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

===Fast Attack===
*'''Drone Squad:''' Drone Squads have had an overhaul. Your 12 man strong squad can be a combination of Shield, Markerlight or Gun Drones. The choice is yours. A new tactic being to have Markerlight drones with Shield drones protecting. Time will tell if this is  viably tactic as at BS2  this could be a costly way of getting marker lights. An option being mentioned is sticking a commander with Drone Controller to accompany them. 15 BS5 markerlights, jumping behind solid cover after each shot is great, but a bit costly. On a side note, markerlights can benefit from other markerlight hits, therefore a large 12 man unit of marker drones can be buffed to a relatively high ballistic skill via the actions of other markerlights in the army (for example firesight marksmen, pathfinders, Shas'o marker drones etc.)

*'''Vespid Stingwings:''' Once the other bad joke of the codex, Vespids have been buffed <s>rather significantly</s>.  As with the fusion blaster, 6 extra inches on their Neutron blaster will put you at a much more comfortable distance, out of assault distance.  With a new 4+ Sv on top of T4, they've become on par with Space Marine scouts for survivability.  As they now hove move through cover, stealth in ruins, and hit and run at I6, they can jump out, kill MEQs, and escape in the assault, pretty much becoming the nightmare bugs of anything with power armour.  Vespids run around in groups of four to twelve, and one of those MUST be a Strain Leader.  Without him they have only Ld 6, but they have Ld 9 with him.  Overall, a rather expensive unit, but may work for some and in high point games. If your opponent runs mass Marine lists, couple with dual-plasma Crisis and go to town. Also, is NOT effected by bull-shit Plasma Siphon, so feel free to piss off any GK strike squad that thinks they're safe. No effect vs. TEQs, though, so watch out.

*'''Pathfinders:''' One of two good sources for markerlights, and very cost-effective for the number of markerlights you get. These guys put out a large amount of markerlight support every turn, useful for your other guys. Their Recon Drone (if you take it) allows deep strikers within 6" to not roll for scatter. They are also scouts, quite useful to outflank or get into position. Beware though, their armor save is only 5+ (which makes sense since they always had lighter armor and are made for recon rather than gun lines) which means that they are particularly vulnerable to things like bolters. Camp these guys in cover somewhere safe. They can optionally take Devilfish, but those are no longer compulsory to take with them like they were in earlier editions. They can take rail rifles and new ion rifles, but only ever do this if you have an additional markerlight source. A unit of pathfinders can't go wrong. They have several options:
** '''Special Drones:''' These drones can only be taken by Pathfinder squads, only one of each can be taken, and they do not count against the two drone limit for accompanying drones (each is purchased as its own upgrade independent of other things.)
*** '''Recon Drone:''' Expensive, but it gives the unit a burst cannon, which is always nice, and is what allows the unit to have its homing beacon and position relay functions, so worth taking if you have deep-striking reserves. As a bonus, it does not take up any extra space when being transported by a Devilfish, and can employ its reserve-guiding equipment while embarked.  
*** '''Grav-inhibitor Drone:''' Slows down any charging foe, reducing assault moves by D3. Great for giving the unit a little more time to get the hell out of dodge if your enemy really wants to commit to eliminating them (and let's face it, if they do you have successfully trolled them into doing so from markerlight-related [[rage]].)
*** '''Pulse Accelerator Drone:''' This boosts all pulse weapon fire from the unit to extend its range by 6". This effectively means that those pulse carbines your Pathfinders are carrying go from 18" Assault 2 weapons to 24" Assault 2 weapons, potentially out [[dakka]]ing line Fire Warriors. Unfortunately, burst cannons are not classified as pulse weapons any longer, so the range on the Recon Drone is not increased. While your Pathfinders should be more about dropping marker tokens than shooting up the enemy, you can really make the enemy pay for trying to take them down with this.
** '''Team Leader:''' For another 10 points you can upgrade one member to a Shas'ui. The primary benefit of this is to add a few more equipment options, such as a blacksun filter for one more point that the whole unit can use (which is not as essential as it used to be as Markerlights only have a range of 36" and ignore all saves and hence do not push up against the Night Fighting limits.) He can also bring along two extra drones from the standard drone list, and this is in addition to the special drones Pathfinders can take. Be aware that filling up the entire squad with pathfinders, special drones, and two regular drones will put them above capacity for riding in a Devilfish.  

