Strategy vs. Tau

[Isryion]

I've played quite a few games of 40k, but most against MEQ and Nids. My first game against Tau will likely be next week at 1850. The only description of the list that I've heard for my opponent's list is: "kroot heavy." I've seen it in it's 1k version and it includes some mechs and seems very shooty, but any help would be appreciated. List advice along with strategy (like should I deepstrike/reserve everything?) is what I am looking for as I'm literally clueless on their army.

 

The core of my normal list includes a 1-2 jump pack assault units, a tactical squad, a small unit of DC and a DC dread, and then a mix of whatever I feel like trying out for the day. I've got options for HQ, but my favorite is the reclusiarch.

 

Here's what I own:

 

20 jump packers (3 meltas, a flamer, and 2 PF sergeants)

20 tacticals (1 PF, A ML, LasC, melta, flamer)

5 assault marines on foot (PF, melta)

1 DC Dread w/ talons and DC Drop Pod

6 DC with DC RAZ (PF, PS)

5 Honorguard with jump packs (along with banner, 2 PW, 1 PF +melta)

6 Devs (ML, 2x PC can be more cannons if necesary)

9 Assault Terminators but no ride as of yet (5 Claws, 4 TH/SS)

5 Termies w SB/PF and 1 AsCan

Dread with Multi-Melta

Rhino

2 Baals

1 Vindi

Sang Priest w/jump pack

Cobulo/or sang priest on foot.

 

Astorath

Captain w/JP and LC

Captain w/PW

Reclusiarch w/jump pack

Reclusiarch in Terminator Armor

Librarian w/ jump pack

 

I also have the parts and time to assemble a couple more plasma cannons, missile launcher, another melta, or some plasma guns. At some point, I'll also be assembling 3-4 more DC, so if they would be useful, I could put them together as well.

 

Thanks in advance...

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Well your opponent will probably use kroot to screen his Tau. Tau can lay down a lot of withering firepower but the good news is you will usually be able to take armor saves. The best way to beat Tau is simple - bum rush them. If you take lots of jump infantry with Sanguinary Priests for FNP you can over saturate their battleline then kill them in assault. I would take some hand flamers to deal with the kroot. A large squad of Death Company with jump packs is their worst nightmare. If you play it right you should massacre these filthy xenos.

 

0b :tu:

[Jakobus]

He may look at using his Kroot to deny you position to deepstrike close to his gunline. Depending on how big that unit is you could try draw them out of position and into CC, I honestly can't remember if Kroot can be equipped with meltabomb equivilents but the dread with talons should do well at getting through them.

 

My experience against Tau is they are brilliant at range and get destroyed in CC, so your biggest enemy will be distance and terrian. VV should work well. The Ass.Cannon termie squad could work verk well if you are able to DS them into a good position to shoot, and this could re-direct a lot of fire away from the rest of your army and if you can put a SangPriest in TDA with that squad they wil be ded 'ard

[mysteriousmaskedmystery]

best strategy against Tau? play BA.

 

seriously though, assault everything in range. even kroot are going to fall apart when they get hit by an assault squad with a SHP.

[Arkio]

imo skip the SHP's tau crumble even without the use of FC in assault. get in to choppy choppy. = dead tau

[mysteriousmaskedmystery]

i'd take the SHP more for the FNP than the FC, and FC means when you charge most of his transports your primary guys about as good a chance with their bare hands as with their krak grenades, which gives you two or three times as many attacks.

[Arkio]

i understand the benefit of having the SHP, i have found in my games vs tau (was my main opponent till he had to move) numbers win fights vs tau. SHP ~= 5 basic marines.

[Isryion]

Any thoughts on vehicles? Take them? Don't bother?

[Koyote]

This is how to fight Tau:

 

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/105/7/0/WH40K_full_GIF_animation_by_Sebbythefreak.gif

[Burningblood]

IF you're going to take vehichles, take landraiders, because tau can make mincemeat of av 12 pretty well. If he's taking a lot of tanks, and you have the models, combat squad a melta heavy assault squad group (2-3 squads), deep striking all of them. Make sure there are some sanguinary priests among them, and some reclusiarchs. Also a small group of DC with jump packs or in a drop pod will probably be fun against tau.

