Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

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* '''[[Stealthsuit_Team|XV-25 Stealth Battlesuits]]:''' Your infiltrators, able to be set up anywhere besides the opponent's deployment zone and within 12" of enemies. They no longer have any special interaction with cover, but their stats increased to T4 W2 while actually ''decreasing'' in price, and their Stealth rules now apply a -1 to hit modifier to any units attacking the Stealth Suits in both shooting AND close combat, lessening their dependence on terrain and giving them more autonomy. Unlike other battlesuit units they also have the {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} keyword, with all the benefits and vulnerabilities it entails. They also con take only 2 drones per squad, one model every three can swap their Burst cannon for a Fusion blaster, and the Shas'vre can buy a markerlight w/target lock on top of his normal gear, which makes for a good argument to get MSU if you want more than three Stealth suit models.
**Not useless at direct combat in any way, but three Stealth suits with Burst cannons cost you 66 pts where single Crisis suit with the same firepower costs 18 pts less. Their utility lies not on their raw power but on their <u>tactical mobility</u>, setting up where you want them right from the start while being difficult to remove. They even infiltrate a pair of drones, since they deploy together. Their homing beacons are one of the only ways to set up reinforcements ''closer than 9"'' from the enemy which matters to Flamers and Fusion gun (& Fusion Cascade) battlesuits, but since it works at the ''start'' of your movement phase it's rather niche. But they might need that help, since they cannot Manta Strike - the only other unit they can deploy alongside with is the <u>Ghostkeel</u>, with whom they work well:
***Ghostkeels have lots of 18" guns but also want to keep their distance from the enemy; bodyblock them with Stealth suits, which get -1 to be hit even in melee. Ghostkeels can't bring regular drones; Stealth suits bring two, and their Shas'vre can get a target locked markerlight. And when a Ghostkeel loads up on fusion weapons and can no longer defend itself from the small guys, the Stealth suits help it with their burst cannons, maybe gun drones and even fusion guns of their own. Teamwork!
** Stealth suits are in the enviable position of being able to take battlesuit support systems without actually needing them to be efficient, and since they're relatively hard to shoot away they can survive for when you Manta Strike all your stuff next turn. Give one a drone controller and that's a Crisis suit that doesn't need to give up a gun to support the incoming drones. A shield generator is relatively cheap and gives the unit a 50/50 chance of ignoring any rogue heavy weapon hits, such as a lascannon's. You can give the fusion gun suits a target lock so they can advance to melta range. The other systems affect their shooting, which may be a job best left to the real combat units: What would an enemy flyer care about being shot at with a gun that wounds it on 5's, has no AP and deals single damage, even if you do hit it on a 4+ with a velocity tracker? That's what Broadsides are for.

* '''[[XV-8_Crisis_Battlesuit|XV-8 Crisis Battlesuits]]:''' GW has given them plenty of points drops to make them useable, and Psychic Awakening has done even more to make Crisis Suits appealing by giving you lots of relics and stratagems. Crisis teams are the surgical strike of the Tau military, deployed to counter the enemy elite and destroy their vulnerable points, but those costs add up. The only weapon they're more cost effective than a Commander is Flamers, as they are not affected by their questionable BS4+. The Commander is just more effective, but the limit on Commanders makes Crisis suits a viable alternative for when you can't bring as many as you'd want. They deep strike through a ''Manta Strike'', a distinction which matters in 8E for stratagem use. Unlike other suits, Crisis suits put weapons and support systems in the same slots, and 8E's simplification of the rules has made it so that <u>bringing three guns is better than two guns with a support system</u> most of the time. On the plus side, they can take 2 drones per ''model'', and deploy with them in the same Manta Strike, as well as support them with a drone controller. This means they can bring their own drone support without using up Fast Attack slots, and you can keep shielding your Riptide with like thirty drones and such. Fag.
**They are very versatile, but so is the rest of your army and some models have the same battleroles, so you have to decide what you get from which unit. Not saying "don't take this and go WAAC", you WAACfag, just saying some loadouts overlap in function. For example, you can bring trios of '''Burst cannons''' and pairs of Gun Drones for a bazillion S5 shots...but since you get S5 from literally every other place in your army, is anti-infantry something your Crisis should really be doing? They can get a ton of '''Fusion Blasters''' up the enemy's face, but do you need to, when you also have railguns? The same thing happens with other guns. '''Missile pods''' are for long range light antitank & heavy infantry, and so are Broadsides. '''Airburst projectors'''' ignore LoS, but so do Smart missile units, and you can also FLY over obstacles. Even '''flamers''', your best anti-infantry weapon, are hampered by the fact that you absolutely need to low-altitude drop near another unit with a Homing Beacon/Positional Relay (+2CP!) or else your flamers will spend a turn doing nothing, and thus automatic S4 hits at 8" at turn three are outclassed by S5 shots from like 30" away and since turn 1, despite their BS4+.
***Crisis suits are your most efficient source of '''plasma rifles''', which are your <u>most efficient anti-MEQ</u>, even after the nerf 8E was for them. '''Cyclic ion blasters''' look like a very complete weapon by being like a combination of a burst cannon and a missile pod...but burst cannons kill marines more efficiently ''even when you overcharge the ion blaster'', by virtue of it costing more than twice what a burst cannon costs. Plus they're scalped to hell...but they are <u>your only gun with guaranteed D2</u>, which makes it an invaluable tool at killing those Primaris Gue'ron'sha.

