Page 4 of 6: Progress Report: Sean McNamara

Sean McNamara Progress Report #1: Build & color selection

When I first noticed the call to arms I didn't give it much notice. I had once owned a Tau army many years ago but gave it away to a friend returning from work abroad and I wasn't really interested in starting a new army again. My interest was sparked when I started seeing the new Tau models such as the Riptide and the new battle-suit commander. Finally I was able to look at the new codex and that is when I decided to invest in the greater good.

My first decision is where should I start with the new collection? I had no inventory of Tau. The Little Shop of Magic's Call to Arms offered a great deal and a starting point. There was one Tau battle-force left on the shelf and what better way to start a new collection than with a shiny new box set. I still needed to reach my spending limit so what better way to supplement a Tau army than with the epitome of Tau forces, a second battle suit. All of this was done with limited exposure to the book and I had doubts about buying the box set simply because of the inclusion of the Kroot. I wasn't sure how they may perform in the new codex. They did fulfill the second troop choice and are part of the greater good. After reviewing them in the codex I am cautiously optimistic about their functionality with the availability of sniper rounds.

Now it was time to start building and come up with a paint scheme for my new battle force. I primed everything black as a base and blasted the kroot with a khaki color as a base. While spray painting my mind was wandering. What else would I need to make a thousand point army, still no codex to back up anything i was planning. I always liked the hammerhead, but was also thinking of the riptide. I didn't know about the new models so i started reading the online forums to help sway my decision. Another brief exposure to the new codex and i discovered Tank commander long-strike. My mind was made up. I needed out a hammerhead.

Sean McNamara Progress Report #2: Working the points

I have been working on completing my new Tau army now for a few weeks and with only a few weeks left to go in the challenge I have had a lot of choices to make on what to use for my force. Thanks to a generous donation from a friend to the greater good I have now added 2 more crisis suits and an old school broadside to my force. I also picked up another firewarrior and pathfinder team, and an ethereal to lead them.

My final 1000 point challenge army will be as follows.
72 points.   12 Kroot  with the ability to infiltrate
216 points. 24 Firewarriors split into 3 eight man teams
116 points.   Devilfish transport with seeker missiles, d-pods, and sensor spines.
90 points.  3 man stealth team. Infiltrate, stealth, and shrouded.
110 points.  10 pathfinders. Scouts and marker lights.  
346 points. Crisis suit commander and 2 body guards with 2 drones each.
50 points.   Ethereal, invocations.
 
Still need to finish painting the Kroot and the ethereal but I think everything else has been completed for the challenge. I hope to grow my army with the addition of a riptide, a few more stealth suits, and more fire warriors and Devilfish, as well as a second hammerhead in the future.

If this challenge has taught me one thing it is to never use white again. White is nearly impossible to make look good, at least at my skill level. I even tried a coat of grey beneath the white but still have to do multiple coats and it still doesn't turn out right.
Other than some of the chalkiness of the white, I am extremely happy with the way the army is looking and can't wait to use them in a tournament. Looking forward to allying them with space marines for the feast of blades in August.