This is a build that a friend helped me put together recently. I’ve typically played hybrid Tau with many fire warriors, railheads, deathrain suits and a broadside squad, but have not fielded a Tau list in 5th edition. It seems obvious to me the advantage markerlights can give Tau.

Plan of attack:
On each turn, one heavy target (vehicle or monstrous creature) and at least one infantry target will be selected.
Markerlights from pathfinders and Skyrays will be fired on the targets as required.
Fire warriors will fire at the infantry targets, using markers to raise ballistic skill.
Broadsides will fire at the heavy target, using markers to eliminate cover saves.
Seeker missiles will be fired, using markers to eliminate cover saves.

I would appreciate any feedback.

Code: Select all

Shas’el w/ flamer, CIB, multi-tracker: 79

12 fire warriors w/ ‘ui, markerlight 140
12 fire warriors w/ ‘ui, markerlight 140
12 fire warriors w/ ‘ui, markerlight 140
12 fire warriors w/ ‘ui, pulse carbines 130
12 fire warriors w/ ‘ui, pulse carbines 130

8 pathfinders w/ Devilfish (two seeker missiles, disruption pod, SMS) 221
8 pathfinders w/ Devilfish (two seeker missiles, disruption pod, SMS) 221

Skyray w/ disruption pod, burst cannons 140
Skyray w/ disruption pod, burst cannons 140

3 broadsides w/ ‘ui, ASS, SMS, two gun drones 265

Total points: 1746


I'm afraid that I don't play tau & I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've fought them. So my opinion is obviously the most valid you will find!

My first impression is that is seems too static. Those firewarriors are going to drop quite quickly to anything hitting your lines, and careless deployment could mean that an enemy could hit 2-3 units simultaneously, which wouldn't be pretty!

My second view is the skyray/heavy support in general. I've never seen a skyray, and I've never seen a list with one - there might be a reason for this... But the broadsides worry me more, they are more fragile in a unit than singular, I'd also use shield drones (if you can) because they give an inv save (I think...) which means you can palm lascannons off to them & hopefully have siome survivors for next turn...

Apologies if I'm talking out of my bung-hole, but I thought someone should reply! *nudge, nudge*

*I don't understand tau, and Mr6 got bored of losing with them,+sold his, so I really am of limited experience*
The list looks tight -but with a quick flick through I have to quickly ask-is there anything other than your broadsides that can penetrate armour 14, ap1 or 2? (just thinking at 1750 3 liths/3 raiders becomes viable and very hard to shift).
I don't quite understand skyrays in 5th have they fired an offensive weapon or did a markerlight somewhere else fire it.. can they fire two from their own locks if they move...(as I say just a quick scan read from a tau noob that would make me question its viability especially if you need more railguns)
Hope something there at least sounds semi relevant
KMB

(dagnabbit we said the same thing again LH. Except I said it better )

killmaimburn wrote:(dagnabbit we said the same thing again LH. Except I said it better )

As you always do sir. Your eloquence and command of the English language and its grammatical quircks rise to the surface once again. I am humbled, I shall flagellelate myself for my inept contrivance of language before an effigy of yourself made large.

Let me go get BDA to come and critique the list (as a Tau player....)

Oh and Wolflord Havoc too.

Please wait...

I would loose the skyrays they are just not worth it take a rail head if you can instead or another broadside squad.

Pulse carbines are ok but lack range but combined with markelights they might pin something but I would take a pulse rifle over a carbine any day especially if I am going to be jumping out of a devilfish to shoot someone and hitting on 2+ cos of markerlights =D

Pathfinders are always good and there devilfish can be used to transport fire warriors with pulse rifles to take out units. But send them in together to pick on the same unit there is no kill like over kill.

ASS on broadsides is a good idea for dawn of war games and if you wont to get the hell away from people attacking your position. It can be more worth while equipping each broadside differently so they can assign wounds. For example if you take 9 hits bolter and 3 lasscannons then you can assign the 3 lasscanons to the one and not have to worry about losing all 3 to instant death.

That is all for now

I challenge you in the next game we play BDA to prove that your skyray is not worth it (and you have to actually try!)

Mixing up the broadsides is a good idea.

Do you have any Devilfish nojinx?

If he has pathfinders then he has to have devilfish.

I am taking Eldar in our next game so I won't be able to use the Skyray.

I stand by what I say it is least useful Tau tank ok so it has markerlights that is its best use. The seeker missiles are going to have little affect Vs armour 14 units unless you can get around the side of them the hit the weaker side armour. In short if you have 2 squads of pathfinders already you will be fine with hammer heads who have a couple of seeker missile each for putting dents in rhinos and the like.
In fact with his list he might be better off dropping the sky ray and giving one or two seeker missiles on the devilfish so as they move forward with troops fire warriors on boarded they might be able to get a sneaky shot at the side or a tank.

Also your devilfish have sms remember they are very good at taking out IC who are hiding behind cover.

Stealth suits are very good value for money as they can outflank also marker drones that are attached to them get the stealth ability and can move and fire with the stealth squad.

I meant Devilfish for the Fire Warriors

BDA wrote:For example if you take 9 hits bolter and 3 lasscannons then you can assign the 3 lasscanons to the one and not have to worry about losing all 3 to instant death.

From my reading of the rules, ID hits on units with multi-wound models have to be assigned and taken first, and then the rest of the hits distributed as per normal.

Whatever that means.

