Essentially this is a list of the models I like, arranged in the best way I can find to have a decent chance at being fun to play with if not win every game. It hits very hard with the +1 Strength within 12” for all my assault weapons, something Tau are not low on by any measure. The list’s resilience is based on a not insignificant number of shield drones for the Crisis and Broadside units, shield generators on Crisis also. In combination with Reinforced Armour this can make Battlesuits pretty difficult to shift. S6 isn’t too common, but reducing S5 to 5+ wound against my Crisis and Broadsides, as well as 4+ to wound vs my Stealth. S3 shooting will have a tough time wounding on 6+ vs most of the list. It also makes S7 anti tank guns struggle vs my Gunships, forcing the commitment of proper anti tank with S8 and above to really dent them efficiently. Diplomatic Excellence (Aura) : While a friendly DAL’YTH or T’AU AUXILIARY unit (excluding CHARACTER units) is within 6" of this WARLORD, add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of models in that unit. There are some things about it I’m less keen on – nothing that ruins the book, but still worth highlighting. Some of the mechanics feel maybe a bit more complicated than they need to, and variable cost guns are a bit of a headache for list building, and I expect to see lots of errors both on the tabletop and in army lists in the opening few weeks with this book. It’s nothing that familiarity won’t sort out, and I don’t see it as a long-term issue, but I wonder if maybe another pass to iron out complexity and a few weird interactions might have helped. My list of stuff from this book that I think is genuinely rules-ambiguous is longer than the one for Genestealer Cults, though to be fair can be construed more as praise for the GSC book than criticism for this one. I also think the internal balance of non-unit stuff here is a fair bit weaker than some other books – there are definite standout Septs, and the book contains the worst single relic yet published in 9th in the Kindled Blade. I’m also a little jumpy that triple Stormsurge might be strong, real, and not that much fun to deal with, but a lot of the worst excesses you can dream up with here get heavily mitigated by GW Open and UKTC terrain layouts. Broadsides are up next, and they also look pretty strong. The big draws out the gate here are that the rail rifle build is very cheap at 75pts before you start adding upgrades and side guns and as INFANTRY with a 2+ base save and a massive 8W they’re very tough to shift out of cover. They’re also the biggest CORE unit in the army, so a unit of three can be a great place to drop Shadowsun’s buff – if nothing else, 24 re-rolling SMS shots from out of sight is pretty scary, and now plasma rifles are good their alternative sidearm option of a twin plasma is actually worth consideration (particularly on solo models). They also get some unique suit systems – the ATS gives them auto-wounds on 6s to hit (again great if they’re planning to hide and use missiles till the enemy emerges) while the Enhanced Optics let them ignore penalties for moving and shooting, and also for shooting heavy weapons into combat. Which you want depends on how often you think you’re going to reliably be in Mont’ka while getting them into position – if you’re even the slightest bit unsure, probably take the Optics, if you’re dead certain you’re ride or die for Mont’ka, go for the ATS or one of the other choices. High-yield missile pods return as an option too, sporting baseline AP-2 in line with all other missile weapons, but they’re a considerable price premium over rail rifles and flat damage two, so definitely not the play competitively while damage reduction is such a big thing.

SEPT> unit: A unit that is from a sept and has the name of a sept as a Faction keyword on its datasheet. Note that units that are from, a specified sept, such as named characters like Aun’shi, are also < SEPT> units. Farsight Enclaves units with the FARSIGHT ENCLAVES Faction keyword are also < SEPT> units. Missile weapon: A weapon whose profile includes the word ‘missile’, or a Relic that replaces a missile weapon.Pretty much that – stealth suits are super cheap for what they do, running you only 25pts per model at base now, and you can get value both from small units for screening and larger units you want to dump buffs on – 150pts for a full squad is just not that much. 5pts for adding one fusion blaster is a far more appealing choice these days too. Both of these are very good changes for the army – the former reduces the angles opponents have to completely shut your shooting down, while the latter means Tau now have some of the very nastiest units that can fully utilise the terrain available to them. Markerlights

Guns: From the gigantic rail weaponry that’s been getting everyone hyped up all the way down to the humble pulse rifle, there are a massive number of upgrades to guns in this book, helping every unit with a projectile weapon really pull its weight. These are Strength of Stone, handing a 5+ ignore wound roll to a CORE unit (absolutely something you want for your Crisis or Broadside team), and Wisdom of the Guides, which just flat gives you a CP when you activate it. Both of these are exceptional effects, and you’re basically happy having an Ethereal on permanent double duty between these at the price you pay for one. From: The sept that a unit belongs to is the sept they are from. A unit is from a certain sept if they have that sept’s name listed on its Faction keyword line.

