New to Tau, Starting Army advice

[saffo]

I am just getting into 40k. I bought a bunch of codex's and have decided on Tau. Here is my first stab at a 1200 point force. I have a list of questions at the end of this.


HQ (Troop Killers)
Shas'el with Multi Tracker + 2 Plasma Guns (87 points)
2 XV8 BG with M.T. + 2 Plasma Guns (154 points)

Troops
1 Kroot Squad of 10 (70 points)
1 Fire Warrior Squad of 9 + 1 shas'ui w/ Markerlight (90 points) + (20 points)

Heavy
1 broadside squad (3 broadsides) w/ M.T. (225 points)
1 broadside squad (3 broadsides) w/ M.T. (225 points)

1 Hammerhead + rail gun + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Targ Array + burst cannons (160 points)
1 Hammerhead + ion + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Smart Missle (155 points)

total: 1186 points


I found a place where I can buy troops for 25% off G.W. Prices. God fear how much Games Workshop marks klkn up. Don't get me started on the G.W. employee who claimed that the best deal for PVA glue was through them at 10 bucks for a small tube. For 10 bucks you can drown in "Elmer's glue" (PVA) from home depot... I digress...

This is how I intend to buy my troops:
1 tau battle box ($90) *99120113002*
6 XV-88 Broadside ($210) *99140113005*
2 hammer head boxes ($80) *99120113004*
-25%
Total = $285

My questions include the following:
1. Should I buy a 1000 point army or a 1500 point army instead? Why?
2. Advice on the army list, suggestions for different units. Please provide any feedback on how wonky my troop choice may be.
3. Different route for buying the army? If so, how? These things are expensive.

I just wanted to thank you all up front, I have learned so much from these forums. I can't wait to get my troops painted and in battle!

-Saffo

[Vash113]

Ok firstly you have too many heavy supports. You have 4 units and you are only allowed 3. Secondly you should not take bodyguards at least not with the current rules. This removes your commanders IC status and makes him a target where as an IC he hardly ever takes fire. Also you could use a larger firebase of troops, your army is few on numbers. Throw in another Firewarrior squad and perhaps a devilfish to see how you like that. From there you can make the decision to either mechanize, go static, add kroot or whatever you like. If you dont like mounted squads you can use the devilfish for pathfinders and get some markerlighting power.

Also you cannot give crisis suits 2 plasmas. Its either 1 or 1 twin linked. Which means two guns linked together to fire as one. This lets you reroll the to hit dice once. On a commander I would suggest you hard wire the multi tracker and add a shield gennerator or another weapon. Missil pods and fusion blasters work well on commanders.

[Mage001]

From a person who plays AGAINST Tau. I would say to drop the Broadsides. They can't fire their Rail-guns if they move, so that decreases their potential quite a bit. I would definitely add more Fire Warriors. They are deadly. *shivers* Poor.....poor Hormogaunts.

I would add some Stealth Battle Suits, as they are very annoying, which can cause your opponent to make some very bad decisions.

The amount of points you want to spend on this army is totally up to you. It usually depends on how much money you have.

[DireStrike]

HQ (Troop Killers)
Shas'el with Multi Tracker + 2 Plasma Guns (87 points)
2 XV8 BG with M.T. + 2 Plasma Guns (154 points)

As Vash said those are twinlinked plasma, and then the multitracker is useless. It's not a bad idea if you want to keep your suits cheap, but at least on the commander I'd add another gun, and probably hardwire a multitracker. Drop the suits to elites, as Vash suggested, to preserve your commander's IC status.

I also agree that you're light on troops. I would drop a broadside squad and use it to buy more troops. Plus broadsides are extremely expensive in terms of cash. A squad of 10 Kroot is fine for harassment purposes. A squad of 10 Fire Warriors is a bit odd, you generally see non-maxed FW squads only in devilfish. It's your choice on the squad sizes but I'd say you need at least 10-14 more FW for a 1200 point army.

You should buy at least as much as you need to get the discount. Consider if there is a required purchase amount to get it. If so, squeeze as much as possible into your order. What size army depends on play preferences where you are. 1000-1500 is kind of the medium range, you'll definitely be able to find games for those. Of course there are some embittered old veterans that hang around GW who don't want to play anything below 2000.

Your discount is pretty good, it's rare to find anything better than that.

[Tempest Six Two]

My 2c- prolly take a few more squads of FW's to form a firebase for the rest of your army to hinge off- i've found that 2-3 squads per 1000 points tends to do the trick, but i suppose it really depends on what kind of style you are gonna play.. and if you like FW's (some dont). My reason for saying this is that everything that the majority of selections in your list are fairly expensive, therefore you might lose some major VP points if they get a few good lascannon shots in. Also, i've found that FW's can provide some of the best firepower out there in relation to their cost- their overall effectiveness  is excellent for the points you spend...   

