Tau Third Phase Expansion Army List
We are not here to bring death and destruction to you, Gue’la. Even though your armed forces have laid waste to our systems, bombarded our cities and slaughtered my fellow Tau, we are not here for revenge. We are here to offer you to share our culture and profit from our technology and protection.
We are not here to take your homes, your families and your beliefs away from you. You can even continue to worship your Emperor-god if you want, you must only swear fealty to the advancement of the Greater Good, which will benefit all members of the empire alike.
We are not here to turn you all into soldiers and demand of you to fight against your former kin. Some of you will be asked to join our armed forces, in return for the protection that we grant to your planet. But if you are unwilling to fight against Humans from the Imperium, you will not be deployed against them. We are not here to enslave you, but to welcome you into our empire, the empire of the Tau.
Forces
The Tau Third Phase Expansion Army List uses the datasheets from the Tau Forces section.
Using The Army List
Tau formations come in two types: cadres and support formations. Each cadre you include in the army allows you to field any three support formations. Although you can only take a support formation if you first take a cadre, they are treated as separate independent formations during a battle and do not have to move around together. The formations that may be taken in a Tau Third Phase Expansion army are shown on the chart that follows. The chart also shows what units comprise the formations, what upgrades they are allowed, and their points cost.
In addition, formations may be given up to three upgrades. Each upgrade that is taken adds to the cost of the formation, as shown on the upgrade chart. The upgrade chart also lists the units that make up the upgrade. Each upgrade may be taken once per formation.
Tau Third Phase Expansion armies may be supported by Air Caste formations. A maximum of up to a third of the points available to the army may be spent on these formations.
Special Rules
Certain units and weapons have special abilities described in Coordinated Fire (see Coordinated Fire) and Tau Technology (see Tau Technology).
Tiger Shark Gun Drones
Tiger Shark Squadrons may be given a Gun Drone formation to transport. Transported Gun Drone formations may be split across multiple Tiger Sharks as an exception to the normal aircraft transport rules. The Tiger Sharks cannot land, make an engagement, or embark units, but can disembark transported Gun Drones after an approach move. The Gun Drone formation may shoot when it disembarks as normal (see Transporting Ground Units), and counts as having activated for that turn. After this initial deployment the Gun Drones are a completely independent formation. Gun Drones being transported by Tiger Sharks do not generate blast markers for being destroyed until after they are disembarked.
Tau Third Phase Expansion Army List
Tau Third Phase Expansion armies have a strategy rating of 3. Crisis Battlesuit Cadre and Manta Dropship formations have an initiative rating of 1+. All other formations have an initiative rating of 2+.
| Formation | Units | Upgrades | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crisis Battlesuit Cadre | Four Crisis Battlesuits and one Shas’el character | Shas’o, Crisis Suits, Gun Drones | 250 points |
| Fire Warrior Cadre | Eight Fire Warriors or Six Fire Warriors and three Devilfish | Bonded Team, Broadsides, Ethereal, Fire Warriors, Gun Drones, Hammerheads, Pathfinders, Piranhas, Skyray | 225 points |
| (Any three support formations may be fielded per each core formation.) | |||
| Formation | Units | Upgrades | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Support Group |
Four Hammerheads Note: One or more Hammerheads with Railguns cost +25 points |
Hammerheads, Skyray | 200 points |
| Broadside Group | Six Broadside Battlesuits | Gun Drones | 300 points |
| Kroot Kindred | One Kroot Master Shapers unit and nine Kroot Warriors | Kroot, Kroot Hounds, Krootox | 175 points |
| Pathfinder Group | Four Pathfinders and two Devilfish | Gun Drones, Piranhas | 200 points |
| Recon Skimmer Group | Any six of the following units: Piranha, Tetra | Gun Drones, Piranhas | 175 points |
| Skysweep Support Group | Three Skyrays | None | 250 points |
| Stealth Group | Six Stealth Battlesuits | Gun Drones | 225 points |
| (Up to three upgrades may be taken once per formation.) | |||
| Upgrade | Units | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonded Team | Give the formation Leader (this special ability is not added to any one specific unit) | +25 points | |
| Broadsides | Add three Broadside Battlesuits | +150 points | |
| Crisis Suits | Add two Crisis Battlesuits | +75 points | |
| 0–1 Ethereal | Add one Etheral character per army to a unit of Fire Warriors | +50 points each | |
| Fire Warriors | Add any one of the following options: | Four Fire Warriors | +100 points |
| Four Fire Warriors and two Devilfish | +125 points | ||
| Gun Drones | Add two Gun Drones | +25 points | |
| Hammerheads | Add any one of the following options: | Add two Hammerheads with Ion Cannons | +75 points |
| Add up to two Hammerheads with Railguns or Twin Fusion Cannons | +50 points each | ||
| Kroot | Add five Kroot Warriors | +75 points | |
| Kroot Hounds | Add three Kroot Hounds | +50 points | |
| Krootox | Add three Krootox | +50 points | |
| Pathfinders | Add two Pathfinders and one Devilfish | +100 points | |
| Piranhas | Add three Piranhas | +75 points | |
| 0–1 Shas’o | Replace one Shas’el character with a Shas’o character | +75 points | |
| Skyray | Add one Skyray | +100 points | |
| (Up to a third of the points available may be spent on these formations.) | |||
| Formation | Units | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barracuda Squadron | Two Barracudas | 150 points | |
| Manta Dropship | One Manta | 650 points | |
| Orca Dropship | One Orca | 150 points | |
| 0–1 Spacecraft | Any one of the following units: | Protector Class Cruiser | 200 points |
| Custodian Class Battleship | 225 points | ||
| Tiger Shark Squadron | Two Tiger Sharks | 175 points | |
| (add a Gun Drone formation of six Gun Drones) | (+100 points) | ||
| Tiger Shark AX-1-0 Squadron | Two Shark AX-1-0s | 350 points | |
Tau Forces
- EA(+1)
- Invulnerable Save
- Leader
All units in a formation joined by an Ethereal gain Fearless. If the Ethereal is killed then all these units lose Fearless and the formation receives an additional D3 Blast markers.