*'''[[Piranha]]:''' Burst cannons basic, can be upgraded with fusion blasters. Low armor means they are fragile, but as fast vehicles they can block paths and provide anti-infantry / anti-armor harassment. These guys are also pretty cheap for what they do. For their price they have 8 S5 AP5 range 18" shots per model. Half is BS3 and half BS2 TL.
**'''Alt Take'''  A fun thing to note is that the majority of the cost of a Piranha can be made up in the Drones. For 200 points you can get Five Piranhas in a squadron and detach a squad of 10 gun drones.  This gives you a 140 point Gun Drone Squad(That don't take up a Fast Attack Slot, or count for kill points) and a 60 point squad of 5 11AV Front skimmers with Burst Cannons.  Also you can attach a Drone Controller Commander to gun drones to maximize the point return.

*'''Razorshark Fighter:''' One of two new aircraft for Tau, sporting average aircraft stats (11/10/10 3HP) a quad ion gun. Normally, it shoots at S7 AP4 at 30" and is assault 4, but because it's an ion weapon, it can be overcharged (for the price of Gets Hot) turning it into an S8 AP4 Large Blast! Even funnier, the gun is mounted on a turret to the rear, meaning that any deep-striking aircraft that thought they could get the jump on it will be thoroughly surprised, - upgrade the burst cannon to a missile pod for even more 360 degree fire arc fun.

*'''Sunshark Bomber:''' The other new aircraft with similar stats to the above, but trades the quad cannon for blowing pulse bubbles (S5 AP5 Large Blast) onto unsuspecting targets below every turn unless you roll a 1, in which case your bomber can no longer produce bombs. It also comes with the networked markerlight for lasing targets and a pair of interceptor drones to fuck up enemy aircraft.
**Comparing the Sunshark to the Razorshark, the Interceptor drones are arguably better than the quad-ion due to being able to detach if necessary, and also if you go ahead and compare the quad-ion and the interceptors as equals (which they are, interceptors might win out due to TL) then the Sunshark is effectively a more tooled up Razorshark for a slightly higher price cost, coming equipped with a pulse bomber unit instead of a burst cannon and a Missile Pod that has the option to twin-link (5 extra points) for only 15 points more. Definitely worth considering.

*'''Piranha TX-42 (Forge World):''' Heavier, with an extra point of side armor, but with a higher cost. These start with twin-linked fusion blasters which lets them put some serious hurt on tanks, but can be upgraded with missiles pods, plasma, or rail rifles. These guys can go hunting for different enemies dependent on loadout, though a crisis team may be better in regards of JSJ. 6th edition changes to fusion blasters and rail rifles buffed TX-42 A LOT. New updates show no points bumped, but an extra point of side armor and a twinlinked gun for 20 points on a similarly equipped Piranha. Only take these for the plasma or rail rifles if you really want them.

*'''[[Tetra]]s (Forge World):''' Where Pathfinders are the cudgel of markerlights, these guys were once the scalpel. They zip in as fast vehicles, drop an accurate markerlight, and zoom away. Low armor and open-top means that every shot could be their last. Keep them safe, and they will benefit you immensely. With the new update, their markerlights are heavy 2 twinlinked For a measly twelve point difference, you can run three of these beauties and do a way better job than a devilfish/pathfinder combo.When deciding tetras vs pathfinders consider your need to reposition and your desire to bring in extra pathfinder goodies such as drones and heavy weapons. Sadly the disruption pod is no longer free for the tetras (but their points cost has been decreased to make up for it), and their guns have lost 2 shots, but are now twinlinked. In a way, their roles have switched. Instead of rushing forward and dropping markerlights everywhere, try keeping them in buildings with sensor spines and Overwatch upgrade to really help out counter-charges.

