They come to bugger your fish

[CommissarHughes]

With the new Storm Surge and likely new codex with updated kits, the Tau that don't normally prowl the tables will be coming out of the closets (literally you perv). So, now seems like a good time to start collecting xenos stomping tactics.

 

With my experience in my meta, the best way to beat Tau is to play Maelstrom of War and other objective based games. The Tau don't want to move from the back field, and winning an early lead will snowball if you don't over extend. If you do underpayment in order, objectives are placed before table sides are rolled for and chosen.

No objective may be within 12" of another objective or 6" of the board edges, so keep that in mind and use it to your advantage. Keep the terrain in mind as this may not apply to your particular game table, but here are some of the best ways to place them. We'll assume you don't actually know for a fact where you'll deploy, since it should be a die roll to choose sides, but this doesn't matter because if you're trying to out gun-line Tau you've already lost. Guard can out shoot Tau, but not easily and you’ve just made a boring campfest of a game. So, you shouldn't worry about having a strong backfield if you can take that from the camping xenos scum. If possible, make it so the side with less terrain has more objectives, but you want them in either positions denying deployment in terrain or in the mid field. They should have to choose between the side with either more terrain but fewer objectives and the side with more objectives but they’re placed so they can’t get cover while holding them. You want to make them chose between parking their broadsides and fire warriors in terrain where it’s safe and next to an objective in the open. Let them have one building objective as you can't have everything your way, but that one will be all they can get. If things go well, you’ll be able to force them to castle up in one building and brace for the templates. Tau also love their corners, so measure out 15” along the horizontal and vertical of the board and place the objective there. Congratulations, assuming you didn’t just place an objective inside terrain, that corner can’t take any more and is now almost useless to the Tau.

 

So, now that sides have been chosen and deployed giving tau the least possible advantage, you need to apply your strengths. My preferred style is mechanized Vets that stay in their chimeras as long as possible, but you’ll know your list far better than me. So here’s the most general advice I can give without knowing the list being used.

Avoid giving line of site. This can be done early game by hiding guardsmen behind tanks, but never let fire warrior’s charge a Leman Russ with EMP grenades. Use terrain where ever possible to hide in/get cover saves. Get up the board fast and don’t give them one good target to focus on.

Always keep some guardsmen around the artillery and tanks. They’re cheap and the deep striking crisis suits will have to deal with them

Never, ever, EVER, blob up against Tau. They work best when they can concentrate firepower on one target, and a blob is one big target.

Tau despise hellhounds and eradicators.

Focus on killing the thigs you can, not the riptide you can’t. Then charge it with your one conscript squad upgraded with a commissar that held back to be a less appetizing target.

Use psykers, ours are good and Tau have no answer for them. One psychic shriek will do damage on an average roll to the “mighty” Riptide.

 

Now let’s discuss your future boot stain, the Tau. Their codex synergy is built around focusing their shooting at one target. The marker lights carried by their pathfinders are shot at a unit, which may not be saved against, which turn into tokens once they hit. These may be spent to do one of three things: raise one unit’s shooting against it by one per token used, give one unit shooting into it ignores cover for two tokens, or fire one unfired seeker missile (basically a hunter-killer missile) at the target. The pathfinders should be early targets as the Tau standard BS is 3, and they do some serious buffing. They can infiltrate, but are easily isolated valuable assets so don’t expect this to happen. If they do, perhaps the men of the imperium should compare lasers with them.

Their standard troops are fire warriors, T3 and BS3 but I and WS 2, they suck in the assault but getting there is that problem. Their standard issue pulse rifle is S5 and AP5, so they wound guardsmen on 2+ and strip flack armor with a 30’ range. It’s far from impossible for one squad of fire warriors to kill one squad of guardsmen with marker lights in the open, so expect casualties if you’re foot slogging. However, they can only one squad a turn if you don’t blob up.

Kill the broadsides immediately after the pathfinders. They have smart missiles that ignore cover and line of sight, are S5 AP5, and are twin linked, while they themselves are T4 with a 2+ armor save. Anything AP2 needs to target them early and often.

