Chaos vs tau

[Void Stalkers]

Im starting a chaos army and my friend is doing a tau one were both new players and theses are both our first army, i need tips on how to beat them

[Headhunter]

I can tell you I played a Tau army and I did do alot of damage but still lost. Against his Hammerhead and Devilfish (transport) you want something to knock some holes in them QUICK. My raptors with 2 meltas took one Hammerhead out (immobilized) and my Havoc squad immobilized the other. The rail gun on the hammerhead is nasty.

 

They have that annoying Jump Shoot Jump rule

 

Depending how he deploys (whether he leaves his troop in or out of the Devilfish) I would leave my men in a rhino in cover and use all your heavies.. 2 or 3 Oblits would be great against them (dont Deepstrike them) and try to find them some cover but still can see thier heavies (ie put them in a building with windows same thing for your havocs)

 

Oblits

preditor with las

havocs

 

5 raptors with 2 meltas

 

They sux at H2H so he'll keep the troops in as much as possible, and I would use maybe 10 zerkers, 10 CSM, all in rhinos and maybe 10 chosen with meltas and plasmas

 

 

PS flamers sux against them, just because you might not ever see 1 foot soldier so leave it at home.

[DuskRaider]

I regularly play Tau, so here's my strategy... don't take many vehicles unless you plan on losing them. Railguns are the bane of a mechanized army's existence. Like Headhunter said, they're sissies in H2H, so if anything run your army right down their throat and cut up close and personal. They fold easily. The one thing I would disagree with is avoiding Deep Strike. I tend to Deep Strike as much as possible behind the army and take out the tanks ASAP. Vindicators work well against their transports, only problem is you have to be within 24". I don't know if you play a legion-specific force or not, but Plague Marines scare the crap out of my Tau playing friend, and I happen to field ALL Death Guard. It's gotten to the point where he's more afraid of my troops then my heavies and will focus his big guns on my little 23 pt troops, leaving himself open to a barrage of Lascannons.

Beware, their Suits are nasty if used correctly, but from what I've seen from many Tau players is they'll try to spring up behind the enemy, which is suicide on their behalf. They can't hold their own without support.

[Void Stalkers]

Ok my friend does have a devil fish and hammer head, and someone told me to get termies and deep strike them to take the tanks out from behind, any tips on useing termies?

[Brother Nihm]

Check out the Tactica section in the Chaos Lord's Handbook.

It's the stickied post up top in this forum. :D

[Joah from Alberta]

Kinda of a cheeseball but go with 3 Tzeentch bikers equipped with 2 meltaguns. For the next few months they'll enjoy a +2 inv save against those Tau guns.

[Void Stalkers]

ok, but i have two predators in my army How wud i use them to my advantage?

[chillin]

I got a pretty bad whoopin' from the tau awhile ago. I can't wait to play against them again but the guy hasn't been around since.

Those move-shoot-move crisis suits were a pain in my arse. What's good to take vs them ??

csm's w/ 2 plasmas in rino ? T'sons in rino ? Tz DP ?..They shoot then move back out of LoS so I'm thinking I need to chase them down.

[Leethal]

For the pred, I'd suggest Heavy Bolter Sponsons, since they RIP through Fire Warrior armor. Main gun, autocannon or lascannon.

 

Crisis Suits are the bane of MEQ. Fireknife is just brutal in the right hands, against DG or 1k not as useful, but still good. I'd seriously say no to Bezerkers or Slanesshi's if your opponent has the Fail-Safe Suit. Good day ruiner right there. Suicidal Unit makes me cry.

 

I'd really really suggest either Obliterators Deepstriking behind the tanks, OR Termies with a Reaper, and possible combi-plas and/or combi-melta. They can punch through the rear armor of Tau Fish fairly easily too :D

 

Other than that, if you're friend is playing the Farsight list. Just spam hordes of DG and 1k. Screw the tanks, he can only field 1 Hammerhead, and only 1 Broadside team. Weak on anti tank, but MEQ killers from hell with Fireknife config.

[Brother Nicolas]

1 Stay together but spread out incase he shots the big blast at you (though week ap it still can would lost of guys if you bunch up)

2 If your using prest, then get some rhinos and get the cc units in close, just make sure not to block los.

3. Dont forget extra armour and smoke this can help out alot.

4 olb are nice, friend does squads of 1 or 2 and deeps strickes behind, could us same way with terms but he has bad luck with those lol

5 If he has the etherial (might be spelled wrong) see if you can kill him some how, dont know how many times i have won a game becuase they all ran off the board.

