# Tau combos



## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Just a bit of fun I had with the new codex. Post up your (ridiculous) combos.

*Commander*
-Iridium armour
-Puretide neuro chip
-Falcon Punch (Onager)
-Multi-spectrum sensor suite
-Drone controller
-Stim injector
-Shield generator
-Retro-thrusters
-2x shield drones
=227pts

Yes, this guy has no ranged weapons; that's intentional. His job is to tank and buff the broadsides with; Tank/Monster hunter, Hit and run, ignores cover and BS5 drones.

*3x Broadsides*
-TL High-yield missile pods
-Target locks
-6x missile drones
-Seeker missiles
=306pts

Yo dawg, i heard you like missiles so i put missiles on your missiles, so you can fire missiles while you fire missiles!

So all together you're getting:
-12 BS5 missile pod shots.
-12 Twin-linked BS3 missile pod shots.
-12 Twin-linked BS3 SMS shots.
-You also have 3 seeker missiles.
-Broadsides can fire at different targets.
-All your shots have Tank/Monster hunter and ignores cover.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

You can put Darkstrider on a Icarus Lascannon or a Quad Gun and get the -1 Toughness on those Weapons. Not to mention Precision Shots. Hmm insta-kill marines with Str 7

Darkstrider can only join Pathfinder and Fire Warriors, nothing prevents something from joining him. Tack on some allied IC's and make good use of his -1 Toughness on their now improved Weapons

A Cadre Fireblade can do the same type of thing giving himself Ignore Cover/Nightfighting/TankHunters etc allowing you to abuse the Quad Gun and Icarus Gun, this is Very very good, Target Locks also allow a unit he is with to shoot something else while he guns down a plane.

Longstrike is kinda meh, but put his tank in B2B with a Icarus Gun or Quad gun and then suddenly hes good. Free Tank hunters, Preferred Enemy, and BS 5 not to mention Night Vision. As a Tank he can fire every single one of his weapons each turn.

You can also put a Pathfinder squad into a Devil fish, Scout up, move up and flat out, on turn 2 this would allow anything you are outflanking to arrive on a table side with no rolling. Not bad at all

Riptide Suits are MC's.....that are part of a unit with their Missile Drones. You can now add in IC's to the Riptide. Space Marines, Eldar, your own Commanders (Shadowsun Cough cough) etc. Giving a Riptide a level of utility that is unprecedented.

Obviously you can pump out 40+ shots with a Fireblade and a Etheral, all at BS 5 with Markerlights, very useful if you take a Etherial

The Relay Beacon says Friendly units, might be able to use that with SM Drop Pods or Deepstriking Eldar.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I'll get back to you with a few more ideas.


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Haha, some great ones there. The shadowsun + Riptide combo sounds awesome, shrouded & stealth riptide is just plain mean.


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## The Sturk (Feb 3, 2012)

This might sound strange, but Ethereals + the Cadre Fireblade can result in Pulse Rifles/ carbines getting 4 shots each at half range. That twelve strong firewarrior squad is now pumping out 48 shots. Add markerlights and you will get so many hits.

Speaking of Markerlights, pathfinders are invaluable in regards to Supporting fire, as they allow markerights to be used in overwatch. They might not be able to use it themselves, but they can buff any unit within 6 inches of them to increase their snap shots to a higher BS.


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

The Sturk said:


> This might sound strange, but Ethereals + the Cadre Fireblade can result in Pulse Rifles/ carbines getting 4 shots each at half range. That twelve strong firewarrior squad is now pumping out 48 shots. Add markerlights and you will get so many hits.
> 
> Speaking of Markerlights, pathfinders are invaluable in regards to Supporting fire, as they allow markerights to be used in overwatch. They might not be able to use it themselves, but they can buff any unit within 6 inches of them to increase their snap shots to a higher BS.


Nobody likes being hit by an overwatch at BS5, especially a 48 shot overwatch.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Instead of Pathfinders I would reccomend a squadren of Gun Drones, all Markerlight, with a Suit Commander with a Drone Controller. Not only are they much more resilient than Pathfinders clocking in at T4, but they can JsJ allevitating the need to ever make a armor save by hiding behind LOS blocking terrain.
They also have a 4+ as opposed to a 5+, can fire at BS 5 thanks to the Drone Controller, and can traverse terrain quickly.

