Tau Discussion: Hunter Candre MSU vs FLU

[hyv3mynd]

So I'm having trouble visualizing a non-highlander army since it's all I've played for the past year with any dedication.

Most of you have seen or heard of the new "decurion-style" super formation in the new tau codex. The one that allows 3 units to combine fire for +1 bs and share special abilities. The thing I'm having trouble theory hammering is how this detachment would perform with large fire teams versus a MSU style build.

If you arent familiar with the new book, "fire team" is a new rule which grants hammerheads, skyrays, riptides, and ghostkeels +1bs if they're in a unit of 3. So basically I could build a unit of 3 ghostkeels who sould get +1bs, or 3 individual gk's could combine firepower via the hunter contingent rule and receive +1bs.

MSU theory is that you bring 10-15-20 small units and win by the numbers, relying on your opponent only killing a couple units per turn while you don't lose much functionality with such small loses. However, a unit of 3 ghostkeels could take target locks and target 3 different units with +1bs from the fire team rule, while the 3 individual gk's would have to target a single unit.

The hunter contingent detachment allows for a hunter cadre core formation (think similar force org as a CAD), with up to 11 smaller formations added in. Tau unit base sizes are pretty small and cheap from 5 fire warriors for 45, 10 kroot for 60, individual crisis suits, and tanks at 115-125 before upgrades. Going with a true MSU approach to the hunter contingent, I could easily build an army with more units than you would be able to pack into a standard CAD.

The problem I'm having is figuring out which direction to go without having the time and resources to build two different armies and comparing the results. I could build and army with only 5-6-7 total units, but big expensive fire teams with 3 gk's, 3 hammerheads, or 3 riptides. Or I could build a true MSU hunter contingent with 15 very small units which combine fire for the formation bonuses and rely on MSU theory to overwhelm opponents.

The thing is, before the brawl and daboyz both announced their highlander stance, I was building my tau force to be a MSU farsight enclave with lots of single suits. MSU also works super well in maelstrom missions as you have so many units available to grab objectives. The problem is the main book missions favor MSU, but local mission writers tend to penalize MSU by writing missions with old kill point style mechanics. I'm about 65% for going MSU, and 35% convinced fire teams would be better in locally preferred missions. The other thing is if the brawl and daboyz ban or limit formations, my concept will be illegal or unplayable.

The brawl is my #1 priority for 2016 as now i really want to secure a 3peat, but I don't have the time or resources to build my collection one way and risk a large group of models being unusable if restrictive formats are favored again. Hence the 35% of my mind saying few large units (FLU) is the safer build. Usually people say "play whatever makes you happy", but in this case that mindset may end up with an unusable build for local events.

So I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer and I'm not going to argue based on speculation of format, but I would like to see people's thoughts on the two build styles and their merits and drawbacks in a brawl-type meta.

[nedley]

I think for Tau, MSU is a really, really good thing. I think GW undercosts mobility a ton. Suits as objective grabbers have always worked pretty alright. Additionally, are the 3 units together, getting the additional rules, really worth dumping all of those shots into 1 single unit? It might seem like over kill at a point. Just my 2 cents.

[nettik189]

I played a Tau player at 2 kings last tourny, he was running if i remember correctly

Farsight
Body guard x 3 meltas x 2 plasma gun
3 devilfish 2 normal fire warriors 1 breacher
Pathfinders
Broadsides x 3
Riptide

3 hammer heads(1 long stride)
skyray

It was really nasty i would go with a mainly MSU build with the one or two power house units to back it up, the fun drones ln the devil fishs and hammer heads can make for a real dick way to boost the bs of a riptide. Msu also makes your units last longer aswell

[calypso2ts]

Due to the nature of Daemons - Daemonic Instability, the requirement to buff individual units - I have never pushed into MSU, although it offers a ton of risk mitigation when it comes to targeting, failed charged, etc.

For Tau, I think a MSU style list is REALLY strong. It prevents overkill from firepower, it forces multiassaults - which are by their nature harder to execute and most players do not know enough about assault to do it properly.

For the BnW style missions, I think MSU offer some additional Tau advantages. The mission type usually asks you to advance forward to get into the enemy. It risks less units when you do it with smaller units and you have more late game flexibility. It also lets you block and restrict movement more on a small board. Other than KP problems, I think it is the way to go.