The first steps into a T’au army are simple, though not necessarily cheap. With the removal of the old T’au Start Collecting box, your first port of call will be the T’au Empire Combat Patrol box. Now, in the 41st millennium, the T’au are continuing their expansion drives, using their superior technology to force-multiply their relatively small armies in skirmishes with the Imperium, Orks, and Tyranids. Their Empire has become diverse, welcoming many humans and other species into the fold, accepting any who willingly pledge themselves to the Greater Good. The Orks box has the dubious honour of being the only Start Collecting without a legal HQ choice in it, thanks to force organisational changes in 8th edition. The contents aren’t terrible however and if you’re building an Ork horde you’re going to need savings wherever you can get them. Nobz may not be an especially optimal unit for Orks right now, but it’s an extraordinarily characterful kit full of useful bitz.

Of course, no army is without downsides and the T’au are no exception. While they have been buffed somewhat in melee they still can struggle, relying on auxiliaries like Kroot or Vespids to fill in the gaps. These can both be excellent close range combatants but, as they are not truly T’au, they do miss out on some of the keyword-reliant buffs the rest of your force benefits from.

Tau Targeted Reconnaissance Force

Contents: 1 Terminator Captain (HQ), 10 Tactical Marines (Troops), 1 Venerable Dreadnought (Elites) Contents: 1 Painboy (Elites), 11 Ork Boyz (Troops), 5 Nobz and ammo runt (Elites), 1 Deff Dread (Heavy Support) Take a look at the full list of values now after the increase and decide for yourself if the savings is worth the contents now!

Contents: 1 Herald on Blood Throne/Skullcannon (HQ or Heavy Support), 10 Bloodletters (Troops), 3 Bloodcrushers (Elites)The only place you can actually get Venomcrawlers, Greater Possessed, or the new Obliterators, the new SC: Chaos Space Marines is a pretty decent deal, even if those were available elsewhere. Every single unit in the box got a points drop in Chapter Approved 2019 and the only stinker in the box is the Master of Possession (and you can proxy that as a Sorcerer with most players). You can also get by pretty well without the units in this box however, so it’s also not particularly necessary to buy. Most notable amongst this first wave of recruits were the Kroot: mercenaries and expert hunters specialising in diversifying their genetic makeup. Before long, the Kroot’s foot soldiers joined the T’au to fight across the Empire. This box is a weird one as it only comes with half the amount of units with normal boxes…You’d really need two of these boxes to reap full value. Given the species’ vigour and strength of will, being thrashed by servants of the Emperor of Mankinddidn’t leave the T’au particularly disheartened. Instead, the Ethereals set their Empire on an accelerated course for technological advancement, rapid expansion, and massive rearmament. Tech-priest Dominuses have fallen out of favor recently, which is a shame because Ad Mech still field Vanguard and Rangers on a regular basis to fill out Battalions and the Dunecrawler is a legitimately good unit that sees lots of competitive play. It’s still a great boxed set to start building off of, but some of the savings are mitigated by the fact that you probably won’t want a Tech-Priest Dominus in your army.