Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Alot of the 40k forums say that the reason people dismiss them as a good army is because people don't play them properly. Me a newbie Tau player would like to know how to play them properly with good tactics and overall mind set to play them right.

Something like a how to play guide with your experience's?

Thanks in advance.

The general idea is to take lots of suits with ranged weapons. This should allow you to wreck any transport that dares approach. Back this up with some devil fish to hide behind, using the obscure wargear when farther than 12 inches. Min squads of firewarriors in the fishes, and a few kroot units for the low cost and high utility.

The other tactic is to take pirranahs, boost them right in front of the enemy, and trade the pirranah for blocking the enemy from advancing for a turn when the enemy starts to get close, while the suits jump back to maintain distance.

Try out advancedtautactica.com

It can give you some insights.

as a newish tau player, i would say our greatest strength is our ability to avoid assaults. by using things like drones from tanks, and small kroot squads to screen off assault units and block their movement, we can slow down enemies and get more shooting phases for little sacrifice. Also, using the assault jump to hug cover and court units while staying out of assault is a great, simple tactic. But really i have found that feeding the enemy small unimportant units one at a time allows your heavy hitting units like suits and tanks to survive and keep hammering the enemy. Good luck!

Hashbeth wrote:Try out advancedtautactica.com

It can give you some insights.

This. This, and this. Go padawan, here are the masters. Read and learn.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Short term advice:

JSJ XV8s behind LoS-blocking terrain. Use FireKnives, Deathrains and Firestorms (look 'em up).

FKs for anti-I and light transports.
DRs for busting transports.
FSs for troops.

Right now, minimum FWs in D'fish. Read ATT for kroot tutorials.

Use B-sides and Railheads for anti-T. Take out whatever can get you into h2h fastest:
ork deffkoptas (kill with FireKnives)
any DE transport (DRs are really any tau gun)
StormRavenGunships (RailGuns)
BattleWagons (RGs
jumper SM (use anything).

then the rhinos.

What's your local meta look like?

It really just boils down to a couple principles.

In the army list you have 2 types of units: Killers, and interference.
Units that will be doing the damage (Killers) are your Crisis, Broadsides, Hammerheads.
Interference units are your kroot, Piranha, drones from Piranha, and FWs w/ Devilfish.

The real trick when you're making a list is to have enough of both categories. If you don't have enough damage dealers then you won't kill enough of your opponent by the time your interference units are gone. If you don't have enough units to run interference, then your damage dealers won't have enough time to do their job.


In game, your biggest focuses need to be good target priority, and dominating the Mech atmosphere most armies have. Tau have some of the best setups to kill Mech lists, be sure to use that to pop most/all your opponents tanks in the first few turns. Then prioritize units that will burn through your interference units the fastest.

Hashbeth wrote:Try out advancedtautactica.com

It can give you some insights.

Just watch out for the cool aid drinkers on that site. They have quite a bit of inbred ideas, terminology, and other such things. There is good stuff to be had there, but its hard to see sometimes due to the super polite hugbox mentality I've seen there over the years. Sorting out the crap from gold requires a good eye. Just a fair warning.

As for how to play tau, keep in mind you are a xenos army, one that is particularly bad in CC. This makes you squishy if things get close. Also, even though you have strong long range guns, you don't have volume of fire at those ranges. This means you are going to have to move in way that keeps as much as your fire power in optimal range as long as possible. Typically you will see tau fall back the first few turns, then when they enemy is starting to falter, making a big turn 4-5 push.

Hey...... I like Koolaid. I even spelled it correctly

ATT is a great site and should be read top to bottom like it's your job. There's so much knowledge there it's crazy!

deffskulla wrote:ATT is a great site and should be read top to bottom like it's your job. There's so much knowledge there it's crazy!

You just have to be careful on there. Yes there is some good stuff, but there are also a lot of people advocating tactics/builds that just don't work consistently. Most mono-army forums run into the problem of people getting so bored they desperately try to come up with the new best thing (which usually doesn't actually work), and they fanboy the concept so much they convince other people of its value as well. See Ninja Tau for an example, or the Shield 'O, or most attempts to use Stealth suits/Vespid. .

snipe.
do not get into cc
kill at range
use cover

-Kroot bubble wrap.
-If there's terrain the blocks TLOS, use it in conjunction with Jump (movement phase) shoot jump (back in assault phase) for Crisis Teams.
-If you are fielding Broadsides, either castle them up with Kroot bubble wrap or place them on opposite ends of the table. Keep them in cover of obscured.
-If you are fielding hammerheads, always move them at least combat speed each turn. You never know if an outflanker will pop up from the side and assault your vehicles.
-Field a few Piranhas. They are good at blocking opponent's tank/infantry movement or tank hunting. In objective games, they could contest objectives in the last turn.
-Never field Stealth Suits, Vespids, Gun Drone squadron, Sky Ray, Etheral, Krootox, or Tau special characters.
-Avoid close combat.
-Keep Fire Warriors min-squad size and inside a Devilfish with Disruption Pods.
-Don't field Hammerhead Ion Cannon unless your metagame consists mostly of monstrous creatures.
-Either Death Rain (TL-Missile Pod + 1 extra battle suit+ support system) or Fire Knife (Plasma Rifle + Missile Pod + Multi-tracker) are the best Crisis Suit configuration. Try to field at least 8 + Shas'el.

