Time for a change!

July 28, 2013, 6:20 am

I have been running Warhammer Tau for nearly a year now and I am happy with the way things are going.

I have just returned from my summer holidays (vacation) and while I was away I had time to think things through. My personal input to the blog has been minimal recently (thanks to the great group of authors that regularly contribute articles), limited to approving comments and offering some advice on what to write.

I feel that I have done some good work with the blog and, even though I haven't added many new articles recently, I have led it through a major expansion (mainly due to the new Codex etc.) and then expanded the authorship from one person, up to the team that are presently doing a fantastic job.

I feel that I am now somewhat burned out and even though I am still a keen Tau player and collector, it is unlikely I will be able to add anything to the blog from here on in. As such I have decided that it is about time that my term as leader/owner of the blog came to an end.

As such I have discussed it with the group of authors who regularly contribute, and Will has offered to take on the role of Shas'O and owner of the blog.

This is therefore my last post. I will continue to read the blog on regular basis and I hope to comment on some of the articles from time to time. I will be offering control of the Google + group to member there very soon too.

Best wishes to Will and the other authors and thanks to everyone that has been regularly reading the blog.

↧

Challenge Accepted!

July 28, 2013, 6:26 pm

≫ Next: Alien Allies for Tau: Kroot

≪ Previous: Time for a change!

Hello.

I am Hu Jin Tau, my name is Will Lewis and I have just assumed the reigns of responsibility for the Warhammer Tau blog. But in no way does that mean I "own" it.

Responsibility and ownership are two very different things. This blog is owned by the team that publishes articles on it and to the members who tune in to read those articles. I am simply responsible for making sure it all runs as smoothly as possible and that the lights stay on. Oh, and I take the blame when something breaks.

We are Tau, but who am I?

I am an avid Tau player, but I also play Black Templars, Vanilla Space Marines (which look very much like my Templars), Eldar, Lizardmen, and fun, unsanctioned skirmish games with Kroot. I've even started a Tyranids army, but I'm pacing myself on that because all my "play money" right now is ear-marked for my beloved Tau and Kroot. And from the looks of things, with a new codex, a new supplement, and another two books on the way, I'm not going to have any extra money for Tyranids for a while. After all, my kids still need to eat, and plastic sprue casserole tastes like crap.

My non-GW armies include Protectorate of Menoth (Warmachine), the Directorate (Firestorm Armada), and Dragon Lords (Uncharted Seas). I am not a magic or card games player, but I am starting to get a jones for the Game of Thrones LCG. I also like board games (Relic, Talisman, Descent, Carcassonne, Settlers, and Advanced Civ, among others). But I'm not much for video games --that is until the new Space Hulk game comes out.

I am a school teacher by day, algebra, applied technology, graphic design and computer applications. And I help out in my local game store (LGS) every chance I get. My LGS is Discordia Games in Bremerton, Washington, (near Seattle) and our store and customer base totally rock. Pop in and see for yourself some time.

I read a lot, couple of hours per day, if I can. I follow Naftka, BoLS, 3++ is the New Black, and several other blogs, and I feel compelled to comment on some of those blogs fairly often. I also read a lot on Advanced Tau Tactica, Kompletely Kroot, and several other Tau-oriented websites. My moniker and avatar (above) are the same on all of the blogs on which I participate, so you will all know me when you see my posts. I developed it in Photoshop so it is relatively unique.

So that's what I'm bringing to the mix. I hope the other Warhammer Tau authors will drop biographies when they get a chance. To our founder, Adam, and to our previous manager, David, fair winds and following seas, mates! We'll try to keep 'er right.

Please stay tuned, we have some great articles in the queue, and I think you're going to enjoy reading them.

July 28, 2013

↧

Alien Allies for Tau: Kroot

July 29, 2013, 7:29 am

≫ Next: Tactica: Devilfish

≪ Previous: Challenge Accepted!

Greetings, fellow Xenos.

This is the first in a series about identifying and playing alien allies with your Tau Cadre, and in this post we are going to focus on the Kroot.

Background

I had heard that there was to be a Tau supplement in August or September, and before I found out that it would be Farsight, I was hoping that it would have rules for the alien contingents from the various spheres of the empire's expansion. These aliens are mentioned in various rulebooks from both Forgeworld and Games Workshop, so none of this is made up... erm, well at least not made up by me.

This notion of an alien codex has been further fueled by rumors from way back January or so that someone had seen a large Kroot monster, and that there were also models in play testing for both a Kroothawk and Vespid Spinewings. Then more recently a Kroot Supplement plus one more Tau Empire book was predicted for next year. All this talk has the gamer community (particularly Tau players) in a twitter...

Aside from my poor little Templars Army (which only started because of the human battlesuit (dreadnought) in the AoBR box), I am a die hard Xenos player with a major for Tau and Kroot. Heck, I even have a warm spot for the six-eyed spikey bug men. Anyway, those rumors made me very happy, and as great as our new codex is or can be, I was rather disappointed when it came out. Not only was there no Kroot cc monster, but the previously pathetic cc abilities of my beloved Kroot Carnivores were nerfed somewhat further away from the savagery expressed in the Kroot fluff. That is not to say that they aren't useful in new and attractive ways, but they're certainly no longer what they were.

Most people only used ever them as anti-assault "Kroot-loops" for broadsides or other vital assets as it was. But there were a few of us who actually had the cajones to take on that flying shit-storm of Eldar farseers and warlocks on their little jetbikes with huge units of Kroot and their hounds. We wanted what little cc they had and longed for more. I remember a tag from another blog a while back that I really liked, "I power game -with Kroot!"

At any rate, Kroot Carnivores should be at least a little tougher than a standard guardsman. And losing the extra attack hurt my little Kroots' feelings. I'd rather have seen a new Kroot unit with these sniper-lite abilities added to the codex (call them, I dunno, hunters?). Then maybe improve the toughness and/or strength of the existing carnivores and everyone would be happy. Heck, they could have even kept the point price the same or upped it one and I would have still been ecstatic.

But that is not to be, at least not for now, so let's move on.

The core question of this particular post is "How can I power game -with Kroot?" (yes, I borrowed that line).

And the answer is, that depends on your local gaming group (at least for now). There are several solutions that come to mind:

Get consent from your opponent to use the fan-developed Kroot codex

Get consent from your opponent to use the old Kroot Mercenaries data sheet

Model and play them as Tau (or something else). Simply model Tau weapons on them and use Tau codex rules or play your Kroot models "counts as," like Eldar Oogla, or d'Orkies, or whatever floats your boat.

Start with a Tau HQ, and use Kroot Carnivore, Shaper, Hound, and Ox models in all your troops FOC slots. Then fill your other slots with Forgeworld Knarloc herds and Greater Knarlocs as appropriate -this option is not as fun or effective as others, and you will never win with it, but it does get your Kroot models onto the table so it works in a pinch.

Let's have a closer look at each of these options, starting with the fan-developed

The Kroot Codex

A while back, Andy Hoare and Lachlan Abrahams developed a Kroot Codex. The units were similar to those listed in the Kroot mercenary rules for Apocalypse games, with a few extra bits to add capability and survivability as well as fill out the FOC. It was a cool thing, and while not officially sanctioned, it was fun and could still be used to break monotony --in a pinch. Also had some beautiful models pictured...

In fact, that's what I liked best, some of the model conversions those guys came up with to fill that codex were quite brilliant. The shaper (far) above has a chainsword (called an eviscerator in the Kroot Codex) and this one is a master shaper. But my favorite in the Kroot Shaman below.

I won't rehash that codex here, but it was fun. The group I play with now is a little more intense and most want noting to do with playing a fun game anymore... for some reason it's become all about winning and winning by codex, not necessarily cunning and strategy. Gets a little old to me, but whatever. You can find that codex here.

Kroot Mercenaries

Way, way back in 2007 GW allowed Kroot armies in Apocalypse games via Forgeworld books, specifically the quintessential Imperial Armour: Apocalypse and Imperial Armour: Taros Campaign volumes. There was even a specific data sheet for Kroot Mercenaries. I do not have my own copy of those books, but I found a copy of the Kroot Mercenaries data sheet here.

I have not yet seen anything that invalidates this, but then I haven't been looking. Since the most recent Apocalypse book doesn't seem to include it, I am sure it is obsolete, maybe someone out there can enlighten me? Whatever the case, I don't think you would get too much guff when asking to play a friendly game with these guys as long as you have a Tau codex (so everyone can see the regular Kroot stats) and a copy of the Kroot Mercenaries datasheet. If anything they would be silly not to play against you (as they would most likely win). But oh, the glory of fielding an all Kroot army...

I still have my old Kroot army that I built but only ever fielded a couple of times. It would be nice to dust it off and give it another go... maybe in the next Tau supplement (wink).

A "Counts As" Kroot Army

Another way to play your Kroot (or whatever) is to use them as a "counts as" army and make them an allied detachment. I like using Eldar because they are battle brothers with Tau.

My Master Shaper becomes an Autarch, my Shaman a Farseer, and my Shapers become Warlocks.  My Eldar Oogla army (named after the Kaezon Oogla from Star Trek Voyager -and the word ugly) is not too extensive, but I have included a possible FOC list a little further below.

Here are some possible Kroot "counts as" Eldar ideas...

     ♦ Kroot Master Shaper (Farseer)      ♦ Angkhor Prok (Eldrad)      ♦ Kroot Shapers (Warlocks)
         (If you model any of these on lesser gnarlocs they can be counts as jetbikes)
      ♦ Kroot "abomination" conversion (Avatar)
      ♦ Vulturekind (swooping hawks)
      ♦ Stalkers (with multiple genestealer arms) (warp spiders)
      ♦ Lesser Knarloc riders (jetbikes)
      ♦ Hunters (Pathfinders)
      ♦ Carnivores (Guardians)
      ♦ KrootOx (Eldar Artillery)      ♦ Greater Gnarlocs (War walkers)      ♦ Lizardmen Ripperdactyls with Kroot Riders (Vypers or aircraft)          (c'mon, admit it, these things look kroot-like)

Only problem is that it gets confusing if you have regular Kroot units in your Tau force and you use an allied detachment of Eldar Oogla. Too many Kroot to keep up with. I do not use this method because 1) the hounds do not really work, as anything Eldar-ish --though the KrootOx does work well as embedded artillery for guardians, and 2) I have another all-alien allied detachment that uses Eldar rules but no Kroot or Vespids -but more on that in a later atricle.

Kroot Stuffed Tau

Your last option is to use a Tau Codex cadre and stuff Kroot units into Every FOC slot you can. Currently there is no HQ or Elites FOC units for Kroot, but there are Kroot units for Fast Attack (knarloc herds), Heavy Support (greater knarlocs), and Troops (Carnivores, shapers, hounds, ox, and baggage herd greater knarlocs).

I think this type of Kroot army would probably suck most. It forces you to replace three of your Tau strengths with much inferior Kroot units (fire warriors replaced by carnivores, pathfinders replaced by lesser knarlocs, and hammerheads and broadsides replaced by greater Knarlocs). yay!

Predictions

Now, rumor has it that a new supplement is coming in Q1 2014 for Tau. Obviously, no one but GW knows what that supplement will be (or even if it will be, for that matter) but it gives me great hope. I can see every FOC slot filled with Kroot units (wish-listing).

HQ:

Kroot Master Shaper (from the datasheet)
Character Angkhor Prok.(from his own datasheet)

Elites:

The cc monster in the rumors
Headhunters (from the datasheet)

Fast Attack:

Knarloc Riders from Forgeworld
Kroothawks or Vulturekind (from the datasheet)
Stalkers (from the datasheet)

Heavy Support:

Forgeworld's Greater Knarlocs with large Kroot guns
KrootOx in units of their own.

Troops:

Carnivores (4th edition Tau codex Kroot rules)
Snipers.(current Kroot rules)
Transport beast? (from playtesting rumors)

And that's not even going into units or characters from the fan-based Codex (which GW will most likely ignore, and we all understand that). There is the potential for GW to do something really cool here.

Conclusion

I think if you want to build an all-Kroot army, then sticking with the units listed on the data sheet is the best of these options. They have the credibility of GW/FW sanctioned rules, and they retain the true flavor of a truly Kroot force (yuck, can you imagine the flavor of Kroot?).

For now, my little Kroot minions remain on a shelf in my display case. I look at them lovingly from time to time, remember the times we had together, and sigh. I think Kroot bring a maniacal twist to the otherwise stoic and regimented Tau. I really like them and I just know there has to be a better way to play them.

I hope this predicted supplement is actually forthcoming. But for now it is all wishlisting and daydreaming. Most of it is based in GW precedent, and rumors from a reliable site, but until we actually see it, it is indeed speculation and fantasy. But hey, that's the game we all play, so why not? Go ahead, indulge yourself.

Last pic, for your indulgence. This is a Kroot warlord on a heavily converted Balrog model. Back when I was building my Kroot army I was digging around the interwebs for conversion ideas. I am not sure where I found this, but when I find it again I will update this post to give credit where credit is due (click on it to enlarge).

Just remember, GW may make the models and write the rules, but it's your army, so go crazy!

I play Tau (and sometimes Kroot).

