Starting List

When starting an army (or anything for that matter) it is good to set goals. This way you can keep your focus and not lose track. Assembling and painting an army is a time consuming business and the price for getting a new unit is not something to be taken lightly either.

With this in mind here is my focus for creating a core of my Tau army:

Name	#	Grp	WS	BS	S	T	Wo	I	A	Ld	Save	Cost
Commander Shas'el	1	HQ	3	4	5	4	3	3	3	9	3+	120
	Independent Character, Deep Strike, Acute Senses, Jump Infantry (Jet Pack); Cyclic Ion Blaster; Hard-wired Blacksun Filter; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Missile Pod; Shield Drone; Plasma Rifle
Shield Drone	1	-	2	2	3	4	1	4	1	0	3+/4(i)	[15]
	Causes IC to count as a unit for targeting; Shield Generator
Name	#	Grp	WS	BS	S	T	Wo	I	A	Ld	Save	Cost
Fire Warrior	9	Troops	2	3	3	3	1	2	1	7	4+	190
	Infantry ; Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x9)
Devilfish	1	Grp: BS: 3 FA: 12 SA: 11 RA: 10										[80]
	Carries up to 12 models (no XV battlesuits); Transport, Tank, Skimmer; Access Points: 2 side hatches, 1 rear hatch; Fire Points: 0; Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Landing Gear
Gun Drones	2	-	2	2	3	3	1	4	1	0	4+	[0]
	Twin Linked Pulse Carbines
Shas'ui	1	-	2	3	3	3	1	2	2	8	4+	[20]
	Pulse Rifle
Name	#	Grp	WS	BS	S	T	Wo	I	A	Ld	Save	Cost
Fire Warrior	9	Troops	2	3	3	3	1	2	1	7	4+	190
	Infantry ; Add Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle (x9)
Devilfish	1	Grp: BS: 3 FA: 12 SA: 11 RA: 10										[80]
	Carries up to 12 models (no XV battlesuits); Transport, Tank, Skimmer; Access Points: 2 side hatches, 1 rear hatch; Fire Points: 0; Burst Cannon; Gun Drones; Landing Gear
Gun Drones	2	-	2	2	3	3	1	4	1	0	4+	[0]
	Twin Linked Pulse Carbines
Shas'ui	1	-	2	3	3	3	1	2	2	8	4+	[20]
	Pulse Rifle
Total Cost:												500

A very "primitive" squadron with two Fire Warrior teams and a "Jack-of-all-trades" Shas'el to back them up. I'm probably going to have a serious problem with heavy armor, but what can you do. Have to start somewhere. The missile pod is going to have to work overtime I guess.

For the Greater Good

Having read through the fluff of the available races, and after having spent countless hours in the Dawn of War computer game series, one race in particular caught my eye: the technologically advanced Tau.

The Tau are a young race that is maximizing in working together to achieve the best results for the good of the race as a whole. Individuality is only defined through the part that one plays in the greater scene.

Pros:

• Access to, probably, the most powerful weapon of the game , the Hammerhead Railgun.
• Extreme mobility, rivaling the Eldar in some cases, and exceeding them in others.
• Completely versatile Crisis Battlesuits, able to fill almost any role (e.g. Heavy support, Ambush, Support Fire, etc.).
• Markerlights. The one sure way to expose even Dreadnoughts to target dummies.
• Seeker Missiles and Smart Missile Systems. Fire and Forget. Blind. In the night. Used in conjunction with markerlights and you have a nice pile of destroyed vehicles/walkers/avatars/individual characters.

Cons:

• No leadership, unless you include a very underpowered Shadowsun, or an incredibly vulnerable ethereal.
• No true firebase as there are no squad heavy weapons.
• No assault units or at least close-combat ready. If someone reaches your lines chances are that you lose. Big time.

All things considered they fit my interests completely, and I think that I will enjoy amassing and playing them. They are deeply strategical and that is the most likely point of frustration. It is not a forgiving army. You should carefully plan and methodically destroy your opponent. And all from a distance. A couple of well placed ambushes were you overpower your opponent through superior and overwhelming firepower is also an option, but should be used as an add-on and not as the main strategy.

Warhammer 40K

I like Strategy. A lot. I also like miniatures (yes... "boys will be boys"). I recently found that I like painting, or, to put it better, that I like it and have a good potential. Finally, I've always known that I have a knack for constructions of any kind. From the large ones to the minuscule.

What do all these are trying to show me? I wonder... I first came into contact with Warhammer 40K more than 15 years ago. Back then I didn't really bother. The game in my home country was limited to 30+ year olds, way too old for me at the time. Limited number of stores provided any output, and an even more limited number of players existed in walking distance (no driver's license yet). So, it was only a matter of time before I just shut myself out of the game.

But, as life would have it, old habits are bound to resurface, and one nice Friday afternoon I decided to start over again. It has strategy, miniatures, construction, and painting. To top it all it gives you a unique opportunity to do something awesome: Ass-kick your opponent back to the Stone Age!

This is my account of Warhammer 40K and my, soon to be created, Tau army.