Post by WolfTau on Aug 23, 2005 16:55:26 GMT
This article assumes you have read the Know thy Self on Tau Online and the Mech Tau Bible, so if you have not read them, go there and save and print 
This is a General Rule of thumb for List Builders at the 600 to 1000 point range. This is mostly for the beginner who may not have three Hammerheads to throw in but they you have a decent size force already and you wish to build on it. Once this force is up and running, you should be able to see where you need to go. I know that models cost money and I for one did not really want to spend hundreds of dollars just to find out these 3 Krootox did not work or that BroadSides where not a good as a HH. I also was one who bought pathfinders and ethereals before I even knew how to use them. So, I hope I can help someone out there make a better first time list and help you buy the stuff you want to field versus buying stuff people recommend over and over and later find out it’s not your style.
HQ
Ethereal – Do a search on this bad boy and you will find tons of stuff. First timers stay away for now, save that money. He is tricky to use but can be very powerful in the Right List. In other words, your army has to be built around him. Should he be killed, all your troops (not kroot or drones) on the board must make a Leadership check or they fall back. Remember all your basic troops have Ld 7. He is a cheap HQ but not recommend for the beginner.
Shas’O – I love him for his high BS +1 over the Shas’el. There is no more benefit to him. Sure some say he has better WS and More Wounds, but if it really comes down to the point where you have to charge in your HQ, you are in trouble. Farsight guys, hold on there, I bet you are not a beginner so hush. The ‘O will get expensive fast if you give him Twin-linked weapons, and some Hard-wired stuff. Stay simple and you can get more hard hitting troops on the board. I will give you two examples later on of a tooled army and trimmed army.
Example (I can’t give actual point costs but will try to show examples)
Shas’O - TLMP, PR, HWMT
Comes in at a hefty 122 or 16% of your total points in a 750-point game.
Shas’el – MP, PR, MT 11% of your points in a 750 point game.
Just get a regular Crisis suit; you are going to need him. Then get two more crisis suits, these guys are what make the Tau unique. They can take on Marines, Nids, and Orcs. Just don’t glue on the weapons, so you can switch them out.
Crisis – If you get three crisis suits to start that is good. Tool these guys for specific threats don’t be adding Plasma/ Flamer/MP and HWMT. Flamer is an 8’ template, so you jump 6” shoot and jump back, but if you are off by two inches you will get charged. Marines have a 6” move and 6” charge. You now have a dead Crisis, look at your WS, that means don’t get into Close Combat. So don’t get close, you have all these cool weapons to shoot far from so do it.
Stealths – Get the six models if you can. Once you “see” the 18” range plus their jump shoot jump these guys can pump out tons of S5 shoots. A full squad can pump out 18 shoots but can only kill about 2 marines in one turn. So, never send them in alone.
Fire warriors – You need to get two FULL squads of these guys. Their Pulse rifle are tough, Fire warriors are not. Two assault marines took out two squads of my guys. So use their FULL range if you can. Buy the Fish, at least one. You may like Mech Tau or you maybe chose to play Hybrid, but at the 750 points level, Full Mech is dangerous. Why do I say that? If you spend over 170 points in just transports for your troops, those Fish cost you about 23 % of your total points. Transports can’t hold table quarters, they just transport or FoF. Remember, it can be bad, losing one fish with all hands on board. That is about 25% of your force. This would suck if it comes from one lucky Lascannon shot.
Kroot – Will need about 12 to 20 of these guys. Don’t buy the shaper, hell I even bought the Limited Edition one myself. Nice model but all you need are 20 Kroot. Everywhere you read they say they are fodder troops or to use them as a speed bump. But I call them OT. Object Troops. Don’t thrown them into the meat grinder, use them to accomplish something. If you need them to buy you a turn of shooting, good, that is what they are there for, but also make sure they leave the enemy where you want them as well. Kroot don’t have to get their points back, they just have to help you complete some part of your plan/mission. You do have a plan right?
Krootox – Do a search. Ah, never mind, just don’t buy them. Save it for a Railhead, mmmm Rail Gun yummy.
Pathfinders – Expensive unit in points and in models. In order to field 3 Rail Rifles you have to buy two blister of 2 models each, one wasted RR. You also need to field them with a Fish. A squad with Marker Lights and 3 Rail Rifles and the fish will run you 221 points. 30% of your 750-point force. Never worked in 750 points. They seem to be working in my 1000-point games, but I’ve been lucky. They either get ignored and hit very well or they get attacked and draw fire but never really accomplish anything but draw tons of fire. They are one of those things that don’t get their points back but help the rest of your force.
Gun Drones – Just Don’t for now, wait until you really need a Fast Attack or wait until the rumored new Codex comes out. There may be a new Fast Attack.
Kroot Hound Pack – I don’t use them for now, remember you are just putting this army together, these are finishing touch items.
My favorite part of the List the Heavy Support.