Crisis suits have so many options… it’s difficult to advise on what exactly to do about them. Their stat line is WS2 BS3 S5 T4 W2 I2 A2 LD8 3+ armor. They can be kitted out to deal with any problem and have deep strike by default. They walk normally, but can make an assault move that goes 2D6 in any direction they want due to jetpacks. Up to three of them may be in a unit and each may take up to two drones that also have the jetpack special rule. Their warlord will likely be in one such suit with a 2+ armor save and T5 in addition to feel no pain, the correct answer is the demolisher cannon.

Or a deathstirke.

In fact, go buy two. Right now.

Before this turns into a Tau codex review a few weeks before the new one drops, Ignore the Riptide. It’s the big one at the far back that also has a jet pack and is just too durable to fight (possible 3+ invul and feel no pain at T6). Try to tie it up in combat with a cheap squad and do your best to ignore it.

 

Now, please feel free to add to and correct this, every meta is different and there may be strengths and weakness that need to be addressed I’ve never even heard of.

 Now do your duty to the Man Emperor of Man and go kill the Xenos boot stains that oppose his will.

[Emicus]

I lol'ed.

I think that's some good advice with avoid a 'staring' ​match, play for objectives with ob.sec. chimeras and hug LoSblock terrain like a champion.

However, don't Tau have​ any units you feel are speedy enough to get out of the gunline play? If they're playing maelstrom... they know they're playing maelstrom and wont necessarily opt for 'kill 'em all'.

 

And what about artillery​, behind a mountain, making 5" sized holes in their so-called gunline...

[WarriorFish]

I've not really fought the Tau, but against a force such as them I think it's best to trust in the classic strengths of the Guard: strength of numbers and fire power. Big powerful guns wasting their capabilities on small and inexpensive squads is good, weathering the storm is essential. Then it's a matter of getting the right guns to drop plenty of dice on them, as mentioned I think an Eradicator (or two) will handily solve any infantry they have letting you put your bigger guns to better use.

 

It goes without saying of course: don't get drawn into shooting the fire magnet. As Guard we should know the tactic of drawing fire very well so should avoid falling prey to it ourselves ;) Target prioritisation is a vital skill! Last but not least when in doubt ask - if you don't know what a unit can do you can't properly plan to counter it.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I find the best way to deal with the Tau is peaceful compliance for the benefit of all. Join us, Gue'vesa brothers. :P

 

I would also note that any tactica article on taking them down is a bit premature. With a new Codex coming out that, following on from previous seventh codices, should change things up a fair bit, it's probably best to wait till it lands then dissect it. I'm personally hoping that new Tau encourages a more flexible, mobile playstyle, if only because it seems every other Tau player's list is a boring line of Missle Mitten Broadsides. I don't think the Stormsurge is going to help that either.

[Frater Cornelius]

I am sorry, but when I read the title, I thought they came to bugger our WarriorFish. I grabbed the nearest shed tool and prepared to fight :D

[Emprah2508]

I used an eradicator with heavy bolters and it worked wonders against a large blob of tau fire warriors.

[HenricusTyranicus]

I think it'd be worth just spamming conscripts against them to be honest. Conscripts will probably be able to win combat against them, especially with a priest. If you take, say, 150 conscripts to the table, along with the obligatory 60 regular guardsmen, and then spend everything else on tanks, you'll put them in a dilemma. Shoot at the tanks behind, and ensure the conscripts get into combat where they will do a pretty decent job, or shoot at the oncoming conscripts and suffer gaping holes from tank fire in their ranks. Haven't tried it, I don't own that many models, but it seems like it would work. 

[Father Mehman]

I find the best way to deal with the Tau is peaceful compliance for the benefit of all. Join us, Gue'vesa brothers. :P

I would also note that any tactica article on taking them down is a bit premature. With a new Codex coming out that, following on from previous seventh codices, should change things up a fair bit, it's probably best to wait till it lands then dissect it. I'm personally hoping that new Tau encourages a more flexible, mobile playstyle, if only because it seems every other Tau player's list is a boring line of Missle Mitten Broadsides. I don't think the Stormsurge is going to help that either.

