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I absolutely hate the AFP that Tau can bring, most specifically because I play a Foot Guard list primarily. I've seen that thing eat 34 Guardsmen in one turn. 34!!!!

Low ish LD and having nothing worthy of a DoG attack means even rhino's can cause them real issues.

FW have the nice EMP grenade that can be really unfun for vehicles, even LR and Monoliths.

quack98 wrote:When i used piranhas i moved them flat out, they got assaulted by terminators, terminators didn't hit, flechettes killed all 5 terminators!

That's really bad luck. That doesn't happen most of the time unless perhaps it's 5 Piranhas in a unit.

Jackal wrote:Simply rush them, DS, get to them however you can and quickly.

I've read many battle reports of players DS against Tau and it turns into the a meat grinder with the Tau doing the grinding.

Well said on the Pathfinders though. They are a force multiplier and needs to be dealt with ASAP. Failing leadership from DoG isn't an issue if the vehicle doesn't reach the Tau's front lines. It's much easier to tank shock with Eldar skimmers though.

I think the toughest challenge Tau have to deal with is Eldar and that's coming from a player who owns and plays both armies.

SabrX wrote:

quack98 wrote:When i used piranhas i moved them flat out, they got assaulted by terminators, terminators didn't hit, flechettes killed all 5 terminators!

That's really bad luck. That doesn't happen most of the time unless perhaps it's 5 Piranhas in a unit.

Jackal wrote:Simply rush them, DS, get to them however you can and quickly.

I've read many battle reports of players DS against Tau and it turns into the a meat grinder with the Tau doing the grinding.

Well said on the Pathfinders though. They are a force multiplier and needs to be dealt with ASAP. Failing leadership from DoG isn't an issue if the vehicle doesn't reach the Tau's front lines. It's much easier to tank shock with Eldar skimmers though.

I think the toughest challenge Tau have to deal with is Eldar and that's coming from a player who owns and plays both armies.

This is extremely true in regards to Eldar and Tau. Tau is my easiest match up when I play my Eldar, they just can't do anything fast enough to stop you from getting there. Since Eldar troops are so specialized you will for sure win no matter what they put in your way after you get there.

SabrX wrote:I think the toughest challenge Tau have to deal with is Eldar and that's coming from a player who owns and plays both armies.

Any army that brings a lot of tough units and a bunch of S8+ weapons are going to hurt. I played against a Deathwing army and cried. The dice were certainly not in my favor that day. I only managed to kill six terminators, while missiles chewed through my suits...

6 isn't bad. I've seen a 1500pts army consisting largely of 17 termies. And it wasn't even GK!

Sounds like Pathfinders are a big issue. I guessin going up against tetras is as bad. JSJ from behind a devilfish is a good tactic, especially if the DF has a DP.

No one has said crisis suits, just wondering if there are particular loadouts that people want to take out first?


ATO

Any unit with shield drones. "I get a 4+" vs everything is annoying, especially when the players who take them always make the saves.

Broadsides are a problem till I assault 'em. Very difficult for them to cause a problem in assault even after the charge if they survive.

evildrspock wrote:Any unit with shield drones. "I get a 4+" vs everything is annoying, especially when the players who take them always make the saves.

They get a 4+ on wounds allocated to the drones, but not to everything that hits the unit.




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Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:I absolutely hate the AFP that Tau can bring, most specifically because I play a Foot Guard list primarily. I've seen that thing eat 34 Guardsmen in one turn. 34!!!!

Really? Tau can only bring one of these in their entire army and it only shoots 1 per turn. How did 34 Guardsmen get under that 1 plate?

Kroot. More like an extra turn off not out shooting/punching important things the Tau player has

Basically, avoid attacking unless you really need that extra free kill point.

Most annoying thing a tau player does - blocking ie getting cheap throw away units (kroot, piranhas, d'fish) in the way of stuff trying to kill your suits. Suits(both XV88s, and XV8) are your killer units, everything else in your list is either supporting them or protecting them.

EYIG

Alltheones wrote:Sounds like Pathfinders are a big issue. I guessin going up against tetras is as bad. JSJ from behind a devilfish is a good tactic, especially if the DF has a DP.

No one has said crisis suits, just wondering if there are particular loadouts that people want to take out first?


ATO

Any Suit toting a Missile Pod are definately a prime target for the enemies big guns. Crisis Suit Missile Pods are perhaps the most effective way to address the transport meta in 5th Edition and will certainly get most of the ire from your opponent, who's trying to protect his vulnerable vehicles from the JSJ menace. The second weapon they keep an eye out for is the Plasma Rifle, which can be utterly leathal to Feel No Pain units.

Any crafty Tau player would take a couple gun drones while they JSJ behind Devilfish or Cover, giving them two ablative wounds with +4 Universal Cover without buying the more expensive Shield Drones. The squad is still T4 from Majority Toughness and the Drones can still fire with the squad.

Jancoran wrote:yeah but a Lascannon or multimelta might do the same.

And why are you not DS'ing that monster? It has some ridiculously awesome weapons at extreme close range.

