AB40k Maintainers

OK. I happened upon an extremely good deal on a pile(quite litterally) of Tau. I paid an very low price and have over $1300 retail of Tau stuff now. I have mostly cleaned up the crisis suits and have a number of hammerhead and devilfish to clean up. I would say about 50% is painted(Poorly) so I will be repainting.

Any suggestions on 'good' army lists to play. MInd you I have Necrons so am very use to survivability of units, and Deamonhunters(Grey Knights) so high costs of units. I am looking for balanced lists that would allow flexibility.

I have a tourny coming up for 1850pts. I should have plenty of stuff for the game. The only exception would be Pirannahs as I only have 1.

Also I only have about 20 Kroot and will have to get/convert a shaper. Any suggestions on converting one from regular kroot would be great.

I have about a full Stingwing also and so many stealthsuits is really rediculous. I think its about 15 between XV15s and XV25s.

Well here is my list which I have taken to a few Hall of Heroes tourneys and that I use pretty much all the time. I have no Stealths but feel free to add them in as they are rockin units

1 Shas'el @ 87 Pts
Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker

3 Crisis Battlesuit @ 186 Pts
Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker

3 Crisis Battlesuit @ 186 Pts
Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker

11 Fire Warrior @ 190 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x11)
1 Shas'ui @ [80] Pts
Pulse Rifle; Add Marker Drone; Hard-wired Drone Controller
2 Marker Drone @ [60] Pts
Networked Markerlight; Targeting Array

11 Fire Warrior @ 190 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x11)
1 Shas'ui @ [80] Pts
Pulse Rifle; Add Marker Drone; Hard-wired Drone Controller
2 Marker Drone @ [60] Pts
Networked Markerlight; Targeting Array

11 Fire Warrior @ 225 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x11); Add Devilfish
1 Shas'ui @ [20] Pts
Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

11 Fire Warrior @ 225 Pts
Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x11); Add Devilfish
1 Shas'ui @ [20] Pts
Pulse Rifle
1 Devilfish @ [95] Pts
Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear
2 Gun Drones @ [0] Pts
Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

10 Kroot @ 70 Pts
Kroot Rifle (x10)

2 Broadside Battlesuit @ 160 Pts
Twinlinked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Advanced Stabilisation System

1 Hammerhead Gunship @ 180 Pts
Railgun; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear

Total Roster Cost: 1699

Wraithlord,

Thanks for the suggestions. I have reviewed your list and have come up with this as an idea also. I have Commander Farsight so I thought maybe I can use him. Here is my list. Will this be effective though in real gaming situations. What are the obvious weaknesses and best ways to help minimize them given this list?

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HQ:
  Commander Farsight (Bonding Knife; Plasma Rifle; Dawn Blade; Hard-wired Target Lock; Shield Generator) [170]
    Shas'vre (Hard-wired Drone Controller; Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Missile Pod) [73]
      2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [20]
    Shas'vre (Airbursting Fragmentation Projector; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Missile Pod; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Positional Relay ) [90]
Deep Strike, Acute Senses;
      2 x Shield Drone [30]
    Shas'vre (Fusion Blaster; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Twin Linked Missile Pod) [65]
      2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [20]
 
HQ:
  Shas'o (Ejection System; Cyclic Ion Blaster; Iridium Armour; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter; Missile Pod; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Hard-wired Target Lock; Stimulant Injector; Vectored Retro-thrusters) [170]

Elite:
  Crisis Battlesuit Team
    Crisis Battlesuit (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Drone Controller) [43]
      2 x Shield Drone [30]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Drone Controller) [43]
      2 x Shield Drone [30]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Drone Controller) [43]
      2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [20]

Troops:
  Fire Warrior Squad
    12 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x12)) [120]
      Devilfish (Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear) [95]
        2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [0]

  Fire Warrior Squad
    12 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x12)) [120]
      Devilfish (Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear) [95]
        2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [0]

  Fire Warrior Squad
    12 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x12)) [120]