6 With tau killing off squads is not as important (other then broadsides) as making him take lots of break tests. if he advances to you he dies from CC, but if he stays back he will fall off the table easy :)

 

Right now they are the only army I really fear (and a all infantry IG army with lots of heavy weapons, even though I have only lost once to one)

 

7 Do not take only one or two tanks otherwise they die, though dreads are great since they can be in cover and move forward, but can be risky with the friendly fire hehe

[Lion in the Stars]

Apologies for the late post, all. I'm not a chaos player, and have only skimmed thru the new dex a couple times, but I play Tau and DAs, so I do have some comments.

 

1. avoid vehicles, Railguns make a mockery of LRs, let alone lighter armor.

2. get sneaky and CC the guy, but watch for Kroot and Vespids.

3. it's better to have several squads that all do the same job, *especially* when facing Tau, than one uber-squad of doom, because whichever maneuvering elements the Tau use (FW or Crisis) will smack the unholy warp-spawn out of that one unit in one turn (assuming that your Tau player is competent!), quite probably killing that unit outright.

 

Next points of discussion vary with the list the Tau use:

 

When facing the crisis horde (farsight or otherwise), stay in cover, or use troops with an invuln save, there's too much plasma on the table. Also, you want to limit the number of Terrain Pieces that block LoS (that his suits are going to hide behind, jump out and shoot you, and then duck back behind cover so you can't shoot him!). While that's not particularly tactical on the wargame front, it's definitely real-world tactics to NOT engage your opponent when he has terrain to his advantage. Although, your opponent may not let that work as well as you'd like, since both players have to agree to the terrain setup.

 

Pick one unit of suits and smash them, repeat until there are no suits left within LOS (remember, you will probably need 6-8 wounds on MEQs with a 4+ invuln save, per suit unit.)

 

When facing Fish of Fury, the tau will probably pick on one squad at close range with two of their squads. DG will help cut down on your casualties (2-3 per squad being targeted is vital), but keep a fast squad behind your lines where they can assault the Tau on your turn. Mechanized FW squads are expensive (close to 250/squad including transport), so he should be hitting one squad of yours with about 2x it's points or more. In a 1500 point game he will not have more than 4 FW squads in fish, and even then he'll be lightly supported (one crisis team as HQ, Broadsides or HHead will be about all he can bring). One CSM squad (especially raptors or bikes, which is what should be counter-assaulting) should have little trouble eating a FW squad for breakfast per turn, and should have BOTH squads tied up for a turn with a carefully positioned charge, and then they should be free to move on your next turn.

 

This should be a good start for the Chaos players out there to expand on, with better unit-specific recommendations.

[I AM THE AWESOME]

My one piece of advice on taking down Crisis.

 

Heavy bolters are GREAT. A havoc squad of tzeentch with 4 heavy bolters is fun, fun, fun! The thing is, all Tau players WILL take Shield and Stealth drones. Ignoring stealth drones (as they aren't in the Crisis unit), all AP3 guns have a lot of their bang taken out by the 4+ Inv. So, bring in the heavy bolters. If the Tau player gets tricky and takes a wound on a suit instead of his oh-so-precious shield drones, then he has to keep taking wounds on that suit. (wound distribution rules) Also, heavy bolters can even tank hunt most of the time (just not the front armor!)

[Lord Doyok]

against tau.. always CC.. But how the hell are your 3 rhinoes going to cross the table to reach them?? here is what i do.

 

1. i always choose to deepstrike whatever i can.

- 3 Termies with 2 flamer + a Heavy Flamer!! be daring and deepstrike close enough. My tau opponent hates this configuration. You can go up to 5 for added resilience. but not more than 5 man termies.

- 2 units of 5 raptors and 2 meltaguns. deepstrike close to them skimmers, even a single crew shaken will help you close in towards enemy lines. Pray for at least a stunned result, next turn is definitely a blow!!

- 2 Khorne Prince, deepstrike on one corner (will minimise shots), 1 will die from shots, the other one will soon eat through the enemy line, beginning the next turn. all that time your rhinoes survive being shot at. and see your opponent begins sweating heheh..

 

as for predators.

- go for maximum dakka pred. take at least 2 pred with Autocannon (i used 3), HBolter and HavocML. they're just 115pts each but enough to push the firewarriors/crisis below strength in 1 round of concentrated shooting. Hell, they can even wipe out marines!!

 

hope that helps.. cheers

[Sons of Horus]

KILL HIM WITH CC!!!

use oblits hehehehehehehe oblits are the answer to everything :wacko: :ph34r:

[badguyshaveallthefun]

I play a mech tau list is addition to my IW list, and so I have a little experience with/against the Tau.

 

If you take tanks, take them en masse, otherwise they'll get destroyed easily. Try to keep your fire support tanks in cover for that chance to get glancing hits instead of penetrating hits. The Tau railgun and fusion blasters ONLY get penetrating hits (lots of AP1) so terrain can minimize the effects.