*'''[[Barracuda]] (Forge World):''' A pants-wettingly terrifying air superiority fighter that packs raw, balls-out, firepower in a maneuverable package. Armed with two Burst Cannons, an Ion Cannon, which can overcharge into essentially a battlecannon, Missile Pods and can take up to four Seeker Missiles, this thing is capable of taking down pretty much any flyer, and what's more? It's got BS4. Sadly, it has a maximum armour value of 11 and a measly 2 hull points. Still, a great way to drop some nasty, high-strength dakka on ground and air targets. Thanks to the update in the second edition of IA:3, the Barracuda is now the best flier available to the Tau in standard 40k. Yes, you only have 2 hull points, but front and side armor 11 is a nice survivability buff. It can take a 4++ against interceptor fire for 3 points, and has a 3+ jink if you really need it (and buy a disruption pod). It has absurd firepower that dwarfs the other Tau fliers (and indeed, most other races' fliers too) while remaining cheaper. Don't forget that your burst canons are now auto-targetting, which means that you can tell jet bikes, lightly armored skimmers, and other evading fliers to suck it.

*'''[[Remora|DX-6 Remora Drone Fighters]] (Forge World):''' Since 6th edition, this souped-up, more accurate, flying Heavy Gun Drone make a squad of Remoras obviate the purpose of a Skyray, a squad of Pathfinders and maybe even a Tetra team! They have a huge advantage over the Barracuda in that they can be taken as a squad of 1-5;  come with twin-linked long-barrelled Burst Cannons, a networked Markerlight and two Seeker Missiles; and to top it off, they have a permanent 5+ cover save with 3+ on evade as its stealth field generator give it shrouded. Want to troll your enemy? 6's to hit and a 3+ cover save just to hit a light AV10 flyer that can take on bigger flyers should cause a lot of rage. Meanwhile, you can drop his flyers out of the sky with a punishing battery of seeker missiles and when he's out of flyers, start markerlighting ground targets to help out your broadsides! Plus with the latest Imperial Armour release of Taros Campaign Second Edition, these babies are now a mere 90 points each! Drop a squad of five for 450 and laugh your ass off as your opponents reag. With the update for long-barreled Burst Cannons also factored in (from 3 shots at 36" to 6 shots at 36"), they are actually quite mean. 

*'''[[Battlesuit#XV9_Hazard_Battlesuit|XV-9 Hazard Team]] (Forge World):''' God's Second Gift To Tau. These bruisers contain experimental weaponry on a high toughness frame with vectored retro-thrusters to run away. The downside is that greatness is expensive, and you will feel it. But they look really, really fucking awesome and they make vehicle light armies (dark eldar, tyranids, orks, and chaos daemons) weep. Their weapons include:
**'''Burst Cannons:''' Four on one suit means two twin-linked sets. Now that burst cannons have an extra shot, these guys now have the equivalent of miniguns. Two of them in a team will seriously mess up any ground unit out there, from Marines to Tyranids. Being the only twin-linked set of weapons on the suit also gives the suit the unique ability for the team to also run completely or near-completely independent of Markerlights, something that will be greatly appreciated by the other guys who would love to use them. Plus, Burst Cannons are fragging bad-ass. Learn to love them.
**'''Phased Ion Gun:''' The phaser is Baby's First Assault Cannon but without the gatling barrel arrangement, with lower strength but decent AP and rending. Previously it was near to only way to get Rending in Tau army, but with new codex you get Riptide and shitton of sniper rifles.
**'''Fusion Cascade:''' The Fusion Cascade is the go-to weapon for heavy infantry hunting. A melta weapon with lower strength but multiple shots, these can decimate spess mehreens and light vehicles alike. And best of all, it's not plasma, so you can tell [[Matt Ward]] and his plasma siphon to stuff it, which is great because it's one of your best ways to eliminate a threat that would otherwise render three quarters of your weaponry unable to shoot for shit. Generally your best bet as it's effective against everything (though you need a bit of luck to penetrate high AVs even with melta rules.)
**'''Pulse Submunition Rifle:''' The shotgun is an excellent anti-horde weapon that ignores cover, with good strength but crap AP. A unit of 3 XV-9s equipped with 2 submunition rifles each can drop 6 pie-plates on the table every turn (and from 24" away), which will absolutely devastate Ork and Tyranid blobs. However, this setup is very expensive at 20 points per rifle, and is not very reliable against MEQs (though you can still force them to throw tons of saves). With the sheer amount of templates available to the Tau army, these are kind of redundant. However, they are more cost-efficient than twin-linked burst cannons if you can average more than 4 models under each template. The only exception is GEQs outside of cover (but seriously, when does that happen?), which require 7 models under each blast template.

