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I am all for a new codex as every other tau player is, but I know a lot of tau players out there, or at least people with tau armies, don't like to play the tau any more due to them getting whooped a lot.

Well... There is some light at the end of the tunnel. Using some 'unorthodox' means, I have pulled out some high ranking spots in some local tourneys. Now these are not just garage tourneys. The latest one was a sanctioned
GW GT tourney.
I pulled off 4th place, and some people could not wrap their head around that tau beat them. As is customary, as it seems, the armies that won the top three where space wolves, sisters of battle, and grey knights respectively.
That is all customary, but I seek to change that. It may take a new codex to do it, but I just want for fellow Tau players that the Tau are not defeated yet.

For the Greater Good,
Waffles


Sorry about the wait, trying to make everything work.



Feb 25th. Seattle Bunker Games Workshop GT Tourney. 1500 points: Normal Force Organization.
All photography from GW's facebook page.

my list: Unit cost: 96
XV8 Shas'el
--- [, TL Missile pod, Positional relay, HW Drone controller, Gun Drone, HW BS filter]

++++ [Elites] ++++


Unit cost: 201
XV8 Shas'ui TL
--- [TL Fusion blaster, Plasma rifle, HW Multi-tracker]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Plasma rifle, BS Filter]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Plasma rifle, Drone controller, Shield Drone]

Unit cost: 201
XV8 Shas'ui TL
--- [TL Fusion blaster, Plasma rifle, HW Multi-tracker]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Plasma rifle, Drone controller, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Plasma rifle, BS Filter]

Unit cost: 152
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, BS Filter]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, Drone controller, Shield Drone]
XV8 Shas'ui
--- [TL Missile pod, Target lock]

++++ [Troops] ++++

Unit cost: 145
6x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 145
6x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]

Unit cost: 60
6x Fire Warrior 'la
--- [Pulse rifle]

++++ [Fast Attack] ++++

Unit cost: 145
5x Pathfinder 'la
--- [Pulse C./ Marker]
Devilfish
--- [Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod]

++++ [Heavy Support] ++++

Unit cost: 118
XV88 'ui TL
--- [TL Railgun, TL Plasma rifle, A.S.S., HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, HW BS filter]

Unit cost: 118
XV88 'ui TL
--- [TL Railgun, TL Plasma rifle, A.S.S., HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, HW BS filter]

Unit cost: 118
XV88 'ui TL
--- [TL Railgun, TL Plasma rifle, A.S.S., HW Multi-tracker, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, HW BS filter]
-----------------------
Total model count: 39




FIRST BATTLE: 5 objectives: dawn of war, 6 turns exact. ENEMY: Necron.



Table layout: Two centralized ruins and 4 corner placed small forests.
Objectives where placed at true center, opposite 12" 12" corners, and along the middle 12" away from the center to the left and right.
Roll off gives me First turn.

Decron list (inexact) 2 monoliths, Doomsday Arch, Two troops with Gauss, Immotech, Immortals.

Deployment: Tau: HQ centralized at 23" to keep his troops away
:Necron: Three troops, two on left and one right, Immortals with Immotech mid board.

Seize Initiative: Failure
To come on: 2 broadsides and pathfinders. Reserve troops, 1 broadside, and deepstriking suits.

Turn 1
Broadsides come on left both left side and commander starts moving back from middle of board. Pathfinders find cover in Right hand corner to set up markerlight shots.
Two necrons are killed and both stand back up.
Monoliths and Doomsday Arc comes onto board. Failure to see enemy. left hand troops pushes forward. Righthand troop seizes objective. Immortals push up middle.
Necrons wanted it to stay night fight and so it stayed night fight.

Turn 2
Commander allows broadside to come onto the board and everything else stays back.
Commander stays mid within cover and shoots at forward troop. Kills 2, one stands back up.
Broadsides take out one monolith and Doomsday arc.
Necron left troop pushes forward. Sees a broadside but does no damage. Immortals move up mid board and seize control of right mid objective. Left hand troops split up. One for Tau side objective and one for true mid objective.
Chain Lightning kills one broadside.
Necrons want night fight again, but their will is granted: Night Fighting continues

Turn 3.
Commander tries to bring on Firewarriors with Devilfish, but fails to do so. Everything else stays off.
Broadsides try and take out monolith, but fails to do so.
Commander kills 1 troop that is going for Tau objective
Monolith targets Broadsides, but fails to hit. Left hand troops gain objective control.
Left hand troops can not see broadsides. Immortals can see commander, dealing 1 wound and loosing drone. Moral check passed
Chain Lightning fails to hit anyone.
Night fighting ends.

