How to cope with 5 Riptide Tau

[Sheesh Mode]

Kill their troops and ignore the rip tides. Then sit on objectives and try really hard to stay alive. No matter what you will almost always win a draw against him because he doesn't have anyone to hold objectives.

[Lysere]

I don't see any real way to win.

Even a grav spam will fail as Grav weapons are short range. He'll kill everything before you get in range.

If you deepstrike he can counter with Interceptor..

 

Don't see how you can survive 5 str 9 ap2 large templates each turn from across the board...

 

Riptides are not very accurate so unless he rolls a hit will scatter just as bad as Ig. Using markerlights to up BS means he's not ignoring cover anymore, Interceptor is not an advantage against pods if you place them smart, up close to the model so he can't place the template on himself. Also if your using drop pods or legion he can't get any markerlight support with that shot which means cover. The 5 riptide list also includes a character in it so if needs be you can just challenge him in combat and tie him up for many turns if needs be.

 

If he runs drones gun them down and force morale checks. Riptides are average LD only so make him roll.

 

Seriously riptides are not as scary as most people seem to think, and running 5 of them takes a lot of points. Riptide with FNP and interceptor is around the cost of a land raider, and they are not good against those unless you run fusion and get up close.

[Gentlemanloser]

 

Kill their troops and ignore the rip tides. Then sit on objectives

and try really hard to stay alive. No matter what you will almost always

win a draw against him because he doesn't have anyone to hold

objectives.

 

Troops are in reserves, and the 5 Rip tides you've ignored have blown your army to bits...

[goosey_j]

 

 

Kill their troops and ignore the rip tides. Then sit on objectives

and try really hard to stay alive. No matter what you will almost always

win a draw against him because he doesn't have anyone to hold

objectives.

 

Troops are in reserves, and the 5 Rip tides you've ignored have blown your army to bits...

 

Okay, how does that help? Worst (and perhaps most probable) case scenario yes that will happen, but he didn't ask "worst thing that can happen to my army while facing 5 Riptides?" I would have thought that much was entirely obvious.

 

Do you have anything helpful to suggest?

[Gentlemanloser]

Yes, not to advise 'kill the troops' as the be all and end all solution.

 

Which it isn't.

 

Me, I'd not play.  But if I *had* to, I'd take 6 PT NDK (I'd insist we play dual FoC) and Jump to the Rip Tides and punch them out with S10 Force Weapons.

 

Edit;

 

2,000 Points, anti Rip Tide

 

HQ: Coteaz (100)

HQ: GKGM (175)

Troop: 12 x Warriors (48)

Troop: 12 x Warriors (48)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

 

HQ: GKGM (175)

Troop: 12 x Warriors (48)

Troop: 12 x Warriors (48)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

Heavy: NDK, PT (205)

 

Total: 1,872

 

Enough left for Heavy Incinerators, or a unit to stick the ICs to.

 

Hide the ICs on board, use 2 x PC to keep the troops off board.

 

Make 1-6 of the NDK scoring.

 

 

Or make a SM WS Grav Bike List... Drop Pod some H Flamer Stenrguard to roast the Pathfinders, then use Scout, 4+ Cover Saves and Salvo Grav Rifles to take the 'tides apart.

 

Either/Or

 

 

(The NDK GK list abive is purely to troll the Tau player, and to show him how to actually run massed Giant Mecha lists)

 

I'd suggest using Shampoo bottles to proxy the 6 NDK. ;)

[Axagoras]

 

I don't see any real way to win.

Even a grav spam will fail as Grav weapons are short range. He'll kill everything before you get in range.

If you deepstrike he can counter with Interceptor..

 

Don't see how you can survive 5 str 9 ap2 large templates each turn from across the board...

 

Riptides are not very accurate so unless he rolls a hit will scatter just as bad as Ig. Using markerlights to up BS means he's not ignoring cover anymore, Interceptor is not an advantage against pods if you place them smart, up close to the model so he can't place the template on himself. Also if your using drop pods or legion he can't get any markerlight support with that shot which means cover. The 5 riptide list also includes a character in it so if needs be you can just challenge him in combat and tie him up for many turns if needs be.

 

If he runs drones gun them down and force morale checks. Riptides are average LD only so make him roll.

 

Seriously riptides are not as scary as most people seem to think, and running 5 of them takes a lot of points. Riptide with FNP and interceptor is around the cost of a land raider, and they are not good against those unless you run fusion and get up close.

Sure its as much as a land raider but when was the last time you saw a riptide 1 shot by a melta gun?

[Ishagu]

I've seen Landraiders exploded by a single las cannon shot on turn 1.

 

I have also tried to take a Riptide down before... a single Riptide.

 

I flew TWO Stormravens to it, unloaded 2x Twin Linked Meltas, 2x Twin Linked Las Cannons and 6x Stormstrike missiles.

I killed it's drones, and took off 3 wounds. It still had 2 left. It had FNP and he overcharged for the Invul boost the prior turn.

 

 

I don't think some people realise just how tough it is to kill these things, never mind kill 5 of them. They are so cheap too.... That turn I committed 400 points to kill something worth little over 200...