29 July, 2013

↧

Tactica: Devilfish

July 31, 2013, 2:02 am

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? - Part I

≪ Previous: Alien Allies for Tau: Kroot

One of 2 Devilfish I run in my Mechanised Cadre

Next Tactica - the Devilfish.

Unit Description

The humble Tau Battle Taxi – an AV12 11 10 Dedicated Transport that comes with a Burst Cannon and 2 gun drones standard. It’s a skimmer and it’s BS3.

Battlefield Role

The intro says it all, unlike the Eldar Wave Serpent which is actually a battle tank with transport capacity, the Devilfish is primarily a transport with some shooting ability. As such, its main role is protecting your Fire Warriors (or Pathfinders), while getting them from point A to point B --in (relative) safety. Because of this, you can’t really write a Devilfish Tactica without talking about Fire Warriors.

So, a brief look at Fire Warriors is in order, but only in so far as they impact how you use your Devilfish.

In 5^thedition, Fire Warriors were rubbish. Most serious Tau generals only took two squads of six because they had to. However, in 6^th edition (largely due to the change in Rapid Fire weapons) they have become much better. Under the new Codex (largely because of Ethereals and Fireblades) they are better still. Their main battlefield use is to deliver a blistering torrent of S5 fire power. Under 15” they benefit from the Ethereal’s Storm of Fire rule and each of the little blue heroes fires what is essentially a heavy bolter. On top of that, with only 2 marker lights, they hit on 2s! Oh and even better… they’re leadership 10 within 12” of an Ethereal.

There are however, 2 minor problems –surviving long enough to unleash that storm of fire, and getting to within 15” of an enemy… and that’s where the Devilfish comes in. In a Mechanized Cadre (and where else would you have a Devilfish) the Devilfish’s main role is to protect your Fire Warriors until it can get them into a position to destroy a unit or two, before scuttling off to claim an objective. So there are 3 things the ‘fish needs to do … (1) protect the Fire Warriors, (2) get them into position to unleash thier volley, and (3, if necessary) get them away again – so protection, deployment and extraction. It really is the old 4^thedition Fish-of-Fury tactic!

Extraction

Odd to put this first, but it’s the most important part of the tactic. Fire Warriors are too valuable to be a suicide unit (also, for the fluff bunnies, it’s just not the Tau way!). You want to get them in, kill something and get them out again. However, to do this you need both the Fire Warriors and the Devilfish to survive at least one turn of retaliatory fire and possibly assault, once they deliver their fire power. Not easy, but it’s the key to making the tactic work well.

Everything else in this section is about how to put yourself in a position to extract your Fire Warriors after they kill or seriously maim their target.

Protection

The first part of extracting your Fire Warriors is to get them there in the first place, and that involves protecting them until it’s time to get out.

Usually I find I need to keep the Fire Warriors safe for the first turn or two, until a nice juicy target presents itself. While they can reach out and touch things with their Pulse Rifles from turn one, IMHO the exposure to return fire is not quite worth the damage they put out. Long range fire power against armoured targets are what Suits and Tanks are for.

The ’fish’s stats are reasonably good protection in themselves. An AV12 vehicle with a 4+ cover save (3+ if going flat out) is reasonably survivable (you should always take a D’pod IMHO). Especially because the ’fish is a reasonably wide vehicle so it can usually present its front armour, and even if it can’t, its side armour is not too bad at AV11.

You can also usually hide them away. The best place is obviously out of LOS, but often that’s hard to do. The next best alternative is behind a ruin for a 3+ save (again, D’pods FTW) or behind a Riptide or Skyray (watch out for high strength blast weapons).

However, in some games you might want to think about starting your ‘fish in reserve. For example, against Wave Serpent Spam, your Fish will go down to Serpent Shields very quickly. Also, there is often nothing to fire at because all the squishy stuff is buttoned up in the Serpents. Better to keep them off the board until you kill a Serpent or two, and then bring them on to shoot up the contents.

Until It’s time to get the Warriors out, your Devilfish should usually be moving flat out for its 3+ Jink save. Eight S5 shots are just not worth giving that up IMHO.

Deployment

Here I don’t mean “set up” deployment, I mean when and how to get your Fire Warriors out. The three crucial things are timing,target priority, and positioning.

Timing

By timing I mean when to get the Fire Warriors out their ‘fish and when to keep them safely inside it. The crucial thing is knowing what’s going to shoot back at you. You don’t need to worry so much about your target, it’s going to be devastated by your Fire Warriors' volley. It’s other nearby units that can really hurt. For example, a Thunder Fire Cannon that can draw line of sight to your clumped up Fire Warriors (because you just got out the Devilfish). A smart opponent will devastate your Fire Warriors on his next turn. In this case, it's best not to get them out of the 'fish until your Skyray or hammerhead has killed the cannon.

Target Priority

Ideally, you need to plan what you’re fire warriors are going to kill from turn one. Not always possible, but you can usually get an idea from your opponent’s army list and deployment. You need to pick from his list the units you’re Fire Warriors can kill most effectively, work out what he is most likely to do with them, and accordingly, where they are most likely to be. No easy task.

An example might help. In this year’s Caledonian Uprising my first game was against Grey Knights. His was a very 5^th edition list with Psybolt Razorbacks, Dreadnaughts and acolytes. However, he had a 10 man unit of GKTs. We were playing Vanguard Strike and he had first turn. He chose to deploy his Terminators. The ideal target in his list for my two 12 man units of Fire Warriors were the GKTs. Their torrent of s5 fire is just the thing to make him roll ones. I also suspected he would move them forward … what else could he do with them? They only have a 24” range. So I kept the 2 Devilfish full of Fire Warriors in reserve (I was worried about the Psybolt Dreads) and set up everything else.

First turn, most of his shooting was out of range, and he moved his GKT’s forward and then ran them to be in range next turn. I responded and killed a Dread or two (these were the days when Broadsides had real rail guns!). In his turn 2 he moved forward again and shot. But that brought him well within 27” of my board edge (6” move on with the fish, 6” get out, 15” rapid fire range). Both my fish came on, the Fire Warriors hopped out, and with marker light support, devastated the GKTs.

Another example is an assault death star – you know your opponent is going to shove those Nob Bikers down your throat, so give him a tempting target (a unit of Broadsides perhaps) and position your Fish so that they can move up, disembark the Fire Warriors and blow the bikers away.

Positioning

Finally under deployment, there is the positioning of models when you decide to get them out. There are lots of things to consider here. Particularly important are positioning of the ‘fish, positioning of the Fire Warriors, positioning of the Ethereal and positioning of any Gun Drones getting off the ‘fish. Yep, positioning is everything.

One of them is easy – always keep the Ethereal in the ‘Fish. His powers don’t need line of sight and are extended from the ’fish’s hull. That's at lease a three-inch extension of his effective range and a better chance of NOT giving up two victory points by getting him killed.

Positioning of the Fire Warriors is the most crucial element. First they need to be within 15” of their target to benefit from Storm of Fire. As I read the stupid FAQ about ranges, they do not need to be within 15” of all the models in the target unit, they just need to be within 15” of the closest model, because while the Pulse Rifle’s rapid fire range is 15”, its max range is 30”.

The next thing is that the Fire Warriors need to be protected from assault, and/or shooting in your opponent's next turn.

That brings us to how to position the Devilfish and its Gun Drones, which in turn brings us to 2 crucial pieces of wargear on the ‘fish – Sensor Spines and Gun Drones. You want maximum flexibility over where you deploy your Devilfish. Sensor Spines allow you to ignore the effects of any terrain, greatly assisting in this. Also, if possible, you want to deploy your Fire Warriors in terrain for a cover save from return fire, again Sensor Spines allow you to do this without worrying about immobilising the ‘fish. Gun drones are passengers that can deploy at the same time as the Fire Warriors, however, crucially they do not become a part of the Fire Warrior’s squad. They’re a separate unit which does not give up a kill point – i.e. they are entirely disposable. When you’re using your ‘fish like this they are better than SMS, IMHO.

When positioning your ‘fish and its drones the most important consideration is protecting your Fire warriors from retaliation. You need to think about 2 things – cover from return fire, and blocking assaults. You can achieve both of these by careful positioning of the ‘fish and it’s Drones. Essentially you place the ‘fish and the Drones between your Fire Warriors and the units you think will shoot or assault them. You’ll be shooting under the fish, or through the Gun Drones, giving your opponents a cover save, but their armour save is usually better than your Pulse rifle’s AP5, and if not, a couple of marker light hits will solve that problem.

The cover save gives some protection, but the real concern is assault- you don’t want anything assaulting your Fire Warriors - ever. By blocking assaults with the ‘fish and the Drones, the idea is that any incoming assaults need to hit either the Drones, or the ‘fish first, before they get to the Fire warriors. This allows you to use the supporting fire special rule to fire overwatch on any incoming assault when it hits the ‘Fish or the Drones, and buys you another phase of shooting in your next turn if the ‘fish goes down and you can’t extract the Fire Warriors.

Load Out

In my view you should keep your ‘fish cheap and cheerful. If you're using them to move forward aggressively, as described above, then the only upgrades I would buy are D’pods and Sensor Spines. I thought about Flechette Dischargers and Point Defence Targeting Relays. Flechette Discharges might work, but I worry about people manipulating charges so that only a few units get into assault at I10, with the rest coming in at later initiatives. That said, IMHO Point Defence Targeting Relays are a waste of points on a D’fish.

The only other upgrade I thought about was an SMS. An SMS might be the way to go if your fish is just hanging around waiting to deliver its "required" 6 Fire Warriors to an objective late game. But if you’re using them aggressively, the Drones are far more useful (and they’re free!)

One final thought – you can take Seeker Missiles for 8 pts each. If you’ve got the points -and the more importantly, the marker lights- it’s not a bad option (you don’t want to be firing Seeker Missiles at BS3). Particularly if you take Skyrays. If you get a hits on a Flyer with the Skyray’s marker lights, the Seeker Missile on your 'fish can use it to launch, hitting the Flyer at BS4 and ignoring any jink saves.

Combos, Synergies and Lists

IMHO, Devilfish combine very well with Fire Warriors and Fish of Fury tactics as described above. I struggle to see why you would want to use Devilfish if you were not combining them with Fire Warriors and Fish of Fury (or alternatively Pathfinders … which is another interesting option). I can see why you might use them simply to keep a small squad of scoring Fire Warriors alive until they can snatch objectives late game, but there are better units for that (Allied Eldar Jet Bikes for example).

They are best in a Mechanised list where there is other armour to draw fire (Skyrays and Hammer Heads) although they would also work in a Riptide List, where the Riptides tend to draw a lot of that heavy fire.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, the best use of the Devilfish is as a metal box to protect Fire Warriors until they can unleash their fire power, and as a battlefield taxi to make sure they are in the best place to unleash that fire power.

And it does this pretty well!

EYIG

↧

What Should I Buy Now? - Part I

August 5, 2013, 1:43 am

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? - Part II

≪ Previous: Tactica: Devilfish

August 5, 2013

When the site's founder Adam Smith first posed that question a couple of years ago the answer was murky at best because rumors about the imminent Tau release were all over the place, including the release date. The context has obviously changed now that we have a 6th edition Codex, but it is still an excellent question.

And the answer depends on what you currently have in your Warhammer 40k (and particularly Tau) arsenal. Let's look at this in a series of phases for someone just starting in the 40k gaming universe with Tau. Please note, I created this list based on how I'd start, you can and probably should choose a path of acquisition based on your play style.

I'm also throwing this out to my fellow contributors and our community to see how they might recommend you start your Tau Cadre. Oh, and before I forget, the prices here are in US dollars as of August 5, 2013, so you blokes on the other side will just need make do with a currency conversion app.

Phase 1: Getting Started(your first 500 points and $300)

The 40k Rulebook ($75) --no brainer, right?

You could go with the smaller edition now available, but the big rule book contains so much interesting information it really is probably the best investment in the game. Some form of the rulebook is the only must have universal to all armies.

Well, of course, not counting dice, a tape measure and some templates. You will need a flamer template for your battlesuits and barrage templates for your Commander and Hammerhead submunitions, along with a set of scatter dice.

Tau have some pretty nasty shooting phases (at least, nasty for our enemies), and you can potentially pump out a LOT of shots, so a LOT of dice will come in handy. I cannot think of any combination of circumstances where you would fire more than 50 shots at once, so about 50 dice would be good. GW has a set of 125 bombardment dice in a box for about $30, and I highly recommend it. That's about a quarter apiece and may seem a little steep, but the dice all match, the container is actually designed perfectly for them, and they're official GW. You may want to pick up another dozen or so loose, different colored dice for other purposes (wound markers, concurrently rolling for different weapons, etc...

Hey, you didn't get into this hobby to protect your wallet, did you?

F

or Tau, you might also want to pick up some kind of little markers for markerlight hits. I can get confused rather easily, particularly in large games, so these help a lot. I use the little translucent yellow-green markers from my daughter's old playschool bingo game. They're wafer thin and smaller than a dime so they feel about right for what they represent. For each markerlight hit I place one of these markers next to the targeted enemy unit so I remember to apply the hits when I am ready to kill it.

These really make it easy for both you and your opponent to remember how many markerlight hits you have on what. It also reminds me to actually use them, particularly against priority targets.