You're treading a fine line there, Coffee...

[steellegionnaire85]

I don't always face tau but when I do I use wyverns.

 

It's all about target saturation and target priority.

 

I use my ratlings to shoot the suits. My wyverns to shoot the fire warrios and pathfinders.

 

The guard have a versatile toolbox is a matter of the right tool for the right job.

 

Don't sweat the small stuff.

[Myrkul]

Keep in mind that their new GC is T6; and their new MC stealth suit is T5. They will both die to anything in the guard arsenal; even flashlights.

[CoffeeGrunt]

 

You're treading a fine line there, Coffee...

 

 

I've been dancing on that line for some time now. :P

[Canadian_F_H]

I'm wondering since their big suits are monstrous creature, does this not make them vulnerable to massed small arms fire? Certainly more so than a vehicle of comparable role and cost...

 

The old adage that a bucket of dice has enough ones and sixes to kill anything...

[CoffeeGrunt]

It is possible to Wound them, but it's a bit of a hail mary. 4s to Hit, 6s to Wound and 2+ to Save followed by a 5+ FNP means you'll need 216 Lasgun shots to land a Wound, statistically. It might work and it'll be hilarious when it does, but Lascannons and Plasma will do the job better, if they get the chance.

[CommissarHughes]

For Tau mobility, Yes they have the ability to move up the board and bounce all over the place, but they become vulnerable to small arms and charges. A piranha has the ability to bounce behind a Leman Russ and pop its side armor, but it has to be set up earlier in the game and they're poorly armored. Suits can deep strike and assault jump, but that has its own problems. deep striking has inherit risk to it and the assault jump happens after shooting, so they have to sit there and eat shots for at least one turn if they want rear armor that way. I do genuinely hope that they get a reason to move up the board because most of the games I play against them are pretty boring at the moment despite constantly winning against them.

 

Why do a tactica now? We'll be seeing a lot of them very soon, and it's good to have a head start by knowing what they have been to better understand what they're changing into. And if you're like I was, you're frustrated with their unrelenting shooting and need to know a way to beat them just to keep in the hobby.

 

The Storm Surge is an interesting case because it's a GMC with only T6 and a 3+ armor save, not an invul or 2+. If a Leman Russ squadron catches one of these things in the open, it'll crap the bed and die because it only has one long range tank killer.

One squad of guardsmen, one senior officer, and a lv2 psyker with divination and misfortune can potentially kill it. You pay the points for vets, get to double tap range, twin link them in the psycic phase then misfortune the Storm Surge, use the officer to give monster hunters, and you've got 5-6 wounds at AP2. So 3-4 after feel no pain, following up a few turns worth of Leman Russ bombardment could kill it easily.

 

And lest you for get I am a commissar, CoffeeGrunt, meet The Emperor's Benediction *BLAM*

[Toxichobbit]

It sounds like you are a bit biased by your meta. I feel for you there, gun line Tau are super boring. That said, Tau are capable of playing a mobile game, more so than Guard imo. Just using the Tau Codex, they can get a decent amount of mobility which when played well isn't going to go down easily. Sure, if the Tau player does stuff like Thrust moves his Battlesuits in front of you or moves Pirahna's out into the open they'll go down, but with more subtlety they can be hard to catch without lots of mobile firepower of your own. Even worse if they are using Farsight Enclaves and don't even need to bother with Fire Warriors and other static stuff.

 

I wouldn't be looking to go all in on an objective game against them, but looking to take their army apart like an onion, peeling off the layers of support so that you are on a more even footing with them, then crush them with numbers (either through more firepower, or superior attrition on objectives).

