Bringing in the Heavies

One of the constants in the Battleforce lists are their reliance on Crisis Suits for anti-tank. This can be the route you take, but the Tau are unique in that they carry the best long-ranged anti-tank weapon in the game; the Railgun.

Fortunately for everyone else, Railguns can't be crammed into every corner of our lists; only our heavy support. So here will be talking of our two Railgun toting Heavies.

The Hammerhead makes a very effective use of the Railgun if equipped (minimally) with a Disruption Pod and a Multitracker. This allows it durability at a range and the ability to move 12" before firing the Railgun, which is useful for side armor hunting. It can be used to tank shock objectives later in the game. It also can fire an anti-infantry round.

Broadsides are slower, but put out much more firepower. They are slightly more accurate then a Hammerhead, and with the use of Shield Drones and cover they become more durable to shooting (if easy to wipe in assault). You can get two Railguns for the price of one mounted one, and the SMS deal quite a bit of damage as well; I actually find myself firing said weapons far more often in the later phases of the game.

Which should you get first? Buying a Hammerhead model is cheaper than buying two Broadsides, and keeps mobility in your army. Broadsides, however, clearly put out more anti-tank firepower... but is the damage output worth the speed sacrifice and the additional chassis? Its your choice overall; I run both in high-points.

2 Battleforces (1000pts)

While a usable 500 point army can be made from a Battlebox, a decent 1000 point army can be made from two boxes.

First come the Troops; Again we start with the base of Fire Warriors riding in a durable Devilfish, but with the extras we can have two squads. As above, the choice to take Rifles or Carbines is yours, but again I recommend Rifles.

8x Shas'la (Rifles) -80 pts
8x Shas'la (Rifles) -80 pts
The trick in the prior list of taking the Devilfish that come with the Pathfinder squads is used her again... with a quick catch discussed later. Redundancy (use of the same unit multiple time) makes it more difficult for the enemy to blunt your offensive tankrush.

Next we have the Krootses (not actual plural). Kroot like hordes. They take less morale test that way, bring a lot of wieght in combat and can shoot a lot from cover. It is also VERY difficult to remove a Kroot horde from cover; one of the reasons Kroot hordes are sometimes championed above mechanized Fire Warriors. Their extra deployment techniques make them tricky, as they can start right next to your opponent or off on the side in a wood. The can sit 50% in terrain and 50% in a line across the field to grant cover to your other units. They die to anything that denies cover by the bucket. But they are nonetheless dangerous. Use them.

20x Kroot Mercenaries; 4x Kroot Hounds -164
How to get the Hounds? Model some of your Kroot in leaned over positions, don't give them guns (maybe cut the knife ends off and put that in their hands) and make them converted "Feral Kroot". Paint blood on their hands and maws. These conversions are simple and effective.

Pathfinders are key, and start becoming really useful at 1000 points or higher. Here we will field 8; the other 4 coming from the conversion method outlined in the post before.

4x Pathfinder Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, TA, MT, DP -168
4x Pathfinder Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, TA, MT, DP -168
You can combine these units if you want, giving the second 'fish instead to Fire Warriors. This method will save you one KP, but will make the squad a big target. This way you can light up an extra target, and will make killing all of your lights annoying.

Remember that measly Stealth Team with low amounts of firepower? With a full squad they can shred through soft targets, hurt heavier infantry, and even break through rear armor through use of extra deployment options or just great maneuvering.

1x Stealth Shas'ui Team Leader w/ Bonding Knife; 5x Shas'la
This is where you will first see the use of morale upgrades. A full Stealth Team benefits from a Bonding Knife, as if they fall back from their forward roles they can regroup and move back up, once again aggravating the opponent.

Now we go back to the Crisis Commander; again we lack Heavy Support (AKA no Railguns), so any Crisis Suits need to be of the anti-tank variety. So we use the same Commander as before.

1x Crisis Shas'el w/ TL-MP, FB, HWMT -85
Nothing needs to be said. Its all in the last post.

In 1000 points, one Suit with anti-vehicle guns isn't enough. Luckily for us we can afford a second.

1x Crisis Shas'ui Team Leader w/ TL-MP, FB, HWMT -65
A less accurate, less tough, but equally shooty suit. Use is the same as the Commander, only slightly more expendable.

So the final list looks like:

1x Crisis Shas'el w/ TL-MP, FB, HWMT -85
1x Crisis Shas'ui w/ TL-MP, FB, HWMT -65
1x Stealth Shas'ui TL w/ BK; 5x Stealth Shas'ui -190
8x Fire Warrior Shas'la (Rifles) -80
8x Fire Warrior Shas'la (Rifles) -80
20 Kroot Mercenaries; 4x Kroot Hounds -164
4x Pathfinder Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, TA, MT, DP -168
4x Pathfinder Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, TA, MT, DP -168
TOTAL= 1000 pts

Single Battleforce Army (500 points)

The Battleforce contains (as stated previously) 1 Crisis Suit, 3 Stealth Suits, 1 Devilfish (2 Drones on 'fish), 12 Fire Warriors (comes with two drones), and 12 Kroot.