You can spend a lot for these tools, or you can go cheap. You can get some from eBay or friends, but I highly recommend your local gaming store because supporting them supports your source for all this really cool stuff AND a place to play. It's entirely up to you. I spent around $40 or $50 for everything above.

The Tau Empire Codex ($50.00)
This is the must-have item for Tau, well, besides an actual army.

Tau Battlebox($120)
This is a fantastic deal. For $120 you get a Crisis team, a stealthsuit team, a piranha, and a full squad of fire warriors. That would be $156 if you purchased them separately. It's like getting the fire warriors for free.

the units in this box alone are everything you need to get started. Few other armies outside the Dark Vengeance set can say that. Every other army requires you to buy a commander, or another unit of troops, or something. Appropriately kitted out, these units will ring up about 350 points. And if you use one of the battlesuits as your commander, and split the fire warriors into two squads of six each, you have everything required by the rules to get started (though probably not everything you should have to win a game). You will still need a few things to make this little army actually viable.

HQ Unit Cadre Fireblade ($20)

This guy is a solid HQ unit that will buff the abilities of your fire warriors. He may be the cheapest HQ in the game, but he has some pretty cool abilities for his 60 point cost and you can read about those in our Tactica series.

That's it. At 500 points or less, you are basically just learning the game or playing a short combat patrol type skirmish. Have some fun getting to know your core army and learning the rules. Seriously, don't bite off too much at once. PLAY THIS LITTLE ARMY. It contains your quintessential units and truly understanding the capabilities and limitations of both your fire warriors and crisis suits well will be key to your success in future games.

Challenge a friend to a skirmish game, and be sure to specify "no heavies."

I play Tau.

↧

What Should I Buy Now? - Part II

August 8, 2013, 10:48 pm

≫ Next: Farsight Encalve - Rules Conundrum

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? - Part I

August 9, 2013

Phase 2: Your First 1000 points or so(+ $250)

This is where you can expect the others in the circle start to disagree with me.

This article assumes that you have acquired the items in Part I. If you don't want to go back and read it, you basically need

40k rulebook
Weapon Templates
Dice
Scatter dice
Tape measure
Some maker tokens
Tau codex
Tau battle Box.

You could and probably should pick up a second battle box because it really is all good and you will use it every single thing in it.

First, you get three more crisis battlesuits. Yay! Battlesuits are signature Tau of the first order. Three from the first box, and three from the second gives you two full units of crisis suits. These are the cornerstone of the Tau way of war. They are loaded with weapon and support options making them highly flexible, highly capable, powerful, and relatively inexpensive points wise. More on these in the tactica, but trust me, three battlesuits in the battle box is way better than what used to come in this box (though I do miss the Kroot).

In addition to crisis suits, you get three additional stealth suits. Along with those you already have from the first battle box. This will give you a complete team of six -which is potent. That's 24 burst cannon shots or 16 burst cannon shots and two 18-inch range meltas. You can also throw a markerlight on the team leader.

The stealth suits also come with optional marker drones (use them, you can spare the points and the markerlights are crucial at this point). I push the markerlights a lot, but that is because they are brilliant and you really, really need them. Without pathfinders, you need to stick markerlight support into your army wherever you can. Heck, for that matter, you need to stick them in wherever you can even with pathfinders. Yeah, get nasty.

(there's more below, just click the article's title to see it)

The two crisis teams and the stealth team fill your Elites FOC (Force Organization Chart) slots with a nice mix of highly capable crisis suits and markerlights, as well as the absolute irritation factor of a stealth team (keep an eye on our tactica section for how Crisis Suits and Stealth Suits work together).

This second box also gives you another piranha, some more gun drones, and another full squad of fire warriors (and you must have two). It's not just about the suits...

Running two piranhas in a team is much better than running two units of one alone. You can also create drone squadrons to really irritate your opponent.

The drones can be run in units of their own in a Fast Attack FOC slot. Eight of these babies virtually ignore difficult terrain, and with their twin-linked, strength 5, assault 2 pulse carbines these can really mess up someone's day. And they have the jet pack infantry special rule, and jump-shoot-jump makes them a pain in your opponent's butt. Plus they have pinning, so... skeet skeet skeet!

You can model the few drones you have left over as marker drones and give yourself some more easy markerlight love. Tau'va!

There's three Fast Attack and three Elites FOC slots right out of the Battle Boxes (2 piranha, 8 gun drones, and 4-8 marker drones).

The battle box rocks! Again, you could stop right here, use one of the crisis suits as your commander and continue playing. But those two crisis teams work best in three-man squads. Now for some real leadership.

Cadre Fireblade ($20)

You do need a commander, and though this guy doesn't have to be it, you really should consider him (especially if you skipped him before). He gives tremendous boosts to your fire warriors and has a markerlight he can fire at anything he can see at ballistic skill 5. This means he gives each trooper in his squad an extra shot at short range as well as giving the other squad of fire warriors a bump in their ballistic skill. He's well worth the 60 points and price.

Ethereal ($20)
The other, other, HQ.
I know they seem kinda lame, but they have their purposes. Put one between two squads of fire warriors (one of which has the fireblade), and one squad will pump out a whopping 52 strength 5 shots at 15 inches, and the other will get 36, plus supporting fire in overwatch... That is some pretty awesome shooting if you think about it. Don't like his lousy armor save? That's ok, put him in a devilfish and add the guns and drones on the 'fish.

Battlesuit Commander ($40)

This guy can be the awesome XV-805 Enforcer Battlesuit or a regular crisis battlesuit in a pinch, just mark him appropriately. Though the actual commander model is pretty sweet for $40.

Tau armies need this guy for the buffs he brings and he also has his own goodies. Attach him to one of your crisis battlesuit teams from the battle box and watch the four of them rain hell on anything that gets in their way. 85-200 points, depending on how much crap you strap on him. Just be sure to give him drones for their ablative wounds buff (they can even be marker drones at BS 5, hint hint...).

Also be sure to look closely at the warlord traits and signature gear this guy can take with him. Just restrain yourself, try not to spend more than 20% of your total points limit on your commander. Without the proper support from the rest of your army your commander will die way too soon to use it all.

I know, you can only use two HQ units in a 1000-point game, and I have recommended three. Trust me, your game play will be more interesting if you give each of them a go or in different combinations. Each one is unique and brings such different variations to the game they are all worth what you pay for them. Skip the re-runs, I try to never play the same game twice.

Ok, let's get heavy...

Hammerhead/(Skyray) ($60)

Yep, you absolutely need to be able to hit stuff from six feet away with a strength ten rail guns or with seeker missiles. Signature Tau -part deux. Your opponents will cry and that will make you feel better, much better about dropping $60 on a tank. around 150 points, and one is enough for 1000-point games.

The skyray and hammerhead come in the same box now. Just be careful if you buy it off eBay or some other online site, as the older hammerhead kits did not have the skyray parts in the box (but still cost the same price). I recommend getting the kit with both. The skyray is actually a good Heavy Support option (ignore what the Internet trolls say about it). Besides, it's one kit and you can just change the turrets for a completely different vehicle. What's not to like about options -especially if you play Tau?

Commander Longstrike ($16)

I would really recommend picking up Commander Longstrike for the tank. He's a nice little model, doesn't occupy an FOC slot, and he pumps the tank's ballistic skill up to 5 --and that will make enemy tears really flow for 45 points.

And you're gonna love those lips... I mean check out that face...

So that sets you up for some more challenging games from the last post and lots more options.

To summarize what you need to buy so far:

Tau Battle Box (2 of these)

Cadre Fireblade

Ethereal

Battlesuit Commander (Enforcer Armor)

Hammerhead/Skyray

Longstrike

And to summarize the units you get from this haul, you get

HQ:
      • Ethereal   (50 points)
      • Cadre Fireblade with markerlight (60 points)
      • Battlesuit Commander with drones(110 points)

Elites:
      • Crisis Team (3)   (66 points)
      • Crisis Team (3)   (66 points)
      • Stealth Team (6) with 2 marker drones and a markerlight (220 points)

Fast Attack:
      • Piranha Team (2) (80 points)
      • Gun Drone Squadron (8) (112 points)
      • Marker Drone Squadron (4-8) (56-112 points)

Troops:
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)

Heavy Support:
      • Hammerhead (with Commander Longstrike) or Skyray   (130 +45 points)

Now, that's about 1200 points base if you take every single thing listed (I estimated values a point or two for the easy math). Your army will be organized to fit the number of points and style you want to play.   You need to go in and figure out weapon, system, wargear, drone, and markerlight choices. If you go for broke, you could easily bump this point total up to 1500 points, but you may want to consider different unit options for that level.

Stay tuned for Part III.

I play Tau!

↧

Farsight Encalve - Rules Conundrum

August 9, 2013, 8:39 am

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? - Part III

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? - Part II

I’m struggling bit to get my head round the Farsight Supplement, specifically how it interacts with the Tau Codex. I was going to write a review of the Supplement, but I need to come to a view on this first. There has been some discussion on this over on Apostates Anonymous, but we haven't reached a conclusion. So, to aid understanding (!), and to expose the discussion to a larger audience, I thought I would set out some thoughts here for discussion.

I really welcome discussion on this topic, however, be nice! Logic, rules as written and courtesy are key – unsubstantiated conjecture on what the author intended, is not terribly helpful. I mostly play in tournaments and “but that's what it’s supposed to mean” doesn’t get you very far!

As I see it, the problem is finding a definition of “Farsight Enclave Army”. It’s pretty important - for example the rules say

“In a Farsight Enclave army, all XV8 Crisis Teams are troops choices instead of elites choices”

This (arguably) is one of the biggest benefits to be gained from the supplement, so knowing when it applies is crucial. The problem arises when you include an allied contingent. The rules say that

In addition to following the Allies Matrix for Codex: Tau Empire, Farsight Enclaves detachments and Codes: Tau Empire detachments may ally together as Battle Brothers”

So the question is – is a list which includes allies a “Farsight Enclave Army”, or is it simply a list with a Farsight Enclave Detachment (whether primary or allied)?

It’s an important question. To use the above example – if a list with Farsight Primary and Tau Codex allies is a “Farsight Enclave Army” then XV8s taken in the Tau Codex Allied Detachment are troops. If a list with a Farsight Primary and Tau Codex allies is not a “Farsight Enclave Army” then XV8s can not be troops, even if taken in the Farsight Enclave Detachment.

A Farsight Enclave Army is defined in the supplement as

“A Farsight Enclave army is chosen using the army list presented in Codex: Tau Empire. It also has a series of supplemental rules (presented below) that can be used in addition to the material found in Codex: Tau Empire.”

So, if you use rules from the Supplement, then you’re using a Farsight Enclave army. The problem is, that really doesn’t answer the question posed above.

On page 109 of the BRB, second column under the heading “Allied Detachment” it says

If you wish your army can include one allied detachment for each primary detachment in your army”

So, “army” is your whole force (to use a neutral term) consisting of both primary and allied detachments. If that’s right, doesn’t that mean a “Farsight Enclave Army” is an army taken entirely from the Farsight Supplement – i.e. with no allied detachments at all?

As mentioned above, the most startling consequence of this is that, if you take any allies at all, your army is not a Farsight Enclave Army. If that’s right, by taking allies, you lose one of the biggest benefits of taking a Farsight list i.e. your XV8s can not be troops.

I really want to be wrong about this, but the wording of the BRB and the Supplement makes it hard to come to any other conclusion.

BTW – I’ve read some of the threads on this on ATT Dakka etc, and they don’t seem to come to a consensus. It may be there is just no answer in RAW and we need an FAQ.

EYIG

↧

What Should I Buy Now? - Part III

August 11, 2013, 12:32 am

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? Part IV

≪ Previous: Farsight Encalve - Rules Conundrum

August 11, 2013

Phase 3: Rounding Out With Essential Tau Units
(up to about 1700 points)

Beyond the battle box, erm... battle boxes in this case, we need to delve a bit into philosophy before deciding what next to add to our cadre. When we think about an essential Tau force, five key elements of Tau combat doctrine come to mind...

High mobility (battlesuits and armored skimmers)
High strength, long range weaponry with skyfire (railguns and missiles)
Blistering small arms firepower (fire warriors)
High Tech A-I support (drones and experimental technologies)
Markerlight support (pathfinders, marker drones, etc.)

(there's more below, just click the article's title to see it)

So far, in addition to the codex and basic gaming tools you should have the following units in your army:

HQ:
      • Ethereal   (50 points)
      • Cadre Fireblade with markerlight (60 points)
      • Battlesuit Commander with drones(110 points)

Elites:
      • Crisis Team (3)   (66 points)
      • Crisis Team (3)   (66 points)
      • Stealth Team (6) with 2 marker drones and a markerlight (220 points)

Fast Attack:
      • Piranha Team (2) (80 points)
      • Gun Drone Squadron (8) (112 points)
      • Marker Drone Squadron (4-8) (56-112 points)

Troops:
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)

Heavy Support:
      • Hammerhead (with Commander Longstrike) or Skyray   (130 +45 points)

With that in mind, and assuming you only have the items listed in this series, there are now really only a few crucial elements missing from your Tau Cadre: more railguns via broadside battlesuits, improved markerlight support via pathfinders, and more mobility and increased protection for your troops and pathfinders via armored transports (and maybe more troops, you can never have too many fire warriors).

