# Some help with Anti Tau tactics



## Guddijon (Nov 24, 2009)

Hi there I have been wondering recently about anti Tau tactics for my Space Marines. Mainly because my friend plays a Tau army. What are your main tactics to deal with them using Space marines. I would appreciate any helpful advice you can give or your thoughts on this matter.


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## Raptors8th (Jul 3, 2009)

Assault them. It's that simple. If a single marine gets into close combat with Tau they're fucked, so just run your marines right up to them, keep them n their Rhinos, and then jump out and beat the shit out of them. Also, keep everything int transports so they're not exposed to Pulse rifles, which are statistically the same as bolters.


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

B I K E S are ace against Tau. High T, quick as hell and since even guards are lethal to Tau in CC you should be able to figure out the rest yourself...


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## scubamansam (Aug 15, 2009)

wow ive got the same prob but i found that cc termies in a land raider redeemer and termie chaplain own aswell as 2 squads of assualt marines (cus thats all i have right now) of ten marines and a jump pack chaplain. you tear through them like they're nothing but you need a heavy wepon or two to help with those pesky crises suits


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## Sethis (Jun 4, 2009)

Land Raiders vs Tau =

"HEY!! MR RAILGUN!! OVER HERE!! PICK ME!! OOOOH, PLEASE PICK ME!!"

.....

KEEEEZOOWWWWW - THUNK - KABOOOOOM

Passenger: "That was our RIDE, you bastard!"

Bikers are a good choice, as are Assault Marines. Running Tac squads with the free Flamer and ML is probably a good idea too. For the love of god remember to pop smoke at the end of your turn 1.


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## Lopspoon (Jun 23, 2009)

Bikers and Assault marines are useful, but your rhino's will most likely be wasted points. Even the most basic tau troops can glance your rhinos front armour. As well, your rhinos are also very vulnerable to the tau players missile pods.

Perhaps another thing to bring are lascannons, these can easily instant kill those pesky tau battlesuits. Maybe try bringing a drop pod, which can deliver troops into the middle of the Tau forces which is any Tau players worst nightmare.


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## Arkanor (Jan 1, 2010)

Raptors8th said:


> Assault them. It's that simple. If a single marine gets into close combat with Tau they're fucked, so just run your marines right up to them, keep them n their Rhinos, and then jump out and beat the shit out of them. Also, keep everything int transports so they're not exposed to Pulse rifles, which are statistically the same as bolters.


Vehicles are bad news bears against Tau unless you're fielding a lot of them (think target saturation.) Light vehicles are even worse, why?

Your average (1250-2000) Tau army will have a couple Railheads and plenty of missile pods. Add to that you could be seeing an additional Railhead or a couple of Broadside suits and your vehicles are going to be in for bad times unless you can knock out that anti tank first (you won't with just Rhinos.) Smoke launchers help loads but they'll be able to Marker one up and take it out. Pulse Rifles are also not the same stat-line as Bolters, having S5 and more range (this means they can also put the hurt on Rhinos if lucky.)

What hurts Tau? Pods for one, getting the first shot on them from close range is a real downer, especially if you can get close enough to one of their tanks to Melta it without that silly Disruption Pod save. Sternguard are your friend here because they can drop in and split fire immediately. Taking out these key units can allow your Assault units to cover the distance they need to, if you're using them. When using pods though, multiples are best, half-committing with one pod is a good way to lose your unit (unless you're just planning to use it as a bomb anyway.)

Alternatively, you can just run like hell at them with tons of assault troops and a bunch of Land Raiders and hope for the best (Hes'tan or Shrike works great for this.) Use your smoke!


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## Guddijon (Nov 24, 2009)

Thanks for the helpful tips and advice guys


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## Ishamael (Aug 26, 2008)

Whenever I've played against Tau, it always came down to terrain manipulation, which you can't really affect, and getting them in the assault.

If you want to make the Tau cry, use Sternguard in a Pod with combi-weapons of whatever nature, say half flamer half melta. If you get in a spot to flame Fire Warriors and combat squad to fire meltas at Crisis Suit squads, you win.


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## PurePwnage (Feb 19, 2010)

obviously the only way to beat tau is in cc. but you will be destroyed before you reach them if you don't keep your units in cover. i would choose to run from cover to cover as you made it down the board. or you will be obliterated before you got a chance to get into a fight.
and if you're choosing to deepstrike. don't put it in the middle of a tau army, because everything they have will be targeted at you. not a very smart idea


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## Shanny2 (Feb 17, 2010)

Tau r only good at ranged attacks and u should attack them in close combat and kill the kroot with ranged units good luck


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## Coder59 (Aug 23, 2009)

I find the best way to kill Tau is to surprise the player.

Most Tau players seem to think their opponent is going to sit there like the guard and try and out gun them. The trick i find best is to play to the Space Marines mobility, Pile everything into Rhinos and Landraiders, sure the Tau might be able to take out the Rhinos but any player worth their salt is going to be more worried about your bike squads and Landspeeders, not to mention that huge honking Land Raider bearing down on them. 

While all this is going on i like to keep a Whirlwind handy to keep up a constant stream of ordenance.

Troops wise since i'm a whore for Dark Angels i like to send in the Veterans as many as possibly followed up by a couple of nice big tactical squads that way even the Kroot aren't much of a worry. Keep them as close as possible and don't skimp on the flamers. A lot of Tau players mount their fire warriors in Devilfish and shout things like "First you have to catch me!" that's what attack bikes are for.


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## Darkangels4me (Aug 9, 2011)

I play two friends who have Tau, and I've found several methods of elimination to be effective.

For the suits, use devastator squads with plasma cannons. Although they are a point-guzzler, they take out whole suit squads with ease, as they ignore the armor. Also, once the suits are gone, the devastators can be easily re-tasked to other targets, like Hammerheads.

For the Fire Warriors and Kroot, Use Bikes of any sort, or anything with Homers, for that matter. Turbo Boost the first round, as this will give you a +3 cover save. If you are in range of the targets, DS some termies near the bikes, because they won't scatter. Try to get them close to cover, and give them 1 or 2 heavy weapons. After they land, move them into cover and lay down some fire. On the second turn, use your remaining bikes to move deeper into the lines and attack from the rear, while the termies move once again towards the enemy, fire, and then assault. If you can, try to get your bikes into combat, as being in combat will prevent them from being shot at. Not only will this deprive the Tau of shooting targets, it will exterminate the majority of their forces. 

When using Dreadnoughts, be sure to arm them with assault cannons and Plasma Cannons, it will make them more versatile when dealing with multiple targets. 

That is all I can give, hope it was helpful.


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