As you might've read in yesterday's battle report my suspicions were correct in that my current Tau list would struggle against jump pack marines. Now, there's very little you can do about that sort of army with any sort of gunline. Imperial Guard would probably have similar problems. The game did inspire me to write a new Tau list though:
2,000pts of Tau
Shas'o w/ fusion blaster, plasma rifle, shield gen, HWMT (132pts)
2x Shas'vre bodyguar w/ fusion blaster, plasma rifle, shield gen, HWMT (184pts)
Shas'o w/ fusion blaster, plasma rifle, shield gen, HWMT (132pts)
2x Shas'vre bodyguar w/ fusion blaster, plasma rifle, shield gen, HWMT (184pts)
2x Crisis Shas'ui with twin-linked missile pods and flamer (94pts)
2x Crisis Shas'ui with twin-linked missile pods and flamer (94pts)
9x Firewarriors w/ pulse rifles in a devilfish with disruption pods (175pts)
9x Firewarriors w/ pulse rifles (90pts)
9x Firewarriors w/ pulse rifles (90pts)
6 Pathfinders in a devilfish with disruption pods (157pts)
6 Pathfinders in a devilfish with disruption pods (157pts)
Sky Ray with SMS and disruption pod (150pts)
2x Broadsides w/ ASS, squad leader w/ drone controller and shield drone (180pts)
2x Broadsides w/ ASS, squad leader w/ drone controller and shield drone (180pts)
What's changed?
Gone are the Kroot as I just can't find a use for them. I hate the idea of a unit being used as a speed bump and short of hoping there's some woods for them to sit in they just die to easily and don't do anything fire warriors can't do. They're 3 points cheaper and are better in combat but still end up losing to most things.
The Shas'o with AFP and one of the crisis teams have been swapped for another team with the low-AP loadout. The piranhas are dropped in preference of a couple of smallish pathfinder teams. These will work in co-ordination with the Sky Ray that has replaced the hammerhead. To make the most of the markerlights this fire warriors are boosted to 9 models in each squad.
Thoughts about this list
I think this list will perform well against most opponents. There's a lot of synergy between the units. When facing hordes of tyranids or massed guard I can use the pathfinders to let the fire warriors rip them apart. The pathfinder devilfish will be used by the fire warriors and will allow deep strikes to be more accurate. This means the crisis teams could actually be used as deep striking flamers if needs be but this is a risky strategy. If not they can work in partnership with the Shas'o teams to hammer monstrous creatures. The broadsides would either help against the MCs or employ their SMS to hit the hordes.
Against MEQ I've got two very hard hitting squads that should be able to accurately deep strike and cut swathes through exposed marines. The broadsides and crisis teams should be able to demech pretty reliably. The pathfinders can make them even more accurate or can help out the Shas'o teams by removing the cover saves of their victims. The sky ray can either fire off it's missiles at transports/dreads or it can help with the troop bashing.
Losing the piranhas is a blow because I like the models but they aren't really needed in this list. They're great for contesting objectives and stopping heavy vehicles but there are other units in the list that are capable of this. The pathfinders might die pretty early but the list doesn't rely on them too much. As long as their alive I've got 14 markerlight shots (2 from the sky ray) and probably 7 hits. This will either boost the BS of the fire warriors, fire off missiles or remove cover saves. The pathfinders could even be used in combination with one squad firing it's markerlights to reduce the Ld for the pinning tests caused by the other squad firing at the same unit.
The problem with this list is that I simply don't have the models to do it. One thing I really regret with my Tau is that I didn't magnetise the suits. I'm tempted to have a go at doing that now but with the new codex in the pipeline I don't want to waste time making changes to an army that might need a total revamp with the new units and rules.
To create this list I'd need to buy a box of fire warriors to make 3 more and then use others as path finders. One crisis team and the AFP Shas'o would need to be refitted with the plasma/fusion loadout. It's not that much work but a little more than I have time for before the tournament. Might be something I work on in the future though.
jump pack armies are strange. as imperial guard they either utterly table me with almost no losses, or the reverse happens. it all depends on the scatter, and the first turn of shooting. regardless, it isn't something that is very common, so i wouldn't sweat it too much :)
ReplyDeleteI've just accepted that I'll not beat them unless I get lucky so I'm not worried. Guaranteed I'll end up playing one now you've said they aren't common!
DeleteVery similar list to my 1750 points army. How come you went for the skyray and not the hammerhead? I would have thought the large blast would have been really useful.
ReplyDeleteI usually find that at tournaments people are prepared for large blasts and spread their troops out to the limits of coherency. This is especially true of horde players too.
DeleteThe hammerhead therefore doesn't do anything that the rest of my army doesn't already do. Broadsides are better for railguns and suits/fire warriors are better at anti-infantry, especially when combined with markerlights.
I really want to love the hammerhead but sadly the railgun just misses or the blast scatters and then it's just a big target. The sky ray adds markerlights and the seeker missiles can be handy for taking out transports. It's a shame it gets overlooked so often in favour of the hammerhead which frankly isn't as good. I'll have to do a post on it!
Whilst a large blast is usually pretty useful... its nothing that massed S5 weapons-fire can't push out anyway. A lot of people forget that pathfinders have carbines too, and he has upped the number of fire warriors so that the number of shots being concentrated can rival the blast. This means that the heavy slot can be taken up by a more interesting option. The sky ray is a great choice that is highly underrated... it will continue the added shot count but simultaneously provide anti-tank potential.
ReplyDeleteAnother option would be the ionhead... which is a worthwhile choice where you know you will be fighting lots of MEQ (I use these in number these days!)
I'm not a fan of the Ninja'O fit out, but it is a technique that can (and does) work. I prefer to run thinner HQ choices... rarely going up past a basic Shas'El.
Do you reckon you'll have enough troop units?? they will be well protected thanks to the fishes, but I generally find I need 1 unit per 500pts to help me maintain the scoring capabilities??
I don't think you'll be able to fit in a unit of kroot though so hopefully you'll have enough guns that you won't need them!
Ionhead is a an interesting thought. I've never bothered with them because I either take the sky ray or the railhead. The trouble is that against non-MEQ they aren't as useful whilst the sky ray still is. The other advantage of the sky ray is that inexperienced players will ignore it in favour of the broadsides whose shield drones and cover save will take a lot of the fire.
DeleteThe ninja'o in this case is combined with the pathfinder re-roll making it even more effective. The reason for going above the shas'el is that the unit normally ends up getting charged straight away. The Shas'o and his bodyguard can last out a while with ihs improved Ld and extra attack. This holds up an enemy unit and very occasionally even wins the combat. Against some lists I might just deploy the plasma teams and do the old Jump-Shoot-Jump.
To be honest I probably don't have enough troops but I'm going off Kroot and I'd struggle to find the points for another FW unit. I could write a whole post on FW vs Kroot too!