Broadsides($50 each, x 2, 3, or 4)

Pricey, but worth it. They can fire twin-linked strength 8 railgun blasts at air or ground targets up to five feet away. And now they can be kitted out with either rail guns or high-yield missile batteries and seeker missiles --wow! That's some serious missile spam. They have changed a bit since the last edition -for better or for worse, but broadsides are still one of the signature Tau units, and they're still the bad-asses of your cadre.

Start off with two, then when the pain in your wallet subsides a bit, get another one or two if you can manage it. But remember, two of these with HYMP, SMS, seeker missiles and missile drones can pump out 24 shots and two seekers in a single turn (plus some twin-linking). And marker light support make more of those shots actually hit. 16 of those are strength 7, --be sure to check specific strength levels and potential save stripping shenanigans in the codex or tactica, but that's still nothing to sneeze at. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tau make it rain. These are best run in pairs or maybe threes, or maybe even two units of two. But that's $200... just pace yourself.

Pathfinders ($36)

Yes, you will need these guys for their markerlights. Obviously markerlights can be found elsewhere, but I think Pathfinders provide the best bang for your buck. 10 guys returning an average of 5 hits per turn is a very good thing. An enemy unit with five markerlight hits on it not only loses its cover save, it also allows up to three units to bump up to their ballistic skill when firing on it.

Take their drones and you get some other nice buffs as well. Take at least one unit for a base cost of 110 points. Though you may also want to add one more unit, they are definitely worth it. Unfortunately, to add pathfinders you have to drop either the drone squadron or the piranhas (drop the drones) because you only have three FOC slots for Fast Attack units.

Don't throw the drones away, though. You can attach them to battlesuits or form their units up again when you get high enough in points use a double FOC. And keep all the bits. Games Workshop does not sell marker drones except for the one you get in the Stealth suit box and one in the Pathfinders kit.

If you model a couple of the pathfinders with the rail rifles or the ion rifles (and you should) then you should have a couple of markerlights left over. Use them with the now obsolete external target lock or multi-tracker to make your own marker drones.

Devilfish ($37)

Fire warriors and pathfinders can still be a little squishy if left out in the open. They have armor saves (at least technically) but are not immune to instant death. Put these softer units in a suit of AV 12 armor, namely a devilfish. This transport can protect them until needed or get them across the battlefield or to claim or contest objectives without becoming bullet-ridden blue corpses too early to do anything.

As an alternative, and since you will eventually need them anyway, buy another hammerhead/skyray. you can use just the body for a devilfish, and plug in the turrets when you want another tank. Again, that's a pricey way to go, but it is an option. There are games when I do not even use the devilfish, I just spam with tanks. In one game I had six hammerheads (at 2000 points you can double your FOC).

Every shooting phase cost my mate three or four units, and he never got an assault off. But the game was a draw because my poor little firewarriors were raped and pillaged... and I was unable to claim objectives. But it was very cool. Necrons... Sometimes winning isn't everything, but six hammerheads...

Be sure to check out our Devilfish Tactica.

So that's the three big things that you need to have a strong Tau core.

More Troops ($36)

Well, maybe four things. You will definitely need more troops. If you only take two units of 12, you are asking not to win the larger games. Troops are necessary to claim objectives, and claiming objectives is the key to winning the game. One unit of fire warriors dies and you are only able to maybe claim one objective... not a winning strategy.

Add another unit of fire warriors, or two, and another transport. Heck, you may even want to take a walk on the wild side and add some Kroot, but we will talk about them in the next phase. You can have up to six units of troops in your Cadre, and transports do not count against your FOC (though they do cost points).

Fast Attack:
      • Pathfinders (10) (110 points)
      •  Pathfinders (10) (110 points)

Troops:
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)
          + Devilfish Transport (1) (80 points)
      • Fire Warriors (12) Shas'ui markerlight (133 points)
          + Devilfish Transport (1) (80 points)

Heavy Support:
      • Broadsides Team (2) (170 points)

Conclusion

Ok, that gets you started, you have the signature and necessary units to field a viable Tau army.  But this is where opinions diverge as to what to buy next, even in my own head. In fact, anything from this point is merely personal preference and based on units I like to play (for fun, not competitively). This is where your play style will matter more than my opinion.

That said, I am going to give my opinion anyway.

I believe that from here there are essentially two basic organizational philosophies or directions you can follow, Mech Tau and Gunline Tau. It remains to be seen how Commander Farsight's All-Battlesuit army turns out, but you know I will post a plan you can follow for acquiring the necessary forces to make that happen as well.

Oh, and one more thing I would recommend (and thanks Chip for bringing it up). If your gaming budget is as tight as mine, use a proxy to playtest the more expensive models before you rush out and buy them. That way you will know if that $85 riptide is a model you will absolutely need, ever actually use, or not. Just use the correct base size and find a way to represent its height for line of sight and other targeting and measurement purposes. And be sure to let your opponent know what you are doing before the game is set up. If you like how it works with your individual play style, then buy it. If not, skip it.

My recommendations are just that, recommendations.

Stay tuned, Part IV is about a week out.

I play Tau!

↧

What Should I Buy Now? Part IV

August 16, 2013, 2:00 am

≫ Next: Farsight Enclave Supplement Review

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? - Part III

August 16, 2013
Mech Tau

I like the Mech-Tau style of play, and I like the Gunline-Tau style of play. Remember what I said about never playing the same game twice? But unless you have cash flowing out of your nethers, you need a plan for what to get next.

This post assumes that you have been building up your basic cadre as listed in the first three articles.

Mech Tau is short for Mechanized Tau. The concept goes back to the German blitzkrieg of World War Two. First, the Germans would pound their targets with aircraft and long range artillery. The goal of this phase was to eliminate any enemy anti-air and anti-armor assets. Then they would roll in with the tanks with attached infantry units mounted in armored vehicles. These guys would eliminate enemy anti-infantry units. Next, the trucks would roll in loaded with even more infantry to serve as rapid response and to mop up any remaining organized resistance. And lastly, the ground pounders would slog in and finalize the occupation.

Now, this strategy was not new in World War Two, The Russians, The French, the British, and the Japanese all tried to do this. But the Germans were actually good at it because they had modern weapons and the training to match the strategy. The others didn't.

I am not glorifying the war, but there is much to be learned from German tactics and strategy.

The Germans were among the first to successfully use aircraft to actually soften ground targets, not just spot for artillery. Softening those targets allowed the second wave to more easily roll in. But our aircraft (Tau aircraft) kinda suck. So we have to work this a different way.

To figure out what you need to acquire, you need to figure out what you want to do with your force. At this point I am going to pass on some wisdom from an old video on Tau of War,,, I ignore the FOC as far as planning my army goes, and divide my force up into three chunks: Attack, Support, Defend.

With that in mind for a Mechanized Tau Force, the units you select MUST me mobile. With our skimmers and jetpack, and jump infantry, we have the ideal mix of units to be able to pull this off. I am going to avoid points here, because I am just trying to get your creative juices flowing, This is not an army list, just a primer to get you going with your cadre.

Remember, for this play style, mobile, mobile, mobile.

Attack

Attack elements are supposed to bring the heat to the enemy. I mean seriously. When I decide what units to include in my attack force, I think hard about which assets are going to take enemy units off the table. My attack forces consist of

Battlesuit Commander and 2 bodyguards
2 Broadsides
3 Battlesuits (could also be a riptide)
3 Battlesuits
2 Piranhas

Support

Support forces are intended to make the attack forces more potent or to back up the defense forces. markerlight support is essential in the modern tau army, and there are two units with this resource. Shadowsun and her stealth squad or her riptide harass the enemy and serve as a painful distraction allowing the defense units greater opportunity to get into position. Hammerheads provide direct fire support and take out enemy armor from long range,

Shadowsun and 1 Squad of Stealth Suits (or Shadowsun with a riptide)
1 Drone Squadron
    - 4 to 6 Marker Drones
    - 2 Shield Drones
8 Pathfinders with a Devilfish
    - EMP Grenades (or a second drone squadron)

2 Hammerheads (one with Longstrike)

Defend

Defense units hold objectives. Period. They can be held in reserve until the last minute, and zip in to take or contest objectives.

10 Fire Warriors in Devilfish
10 Fire Warriors in Devilfish
10 Fire Warriors in Devilfish

This isn't 100% mine. I got this structure from a YouTube video on the Tau of War's channel, and modified it to match my own play style. And you should do the same. Here's the video (below), just remember that it was designed to work under the last codex, and things have changed quite a bit, particularly as it relates to fire warriors and the devilfish.

Check it out, and then use the underlying principles to create your own list.

That's it, Mech Tau.

Next time, Gunline Tau.

↧

Farsight Enclave Supplement Review

August 19, 2013, 12:59 am

≫ Next: Kebek III

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? Part IV

Well all my fears about the Farsight Enclave Supplement are unfounded. The GT I’m going to at the beginning of September is allowing allied Tau Detachments to take Tau Signature Systems, essentially reading Farsight Enclave Army as “Farsight Allied Detachment”.

I’m not going to argue with this as it gives me the best of both worlds – so, onwards with the Supplement Review.

The Farsight Enclave Supplement is the first for the Tau Codex. It’s mostly fluff and background, but there are also some interesting rules. But first the fluff (!)

To my surprise I really enjoyed it (god, people will be calling me a narrative gamer next!). The background takes Farsight from his entry into the fire caste right through his career to his epiphany on the artefact world of Arthas Moloch. It tells the story of his increasing disillusionment with Ethereal rule and what he begins to see as their oppression of the Tau people. We all knew the Tau Empire was a tad oppressive, but this makes it quite clear.

Along the way we find out more about his relationship with Commander Puretide and what is clearly his rivalry with Shadowsun. We also find out more about how the Tau are organised and the Tau way of war. And we discover the secret of the Dawn Blade.

If you’re a Tau fan, the book is worth it for the fluff alone … but onto the rules!

You can split the rules into 4 parts – Warlord Traits, Signature Systems, Special Characters and FOC swapping ( in a Farsight Detachment XV8s are Troops).

Warlord Traits

As always the problem with these traits is they are random. Some are good, some are rubbish.

Way of the Short Blade

The warlord has weapons skill 5. If he doesn’t have a battle suit then you can re roll it. Why on earth would you want your XV8 Commander in close combat anyway…next!

Echoes of The Grand Master

The Warlord has one of the following traits Counter Attack, Furious Charge, Monster Hunter, Stubborn or Tank Hunter. Chose when the warlord trait is rolled. So, a poor mans Puretide Chip – which is awesome, but a bit random. It would be amazing if you got this on a Farsight Warlord and had an allied XV8 Commander with a Puretide chip!

The Way of the Broken Sword

One use only. For one turn you get a -1 on your opponents reserve rolls. OK, but situational.

The Fire Unquenchable

Your Commander is Fearless, and everybody within 6” is stubborn. Hmmm … you would need to be very careful with this one. There are many occasions when the last thing you want is for a unit to be stubborn – for example, a stubborn Kroot screen would be a disaster. You want them to crumble when assaulted, so you can shoot the assaulting unit in your own turn. Besides, you can turn stubborn on and off with an Ethereal.

Countercrisis

XV8 Crisis Teams have a +1 modifier to their Reserve Rolls. OK, but only really useful if you have a bunch of XV8s in reserve. I very seldom keep XV8s in reserve.

Through Surety Destruction

One use only. For the duration of one shooting phase the warlord and his unit have the Shred special rule. Nice, but not really that exciting.

So in summary, if you can reliably roll 2s the table is fantastic, but otherwise not that exciting.

Signature Systems

Characters in the Tau Codex that can take Tau Signature Systems must take Farsight Systems instead. Interestingly XV8 Bodyguards can take Signature Systems, but are not Characters – does that mean Farsight Enclave Bodyguards can take Tau Signature Systems? Makes a Farsight bomb made from the Supplement much more viable – i.e. you can take a Bodyguard with a C&CN and a M3S, as well as kitting one of them out with a Puretide Chip and Iridium Armour (although I would probably put that on an allied commander).

Another difference is that Enclave Riptides can take Enclave Signature Systems.

Again, a mixed bag

Mirrorcodex

For 50pts you get to seize the initiative on a 5+, and at the start of each turn you roll a d6. On a 4 you get Preferred Enemy Space Marines, on a 5 Preferred Enemy Space Marines and Imperial Guard, and on a 6 Preferred Enemy everybody.

Seizing on a 5+ if nice, but a one in 6 chance to get Preferred Enemy against everybody is a bit lame, and how many people play space marines or guard these days! Maybe once the new Space Marine codex comes out and more people play marines at tournaments again, but at the moment, 50pts is too much to increase your chance of seizing IMO.

But here's a thought - ally him with Grey Knights and take Coteaz.... 2 rolls to seize on a 5+ isn't bad!

Seismic Fibrillator Node

One use only. Activates on a 2+ at the start of any turn. All terrain within 36” becomes difficult terrain, and all difficult terrain becomes dangerous. On a 5+ it continues in next turn, otherwise it ends.

