Hybrid Tau + Boyz

So with the changes to Tau vehicles making them...well really good again, I thought I'd throw up a post of what a Hybrid Tau + Boyz army might look like. I'll do a metatransition post later, this is just for you to sink your teeth into and get discussing.

Losing firepower without the Big Guns and 10 Crisis (down to 7) but gaining some extra firepower through Hammerhead and some added durability to army with AV13 with a 3+ cover and two mobile AV12s with 2+ cover when going Flat-Out to block LoS to your army.

Potentially a different army for Allies with more firepower since there is an added defense layer here could work... Anyway, list below.

Gundam Boyz - Tau & Orks

Dakka

So I've been playing around with the basis of Gundam Tau and trying to find an Allies fit which I think works best at 1750 points (the commonly played points level in Australia currently at tournaments). The problem was, even cutting back a bit on the suits there weren't that many points to play with for getting 2x10x MEQs + goodies to support the Tau in midfield and provide mobile scoring options. You could do it but it always felt stretched at 1750 and worked much better at 2000. Orks didn't have this issue however and thanks to Fearless changes, are a lot scarier in combat now since they don't fold like a wet paper bag.

Metatransition - Gundam Tau

Dakka

So starting the Metatransition posts (well, following-up on the Venomspam one and the Kan Wall - thanks fester!), we'll look at how the Tau monobuild (aka Gundam Tau). In 5th edition this had evolved to basically being suit spam - lots of Crisis Suits, lots of Broadsides with the occasional vehicle. Generally Devilfish/Warfish (Devilfish with lots of offensive upgrades), Piranhas and a token Hammerhead. The core of the list was the Suits though with a Kroot bubble-wrap and Piranha blockers so how does this transfer to 6th?

Tau in 6th: Initial Analysis

Tau'va

Tau will hopefully get a codex within the first couple of years of 6th edition because let's face it, they need it. They still aren't a useless army though and with Allies they can address a few of their key weaknesses. Here's an initial take on Tau so far in 6th.

Biggest thing is the improvement of Fire Warriors. Yes, they are better. They still aren't worth your points or filling your entire Troops slot with but they make a fairly decent rearguard scoring unit now. With the change to Rapid Fire weapons allowing them to be fired at full range whilst moving, Fire Warriors can out-duel most other basic infantry for a time at range and Rapid Fire earlier. Their S5 is also a bit more useful with the introduction of Hull Points - they can chip away at lower AVs in midfield though they aren't likely to drop anything in a single round of shooting (except maybe 2HP AV10 vehicles without cover in Rapid Fire range). Again, a nice boost overall but still not a fantastic unit.

Thunderfish - Tau & MEQ Terminator Allies

Escape Theory

Let's start looking at some Ally combinations. We'll start with Tau - an army which has some serious perks but serious weaknesses, too. The goal of the Allies is to obviously cover those weaknesses as best as possible whilst minimising the impact upon the perks. Tau have excellent shooting but lack in two key departments - scoring and close combat. Most Space Marine armies have excellent scoring units - they are all MEQs after all and some excellent combat units (TWC, TH/SS, etc.). Can we combine the two and make a half-way decent list?

Event Horizon Battle Report: Blood Angels vs Tau

You can see my list here. First game was five objectives primar in the X formation and 2KP marginal as secondary with Pitched Battle deployment. Lee's Tau list was Broadside, Deathrain Crisis and Kroot heavy - good core units but a bit lacking in that little extra bit such as plasma rifles and Pirhanas. I won roll-off and because he lacked these options, gave him first turn. Yes, that meant I took 8 Broadsides to the face - it really meant nothing to my ASM moving up into midfield (which Pirhanas could have blocked, Plasma could have shot). On the flip side, I had reactionary deployment with some nice terrain pieces and the ability to move onto those objectives last.

You're going to have to excuse the photos as well - I kept getting put on tables where the sun was creeping across and photos of half light, half dark suck :P.