 

Autocannon/Heavy BOlter Havoc squads are your friends. I like two autocannons and two heavy bolters in each of my havoc squads. The autocannon gives you a chance to down his tanks, while the heavy bolter allows you mow down his infantry once those tanks are down.

 

try not to deploy too far back in your deployment zone, because all of his Hammerhead heavy weapons outrange you and a smart player will use that to their advantage and engage your forces outside of your maximum range (48" in most cases).

 

Large infantry squads are the only way to go against the Tau. Be prepared to take casualties in the shooting phase and LOTS of them. Tau firepower can be truly horrendous, especially if he keeps his forces together and focuses his shooting on one squad at a time.

 

Once engaged in close combat Tau are nothing. All it takes is one or two marines getting into close combat with their full squads and they're done for. Try not to annhiliate all of them in the first round of combat though, try to work it so that your troops kill off the last of his squad during HIS CC phase. That's typically good sense all around, but it's especially true against the Tau.

 

Crisis suits are a real pain, and stealth suits can be too. Deep striking terminators and obliterators are the best way to take them down. Tzeentch bikers are also effective. Anything really with a 2+ save is worth it against the Tau, because they don't have a lot of weapons in their arsenal that can deal with it. Tau rely more on mass failed armor saes than flat out bypassing saves altogether.

 

That's all that comes to mind right now.

[Void Stalkers]

ok my friend has a hammerhead but we are both new players,so that should even it out right?

[badguyshaveallthefun]

I wouldn't fear just one Hammerhead too much. At least, don't put so much emphasis on it to the point that you ignore everything else. Being a new player is part of the fun of Warhammer, trying out new units and tactics and seeing what works for you and what doesn't. Just have fun, that's the most important thing.

[Ju'kosian]

As you both are new players that evens it out since you both don't really know what are good units and the lesser.

 

Anyways once you can get into HTH it's all over for the tau boys.

As for shooting, ap4 weapons are you're friends since those will rip tau apart.. (except the heavier suits)

[Lion in the Stars]

Ah, that was an important detail. Didn't know you were both newer players.

 

Vespid are a one-shot speed bump, that will take one unit out of action for a turn, and die horribly at the end of *your* HtH phase.

 

If your opponent is feeling wicked, he's going to take the Ion Cannon instead of the railgun on the HHead, and use broadsides for tank-killing. 3 BS4 S7 AP3 shots are NOT nice to marines (the Rail is preferable for all lesser foes).

 

Don't simply ignore the HHead, but don't concentrate on it either. If there's a Crisis team or a devilfish in front of your army, kill that in preference to the HHead, but if he gives you a long shot at the HHead with a Havok squad, take it.

[Reaper31]

Hi all.

 

Recently I have been having alot of games with a friend who plays Tau. Hes a tourny player, and knows how to get the best out of his army, and plays it very effectivly. I, on the other hand, am not. Mostly I play for fun, try to use my army well, but tend to get beaten a fair bit. And its rather depressing when you have you behind kicked 5 times in a row by the same army list.

 

He plays in 1500pts:

-Shaso and bodie gaurds, all tooled with gun/sheild drones and target locks/multi trackers and a variety of weaponry(from flamers to plasma rifles to fusion blaster). Always deep-strikes.

 

-Single suit with T/L fusion blasters.

 

-Hammer-head with rail gun, smart missiles and the move 12" and shoot all upgrades.

 

-Fish o' Fury team

 

-2 12 man F/W squads with markerlights

 

-4 piranah

 

-single sniper drone team.

 

So, Advise? How to balance the odds?

 

What units would be effective, and how should I use them. I usually run a Daemon Prince with the MoT, wings Warp time and BoC, chaos marines in rhinos, plague marines, and a defiler or predator, maby terminators.

 

Im thinking of getting a land raider and vindicator, and team them with 3 rhino-rush squads, and proceed with charging up the center into his lines. Too suicidal?

 

What are peoples suggestions, Im open to all Ideas.

 

Cheers,

Reaper31

[Hellios]

Hi all.

 

Recently I have been having alot of games with a friend who plays Tau. Hes a tourny player, and knows how to get the best out of his army, and plays it very effectivly. I, on the other hand, am not. Mostly I play for fun, try to use my army well, but tend to get beaten a fair bit. And its rather depressing when you have you behind kicked 5 times in a row by the same army list.

 

He plays in 1500pts:

-Shaso and bodie gaurds, all tooled with gun/sheild drones and target locks/multi trackers and a variety of weaponry(from flamers to plasma rifles to fusion blaster). Always deep-strikes.

 

-Single suit with T/L fusion blasters.

 

-Hammer-head with rail gun, smart missiles and the move 12" and shoot all upgrades.

