Non LOS shooting options vs Tau

[SanguiniusJr]

Hey fellow BA enthusiasts,

Played a game against Tau last night. We ran out of time, but the basic synopsis is he castled hard (as they do) and created a FTGG nest that pretty much triggered half his army. I was able to run the board, and likely had a shot to win on points/objectives had we kept playing.

My question is for non LOS shooty options. I know about charging from LOS blocking stuff, and bringing transports. In past I've had success doing just that, and targeting drones to allow for my LC and plasma to not get caught by Xenos Jesus. My opponent was decent in this game, and put his pesky drones in such a place that I really couldn't get at them with my shooty units.

For BA/SM options: I know about a whirlwind (90 for the S5 -1 AP Variant) and a Relic WW Hyperios with its 215 pt cost for 3D6 Shots x2 if I didn't move.

I have a loyal 32 detachment. I'm not as versed with Guard options beyond mortars-

Would a basilisk be pretty key here for its costs, or is that overkill? Are there other options for slaying Drones?  

[lash144]

The space marine thunder fire canon is S5 -1 IIRC but we don't get access to those.

If you want a BA option I would recommend the WW with Castellan launcher, 2D6 shots and S6 with a 72" range, so you won't have problems with a random tau commander flying up the board and nuking your 200+ points relic WW.

 

As you are already running a loyal 32 I would highly recommend to make them Cadian and include 3×3 Mortar teams and baby sit them with a company commander. That will get you 9D6 shots hitting on 4+ rerolling all misses. (So about 23-24 hits) And that for just around 100 points lol.

 

Edit: You could also give the CC the Laurels of Command relic so each of the squads can get an additional order on a 4+, so you can issue them reroll 1's to wound as well.

[Charlo]

The Forge World Quad Launcher is an option, however i'm not 100% on if it is indirect fire (no book at work!) it is a little pricey though.

[BrotherAetherick]

The quad launcher does have an indirect fire mode, 4d3 Str 5, 0 ap, 1 dmg shots at 60". However being only T5 with 4 wounds, unless your deployment was long table edges they run the risk of being nuked by SMS spam even if you hide them out of LOS.

 

Tau are deceptively fast with montka.

[Exilyth]

For your astra militarum allies, the simplest option would be putting mortar HWTs into the infantry squads, followed by heavy weapon squads (3 mortar HWTs as a HS choice).

 

Another option vs. infantry would be the Wyvern (mortar tank), which is a bit less point efficient. I heard it can be usefull in the artillery detachment from the vigilus book (which grants a pinning mechanic), but I'm not sure if taking 3 or more vehicles would be worth it for just the detachment. People tend to just take HWTs instead.

 

For cracking open vehicles, you get to choose between the Basilisk, Manticore and Deathstrike.

The Basilisk (tank w/the big gun) is the cheaper option and can also be usefull against elite infantry.

The Manticore (missile tank) is stronger per shot, but only has 4 shots total per game. Maybe against the big suits (Riptide, Stormsurge) if a Basi is not enough.

The Deathstrike (tank w/the big missile) is the fun unit - firing only on a dice roll makes all other options more reliable. Then again "delete target unit" is tempting ...

 

 

I'd go with some mortar HWTs and a basilisk - that should give you some good, cheap firepower against various targets.

 

 

Of course there are also a bunch of forge world options, like the quad mortar (artillery w/crew) or the Bombard siege mortar (tank).

[Nova_Dew]

There's also the Wyvern if you're a bit more points conscious 15pts/model cheaper than the Basilisk with 4D6 S4 AP0 D1 shots with re-rolls to wound each but they have a 48' range, i don't know if they are worth it math-hammer wise though

 

edit... damn ninja'd

[SanguiniusJr]

Thanks for all the feedback!

One other thing- Do you think always targeting drones to force their cover/invuln save to clear them is better than targeting a riptide or other suit that might be deployed and seeing if it fails savior?

[Majkhel]

The undisputable fact is that Tau player will allocate damage to drones whenever possible, so even if you're not targeting the drones directly, you are doing this indirectly. A high AP, multidamage weapons like lascanons will be wasted against shield drones's 4++ save. But they have a high chance of wounding those suits the drones are protecting and so in a way they bypass their 4++ save and they will "only" get to use their 5+++ fnp.

High volume low AP/Damage weapons should target the drones directly.

[Indefragable]

Not a direct answer to your question, but a helpful tactic is to make sure your unit bring the Angel’s Wing relic (you are bringing that, right?) declares charges against “all available charge targets.” Therefore you can try to lock up as many different units as possible to turn off their overwatch before the rest of your boys cruise in.

[Panzer]

Depends on what weapon you're shooting with and at which target. If it's something that can kill Drones easily but struggles to take wounds off of a Riptide then shoot it at the Drones but if it's something that could reasonably well take wounds off of a Riptide shoot it at him as the T'au player could always fail his 2+ Saviour Protocol rolls and if not it's basically the same result as if you had been shooting the Drones anyway.

[Morticon]

Id hate to say it, but the mortar teams are probably the best way to go.  The Wyvern is also very good-  especially with the specialist detachment now, too.  

The whirlies are too unreliable.  Did you read my tournament report thread? Dealt exactly with this! Also, the discussion on the Road to the North China Open goes into this a little. 

But, long story short is, marine options are the Whirly at 85 points, the Quad mortar at 85 and then the Scorpios as noted...all super pricey for what we get from them. :/ 

 

If you're already in the loyal 37 vibe, then 9 mortars at 99 points is a steal.  (9d6 shots!? yes please.  If theyre Cadian, even better, rerolling 2 squads hits). 

[Indefragable]

I loathe the idea of bringing in the Loyal 32, but that's the competitive reality we live in. As such, I've toyed around the idea of Vostroyans for some extra range, +6" to Heavy weapons. Worth it? Or are Cadian re-rolls just too good to pass up?

[BrotherAetherick]

Honestly if you are going bare minimum loyal 32 the regiment doesn't even matter. If you add mortar HWTs, then cadian is the obvious choice for reroll all hits.

[lash144]

I loathe the idea of bringing in the Loyal 32, but that's the competitive reality we live in. As such, I've toyed around the idea of Vostroyans for some extra range, +6" to Heavy weapons. Worth it? Or are Cadian re-rolls just too good to pass up?

What's sound better to you: 6" extra range or increasing your accuracy by 50%? :p

Imo you don't really need the extra range, since 48" is more than enough to reach the enemies screen.

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

I don't know how competitive you play, but there always remains LR Achilles, which is a bit hurr durr, but can be pretty fun if you build a list around it. By fun I mean fun, not that it will kill everything on the table and win the game. With a Techmarine camped behind it has some survability against antitank weapons and it's sure to attract all the shooting at least for one turn (cause otherwise by turn 2 it will kil drones and proceed to big suits), leaving most of your army safe. It is expensive as hell, but I would give it a go for entertainemt's sake.

A as a side note, WW Scorpius as an anti-drone unit is a waste - it's designed to deal with heavy infantry.

[Karhedron]

Edit: You could also give the CC the Laurels of Command relic so each of the squads can get an additional order on a 4+, so you can issue them reroll 1's to wound as well.

I would probably go for Kurov's Aquila if going to the trouble of buying IG allies a relic. The ability to snag extra CPs from the opponent is just too cheeky to turn down IMHO.

[micahwc]

May I suggest a pair of Whirlwind Scorpius tanks?

[Blindhamster]

Eliminators shortly