Yes, even more (and less blurry) images have been leaked onto the interwebs. And I hate to admit it but the flyer is really starting to grow on me…

Here it is folks, a blurry photo of the Tau Codex…The commander model reflects this dude but sadly the crisis suit haven’t been updated which is a real shame.

And just to make you cry, the price lists…

Riptide Suit £50.00

Sun Shark Bomber / Razorshark Strike Fighter £40.00

Hammerhead / Skyray £35.00

Pathfinders (plastic) £20.00

Broadside £30.00

Crisis Suits (boxed set) £45.00

Cadre Fireblade £12.00

Tau Battlesuit Commander £25.00

Commander Farsight £30.00

Darkstrider £11.00

Longstrike £9.50 

Battleforce £80.00

It’s that time again boys and girls. So the Tau have had a badly needed shake up and got themselves a couple of new models and a shiny new book for their trouble.

First of all, the cover is absolutely spectacular. It’s quite possibly the coolest we’ve ever seen a crisis suit.

Secondly it’s also the best looking Codex of the new wave. The inlay is made of thicker stock but it’s still a little on the cheap side and the fold out was straight this time, but they’re still a pain in the arse and impossible to keep nice because GW aren’t printing that page on undersized A3. And there’s still bloody typos! It started promisingly enough but the further I got into the book they started cropping up. I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times; it’s really very poor form for Games Workshop to charge what they do and not thoroughly check their work.

But anyway, the book is undeniably beautiful and for the first time ever, interesting. I worked for the Games Workshop when the first Tau Codex came out and I blew my lousy keytimer wage on as much Tau stuff that I possibly could. I was swept up in new army fever and before I knew it I had a 3,500 point army – some of it painted – before I realised that the Tau were just a little bit bland. Fantastic army, but I just couldn’t get excited about them and it wasn’t long before they were at the bottom of my considerable stack of figure cases.

So lack lustre was my interest in Tau that I never got around getting the second iteration of the Codex – and the first to be called Tau Empire. Indications are that I haven’t missed much. This new Codex however feels very well-rounded and cohesive. For the first time I feel like that I understand the Tau, their place in the galaxy and their ambitions. And, more importantly, for the first time ever I give a shit.

It’s hard to explain but it’s just interesting. It’s perhaps down to the writing – shoddy proof reading aside – but it’s a surprisingly engaging background. Normally, being a life long Space Marine player, I get mildly indignant when I read in a non-Imperial Codex of the Imperium getting its arse handed to it. With the Tau it didn’t bother me in the slightest. Maybe it’s because the Tau are all so dead huggy about everything. Or maybe it was written without the usual unconscious bias towards the Imperium that Codices usually have.

That said the whole alien auxiliary thing is still massively wooly and I suspect down played because Games Workshop, despite rumours to the contrary, were not updating or releasing any new alien auxiliary units. Which makes me ask the question: why have them at all? The Kroot are fine albeit an acquired taste but the Vespid are shit, being massively overshadowed by the other units available under Fast Attack. And they’re still the only two units in the army and both lack Supporting Fire which is so incredibly handy you’d be mad not to field Tau units. Although is it me or would human auxiliaries make sense? They could have done a conversion kit to Tau-ify Cadian kits. Again, I suppose not worth the investment especially when customers can just buy a box of guard and a box (or two) of Fire Warriors.

The army list itself has had quite a few tweaks with no real additions other than the Riptide. It’s a beast of a model and can pack quite a wallop but be warned, it’s not as tough a nut to crack as it first appears as there’s about fourteen different ways for it to blow itself up. Mainly through the use of Ion weapons which GW have tried hard to make them worth taking with the overcharge function. Unfortunately it’s just not worth it when the standard firing modes are plenty good enough – basically a turbocharged autocannon – and only against horde armies would the overcharge ever be worth it – assuming you don’t blow your own arm off in the process as they Get Hot. And even then poses just too great a risk for the points investment. But despite all that it’s still immensely cool and I’ll probably have to get one just so I can paint it up as Optimus Prime. Because everyone knows Tau are Autobots and Necrons are Decepticons…

But moving on…

There’s now an abundance of Drones, the Tau Empire taking their lead from iPhone ads that must have only just reached their communication network – co-opting as they have Apple’s ethos so they have a Drone for that. This is by no means a grumble on my part as I love Drones. I had to big units in my army of old as between their twin linked carbine and toughness and initiative of 4 they were not only decent at shooting but not bad in a fight either. The variety is sensible and in line with the Tau’s ever-expanding understanding of technology, with certain drones only being available to certain units to augment what would otherwise be a staggering weakness in the theatre of war.

They may, however, have over egged the pudding slightly with Pathfinders, however, because they’re just sick. Awesomely so if you’re a Tau player but so much so that anyone I meet that doesn’t have at least one unit of Pathfinders in their Tau army I will openly mock. And why? Well, for a start they can take Pulse Accelerator Drones increase the range of any pulse weapons by 6″, boosting the carbine range to 24″ which for a strength 5, AP4, assault 2 weapon with Pinning is utterly horrendous. And all for 15 points for the unit. And that’s not including the drones that the Sha’ui can take. Or drones like the Gravity Wave Drone which can slow down an assaulting unit. And if you’re feeling really flush, chuck Darkstrider in there and all you non-vehicle opponents are at -1 toughness. So Space Marines are suddenly being wounded on 2′s from 24″ away with 20 shots from a full squad, a turn. Anything Toughness 3 gets instant killed. Dreadknights and Wraithlords suddenly aren’t so tough any more. Oh yes, Pathfinders are awesome. And that’s without looking at the other handy-dandy stuff like markerlights, rail rifles – which are awesome – and ion rifles – which are kinda awesome but I prefer rail rifles.