 

I'd much rather play against a more static army like Guard with my Tau than an army that is faster than me, like Marines or Eldar. Doubly so in Maelstrom. I find that Guard against gun line Tau usually beat them, because Guard do gun line better.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Tau are capable of some pretty significant mobility compared to the Guard, which rely heavily on Fast Attack and Transports to get anywhere fast. They lack the staying power to actually hold a point, but that's not their doctrine. They shouldn't sit on an Objective all game, they should snatch it at the end of the game after removing the opposition. They don't believe in holding advantageous ground if it isn't advantageous for the overall mission, and last stands are the refuge of a terrible commander.

 

Also a Leman Russ Squadron is, with the best dice, only going to inflict a handful of Wounds when the Stormsurge has many and only costs the same as two Russes. It's also significantly faster, has an FNP save, and an S10 AP1 Large Blast main cannon. 

 

Tau operate by using Combined Arms much like Guard. The Leman Russes are irrelevant if you haven't properly guarded them against a fast-moving Melta unit like the Piranha, which doesn't need to go for Rear Armour to have a good chance of inflicting damage, and don't forget that 1-4 on the Vehicle Damage Table stops Leman Russes from firing for the next turn.

 

It's very hard to judge how to handle Tau because they're so flexible as their doctrine demands. The new Codex could also land with some sort of Decurion Formation that entirely changes how they play. For example, giving Vespid the ability to buy EMP Grenades is a minor alteration that gives them a terrifyingly-mobile Haywire threat that can skirt Ruins until they pounce. Some sort of Formation that makes Transports Open-Topped would mean that EMP Grenade Fire Warriors in Devilfishes become utterly ruthless. As it stands Tau have the option of Suicide Melta or Railguns for anti-tank duties, meaning our Russes when properly bubble wrapped are a pain to deal with. The Railgun is sadly very lackluster, and it might be due a buff, meaning that the game goes from fending off close-up anti-tank to having tank duels across the map.

 

We may also see changes to Markerlights. I don't doubt there will be a Formation that buffs these somehow, perhaps allowing a pool of free Markerlights every turn, or a team with Markerlights and a team of Broadsides or similar, where the Broadsides get Tank Hunters or re-rolls to Wound against whatever the Markerlight team hit.

 

Tau as they are right now aren't going to be around for more than a couple of weeks, so it's worthwhile waiting to see how they change. I'll be buying the Codex on release anyway, so I can post up noteworthy changes here.

[march10k]

I agree that the forthcoming codex looks like making them what they're supposed to be in the fluff:  ON THE EFFING MOVE!  As of today, they do tend to get stuck in a gunline rut, and that suits the emprah's finest just fine, because we quite simply do it better than them.  They can't really handle AV14 outside of longstrike and suicide melta suits.  Fine.  See how far that gets them against six well-dispersed russes!  

 

Longstrike is pretty nasty against leman russes...on paper.  Hell, head to head against Pasquisher, it would come down to who shoots first...oh, except that pasquisher has to have a wingman, so no matter what longstrike does, pask gets the first effective shot, after which longstrike is either jinking, or dying, or both.  No sweat.  You're not likely to see more than two suicide melta teams, and you're also not likely to allow them to shoot more than once...so they can hurt you, but once they're dead, your AV14 is effectively untouchable.  

 

Hellhounds are phenomenal against carapace armor, and AV12 flanks make it a challenge for the tau to pen your flame tanks.  Even if they end up dying (they probably will), taking two hellhounds will suck up so much fire, you'd think the tau were shooting at 1000 points, not 250.

 

Eradicators are pretty fantastic against tau, too...AV14 and an AP4 cover denying pieplate?  Yes, please!

 

The shedload of S5-S7 shooting that you should be running around with will make short work of the missilesides, I'd advise a high-S torrent if they're in cover, or a demolisher if they aren't.

 

I really don't see a lot of markerlights in opposing tau armies lately.  They're horribly inefficient when you consider the points spent aren't directly killing anything and how easy it is to kill them.  

 

Honestly, it's tau who have trouble against guard, not the other way around...they need a "gimme a fighting chance" tactica, not us...

