[Tactica: Fire Warriors & Markerlights]

[Nanolathe]

I was sort of surprised that no one has done a Tactica for Tau Fire Warriors and so here I am to correct such a grievous oversight.

A Shas'La comes fully equipped for battle: a fully loaded Pulse Rifle, an air-tight suit of armour, a helmet that includes advanced range finding, targeting and fast focusing optics and a handy compartment behind the head for battlefield chocolate rations (yes, that IS what that swept-back stylish helmet is for... holding chocolate rations. Trust me, there is nothing else that they COULD use all that space for.) Why all this high-tech gear? Well to be honest Tau really aren't a race well equipped for fighting. With strength and physical toughness similar to that of a human but poor battlefield reflexes and privative vision, coupled with only average mental conditioning your average Tau is very poorly equipped to wage war. Only the addition of an armoured suit and helm combined with augmentative cybernetic implants can allow the Tau to fight effectively in the 41st millennium.
Well, enough of my pep-talk. Let's talk Tabletop

Tau Fire Warriors are pretty middling in terms of cost being more than a Guardsman and less than a Space Marine. If you were to ask me whether they are about half-way between an IG and a Smurf in game play terms however I would have to say that they are much closer to a Smurf in terms of power. Most of this power is in the form of the gun they wield; the Pulse rifle. Your basic Tau Fire Warrior is equipped with arguably the best 'standard issue' weapon in the 40k universe, what sets it apart is its increased strength when firing. At S5 there is little a Pulse Rifle can't wound and AP5 allows quick devastation of light infantry. Couple that with the longest range of any 'standard issue' weapon and a rapid fire characteristic and it's easy to see why so many people hate the Tau and their Shas'La. Their close combat abilities are much less to write home about however; with lower Weapon Skill and Initiative scores than a guardsman it's clear that the Shas'La are not meant to fight hand-to-hand. That said they are not made of paper and have a high probability of holding out in an assault with other standard troops thanks in no small part to their great armour save of 4+. Just remember to give them support soon to get them clear of combat and back to shooting.

Fire Warrior squads are relatively cheap when no bells or whistles are added. That said you're really going to find it hard to not gear them up... I do . Unlike some other lucky squads that can function quite well without their leader upgrade, such as the Kroot and even the Battle Suit Squads, Tau Shas'La are not among them. The Shas'Ui upgrade is mandatory; repeat... Mandatory. You are in sore need of his leadership boost and I want you to ignore any and all advice to the contrary (bar what Spartan Tau points out below). Leadership 7 troops will find it hard to stay on the battlefield when under even light enemy fire. the Boost to 8 really adds to their staying power. Another reason to upgrade to a Shas'Ui is the new access to Markerlights. If you don't know about Markerlights, allow me to enlighten you.
A Markerlight is claimed by many to be "possibly the most annoying special weapon in all of 40k..." and let me tell you that I am inclined to agree. A Markerlight is a small hand-held device that could not be more unassuming; projecting a simple, non-lethal beam onto a target. This target is then "Marked" what could be more useless in a universe at war? Well actually quite a few things are, because each Markerlight gives the entire Tau army the one of the following bonuses:

• Fire a Seeker Missile at the Marked unit at BS 5
• Fire any weapon at the Marked unit at an improved (capped at BS 5)
• Automatically pass Target Priority checks when firing at the Marked unit
• Ignore the Night Fighting rule on the Marked unit
• Reduce the Marked units Ld for pinning tests
• Reduce Cover saves on the Marked unit

and yes, they can be combined ad infinitum to the point that a marked squad has no cover save or automatically fails the pinning test. Each unit in your army can take advantage of one of these bonuses per Markerlight counter (although other Markerlights can't take advantage of the effects) and after using the bonus the counter is expended. The only downside to this amazing weapon is that it is Heavy 1 so your squads must be standing still to use it. Other advantages of the Markerlight include its long range and the fact that it doesn't replace your current weapon. You would have to be mad to not upgrade to a Shas'Ui just to get this shiny weapon. That said the Shas'Ui also gets access to a few other nifty pieces of Wargear. Hard-Wired Drone controllers are popular, adding drones to your squad gives them some good support, be it Gun Drones, Shield Drones or Networked Markerlight Drones (allowing the squad that fires it to also take advantage of Markerlight effects). The Hard-Wired Target Lock allows your nifty little Shas'Ui to fire his shiny Markerlight at a different unit than the rest of his squad and the Bonding Knife giving your Shas'La the chance to regroup no matter how many squad members you have lost.

