Tau are today's Faction Focus looking ahead to 9th edition.
Faction Focus Tau
via the Warhammer Community\
Brian: The T’au Empire will benefit from a huge number of improvements in the new edition, representing significant changes to how the army plays. The T’au specialise in using small units, such as Drones, that can spread out and control the board. In many mission formats, these small units would punish the T’au Empire force by easily giving away victory points. However, it’s possible to select secondary objectives for the new missions that emphasise board control over the destruction of enemy units, allowing the T’au to really lean into this specialism.
T’au Commanders (Various)
These guys are pure awesomeness, and every T’au Empire Detachment is going to want one! Commanders are very flexible and can basically be built to order with their many wargear and weapon options. For further flexibility, they also have the Master of War ability, letting you choose between Kauyon and Mont’ka styles of warfare depending on their foe. In fact, you may want to consider spending some Command points to field an additional Detachment to include a second Commander (as the T’au can normally only include one per Detachment).
Cadre Fireblade
If you’re looking to make the most of the devastating firepower of your Fire Warriors, you simply can’t leave your sept world without a Cadre Fireblade to support them. Not only is he a dead-eye marksman, but he grants an extra shot to nearby Fire Warrior units. Of course, this also applies to their Overwatch fire too, meaning that to charge any of them is to face a murderous volley from every unit in the vicinity!
KV128 Stormsurge
The undisputed master of area-denial in the T’au Empire army. Position a Stormsurge to lock down a fire corridor between obscuring terrain, set its Stabilising Anchors, and it will reliably obliterate anything in front of it. Its presence alone is often enough to force your opponent’s hand to avoid suffering the explosive consequences of leaving a Stormsurge free to do its work, meaning you can use it as (massive) bait to set up deadly counter-attacks with your other units.