* '''XV-8 Crisis Bodyguards:''' +3 pts per suit to give them Shas'Vre stats (Ld8 3A), with the ability to take wounds for your {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTERS}}. For the same price as a single Crisis Bodyguard you can take nearly 6 Gun Drones which have double the wounds, intercept the wound on a 2+, and mitigate multi-damage weapons more effectively. The difference is, Bodyguards can absorb shots for any {{W40kKeyword| <SEPT> CHARACTER}} instead of only {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} and {{W40kKeyword|BATTLESUIT}}s, the disjoint of which only Longstrike belongs to. Still, the ranges at which flamers and fusion guns operate are short enough that close combat is a real possibility and an extra attack is worth considering. If you are already bringing a Crisis bomb, make them Bodyguards.

* '''[[Battlesuit#XV9_Hazard_Battlesuit|XV-9 Hazard Support Team]] (Forge World):''' A <s>Crisis</s> heavier Battlesuit that gets a variety of advanced weapon choices. 50% more expensive than a Crisis Suit before weapons for the privilege. Having 2 extra wounds, +1 attack (beh), -2" to hostile chargers and a free Support System per suit adds to that somewhat. Can take two weapons in any combination of: Double-barrelled Burst Cannon (which is two Burst Cannons at 80% the price), Phased Ion Gun (roughly a 20% more expensive Burst Cannon but with slightly lower strength and better AP), Fusion Cascade (basically 2 Fusion Blasters at 83% the price, but they drop down to standard melta range), or Pulse Submunitions Rifle for when you want to hit targets 30" away and wound pesky T5s on a 3+ and T3s on 2+. At a glance, seems to be most cost effective if you need a single suit to perform a task. Past that it may be more effective/reliable to look towards normal Crisis suits. For comparison, a 2xDBBC+ATS w/4 Gun Drones will average you the same number of wounds as a 3xBC+ATS w/2 Gun Drones Commander, while being a few points cheaper and a little less durable. Finally an actual tactical choice!
** RAW, you do not have to pay for the single support system choice the suit can take, as you are taking its ability, not an item.
** Chapter Approved 2018 gives these bad boys a point drop. Now a unit of 3 with dual double barrelled burst cannons costs 216, while unloading 48 shots at the enemy. Give them ATS, and you give that downpour of fire a sexy AP-1 for just 18 points more. This setup leaves them with just their armour save, but it poses a risk to anything on the board. It is fully capable of exterminating entire squads of infantry, execute monstrous creatures and light vehicles, and shave wounds off of larger monsters and heavy vehicles. They are the single most effective battlesuit option in the entire army, and a must-have for those who are willing to pay for them.
** Protip: Take the team above and a team of dual Fusion cascades with shield generators. Use the farsight enclaves ability for +1 bs on deep strike, and get some markerlight support. 48 shots shooting on a 2+ with re-rolling 1's? Yes please!

