Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Tau (section)

==Allies==
Main point in bringing allied non-Greater Good adherents are distraction, assault beatsticks (what the Kroot are allegedly for) or psyker support. Remember, you only have D6 defense against psykers.

===Battle Brothers===
'''Farsight Enclaves/Tau Empire:''' Yep, you can actually ally a "standard" Tau Empire list with a Farsight Enclaves list. This means space for SIX Riptide '''SQUADS'''. And then there's O'vesa. This means nigh-on broken. This means you WILL do this. Using multiple CADs that's 18 available riptides. Use the Fire Cadre data slate for an extra to bring that number up to 19. Do you count R'varna riptides? That's 6 more. Y'vahra? Another 6. Enjoy throwing '''31''' mechagodzillas down your enemies throat. KX139's? MOAR!!!!!! The only problem with this is the fact that you will have no friends, very VERY fast. If taking 3 made you [[That guy]], than taking 22 makes you [[That guy]]'s [[That guy]]... 

Oh, and enjoy not being able to afford anything in life and eventually having to take up residence in a cardboard box under a bridge because you blew all your money on 31 Riptides.

===Allies of Convenience===
'''Necrons:''' They are shooty cover campers, that lay waste on vehicles and die in close combat... just like you. Unlike you they have much more survivability in the open (as they are designed for close range firefights, instead of sniping across the board) pie plates of hate, lots and lots of battlefield cheating rules, some of which stacks perfectly with Tau (HOD with Solar Flare for your nightvision army? Yes, please!), and last but not least motherfucking flyer cheese [[necrons|croissants]]. And if you want to screen your gunline with close combat beatsticks, they get those too.
In fact, that's probably the best use for Necron allies: tanky, [[choppy]] units that just won't die under the right circumstances - the very thing the Tau lack. Wraiths, Lychguard and Canoptek Spyders are all viable candidates, and a popular Taucron build is to bring a Canoptek Harvest for that extra side of cheesy cheese you know you love.

'''Eldar:''' Taudar isn't as cheesy as it used to be now that they're no longer Battle Brothers, but that's okay, because it still fucking rocks. Eldar provides you with psykers and sorely-needed DTW defenses in the form of warp dice. Aside from that, Wraithwall armies can be a good, mobile anchor and distraction, Windrider Jetbikes/Shining Spears or Swooping Hawks for fast objective grabbers, Howling Banshees, Wraithblades or Striking Scorpions for melee support and the dreaded Wave Serpents (still good though significantly nerfed in 7e) for pushing the gunline forward. Too bad you can't prescience your riptides anymore, but the prospect of fighting Hammerheads guarded by Serpents or, with the new codex, ''squadrons'' of Falcons, are still gloomy for your opponents. If long-range tank annihilation is your thing the Fire Prism is as good as the Hammerhead, and better in some cases, and the Wraithknight can be quite useful to break through attempts at locking down your Riptides. Harlequins could also be an interesting option to add some assault punch your troops are otherwise very much lacking, and given their predilection for wandering, are not necessarily unfluffy.

===Desperate Allies===
'''Chaos Space Marines:''' With the right build, Chaos Lords or Princes can occupy that guy's deathstar-HQs or even kill it outright. Nurgle Termies and Heldrake are durable bullet sponges that can perform independently from rest of your armies, and if you're feeling lucky, Thousand Sons. Other than that, skip the shooty parts as you have better options.

'''Dark Eldar:''' Dark Eldar do have a couple of upsides - with the right build, they are so mobile that the One Eye Open rule won't be a factor if you play intelligently, and they're very good at dictating when combat occurs, a very good sacrificial defense for your squishy gunlines. On the other hand, a highly mobile Eldar build - such as Samhain - can use this tactic as well.

'''Orks:''' Orks have been knocked down from Allies of Convenience into the second-worst slot for Allied armies in the game. The old strategy of joint shooty Tau and choppy Orks is not nearly as effective as it once was, especially with the nerfs to Assault in 7e. If you want to take Ork allies for whatever reason, consider taking a Big Mek with the Shokk Attack Gun and some Mek Guns - preferably the Kustom Mega-Kannon for more Plasma fire, the Traktor Kannon for more AA goodness or the Smasha Kannon for awesome anti-vehicle firepower - to keep them away from your units while ensuring that they can still contribute something to the fight thanks to considerable range. If anyone asks why Orks are fighting alongside Tau, point out that Tau take alien mercenaries and that Orks sometimes take mercenary work; if they ask about the Mek, say he was promised some Tau tech for his trouble. 