Hmmm … I can see some situations where this would be helpful, but bare in mind it effects all your units too – so your suits are taking dangerous terrain tests. Maybe if you were playing a gun line being assaulted by fast infantry? A bit situational for 45pts I think.

Warscaper Drone

The wielder and all models in its unit have Outflank, Move Through Cover and Acute Senses. Also any unit within 12” of the wielder who is outside their deployment zone treats difficult terrain as dangerous.

This is interesting. For 35pts you can outflank a team of Crisis Suits … or Broadsides …. or a Riptide, and pretty much choose the side they come in on. If you infiltrate a unit of Stealth Suits with a positional relay within 6” of your opponents back edge, they can even come in of that back edge. And then all your Kroot can come in there too ……. or pathfinders with special weapons …. and a homing beacon…..

Can see this being the basis for a very interesting list.

Fusion Blades

For 30pts you get an S8 AP1 melee weapon that hits at initiative … which breaks if you roll a 1 on a d6 every time you use it. Oh and you need to fork out for a twin linked fusion blaster before you get it. So a total of 60pts …. to get a melee weapon … in an army that should never be in assault. Maybe in a Farsight bomb, but probably not.

Might be interesting on a Riptide with a Warscaper Drone!

Earth Caste Pilot Array

Now we’re talking! For 35pts you get to re-roll failed Nova Reactor rolls, and reroll 1s to hit. Perfect for a Heavy Burst Cannon Riptide.

Talisman of Arthas Moloch

This one makes a Farsight allied contingent a “must take” in all Tau lists IMHO. For 25pts you get to roll 4 dice to deny the witch, choosing the highest (so something like a 66% chance to deny), and not just for the wielders unit, but for all units within 12”. And if that wasn’t enough, the wielder gets a 5++….! If you take Farsight as a primary detachment and an allied Space marine Libby … with a psychic hood…. then anything within 6” is denying on a 5+ … on 4d6!

I no longer fear Jaws quite so much (or puppet master, or flickering fire etc. etc.).

Special Characters

If you take Farsight, and don’t take a command squad, you can take one or more of 7 special characters. There was some confusion over whether you had to take Farsight, but its now clear that you do. I’ve also seen some people argue you can not take a normal command squad instead of these guys, but I think it’s pretty clear that it’s an option – so you can still build a Farsight bomb using the Enclave Supplement.

Five of the 7 are XV8 pilots with Shas’O stats. One is an XV88 and the other is a Riptide. All of them are independent characters, but their wargear is fixed … and that’s the biggest problem. On the face of it the ability to take 5 Shas’Os in your army has some attractions, but few if any of the load outs are optimal. The one attraction is that some of them have Tau Codex Signature Systems which (if you are not taking Codex Allies) you can’t access in an Enclave army.

The other problem of course is that there is a “Farsight tax” i.e. you need to take him, and if you’re not building a Farsight Bomb list…..why would you want to!

I’m not going to go through all of them in detail, you can read that for your self. I’m sure there will be clever ways to use each of them I haven’t thought of, but I’m not sure you can build a strong army around them.

The 2 options that are the most intriguing are Shas’vre Ob’lotai (the XV88) and Shas’vre O’Vesa, the Riptide. Not because their stats or wargear are anything terribly exciting (you can buy them straight out the supplement) but because they are independent characters. Being able to attach an XV88 or a Riptide to other units is intriguing, particularly when O’Vesa comes with 2 Shielded Missile Drones. Attach him to a standard XV8 team and you get a scoring unit of T6 Crisis suits (at least until O’Vesa loses a Drone). Might this be the ideal unit to have on the table while you’re waiting for Farsight and some of his other buddies to drop in?

FOC Swapping

Finally the biggie – in an Enclave Detachment, XV8s are troops.

I can’t make my mind up about how big a deal this is. On the one hand logic tells me that a balanced army will always be better than taking a whole bunch of XV8s …. but, man, taking a whole bunch of XV8s is way, way cooler!

But how to do it? Well, that would be the subject of a whole separate post!

EYIG

↧

Kebek III

August 19, 2013, 1:01 am

≫ Next: Alien Allies for Tau - Vespids

≪ Previous: Farsight Enclave Supplement Review

August 19, 2013

So, I was poking around on the Interwebs a few days ago, and I found a blurb on some site that pointed me to another site, and so on... you know how it is when you're browsing... Anyway, I ended up on a page about Team Kebek at Adepticon 2013.

This year, they put together an army/display that combined Necrons and Tau, and it is very creepy-cool. My first impressions went from "ho-hum," to "Oh, that's kinda neat," then to "holy crap, that's freakin' awesome." The army has a Borg-kinda feel to it, and the team even included a comic to tie all the fluff together. You have to see this.

Just an FYI, I like to think that we are not alone in the universe, but the notion of a Borg-like race, or even Necrons somewhere out there, assimilating other races, scares the living hell out of me. This army connects me to that fear a little, and yeah, it gives me the creeps a little --but I like it. Particularly in this case, it is very well done.

You can find more pictures of the army here, and the comic here. The team also has some cool photos from their previous Adepticon entries (IG and Orks).

I must admit, I did not find the site by accident, but I was unable to re-trace my steps in order to properly acknowledge the person or link that led me to it. So if you happen to have seen the same blurb that pointed me there on BoLS or somewhere else, or if you happen to be the one who posted it, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due. And thank you.

Thank you too, Team Kebek. This project is exceptional work.

↧

Alien Allies for Tau - Vespids

August 21, 2013, 12:49 am

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? - Part VI

≪ Previous: Kebek III

August 21, 2013

Tau-Va!

The Vespid are a unique race of insect-like aliens who are members of the Tau Empire. In the Tau Lexicon, they are called "Mal'kor". This derives from the Tau words for insect, "Mal," and air, "Kor." The Vespids' homeworld is a gas giant also called Vespid, three light years to the galactic south of the Tau's D'yanoi Sept.

When the Tau first encountered the Vespids, they saw a species of great potential value to the Greater Good and came to greatly covet their crystal-based technologies. Although the species had developed a reasonably stable planetary government and was able to utilise its advanced technology for a wide variety of uses, it had not yet achieved space flight. Tau Water Caste cadres established contact, yet were unable at first to communicate with the species. This was not a mundane matter of vocalisation or the understanding of language, for the Vespids have an utterly alien mindset

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vespid

This post is going to be short (rather unlike my last few), and deal with the best way to use Vespids in a Tau Army.

My solution is simple: don't.

I've tried, and they either are never able do anything substantial to justify their points, or they assault what appears to be an adequately softened infantry target and either all die horribly or some die horribly and the rest run away.

Making them even harder to use is the fact that they compete with pathfinders, piranhas, tetras, and other cool units for the fast attack slots...

So I don't really use them much.

But seriously, there are uses for them, and we will discuss them in an upcoming tactica, but for now, and for the context of this article, I just want to use them as part of my allies list in which they proxy an Eldar unit. I have the actual Eldar units, but I love the fluff and modeling aspects of our hobby, and actually being able to use these models pleases me. I love the way my all Tau Empire army looks on the tabletop.

Please don't get me wrong, I love my Vespids, I have two complete squads (22). I have converted some of the metal ones to look more like they are flying (carved out their bases and between their toes, then bent their legs backwards slightly and drilled holes in their bellies for the flight bases --more on that another time). But GW didn't do them any favors by making them cost more point-wise, or by declining to give them usefully better stats, rules, or characteristics.

So how does one use the models he loves so dearly only to watch them die tragically?

My answer is, make them a "counts as" element in an allied supplement. I run a full Tau Cadre. My fast attack slots are all typically filled with two squads of pathfinders and a platoon of tetras (that's markerlight skeet, skeet, skeet, baby). But when I double my FOC I tend to beef out all three additional slots with either more pathfinders or hazard suits, a few piranhas, and a flyer. There never seems to be any room for my Bugmen.

Short of a double FOC, sometimes I take a small allied contingent of Eldar, but sometimes there are no actual Eldar in that detachment. Everything in my Eldar contingent is a "counts as" unit of aliens from Tau fluff.

Vespids make excellent counts as Swooping Hawks. Think about it, let it settle in, knock on the sky a little, and there you have it. Did you feel that?

Yeah. It is actually very easy to pull this off, you just have to remember to play them with Eldar rules.

Then you can add in some of the other units from my upcoming alien posts that I think will knock you on your socks. Some are GW, some are not. I would not recommend taking these to any sort of tournament (though many would still be legal because they are GW products and bits)... Just wait till you see my jet bike conversion.

In one army list, I used an all-Tau main army, a converted Kroot Master Shaper and Shamans for my Farseer and Warlocks, Kroot Carnivores for Striking Scorpions, and Vespids for Swooping Hawks. I had a few other units in there including Gue'vesa, naga, and Shea'shi (from Tael on ATT), but I will get to those unit conversions another time.

I have come up with something for just about every unit in the Eldar Codex, though I haven't modeled them all, and they're not all 100% GW bits.

Just be patient, and remember to breathe.

I play Tau.

↧

What Should I Buy Now? - Part VI

August 21, 2013, 11:51 pm

≫ Next: What Should I Buy Now? Part V

≪ Previous: Alien Allies for Tau - Vespids

Phase 6: Kicking it up a notch to 2500, and adding some flavor.

These are units I just had to have...

Well, that is the mandatory Tau list, according to me. This last phase is where you can add in a little flavor to make your army your own. Here is what I did, but again, this is the most optional part of your army building and it should be a reflection of your play style. That said, I am not going to tell you what you must have or not. But I will share what I did.

XV-104 Riptide.
I had to have this guy, and i will be getting a second one soon. He is the biggest battlesuit in the Tau inventory. He can lay down the firepower, and take a lot of flakk, and doesn't require a dead twin to field in a friendly game of 40k (see Codex: Eldar for more on that).

Shadowsun.
At 2000 points you can expand your FOC. Stick Shadowsun in another battlesuit unit -particularly a stealth unit and watch her shine (actually she and the unit she's in will stealthily glimmer out of sight).

Ethereal.
You really should have at least one of these in your inventory. He gives great buffs particularly to infantry, and can choose special effects each turn, including giving nearby fire warriors an extra shot in certain situations.

Sniper Drones.
I absolutely love these things. Take 9, get the controller killed, and then attach a battlesuit commander with a drone controller, the drones get BS-5 and the ability to actually use their jetpack rule effectively, and the commander gets stealth plus 9 strength X sniper shots and up to nine additional ablative wounds. Not to mention whatever buffs any nearby ethereals bestow (including the extra shots at half range). Yes please.

Kroot.
A dirt-cheap squad of 20 snipers (points-wise) that can infiltrate, hold objectives, move through cover, and are stealthy in forests? Again, yes please.

Seeing a horde of these snarky little critters along with a full compliment of hounds and KrootOx on a tabletop really gets me chuffed up! Throw in a herd of gnarlocs and one or two of the really big beasties and boy, I get a bit weepy.

Vespids.
Not a fan favorite but I like them. I am a huge fan of the various alien allies the Tau have, and the Kroot and Vespids are the two sanctioned ones. I will be pumping out a few articles about Tau allies and mercenaries later on this summer, so more on that then.

In the right situation, Vespids can make an interesting game particularly in a dense city terrain and ruins, such as a city fight scenario where there's plenty of cover and plenty of enemy infantry. They are jump infantry with hit-and-run and stealth in ruins. Their range is only 18 inches, but their weapon is strength 5 AP-3, so in the right situation they could be really good. They could also be really terrible, but such is the case with several Tau units. I still like them.

Units I do not care much for, but you may like.

Farsight.
Either my first, or my last commander purchase. I proxied him in a couple of games under the old codex and was never really pleased with him. Of course, under the old rules he limited what other units you could take and the buffs he brought were not so great. But he might be really awesome in a deep strike death star unit with seven other battlesuits in a game against orks... yeah, that might be a fun match... anyway, season to taste. Skyler and a couple of other guys on the sight play a Farsight list and I will defer to their comments on his usefulness. I have the model, still on sprue, still in the box, and still shrink-wrapped.

I will build him someday.

Skyray.
Traditionally, I never really liked them, but they are starting to grow on me now. Unfortunately to get a hammerhead now, you have to buy the skyray anyway, so what the heck. With the ability to fire their missiles without markerlight support, they just became more appealing. But as I mentioned before, your army should reflect your play style. So here again, season to taste.

Darkstrider.
This guy kinda looks like he might be sorta fun, but as he fills an HQ slot and because of this I have not taken him in a game yet, so I cannot comment much on him. If you have the dough and the inclination, go for it. He certainly has the lips for battle, who knows, maybe I should give him a go?

More on all of these units will be included in upcoming tactica. So stay tuned.

You can read Adam's original article hereand see what you think about the clarity of his predictions. I'd rate his predictions at about 90-95% correct, he really only missed on the crisis suits and sniper drones.

Another awesome article that touted Tau tenacity (both alliterations intended) even before our new codex release was David's article on army building foundhere.

Next up?

Forgeworld Units.
Don't be afraid to check out Forgeworld. I will go more into them next time, there are some nice units and odd bits there. And though they are a bit expensive, they're well worth it to a serious gamer or collector.

Enjoy!

↧

What Should I Buy Now? Part V

August 25, 2013, 8:29 pm

≫ Next: What you should expect from us and the site.

