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Hey guys,

I started playing a few months a go and pick up a sizable Chaos Daemon army. They seemed great, I liked their fluff and aestethic and they are really melee oriented (which is what i played in other games, warmachine skorne, guildball blacksmiths).
Well I am really really just not enjoying them. I am just tired of over half my army being dead before i can even touch a single enemy even if i go first.

With that being said I am thinking that I would like to switch up and find something different. I do like to be competitive so I was sort of hoping someone could enlighten me on Tau. I like their aesthetic (love gundams)and their all for the greater good philosophy seems interesting.
So how exactly is Tau, they seem like a competitive gun faction, is that correct? is there something i should be aware strength/weakness wise (seems like melee is a nono).

Any advice on what to buy in Tau would also be appreciated? Seems like their starterbox is very effective and that a riptide or two is common place along with lots of drones.
Thank you for your time

I can't advise on how competitive Tau are, but they've always had a very strong shooty element.

That said also be aware that not only have they some great suits from GW, but also from Forgeworld
Forgeworld!

Yeah a lot of daemons are a little flimsy, but that's kind the point... it's a weird mix of hordes and a few heavy units too like bloodthirsters etc.

Are you playing Khorne, or another force, or a mix?

You can always bring them in deepstriking too if you don't want to have them all on the field... but that still means the few you have on the field get shot up.

@TarkinLarson

I have actually tried alot of variations of demons. Korne, Nurgle, mix, with thousand suns (the classic ahriman with demon princes), about to try a mono slaneesh. I tried deepstriking 1-2 units (normally bloodletters or horros), I tired summoning.

I always heard that plaguebearers were hard to remove but they seem to die just as much as the rest, I am finding that my even my demon princes with axes or talons are failing to kill their intended targets (latest example i think was called white scar dreadnought??)

So at this point i have been playing them weekly for about 5 months and really just not enjoying them and not feeling any progress.

So.... not the resident expert here... but... I think the first thing that needs to be stated is that daemons are not rocking the meta currently. So if you're playing against meta-chasers... the results will be very lopsided in their favor.

Of all the Daemon factions, Tzneetch and Nurgle have a bit of an advantage in the durability department, and then Slaanesh has an advantage in the "crossing the table" area.

To get it with Tzneetch, I believe you'll need one of their creatures which adds to their invulnerable save or something to that effect... but they need to use auras and stuff to protect their forces.

Plaguebearers are probably getting their durability boost from Disgustingly Resilient, which gives them an additional 5+++, but that probably gets a lot weaker if your opponent is littering them with multiple damage weaponry.

If your opponents are playing fairly fluffy lists against your lists, however, and you still find this "no can win" scenario unfolding... you may want to check to make sure there is enough terrain to leverage. Daemons have to cross the table, Tau would prefer to annihilate you before you do that, that's the design of both armies. To counter Tau shooting, you'll need to be clever with how you cross (make sure to minimize exposure through LoS blocking materials, cover does practically nothing for you).

If you come to a table with lots of area terrain and no ways to break LoS, expect to get obliterated because you're practically playing on planet bowling ball at that point. Ask for some additional ways to break LoS instead. That way the deployment game matters.

Finally, once you get your melee guys across there, you have to be even more clever with pile-ins. Don't be afraid of accidentally piling into another nearby unit or vehicle even though you didn't declare them and cannot fight them. Sometimes shutting down their shooting is worth a lot more than inflicting casualties. Those guys awkwardly standing around are going to be the same guys that will be shooting you once your charge victims are either destroyed or walk away from the melee.

Once you hit a Tau line with melee, you should be looking to tie as many units down with whatever makes it there, make them walk away from you with as many guns to limit the blast radius of their next shooting phase.

Unfortunately, melee is a very finesse-based game on the table... and ranged armies are just point-n-click. It's always going to be an uphill struggle when you face lists optimized to play like a bunker.

Finally: are you guys playing kill points or missions? Is there any tactical advantage you can seize on the tabletop to win by alternate means? Bunker armies are usually fairly week on the objective game. Sure you don't get the wipe out your opponent, but killing isn't the ONLY objective. It actually isn't any sort of objective in many games... but it does enable the REAL objectives. If your opponent is content to sit back and blast away at you, try to slither around the map and snipe victory points while clinging to LoS breaking terrain. Put some strain on him to come at you instead of sitting smug behind a wall of chaff.

Just a few thoughts from a very non-competitive person. If you want to compete and such... you may have the wrong army at this point in time.

That's sooo weird. You ask about Tau & get told about Demons.

ccs wrote:
That's sooo weird. You ask about Tau & get told about Demons.

It's likely because the OP showed interest in Tau partly as a result of falling interest with the demons - thus other demon fans were eager to see if they can't provide that bit of advice that sparks the OP's interest and success back in their first army. It's not a bad thing by any means, though it also suggests that the sites resident Tau players are on a break

... Bringing the thread back on topic, I hope.

Tau have a single standout build seen in competitive play, affectionaly called Triptide.

Three Riptides with their Ion Burst Cannon, or whatever the high fire-rate medium strength gun is called, backed up by a Battlesuit Commander giving them rerolls on an important turn. The Triptide castle is supported by a swarm of Shield Drones to keep pesky worries such as proper positioning or enemy gunfire away from your Riptides. Then, some HQ's like Ethereals to give out an aura buff and Fireblades for their 2+ BS Markerlight. Then, fill up Batallions with Fire Warriors or Pathfinders to provide screening, Command Points and additional Markerlight Support.

That being said, there are many other builds and cool ways to build Tau if you aren't looking for high competition.

And finally, take this with a grain of salt as I don't play Tau myself, but my local group has a strong Tau player with a vast collection and a love of trying to find hot, powerful Tau builds, outside of falling back on the reliable, infuriating at times, Triptide list. And, I may be out of date when it comes to tournament Tau list. Who knows, maybe something crazy like Piranahs being the most broken thing now... but I doubt it.

I can only say my experiences fighting AGAINST Tau.

Their stealth fields and drones made them frustrating in close combat, as a -1 to hit with a powerfist etc made them even harder to hit. So consider using your stealth field things to tie up troops that already have -1 to hit.

In my opinion being harder to hit is better than toughness, which is better than armour saves... except for things that automatically hit.

Tau fire warriors seem to fall like flies to things with lots of shots, like cultists.

If you're playing a mission with objectives then a guy with one of the targetting lock things can sit back and just light everything up, making your life easier.

I've never really had much fear in charging their gunlines as a 5+ to hit is still pretty shoddy in my books.

Thanks for the advice and insight guys. I am aware of the triple riptide list going around, I do plan on getting a 3rd riptide later but initially I will filling out the ranks with other items that being said 2 riptide and 2 broadsides are scheduled with the initial buy list (which will be ironed out this weekend).