BACKGROUND:
The Farsight Enclaves are the outcasts of the T'au empire. Led by their namesake Commander Farsight (real name - Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr), the famous commander has fought in countless battles, primarily against that of the Ork infestation and The Imperium of man.
During his campaign to drive the Orks out of the outer reaches of the T’au Empire, Farsight directly disobeyed the Ethereal’s command to hold their position and continued slaughtering Orks until he was out of reach of even the farthest T’au communication methods. This disobedience labelled Farsight as a traitor to the T’au empire and The Farsight Enclaves were born.
The Farsight Enclaves are different to regular T’au. Firstly, they have no Ethereals and where the regular T'au Empire Septs favour overwhelming firepower from a distance, Commander Farsight has trained his warriors to favour getting up close and personal with their foes. The army uses plenty of Crisis Battlesuits, mobility tactics and powerful short range weaponry to drop from the sky to smash the enemy frontline into the ground.
ON THE TABLETOP:
STRENGTHS:
1) CLOSE RANGE The Farsight Enclaves favour close ranged firepower. This is because of their Sept trait ‘Agressive Footing' (Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good Supplement Codex, 2020) Which grants units 1 extra 'markerlight' when attacking an enemy within 12".
Markerlights are a vital tool to the Tau and grant your units a number of buffs, but the main ones to focus on are 1 markerlights (reroll hits of 1s) and 5 markerlights (+1 to your BS). So being able to re-roll hit rolls of 1 within 12’’ is fantastic!
For more information on Markerlights, see the T’au Empire Codex.
2) CRISIS SUITS Farsight LOVES crisis suits. Almost all of the Farsight specific stratagems buff them in some way or form. Veteran Cadre - Improves weapons skill and ballistic skill of crisis suits
Defence in Numbers - Ignore lost wounds on a 5+
Furious Assault - When a JET PACK unit charges, on a 3+ the enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound Focused Fury - Reroll wound rolls when a CHARACTER (like a commander) shoots.
Drop Zone Clear (T’au Codex) - +1 to hit rolls on a battle suit unit which drops in this turn!
AMAZING!
3) COMMANDERS
It’s been a long bane for many T’au players that only one commander can be taken per detachment. Luckily, we are able to place 2 commanders in each detachment! (Psychic Awakening, The Greater Good) It may sound like a small buff, but it’s huge and allows you to create some incredible Commander combinations, especially in smaller games!
WEAKNESSES:
CLOSE COMBAT
Despite being more close quarters focused than the rest of the T’au Empire, we’re still T’au…So you won’t want to be keeping your crisis suits in combat for long! Luckily, we have an amazing counter to this - FLY! Almost every battle suit (even the larger ones!) have this key word, which allows us to fall out of combat and still shoot that same turn. So even if you are charged, you can still bounce out of combat and rain fire upon the enemy!
2) COMMAND POINT HEAVY
As we have so much utility to use on our battle suits, things can get very expensive command point wise, very quickly! It’s important to build with CP in mind and try to budget yourself where you can. I would recommend trying to run at least 1 battalion (2 HQ units and 3 Troop Choices) where possible. Also, almost always take the relic ‘Puretide Engram Neurochip’ and stick it on a Cadre Fireblade. This allows you to regain command points on a 6+ when you or your opponent spend them!
BEST UNITS:
Coldstar Commanders - We need to utilise our commander advantage as much as possible!
Coldstar commanders are incredible. Thanks to their ultrafast movement, they can cover almost the entire board any turn they wish!
Not only that, but with so many possible load-out combinations, you can tailor them to suit the exact role you want them to achieve. I personally like to use mine as either Tank Hunters and Character Snipers - Equipping them with 4 Fusion Blasters.
Another fun variation - Horde killers - 4x Burst Cannons.