In my first tourney with the BA, my lone assault squad with a reclusiarch and sanguinary priest DEVOURED an entire Tau list almost by themselves. It was brutal. I deep struck them, expecting them to die after taking out something important, allowing my LRC assault squad to close in on them. They just ate his whole army, multicharging, feeling no pain, loosing only one or two marines a turn. By turn 5, the squad had 4 marines left, and the reclusiarch/sanguinary priest were off on their own killing xenos (what was left of them) while the assault squads were claiming objectives. EPIC!

In short: DEEPSTRIKE EVERYTHING and spam the feel no pain. check this list out:

HQ: Astorath the Grim -220

Elites: Sanguinary priests: x3, jp,-225

Chaplain: jump pack-125

Chaplain: jump pack-125

Troops:

Assault Squad 1: x10 marines, melta, flamer, ip/pf:245

Assault Squad 2: x10 Marines, meltax2, ip/pf: 250

Assault Squad 3: x10 marines, ipx3, pf: 260

DC squad: x6dc in jump pcks, x2 pw, hand flamer, lemartes- 400

And there you have it! 1850 points of jump packing, deep striking, melta and fnp spaming madness!

Munch munch Munch!

[Ultramarcos]

Last time I played Tau I moped the floor with them, Turn 5 all dead...I did the unexpected though. I started with everything in reserve...meaning I reduced at leat 1 turn of his fire capacity. But the real effect was the psycological effect for him of having nothing on the table to shoot at...he got so distracted that he started to reposition his unities...took them from cover etc...meaning lost his strategical advantage...then for each of my unities that entered the game I made sure they were properly hidden but continuously moving...in turn 3 I had a descent force in his neck with real minimal loss from my side.

I'm not saying you should do that, but inviting you to be creative in your deployment, that might give your oponent an unexpected layer of complexity that he was not expecting.

[Isryion]

Last time I played Tau I moped the floor with them, Turn 5 all dead...I did the unexpected though. I started with everything in reserve...meaning I reduced at leat 1 turn of his fire capacity. But the real effect was the psycological effect for him of having nothing on the table to shoot at...he got so distracted that he started to reposition his unities...took them from cover etc...meaning lost his strategical advantage...then for each of my unities that entered the game I made sure they were properly hidden but continuously moving...in turn 3 I had a descent force in his neck with real minimal loss from my side.

I'm not saying you should do that, but inviting you to be creative in your deployment, that might give your oponent an unexpected layer of complexity that he was not expecting.

 

I've actually been thinking about this. I was considering letting him go first (I'm betting he'll take first turn) and then reserving everything, which would actually take away two turns of shooting.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Vanguard work very well versus Tau.

 

0b ;)

[Tokunator]

Outflanking Baals work well too, they can tank shock most units without fear of reprisal (apart from Suits with Railguns or Fusion Guns), ram Tanks in the back or side and just generally make a mess of his battlelines. They can also block Line of Sight pretty well and thus save your guys some shooting.

 

In general, reserve your army to deny him a third of his shots (turn 1 and 2), use Rhinos or Baals to shield your infantry and a Librarian with Shield of Sanguinius to cover the tanks in return. Tau often rely on a few quality shots from their Railguns to kill tanks, the Shield cancels a third of these shots, thus denying him even further shots.

 

Multi-charge whenever you can. Apart from Kroot, no Tau unit can inflict serious damage on Marines, especially if they Feel No Pain, so try to engage as many as possible. Either it will tie them up in combat (thus making you immune to being shot at) or they run off the field. In most cases, they will all be dead or fleeing at the end of the second close combat phase, which will enable you to charge new targets in the next round.

 

If possible, bring a few flamers for his Kroot.

