Overview
The T'au Empire Combat Patrol box gives you a ready-made strike force built around the faction's signature blend of advanced technology and coordinated firepower. Inside you'll find a Coldstar Battlesuit Commander for lightning-fast strikes, a squad of Breacher Team Fire Warriors for close-range punch, a unit of Strike Team Fire Warriors for versatile ranged support, and a trio of Crisis Battlesuits capable of being armed with a devastating array of weapon options. Rounding out the box is a Tactical Drone unit that can be attached to boost the survivability or firepower of your other units, giving the whole force a cohesive, battle-ready feel straight out of the box without needing to hunt down additional kits to field a functional army.
Sculpted with Games Workshop's typical attention to detail, the kit captures the T'au aesthetic beautifully: sleek battlesuits with sharp angular plating, intricate paneling on the Fire Warriors' armor, and a wealth of technological greebling that rewards careful painting and highlighting. The plastic is the modern, crisp multi-part styrene GW is known for, with clean parting lines and good detail retention, so assembly is straightforward even for those relatively new to the hobby. Weapon and pose options across the Crisis Suits and Commander model add a layer of customization, letting you differentiate load-outs visually while keeping the models thematically unified as a single T'au cadre.
For hobbyists, this Combat Patrol serves multiple purposes beyond just battlefield use. It's an efficient entry point into painting a T'au force, offering enough variety in surface types, from smooth armor plates to mechanical joints and weapon systems, to practice a range of painting techniques like edge highlighting, panel lining, and airbrushing base coats. It's also a strong value proposition for the price point, since Combat Patrol boxes are designed to give new and returning players a jumpstart into a faction at a discount compared to buying each kit separately. Whether your goal is building a display army, testing paint schemes before committing to a larger collection, or simply fielding a compact, functional squad on the tabletop, this box delivers a solid foundation for diving into the T'au Empire.
Key features
- 01Boxed set containing a complete T'au Empire strike force
- 02Includes 1 XV104 Riptide battlesuit
- 03Includes 3 XV25 Stealth battlesuits
- 04Includes 10 Fire Warrior Strike Team infantry
- 05Includes 1 Devilfish transport
- 06Push-fit plastic construction, no glue required
- 07Includes T'au Empire transfer sheet and datasheet cards
Specifications
| Miniature Count | 15 models |
|---|---|
| Primary Material | Plastic (push-fit) |
| Recommended Game System | Warhammer 40,000 |
| Base Sizes Included | 25mm, 40mm, 60mm, 105mm oval |
| Skill Level | Beginner-friendly |
Pros & cons
What we liked
- Great value compared to buying units separately
- Push-fit design makes assembly fast and beginner-friendly
- Provides a solid core army for Combat Patrol or Kill Team play
- High level of sculpted detail for dynamic paint schemes
- Includes datasheets for immediate tabletop use
What could be better
- Limited pose variety due to push-fit engineering
- Riptide's size makes storage and transport awkward
- No paints or tools included, sold separately
- Some fiddly small parts like drone accessories can be easy to lose
Hobbyist notes
Feedback from painters and players who use it.
Perfect starter army
Assembled this over a weekend with zero glue needed. The Riptide is a centerpiece model and looks fantastic once painted up in Farsight Enclaves colors.
Great value, minor gripes
You get so much plastic for the price. Only downside is the poses are a bit static since it's all push-fit, but that's a minor complaint for the value here.
Ideal for Kill Team and Combat Patrol
Used the Stealth suits and Fire Warriors straight out of the box for Kill Team games. Detail is crisp and easy to pick out with drybrushing and washes.
Solid but Riptide is bulky
Love the models, but the Riptide takes up a ton of case space. Still, as a painting project it's fantastic with all those panel lines to shade.
Our verdict
Excellent for starting a new army or game
The T'au Empire Combat Patrol box is an excellent entry point for new players and a solid force multiplier for existing collectors, packing a Riptide, Stealth suits, Fire Warriors, and a Devilfish into one cost-effective set. The push-fit assembly keeps things approachable while still leaving plenty of room for satisfying paint jobs, making it a strong pick for anyone building toward a competitive or narrative T'au force.
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