The first thing you need in a Tau army is to decide how you are going to run your Fire Warriors. In lower points they can afford to be on foot, but since this is likely your first army, it will be nice for you to try both mechanized and footslogging troops.
Model 8 of your Firewarriors with Pulse Rifles or Carbines (Rifles are widely seen as superior) and this will be your mandatory Fire Warrior Squad.

8x Shas'la (Rifles) -80 pts
This squad will move forward and attack an objective or some infantry in a Devilfish. In this point level, the Devilfish will be difficult to kill, and "Tankshocking" makes them great for attacking objectives.
Note: This squad will not buy the Devilfish for themselves, but they will ride in it. More on this below.

Next is for the second Troop choice. Since you cannot form a Firewarrior squad out of the remaining form (there's a point, trust me), you must look to your Kroot. These guys will give you experience with footslogging units.

11x Kroot Mercenaries -77 pts
Note: Kroot are odd. They will die if shot at almost always, but can make decent use of cover to make themselves more durable. They can also bring a hefty amount of attacks onto the enemy via close combat. For this list, your Kroot fulfill the role of a "pillbox" unit; they will sit in cover on an objective and shoot anything in their range. If shot at, they will "go to ground" (check the core rulebook) making them difficult to remove from an objective.

Pathfinders are our next choice. While these are normally not to be used below 500 points, it is important to learn the workings of Markerlights. "But we don't get Pathfinders!" some will proclaim. While it's conversion time.
Take the 4 extra Firewarriors, model them with Carbines and no shoulderpads (for a scouty feel). These will act as your Pathfinders. The Devilfish that you're forced to take with them will be given to the Firewarriors on the first turn.

4x Pathfinder Shas'la; Devilfish w/ Smart Missile System, Targetting Array, Multitracker, Disruption Pod -168
The Pathfinder squad is a good help to your everything but your Kroot, and they have some interesting effects (look 'em up in the codex).
The Devilfish has been upgraded a LOT. This is called a Warfish, holding considerable firepower, and being rather tough to crack. It can transport your Firewarriors into fire and back.

Next is the Elite choices; Stealth Suits come to mind, as the Commander will teach you about Crisis Suits.

3x Stealth Shas'ui -90
Stealth Suits are decent for delivering small arms firepower to unexpected places. Learn how to use their extra deployment options and you will do fine.

The final part is the Crisis Commander. First off, Shas'o are normally not worth the points. The extra point in BS is nice, but that can be accomplished by buying a Targetting Array for a Shas'el; for less points.
Second off, I normally leave my Crisis Suits until last when building. It's not that they aren't important, they are; they just fill in gaps. For example, this list has multiple anti-infantry weapons, overpowering most warriors. But no way of dealing with vehicles except ramming means problems; hence the need for a Commander wo can fight tanks:

Shas'el w/ Twin-Linked Missile Pods, Fusion Blaster, Hardwired Multi-Tracker
-85
This Shas'el is for hitting vehicles specifically; deepstriking with him is suprisingly useful, as Missile Pods hitting rear armor are painful. Make sure you familiarize yourself with melta weapons, but never attempt to deepstrike into melta range against any vehicles carrying troops (unless necessary), as even if you do pop the transport they will assault and kill you Commander next turn.

So the list is as follows:
Shas'el w/ TL-MP, FB, HWMT -85
3x Stealth Shas'ui -90
8x Shas'la (Rifles) -80
11x Kroot Mercenaries -77
4x Pathfinders; Devilfish w/ SMS, TA, MT, DP -168
TOTAL= 500 points

Next post I will outline how to make a 1000 point army using two Battleforces.

Starting Tau Pt1

This is for any newer players that stumble upon the blog, fresh from training as Shas'saals.
First off, get a codex. Don't pirate it, then you are a douchebag. Buy the 'dex, and if you don't have a friend who already plays, buy a core rulebook. For actual collecting, you should start off with the Tau Battleforce.
This will give you a full squad of Fire Warriors (12), meaning you can either treat them as a single unit or split them into two minimum-sized squads, depending on your plans. This is great, as at least two troop choices are needed in standard games, and for Tau, one of them must be a group of Fire Warriors. You also get a Devilfish, which is an excellent, though expensive pointswise.
You also get 12 Kroot, just a little more than a full squad. These guys are either hated or loved by Tau players, depending on playstyle. I will post some theory on them at a later date. Suffice to say that they are point for point a better offensive unit the Fire Warriors, but lack the ability to bring transports, and lack any armor, making them easy to kill if not hidden in cover.
You get three Stealth Suits, who by themselves, are near pointless. Many players avoid Stealth Suits, as they suffer from being worse in terms of firepower to points conversion than Crisis Suits. They do however, gain in terms of maneuverability; they have additional deployment options that Crisis Suits don't have.
Speaking of the Suits, you get one of those. This Suit will act as your Commander early in your career, as you MUST have at least one Shas'el or Shas'o to lead your army.

A second Battleforce will give you more than enough models to make a decent army. Then you need to branch out into Heavy Support. Hammerheads or Broadsides, or both. Skyrays are unorthodox but entirely usable. Sniper Drone Teams are great units, but they compete with things that are much better uses of the slot.

Next pos, I'll review how to build a viable army using one Battleforce, then using two.