Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

===HQ===
*'''Ethereal:''' Ethereals used to be a bad joke for the Tau army along with Vespids (the Fast Attack bad joke). They provided marginal benefit coupled with a serious drawback leading to much regicidal humour. So it came upon the Hamster to improve this rather terrible selection and so he made an attempt: instead of a meager benefit, all friendly units from this codex with a model within a foot of an Ethereal must use his leadership for Fear, Morale, Pinning and Regroup checks; in addition to this the Ethereal can grant all friendly non-vehicle Tau units one of four abilities each movement phase: Stubborn, FnP 6+, Snap Shots after running or a bonus pulse shot against anything less than half-range away. The only downside for Ethereals now is that killing the Ethereal gives an extra victory point and undoes whatever power was being used at the time. Can also take a beacon for fairly cheap, presumably so you can launch a [[Boreale|defensive deep strike]] to protect your Ethereal.
** To summarise, they became '''Badass'''. Not only is the Ethereal a force multiplier of the first order with his Storm of Fire Invocation, but he bestows Leadership 10, and can bestow Stubborn on his Fire-Warrior flock when you want your thin Orange Line to hold rather than break- effectively turning the Tau into the bravest army in the 40k universe, even more so than Grey Knights and other "elite" armies. To demonstrate the power of this, a Shas'ui can challenge the most dangerous model in the charging squad, and effectively occupy him for an entire turn at no cost but your Shas'ui's life. That would make any Independent character sad, but against certain opponents that often charge in solo '''Bloodthirsters''' it can become hilarious. 
** The real selling point of Ethereals however is precisely that- the selling point. At 50 points, unless you're running an almost completely battlesuited army you should be seriously asking yourself why you shouldn't be taking an Ethereal, and even in those armies, the FnP and ability to fire Snapshots while running (which of course can be augmented by markerlights) is well worth it. 
** Needless to say with a glorious W2, T3 and a complete absence of a save, you can expect your Ethereal to be the prime target of the Marbos, snipers, CC infantry and anything with "precision shot" in the description. Place at the back of large fire warrior squads, amongst large numbers of similarly large squads for maximum survivability. 

*'''Battlesuit Commander:''' An excellent unit if kitted out properly. The versatility of the battlesuit chassis means you can equip him however you need to be most effective, and being the commander, all special issue equipment is available to him (see Armoury for setup tips). The Generic Commander is however the most expensive generic HQ Choice in the Codex, clocking in at 85 points before wargear. Commanders may take special bodyguards. He is equipped with XV-8-05 Enforcer Armor, the "Standard Commander Armor", and comes with a total of 4 hardpoints for your mounting pleasure (and Signature systems don't count!)

*'''Bodyguards:''' Each Commander in your army allows you to take a single unit of bodyguards that do not take up an FOC slot. When taken, they turn your XV8 Commander into a very up-powered Crisis suit team (which is no bad thing) although there is nothing specifying that the commander needs to be attached to the body guard, which is odd. They automatically pass Look Out, Sir! tests, which means you can cram the survivability-enhancing gear on them and the offensive gear on the commander. Like the commander you can stick any number of signature systems on these guys, however you still only have 3 slots for weapon/support systems. You can make some interesting combinations of gear on these guys. Think about the possibilities.  

*'''Cadre Fireblade:''' At first glance, the Cadre Fireblade looks pretty crappy, especially compared to an Ethereal. He's 10 points more than an Ethereal but can only really buff a single Fire Warrior squad (or Pathfinder squad, if you're so inclined), with a markerlight, Split Fire, and Volley Fire (which grants an extra shot to everybody so long as they stand still). Pretty bad, right? Actually, not really, at least in an allied detachment. Although the Ethereal is much improved, he's still somewhat of a risk if you field him, ''especially'' in an allied detachment, as you give up an extra Victory Point if he's killed (and, given how weedy the Tau are, that's not very hard). Also, his abilities ''only'' affect Tau, which isn't very useful in an allied detachment. The Fireblade, on the other hand, will almost always be useful (at least for your one compulsory unit of Troops) and will never be a liability. Also, that markerlight of his (fired at BS 5) is pretty darn handy, because you can never have enough markerlights, and (with Split Fire) it can be fired at a different unit than the rest of his squad. Also, Volley Fire is up to the ''entire'' range of the guns, not just half range like the Ethereal. So, all in all, you'll probably usually want an Ethereal in your main detachment, but in an allied detachment, a Fireblade is probably the better choice for a "cheap" HQ. This might be an edge case, but hey, at least he has ''some'' use, [[Flayed Ones|unlike]] [[Pyrovore|certain]] [[Counts As#Mandrakes|other]] [[Mutilator|units]].

