Dave is a friend of mine and fellow club member. Here are four different Tau army lists he designed with some thoughts on each build.
List #1
-Double Trouble Broadsides-
Commander 148
•Missile Pod (36" S7 AP A2)
•Drone Controller (drones use his BS)
•Puretide Engram Neurochip (allows bearer to choose between Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, Stubborn, Furious Charge or Counter Attack each turn)
•Multi Spectrum Sensor Suit (sacrifices his shooting so unit can Ignore Cover)
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator (72" S7 ap2 H3, 72" S8 AP2 H1 Large Blast, Gets Hot, Nova Charge 72" S9 AP2 Ordnance 1 Gets Hot Large Blast)
•Twin Fusion (18" S8 AP1 Melta)
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator
•Twin Fusion
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
5x 10 man Kroot unit w/ sniper upgrade 350
3x Broadside 327
•Twin High Yield Missile Pod (36" S7 AP4 H4)
•Twin Smart Missile System (30" S5 AP5 H4 Ignore Cover, no LOS needed)
•Velocity Tracker (can choose to Sky Fire)
•6x Missile Drone (same gun as commander)
3x Broadside 327
•Twin Heavy Rail Rifle (60" S8 AP1 H1)
•Twin Smart Missile System (30" S5 AP5 H4 Ignore Cover, no LOS needed)
•Velocity Tracker (can choose to Sky Fire)
6x Missile Drone (same gun as Commander)
Hammer Head 180
•Rail Gun (72" S10 AP1 H1 Submunitions 72" S6 AP4 H1 Large Blast)
•Twin Smart Missile System
•Automated Repair system (at the end of your turn on a 6 you repair immobilized or weapon destroyed)
•Long Strike - Gives Hammer Head BS5, Tank Hunter, Preferred Enemy (IG), Black Sun Filter, Overwatch, Fire Support
Skyshield 75
Total Points =1847
This list is straight forward. The Broadsides deploy on the Skyshield. The Skyshield giving them 4++ is like having shield drones and shield generators, but with out taking up systems and still allowing missile drones to be bought. In all it is 45 points cheaper than the Broadsides buying shield generators and still allows for 24 extra S7 missiles.
Commander chooses to join either Broadside unit based on opponent. He gives the unit Ignore Cover and either Tank Hunter or Monster Hunter making them apt at killing a lot of different things.
Kroot outflank.
List #2
-Fun with Shadow Sun-
Commander 148
•Missile Pod (36" S7 AP A2)
•Drone Controller (drones use his BS)
•Puretide Engram Neurochip (allows bearer to choose between Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, Stubborn, Furious Charge or Counter Attack each turn)
•Multi Spectrum Sensor Suit (sacrifices his shooting so unit can ignore cover)
Shadow Sun 155
1x MV52 Shield Drone (3++)
Bodyguard 175
- Crisis Suit
•Twin Fusion
•Missile Pod
•Onager Guantlet (1 S10 AP1 attack in HTH)
2x Shield Drone
- Crisis Suit
•Twin Fusion
•Missile Pod
1x Shield Drone
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator (72" S7 ap2 H3, 72" S8 AP2 H1 large blast, Gets Hot, Nova Charge 72" S9 AP2 Ordnance 1 Gets Hot Large Blast)
•Twin Fusion (18" S8 AP1 Melta)
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator
•Twin Fusion
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
5x 10 man Kroot unit w/ sniper 350
3x Broadside 327
•Twin High Yield Missile Pod (36" S7 AP4 H4)
•Twin Smart Missile System (30" S5 AP5 H4 Ignore Cover no LOS needed)
•Velocity Tracker (can choose to Sky Fire)
6x Missile Drone (same gun as commander)
Hammer Head 180
•Rail Gun (72" S10 AP1 H1 Submunitions 72" S6 AP4 H! large blast)
•Twin Smart Missile System
•Automated Repair System (at the end of your turn on a 6 you repair immobilised or weapon destroyed)
•Long Strike - Gives Hammer Head BS5, Tank Hunter, Preferred Enemy (IG), Black Sun Filter, Overwatch, Fire Support
Skyshield 75
Total Points = 1850
As above list but Shadow Sun replaces the second Broadside unit. She will infiltrate her body guard unit in and they will have a 2+ cover save. Her unit has 2 twin fusions and she has 2 fusions at BS5 and can split fire. So has good anti tank. Her Warlord Trait is [i]A Ghost Amongst Us[/i] and allows her unit to jump back 3d6".
