Preferred Enemy: Riptide Battlesuit

[Morticon]

Mephy wouldnt be a great option, no.  But, I think he's not terrible.  You only need to fail one 2+ save and the suit is dead.  Its risky, cause luck can get the better of you.  But, its still an option- as others have said though it may be smarter to have meph wailing on the rest of the army (depending on what kinda of AP2 is about!).

[Xenith]

Meh, didn't realise there was a 2+ save.

 

TH/SS bike character or ignore it.

[Ushtarador]

Riptide gets to hit first with two S10 smash attacks, you want to be careful with shenanigans like that. Hell, the more we talk about this, the more annoying it gets^^

I feel like MM attackbikes could do quite ok, but they are even better to tie up other things in cc.

[Skylifter]

I know this is about BA killing Riptides, but the DA have a great way: hit them with a rad grenade (-1 toughness) and then shoot demolisher cannons at them. So just get some rad grenades in the next BA codex, and it'll be no problem at all! Ahem. 

[Zynk Kaladin]

I still prefer ignoring it and focusing on the game objectives.  Eventually the riptide will get so self-conscience, it will probably commit suicide.

[ASSASSINAWOKEN]

I still prefer ignoring it and focusing on the game objectives.  Eventually the riptide will get so self-conscience, it will probably commit suicide.

Sometimes this is the best option in most circumstances. I have ignored flyers in games and came out on top. I have recently found better luck using a Predator Annihilator in some games and it might do well against this beast. Plus while the Riptide is out in the open a Whirlwind can be hidden dumping pie plates through the regular troops armor.

[Xenith]

Yea. Didnt factor in the smash.

 

I'd probably just ignore it. There doesn't seem to be a reliable way of taking it out.

[Ushtarador]

The cool thing about the riptide is that it looks very impressive and has a big pie plate. This makes it a priority threat in the eyes of many people, and they have to make an enormous effort to take it out reliably (especially if the nova reactor pushes the inul save to 3+). Even worse, if you bring it down to 1-2 wounds, it will just jumppack away and out of reach.

 

However, 200 points is a lot for a template and a special weapon - Tau can get a lot more firepower for 200 points than a riptide. Considering the huge amount of firepower required to take it out reliably, there is almost always a better target. Also, if you spend an entire shooting phase to bring the riptide to 1 wound, you have essentially dealt zero damage, this is disastrous in the early stages of a game.

[Boomkapow]

...geez. The problem with that is that I use a few tac squads to outshoot them at rapid fire range. works against basically all their stuff except the riptide. So the problem with leaving it alone is that he's destroying a squad per turn usually (pending luck). I guess I just  square formation my units to minimize casualties and ignore it...this thing sucks...

[I am Legion]

Drop pod 10xsternguard with combiplasma. Unleash a hellish torrent of 20 plasmashots. Wait.....that's only 2 wounds if it supercharges the shields to 3++

[Ushtarador]

@Boomkapow  How do you get them into rapid fire range and stay there without being shot to ribbons though? With the new ethereal, Tau get 3 shots at 15'', and markerlights allow them to hit as well as marines (or better). You will lose at least as many models as he does, but his cost half as much. I don't believe marines can outshoot Tau, you have to get into cc.

[Xenith]

Drop pod 10xsternguard with combiplasma. Unleash a hellish torrent of 20 plasmashots. Wait.....that's only 2 wounds if it supercharges the shields to 3++

 

This was mentioned before. You drop the sternguard, it interceptor's them with a S8 AP2 blast. No more sternguard.

[I am Legion]

Lol. Gotcha. Hmm...obe personally never come across this unit yet and my friend has my tau codex right now so i have to refamiliarize myself with its rules. But in that case, we always have deb's with lascannons. But your right, i dont see an easy way to deal with this unit. THSS terminators will kill it in 2 turns. Ummm....as mentioned, our attack bikes with MMs but to kill it in one turn you need to have all 9 bikes. But at that point you're tailoring your list. 3 stormravens?

[Zynk Kaladin]

They all won't necessarily die. You get 6'' to spread out, which may or may not get you an exact box formation, but it should be enough to mitigate the large blast template.

 

Regardless, deep striking sternies still might not be effective enough to remove the riptide. Perhaps an attached SM libby with null zone would do it?

[Boomkapow]

@ Ushtarador:

 

I put them in rhinos and drop pods. I hide them first turn and go the full distance possible right up to their face. Next turn i let them out and let loose, killing enough that their return fire is negligible. If you aim for the squad with the ethereal you can usually focus fire that squad and kill it. Problem is that after that you have chase down all the damn suits.

