Editing Kroot (section)

==Building list==
Do you like to win more than you like to have fun? No? Good, you might enjoy a full Kroot list in the 9th ed. version of the Kroot Mercenaries / T'au Empire. With the welcome promotion of the shaper to an HQ unit, coupled with their own relics and warlord traits, you're free to run wild and eat your enemies to your heart's content.
*A small note, however, is that including but a single Ethereal, despite being counter to a pure Kroot army, goes a long way in the effectiveness of your Kindred. With a single floating hippy, you gain access to a <Sept> for the detachment, which should always be Dal'yth, so then your Kroot (and your Vespids if you're feeling saucy) can benefit from Tactical Philosophies. On top of that, Ethereals can chant a prayer explicitly for upgrading Auxiliaries. It might be worth kitbashing an ethereal to look like a kroot shaman, but all-in-all, it should be a serious consideration, unless you're a die-hard fan of Predator and Halo's Jackals.
*Secondly, unless you're willing to dip into Legends or used Unaligned units, your army won't end up being very diverse. While its very possible to get over 1k of mainline bords, your liable to field up to 80-100 models in carnivores alone, which is just... a lot to manage. But! If your gaming group is chill with it (and they should be because fighting an army of pure Kroot seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity), the inclusion of the Legends units really helps make the list more well-rounded.
**Unfortunately, with the transition into 9th, Dahyak Grekh got the axe as a unit, but not before leaving a lasting impression. His model can be used to represent a shaper with an alternative set of wargear, giving them them a pistol and grenade belt in exchange for their ritual blade. The kroot may have lost their Sly Marbo, but he shall never be forgotten.

In terms of list-building, the Kroot benefit from the fact that no units are competing for slots. Shapers are your only options for HQs (unless you're taking an Ethereal, but we'll circle back to that), Carnivores are your only troops, so on and so forth. This is because of the '''Kroot Pack''' rule that Carnivores have, which means that for every squad of them you take, up to one unit each of Shapers/Krootoxen/Hounds can be taken without filling a slot. Meaning that Hounds and Knarloc Riders will never compete for fast attack slots (because you should just run the Hounds as NOFOS), and if you're feeling adventurous, you can spam three Ethereals for your obligatory HQ slots, and still take up to three Shapers (for the same reason). Round out the list with some Great Knarlocs in your heavy support, and you have something that actually resembles an army.

Gameplay wise, the Kroot benefit from being fast and having OK melee. Shapers, Carnivores, and Hounds all get a pre-game move before the game begins, while both types of Knarlocs can auto-advance 6", and Hounds can re-roll advances and charges. Coupled with one of your Warlord Traits, you can even still keep up all the shooting while they're all advancing up the board. At the same time, while they are realistically a horde army, the sheer volume of their melee should be enough to surpass some of the low-tier armies on the assault, but naturally you'll crumple against every army that's better at melee, as Kroot universally have shitty armor saves and no invulns, with your only durability boost coming from a Stratagem.
*Ironically, however, a somewhat competent gunline can be made from massed Krootoxes, your best shooting unit, an attending Shaper for re-roll 1s to hit, and at least one baggage harness Great Knarloc for exploding 6s to hit. With a potential 18 auto-cannon shots (plus more if you're adding Great Knarlocs with their own guns to the mix) you've got some pretty scary fire coming down wind.

You're not likely to win anything with this army, but you are basically free to goof around. You aren't strong or competitive in any way, but part of this hobby is fun, so shut up and have fun. [[Kroot Conga Line|And on the occasion you do win, the loser will seethe even more.]]