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 YotsubaSnake wrote:


I always keep hammerheads in reserve, but the issue is that turn 1 droppods will just enter the battlefield and blow the everliving crap out of whatever I have on the board with me having a chance of my reserves actually not showing up. I feel that would be a bit too risky.

Well, if you see you are facing a drop pod assault situation try to deploy tanks next to as much drop-pod blocked terrain as you can, then use your troops to create a loose warp around your tanks that forbids enemies from dropping and entering into the 6 inch range from your tank, effectively reducing the threat of both melta drops and flamer drops in pods into a manageable amount, as you have time to respond to the drop and eliminate it before they can do too much harm.

After all, tacticals and dreads alike have serious problems taking down tanks from outside melta range and when charging is blocked, and flamers are weak against conga lines-so both main threats are minimized.

 BoomWolf wrote:

 YotsubaSnake wrote:


I always keep hammerheads in reserve, but the issue is that turn 1 droppods will just enter the battlefield and blow the everliving crap out of whatever I have on the board with me having a chance of my reserves actually not showing up. I feel that would be a bit too risky.

Well, if you see you are facing a drop pod assault situation try to deploy tanks next to as much drop-pod blocked terrain as you can, then use your troops to create a loose warp around your tanks that forbids enemies from dropping and entering into the 6 inch range from your tank, effectively reducing the threat of both melta drops and flamer drops in pods into a manageable amount, as you have time to respond to the drop and eliminate it before they can do too much harm.

After all, tacticals and dreads alike have serious problems taking down tanks from outside melta range and when charging is blocked, and flamers are weak against conga lines-so both main threats are minimized.

I quite like this reply. Gives me hope for what could potentially be done. I typically don't deploy vehicles and keep them in reserves but I could apply the same tactic to protect my broadsides and crisis suits which I like to deploy on the board. Then after I force him to make his T1 pods then I have the potential for my T2 hammerheads to roll up and have fun with pie plates.

The issue is that I was deploying first and I saw my opponent had bikes so I lined the nearest short edge (we were playing corners) with fire warriors so they could prevent him from outflanking effectively on that side. Unfortunately for me, he just deployed them normally.

I'm not familiar with the restrictions of drop pod deep strike as I have never played an army that has used them. I know they cannot hit terrain, but is there anything else that they cannot do?

If they scatter they automatically move so they avoid impassable terrain and units. Effectively they cannot mishap unless they scatter off the board.

Even better, due to the fact they MUST disembark, if the guys inside can't walk anywhere, they are removed as casualties, so you can use your infantry to set up "traps" with empty circles in a perfect size yet completely surrounded, abusing the drop-pod's own ability to auto-relocate himself to the nearest clear landing zone, so that if he scatters near there by attempting to drop himself too close, he risks losing his entire squad/dread just by not being able to leave the pod.

Not sure what is the base size of a pod (dont got one on me), but you need 1 more inch to every direction, but I assume a large blast is in the correct size to give a pod+1 inch diameter, and if I am right about the size, then a 12 man squad can create such a circle on it's own, then whatever suits or such you got around to make the "bad drop" area that causes pods to scatter into the "trap"

Best of all, if he questions about your formation, you outright TELL him your strategy, and look at his face as he realize that attempting to land near your guys can lead to instant-death to the entire squad/dread because of the unique deployment.

With such traps though, I think deploying as many units as possible would be best, so you can have multiple such circles, with only "expendable" units in the outer area of your forces, making any drop either be way too far from valuable units, or take a massive risk to outright die.



EDIT:
HOLY SHIZA!!!!
I just realized what I have done!
As ANY non-elite army can pull this off due to having sufficient models, and elite armies not caring all that much from drop-pod assault, did I just totally wrecked the "Rain of Iron" list?

Deploy close to the board edge, perhaps?

re: Squads of Fire Warriors with target locks and markerlights.
I've actually been avoiding this setup myself - I'm running 3-4 small squads (6-8) with a Shas'ui and a gun drone or shield drone (depends on points) and photon grenades.
I'm really enjoying running them as mobile skirmish squads, without having the heavy weapon weighing them down, just using them to distract and harass the flanks of the enemy so that I'm not always hitting the tough/worthless guys at the front.

 YotsubaSnake wrote:
Before the FAQ I constantly ran 4 squads of Firewarriors with 6 troops each. It was incredibly effective because I had the firepower of two full squads but the ability to shift half of the squad to wherever it is needed. Kinda like a psudo target lock. But post FAQ, I'm considering going back up to 2 12 man squads and giving them each a devilfish and abusing the cover save on my sea turtles.

