Tau Advice

[El Capitan]

first up, my plan over the year is to build up a Tau army and field it at the next Tournament (i'll be back in uk for the last 2 weeks of august next year so the tourney will be condensed into one weekend again?), then back to korea where i will build a different army perhaps for the year following.

Anyway I need some advice on where to start, mainly with the painting scheme. I want to make an Ice theme, based on Tau under Commander Farsights command who typically make supply raids on freezing asteroid systems etc.

I plan on kick starting with the Battle force box set, it makes economic sense even without ever using the kroot or stealth suits in it. However with the necessary paints and brushes this could quickly run up an unwelcome bill. (strange how ill build this army, and then fly back with it next summer and leave it in my house for another year in a box)

My idea is

Black Spray for undercoat
+
Necron Abyss foundation
+
Ice blue dry brush
+
Asurmen blue wash


basically will this work? Should I skip the NA foundation step. Am I missing something? I will get the standard paint set to paint the details but for starters I want to paint all the models up into my core scheme.

advice please. . . .

[tturen]

What color is Necron Abyss?

[El Capitan]

Its a dark blue foundation.

I finally found the stockist in Seoul yesterday and amazingly it has pretty much everything! I picked up a Tau battleforce, a spray, some paints and a basing kit. I will update on how the project goes

[Simon]

I'd be more concerned with the wash as the final step, especially if you're going for an icy look.

Problem with a wash is it will darken the lighter blue quite a lot.

You may find that it won't be needed at all.

[El Capitan]

yeah, they just happened to not have the wash I was after in the shop, and when I inquired the guy recommended not using it because of the darkening effect.

Of note, the shop is quite bizarre, it pretty much stocks everything including a range of direct sales and forge world things, basically better stocked than most UK Games Workshop's

[tturen]

As a tourney army how will it stop the heavily armored like this years winning army?

[El Capitan]

It won't, but with Terminators moving into the Support section now for MArines, we are hoping this will be offset to some degree.

That said I do have designs on a Hammerhead, Skyray, 2 broadsides and a crisis team with two fusion blasters each.

On that note how do I get around the fact that it is basically impossible to get extra fusion blasters without having to buy the same model again just for the sprue? Any advice on a mod?

Also cheers to Charly for this article from a while back, I went to get some polyfilla type stuff today!
; ogc.org.uk/Files/Modelling/BasingonSnow/articles.html

[tturen]

My own Tau army would struggle with a force like that as well. After reviewing the OGC codex Tau I think its a point of considerable weakness. Can the battlesuits make a 12" move and still fire in the OGC codex? The hammerheads can be effective but given the points cost and the poor weaponery at the listed points they arn't going to solve anything. The poor bs and limited mobility of the broadsides gives them a limited role as well. That leaves the crisis suits as a possible option.

As for the fusion blasters I thought they came with two each and I have not noticed a shortage but then I may have some extras from a buddy of mine. If you need some I can check and see what I have. GW may market just the weapons sprues though.

[El Capitan]

I am noting some concerns in piecing together my own Tau army. However in testing they have proved to be rather effective, i think we have the fire warriors just right, the battlesuits and the big tanks however are far from perfect. My main thoughts are on the points of the battlesuits and the actual variety in the weapons themselves, once you customies them their points go through the roof and there is not too much call for some of the hardwires, unless the shield generator is worsened or removed.

[tturen]

I can see the concerns regarding points and weapon fit issues with the battlesuits. My Tau codex offers the suits more options at fewer points but they are more vulnerable as well. Once you have mobility and terminator style armor they can be hard to balance. Can they jump and shoot in the OGC codex?

[El Capitan]

jump and shoot? by that do you mean make a 6" move and fire, which you can in ours.

I'd be intersted to look at points mods to the suits and see what suggestions you have, the balance is just so hard for something as exotic as the battlesuits

also on the fusion blasters, any spares I'd be grateful for!!!! I can return the favour with a korean gift!

[tturen]

I'll take look for the blasters and you can reach me at [e-mail]. I'm sure that I can mail a couple of the extra ones and possibly more if a friend of mine has some extras as well.

By 'jump' I mean jet around with a 12" move and still shoot. Jet pack units can do this easily and the battlsuits have a more advanced jet pack. In 3/4 they can move shoot and then move again. I scrapped that as a balance issue but mine do move 14" and can still shoot.

The suits can cause an imbalance in game play and at their listed points they are good units but do not perform well in the role of tank killers (limited lethality, range, and possibly poor mobility). The problem is that they need to be capable in that role as well. Mine can be outfitted to bust tanks at a reasonable cost but they are far more fragile with 1+D6 save instead of the termi style save and my fusion blasters need to get within 6" or be fitted with a power pack at additional cost to reliably beat armor. They balance exceptionaly well and play a lot like the 3/4th suits in terms of lethality and saves. If you want the improved save then the cost goes up with the OGC suits but without the needed mobilty and with short ranged weapons they are not going to be effective as a duel role unit. If you lower the points they will just be more effective infantry/character killers and most Tau units are already pretty good at that anyway.

One thing that needs fixing as well is the range on the Hammerhead burst cannons. The 18" range makes them almost worthless given the poor armour. They should mount weapons like every other self respecting race in 40k and reach out to about the range of a heavy bolter.

[Simon]

I've been looking over the Tau list again as I recently purchased Shas'O Rmyr from forgeworld.

There are a few of things that I think we should be considering for the list. The first is Initiative.

At the moment, the Tau have a low initiative value that is based around their dislike for close combat. I think we should be looking at raising the base initiative on all Tau by 1, but expand the rules so that they suffer -1 initiative in combat. That way, they'll not perform like morons when getting run over or stomped on by Gork.

In terms of battlesuits, I would like to see a return of the 4+ invulnerable save. Maybe not for Crisis, but definitely for commanders. It is something that EVERY army in 40K has access to except the Tau at the moment. The new upgrade could be called a shield projector and cost 15 points rather than 10.

Enhanced weaponry needs to have a point. Adding 1 to the strength and then by default to the armour penetration is a big waste of 10 points. An extra D6 penetration is a must to help create a balance.

One option for improving the Crisis suits would be changing the way you buy weapons and upgrades, it could be done as 3 hard wire points - at least one of which must be a weapon. It then allows a bit more flexibility for the unit, allowing them to opt in for the Recoil Absorbers to allow them more manouverability?

Example Unit would be 3 battle suits with an enhanced fusion blaster and recoil absorbers, costing 261 points. They would have a clearly defined battle field role as tank hunters in that role?

Opinions???

[Simon]

Just a reminder that I'm still after some feedback on these proposed updates?

[Charly]

im no tau expert but all your suggestions seem sound. what weapons is enhanced weaponry available for?

[Simon]

It would be the following crisis battlesuit weaponry:-

Burst Cannon, Fusion Blaster, Plasma Rifle.

[El Capitan]

Essentially the battlesuits do need a rethink I admit, given their cost there is little point in some of the combinations so i think we have the skeleton fine but we need to make the flesh work.

As for the vehicles, what would you suggest, their points cost and destrucitve capabilities seem in line with the other heavy skimmers in the game