# Tau Swarm Army WTH?



## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

The other day while visiting another city's game store (For Memorial Day Weekend), I saw a Tau player run a interesting army. He was fighting against a new codex Imperial guard player who was running a large amounts of Chimera's with 3 Leman Russes. The Tau player, interestingly enough, was running somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 Piranhas. Most had Fusion Blasters (that I could see) although some also Had Burst Cannons. He had some Kroot and I didn't notice a HQ on the table while I watched. The Tau player moved 24 inches towards the imperial guard player getting right up in his face restricting his movement. During the guards player's turn he killed 5 of the skimmers, and on the following players turn he zapped all of the Russes, and a good 6 Chimeras. 
The kroot ran up and charged a squad of guardsmen forced out of their chimera killing them, on the guard players turn he took out 3 more with some Meltas and Multi-Laser Fire, and killed some kroot.Then the Tau player killed the remaining Chimeras and started to clean up. I was very interested, as the Imperial Guard player was still in his deployment zone when the game ended and was wondering if anyone else has seen this type of "Tau Swarm" before. Oh and the Guard player did assault one of the Squads of Piranhas (he keep saying the Meltabombs would kill some) but promptly got shredded by Flechette Dischargers. I thought the idea was very neat, any thoughts on what kind of army would do best against this?

From what I know of the Tau Codex he had 9 KP on the table, could form 3 units of 12 Gun Drones for some Nice Infantry killing power, has the option to Infiltrate or Outflank the Kroot, I didn't notice a Ethereal or a Suit Commander so its entirely possible he kept it in reserve and it never came in.


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## godzy (Jun 5, 2008)

that is actually very fluffy "send in the meat shi- ah, warriors!"


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## Duci (Sep 26, 2008)

WTH he had 3 squads of Piranhas (that would make 15) and 3 squads of drones they are both fast attack so he had 6 FA thats not legal
did he have any FW? cos you have to take them


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Duci said:


> WTH he had 3 squads of Piranhas (that would make 15) and 3 squads of drones they are both fast attack so he had 6 FA thats not legal
> did he have any FW? cos you have to take them


Most likely, the drones came from the Piranha's (they get them right?), and 15 is probably correct. I kept glancing over while playing my own game, he very well couldve had a squad of fire warriors in reserve, I have no idea what the points value of his game. Most likely they were in reserve or dead.


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

Firstly, Drones give away KPs, so he has a LOT to give away. Secondly, I think you'll find he was playing Planetstrike...


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

When playing tau I very often just used 6 fire warriors, so it's entirely possible they weren't noticed. I sometimes forgot about them.

I've never gone for a horde of pirhanas (a shoal?) but I can see how it would work ok. I've used loads of kroot, and had quite a lot of success with them on the whole. They do tend to die, which makes claiming objectives tricky, but they kill a bunch of stuff first and get in the way of things.

My understanding is that all the drones detaching from a squadron of pirhanas would form a single unit. I can't find the rule to say this, but the faq suggests it. There's even a question asking if all the drones have to get off their pirhanas if one is destroyed and the "passengers" survive. That may also just be because the faq is crap.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

I believe the Tau book specifically says the Drones from a Piranha squad disembark at the same time and form a squadron, or at least I think I saw it last time I looked.

EDIT: Page 31 in the Tau Codex, under Gun Drones...
"All gun drones on a vehicle or in a piranha squadron must disembark at the same time counting as a single unit."

So yes you can grab a 10 man strong Squad of Drones, which incidentally is 1 larger then a normal squad of Gun Drones.

