Tau 1250 (Second army)

[hiveminded55]

I'm thinking of starting a second army & Tau is the front runner. I was initially considering KDK, but they are similar to Tyranids and as difficult to paint. Smooth robotic lines should be easy and quick. Painting for me is tough, I prefer assembling and playing

My starter list I've come up with. Any feedback is appreciated. I really like the list and I guess I'm looking to understand where it may be weak, but these are honestly the units I think are cool and would enjoy playing.

Stuck around 1250 pts since this is what my local store noted as their typical tournament pt value.

I know riptide wing is king, but I don't want to go too cheese.

CAD
Coldstar Commander w/ATS & SI (163)
Commander R'alai [FW] (190)

5 FW w/P. rifle, one is Shas'ui, 2 marker drones (79)
5 FW w/P. rifle, one is Shas'ui, 2 marker drones (79)

XV109 Y'vahra w/SI & ATS & 2 shield drones (292)

Formation
Ghostkeel wing (444)
3x ghostkeel w/ion rake & fusion blaster & target lock & ATS (148 each)

That's 1247 points.

So thought on weaknesses? Maybe equipment I should switch around?
As a side note, I have no idea if any of these units are trash. No experience playing with them, please let me know if anything is trash and why.

[snowdaman]

I'd drop the marker drones from the units and put them in their own unit. It costs a little more but then you can marker light a unit.

As it is now if you wanted to use the four lights on a unit you would have to fire all your fire warriors at the unit also.

The cold star commander I don't think he can take other systems ones he take the armour but I'm not sure on that so I may be wrong.

The Forge world commander I'd probably just take a normal commander and put him with the marker drones with drone controler. Could even target lock and give him missile pods for 4 str 7 shots. Or plasma.

I haven't used ghost keels yet but they seem fun.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using proboards

[hiveminded55]

I've already been tinkering with the list. From what I can tell Coldstar Commander can take up to 2 support systems. Good point on the marker lights, I dropped the drones gave a Shas'ui the target lock + mrklight upgrade & added 2 tetras. I still kind of like the FW HQ though, his weapon munition options really give you some flexibility.

I've stayed away from hunter & dawn contingents due to the 1 HQ commander restriction. The formations do have some nice bonuses though >.>

Updated list:

CAD (815)
Coldstar w/EWO & Stim. Inj. (165)
Comm R'alai (190)

FW x5 one as Shas'ui (55)
FW x5 one as Shas'ui w/T lock & mrklight (70)

Tetra (35)
Tetra (35)
XV109 Y'vahra w/Stim. Inj. (265)

Formation (435)
Ghostkeel wing of 3 separate GKs each the same w/ion raker & TL fusion blaster & either (EWO or Counter Def. Sys.) (145)

This seems to be closer to what I wanted now. Any further feedback on this list?

[snowdaman]

Looking good. Ewo will be nice to help vs any deep strikes armies.

Tetras are very good markerlight platforms from what I hear. ( a guy in my local gaming group uses them)

Coldstar will help vs any flyers. Not super great but at that low points level you won't see many flyers other then cheap ones.

[almostmercury]

Tetras are great.

I think you'll be disappointed by the cold star. Remember that grounding tests are S9 and a Coldstar is only T4 so... ID.

I really want a Y'vahra as well.

The shas'ui marker light is way over priced I'd find something different for the points.

Finally, ghostkeels are really good. I would recommend the EWO over CDS. B2 overwatch is actually busted, but I've found interceptor to be way more useful.

[hiveminded55]

Aug 20, 2016 14:06:32 GMT almostmercury said:

I think you'll be disappointed by the cold star. Remember that grounding tests are S9 and a Coldstar is only T4 so... ID.

Good point. I didn't think that far ahead. Only a 3+ or 4+jink. With possible FNP. Massed shooting could probably have a good chance of grounding. I liked him since he would be solo.

Ugh not sure how to kit my commander the with my current list. Should I drop the commander(I still have the FW HQ) and get a crisis suit team?!

Can I kit a commander to DS with the ghostkeel wing in any way?

[almostmercury]

Ghostkeels are MCs so they can't be joined.

After looking at your list, you don't have any units for an IC to join, and you don't have enough points to make him his very own independent beat stick...

So you'd have to either add a unit of drones and make him a Mark'O. This is my favourite way to run Marker lights, BTW. Mark'O BS5 lights are amazing.

You could add the crisis suits, which are legitimately good. Putting Plasma or CIBs on them would pair well with your Ghostkeels and Y'vahra, as they would be mid to close range and still jumpy. Or you could buff up your firewarrrior squads and drop that inefficient Shas'ui. Running squads of 9 is best for morale checks, and giving them an SMS or Missile Pod turrent is a nice little buff.

I'm not sure if you've played a game with Tau yet, but the weirdest part of switching for me was making more than 1 or 2 morale checks in a game. Kitting out your units to work with that is a good idea.

[hiveminded55]

Another round of updates.
Taking into account:
-Coldstar Commander weakness of ID on a failed ground test
-markerlight effectiveness
-typical commander not having a unit to join in thus list

Updated list:

CAD (830)
Comm R'alai (190)

Crisis team (215):
Shas'vre w/CIB, SI, Iridium suit (87)
Shas'ui w/burst cannon, TL plasma rifle (52)
Shas'ui w/burst cannon, TL plasma rifle (52)
2x shield drones (24)

FW x5 (45)
FW x5 (45)

Tetra (35)
Tetra (35)
XV109 Y'vahra w/Stim. Inj. (265)

Formation (420)
Ghostkeel wing of 3 separate GKs:
1x w/CIR & TL fusion blaster & EWO (145)
1x w/CIR & TL burst cannon & EWO (140)
1x w/CIR & TL burst cannon (135)

Change notes.

I've added the crisis suit team to replace the Commander. I plan on using them to get into my opponents face. Should be semi tanky. Use the Iridium Shas'vre to tank shots until his first wound. Then LOS to the drones until they're gone. Then tank shots again until dead.

Seems like the only weakness now is flyers. Seems like even Coldstar wasn't going to be great at killing flyers as is. He's too fragile once hit.

[almostmercury]

I find that the targets for burst cannons and plasma rifles are quite different. If you want wounds for infantry, pair the BC with a flamethrower. And pair the plasma cannons with fusion blasters.