Turn 4
With no more night fight Commander lets the Tau flood gates open. All reserves come into play except for a single FW squad with DF.
Deepstriking plasma suit squad and missile pod squad deploy to take out Tau objective holding Necrons. Third deepstriking unit comes in next to commander mid board. All make direct hits thanks to re-rolls.
Both FW squads come on left side to help take out Tau objective holding squad.
Necron troop holding Tau side objective is obliterated with FW's and crisis suits. Broadsides shoot at monolith, but only stun it. Commander and third crisis suit squad shoots the second left side Necron Troop. Killing 5, and making them run.
Necron chain lightning take out a Broadside's drone, causing Broadside to flee.
Immortals shoot at 3rd crisis suit squad and deal 3 wounds. Crisis suits do not back down.
Monolith Shoots at Missile Pod squad, killing Two suits, and sheild drone. Single Suit does not fall back.

Turn 5
Last FW team comes onto Board to take and hold Tau side objective.
FW Teams get into Devilfishes (FW without dedicated use Pathfinder's dedicated Devilfish). One Team takes the Left side mid objective and the other sets up for taking true mid objective next round (front of devilfish only about 2 inches away).
Broadside shoots at monolith and destroys it. Commander and crisis suits start to try and converging on immortals. Shots kill 4 immortals, but all 4 stand back up.
Immortals move off of right mid objective to try and stop the devilfish.
Immortals fire at DF, getting 2 glancing hits and stuns transports.

Turn 6
FW's secure possitions to take both left hand side objectives. FW disembark and take cover and claim true mid objective.
all suits shoot at immortals, 5 go down and 4 stand back up.
Tau Finish All turns with 3 objectives within control.
Immortals Move back to claim mid right objective.
instead of firing, immortals run 5" to get within 2.5 inches of true mid objective.

Draw game. Tau 2 objectives, Necrons 2 objectives.
Necrons pulled off a draw with "conga-line maneuver."




GAME 2: Annihilation - spearhead, 6 turns exact. Enemy: Space Marines (Doom Legion)


Table layout: Two centralized ruins and 4 corner placed small forests. (same table as first game)
Roll off Gives Space Marines first turn.
Enemy Deployed Right upper corner, I deployed Lower Left Corner.

Enemy List: 4 dreadnaughts, 3 separate speeders, three tactical squads, three drop pods (two with dreadnaughts, one with marines), Techpreist, and two rhinos.

Deployment: Two space marine squads within a ruin on the midway line, 2 dreadnaughts and 3 speeders behind for cover. 2 rhinos in reserve, drop pods and their cargo in deepstrike.
: Pathfinders in ruin on the midway line, Shas'el behind ruin (in reference to the space marines) and my devilfish in the back corner as far away as possible.

Scout moves: Pathfinders moved into the 12" radius 'no deploy zone' to get a larger target advantage.

Seize initiative was a failure.

Turn 1:
Space marine drop pods, both with dreadnaughts (power weapon and meltas) come out of the sky. First tried to come down near the commander towards my board edge. It scatters a full 12" towards my devilfish.
Second drop pod misses and stops right before the ruin to the right.
Three speeders come around the right ruin from the north (his board edge) and 2 dreadnaughts move though cover to the south.
Dreadnaught one comes out and fires at my devilfish. Successful hit for a destroyed transport.
Dreadnaught two fires at my commander doing no damage.
Pathfinders put two marker lights upon dreadnaught 2. Dreadnaught can not shoot next turn.

Turn 2:
No reserves come in.
Dreadnaughts 1, 3 and 4 start to move towards the middle of the board after my pathfinders and my commander. Speeders diverge, 1 and 2 go south and 3 goes north.
Commander is shot and takes 1 wound.
Speeders take out 2 pathfinders forcing a moral check: They stand and fight.
Commander is assaulted by Dreadnaught 2, they are locked in combat. -------- Sorry, did not mention that drone went down from assault.
Commander has one broadside come in at a 2+.
Broadside comes in on left hand side in perfect spot to get shot at dreadnaught 1's back armor.
2 marker lights hit dreadnaught 1 from the pathfinders.
BS on broadsides goes from 3 to 5. Broadside hits with both plasma and railgun into dreadnaught 1.
Railgun is an automatic penetration shot and dreadnaught flies apart in an un-calculable number of pieces.
Commander can not hit the dreadnaught but survives for another round, still stuck in combat.


