# Tau Tactics Update



## bobgernut (Feb 6, 2008)

Hey all,

So, I used to play Tau a while back and then I quit the army due to me losing every game with them. I have now found out this was because I played them as a static fire line.

I'm now starting to get back into Tau and I just wanted to run my ideas by you guys and see if you can give me any pointers.

I am planning to run a fairly mobile army (like all units in Devil Fishes) and a couple of units up back laying down cover fire.

I would have around 3 Devil Fishes loaded with about 12 men zooming around the field doing fish of fury and capturing objectives in the last few game turns. And I would have about 3 broadsides and a full (9 drones) sniper team up the back laying down some heavy fire.

All thoughts, ideas and comments would be appreciated.


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

I'd go with crisis suits instead of the sniper drone teams, more mobile, as your sniper drone teams can easily get caught out by a fast assaulter or infiltrator.
The principle is good though, I'd get a hammerhead as well as the broadsides for a little extra mobility and some nasty anti horde.

Plus remember the fish of fury is only really worth it against anything with a 3+/4+ as firing under the fish gives you a 4+
i'd also personally go teams of 10 but thats merely personal preference


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## Chumbalaya (May 17, 2010)

FoF is dead and gone with 4th edition. Crisis Suits, Broadsides, Pathfinders, Kroot, Piranhas and Hammerheads are all you need. Mobile and shooty FTW. Fire Warriors FTL.


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## bobgernut (Feb 6, 2008)

I do plan to use crisis suits as well as the sniper drones, same with the hammer heads.

Yeah I know bout only using FoF against 3+, 4+ units.

I'm contemplating using piranhas and pathfinders but I am defiantly not using kroot.


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## Chumbalaya (May 17, 2010)

Sniper Drones are fail. S6 AP3? Who leaves marines in the open? You need Hammerheads and Broadsides.

FoF sucks, Crisis suits are better.

Piranhas give you mobile BS4 fusion blasters as well as more units to block your opponent's movement. Zoom 24" into a gap and now he has to go around or hope to destroy your Piranha, either way he loses movement and you get more turns to shoot. Ever see a Land Raider help up by a 75 point skimmer? 'Tis loltastic.

Pathfinders make your units better at shooting, so of course you need them. Hammerhead submunitions that ignore cover are rightly feared.

Kroot are your best Troops choice, for srs. Not using them is shooting yourself in the foot. Bubblewrap it up to protect your important units.


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## Kirby (May 16, 2010)

SDT's aren't that bad but they suffer in 5th edition due to the domniance of mech. You need a squad of Broasides which you have and the duality of Hammerheads + survivability is also excellent in the current edition. It comes down to SDT's being in a slot that really needs to be used by 2 other units (like Eldar).

Without using Kroot you're shooting yourself in the Foot. More Mech Tau is viable but when you're taking larger squads of FW not really. FW aren't a great Troop choice currently and they don't really add to a Tau army who has better anti-infantry elsewhere (see Crisis suits & Hammerheads).

Piranhas and Pathfinders get the tick. As Chumb said, Piranhas are excellent blockers and the only unit in the Tau book which can really do this well. Pathfinders make your suits more deadly

I'd recommend reading the Tau articles from this link: http://kirbysblog-ic.blogspot.com/p/armies-in-5th-edition-articles.html

If you're going without Kroot get more Warfish w/6 man FW squads but don't expect them to win games. Use the Devilfish as a blocker and the FW's simply as upgrades to make it score.


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## inigo montoya (Feb 1, 2009)

Any army can win on a given day. That is a fact.
If you are going to play Tau, you need to prepare for losing a lot while you learn to play the army and tune your lists.

Ninja Tau are very viable but most dislike playing against it.
FoF is dead in 5th. It just doesn't work that well now.
Mech is dead in 5th. Yes I said it.  Mech Tau, anyway. Your armor is too expensive.

Commander - must have

crisis suits - 3 teams of 3 if possible. fireknives and deathrains are my suits of choice, ymmv.

1 minimum firewarrior squad - they suck but you have to take this many.
10 kroot and 5 hounds. 2 or 3 of these depending on points. They are good.

8 pathfinders - fish with dp. Put the pathfinders on the board, put the warriors in the fish, and hold it in reserve hoping it stays out until 5.
3 piranha - dp, fb, ta - great all around unit. Vehicle blocking, vehicle removal, fast objective contesting...

3 broadsides - ass, 2 shield drones
Railhead

Using the listed units, you can build a very effective 5th edition tau army.


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## Ishamael (Aug 26, 2008)

Inigo, I've played against Ninja Tau with my Chaos army. Victory was never in doubt. The ability to bring the full force of my army against a small amount of the enemy's...self explanatory. Now, I'm assuming "ninja tau" refers to placing everything in reserve with a suit leader on the field with the relay.

The super shooty army gains nothing by not being shooty.


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## Chumbalaya (May 17, 2010)

Ishamael said:


> Inigo, I've played against Ninja Tau with my Chaos army. Victory was never in doubt. The ability to bring the full force of my army against a small amount of the enemy's...self explanatory. Now, I'm assuming "ninja tau" refers to placing everything in reserve with a suit leader on the field with the relay.
> 
> The super shooty army gains nothing by not being shooty.