====The Forces of the Imperium:====
*'''Space Marines:''' With the loss of Battle Brothers, you need to be creative in using Marines. Thankfully all-bikers from both Scars and Ravenwing can still work as they have great mobility and can be left alone for the most part. Assaulty armies like Templars and Sharkies are better as distraction, but don't bring too much as your primary advantage is still shooting. Landspeeders works like a better Piranha, pretty good for dealing with covered blobs if you don't want to commit your suits.
*'''Imperial Guard:''' If you want to bring all-suit army, IG's artilleries can be a great boon in dealing with things you'll have difficulty, like MSUs. IG blobs can also screen your gunline, but let them die first or stay away from assaults as you still need to shoot them. IG tanks are best used as distraction that's capable of wreaking havoc if left unchecked.
*'''Dark Angels:''' As stated above, go with Ravenwing. Deathwing Knights are also excellent anti-everything deathstar though needs careful deployment and lucky deepstrike. (you'll at best only bring one biker squad to help them, so it will be expensive tax but worth it if you know how to use)
*'''Space Wolves:''' Mostly the same uses as the vanilla above, save for a better flyer and are far better in assault.
*'''Blood Angels:''' Death Company with jump packs/Sanguinary Guard supporting your deep striking Crisis Suits for a deadly one-two punch down the board.. Plus Assault Squads on foot in front of your firing line to help hold the line when they do reach you, better than Kroot in every category but points cost. Want to bring a Dreadnought and an elite jump squad? Grab a Furioso Librarian Dreadnought and get a built in psyker and dreadnought and your elite jump squad while still maintaining a bound allied force. All with built in furious charge for extra punch. What's not to like about this combo except for having to remain six inches apart.
*'''Grey Knights:''' Primary use is psyker defenses and Purifiers, though Eldar are better by virtue of being Convenience. Paladins may work if you need tough units.
*'''Inquisition:''' Think of Inquisition as a toolbox that capable of filling any holes you need, packed in mobile Chimera or Valks. Though with downgrade to Desperate Allies, pay attention to movement phases.
*'''Sisters of Battle:''' Sisters excel at annihilating vehicles with Melta (Dominions) or rooting hordes out of cover (basic Sisters, Heavy Flamer Retributors). Tau are good at this too, but Crisis Suits are the unit of choice for both. Taking Sisters could let you free up some XV8s for other purposes, like hunting transports (missiles) or TEQs (plasma/fusion). Saint Celestine and Seraphim or Battle Conclaves could provide a reasonably good assault interceptor, too. Skip the Repentia, though - you need a Stormraven or a Land Raider to use them effectively.

===Come The Apocalypse===
'''Chaos Daemons''' Tzeentch warp-die spam may work and don't need to be close to your units to be effective, and Warpstorm table are non-issue. Needs playtesting though. Could be good however; on paper they have everything you need.

'''Tyranids''' Nidzilla-list (needs playtesting). Another popular option is the "Hive Fleet Detachment" which has 1-3 HQs and a minimum of 3 Troops. Take three Flying Hive Tyrants (Wings upgrade) each equipped with 2x Twin-linked Devourers with Brainleech Worms and Electroshock Grubs as the HQ choices. Then take three Mucolid Spore Clusters as your troops since they're the cheapest option (15 points each). This combo is 765 points and is devastating when combined with Tau (generally ran with Farsight Enclaves for Crisis Suits, Riptides, and Skyrays). 3x FMCs; 6x Psychic dice; plenty of anti-air support; quick scoring; and flank maneuverability are among the benefits. Not recommended for friendly/casual games. Tear buckets don't come in this size at your FLGS. (Do the Tau's brainleech allies have the ability to mindjack tyranids? Because if so this could even happen in fluff.)