SabrX wrote:-Kroot bubble wrap.
-If there's terrain the blocks TLOS, use it in conjunction with Jump (movement phase) shoot jump (back in assault phase) for Crisis Teams.
-If you are fielding Broadsides, either castle them up with Kroot bubble wrap or place them on opposite ends of the table. Keep them in cover of obscured.
-If you are fielding hammerheads, always move them at least combat speed each turn. You never know if an outflanker will pop up from the side and assault your vehicles.
-Field a few Piranhas. They are good at blocking opponent's tank/infantry movement or tank hunting. In objective games, they could contest objectives in the last turn.
-Never field Stealth Suits, Vespids, Gun Drone squadron, Sky Ray, Etheral, Krootox, or Tau special characters.
-Avoid close combat.
-Keep Fire Warriors min-squad size and inside a Devilfish with Disruption Pods.
-Don't field Hammerhead Ion Cannon unless your metagame consists mostly of monstrous creatures.
-Either Death Rain (TL-Missile Pod + 1 extra battle suit+ support system) or Fire Knife (Plasma Rifle + Missile Pod + Multi-tracker) are the best Crisis Suit configuration. Try to field at least 8 + Shas'el.

While the rest is spot on, I disagree with the last point. I have tried Burst Cannon/Plasma Suits after reading the Thread about the Crisis Suit configs. They work. They work well enough against infantry to get a mention. The Fireknife is a good config (it'll always have a target) but It won't beat Deathrain in tank killing or beat Bladestorm in Troop killing.

I run a squad of each.

The fireknife is mainly thought so highly of due to all comers lists. Deathrains are great for rhino spam but I personally prefer fireknives. All mine are magnetized but I usually only run fireknife anyway. What has been mentioned above sums up how best to play tau in 5th

Problem with that though is three squads of Fireknives are like 558 points.

And while they are good, They don't get enough shots to make a dent in Orkz/IG/Nid swarms.

Advanced Tau Tactica.

But for the basics,
Mobility
Specialization in squads
Prioritization
Thinking ahead
and most importantly....

MOAR DAKKA

Tau die to GK, not enough low AP shots to penetrate armour.

Not enough low AP, first off Tau beat Grey Knights I think your just confused. Between the volume of fire, and their massive amount of low AP weapons. Seriously I don't think you know what you're talking about. Railguns will roflpwn their rhinos and dreadnoughts and their Plasma Rifles and Rail Rifles will kill MEQs quite easily. Not to mention getting BS5 firewarriors and drowning them in pulse shots.



Btw, some other very good combinations of crisis suits are . . .

Heatwave(TL-Flamer, and something else of your choice) Makes barbeques of MEQ or worse.
Helios(Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster) TEQ rapist

Commander-wise there is
Centurion(CIB, Plasma Rifle)
Shield'O(Big ole' tanky guy)
Ninja'O is a Centurion, but more emphasis on 'ninja' assaulting heavy weapon squads.
and one of my own creation

Shas'el(CIB, Airburst Frag. Projector) can single-handedly kill a squad of guardsmen

I just came into a lot of Tau, and the one basic question I've got is this:

Is it worth using the HQ slots to get BS4 suits, specifically if I'm going for the Plasma+Missile Pod variety? It costs 20 points more per suit, but it brings 16% more accuracy to the suit team.

Voodoo Boyz wrote:I just came into a lot of Tau, and the one basic question I've got is this:

Is it worth using the HQ slots to get BS4 suits, specifically if I'm going for the Plasma+Missile Pod variety? It costs 20 points more per suit, but it brings 16% more accuracy to the suit team.

That kinda depends on the list. I personally will only ever put a plasma rifle or fusion blaster on a suit if it has better than 50% accuracy. That means, plasma only goes on HQ suits, or elite suits if I have useable markers in the list. I never bring Markerlights anymore due to them being too squishy and/or expensive, so Crisis plasma only goes on HQ squads.