The whole squad has access to just a few different upgrades two of which are grenades and the other, a weapon swap. The alternative weapon is the Pulse Carbine, a nasty assault weapon that sacrifices range for an Assault 1 characteristic and an under-slung grenade launcher capable of pinning the enemy. In a short range firefight the Carbine is easily the superior to its longer range cousin. The Assault characteristic gives your squad a lot of mobility and fire power and the chance to pin (which can be increased by Markerlights) is an additional insult to injury. Guardsmen, Eldar, Smurfs, Orks, in fact anything that isn't fearless or stubborn can fall prey to pinning, removing them from action for a whole turn. This lets you lazily blow them to bits while they cower in fear. If you're using a mobile force, fighting in cramped city roads or Space-Hulk corridors then the Carbine will be your Shas'Las' new best friend. If you do chose to swap out the Rifle for the Carbine I advise an all or nothing approach. Mixing your squads armament leaves your squad without a strong specialisation and they will do a mediocre job at both roles, rather than excelling at one.

The two Grenade options are Photon and EMP 'nades, which specialise at causing havoc to infantry and vehicles respectively. Photon Grenades rob your enemy of his +1 attack when charging, while EMP is arguably the best type of grenade you can have when facing a vehicle. While both are nice upgrades, I myself would take neither. The best way to rob your enemy of those charging attacks is to not get charged in the first place, and if you can give me one good reason that your Shas'La should be charging a tank then I will give you a medal. At 3pts per man for EMP grenades I find them to situational to justify the cost. If you REALLY want to charge a tank then give a single EMP grenade to your Shas'Ui. You'll still pack a punch (it's like having a hidden powerfist for tanks) but with less of the insane expenditure.

There are two last points that I'm going to briefly touch upon; "Why you should support your Shas'La" and "The importance of Markerlights ~ A Reprise with MATH!"

Your Shas'La need support <period> Useless in CC you need a reliable way of stopping your enemy from hitting your front line with every squad kitted out with a Chainsword. A Kroot Speedbump is a good start (Nanolathe's Kroot Tactica) but equally good is Pathfinders or Sniper Teams, both of which can add Markerlight coverage and the chance to pin enemy squads before they hit you. Although Pathfinders do both very well they are much more expensive than the Sniper Team so consider one or other depending on what your budget is like. Finally never forget about your heavy support slots and Dedicated Transports. A Warfish can give you a surprising punch dealing out mass carnage to infantry with Smart Missile Systems. Two Seeker Missiles (aided by your Shas'Uis Markerlight) give you the chance to put serious hurt onto light tanks and other transports trying to deliver close combat specialists to your front line. A Broadside Team or HammerHead can do this too, but at an increased cost (and if you take my advice on Pathfinders you can beef up their Dedicated Transport to the Warfish with little fuss.)

To try and re-enforce my point about how good Markerlights are and how important it is to have your Shas'La supported I'm going to use Math-Hammer to show you the difference in damage to a Guardsman squad between an Ultra-Smurf squad and a Fire Warrior Squad unsupported, with one Markerlight and finally 2 Markerlights. The following is the result of a single round of standard shooting. GEQ = Guardsmen, SM = Space Marine

Math-Hammer: 
10 SM bolters cause 4.4wounds to GEQ.
10 Tau Rifles cause 4.1wounds to GEQ.

One Markerlight --- 5.5wounds to GEQ. ...getting better...

