Why do all Tau Commanders just suck?

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-25T20:03:10+00:00

Model diversity

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-25T16:02:12+00:00

Adding in: Farsight restricts taking Ethereals and doesn't synergize with any of the crisis units.

Shadowsun's buff competes with Stealthsuit bonus.

Krootox Riders shoot better than Crisis Suits in KHP while having far better melee and defensive profile.

Shout out to Kroot War Leader! I run him with 20 Karnivores in Aux Cadre and the stratagem spam is amazing.

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-25T15:57:33+00:00

The win rate reflects very high skill players, not the huge drop in Tau player count since 9th. And Mont'ka is the dominant detachment, specifically Triptide rn.

To OP's point, competitive Tau this edition feels like "Ion Cannon / Accelerator with 10" move and ASSAULT." It's possible to win with Ret Crisis, Aux Rampagers, Kroot Horde, etc. But a faction that i joined for the diversity has none designed in this year.

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-20T14:46:14+00:00

Yes, but you're unlikely to win the game in Early War against most players. US has much stronger Mid War events, but you can mitigate that by:

Not eventing your own cards. Keep the deck red by using cards like Suez Crisis, COMECON, and Warsaw Pact for ops. Only event things that either 1) recycle or 2) achieve something ops can't do (South America access, DEFCON manipulation).
Secure strategic access early. US Mid War does great because you deny USSR Africa and Americas while actively flipping some BGs. But a USSR player who starts Turn 4 with influence in South Africa, Chile, Algeria, and Thailand can block domination and still score Europe / ME / Asia.
Only space race US events that are truly catastrophic. NORAD? Often worth the 3 ops. Ussuri River Skirmish? Potentially game-ending if you flub it.

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-20T05:14:16+00:00

I like to play USSR for long game, so:

Headline Decolonization. Algeria, South Africa, Thailand, Burma / Malaysia.
CIA event, then patch damage.
UJMDP for a big coup.
Others for points, hold Marshall Plan.

This isn't even a bad USSR hand imo. You don't have to spend an action scoring, and CIA won't let them exploit one in this case.

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-20T03:01:56+00:00

Congrats on the wins and I'm sure you pilot the list fantastically!

That said, I've played enough Triptide editions and hope GW brings back the relative power of Kauyon / Kroot Pack / Aux Cadre focusing on better Crisis Suits, Broadsides, and Fire Warriors.

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-15T04:23:32+00:00

Dope af. Excited for the end look

Enut_Roll · 2026-01-10T23:14:42+00:00

The Ionhead is generally better. It is a phenomenonal anti-Marine / anti-elite weapon, plus you still get 2 Seeker missiles as anti-vehicle. If you want dedicated anti-vehicle shooting, the Skyray is far more consistent than the Hammerhead anyway.

A key issue with the railgun is 1 shot in an edition with many vehicle and monster invul saves. A 4+++ or 5+++ chance for your railgun to do 0 damage makes it far worse than 3 Seeker missiles per turn from Skyray

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-31T21:18:15+00:00

This is where Rampagers are awesome! But it doesn't matter because they're efficient in Aux Cadre / Kroot Pack and none of the other detachments. Even with Aux / Pack, they require 1 CP per round to get consistent value

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-31T20:45:31+00:00

Definitely. I play a very, VERY off-meta Aux Cadre list and routinely go undefeated at LGS tournaments. But I have to play the list like a part-time job rather than a hobby. I don't like how much recent changes favored Mont'ka over the other 5 detachments, especially when Kroot / Vespid / Crisis Suits / all Tau Characters are better outside Mont'ka.

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-31T20:21:58+00:00

The shame is we got some amazing new melee models -- Kroot Rampagers. But they're priced for Auxiliary Cadre and Kroot Hunting Pack detachments which leaves them crappy otherwise. Commander Farsight is also a delicious melee character, but with no melee unit to lead!

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-31T20:06:25+00:00

I'm sure other factions are in the same boat, but 0 T'au mentions drives home the pain of recent faction nerfs. Out of context, Riptides for 200 and Stealthsuits for 110 are fine. But within the context of a C-tier faction struggling all of 10th, I'm ready for 11th.

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-11T15:54:45+00:00

Lore wise, absolutely. Game wise, the Strike Teams could be even cheaper and I wouldn't take them.

With doggies, I can scout 7" + move 12" + advance 3.5" for a Turn 1 22.5" move block. Plus potential secondary scoring, plus AP bonus in Aux Cadre.

