Saturday 30 December 2017

Epic Armageddon- Tau Proxies Part 1- Infantry

Before starting collecting Tau for Epic I spent a while looking around for suitable models. Hopefully the next few posts will help out others looking to start fighting for the Greater Good in 6mm!

The obvious choice to begin with was Onslaught Miniatures Okami Technocracy Combine, available in the UK from Vanguard Miniatures. There are a few more options out there for suitable 6mm sci-fi however, as the Onslaught models are not cheap, particularly the vehicles. Forumware is also generally too expensive for my budget, so that was also out the picture.
EMP Games Command Horizon has some suitable hover tanks. There's the possibility that Ground Zero Games have some suitable models too, although their 6mm range is devoid of photos, always an unnerving prospect. Eventually I settled on mainly using Brigade Models 6mm range. Cheap, with a wide range of options and a reasonably suitable aesthetic, I'm definitely happy with the decision now. Although it must be said, the majority of the infantry bases I have are from Onslaught, whose infantry are more within budget.

Fire Warriors
Fire Warrior Cadres are a key part of Tau lists- as a core formation, they open up support formation slots whilst carrying a formidable amount of anti-infantry weapons in their own right. They've got a wide range of upgrade options too, and mounted in Devilfish APCs they can plink away at armour when supported by markerlights.
I use Brigade Models PacFed Armoured Infantry, specifically the rifle sprues, for Fire Warriors.



Pathfinders
Pathfinders are great! Although available as their own formation, I find the best use for them is attached to Fire Warrior formations so that they have organic markerlight support.
I used the command sprues from the PacFed Armoured Infantry for Pathfinders. The sculpts work well, although it does mean I have a large amount of Pathfinder bases relative to Fire Warriors- you can always mix and match. My Pathfinders are painted a different colour from the Fire Warriors and based in 3s not 4s to make them easier to distinguish on the table.
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Characters
Fire Warrior formations can have an Ethereal character in the standard Tau list, and the NetEA Vior'la list also allows Shas'O and Fireblade upgrades. They're all useful upgrades, and it's handy being able to easily pick out characters on the tabletop.
The Onslaught OTC Command pack, has a bunch of different sculpts to make Fire Warrior stands unique.

From left to right- Ethereal, Shas'O & Fireblade. The flags are particularly handy for quick identification.

Kroot
A fairly uncommon choice for most Tau players it seems, I've found Kroot formations to be a very useful addition. As a large formation of 10 cheap Scout bases, when garrisoned they can really hinder your opponents maneuverability, as well as being pretty respectable in an engagement themselves thanks to Infiltrators and CC4+- not what people generally expect from a Tau force!
Again, Onslaught was the best choice here with their Avians. I specifically used the Ghost Walker models, with a sword wielding figure from the OTC command pack to mark out the Master Shaper base.


Kroot can also be upgraded with Kroot Hounds and Krootox, although I've yet to buy suitable models for those options. I think the best choice for Kroot Hounds are Onslaught Mercenary Warhounds, and Microworld Games Minotuar Heavies for Krootox.

Gun Drones
Gun Drones are a quintessentially Tau unit. In Epic they are useful for fleshing out a bunch of different formations (I find they're particularly well suited in Stealth Suit formations), as well as being an deployable from Tiger Sharks as a formation of their own.
Onslaught Attack Drones are the definite way to go for Drones.


That's it from me for now. Up next- vehicles!

Proxy list

Fire Warriors- PacFed Armoured Infantry Rifle sprue
Pathfinders- PacFed Armoured Infantry Command sprue
Characters- Onslaught OTC Command pack
Kroot- Onslaught Avian Ghost Walkers
Gun Drones- Onslaught OTC Attack Drones

2 comments:

  1. https://plasmablastgames.com/product/gnahm-stealth-infantry/
    These resemble Tau, the helmets anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello, I'm not sure if this is true, but Plasmablast Games' 'Gnahm' Infantry look similar to Tau.

    ReplyDelete