properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hiyas to everyone here at the Bolter and Chainsword, This is my first post, I"m not always good at posting in the right place on any forum but hopefully this is the spot! I have a roomate who I battle with very often. I even recently bought and painted one of the GW gameboards (overpriced but sooo sweet) and we cant get enough. Currently we are experimenting with 500pt battles and we're making 1000pt armies to use in the very near future. His Tau army is very formidable... I've seen it stomp my necrons, my Nids, and Daemons dont even seem to function at 500pts let alone against Tau firepower. I have been expirimenting with some different approaches... but to no avail his 500pt Tau list pwns face! the Tau army i am fighting looks like this - - Commander Shas'O x2 Gun Drones, multi-tracker, Cyclic-Ion Blaster, and Airbursting-Fragmentation Projector 135pts - 10 fire warriors - 100pts - 10 fire warriors - 100pts - 7 pathfinders w/ a devilfish x2 gun drones 164pts He usually gets 4 or so marker lights on 1 unit per turn, which provides just enough markers to give his 20 fire warriors enough Balistic Skill to hit on 2+ and then they wound most anything on 3+ which is quite devistating.... my 500pt necron list is the only list that has beat him /sigh.... and it was really just that the re-animation rolls were suuuper lucky that game. I havent pulled out my Space Wolves on him yet tho, mostly becuase i really love my space wolves and i really don't wanna watch them eat pulse fire for 2+ rounds before i can footslog it across the field my current 500pt Space Wolves list looks like this - - Wolf Priest in Pwr Armor w/ a Storm Bolter, and Saga of the Wolfkin - 118pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers - 150pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers - 150pts - 10 Fenrisian Wolves - 80pts I join a unit of Grey Hunters with the Priest for protection, but after seeing just how long it takes to get to the Tau, and with how easily he seems to make units run or just simply poof i dont think i can make it across the board. At any rate, I would love to have any ideas, comments, or tips on how to improve my list, and also any strategy for facing such gifted shooters as the Tau. Thanks Much, in advance... -tom Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 With Tau, you NEED to get into melee as quick as possible. For that, you need vehicles, drop pods, or OBEL scouts. Your fenrisian wolves will get shot up before they can reach. Really, your only option is a vehicle. I've found drop pods to be best. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026646 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 ya thats exactly what i'm afraid of, i have 1 rhino and 1 drop pod (both under constuction of course) but i'm afraid that deepstriking will be a horrible setback in a 500pt army, do you think both units should have rhinos? and would they just get blasted by the tau guns or do they hold up fairly well? never used transports (i'm just switching over from WHFB btw) also when deploying from the rhinos its just like deepstriking in where i cant assault, so i suppose i could pop out and shoot and then hope to weather the storm ehh? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026651 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 ok so here is virtually the same list but geared towards rhinos instead of Fenrisian Wolves - Wolf Priest in Pwr Armor w/Combi-Flamer - 110pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers and a Rhino w/Storm Bolter - 195pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers and a Rhino w/Storm Bolter - 195pts now i suppose its a question of whether or not to deploy inside the Rhinos or use them to hide behind... btw can you hold a Rhino in reserve and then deepstrike it? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026666 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forté Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 ok so here is virtually the same list but geared towards rhinos instead of Fenrisian Wolves - Wolf Priest in Pwr Armor w/Combi-Flamer - 110pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers and a Rhino w/Storm Bolter - 195pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 Flamers and a Rhino w/Storm Bolter - 195pts now i suppose its a question of whether or not to deploy inside the Rhinos or use them to hide behind... btw can you hold a Rhino in reserve and then deepstrike it? So...is the Wolf Priest there to watch? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026703 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 can't he join one of the GH units? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026712 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon999 Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 He can, but there is no room in your rhinos for him (he would be the 11th body in the squad). Honestly I would either go drop pod, or deploy on a flank and wait him out. Force him to come to you and his guns are a lot less fierce. However a squad of grey hunters landing on top of one of his fire warrior squads, rapid fire and flame, I would be surprised if any of them are left standing afterwards. Your Rhino will have support from them since he will be too busy with the guys right in his face to shoot up the rhino. 2nd turn get stuck into melee (and try NOT to win!!!! You want to get locked in CC so that you can win in his turn and deny him the chance to shoot you). Then next turn disembark your rhino troops and use bolterfire to kick his 2nd FW squad. may not work as I am saying, but seems like a possibility. