From the Inbox: 500 points Tau Army With XV104 Riptide

August 15, 2013 7 Comments

Warhammer Tau Riptide Battlesuit

I received a little question on starting a Warhammer 40K Tau army via email this weekend. I’ll try to help. Maybe you can too!

Just got the tau 6th edition codex, I want to build an easy 500 pt. army that can back some punch. Trying to use the riptide, don’t like the xv8 battle suit modules, not sure how many marker lights I will need tops.

So? A 500 pts. Tau Empire army with a XV104 Riptide Battlesuit, no regular crisis suits and some useful marker lights? Let’s do this!

#1 – Three Caveats

Ok, I think there are three things I should get out of the way first.

  1. I am not much of a list-building pro. I’ll try to help, but there are blogs by tournament players who would easily turn out better things.
  2. 500 pts. with a Riptide doesn’t leave much wriggle room, assuming (as I will here) that the regular Force Organisation requirements still apply.
  3. 500 pts. with a Riptide may turn people off the game (or you). Games will swing widely depending on whether or not your opponent  has tools to crack the Riptide at 500 pts.

 #2 – List-building Thoughts

So what do we do. Some preliminary thoughts.

  • Ethereal: No XV8s means no Commander. I would use an Ethereal as HQ in a game this small. A Cadre Fireblade will work too, but the Ethereal has an edge on versatility, which is important in small games like this (more so if points are tied up in a Riptide).
  • XV104 Riptide: I opt for a Riptide with Ion Accelerator and, arguably, TL plasma instead of missiles. The Riptide will almost certainly be the only option for low AP shots in this small force. Despite the cost, I would buy at least one Shielded Missile Drone. The Riptide is the game-changer here, and keeping him around a bit longer will be invaluable.
  • Markerlights: One Markerlight or two? One Markerlight is good for the bit of help it give to hitting things. Markerlight Drones with Fire Warriors is likely the best way to get them into a small list like this. Two MLs are more reliable, and remove cover saves once in a while.
  • Kroot: Not everyone’s favourite unit, but I ended up throwing in a sizable Kroot unit. They are mobile and add (meat-shield) bodies to a low-body-count army. Similar to the Ethereal, I’ve also opted for them for versatility. Infiltrate can help put your opponent on a back-foot (and thus keep his troops away from your Riptide for an extra turn or two).

#3 – A 500 Points Riptide List

My 500 pts. Tau Empire army list with a Riptide.

HQ 50 points
Ethereal
Troops 240 points
12 Firewarriors with 2x Marker Drones
13 Kroot Carnivores with a Shaper & 3 Kroot Hounds
Elites 210 points
XV104 Riptide with Ion Accelerator & 1 Shielded Missile Drone

#4 – Thoughts?

What do you think?

How would you build a small Warhammer 40K list like this for the Tau?

How would you try getting the most out of a Riptide in small games?

I am looking forward to your comments (especially from the more veteran list-builders out there)!

Let’s hear it!

Z.

Image: XV104 Riptide Battlesuit painted by Majere613.
Zweischneid

Zweischneid

I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Hopeless painter and founder of Pins of War. I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.
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  • Pr0Golf3r

    Ethereal= 50pts
    10 Kroot = 60pts
    10 kroot = 60pts
    8 firewarriors with bonding knife, Shas’ui, target lock + marker light, 2 markerlight drones=139
    Riptide as it is above = 210pts
    499pts
    Flank with your kroot to put pressure on the enemy on first or second turn, only rapid fire if you can move into cover, if not shoot single shot then assault, also if opponent isn’t too strict add a positional relay for 5 points to your riptide to allow easier control for flankers. Or infiltrate into woods and shoot them down until they get too close or hold objectives near cover. Firewarriors sit behind the kroot providing S5 back up shots and 3 markerlights with 1 that can shoot at a separate unit. Place the Ethereal behind the Firewarriors but make sure he is within 12″ of at least a single kroot unit if you decide to infiltrate. Riptide takes care of tanks and termies and protects ethereal from any nasty deep strikers.
    I personally recommend flanking with kroot even if it means losing some bonding knives if your opponent is strict. Hope this helps!

