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So my friend who plays Tau (he actually picked up space wolves as well as an alternate army).
But when I run my AD Mech against him I almost always lose.
His favourite tactic is this:

Have a riptide, broadside and 7 fire warriors behind or on a Tidewall. Park the drone that allows him to outflank on that border.
Have in outflank stealth suits with homing beacons and another drone with the outflank border edge. The stealth suits outflank in behind my tanks/Knights/destroyers.
Is DSR he has about 6-9 Cirisis suits armed with multiple weapons systems and his commander. DS without scatter and then usually table me on T2 or blast me down to barly any models.
Generally brings a infiltration cadre, or an OSC.

I've ran 2 war convocation's against him. He decimated me one time, and I got super lucky the second with when he rolled super badly allowing me to survive till my shooting phase. I wiped out his suits and then the riptide murdered me.

Generally looking for advice, tips and techniques to kill the foul xenos.
I have a complete Ad mech list (except electro priests, I don't see them gettin any good till I can hide them in a transport)

I've found it pointless to beat them at Victory points, even on a 4x4 board. Killing them outright is the way to go.
As for actually doing that, the most success I had, in a 750pts game, was to cheese him with a Dunecrawler, Krios, Knight Gallant, and Dominus with the Uncreator gauntlet.
Naturally, I gravitate to using mostly mêlée, which the Tau despise, but I can't get away with it on large boards, bar the Knight.

Given his use of static lines, he'll be relying on cover. What do? Elimination Maniple.
There's alot of bullets to potentially reflect, and you can completely nullify his cover.
Sounds like you're playing 2000+, so you could stick in some Ironstrider Cavaliers to tarpit some git.

Thinking about it, I reckon you can beat him in VP, using a Holy Requisitioner, Cavaliers, Gallant, maybe a Killcade, to tarpit his high mobility, whilst darting around with Rangers to cover objectives, and chipping away at his gunlines.
If he wants/needs to do some capping, and you've successfully tarpitted, he'll be forced to pull out his fire warriors. Might be more savvy to get some Vanguard in anticipation of this; they'll utterly ruin infantry.

Mainly do between 1000 and 2000 points.
Tried an elimination maniple once but I deployed first and he placed his gun line on the complete other side of the board. So it didn't shoot at that one bit.

Kirov... What model is that?

Used a holy requisitioner on him once. Did some damage until he remembered he had interceptor on his guns and made the game back track to that point and then blew that formation out of the sky...

I've normally used Rangers as sitting in the backfield taking pot shots at things.

nicehunter wrote:
Mainly do between 1000 and 2000 points.
Tried an elimination maniple once but I deployed first and he placed his gun line on the complete other side of the board. So it didn't shoot at that one bit.

Kirov... What model is that?

Used a holy requisitioner on him once. Did some damage until he remembered he had interceptor on his guns and made the game back track to that point and then blew that formation out of the sky...

I've normally used Rangers as sitting in the backfield taking pot shots at things.

I was under the impression that whoever wins the Go First roll chooses who goes first?

Krios battle tank is a Taghmata unit (Forgeworld).

I forgot about the Tau's abundance of anti-air...
I suppose the Requisitoner is really an anti-tank formation.
(Stupid monstrous creature battle suits...)

Breachers with Torsion Cannons and Kastellans are about the only thing that has a chance at not getting shot off the table immediately. Bonus points for the breachers having a reasonable chance at taking down a riptide in 1 turn and will double out broadsides and crisis even without doing multiple wounds.

Destroyers are going to be evaporated because tau missiles are wounding on 2's and ignoring armour, your foot troops are going to get mowed down by even basic tau guns and won't get their FNP against anything better than a burst cannon or pulse rifle.

Unless he has a stormsurge, I'm not sure how he's dropping your knight so easily, unless he's picking up tank hunter on those missilesides via a commander or firebase cadre.

As is always the case against tau, the more markerlights you can remove, the better your chances are, especially since you've got access to shroudpsalm.