Edit 2: I took a look at a Tau Codex and this is what it seems he had

Fast Attack:
P-Squad x5 w/ Target Lock, Flechette Dischargers, Fusion Gun (400)
P-Squad x5 w/ Target Lock, Flechette Dischargers, Fusion Gun (400)
P-Squad x5 w/ Target Lock, Flechette Dischargers, Fusion Gun (400)

Troops:
1+ Mandatory FW min size squad = 60 *** (Possibly had this size squad w/ no devilfish)
Kroot x10 = 70
Kroot x10 = 70

HQ:
A Suit Commander costing 104 points or less

Total 1500 or so

That is assuming the Burst Cannons I saw on the Skimmers were actually Fusion Guns

So he could've easily run this in a 1500 point game, go higher and you can have much more fun I suppose, I wonder how this would do against some of the more competitive armies.
__________________


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

At 1500 I'd drop a couple of the pirhanas, maybe have 4 per unit, to have a ton more kroot. 20 kroot won't ever achieve a lot, but 50+ might do pretty well. That way you would have some anti-horde, which seems to be the major weakness of the army at the moment.

I'd swap around some of the upgrades on the pirhanas too. Not all of them need target locks, for example. You could give out a couple of disruption pods per team, and take hits on those ones.


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## Asmodeun (Apr 26, 2009)

Man, I had the idea of a piranha shoal a couple of days ago, Imagining the sheer wickedness. Sounds like the strategy would work quite well, pulling apart most armies. probably could get taken down by anti heavy heavy infantry though, heavy bolters, autocannons and the like.

With the guards sheer inability for infantry to deal with tanks though, it's not surprising they lost


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## Wounded (Jan 24, 2009)

reading this just made me want to start tau.


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## Blackhiker (Dec 28, 2007)

And that is why I avoid spending too many points on vehicles, since most armies can easily field set-ups to slaughter vehicles.


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## Wounded (Jan 24, 2009)

Blackhiker said:


> And that is why I avoid spending too many points on vehicles, since most armies can easily field set-ups to slaughter vehicles.


i guess it depends on how everyone at your local store plays, like where i play almost no one builds a list after seeing yours to counter it specifically


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Someguy said:


> At 1500 I'd drop a couple of the pirhanas, maybe have 4 per unit, to have a ton more kroot. 20 kroot won't ever achieve a lot, but 50+ might do pretty well. That way you would have some anti-horde, which seems to be the major weakness of the army at the moment.
> 
> I'd swap around some of the upgrades on the pirhanas too. Not all of them need target locks, for example. You could give out a couple of disruption pods per team, and take hits on those ones.


I suppose, but 60 twin-linked STr 5 Ap 5, shots (from the drones) seems enough anti-infantry without adding in the Kroot and whatever the commander can do, oh and the firewarriors. Although the FW's prob won't do much at all.

EDIT: Pulse Carbines are Pinning as well


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## Wounded (Jan 24, 2009)

how viable is this list? I have actually never played against tau / read through their codex so i dont know but it seems REALLY fun to play.. (like taus version of necron destroyer wing)


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## Creon (Mar 5, 2009)

Depends on what sort of light anti-tank the enemy fields. If he can splash fifteen Armor:11 quickly, it's not viable. For example five HW:autocannon squads from Guard. 30 STR 7 shots, with 12 likely Twin-linked. Assume 17 hits, 7 penetrations. Likely 10 of your ships are down first fire-turn. Maybe a bit more, as immobilized=killed in squadron play.


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## Wounded (Jan 24, 2009)

well first turn can't they go like 24" and get a cover save for moving flat out or something like that, assuming they can't reach the squad firt turn for shooting etv


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

Actually I can see guard really struggling, due to all the pinning. You can fire both drones after moving 12", and at seperate targets if you have target locks, That's a hell of a lot of pinning tests.

It is 30, not 60 though Ragewind. About 17 of those will hit and drop something like 12 orks or 14 IG. Not too bad, but you aren't going to take out an ork horde like that.

Obviously, I've never used the list so I can't say for sure, but I would say it would work best to include more infantry. Each pirhana costs more than 11 kroot, which is a lot really. They do combine better than they work on their own.


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## Wraithian (Jul 23, 2008)

It's viable. I've run 80 Kroot in a 2K list before. Adding piranha... I might actually have to buy some of those now (I've got over 15K in Tau and not a single piranha).


