# Building A Tau Army From the Beginning



## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

First off, how's everyone doing? Good? Ok! Here's what i'm up to. After a 6 month hiatus from all things 40K I wanted to get back to it. Sitting in my apartment are 100's of points worth of unfinished armies (blood angels, death guard, necrons) so i decided to commit to building and painting one 1000pt army from start to finish. I will need help from you fine people here! The army i have decided on are the Tau. The shooty aspect of them really intrigued me. Plus, who doesn't like kick ass battle suits? In order to see how i liked painting and building them i purchased a box of fire warriors as a test unit. I like them. I will post pics of the unit that is in progress. Now, what do i need from you guys? Well, i need you to help me with all aspects of building this army. What should my list look like? What unit do i buy next? After i post pics, what would you like to see me paint next? That sort of stuff. I have no experience or knowledge of the Tau other than stuff I've read about here and there. I don't even own the codex yet. Essentially i am willing to leave the entire construction of this army to the whim of the collective Heresy hive mind!


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

An interesting idea, but what if we all say different things? 

I think your best bet is to get the codex, decide on some army ideas and then let us vote on them. If you really want to finish the army it's probably better to have some emotional investment in it.

on the other hand if you are just willing to listen to crazy suggestions I will put forward 1000 point kroot sniper hoard :wink:


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Haha, good point. I obviously won't be just blindly doing ridiculous suggestions. I would like it to be a somewhat effective force. I care much more about having fun than winning. For instance if a lot of people suggest a riptide with a crazy weapon load because they want to see it, i'll totally do it. However, if someone says they want to see a 1000 points of kroot snipers, i may try to negotiate it down to one squad and whatever paint scheme they would like to see. Again, i own no Tau other than 12 fire warriors. Since i don't know the army well, i'll be going on faith for what the majority of people suggest to get the ball rolling.


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

Pictuuuuuuures


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

torealis said:


> Pictuuuuuuures


Ask and you shall receive...

here are the pics,

first up is my test model








I like how he came out. Just a simple paint job with a couple freehand markings. Nothing flashy. 

And here is what I've got in progress...



As you can see I'm at the absolute beginning stage of an army. Feedback is greatly appreciated!


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

Really, really lovely job.

How are you basing it?


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

torealis said:


> Really, really lovely job.
> 
> How are you basing it?


I'm not sure. Open to ideas though.

Also, thank you!


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

I'm a big fan of catfight bases, gives lots of character. I love basing.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

So, i suppose it's a good time to start thinking list building. I am going to just throw an open list out there and start to fill in the blanks as things go. Let's start! I'll put units I actually own in a bold type and potential units in red Italics.

HQ
(Not sure what works best as HQ for Tau so i'll leave this blank until i get some suggestions)




Elite
(XV8 Crisis Suits seem pretty standard in any list and having them decked out in missile pods seems cool)

_XV8 Crisis Team - [3x Crisis Shas'ui w/3x Missile Pod each, 6x Shield Drone]_


Troops
(It seems all good lists have at least two Fire Warrior teams so i'll start with that. Load out is completely up for discussion)

*Fire Warrior Squad* - _[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]
_
_Fire Warrior Squad_ - _[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]_




Fast Attack
(Not too sure about fast attack but i've heard good things about pathfinders so i'll throw them in for the hell of it and take them out later if points are needed)

_Pathfinder Squad - [8x Pathfinder w/photon grenades, 1x Pathfinder w/Rail Rifle, 1x Pathfinder Shas'ui, 1x Grav-inhibitor Drone, 2x Shield Drone]
_




Heavy Support
(Another spot i have no idea what to do with)









And that's a start. I'm open to any suggestions. Drones are another thing I'm not too sure about. I put shield drones down for everyone but those can obviously be changed. What i've got down comes to about 737 pts. Plenty of room to add and play around. Lets make a list!


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

torealis said:


> I'm a big fan of catfight bases, gives lots of character. I love basing.


I'm not sure what that is.


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

Lol, stupid autocorrect. Cityfight


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## 93rdSaphraDarkGuard (Apr 13, 2013)

Might I suggest a fireblade for the fire warrior squads and a hammerhead with sub munition rounds. Those hammerheads always do a number on my Lemans.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

> Might I suggest a fireblade for the fire warrior squads and a hammerhead with sub munition rounds. Those hammerheads always do a number on my Lemans.


Ok, i'll add it to the list. How do the fireblades work? Are they HQ choices that can attach to the fire warriors?



> Lol, stupid autocorrect. Cityfight


Haha! Ok, that makes more sense. Once i finish up the Fire Warriors i'll make a few bases and see which style is the most popular. Urban rubble was probably the way i was leaning anyway.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

93rdSaphraDarkGuard said:


> Might I suggest a fireblade for the fire warrior squads and a hammerhead with sub munition rounds. Those hammerheads always do a number on my Lemans.


