Farsight Enclave T'au 500 Point Battlesuit Army

I'm taking a break from talking about Space Marines, as there are no new nuggets of information to share on them. I'm re-organising my T'au School League army, as the old one is simply not possible under the new rules, and this will give me some time to consider my response to some people on Facebook.

For the second time in my blogging career, someone has sicced moderators or community managers on me. Strangely enough, the first time was when I started using Twitter, and someone came after me for being critical of a marketing post by Games Workshop. I'd be lieing if I didn't say these instances have ruffled my feathers, and if you'll indulge me after the army list I'll talk a bit more about it.

However, lets talk about more important things first: my beloved T'au.

These were the very first army I ever posted on the blog, and have been my most successful and most powerful to date. In 450 points I squeezed in a marker light commander, a Riptide, and two hero crisis suit teams who assaulted objectives. The only other army that came close to their success rate were the Three Musketeers, but they only ever got in one game before the edition changed.

Unfortunately, with the Force Organisation changes, and battle suits starting at units of three... this no longer works. There's no Farsight Enclave supplement to make crisis suits troops, and with the Riptide being as expensive as it is now, it's no longer my Commander's buddy artillery unit. Something needed to change. And change is good!

Before I launch into the list and the usage, remember my lists always start from a School League perspective, and this year the points total is 650 points. I'll note how to knock it down to 500 points after the main list.

Commander Ryo'ma leads his battle suits!

Outrider Detachment: Mu'gulath Bay's Revenge!

HQ

Commander: Advanced targeting system,, Drone controller,, 2x Missile pod
[137 pts]

Fast Attack

Tactical Drones: 4x Gun Drones
[32 pts]

Tactical Drones: 4x Marker Drones
[40 pts]

Tactical Drones: 4x Marker Drones
[40 pts]

Elites

XV8 Crisis Battlesuits:   

Shas'ui w/ Burst Canon, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Flamer

2x Shas/vre w/ 2x Burst canons, Flamer

[221 pts]

XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit: 2x Flamer, Advanced targeting system, Cyclic ion raker, Target lock

[179 pts]

TOTAL: 648 points, 33 Power Levels

Mu'gulath Bay's Revenge!

 To take it down to 500 points, drop the Ghostkeel and swap the Drone Controller on the Commander for another missile pod. That will somewhat make up for the loss in firepower, and without the big guy there, you won't need as many marker light hits. Then your choice of weapon upgrades for the Crisis suit team!

To use this force it's relatively simple.

• Commander and drones: These are your back row. The Commander peppers the enemy with accurate missile fire, whilst the drones give marker light support. The gun drone unit acts as a screen against any charging or deep striking units. The Commander has the really good Advanced Targeting system, meaning 4 Str 7 AP -2 damage d3 shots a turn... and with marker light support, these are just like 7th Edition twin linked missile pods!

You may have noticed there's no infantry here. Well, I've never been comfortable with the idea of putting soldiers in harms way when drones an take that role.It's a fluffy choice, rather than a practical one, as Fire Warriors are ridiculously good in this edition... but I don't want to risk T'au lives.

• Crisis suit team: These are basically T'au Inceptors, dropping in from Manta Strike and unloading fire on a soft and squishy target. They have flamers for Overwatch and general burning, and since they have three wounds a suit with Toughness 5... thy're actually pretty hard to shift! Harass the enemy, Fall Back towards your lines, or sit on an objective. A really useful unit!

I know a lot of lists this edition would swap out the suits for another commander... but I just can't say no to crisis suits. I grew up on a steady diet of Robotech, Gundam, Gurren Lagan and every other mecha anime out there, and the thought of not having battle suits is just... wrong.

• Ghostkeel: Artillery, big bruiser, and general thorn in the enemy side. He gets in the mid-field early thanks to Infiltrator, and should have enough tools and tricks to kite the enemy around the battlefield. Again, the Advanced Targeting System makes his armament that much better, and marker light support makes his cyclic ion blaster on overcharge very much worthwhile! I've opted for a Target Lock, to give him more independence from marker light support when firing his heavy weapon.

The Ghoskeel is replacing my Riptide. He doesn't quite have the same battlefield presence, but adjustments and compromises need to be made to fit new editions... at least until the next codex comes out! He's also a donation from one of the school club members that left last year. I'm sure he'd be happy to know this guy will be battling student neophytes in the future!

Pose for the camera!

I haven't said anything about the people on Facebook though. I'am actually not inclined to say much though, as having thought about it they were flat out wrong. They accused me of posting click bait, and that my work had nothing of substance.

I spend too much time as it is on writing these posts, which is even worse use of my time considering how much I get paid for them... which is nothing but what my Patreon and AdSense yield at this point (Praise be the First Patron). I've spent more on giving students paint, models and brushes than I'm entirely comfortable telling my wife about, and to have over 300 posts worth of work dismissed as click bait is absurd.

A man with less to do would waste time on being annoyed by that. I haven't got time to dwell on it, as the next post is due tomorrow, and The Winter Term is coming.

I will however, say thank you to those who liked and commented positively on the post, and every other post this year. You make it all worth while, and I cannot say how much you engaging with what I do here means to me.

You're the ones that keep me going when I'm explaining the Overwatch rules for the 500th time.

Thank you all.

Until next time.


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