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? - Part VI

Part 5. Gunline Tau

Ok, this is a tough one to pull off, so follow me through with it before you start yelling at your screen.

One of the quickest ways to lose a game is to implement this strategy improperly. You need victory points to win a game of 40k. To get enough of those victory points, you need objectives AND some of the other bits like line breaker, first blood, etc...

The true gunline is an overly defensive strategy and is extremely difficult to pull off, especially if you create a futuristic version of the Maginot Line or the trenches of World War I, and your opponent starts dropping pie plates and deathwing termies on you.

I will go out on a limb and say that while a pure Gunline tau Army may be a beautiful thing, and may be fun to play, a pure Gunline Tau Army will lose every game --unless you have a really dumb opponent.

First, we need to understand that the term, "Gunline Tau" is a misnomer. That name for this strategy calls up images of bunkers and fortifications with little blue guys walking the trenches... this is not that type of gunline.

In fact, the gunline is only half the army.

We should call it "Hammer and Anvil Tau." (see where I'm going with this?)

So here is the strategy (and remember, this is for large games, 2000+ points).

The short story? Defend your own objective, creep out to your second, and pop in unexpectedly on your third. Now for the details.

But before we start building up your army to create the perfect gunline, we need to work on some strategic training.

Training

So your next purchase? I highly recommend getting the old Assault on Blackreach box game. I know, it's old, but you get two very tough opponents (Orks and Marines) in that one with which you can practice various techniques in your garage when no one else is looking. You don't always have to try new things under live fire. Do what the real Marines do, learn how to assault beaches and blow stuff up on Camp Pendleton BEFORE you need to know how to do it in some far off land.

You can probably get them fairly cheap on eBay right now. The new Dark Vengeance box set would work in a pinch, but the variety of the units is not great. Marines, or evil marines... meh.

Ok, so we have a training ground. Back to business.

Step one. Build your firebase
This will be your Kau'yon. This will be the anvil. This will be your gunline. This will be the hard spot upon which your enemy will surge. And this is where their bodies will pile up (metaphorically, of course). Best if it is on top of an objective. You should have one in your deployment zone. This really works well if it is in a building or in cover, or at least something. So when you place it, guess where you should put it?

Work with me people...

This is your battlefield for this exercise. It doesn't always work out this nicely, but hey, this is an engineered lesson so work with it. The pink oval is the ideal location for your gunline. The objective is close enough to your troops that it can be easily claimed in the deployment phase, and the hedges provide cover for the ends of your firebase/gunline.

This gunline focuses more on luring your opponent in, or toward your forces rather than the aggressive onslaught of the Mont'Ka. Use upgrades and every boost to firepower and range you can afford.

In your gunline you will need the following units.

Firewarriors.
If you can find the points, four squads. You can make this one big mob on or near one objective, or two ½-sized mobs (one in each corner of your deployment zone). Be sure to add markerlights to your squad leaders. As each squad fires, they can cascade the markerlight down the line for an improved BS for each firing unit. This isn't easy, see my tips below for practice.

Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun
Yep, you need it. I hate it because it looks so Imperial, but you do need it. On a side note, I have been working on making my own with resin casting, but they all look like crap so far. Chapterhouse games is also working on a really cool Tau'ish one, but depending on how you feel about that... GW is rumored to come up with army specific terrain and fortifications in the future, but I can't wait until after the new Sisters of Battle codex to get one...

You may even consider a bunker/bastion. The quad gun will help with anti-aircraft.

Pathfinders.
backing up your mobs of firewarriors should be a passle of pathfinders. I would recommend about a squad per two squads of firewarriors. Their markerlights will come in handy, and they can also benefit from ethereal blessings in a pinch.

Pathfinders can bring in a couple of useful drones. The pulse accelerator drone extends the pulse weapon range six inches. And the Grav-inhibitor forces your opponent to subtract D3 nches from his charge roll. First one is good, the other... meh.

Cadre Fireblade
Two if you can swing it. He will give each of your warriors another shot, plus he has a markerlight he can fire at anything he wants at BS5. You could also have him man the quad gun at BS5. Yeah, he is a good thing.

Ethereal
I know, two fireblades and an ethereal are three of your HQ choices, but that's ok. This game is over 2000 points right? His buffs are awesome against enemy units approaching your gunline. Be sure to keep him in a devilfish to protect him against crack shots and snipers.  You can also load up a bunch of firewariors later to rush out and claim an objective.

Just remember to give yourself enough game time to disembark as you cannot claim with or from within a vehicle, even if it's a dedicated transport.  And you can't disembark the ethereal, embark the warriors, move flat out to the objective, and disembark the warriors all in the same turn.  Play smart.

Broadsides
You probably ened one for every squad of firewarriors. 4 squads? 4 broadsides. Just a rule of thumb for scalability.   Two units of two should be good here. One unit armed with Heavy Rail Rifles, the other with High Yield Missile Pods. And both should load up on their missile drones. Properly gassed up they'll light the skies up. Let these boys deal with your helldrake and other aircraft spam.

Gun Drones
A unit or two of these for each gunline should be able to help alleviate assaults by adding theirs to your overall firepower (they benefit from your ethereal's buffs as well as the supporting fire USR).

And secondlyby their ability to rush out in front and park right in front of the bad guys who are most likely going to assault your gunline next turn. Be sure to make this move in the assault phase so you don't blow your regular shooting.

That's that. Your anvil is built. Avoid leaving space behind your troops, you may get assaulted from behind. Yuk. No one likes that except for the person behind you.

Step Two: Design your hammer (hammers, hammerheads, whatever...).

This is the Mont'ka or crushing blow portion of your fighting force. These are the units that will beat the bloody hell out of your opponent and make your gunline look like candyland to their battered forces, their huddled masses yearning breathe free, and for a nice place to die.

Crisis Commander
And two body guards. Jetpack into wherever, tear shit up, jump back and hide. Rinse and repeat. Gribbleys hate this. Greenskins hate it. 'Oomies hate it too. Do it anyway. You could fit a Farsight bomb here if you wanted to, or maybe a Shadowsun shit-storm (go ahead, say that five times real fast).

Crisis Battlesuits
Same as above, and at least 2 units of three. The Crisis Battlesuit can be taken as a single suit unit, or in squads of three. They provide some of the most versatile firepower in the game, capable of tackling infantry, vehicles, and buildings with ease, but they are not indestructible. Use them wisely, padawan.

Hammerheads
Two. Cruise around and shoot people in the face with your 10-inch... railgun. Rinse and repeat. DO NOT park one of these behind your gunline for fire support. It will get stuck and lose part of its cover save (based on movement). Give 'em some space to slide around, just remember to keep your front armor pointed at the bad guys and your butt close to the board edge to discourage deepstrikes behind you.

And lastly, Step Three.
Apply lube. Doesn't fit the hammer and anvil analogy, but trust me here, you're gonna need it. These are the units that help you get that elusive third objective that tau always seem to struggle with, or taking down that third Black Templar or CSM Land Raider.

Kroot
A unit of Kroot with a hound can walk onto the field late game and grab an objective. They could also hole up in terrain (using infiltrate) until they're needed. And they're snipers. And they're troops.

In a pinch, and if they're close enough to the enemy ,they can run out and assault a unit closing on your gunline and tarpit the bad guys up for a turn so you can shift assets around.

Piranha
If you can slide in a unit of these babies, go for it. They are nice to harass and distract or slow down a determined foe and they can actually bring down that Land Raider coming up behind building three...

Stealth Suits
If you didn't use any with Shadowsun as your warlord, snag a unit for here. They are expensive, and don't do much, but for some reason their stealth ability which makes them difficult to kill will make your opponent slobber like Pavlov's dogs until he can take them out.

And trust me, sometimes you need any distraction you can get. Any distraction that delays an inevitable assault on your gunline is gold. Once your gunline is assaulted, you will not only lose all that beautiful firepower tau are so famous for, but your blue man crew will melt like butter and you won't get them back.

That said, it is important to remember that units die, and you have to be willing to let them go in the name of the Greater Good. The firepower your enemy wastes on the distraction guys is less he has available for your actual hammer and anvil units.

That is it.

How you employ it effectively is the topic experience or at least the topic of another post, and I will refer you to the appropriate tactica.

Oh, and you can click on the battlefield maps for better views.

I play Tau.

↧

What you should expect from us and the site.

August 28, 2013, 12:43 am

≫ Next: Cadre Reinforcements

≪ Previous: What Should I Buy Now? Part V

Just a bit of admin here...

Since taking the reigns about a month ago I have worked very hard to adhere to Adam and David's (and the others) standards of quality as well as set some new standards for myself. I have changed a couple of little things here and there, and I am working on a few others. I added sections for books and allies, and changed the Recommended Blogs section a bit. Hope you like it.

I am currently working on removing the advertising from the site. There is this one ad that pops up right after the first article on the page that drives me batty. I am also going through all the posts and making sure they're all dated and have a relevant picture to help readers know when the things were written and to improve the article previews. I had originally wanted to archive those prior to the new edition of the codex, but Adam wrote some great articles that are still entertaining and informative. So my vote, they stay. Just with submission dates more visible. The pictures help with the "you might also like" bit.

We have about 1500 unique viewers and about that many page views per day. Our readers are from every English speaking country on the planet plus several others. I am always delighted when look at the "Who's watching" map and I see the little beacon flashing in Russia, or Thailand, South Africa, or Portugal, meaning that someone is poking around on the site, almost all the time. The UK and the Northwestern US are almost always lit up, and it's not just me and David. I think that's pretty good. We just need to get more readers in South America... so if you know someone down there...

I know that may not seem like much to some of you, but it is pretty big to me. There are five of us on the council, or committee, or whatever you want to call it, and well, we are all pretty much fully employed otherwise, or fathers, brothers, friends, or whatever. And most of us would rather spend what little hobby time we get playing, and not necessarily writing about 40k. After all, isn't that how it should be?

I am not making excuses here, just trying to give you all a better feel for who we are and what you should expect from us and the site.

That said, these are my 10 commandments, or rather standards I intend to follow and promises I intend to keep.

(ever notice how Tau text looks a lot like Hebrew?)

This is a Tau, Kroot, and Tau Empire Allies blog. Period. I will try to avoid posting articles about other games and armies. I cannot promise 100% compliance with this one, kinda like that "don't covet thy neighbor's wife" thing.
At least one article per week -mostly likely from me, and I am shooting for an article to be posted at least every Monday. The other guys will post when ever they have articles to contribute. Check back regularly to see what we're talking about.
Well-witten articles. Grammatical errors annoy me, and I am sure they do some of you as well. But strangely, I have never been annoyed by proper grammar and punctuation. Not even once.
We are not a rumor site. I rely on Faeit 212, Bell of Lost Souls, and 3++ is the New Black for my news and rumors, and rarely will I regurgitate their articles... unless its something really juicy (and Tau-like) that I can legitimately expand upon. Redundancy is annoying. Redundancy is annoying. Redundancy is annoying. Get my point?
I will try to focus on philosophy (as it relates to the game), fluff, thematic army lists, tactics, and other general hobby stuff specific to our army of choice.
I will never, ever write an article about Dark Eldar, unless it's a battle report in which I have soundly kicked their pointy asses. I love to hate them. Sorry Natfka.
I will never, ever write an article whining about what some army has that Tau doesn't. Call a Waaahaaambulance, we don't have psychic powers, boo hoo... la di da... I'm so tired of that. If I wanted to whine all the time then I'd play Dark Angels.
I will borrow material from other sites from time to time, and I will always thank, credit, and link to the source.
I will allow all comments as written, but I reserve the right to clean the crap off the walls (delete spam, rants, and obvious garbage). I will not delete your comments simply because I disagree with them, but I will probably fire the railguns at one or two odd badgers here and there. Keep the comments pithy and relevant, and I will try to do the same.
I will try not to take myself too seriously.

Those are my operating principles, and I think they will help keep the site relevant and well read --as it has been so far.

Well, that's about it for now. I will post again this week sometime. This was kinda heavy and dry, and I found a funny list of rules I would like to post...

Funny is good, and I play Tau.

↧

Cadre Reinforcements

September 3, 2013, 1:15 pm

≫ Next: Alien Allies for Tau - Gue'vesa

≪ Previous: What you should expect from us and the site.

I haven't posted for a while because I've been working hard on reinforcements for my Cadre. I'm going to the Northern Warlords GT in Warrington this weekend and needed to focus on some bits and bobs. But I'm finished now so I thought I would post up a couple of pics of what Ive been working on.

First this is my latest Riptide

Heavy Burst Cannon Riptide

The plan is to run him as an allied Enclave Elite so I can take the Earth Caste Pilot Array and the Talisman of Arthas Moloch. I'm expecting lots of Demons and a few Rune Priest with Jaws, and being able to deny the witch on 4d6 will help.

The ECPA also helps in guaranteeing the Nova reactor gets charged pretty much every turn. This is my "solution" to screamers starts - bogg them down with a stubborn Riptide with a 3++ ..... OK, not great, but the best I could come up with, without radically overhauling my list.

The photo isn't too good, but I hope you can make it out. I was going for a predatory bird "perched" on the ruin sort of look. Not sure I cracked it though. It's probably easier to see from different angles!

