| Brood Brother |
 |
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:30 pm
Posts: 22
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
|
This topic originated out of a request for more information which I received in the "Changes for version 4.4.1" thread. I mentioned that I'd been having poor luck with the Tau in the 10 or so games I've played with them so far and Chroma/Tactica requested a bit more info.
So here we go!
We usually play games in the 3000-4000 point range in a "Tournament" style. The game involves each player placing a blitz objective on their own table edge (which the other player must reach) as well as 2 additional objectives anywher in their opponent's half of the table (30cm from any table edge and 30cm from any other objective). "Victory Points" are scored for achieving the various listed objectives such as "Break Their Spirit", "They Shall Not Pass", "Blitz", etc. Whoever has achieved more of these objectives at the end of 3 turns wins.
The table is usually slightly smaller than 4 x 5 and has 4-5 bits of terrain (buildings/forest/rubble) on it.
My 4000 pt list that I used recently looked like the following:
Firewarrior Cadre in Devilfish
+ Firewarriors in Devilfish
+ 2 IonHeads
+ 4 Gun Drones
XV8 Cadre
+ XV8's
+ Supreme Commander
+ Gun Drones
Hammerhead Cadre (Railguns)
+ Hammerheads (Railguns)
+ Skyray
Pathfinder Contingent in Devilfish
+ Pathfinders in Devilfish
Broadside Contingent
+ Broadsides
+ Gun Drones
Stealth Contingent
+ Stealths
1 Manta
3 Barricudas
The Firewarrior Cadre was designed to be as big as possible in order to be able to withstand BM's. They are meant to absorb enemy shooting and still be functional enough to control/contest objectives at the end of the game. They've been relatively successful in this, except for the time I accidently left them bunched up within range of a Gargant + Mega Gargant and they both dropped MW Barrages on me ? 
I've tried games without the Broadsides, but both of my regular opponents (Orks and IG) love their vehicles. Without the Broadsides I've been unable to do enough damage to enemy tank formations. That being said, I've found the Broadsides to be amazingly vulnerable to enemy fire. They really need to be at full strength and totally unsuppressed in order to even come close to performing appropriately to their cost. Against the IG, they are target #1 for the Manticores, Baslisks and Bombards (usually 5-6 artillery pieces total) and are invariably broken before they can fire... even if they do get lucky with their saves.
The Hammerheads have performed better than the Broadsides, but perhaps only because the Broadsides are soaking fire for them. This formation is also dangerously vulnerable to suppression and I've pretty much determined that they require Networked Drones. The Leader ability is essentially mandatory for these guys.
The XV8's are essentially a delivery system for the supreme commander. I had a bad experience the first time I tried a Scorpionfish SC, but I think that was a mistake on my part. The 3+ save and infantry classification on the XV8's in nice, but they never seem to be durable enough to BM's do do any significant damage. In the future, I'm thinking I'll probably go back to the Scorpionfish for a SC and leave the XV8's in the foam.
I primarily use the Stealths for turn 2 or 3 backfield Markerlight needs although the recent discussion on ML Sentry Turrets has me thinking that they're a much less expensive way to accomplish this. There aren't many ML's in my list...
I enjoy using the Manta, although it's killing power has been hit or miss for me. I like its durability (I've yet to have it destroyed) and the fact that I can park it on an objective and know that it's not going to die is helpful. In fact, it's one of the few units in the list which is capable of that kind of durability.
The Pathfinders are used as a cheap way to get a fast-moving garrison unit for achieving early game crossfires. They die quickly, but are rarely considered enough of a threat to be shot at.
I've experimented with Air Assaulting Kroot (out of an Orca) and with Pathfinder heavy lists, but haven't had much luck with either. The IG fellow doesn't bring any air, but brings many Hydras, making any heavy investment in air on my part a foolish proposition. The Ork player generally brings one large (~9) skwadron of fighta-bommas against which the Barricudas generally flail uselessly the entire game.
I've also experimented with Stingray Contingents, but either opponent can opt for an entirely mechanized list and against these, they're less than effective. I haven't played around with any of the units which don't have explicit models (Swordfish, Moray) nor have I tried out Spacecraft (and therefore have never planetfalled the Manta).
I guess I'm curious to hear what lists other Tau players have found to be "good". I realize I haven't been playing very long and am likely bringing a 40k mindset to E:A... and obviously unit performance is not constant across the game systems. However as a matter of principle, I feel any unit should be able to be used by a skilled player to good effect. The fact that there are certain units which are considered "sub-par" by the E:A community is of great concern to me.
If I were to try to identify my biggest problem, it would be formation durability. It seems my most destructive units are amazingly (perhaps overly?) vulnerable to suppression while the larger formations have the durability, but lack killing power and as such are largely ignored for the first turn or two. I can put an entire unsuppressed Broadside formation into a Leman Russ Tank Company and kill 2-3 and then the same formation can fire later in the turn without significant reduction in firepower. Alternately, if the Russ's got the first shots on my Broadsides, I might have a single unsurpressed XV88 at the end of the activation.
|
|
So, its not the end all - but in my opinion, its better than fielding the them - or the Manta as a stand alone unit from deployment and risking them being shot at before you get to activate them.