[Lysere]

I've seen Landraiders exploded by a single las cannon shot on turn 1.

 

I have also tried to take a Riptide down before... a single Riptide.

 

I flew TWO Stormravens to it, unloaded 2x Twin Linked Meltas, 2x Twin Linked Las Cannons and 6x Stormstrike missiles.

I killed it's drones, and took off 3 wounds. It still had 2 left. It had FNP and he overcharged for the Invul boost the prior turn.

 

 

I don't think some people realise just how tough it is to kill these things, never mind kill 5 of them. They are so cheap too.... That turn I committed 400 points to kill something worth little over 200...

 

I've also gained first blood buy shooting at a riptide, killing both of his drones, and watching him run off the table without getting to even fire a weapon. If he's running riptides enmasse then his only good anti-tank is probably on them, and they would need to get close to reliably kill a land raider, which means easy assaults.

[dswanick]

Four C:SW Rune Priests with Jaws of the World Wolf...

[Gentlemanloser]

Why limit yourself to 4?  Go for 8! :D

[Fibonacci]

 That turn I committed 400 points to kill something worth little over 200...

2 to 1 is the minimal you should use to eliminate a target.  3 to 1 is required to have the best results per resources used.  This is pretty standard for any war game.

[Gentlemanloser]

Tell that to Helldrakes! ;)

[Hellios]

Isn't there a psychic power that lowers leadership? Then hit it with stuff that requires it to take some kind of test?

[hallodx]

Wow thanks guys, so glad to see so many discussions after waking up! 

My ideas; take a Land Raider. You'll get into assault range with at least that unit.

Bikers can back up a Land Raider too.

Legion of the Damned will laugh at AP2 templates though admittedly the Tau player might hit them with all their templates and torrent them to death, which just means the rest of the army is going to get away from a turn of shooting. Win win.

But I do agree it's going to be a very unlikely win.

LotD would be safe if no FW on board. They need dice to kill LotD, not powerful template so if we have effective way to take out dice dumping units before they arrive I think that should be fine.

 

 

 

 

Kill their troops and ignore the rip tides. Then sit on objectives
and try really hard to stay alive. No matter what you will almost always
win a draw against him because he doesn't have anyone to hold
objectives.

 

Troops are in reserves, and the 5 Rip tides you've ignored have blown your army to bits...

 

Okay, how does that help? Worst (and perhaps most probable) case scenario yes that will happen, but he didn't ask "worst thing that can happen to my army while facing 5 Riptides?" I would have thought that much was entirely obvious.

 

Do you have anything helpful to suggest?

However, if all FW are in reserve, he need devil fishes to ensure the mobility, that's more point sunk to him. If he don't, a whirlwind or thunderfire shot can drive them back to their sweet reserve lol

 

I've seen Landraiders exploded by a single las cannon shot on turn 1.

 

I have also tried to take a Riptide down before... a single Riptide.

 

I flew TWO Stormravens to it, unloaded 2x Twin Linked Meltas, 2x Twin Linked Las Cannons and 6x Stormstrike missiles.

I killed it's drones, and took off 3 wounds. It still had 2 left. It had FNP and he overcharged for the Invul boost the prior turn.

 

 

I don't think some people realise just how tough it is to kill these things, never mind kill 5 of them. They are so cheap too.... That turn I committed 400 points to kill something worth little over 200...

That's too bad, man. But hey since his drones are down, maybe charge it? I2 isn't likely to perform hit and run successfully.

 

 

I've seen Landraiders exploded by a single las cannon shot on turn 1.

 

I have also tried to take a Riptide down before... a single Riptide.

 

I flew TWO Stormravens to it, unloaded 2x Twin Linked Meltas, 2x Twin Linked Las Cannons and 6x Stormstrike missiles.

I killed it's drones, and took off 3 wounds. It still had 2 left. It had FNP and he overcharged for the Invul boost the prior turn.

 

 

I don't think some people realise just how tough it is to kill these things, never mind kill 5 of them. They are so cheap too.... That turn I committed 400 points to kill something worth little over 200...

 

I've also gained first blood buy shooting at a riptide, killing both of his drones, and watching him run off the table without getting to even fire a weapon. If he's running riptides enmasse then his only good anti-tank is probably on them, and they would need to get close to reliably kill a land raider, which means easy assaults.

Good call! If I don't gun down the drones, just charging them and kill drones by combat, a defeat Ld test can let me kill it! Good Call!

Since drones are likely must-take to take shooting damages, this could work!

 

Four C:SW Rune Priests with Jaws of the World Wolf...

Then we need more pads to make this effective, since wolves don't combat squad. How many do you mean to deploy?

 

Isn't there a psychic power that lowers leadership? Then hit it with stuff that requires it to take some kind of test?

I saw that work once actually, pity it's not against Tau lol

 

And hey, here's a trick. We format bike squads into several long trains toward enemy. Even a 5 bikes squad can be a very long train, like over 18'. We can arrange bike squads that can't let a monstrous creature move in the formation, so if he wish to escape from our charge in the next turn, he must charge for boosters instead of inv save or shooting twice. And as above, we kill drones in combat and force them do Ld test. If failed, Sayonara Riptide! Even if he pass some, his tides can't really perform hit and run since it's I2!

