Hey everyone,

I'm starting to get my tau army painted and ready for the board and I got to thinking about tau Tactics, particularly the riptide. I've only used them in 2 games so far. Both times I took a single wing, which included my commander. In both games they felt really clunky. Their fire power was a hard to utilize and I found it difficult to find an effective place for them. How has everyone else been doing with them?

In my most recent list I took 2 wings, one of which has my commander in it. I do this because all of my xv8s are being airdropped by orcas later in game and I don't want to mis out ony commander re-roll. It kinda makes him a bigger target than I'd like, but a little more staying power as well.

My plan is to run them down opposing flanks, while some ion heads and infantry supported by skyray take the center. I have a couple roving units of rail heads also supported by skyray, with one on each side of center they can crash onto where reinforcement is needed.

Also what's your favorite formation and how do you use it?

Stealth groups are my favorite. I use them for marker light support and sometimes a rapid response unit. I usually take 2 units of them.

So yeah lots of different things - but your advice would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers


Current list:

http://traitor-legion.appspot.com/choos ... 27~521~521

My tau army WIP:

http://m.imgur.com/fP2bpox

_________________
[My eldar](http://m.imgur.com/zObS9SJ)
[My Tau](http://m.imgur.com/a/8oSqy)
Looking for top fins wings and stabilizers for eldar air units. Hit me up if u have them or ideas on how I can replace them.

Hi Eyebuck

Regarding tactics for playing Vior'la, my basic advice comes in two versions.

If you are used to playing other Epic armies, you need to play more defensively, patiently, and from longer ranges than you might be used to. You need to wait for the enemy to come to you, then set up crossfires ideally with markerlit support.

If you are used to playing other Tau armies, you can play more aggressively, and can tackle them at 45cm instead of extreme ranges. You can advance more than you are used to, then set up crossfires ideally with markerlit support.



The point of those almost contradictory statements is to illustrate that Vior'la are an aggressive, midfield-orientated army compared to third phase Tau, but still have to be played cautiously compared to most other Epic forces.

That advice applies to Riptides. They can take a punch better than most Tau units, and do all their work at 45cm, but are still non-fearless and prefer to minimise assaults.

Rather than thinking of them as scaled-down warhounds, it's better to see them as scaled-up Crisis Suits. Where a warhound will commonly fire everything turn 1, then assault with support on turn 2 and trust its void shields to help towards a victorious combat resolution or its fearlessness to keep it from harm in a loss, Riptides almost always want to be used as a firing weapon. They do however have similar armour to Crisis Suits and benefit from the Tau Jet pack rule (units with Tau Jet Packs are allowed to make an additional move of 10cm at the end of an advance, double or march order) which is really handy for keeping them a little further from the enemy or, if you plan right, allowing them to get back into terrain.

Regarding the commander being in a Riptide suit, it's a good choice (better than having him off the table in an Orca!) but you need to be aware of the specific weaknesses of warengines to things like Death Strikes and long range TK (he mustn't be the front model) and in particular Pinpoint attacks that can pick any WE model. If the opponent has a space ship, I suggest putting him in terrain and having the rest of them outside it. They shoot at -1 or they pick someone who isn't your SC. They'll probably pick the SC anyway, but every little bit of advantage helps.



If you're running low on tetras (ie, the opponent has sneezed in their direction), try have the Riptides somewhere you they will grant crossfire to your Xv8s on arrival.
If you use 2 formations of Riptides, try keep them about 45cm from each other as they move up field, and zap anything that is in between them.

I hope that's a start towards your planning, but feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Good luck!

Matt

Hey

I guess with tau it's about superior positioning and marker lights. My 3 crisis suit teams can hopefully achieve this. They're Mobile, and I plan to orca drop them in my opponents backfield. I can see how they start to get dangerous, +1FF from fireblade, +1 to the roll for cross fire - Then marker light for another +1. I guess tau gotta take advantage of what they can

I play eldar a lot so I'm hoping that transfers over, as they're squishy and quick also. I try really hard to plan ahead and conserve my forces. I find it difficult to dictate the pace of Battle, but i guess that's where practice comes in.

Thanks for taking the time to answer, it was quite in depth and I like that. However I have another question - how do you contend with titans on the field. I was thinking of swarming them with kroot but my list is v'loria. I'm really worried they'll make short work of my riptides.

_________________
[My eldar](http://m.imgur.com/zObS9SJ)
[My Tau](http://m.imgur.com/a/8oSqy)
Looking for top fins wings and stabilizers for eldar air units. Hit me up if u have them or ideas on how I can replace them.

Massed titans can be a bit of a challenge, but your best options are usually AX-10 aircraft and Hammerhead tanks (railhead version).
Expect casualties