"Hey Kirby,
Big fan of your blog; when I got back into 40K recently, I went through your Tau archives, looking for every last tip, trick and tactic I could find. Well, I went out to a thousand point tournament the other day, and pretty much got my face kicked in; two major losses and a minor loss. Now partly it's because the tournament organizers have a bunch of extra rules and available points that favour Marine-style armies (extra overall score points for 1/3 troops, secondary objectives you need good assault troops to claim), but partly it's because I just could not seem to kill enough things at once. There's a 1500 point game coming up in a couple of months, the second in this four-part series, and I'd love to know if I'm completely on the wrong track before I start building up my core force for round two.
My army:
HQ:
Shas'el – 50
* Airbursting Fragmentation Projector - 20
* Missile Pod – 12
* Shield Generator – 20
* Hard-Wired Multi-Tracker – 5
* Hard-Wired Blacksun Filter – 3
* Stimulant Injector – 10
Total: 120
Elites:
2 x XV8 Battlesuit – 50
* 2 x Plasma Rifle – 40
* 2 x Missile Pod – 24
* 2 x Multi-Tracker – 10
Total: 124
3 x XV8 Battlesuit – 75
* 3 x Twin-Linked Missile Pod – 54
* 3 x Flamer - 12
Total: 141
Troops:
6 x Fire Warriors – 60
* Devilfish – 80
* Disruption Pod – 5
* Flechette Discharger - 10
Total: 155
6 x Fire Warriors – 60
Total: 60
Fast Attack:
Piranha – 60
* Fusion Blaster – 5
* Targeting Array – 5
* Disruption Pod – 5
Total: 75
Heavy Support:
XV88 Battlesuit – 70
* Advanced Stabilization System – 10
Total: 80
XV88 Battlesuit – 70
* Advanced Stabilization System – 10
Total: 80
Hammerhead Gunship – 90
* Railgun - 50
* 2 Burst Cannons – 10
* Disruption Pod – 5
* Multi-Tracker – 10
Total: 165
Army Total: 1000
I've also got:
3 x Stealth Suits
8 x Gun Drones
8 x Pathfinders
12 x Firewarriors (rifle)
12 x Firewarriors (carbine)
Devilfish
Fireknife
Sniper Drone Team
Help me, Kirby; you're my only hope!
Thanks,
Garnet"
At lower points Tau excel because you can pack in a bunch of firepower from 1750/2000 point levels without gimping your list. This is of course the Crisis Suit so I'd look to get as many of them as possible. *looks at list*
You've got 6 which isn't too bad for 1000 but the Commander has a bunch of extra equipment he doesn't need. PR/MP/multi-tracker + a hard-wired target lock and you're set to go. The Hammerhead is fine and I'd look to push the two Broadsides together, grab a team leader with target lock and then some drones. You can still fire at two different targets but have better survivability. Fire Warriors are okay but I'd look to replace the on foot squad with Kroot instead and at 1000 points, probably wouldn't bother with the Piranha (so you can find the points for the Kroot and Broadside upgrades here + trimming the fat on the Commander).
Taking it to 1500 get more Crisis Suits. Probably another full PR/MP squad and max out the other one you have. Then grab a squad of Piranhas and fill out any Kroot squads you have. The core is there but make sure you have your defenses (Kroot/Piranhas) so you can keep your shooting (Hammerhead, Broadsides, Crisis) for as long as possible.