Heavy Support:
  Broadside Battlesuit Team
    2 x Broadside Battlesuit (Twinlinked Railgun; Twin Linked Plasma Rifle; Advanced Stabilisation System) [180]
    Broadside Battlesuit (Twinlinked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Advanced Stabilisation System) [80]

  Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Sensor Spines; Multi-Tracker; Blacksun Filter; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear) [190]

Total Cost:  1847


By my count, this list gives me 8 Crisis Suits, 36 Fire Warriors, 3 Broadsides, 2 Devilfish, a Hammerhead, 10 gun drones and 6 shield drones. Is this good though? Its about 2 times as many models as I have ever fielded before. Or should I drop Fire Warriors for more Crisis Suits or vice/versa and drop crisis suits(or lower their kit) for more Fire Warriors?

Not bad at all but I do have a few suggestions.

1) Keep in mind that having a bodyguard on farsight loses his IC status as well as making the group much harder to hide behind cover, especially when you add the drones in

2) the bodyguard's weapons are too mixed up. Plamsa rifles and Misslepods rock but the fusion blaser is completely against the range of the rest of the weapons. Leave tank busting to the HH and Broadsides and keep the suits with Plasma/Misslepods as the Fireknife configuration is by far the most versitile one.

3) Shas'O has waaaay too many points spent on it. Go to an 'el and drop a bit of gear to free up points for other spots in the list. The ejection system in particular is a total waste of points as 9 of 10 times, your suits will die to enemy fire as opposed to cc. Target locks are also a waste on suits.

4) the suits will also be hard to hide with all the drones and you only have missles on them. Believe me when I tell you that the suits strongest and most useful weapon is the plasmaguns, hands down. Again, I would go Fireknife with them and if you really want drones, make one a team leader and give him a hw controller with 2 shield drones.

5) your troops are just fine but you should use the points freed up with the 'el to buy a Shas'ui for each. The +1 ld is a huge difference. i would also give the unit on foot 2 markerdrones as markerlights are incredibly useful

6) broadsides can't fire two weapons at once so plasma is a waste on them. you will get more shots fired at approaching enemies with the basic sms on them.

7) hammerhead NEEDS a target lock. sensor spines are iffy as you really don't need to enter cover with a skimmer ever, thanks to the skimmer rule (glancing hits only if you move over 6"). the target lock will allow you to fire the railgun at a tank while still popping off sms shots at infantry, even behind cover. it is a must on hh's.


Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad list at all. Very mobile with a lot of hitting power. I just think there is too much spent on wargear and drones that could go into more useful things. And keeping the suits in a set mode of fire is the best. If you want the fusion blaster on a suit, I would suggest going with 2 separate ones, both armed with fusion and either missles or plasma and use them as a deepstriking armour hunting unit. Otherwise, the fusion gets the suits FAR too close to the enemy and they are literally the most important thing in your list so you don't want them getting caught in h2h at all.

Hey, Again thanks. Took your thoughts and entered them in and here is what I came up with afterward. Whats nice is I have so much stuff I have nearly limitless options.

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HQ:
  Commander Farsight (Bonding Knife; Plasma Rifle; Dawn Blade; Hard-wired Target Lock; Shield Generator) [170]
 
  Shas'o (Cyclic Ion Blaster; Iridium Armour; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter; Missile Pod; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Stimulant Injector; Vectored Retro-thrusters) [170]

Elite:
  Crisis Battlesuit Team
    Crisis Battlesuit (Team Leader; Twin Linked Missile Pod; Plasme Rifle; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-Tracker; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter) [74]
      2 x Shield Drone [30]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker) [62]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker) [62]

  Crisis Battlesuit Team
    Crisis Battlesuit (Team Leader; Twin Linked Missile Pod; Plasme Rifle; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-Tracker; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter) [74]
      2 x Shield Drone [30]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker) [62]
    Crisis Battlesuit (Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker) [62]

Troops:
  Fire Warrior Squad
    11 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x11)) [110]
      Shas'ui (Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle) [20]
      Devilfish (Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear) [95]
        2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [0]