I feel that we've beaten good units to death and have a solid idea of what works and what doesn't by this point. What I would like to shift this discussion to is how to handle a heavy drop pod list. Last time I played I got flattened by a three DP list with a biker squad that essentially pincered me in my DZ. My opponent's turn one pods had a sternguard with a librarian and a dreadnaught. I managed to clear them but the third dropped with a tactical squad that lit my remainder up. All this time, the bikers are roaring up into assault from the other direction.

How would you approach tackling a list like this? I've been wracking myself over it ever since that game and would love to hear opinions on general coping strategies.

Maneuver.

The biggest weakness of the drop pod list is that when it's on the ground, it's on the ground. They don't come with Rhinos, or Razorbacks, and unless there are other factors involved (e.g. Shryke) they just won't be all that fast. You can use a Devilfish-heavy army to quickly redeploy your forces.

In your example, I would have deployed in cover and spaced out if possible, FWs in vehicles, any Kroot or Ork allies deployed as a screen, suits in Deep Strike mode; I probably would have left the Hammerhead on the board as a fire magnet / QRC. The idea would be to endure in the first round, immediately move to destroy the enemy's ability to quickly respond (murder the bikes, bury them in pulse rifle fire... they are not some doom unit, we are uniquely capable of gunning them down with straight-up troops), and get completely out of the previous deployment zone. Denying the enemy the ability to react through killing the bikes and invalidating their drop pod placement will put you in a position to utilize your own reaction capability through suit deep strike, your higher base FW range, and transport options.

EDIT: I like DoomWolf's idea, but if I was on the other end of that, I would cluster my drop pods together and put a weight of fire on one end of the pretty circles. They'll have to be in the open and spread out enough to coax DPs into landing into the doom circles, which means that chunks of the army are going to be isolated from the rest.

So, we gathered 3 answers here.

Deepstrike your own stuff and be as mobile as possible.
Deploy as a bunker at the edge of the map.
Set up drop-pod traps.


Yea, I think it's save to say that drop pod assault HAS answers

Just watch out that those Droppods arent equipped with Deathwind Launchers.... you don't want your FWs or Kroot getting caught by those.

Remember when Kroot castles were used to protect against deep strikes?

So i have played a couple of games with Tau. and i have a few questions
1; What is the best way to use Stealth Suits?
I have seen one guy us them as mobile markerlights. Give them two Drones and such.
2:Should I run a 2 units of broadsides with 2 each and a Ion head or 3 broadsides, and a sniper team?
3: Should I get a pirahna?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So i have played a couple of games with Tau. and i have a few questions
1; What is the best way to use Stealth Suits?
I have seen one guy us them as mobile markerlights. Give them two Drones and such.
2:Should I run a 2 units of broadsides with 2 each and a Ion head or 3 broadsides, and a sniper team?
3: Should I get a pirahna?

I would say it depends on your play style and point limits but in general
1. I will ether deep strike em and in the rear and take out enemy heavy units in the back or infiltrate them into terrain and watch the enemy cry as they try hit through potential 2+ cover saves
2. With the return of target locks you could give it to the leader of a 3 man squad of broadsides that way you don’t over kill with 2 squads. Sniper drones are so so but it’s up to you.
3. This would depend on your play style as well. I could see them being useful only as a road block or a quick melta shot though I just don’t like em so I may be bias.

Also on a side note, I find that now when running kroot again, to help em survive overwatch, I will disembark all my gun drones after first blood has been cleared and use them as a mobile throw away unit to bait out over watch or for the last second contests. So I could see piranhas being useful as drone delivery vehicles.

Random thought....

in Tau 6th Ed codex, taking Commander Shadowsun might make Stealth Teams into troops....

...o.o.

 Micky wrote:
Random thought....

in Tau 6th Ed codex, taking Commander Shadowsun might make Stealth Teams into troops....

...o.o.

stealth teams into troops and sniper drone squads into fast attack scouts would be bomb

but thats just me wish listing =(

 Micky wrote:
Random thought....

in Tau 6th Ed codex, taking Commander Shadowsun might make Stealth Teams into troops....

...o.o.

Me and my local GW managers thoughts are that Farsight will make Crisis suits troops, or at the very least a single unit of them (similar to Warbosses and Nobz).

 A Town Called Malus wrote:


Me and my local GW managers thoughts are that Farsight will make Crisis suits troops, or at the very least a single unit of them (similar to Warbosses and Nobz).