The Ivy on the ruins I found on a website dedicated to dolls houses of all things!

"Raven" XV8 Commander

Next is my Commander. He's what some are calling a "Raven" (not sure why) i.e no weapons, but all the toys. I've loaded him out with C&CN, M3S,Puretide Chip, Iridium Armour and Drone Controller.

He'll spend most of his time with the Double Deathrain squad and their Marker Drones, lending the Drones his BS5, twin linking the Missile Pods, and granting them Ignores Cover and Tank/Monster Hunter. However, if needed he can attach to the Burst Cannon Riptide to kill FMCs (the Riptide has a Velocity Tracker), or to the other Ion Riptide to Kill AV14 (just worked out that Ordinance and Tank Hunter "stack", so if you Nova Charge the Ion Accelerator, and the Puretide chip grants the Riptide Tank Hunter, you roll 4d6 to penetrate armour, choosing the highest).

The model is a standard XV8, although pretty heavily converted. I've worked out a way to cut the body and insert a spacer so I can articulate and extend the torso. It makes them much more flexible in their posing. The think he's looking at is supposed to be a terminal displaying all the info to make the signature systems work.

The back banners are from Paulson Games.

So that's what Ive been working on (among other things). If you see the army at Warrington, come over and say "Hi"!

EYIG

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Alien Allies for Tau - Gue'vesa

September 16, 2013, 7:18 pm

≫ Next: Tactica: Riptides

≪ Previous: Cadre Reinforcements

Alien Allies for Tau - Gue'vesa

The next big alien allies group for Tau is the Gue'vesa or expatriate humans.

According to the official rulebook,

The Gue’vesa, literally ‘human helpers’ in the Tau tongue, are human warriors who have taken up the cause of the Greater Good as their own. These humans, often the descendents of troops captured or abandoned during the abortive Damocles Crusade, now live and fight alongside the Tau. For them, fate has dictated that the Imperial Creed and the rule of the Adeptus Terra be replaced by loyalty to the collectivist Tau Empire and to the ruling Ethereal caste.

Imagine that, humans working for the Greater Good... intriguing, isn't it?

Ok, so there are two paths you can take for modeling Gue'vesa: the strictures dictated by the data sheet or as members of fire warrior-like squads.

Per the write-up in Imperial Armour III: the Taros Campaign, Human warriors willing to fight for the tau were allowed to keep their small arms weapons, but the regular army and planetary defense force were officially disbanded. (image source izzysmodels.blogspot.com)

The standard military squad of these outcast humans consists of 6-12 humans carrying lasguns best portrayed by models from the Imperial Guard or Necromunda range. Basically they have a standard Tau statline except for slightly bumped weapons skill and initiative of 3. Two of them can carry pulse rifles, and their team leader is elgible for a markerlight. They can also take EMP grenades just like firewarriors, and they cost 6 points apiece. Downside? Again, IG armies get significant bonuses against them in close combat. These are apocalypse units from the previous version, so you need consent from your opponent to field units of these guys like this.

You can also field squads called mining work gangs. These gangs consist of a gang leader, 5 to 18 miners, and an optional ogryn. Their weapons consist of various pistols, close combat weapons (picks, crowbars, and hammers) and the ogryn carries a club. The gang can carry one las-cutter (melta) one demolition charge, and one lasgun or shotgun. Oh, and there are no armor saves. Period.

Essentially, these guys are little more than armed thugs, but they are effectively statline Tau, only 5 points each, and a troops choice so they can hold an objective --maybe. Again, be sure to talk to your opponent about using them.

Implementation method 2 is not based on the IA III book, just common sense. I can field two units of human auxillaries with my Tau armies. I have armed them all with Tau pulse carbines and simply run them as fire warriors when I want pulse carbines or just need more troops. They are modelled from bits of fire warriors and Imperial Guard Cadians, and since they are 100% GW models running tau rules and are virtually indistinguishable from the units they represent on the tabletop, I do not need permission from anyone to use them. But I don't really need it anyway, most of the folks I play with like them. The only question I ever get is where did I get all the Vox caster heads? (thank heaven for ebay!)

I tell you this not to be sneaky or weird, I just really get into the fluff and I really like customizing the models. The same five fire warrior poses 80 times got to be a pain, so I mixed in a little Cadian. You may not like the idea, and that's perfectly ok -don't model them.

Here's the recipe

Cadian Vox caster head with the imperial aquila sanded or filed away
Cadian torso with the imperial aquila sanded or filed away
Cadian boots (for the human foot look, 'Oomies don't have hoofs)
Cadian backpack
Fire warrior antenna stalk
Fire warrior legs with feet cut away just above the boots
Fire warrior arms and weapons
Fire warrior shoulder plate (with tau logo gently separated for another troop project)

This guy over on ATT made a synthesis prototype from cadian and Tau helmets and cast his own. And while they look awesome, I can't do my own casting... yet (learning it though).

I say "this guy" but his name is Seb and I think he goes by Shas'o Tael on ATT... He was actually featured for his models in White Dwarf. Here is a link to his site, if you're interested.

That said, there are tons of ways to model these guys, give it a shot and tell us about it.

I hope you have as much fun with this as I have.

I play Tau.

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Tactica: Riptides

September 19, 2013, 12:07 pm

≫ Next: A Face Only a Mother Could Love...

≪ Previous: Alien Allies for Tau - Gue'vesa

My Cadre's HBC Riptide.

This is the next article in the Tactica series. Remember, this is a community exercise and all comments and suggestions are very welcome. I’ll make any changes before it’s posted in the Tactica section.

So – Riptides!

Riptides

Riptides were the shiny new model in the Tau Codex (well other than the flyers which I’ve never seen anybody use!), and they have proved very successful (if you’re a Tau player) and very controversial (if your not!). What I want to do in this article is try and get to the heart of why they’ve been so successful.

Basic Stats

There must be very few people who don’t know the basic stats of a Riptide, but just in case you’ve been living under stone for the last few months….! The Riptide is a T6 Jet Pack Monstrous Creature with a 2+ armour save, a 5+ invulnerable save and 5 wounds. Its primary weapons is either a Heavy Burst Cannon (S6 AP4 Heavy 8) or an Ion Accelerator (S7 AP2 Heavy 3, or in Overcharged mode S8 AP2 Heavy 1 Large Blast, Gets Hot). It has a twin linked secondary weapon and you can choose between a Fusion Blaster, SMS or Plasma Rifle. However, at the start of every movement phase, the Riptide can choose to try and Nova Charge its Nova Reactor by rolling a d6. On a 3+ it can choose one of 4 “buffs” – it can fire its secondary weapon twice, it can move 4d6 in the assault phase, it can increase it invulnerable save to a 3+, or “buff” its main weapon. A Nova Charged Heavy Burst Cannon (HBC) is S6 AP4 Heavy 12, Rending, Gets Hot, and a Nova Charged Ion Accelerator (IA) is S9 AP2 Heavy 1, Large Blast, Ordinance. However, if you fail your Nova Charge Roll, you take a wound, with no saves allowed (although the FNP roll from a stim injector works). It can also take any of the Battle Suit Support systems (with the exception of the Vectored Retro Thrusters), although a Stim Injector costs more. Finally, you can take 2 Shielded Missiles Drones, which provide 2 ablative wounds with a 4++. Crucially these Drones are also T6, keeping the unit’s majority toughness at 6. Oh and you also get 4 S7 AP4 Missiles.

So, pretty impressive, but it comes at a price. You can get 3 tooled out Crisis Suits for fewer points, or 3 Broadsides for around about the same, and once you add on support systems and/or drones, it gets really pricey.

Battlefield Role

By itself the Riptide is not particularly “killy”. For the same points, both Broadsides and XV8’s can lay down more firepower. However, that’s not the point. Neither of them can bring the “package” that the Riptide brings. And that is the key to the Riptide’s success – what it brings to your Cadre is “utility” - you can do things with the Riptide you simply can not do with other elements of your Cadre.

For Example

· Durability. Riptides are pretty tough – even against low AP weapons (with a Nova Charged 3++), and particularly if they bring a stim injector. Only Broadsides compete in the toughness stakes, and then not very convincingly. As a result they make great …

· Fire Magnets. It takes a disciplined opponent to ignore the big scary monster that really isn’t doing that much damage to their army, and focus on the things that are ripping their army to shreds. In some ways I use them like I used Hammer Heads in 5^th – to present my opponents with something scary to focus on, while the stuff that really huts them gets on with that job. As such, Riptides are great distraction units - which makes them very good at….

· Pressure. IMHO, Riptides should (usually) be used aggressively, throwing them forward to put pressure on your opponent – you can only ignore Riptides for so long before you MUST deal with them, and that’s because Riptides are pretty good …..

· Assault units. With Kroot no longer being an assault unit (they never really were TBH), Riptides are the only things in your Cadre that can even pretend to be good in assault. They can make a mess of vehicles with 3 Smash attacks on the charge, and give Terminators, or other elite infantry, pause for thought with 4 s6 AP2 attacks. However, it is as a Tar Pit that they really shine - with T6 a 2+ save and (maybe!) a 3+ invulnerable save and FNP, Riptides are pretty durable in assault (keep an Ethereal nearby, giving him Stubborn though..!). And finally, probably the most significant ……

· Mobility. Even without their 4d6 Nova Charged Thrust Move, Riptides are pretty speedy, and with the Nova Charged Thrust Move, they are downright fast! This makes them great for hit and run tactics (NB I don’t mean the Hit and Run USR, but rather classic Tau “fire and fade”), objective contesting and snatching Line Breaker.

And I haven’t even mentioned damage output! Don’t’ get me wrong, the damage a Riptide can put out is OK, it’s just not the main reason you take them in a Cadre.

But talking about damage output for a moment, some thoughts on the main guns. The problem with Riptides is that, by themselves, their main guns are not that great. The HBC will only kill 2 or three marines on average, and will barely scratch the paintwork of a wave serpent. If your opponent spreads out, the IA’s large blast will probably kill around the same once you allow for cover saves, even if it doesn’t scatter. However, where the main guns really shine is when you take the relevant upgrades, and support them with marker lights and/or a Commander with the appropriate support systems.

If the Ion accelerator picks up a few marker lights it becomes really scary – in a recent tournament I was able to pick up 8 marker lights allowing the Large Blast to ignore cover and almost guaranteeing it would not scatter. The resultant blast decimated a unit of Terminators and a squad of Grey Knight Strikers. If the Nova Charged Heavy Burst Cannon can pick up even 2 marker lights, and has an Earth Caste Pilot Array, it almost guarantees 12 hits. If it also has a Commander attached, giving it Tank Hunter, because it rends, and you’re rerolling 12 dice, looking for sixes, it shreds AV 12 vehicles and can also make AV13 and even AV14 sweat.

And don’t forget the secondary weapons – being able to double tap with the Fusion Blaster or the SMS can be useful.

So, in summary, the Riptide’s main battlefield role is not fire power – it’s utility, doing all the things that other elements of your Cadre struggle with, but properly supported, it’s fire power isn’t bad!

Tactics

There are so many things the Riptide can do, it makes a detailed tactica hard. However, here are some examples

· Anti Air. Riptides can take Velocity Trackers and Early Warning Overrides. Pushing a Nova Charged HBC/ Fusion Blaster, Riptide with VT and EWO, into midfield, really hurts flyers. It might not kill them (hint, if you attach a Commander and give the Riptide Tank Hunter, it probably will!), but it will at least force them to the edges of the board to get outside the HBC’s range. In this way you can protect your Skyrays from shorter range weapons (eg Crimson Hunters, Necron Flyers) allowing the Skyrays to blow the enemy flyers off the board next turn.

· Anti FMC. Flying MC’s hate HBC Riptides with Skyfire. Volume of (rending) shots just blows them out the sky. In one game against a Demon Flying Circus, a combination of Riptides and Skyrays killed 4 Flying Demon Princes in one round of shooting. Remember that the Skyray’s marker lights are Skyfire marker lights which you can use to boost the Riptide’s BS.

· Anti Deep Strike. An Ion Accelerator with EWO makes Terminators think twice before Deep Striking. In one tournament I killed 5 Chaos Terminators with an IA blast before they could do anything. However, its more intimidation than actual threat. Because you can’t pick up Marker Lights, the IA’s blast is more likely to scatter and do nothing. I often remind my opponent about the EWO on the IA in the hope that he decides not to deep strike the terminators, because I would rather that, than him deciding to Deep Strike and risk the blast scattering.

· Pressure. Riptides are disposable (!) i.e. they don’t score and they only give up VPs in Purge the Alien. More and more I’ve been throwing them forward to put pressure on my opponent, while the rest of my army kills stuff.

· Contesting and Line Breaker. Riptides are durable and fast. They tend to be around at the end of the game, and can reasonably easily score line breaker and contest objectives.

