Tau...

[Kelharis]

1 hour ago, paxmiles said:

Sorry, I'm not asking my questions very well.

Question is specific to Fire Warriors (Strikes or breachers) that are embarked in a devilfish, are part of the FARSIGHT ENCLAVES, and have a Cadre Fireblade in tow. 

The trick to the question is that the Cadre Fireblade doesn't boost Blasters with the volley fire ability, just Carbines, Pistols, and Rifles. So I have 2 shots with pistols (at 6"), 2 shots with blasters (5", 10", or 15"), 3 shots with carbines (at 9"), 3 shots with rifles (at 15"). With moving added in, pistols and rifles can move 6" prior to shooting (9" with disembark). Blasters and Carbines are assault weapons, so there could be a 7-12" move prior to shooting (10-15" with disembark).

The other trick here is that FARSIGHT ENCLAVES re-roll 1s to wound within 6". So ideally, I'll be within 6" when I shoot.

I'm guessing this is one of those situations where it depends on if you're within the 5" blaster range or not. and whether you're within 9" carbine range or not. If <5 then use blasters, if not then use carbines, unless you're more than 9" then use rifles.  The question is, how close do you want to be?

Probably better idea is to make your FW/Breachers into a Tau Sept battalion with Cadre Fireblade and Darkstrider.

[Dark Trainer]

I have a buddy starting up Tau. Got some tips about the start collecting box. I was advised to get 2 of those starter boxes, then look at 2 broadsides, and a hammerhead as a solid starting force for tau? Any other thoughts? He's starting from zero (well he has 1 starter box and 1 box of pathfinders so far).

[Lyraeus]

9 minutes ago, Dark Trainer said:

I have a buddy starting up Tau. Got some tips about the start collecting box. I was advised to get 2 of those starter boxes, then look at 2 broadsides, and a hammerhead as a solid starting force for tau? Any other thoughts? He's starting from zero (well he has 1 starter box and 1 box of pathfinders so far).

Aim him towards Ghostkeel and Riptide over the hammerhead. 

Stealthsuits are good as well. A second start collecting and he has a great fun set uo

[Kelharis]

24 minutes ago, Dark Trainer said:

I have a buddy starting up Tau. Got some tips about the start collecting box. I was advised to get 2 of those starter boxes, then look at 2 broadsides, and a hammerhead as a solid starting force for tau? Any other thoughts? He's starting from zero (well he has 1 starter box and 1 box of pathfinders so far).

If getting 2 starter boxes, I'd recommend converting one ethereal into a cadre fireblade. Its a very easy conversion, lots of pictures online.  Missilesides are definitely meta at the moment, as are Riptides.  I love the stealthies and Ghostkeel myself, have done very well with them.  Hammerhead as Longstrike is also meta, and a great choice.

Here's the best advice any Tau player can get: Magnetize everything bigger than a Fire Warrior (I even magnetized 6 pathfinders), Magnetize drones at the flight stick at least.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Dark Trainer said:

I have a buddy starting up Tau. Got some tips about the start collecting box. I was advised to get 2 of those starter boxes, then look at 2 broadsides, and a hammerhead as a solid starting force for tau? Any other thoughts? He's starting from zero (well he has 1 starter box and 1 box of pathfinders so far).

The biggest thing with TAU is to not glue their [Battlesuit] weapon options in place until you have played a few games. Then use magnets. I don't follow my own advice here, but I acknowledge that the smart route, especially for new players, would be magnets.  

Beyond that, it's a matter of unit roles. Since TAU are almost purely shooting, the question of roles is in regards to how close you want to be to the enemy when you shoot at them and how much moving is involved. So for the Start Collecting box, the Infantry are assembled as Rifles (long range or slow moving fire), Carbines (fast moving fire), or Blasters (extreme close range, usually embarked in a Devilfish). It's a playstyle question, as I think all of them are great.

With infantry squads, take 5-man squads for your first 2x starter boxes worth. There's no cost difference and the smaller squads do better with leadership. Furthermore, the smaller squads make cheaper battalions (which can be 3 squads of 5 starter box strike/breachers, 1 starter box ethereal, and 1 starter box crisis commander).