Turn 3
No space marine reserves come in yet. (forgotten transports are not rolled)
The Ruins dwellers still do not move since they get a 3+ save while there.
Dreadnaught 3 makes it about halfway from left and right, while dreadnaught 4 is about 7 inches behind the first.
The three speeders converge onto the pathfinders, one northeastward, one eastward, and one southeastward. With flamers, the pathfinders cook while hiding for non-existent cover.
Dreadnaught 1 hits and kills the Shas'el. Afterwards it turns and starts heading after the broadside to exact revenge.
*cue sarcastic comment from space marines about how easy the tau are to kill*
Without the Shas'el to hold back reserves, the tau rush on. Every single tau is rolled to come onto the board except for a single FW team with DF
PR suit team 1 comes on 6 inches behind dreadnaught 4.
MP suit team comes in along the north edge slightly to the right of midway lengthways.
PR suit team 2 comes in behind dreadnaught 1.
Broadside 2 comes in on the left side to help out with dreadnaught control.
Broadside 3 comes in on the right side to get a rearward shot into dreadnaught 3.
FW w/ DF 1 comes in mid board and FW come out of DF to get rapid fire on speeders.
FW static team come in next to FW team 1 to assist with speeder control.
After a devastating round of shooting (for the space marines that is) the tau destoyed: southern most speeder. dreadnaughts 3 and 4
dreadnaught 1 was shaken and missing a melta. Eastward speeder was missing a melta.

turn 4
Drop pod comes in ( Rhinos are once again forgotten)
Drop pod comes in at northwestern corner, about 12" east and 8" south from the board sides.
Squad comes out and shoots PR suit team 1. With other concentrated shots upon that team, drones go down and each suit only has 1 wound left.
Northernmost speeder goes south and takes out 5 FW's, FW's (or rather FW) held his ground.
Eastern Speeder goes northward to get cover saves.
Devilfish is shot by a multimelta from the ruin. Devilfish explodes, taking out 3 of 6 FW in team 3. Team 1 FW is not hit.
Dreadnaught 1 assaults PR team 1, Kills a single suit. PR team 1 is way too brave and does not fall back.
FW w/ DF team 2 comes into play in the back right hand corner.
FW team 1 Starts running To the right Corner, As does FW team 3.
MP team moves to get better shots, but only imobilizes and takes out all weapons.
Broadsides 1 and 2 mop up kill points by taking out drop pods. one drop pod is destroyed
Broadside 3 shoots cross board and misses.
Devilfish and its drones shoot at the now southern speeder, immobilizing it.
PR suit team 2 shoots at the ruins, taking one marine, and moves behind cover in the southern most right hand corner.
Dreadnaught 1 kills another suit. The team now falls and is caught. The revenge upon the broadside continues.

Turn 5
Rhinos are remembered and come in.
Rhino 1 comes in in very back northeastern corner.
Rhino 2 comes in tankshocking MP suit team. The team was not scared, but was now pushed into range of the marines in the ruins.
Bolter fire from the drop pods take out the shield drones of both broadside 1 and 2.
Fire from the ruins are directed at both the MP suit team and RP suit team 2. PR suit team comes out unscathed.
MP suit team is reduced to only one suit. Does not fall back.
Dreadnaught 1 assaults broadside 2. With no shield drone, Broadside goes down.
Broadside 1 shoots and kills dreadnaught 1.
FW teams 1 and 3 keep falling back to the corn avoid shots,
Broadside 3 shoots and destroys southern speeder.
MP suit moves eastward to avoid fire and takes out the rhino that tank shocked his team.
PR team 2 jumps foward and shoots into the ruins, taking out 1 more marine. Then they jump back behind cover.

Turn 6
Space Marines start coming out of the ruins for a last second chance, but did not make it far due to difficult terrain tests.
Broadside 3's shield drone goes down. Broadside does not back down.
Drop pod bolters take out 2 fire warriors out of the 3 man team. This little FW was done and ran off the board.
Broadside 1 destroys another drop pod.
Broadside 3 destroys southern immobile speeder.
MP suit takes out another weapon on the remaining speeder, but since it had no weapons and was immobilized, it was destoyed.