[Brother Biskit]

Tau ranged weapons are some of the best in the game but bizarrely you can make this your advantage with BA. Because railguns and fusion guns are so effective for Tau most players tend not to field them in vast numbers. Just spam Rhino assault squads send them the full 18" first turn. Chances are he'll pop 2-3 in one turn but the other squads are safe and at full strength when they hit. Just pivot the Rhinos around and disembark right into their faces on turn 2. As the pivot doesn’t count as a move you can assault straight out. Tau are about as good in close combat as a tissue brolly is in a storm. Feel free to go for multiple combats even with the kroot as they have almost no chance of saving any wounds. Chances are there won’t be much left by the close of turn 3.

[Oloff Hammeraxe]

As stated above, just get in his face. Kroot are only T and I 3, and only have a 6+ armor save if he buys that upgrade. yeah, they can dish out a lot of attacks, but they're nothing if you get the charge, or rapid fire a Tac squad into them. Also, their Crisis suits are scary, but they're only up to three to a squad, so one death and they take Leadership tests. Keep in mind that their Suits are just a 3+. Their Broadsides are a 2+, but just get stuck in against these guys with something, and they won't be a problem.

[mysteriousmaskedmystery]

i've seen drop pod assault versus a decent Tau force and they did alright. scouts can work well against Tau too, since they came come in behind his lines where they can hurt his armor easily, and they are tough enough to fight anything he has in CC.

[Rybnick]

My good friend is a Tau player and is one of my regular opponents. I can whole heartedly say the easiest way to win is to get up close and into cc with anything you can asap. I generally run with 2 10 man ASM squads combat squaded into 2 tank hunter units (2x melta in reserve for deepstriking tanks) and a board hopper 5 man including the srg w/ PF and priest w/ PW, 2x Baal preds (outflanking or scouting), 1x AC/LC pred, 1x Landspeeder w/ MM, 2x 5 man ASM w/ TLAC Razor, furioso in Drop pod, and a libby w/ JP joining one of the 5 man + priest board hopper squads.

 

The 5 man + priest has on more than one ocassional completely wiped a 15+ kroot/hound squad off the board on the first turn, so it really doesn't take a whole lot to just annihilate the kroot in CC. Drop podding in the dread on turn one really helps shake him up especially if you can get him near a skyray or railhead (my buddy really really hates loosing his skyray on turn 1 :lol:). I usually only reserve the tank hunter ASM and the baal for outflanking other then that I like everything on the board either shooting or rushing forward.

 

My general target priority is something like railhead/skyray>crisis suits>troops (Kroot/FW)>pathfinders>stealthsuits.

I go in fully expecting the razorbacks to not live past turn 2 or 3 as the Tau can really bring the hurt to AV12 quite easily, I usually move them 12 and unload their 8 TLAC shots into whatever target has priority and is in range. I absolutely hate the Skyray tank, with it's missiles and market light ability it can be a very dangerous tank. Crisis suits are annoying because they get that extra 6" assault movement so expect them to hop up shoot and hop back out of LoS every turn, but get them into CC and a 5 man squad can easily wipe them out often in the first round of combat. Outflanking baals annihilate back armor easily and w/ TLAC I pretty reliably get 3 and often all 4 shots to hit, leaving you needing a 4 on AV10 for a glance and rending on a 6 I rarely fail to cause any damage. Essentially all you need on the tank is to make them unable to shoot leaving you free to advance so even if you have no chance of a pen I'd happily shoot at AV12 in hopes of a glance to destroy a weapon, take the Railgun off a Railhead and it's essentially worthless other than tankshocking (burst cannon and Missile pods still allow armor saves and FNP saves so rarely do they cause casualties to troops).

 

I'm sure you will do fine, the Tau are a fearsome opponent but play smart and you should have little trouble winning victory for the emperor.

[Gunhead]

Any tips for dealing with Piranhas at 1K?

