Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

====Elites====

* '''Firesight Marksman:''' BS3+ and a Pulse Pistol, but you don't take one to shoot with.  Instead, you take this dude because it comes with 3 Sniper Drones and in your Command Phase can select any one {{W40Kkeyword|sniper drone}} unit within 6" (so you'll always have the unit target itself unless something really weird happens) to have on all of its {{W40Kkeyword|sniper drone}} models BS3+, ignore Look Out Sir, and deal 1 mortal on unmodified 6s to wound on all attacks (including melee attacks, if it comes up). His new stealth rule prevents him from being targeted by ranged attacks unless he is the closest model; or he is within 12" range. If he moves during his turn though, the rule effects are deactivated till his next movement phase. Finally he also comes with the MARKERLIGHT keyword. For its price and elite slot it's not very good unless you're fighting a army that loves it's support characters (and ones made of paper at that).
** '''[[Tau_Drones#Sniper_Drone|MV-71 Sniper Drones]]''': Each comes with a Longshot Pulse Rifle: 48” Rapid Fire 1 S5 AP-2 D1.
* '''[[XV-25 Stealth Battlesuit]]s:''' 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 melee, lessening their dependence on terrain and giving them more autonomy. Like some other battlesuit units they also have the {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} keyword, with all the benefits and vulnerabilities it entails. They also can take only 2 drones per squad, one model every three can swap their Burst Cannon for a Fusion Blaster, and 1 in 3 models can buy a drone controller or target lock.  The unit can also take a homing beacon, but is kind of pointless without one.
**Homing Beacon (Action): In your command phase, any number of units with homing beacons can begin this action, completes at the start of your next reinforcements step. When completed, the unit loses its homing beacon and one friendly {{W40kKeyword|<SEPT> CRISIS CORE}} (so it won't work on Commanders or Hazards) unit in manta strike can be deployed within 3” of this unit and more than 9” away from enemy models, even if it is the first battle round.
**Not useless at direct combat in any way, but their utility lies not on their raw power but on their ''tactical mobility'', setting up where you want them right from the start while being difficult to remove. They even infiltrate a pair of drones. Their homing beacons are one of the only ways to set up reinforcements ''on turn 1''. But they might need that help, since they cannot Manta Strike - the only other unit they can deploy alongside with is the '''Ghostkeel''', 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. 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!
**Beware that with all marines having W2, anti-MEQ is becoming even more popular in the meta and these dudes are MEQ, so make sure you know where your suits will go and don't overly rely on their durability.
**Combine with Hardened Armour for a unit that against a boltgun in cover has -1 to hit, 5+ to wound and a 2+ save. Also always funny when your opponent realizes a Volley of lasguns only wound on 6s.
*'''[[XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit]]s:''' Same number of hardpoints as a Crisis Commander (4) but one of them can only be a support system, only 1 in 3 can wear Iridium, 66% of the wounds (W4), and 60% of the accuracy (BS4+) for 2/5 the points while naked and discounts on many but not all of their gun choices, the best general offensive loadout for them is a Cyclic Ion Blaster, a Plasma Rifle, and a Fusion Blaster - don't forget to fire the CIB third, so there's no chance of dying before you can shoot your other guns.  For support systems, take 1 Early Warning Override for the entire unit and put Multi-trackers/ Target Lock on everyone else, so if you're charged by a unit of 6+ models you're functionally your original BS4+ (BS5+ for the EWO bearer, so if you want a triple-flamer bearer for murdering GEQ, this is the dude to do it), or ignore the +1 to Sv from light cover, which most opponents will try to take advantage of or have abilities to have outside of cover. Pretty good for any army, even a gunline could use missiles for indirect fire before using that speed to cap objectives.
**In case you missed how the rules work out, '''you can take 2 shield drones per Crisis Suit and then take mortal wounds from your CIBs on your Shield Drones'''.  That doesn't make the CIBs suddenly cost-effective, but it does mean if you're afraid of Overcharging you're doing it wrong. We're not asking the shields drones to live, just take the overcharge MWs instead of the suits. CIB overcharge MWs are taken by the '''unit''', including the drones.
*'''[[XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit|XV-8 Crisis Bodyguard]]s:''' Now the same cost as a standard Crisis but they have a bodyguard aura - {{W40kKeyword|<sept> CHARACTER}} units within 3" can't be targeted by ranged attacks, period (though not including Longstrike due to being a {{W40kKeyword|Vehicle}}) - and the ability to take 1 unit slotlessly per {{W40kKeyword|<sept> commander}} (so max 1 if not FSE, 2 if FSE per Detachment).  Also, the minimum size of the unit drops from 3 to 2, which leans effectively into their bodyguard role. For minimum points investments a 2-suit Bodyguard unit will protect your Characters far more cost effectively than a minimum 3-suit crisis unit. Enemy shooting only has to drop one crisis suit in a minimum crisis unit, before concentrating all their firepower onto your precious Character units. Whereas a Crisis Bodyguard unit of only 2 still has to be completely destroyed before the enemy can begin to aim their sights on your Character(s). 