Kill points for Space Marines: 7
Kill points for Tau : 9

-- Looking up after this battle I realized that we were the last match going, coming down to the last 5 minutes left in the time limit, and we had become the entertainment of the night.--

This was the most entertaining game of annihilation I have ever played. Not due to rolls or opponent, but due to my concentration upon the game. I there were so many points in this game that if I would have made a single mistake, I would have been decimated.

I will get game 3 in at some time. I am not too fond of it due to my opponent was really rude. He complained off the start that he "wanted a more challenging opponent for his last game of the night." Then after the 5th round, he realized that I was just plain beating him up and he started throwing dice and swearing heavily. Blaming his dice, the game board layout, his list, and the game's mission/deployment.

I had won the game, but was one of the worst games I had played in nearly a year. It nearly left a bad taste in my mouth until I realized that the next table over had noticed his bad sportsmanship as well and had him removed from the store. I was not particularly glad that he left (maybe kicked out even), but was glad to see that the other players did not stand for that kind of conduct.



I can still post the battle report up for my third game, but I really do not wish to remember that battle in great detail....
Just let me know.

If you guys want any more information or are a player in the lower puget sound area, let me know and I can talk and play with anyone.
Waffles

I get the feeling this could be a better batrep... I mean, just add in what armies were used, maybe some pictures, the ups and downs of the games,a points value of the tournies.. Or you know, anything vaguely batreppy.

It's great youve taken 4th with Tau, I love my Tau, but this thread could do with a bit more detail.

In the tournament at my LGS this past weekend Tau took 1st place. They're not dead, they just take a lot of skill to play.

Ovion wrote:I get the feeling this could be a better batrep... I mean, just add in what armies were used, maybe some pictures, the ups and downs of the games,a points value of the tournies.. Or you know, anything vaguely batreppy.

It's great youve taken 4th with Tau, I love my Tau, but this thread could do with a bit more detail.

Not a problem. I was not planning to go full detail, but I shall when I get the chance. I got the pictures of the armies I faced, but not while the game was in motion due to time constraints. My next tourney (at the end of march) I will be sure to do so.

Sorry for the inconvenience,
Waffles

Look forward to it then ^-^

What Sept / colour scheme do you use?

iBambam wrote:In the tournament at my LGS this past weekend Tau took 1st place. They're not dead, they just take a lot of skill to play.

This.

I play tau, and a lot of other armies....tau are by and far the most challenging (ok, demons vs. gk is worse) and are NOT forgiving at all to mistakes (player skill) bad dice (luck) or some missions.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
As a competitive tau player (yeah, I know, its an oxymoron) they are indeed WAY behind the power curve, but can do well.

They do not allow for bad dice or mistakes very much at all.

Here is a batrep from my recent tourney, where I took 4th overall (third with a corrected scoring error) and tied fourth in battle points.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/432314.page

OP, Can we at least see what your army build was/is?

chaos0xomega wrote:OP, Can we at least see what your army build was/is?

It is now in the post

Funny, I fought those same Necrons in a doubles match

Ovion wrote:Look forward to it then ^-^

What Sept / colour scheme do you use?

LOL, I have to say this is a long standing joke.

My tau are part of the A'cu Sept.

After I got my first models I had a tough time deciding a paint scheme. After a while I just got fed up with it and then I looked behind me and saw my ACU's on my bed.


After that I thought of some fluff and painted the army with the colors of khaki, grey, brown, and green. Accented with red and silver, and color coordinated with shades of Blue.

This is how the army came out:
Pictures taken by a random person that then posted them on GW seattle's Facebook page. Not the greatest, but I plan to do my own pictures ( I will take them into my studio some time) in the future.






If people want to see more, just let me know and I will see about taking them with me to my studio sometime this week,
Waffles

Nice paint job, and not to shabby of a bat rep! Pics would be nice, but aren't mandatory. Getting a look at the opponents list would be helpful. An idk where your from, but a lot of tau players I know do not share in the feeling that the tau are "broken" or "unplayable." The people who feel that way are noobs who build bad lists or players of other armies who do not know the tau codex very well. Without a doubt the codex of a whole as a tau is not very strong, probably tied for weakest at the moment. But if you stray from those bad units and bad suit load outs, ^^^^^^ case in point, you can easily compete with other top armies. Definitely an unconventional and rather ridiculous tau cadre, but nice job performing well with it lol

I LOVE that paint scheme. thanks for sharing!