Really no reason to take pathfinders over the Drones+Commander.

Also Crisis Suits can now take double choices in weapons, so 2 Meltas, or 1 Melta and 1 TL-Melta


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## Archon Dan (Feb 6, 2012)

This is all really scary. Tau have become an anti-assault force. But that makes a lot of sense. They dislike close combat and will do whatever it takes to stay out of it. But now I must wonder why they ever needed the Dark Eldar to help them fight Tyranids in the fluff. 

Looking forward to seeing what Tau can do in the coming days/weeks.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

An onager is otherwise known as an Asiatic Wild Ass. The Onager Gauntlet is not a Falcon Punch, it is an Ass Fister.

Midnight


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

The whole anti-assault thing Tau have going... a necessary swing toward forcing people to choose their assaults/charges with a bit more care. I think we're seeing a temporary end to CC focus and a lot more toward balance.

However... if this is the case. We must prepare. Prepare for 2 pt Gaunts.


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## Madden (Jan 22, 2012)

3 crisis with missiles all over and velocity trackers joined by a boss with pure chip and they will kill any plane in range with 6 s7 twinlinked & 6 more at normal bs add in tank hunter from the boss and boom oh your other boss could Mark the flyer as well if kitted right ( or a stealth boss). 
Darkstrider in pathfinders with rail rifles IDing pallies possibly hitting on 2's and ignoring cover thanks to the above mentioned boss and drone squad.
So many combos! Even more when you look at ethereals and there buffs.


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Ragewind said:


> Instead of Pathfinders I would reccomend a squadren of Gun Drones, all Markerlight, with a Suit Commander with a Drone Controller. Not only are they much more resilient than Pathfinders clocking in at T4, but they can JsJ allevitating the need to ever make a armor save by hiding behind LOS blocking terrain.
> They also have a 4+ as opposed to a 5+, can fire at BS 5 thanks to the Drone Controller, and can traverse terrain quickly.
> 
> Really no reason to take pathfinders over the Drones+Commander.


I was thinking along the same lines. I'll probably just run the drones without the commander though as he's quite expensive just with a drone controller, and more drones can make up for their low BS.



Ragewind said:


> Also Crisis Suits can now take double choices in weapons, so 2 Meltas, or 1 Melta and 1 TL-Melta


Haha, I expect that'll be FAQ'd soon. I'm pretty sure it will be like the last codex with respect to weapons (eg: no double ups). But hopefully not, so I can have more missiles!

Broadsides don't get any SnP or relentless from what I can see, which is a little disappointing.

I expect to see a lot of Shadowsun for her 2 FBs and handing out shrouded + stealth. Farsight party with Shadowsun attached; lots of shrouded + stealth battlesuits is not fun for your opponent.

Tau are looking nasty this edition. I still can't believe my ethereal is useful!


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Madden said:


> ...Darkstrider in pathfinders with rail rifles IDing pallies possibly hitting on 2's and ignoring cover thanks to the above mentioned boss and drone squad....


This must be a huge trap, honest.

A Pathfinder is never worth 26 pts each (as they cost with Rail Rifles). You pay a boatload of pts to remove their sole use, which is to help the rest of the army kill things.
Pathfinders are the cheapest way to dish out Markerhits in the army, not using them for that seems questionable at best...

One might argue that the Commander with MarkerDrones is more effective hits/pts since they will clock in at BS5 which is a huge boon. But then youre also locking your Commander to babysitting Drones, which both limits the number of XV8s you can field (elite slots are precious) and makes his superior LD less worth while.
This might be _the_ viable way of playing loose Drone Squads though, here is why:
Compare Drone Squad with Pirahna squad.
Instead of getting 6 Drones in a squad you can have 2 Pirahnas which nets you 4 drones and 2 Burst Cannons for 4 pts less (and 2 units ofc which is awesome in its own way). That seems legit in my book at least


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

I doubt the dual weapons will be FAQ'ed its a pretty obvious thing to not include if you wanted to carry it over. At the very least if it poses a problem they might limit it to 1 TL and 1 Reg, which is fine by me.