HQ
_Cadre Fireblade - [Pulse Rifle, Photon Grenades, Markerlight]_

_Cadre Fireblade - [Pulse Rifle, Photon Grenades, Markerlight]_


Elite
(XV8 Crisis Suits seem pretty standard in any list and having them decked out in missile pods seems cool)

_XV8 Crisis Team - [3x Crisis Shas'ui w/3x Missile Pod each, 6x Shield Drone]_


Troops
(It seems all good lists have at least two Fire Warrior teams so i'll start with that. Load out is completely up for discussion)

*Fire Warrior Squad* - _[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]
_
_Fire Warrior Squad_ - _[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]_




Fast Attack
(Not too sure about fast attack but i've heard good things about pathfinders so i'll throw them in for the hell of it and take them out later if points are needed)

_Pathfinder Squad - [8x Pathfinder w/photon grenades, 1x Pathfinder w/Rail Rifle, 1x Pathfinder Shas'ui, 1x Grav-inhibitor Drone, 2x Shield Drone]
_




Heavy Support

_Hammerhead Gunship - [Railgun with Submunitions, 2x Gun Drones]_




Ok, with suggestions this list is now up to 987 points. Do i need 2 Fireblades? Also, does the hammerhead seem excessive for 1000pt army? What should my load outs look like on my various units? For instance, does the war gear on the Fire Warriors make sense? I'm not playing tournaments but i still want to be efficient with my selections. I'm not sure if I've got redundancies happening or not.


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## 93rdSaphraDarkGuard (Apr 13, 2013)

Well since the new Astra Militarum Codex came out my buddy who plays Tau has gone against me 3 times in 1000 point games (to keep them relatively quick) he got the snot kicked out of him the first game because he couldnt pen the 2 Lemans that I brought as an hq choice. The next two games he brought a hammerhead and those Pathfinders and it ended up being a pretty fair and fun fight.
And you probably only need 1 of those fireblades. Drop 1 and a couple gun drones to put in some of those nifty stealth suit and you now have an ace in the hole with fusion blasters :good:


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

93rdSaphraDarkGuard said:


> Well since the new Astra Militarum Codex came out my buddy who plays Tau has gone against me 3 times in 1000 point games (to keep them relatively quick) he got the snot kicked out of him the first game because he couldnt pen the 2 Lemans that I brought as an hq choice. The next two games he brought a hammerhead and those Pathfinders and it ended up being a pretty fair and fun fight.
> And you probably only need 1 of those fireblades. Drop 1 and a couple gun drones to put in some of those nifty stealth suit and you now have an ace in the hole with fusion blasters :good:



Ok, that's some good info. I'll make those changes. Any Tau players out there want to weigh in on this? Particularly war gear on these units?


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

HQ
Cadre Fireblade - [Pulse Rifle, Photon Grenades, Markerlight]



Elite
(XV8 Crisis Suits seem pretty standard in any list and having them decked out in missile pods seems cool)

XV8 Crisis Team - [3x Crisis Shas'ui w/3x Missile Pod each, 2x Shield Drone]

XV104 Riptide - [Heavy Burst Cannon, Twin Linked Smart Missiles, Target Lock]

Troops
(It seems all good lists have at least two Fire Warrior teams so i'll start with that. Load out is completely up for discussion)

Fire Warrior Squad-[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]

Fire Warrior Squad-[11x Fire Warriors w/photon grenade, 1x Shas'ui w/Marker Light and Target Lock, 2x Shield Drone]




Fast Attack
(Not too sure about fast attack but i've heard good things about pathfinders so i'll throw them in for the hell of it and take them out later if points are needed)

Pathfinder Squad - [10x Pathfinder w/photon grenades, 1x Grav-inhibitor Drone,]





Heavy Support

Hammerhead Gunship - [Railgun with Submunitions, 2x Gun Drones]



1000 pts


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Off from work tonight, going to have some dinner and then a night of painting. Hopefully I can get half of this fire warrior squad done tonight. I'll post pics of the results later.


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

I would try and shoehorn a riptide in over the stealth suits. I really like stealth suits but the riptide is just great both in terms of the model and performance.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Varakir said:


> I would try and shoehorn a riptide in over the stealth suits. I really like stealth suits but the riptide is just great both in terms of the model and performance.


Ok, I do like the riptide a lot. Plus it would act as a very nice centerpiece to the army. What would be good load out?


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Done, edited above list. Comes out to 1000 on the nose. Had to remove stealth team, drop Drones from the crisis team and remove the extras on the pathfinders except for the grav inhibitor Drone. How does this list look to everyone now?


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Got some good painting in! Finished the base coats on the armor and sleeves on the arms and guns. Washes next and then some touch ups and highlights. Also got the base coat done on one of the Drones as well. Here's a couple progress shots....





and one up close. This Is pretty much representative of where they are all at...


comments and criticism always welcome!


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

So I was painting the second layer onto the Drone armor when I noticed a cool thing happening. The base coat was looking cool with the mid layer so I left it on certain panels. It looks like the GW scheme but a little lighter I think. Here are some pics...






How's it look? I'm thinking It could be cool on the vehicles and suits but not the body armor. Should I stick to one solid color?


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

its actualy nice to see a Tau plog o-o I like seeing people paint up them xenos ^^ I should probably get around to a xenos army myself sometime.