* '''[[Battlesuit#XV95_Ghostkeel_Battlesuit|XV-95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit]]:''' Not as heavily armoured as the Riptide, but with two different systems (its onboard countermeasures and its stealth drones) that each give opponents -1 to hit it (for a cumulative -2). It might actually be more survivable against heavy weapons, but it needs cover badly and fears close combat. What makes it stand out however is its DISTRACTION applications. Giant Mecha are bound to draw enemy fire away from the more important target (Stealth Suits in this case) and with a cheap shield generator it can survive a lot of punishment.
** Can be a great late game objective grabber if you position it right. Use the wall of mirrors stratagem as it pretty much means you can move a stealth team 18 inches, '''right on to that objective tucked around the corner...'''
** '''[[Tau_Drones#Stealth_Drone|MV-5 Stealth Drones]]''': Lowers the to-hit rolls when anyone shoots at these drones or a Ghostkeel within 3". Try to keep them out of line of sight, so they can't be picked off. Remember, they are a separate unit from the Ghostkeel now after they deploy.

* '''[[XV104_Riptide_Battlesuit|XV-104 Riptide Battlesuit]]:''' These are now considered one of the most dangerous units in the Codex, bringing an eye watering amount of firepower and being nearly impossible to remove if you bring enough drones. '''Nova Reactor''' confers an automatic mortal wound, but it grants a useful effect (a 3++ invulnerable save, move 2d6 in the Charge phase even if you don't declare a charge, or improve the Heavy Burst Cannon and Ion Accelerator to Heavy 18 and Heavy 6, respectively). The mortal wound sucks, but there's now a cheap Stratagem that lets you get two effects at once and another one that can heal the wounds you receive. Also don't forget that Sense of Stone gives you that 16% chance to not get DERP'd by reactor. All of its weapon options are Heavy, so take Target Lock or prepare to use Mont'ka to position them. The Heavy Burst Cannon outperforms the Ion Accelerator in most situations, but don't ignore the value of the 72" range. ATS is almost mandatory as it's a huge increase in damage, turning the HBC into a Heavy 18 S6 AP-2 D2 monster (with nova reactor).
** '''[[Tau_Drones#Missile_Drone|MV-84 Shielded Missile Drone]]:''' A missile pod, with an invuln save, for slightly more points than a missile pod. For some reason it has a better base invulnerable save than the Riptide. Also a separate unit from the Riptide after deployment so you can have these bugger off to support another unit now. Still kind of expensive given the drone's low BS unless you have both controller and marksman nearby. Still, with a movement of 12" it's probably the best drone to keep up with a Riptide on the move, to absorb hits directed at it.

* '''Firesight Marksman:''' Because he's a special snowflake his Stealth Field works differently from everyone else's, and he gains +2 to his saves for being in cover, rather than imposing a -1 to-hit on any shooting attacks made against him - if your opponent is allowed to shoot him at all, as he is a character and even a single model in between him and the shooter prevents him from being targeted. Slightly better BS than normal, and has a Markerlight. Unfortunately, he is 3x the cost of a Pathfinder for the privilege, though he is much, much harder to kill and ideal to start markerlight chains together with Fireblades (allowing any subsequent markerlight shots against the target to re-roll 1s to hit as well). If you bring sniper drones this is a mandatory take, since he provides them with a +1 to hit. Combine that with a drone controller on a nearby commander and they'll be hitting on a not-terrible 3+.
** Note that 3 of these and an ethereal are perfect for a Sa'cea sept vanguard detachment. The ethereal takes the +1 Ld and turns your entire army into Ld 10, and with the free re-roll your Firesight Marksmen will have an 89% chance to hit.

* '''[[Tau_Drones#Technical_Drone|DX-4 Technical Drones]] (Forge World):''' Same stat profile as a Tactical Drone, with an 8", Assault 1, S5 shot. Once per shooting phase the unit can choose to either attempt to repair D3 wounds on a single {{W40kKeyword|BATTLESUIT}} model within 3", or select an enemy unit within 12" to not receive cover saves until your next turn. Adding additional drones gives no benefit towards number of attempts or the success chances of any repairs. Expect these guys to draw a colossal amount of fire, and probably die immediately as a result. Make sure to hide them out of sight behind buildings if you want them to live long enough to actually fix something. You can also stack repairs between different units (don't ever increase their unit size, just get a new one).
** RAW, you can use the ability in every player's shooting phase, not just your own, but good luck with trying that! If you use this to try and heal the Ta'unar in the enemy's phase then you can expect to be immediately punched in the face.