So, here are some first cuts at some Tau Empire lists. I’ve been following The Tau of War for kind of a long time.  While I haven’t feverishly analyzed his lists, I’d like to think that a few things that maybe sunk in:

• Fire Warriors are for objective holding, not for leveraging 30″ Pulse Rifle shots.  They belong in Devilfish that stay off the table as long as possible.  Small squads, good.  Big squads, wasteful.
• Shas’el w/ Targeting Arrays are almost as good as Shas’o but cost 15 points less.
• Shield Drones are good for Broadsides.  Gun Drones are almost as good, and are cheaper for everything else.

… that sort of thing.

I’ve taken some quick stabs at 1,000 point and 1,500 point lists; I don’t have any illusions about them being great, or even good… but they’re a starting point.

The 1,000 point list, in particular, seems awful… light to me.  10 Kroot, 5 Suits, 2 vehicles and some stuff that hides off the table as long as possible skeeves the crap out of me.  It’d probably be worth converting that Hammerhead into more Kroot or Stealthsuits or something.

HQ
Shas’el – Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-tracker, Targeting Array

Elites
Crisis Team x2 – Missile Pod x2, Flamer x2

Troops
Fire Warriors x8
– Devilfish – D. Pod
Fire Warriors x8
– Devilfish – D. Pod
Kroot x10

Fast Attack
Piranha x1 – Fusion Blaster, D. Pod, Flechette Discharger

Heavy Support
Broadsides x2 – Targeting Array x2
Hammerhead – Railgun, SMS, D. Pod, Decoy Launchers

The 1,500 list just stacks on top of that.  Doubles down on the Shas’el, adds a small Stealth Team, upgrades the Broadsides a smidge and adds the Barracuda.

Why the Barracuda?  It’s IA, not codex, and points-heavy, I know.  Really, I’m throwing it in there ’cause I want motivation to finish putting the thing together and paint it.  I expect a few games after putting it on the table, it’ll be replaced with Pathfinders, another Piranha, and more suits of some sort.

HQ
Shas’el – Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-tracker, Targeting Array
Shas’el – Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Multi-tracker, Targeting Array

Elite
Crisis Team x3 – TL Missile Pod x3, Flamer x3, Team Leader w/ Bonding Knife
Stealth Team x3

Troops
Fire Warriors x8
– Devilfish – D. Pod
Fire Warriors x8
– Devilfish – D. Pod
Kroot x10

Fast Attack
Piranha x1 – Fusion Blaster, D. Pod, Flechette Discharger

Heavy Support
Broadsides x2 – Targeting Array x2, Team Leader w/ HW Drone Controller, Shield Drones x2
Hammerhead – Railgun, SMS, D. Pod, Decoy Launchers
Barracuda

Any thoughts?

(No clue on the source of the Fire Warrior image.  Clearly w/o permission.)

One of my friends, as I’ve mentioned, is starting to sip the 40K Kool-Aid, and is considering buying into the game.  Another friend, likely motivated at least a little bit by said Kool-Aid sipping, is finally taking a long-postponed plunge into the game (the high quality and low price point of the Wargames Factory Shock Troopers probably didn’t hurt, either).  I’ll be walking them through how to play the game and letting them get a feel for the armies they’re interested in tomorrow night.

It’s got me thinking about how nice it’ll be for them to progress in the game at roughly the same pace.  It’s also got me thinking that this is a great opportunity to start a new army; one I can grow at the same pace theirs do.  I don’t need another army, though, and I’m not altogether sure I want one.  I’m only just now really getting to the point where I can cut loose with my Daemons.

At the same time, I’m thinking about the upcoming Forge World Friendly tournament, where players will be encouraged to put as much FW resin on the table as their hearts desire.  I’ll be running, not playing in the event, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about FW resin… and when I think about FW resin, I think Tau.

The Tau Empire was my first 40K army.  I’d only bought into it because I figured I’d get tired of painting Skaven.  I made the switch to Dark Angels about a year later, then 5th came out, and I’ve never really come back to the Tau.  I’ve never figured out how to play them in 5th though, to be fair, I’ve never really tried.

It’s a shame, too, because my Tau aren’t fully painted, and I’ve got some cool stuff just waiting to hit the table.  It’s kind of criminal that I’ve got a shoebox with a Barracuda, Remora Drones and Shas’o R’myr just… sitting, unassembled, in it.

Plus, I’ve come a really, really long way in terms of my painting skill.  When I started painting my Tau, I hadn’t really done any miniature painting in nearly ten years.  I’m much better, now.

See what I mean?  It’d be nice to revisit the army.

Right now, I’m telling myself that the Tau would be a better match up against my friends’ new armies.  Certainly better than the Daemons, which are a quirky army before to zero in on filling it with nothing but things that scream, “BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD.”  That, and starting small will help me relearn the army.  I can’t sit down and write a 2,000 point list for them; I just can’t.  A 1,000 point list, though, is kinda doable and growing it to 1,500 shouldn’t be too hard.

So, for the next little bit, while I wrap up Sternguard and get my Khornate conversions for non-Khornate models lined up (still need to post about Tzeentch), I’m going to be doing some thinking about what a small Tau Empire list might look like.  I do know that any list will see a lot of that resin.

So, who knows?

(Tau Pathfinder image is by slipgatecentral.  Used w/o permission.)