Today we look at the original Tau troop squad, the Strike team. Click to read on, or check out the Tactics Corner for more reviews and strategies.
Overview
Strike Teams have largely the same statline as in previous editions, although this belies some pretty major upgrades to them elsewhere on the datasheet. Movement 6″ is pretty standard for infantry models, while weapon skill 5+ and ballistic skill 4+ are the default for Tau and should be expected. Strength and toughness three are both on the lower end of things but not abysmal, especially since they have 4+ armor to help keep them safe. Leadership seven and one attack are both fine, and you can even take one Shas’ui (sergeant) in the squad to get +1 on both at no extra cost. Squad size is now fixed at ten models for 8pts each, making the Strike Squad cheap enough to be reasonable but not so cheap you want to be throwing them away.
Special Rules and Wargear
Strike Teams are one of the rare units that actually does not come with any special rules of their own by default, though they can gain some by virtue of upgrades. Of course, they still have access to various stratagems and subfaction rules, but their actual datasheet is quite vanilla.
This is because Strike Teams are largely defined by their weapons loadout, which makes sense for a Tau unit. Every model in the squad comes with a Pulse Rifle (36″ S5 AP-1 Dmg1 Rapid Fire 1), which is one of the more powerful basic guns in the game; they also carry a Pulse Pistol (12″ S5 AP0 Dmg1 Pistol 1) should things become desperate, but you hope you never need to use it. They can also technically swap their Rifle out for a Carbine (24″ S5 AP0 Dmg1 Assault 2) but you really should never do this- the Rifle’s stats are just so much better and if you want an assault weapon for getting in closer, just take Breachers instead.
The Shas’ui can take a Markerlight, giving them the ability to light up targets when needed- this is a lot more useful now that Markerlights aren’t dependent on ballistic skill, although it does still leave the unit stuck in place if you want to use it, which is sometimes a problem. You can also add up to two Drones to the squad, of any of the three normal types or a max of one Guardian Drone, which has a 4+ invulnerable save and gives the squad a baby version of Transhuman (i.e. 1-2s on wound dice always fail.) These are a reasonable buy, although generally they get ignored.
More interestingly, you can also add one DS8 Turret to the squad, which has its own unique rules. It is not deployed with the unit and instead the squad can take an action (starting in the command phase and finishing at the start of shooting) to set up the turret; once they do, it is placed in coherency and acts as a normal squad member from there on out except that if the unit moves away from it you can pop the turret back into the sky. The turret can be armed with either a Smart Missile System (30″ S5 AP-1 Dmg1 Heavy 4) or a Missile Pod (36″ S7 AP-2 Dmg2 Assault 2), giving either some anti-infantry support or a light anti-tank weapon to the squad. At 10/20pts for the Turret it is a bit more expensive than I think is justifiable in competitive play, but it is a very interesting option that can do some wacky stuff.
Uses
Strike Teams, as a troop unit, are going to be included in a great many Tau armies, but that is selling them a bit short- while they may not be quite as hard-hitting as battlesuits, they can still contribute quite a bit to a battle, even outside of just being objective campers.
The big thing to remember with Strike Team is that while they may be cheap, their guns can offer at least a mild threat to everything in the game and with the right buffs they can become downright dangerous. And don’t get it wrong, there are a lot of buffs that can be layered onto a Strike Team- the generic ones, such as rerolls from Commanders (as they are of course a Core unit) but also more specialized ones, such as from Darkstrider or a Cadre Fireblade. And then you get into stratagems, like Pulse Onslaught or Coordinated Engagement or Focus Fire; if you are willing to burn some CP, a Strike Team can do a pretty terrifying amount of damage.
Now, obviously, you can’t count on this always being the case; CP reserves aren’t infinite, after all. However, what this gives you is the choice as the Tau general to leverage your firepower where you need it as well as making even your basic troops a genuine threat to most things. This can make target priority choices on your opponent’s part a lot harder, or at the very least punish them when they take out one of your major pieces- while this may not always feel great, it’s still better than losing something and not even taking out its killer in response.
We should also note that Devilfish are a very legit unit in the current Tau codex- with a very passable statline, a good number of shots, and some very nice mobility abilities, a Devilfish is naturally the perfect companion for a Strike Team, especially in more aggressive armies. It can keep them a lot safer on objectives, get them where they need to go, and offer some support (even including rerolls in a pinch) to the unit, not to mention blocking or preempting charges. You probably don’t need a Devilfish for every single squad in your army, but bringing 1-2 of them can help a lot with getting your units onto objectives and in range to score you points. Strike Squads are cheap enough to not be a huge loss if you have one performing actions all game long, which will often be the case- Tau can struggle a bit with getting secondaries completed and there are a decent number of action-based secondaries (like Aerial Targeting Relays) that they are quite good at and that you can sneak a bunch of points in pretty easily if desired, so don’t underestimate the power of a Strike + Devilfish combo to get you 8, 10, or even 12 points all by itself.
However, there is one big factor we haven’t talked about with Strike Teams- namely, that they are very middle of the road as far as troops go. They are cheap, but Kroot Carnivores are cheaper. They can put out some firepower, but Breacher Teams hit a lot harder at most realistic engagement ranges and for only a token number of points more. If you want a unit to sit back and be objective monkeys or move forward and help apply pressure, there are units that do those roles better individually even just within the troop slot, to say nothing of outside of it. Now, you won’t always want these other units over a Strike, because there is some value in having the flexibility to choose what you need to do in a given game and be reasonable at that, but the reality is that specialists often have the edge in this game and as a result you tend to see at least some number of Kroot or Breachers taking their place in many armies, although one squad of Strikes is still pretty common. Always be aware of what roles your units are performing and make sure you are taking the proper units to fill what you need done, rather than just defaulting to something simple. After all, that extra pip of AP or 20pts might not make a difference, but it might make a big difference someday.
Final Thoughts
Although Strike Teams are not an exceptional unit insomuch as they probably won’t get a lot of attention most games, they do the things that a Troop needs to- they stand on objectives, take actions, and support your specialists where necessary. The new, fixed squad size of ten is a bit unfortunate for Tau players, but with the reduced price and improved weaponry I think overall there isn’t a lot to complain about here- Strikes are a perfectly serviceable unit and compare reasonably to the Troops of most other armies, as well as other options within the codex. As a Tau player you probably should own 2-3 squads of them, because you’re pretty much always gonna want a battalion and you don’t have that many other options.
As always, remember you can get your wargaming supplies at great discounts every day at the Frontline Gaming store, whether you’re looking to start a new army or expand an existing one.
