The annual Partick Crucible 1000pt 40k tournament is coming up, probably in April, although the exact date has yet to be decided.
Here is my report from the last one.
Last year I took Tau, and this year I will most likely do the same. There is a chance a new Tau codex will appear between now and then, but if I didn’t have that kind of eternal optimism what kind of Tau player would I be? 
Taking my love of Crisis Suits to an obvious and extreme conclusion makes this year’s list a fairly easy one:-
• HQ: Shas’el with Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster and Multitracker
• Bodyguard of 2 Crisis Suits with TL Missile Pods and Targeting Arrays
• HQ: Shas’el with Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster and Multitracker
• Bodyguard of 2 Crisis Suits with TL Missile Pods and Targeting Arrays
• Elites: 2 Crisis Suits. One is a Team Leader with Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster and Targeting Array, with a HW Multitracker and the other has TL Missile Pods and a Targeting Array
• Elites: 2 Crisis Suits with TL Missile Pods and a Targeting Array
• Elites: 2 Crisis Suits with TL Missile Pods and a Targeting Array
• Troops: 6 Firewarriors
• Troops: 10 Kroot
• Heavy Support: 1 Broadside Team Leader with a Targeting Array, Smart Missile System, a Gun Drone and a Black Sun Filter
It has a theme – that theme is Crisis Suits. An elite Strike Force of them, backed up by a few ground-pounders and with some lumbering heavy support in the back.
It makes for 12 Crisis Suits in all, which is not bad for 1000pts! I split the Crisis Suits with Plasma Rifle/ Fusion Blaster up among three different squads. I don’t usually mix and match armaments like that, but it does make it much harder for the enemy to wipe out the most deadly weapons, and make it more likely those suits will be around on later Turns – which is when suitable targets are most likely going to be in range.
Everything is hitting on a 3+, with all the Missile Pods as well as the Railgun also being Twin Linked. That gives me 18 S7 shots across five units, which should take care of MCs and transports. Mathhammer tells us 16 of those shots will hit a Turn 
I only have one Railgun. If they shoot it, there’s a chance it will run away to a dead drone, but I usually only need it on Turn 1 anyway. It will be useless in Dawn of War as it cannot move on and shoot, but I would rather give it a 3+ to hit. There is a fair chance I can deploy it where only a few lascannons/ dark lances can shoot at it, rather than a whole army’s-worth. Need to see what the mission pack looks like.
The weak link is Troops, of course. Best I can do is keep them in reserve and try not to get them killed. Come on, go to ground, and try and wipe out the opponent with shooting.
So, the big threat I can see to this force are horde armies, Orks or Tyranids or Guard who left their tanks at home. The weapons you have are strong, but you don’t have many of them, and they don’t have a lot in the way of shot-volume. You’ll need to be very careful dancing around big mobs of boyz or swarms of termagants, especially if you have to direct your fire at bigger threats like vehicles or monstrous creatures.
Still, at just 1000 points this is something you’ve got a half-decent chance of pulling off. Enemy armies likely won’t be able to bring the kind of nasty, blinged-out units that often make Tau players’ lives so difficult, and if they do manage to squeeze them in, there shouldn’t be much of a rest of an army to support them. Best of luck!
You’re not wrong – these Tau cannot put out a lot of shots. The thing is, every time I go to a tournament I think “I had better have a plan for hordes”, and in the last three years I have yet to face a horde army. Might as well take the gamble!
Against most elite armies, this has got the punch to stop them before they get anywhere near me. Could really use another Broadside, though
If I run into a horde (and Orks can get a lot of Boyz even at 1000pts), I will have to speed-bump them as best I can.
Cheers!
Well, obviously. Every shas’el and ‘o could use ‘another’ Broadside. Broadsides are like dakka, there’s really no such thing as ‘enough’. ^-^
So, if your local meta doesn’t include much in the way of hordes, you’re probably good to go. Just remember your mobility; you’ve got good range, so you can really stretch out and still concentrate your fire, while making it way more difficult for your enemies to use assault or blast/template weapons to their full effect. And despite what I just said, don’t be afraid to leave your Broadside to die if you have to clear out of an area in a hurry.