But we can’t have it all ways. The rumour that you could take Crisis suits as troop choices was untrue so gamers will be forced to buy either Fire Warriors which are starting to look a little dated with the shonky detailing on most of the legs, and the fairly inflexible poses, or Kroot which force you into a very specific way of playing. All I can see happening, is gamers buying a single Fire Warrior squad and splitting it into two 6 model units and blowing the rest of their points on the cool shit.

Granted, the Tau army list does encourage a mutually supportive structure but when the main troop choice not only lacks modelling options but load out options as well it’s not all that inspiring and your mind turns to ways of making them all but irrelevant – and with Pathfinders being pimp and all the other units in the game being slightly more awesome than they were in the past it’s not hard. But I suppose it comes down to something I’ve noticed with the all the latest army books and codices; Games Workshop want you to buy as much as possible rather than give you the flexibility within units to do some interesting stuff with a simple conversion. So actually however you choose to collect the army you’re either spending loads on Fire Warriors because there’s not much choice, or buying all the other stuff because you’d rather chew off your own arm than field dozens of the dome headed bastards in your force.

It’s a shame as the Fire Warriors as a unit are awesome, especially with the right use of Drones, Fire Cadre and Devilfish and there’s no denying their combat effectiveness, I just wish the sculpting on the legs was better and the arms not annoying. It’s equally disappointing that the Crisis suit kits weren’t redone but I’m just going to head over to Forge World. Yes it means paying a tenner more per suit but they’re just vastly superior kits.

Codex: Tau Empire is in my opinion the strongest codex to date. Aside from the background being brilliant, the army list reflects it faithfully. The greater emphasis on Drones alongside a more robust feel to the Broadside and the improvements with Pathfinders highlighting the new dangers the Tau face beyond their borders. It’s far too special rule heavy though, literally every unit in the book having something that would make their mothers proud of and it doesn’t always feel necessary. It’s just one more thing that’ll start arguments and slow down play until you learn them all. Some, I admit, are completely justified, others not so much.

To be honest I’m totally sold on the Tau. The variety in the army list allows for some fairly unique armies, beyond the stale core force, and, aside from the awesome design, the flyers in the Tau army feel like the serve a purpose as opposed to the Dark Angels one that felt like a bolt on. Presumably so they wouldn’t feel left out in the cold when Codex: Space Marines comes out in a few weeks time.

It’s not a perfect book, or a perfect army – the characters seem too cheap, the Vespid too dear and the hammerhead way too cheap for its destructive potential and again, the sheer volume of special rules makes my mind leak from my ears but, despite, all that, they’re finally an exciting army with real challenge to forming a force as well as a real challenge to use and face on the board.

Codex: Tau Empire is available from Firestorm Games priced £27 and the Tau range is available from £10.80

So once again the Tau march across gaming boards around the globe for the greater good of the galaxy. And, as ever, the Fire Caste are at its vanguard, blazing a path through those that will not join in the Tau’s noble undertaking. At its heart are the Fire Warriors, the front line troopers of every Tau military action in its history of expansion.

I thought rather than review the Fire Warriors I would more reflect on them as it’s tough to review a box of toys that’s 13 – I shit thee not – years old and that I owned 4 boxes of. All those many years ago when I was a Games Workshop member of staff during, what I refer to as, the Golden Age.

I can remember first opening up a box and pulling out the sprues which are, by today’s standards, very sparsely laid out. At the time they were so far removed from anything the Games Workshop had done before it was a very exciting time to be in the hobby, let alone for an 18-year-old member of staff who could get it all at a discount.

Compared to the multipart plastic Space Marines that had been released 2 years before they were actually less sophisticated with arguably less variety. But what they were was different. And sci-fi. They were the first models in the 40k Universe that felt near future and more in line with the future path that I would argue humanity is on rather than the grim darkness of the grim dark Imperium of the grim dark future. Grim. Dark. Whereas the Imperial Guard weren’t much more than the army 30 years ago with sci-fi guns, the segmented armour over fatigues of the Tau is far closer to the armour worn by soldiers the world over and the future armour currently being developed.

The Tau also won fame for their unintentional Pokeball style grenades and scanners that looked suspiciously like the ones from Ghostbusters. But I like to think that it was a homage along with the obvious 90′s Manga influences that inspired the Crisis Suits.

I think for many, the appeal of the Tau has been their weaponry; not just in game terms but their aesthetic. They feel a little bit Star Trek: lots of interlocking panels that look like they’re held together with magnets and the rail guns aren’t too far away from the technology being developed in the present.

The sculpting is now a tad dated. The laziness of the detailing on the legs around armour plates is by recent standards quite poor but I suppose one must consider their age in the same way that most Space Marine players forgive the corners cut on the multipart Space Marine legs.

In game terms the Fire Warriors are one of the best troop choices in the game. If not one of the best units overall in the game.

Aside from benefitting from armour that ignores the AP of every basic weapon in the game, they also get a 30 inch range, strength 5, AP 5 basic weapon of their own. In 6th edition this spells untold misery for any army with low armoured vehicles but it actually makes them as good as Space Marines as they gain on the wound roll what they lose on the to hit roll. And all for 9 points each.

Granted that 4+ armour save isn’t as good but the option of taking a couple of shield drones at 12 points each affords the unit a 2 4+ invulnerables at a spread out cost of an extra 2 points per model for a full unit. So 11 points a model, which is still 5 less than a Space Marine. And a Fire Warrior will get the first volley off which will include crippling the Rhinos Space Marine players will take to try to keep their blokes alive for longer.

Although the Tau army only gives you two choices for troops, as choices go it’s a bloody good one. Yes the helmets and legs look a little tired compared to other models in the range – even ones as old – but they’re still pretty cool. And at 9 points a model for a model that can comfortably put a dent in an armour 10 vehicle it really doesn’t get much better.

Tau Fire Warriors are available from Firestorm Games priced £19.80.