It would be cool if they also brought back the old +1 WS rule, or something similar like giving crisis suits a power weapon, to represent the fact that Farsight troops are trained differently.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So i have played a couple of games with Tau. and i have a few questions
1; What is the best way to use Stealth Suits?
I have seen one guy us them as mobile markerlights. Give them two Drones and such.
2:Should I run a 2 units of broadsides with 2 each and a Ion head or 3 broadsides, and a sniper team?
3: Should I get a pirahna?

1. There are a number of different uses for the stealth suits. Marker teams (what you've suggested here) are an option; I think they cost too much to be a dedicated markerlight unit for their return, although you are buying some very durable markerlights. Big dakka balls with 6 suits, 12 drones, and 28 S5 shots a round are another option. A third option is a bare minimum team with fusion guns, EMP grenades on the Shas'vre, and utilizing deep strike to take out critical armored targets. Personally, I lean more towards #2, with a dedicated HQ to give it a bit of medium armor killing punch. The Shas'el inherits the stealth and shrouded bonuses from the unit, so that's useful.

2. I think that's really determined by your army composition and what you're trying to accomplish. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of sniper teams. They're better than they were, but they're still not good enough, and I'll be looking for them to be 0-2 Troops in the next codex.

3. I'm not currently sold on Pirahna, not because they're bad (they're a little overcosted but really hard to kill at this point compared to their ability to screw with adversary movement) but because I like some of the other available options for Fast Attack, like Pathfinders. Pirahna need a slightly heavier arms load before I'd go with them.

A Piranha with Fusion Blaster and D-pods could be pretty useful as a fire magnet/sponge now. Turn one you flat out down the board making sure you stop in a position where enemy units can't get within 12" of you but where you'll be able to threaten a vehicle or other expensive unit (such as a T4 IC on his own) on your next turn. Meanwhile you move up the rest of your force to positions of strength in the centre of the field.

Your opponent then has to decide whether to ignore the Piranha and shoot at your main force, which risks losing something shiny to a Fusion Blaster, or to try and break through a 2+ cover save which will take quite a bit of his armies firepower, either in the form of small arms to try and glance you to death or with bigger guns to try and pop it outright.

Most opponents don't want a Fast Skimmer borne Meltagun roaming in their backfield so some of their shooting is going to be going its way.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:
A Piranha with Fusion Blaster and D-pods could be pretty useful as a fire magnet/sponge now. Turn one you flat out down the board making sure you stop in a position where enemy units can't get within 12" of you but where you'll be able to threaten a vehicle or other expensive unit (such as a T4 IC on his own) on your next turn. Meanwhile you move up the rest of your force to positions of strength in the centre of the field.

Your opponent then has to decide whether to ignore the Piranha and shoot at your main force, which risks losing something shiny to a Fusion Blaster, or to try and break through a 2+ cover save which will take quite a bit of his armies firepower, either in the form of small arms to try and glance you to death or with bigger guns to try and pop it outright.

Most opponents don't want a Fast Skimmer borne Meltagun roaming in their backfield so some of their shooting is going to be going its way.

Pirahna TX-42 probably even better for that, right?

Id like to clarify regarding the ASS wargear (the stuff mentioned in the first post of this thread), ASS says you choose to use it at the movement phase and you have SnP until end of turn. Turn is always referred to as Player Turn as opposed to game (pg 9 of BRB), so broadsides with ASS do not have SnP during the opponents turn and can then overwatch if assaulted. Also why would you activate the ASS if you wanted to run?

Only if they get better weapons, Like give stealth suits a plasma rifle or access to other wargear like a flame.

Played a league game last night vs C:SM and C:BA with my Tau and a friend using DE. The game totals were 1250 per player, so 2500 points per side. In terms of flyers, our side had 2 barracudas and a razorwing jet fighter, they had a single storm raven. They also had a quad gun -- Those things are ridiculously good vs flyers with low AV. It was a great game with tons of back-and-forth action, my HQ crisis team was nearly clobbered by mephiston - I thought i had them hidden but he could see a gun drone through a window - then he rolled 1,1 to charge, re-rolled with fleet and got 1,1 again! It saved me - I was able to JSJ and get him with plasma rifles on my turn.

The Barracuda Air Superiority Fighters were the main things I wanted to try out in the list - I managed to evade the quad gun with 1 the turn they came on the table, and both survived until turns 5 and 6. The storm raven laughed off their s7 shooting, however, so i spent the rest of the game targeting infantry with them. Flyer mobility is really limited, especially when your opponent has enough ground troops to block where they can be placed. however, the s7 ap3 ion cannons worked great vs space marines, then the dark eldar splinter weaponry blanketed squads with armor saves finishing them off.

