The Two T'au Lists That Do Not Exist: Kroot Hunting Pack + Auxiliary Cadre, and Retaliation Cadre + Experimental Prototype Cadre

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Trap one: Kroot Hunting Pack + Auxiliary Cadre

This is the one that hurts, because it costs exactly the budget and because it is the list the models point at.

Why you want it. The Kroot Hunting Pack at 2 DP makes Kroot the army: +1 to Hit against units below Starting Strength, +1 to Wound as well against units Below Half-strength, a 6+ invulnerable save against melee and 5+ against ranged attacks for every Kroot model, and BATTLELINE Kroot Carnivores so the army can score. The Auxiliary Cadre at 1 DP then makes those same Kroot better: they prey-mark enemy units for +3 inch detection range, they shoot while hidden near a Ghostkeel or Stealth team, Experimental Modifications gives them +1 AP in either the Shooting or the Fight phase, Alien Expertise lets them advance and charge, and Student of Kauyon gives up to three Kroot Carnivores or Farstalkers units Deep Strike.

It also fixes both of the Hunting Pack's real weaknesses. Deep Strike solves the arrival problem, and the extra Armour Penetration partly answers the anti-armour problem.

Why you cannot have it. They share a Unique Tag. The Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 prints UNIQUE: AUXILIARY on both. Faction Pack v1.2 calls the Auxiliary Cadre's tag AUXILIARIES and does not print the Kroot Hunting Pack at all. Whichever name is right, both documents put the same tag on the Auxiliary Cadre, and the two sources that name a tag on the Kroot Hunting Pack put that same tag on it.

Build instead: Kroot Hunting Pack (2 DP) + Advanced Acquisition Cadre (1 DP). It is legal under every reading, it costs the same 3 DP, and it addresses the weakness that actually loses Kroot games. Hunter's Instincts pays nothing against a full-strength unit, so the pack needs an opener. Hidden Pathfinder Teams and Stealth Battlesuits shooting every turn without being shot back is that opener, and the cadre's Marker Beacon secures the forward objectives your Kroot are contesting anyway.

Or: Kroot Hunting Pack (2 DP) + Experimental Prototype Cadre (1 DP), if you would rather have one long-range Battlesuit Character cracking a hard target than several small guns chipping at many.

The thing you genuinely lose is Student of Kauyon. There is no way to get three Deep Striking Kroot units into a Kroot Hunting Pack army. If that effect is the whole reason you wanted the list, the honest answer is to build the other way round: run the Auxiliary Cadre with Kauyon (2 DP), accept that your Kroot are support rather than the main event, and take Student of Kauyon there.

Trap two: Retaliation Cadre + Experimental Prototype Cadre

This one is simpler, because the arithmetic settles it before the tags are even relevant.

Why you want it. The Retaliation Cadre gives every T'au Battlesuit +1 Strength on ranged attacks within 12 inches and +1 Armour Penetration as well within 8 inches. The Experimental Prototype Cadre gives Battlesuit Character units +6 inch Range. One rewards being close, the other rewards being far, and a suit list that could do both would pick its distance freely. They read as two halves of one design.

Why you cannot have it, reason one. The Retaliation Cadre costs 3 DP. A Strike Force army has 3 DP. There is no Detachment Point left. This is not a tag question and not a matter of interpretation.

Why you cannot have it, reason two. They also share a Unique Tag. The Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 and the mirror both print UNIQUE: BATTLESUIT on both. Faction Pack v1.2 names the Experimental Prototype Cadre's tag RETALIATION, which points at the Retaliation Cadre from the other direction. Either way, the pairing is blocked even before you run out of points.

SprueSentry previously published this pairing as a recommendation, on both detachment pages. That was wrong on both counts and this wave replaces those pages.

What you lose is less than it looks. The two detachments have opposite scopes, and the Retaliation Cadre's is the wider one: Bonded Heroes applies to every T'au Battlesuit model, not only Characters, so it already buffs the Crisis units, the Riptide and the Ghostkeel that the Experimental Prototype Cadre would ignore entirely. What you give up is reach, and reach is not what the Retaliation Cadre is for.

Build instead: run the Retaliation Cadre alone at 3 DP and take the six stratagems and four enhancements that all describe the same strike-and-fade cycle. Or, if reach is what you actually wanted, run Kauyon (2 DP) + Experimental Prototype Cadre (1 DP), which is legal and is the better list for a player who prefers to stay back.

Common questions

Can I take the Kroot Hunting Pack and the Auxiliary Cadre together?

No. They share a Unique Tag and no two detachments in your army may share one. The Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 and Wahapedia both name it AUXILIARY and record it on both; Faction Pack v1.2 names the Auxiliary Cadre's tag AUXILIARIES and does not print the Kroot Hunting Pack at all, because that is a codex detachment. The two documents disagree about the string, not about which detachments share it. The pairing costs exactly 2 + 1 = 3 DP, which is why so many people try it.

Can I take the Retaliation Cadre and the Experimental Prototype Cadre together?

No, and it fails twice. The Retaliation Cadre costs 3 DP, which is the whole Strike Force budget, so there is no Detachment Point left before tags are even considered. And both carry the same Unique Tag: the Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 and Wahapedia call it BATTLESUIT and record it on both, while Faction Pack v1.2 names the Experimental Prototype Cadre's tag RETALIATION. Older SprueSentry pages recommended this pairing; they were wrong and this wave replaces them.

Which T'au detachment combinations are legal at 2,000 points?

Eight armies in total. Two single-detachment armies, Mont'ka and the Retaliation Cadre, each at 3 DP. Five two-detachment armies: Kauyon with the Advanced Acquisition Cadre, the Auxiliary Cadre or the Experimental Prototype Cadre; and the Kroot Hunting Pack with the Advanced Acquisition Cadre or the Experimental Prototype Cadre. And one three-detachment army: all three 1-DP cadres together, which carry three distinct tag states between them.

Why do you not just tell me what the Unique Tags are called?

Because two official documents print different names, and we will not assert something one of them contradicts. Faction Pack v1.2 says AUXILIARIES and RETALIATION; the Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 says AUXILIARY and BATTLESUIT. What every source agrees on is which detachments share each tag, which is the only thing that decides whether a list is legal, so we tell you that instead and let the Warhammer 40,000 app settle the naming.

How do I get three Deep Striking Kroot units into a Kroot Hunting Pack army?

You cannot. Student of Kauyon, the 20-point enhancement that gives up to three Kroot Carnivores or Farstalkers units Deep Strike, belongs to the Auxiliary Cadre, and the Auxiliary Cadre cannot be taken alongside the Kroot Hunting Pack. If that effect is what you want, build the other way round: take the Auxiliary Cadre with Kauyon at 2 DP and accept that your Kroot are supporting a T'au core rather than being the army.

Is the Kroot Hunting Pack worth taking without the Auxiliary Cadre?

Yes. It is a complete 2-DP detachment with two detachment rules, six stratagems and four enhancements, and it gives Kroot Carnivores the Battleline keyword so the army scores properly. Its weakness is that Hunter's Instincts pays nothing against a full-strength target, which is a partner-detachment problem rather than a detachment problem. Pair it with the Advanced Acquisition Cadre for reliable opening damage from hidden shooters.