Two Markerlight --- 6.9wounds to GEQ. As you can see, 
                                      this is how you get your Shas'La to shine

[SpartanTau]

Originally Posted by Nanolathe

The Shas'Ui upgrade is mandatory; repeat... Mandatory. You are in sore need of his leadership boost and I want you to ignore any and all advice to the contrary.

Advice to the contrary that SHOULDN'T be ignored:
A mounted Fire Warrior squad should remain as cheap as possible. You are already paying 80+ points for the transport, and the key is volume of fire. Giving this squad a Shas'ui upgrade is almost completely pointless. They will rarely be outside of their transport during the game (usually only two turns), their transport should theoretically never be hit, and any unit that they are attacking after disembarking should be destroyed. Ten points gives you one extra Pulse Rifle and two extra shots.

You don't need a Shas'ui in a mounted squad. They may fire their Markerlight once or twice, possibly not even hitting. It is a heavy weapon, so they can't fire it the turn they are dropped off. Also, the squad should remount after their Fish of Fury, further negating the need for both the Markerlight or a Shas'ui.

Both upgrades are great in a Static or Hybrid army, but for a Mechanized one, you are losing pulse rounds.

[themandalorian]

hmmm so with all these fire warriors, they actually excel at horde armies like orks and tyranids right?


that's what you mean by the AP5 is good for light infantry

[Nanolathe]

As long as you can get the Pulse rifles hitting you'll find Orks, Guard, 'Nid and to some extent other armies like Eldar/DE (Guardians/Warriors) will get their armour saves negated. Elite squads like Nobs and Kasrkin, Genestealers and Aspect Warriors will still feel the pain, but get a pesky save. Try to light up (Mark) elite enemy units for maximum pulse rifle damage or Carbine suppression. Then again you must remember that Fire Warriors are not the only unit in your army. Try using something like XV8s to mow down anything with a 4+/3+ armour save. A tau army is all about specialisation, the right unit for the right job, much like Eldar. Don't waste a precious shooting turn with ineffectual targeting. Your Shas'La will want to be shooting at the rank-and-file infantry first (or something that is trying to assault them) to make maximum use of their weapons. That said if you really have nothing else to shoot, Tau Fire Warriors are the only basic infantry with a weapon strong enough to take down a Wraithlord ( T8 )...

"Shoot what you will kill fastest, or what is trying to carve you a new belly-button" is my Motto with Tau.

[themandalorian]

Alright, so things like the crisis suit plasma rifle would be good against specialized units?

[Nanolathe]

Not that I don't appreciate the chance to keep up my post count Mandalorian but that's a real no-brainer question. I can't post the specifics here without getting my arse sued by GW, but yes Plasma Rifles are good at killing specialised units like Terminators and their ilk.

Please pardon my rudeness.

[SpartanTau]

Thanks for the nod, Nanolathe. I'm a big proponent of Mechanized Tau armies and everything about them. What you did post is great for Static armies, as a Hybrid or Mobile Infantry army would either:
- need to keep moving, so can't use the Markerlights (Shas'ui upgrade is still good)
- is mounted
- used to fill the compulsory 1+ designation on Fire Warriors

[Nanolathe]

I'm a big Proponent of Ld buffs where ever possible. I never like the idea of my troops being out of my control for even a second, so the jump from 7 to 8 is very precious to me. I'm also using an Ethereal to keep the rank and file in line

[themandalorian]

Originally Posted by Nanolathe

Not that I don't appreciate the chance to keep up my post count Mandalorian but that's a real no-brainer question. I can't post the specifics here without getting my arse sued by GW, but yes Plasma Rifles are good at killing specialised units like Terminators and their ilk.

Please pardon my rudeness.

Oh no problem i'm used to getting yelled at, believe me. I've been yelled at for 2 hours straight so yeah it was intense


Anyways i think i just need to start a game! I don't know the basics because i don't have my stuff yet. It sucks, i should be buying my stuff, but my parents are in debt (dad got injured and couldn't work so not as much money)


soon, i will be gaming though