I'm sure someone will disagree with me, but IMO only use expensive weapons if they can be accurate.

flamer are garbage against MEQ if they are that close then your dead use them on hordes they are more effective.

the big thing is EVERYTHING has a roll. Now suits can do more than one wich is why we love them plasma missle can eat infantry and light tanks/transports, while burst plasma, will demolish mass infantry its about wht you build them for i prefer my HQ squads to be plasma missle cause i give them the TA to make sure they hit. and the rest of my suits burst plasma to concentrait on troop killing. broadsides/hammerheads work on the enemy armor. everything has a roll lately like others have said some are attackers the rest are shields for the them. Tau are moblie shooting we may not be as fast as the eldar but we cover more group when it counts and can still fire every step of the way thats our strength play to it and if they are not meched up they will die easly. static defence is generaly usless against Tau keep them away and you shooting the rest is what you like doing what out of the codex

Always charge into close combat with fire warriors, never shoot with them. Always field Ethereals, especially the space pope. Never take a single marker light and always skip out on JSJ with Crisis Suits of any kind.

Also, do the opposite of everything I just said

Voodoo Boyz wrote:I just came into a lot of Tau, and the one basic question I've got is this:

Is it worth using the HQ slots to get BS4 suits, specifically if I'm going for the Plasma+Missile Pod variety? It costs 20 points more per suit, but it brings 16% more accuracy to the suit team.

As I calculated it, cost-effectiveness of Shas'Vre Fireknife (Plasma+Missile+HW Multitracker+Targeting array) is nearly equal to basic BS3 Fireknife. Which means that basic suit is better as you get more bodies for same cost. A plain BS5 Fireknife Shas'El is bit more cost-effective than those and has one more wound and better LD: but again, it's just one suit body which can be instakilled by Krak missiles etc. I think most players agree that regular Elite suits are more bang for a buck, unless you already have filled them out with suits or Stealth suits, or want a high-grade "shooty Deathstar". Better close combat abilities of Shas'Vre and Shas'El suits are essentially irrelevant.

What I always do is take regular suit team and upgrade one to Team leader with Targeting array: that gives me one BS4 suit in each team and I also get to play some wound allocation.

But really, all that doesn't make such a huge difference.

Devilfish kept in reserve on infiltrate filled with fire warriors is a good idea. Combine this with your standard tau gun line and about three stealth teams in deep strike , things should work out well. allow the enemy to approach your gun line, shooting at them as much as possible. When they're close, bring in the devil fish from the sides and you have them in a boiling pot. If it's anhillation, use the stealth teams to mow down rallied enemy units/ units that weren't quite caught in the 'pot'. If it's opjectives, bring in the stealths first and use them to whittle down advancing units, then follow up and capture with the devilfish troops.

Devilfish can't infiltrate, and the only way they can outflank is if they have Pathfinders inside.

Banzaimash wrote:Devilfish kept in reserve on infiltrate filled with fire warriors is a good idea. Combine this with your standard tau gun line and about three stealth teams in deep strike , things should work out well. allow the enemy to approach your gun line, shooting at them as much as possible. When they're close, bring in the devil fish from the sides and you have them in a boiling pot. If it's anhillation, use the stealth teams to mow down rallied enemy units/ units that weren't quite caught in the 'pot'. If it's opjectives, bring in the stealths first and use them to whittle down advancing units, then follow up and capture with the devilfish troops.

Wha-? Your saying no crisis suits???

DreadlordME! wrote:Tau die to GK, not enough low AP shots to penetrate armour.

This is wrong. Actually really wrong. Grey Knights pay a premium for things that don't help against Tau. Power weapons? You are going to own us in CC anyway. What does it matter that you ignore our armor? Psychic powers that upgrade combat ability? Same as before. Big whopping hammers that ID stuff? We have a single unit with multiple wounds. Tau actually have a lot of low ap fire, its even more effective against GK because there are less to kill. You shoot a 3 strong unit of broadsides against normal knights? 3 dead grey knights. Against paladins. You are looking at at least one dead. Not to mention the fact that grey knights tend to be a slow army, so the tau will just dance around you all game, while pumping AP2/1 fire into you the whole time.

I'm sure Devilfish have infiltrate:s

They do.... In the Dawn of War Video Games.


On Tabletop, they can only outflank or Scout move, and that's ONLY if it is a Pathfinder Devilfish.

Banzaimash wrote:I'm sure Devilfish have infiltrate:s

Iur_tae_mont wrote:They do.... In the Dawn of War Video Games.


On Tabletop, they can only outflank or Scout move, and that's ONLY if it is a Pathfinder Devilfish.

I can confirm this

We had a similar argument in my FLGS a dawn of war player who insisted I infiltrate my DF, however in the rules its non applicable.
On their own they are nothing but a transport, but if you fill them with pathfinders then they can inherit the scout / outflank rule but not infiltrate.