Point your guns at his markerlights and don't stop 'till they're dead turn 1, then aim for broadsides, then firewarriors and save the riptide for last. Send your knight down a flank opposite to your main forces, this should force him to either split his forces (especially since he's running a farsight bomb), leaving your other half able to deal with the remainder of his army or will force him to castle in a corner, in which case a Paladin/Crusader can outrange everything but a riptide and you just hang back and pound him then move up once his support units are dead.

Are you playing eternal war or maelstrom mission or just kill points? Playing missions other than purge is usually a good way to force static gunlines to move up or lose.

 Drasius wrote:
Breachers with Torsion Cannons and Kastellans are about the only thing that has a chance at not getting shot off the table immediately. Bonus points for the breachers having a reasonable chance at taking down a riptide in 1 turn and will double out broadsides and crisis even without doing multiple wounds.

Destroyers are going to be evaporated because tau missiles are wounding on 2's and ignoring armour, your foot troops are going to get mowed down by even basic tau guns and won't get their FNP against anything better than a burst cannon or pulse rifle.

Unless he has a stormsurge, I'm not sure how he's dropping your knight so easily, unless he's picking up tank hunter on those missilesides via a commander or firebase cadre.

As is always the case against tau, the more markerlights you can remove, the better your chances are, especially since you've got access to shroudpsalm.

Point your guns at his markerlights and don't stop 'till they're dead turn 1, then aim for broadsides, then firewarriors and save the riptide for last. Send your knight down a flank opposite to your main forces, this should force him to either split his forces (especially since he's running a farsight bomb), leaving your other half able to deal with the remainder of his army or will force him to castle in a corner, in which case a Paladin/Crusader can outrange everything but a riptide and you just hang back and pound him then move up once his support units are dead.

Are you playing eternal war or maelstrom mission or just kill points? Playing missions other than purge is usually a good way to force static gunlines to move up or lose.

Killed the knight by having his commander and 3 crisis suits DS in his rear armour and put 8 fusion shots with tank hunter. The blast only killed 1 suit and his commander down a wound.

We did objectives but he got a lot of "kill gak in shooting".

 Buddingsquaw wrote:

nicehunter wrote:
Mainly do between 1000 and 2000 points.
Tried an elimination maniple once but I deployed first and he placed his gun line on the complete other side of the board. So it didn't shoot at that one bit.

Kirov... What model is that?

Used a holy requisitioner on him once. Did some damage until he remembered he had interceptor on his guns and made the game back track to that point and then blew that formation out of the sky...

I've normally used Rangers as sitting in the backfield taking pot shots at things.

I was under the impression that whoever wins the Go First roll chooses who goes first?

Krios battle tank is a Taghmata unit (Forgeworld).

I forgot about the Tau's abundance of anti-air...
I suppose the Requisitoner is really an anti-tank formation.
(Stupid monstrous creature battle suits...)

I won deployment but he managed to seize. Didn't do a whole lot of damage on T1. Used some gunships to do some missile hits but noting major.

I have found that Tau are the direct counter to Ad Mech and in general it is useless to play the two against each other. Tau are literally Ad Mech+1, especially since Ad Mech lost drop pods due to the new FAQ.

Skitarii are known for three things: They got a high amount of good shooting weapons, they have high BS due to doctrina imperatives and they fold like wet paper because T3 and poor saves.
Tau have an even higher amount of better shooting weapons, the same high BS because of markerlights , rather high durability because of their multiwound 2+ save models that are on the table most of the time. On top of that they ignore cover any cover they want most of the time, which Ad Mech dearly needs to boost their poor survivability.

 Buddingsquaw wrote:

Thinking about it, I reckon you can beat him in VP, using a Holy Requisitioner, Cavaliers, Gallant, maybe a Killcade, to tarpit his high mobility, whilst darting around with Rangers to cover objectives, and chipping away at his gunlines.
If he wants/needs to do some capping, and you've successfully tarpitted, he'll be forced to pull out his fire warriors. Might be more savvy to get some Vanguard in anticipation of this; they'll utterly ruin infantry.

