Using Chaos against Tau and Orks

[Nurgle71]

My two friends have been starting new 40k armies as of late and they are growing steadily. Since I have been collecting my Chaos Space Marine for a couple of years now, I have been playing many 40k games against them. I recently noted I'm getting my general-rear-end :D area kicked more often than not.

 

Both of them only have roughly 1200pts (we prefer to play painted) and they play either one-on-one at about 1000pt or in a team with 2000pt per side.

 

I need help in fighting them both combined or one at a time. I got 3500pts of Chaos with a bit of everything but I rely a bit more on infantry power of tanks.

[The_Crippster]

vs tau I usually just demonbomb =D

[Zealot Of Chaos]

hand to hand tau, shoot orks a lot then make sure YOU get the charge

[DuskRaider]

Berserkers VS Orks = A lot of dead Orks. This is a point I've proven many times. The problem is, against Orks you want a lot of tanks, against Tau you want a minimal amount. I'll run Plague Marine heavy against Tau and laugh as they waste Railgun shots on my troops. Terminators DS in to blow their tanks apart from behind, and what you have left is a lot of Tau weenies (and the occasional Suit) left to mop up. Anything Khorne VS Orks and you'll win. Chaos Lord or DP vs Ork Warboss, Lord or DP will win 9 times out of 10.

[EVIL INC]

True, that IS a killer combo to face. Offhand, I cant think of any "list" suggestions but you could try to play the denied flank against them and concentrate all of your forces on the end of the table with the most Tau. That way, thier longer ranged guns wont be any more effective then normal and youll have more troops to get into grips with them. That will also make the orks walk farther to get to you (by the time the rest of the orks get there, hopefully, you'll have mopped up the majority of the tau.

[Tfcdogbert]

Raptors are a great bet for both, khorne raptors chuck out 40 attacks on the charge and that will decimate an ork boy squad before it can hit you, it will smush anything the tau can put out and close fast enough to reduce firepower.

[EVIL INC]

Gotta second the raptors. They are great. Converting them from khorne berserkers and jump packs/wings and you'll have great looking models too. The current bullit men look silly and many dont like the chaosy wingpacks ones from before.

[KANAKA]

I fight those enemies regularly, and agree with Dusk Raider. Often my 10 man Berserker's kill 15-20 Orks, they'll run through Tau like water in hth. 2 squads of BL w/2 flamers each, BL Havoc sqd w/4 flamers, Defilers (2) w/ heavy flamers (priceless), can anyone say Pie Plates?, oh and a 9 man unit of TS.

Works for any mission and deployment as long as your fighting against Tau and Orks. I also have 4k points of assorted nastiness that I can change out. Have a good figght.....K

[Nurgle71]

I used your advice and finally, in 3 weeks, actually won. It was still a close gamewith my 5 Raptors getting hammered by Tau shooting and a lucky shot from a Grot squad but me bezerkersdid wonderfully by ripping apart two Ork Mob, a Hammerhead and manage to contest the objective for a win.

[DuskRaider]

Ahh yes, Raptors. I don't have much experience with them yet as I haven't pieced my World Eaters Raptors together yet, but I can definitely see an advantage with them. Very fast, equipped with Assault Weapons, and hard hitting. Berserkers are just beasts in CC, which is surprising when you look at their stats. You wouldn't expect it. Congratulations with the win and hopefully many more are in your future. Anymore questions, just ask us!

[Redbaron997]

Raptors with Flamers would be good. The raptors will past tau and get up quick, and the flamers can enable them to widdle down ork mobz to managable sizes to take them on to.

[minigun762]

Raptors with Flamers would be good. The raptors will past tau and get up quick, and the flamers can enable them to widdle down ork mobz to managable sizes to take them on to.

 

And don't forget that Raptors are packing Krak Grenades as well, which is an easy backup anti-tank option.

 

Troop choice wise, I think Plague Marines really shine here. They help nullify the S5 of basic Firewarriors weapons which they rely on and they weather the basic Ork Boyz attacks much better.

 

If you're using Raptors, I think you can leave the Berserkers at home to be honest. Gear up the Plague Marines with Meltaguns and Power Fists for tank busting.

[Nurgle71]

Thanks guys. Looking back, I think that the only reason the bezerkers performed better was of their larger squad size( footslogging 15 man quad) The raptor attracted alot of attention, but maybe thats due to the new paintjob given.

 

Another question: Is an all-out assault army a good idea? The AT would be mlta guns, bombs/grenade and powerfist

 

Also how would Possesed and Terminator fare in this?

 

Thanks

[Sgt. Blank]

I play orks and terminators can give me a real tough time due to the lack of AP 2 weapons, aside from power klaws. In some respects, Chaos terminators have all the advantages of regular and assault imperial terminators, since they pack considerable firepower as well as hitting at initiative in melee (which means that they hit first even when orks charge.)

 

I've never fought against possessed or fielded them, but looking at their random table, I am not sure what they get that would be an advantage over another troop type against those two opponents. They are no faster than raptors or bikes, are less durable against most attacks than plague marines, terminators or bikes and are far more costly than your basic marine.

 

Against orks, you are want either tough models (plague marines, mark of nurgle, bikes, terminators) to slow their buckets of attacks, firepower, especially templates, (defilers, autocannon/heavy bolter predators, heavy flamers) to kill a high number of models per turn, or troops that can utterly overwhelm orks in assault (berserkers are probably the best unit in the game for killing orks in assault, given their furious charge and weapon skill).

 

Be sure to keep in mind how many orks it will take to kill your marines in assault and prioritize your targets; an ork hits a marine 1/2 attacks, wounds 1/2 on the charge and the marine dies from the wound 1/3 times, an ork with pistol and CCW has 4 attacks on the charge, so it takes an average of 3 orks assaulting to kill one marine. If the orks out-number you by more than 3 to 1, things can get rough.

 

Tau have access to a lot of high strength, low AP weaponry and can be very mobile. I'd suggest using a good number of transports or bikes to get icons in range, then deep-striking terminators and/or daemons. Daemons can assault on the first turn and the tau have little that can stand against a squad of dedicated assault troops; kroot are respectable in assault, but given the accuracy of your deep-strike, you ought to be able to get to a softer target. Deep-striking can really neutralize a lot of the mechanized mobility that Tau can bring, since you'll get to shoot or assault before they can react.

 

It's also worth considering the missions your playing and forcing the tau to move forward to contest objectives when possible. I've faced a fair number of shooty armies and they can struggle on missions that require them to come forward.

[Nurgle71]

I have been really unlucky with mission and mostly end up with Anihilation. I have used terminators but it was in a mix list more reliant on shooting than assaulting. I never used possesed before but have already start undercoating the models and would like to bring them in into the game.

[Tfcdogbert]

I would bulk up and doubleflame raptors, i love those things, ive had them beat up genestealers, and they will template anything orks and tau put out with mass amounts of flame, dont forget the bolt pistol shots on a secondary note.

 

Raptors = fun.

 

Congratulations!