:goodpost:

Sense, you make it.


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

Gentlemen (and any ladies present), I beg to differ with your assesments of Tau, especially the death sentence of Mech Tau and fire warriors in particular.

I have never been much of a gunline player, having begun playing with the introduction of 5th edition, but the value of mechanization to a Tau army cannot be under estimated. I have said and heard it said many times that Tau are one of the few armies that plays like their fluff dictates they should. On that note,



> *Commander Puretide*, 42nd Meditation on the Way of the Warrior
> thge strength of your force may be calculated by multiplying its weight by its velocity. Strive always to maximize both and victory shall be yours.


The weight of your force is the number and type of shots that can be brought to bear on the enemy. Generally speaking, higher strength shots should account for more wieght. Your "velocity" is the speed with which you can move around the battlefield. The Tau have evolved from a race of plains-dwelling hunters into their current form, but their manner of fighting still relies on the ambush.

When you try to apply this tactic to the tabletop you run into the problem that your enemy can see just where your forces are. I currently run an army with 48 fire warriors in teams of twelve each with a devilfish, either theirs or one of the two belonging to pathfinder teams I bring. The fire warriors move in their devilfish en masse toward one flank, drawing the enemy to them while broadsides and a piranha focus on demechanizing the enemy. Once the enemy is out of their transports, the fire warriors can safely disembark and open fire on one unit, possibly two units with the aid of markerlights and fireknife teams. Being able to apply the most weight of fire to one point and having the velocity of the devilfish to choose where that point should be allows me greater control over where to fight the close range shoot out I'm looking for.

Chumb, you commented on the value of Kroot for bubblewrap and pathfinders for increasing accuracy. While there is no points efficient substitute for the pathfinders, devilfish are not much more expensive when it comes to bubble wrap. They protect their cargo of fire warriors and provide mobile terrain for crisis suits to gain saves behind. If you rely on kroot for bubble wrap you get a melee capable (not excellent, but very capable) screen and more scoring units, but ones that are incapable of utilizing markerlights. Fire warriors can use the markerlights and have a reasonable chance of surviving an explosion and not being pinned.

Using this mass of fire warriors in devilfish is not without its risks; Devilfish are still fragile in CC and fire warriors still have garbage leadership and ballistic skill, but these can all be worked around. Should the devilfish be killed in CC, so be it, the plan can continue, but your opponent has chosen the place for your shoot out. Ideally, devilfish can be used to form a wall between the fire warriors and their target(s), as any assaulters would have to go around the devilfish to assault the fire warriors. Markerlights and shas'ui leading the teams can raise ballistic skill and leadership to respectable levels, by no means outstanding, but respectable.

FoF should still work against 5+ and 6+ save targets as I can see no reason for a cover save. For something other than area terrain to grant a cover save it must obscure the target's torso from the firer. Simply put the devilfish on a tall flying stand and the fire warriors should be short enough to see and shoot under the devilfish without granting their target a cover save. The Devilfish does not exist for shooting purposes, except where it actually exists, that is to say floating in the air above the fire warriors. If that fails, simply nut up and pivot the devilfish's rear toward the target and disembark the fire warriors on the nearside (to the target) of the devilfish. Yes, this all but assures that any survivors will be in assault range, but it also assures that no one can argue a cover save from the devilfish. Combine multiple teams with markerlights to erase cover or increase ballistic skill and you can annihilate most any target.

I may not agree with all of your opinions, but I do respect them. Tau is one of the few non-5th edition armies that can be played just as well with radically different compositions. Each requires planning both in list construction and execution, but the amount of power the army can still deliver is devastating. With the introduction of kill points, the Tau have had a new Achilles' heal created, but they can still overcome it through thoughtful contemplation and good roles.

Prosper as T'au shall.


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## Kirby (May 16, 2010)

^ did you just compare Kroot and Devilfish as bubble-wraps? 17 Kroot can cover a massive range of 16x2" + 17" piece of board (that's 2" between models and 1" base size). Double this up and well wow. Weakness? tank shocking so you generally clump them up more. Devilfish are good blockers but Piranhas are better and Kroot are a bubble-wrap which vehicles don't do. You don't want to get them melta'd!

The problem w/FW is you're getting more S5 which the whole army brings and you need to hop out of your transport to do it. Tau already have great anti-infantry through S5 elsewhere + Crisis/Railheads. Why drop points into more anti-infantry when you need more anti-tank? 

Tau like DE, Eldar and WH are competitively a mono-build. Hybrid Tau, Mech Eldar, DL spam DE and Immo Spam WH are head & shoulders above the other lists those books produce. There are obvious variations in those armies (i.e. Vypers or no? IG platoons or no? How many crisis/broadsides? etc) but at lesser points (2000 or under) FW in Fish (in greater than 2s) is detracting from your firepower or defenses somewhere else especially if you are attempting to use FoF tactics.


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