- Coordinated Fire
- Leader
- Coordinated Fire
- Leader
Each Shas’o character in the army allows a player to re-roll one failed initiative test (of any type) once per turn.
- Invulnerable Save
- Tau Jet Packs
- D
- D
- Tau Jet Packs
- Infiltrator
- Scout
- EA(+1)
- Infiltrator
- Leader
- Scout
- Infiltrator
- Scout
- EA(+1)
- S
- D
- Coordinated Fire
- Markerlights
- Scout
- D
- First Strike
- Markerlights
- Reinforced Armour
- Scout
- Tau Jet Packs
- Teleport
- IC
- Reinforced Armour
- Walker
- GM
- Skimmer
- Coordinated Fire
- Markerlights
- Scout
- Skimmer
- GM
- Skimmer
- Transport
May transport two units of Fire Warriors or Pathfinders.
- IC
- GM
- L
- Skimmer
Armed with either a Railgun, Ion Cannon or Twin Fusion Cannon.
- IC
- GM
- Markerlights
- Skimmer
- FxF
- FxF
- FxF
- TK(D3)
- FxF
- FxF
- GM
- Damage Capacity 8
- Deflector Shield
- Fearless
- Markerlights
- Planetfall
- Reinforced Armour
- Support Craft
- Transport
May transport 20 infantry units or Broadside Battlesuits; plus four armoured vehicle or light vehicle units (except Broadside Battlesuits); Tetra count as one-third of a unit each, rounding up. Crisis Battlesuits count as two units each. Critical Hit Effect: The unit looses Tau deflector shield. Subsequent critical hits cause an extra point of damage.
- GM
- Damage Capacity 2
- Planetfall
- Transport
May transport twelve infantry units (except Krootox) or Broadside Battlesuits; Crisis Battlesuits count as two units each. Critical Hit Effect: The unit and all units on board are destroyed.
- FxF
- FxF
- Transport
May transport three units of Gun Drones.
- FxF
- TK(D3)
- FxF
- GM
- GM
- IC
- TK(D3)
- Transport
May transport 18 of the following units and the units being transported on them: Orca, Manta; Mantas count as thee units each. The Gravitic Tracer Salvo may be fired at a marked formation of any type.
- TK(D3)
- Transport
May transport six of the following units and the units being transported on them: Orca, Manta; Mantas count as thee units each.
Coordinated Fire
Some units are noted as being able to call in coordinated fire. These units can order up to two other formations within 15cm that have not taken an action this turn, and which are not broken, to follow their own formation when they take an advance, double or sustained fire action.
Make a single initiative roll for all formations, counting a single -1 modifier if any have blast markers. If the test is failed then the original formation (containing the unit calling for coordinated fire) receives a Blast marker and must take a hold action, but the other formations are unaffected (and may take an action later in the turn). If the test is passed then all formations concerned are allowed to take either an advance, double or sustained fire action.
There is no obligation for all formations to take the same action, and these actions may be resolved in any order, but they must all fire at the same target formation. The formations don’t have to stay within a given distance of each other and will complete their actions one after the other. Each formations action is declared and resolved (including testing to see if the target formation is broken) before moving on to the next Tau formation.
Note that units with this ability confer the coordinated fire ability to any formation that they join. For example, a Pathfinder upgrade purchased to be added to a Fire Warrior Cadre, adds the coordinated fire ability to all units in the Cadre.
Tau Technology
- Deflector Shield
- Tau deflector shields work like an invulnerable save in all respects, except that this invulnerable save is always at 5+.
- Guided Missiles
- Guided missiles may only be fired at a target formation that is
marked
, but guided missiles may be fired without line of fire if the target is marked. - Markerlights
- All enemy formations with at least one unit within 30cm range and line of fire (Line of Fire) of at least one Tau unit with the markerlights ability is considered to be
marked
. When shooting at a marked formation, all ranged firepower attacks add +1 to their to-hit roll. This bonus for shooting at a marked enemy may not be used when making Anti-Aircraft attacks. A Tau formation that is broken or marched this turn may not mark an enemy formation. - Tau Jet Packs
- Tau jet packs follow all the rules for Jump Packs. Additionally, units with Tau jet packs are allowed to make an additional move of 10cm at the end of an advance, double or march order. The extra move is allowed whether or not the unit fires and takes place after any firing. This extra move may be in any direction and follows all the normal movement rules, so unit coherency and zones of control must be adhered to as usual. No extra movement is allowed on any orders other than advance, double or march.
- In formations where only some of the units have Tau jet packs, the units without Tau jet packs are not allowed the extra move.