Wait, did I say die? I meant, uh… bail out of his suit and, um, escape back to the Manta which is totally waiting to rescue him… yes, that’s what I meant…
Heh
I tend to treat Broadsides like honey traps; they draw enemies in, and then I shoot them from far away.
Anyway, still playing about with list ideas. One cuts the Crisis Suits in half, and has three Broadsides, a full FW squad and two large Kroot/ Hound squads. I wish I could get more games of 40k in, but I just don’t have the time.
I think you have a great force here. If there is one thing I’ve learned in the few games I’ve played with my tau: bring ALL THE CRISIS SUITS. 12 suits for 1k is good. Twinlinked flamers are good and cheap to factor in hordes and you only hafta reroll wounds.
Hey sholto, the list looks good but as others have said, I think you will struggle if you run into a horde army. However, you will rock the world of any marine player you meet, especially if they rely on their rhinos to get around.
As a side note, I am going in for my first 40K tournament at the end of february. It is a doubles affair with both players having 1000pts each. I am playing eldar and my partner is bringing his black templars (I know he will bring a crusader with assault terminators but not sure what else yet).
Our plan at the moment is for me to provide the majority of the firepower while he brings the close combat pain. We are going to get together for practice games with our gaming buddies plus going to a local gaming club as often as possible before the tournament.
I know you aren’t an eldar or templar player but do you have any advice for a couple of (tournament) virgins?
My first ever tournament was a 1000pts per player doubles tournament as well. I went with Brian (the guy who made the Holo-billboard for Infinity in my last post), and I took Tau while he took IG. We had some fun, and that was the idea – just get a few good games in and look at some cool armies. I can’t remember how we did, but we did better than expected. Orks/ IG smushed us in Game 1, Chaos/ Something else smushed us in Game 2 and Orks/ Orks got a kicking from us in Game 3.
Fritz over at Way of Saim Hann blog has some posts up about how to play in doubles tournaments. A lot of his advice depends on what rules you are using – eg. can one army affect/ buff another? If so, your Eldar might be able to boost the BT, and so on. I am no expert at this kind of thing!
Advice? It depends what you want out of tournament play, really. I would love to say I go into every game with a plan, and while that is true some of the time, even then the plans are often laughably weak
. My best bit of advice is not gaming related as such – take a tray to carry your army around with you from game to game (saves packing them away in your army case over and over again). Other than that, just plan for a fun day out. If you do well, enjoy the competition and try not to let your nerves make you forget your Run rolls. OTOH, if you lose early, you will probably end up on the tables with the guys who are there with fluffy armies, and you can enjoy some relaxed games 
All I am after is to have a bit of fun and play some games against new people. I don’t get a lot of a time to play 40K nowadays (family life takes a lot of time as I am sure you appreciate).
Planwise I will discuss this with my gaming partner beforehand but it depends partly on mission and opponent as well on the day. Trays are being supplied by the organisers so that won’t be a problem!
I am hoping to meet relaxed players who are also there for a good time, I am not sure if meeting a load of douches would put me off future tournaments. I have got no idea what (if any) the prizes are so that for me takes the edge of the win at all costs mentality.
I will have to pay a bit more attention to what I am doing and make sure all my actions get covered in my turn, as I do on occasion forget to move or shoot a unit or use a psychic power in friendly games. Usually my friends let me off but obviously I can’t expect that in a tournament game.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I will let you know how the tourney goes and maybe even get some pictures of the armies on display!
Cool – send me the pics and I can stick up a gallery if you like.
Sounds like you are going to the tourny for the same reasons I started going – a way of getting some actual games in! Have fun
Sounds good. That saves me a job as well as I don’t have the internet savvy to run a blog of my own!
Thanks for the advice, I will let you know how it goes after the tournament in (almost) a months time.