Ah but this is the trick you see: Because the models are all armed differently they all count as differnt "groups" when allocating wounds. The ID rule also only applies to unsaved wounds - which you cannot work out until after wound allocation and other saves have been made.

At this point you see if unsaved wounds allocated to a group of models cause ID and apply that first, removing whole models for each ID causing wound.

Because the "group" only consists of a single model, the other unsaved wounds are then "wasted" (you cannot reallocate them to another group).

The remove whole models only applies within a group of identically equipped models that suffer unsaved wounds.

Make sense?

just to add to what matt said on woundspreading/ID/multi-wounds:

the rule that says you cant spread wounds between multi-wound models, and that you must use ID wounds to kill off unwounded models, is talking about within a group.

lets say you have a unit of 3 Broadsides: 2 are identical and one is unique, giving us 2 groups.

you split all the wounding hits between these 2 groups, with a ratio of 2 to 1 (because one group has 2 models and the other has one).

example 1:
the unit takes 3 Bolter wounds. you allocate 1 per model, leaving the 2 model group taking 2 saves and the 1 model group taking another.
a) if both saves on the 2 model group are failed, you must remove a single (2W) model from that group: you cant spread the wounds between the models
b) if just 1 save is failed by the 2 model group, then no model is removed, even if the 1 model group fails its save too: you cant transfer wounds from one group to another

example 2:
the unit takes 3 Bolter wounds and 1 Lascannon wound. you allocate 1 per model, and allocate the remaining wound to one model - lets say you put 1 bolter wound on the 1 model group, and the rest of the wounds on the 2 model group.
a) lets assume the 2 model group fails 1 Bolter save and the Lascannon ignores their save. even though the models have 2 wounds, you cannot put the Lascannon wound and the Bolter wound on the same model (you apply the ID wounds to the group first), so you remove 1 model outright and leave another one with a single wound remaining.
b) lets assume all the saves are failed (inc. the Lascannon ignoring their save). the Lascannon kills one model from the 2 model group outright, and 2 of the bolter wounds are lumped together to kill the remaing model in that group. the unique model takes just 1 wound, even though there was an excess wound caused on the other group.

now, having each model in a group by itself (i.e. all different) allows you get get around all these restrictions (no need to worry about applying ID wounds first, no need to lump wounds together to kill off models, etc), however, and allows you to waste lots of wounds if you are lucky (wounds cant be transferred between groups, ID leads to overkill, nasty wounds can be piled up on a single model to save the rest etc).

if you can achieve this without undermining the effectiveness of the unit (or increasing their cost too much), then it is well worth doing IMO: mixed units last a lot longer than uniform ones.

hope that helps

~ Tim

Thanks to all for the great response.

I do have a third Devilfish that I could add to a fire warrior squad. Skyrays can fire their own seeker missiles or those on other vehicles, as can other markerlight hits. Markerlights are defensive weapons (per FAQ).

My deployment and implementation plan centers on a gun line strategy. In cases where assault is imminent, I will attempt to move a FW squad up as a screen (rapid firing as I do) to slow the assaulting force down. Those FW units in a threatened ranged will move back and fire. In theory, my lines would have a pulse rifle squad at the front, the two pulse carbine squads behind that with the other two pulse rifle squads lined up behind that. As the enemy gets closer, the carbines continue to move back and lay down pining fire while the rifle units, one at a time, become the speed bumps. I will use devilfish in some of these cases to Fish of Fury upon the enemy, though how the opposing unit is spread out will largely determine how I move my FW to intercede. Broadsides will be in the very rear, moving away from incoming assault units as needed.

Admittedly, my pathfinders are trickier to deploy as I do not want them at the very front nor in a position where they have to regularly move back from incoming units. At the same time, I need to maximize their effectiveness by putting them in range to mark. Fortunately, cover is irrelevant to markerlights.

Vehicles are easier to manage as they can continue to move and fire, need not worry about cover and can (in the case of devilfish) become an effective impediment to assaulting units.

I have considered a stealth squad with marker drones, though costly. For the price of two Skyrays, I can field a four-man squad with five marker drones. While this may be the most defensible way of fielding marker drones, I am losing twelve S8 AP3 hits in the seeker missiles.

Which brings me to my other point: I would prefer to field railguns over seeker missiles if viable. I could lose the sky rays and seeker missiles and add two railheads or a second broadside team. If there is room, though, seeker missiles seem cost-effective at 10 pts per shot (always hitting on 2+). Given that my current list has 16 of them with 23 markerlights, they may run out before targets do - especially against three monoliths (or if my broadsides get swept away via deepstriking opponents or such). That said, I rarely see armor 14 vehicles in my games.

Thanks for the comments on ID hits and spreading wounds among dissimilar models. It is a tactic I am using in my Chaos lists (namely mixing special weapons), and can be very effective with small units of different models.

I think this list deserves a couple of test runs. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks again for the great feedback.

nojinx wrote:.... Fortunately, cover is irrelevant to markerlights.

sorry, I don't play tau or have a codex... what do you mean cover is irrelevant to marker lights?

Gymbol wrote:sorry, I don't play tau or have a codex... what do you mean cover is irrelevant to marker lights?

a Markerlight hit doesnt cause wounds*, so there is nothing for Cover to "Save". since saving wounds is the only thing cover does against shooting, it doesnt make it any harder to score hits with a Markerlight (i.e. it is irrelevant).

*FYI each Markerlight hit puts a token on the target unit, which can be spent when Tau shoot to gain certain bonuses.

hope that heps

~ Tim