Email in: Tau v. Necrons

"Hey, I was just wondering if you could give me your two cents on the matchup between Tau and Necrons. It seems like the new book is lights out for Tau armies (hehe...) because they just don't have a good way to bring broadsides to bear in night fight, even with blacksun filters. Once NF runs out the scarab farm may already be too large. Am I missing something? Is it better/worse than I thought?

Thanks for your time, Steve"

Email in: Tau and expensive units

"Hi, I read that some Tau players don't play Tau anymore because they think that the units in the codex are so much more expensive (regarding points) than the 5th edition codexies. Because of this unbalance it's not fun to play Tau they think. Do you agree, are Tau units that expensive compared to 5th edition codexies?

Thanks!
Martin "

In short - yes, Tau are over-costed and showing their age. Are they not fun to play? Hell no. I will admit, I stopped playing my Tau in 5th mainly because they got repetitive for me and as 5th edition and tournaments have evolved (i.e. NOVA), their issues with midfield and holding objectives have become more paramount.

With your regular BRB missions though, Tau can still be quite a force with a lot of shooting potential. There are a lot of units you wouldn't really consider because of their price or lack of usefulness but there are an array of units which are good and relatively speaking, costed appropriately, which put together can make pretty solid lists.

Leviathon Battle Report - Game 2: Mech Blood Angels v Tau

This was a modified capture & control where the objectives were placed in roughly the centre of opposite table quarters. Deployment was pitched battle and the secondary was whomever had more scoring units within 6" of the table centre. Against Tau the game plan is to get up into their faces and stay there - they aren't going to push me out of combat but with their impressive shooting they can and will wreck my mech if I give them long enough to shoot it down. My issue here is I really only have three shooting units to go toe to toe with the Crisis/Broadsides and with JSJ they can avoid my Marines relatively well once they are outside of transports.

Simon won the roll-off and elected to go first. His list looked like:

Email in: need help with Tau vs Vulkan drop pod list!

"Hey there Kirby,

I have been regularly losing to a Vulkan drop pod list and I am in serious need of advice.  I play Tau, and have tried "castling" several times and reserving everything.  All the sites say that “castling up” is the way to win, but I’ve never had it work (especially versus a Vulkan list that is melta/flamer heavy).  Here’s my typical deployment vs a drop pod list:

Email in: Tau 1500 list

"Hey Kirby, been following you for a couple months after finding you from Natfka. Anyway, I've been playing Tau for about a year to... very limited success. After reading your articles I see some of why. No Pathfinders, no Piranha, even though I have Kroot I rarely use them (just don't like the models), going for Fire Warriors in basic 'Fish instead, using Deathrain or Firestorm suits instead of Fireknife (mostly because the Fire Warriors are such a points hog).

Well, since I want to actually win more than 1 out of 10 games (if that), I'm trying to adapt the list. The following only requires me to purchase 2 Piranha and 6 hounds and I can take it to a 1500 point newcomers tourney at the FLGS.

Imperial Armor Rules Updates for Tau

It appears Forge World has updated some of the rules for units, particularly a number of Tau and Imperial Guard ones. Most of the IG stuff is largely meaningless changes, but the Tau units open up a number of interesting options.

Remote Sensory Tower

Not only a Markerlight in the Troops slot for a reasonable cost, but also lets you reroll misses if you're within 6" of it. That's pretty solid for 40pts, especially if you know you're going to be clustered up on a static point of defense. If you aren't fielding Tetras in your FA slots, you would definitely want one or two of these.

Email in: New Tau player at 500pts looking to enact revenge... for the greater good.

agisn

"Hey Kirby!

Unlike many of of your submitters, I'm really new to 40K and your site. A group of friends and I have been playing for a few months now (myself for the greater good). I was enjoying proving the internet wrong by being a competitive force at 500pts AND using mostly just what I got from my Tau Battleforce box... We don't need no stinkin codex update! That was until one guy picked up Blood Angels. He basically spams jet packs and is crashing my slow and squishy lines by turn two or three.