Very interesting list. I totally get the "dang wound wrap" when I shoot plasma. To combat it, I only shoot the plasma when dealing with very small squads (when shooting, units are not required to fire all weapons, only in CC must they use all attacks).

Of course, if your method works for you then it works for you!

I also noticed a lot of BS filters out there....Yeah, dang DOW and necrons.....I can see the use for the missiles, but maybe not the Plasma...especially with our suits having acute senses.

I combat night fighting with BS filters on my markerunits when I can (I love my skyray).

Anyway, congrats to another competitive tau player!!!

for the greater good!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ahh...forgot to mention....the positional relay.

This is an amazing tool. While I don't use it all the time (would love to hear more on your thoughts on it) it is essential for getting key units early, and keeping fragile units late (troops).

MUCH Better, and a nice army.
Very well painted.

I'll be interested to see the rest of the games

As is customary, as it seems, the armies that won the top three where space wolves, sisters of battle, and grey knights respectively.

Sisters of Battle? Really?

davethepak wrote:
Ahh...forgot to mention....the positional relay.

This is an amazing tool. While I don't use it all the time (would love to hear more on your thoughts on it) it is essential for getting key units early, and keeping fragile units late (troops).

It is a corner stone in the way I play my army. I like it for I only put out a few things (at most my HQ, broadsides, and pathfinders) and let the enemy come to me. Once they are close I open the flood gates (in turn 4 most of the time) and let the tau flush out.

36 strength 5 shots any where take out something. Usually I stack my army to combat a single side of the board so that I know what I am in front of WILL die. I overshoot and make sure that it takes a turn or more for the enemy to react.

It is effective for me and I have been using it a lot lately.

My four corner stones are as follows: Specialized crisis suit teams deep striking, Single Broadsides for survivability, Positional Relay for precise reserves, and pathfinders.

The pathfinders are not for markerlights, but rather a special ability to their devilfish: Marker Beacon. This allows me to re-roll my deep strike scatter. Lessens my chance of a miss hap by about 90% it seams like.


As far as the BS filters go, I have them on my broadsides and my commander due to the fact that They are always the first ones out and there are A LOT of Necron players around here. The BS filters everywere else is for wound allocation. As long as the war gear is different from suit to suit, I can allocate wounds and make the squads a lot more survivable.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Amerikon wrote:

As is customary, as it seems, the armies that won the top three where space wolves, sisters of battle, and grey knights respectively.

Sisters of Battle? Really?

yea, I was a bit amazed as well, but he played well and had A LOT of good dice rolls.

If i remember right it went like this

space wolves
sisters of battle
Grey knights
Tau (WHOO HOO)
Blood Angels
Grey Knights
Dark Eldar
Space Wolves
Imperial guard
Necron
Blood Angels




It may be slightly off, but I am pretty sure the top 12 where like this.

Waffles

jazzpaintball wrote:Commander is assaulted by Dreadnaught 2, they are locked in combat.

Dreads assaulted the Comm and he doesnt die?!?! What kind of weapons do they have.

Also, what are the range weapons on his speeders, dreads, and vehs.

I would like to know how is it your commander survive a full turn without dying.

Isseyfaran wrote:

jazzpaintball wrote:Commander is assaulted by Dreadnaught 2, they are locked in combat.

Dreads assaulted the Comm and he doesnt die?!?! What kind of weapons do they have.

Also, what are the range weapons on his speeders, dreads, and vehs.

I would like to know how is it your commander survive a full turn without dying.

It seems like you are just not liking me, lol.

I believe they were just standard dreadnaughts. they had meltas and power weapons. One dreadnaught (number 3) had a flamer instead of a melta, but never got to use it.

I did mess up slightly and fixed it. On the charge the dreadnaught got one hit and wounded: killing my drone. I will fix that. Thank you.

The second turn was pure luck. He hit with one and rolled a 1 to wound. I did not expect the commander so live a single round, but it is what it is.

The dreads had the one shooting weapon: melta.
The speeders had melta's and heavy flamers.
The rhinos, I have no idea for they never shot anything more than bolters.

