List Review Friday #6

List review friday is back.  This week we have a new Tau list to review.  This coems from fellow Sac City Punisher, Devon.  He likes to play Ring around the Posey with armies.  He has come back to Tau for the second time and believes that this might be the army for him... Time will tell though.

Onto the list:

HQ
Ethereal- 50

EL
Riptide w/ Ion Accelerator, x2 Missile/Shield Drones- 235
Riptide w/ Ion Accelerator, x2 Missile/Shield Drones- 235

TR
x11 Fire Warriors, Devilfish w/ TL-Smart Missiles, Disruption Pods- 204
x11 Fire Warriors, Devilfish w/ TL-Smart Missiles, Disruption Pods- 204
x11 Fire Warriors, Devilfish w/ TL-Smart Missiles, Disruption Pods- 204
x11 Fire Warriors, Devilfish w/ TL-Smart Missiles, Disruption Pods- 204
x11 Fire Warriors, Devilfish w/ TL-Smart Missiles, Disruption Pods- 204

FST
x2 Piranhas, x2 Fusion Guns- 100

HVY
x2 Broadsides, High-Yield Missile System, x4 Missile Drones- 178
x2 Broadsides, High-Yield Missile System, x4 Missile Drones- 178

TOTAL 2000pts

So lookign at the list, it doesnt seem like there is a lot of variety.  Coupel Riptides.  Some Devifish.  Some Broadsides.  Two Piranhas.  Lets dive in!

First off, I love Ethereals!  I think they are awesome and really give the army some nice buffs.  LD 10 bubble?  Yee!  Can make fire Warriors Stubborn, have a 6+ FnP, Snap Fire after running, or what Devon is using him for, shooting an extra shot at half range!  33 Pulse Rifle shots at 15''!  Insane!  He's cheap, but very fragile.  Keep him prtoected!  Also, he gives up extra VPs when he dies, so keep him doubly protected!  I know he wants to place him centrally and have as many Fire Warriors take advantage of his abilities.

**Side note**  I wonder how soem tournaments are going to play the Ethereal's rules.  I know at BAO they made weird rules only apply to the primary missions.  I wonder at the Bugeater GT what they will be doing.  I know NOVA sets the template for a lot of tournaments as well, so it will be interesting.

The Riptides are in my opinion, pretty damn good.  At first, I wasn't a fan. They have grown on me more and more as I think about them.  They are fricking resilient as hell.  5 Wounds and you can add 2 extra wounds essentially for 25pts a piece and they have 4++!  Entire armies will fire at these things and still not be able to bring it down.  The gun is also badass.  I would take the Ion Accelerator everytime.  I think the Heavy Burst Cannon is cool, but we dont need more Str 5 in an army.  Allowing the IA (Ion Accelarator) to shoot a Str 9 AP 2 Large Blast, Ignores Cover, Gets Hot! round is insane!  That can just decimate armies. I think in this army, it makes target priority difficult for opponents.  Are you going to shoot the Devilfish who will be in your face Turn 1 and disembarking Turn 2 or shoot the Riptides and probably not kill them?  They can sit back and just annhiliate entire units by themselves.  I like them in this list.

 The Firwarriors and their Devilfish will all be Flat Outting First Turn.  This will allow them to move 30'' and get in your opponents face.  Yes they need to weather some shooting, but they all have 3+ Cover Saves and all are carrying Fire Warriors who can kill any basic infantry and light transports.  33 Shots from each Fire Warrior team is they are in range of the Ethereal.  Because the buff can be used from the Hull of the Devilfish, the range is increased and should be able to get all of the units.  33*5 = 165 Str 5 shots!  DAAAMN!

The Piranhas help with AV 14.  With only 1 squad, they wont really do much.  However, they will be targets themselves and need to be taken out if the opponent is running Landraiders.  They also provide a great unit to screen the Fire Warriors.  Opponents will have to Assault around the Piranhas to get to the Fire Warriors.  The'yre cheap and another unit that can kill vehicles.

The Broadsides are in my opinion set up for success.  I think the High Yield Missiles are the way to go.  They are essentially a Quad Gun with only 36'' range.  Str 7 AP 4, Twin Linked.  On top of having two of those, you also have  4 Missiles Drones apiece that shoot 8 Str 7 shots.  16 combined Str 7 shots, 8 of which are Twinlinked from each team of Broadsides!  So much Dakka!  I know alot of people want Velocity Trackers, but I think at 20pts a pop, they are expensive and I think unneeded.  i believe that those Broadsides without the VTs will still kill a Necron flier and possible an AV 12 flier by themselves.  You can place them forward because if people really want to shoot them, that's fine, but they still have to deal with the Riptides and the 5 Devilfish with 55 Fire Warriors.

Overall, I really like this list.  I think this list can give lots of people fits because target priority is essential.  i would try and take care of the ethereal Devilfish first just to cut down the number of shots my army will be absorbing every turn.  Plus, the LD 10 will not be around if he is not.  I think this list could struggle against Horde Nids or Orks because of the bodies.  Yes there are a shitload of Fire Warriors, bu 6 Orks or Nids getting into CC will kill 11 Fire Warriors.

I give this list an 8.5/10

YEE! YEE!