[Isryion]

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

 

I haven't worked out the points as of yet, but I plan to include the following models in my army as the basis:

 

HQ:

Reclusiarch (maybe two, one in terminator armor, one jumpacking)

Maybe a jump packing Honour Guard

 

Elites:

Terminators w/ Assault Cannon

Sang. Priests (1 or 2)

 

Troops:

6 DC in Razorback (PF, PW)

2 x 10 RAS w/ jumpacks (2 PF, 3x meltas, 1 Flamer)

 

Fast Attack:

2 Baals w/HB

 

I plan to reserve everything at this point w/ the Baals outflanking. I'm torn on bringing a Drop Pod with a DC dread with Blood Talons, as I see it pretty much getting munched on the second turn since nothing else will be on the board yet. I'm also torn between tacticals and a unit of devs (who would provide long range firepower) but I figure they'll get outshot. I could also build a second drop pod and add a few more assault marines. A reserve vindicator could be fun as well...hmmm...too many options...

[The Crimson Cartel]

If you plan on reserving everything (excepting Baals) then steer clear of your podded Dready... rail gun magnet and points you will be throwing away. The reserve game can work well, but honestly i've found it's much better just to get after it quick. Most of his shooting won't do squat, especially with FNP. Big tanks (Vindy's, Raiders) are also not necessarily needed either, and you are correct, your dev's will get out shot. If it were me, i'd spent the extra points on more jump infantry, or razor Assault squads and get real personal. I would also drop the PFists for P-Weps. Just finished up an 1850 game against a Fire Warrior heavy list.... :devil: I lost 7 infantry and my Asscan turret on one Baal... Ran right at em.... munch munch chopy chopy.

 

-CC

[Rybnick]

The reserve game can work well, but honestly i've found it's much better just to get after it quick. Most of his shooting won't do squat, especially with FNP.

This is very accurate based on what I've seen in my games. I think it's better to start out with everything on the board (minus outflanking baals, and a few deepstrikers perhaps) and run everything across the bord to him as quickly as possible.

On those couple occasions where I deployed first my opponent has been intimidated into reserving more than he should have leaving very little actually on the board to threaten me. When this happens I usually kill about 75% of whats on the board (in the latest game he reserved all but some kroot, a skyray, stealthteam and some pathfinders, and by the end of the turn I'd killed off the kroot and pathfinders, and stunned the skyray leaving just his stealthsuits untouched),and then when his reserves come in sporadically they are much more manageable than having his entire army sitting there from turn 1 to shoot at me.

So I think the intimidation factor of setting up your army plus them knowing you have a big mean dready podding in on turn 1 to pop some armor can be a useful psychologocal weapon as well.

 

As far as how to deal with a pirahna at 1k It really depends on what you have in your list as lots of BA artillery has a chance of bringing it down. Lascannons, Assault cannons, missile launchers, a lucky heavy bolter shot even could bring them down so it really depends on what your army is packing.

[Gunhead]

As far as how to deal with a pirahna at 1k It really depends on what you have in your list as lots of BA artillery has a chance of bringing it down. Lascannons, Assault cannons, missile launchers, a lucky heavy bolter shot even could bring them down so it really depends on what your army is packing.

 

I didn't have a lot of Anti-Tank (and I was using Jump-packing DC) which didn't help.

 

I was thinking of DSing a JP HG with 4 PG's on them (He had 2 Piranhas in a squadron, both with Fusion Blasters).

[Isryion]

Game was played tonight. I took a win but it was a heck of an interesting game. I'll try and get a battle report up.

[Drachnon]

My last game against Tau, and only game since 5th edition codex, involved a squad of 16 kroot of which 1 shaper charging 5 BA tactical marines. The marines took 1 wound and made 2 then they wiped out the kroot. He tried the same thing earlier against memphiston who didn't even get hurt (he did learn from that by not charging him with the second squad).

So while it was only 1 game my experience tells me that kroot are not the biggest thread in the Tau army. The Crisis suits and other battle suits did pretty well being equipped with plasma weapons but in close combat they die pretty easily.