Waffles

I was glad to see you placed so well as you practiced a lot.
9th was necrons and 10th was blood andgles.

As for that guy in the 3rd round he may not be able toplay for a year because of what he did. james doesn't take that type of behavure.

Talonwinter wrote:I was glad to see you placed so well as you practiced a lot.
9th was necrons and 10th was blood andgles.

As for that guy in the 3rd round he may not be able toplay for a year because of what he did. james doesn't take that type of behavure.

THANK YOU!! I knew that list was off a bit, I just couldn't quite remember exacts past 6th and 7th.

As for the guy, I feel kinda bad for him not being able to play at such a great place, but what he did was unacceptable.

May I ask who you are and what you played? I have a feeling this is the guy that pulled out the land-slide players choice, but I am most likely wrong.

Waffles

jazzpaintball wrote:

Talonwinter wrote:I was glad to see you placed so well as you practiced a lot.
9th was necrons and 10th was blood andgles.

As for that guy in the 3rd round he may not be able toplay for a year because of what he did. james doesn't take that type of behavure.

THANK YOU!! I knew that list was off a bit, I just couldn't quite remember exacts past 6th and 7th.

As for the guy, I feel kinda bad for him not being able to play at such a great place, but what he did was unacceptable.

May I ask who you are and what you played? I have a feeling this is the guy that pulled out the land-slide players choice, but I am most likely wrong.

Waffles

I played Necrons next to you first round. I also play at tacoma GW. I seen you but never got a game in with you this last month. I play Nids and Necrons if you want to pratice for next month. I will taking nids to the 2000 point gt thier. I am called chancy.

Ahh yes, you play this army:



I remember you and yes, I do hope to play you some time. I am gonna guess you took the 9th place with the necrons?

jazzpaintball wrote:It seems like you are just not liking me, lol.

I love all Tau competitive players, as long as they are not arrogant noobs (I know you are not one of those) who pretend they know everything about Tau

jazzpaintball wrote:Ahh yes, you play this army:



I remember you and yes, I do hope to play you some time. I am gonna guess you took the 9th place with the necrons?

yep those are mine

I'm glad James isn't taking crap from player #3. I used to play at his previous store when I lived in Seattle.

I'd appreciate it if you told him Tom the economist says hi.

Please add battle 3 too. Even better to read about a cocky douche getting run over by an old codex. Always funny to read about TFG drama too

Thanks for posting up the battle reports (1 and 2).

Here is my executive summary:
Tau did not beat those armies, you did. Congrats.

More full version;
Some books are clearly better than others, but the most important element is the player.
I am not saying that other factors do not matter; terrain, mission, deployment, bad dice and of course, codex.
But the most important element is the player; both before and after the game.
Yes, when other factors are equal (or even just close) then CODEX matters ....a lot.

Some detailed observations.

Game one: The necron player had a list that hurt him a lot. The storm lord and two monoliths at 1500 points?
That is a LOT of points for limited firepower at that point range, especially given the nerfing monoliths took.
Yes, monoliths are not easy to take out (your railguns rolled very well - sad for him) but they easily die to meltas and do not have deepstrike immunity anymore.
I love the storm lord, but he just does not do a lot of damage...and night fighting is a two edged sword, as necrons are very shooty now. Usually the storm lord works well when using scrabs and wraiths (or other short range stuff). Still, he is a point sink at 1500.

Game two;
Four dreads? Unless there is some ruleset I am unaware of, that takes a master of the forge, and I have to say if you are doing that, its 6 all the way (otherwise why take him?).
Between forgetting to roll for deployment and other mistakes clearly this player was not playing his best game. Of course, the mission being kill points helped as well.

Thanks for the reports. I have to say your use of the positional relay is very cool - and as a tau player I it has not worked its way into my "normal" lists.
I also agree that if running a deepstrike list, the pathfinder fish is essential (how ironic...usually the fish is considered the tax on the pathfinders...but in this case, the pathfinders are almost a tax on the fish...). While I have only tested this list variant once or twice, your reports have inspired me to have some fun with it a bit more.

The tau dex certainly has a LOT stacked against it (I won't bother with the laundry list here....) but it is not worthless by any stretch.