EDIT: Also the Flechette Dischargers will still wreck your couch when placed on a Squad of 5 Piranha, "Assaulting with 5 guys? Let me play you the song of my people"


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## Archon Dan (Feb 6, 2012)

The more I see here and from my friend's codex, the more amazing Tau become. But then there is money to think of. Anyone able to loan me some $$ with 0% APR and an indefinite re-payment plan? :wink::grin::wink:


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Ragewind said:


> I doubt the dual weapons will be FAQ'ed its a pretty obvious thing to not include if you wanted to carry it over. At the very least if it poses a problem they might limit it to 1 TL and 1 Reg, which is fine by me.


It is GW we're talking about, they've cocked up some pretty obvious ones before. Triple plasma suits would be awesome though. 

I guess we'll have to wait and see.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

ChaosRedCorsairLord said:


> It is GW we're talking about, they've cocked up some pretty obvious ones before. Triple plasma suits would be awesome though.
> 
> I guess we'll have to wait and see.


Well you can take three plasma rifles if you want, but you can only ever fire two.


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

ChaosRedCorsairLord said:


> Broadsides don't get any SnP or relentless from what I can see, which is a little disappointing.


You're still not out of luck, though, seeing as with the help of your friend Mr. Markerlight, you can be snapping fire at high BS.



Orochi said:


> The whole anti-assault thing Tau have going...


And the whole anti-air thing they have going? And the whole "outshoot a shooty army" thing they have going?

*depressed*

This whole thread is disgusting and I feel dirty for having read it. You are sick, sick people. Still, I have to read it. "Know thine enemy" and all...

(okay, I'm overreacting, but then I did just buy a melee slaaneshi army over these past few months, so... bye bye glass hammer)


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## Madden (Jan 22, 2012)

I feel your pain I've got 2k+ of pure khorn daemons with out some luck I'll be never make the half way Mark let alone into combat! Oh well that's what tatics are for.


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

Current bright idea: take Huron as my warlord, then ally in a full contingent of Daemonettes to infiltrate forward. Alongside a squad of Seekers and a heavy contingent of bikers, about 80% of my army should be hitting home T2. That is, what fragments of my 80% haven't been blasted to smithereens in the 1 or 2 enemy shooting phases I've suffered through. Add in a few dirge caster Rhinos that my opponent will hopefully be panicking too hard to notice, and I might mitigate the enemy Overwatch a bit.

But we'll need another thread for anti-Tau tactics. I think it'll come down to "shoot the synergistic lynchpins" (ie the Pathfinders, then the unit with the Ethereal/Fireblade, etc) followed by "neutralize the big guns."


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## DestroyerHive (Dec 22, 2009)

Use the Riptides as a living shield for your Hammerheads. Position the Riptide exactly in fron of the Hammerhead. Because Riptides are Jet Pack MC, they can move 6" away from the Hammerhead, allowing it to shoot, and then in the assault phase move back 6" in front of it. This way the Hammerhead will always be obscured until the Riptide is killed, though in the Tau turn, both units can shoot normally.


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Has anyone tried out the KrootOx in some way yet? Are they remotely playable now?
10 Kroots, Shaper and 3 KrootOx is 150 pts in scoring infiltrators that likes them some forests to be annoying in.

Im guessing the Kroot Hounds are still shit since that gives you a mixed inf/beast unit which cant be good. Will you even benefit at all from the beast movement like that?


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

MaidenManiac said:


> Im guessing the Kroot Hounds are still shit since that gives you a mixed inf/beast unit which cant be good. Will you even benefit at all from the beast movement like that?


Well, you could chain Kroot hounds ahead of the unit for a much longer charge. Why you'd want a charge with your S3 unit of snipers, I don't know, but...


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## Archon Dan (Feb 6, 2012)

Kroot Hounds are there as ablative wounds. And if the Kroot get charged, the Hounds are faster than many opponents. That is how I saw them used with the last book anyway.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Archon Dan said:


> Kroot Hounds are there as ablative wounds. And if the Kroot get charged, the Hounds are faster than many opponents. That is how I saw them used with the last book anyway.


Exactly they are I5, thats why you take them. Except they used to be STR 4 QQ


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Kroot blob + shadowsun could be mean, if a little expensive. stealth/shrouded & rerolling 1s to hit gives kroot some decent firepower and staying power especially in cover. I'm a little haizey on mixed initiative units and I don't have my rule book with me, but isn't the highest always used with respect to sweeping, meaning a single hound gives you I5.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

ChaosRedCorsairLord said:


> Kroot blob + shadowsun could be mean, if a little expensive. stealth/shrouded & rerolling 1s to hit gives kroot some decent firepower and staying power especially in cover. I'm a little haizey on mixed initiative units and I don't have my rule book with me, but isn't the highest always used with respect to sweeping, meaning a single hound gives you I5.


