As discussed, lots of posts to come from last weekend’s tournament, the first of which will be an in-depth look at how the actual list performed and the Tau units taken. For a reminder, the list is below.

Battalion Detachment –

Ethereal w/Honour Blade

Longstrike w/Railgun, 2x MV1 Gun Drones

5x Stealth Suits w/Burst Cannons

Ghostkeel w/2x Fusion Blaster, ATS, Cyclic Ion Raker, 2x MV5 Stealth Drones and Target Lock

9x Fire Warrior Breachers

11x Kroot

10x Kroot

5x Pathfinders

5x Pathfinders

5x Pathfinders

Hammerhead w/Railgun, 2x MV1 Gun Drones

Devilfish w/Burst Cannon, 2x MV1 Gun Drones

Supreme Command Detachment –

Commander w/3x Missile Pods, ATS

Commander w/3x Missile Pods, ATS

Darkstrider

Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment –

Stormsurge w/Pulse Blastcannon, Shield Generator, 2x Flamers, 2x Smart Missile System, Cluster Rocket System, 4x Destroyer Missiles, EWO, ATS

Totals: 7 CP, 2000 points

Let’s start with the HQs.

Both Commanders were fantastic as you’d expect. 6 S7 AP-2 D3 damage shots at BS2+ are very handy, particularly with fliers around and the ability to re-roll 1’s from a single markerlight. Their biggest downside was naturally on poor wound rolls – not having a PENchip like ability to help against T7+ vehicles proved very frustrating at times and I think trying to look at a Fusion Commander in the future would be ideal. That being said, I felt that I really needed both Commanders to have decent amount of S7 damage which really helped against standard vehicles and also just stripping saves from MEQ type models / characters. I never used the Master of War ability which would have been really useful looking back at particular points in my games – big woopsadoodle that could have turned the slow Game 4 into a victory and the closest of games in Game 5 into a victory as well. Remembering what your own models do is important!

With regards to the CIB / Missile Pod debate – these outings strengthened both arguments IMO. The range and subsequent ability to hide the MP Commanders was undeniably important – particularly given we now have five deployments where you can have units quite far away with only really Dawn of War keeping stuff close-ish across the table. The S7 though really annoyed me at times, particularly against the T8 units out there and when there were no good targets for the D3 damage, having extra shots from the CIB would have been handy. I will give CIB Commanders a go and see what my thoughts are after this. The alternate firing modes and cheaper cost are very appealing still.

Darkstrider varied from having a huge, huge impact to very minimal, often being less than a Markerlight as he was in the Devilfish for much of the games. For his cost though, his utility was outstanding (particularly given I did not need the Fireblade’s bonuses), allowing Pathfinders and Fire Warriors to fall back and continue shooting, letting the Fire Warriors be even more effective (see their post below) and when he was out and about, giving me a mobile 3+ to hit markerlight. He did not win games by himself and definitely was not leveraged to the hilt in this type of list but for his cost, he was better than a Fireblade and brought a very different, yet useful toolbox. If I have any infantry units (particularly aggressive ones), I would always and strongly consider Darkstrider.

The Ethereal was probably the least utilised which is unsurprising given the way my list was formatted – I needed an extra HQ and he was the cheapest. Quite often he started in the Devilfish to reduce my number of placements (not that it mattered) and was often relegated to using the 6+ FNP roll as my models were moving. A couple of games he used his re-roll 1’s ability for my Pathfinders but he was otherwise a pretty paperweight. His Ld bubble came into play once or twice but given my small model count units, was very rarely needed.

Longstrike was good but not amazing as he was often targeted first and like anything in 8th edition, focused firepower will remove him. Tau could really use some of their vehicle upgrades like Disruption Pods back when their codex drops. Otherwise, he and the other Hammerhead did the work they were supposed to (though I mortal wounded twice throughout the whole tournament with both of them combined; laaaaame). I never really felt the lack of range on the Gun Drones compared to the SMS so those were points well saved though to be fair, SMS on Longstrike to ensure he was always shooting vehicles would have been useful (worth the 22 points though?). The ability to move and shoot at 2+ though, hit fliers on 2+/3+ depending if he moved or not and buffing other Hammerheads though is strong. If Longstrike could take some of the Forgeworld options… I’d be very curious to see if the math there is any good.

Onto Elites.

The Ghostkeel was a mixed bag and I definitely did not use him right all the time (often too aggressive). His ability to destroy a vehicle all by himself at times was compared to doing diddly squat – needing Markerlight support is really important but not always possible given he was often hitting targets out of range of the rest of the army. I think more games are worth looking at but potentially looking at some sort of independent Markerlight support will be important using him in the future. He at times could tank a lot of hits, was completely ignored or died quickly when within 12″. Extra D6 damage guns were really important though as being able to take a chunk of wounds off tougher targets was often overlooked.

Stealth Suits were another mixed bag unit – they brought lots of shooting but if I really wanted more S5 shooting, I could get that cheaper elsewhere. They had two occasions of being a standout – Infiltrating onto the Relic and running backwards with it and tying up multiple Space Marine vehicles in combat for multiple turns. Whenever dedicated firepower was shot in their direction though, they folded easily. I think I’d replace them with another mobile unit – potentially giving Vespid a go (who the hell ever imagined I’d say that???), to free up some points in the list or get more models.

Now for Troops / Dedicated Transports / Fast Attack.

