So, following from our Taudar (or Eldau?) post let’s put together a list using the two armies. I’m going to use a Tau parent base and I want the Eldar list to fill a specific hole. First, it’s going to be a foot list so no Wave Serpents, that’s next time. Second, one of the main things I want when bringing in Eldar for Tau is two brilliant targets for twin-linking. Most Broadsides are self-sufficient in this regard, they are twin-linked. Most infantry squads don’t really want twin-linking if they have markerlight support and their numbers generally reduce the capacity for it to be efficient with them anyway. Most vehicles are solo targets and thus not really gaining a lot from twin-linking… Crisis Suits and Riptides are therefore the prime choices.

However, we can only twin-link two targets. Easy – two Riptides please. Now this means Crisis Suits need to either twin-link themselves, just roll with it or not exist. Remember, Broadsides can take over the S7 there quite easily and Eldar bring along some nice new S7 options as well (i.e. Warp Spiders; yes they are S7 against vehicles only).

So I know I want two Riptides and a Farseer. And the Farseer goes on a Jetbike because, well duh – 15 pts for T4, 3+ Save and way more mobility is a bargain. If you ever take a Farseer without a Jetbike, you better have a very, very good reason for it. We’re then going to grab two Jetbike units and I’ll make them larger and give them Cannons – 12 MEQs isn’t a huge amount of additional scoring but it’s solid, cheap, fast, good shooting and durable for what it does. When the models start dropping they can hide and pop out late game as needed and they also add some much needed mobility and pressure for a Tau army. Next up is two Broadside units with all the missiles – this covers a lot of the S7 needs but also helps with just pure torrent and deep-striking defenses thanks to EWO. I’m not going to give them Skyfire as it ends up being quite expensive and with all the twin-linking going on plus markerlights, is it really needed?

Speaking of Markerlights – where do I get them from? I’ve been really fond of the Skyray lately but without going with any vehicles, that’s not going to work. Pathfinders are always the most efficient source of the trusty and true flashlight but they are also the prime target for an opponent who aren’t that tough to put down but they are very cheap but really want an Aegis Line to hide behind and whilst foot lists generally take the best of the Aegis, I don’t want to drop that extra 100 points knowing I’ve likely got half my army roaming around (Commander, Crisis, Riptides, Jetbikes, Farseer). So with that in mind and knowing I’d like some self-sufficient Crisis Suits, my new (not that new I guess…) favourite unit is the M3S/CnC Node Suit running around with some Drone buddies and target lock Missile buddies. This means the Crisis Suits are twin-linked and ignores cover so they have no need for Farseer or Markerlight support and with six drones, I’m getting four-five Markerlight hits thanks to the drone controller. Two Riptides already with Guide or Prescience sure would like two Markerlight hits each… The Commander can of course make this unit that much more durable and dangerous with PENchip.

The rest of the points then need to go into some scoring – we’ve already got the Jetbikes but more scoring units are necessary to hold the backfield and have enough layers to protect against any assaults. We haven’t spent a whole lot of points on Eldar so there’s still lots of Supporting Fire options there as well.

The end result:

Commander w/2x Missiles, PEN, Armor, Target Lock, VRT

3x Crisis w/Shas’vre M3S, CNC, Drone Controller; Shas’ui w/2x Missiles, Target Lock, 6x Markers

Riptide w/Ion, Fusion, EWO, Skyfire

Riptide w/Ion, Fusion, EWO, Skyfire

9x Fire Warriors

9x Fire Warriors

6x Fire Warriors

10x Kroot + Hound, Sniper

10x Kroot + Hound, Sniper

2x Broadsides w/HYMP, SMS, EWO

2x Broadsides w/HYMP, SMS, EWO



Farseer w/Bike

6x Jetbikes w/2x Cannons

6x Jetbikes w/2x Cannons

1846 points

There’s seven Troops there but not all of them individually are super durable and a helluva lot of S7 with Missilesides and Crisis Suits. We’ve got lots of anti-infantry as well and shockingly for Tau, mobility and envelopment options – 13x Jetbikes, 22x Outflank/Infiltrators, 6x Jetpacks (+ 6x Drone Jetpacks) can put a lot of mobility out there and force an opponent to spread out to try and engage the army – perfect for taking an army apart with shooting. Given that some of that mobility is scoring as well makes the option of attacking the FW/Broadside firebase less of a “no duh” choice it might be for pure foot Tau.

Skyfire for the Riptides since they’ll be twin-linked reliably form Turn 1 onwards – come in from reserve please, I dare you. The main thing as ever, is scoring durability. Again, there’s 58 models there which score so it’s not low but Manticores can make most of that scoring disappear really fast, etc.

Anyway, this should show how not only do allies help a parent list (Jetbikes providing more bite to the envelopment concept and overcoming some of the scoring deficiencies of foot Tau) but can also help dictate what to take – i.e. two Riptides with twin-linking psychic power support from Farseer (without relying on it as well – there’s still Markerlights to back this up and Farseer to back up the markerlights). Less tricks up the sleeve as general with smaller sized units but with support like the O’Mortal and Farseer, there’s still that excellent utility.