I like how you stick to the traditional Tau orangy theme, nice clean paintjobs too! looking forward to seeing more.


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

List and models both looking good, that paint job is super clean :victory:

Have you thought about a theme for the army yet?


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Varakir said:


> List and models both looking good, that paint job is super clean :victory:
> 
> Have you thought about a theme for the army yet?


Thanks, any suggestions on the painting? As far as a theme, I haven't really though about it. I've got very little knowledge of the Tau. Paint wise I did have an idea about denoting higher importance with white armor panels. For instance a special weapon wielder may have a couple white panels where as a Sargent would have several white panels. Sort of like the higher up they are the more pure they are and their armor reflects that. Just a thought.


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

dragonadam said:


> Thanks, any suggestions on the painting? As far as a theme, I haven't really though about it. I've got very little knowledge of the Tau. Paint wise I did have an idea about denoting higher importance with white armor panels. For instance a special weapon wielder may have a couple white panels where as a Sargent would have several white panels. Sort of like the higher up they are the more pure they are and they're armor reflects that. Just a thought.


Great concept. Love it.

Do you play with friends? It might be a good idea to get some campaign ideas going, and theme the army that way. If you take a look at my bases, all my 40k armies will be done in the same way. Ties in everything I do.

A quick thought: I hate flying bases. The small ones are oddly slightly larger than 25mm bases, and the large ones are slightly over the 60mm standard base. They're very difficult to base on because of their smooth surface. I would heartily recommend using a standard 25mm or 60mm base for your drones/hovertanks. It will maintain consistency throughout the force and makes them much easier to actually base when you get there.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

So basically I would attach a flying stem to a regular infantry base (25mm)? I could glue a quarter under it to help with balance because; why not make a GW product more expensive? Haha.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Any ideas on Sept markings? Or does anyone know have any idea where to find good resource material other than the codex. I'm probably not going to have that for a couple of weeks. I plan on coming up with my own but I wanted to draw some inspiration from somewhere .


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Finished up the armor and washes. Definitely like the white panels on certain models to denote importance. 





and here's a close up on the special weapon dude with white armor plates...





Highlights and finishing touches in the next photo installment..... hopefully....


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Got some more work done. Highlights done and 2 models and a Drone finished except for minor details. Here they are. I think the highlighting on the black looks "ok." Please let me know what you think of them.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Finished up the highlights on all the armor and weapon panels. All I have left is some highlights on the black areas and picking out some lenses. Then any touch ups and these guys are done. They aren't going to win any golden demons but I'd say they are definitely at least tabletop quality. I'm happy with the results so far. Let me know what you think!


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

So I should have these fire warriors complete in a week or two. What should i get next based on the list in previous posts? Anyone want to see something painted up?


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## revolantis (Jun 27, 2013)

Really nice work on the Fire Warriors. And kudos on the whole public opinion army idea. Just to throw an idea out there I'd love to see you take on some crisis suits.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

revolantis said:


> Really nice work on the Fire Warriors. And kudos on the whole public opinion army idea. Just to throw an idea out there I'd love to see you take on some crisis suits.




Alright! One vote for crisis suits. If nobody else has a say then that's what will be next.


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Well nobody else seems to care revolantis so crisis suits it is!


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## revolantis (Jun 27, 2013)

Heh, I think it's a solid choice. Get some practice on the larger armour panels before moving onto the grav tanks. Keep up the good work!


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

revolantis said:


> Heh, I think it's a solid choice. Get some practice on the larger armour panels before moving onto the grav tanks. Keep up the good work!



Is there Anything particular that you would like to see on them paint wise?


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## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

dragonadam said:


> Well nobody else seems to care revolantis so crisis suits it is!


Aye do the crisis suits :victory:

I am slowly building up my tau force ready to begin so i'll be checking in here for inspiration


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## dragonadam (Mar 22, 2011)

Ok! Finished the first half of fire warriors....








I like how they came out but there is definitely room for improvement. Areas to work on in my opinion are:

Weapon highlighting
(Need to find a different color combo for the black as well as clean up the lining.)

Sept Markings
(Need to come up with something original. Also need to work on making them as identical as possible. I hate transfers so this will just require practice)

General Highlighting
(I need to get better at highlighting as far as a stationary light source is involved.)

Pros in my opinion:

Armor panels
(I kept the panel recesses undercoat black. I think it gives then good depth and I like it better than if I were to wash over the armor in a dark brown)

Lenses
(They just came out surprisingly well to me)

Cohesiveness
(I actually wrote my method down while doing the test model and this allowed me to get the whole unit actually looking like they are in the same unit.)

The Drone
(Honestly this ended up one of my favorite models that I've ever painted!)
So that's that! I'll try and take some better shots but until then it's on to the next half and then an extra special job for the unit officer. Please comment question and criticise! It's the best way to get better and I love the feedback!


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## revolantis (Jun 27, 2013)

Looking very nice indeed :good:
Tau were my first army and I always struggled with the clean black lines in the armour recesses. I'll have to revisit them some day.


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