Crisis Suits should have 3 magnet points because they can only take 3 weapons/support systems. The Crisis Commander can take 4, so you could give 1 of them a 4th magnet spot in the off chance that you want to use it as an HQ instead of an elite. It's the same model as a member of the crisis squad, just the "not-modeled on pilot" is different.

Regarding Hammerheads, presuming you don't glue the turret in place, the hammerhead kit makes a Devilfish, Skyray, or Hammerhead and is a great addition to any TAU force. When you look to get a second one of that chasis, try getting the much cheaper Devilfish kit, as you can use either the skyray or hammer head turrent on them. Kit does not require any magnets, as turrets and such attach and detach without needing glue. All three variants are great additions to a TAU force.

Anyway, I think just about all the current TAU kits are worthwhile and have viable uses.

The main thing to remember when buying kits is that TAU can only field 1x BATTLESUIT COMMANDER per detachment. So the Coldstar/Enforcer Commander Battlesuit, Commander Farsight, Commander Shadowsun, and the FW Crisis suit characters/suit variants, each all compete with eachother for a meager 1 slot per detachment (so no more than 3 of the above per 2k of army). So if you plan to use the Crisis suits in your starter box to represent your HQ commanders, then don't buy any of these...

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Kelharis said:

I'm guessing this is one of those situations where it depends on if you're within the 5" blaster range or not. and whether you're within 9" carbine range or not. If <5 then use blasters, if not then use carbines, unless you're more than 9" then use rifles.  The question is, how close do you want to be?

Probably better idea is to make your FW/Breachers into a Tau Sept battalion with Cadre Fireblade and Darkstrider.

I'm not switching Septs. I would like a generic Darkstrider, but it's not an option at present.

The plan is to be within 6" as mentioned. Granted, as a plan, it might not survive contact with the enemy...

 

[Kelharis]

19 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Granted, as a plan, it might not survive contact with the enemy...

Tau rarely do :D

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Kelharis said:

Tau rarely do 😄

I thought about that as I wrote it.

[Guest]

So for descisions, I own 30 firewarriors. I decided the option to create 2x battlions is very appealing. Breachers are the ideal, but I only own the one Devilfish. So 15x are 3 Dal'yth Strike Squads with Pulse Rifles. 10x are 2 Farsight Enclaves Breacher Squads. And 5x are 1 Farsight Enclaves Strike Squad with Pulse Rifles.

And since Dal'yth has cover in the open if they don't move, the Farsight strikes are ideal for placing in actual cover.

[Guest]

2k of TAU:

++ Super-Heavy Detachment +3CP (T'au Empire) [95 PL, 1935pts] ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

+ Lord of War +

KV128 Stormsurge [20 PL, 390pts]: 2x Flamer, Cluster rocket system, Counterfire defence system, 4x Destroyer missile, Early warning override, Pulse blastcannon, Shield generator, 2x Smart missile system

KV128 Stormsurge [20 PL, 390pts]: 2x Flamer, Cluster rocket system, Counterfire defence system, 4x Destroyer missile, Early warning override, Pulse blastcannon, Shield generator, 2x Smart missile system

KX139 Ta'unar Supremacy Armour [55 PL, 1155pts]: 2x Fusion eradicator, 4x Burst cannon, Nexus meteor missile system, 4x Smart missile system

++ Total: [95 PL, 1935pts] ++

Created with BattleScribe

[Guest]

Been thinking about that past game against the Knight player that was following ITC rules and @Lyraeus's thread about the ITC rules. One of the optional objectives is the one to kill units of a certain power level (7+). TAU have a weird mix of power levels, but if my opponent is going to be focus firing units with PL 7+, then I suppose I need to consider the durability of said units more carefully.

My Crisis Suits really aren't very durable, but have a fearsome Power level 12 for just 3 of them, which makes them a rather ideal target for the ITC objective. 

On the other hand, those Gunrigs are Power Level 6, which puts them in a rather ideal position over the Hammerhead (Power Level 9), depsite having basically the same weaponry. 

Those Sunshark Bombers really high Power Level considering their lack of durability. 

Broadsides are PL 7 each, so if I take any, there is insentive to take multiples in a squad.

Stealth suits, on the other hand, at mininmum squad size and without drones, are PL6.

On the FW end of things, The min-squad size for Tetras, Heavy Gun Drones, and Piranha tx42 all fit under 7 PL. That Xv9 Hazard Support Team at the 1-man level is PL 5. Both of the FW commander suit variants are PL 6 (without drones), which is notable, since all the commander options in the codex are PL 7+.