====Special Characters====
*'''Aun'Va, Master of the Undying Spirit:''' The  popestick got a huge buff! Roll equal to or over a weapon's AP to ignore wounds? Auto-pass against AP1? Enemy railguns/death rays/tachyon arrows/meltas can eat shit and die. However, you can't roll against AP- so Tesla will still ruin your day (edit: 5+ normal armour save). Only 100pts? Vetock, you are a god. OK, so the bodyguards are still meh but they're better than they used to be. 5+ saves combined with the Paradox's harder-you-hit-it-harder-it-is invulnerable save gives the whole unit a variable amount of protection. He also gets 2 ethereal bubble abilities per turn, which either give Stubborn, Fnp(6+), +1 pulse weapon shot in half range or snap shots after running. His massive, multiple buffs are just awesome. He also provides a table wide re-roll for any morale checks, anything in Tau codex. That shit is money.

*'''Aun'Shi:''' Brought back from 3rd edition into 6th. Shi is essentially a close combat HQ (albeit a modest one) in an otherwise shooty army.  Always use patient hunter in CC, because re-rollable 4++ is hilarious. He is basically an Ethereal with the weaknesses removed for a price bump, but beware of anyone with strength 6 or over, because you'll be instant killed. 

*'''O'Shovah ([[Farsight|Commander Farsight]]):''' The l33t renegade commander of the Fire Caste, Farsight is odd in the fact that he's specced for assault in an army meant for shooting. His Dawn Blade is very nice and got one hell of an upgrade to what is essentially a Necron Warscythe (AP2 Armourbane); his ability to take a seven-strong battlesuit bodyguard is intimidating, especially when he can perfectly deepstrike with it. With 6th edition, preferred enemy is actually quite useful, making his unit BS 3.5 against orks. His restrictions from the previous codex were his biggest hindrance, but now they don't exist in the new codex. The suits in his unit could purchase hit and run and use his I5 for the test. That could actually make assaulting worth while with him and counter-assaults hilarious (take a few suits with twin-linked flamers for additional lulz).
** His warlord trait opens opportunities for a "farsight bomb" where you have farsight and 7 body guards -carrying fusion blasters and plasma rifles for heavy infantry/tanks and burst cannons and flamers for light infantry- deep strike into the middle of the enemy and shoot their faces off (<s>16 plasma rifle shots and 7 fusion blaster shots</s> fuck that go with two plasma rifles each and you get 15 plasma shots at long range and 30 at close range if you have path finders to light up the squads target everything is going to die). Give one of his bodyguards the Command and Control Node and the Multispectrum Sensor Suite, the rest of the unit (including drones) will be re-rolling hits and ignoring cover. Get your tearcup ready - even better would be to add another commander with drone controller, command and control node, vectored retro thrusters for that hit and run goodness, neuroweb system jammer because gets hot is fun, multi spectrum sensor suite and the puretide engram neuro chip, giveing everything in the squad tank hunter, monster hunter or stubborn even counter attack (edit: CA is put on one model, <s>not unit wide</s> A unit that contains at least one model with this rule...)  if you think it will work and take all gun drones (gun drones are armour 4 so if that evil new gravity gun of the spess mahreens wounds on majority armour with all the drones that becomes 4+ you might need a tear '''bath''') that's 32 pulse carbine shots at BS5 that ignore cover on top of the twin linked (I would suggest dual that's 2 shots a model at 24" and 4 shots a model at 12") plasma rifle fire that also ignore cover. tearcup? tear bucket.