Those that read my review of Codex Tau Empire back in April will know that I was rather taken with the grey skinned bastards. So much so that I’m doing a little 1,000 point allies force to go with my two companies of Ultramarines. And those that read my review will also remember that I was rather taken with the Pathfinders. So it’s really little wonder then that I’ve got hold of a box and giving them the once over. For the greater good you understand…

Even before I read the Codex I was pleased when I heard that Pathfinders were going to be plastic as even when the Tau were first released the Pathfinders were a useful unit to have on the board, but the fact that they were metal and came in blisters of 3 and units of 6 meant that those that didn’t buy the big army box rather missed out. It was doubly true over the years metal models became increasingly expensive and the use of Pathfinders, especially with the introduction of railrifles, became more important.

The third iteration of the Codex has made at least one unit of Pathfinders a compulsory choice in all but name because they’re so damn good. Their options, especially the pulse accelerator drone (which increase pulse weapon range by 6″) means that although vulnerable in the open, they are a heavy hitting unit that can take on medium infantry as standard and then bring the pain on Terminators and the like with the handy addition of the aforementioned railrifles. To be fair the plastic models aren’t any cheaper than the metal ones were but you do get variety and lots of drones including the fooking massive recon drone. But more on that later.

So what’s in the box? Well two – which seems to be the norm these days – sprues that are crammed full of components.

I do have to hand it to the Games Workshop, although they’ve been pissing gamers off left, right and centre these last few months, they have really upped their game with getting the most out of the plastic. This arguably should make the models cheaper, but as I said – they piss people off. But I digress. The sprues are crammed with bits including some dudey pulse pistols, some pretty decent bare heads – at long bastard last – some spare pulse clips, bonding knives that don’t look lame and some other gubbins. Most importantly, you have enough bits to make a ten Tau squad armed with pulse carbines with bits enough to swap out three with railrifles or ionrifles or a combination of the two. So plenty of ptew ptew for your buck.

Although the fatigues on the legs are a little thin on detail and feel a bit more baggy than a recon unit would probably wear – and the poses are a bit shifty – the rest of the components are ace. The helmets have been refined and have improved comm aerials – just be careful trimming them free. All the weapons are crisp and the separate markerlights allows for the a degree of choice in how you build them. My small force doesn’t have them so the option of not sticking them on is good news for me. Although I suppose if you can be bothered and find magnets small enough you can make them removable.

Truth be told, the quality of the casting of the Pathfinders or the fidelity of the helmet antenna - especially compared to the Fire Warriors – or the quality of the weapons or the cool accessories, or the staggering lack of mould lines don’t steal the show. It’s the drones. They’re awesome. I mean. Awe. Some. The tits. The business. The dog hairy gonads. The recon drone is huge and may as well be Thunderbird 2 for all its whistles and bells including the pokeball grenade dispensers, a burst cannon and some nice detail. Plus the fact that you can mount it on a Devilfish is way cool.

But, importantly, it doesn’t feel like an after thought like accessories and ‘bonus’ often do. The only bummer is that, aside from the recon drone there’s only enough drone domes to make two drones. But if you’re not bothered about giving your fire warriors drones then you can make the set which does give your Pathfinders a pleasant amount of versatility.

The Pathfinder kit is one of the strongest unit boxes Games Workshop have done in a while. The arm poses coupled with enough accessories means that you’re knocking on the door of variety that the Space Marine tactical squad offers. Not quite mind you, but pretty close. But the sheer volume of cool shit makes up for it. And having the railrifles cast in lovely crisp plastic rather than metal just makes them as cool looking as the boltgun.

Throw in the fact that Pathfinders are frigging nails in the game and it’s pretty much an essential purchase if you’re collecting Tau. Unless you take a butt load of flyers, but that’s a story for another day.

Tau Pathfinders are available from Firestorm Games priced £18.

Hello there. My names Reece and Phil has kindly let me be a contributor to The Shell Case (the poor, poor fool). I’ll mostly talk about topics in the wargaming industry that interest me, along with the odd review, interview or tactica.

To get things off to a flying start, I’m going to post tacticas over the next couple of weeks which look at the usage of one of my favorite armies; the Tau Empire. Each tactica will focus on one unit and how they perform within the framework of a balanced tau force.

The first tactica will look at a unit that may have as well have been invisible (ha) in the last codex and I still think gets over shadowed by the more flashy units: Stealth Suit teams.

XV15 Stealth Armour painted by Dark6LTM of DeviantArt

In the last codex, I can understand why. They were in Elites, when Tau needed Crisis suits to give the army flexibility. Their stealth rules were a bit naff and they seemed a bit too expensive to be worth it, despite being toughness 4 with a 3+ save and a range 18″ strength 5, Ap5 weapon. But this has all changed in the new book for 3 reasons:

1.Improved Rules
We got a glimpse of how the designers were approaching Stealth Suits with the Tau Empire 6th edition FAQ last year, when instead of having the old Night Fighting rules, they were given Stealth and Shrouded for a total of a 4+ cover save even when in the open. This was, much to my joy, carried over to the new codex along with all tau suits having Night Vision as standard. Their Burst Cannons are also now Assault 4. This means that 3 guys are now putting out as many shots as a 12 man fire warrior squad and are more maneuverable  and capable of surviving return fire to boot.

2.Simplicity
The tau army is almost spoilt in what to do with many of its units, which can lead to rather unfocused army. Stealth Suit teams don’t have that option. They can take a few fusion guns to allow for tank and monstrous creature killing duty, but they are primarily all about killing infantry. Which is wonderful. The unit doesn’t really require much support either, so you can send them off to complete an objective on the battlefield confident that if you play well they will achieve it. Add Commander Shadowsun (so they can infiltrate) and watch them carry out a few sneaky tank kills followed by annoying the hell out of your opponent for the rest of the game.