[Kelharis]

Yeah, it seems odd that some objectives would be power level based, since it's been painfully obvious since the first days of 8th that power level and point cost are not anywhere close to equal. 

[Lyraeus]

1 hour ago, paxmiles said:

Been thinking about that past game against the Knight player that was following ITC rules and @Lyraeus's thread about the ITC rules. One of the optional objectives is the one to kill units of a certain power level (7+). TAU have a weird mix of power levels, but if my opponent is going to be focus firing units with PL 7+, then I suppose I need to consider the durability of said units more carefully.

My Crisis Suits really aren't very durable, but have a fearsome Power level 12 for just 3 of them, which makes them a rather ideal target for the ITC objective. 

On the other hand, those Gunrigs are Power Level 6, which puts them in a rather ideal position over the Hammerhead (Power Level 9), depsite having basically the same weaponry. 

Those Sunshark Bombers really high Power Level considering their lack of durability. 

Broadsides are PL 7 each, so if I take any, there is insentive to take multiples in a squad.

Stealth suits, on the other hand, at mininmum squad size and without drones, are PL6.

On the FW end of things, The min-squad size for Tetras, Heavy Gun Drones, and Piranha tx42 all fit under 7 PL. That Xv9 Hazard Support Team at the 1-man level is PL 5. Both of the FW commander suit variants are PL 6 (without drones), which is notable, since all the commander options in the codex are PL 7+.

That's how many people build lists in ITC. The best players consider what secondary objectives they will be giving up to their opponents 

[Lyraeus]

19 minutes ago, Kelharis said:

Yeah, it seems odd that some objectives would be power level based, since it's been painfully obvious since the first days of 8th that power level and point cost are not anywhere close to equal. 

They do it so that people don't get points for marking a low power unit for death like Gretchin, Drones etc. 

[Kelharis]

1 hour ago, Lyraeus said:

They do it so that people don't get points for marking a low power unit for death like Gretchin, Drones etc. 

Oh I get that, but if they based it on points it would make more sense to me.  Like making it "Mark 4 target units whose point cost is 150+ points" would make it better in my opinion.

[Lyraeus]

4 minutes ago, Kelharis said:

Oh I get that, but if they based it on points it would make more sense to me.  Like making it "Mark 4 target units whose point cost is 150+ points" would make it better in my opinion.

GW changes points though but not PL though so you have a more consistent level choice

[Ish]

There’s also the obvious problem that Points values (and PL’s) are not balanced against the game as a whole, but within a faction. Imagine two units with identical stats, one Tau and one Marine, but that is more useful to Tau than Marines because it does something unique for Tau and redundant for Marines... The Tau would pay more.

[Guest]

Does seem weird to have PL used in matched play in a scoring capacity.

[Lyraeus]

36 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Does seem weird to have PL used in matched play in a scoring capacity.

Only for what units you can select for certain things. 

[WestRider]

51 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Does seem weird to have PL used in matched play in a scoring capacity.

There are a handful of Stratagems that care about it, too, plus the Reserves Rules, so even in Matched Play, it does have relevance. Using it for scoring as well seems like a perfectly reasonable extension of those uses.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, WestRider said:

There are a handful of Stratagems that care about it, too, plus the Reserves Rules, so even in Matched Play, it does have relevance. Using it for scoring as well seems like a perfectly reasonable extension of those uses.

That's true. 

And the daemon summoning uses it too.

[Guest]

Okay, so do you think anyone object to using simple Crisis Suit conversions to represent the FW xv81 or xv84 Crisis Commanders?

FW doesn't exactly sell them anymore.

[Lord Hanaur]

3 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Okay, so do you think anyone object to using simple Crisis Suit conversions to represent the FW xv81 or xv84 Crisis Commanders?

FW doesn't exactly sell them anymore.

Pics?

[Lyraeus]

4 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Okay, so do you think anyone object to using simple Crisis Suit conversions to represent the FW xv81 or xv84 Crisis Commanders?

FW doesn't exactly sell them anymore.

As long as they look roughly similar and are about the right size I don't care

[Ish]

I can’t tell the difference... Just make sure they have the right guns and are some sort of mecha suit.