Final Grand Tournament Tau List

It's time to settle on a Tau army list for the Grand Tournament.

Regular readers of Warhammer Tau have been very vocal when it comes to my army selection. Some think Kroot and Pathfinders are awesome, some love Piranhas and some prefer twin linked missile pods on their Tau Battlesuits rather than twin linked flamers.

But if there's one thing we all agreed upon, it's that the Tau army is struggling against the new army updates.

Not that I'm making any excuses when I get my arse kicked at the Grand Tournament. I'm not the greatest player in the world, but I give it a whirl. I'd probably be greater if I had a cheesier and more forgiving army though.

So my army for the GT has been built on experience and personal preference. For me Kroot die in droves, Piranhas are too expensive for what they do, Pathfinders are too static and even get me started on Vespid! So here is the 1500 points Tau army list I will be taking with me.

1500 points Tau army list for the 2009 Grand Tournament Heat 1


Tau Shas’el with Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multitracker, Hardwired Drone Controller with 2 shield drones
2 Bodyguards with Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Hardwired Multitracker, Targeting Array

Tau Battlesuit Team
2 Battlesuits with twin linked flamers and single missile pods

(X3) 6 man Fire warrior Team
Devilfish with Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger

Hammerhead with Railgun, Smart Missile System, Targeting Array (comes as standard), Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger

Skyray with Smart Missile System, Target Lock (comes as standard), Targeting Array, Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger

2 man Broadside Team with Targeting Arrays
Leader, Hardwired Drone Controller with 2 shield drones

Thoughts
This is my 1500 points army until a new Tau Codex (whenever that may be). I can't squeeze anymore out of this army.

Yes, I still love my Skyray. Those markerlights are a god send when it comes to Lictors, taking out Battlewagons with Broadsides and making sure the Tau Battlesuit command team kills what it shoots at.

Twin linked flamer and single missile pod Tau Battlesuits have been a topic of much controversy lately. Twin linked missile pod is the way to go people say, but it only yields +1 hit on average while the single flamer is far less deadly.

It's a slight trade off between a tiny bit better at maybe glancing tanks or completely annihilating troops. I'll take the complete annihilation of troops thanks!

The Tau army struggles against hordes of armour 11-12 vehicles, so instead of worrying about them, let's just kill what comes out of the transports. That's what we're good at after all.

Tau Tournament Tactics
I'm going with the 1 tactic which consistently works. That's all the heavy support deployed safely at the back of the board while everything else comes on from reserve and counters threats...or just runs for its life.

All my victories have used this tactic and nearly all of my defeats have been when I've set up everything and lost the ability to react to my opponent's deployment.

I have 2 weeks until the Grand Tournament weekend on October the 17th, so I'd better get some more games in.

PS: If you see me or my army on the day, come over and say hi.
Please buy me a beer as well. I may need it.