Facing Tau

[Sparhawk]

I'll be playing a friend in a 2000pt battle vs his Tau army. Last time we met I trounced him with a primarily DP force but he seems confident that he's found a way around this. I'm not really looking for a list critique as I haven't had time to even make the list.

 

My general thoughts were that it would be another DP force (I'd really hate to disappoint his attempt to thwart me :D ) with stern and tac squads for the main punch with some Ironclad support. Backing this up would be a medium Bike squad to chew up any pathfinders and some CC termies with a chaplain in a LRC as my hammer against the Tac squad anvil.

 

Thought about including 2 whirlwinds for indirect fire support and maybe an assault squad. I'm open to any thoughts or advice, especially the kind that tells me what a bad idea I've come up with :cuss !

[Tasche]

all i have to say is. Land Speeder Typhoons! 2 Krak Missile shots at 48in @ St8Ap3 wipes out battlesuits instantly, since its both 2x strength and lower AP.

 

Playing against tau is a hard thing, but when fighting against them, use Plasma and Meltas, Lascannons are good but pricey.

[Sparhawk]

I just posted my list over in the Army List Review board, so feel free to hop over there and tell me what you think!

[holanes]

Looks like a tough list! Have you considered replacing cassius with tigerius? That way you could have a little more control over your reserve rolls for your drop pods, I am also thinking that dropping the LR might free up points for more speeders or another tack squad in a DP (That would make 3 DPs on 1st turn, instead of 2). Essentially this would make your list a DP and deep strike list again, which would make the Whirlwind very vulnerable 1st turn. Just a thought.

 

Don't you think that re-rolling to hit with CC termies is a little overkill against Tau anyway?

[Justicar Valius]

Keep the list as is, maybe try and find 90 points for another speeder if you can but otherwise :mellow:

[Tasche]

yes, another speeder works wonders, nice to deal with battlesuits and firewarriors

[Thornoo1]

His counter may be to simply start his whole army in reserve. If you think this is fine then think again, Tau are at their best when they can dictate where and when they will strike. Whilst this is a tough list if he rolls average with his reserve roll he'll have 1000 pts to deal with around 500 pts of yours.

 

Judging by your list you guys play hard so I'd expect from him what is known as a Farsight bomb with heaps of rail guns and min sized troops in Devilfish if he had unlimited models.

 

Here's what 1000 pts may look like, Ive simplified what these guys can carry but I hope you get the gist:

 

Commander with fusion gun and plasma gun - 3 AP1/2 shots

3 suits with fusion gun and plasma gun - 9 AP1/2 shots

3 suits with fusion gun and plasma gun - 9 AP1/2 shots

3 suits with rail guns and plasma guns - 9 AP1/2 shots

1 fire warrior squad with Devilfish - maybe he has this set up as a warfish - 6 str 5 ap5 shots without disembarking

3 Piranhas with fusion guns - 3 AP1/2 shots on skimmers

[Sparhawk]

Played the game this weekend and it was a draw.

 

I made some last minute list changes that I really shouldn't have and some rookie deployment areas. My friend deployed all his forces in a static gunline essentially in one half of his deployment zone. His army consisted of:

3-4 FW teams,

1 pathfinder unit,

2 broadsides of 2 suits each

6 Suits Plasma gun, Missle Pods

Commander Plasma, Missle Pods

1 Devilfish

1 Hammerhead

1 Kroot/Kroot Hound unit deployed in a conga line around his deployment border.

 

Long story short, I wasn't aggressive enough at the onset and made a couple tactical blunders, it was my game to lose as he never once advaned on my control point and I contested his twice. I would definitely go with the landspeeder next time and I might drop the LRC in favor of 2 Vindys (Yeah I know they'll get popped fast but 2 shots would really mess up his gunline) and drop the chaplain for a Libby with GOI.

[Brother Captain Josef]

Nice list...

 

I'm not convinced that keeping your army in reserve to nullify drop pod assault is really all that viable an option. If your opponent does this then all he is doing is allowing you to deploy your troops in defensible positions and when he does come on your T4 3+ and between terrain and drop pod placement you should also sport a 4++. You also have a fair portion of your list already on the board and would just need to turbo boost your bikes + tanks (deploying smoke) to get up into threatening positions.

 

If he has any sense he should stick everything in transports to deny the majority of your 'dakka' until you have popped the transports. To this end make sure your DP dreads have multimeltas so not to waste good anti infantry fire with squads on transport popping duty. Can't remember if you have already done this though as not currently looking at your list lol.

 

Good luck