# Tau gunline?



## Siege (Jan 18, 2008)

Does anybody run a competitive Tau gunline list? 

I've always (well, since I started playing Tau Empire) used a mobile force and even with FoF not being quite as effective in 5th Edition I feel I've got my mobile Tau tactics pretty much on point. 

So now I want to learn how to play a gunline army, I have experimented with several changes in my lists recently but they have not been as successful as I hoped.


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

I don't see them working tbh. With cover aplenty,then your shooting is going to be damped by a fair bit. With a mobile list you can quite easily deny the enemy cover.


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## Dragannia (May 12, 2008)

Static gunlines also, in my experience, tend to be easily disrupted by outflanking units, like Scorpions.


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## when in doubt shoot! (Oct 19, 2008)

hmm, I much prefer to be able to rapidly redeploy when (or if) your original lines are over run. It makes it a lot easier to keep out of the enemis cc units. I call it "gun 'n' run!"


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

Very true, on all points. I tend to face power armored enemies and don't care what cover they take against my pulse rifle shots. Against enemies that wouldn't be able to take an armor save against my pulse rifles, I do care what cover I allow them to take. One of the good things about static Tau army is that it can, should and would be improved by taking pathfinders. First off, the markerlight shots they can provide, while immobile are invaluable. Beyond that the devilfish that pathfinders have to take benefits the army more in fifth edition. The devilfish can now transport around fire warriors and comes with the handy locator beacon, allowing deep strikers it can see to re-roll scatter. While I haven't won the majority of my games, a static Tau army forces me to think of where I deploy, how I deploy and what enemy I target first, second and so on. Movement and assault are lacking, but a static Tau forces you to take a lot into consideration, even wound allocation.


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

I play a gunline tau but i play a high crisis suit list 12 at minimum and use them to cover the flanks
however i do specifically choose my crisis weaponry to suit the enemy 
for example against marines i take twin plasma and TA 
against guard burst cannon and flamers
its not particuarly balanced but very effective 
i dont know if it works against hordes as i have never faced a horde army with it becos most of my opponents are marines necrons etc 3+ saves


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

I think it's fair to say that Tau aren't really meant to be a gunline army, both according to their fluff and the way the army works. They are all about mobile firing in my opinion and actually have very little in the way of heavy weps.

Out of interest, why would you want to make a gunline? I really like how my Tau play and the idea of nailing them to a position doesn't appeal at all.


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

Someguy said:


> Out of interest, why would you want to make a gunline? I really like how my Tau play and the idea of nailing them to a position doesn't appeal at all.


I would love to give u a great tactical analysis and say i play it becos its tactically superior but its actually money
i couldnt afford the devilfish when i started the army
and i began to win quite a lot without a devilfish so why buy one when u win without it
and also i like to think of myself as using a the silent hunter strategy
Offer him the gun line 
then slam him with the crisis suits 
its not pretty like mech tau but it works lol
dont know why it just does


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

Money is a good reason. We waste too much of the stuff on plastic spacemen at the best of times!

Actually I was really questioning the OP. An army with 10 suits in it can be very mobile and quite a lot of fun to play. It's the lines of Fire warriors I don't understand.


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## Trandoshanjake (Jul 22, 2008)

I mainly play a gunline because I like to roll a fuckton of dice. It also provides my anti-horde, so I can invest in more railguns elsewhere.


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## Siege (Jan 18, 2008)

Someguy said:


> Out of interest, why would you want to make a gunline? I really like how my Tau play and the idea of nailing them to a position doesn't appeal at all.


That's a good question and it's one I've been asked a few times since I have obviously moved away from my regular (and generally competitive) list and started playing a gunline army. 

If it's not broken why fix it? 

I guess I don't really have an answer. I just like to try new things and playing my Tau like this has definitely been challenging. It's also got a lot to do with my recent expansion into Apocalypse battles, I just don't have enough Devilfish for all my Fire Warriors anymore. People keep telling me a Tau gunline will simply not work but I believe there has got to be some way it can be effective.


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

I started playing a gun line style because I enjoyed painting soldiers so much better than painting vehicles. The gun line style is a lot riskier than a mobile Tau and has less tactical options. I recently purchased several devilfish and will paint them up eventually. Until then, my gun line is in the minority of armies in my LGC where most armies are space marines or a mechanized horde. That and, honestly, I don't think I would be tactically sound with a transport mechanized army. The other problem I have, conceptually is how to overcome the BS 3 of fire warriors without taking a pathfinder squad. SMTs are very attractive, but are much more expensive than a pathfinder team. That being said, I'm going to be adding suits to my list and might just post my list latter. Tactically, a pure gun line is inflexible and immobile, but a gun line that can mount about half of it's squads up and is supported by crisis suits seems like it could be very powerful.


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I think a hammer and anvil type setup would work well.

A strong core of static units (say a couple of large FW teams, or several small ones, and maybe some broadsides or snipers), supported by fast, mobile elements like battlesuits and vehicles (including your devilfish) could be tactically effective. Use your warfish and fast units to flank and herd enemies towards your strategically placed fire teams

unfortunately in 5th with only Troops being able to secure objectives, a static troop core just doesn't do the job anymore. So if you DO convert to a gunline style army, KEEP YOUR FISH!

Kit your devilfish out as warfish, use them as light tanks to harass the enemy, but keep them where they can be put to use for a last minute objective dash.

Hold your gunline for most of the game, then break it up in the last couple turns and make a mad dash for objectives.

That, or reverse the setup and begin play with your troops mounted up, rush the objectives quickly, then dig in and try to hold them for the course of the game, but that could be a tall order

Worth noting: Another reason to keep your fish...in 5th, dedicated transports are allowed to pick up and move other units, so long as they are (non-jump) Infantry. Which means your sniper teams, if you use them, can be moved around. Kroot too (even oxes and hounds)...can't haul Broadsides though, special restriction about them on the devilfish stats

So your unused fishies can still be used to redeploy other units.

I'm not saying these are the most effective ideas ever, just some alternative ways to use those devilfsh, if you've got them


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## ObiFett (Sep 9, 2008)

I play a very mobile Tau army: Crisis Suits, SMT, Devilfish, Hammerhead. But I have recently been wanting to experiment with a more static element to see how it plays and change thing up a bit. So my question is, what makes an effective Tau Gun line?

I would assume: Six XV88s, Full Sniper Drone teams, and 4-5 full squads of Firewarriors with maybe some Kroot? Am I off in that assumption?


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

I have never used a sniper drone team in my life 
i dont particualrly like them
This is my tactic
I use 4 by 10 fire warriors and 2/3 broadsides 
Hold the line with fire warriors and broadsides in whatever cover u can find
usually 2 hammerheads with railguns on both flanks
thats the battle line
then 12 crisis suits and the occasional piranha work the flanks 
the battle line has a good range and i use it to thin down squads to give the crisis a chance or to wipe out a squad member that my crisis suit has failed to annihilate 
primary target is fast assaulters
then ranged weaponry 
broadsides deal with the tanks
hammerheads support broadsides and then large blast big squads
piranhas move 24 inches and come behind at the sides of any tnaks in cover
works against everthing but guard and dark reapers lol
dam those pointy headed eldar
if i need to take an objective normally begin to move the remaining fire warriors forward to take any in the middle in th 4th turn
However my mentality is if he has no troops he cant hold objectives 
thus worst u can do is draw


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