So, all in all a great game, I had a lot of fun, the new disruption pods make hammerheads and devilfish nearly invincible to long-range shooting. I can't wait to get some more games in with my flyers, and soon I will have and test out the XV-9 hazard suit and commander shas'o r'alai. I'm going to try them first with Phased ion Guns (PiGs) and counts-as pulse submunitions once or twice as well.

On the subject of Piranha's, they generally suck. The TX-42 from forgeworld however is great. You can give it twin-linked missile pods, giving it 4 S7 shots, Twin Linked, for relatively cheap, as well as having 2 fusion blasters, 2 of everything as opposed to the one shot fusion blaster than generally lets you down half the game :/

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
So i have played a couple of games with Tau. and i have a few questions
1; What is the best way to use Stealth Suits?
I have seen one guy us them as mobile markerlights. Give them two Drones and such.

I personally run two squads of 6 suits each, one equipped with two fusion and the other all burst. I use them as a front line infiltration to help distract my opponent while the rest of my forces get into position. They jump around being elusive and doing what damage they can (fusion hunting vehicles and 2+ armor obviously). Your opponents don't take kindly to that kind of hit and run abuse and will obviously direct their firepower that way.

2:Should I run a 2 units of broadsides with 2 each and a Ion head or 3 broadsides, and a sniper team?

Since target locks came back, sniper teams are more viable now. I can't really vote one way or the other seeing as both an ion heads and sniper teams benefit from cover save bonuses they have their advantages.

3: Should I get a pirahna?

I personally didn't like them before the new FAQ but if you do take one now, be incredibly aggressive. Nothing is scarier than something that flies around at that speed with a 2+ cover save and pops your valuable vehicles and troops almost effortlessly.

The Ion Head seems actually pretty cool these days, especially with Broadsides handling the vehicle killin duties.... 130pts makes a pretty decent heavy infantry killer which can stay quite mobile and keep out of range.

Sniper drone teams have just as much killing potential for much cheaper, but are potentially more vulnerable, especially since they cant move without giving up their firepower.

Still... 3x Sniper Drone teams taking up 1 slot in your force is not something to sneeze at.
240points for 3 squads of 3 rail rifles with +3 to cover saves? Keep those guys safe and they can seriously clean up.

Don't forget 3 markerlights that can REALLY mess up your opponent's day are bagged in the price.

 BoomWolf wrote:
Don't forget 3 markerlights that can REALLY mess up your opponent's day are bagged in the price.

BS4 markerlights, at that. The 3 drone controllers can pile tokens onto a key unit, while the sniper drones try to force pinning checks on other infantry.

Or just send some random pieces of space marines flying.

 Micky wrote:
The Ion Head seems actually pretty cool these days, especially with Broadsides handling the vehicle killin duties.... 130pts makes a pretty decent heavy infantry killer which can stay quite mobile and keep out of range.

Sniper drone teams have just as much killing potential for much cheaper, but are potentially more vulnerable, especially since they cant move without giving up their firepower.

Still... 3x Sniper Drone teams taking up 1 slot in your force is not something to sneeze at.
240points for 3 squads of 3 rail rifles with +3 to cover saves? Keep those guys safe and they can seriously clean up.

It's silly, but if you're playing with FW rules, TL Plasma Cannon > Ion Cannon every day of the week

For the same price you get:
same STR & AP
+1 Shot
Twin Linked
- 12" range

paidinfull wrote:

 Micky wrote:
The Ion Head seems actually pretty cool these days, especially with Broadsides handling the vehicle killin duties.... 130pts makes a pretty decent heavy infantry killer which can stay quite mobile and keep out of range.

Sniper drone teams have just as much killing potential for much cheaper, but are potentially more vulnerable, especially since they cant move without giving up their firepower.

Still... 3x Sniper Drone teams taking up 1 slot in your force is not something to sneeze at.
240points for 3 squads of 3 rail rifles with +3 to cover saves? Keep those guys safe and they can seriously clean up.

It's silly, but if you're playing with FW rules, TL Plasma Cannon > Ion Cannon every day of the week

For the same price you get:
same STR & AP
+1 Shot
Twin Linked
- 12" range

When playing my FLOrkPlayer, I was thinking of running a Plas head & a Missile head both with burst cannons, the terrain thing, DPods, Fletchettes and MTs

The missile head is not my flavor of ice cream, but I think the plasma head is just amazing.

It makes marines cry, and for a good reason too.

Sure, less range, but how often will you need that much range against freaking marines that are coming to your face anyway?

So How are Kroot? Someone recommended get 15 kroot and 10 hounds so i can have 75 attacks on the charge. with hounds going before SM in initiative.
Someone also said Tau is bad for a new player like me, To be good at them i need t be a veteran.