Tau Stealth Suit Team painted by Burkhard of dhcwargamesblog

3. Surprise
Most opponents I have played in the past have never encountered Stealth Suits before due to their past unpopularity and certainly aren’t used to lots of units with jetpacks. They also tend to get overlooked on a battlefield when more flashy units are in play like Riptides or Crisis suits.

Use this to your advantage. Keep mobile and near cover, just off of an opponents main path of advance. If your opponent ignores them, then expect a wailing and gnashing of teeth when they suddenly find their important units gunned down and tanks blown up from the rear – because strength 5 rocks! If they choose to target them, a 2+ cover save and 3+ normal should mean they can shrug off the most determined shooting or assault, which means less heading for the rest of your army. Either way you win.

In summary, Tau Stealth suits are a great addition to your army and greatly aid its ability to disrupt and interrupt your opponents plans. They are not an over powered unit, but one I think opponents will underestimate at their peril.

Give them a try sometime and see you soon.

As a nice contrast, having reviewed the Tau Pathfinders, I thought I’d take a look at a heavy hitter and a staple of every Tau army from its original release – the Broadside.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Broadside is that they’re not a top-heavy, lumbering, plastic and metal turds of misery that crumble beneath their own weight. The other thing you’ll notice is that look nails! More to the point, they actually look like the heavy chassis battle suit that they were always meant to be as lets not forget that the full size rail cannon has to be mounted on a tank.

In the box, as with the Pathfinders, you have two sprues. And unlike the Pathfinders it’s not crammed with bits. It’s crammed with big bits. Notable, lovely big armour plates that reflect the design aesthetic that we should have with the crisis suits but have to go to Forge World to get.

It was absolutely the right decision for Games Workshop to turn these kits plastic. I had 3 of the originals back in the day and I had to repair them before every game and at least once during. And in the end there was so much dried super glue on the weapon mounts it stopped working all together. By the time I sold the army I had given up repairing them and fielded them in broken heaps. A drinks coaster would have been as much use on the board.

I’m also so pleased that the design has been refined. Although shoulder mounted railguns were cool it never struck me as terribly practical as any projectile leaving a weapons surely creates recoil through the displacement of air and the heat that generates. And seeing as the rail weapons companies like General Atomics are developing can hit mach 5, and the railguns on broadsides were strength 10 back in the day I could see the Broadsides flat on their backs, flailing about like a retarded tortoise. The new kit is also massive. Well, compared to the old one so you get quite a pit of bloke for your buck.

There’s other touches too – like the plasma rifles and missile pods have slight design improvements which is good but will overshadow weapons on crisis suits. But, I’ll take it. Especially as the version of the kit holding the heavy railrifle is awesome. It’s s rather Gundam but it’s not a bad jumping off point. The missiles also kinda remind me of Starscream from the Transformers movies. Again, not a bad thing but interesting to see where they’re getting their ideas from.

The kit is rather involved compared to some. Compared to most actually. It’s just as well the Broadside comes with an instruction manual because staring at the sprues without it just made me not want to bother. But I suppose it’s a sign that the designers are pushing the technology hard to get the best kits. So hats off there.

In game terms the Broadside has the potential to dish out some pain but with the reduced strength of 8 compared to the good old days. It can glance armour 14 but it’ll be a token inconvenience compared to other weapons in the game. The single shot means that the heavy railrifle is at its best taking out APCs to force the enemy to walk through the fire poser you send their way or making life unpleasant for Dreadnoughts. And for 65 points, it’s a cheap way of making life unpleasant. Just bear in mind that the Heavy 1 on a BS of 3 means you’ll be relying heavily on the fact it’s twin-linked. But I suppose for 65 points with that kind of stopping power (plus the missile pods/plasma rifles) it’s be a bit much to make it BS4.

The plasma rifles are a welcome addition to the unit upgrade list as it adds just that little bit of umph to its anti-tank capabilities. Again you’re only looking at thwarting smaller vehicles but the edge it gives against medium infantry is invaluable. Especially if you take a unit of them. Although as Broadsides are now relegated to very hard to kill snipers with (extremely) high velocity rifles I’m not sure if a unit is the way to go. I’m tempted to take a couple as separate heavy support choices, stick em in a lovely, thick-walled, building and use them to harass everything with armour value 13 or less whilst a hammerhead blows up the big shit. And for a relatively small outlay of points I think it’d work rather well.

It could explain why the Broadside is strength 5 and it has no shortage of attacks. It rather suggests one should be expecting to have fisticuffs whilst it operates alone. Although with armies in 40k getting faster it’s reasonable to assume that someone will, at some point, try it on. However, with only toughness 4 so it’ll take wounds. It should save most of them but to be honest, if you’ve let your Broadside get into combat then you deserve everything you get. Between plasma rifles and the sexy new missile drones it should be safe from all but the most concerted efforts.

It’s a brilliant kit, if a little fussy to build. It’s a huge improvement on the previous version and it’s kind funny to see the graduation from over-the shoulder to hand-held weapons in the same way as Space Marine devastators. It’s as it should be, it’s a logical evolution. And it looks awesome. More to the point, it looks like a bloody great mech lugging a bloody great gun capable of blowing bloody great holes in things. Used correctly it’ll be an utterly devastating unit in any Tau army.

Tau Broadsides are available from Firestorm Games priced £27.00.

Continuing a look at units of the Tau Empire codex, I’m going to focus on a unit that actually represents the entire army very well, Tau Fire Warriors. They look deceptively simple and underpowered yet have so many synergies with the rest of the army list that it can put out a surprising level of damage.

Just don’t let this happen

First of all, lets discuss what you get for your points. Fire warriors have pretty average stats for 40k (though as so many armies have a Space Marine stat line this actually makes them a little below  average), with a 4+ save and the best gun of any troop choice in the game, the pulse rifle. Range 30″ alone means that you can start popping off shows at an opponent’s units in their deployment zone. Taking a pulse carbine is tempting, but with the high level of Ld most armies have, pinning tends to have little to no effect, so I prefer the range every time.