[Calnus]

Its a similar problem to taking down a squad of Hammernators, just on a slightly tougher profile (T6 vs. T4).  And the 3++ on the Riptide is not going to happen every turn, so you can get away with shooting it with your typical las/plas/melta weapons and watching it fail a 5++.

 

That said, I've never had real good luck taking down a whole squad of hammernators.  Since they don't have guns, you can just stay out of their way, but the Riptide will keep causing problems if you ignore it, so thats not a great option.

 

I'd be tempted to just reccomend hammernators of our own.  They're one unit that you can trust to beat down most hard targets, and draw a ridiculous ammount of fire.  And the Stormraven is a good delivery system when you consider the drawbacks of the Early Warning Override and Supporting Fire.

 

If you aren't averse to allies, a GK dreadknight would also solve the problem nicely, works to around 200pts with a teleporter to get you the manueverability you need to close with the Riptide.  All you have to do is get in one unsaved wound, and the force weapon makes your problem go away.

[Memento Of Prospero]

Its a similar problem to taking down a squad of Hammernators, just on a slightly tougher profile (T6 vs. T4).  And the 3++ on the Riptide is not going to happen every turn, so you can get away with shooting it with your typical las/plas/melta weapons and watching it fail a 5++.

 

That said, I've never had real good luck taking down a whole squad of hammernators.  Since they don't have guns, you can just stay out of their way, but the Riptide will keep causing problems if you ignore it, so thats not a great option.

 

I'd be tempted to just reccomend hammernators of our own.  They're one unit that you can trust to beat down most hard targets, and draw a ridiculous ammount of fire.  And the Stormraven is a good delivery system when you consider the drawbacks of the Early Warning Override and Supporting Fire.

 

If you aren't averse to allies, a GK dreadknight would also solve the problem nicely, works to around 200pts with a teleporter to get you the manueverability you need to close with the Riptide.  All you have to do is get in one unsaved wound, and the force weapon makes your problem go away.

 

A libby dreadnought does the same thing.

[shortysl]

Death Company with Jump Packs, fists, PW Axes, Melta Bomb. Since you can throw a melta bomb at MCs.

Yeah about that......

 

You can't throw a Melta Bomb at all. You can use it in Melee, but you get one attack and it's an Unwieldy weapon, so you might as well just stick with Thunder hammers or Power Fists.

[nevaenuffbass]

2 libbies with fear of the darkness. 2 Because he'll probably kill one. Tau will probably be near their own board edge. 

 

Or a SW psyker dude with jaws of the wolf?

[Zeller]

I used a 10 man sternguard squad firing poison rounds from cover in my 1 game against it. Aside from the damn thing vaporizing 3-4 guys a turn it was effective. A predator annihilator works wonders as well. Just don't get in melee with those stupid drones. T6 and FNP...it's sad.

[Squirrelloid]

If you go with a drop pod army, can't you hedge it in with drop pods so it can't intercept anything else, and really break up its line of sight so there's a lot of blind spots that you can hide forces in?

[ASSASSINAWOKEN]

I used a 10 man sternguard squad firing poison rounds from cover in my 1 game against it. Aside from the damn thing vaporizing 3-4 guys a turn it was effective. A predator annihilator works wonders as well. Just don't get in melee with those stupid drones. T6 and FNP...it's sad.

Glad to read another player praises the Predator Anihilator. Its usually left out for cost, but three potential S9 AP2 shots a turn can decimate any units quickly.

[IK Viper]

WS 5 makes him hit on 5's since that big dude is actualy only WS 2 lol.  not sure how much that helps but its worth considering. 

 

I once charged a Riptide and 2 drones with 10 Death Cult Assasins  (the Riptide had FnP but no 3++)  and I did not clean it out,  killed the drones and but on 4 wounds but it actually lived, we called the game at that point but and I would have finished the next round, but that should show you how tough they are if it took 40 WS5 S5 AP2 attacks and lived, not alot of stuff survives a charge from 10 DCA. 

[Ushtarador]

If you go with a drop pod army, can't you hedge it in with drop pods so it can't intercept anything else, and really break up its line of sight so there's a lot of blind spots that you can hide forces in?

 

It is widely agreed that drop pods are considered to have their doors open, so you can't block LoS :/

[SamaNagol]

+1 for allying in Runepriests :)