  Fire Warrior Squad
    11 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x11)) [110]
      Shas'ui (Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle) [20]
      Devilfish (Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Multi-Tracker; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear) [95]
        2 x Gun Drone (Twin Linked Pulse Carbines) [0]

  Fire Warrior Squad
    11 x Fire Warrior (Pulse Rifle (x11)) [110]
      Shas'ui (Bonding Knife; Pulse Rifle; Hard-wired Drone Controller) [20]
        2 x Marker Drone [60]

Heavy Support:
  Broadside Battlesuit Team
    3 x Broadside Battlesuit (Twinlinked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Advanced Stabilisation System) [240]

  Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun; Smart Missile System; Targeting Array; Targeting Lock; Multi-Tracker; Blacksun Filter; Flechette Discharge; Decoy Launchers; Landing Gear; 2 Seeker Missle) [215]

Total Cost:  1850

Took me awhile to figure out what you were talking about Fireknife but after some internet searching I found it. Thanks for the tip.. Good reading. This loadout gives me: 11 Battlesuits (including 2 ICs and 3 Broadsides), 36 Firewarriors, 2 Devilfish, a Hammerhead and 8 Gun Drones and 2 Marker Drones. This looks a lot better. Thanks again for the tips. Anyone else have an opinion, or Wraith.. did I completely miss the boat on this one also?

Actually, it looks good to me. Enjoy and welcome to the Greater Good














...which is still not better than the CHAOS GODS!!!!!!!!.....er...sorry.

Cool, Sounds good. Glad to have joined the Empire for the Greater Good. I am now working on converting all my models and getting them primed. I think I will upload them to my Gallery on Spacks Website (www.ageofstrife.com) but post a link to them here so you all can see my l33t conversions. Ok maybe not l33t but cool anyway.

Its kind of fun finally having enough bits to actually try some stuff. I now don't fear screwing it up as if I do, no big deal as I can grab another bit. I think when I am done with this force, and confirm its playable to my style where I don't wiped too fast, I may flesh it out to the 3000pt value and then look at maybe selling off the remainder of what I got. Also thought about making a couple cool conversions for Kill Team and Combat Patrol. Trying to get my buddies into that as well.

Big suggestion here: get rare earth magnets that are 1/8th diameter. Use them instead of gluing the suit weapons on so you can simply put the ones you happen to be using that game on them. I have only done it witht he one suit but man is it nice to have.

Wraithlord wrote:Big suggestion here: get rare earth magnets that are 1/8th diameter. Use them instead of gluing the suit weapons on so you can simply put the ones you happen to be using that game on them. I have only done it witht he one suit but man is it nice to have.

Yeah. I have used them with other armys and they work great. Unfortunatly most of these figures had the weapons and stuff glued so I have decided to just cleanup and reglue where needed. Any new units however will be done using magnets though of course.

As promised, here is the Gallery I set up. I am having issues with the Gallery on Spacks site. I think his server dislikes me. It keeps failing to run the image resize functions so my uploads are failing. Anyway. If you want to view my Tau and their growth from primed minis to painted Army visit Here.

Update. Finally got the website to allow me to upload images.

I love the small conversions, especially the stim injector

Wraithlord wrote:I love the small conversions, especially the stim injector

Yeah, I admit that the VRT, Blacksun Filter and Stim Injector were from GW. Hoever I decided to do some extra stuff like all the 'Hardwired' gear that officially doesnt have to be modelled I decided to model similar to the stim injector where they have 'hardwires' from the unit into the body of the Suit. I think this better represents the equipment on the unit.

Of course this doesn't make it nearly as modular. Oh well.

jlong05 wrote:Update. Finally got the website to allow me to upload images.

What did you do to fix it? I wasn't aware of any problems, although the PSU burnt out yesterday - had to switch the hard disk out to another PC I had kicking around ...

Spack wrote:What did you do to fix it? I wasn't aware of any problems, although the PSU burnt out yesterday - had to switch the hard disk out to another PC I had kicking around ...

Not exactly sure, but I do know I had to upload smaller images. I have a shot of my Hammerhead that is 2.02megs and it will not work. The site gives me an error. I will try to upload it again and send the error over to you so you have it.