  • Wolfgard

    IMO the riptide needs more Markerlight support to function efficiently, especially when it is the cornerstone of the army. When all of its best shots are “gets hot” losing 1/6 of your firepower over a game can be devastating. By getting up to BS 6 you can vastly reduce the chances your riptide will shoot nothing when you roll a 1. That means you need to be able to generate 3 markerlight hits a turn.

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      Which is why I would use the Ion Accelerator for a Riptide in a small list like this.

      The Gets Hot is rare enough to just accept it there and it adds some AP2 (and a bit of Rhino-killing power) to the game without having to rely on the Nova Reactor every turn for damage.

      With a HBC, I agree, you’ll need more overall support structure and, ideally, a Stim Injector, which eats a lot (too many?) points for a 500 pts. list.

  • NagaBaboon

    Personally I wouldn’t waste points on the shielded missile drone. In a 500 pt list the riptide is already gonna be survivable enough, if you really wanna buff survivability your better off with stim injector, expensive but not much negates it against a riptide and it can save you from bad rolls on the nova engine… but saying that I wouldn’t take that either in a 500 pt list.

    I also don’t think you’ve calculated in the fact you have to upgrade to a shas’ui to take marker drones. might be better off with path finders.

    I’d take

    Ethereal = 50pts
    Riptide with ion and plasma = 185 pts
    12 fire warriors = 108pts
    10 kroot with sniper = 70pts
    7 pathfinders = 77 pts
    and that leaves 10 pts for and extra kroot or a few upgrades on the riptide

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      No. I probably didn’t.

      I had the Shas’ui in there. Then thought “why not drop it” when I have an Ethereal anyhow, and forgot the drones.

      That said, I could take the drones with the Ethereal, instead of the Firewarriors, if I’d wanted to.

      That said, I like your advice!

      • NagaBaboon

        That’s a good point, it would probably be better with the ethereal anyway because there would be some flexibility if you wanted to separate him from the fire warriors and shoot a different target with the markers.

        I’d still say pathfinders are the way to go though despite there vulnerability, they’re cheaper and more likely to actually hit.

  • Yggdrasil

    Pasted & edited from FB :

    “Good list overall !

    If it were me, I would probably make a few tweaks :

    I’d
    ditch the options on the Kroots & keep it MSU. This would free
    48pts, with which you could buy a whole Pathfinder Squad, which would
    bring 4 markerlights to the fray.

    Dropping
    one Drone could also let you buy a Fireblade Cadre, which brings a more
    accurate Markerlight to the force. But that is much debatable, for the
    versatility of an Ethereal, as you pointed out, is very useful in such
    small games.

    Buying the drones through the Ethereal (or Cadre Fireblade) would save
    the cost of a Shas’ui, giving up 10pts for a few other options (Sniper
    rounds on the Kroot Rifles?)…

    Overall,
    yours is a pretty tough list IMHO, and a good place to start anyway. I
    think the minor changes should be done according to the armies he’s
    expecting to face…
    - Tyranids ? Sniper Rounds will help you deal with the Monstruous Creatures…
    - Chaos ? A Velocity Tracker is almost mandatory on the Riptide to deal with a lethal Heldrake…
    - IG ? Keep everything MSU, & find 65pts to field a Broadside to stem the armour tide…

    You could go as far as :

    - HQ : Ethereal + 1x Markerlight Drone (62) ;
    - T : FW Team, Pulse Carbines (54) ;
    - T : Kroot Squad, Sniper rounds (60) ;
    - E : Riptide, Ion accelerator, Shielded Missile Drone (210) ;
    - FA : Pathfinder Team (44) ;
    - HS : Broadside (65).

    Which
    leaves you 5 pts for whichever option you need… An Early Warning
    Override for the Riptide (pretty scary for units in reserve), a Honour
    Blade for the Ethereal, or a Kroot Hound…”

    Also :

    Someone mentioned a Shielded Missile Drone for the Riptide might be a bit too much… It might be true… But… What to do with those additional 30 points ?!?

    Maybe hire a few more Pathfinders ?!?

..