Multi-melta has a puny range and a lascannon has a lower strength and higher AP. In the end 3 twin-linked strength 10 AP 1 shots that can with markerlights ignore cover can mess up any vehicle sans super heavies.

Maybe. But my point was it doesn't really set the unit apart from others who would do the same and its hardly a tactic to roll dice from a totally stationary position. hehehe. The real trick comes with other Tau units that have an annoying ability to make the journey cross the table a slow and arduous one.

Alltheones wrote:Sounds like Pathfinders are a big issue. I guessin going up against tetras is as bad. JSJ from behind a devilfish is a good tactic, especially if the DF has a DP.

No one has said crisis suits, just wondering if there are particular loadouts that people want to take out first?
ATO

Suits are scary, but being so unpredictable as well as Tau bread and butter they aren't hard to deal with, not that they are bad just not scary.

evildrspock wrote:Any unit with shield drones. "I get a 4+" vs everything is annoying, especially when the players who take them always make the saves.

Something interesting is the drone gets the 4+, not everyone. During wound allocation if you can flood him with heavy AP wounds the drone will not help.


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Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:I absolutely hate the AFP that Tau can bring, most specifically because I play a Foot Guard list primarily. I've seen that thing eat 34 Guardsmen in one turn. 34!!!!

Jefffar wrote:
Really? Tau can only bring one of these in their entire army and it only shoots 1 per turn. How did 34 Guardsmen get under that 1 plate?

Eh is it really that hard to believe? I play a Foot Guard army, and I was inside a giant piece of AoT as packed together as I could be so that my giant 50 man blob would get cover saves. Since the AFP takes away not only my Armor but my Cover, and wounds me on a 3+ , as well as the fact that the template only needs to the base of any guardsmen for them to get hit....yea it was bloody.

Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:

evildrspock wrote:Any unit with shield drones. "I get a 4+" vs everything is annoying, especially when the players who take them always make the saves.

Something interesting is the drone gets the 4+, not everyone. During wound allocation if you can flood him with heavy AP wounds the drone will not help.

Yeah, someone had mentioned that earlier, too, I don't know if my memory is just fuzzy or if the player'd gotten it wrong. I probably was just constantly getting 1 or 2 hits, and the few shield drones the unit had kept soaking all the hits.

Well I am a Tau player and I wasnt aware of the shield drone rule. I tend to loadout my suits with MP and PR and JSJ them out from behind my DF. I have played against Tau too and I found the most annoying thing to be the general rotation and movement that Tau can get. If one of your flanks is slightly weak then the whole army sweeps round. I think that is something that alot of Tau players miss out on. If more Tau players increased the mobility of their army they would fair better against some players.

ATO

Modern Tau Players do not use their army's mobility to their advantage, and seem to have major issues with target priority. And not using enough troops.

As a DE player I flood SD enhanced broadside teams with fire from Venoms until the drones are gone, then open up with Lances. Easy peasy.

No one plays with Stealth Teams, but those are real dangers, especially as how underestimated they are. Against DE they are real powerhouses, with a significant torrent of fire that can annihilate whole units and mitigate return damage.

Pathfinders are important units to disable, but are rarely used in my area due to their difficulty in protecting. Most Tau players simply haven't figured out how to place them, though, and that is key. Make your PF's a lower priority (or give that appearance) than things that are closer to the enemy. Playing Tau well is a balancing act in keeping the enemy at a precise distance at all times. Whereas DE want to closecloseclose, Tau want to avoid avoid avoid, but must do so in an ordered way, preparing to risk certain elements for the success of the others.

This is one of the reasons I swapped my PF's to Tetras to inrease my mobilty. Has anyone played against tetras, I think they are awesome but in your experiences do you tend to ignore them or are they prio number 1?

ATO

No, but from what i've seen from the rules they are actually worth taking, unlike units of pathfinders which can be a mega let down at times.

Long time no speak Godz and I recently bought two tetras and mate if you aint got any then get some! pathfinders are good dont get me wrong but if units get near you have to load them up and movethem. Tetras on the other hand 55pts a unit with a disruption pod as standard. Optional TA hitting 4 markers on a 3+ andthey can still more 12 inche and fire all 4 seriously all tau players reading this try them cos they rock!

ATO

Tetras fall under the "broken" FW unit category, as opposed to the "useless" one. They are so clearly better than Pathfinders that it isn't even funny.

HAHA it is totally true. It goes from broken codex to "you would be insane not to take them!" so all those still swearing by PF's need to spnd some money in forgeworld


ATO

Tetras are the Filth!

I wouldnt call a Tetra broken.

Its an AV10 Skimmer that dosent shoot weapons.

Also the lights stack on one unit so its not like there are lights hitting your whole army etc..


They are simply a better choice than our current marker lights because we dont need a stupid devilfish with each PF Team. Saving us TONS of points.

Heavens forbid Tau get something that dosent suck.

I'm supprised no one has brought up disruption pods. People complain about them to no end. (might be that I run around 11 annoyingly hard to kill vehicles vehicles in my list)The fact they are only 5pts really gets people worked up.


