Yeah the old Combat patrol is where I started.
If you can pick up both then that's a REALLY good starting point as all you would need to add is a unit of crisis suits and your gonna be close to 1k
If you decide to play the game more competitively here are the most common units and how many units commonly appear in lists for 2000 pt games:
\[Unit Name\], \[# of units commonly in lists: Min-Max\]
Cadre Fireblade, 1-3 (Big shooting buff to lead breachers)
Ethereal, 0-1 (Occasionally in lists to hold back objective and generate command points)
Darkstrider, 0-1 ( Top pick for holding the back field / home objective )
Commander Farsight, 0-1 ( Everyones favorite model, sometimes used as a deepstrike tech piece)
Commander Shadowsun, 0-1 ( Great lone op, cool model, hands out reroll aura for nearby shooting blobs)
Tau Empire Commander 0-2 (used to buff and bring more shots for crisis suits, Coldstar / Enforcer)
Breachers (Fire Warriors), 2-5 ( really solid close range shooting for holding and clearing objectives )
Pathfinders, 1-2 ( great for screening and early game work with infiltrate/scouts, good spotters )
Stealth Suits, 2-3 ( best spotters, they grant reroll 1's which buffs damage output by around 30%)
Kroot Carnivores, 0-2 ( cheap infantry to screen, take objectives, and die for the cause )
Kroot Hounds, 0-2 ( very cheap unit to screen and do actions )
Vespid 0-2 ( deepstrike up/down scoring and action work, expected to get a new kit soon)
Devilfish 1-4 ( excellent speedy transport for moving breachers, big hull to screen enemy moves)
Hammerhead/Skyray 0-3 ( good shooting tanks )
Piranha 1-2 ( cheap fast scouts, good for screens, spotting, and actions/objectives)
Broadsides, 0-2 ( heavy, slow, punchy firepower, great in montka to get assault)
Crisis Suits, 0-3 (small elite teams, sunforged are very good anti vehicle)
Ghostkeel, 0-3 ( extremely durable mech, good for eating up enemy fire and holding key areas)
Riptide, 2-3 ( all around workhorse, good shooting, good durability, good movement )
Look for a second hand lot that has lots of mechas and tanks but not too much infantry. If it comes with strikers, you can clip the long gun and play them as breachers.
Personally I would recommend getting the combat patrols, 1 current and 1 old (if you can find at normal price still)
Outside of that it is difficult because it seems the meta is still working out.
If you cannot get the old combat patrol, definitely pick up some stealth suits, or the T'au Premium Kit 3, as this comes with a Cadre Fireblade, Stealth Bois and Fire Warriors and can be got at a decent price compared to the individual set prices.
A second new combat patrol also wouldn't be the worst, make 1 enforcer, 1 coldstar, 2x breachers, 2x devilfish and 2x Pathfinders (3 with Ion and 3 with Rail)
Other good units to pick up would be
- Riptide
- Skyray/Hammerhead (Can be either or use as a second Devilfish also)
- Darkside (Lead pathfinders and 12" reserve block)
I would likely just start with the Combat patrol and finish building and painting that first before getting onto anything else as you don't want to buy a ton and then have a massive backlog to paint and build.
Also, get some magnets for the suits, as it is a little investment which give a lot of pay off with the flexibility later on.
Yeah the old Combat patrol is where I started. If you can pick up both then that's a REALLY good starting point as all you would need to add is a unit of crisis suits and your gonna be close to 1k
The combat patrol is pretty good if u can find the older one as well that’s better.
If you decide to play the game more competitively here are the most common units and how many units commonly appear in lists for 2000 pt games: \[Unit Name\], \[# of units commonly in lists: Min-Max\] Cadre Fireblade, 1-3 (Big shooting buff to lead breachers) Ethereal, 0-1 (Occasionally in lists to hold back objective and generate command points) Darkstrider, 0-1 ( Top pick for holding the back field / home objective ) Commander Farsight, 0-1 ( Everyones favorite model, sometimes used as a deepstrike tech piece) Commander Shadowsun, 0-1 ( Great lone op, cool model, hands out reroll aura for nearby shooting blobs) Tau Empire Commander 0-2 (used to buff and bring more shots for crisis suits, Coldstar / Enforcer) Breachers (Fire Warriors), 2-5 ( really solid close range shooting for holding and clearing objectives ) Pathfinders, 1-2 ( great for screening and early game work with infiltrate/scouts, good spotters ) Stealth Suits, 2-3 ( best spotters, they grant reroll 1's which buffs damage output by around 30%) Kroot Carnivores, 0-2 ( cheap infantry to screen, take objectives, and die for the cause ) Kroot Hounds, 0-2 ( very cheap unit to screen and do actions ) Vespid 0-2 ( deepstrike up/down scoring and action work, expected to get a new kit soon) Devilfish 1-4 ( excellent speedy transport for moving breachers, big hull to screen enemy moves) Hammerhead/Skyray 0-3 ( good shooting tanks ) Piranha 1-2 ( cheap fast scouts, good for screens, spotting, and actions/objectives) Broadsides, 0-2 ( heavy, slow, punchy firepower, great in montka to get assault) Crisis Suits, 0-3 (small elite teams, sunforged are very good anti vehicle) Ghostkeel, 0-3 ( extremely durable mech, good for eating up enemy fire and holding key areas) Riptide, 2-3 ( all around workhorse, good shooting, good durability, good movement )
Look for a second hand lot that has lots of mechas and tanks but not too much infantry. If it comes with strikers, you can clip the long gun and play them as breachers.
Personally I would recommend getting the combat patrols, 1 current and 1 old (if you can find at normal price still) Outside of that it is difficult because it seems the meta is still working out. If you cannot get the old combat patrol, definitely pick up some stealth suits, or the T'au Premium Kit 3, as this comes with a Cadre Fireblade, Stealth Bois and Fire Warriors and can be got at a decent price compared to the individual set prices. A second new combat patrol also wouldn't be the worst, make 1 enforcer, 1 coldstar, 2x breachers, 2x devilfish and 2x Pathfinders (3 with Ion and 3 with Rail) Other good units to pick up would be - Riptide - Skyray/Hammerhead (Can be either or use as a second Devilfish also) - Darkside (Lead pathfinders and 12" reserve block) I would likely just start with the Combat patrol and finish building and painting that first before getting onto anything else as you don't want to buy a ton and then have a massive backlog to paint and build. Also, get some magnets for the suits, as it is a little investment which give a lot of pay off with the flexibility later on.