Crisis battle suits -
These suits really are the bread and butter of a Farsight Enclaves force! So much adaptability, so much variation and stratagem buffs coming out of our ears! Usually it’s worth making each unit dedicated to performing one key role on the battlefield For example: Unit 1 - 3x burst cannons - These guys are your anti-infantry, due to the sheer number of shots, even the best saves will likely fail eventually!
Unit 2 - 3x Fusion Blasters - Similar to the Tank Hunter Commander, due to their high AP weaponry, these guys can drop down and blast almost anything off the board without really trying! (Just watch out for invulnerable saves!)
GENERAL STRATEGY/TIPS:
Obviously we cannot cater for every single eventuality when playing 40k, however there are certain tactics which can be used most of the time to help you learn the army. DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOUR MARKERLIGHTS!
The biggest learning curve for any T’au player…Seriously, if you do not utilise markerlights, you will almost certainly lose. Having plenty of pathfinders and equipping you Fire Warriors with markerlights goes an incredibly long way and can make a big difference! Utilise the stratagems ‘Uplinked Markerlights’ and ‘Co-ordinated Engagement’ to make sure you are almost always lighting up enemy units with 5 marker lights and getting that sweet +1 to hit!
USE SHIELD DRONES!
Keep your key units safe with shield drones where you can. Even better, keep them out of sight so they cannot be targeted. These drones are able to take incoming fire on a 2+, then save on a 4+ then ignore that wound on a 5+
Deployment:
Keep your key units in manta strike. This way you will be able to drop them exactly where you need to on turn 2.
Turn 1 - Start defensive…but think offensive! Your turn 1 can be a make or break. As many of your units will be in deep strike, you need to begin taking out key units, whilst keeping the rest of your board safe. Keep infantry in cover, your pathfinders out of line of sight, but advance your ‘suicide’ commanders as deep into enemy lines as possible. I personally like to take out my opponents biggest threats with my Fusion Blaster commander here. Sure he will likely die, but it’s always worth it to see my opponents best unit die turn 1!
Turn 2 - DROP ZONE CLEAR!
This is your ‘BIG’ turn.
Step 1) Go on the offensive, move your units up the board and at the end of your movement phase drop in your crisis suits 9-12’’ away from your enemy units.
Step 2) Fire your marker lights and use ‘Drop Zone Clear’ on 1 unit of crisis suits, giving them an extra +1 to hit and re-roll 1s. Focus on what you CAN KILL. Generally speaking, you want to delete things off the board. Not half kill something and waste your entire shooting phase.
Turn 3 - Capitalise
Now that most of your opponents forces are either dead, or wounded or cowering in fear, it’s time to capitalise, jump on those objectives and keep on killing! Just remember to play to what the mission asks for, don’t get carried away killing things!
Turn 4 - Secure
Continue to capitalise and play to the missions strengths, use your suits and your pathfinders faster movement to jump between objectives if needed.
Turn 5 - WIN!
WHAT TO BUY:
To start building your own Farsight Enclaves army, here are a few things to begin!
1) T’au start collecting box - Suits, fire warriors! This is a great place to start, sure you won’t be able to use the ethereal in your army, but if you want to convert him into a Fireblade Cadre, we won’t stop you!
2) Crisis battle suits - I think we’ve made it clear how great crisis suits are…Get as many as you can! (It’s usually cheaper to buy 2 start collecting boxes instead of buying units individually)
3) Commander Farsight - We haven’t really touched on him here, but what is a Farsight force without the man himself! Commander Farsight is TONNES of fun to play, he is an amazing character killer and gives your units even more mobility buffs, definitely pick him up!
4) Riptide battle suits / Broadsides - Riptides and Broadsides are just amazing. Not only are they tough, but they put out an INCREDIBLE amount of firepower. Just look up ‘triptide’ and you’ll see what we mean…
So there you have it, a VERY basic outline on how I personally like to play The Farsight Enclaves, as I have mentioned this is NOT a comprehensive guide, but a great place to begin for anyone who has perhaps just started their 40k journey and is interested in playing the Enclaves!
Enjoy!
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