But the best advice i can give to you though is take what feels right to you, what you can afford, and ignore the anti-tau cr@p that other's might say about your force!! I find the best reply to anti-tau related comments is a well placed railgun shot

[Black Behemoth]

I'd drop the Broadsides. You can have more of them. But if everything is out of LOS of you, you're screwed. You cannot move and shoot so the Broadside will be useless while it gets into position. I'd take another Hammerhead in place of the Broadsides. But that is my opinion. Sometimes, more firepower is better, such as in coverless boards, which is where Broadsides rule.

I'd also make the bodyguards Elite Shas'uis. You pay 10 points more for Shas'vre and negate the Shas'el's Independent Character status. They'll also be more versatile and can "divide and conquer".

Since you have a lot of leftover points now, I'd add 3 FW to the squad and add in a Devilfish. I'd also try out a Stealth Battlesuit squad. Just try out everything (maybe with proxies) and see what things fit your tactical style.

[saffo]

Also you cannot give crisis suits 2 plasmas. Its either 1 or 1 twin linked. Which means two guns linked together to fire as one.

I don't think I understand how a multi-tracker works. Why would anyone pay for it, if you can only have 1 plasma or twin linked? How would you fill three hard points if you didn't go twin linked?

[Black Behemoth]

The Multi-Tracker is for if you have two different weapons, like the Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod. Normally, you'd only be able to fire one of them a turn. The Multi-Tracker lets you fire two.

[saffo]

Hows this for Version 2? This must be a fairly standard config for 1k army. I thought about the devilfish, but I would have to go bare bones on a lot of other things and cut down on stealth squad.
   
(105 points) 1 Shash'o + Plasma Rifle+Missile Pod + M.T.   
(200 points) 1 Squad w/ 6 Stealth Suits + 1 upgraded to Shas'vre +Markerlight
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(160 points) 1 Hammerhead + Rail Gun + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Targ Array + Burst Cannon
(145 points) 1 Hammerhead + Ion + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Burst Cannon

Total: 1000      

[MechTau]

Hammerhead has the Targetting array for free...

Disruption pod is useless for me.

No need for 6 stealthsuits AND three FW squads...

Take out one squad, add 120 points worth of Crisis suits...

[DireStrike]

That's even better. Of course, now you're FW heavy, IMO. I take 2 squads in 1000. 3 is fine though. You could always work in the kroot since you're getting the battleforce (which is just about a MUST. An awesome buy. The Kroot are basically free plus drones and whatever other junk they throw in.)

Actually yeah, that's what I'd do with that list: take out one FW squad and add 10 Kroot plus a Crisis suit. Or maybe 2 crisis suits.

Disruption pods can be nice, depending on your playstyle, or worthless. It'll be tougher to use them with your burst cannons, still possible though. Decoy launchers are just about manditory on Tau vehicles.

Well, as far as buying stuff goes, it's a good list. You can toy with the specifics as you gain experience.

One thing though: Don't glue your crisis suit weapons and support systems in. Just squeeze them in, or use magnets.

[LordDemon]

Hows this for Version 2? This must be a fairly standard config for 1k army. I thought about the devilfish, but I would have to go bare bones on a lot of other things and cut down on stealth squad.
   
(105 points) 1 Shash'o + Plasma Rifle+Missile Pod + M.T.   
(200 points) 1 Squad w/ 6 Stealth Suits + 1 upgraded to Shas'vre +Markerlight
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(160 points) 1 Hammerhead + Rail Gun + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Targ Array + Burst Cannon
(145 points) 1 Hammerhead + Ion + M.T. + Dis. Pod + Burst Cannon

Total: 1000      

Not a bad looking list. You can try that out, and see how it works. In any case it offers (IMO) a good base to extend the list to 1500 or 2000 points.

[march10k]

One minor thing on the second list (which looks good, by the way):

Don't put the markerlight on the stealth squad.  They are meant to move a lot, and you can't fire the markerlight unless you stand still.  Put it on one of the firewarrior shas'uis instead.

[Khelben]

(200 points) 1 Squad w/ 6 Stealth Suits + 1 upgraded to Shas'vre +Markerlight
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   
(130 points) 1 fire warrior squad (12) + 1 upgraded to Shash'ui   

I use Bonded for the characters as it gives them the ability to regroup even if below half. I know that they can't claim when below half, but even so the powerful S5 weapons makes them an annoying threat. 

And as said before: remove the Markerlight from the Stealths as they'll be moving/bobbing back and forth the entire game.   


 -Khelben