 

/edit/  Oh, yeah, piranhas...they are stupid fast meltas...also stupid fragile, and if they're jinking, they're mostly harmless.  As a player of both guard and tau, I really don't think a properly constructed guard army has much to fear until the new units and codex come out.

 

As for a russ and a stormsurge...well, that's why I have pasquisher and his vanquisher squadron with lascannon hull mounts...it's nearly twice the cost of a stormsurge, but the potential to achieve six penetrating hits on a land raider translates well when hunting monstrous creatures...

[HenricusTyranicus]

I think they actually will be less on the move. Stormsurge is predicated on staying still so it can shoot twice, and the Tau are getting a new fortification, which will again encourage camping. But hey, Eradicators just got even better. Plant one on a ghostkeel, and the drones will die. Farewell to your precious new fortification too :)

 

Also, the Ghostkeel. Will be murdered by guard. With the drones, you should wound on majority toughness of 3, and then you can simply ignore cover with an order. Plus the Ghostkeel has no FnP. 

[CoffeeGrunt]

The Ghostkeel's Drones are T5, so you're Wounding against T5. You can Ignore Cover with an Order, yes, but that depends on what you're firing at it. I wouldn't call Heavy Weapons Teams especially reliable, but they have range. Anything that gets closer is going to be taking some heavy fire. Ghostkeels will likely work best supporting other units, and being supported in turn.

 

Additionally, the Breacher Teams are very interesting. Except to see these Devilfish mounted, though they aren't a major threat to Guard compared to normal Fire Warriors. Getting S6 AP3 Assault 2 within 5" is hilarious, they'll be an extremely aggressive unit that'll put the hurt down on anything from Carnifexes to Tactical Marines, but they'll be at incredible risk while doing so. Bad rolls, lack of support will leave them within guaranteed charge range next turn. They've got a Drone that gives them a 5+ Invuln as well. Also a really cool sentry Drone thing that I'll be Guard-ifying at some point. :P

[march10k]

I think they actually will be less on the move. Stormsurge is predicated on staying still so it can shoot twice, and the Tau are getting a new fortification, which will again encourage camping. But hey, Eradicators just got even better. Plant one on a ghostkeel, and the drones will die. Farewell to your precious new fortification too

Also, the Ghostkeel. Will be murdered by guard. With the drones, you should wound on majority toughness of 3, and then you can simply ignore cover with an order. Plus the Ghostkeel has no FnP.

I agree about the stormsurge, but aesthetics alone will discourage the purchase of those... Ghostkeels and breachers certainly don't seem to be gunline choices...

[CoffeeGrunt]

Yeah, Breachers in a gunline setup are terrible. Ghostkeels and Stormsurges are seemingly very popular and a lot of people are liking the aesthetic. Besides, if you play with cheesy individuals then the models themselves don't matter to them, just the stats.

[HenricusTyranicus]

Well now that we know a bit more about the upcoming releases, I wanted to bring up a thing or two.....

 

The new tidewall means that Heavy Bolter sponsons will be useless against Tau for a while. It also weakens the Pasknisher and all other punishers. It makes eradicators a much better choice, and somehow succeeds in making Wyverns even more desirable. 

 

Cover is increasingly a thing for the Tau, more senior officers for "Fire on my target" are a must.

 

And while the marine player in me is super happy about the new Vanguard Vet formation that is coming with the Tau stuff....the guard player in me is pretty scared. 

[WarriorFish]

Fear is for the weak! We can load up on plenty of cover ignoring weapons if we want, just means you'll have to take your fish battered and fried rather than fresh sushi ;)

[SW1]

I prefer roasted in the oven to be honest 'en papillote'. Squeeze of lime and good to go. In a rush the old flamer style BBQ. ;)

[march10k]

Hello, hellhounds

Seriously, hellhounds and eradicators are looking good, as is my pasquisher squadron with two vanquisher wingmen...six high-S AP2 shots behind AV14 at long range! Sukkit, bovine space commies with your poncey giant death robots! (oh, yeah, tau are one of my four armies, lol)