Sicarians are made absolutely redundant against Tau. They pay a premium price for 2 wounds, 4+ armour and FNP, all on a T3 model. Guess what Tau has in spades!? Str 6+ AP4 weaponry that makes all of that useless!
BTW, I haven't seen a firewarrior hit the table since the new codex.

DaPino wrote:
I have found that Tau are the direct counter to Ad Mech and in general it is useless to play the two against each other. Tau are literally Ad Mech+1, especially since Ad Mech lost drop pods due to the new FAQ.

Skitarii are known for three things: They got a high amount of good shooting weapons, they have high BS due to doctrina imperatives and they fold like wet paper because T3 and poor saves.
Tau have an even higher amount of better shooting weapons, the same high BS because of markerlights , rather high durability because of their multiwound 2+ save models that are on the table most of the time. On top of that they ignore cover any cover they want most of the time, which Ad Mech dearly needs to boost their poor survivability.

Sicarians are made absolutely redundant against Tau. They pay a premium price for 2 wounds, 4+ armour and FNP, all on a T3 model. Guess what Tau has in spades!? Str 6+ AP4 weaponry that makes all of that useless!
BTW, I haven't seen a firewarrior hit the table since the new codex.

So AdMech won't win against Tau under most circumstances because their codex is just better?
Hmm so what would kick his blueberry xenos ass then?
Or should I drop some Wraith knights on his head?

I play Skitarii and win against tau all the time. You got to be multi threat. Killclade will do alot just because even with all that shooting thats still alot of models to kill. Skitarii are cheap so you got to out number him and play some units bare bones and use them to distract higher shooting units.

nicehunter wrote:

DaPino wrote:
I have found that Tau are the direct counter to Ad Mech and in general it is useless to play the two against each other. Tau are literally Ad Mech+1, especially since Ad Mech lost drop pods due to the new FAQ.

Skitarii are known for three things: They got a high amount of good shooting weapons, they have high BS due to doctrina imperatives and they fold like wet paper because T3 and poor saves.
Tau have an even higher amount of better shooting weapons, the same high BS because of markerlights , rather high durability because of their multiwound 2+ save models that are on the table most of the time. On top of that they ignore cover any cover they want most of the time, which Ad Mech dearly needs to boost their poor survivability.

Sicarians are made absolutely redundant against Tau. They pay a premium price for 2 wounds, 4+ armour and FNP, all on a T3 model. Guess what Tau has in spades!? Str 6+ AP4 weaponry that makes all of that useless!
BTW, I haven't seen a firewarrior hit the table since the new codex.

So AdMech won't win against Tau under most circumstances because their codex is just better?
Hmm so what would kick his blueberry xenos ass then?
Or should I drop some Wraith knights on his head?

You could always eBay up an Eldar Wraithknight/Scatpack list, or as I like to call it: The Nuclear Option.

To answer the OP seriously, put more LOS-blocking terrain on the board. It'll force him to come out of his little bunker and actually engage you. Skitarii are decent-good in melee. Tau are poor-decent (with a couple notable exceptions). Make him get close and charge his ass! Los-blocking terrain will also mitigate his supporting fire. They can't overwatch what they can't see.

Get an Ordinatus Saggitar and vaporize a big chunk of the Tau-army every turn?
Yeah, I know. It is a little excessive....

nicehunter wrote:
So AdMech won't win against Tau under most circumstances because their codex is just better?
Hmm so what would kick his blueberry xenos ass then?
Or should I drop some Wraith knights on his head?

Let me preface this by saying that I main Tau.