Hammerheads – These are the best game Tanks out there. Can you field two in a 750-point game, yes. Is it cheesy, Yes. But so is two Eldar Wraith Lords in 750 points. Buy one HH to start. In 750 points, tell your opponent your fielding one and watch him rearrange his Heavy Support to kill it. Use this to your advantage; because it is going to draw fire anyways, you might as well plan something along those lines.
Broadside – This is also a very good at killing tanks. But it does not have the submunition round and is very static, it can not and shoot. Bolt pistols can kill him. So, if you have the cash, get a Hammerhead instead, Please! You won't regret getting one instead of a BS.
I got mine cheap through a trade. I do like the fact you get the extra weapons so I can twin-link one of my Crisis suits with magnets. I also used Fireknife systems as a sample. I will not recommend go over weapons systems because they have been covered over and over again. Fireknife is my favorite so I used it.
I know there is a lot more to it than that but I tried to make this a quick review. And what would a review be without a sample list.
Fluffy List
Shas’O
TLMP, PR, HWMT 122
Crisis Team Leader
HWMT PR, TLMP 82
Crisis Team Leader
HMMT TLPR, MP 83
Stealth Suits x4
Team Leader x 1 Drones x 2 177
FireWarriors x 9
Shas’ui x 1 130
Fire Warriors x 9 225 (ouch, that is a lot of points there)
Shas’ui x 1
Devilfish MT, TL, DL
Hammerhead
Railgun TA, MT, SMS, TL, DL 180 (ouche! That is a lot of points for a tank that is NOT AV14)
Trimmed List
Shas’el
MP, PR, MT 85
Crisis MP, PR, MT 65
Crisis MP, PR, MT 65
Stealth Suits x 5 150
Fire Warrior x 12 205
DFish DL
Fire Warriors x 11
Broadside TL RG, SMS MT 75
Broadside TL RG, SMS MT 75
Hammerhead
Railgun, TA, MT, BC, TL, DL 170
Or drop the two BS’s for
Ion Head 150
Ion Cannon, TA, MT, TL, DL
Both lists are within one point of each other. I am not saying one way is better than the other but look at what models you are buying and see what it can do for you. The trimmed list does have more including two BS’s(remember for the money spent on a BS a little more can get you a HH) which could be changed out for an Ion Head and save you some money. One Hammerhead model would cost a lot less than two BSs models. The Tau Battle box is great for what you get. Heck, get two boxes and two hammerheads, because GW raised their prices for individual boxes of troops. I hope this helped those new to the hobby as you start to play those first few games. I know I made some mistakes but it was fun trying to make a list that I liked. Hopefully I saved you some money as well. I wish I knew this when I first started, I have 10 gun drones I bought off Ebay, which I used once and have since disappeared into a bits box somewhere.
Wolf-Tau
This is a General Rule of thumb for List Builders at the 600 to 1000 point range. This is mostly for the beginner who may not have three Hammerheads to throw in but they you have a decent size force already and you wish to build on it. Once this force is up and running, you should be able to see where you need to go. I know that models cost money and I for one did not really want to spend hundreds of dollars just to find out these 3 Krootox did not work or that BroadSides where not a good as a HH. I also was one who bought pathfinders and ethereals before I even knew how to use them. So, I hope I can help someone out there make a better first time list and help you buy the stuff you want to field versus buying stuff people recommend over and over and later find out it’s not your style.
HQ
Ethereal – Do a search on this bad boy and you will find tons of stuff. First timers stay away for now, save that money. He is tricky to use but can be very powerful in the Right List. In other words, your army has to be built around him. Should he be killed, all your troops (not kroot or drones) on the board must make a Leadership check or they fall back. Remember all your basic troops have Ld 7. He is a cheap HQ but not recommend for the beginner.
Shas’O – I love him for his high BS +1 over the Shas’el. There is no more benefit to him. Sure some say he has better WS and More Wounds, but if it really comes down to the point where you have to charge in your HQ, you are in trouble. Farsight guys, hold on there, I bet you are not a beginner so hush. The ‘O will get expensive fast if you give him Twin-linked weapons, and some Hard-wired stuff. Stay simple and you can get more hard hitting troops on the board. I will give you two examples later on of a tooled army and trimmed army.
Example (I can’t give actual point costs but will try to show examples)
Shas’O - TLMP, PR, HWMT
Comes in at a hefty 122 or 16% of your total points in a 750-point game.
Shas’el – MP, PR, MT 11% of your points in a 750 point game.
Just get a regular Crisis suit; you are going to need him. Then get two more crisis suits, these guys are what make the Tau unique. They can take on Marines, Nids, and Orcs. Just don’t glue on the weapons, so you can switch them out.
Crisis – If you get three crisis suits to start that is good. Tool these guys for specific threats don’t be adding Plasma/ Flamer/MP and HWMT. Flamer is an 8’ template, so you jump 6” shoot and jump back, but if you are off by two inches you will get charged. Marines have a 6” move and 6” charge. You now have a dead Crisis, look at your WS, that means don’t get into Close Combat. So don’t get close, you have all these cool weapons to shoot far from so do it.