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026722 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Mage Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Against tau Id say youre better off with Drop Pods- especially since he has no transports himself. Why? Because his basic gun is S5 and he has alot of them. A rhino without extra armor will be worthless, stunlocked in to obscurity baring some happy accident in your favor. They can make excellent walls, but only if they stay mobile. And no- you cannot deepstrike rhinos. Only jump infantry and models who have deepstrike in their special rules. Its like Vangaurd sorta. Id also suggest putting plasmaguns on one of your backs, simply because of tau battlesuits- like that commander. You need the range and AP they provide. Also, make sure youre playing with the 25-33% cover GW reccommends, as open fields are largely a tau playpen. For 500pts I might suggest: Rune Priest- Tempests Wrath, Living Lightning, Chooser of the Slain, Meltabombs- 115pts. 10 GHs- 2x Flamer, Powerfirst, DP- 210pts. 5 GHs- Plasmagun- 85pts. Landspeeder Typhoon- 90pts. The DP will let you get your flamer toting pack into range turn 1. Chooser of the slain will give you some area denial so his pathfinders cant always set up in the juiciest places, while the Rune Priest can either slam units from accross the field or slow down the advance of your enemies with tempests wrath- he and his Plasma Toting bodygaurd should be camping home objectives, or be just out of range of the initial tau gunline. The Typhoon can deal with the devilfish, throw out frags and its heavy bolter at extreme range to hunt down tau, or switch over to crack missils to one-shot his commander *thats right, instant death is the best way to deal with battlesuits, S8!* and can move flat out to try and contest late game objectives if you need it. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026729 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azekai Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Solid advice, as far as the rune priest goes; one of the best low budget HQs around. That forceweapon can make short work of any suits the Tau guy has hopping around. Plasma guns are also good- any particular reason your original list was packing so many flamers? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026733 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 ...or deploy on a flank and wait him out. Force him to come to you and his guns are a lot less fierce. This would be a mistake. Most likely, you'll be facing Fire Warriors armed with pulse rifles at 30" range, S5 and rapid fire. Aside from the Root rifle and flamers, all Tau weapons are S5 or better, so they will always be more fierce. By suggesting the OP wait it out, you're basically bringing an air rifle to a gunfight. Very seldomly can you get Tau to come to you. They are THE ranged army. Especially against space wolves. We excell at the 12-24" range when it comes to a fire fight, but against Tau, they are weak in melee, so that is where you need to be. With their strength, toughness and initiatives averaging around 3, we are going to come out on top. Plasma guns are also good- any particular reason your original list was packing so many flamers? Likely because they're free. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026783 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 wow there is so much good advice here, i just want to say thank you again to folks for answering my post :) the flamers were there due to there price and how effective they seem like they would be against tau as soon as i am in range, being template and all i can get alot more hits from that one GH but if there is a better option, such as plas guns that might be better, especially with the range and AP. i really like the idea of popping out of a drop pod and toasting his lil'green men LOL now i just have to build some specific GH models with weps ect. i'm hoping this will at least give him a run for his money i'll post another list later and if i'm lucky i can get some more valuable critique from you guys :) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026794 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 ok, i'm definetly going to look into getting a land speeder, that seems like a handy way to be moble with some firepower, but for now this is a list very similar to Grey Mage's list made up of models i have... - Rune Priest in Pwr Armor w/chooser of the slain, melta bombs, and the two psyker powers he listed - 115pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 flamers, DP, and the one with the power fist has MOTW - 225pts - 10 Grey hunters, 2 Plas Guns - 160pts i'll join the Plas toting Grey Hunters with the Rune Priest and hopefully i wont be lacking mobility too badly to toast some xenos :tu: The other idea is that i could take - Rune Priest in Pwr Armor w/chooser of the slain, melta bombs,Tempests Wrath, Living Lightning- 115pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 flamers, DP, and the one with the power fist has MOTW - 225pts - 5 Grey hunters, 1 Plas Gun - 85pts - 5 Wolf Scouts, no upgrades - 75pts and this list offers some infiltrate capabilities, which might make him focus on the scouts rather than the rune priest's unit if he has first turn, if i have first i could shut out one unit of fire wariors hopefully, and blast the other with the unit from the DP if i'm just lucky enough to go first and roll 4+ for the drop pod, then the priest and his plas gunner can try to take down the commander. this could just work, now if i can just infuse my dice with the vigor of RUSS! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026823 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 and the one with the power fist has MOTW Re-read the rules on MotW. They cannot benefit from other special close combat weapons (ie pfist, thammer, wclaws, etc) when equipped with motw. