The Tau book has finally been released, and I've spent the last day reading through it. I'm not going to sit here and tell you what is the new hot and what not to take, that is for you and time to tell. But I think this is a great new addition to the 40k scene. They are great as a stand alone army, or as an allied force. They have an answer to almost everything, with tons of viable options in each FoC. Expect to see a bunch of Tau hitting the tables very soon. Time for me to get back to my army, Hammmerheads won't build themselves!
For The Greater Good!
If nothing else, I am excited to see AA on a much larger scale than anything before... The air force armies now will have something to worry about...
ReplyDeleteI love that image :D
ReplyDeleteThe new codex seems awesome so far. I'd built an army around cover saves so marker lights make me cry!
I play Chaos marines right now, and I'm not excited about charging Tau anymore. So I'm searching for more pewpew in my army, and remembering that it's not what Chaos does. I may or may not have been found curled into a fetal position and cursing the Tau recently...
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I have a Tau army as well, so I can always enjoy the ride myself! But then I couldn't whine like a baby, which makes my bag of diapers useless. Curse you, army updates!
Dirge casters become your best friend. And chaos almost may want to take a landraider..... almost. As long as you get one marine into combat, you've practically won. I'm interested in seeing how tau does against CSM and Daemons.
DeleteI've been tinkering with lists all day. There's much to like in the new book, but Tau's troop section is still a little weak. It's better, but it would have been nice if drone controllers and missile drones where available to Farewarrior Shas'uis. I've got two lists built that I like so far. One that uses some allied tactical squads, and another one with a Farsight bomb.
ReplyDeleteI played a two games with the codex yesterday. Man Riptides rock.
Firewarrior Shas'ui can take up to 2 drones, of which Missile Drones are an option.
DeleteAnyways, nice to see Shield drones no longer break the bank. In fact, nice to see that all standard drones are only 12 points each. And that "Drone Controllers" aren't really a thing anymore. After all, they didn't cost any points previously, so really they just took up space. Another nice thing is that drones don't go poof anymore if their "owner" dies, and they don't stop ICs from joining squads anymore. All in all, I feel drones received a massive boost.
One thing I forgot to mention, being able to mix and match Gun drones with shield and marker drones in a Drone Squadron is very nice. And since you can sub any gun drone for a marker drone, I feel like I can expect to see people running a squad of 12 Marker drones. Well, maybe not that many, but probably at least 4 markers in a drone squad.
DeleteDay one FAQ restricts missile drones to Broadsides only. And the Drone Controller is still a thing since it allows drones in the squad to fire at the equipped characters BS. Unfortunately drone controllers don't work on missile drones either.
DeleteShield drones are also not so hot anymore since they don't take the owner's save.
Drones are a lot better, but I think pathfinders are going to be the goto option for markerlights. In my lists I find myself having to cut drones in favor of more crisis suits, fire warriors, and other essential units.
That is one of my few disappointment with the book, went back to making tau dependent on the markerlights again. I'll probably end up adding in a few marker drones, just to have some for when the pathfinders die (84% casualty rate right?)
DeleteFor troops, you either work with what we got, or you ally in. I'll give it a try, but I'll probably end up allying in as well. I didn't want to ally with marines, but I've had a few interesting thoughts though.
Skyrays and commanders with a drone controller and a pair of marker drones are my preferred soure of extra markerlights so far.
DeleteTau are such nice guys they will ally with just about anybody. But I think vanilla marines are the best option right now since you can join ICs to each others squads. Can't wait to see how the new Edar codex will change things up.
Also the Puretide Nurochip shal be henceforth called the Pureawsome Nurochip.
I have taken a good luck at the book and they do have some nice AA available. However, I don't see this army preforming to any high standard as a stand alone army. They will need allies. The new daemons are actually more competitive imo. Though allied armies will be utilized a lot as Tau can ally with just about any army out there and what army doesn't want more AA?
ReplyDeleteI liked the Tau as an allied force for my orks. They can get expensive but they can do lots to help my green skins. 2 or 3 missile broadsides w/ missile drones can dump so many shots you'll think you are playing with lootas, but with a 2+ armor and slighty better acc.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the special HQ that allows you to infiltrate with 12 other fire warriors and a bunch of drones is fun to use.