*'''O'Shaserra ([[Shadowsun|Commander Shadowsun]]):''' Commander Tsundere herself, she wears an experimental next-gen stealth battlesuit and is outfitted for cover-camping and jump-shoot-jump close-range tank killing (which makes her much better on dense battlefields than in open ones). One of the only ways to make her useful is to stick her in a stealth suit squad, where she bestows 3D6 JSJ range to the unit and benefits from auto-passing Look Out, <s>Sir</s> Ma'am! rolls to prevent instant-death (and being T3 there are a lot of weapons that could instant-death her). With buffed out fusion guns and 2+ cover in any terrain she could put some hate on vehicles while being all but invulnerable to return fire. Her command-link drone can let an unit within 12" re-roll to hit rolls of 1 and her shield drones confer a 3++.
**Let us reiterate what her command-link drone does: ''Any one unit within 12" of the drone gets to re-roll any 1s on its to-hit roll''. And she can do this ''every'' turn. You know how that Riptide heavy burst cannon was almost as dangerous to itself as it was the enemy when you fire it with a nova-charge? With Shadowsun in support, that is no longer the case. Just think about how much [[dakka]] you can (relatively) safely put out from the two of them on a continual basis...
**As both Stealth and Shrouded confers to the entire unit, it's possible to put Mrs. Tsundere into Crisis or Hazard team (or take a bodyguard team), giving them 4+ cover in the open and [[troll|2+ in any terrain]]. Sure, you don't get auto Look Out <s>Sir</s> Ma'am! (unless you took bodyguards), but 2+ is almost as good as an auto-pass and overall T4/5 of Crisis/Hazard solves instant death problem much better. And on top of that her unit benefits from 3D6 thrust moves if she is your warlord.
**For more troll worthy potential take battle brother allies. So what do you think about constantly 2+ covered wraithguard blob or seer council with REROLLABLE 2+ cover? As broken as it looks, expect it to be nerfed in FAQ's soon as GW realizes its [[cheese|potential]].  Also, template weapons will ruin your day, so watch out.
**<s>As Riptides are not always one model, Shadowsun can join a Riptide for trolltastic tactics. With Shadowsun in the Riptide's unit the Riptide receives infiltrate, stealth, shrouded as well as Shadowsun's default 3D6 jet pack move and the aforementioned command-link drone shenanigans. Broken as hell? <Sure to be FAQ'd? Of course, but enjoy it while you can FAQ came out, no mention of this combo so you are good to go!  Oh and don't forget the fun that can be had with a full team of XV9's behind her.  Have that tearcup handy?</s> independent characters can't join monstrous creatures
(New little dirty trick being tried in some armies. Drop her in a pack of Kroot with Sniper round and put them in cover. Wait....screw cover. You don't need to put them in cover anymore thanks to her stealth and shroud. Just another fun way to make your opponent cry after your first turn with them.)

*'''El'Myamoto (Sub-Commander Darkstrider):''' The second Tau commander to piss off the Ethereal elites, Darkstrider is best described as a Cadre Fireblade for Pathfinders. His key ability is to lower the toughness of anything his squad fires on (only for his squad, but it counts for Instant Death) which works best with railrifle equipped pathfinders. Can be very troll-y. See that crazy powerful Paladin or Meganob? A single Pathfinder in this guy's squad just sniped him. Also works on T5 (Nob bikers, Ogryns, Thunderwolf, Harpies, Daemon Prince) with an overcharged Ion Rifle. As well, he has a special rule that allows his unit to consolidate D6" in any direction immediately after firing their overwatch and BEFORE the charging unit rolls for charge distance. Stick him in a Pathfinder squad with a Grav Inhibitor drone and they become one slippery unit. You can even attach him to a squad of Fire Warriors and sneak them behind enemy lines to wreak havoc. Problem, Astartes?<!---Fight on Foot says Pathfinders OR FIRE WARRIORS. '''Have a nice day.'''--->

