I’m doing a bit of planning ahead, and it appears I might actually make the Sad Muppet Society‘s ‘A Small Matter of Honour’ Warhammer 40000 tournament after all. Apart from the cool factor, it will be great to get back to England and see some friends; plus it will be held at Triple Helix Wargames this year so there is some possible for a bit of retail therapy. So the next obvious question is, which army do I take? And to be honest, I’m not sure.
I would like to take my new Eldar, however even with four months in hand, that is pretty optimistic at the speed I paint.
My Blood Angels would be an obvious choice (small army, very pretty), however they have been to this tournament twice already. The Grey Knights are fun, but they got played a lot last year.
And then I thought, I haven’t seen Tau at any 40K tournaments for a long time. I suspect this is for a good reason as every codex since Codex Orks has been horrible for the little blue guys to deal with.
However, breaking out my Tau Codex, I thought I’d put together a list…
| Shas’o Por’va (plasma rifle, missile pod, shield generator, stimulant injectors, hardwired multitracker, target lock) | 147 |
| Crisis Team, 2 Shas’ui Crisis suits (plasma rifle, missile pod, multitracker), Shas’ui Team Leader (plasma rifle, missile pod, multitracker, hardwired drone controller), 2 shield drone | 221 |
| Crisis Team, 3 Shas’ui Crisis suits (plasma rifle, missile pod, multitracker) | 186 |
| Fire Warrior Team, 12 Fire Warriors, Devilfish (disruption pod) | 205 |
| 10 Kroot Warriors | 70 |
| 10 Kroot Warriors | 70 |
| Hammerhead (burst cannons, railgun, disruption pod, multitracker, flechette discharger) |
175 |
| Hammerhead (burst cannons, railgun, disruption pod, multitracker, fletchette discharger) | 175 |
| 1249 |
With the changes to 5th edition, three troop choices seems to be the absolute minimum, and Tau disruption pods are incredibly useful for just five points. The final nod to 5th edition is the Crisis teams, each one sporting four groups for wound allocation.
In addition to the 1250 point list, ASMOH has two games at 1750 points. For these, I added a third Hammerhead, more troops, and critically a Stealth Suit team that I can use to outflank.
| Stealth Suit Team, 4 Shas’ui (burst cannons), 2 Shas’ui (fusion guns) | 184 |
| Fire Warrior Team, 6 Fire Warriors, Devilfish (disruption pod) | 145 |
| Hammerhead (smart missile system, railgun, target lock, disruption pod) | 170 |
| 499 |
So, what do you think? Can Tau work in the current ‘meta’ game? Can this list work at all?
And most importantly, will it fit in my luggage?
Anything Worth Doing... 
January 23, 2012 at 10:50 am
Två problem med Tau i 40k 5: e utgåvan: (1) “sant siktlinje” innebär nästan samtliga täcker inte helt blockera siktlinje-så krisen passar inte “Hoppa-shoot-Hide” (täcka Save = ja, dölja = nej). (2) Kroot har förlorat sin förmåga att dölja i Woods (” Kroot: s bonusar för att täcka sparar och rörlighet i woods förbli oförändrad. “) så Tau eldkraft förblir som farligt, men Tau är lättare att se och blir skjuten oftare.
Two problems with Tau in 40k 5th edition :
(1) “True line of sight” means almost all Cover does NOT completely block line of sight – so Crisis Suits cannot “Jump-Shoot-Hide” (Cover save = yes, Hide = no);
(2) Kroot have lost their ability to hide in Woods (“Kroot’s bonuses to cover saves and movement in woods remain unchanged.”)
So Tau firepower remains as dangerous, but Tau are easier to see and get shot more often.
January 23, 2012 at 11:35 am
Hej Caesar! I’m not too concerned about the Kroot. Their role is to outlook and contest/take objectives, or stay off the board in kill point missions!
The Crisis suits on the other hand are a bit more tricky. On one hand, they are more difficult to hide. On the other hand, it frees you up to be a bit more aggressive with them.
The idea in this list is to use the drones to create many wound groups so I can play a little with wound allocation. With the Shas’o attached, one unit can have five wound groups including two invulnerable saves.
This said, I’m considering dropping the drones from one unit and investing the points in flechette dischargers for the Hammerheads just for those times when someone decides to assault my expensive battle tanks (this could be an interesting trap for Orks).
January 26, 2012 at 12:34 am
While Kroot are cheaper and Fleeter than Fire Warriors, are Kroot effective ?
Shield drones and cover did seem to help Crisis and Broadside Suits.
Orks assaulting ? To add Assault to injury caused by Lootas perhaps ?
OK I’m type-casting again… Have fun adding a “Flechette in an Orkstack”.
Caesar
January 30, 2012 at 6:41 am
The Kroot are there for objectives. At the end of the day they are a cheap bolter however their strength lies with the outflank ability.
Hopefully with the big guns elsewhere, there won’t be much left when they move onto the objective.
I’ve also updated the 1250 list, changing the Crisis suit units a little.
And reading through the 40K FAQ, Crisis suits can use their bounce when they deep strike. This is news to me 🙂