Kroot did what Kroot do – they won a combat :O! Kroot were again a mixed bag – often being shot off the table before they could do anything. They had two games where they really impacted the flow of the game; Game 2 where there were Orks and they were able to accept one charge and Game 3 where they were left alone and able to protect my firebase against Chaos TSons. I acknowledge they won a combat and killed some things in Game 5 but that was because they were effectively ignored. Otherwise they soaked firepower and died and while that firepower was not going at my other models, when I really needed them (i.e. against GSC), they were already dead or useless. I think one big squad might be a better alternative and then using 2CP to ignore the subsequent morale but their impact was less relevant given the armies I faced.

Breachers were the surprise unit for me and quite often a quiet MVP. I am not a fan of putting together units which require chains of effects to work (i.e. needing Darkstrider’s -1T or Fall Back and shoot abilities) but 8th edition does make characters quite reliable at getting their effects off. Anyway, they were often a unit which was never targeted and a volley of 18 S6 -2AP shots against a target that was reduced toughness had a very strong effect, even with only a single Markerlight. While needing to be up and close and personal with the opponent, the reduced impact of charges (no bonus attacks) made them surprisingly resilient in the midfield to the point I got to surround an enemy vehicle and not let it escape combat. They do not always need Darkstrider support but I would not take them without him just in terms of being able to Fall Back and shoot again. A stiff breeze of concentrated firepower as well would delete them pretty quickly and you have the added cost of needing a Devilfish. Not a bad thing (see below) but also not something you want 3-4 of unlike Razorbacks.

Devilfish was another solid performer over and above the damage that was actually inflicted. Allowing the Breachers more mobility was great but also just getting in the way and disrupting movement lanes or charging other units / vehicles was solid disruption. It’s expensive and I definitely would not take more than two ever (and even then, I think one is the best bet) but it was often overlooked so got to move around doing its own thing. People underestimate how durable vehicles are against single damage weapons – Lasguns and the ilk can damage everything now but being able to 100% know your vehicle will not be destroyed charging into something is huge.

Pathfinders couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and my opponents often left them alone or only took pot shots at them, allowing me to have multiple opportunities for strong markerlight hits. I got 5 ML hits once all tournament though which is a far cry from their normal effectiveness, particularly given they were not being summarily targeted and destroyed. I am definitely curious to try out the Pathfinders in a Drone Port with Rail Rifles + Marker Drones but I also feel more nestled Marker Lights might be worth looking at. Very rarely having good cover positions due to the aforementioned terrain issues at the tournament also meant they were pretty easy to blow away when needed. Cover would not have been a huge change to this but there are definite occasions when it would have taken at least more weapons to remove them.

The lone Heavy Support Hammerhead.

Same really as Longstrike, he did his job, acting as a stronger Lascannon on a durable platform with a Longstrike buff to hitting and adding a smattering on anti-infantry power in the Gun Drones. I’d be really curious to run the math on the FW versions, particularly the Missilehead, to see whether or not its worth going for your S7 shots in that way. Multiple D3s do appease me more than a single D6 but the lack of ATS on vehicles does make me hesitant (oh please Tau Codex given vehicles ATS…). In my games of not taking any Railheads though from prior to the tournament, I definitely noticed the lack of D6 damage rolls and while I hate the D6 damage role, Tau do not have many options that gives a set 2/3 damage unlike many other armies. There are specific options here like the Stormsurge but taking 2-3 of them is well over 40-60% of your army. Whether this could be replaced completely by Fusionmanders, I doubt it, but worth a playtest around if Missileheads are efficient enough. If only Longstrike could take a Missilehead variant… that +1 to wound against vehicles is the bees knees.

And finally the big dude – Stormsurge.

Again, I completely forgot about the flamers which would have been very useful and helpful in certain situations. Otherwise I both liked and hated this guy. He often needed to move, making his stabilisers not as good as they could be (though remembering Master of War on key turns would have been helpful) and while he’s durable, a standard gunline should take him down in a single turn. The question then becomes is it worth putting so many points into one model when you could split those across points across multiple units and I feel you are not going to get as good efficiency. 8+4D6 shots at -1AP is pretty big and he along with the Commanders won me Game 3 after a terrible first turn. The main gun often did not do too much damage (silly invul saves or misses) but the Destroyer Missile salvo was often key to getting two vehicle kills in a given turn.

Other Tau players.

There were a couple of other Tau players I had a chat with and observed on the weekend. Not taking target locks on Riptides was not a good move (silly Jason) but even when they were firing at effective full BS, the Riptides are clearly overcosted for what they provide as we’ve identified all along. The Supremacy armor likewise can destroy its effective targets (Titans or in this case, Imperial Knights) but has a sharp efficiency decline against more normal armies.

Conclusion

I never felt I had no chance in games and in two games (Dark Eldar and Orks), felt I had the upper hand list wise. That being said, I feel my list was optimised to its near maximum (with some of the changes above to be applied) and failing some errors / omissions on my part, had less of a chance to improve itself compared to some of the lists I was playing. The Space Marine list working around to include Gulliman for example would have been much more potent with 4 Assbacks and 2 LasPreds while the GSC list has a lot of ranged anti-infantry shooting but couldn’t take chunks of wounds off my big models. I’m sticking to my opinion Tau are just a little bit behind but it’s not massive like everyone is indicating. A price change to Crisis / Riptides / Broadsides to bring in more options for those important alternate weapon options and some vehicle upgrades could swing them right back into the forefront.