List #3
-Farsight Bomb-
Farsight 165
- WS5 I5 S5 4A
•Dawn Blade AP2 Armorbane
•Plasma S6 AP2 Rapid Fire
•4++ invulnerable save
Shadow Sun 135
(Warlord)
Farsight Body Guard 667
7 x Crisis Suit
- Crisis Suit:
•Onager Gauntlet
•Puretide Engram Neurochip
•Multi Spectrum Sensor Suit
•Command and Control Node (doesn't shoot and unit reroll hits)
•Vectored Retro Thrusters (Hit and Run)
•Neroweb System Jammer (pick a unit in 12" and all their guns have Gets Hot)
- 6x Crisis Suit (identical):
•Fusion
•Plasma
•Target Lock (can shoot another target - unit can shoot 8 different targets with attached characters)
14x Shield Drone
Riptide 240
•Ion Accelerator (72" S7 AP2 H3, 72" S8 AP2 H1 large blast, Gets Hot, Nova Charge 72" S9 AP2 Ordnance 1 Gets Hot Large Blast)
•Twin Fusion (18" S8 AP1 Melta)
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
•Velocity Tracker
Riptide 240
•Ion Accelerator
•Twin Fusion
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
•Velocity Tracker
5x 10 man Kroot unit w/ sniper 350
Pathfinder team 44
4x Pathfinder
Total Points = 1843
This list is all deathstar. Farsight allows you to purchase a 7 man body guard unit. The unit with attached characters has 7 plasmas and 8 fusion guns able to split fire to 8 targets if desired with 1 fusion and 1 plasma each and 1 fusion at the eighth. Then can throw out 14 S6 AA2 shots and 8 S8 AP 1 shots all twin linked with Ignore Cover and they can sport Monster Hunter, Tank Hunter, Stubborn, Furious Charge or Counter Attack. They also infiltrate thanks to Shadow Sun have a 2+ cover save while in cover and can jump pack 3d6" with 14 shield drones - lot of ablative wounds. This unit can also do well in HTH against all but the toughest foes since they have the shield drones. Farsight with the Dawn Blade and the Onager Gaunlet also allow for some HTH tank busting.
The Riptides in this list deal with the anti air.
The Pathfinders are filler and can be swapped out if desired.
I would also consider taking allies in this list. I would take a Null Zone Librarian with jump pack to join the death star and some scouts to hide back. ATSKNF + Null Zone + Deny The Witch on 5+ is good.
List #4
-Balanced-
Commander 148
•Missile Pod (36" S7 AP A2)
•Drone Controller (drones use his BS)
•Puretide Engram Neurochip (allows bearer to choose between Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, Stubborn, Furious Charge or Counter Attack each turn)
•Multi Spectrum Sensor Suit (sacrifices his shooting so unit can Ignore Cover)
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator (72" S7 AP2 H3, 72" S8 AP2 H1 large blast, Gets Hot, Nova Charge 72" S9 AP2 Ordnance 1 Gets Hot Large)
•Twin Fusion (18" S8 AP1 Melta)
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
Riptide 220
•Ion Accelerator
•Twin Fusion
•Stimulant Injector (FNP)
5x 10 man Kroot unit w/ sniper 350
8x Pathfinder 88
8x Pathfinder 88
3x Broadside 351
•Twin High Yield Missile Pod (36" S7 AP4 H4)
•Twin Smart Missile System (30" S5 AP5 H4 Ignore Cover no LOS needed)
•Velocity Tracker (can choose to Sky Fire)
6x Missile Drone (same gun as commander)
3x Seeker Missile
Hammer Head 180
•Rail Gun (72" S10 AP1 H1 Submunitions 72" S6 AP4 H1 large blast)
•Twin Smart Missile System
•Automated Repair system (at the end of your turn on a 6 you repair immobilised or weapon destroyed)
•Long Strike - Gives Hammer Head BS5, Tank Hunter, Preferred Enemy (IG), Black Sun Filter, Overwatch, Fire Support
Sky Ray 115
Smart Missile System
Skyshield 75
Total Points = 1843
This army is more balanced than the others. They Sky Ray takes over for the other Broadside unit for anti air and with the Pathfinders in play your other units are more effective. Since Marker can mark for markers now, an idea I like is to mark a flyer with the Skyrays shots. If you land two hits, then you could choose to use it to shoot with a unit of Pathfinders who should land 4 hits now. This could allow more units to hit the target.
Thoughts on Tau
The codex could be better but I'm not seeing a lot to argue that now. Riptides are hot but they make Crisis Suits useless out sight of Shadow Sun shenanigans.
The race is designed to work in concert, but no matter how experienced you are, that can fall apart quickly.
Kroot got better. Everyone who says they got worse is missing a few big things. First Kroot were horrible in HTH. They cost one point less so you can get more now, or you can opt for snipers and make it so they can actually kill something as opposed to just going to ground on objectives.
Tau flyers are not horrible, but will rely on upgrades to do well.
Overall, Cadre Fireblade, Aun'shi, Darkstrider are all garbage. Aun'vai may be okay at best, and a normal ethereal is okay too but not great. Farsight and Shadow Sun are good and so is the suit commander.
Most everything is okay in the book. Riptides are the star. You need a pair, maybe even three.
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