 

-Fish o' Fury team

 

-2 12 man F/W squads with markerlights

 

-4 piranah

 

-single sniper drone team.

 

So, Advise? How to balance the odds?

 

What units would be effective, and how should I use them. I usually run a Daemon Prince with the MoT, wings Warp time and BoC, chaos marines in rhinos, plague marines, and a defiler or predator, maby terminators.

 

Im thinking of getting a land raider and vindicator, and team them with 3 rhino-rush squads, and proceed with charging up the center into his lines. Too suicidal?

 

What are peoples suggestions, Im open to all Ideas.

 

Cheers,

Reaper31

 

I would go with more of less personally... wouldn't go for the defiler and the predator is so-so. I would go along the lines of fast and resilient infantry, maybe even some daemons ( I know alot of people don't like them but I do especially if they get you to the tau quicker.). I can't remember the points cost for obliterators but if they are a fair price some of those could be good. Thousand sons are a semi-risky way to deal with J-S-J but alot of points if they don't get used well.

 

Well I'm baised for Thousand sons :) but I'm not a fan of using vehicles against Tau unless you go for land raider saturation in whcih case even tau can have issues with that but I would be prepared for at least one raider going down.

[Roultox]

Havoc unit of 10+ with 4 heavy bolters for the troops.

A unit of 20 havocs with 4 lascannons for the rest, add in a undivided icon in there for the final weakness of leadership/pinning. Aim for the battlesuits first.

 

With that, no matter how he dances he will be forced behind terrain and at least 1 thing will be exposed to deadly fire every turn so you will have it in the bag... Aside from that, maybe some oblits for mobile firepower for those jump packs. Tau players hate oblits for that reason.

[Brother Nihm]

*merged the two Tau topics*

[Reaper31]

Oops....I totaly missed this thread :D . Thanks for the Merge Nihm.

 

Roultox....30 havocs....Ouch. I like it. Throw 3 oblits, a spawn, daemon prince and 2 5 man squads in rhinos in and I think Ive found an army list.....

 

Would Spawns be any good against Tau? Not mech tau, but tau who like to sit and shoot, with minimum movement?

I think thye might provide a nice distraction. I mean, If the play doesnt shoot them, then the spawns might tie up or even kill a squad or 2, causing a bit of havoc. If they do shoot them, they loose a turn of shooting at something that is more usefull. Very throwaway units.

 

Daemons would be good too for tying up those pesky sniper drones. I hate their guts purely for that markerlight, as it always manages to own a squad(usually lights up my DP).

 

Oblits are getting a big mention here, but I am somewhat worried about them being instant killed. A few pot-shots by a hammer head or even deep-striking suit team could spell their doom.

 

As for tactics: What about making a firebase? The 20 and 10 man havoc squads as stated above, plus 3 oblits. Put em all in a coupal of tall buildings with good LOS, and blast away? Then keep faster units in reserve for those deep-striking enemies.

 

Ill stop talking now.... :) .

 

Cheers,

Reaper31

[Roultox]

The thing about big havoc units is their kroot and vespid units that will try to tie up your guns, with 2 melee(3 on charge) attacks per marine your bound to release that grip quickly, especially if they're near eachother to support.

 

Oblits are great, they move around cover and shoot, and dont block line of fire so line them all up to peek around a forest or something. Kill as you move with them, dont let the mostly stationary railguns see them in plain view. If you dont play with 25% terrain you are playing an off game. (before the game put all the terrain into one quarter of the field, all the terrain should fill that entire quarter before placing terrain) Oblits love terrain, and the small guns that can move and shoot on most units in the game cant instant kill the oblits, thats what they're made for. Utilising terrain.

 

I always use a single spawn as a filler, harassment and fast unit tie-down, since they deploy literatly last. Using more than one spawn seems a waste to me, but thats me, tau wont have any trouble shooting one down as it wont stick to terrain like a good soldier would.

 

Two 5 man's in a rhino each would seem to need a little extra, I suggest 6 per squad for the practical use of even numbers for scoring units. The rhinos would make great blockers for line of sight issues but given his mobility he could easily use this against you, and most of your army is sitting back so I highly suggest either picking heavy melee for the rhinos or packing larger units inside the rhinos and run them up one side so he cant take advantage of their line of sight blockage against your havocs.

 

If its not much, I would suggest using larger units in rhinos as a shooty-based gunline to support the havocs. You may have to move the havocs from time to time to get more targets, as I've said 25% terrain is standard.

 

Point for point tau cant hold against a space marine gun-line army. 2 marines beat 3 fire warriors even if the fire warriors are given first shot. Marines can pack heavy and special weapons in their units, making it so that tau cant possibly win without markerlights and using terrain to minimise incoming fire. If you can keep the pressure on with good numbers, he cant win.