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No one plays with Stealth Teams, but those are real dangers, especially as how underestimated they are. Against DE they are real powerhouses, with a significant torrent of fire that can annihilate whole units and mitigate return damage.

Until you hit around 2000pts they are way too costly to beat out crisis suits. Once you can start sinking 250+ points into them they quickly over take crisis units in the amount of fire power they bring to the table.

Alltheones wrote:This is one of the reasons I swapped my PF's to Tetras to inrease my mobilty. Has anyone played against tetras, I think they are awesome but in your experiences do you tend to ignore them or are they prio number 1?

ATO

I hate playing against them as a non tau player! As a tau player, i feel they are severely undercosted. They shoot WAY to many markerlights at WAY to great a distance, and for VERY cheap, you can give them a 4+ coversave at distances over 12" and for only 10 more points, they are BS 4. They hit WAY to often with WAY to many markerlights for their price and relative durability.


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Milisim wrote:I wouldnt call a Tetra broken.

Its an AV10 Skimmer that dosent shoot weapons.

Also the lights stack on one unit so its not like there are lights hitting your whole army etc..


They are simply a better choice than our current marker lights because we dont need a stupid devilfish with each PF Team. Saving us TONS of points.

Heavens forbid Tau get something that dosent suck.

I play tau, and they dont suck. Far from it. I have been tabling orks of all flavors, and all manor of meq for quite some time. And while I would be the first to defend the tau getting something that doesnt "suck," the tetra is simply OTT. Its small, and for next to nothing, are BS 4 and get a 4+ coversave. All things considered a less than 200 point unit of tiny fast skimmers, that can fire 12 markerlights at bs 4, and have a 4+ cover save is severely undercosted. Severely! And I have NEVER thought the PF team DF sucks. I always give it to my warriors and let its seeker missiles womp a few rhinos.

If anything needs to happen to the tau codex, its a simple points reduction and FOC restructuring. Thats it. I should be able to get a warfish w 2 seeker missiles and a 10 man firewarriors squad, for around 200-220. not 250.

thakabalpuphorsefishguy wrote:

Alltheones wrote:This is one of the reasons I swapped my PF's to Tetras to inrease my mobilty. Has anyone played against tetras, I think they are awesome but in your experiences do you tend to ignore them or are they prio number 1?

ATO

I hate playing against them as a non tau player! As a tau player, i feel they are severely undercosted. They shoot WAY to many markerlights at WAY to great a distance, and for VERY cheap, you can give them a 4+ coversave at distances over 12" and for only 10 more points, they are BS 4. They hit WAY to often with WAY to many markerlights for their price and relative durability.


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Milisim wrote:I wouldnt call a Tetra broken.

Its an AV10 Skimmer that dosent shoot weapons.

Also the lights stack on one unit so its not like there are lights hitting your whole army etc..


They are simply a better choice than our current marker lights because we dont need a stupid devilfish with each PF Team. Saving us TONS of points.

Heavens forbid Tau get something that dosent suck.

I play tau, and they dont suck. Far from it. I have been tabling orks of all flavors, and all manor of meq for quite some time. And while I would be the first to defend the tau getting something that doesnt "suck," the tetra is simply OTT. Its small, and for next to nothing, are BS 4 and get a 4+ coversave. All things considered a less than 200 point unit of tiny fast skimmers, that can fire 12 markerlights at bs 4, and have a 4+ cover save is severely undercosted. Severely! And I have NEVER thought the PF team DF sucks. I always give it to my warriors and let its seeker missiles womp a few rhinos.

If anything needs to happen to the tau codex, its a simple points reduction and FOC restructuring. Thats it. I should be able to get a warfish w 2 seeker missiles and a 10 man firewarriors squad, for around 200-220. not 250.

Being able to take a Fast Attack unit that doesn't reqire them to sit still to fire a Heavy Weapon is NOT OTT. And if you take three and give them arrays and disruption pods, its 195 Points for a squadron of Armor 10, opened topped, twin-linked pulse carbines is NOT OTT.

Compared to the 150+ Points for a five man squad of Pathfinders, Leader with a knife, and a Devilfish; where the Pathfinders have Heavy 1 Markerlights does not make them 'Fast' in any regard.

I think anyone claiming any Tau unit to be OTT or Op is freaking nuts. Markerlights are a support weapon that remove coversaves most of the time. No real upset there.

I actually played a game today where the Disruption Pod saved my hide more times than I could count. My tetra and hammerhead ended up taking las/plas shots from 3 devestator squads for 6 turns and did nothing.

Really though if I was going against Tau I'd focus on suits. They are the versatile unit in the army. If you focus on chasing/gunning them down they will not be able to recover. Markerlights would be useless. Broadsides would not have the volume of fire to turn the tide. And everything else just lacks stopping power.

Tau have range, strength of firepower, and decent speed. If the player manages to deploy to one corner and makes your army hoof it then it gives him more time to widdle down the enemy.