Stealths – Get the six models if you can. Once you “see” the 18” range plus their jump shoot jump these guys can pump out tons of S5 shoots. A full squad can pump out 18 shoots but can only kill about 2 marines in one turn. So, never send them in alone.
Fire warriors – You need to get two FULL squads of these guys. Their Pulse rifle are tough, Fire warriors are not. Two assault marines took out two squads of my guys. So use their FULL range if you can. Buy the Fish, at least one. You may like Mech Tau or you maybe chose to play Hybrid, but at the 750 points level, Full Mech is dangerous. Why do I say that? If you spend over 170 points in just transports for your troops, those Fish cost you about 23 % of your total points. Transports can’t hold table quarters, they just transport or FoF. Remember, it can be bad, losing one fish with all hands on board. That is about 25% of your force. This would suck if it comes from one lucky Lascannon shot.
Kroot – Will need about 12 to 20 of these guys. Don’t buy the shaper, hell I even bought the Limited Edition one myself. Nice model but all you need are 20 Kroot. Everywhere you read they say they are fodder troops or to use them as a speed bump. But I call them OT. Object Troops. Don’t thrown them into the meat grinder, use them to accomplish something. If you need them to buy you a turn of shooting, good, that is what they are there for, but also make sure they leave the enemy where you want them as well. Kroot don’t have to get their points back, they just have to help you complete some part of your plan/mission. You do have a plan right?
Krootox – Do a search. Ah, never mind, just don’t buy them. Save it for a Railhead, mmmm Rail Gun yummy.
Pathfinders – Expensive unit in points and in models. In order to field 3 Rail Rifles you have to buy two blister of 2 models each, one wasted RR. You also need to field them with a Fish. A squad with Marker Lights and 3 Rail Rifles and the fish will run you 221 points. 30% of your 750-point force. Never worked in 750 points. They seem to be working in my 1000-point games, but I’ve been lucky. They either get ignored and hit very well or they get attacked and draw fire but never really accomplish anything but draw tons of fire. They are one of those things that don’t get their points back but help the rest of your force.
Gun Drones – Just Don’t for now, wait until you really need a Fast Attack or wait until the rumored new Codex comes out. There may be a new Fast Attack.
Kroot Hound Pack – I don’t use them for now, remember you are just putting this army together, these are finishing touch items.
My favorite part of the List the Heavy Support.
Hammerheads – These are the best game Tanks out there. Can you field two in a 750-point game, yes. Is it cheesy, Yes. But so is two Eldar Wraith Lords in 750 points. Buy one HH to start. In 750 points, tell your opponent your fielding one and watch him rearrange his Heavy Support to kill it. Use this to your advantage; because it is going to draw fire anyways, you might as well plan something along those lines.
Broadside – This is also a very good at killing tanks. But it does not have the submunition round and is very static, it can not and shoot. Bolt pistols can kill him. So, if you have the cash, get a Hammerhead instead, Please! You won't regret getting one instead of a BS.
I got mine cheap through a trade. I do like the fact you get the extra weapons so I can twin-link one of my Crisis suits with magnets. I also used Fireknife systems as a sample. I will not recommend go over weapons systems because they have been covered over and over again. Fireknife is my favorite so I used it.
I know there is a lot more to it than that but I tried to make this a quick review. And what would a review be without a sample list.
Fluffy List
Shas’O
TLMP, PR, HWMT 122
Crisis Team Leader
HWMT PR, TLMP 82
Crisis Team Leader
HMMT TLPR, MP 83
Stealth Suits x4
Team Leader x 1 Drones x 2 177
FireWarriors x 9
Shas’ui x 1 130
Fire Warriors x 9 225 (ouch, that is a lot of points there)
Shas’ui x 1
Devilfish MT, TL, DL
Hammerhead
Railgun TA, MT, SMS, TL, DL 180 (ouche! That is a lot of points for a tank that is NOT AV14)
Trimmed List
Shas’el
MP, PR, MT 85
Crisis MP, PR, MT 65
Crisis MP, PR, MT 65
Stealth Suits x 5 150
Fire Warrior x 12 205
DFish DL
Fire Warriors x 11
Broadside TL RG, SMS MT 75
Broadside TL RG, SMS MT 75
Hammerhead
Railgun, TA, MT, BC, TL, DL 170
Or drop the two BS’s for
Ion Head 150
Ion Cannon, TA, MT, TL, DL
Both lists are within one point of each other. I am not saying one way is better than the other but look at what models you are buying and see what it can do for you. The trimmed list does have more including two BS’s(remember for the money spent on a BS a little more can get you a HH) which could be changed out for an Ion Head and save you some money. One Hammerhead model would cost a lot less than two BSs models. The Tau Battle box is great for what you get. Heck, get two boxes and two hammerheads, because GW raised their prices for individual boxes of troops. I hope this helped those new to the hobby as you start to play those first few games. I know I made some mistakes but it was fun trying to make a list that I liked. Hopefully I saved you some money as well. I wish I knew this when I first started, I have 10 gun drones I bought off Ebay, which I used once and have since disappeared into a bits box somewhere.
Wolf-Tau
