Tau Empire Double Riptide … in a 1500 pts List! Madness?

May 2, 2013 4 Comments
Tau Empire XV104 Riptide

Tau XV104 Riptide Battlesuit painted by Mr. Nobody @ Dakkadakka

Can a 1500 pts. Tau Empire army list bring two XV104 Riptides?

I’ve been asking myself this question ever since I did my write-up on the new Tau Riptide. It is an awesome miniature with lots of options, asking you to choose between a the more aggressive Heavy Burst Cannon Riptide, and the more back-field oriented version with an Ion Accelerator.

Decisions, decisions…

So why not do both?

Given that I mostly play 1500 pts., it would be a horribly top-heavy list. But is it possible?

#1 – The List: 1500 pts. Double-Riptide

Without further ado, here’s the list. Have a look and let me know what you think!

HQ – 195 pts.

  • Commander Shadowsun with Commandlink Drone & 2x MV52 Shield Drone

Elite – 651 pts.

  • XV104 Riptide with Ion Accelerator, 1x. Shielded Missile Drone & Early Warning Override
  • XV104 Riptide with Heavy Burst Cannon, Stim Injector and 2x Shielded Missile Drone
  • 3 XV8 Crisis Suits with TL-Plasma Rifle & Fusion Blaster

Troops – 350 pts.

  • 10 Fire Warriors
  • 10 Fire Warriors
  • 10 Fire Warriors with a bare-bones Devil Fish

Fast Attack – 142 pts.

  • 7 Pathfinders
  • 7 Pathfinders

Heavy Support – 162 pts.

  • 1x XV88 Broadside with TL-Heavy Rail Rifle & Velocity Tracker
  • 1x XV88 Broadside with TL-High-Yield Missile Pod & 1x Missile Drone

#2 – Playing the Double-Riptide List

Evidently, this is all about the two Riptides. Though I was tempted to include more of the bitz and tricks the Tau excel at (Recon Drone and a Devil Fish for the Pathfinders for example, or an Ethereal to hold the Fire Warrior lines), I tried to keep things basic.

Two XV104 obviously eat up lots of points.

The beauty of the two different Riptides is that they’ll play different roles in the army, which itself is divided into a (rather static and low LD) firing base. This is made up by the bulk of Fire Warriors, the two Broadside (which I kept simple and versatile) and the Ion-Accelerator-Riptide.

The Pathfinders do what Pathfinders do.

Finally, there is a forward-detachment made up of

  • Shadowsun and 3 (stealth-shrouded) XV8s
  • A Fire Warrior-team in a Devil Fish
  • The HBC-Riptide (who will try to benefit from the Command-Link Drone on Nova-Charge)

#3 – Your Thoughts?

I’ve never been the greatest of 40K-list-builders. You’re feedback (and suggestions for improvement) would be welcome.

Can a Double-Riptide list work at 1500 pts? It sure would be an awesome sight on the table!

Let me know what you think!

Z.

 

Warhammer 40k Tau Army/Lot - Well Painted

Warhammer 40k Tau Army/Lot - Well Painted
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Warhammer 40k Tau XV88 Broadside Battlesuit

Warhammer 40k Tau XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
Current price:
$26.10
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Filed Under: 28mm, 28mm Miniatures, Miniature Wargaming, Tau, Warhammer, Warhammer 40K Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
About Zweischneid

Hi. I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Miniature Connoisseur. Aspiring Blogger. Did you like this post? Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more. And don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.

  • http://profiles.google.com/werner.waage werner waage

    Seems like a fun list. A bit low on the troop side for 1500 points. Also maybe you should specialize the XV88s? Either both HYMP or Rails? Against MEQs consider taking an Ionhead (it has large blast now! AP3)

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      Yeah. I didn’t put a lot of thoughts into the Heavy Support.

      Two different XV88s was kinda the first pitch to cover all eventualities (incl. anti-air). Ion-head sounds fun, but I wanted to have at least one XV88 with Skyfire potential for the all-rounder approach.

  • Phazaar

    Just for a bit of fun I’m experimenting with target saturation… The basic principle is that you’re better off (in most situations) not using a Riptide because it just isn’t survivable enough… But put enough high value high toughness things on the board and you can ignore so much incoming fire whilst really tearing through MEQs and Vehicles:

    THREE Riptides. THREE Railheads (incl Longstrike). Support Commander (Flamer or VRT; not sure yet) with one of the Riptides.

    Ethereal with 18 Firewarriors (2 or 3 groups depending on opposition).

    Waiting for new Tetra rules before deciding if I’d be better getting 150 points of Markerlights than the Commander (and FAQ to confirm I can join the Commander to the Riptides for that matter!).

    It comes to exactly 1499 points, which I always feel is a good sign.

    Should be legitimately hilarious to field. Especially against an unexpecting opponent.

    • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

      True, if target-saturation was the name of the game.

      I didn’t try to build a target-saturation list, however. More of a “Hammer-and-Anvil” list with different Riptide-load-outs showing up in both parts of the army.

      I don’t believe the Tau Codex suits itself all that well to a target-saturation approach. Nevertheless, if I’d attempt that, it would probably be focussing even more an ‘Fish Skimmers, Disruption Pods all around, giving opponent something to think about.