*'''Honour-Shas’Vre O’Vesa:''' This guy is an old friend of Commander Farsight and he isn't even part of the Fire Caste... This guy is a member of the Earth Caste kept alive in his suit by sophisticated life support systems of his own design (nanobots or more specifically Microdrones).  He is basically a Riptide that comes equipped with an Ion Accelerator and TL Fusion Blaster.  He also has an Early Warning System (interceptor), and a Stimulant Injector, plus as a bonus he gets the ability to re-roll ones to hit and re-roll failed nova charge rolls.  All this comes at the minor cost of his weapon skill being set to 1 (you weren't thinking about using him in Assaults were you?)  Did I mention he's an independent character?  He can therefore team up in some deliciously broken combos.  Now detailed in the FAQ, you can only take this guy if you are playing Farsight Enlaves and have Commander Farsight as your Warlord (but he won't take up a Force Organisational Slot, which is handy).

*'''O'R'myr (Commander Longknife) (Forge World):''' Dread Pirate R'myr, who inherited the name from four previous commanders, is a decent suit that seems to want to be charged. A double-barreled Plasma rifle with an enhanced shield generator, he looks built to take down heavy infantry / monstrous creatures. His Signature Wargear is the XV89-02 Battlesuit, which contains a flechette launcher that nicks the attacker for a S3 hit at the I10 subphase. Depending on how you interpret the word 'any,' the flechette launcher may not be one use anymore. He has a special shield generator that has a 4++ against shooting attacks and a 3++ against close combat. His flechette dicharger is a really nasty surprise to swarm armies thinking they have just trapped the expensive tau HQ unit in CC. A good choice, especially against Imperial Guard due to Preferred Enemy against them, though the generic commander is far better for facing hordes or tank hunting. He has the fixed Warlord Trait "Through Unity, Devastation" which is great for an alpha strike. Add to the Farsight blob LULZ.

*'''O'Ra'lai (Commander O'Rly) (Forge World):''' O'Rly is a monster of a unit; he is your [[Commissar Yarrick]], your [[Abaddon|Failbaddon]], your [[Mephiston]], your [[Swarmlord]], your [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|Ghazghkull]], with BS5, T5, I4, and the power of the XV-9 battlesuit the main difference he has compared with the above heroes is that he is primarily a ranged fighter whereas most uber-hq units tend to be close combat focused. 
**The latest Imperial Armor Apocalypse Second Edition rules have updated O'Ra'Lai's equipment. His shield no longer conveys stealth, but gives him a 3+ invulnerable save if fired at from outside 12 inches.  On top of that, All of his weapons are now Assault 2. This involves all of the "gets Hot!" weapons, so you run the risk of taking more damage, but can cause a lot more pain as a result. With this change, he no longer has "Baby's First Lascannon," instead he has "Oh what the fuck, he has an assault 2 lascannon?!" His template weapons now make him a real nightmare to just about any army, and he also is now the best HQ unit the Tau have. Keep him away from TEQs though.  
**His drones are T4, which means you're losing that awesome T5 bonus until a drone dies. He USED to be able to join guys, but the special rule 'Lone Warrior' prevents him from joining units, despite his Independent Character rule. However, he can leave his drone unit (though he may not join any other unit unless he wants to rejoin his drones for some reason), which means you can separate him from his drones and let him be majority toughness 5 while you get 2 markerlight drones for free, though they drop from BS 5 to BS 2 without O'Ra'lai's drone controller.
** Make him your army's warlord. Period. At T5, 4 wounds, a 3+/3-4++, I4, hit and run, and JSJ, he is an absolute bastard to kill without S10 or instant death weapons. His Warlord Trait, The Assassin, leaves much to be desired however. It grants Preferred Enemy: Independent Characters, which leads to an awkward position when shooting at units containing Independent Characters - When exactly are you allowed this reroll? (Due to wording, one can interpret it as PE against any squad with an IC in it, and the opponent will have no way to disprove it. Lolz)