Do you think it would work?

Cheers!

[Excubitor]

Ok, this might sound a bit crazy, but it might work...how about a couple of ven dreads in drop pods? With it's armour, and all the bikes around, it might survive to get into combat, and if it does, WS5 gives it a chance to survive (riptide needs 5's to hit it with 3 attacks) and it will likely do a few wounds itself between its multi-melta and DCCW.

 

No idea how it will work, haven't played against the new tau and hence riptides, but it seems like an interesting idea.

[hallodx]

Ok, this might sound a bit crazy, but it might work...how about a couple of ven dreads in drop pods? With it's armour, and all the bikes around, it might survive to get into combat, and if it does, WS5 gives it a chance to survive (riptide needs 5's to hit it with 3 attacks) and it will likely do a few wounds itself between its multi-melta and DCCW.

 

No idea how it will work, haven't played against the new tau and hence riptides, but it seems like an interesting idea.

Ideally, yes, but no since drones can take the shooting wound and tides can jump away when you drop dreads around them, since they are Jet and can move 2D6 in assault phase. To make dreads into CC you need others to limit their movement, or maybe you have an idea how?

[Excubitor]

Well, part of the would be the bikes coming in from your table edge...Think about the option in relation to the rest of the proposed army, instead of by itself.

 

Ideally, with your deployment and scout moves, you want to make an area for the dreads to come in and make them face a choice - run away from the dreads and towards the bikes, or stay still and hope you kill them.

 

It really doesn't matter if the drone takes the shooting wound - the dreads are really there to force decisions, open options, and take pressure off the rest of the army and force it onto your opponent. They need to be a priority target as they actually can lay on a serious amount of hurt to a riptide if they get into hand to hand, but the opponent also needs to worry about the rest of your army right behind. 

[hallodx]

Oh, right, and they can be fire magnet for a turn, so a default setup is ok I guess. 

[Gentlemanloser]

 

However, if all FW are in reserve, he need devil fishes to ensure the
mobility, that's more point sunk to him. If he don't, a whirlwind or
thunderfire shot can drive them back to their sweet reserve lol

 

If I was the Tau player, Whirlwinds/Thunderfires/other template nasties would be priority number 1 for my numerous Mecha.

 

I don't see any Whirlwinds lasting long enough to trouble the FW when they finally make it out of reserves.

[Haranin]

PBS with shriek termie librarian.

[Lysere]

 

However, if all FW are in reserve, he need devil fishes to ensure the

mobility, that's more point sunk to him. If he don't, a whirlwind or

thunderfire shot can drive them back to their sweet reserve lol

 

If I was the Tau player, Whirlwinds/Thunderfires/other template nasties would be priority number 1 for my numerous Mecha.

 

I don't see any Whirlwinds lasting long enough to trouble the FW when they finally make it out of reserves.

 

Solid walls to hide behind would make it impossible for Tau to hit a whirldwind or thunderfire. If your table has no sight blocking terrain you need to change that and stop giving shooty players an edge.

 

Also no riptides can get hit and run unless they sink the points into a commander suit and attach them. Then you can probably get slay the warlord too.

[Gentlemanloser]

Jet Pack to gain LoS?

 

Unless you're playing with a weird terrain setup with a 3/4 wall box, just to give indirect fire shooting (and the inability to be assaulted...) the edge.

 

I'm sure during the first couple of game turns, 5 jump pack MCs can maneuver enough to gain LoS to a Whirlwind or Thunderfire...

[Excubitor]

While avoiding the rest of the army?

 

One question to always ask when thinking of counters to a specific unit - What is the rest of my/their army doing?

 

NEVER take things on their own, always take things as the whole.

[Gentlemanloser]

I doubt you'd need all 5 to hunt a whirly...

 

But with the positions of *5* Giant Mecha, the likelyhood of one of them (come on, do you ned more than one to blow up a Whirly?) not being able to jump into position in a turn or two (while the rest obliterate the rest of the opponents army on board) is pretty slim, wouldn't you agree?

[Lysere]

I doubt you'd need all 5 to hunt a whirly...

 

But with the positions of *5* Giant Mecha, the likelyhood of one of them (come on, do you ned more than one to blow up a Whirly?) not being able to jump into position in a turn or two (while the rest obliterate the rest of the opponents army on board) is pretty slim, wouldn't you agree?

 

There is also the option of simply leaving the whirlwind in reserve depending on the rest of your list and the overall deployment. You can after all move 6 and fire the whirlwind. Unless you roll Hammer and Anvil it's incredibly easy to get range to squishy troops. Also a riptide will not have any easy time killing a whirlwind unless they waste their novacharge on the IA and then they only have a 5+ invuln. S7-8 AP 2 is not even close to reliable anti-armor. Without Ordnance you can't really rely on it for vehicle killing. Could it one shot the whirlwind, sure but your not nearly as reliable which means now they might need two or three firing, and since your behind cover you've got saves usually.