I know some people look down on a list tailored towards a specific threat but I really need to put this guy in his place. I've called in reinforcements from eBay and have several more Crisis suits inbound. Now I'm trying to put together a BA killing list and was hoping for some input:

New Tau Info, Believe It!

There have been a lot of Tau rumors flying around recently on BoLS, Warseer, Faeit, etc, and for those who are hungry for info about the upcoming releases they are a godsend. While Games Workshop may not want to tell us much, that doesn't stop folks on the internet from filling our need for more and better information about what to expect next.

Thus, without further ado, I present to you my own little discovery:

2012 - What can we look forward to in 40k?

2012 is just around the corner... what does it hold for our favorite hobby?

2012 is rumored to be a big year for Warhammer 40,000. First, 3++con will be having it's inaugural year.... that's really it right? Moving beyond my egoistic ways though, 2012 is supposed to bring us some long awaited codex updates as well as an edition change. Two of these armies are personal favorites of mine and I will be very glad to bring them out, wipe the dust off and grab some new minis to paint! The new edition...well it could be great or it could be crap. Hell it could be somewhere in the middle, too! Let's take a look at what the rumor mill is telling us.

Email in: Battle Reports/Vassal

"Hey, I was reading through some of the old posts (Batreps), and I was curious if there was anyway to watch games being played on Vassal? While I am more or less on the opposite side of the world, i think it would be fun to watch some of the more experienced list builders and what not get some games in. (40k internet celebrity death-match? Haha)

I am still coming along with the Tau, although, I'm hesitant to get my suits (or converted suits as the case may be) all up and running with what I hope will be a tau update soon. Still got plenty of work to be done, and a life to busy to do it. Which leads to a question. Any experience with lists seeking to bring massive amounts of Birdmens? (talking minimum 60+). Flamer Deathrain suits, 88's, pathfinders and Kroot?

Email in: tau help/challenge!

"Kirby- I’m really enjoying your website and your perspectives. I’ve been player Tau for over two years now and I like to check out the internet for help but the idea of asking someone else to help me build a list/ list(s) has never appealed to me but after several months of following your site I’ve really come to enjoy reading the help you give people.

I have a challenge for you. I am a very devout follower of the Great Good (they are the reason I got into 40K and sort of stand for everything I believe in...I’m whacky, I know). In addition to enjoying background, I also enjoy the hobby aspect of 40k and as you look at my list below you’ll notice I have some units (vespid, sniper drone teams) that are not very good on the table, this is because I wanted to own them and paint them.

Email in: Tau 2000 pt critique

CMON

"Hey Kirby,

One of my friends introduced me to your blog relatively recently. I'm a new player to the world of 40k, and decided on playing Tau as my first army. I've come up with a list that looks good (in my novice opinion) on paper in terms of balance, but would like some additional criticism, as not many people play Tau at my local gaming store.

Email in: 1750 Tau

"Kirby

Some list advice please.

I went to the July Throne of Skulls in the UK. I took 1500pts of Tau and did reasonably well (Best Tau General). The list I took was

Shasel, PR, MP, MT and body guard with PR, MP, TA HWMT x2

Crisis Suit TLMP, flamer, and another one with TLMP, BSF x3

Email in: Tau List

ATT

"Hey Kirby, it's been awhile since I've done anything 40K, and I feel I want to get back into Tau, blow off some rust. I was hoping to get some critique on this new list I've designed.

Shas'el Commander - Cyclic Ion Blaster, Plasma Rifle, Bonding Knife, HW Drone Controller, HW Multi-tracker, Stimulant Injector, Targeting Array, 2 x Shield Drones
Shas'vre Bodyguard x 2 - Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-tracker, Targeting Array
Cost: 309