Yes

Although I like my Shadowsun "Wraithguard side up" :gimmefive:

Wraithguard 396 (troops)
Spiritseer, Enhance (can be embolden, but Enhance is best)
Eldrad 210 (will roll on Divniation, due to new tau items, don't need all power from Divination)
Farseer 95 (he is our fortune battery)
Fortune, Runes of Witnessing
Commander Shadowsun 170 (She will Infiltrate the sqaud if you want, mostly for the 2+ cover save)
Sheild Drones x2
Suit Commander 195
Plasma x2, Vectored Retro Thrusters, Puretide Chip, Sensor Suite, Falcon punch, Iridium Armor, Target Lock
Maugan Ra 195
Feugan 205

Guardian Jetbikes 66
Guardian Jetbikes 66
Guardian Jetbikes 66
Fire Warriors 54
Fire Warriors 54

Riptide 210
Skyfire, Intercepter, Ion Accel, Fusion Gun


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Yeah, we haven't even touched the allies. I think we're going to see a lot of tau + Space marines just because they bring tough generalist troops, which tau lack.


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## seermaster (Feb 22, 2012)

Surly you want conceal on those wraithguard otherwise you have to be in cover


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

seermaster said:


> Surly you want conceal on those wraithguard otherwise you have to be in cover


4+ in the open, 2+ everywhere else.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Commander, Plasma, Plasma, Fusion Gun, Advanced Targeting System.

Every 3rd shot you can choose which model takes the wound. Heavy Weapon Teams (Instagibbed), Special Weapons guys, Artillery Crew, and there's even a Warlord Trait backing up that style of combat, where you can ignore Look Out Sir!; at which point you can Instagib Marine heroes.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Vaz said:


> Commander, Plasma, Plasma, Fusion Gun, Advanced Targeting System.
> 
> Every 3rd shot you can choose which model takes the wound. Heavy Weapon Teams (Instagibbed), Special Weapons guys, Artillery Crew, and there's even a Warlord Trait backing up that style of combat, where you can ignore Look Out Sir!; at which point you can Instagib Marine heroes.


I tried something very similar and it only came up once after around 15 to 20 shots. Dat BS 5 prevents you from even taking advantage of TL weapons.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

You really didn't roll higher than a 4 in 5 turns? Luck was out with you.

You're still putting 4 S6 AP2 wounds on a unit.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Vaz said:


> You're still putting 4 S6 AP2 wounds on a unit.


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Commander with BC+CIB, Drone Controller, Counterfire Defence System, 2 Goon Drones joins a bunch of more Goon Drones and shoots happily at BS5 for lulz.

Enemy gets enraged and charges. Goon Drones will be blazing Goons at 5s (remember twinlinked) thanks to using the Commanders BS instead of their own, which is 2 on overwatch:victory:


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

MaidenManiac said:


> Commander with BC+CIB, Drone Controller, Counterfire Defence System, 2 Goon Drones joins a bunch of more Goon Drones and shoots happily at BS5 for lulz.
> 
> Enemy gets enraged and charges. Goon Drones will be blazing Goons at 5s (like they shoot normally without help, remember twinlinked) thanks to using the Commanders BS on overwatch:victory:


Has that ever been resolved; RE Telion?


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Vaz said:


> Has that ever been resolved; RE Telion?


No idea about the Telion part at all.
From what I can get here the Drones:
Counterfire says bearer has BS2 on overwatch.
Controller says Drones use the bearers BS instead of their own.


Just realised I should rewrite the other post for clarification....


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## Shrouded in Death (Mar 23, 2014)

i'm not sure if anyone's noticed but i've seen posts of people putting shadowsun with riptides and allowing the riptide to benefit from the stealth and shrouded she confers to the squad she's with but by being an independent character and the riptide being a single model MC (not including the drones it can take) she can't actually join it as per the rules on pg39 of the BRB independent characters can't join such models thereby negating said combo completely or is there something i'm missing?

pg39 Independant Characters

"independent characters can join other units
they cannot however join vehicle squadrons or units that always consist of
a single model (such as most vehicles and monstrous creatures)"


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