Tau Review
Now that the Tau Codex has been out for a few weeks, I feel
I can make a more objective review of the book. Early read throughs by myself, and my gaming group had a less
than positive view of the Tau book. The general view point that we had was that
the book was marginally better, if better at all, than the previous book. This
notion came about from the one major “Nerf” of the Tau Codex, the reduction of
Broadsides from being S10 AP1 to S8 AP1. The army seemed like it had no new
tricks really, but all I can say to that is that I, and my friends, were
misguided.
Before I get into any in-depth thoughts on this book, I need
to illustrate a few perceptions that I have first. Since, 6th
dropped, I have felt that the game play best represents Epic: Armageddon, which
in my opinion is the best rule set GW ever published. This view was never
better enacted than with the new Tau Book. The best aspect of each army in Epic
is that they play exactly to the fluff. The new Tau Codex does this perfectly.
So, just know that the Tau Codex is best played the way Tau fight…
Early Perceptions
When I first got my hands on the book, I immediately looked
at what was different and the points. Like most, my first few drafts were all
about firepower. Tau are THE shooting army, right? Yes and no. Imperial Guards
are about quantity, were as Tau are about the quality. Though I have known this
since 3rd, it is sometimes tough to stay on track and see the
nuances in the book right away.
First lesson, Tau will not win the game through sheer might.
My first lists consisted of things like 2 units of
Broadsides and 2 Riptides with the wrong upgrades.
Second Thoughts
After the initial ideas proved wrong, my next set was all
about tricks. Invisible Farsight Bombs or Infiltrating, Invisible Riptides.
Both were novel, and could win games, but not stand in a competitive environment.
Lesson 2, tricks are for kids.
Evolved Ideas
After a series of mind bombs, destroying my early
perceptions, I now have better ideas as to how the army should be played. The
best way to describe that is fluid. The army needs to be able to respond to
different threats on the fly. Not in the sense of an all comers list, but more
like that of a master surgeon with a Swiss Army Scalpel.
This section will be by far the longest, so stick around.
Tau in previous editions have suffered from a variety of
short comings. These mainly consisted of assault and reserve list that Alpha
Striked(namely Drop Pods). In the new edition these can be mitigated by the
smart commander.
First thing we need to do is look at the new rules and
wargear available to the Tau. I’m going to skip over supporting fire, as this
one is obvious enough. What I want to concentrate on is Early Warning Override,
Velocity Trackers, Command and Control Node, and Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite. These items
combine to make the biggest difference in the book.
First up is the Early Warning Override. This upgrade is
simple enough. It allows for intercept. This is huge. It allows a unit to have
a greater command of the game and serve multi roles. What seals the deal on
this one is the 5 point price tag. There is so much to this simple upgrade.
This is your anti reserve upgrade and to a lesser extent, anti air. Consider
this upgrade on a unit of 3 Broadsides with max missile drones and High Yield
Missiles. A unit that deep strikes in, outflanks, or comes on from reserves can
be targeted at the end of their movement phase. You can shoot them with either
12 shots from the Missile Pods or 12 from the Smart Missiles. You can only
shoot one system as the multi tracker only works in your shooting phase, but
that is fine. Consider a Drop Pod coming in with a Dreadnought, you can scrap
it right away and then in your next turn target another unit in their turn with
their remaining weapons or do it the reverse were you nuke an out flanking
Genestealer unit with your Smart Missiles and unload your S7 shooting into a
Big Bug in your turn. Now consider it on a Riptide were he can unleash a S8 AP2
Large Blast weapon with a range of 72” on a unit coming in from reserve. Kill
the squad in the drop pod or those pesky cultists coming on from the board
edge. The Riptide being a monstrous creature can shoot both his weapons this
way if he chooses to.
Next are Velocity Trackers. This one is pretty straight forward.
You can choose to use the skyfire rules when shooting. At 20 points this is
pretty expensive. I would only put on things sparingly. I will get into my idea
of its proper use later on.
The new signature systems for Command and Control Node and
Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite are close in their operation and in my opinion
should be used in tandem so I will cover them together. Both can be used together and only when you
forgo your shooting. The first allows you to reroll your shots and the second
ignore cover. Both effect the entire unit. It is important to note that neither
can be used in the opposing phase, so no intercept or overwatch with them. They
are amazing. A unit of 3 suits with will average the same amount of hits with
all equipped with guns or 2 with guns and 1 with these and these ignore cover.
I love these upgrades, and used correctly are so deadly and so versatile.
Puretide Chip is another standout in the codex. It is the
perfect example of my ideas of being fluid with your Tau force. It allows you
to choose counter attack, furious charge, tank hunter, monster hunter or
stubborn each turn. And these do carry over into the other turn.
These upgrades all work amazingly well together. Let me give
you my basic example of what is possible with all of these. For this example we
will have a Commander with the Multi Spectrum Sensor Suite, the Command and
Control Node, the Puretide chip, a missile pod, Early Warning Override and a
velocity tracker for flavor. He will be joined to a unit of Broadsides all with
High Velocity Missiles, Early Warning Overrides and 6 missile drones.
In your turn your unit happily kills something, a tank we will say, and in this example your Commander did not shoot so he was able to use all his gear and he choose tank hunter for the puretide chip. In your opponents turn something comes in from reserves, it can be a flyer or anything for that matter. In this we will use a flyer as the example. The Commander intercepts and skyfires with 2 shots, both should hit as they are twin linked and BS5, and the Broadsides shoot 12 shots twin linked averaging 3.66 hits for a total of 5.66 hits or 6 for the average. 6 hits with S7 and tank hunter is enough to kill most flyers out there in one snap. So then your turn comes around.
Your commander cant shoot so he automatically gets to activate his systems again twin linking those drones and giving them ignore cover. Add in the Smart missiles and you can kill something else. So the beauty is that with this combo you can kill something every turn(yours and your opponents) so long as he has reserves, and your Commander still gets to shoot even though he isn’t shooting in your turns. Taking two broadside units, one with missiles and the other with rail guns is an easy evolution for this idea so you can join the commander which ever unit is needed.
In your turn your unit happily kills something, a tank we will say, and in this example your Commander did not shoot so he was able to use all his gear and he choose tank hunter for the puretide chip. In your opponents turn something comes in from reserves, it can be a flyer or anything for that matter. In this we will use a flyer as the example. The Commander intercepts and skyfires with 2 shots, both should hit as they are twin linked and BS5, and the Broadsides shoot 12 shots twin linked averaging 3.66 hits for a total of 5.66 hits or 6 for the average. 6 hits with S7 and tank hunter is enough to kill most flyers out there in one snap. So then your turn comes around.
Your commander cant shoot so he automatically gets to activate his systems again twin linking those drones and giving them ignore cover. Add in the Smart missiles and you can kill something else. So the beauty is that with this combo you can kill something every turn(yours and your opponents) so long as he has reserves, and your Commander still gets to shoot even though he isn’t shooting in your turns. Taking two broadside units, one with missiles and the other with rail guns is an easy evolution for this idea so you can join the commander which ever unit is needed.
Lesson 3, evolve.
Stay tuned next week as I discuss more with the Tau and look
into units battlefield roles and things to do with them.