However, for all the strength of their gun, that’s really all you are buying them for, which makes them hard to use when taking objectives, the most important part of the current game in most scenarios. So that means you need to get aggressive with Fire Warriors (or take Kroot, but I will cover them another time) which where the synergies start to come in.

Tau Fire Cadres add an extra shot to any unit they join using pulse weaponry, which is a very cool special ability. Combine this with an Ethereal’s Elemental power and suddenly Fire Warrior will be advancing upon the enemy hoping to get within rapid fire range!

Combine them with the pulse accelerator drone (which perhaps make it worth taking two pathfinder squads- one to flank and one to support the main line) that pathfinders can take and all of a sudden you have a solid base of Fire warriors with range 36” guns, with one unit putting out 2 shorts (4 at rapid fire range) a turn, plus whatever bonuses your pathfinders can give them from lighting up an opponent’s unit. I’ve seen terminator squads downed this way, even if it was a bit of a desperate tactic.

Tau Fire Warrior by Bozar 88 of Deviant Art

In fact, this may allow players to recreate an old Tau tactic, the ‘Fish of Fury’. This is where Fire Warriors in Devilfish transports move up the battlefield and use Devilfishes to section off parts of the opposing army, before disembarking the Fire Warriors dealing them a devastating blow with short-range pulse rifle shots. At this point though, you run the risk of spending so many points of fire warriors that the army becomes inflexible and very vulnerable if the initial volley doesn’t kill everything.

Now one think I did mention before, albeit jokingly, was that Fire warriors aren’t that good in assault. This is the counterbalance the army faces for having such a powerful gun. It’s not as bad as it used to be, as at least Tau has a chance of causing a leadership test or reducing numbers due to supporting fire, but don’t count on it doing much. Also, try to stop your opponent from launching multiple assaults into your gunline in one turn, as supporting fire becomes pretty useless then.

Though the common adage for any army that relies on shooting is to hang back and try to win the game by shooting the opponent to death. With Tau this can’t work in the long-term. The army is built to be fluid and always on the move and as such whilst I suggest you do invest in a few squads to form a gunline with whatever other static units you have purchased (traditionally Broadsides, though I have a feeling it will be Sniper teams from now on), at least one squad should be advancing up the board in a Devilfish to keep your opponent flat-footed and on the defence.

Even then, when your opponent’s assault units or objective takers move into your half of the table, don’t be afraid to leap your squads forward and abuse that rapid fire range. This edition is a lot more about manoeuvring than prior editions and being timid won’t win you games.

Still, don’t over stretch your mark. Fire warriors are still toughness 3 with a 4+ save so dedicated firepower will bring them down. Keep them protected.

The Tau face a unique challenge this edition. They have to keep up with the big boys and are far more reliant on the army working together as a whole to put them on a competitive edge with the more powerful codices (as it should be!). Through a mixture of caution and bold movement, fire warriors can become a troop choice to be feared and once you master their use, the army will open up its secrets to you and you will become a better player for it too.

See you soon for another Short Tau Tactica.

As I focused on the Fire Warriors last time, it only makes sense that I cover the Tau Empires only other troop choice, Kroot. Some fans may have been disappointed that the option to have a Kroot Mercenary army doesn’t exist*, but I think that the unit still have their place in the army and even have a few new roles with the codex.

First off, lets see what you get for your points. The biggest change to Kroot is that they have lost strength 4, but they get a better combat weapon, the Kroot rifle giving them AP 5 in combat. Stealth and Move Through Cover keep with the theme that these guys are hunters. And they get proper Infiltrate this time, which is awesome! Less amazingly, they get a 6+ save for free now. Just what I’ve always needed.

This should be a signifier to most people that their role has changed from assault powerhouse of the Tau army to something a little different. Still, it’s possible to bulk up on the squad and add additional Kroot Hounds and Krootox and throw them into combat as a sort of buffer between the enemy and your more important units (read: everything else in the army).

A squad over 30 in number is still pretty rare in 40k, so there will be a significant psychological impact on you opponent seeing that many models get plonked down in one go. Just don’t expect them to remain that size by the time they reach combat.

Now, on to their more interesting uses. For 1 point a model, Kroot can take sniper rounds, which gives the Kroot the option to fire their rifles with the sniper rule if they remain still (or hitting on 6s if they move thanks to snapfire). Sniper rifles have always been a pretty underrated aspect of the game due to not many armies having units with access to them, but think about it. Kroot can now wound everything on a 4+ (if it’s less, they can switch back to the normal profile of the Kroot Rifle and rapid fire things to death) and have rending.

Kroot squads just gained the ability to topple even the mightiest of creatures in the 40K universe. Which will certainly surprise someone the next time they take their all Monstrous Creature ‘Nid army!

My best advice would be to stick a small squad of 10 in cover (to maximise the benefits of cover and make your opponent doubt if it’s worth targeting them) with a few Kroot hounds for combat purposes. They give the unit Acute Senses, which is very useful if you plan to have a bit more control over just where Kroot will pop up if you plan to outflank them close to an objective.

Kroot are going to fulfill a very similar role to the one they did for me last edition.  Sitting in cover near objectives and moving to claim them late in the game, or else just hugging terrain and acting as an irritant all game, or the ‘Eldar Pathfinder’ effect as I call it. They still can have a role as a counter assault unit, but the changing of the units focus is a clear indication of how the designers see them being used this edition. I’m not sure they are vital to a Tau army, but for one that wishes to be aggressive and keep an opponent of the back foot, Kroot squads will help you achieve that for a minimal cost and provide you with a unit that can reliably advance on an objective and hold it.

As such, despite what some parts of the internet may believe, I view the Kroot squads as very much alive and kicking in the new book. If an opponent isn’t careful, they may take their legs off.

See you soon for another Short Tau Tactica.