I think the biggest challenges in using it are;
1 - Its not easy to use. Specialized units, high cost and a very different metaphor make tau perhaps the most challenging codex to use well (perhaps after eldar).
2 - It allows for no mistakes or bad luck - tau do not broker errors well....I tragically know this and was totally able to relate to your comment here;

I there were so many points in this game that if I would have made a single mistake, I would have been decimated.

There is a pressure involved in playing tau...a pressure that one cannot understand unless one plays them.
Its dealing with that inevitable tide of assault that is coming - bringing almost certain death with it.

Sorry to hear about your last game...yeah, I have had bad experiences like that. What a jerk.

I have to say, one thing about tau....they always get underestimated - which makes beating those players even better.

Actually I would say one thing people say Tau are bad and have a laundry list of issues but I can tell you because no one see them often they can hit you with some wth moments. lol I recall the first time I played against their 4th edition codex I definately underestimated them and got a thorough shlacking. lol

How do you find your deep striking Tau against a jumpy/DoA BA list, if you have had any experience play against them?7

Congrats on the tournament result as well.

Eldercaveman wrote:How do you find your deep striking Tau against a jumpy/DoA BA list, if you have had any experience play against them?7

Congrats on the tournament result as well.

Actually I do play this list quite a bit. One of the more prominent players at my local store plays what he calls "Steel Angels." its a list that comprises of deepstriking marines that only have a 1 d6 scatter, death companies, dreadnaught with blood tallons ( I HATE that thing for the tau have nothing to stop it and nothing that can hurt it in CC), Maphiston (wrong name I am sure, the SC that has a Toughness of 6), a couple of vindicators, and the flying transport. A few things here and there change, but that is his basic list.

so far the scoreboard against him is 2-2-1. The loss was from the first time playing him.

The greatest trick I have is that I have the positional relay. He origianally just brought stuff on and I would send a deep striking unit in to divert him or to take out a more lonely squad/character/tank. Afterwards he started to play more in reserve.
Thats where the PR comes in. I can hold off my troops until after he comes in. WIth that, I know where he is and I can get the drop on him, not the other way around.

Every time I go against him, it is a tough battle, but it is a lot nicer having the ability to greatly know where the enemy is and reacting to him.
I try and stay true to the Tau fluff, and this is the best way I can be part of it: following the doctrines of Tau.

Kauyon - hunter patience. let the enemy get out into the open and come to you. Then when it is time:
Mont'ka - place the Killing Blow and take out as much of the enemy as possible at a single moment in time. The enemy has to rethink his strategy and give you time to keep killing.

I know.... I am a Tau nerd... and I love it,
Waffles

jazzpaintball wrote:

Eldercaveman wrote:How do you find your deep striking Tau against a jumpy/DoA BA list, if you have had any experience play against them?7

Congrats on the tournament result as well.

Actually I do play this list quite a bit. One of the more prominent players at my local store plays what he calls "Steel Angels." its a list that comprises of deepstriking marines that only have a 1 d6 scatter, death companies, dreadnaught with blood tallons ( I HATE that thing for the tau have nothing to stop it and nothing that can hurt it in CC), Maphiston (wrong name I am sure, the SC that has a Toughness of 6), a couple of vindicators, and the flying transport. A few things here and there change, but that is his basic list.

so far the scoreboard against him is 2-2-1. The loss was from the first time playing him.

The greatest trick I have is that I have the positional relay. He origianally just brought stuff on and I would send a deep striking unit in to divert him or to take out a more lonely squad/character/tank. Afterwards he started to play more in reserve.
Thats where the PR comes in. I can hold off my troops until after he comes in. WIth that, I know where he is and I can get the drop on him, not the other way around.

Every time I go against him, it is a tough battle, but it is a lot nicer having the ability to greatly know where the enemy is and reacting to him.
I try and stay true to the Tau fluff, and this is the best way I can be part of it: following the doctrines of Tau.

Kauyon - hunter patience. let the enemy get out into the open and come to you. Then when it is time:
Mont'ka - place the Killing Blow and take out as much of the enemy as possible at a single moment in time. The enemy has to rethink his strategy and give you time to keep killing.

I know.... I am a Tau nerd... and I love it,
Waffles

That's awesome, I play against a guy in my village, he has Tau, and I run a Jumpy/DoA list and he really struggles against me when I'm dropped infront of him, so maybe you have found a way of fighting fire with fire, I'll point him towards this thread, in the interest of fair play and competition.