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026850 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 ahhh this is good to know now... before i hit the table with models that have wasted points lol, thanks much friend :P Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026859 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendrik Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 i honestly think rhino's are the way to go. you should remember that it IS possible to charge from a rhino! all you need to do is to ride up to them in the face, open your tophatch and use those 2 flamers/2 bolters as good as you can. then wait inside your pillbox while they rapidfire on your rhino. assault in the next turn. another option is to take a cheap razorback, even if your pack doesn't fit in it to provide a screen while still being able to fire back with those twin linked heavy bolters Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026861 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 - Rune Priest in Pwr Armor w/chooser of the slain, melta bombs,Tempests Wrath, Living Lightning- 115pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 flamers,1 Pwr Fist, DP - 210pts - 5 Grey hunters, 1 Plas Gun - 85pts - 5 Wolf Scouts, 1 Pwr Weapon - 90pts removed the MOTW and gave the scouts a power wep, i kinda want to do something else with the 15 points though, becuase if he gets first turn that power wep is useless on the scouts Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026868 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Those scouts are better off with a meltagun for tank-popping potential. I also agree that a Razorback would be a nice upgrade for that 5man pack if the points are found elsewhere. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026888 Share on other sites More sharing options...
properpro Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 well it is possible to shift some points into a razorback, but i have to give up any upgrades on the scouts and the Pwr Fist in the GH pack that is using the DP, here's what that looks like - Rune Priest in Pwr Armor w/chooser of the slain, melta bombs,Tempests Wrath, Living Lightning- 115pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 flamers, DP - 185pts - 5 Grey hunters, 1 Plas Gun, Razorback - 125pts - 5 Wolf Scouts, no upgrades - 75pts the razorback seems like it would be great cover for that small unit of 6 but i dont know if its worth the cost of the power fist for the DP pack, and a meltagun for the scouts, i have no expirience there the melta gun is also perfect if i remove the melta bombs from the Priest who is in the Plas Gun unit that shouldnt be in close combat really, becuase then i can give the DP pack a Wolf Standard, which seems like it would be handy becuase so much is riding on that first turn when they blast the first Tau in sight out of the DP :P that army looks like this... - Rune Priest in Pwr Armor w/chooser of the slain,Tempests Wrath, Living Lightning- 110pts - 10 Grey Hunters, 2 flamers, 1 Pwr Fist,Wolf Standard DP - 220pts - 5 Grey hunters, 1 Plas Gun - 85pts - 5 Wolf Scouts, 1 meltagun - 85pts i like the idea of keeping the melta gun, Pwr Fist and having a Wolf Standard, becuase i roll horribly ;) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026898 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Yeah, that second list looks good. The RB would've been nice, but not at the expense of the pfist and melta.. without those, you really only have 2 ways of busting an enemy tank (plasma and LL). Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3026939 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buliwyf Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Against Tau, I'd take a Rune Priest with Jaws. You throw that bad boy in a Rhino or Razorback and start shooting, and he's bound to lose some I3-I2 models. The Crisis Battlesuits don't go above 3, as they move-shoot-move kiting you around just beyond reach. Not to mention, my opponents are usually too distracted with other threats (TWC, Fangs, etc) and let me get close enough to his broadsides as they fall into the yawning maw of the world wolf. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3027059 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forté Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 i honestly think rhino's are the way to go. you should remember that it IS possible to charge from a rhino! all you need to do is to ride up to them in the face, open your tophatch and use those 2 flamers/2 bolters as good as you can. then wait inside your pillbox while they rapidfire on your rhino. assault in the next turn. Are you sure this is possible? I thought you couldn't charge on the turn you exit a vehicle unless its open topped or states otherwise (LR assault ramp for example). If this is possible then I'm now a very happy man. Have you thought of throwing in a cheap Lone Wolf with MotW? Only 35 points. A good distraction and would tear through those fire warriors. Just run him at his largest unit while your hunters take out the other. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3027103 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendrik Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 if the vehicle hasn't moved you ca disembark and do everything you could do otherwise if i recall correctly. note this means in turn A you ride up to your opponents face, then wither the hail of bullets coming your way and if your rhino is still alive; disembark and charge in turn B Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3027105 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forté Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Common sense tells me your right but for some reason I feel the need to check it. Edit. Rule book checked and...Hendrik is right!!!! For a laugh, I'll be starting to use a Rhino full of Bloodclaws. Drive up, blow smoke, disembark, move, shoot....CHARGE!!!!!! With GH support of course. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3027108 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendrik Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 For a laugh, I'll be starting to use a Rhino full of Bloodclaws. Drive up, blow smoke, disembark, move, shoot....CHARGE!!!!!! With GH support of course. that's how to use them! note there's a turn between the pop smoke and disembarking though! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3028585 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forté Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 For a laugh, I'll be starting to use a Rhino full of Bloodclaws. Drive up, blow smoke, disembark, move, shoot....CHARGE!!!!!! With GH support of course. that's how to use them! note there's a turn between the pop smoke and disembarking though! Alright Mr picky :D Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/249799-gearing-up-against-the-tau/#findComment-3028601 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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