*Players with a predisposition towards “count- as” may note that due to the slight change of wording in what effects what in the Tau book, it’s entirely possible to proxy a Kroot Mercenaries army.

Though I do read my fair share of books and in my time I’ve consumed enough fiction from Black Library to break even the sturdiest of book shelves, it is very much 40k fiction rather than ‘literature’. Yet reading Fire Caste, written by Peter Fehervari, I got the sense of something I rarely get from Games Workshop’s publishing arm. Fire Caste is a book that works just as well as literature separate from the 40k universe as a part of it. This book is the one of the few fully adult science fiction novels I’ve read in the Black Library line.

Fire Caste reminds me of something I had forgotten about after years of reading bolter porn. Which is that the 40k universe has so much potential as a legitimate science fiction universe that’s so often squandered on just recreating the tabletop game in novel form. Whilst Fire Caste isn’t a perfect novel by any means, it manages to juggle the larger nature of 40k metaphysics and the battle scenes that the less mature players turn up for.

Let me be up front. If you were assuming that Fire Caste is about the Tau, then you are in for a shock. The Tau are used more as secondary antagonists and as a way to drive the plot, though they do play an important part early on and in the final act of the book.

Instead, the novel follows the stories of an Imperial Guard regiment, The Arkan Confederates, and a lone half mad Commissar called Holt Iverson. Together they fight to discover just what is really happening on the planet of Phaedra, all the while running from the deamons of their past which in 40k, joyously, means both figuratively and literally.

Now whilst that may seem like a typical story for the Black Library, what makes it stand out is Fehervari’s writing style. More than most other books in the BL catalogue, the author seems to grasp that the Warhammer 40K universe is much better when it leaves things to the imagination and has many half-truths floating around. The books setting, a sort of chaosified Vietnam, is massively condemnatory of war in general, the horrors it allows and its overall futility.

These themes, along with a rather different take on the Tau will probably put off a lot of readers who are used to the Black Library’s standard diet of bombs and bullets sautéed in blood, served up on a platter of Ork guts. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. And I’ve certainly seen a lot of complaints about how open-ended the book leaves certain threads.

It’s worth persevering though. Fire Caste gives us the great character of Holt Iverson who I’m sure will be in other novels (though perhaps not in the traditional sense) and gives us a very interesting portrayal of the Greater Good, after it’s been subject to a 50 year unwinnable war and all the while steeped in the nature of the corrosive touch of chaos.

Along with Atlas Infernal, I have a feeling that the second wave of Black Library writers will be allowed to dig into the weirdness of 40k to give that crazy fucked up universe its proper dues. I can’t wait.

Fire Caste is available from The Black Library, Amazon and most highstreet booksellers.

Broadside Support Team O’ran by Wolfs16

So in my short series of Tacticas on Tau units, I’ve covered not only the bread and butter troops, but the rising stars of the new codex. Now let’s go to the other end of the spectrum: those who lost out. The head of this group? Broadside teams. Once a name to strike fear into mechanised armies and monstrous creatures everywhere, they took a bit of a hit this book, with the dreaded railgun being downgraded from S10 to “only” S8.

This, as with all things on the internet, has resulted in many a person calling them crap and useless. For these people I cry, because it’s not so much they are now useless, it’s just the unit have undergone refinement and now have a different use.  I’m here to show you how to get the best out of them. 

The Broadsides we know are dead and gone. Long live Broadsides!

So, first off. The heavy rail rifle. Admittedly not so much of a threat now to armour 14 vehicles. It’s still fine and dandy with just about everything else though and the gun has remained twin-linked and AP1 to help balance an otherwise average Ballistic Skill of 3. With a range of 60″ ignoring Nightfight, I think its fair to say the unit will still be popping vehicles and monstrous creatures with ease.

The other basic armament, a smart missile system, seems a little mismatched with the rail rifle, so I think its worth swapping it for the plasma rifles to be able to knock off those extra wounds/hull points once an opponents units start to close (and they will, you don’t leave a Tau army to shoot you unless you are pretty sure you can out range or out shoot them). So that’s your basic layout. There are a few more loadouts I can see that will make it worth it.

For one, when choosing your support systems for Heavy Rail Rifle Broadsides, it’s a toss-up between Target Lock and a Velocity Tracker. What with Tau Heavy Support being a contested slot, you probably won’t want more than 1 unit, which means you need them to be flexible so they don’t run out of things to shoot midgame.

Probably best for now in such a target rich environment is to take Velocity Trackers for guaranteed flyer kills. After they go down, the unit can spend the rest of the game ganging up on vehicles that are still around.

There is different option to test out and that is the High yield Missile Pod/SMS combo. 9 shots a turn per broadside is nothing to sniff at and if kept close to the rest of the Tau Line with a Counterfire Defense System, should be able to cause a lot of damage from supporting fire.

Drone wise, I’m convinced it worth taking at least a missile drone or two and perhaps a trusty shield drone for protection from retaliatory fire. Just don’t expect the unit to be cheap after adding them.

So there you have it. Though not the must haves they used to be, Broadsides Teams are able to serve as vehicle/flyer killers as well as be the bane of infantry. An example of just how good the Tau codex is now, the unit can do pretty much anything you want them to, you just have to be careful not to spend too many points on them!

See you soon for another Short Tau Tactica

Tau Pathfinder conversion by Douglas Furen

These past few tacticas I’ve talked quite a bit about the synergies of units and how the Tau army works better as a series of units aiding another rather than in isolation. So its time to start covering just how Tau armies can do that. The best place to start? Well, it’s not called Short Tau Tactica: Pathfinders for nothing!

One thing. The unit can do a lot of things and to truly get the best out of them you will have to pick one, because choosing several impedes the units ability to do the others well. When you consider the cost of the unit, compared to others in the list, and just how fragile it is, you will only get a few turns worth of use out of them before they are blown away in a hail of fire from your opponent.