Consider what an Iridium Commander with a command and control node, a multi-spectrum sensor suit or both can do for a team of three XV9's.

(The section below was not proof-read and thus some of the information presented mayu be incorrect)
It should be noted that the changes to crisis suits (ability to take more than one of the same weapon without twin-linking) the Hazard is now cost ineffective. Why use 2 twin-linked Burst Cannons, when you could have <s>3 Burst Cannons on a crisis suit giving the same number of hits and getting more benefit from markerlights?</s> why would you do that, you can only fire two. The price of a basic Hazard suit (2 twin-linked Burst Cannons) is 80 points with blacksun filter, price of a crisis suit with 3 burst cannons is 52 points. The Phased Ion Guns still have a place (Hazard suit with a pair of them + blacksun is 100 points) but a crisis suit can take 3 missile pods for <s>6</s> lolnope, only 4 S7 ap4 shots at 36” for 67 points. The Fusion Cascade delivers an average of 4 S6 ap1 with the melta rule shots at 12” (110 points with blacksun filter) while a Crisis suit with 3 Plasma Rifles can give <s>3</s>(getting a little ridiculous here, read the codex) 2 S6 ap2 shots at 24” or <s>6</s> S6 ap2 shots at 12” for 67 points (and if you need anti-tank can swap some of the Plasma Rifles for Fusion Blasters with 18” and S8 without increasing point cost). However, multitracker limits you to firing two weapons systems at a time, so you could have budget XV8's with a twinlinked weapon and a second weapon, counting as two weapons systems (ie, twin linked BC and one BC is even cheaper than three BC's, but isn't as great as two twin linked). Also, remember that you're also paying points and money for super crisis suits (T5 saves you a lot from plasma cannon insta-death).  Only the Pulse Submunitions Rifle has no cheaper Crisis Suit equivalent.

Except, the XV8 cannot have twin-linked BC's and VRT's, and even if they could would be 15 points cheaper than XV9's who are T5 and WS3 and have a higher Ld. for that pay bump. Couple them with a DC and six Gun Drones for 36 BS3 S5 AP5 shots and let the tears flow.

*'''Mounted Great Knarloc Herd (Forge World):''' If you have a fast attack slot open and need a massive distraction, take 3 of these. These are your new distraction carnifex. For 85 points each, you have a WS4, S6, T5, W5, monstrous creature with Stealth (forests) and fleet, but have the downsides of being only I3, Ld7, and a paltry orkish save of 6+. Don't give them guns, they're not there to shoot, they're there to smash stuff.

*'''Goaded Great Knarlocc (Forge World):''' A singular version of the Knarlock Herd that has a chance of going crazy and killing its own units. Just skip it, and go for the Herd.

*'''Knarloc Riders (Forge World):''' I want to like these guys, I really do, because come on, they're [[Awesome|freaking birdmen riding god-''fucking''-damned dinosaurs!]] These guys beat Canoptek wraiths, when they charge.  They're also able to move 12, re-roll charge distance and then get hammer of wrath, something jump troops cannot do, and are 2 wounds now with T4. They're basically here for a distraction. Problem with Knarlok riders is not that they are bad, but almost any other FA choice is flat-out better. Anything that kills orks (read: everything) will kill these faster, if only because there is less of them, somehow.