Expanding the Empire

Gunum: I present to you a creation. A creation that I’ve been working on since the book arrived. Through playtesting, and a general exploration of the Tau Codex, I have landed on the list that you see before yourself. Your bog-standard deep strike option, with a few abilities keying off using it. Next. Ambushing Predators If only one high-ranking political figure objective marker is on the battlefield, your Crusade force gains D3 Diplomat points. For Bork’an to properly break out competitively we probably do need to be in a world with a few less meltaguns, but as with a lot of these it’s going to feel fun to use. Farsight Enclaves Of these, we’ve already mentioned the Onager Gauntlet, which is now hilarious– it’s basically a free melee weapon for a BATTLESUIT model, granting a mighty S12 AP4 profile with damage 3. That is a profile that is genuinely dangerous, especially combined with Precision of the Hunter. An excellent upgrade.

Ultimately all three basic Commander options have some appeal – the Enforcer maybe stands out because they can do something that very little else in the army manages, but all could fit into builds. All of them can also bring a few drones from the standard gun/marker/shield choice if you want. If you want objective play with a big more crunch, Vespid are surprisingly pushed now, mostly because their guns are nasty at S5 AP-3 D2. Dealing damage isn’t their primary function, but you can throw a unit of six in your list for Retrieve Nachmund Data for a mere 72pts, and having some genuinely pretty relevant guns for a bit of chip damage on top of that is gravy. It’s just about possible that Dal’yth can push these to a point where they’re a credible threat, but just in general they’re an extremely acceptable utility squad. Sept Stratagem: A Stratagem associated with a specific sept. These are only available if your army includes a Sept Detachment of the associated sept. All Sept Stratagems have the T’au Empire label.

Sector A

Sept: T’AU EMPIRE units with the < SEPT> keyword will belong to one sept (or Farsight Enclaves). When you include such a unit in your army, you must select a sept’s keyword or FARSIGHT ENCLAVES to replace this keyword with. Next on the fancy toys list are some Commander upgrades, allowing you to boost the AP of their guns and add some mortals on 6s with the Seeker of Perfection trait and boost the wound rolls of two of their guns (as long as you’re within half range) via the Overdrive Power Systems Relic. Both of these look very usable – the trait is behind the generic Precision of the Hunter option for a murder Commander, but some lists absolutely want two, so go wild, while the relic can slot onto pretty much any build nicely thanks to the increased range. Rules for constructing a Tau army, including overhauled Sept traits and powerful new versions of the tactical philosophies to reward you for spreading the Tau’va. There are few more perilous and nightmarish battlefields than those created when a tangled cityscape is plunged into ruinous war. Yet it is amidst such conditions that the T’au of Sa’cea Sept excel. They make an art of fighting through half-collapsed cities, knowing just how to exploit this inimical environment to their advantage.

I’ve probably written too much about this subject, but I can’t get enough of this book. I have been having a blast playing with the new Codex and these great units. I hope you guys can see past the lies of the Farsight Enclaves and embrace the truth that is the Outer Enclaves. In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/or http://www.youronlinechoices.com. All burst cannons are better, with INFANTRY ones getting more shots, and the ones on bigger tanks getting uplifted to be accelerator burst cannons, which have an extremely spicy 8 shots at S6 AP-1.Commander in XV8 Crisis Battlesuit x1 with Missile Pod x2 Plasma Rifle x1 Burst Cannon x1 Solid Image Projection Unit DW-02 Advanced Burst Cannon. Warlord – Precision of the Hunter – 150 Only the Hammerhead railgun gets to ignore invulns, but all flavours of rail weaponry hit hard and do automatic mortals as soon as they wound, helping push through defences. Crisis Teams: Good news Tau players – they rule. Faster, deadlier and tougher and with a whole host of support, Crisis teams should take their rightful place as a core part of Tau armies everywhere. That’s obviously bad news, but the good news is the price is pretty attractive (80pts for a Strike Team, 85pts for Breachers) and a combination of upgrades to their basic kit and the array of buffs you can apply makes them pretty dangerous. Strike Teams tote pulse rifles, one of the nastiest basic infantry guns in the game at RF1 36” S5 AP-1. As discussed in stratagems, you can easily push this as far as AP-3, can get two shots at full range, and can apply hit boosts or re-rolls in multiple ways, so these can hit with some reasonable force. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Prototype Systems are now Tau’s paid upgrade option, letting you take additional wargear or super-powered versions of weapons on Commanders, Crisis Team/Bodyguard Sergeants and Ghostkeels (though there’s really only a few for the latter). Most are weapon upgrades (where like relics you have to buy the base weapon first) but there are a couple of bits of more esoteric fare here too. Same deal as ever with these – only one per unit, only one of each, none for Named Characters.