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

Blackhiker said:


> And that is why I avoid spending too many points on vehicles, since most armies can easily field set-ups to slaughter vehicles.


Orks can't. Daemons can't. Eldar can't. Tyranids can't. Daemonhunters can't. Still most can, but not most of the (IMO) competitive armies can _slaughter_ vehicles. And, given that you play DH, vehicles are fairly expensive for you.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

I have now become extremely interested in how this army would play out, and here is a list I considered that is a bit more points efficient and more killy at the same time.

(HQ)- 
Shas'el : Twin-Linked Flamer, Black Sun Filter (59)

(Troops)- 
Fire Warrior Squad #1: FW x6 w/ Devil Fish armed w/ Smart Missile System, Disruption Pod, Burst Cannon, Landing Gear (165)

Fire Warrior Squad #2: FW x6 w/ Devil Fish armed w/ Smart Missile System, Disruption Pod, Burst Cannons, Landing Gear (165)

(Fast Attack)-
Piranha-Squad #1: Piranha x5, 4 w/ Target Locks, Dischargers x5, Fusion Gun x5 (370)

Piranha-Squad #2: Piranha x5, 4 w/ Target Locks, Dischargers x5, Fusion Gun x5 (370)

Piranha-Squad #3: Piranha x5, 4 w/ Target Locks, Dischargers x5, Fusion Gun x5 (370)


Total 1499

Keeps with the original idea and keeps your troops better protected while granting you some Warfish to block movement paths and provide some more anti-infantry fire power. Even the HQ (which honestly I have no clue how to equip) continues the anti-infantry role giving some Cover Ignoring attacks in the form of a Twin-Linked Flamer. It provides 2 more KP than the first possible list I provided, but makes it harder for your enemy to secure those KP, the Commander may Deepstike as the need arise. The odd man out is the commander, but you kind of have to take him and he needs to be under 60 points to fit into 1500. Although at higher points values take whatever equipment you like.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Kinda weak with only fire warriors. I think the Kroot with outflank will provide better anti troop. The only Prob with this Idea is the AV13/14 tanks. Also Objective missions would be difficult with lack of troops. Interesting idea but seems unreliable.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Warlock in Training said:


> Kinda weak with only fire warriors. I think the Kroot with outflank will provide better anti troop. The only Prob with this Idea is the AV13/14 tanks. Also Objective missions would be difficult with lack of troops. Interesting idea but seems unreliable.


With 15 Meltas on the table I don't think AV anything, will be much of a problem.

Also the footprint of 15 piranhas is rather large so contesting the objectives won't be hard at all, especially with your devilfish sitting back scoring on yours.


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## the cabbage (Dec 29, 2006)

Can you ram skimmers? Sorry no BRB at work.

If so seems a little brittle to me. Or a good couple of rounds shooting with heavy bolters or autocannons can really mess up light armoured squadrons.

But it would be a fun game


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## Crimson_Chin (Feb 20, 2009)

You can ram skimmers but they dodge it on a 3+. But yeah, hella interesting list top see dropped on the table.

Although I'm pretty sure my marine gunline would chuckle, then shoot and watch the fishies fry.


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## Someguy (Nov 19, 2007)

I think that the kroot are better. The problem with the fire warriors in fish is that they are no threat whatsoever, which massively takes the pressure off your opponent.

Kroot are also handy for taking out exactly the enemies who will give your pirhanas trouble: lootas and things like them. Either infiltrating to shoot them or outflanking should work well.


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## Ragewind (Aug 3, 2008)

Someguy said:


> I think that the kroot are better. The problem with the fire warriors in fish is that they are no threat whatsoever, which massively takes the pressure off your opponent.
> 
> Kroot are also handy for taking out exactly the enemies who will give your pirhanas trouble: lootas and things like them. Either infiltrating to shoot them or outflanking should work well.


A Excellent point


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