That’s because, if they aren’t already considered a deadly unit, they soon will be. They are that good.

Use one is to load up on either Ion or Rail rifles (Ion for light infantry and tank killing, Rail for heavy infantry), hunker down in cover and then shoot the hell out of whatever target is needed. If you go for Ion Rifles, its worth perhaps shelling out a pulse accelerator, so as your opponents units get closer, you get an extra turn or two of shooting with a higher weight of firepower from the pulse rifles which are now range 24″. It’s not much, but at the same time, don’t turn your nose up at another 2-14 shots at strength 5 (dependent on unit size).

The other, far superior use of the unit (to me at least), is to use those markerlights. Wonderful little things, they can increase your units BS, strip cover from enemy units or help guide seeker missiles. A unit or two of pathfinders will easily be racking up 4 or more markers a turn, which will equally delight you as much as it

annoys your opponent! Though they can’t be relied upon, taking a unit of 6-8 will produce a decent number of hits a turn, keep them alive long enough to be useful and greatly increase what your units are capable of doing each turn.

However you use them, to keep the unit hanging around longer, it’s probably worth spending a few points to buy a Shas’ui (+1Ld and the ability to buy a black sun filter- yes please!) and, if you have the points left over, springing for the bonding knife ritual so they can regroup regardless of size.

Now the big conundrum to me is if you should bother taking a Devilfish. Whilst they have their uses, being able to scout means you will probably be able to set the squad up in a good position before the game anyway and each turn they spend in a transport is one less turn they are capable of being useful. The option of taking a Recon Drone seems ok, but for the cost (and the rules being a bit unclear as to if it can stay a part of the Devilfish after the Pathfinders have disembarked), I’m not too sure if it’s a good use for the unit, unless you have a strategy that relies upon a part of your army being able to deep strike or appear on the flanks reliably.

All in all, Pathfinders make a great addition to a Tau force. Though forced to be static in nature, in an army that can be otherwise be flexible and on the move at all times, they make up for it by providing such a valuable commodity synchronicity. Also, no need to take markerlights in other units now either, so those units can focus on killing enemy units or securing objectives.

An example of the different approach the Tau Empire take to warfare, Pathfinders will probably make their way into your list at some point. Once used, I’m not sure if they will ever be removed from it.

Just a quick question to the community, how are people finding the Farsight supplement? I’ve yet to read it as I like my hardcover books, but has it affected how people play their armies? Or is it another nice addition that doesn’t add too much unless you like a certain type of list, ala the Iyanden supplement? I’m interested to hear peoples opinions on this, so post in the comments section your experiences.

Anyway, see you soon for another Short Tau Tactica.

Tau pathfinders painted by Kevin Auld

1. I will be partly attending this year to perform my duties as an ambassador for The Shell Case and chatting with some awesome peeps, who do know I’m coming. As well as taking photos for The Shell Case. MAT BUY TOYS! Ahem. Sorry.
2. I will definitely be heading over to see Andy from Heresy Miniatures we’ve been getting a bit of a Necromunda itch here, and he does some brilliant miniatures for a Delaque gang. MAT BUY TOYS! I’m so sorry, I don’t know why that keeps happening.
3. After reading Ashley’s article about Saga I’m thinking of checking that out, along with Maulifaux which I have developed a warm squishy place for. And Godslayer. And Dreadball. Honestly my list is endless. I don’t know if I’ll part with my cash on these… Yeah, whatever.
4. I do have a few other bits on my list that I definitely want to purchase…MAT BU- Sorry! Sorry! X-Wing toys for my growing Imperial fleet are a must. Some bits for my Tau force providing I can find a bargain, and I’ll be hitting up Forge World for a tasty Battlesuit. I also want to find some models for my Beastmen Mordheim Warband. I don’t want to have to use the standard models.
5. #warmongers meet is going to be pretty cool and I’m looking forward to putting some faces to names.
6. I’m just really looking forward to hanging out with The Shell Case crew and spending a day looking at all the shiny. MAT BUY TOYS! ARRRGH!

[The Shell Case would like to apologise for Mat. Really we would. His mother also got in touch and extends her sincerest apologies also.]

Some of you may be aware that I have been on sabbatical/hiatus/break/time out whatever you want to call it. I have been taking some personal time or rather dealing with real life which generally happens when you’re trying to finish a high level diploma, buy a house, look after a 1-year-old have a heavily pregnant wife and have the workload from hell in your day job. All this meant I have to stop doing what I like doing…go on Phil make a comment…[I don't know what you mean? - Ed.] Now he’s got that out of his system…

With all that going on I took a break from hobby writing and doing to finish the one thing I had some sort of control over my Diploma which is now all but done hooray. So I thought I would celebrate with a quick “Mat’s Hobby update”.

What have I been up to? Well I have in the last few months streamlined my hobby collection, found a treasure trove of old school miniatures, started getting into Warhamster, and jump armies around a bit. So as you can tell I’ve not been idle on the hobby front despite the work load.

Streamlining how on earth did you do that Mat?

Honestly by being ruthless and realistic, I bought a lot at Salute as Phil and Lee can testify to. Much of this has now been sold. However much I friggin love the Death Guard (Heresy Era) and however much I want to do a loyalist army my tastes are just too rich and although I dearly love them, my Deathshroud were the first for the chop. Although I’ve not actually sold them yet. I just can’t seem to let them go. But I will… Closely followed by my Tau… Yes, yes I know how I went on about being gay for the little blue dudes but by the time I’d put together about 2,000 points worth I just wasn’t feeling it. I’ve kept my Pathfinders as I want to create a kill team with them but more on that later. Dystopian Wars was next to go having not played it or painted it and honestly I couldn’t ever see it getting any time on my table (saying that I’m loving some of the new stuff).

So still hanging on in there is my Sorylian fleet, I’m in two minds about it having not played the game yet having a clear idea of what I want to do are playing conflict with my thought process, so they are safe for now.