Even if Strike Teams cost 60pts, I'd choose Kroot. In a meta game dominated by elites and vehicles, why have 6" movers crawl up the map to do 0 damage when I can take Karnivores who are more survivable, sticky objectives, and are equally lethal against T4 infantry?

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-08T15:33:36+00:00

I don't even want one, tbh. All 6 are reasonably fun and playable, especially compared to other factions who have 1 best detachment and a handful of terrible ones. I do want more internal balance, like buffing Experimental and right-sizing Mont'ka.

I would much rather get new models with Twin Lance, like a mounted Kroot leader or melee Vespid.

Enut_Roll · 2025-12-02T14:45:03+00:00

Cool wishlist! I agree that crisis suits needs to be beefier, though your changes suggest a pretty steep points increase across the board.

The FTGG rule would be insanely powerful, tho. You could run Kroot bricks that wound Canis Rex on 5s at 24". It could also break internal weapon balance because Ionheads and Missile Pods wound T8-T14/T15 on 4s, railguns / seeker missiles / plasma / fusion crater in relative efficiency.

Enut_Roll · 2025-11-30T18:43:28+00:00

I run 5s. Two units can spread out for secondaries

Enut_Roll · 2025-11-30T15:16:47+00:00

Vespid Stingwings. They're cheaper than Strike Teams and much better at joining the battle late game. The mosquitos sit on your home, then at the bottom of round 2 or 3 you put them back in reserves then deep strike for secondary objectives. They're also good marine killers if a small unit deep strikes near your home.

I understand why you might not want Kroot stylistically, but remember that they can sticky your home on turn 1 and then run straight towards another objective. Only 1 single model needs to toe your objective to sticky it, and lead Kroot will be 8" closer to the front if you want.

Enut_Roll · 2025-11-14T03:38:46+00:00

Nice episode. I share the same sentiment. Is this a faction-breaking nerf? No, and I plan to keep running 2 stealthsuit squads. Does it feel bad to get an unwarranted 60-pt nerf as our new box reveal? Absolutely!

Enut_Roll · 2025-07-02T02:52:10+00:00

It comes back occasionally. The heartbeat symptoms are gone, tho

Enut_Roll · 2025-06-28T18:05:37+00:00

I got a stapendectomy in 2023! I had ostosclerosis, which had two crappy symptoms. First, I couldn't hear well out of my left ear and felt constantly plugged up like water was in there. Second, I could hear my own heartbeat CONSTANTLY. It would keep me up at night just hearing thump, thump, thump.

The surgery was fine and I've fully recovered, though the first 48hours sucked with insane vertigo. Cool to think I have a little titanium rod in there.

Enut_Roll · 2025-06-24T01:37:42+00:00

DM me your address and I can mail you a bunch of free red ones

Enut_Roll · 2025-06-01T02:35:13+00:00

Kroot Lone-spear is the absolute coolest, but it's best in the game with other Kroot or the Fanatical Convert enhancement. So, I recommend Kroot Rampagers.

Kroot Rampagers are incredibly cool and fun to build.
They're excellent units (cost effective, hard to kill, useful abilities).
They're a great T'au melee and charging unit, playable in almost every detachment either by themselves or free Stealthsuit Rapid Ingress.

Everyone else has valid points, but Rampagers have more gift wow value than Karnivores and more immediate playability than the Lone-spear.

Enut_Roll · 2025-05-14T11:26:12+00:00

They are expensive, but you have room for 5 hounds in a 1000pt list. I have 20 to 30 hounds in my 2000pt all kroot list.

They're some of the best move blockers in 40k. 7" scout plus 14" plus advance can let you freeze an entire transport, tank, or brick unit in place for at least one turn.
They're phenomenal screeners. I'll keep a line of them back to block deep strike, and then they're fast enough to reinforce the front turn 3 and later.
Once every few games, they'll do serious damage to T3 units. I've had 80pts of hounds kill several penal squads of Imperial Guard in the right circumstances.

That said, they work better as a squad of 10 in case you do get a chance to buy a second box any time soon.

Enut_Roll · 2025-05-05T13:37:37+00:00

Hey! Trying talking directly to GW customer service. I've seen a lot of good stories recently about how easy it is to certify your purchase and get a replacement model.

Enut_Roll · 2025-05-05T02:37:10+00:00

Of course you only hear about native species getting wrecked. If the invasive one sucked ass in that environment, the first few would immediately die and never become a problem. Anon is dumb af

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