathfinders, an extra squad of kroot, and a bit of bling for your Piranhas, as well as that extra Crisis suit. I'd also suggest looking at other 1500 Tau lists here if you're looking for alternatives. It's a pretty solid list, just needs more Kroot/Crisis.

AbusePuppy said...

It's a little light on Crisis, but the extra Broadsides do help with that. (You really want a Target Lock on the leader, though, so find the 5pts for that.)

I think dropping the second FW squad is the main improvement. That gives you enough to add TL to the Broadside leader, DP and/or TA to the Piranhas, and maybe a couple more Pathfinders.

(Adding two Hounds to the squad so you have 17, a much better number for morale checks, is a nice thing.)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the help, reading all your articles I modified my list and come up with this version:

HQ -
1x Shas’el w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
1x Shas’el w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
(they go around together in a single unit or can split in case of need)

Elites -
Crisis x2 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker

Crisis x2 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker

Troops -
Fire Warriors x6

Kroot x10
Hounds x3

Kroot x10
Hounds x3

Fast Attack -
Pathfinders x6
Devilfish w/Disruption Pods, SMS, Targeting Array, Multitracker

Piranhas x2 w/Fusion Blasters, Targeting Array, Flechette Discharger

Heavy Support -
Broadsides x2 w/Advanced Stablisation System

Hammerhead w/Railgun, Burst Cannon, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod

Hammerhead w/Railgun, Burst Cannon, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pod

Total: 1500

Now I have 3 x2 crisis team: should i take also more crisis suits? If they are needed, what should i cut off for it?
I am also undecided if putting Multitracker on Broadsides instead of Advanced Stabilisation System for more shooting. Can you also explain me the Advantage of having 2 separate 1x Piranahas instead of a single squadron of two? When separated I see Piranhas as a whole lot of KP...

AbusePuppy said...

Crisis commanders aren't a great investiture of points, you might drop one of them to be a regular Crisis (or Team Leader) to save some points there.

Flechette Discharger is generally not worth it unless you see a LOT of Orks/Tyranids in your area, especially on Piranhas.

ASS is pretty critical, I virtually never go without it. You have a pretty mobile army here, so I wouldn't take it off.

Two separate Piranhas vs. one unit of two is a tough call; as you note, it means you have more KP to give up easily. On the other hand, it gives you more flexibility in moving, contesting, and makes you less vulnerable to dying to a glancing hit. As a side benefit of squadrons, you only need one DP to get them both cover (50% of the squad), which can be handy.

Personally I run them as a squad, but you can go either way with it.

Looks like a very good army overall, aside from the one detail about the Commander- that's mostly a matter of firepower vs. survivability, with the former being more valuable to the Tau.

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