· Counter Assault. If a unit doesn’t have a power fist or equivalent, Riptides can assault them with reasonable success. More importantly they can hold them up for a turn or 2, letting you deal with the rest of the threats bearing down on you. Look out for other MC’s however. Wraithknights and Dreadknights just pound Riptides in assault

· Punching Vehicles. The best way to kill Wave Serpents or AV14, is to have a Riptide punch them! Need to be careful though – if the Landraider is full of elite assault units (Thunder Hammer Termies for example), then the Riptide will probably die next turn. Best thing to do is set up other units so that the Termies are caught in a withering Overwatch, and hope you take a few out before they get in there. Also, you don’t want to push forward with your Riptides and punch Wave Serpents until you kill the Wraithknights - and make sure you have the 3++ up or the Blade Storming Guardians inside the Serpents will kill you next turn.

Load Outs

You need to make three decisions when loading out a Riptide –which main gun, which secondary gun, and what support systems.

Main Gun

The obvious choice is an Ion Accelerator – who doesn’t like AP2 large blasts! And that is what I ran more often than not. However, more recently I’ve been using the HBC and the decision is by no means as easy as it seems.

While the IA is excellent against elite infantry, the HBC is far more flexible – it’s good against almost everything.However, the key difference is in performance with and without support. The IA is still OK without support, and in particular gains relatively little from being Nova Charged. However, supported properly, with marker lights and a Commander giving out Tank/Monster Hunter and Ignores Cover, the HBC becomes particularly deadly.

Secondary Weapon

IMHO, the choice is between the SMS and the Fusion Gun. The Plasma Rifle is a bit unimpressive TBH, it just doesn’t seem to complement either the IA or the HBC.

The Fusion Gun is good if you’re pressing forward with the Riptide to put pressure on your opponent (particularly if he has vehicles). It’s also good if your Riptide has a Velocity Tracker, and you’re moving into midfield to discourage flyers. The SMS is probably better on a Riptide that is being used a little more conservatively, and hanging back. Where it really comes into it’s own is in the later game when you can ripple fire it to winkle out those last few models that are hiding behind terrain.

If I was pressed I would say that the Fusion Gun is better on an HBC Riptide that is being used aggressively to get maximum benefit from the shorter range of the HBC, and the SMS is better on the IA Riptide that is staying back a little and using the IA’s range.

Support Systems

There are really only 3 support systems that shine on Riptides IMO – the Early Warning Override, the Velocity Tracker and the Stim injector.

I’ve already mentioned the benefits of Sky firing Riptides. The one that benefits most from Skyfire is the HBC Riptide, although the extra range on the IA can sometime help. The Riptide that benefits more from the EWO is the IA Riptide, for discouraging Deep Striking marines and terminators. Having said that, I usually run EWO’s and VTs on both.

Stim Injectors are more difficult. Arguably, you’re spending 35pts to give the Riptide an extra wound or 2 over the course of the game. On the face of it not bad. However in my view the problem is opportunity cost – I would usually rather have an EWO and a VT.

There is one other “support” system that is a “must take”, and that’s the Earth Caste Pilot Array. This synergies so well with the HBC Riptide that, if you’re running a Farsight Supplement list, you just must find points for it! Even if you’re running and Emprie list, it’s so good think hard about Enclave allies (and at the same time pick up a Talisman of Arthas Moloch – so good!). However, what ever you do, don’t put it on an IA Riptide (GW – what were you thinking whey you gave O’Vesa an Ion Accelerator!). The HBC benefits so much more from being Nova Charged, and the fact that you then re-roll those irritating “1s” to hit, is just gravy.

Finally, Shielded Missile Drones. Until now, I’ve never seen the point. They are expensive and losing one forced a leadership test. HOWEVER, with Grav Guns you can make a case for adding a couple to “protect” your investment from being wiped out by a unit of 5 White Scar bikes wielding 2 grav guns with a Combi Grav on the sergeant!

Combos Synergies and Lists

The key I think with Riptides is supporting them to maximise their relatively mediocre damage output. Marker Lights, Raven Commanders and allies (i.e. a Farseer guiding one and casting prescience on another) are key to making them work well. You’re spending so many points on the Riptide, a little effort to get the maximum from your investment, is worth it.

You also need to invest points in other units that increase your damage output. If you rely only on Riptides to kill stuff, you might be a little disappointed.

As for lists, I think Riptides work in most lists, whether providing mobility and counter assault punch to a static gunline, or moving forward in support of a Mechanised Cadre of Fire Warriors in D’fish. I also think they work best in pairs. IMHO the ideal pairing is one with an HBC, Fusion Blaster, EWO, Velocity Tracker and an Earth Caste Pilot Array, and the other with an Ion Accelerator, SMS, EWO and Stim Injector.

I’ve never been able to come up with a list that I’m happy with that runs 3 Riptides. For me the extra points on the 3rd Riptide just doesn’t leave enough for the rest of the Cadre. You either end up scrimping on marker light support (pathfinders over a Commander with Marker Drones), scoring (Kroot over Fire Warriors in ‘Fish, although I’m coming round to that approach!), or on other units that deal out more damage.

All thoughts welcome. What have I missed, what have I got wrong?

EYIG

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A Face Only a Mother Could Love...

September 30, 2013, 10:54 pm

≫ Next: Alien Allies for Tau - Minor Races

≪ Previous: Tactica: Riptides

A mother-ship that is...

So not a huge post this time, just updating you on a new battlesuit variant coming to a Forgeworld near you, and only £70 (that's $113 in real money).

I love the model already, and from appearances alone, it compounds the bad-assery suggested by the riptide and R'Alai. I saw this on Faeit 212 and ATT a couple weeks back, and thought I'd share.

It's name is R'Varna, and it is classified as an XV-107 (the Riptide is an XV-104). This is obviously not the nautical themed name common to classes of Tau battlesuits in the 40k universe. That combined with the R' honorific/prefix common to Forgeworld battlesuit character names, strongly suggests that it is also a character like R'Myr or R'Alai.

Sorry guys, both for the brevity and timeliness of the post. But with school starting back and being knee-deep in football practice every night, I haven't had much time to do anything outside of school.

I'm sucking man, and I really need to get a game in. My fire warriors are getting fat.

So I am dialing this one in. I am already in love with the model, and can't wait for it to become available for order. In the meantime here are some interesting related links I found with tidbits and commentary.

          http://advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=21327

          http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/09/riptide-variant-tau-xv107-rvarna.html

          http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/News/Games_Day_Preview_One.html

          http://scatterdie.com/wordpress/?p=1890

          http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?380591-Forge-World-Tau-XV107

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TSbZ7S4Y-E

Though this may be my shortest post ever, I hope you enjoy the reads. Oh, and if someone finds the actual Forgeworld newsletter announcing this guy can you send me the link?   Thanks in advance.

I play Tau.

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Alien Allies for Tau - Minor Races

October 7, 2013, 11:46 pm

≫ Next: XV-8 Battlesuit Conversions - Tutorial

≪ Previous: A Face Only a Mother Could Love...

This is the fourth installment of background for Tau Empire Alien Allies. We've already discussed the Kroot, vespids, and Gue'vesa which comprise by far the three most popular and most modeled races in the empire, but now it's time to look into the other races in the empire that have not yet been blessed with a model. This will entail all of the races mentioned in the official rulebooks and novels, and other GW sanctioned texts as being part of the Tau Empire, even if only in a sentence.

That is not to say that there will not be articles here and there describing how to model some of these, and others. On the contrary, later this month I have a big article about how I have represented some of these, it is based an old fan codex that used Eldar rules to play third party models as allies in Apocolypse.

On top of that, I intend post conversion guides for modeling Gue'vesa, some of the other races, and a race not listed here, Sebastian's Naga. But this article compiles all the background and everything I have been able to find about the sub-races in the empire.

The Tau Empire covers vast expanses of Space, not so vast as the Imperium of Man, but it's still pretty big (if one can call the nothingness between the stars big...). Within that space there are many planets and races in addition to the Kroot and Vespids who have willingly joined the Tau, and many others that have been outright conquered, for the Greater Good -of course.

Each alien race within the Tau Empire has a unique and different culture which either contributes to the Greater Good or supports it in its own way. However, all of the races hold to their common belief in the Greater Good that binds them together despite their cultural and physiological differences.

But there are also other groups within the empire that are not necessarily members of it. Groups such as the non-aligned Kroot and Tarellians have no homeworlds to join the empire or be conquered by it. And many others like the Morallians have forsaken theirs. But for whatever reasons, the Tau have not seen fit to vanquish these peoples, but allow them to serve the empire as mercenaries or workers.

Each is detailed below.

The Races of the Tau

Nicassar - the first alien race incorporated into the Tau Empire. Completely space-borne, as they are too weak and immobile to be of any use on land. Insatiably curious, they explore and scout star systems for the Tau. Even in space, they have poor offensive and defensive capabilities, nor do they possess any advanced economic infrastructure, because they hibernate whenever they are not actively exploring. They are also highly psychic, though the Tau try to keep this fact from the Imperium of Man, which seeks to stringently control psykers.
- To Unite the Stars: Tau Vessels, Battlefleet Gothic Resources pg. 107

Demiurg - The Demiurg are an avid mining species that has allied itself with the Tau. They are also expert traders who possess technology that is actually somewhat more advanced than that possessed by the Imperium of Man. It was actually the Demiurg who provided the Tau with Ion Cannon technology, which then became the mainstay armament used by all Tau ground forces, such as Fire Teams. The Demiurg are an entirely space-borne race which either lost or abandoned its homeworld, spreading out through the stars to mine new resources and trade. They help form a major component of the Tau Empire's interstellar economy. They are shorter than humans and have a sturdy build.

The Demiurg are defensively hostile, but not aggressively militaristic, preferring to flee from stronger enemies and seek better trading opportunities elsewhere. As a result, they have generally avoided entering Imperial territory (unless they are invited in), and are thus rarely encountered by the Imperium of Man. This also means that they possess no starships designed for military purposes, and their preference for flight over fight means they do not use ground units.

However, being equipped with advanced Demiurg technology such as powerful cutting lasers used for asteroid mining, even the humble mining ships of the Demiurg (such as the Bastion-class and massive Stronghold-class) are capable of successfully engaging Tyranid Hive Ships head-to-head.
- Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), p. 26

- Xenology (Background Book)

   - The Primarchs (Anthology) edited by Christian Dunn
   - To Unite the Stars: Tau Vessels, Battlefleet Gothic Resources pg. 109-111
   - image from Warhammer 40000 wiki

Ji'atrix - ethereal voidfarers, highly skilled at space-travel.
- Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault, pg. 130

The Ranghon are a race which has accepted the Greater Good and joined the Tau Empire.
- Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook, pg. 213

Non-aligned Kroot - Not all Kroot support the Tau interpretation of the Greater Good, and reject the alliance with the blue-skins. Many shapers see the best path for their kindred's genetic evolution to lay outside the Empire. Exiled from Pech, these bands wander the galaxy searching for prey that will some how contribute genetic advances to the Greater Good of the Kroot. The correct combination may earn them the right to return home.

Unfortunately, these Kroot do not serve the Tau in any capacity, including as mercenaries, but they are perfectly willing to work for other races. The limitation on their use is that while they have no reservations about killing and consuming Tau or Vespid flesh, they will not fight forces that include other Kroot.

Morralian Deathsworn - The Morralians are auxiliaries that employ Deathsworn to the Tau.
- Apocalypse, pg. 157

Tarellian Dog Soldiers - reptilian, dog-like aliens used as mercenaries. Possess a deep hatred of humans due to severe losses their homeworlds took in campaigns by the Imperium. Commonly known in the Imperium of Man as Tarellian Dog-Soldiers because of their snouts and their preference for working as mercenaries for other alien races, are a minor reptilian species of xenos found throughout the galaxy, but are of little consequence to its affairs.

They most often are encountered as mercenaries for the Tau Empire, particularly when Tau forces face the Imperium because of the Tarellians' ancient grudge against Mankind as a species.
   - Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition Rulebook, pg. 116
   - Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (3rd Edition), p. 116
   - Kill Team (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
   - Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), p. 29
   - image from Warhammer 40000 wiki

Galgs - green, scaled, frog-like aliens used as mercenaries
   - Kill Team (Novel) by Gav Thorpe

Hrenian - mercenaries, specializing in light infantry.
   - Apocalypse, pg. 157

Anthrazods are a sturdy but dim-witted race well-suited to the Tau for asteroid mining.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 12

Brachyura are a small, dexterous multi-limbed crustacean race unparalleled in the construction of Earth Caste plasma generators.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 12

Nagi are a small but highly intelligent worms known for their mind control abilities.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 20
Greet are an invertebrate species from the Ocean World of Isla'su
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 20

Poctroon were the first race to join the empire, but were wiped out by disease.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 28

Formosians joined the empire in 896.M40
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 29

Thraxians willingly joined the Empire.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 29

Pakasar are a race conquered by the Empire
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 30

N'deemi are a race conquered by the Empire.
   - Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition) pg. 30

Yep, that's about it. If you find another, please let us know and we will add it here. Keep your eyes open, you might be surprised what you stumble upon. The pic here is from what was once lot of GW concept art, and it just kind of slipped away. I think these old ideas were awesome... So let us know, even if it's just a snippet, just be sure to give credit where credit is due.

As a final note, I think it is important to get a grasp on the fluff associated with your army. And there is still an unfulfilled rumor out there about two codex supplements in the works for the Tau Empire --one Kroot and the other is reportedly all about alien allies.

I am so excited.

I play Tau.

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