Looking for some feedback for a friend

[Emurian]

Greetings,

Last week me and my friend that plays Tau played our first game in around 7 years.

Of course mistakes were made, and we learned through trial and error. We played 2 games, a 1750 and 1k pts.

The first game my mate gave up in T2 as it seemed to be clear that I had near total board control. Pointwise we where killing around the same point amount on each side.

2nd battle I made a 1k list for another mate that shows interest in Ultramarines, going mostly for infantry with a single redemptor dreadnough, TF cannon and a whirlwind.

In both games I noticed that my Tau friend was playing far to static. His only moving units where stealthteams and his coldstar commander. 

We discussed the games afterwards with the group of 7 present, and the thing that seemed most obvious was that marines deploy in a compact formation, walk up to the midboard, and then spread from the midboard to claim control over the board. My tau opponent however didn't seem to have the capability to contest and hold objectives like my marines do.

What I would like to ask is if this perceived difference in armies is true. I expect marines are better at holding objectives yet it seems strange to me that he should play so static in an edition that revolves around capturing points.

The thing in the back of my head that I would do different then my Tau mate is deploying devilfishes with breacher teams to hover over an objective to contest it and simply state to your opponent: Well shoot it down if you want said objective + the squad inside.

Can someone point out to me what his best options are to claim objectives? And how to avoid having such a static army over all. (mostly marksmen, 5 broadsides, hammerhead, 2 stealthteams and a :cuss ton of infantry) Was his playstyle the thing that made the game looked so onesided or does Tau in general have issues contesting objectives?

Any insight is greatly appreciated. We are not the group of players that aim for the competitive scene. After the 1st battle we choose to downscale and remove issue units from the marine list to get more balance (which seemed to work to an extend as the 2nd battle felt way more like a battle instead of a roflstomp) so there is a willingness from the marine players side to tune down. We however need to figure out a semi reliable way for him to capture and contest objectives because right now I fore see him failing every game if he keeps opting to play static. (Side note this might be a mindset bred forth from the 3rd and 4th editions which we played the most in the past)

 

I thank you all in advance for your time and guidance =).

[Focslain]

Honestly you can do a semi-static army and still preform well if you choose the right agendas.

 

For your friend I'd suggest Raise the Banner and Thin the Horde/Bring it Down (depends if facing mostly infantry or vehicles) at least. Raise the Banner on objectives he castles around and they generate 1VP per turn, do this on two turn one and it can help. Heck with a forward set stealth team he might be able to tag a mid-field objective for a turn or two. Also might cause his opponent to at least send something toward the flag to stop the VP generation. The others are just kill points.

 

If he has a lot of infantry then he can move and shoot, even the hammerhead can do that better now that vehicles don't suffer the -1 to hit with heavy weapons anymore. So you can form a mobile firebase around the hammerhead with a squad or two.

 

Mind you this is just spit-balling ideas, but I hope they help.

[chapter master 454]

One issue is that new players can feel overwhelmed and just go into "SHOOT 'EM" mode. This can lead to them feeling confused and forgetting objectives, scrambling in turn 4 and 5 and ether getting picked apart from panic dashes or they are too late to get enough points.

 

I would suggest you do keep the points lower for now. Less units, less to think about. Big units can often also make them feel like it needs to go when it may not be the most pressing matter.

 

Also, the list of units you gave are actually among the best the Tau have really...outside the elephant in the room. Hammerheads have the ballistic skill tau should have and hit hard, taken in triples with a leading longstrike can be a nightmare to face. Broadsides are broadsides, ether version will work well at knocking out targets and are durable to take a bit more firepower than you would expect. Marksmen are reliable marklights outside of cadre fireblades and talking of which, thats why he brings a ton of infantry as it is standard practice to huddle up next to a fireblade and get within 15" and let it rip then let it rip again on overwatch.

 

Sadly tau right now aren't very well designed in 8th, sort of band-aid designed to work for 8th but not really given much consideration as many factions were getting their codexes up to code for 8th sadly. I do feel you for wanting to use breachers but be real with yourself, you know fine well because of how the cadre fireblade works, they aren't ever the viable option (fun though).

 

Until the next codex don't expect tau to be mobile. Not that they can't be, just there isn't much reason to be.

 

For objectives he should aim to bring things that match his opponent, things like "bring it down", "Grind them Down" (or whatever the tally one is). However some objectives could take advantage of his more forward models, such as "Linebreaker" with stealth suits and ghostkeels.

Something notable however is that battlesuits can't do much for objectives that require actions since most actions require the infantry keyword, which to point out stealth suits do have but not broad or crisis. Maybe push him towards stealth teams and ghostkeels, or you can opt to suggest the under-rated piranhas who can help zip around the board and surprisingly work well (though many are needed).

 

...Other than that though, I would suggest working with what he has for now and not trying to cook anything. 9th edition is just starting, no-one knows whats what and new codexes are the order of the day for all factions really. And until the next codex, if you don't want to feel pigeonholed or fancy a challenge of finding something that works Tau isn't exactly the best place to be.