**'''Warning''': Bodyguards have ''crippled'' access to support systems compared to standard Crisis.  Where standard units have ''4'' hardpoints, 1 of which can only be chosen from a limited list of support systems.  Bodyguards simply don't have this last slot - they only have the 3 hardpoints that can mount guns or support systems.  This renders the unit ''disappointing'' in comparison, try to avoid taking it.
**'''Alternate take''': You take bodyguards to effectively protect your important Characters/Commanders, that will inevitably be positioned around the table throughout the battle. Their primary purpose ISN'T supposed to be damaged output but - hint; it's in their name. Alternatively, allows a Crisis unit to be taken when you have no Elite slots left (a niche use but might help in tight list building).
*'''[[XV-9 Hazard Battlesuit]]s<sup>Forge World</sup>:''' A heavier Battlesuit that gets a variety of advanced weapon choices and a slightly worse statline (the unit has no A4 Ld9 model in it), for a cost: being twice as much as a standard Crisis at 60 points, but that's deceptive because they have to take two weapons with an optional support system which can't be a weapon, and their weapon choices are distinct, with distinct costs. Thanks to rules updates in the FAQ, it can deepstrike and take a support system on each model for the same cost as a Crisis Battlesuit would pay, so a multi-tracker is often going to be your best bet.
**Twin Hazard Burst Cannons are just Burst Cannons with 2 more shots (i.e. 33% more shots), so never take them.  An XV-9 with 2 of this is 16 shots for 60 points.  A standard Crisis with 3 Burst Cannons is 18 shots for 65 points, which is ''better''.  Stick to Fusion Cascades.
**Phased Ion Guns are Burst Cannons with +1S and -1AP, meaning there's absolutely no point - against absolutely all possible targets, THBCs are better.  Stick to Fusion Cascades.
**Fusion Cascades are where things get serious.  Each one is a 12" Assault 1d3 Fusion Blaster with Blast, i.e. each one is ''two'' Fusion Blasters at shorter range, and they're only 10 points each without scaling costs.  That means a double Cascade (i.e. ''quadruple'' Blaster(hextuple if lucky)) Hazard is 80 points, while a triple-Fusion standard Crisis is ''also'' 80, for 1 less shot on average.  That means Hazards are your ''premier'' source of Fusion dakka - they do it better than anything else you can field, and that becomes ''even more true'' within melta range. They also have the {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} keyword thanks to the FAQ, with all the bad and good that entails with it.
*'''[[XV-95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit]]:''' Not as heavily armored as the Riptide or as last edition due to the loss of the shield generator, but makes up for it by [[Bullshit|only being shootable if the shooter is within 18" or the Ghostkeel is the closest unit of yours to it]] - in other words, everything in your army can bodyguard for it. The Cyclic Ion Raker is now 36", so you can shoot enemy units while a single Kroot screens you from being shot yourself by that Imperial Knight. The Fusion Collider is actually good now that it is an automatic 3 shots instead of D3. However, note that Ghostkeels aren't efficient at murder by Tau standards - what they're very good at is durability, which their Prototype only leans into by making nearby enemy stratagems more expensive. They're -1 to be hit T7 Sv3+ W12, and have support systems to get even more durable.  You take one of these to infiltrate onto the battlefield and be aggravatingly difficult to remove, i.e. territory denial.
**For support systems, it has a mandatory drone controller and a choice to make between an Early Warning Override or a Flare Launcher, which is unique to the Ghostkeel and gives it a 5+++ against S7+ shooting, but since it's T7, that's genuinely useful.  
**For weapons, your sidearms can be Fusion Blasters, Burst Cannons, or Flamers, so you shouldn't need to be told to take double Fusions.  For your main weapon, what you really want is the Ion Raker, because you don't want to be compelled to get close to your targets and give up the utility of your Stealth Drones.
**Wall of mirrors makes it a great late game flanker, allowing it to jump off the battlefield and appear near any table edge you want it to. Hello Raven Guard Devastators. Nice Lascannons. It'd be a shame if someone pumped you full of Ion.
** '''[[MV-5 Stealth Drone]]s''': Do not lose the drones. They are what primarily provide the ability to not be shot outside of 18".
* '''[[DX-4 Technical Drone]]s<sup>Legends,Forge World</sup>:''' Similar stat profile as a Tactical Drone except for -2" movement (M8"), +1 wound (W2), with a 12" Assault 1 S5 shot. Once per command phase the unit can choose to either repair D3 wounds on a single {{W40kKeyword|BATTLESUIT}} model within 3", or select an enemy unit within 12" to not receive light cover until your next turn. Expect these guys to draw a colossal amount of fire, and probably die immediately as a result.  If you want them to live long enough to actually fix something, make sure to hide them out of sight behind buildings - and/or increase the number of drones per unit. You can only repair the same model once per Command phase.