How to Play T'au Empire in Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition

The headline shift is structural, not a full codex. T'au did not get a new hardback book at 11th edition's launch; instead Games Workshop issued a free Faction Pack PDF that updates the army for the new ruleset while the 10th-edition codex still supplies unit datasheets. Practically, that means your Crisis suits, Broadsides, Riptides and Kroot play much as before, but the detachment layer is rebuilt around Detachment Points (see below). Two of T'au's old digital/White Dwarf detachments were rewritten as new 1-DP options, and a fresh one was added, giving you more ways to specialise. Alongside this, 11th edition changed the core game: terrain is denser, the Benefit of Cover rules are stricter, and there is a new detection/'hidden' layer. T'au come out of this reasonably well because markerlights and For the Greater Good let them ignore accuracy penalties that punish other gunlines. Always cross-check the current Faction Pack, because these packs are living documents updated by errata.

T'au's identity rule is For the Greater Good, built around markerlights and the Guided/Observer relationship. In broad terms, one unit acts as an Observer to markerlight-mark an enemy, and other T'au units then become Guided when they shoot that target, gaining improved accuracy and the ability to punch through defensive modifiers. This is what lets a T'au gunline stay lethal even when 11th edition's cover and detection rules would otherwise blunt incoming fire - your marked targets do not get to hide behind the usual to-hit penalties. The design intent is a targeting web: cheap spotters (Pathfinders, drones, stealth units) illuminate a priority threat, then your heavy hitters focus it down in a single turn. The skill ceiling is in sequencing - deciding what to mark, in what order, and which Guided units fire first so you are not wasting overkill. Exact wording, ranges and how many markerlight 'tokens' a target needs can change with errata, so verify the live For the Greater Good rule and any markerlight profile in the Faction Pack and the 40k app before playing.

11th edition replaces 'pick exactly one detachment' with a Detachment Points (DP) budget. You get 2 DP at Incursion (1,000 points) and 3 DP at Strike Force (2,000 points), and each detachment costs 1 to 3 DP. You spend that budget across one, two, or three detachments, provided no two share the same Unique Tag. A 3-DP detachment is an army-wide identity you build the whole list around; 1-DP detachments are narrow specialists. For T'au this is a genuine upgrade in flexibility. You can run a single big cadre like Kauyon or Mont'ka for a whole-army buff, or pair a 2-DP codex detachment with a 1-DP specialist such as the Auxiliary Cadre to bolt Kroot/Vespid utility onto a suit-heavy core. The new 1-DP detachments (Advanced Acquisition Cadre, Auxiliary Cadre, Experimental Prototype Cadre) are designed as exactly these budget add-ons. DP costs and which detachments are worth combining will move with balance updates, so confirm the current DP price of each detachment in the Faction Pack when you build a list.

T'au's 11th-edition detachment menu splits into two tiers. The codex detachments are the army-defining, higher-DP choices: Kauyon (the patient hunter that rewards late-game reroll payoffs), Mont'ka (the aggressive early-game alpha strike), Retaliation Cadre (a battlesuit-centric deep-strike and counter-punch engine), and Kroot Hunting Pack (a Kroot-led infiltration force). Coverage rates Mont'ka and Kauyon among the strongest detachments in the game, with Retaliation Cadre close behind. The new 1-DP detachments are focused bolt-ons: the Advanced Acquisition Cadre leans into stealth, recon and the new detection game; the Auxiliary Cadre turns Kroot and Vespid into efficient scoring and disruption pieces; and the Experimental Prototype Cadre supercharges Battlesuit characters with extended range and risk/reward experimental weaponry. Because DP lets you mix a big detachment with a small one, the real decision is which identity anchors the list and which specialist you spend a spare point on. Confirm each detachment's exact DP cost before committing.

Start from how you want to win the game, then spend DP to match. If you like a whole-army plan, pick one high-impact codex detachment and build around it: Mont'ka if you want to hit hard early and dictate tempo, Kauyon if you are comfortable trading space for a devastating mid-to-late game, Retaliation Cadre if you love dropping Crisis suits into the enemy's face and daring them to respond. If you prefer a core-plus-specialist build, anchor with a codex detachment you can afford in DP, then spend a leftover point on a 1-DP cadre that patches a weakness - Auxiliary Cadre for cheap objective-holders and screens, Advanced Acquisition Cadre if you want to dominate the detection game and keep spotters alive, Experimental Prototype Cadre if your list is built around Commander and battlesuit-character firepower. New players should favour a single, simple codex detachment first; mixing detachments adds list-building complexity and rules overhead you do not need while learning the targeting sequence. Whatever you pick, sanity-check the current DP costs against the Faction Pack.

T'au live or die on target priority. Every turn you have a finite pool of markerlights and Guided firepower, and the temptation is to spread it around. Don't. Pick the one or two enemy units that most threaten your plan - the melee blender that will reach your line, the character propping up a bubble, the transport about to disgorge a threat - mark them, and concentrate Guided fire until they are dead, not merely damaged. A wounded unit still shoots and charges at nearly full effect; a destroyed one does nothing. Sequence your shooters worst-to-best so you do not waste your Riptide's output finishing a job a Fire Warrior squad could have. Equally, respect the new 11th-edition detection/'hidden' layer: your spotters are now high-value targets, so screen them, and remember opponents can play the same game against you. The mental discipline of 'what must die this turn, and can I actually kill it' is the single biggest skill jump for a new T'au commander. Verify markerlight and detection specifics against the live rules.

T'au are a friendly first army because a small model count delivers a lot of firepower. The current Combat Patrol box is the standard on-ramp: it gives you a Commander or Crisis suits, Fire Warriors as a scoring core, and typically drones or a light suit, which is enough to learn the targeting sequence at small games. From there, the highest-value early additions are usually a Riptide (an iconic, durable centrepiece), more Crisis Battlesuits (your flexible damage engine), and a unit of Pathfinders to feed markerlights. Kroot Carnivores give you cheap bodies to screen and hold objectives. Build toward whichever detachment identity appeals - suit-heavy for Retaliation or Experimental Prototype, Kroot-forward for the Auxiliary or Hunting Pack routes. Browse current T'au boxes for what is in stock and priced sensibly, check the full T'au Empire army page, and if this is your very first 40k army, read our best beginner army guide before you commit money.