Tau aren't "better" than Ad Mech, per se. They are just the scissors to Ad Mech's paper. The problem is almost all of your defenses are negated by special rules that Tau have. And with the nerfs to drop pods and VSGs that problem just got more difficult. If you're thinking about allies, I would go the other route and stick with Imperium. Take up something tough with invulnerable saves and FNP that won't fold to missile pods and heavy burst cannons, and include some librarians with some of those fancy quick assault powers. Whether its Wolf Cav or Marine bikes, just make sure its T5 and fast as hell. Use skitarii for back field objectives and support. You have to pretty much give up on playing WarCon against them, as even with all their free stuff you can't really afford to take the tricks I just mentioned.

 culsandar wrote:

nicehunter wrote:
So AdMech won't win against Tau under most circumstances because their codex is just better?
Hmm so what would kick his blueberry xenos ass then?
Or should I drop some Wraith knights on his head?

Let me preface this by saying that I main Tau.

Tau aren't "better" than Ad Mech, per se. They are just the scissors to Ad Mech's paper. The problem is almost all of your defenses are negated by special rules that Tau have. And with the nerfs to drop pods and VSGs that problem just got more difficult. If you're thinking about allies, I would go the other route and stick with Imperium. Take up something tough with invulnerable saves and FNP that won't fold to missile pods and heavy burst cannons, and include some librarians with some of those fancy quick assault powers. Whether its Wolf Cav or Marine bikes, just make sure its T5 and fast as hell. Use skitarii for back field objectives and support. You have to pretty much give up on playing WarCon against them, as even with all their free stuff you can't really afford to take the tricks I just mentioned.

So bring in some bikers with invuls. Can bikers get invuls?
Not sure as I don't play space marines.
As for librarians I've got enough to run a conclave so I'll do that more now.

 Ankhalagon wrote:
Get an Ordinatus Saggitar and vaporize a big chunk of the Tau-army every turn?
Yeah, I know. It is a little excessive....

Well considering he just bought a Tau Tiger shark and plans to use it.
A massive cannon that blow the bejesus out of him. I'll take that. "That's a nice lot of targets and I got a 6 good bye everything.
Pity it doesn't fit with a war conv...

nicehunter wrote:

 Ankhalagon wrote:
Get an Ordinatus Saggitar and vaporize a big chunk of the Tau-army every turn?
Yeah, I know. It is a little excessive....

Well considering he just bought a Tau Tiger shark and plans to use it.
A massive cannon that blow the bejesus out of him. I'll take that. "That's a nice lot of targets and I got a 6 good bye everything.
Pity it doesn't fit with a war conv...

No, but it can be taken as a LoW for Skitarii, although I'm not sure if you can still keep a list bound if you simply attatch the Sagittar to the War Cohort, for the sake of it being accompanied by the minimum for a Skitarii Maniple (even though there's not a slot in the Codex for a LoW).

If really need be, you can (I'm pretty sure), simply get another 2 Vanguard/Ranger squads, give that the Sagittar, and pass it off as a typical Allied Detatchment to your Convocation.
Barebones, that detatchment will be 810 pts.

 Buddingsquaw wrote:

nicehunter wrote:

 Ankhalagon wrote:
Get an Ordinatus Saggitar and vaporize a big chunk of the Tau-army every turn?
Yeah, I know. It is a little excessive....

Well considering he just bought a Tau Tiger shark and plans to use it.
A massive cannon that blow the bejesus out of him. I'll take that. "That's a nice lot of targets and I got a 6 good bye everything.
Pity it doesn't fit with a war conv...

No, but it can be taken as a LoW for Skitarii, although I'm not sure if you can still keep a list bound if you simply attatch the Sagittar to the War Cohort, for the sake of it being accompanied by the minimum for a Skitarii Maniple (even though there's not a slot in the Codex for a LoW).

If really need be, you can (I'm pretty sure), simply get another 2 Vanguard/Ranger squads, give that the Sagittar, and pass it off as a typical Allied Detatchment to your Convocation.
Barebones, that detatchment will be 810 pts.

It's defiently something to think about. Battle scribe allows it in the Cult Mech CAD