And oh the treasure trove of old school stuff, my god there were miniatures and paints in there from nearly 30 years ago, including old Squats, Rogue Trader Robots/Dreadnoughts, Inquisitors, Chaos champions, a butt load of Epic, Imperial Guard, a few land raiders, some Elder. Honestly it is immense! I am slowly working my way through it all cleaning it up and systematically selling it off through eBay to pay for more hobby bits.

I never really had much interest in Warhamster but I have found myself looking at it more and more. I think its stemmed from Mordheim and my want to build a beastman warband which got me looking at a Beastman army, and then Lizardmen. But eventually I settled on Skaven… let me explain I like the Beastmen but my god do they get their arses kicked and are actually difficult to play. I love the Lizardmen but the idea of painting them daunted me so I ended up with Skaven. But I’m not going to do the normal 5 warp lightning canons and 100 plague monks (I hate the plague monks) like you often see. I’m going Clan Mors affiliated with Clan Moulder and I actually have the rule book and some models (no army book yet mind, well not in hard format). But I’m looking forward to this and have a plan on writing a few articles on building a themed Rat army that’s not going to get people groaning when you take to the gaming table, and making sure you keep it within the theme and fluff.
So finally the Tau have been replaced with Necrons again I’m planning on theming the army so as not to make it bloody stupid, but this is going to be a slow burn as I really got it hot for the rats.

Other than all this in my time out ahem… I have continued to grow my X-Wing Imperial fleet and can now field a Bomber an interceptor oh and a couple of defenders. I will attempt to write-up on these in the next week or so, and I am really looking forward to seeing what they add to the game and if I can finally take it to Han Solo and stick it in him good…

So that was my down time… might give you an idea of what I’m like when I’m not on a break, especially as I haven’t mentioned my growing Dreadball collection and current obsession with Zombicide which I’m not allowed to buy until I either play or get rid of Sedition wars. But on the plus side the Wife said she’d play Zombicide with me.

Anyway this is me signing off and happy to be back in the saddle even if it is only with one foot in the stirrup at the moment.

-Mat

Those that read my review of Codex Tau Empire back in April will know that I was rather taken with the grey skinned bastards. So much so that I’m doing a little 1,000 point allies force to go with my two companies of Ultramarines. And those that read my review will also remember that I was rather taken with the Pathfinders. So it’s really little wonder then that I’ve got hold of a box and giving them the once over. For the greater good you understand…

Even before I read the Codex I was pleased when I heard that Pathfinders were going to be plastic as even when the Tau were first released the Pathfinders were a useful unit to have on the board, but the fact that they were metal and came in blisters of 3 and units of 6 meant that those that didn’t buy the big army box rather missed out. It was doubly true over the years metal models became increasingly expensive and the use of Pathfinders, especially with the introduction of railrifles, became more important.

The third iteration of the Codex has made at least one unit of Pathfinders a compulsory choice in all but name because they’re so damn good. Their options, especially the pulse accelerator drone (which increase pulse weapon range by 6″) means that although vulnerable in the open, they are a heavy hitting unit that can take on medium infantry as standard and then bring the pain on Terminators and the like with the handy addition of the aforementioned railrifles. To be fair the plastic models aren’t any cheaper than the metal ones were but you do get variety and lots of drones including the fooking massive recon drone. But more on that later.

So what’s in the box? Well two – which seems to be the norm these days – sprues that are crammed full of components.

I do have to hand it to the Games Workshop, although they’ve been pissing gamers off left, right and centre these last few months, they have really upped their game with getting the most out of the plastic. This arguably should make the models cheaper, but as I said – they piss people off. But I digress. The sprues are crammed with bits including some dudey pulse pistols, some pretty decent bare heads – at long bastard last – some spare pulse clips, bonding knives that don’t look lame and some other gubbins. Most importantly, you have enough bits to make a ten Tau squad armed with pulse carbines with bits enough to swap out three with railrifles or ionrifles or a combination of the two. So plenty of ptew ptew for your buck.

Although the fatigues on the legs are a little thin on detail and feel a bit more baggy than a recon unit would probably wear – and the poses are a bit shifty – the rest of the components are ace. The helmets have been refined and have improved comm aerials – just be careful trimming them free. All the weapons are crisp and the separate markerlights allows for the a degree of choice in how you build them. My small force doesn’t have them so the option of not sticking them on is good news for me. Although I suppose if you can be bothered and find magnets small enough you can make them removable.

Truth be told, the quality of the casting of the Pathfinders or the fidelity of the helmet antenna – especially compared to the Fire Warriors – or the quality of the weapons or the cool accessories, or the staggering lack of mould lines don’t steal the show. It’s the drones. They’re awesome. I mean. Awe. Some. The tits. The business. The dog hairy gonads. The recon drone is huge and may as well be Thunderbird 2 for all its whistles and bells including the pokeball grenade dispensers, a burst cannon and some nice detail. Plus the fact that you can mount it on a Devilfish is way cool.

But, importantly, it doesn’t feel like an after thought like accessories and ‘bonus’ often do. The only bummer is that, aside from the recon drone there’s only enough drone domes to make two drones. But if you’re not bothered about giving your fire warriors drones then you can make the set which does give your Pathfinders a pleasant amount of versatility.

The Pathfinder kit is one of the strongest unit boxes Games Workshop have done in a while. The arm poses coupled with enough accessories means that you’re knocking on the door of variety that the Space Marine tactical squad offers. Not quite mind you, but pretty close. But the sheer volume of cool shit makes up for it. And having the railrifles cast in lovely crisp plastic rather than metal just makes them as cool looking as the boltgun.

Throw in the fact that Pathfinders are frigging nails in the game and it’s pretty much an essential purchase if you’re collecting Tau. Unless you take a butt load of flyers, but that’s a story for another day.

Tau Pathfinders are available from Firestorm Games priced £18.