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Author Topic: 1850 The Sky is Falling!  (Read 3678 times)

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Offline Halollet

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1850 The Sky is Falling!
« on: January 22, 2016, 11:51:15 AM »
Love the tau formations!  Yay!  I played a this list against Spectral Arbor and I would have tabled his marines by turn 6 if we had time to finish the game.  It was a slaughter.  That guarentee of 2nd turn, horde of suits, is just so sweet.  I've polished it up a bit and I'm left with 10 points which I don't know what the best use is.

Hunter Cadre

Commander
Missile Pod x2 Drone Controller Target Lock Marker Drones x2
Goes with other drones for 6 BS 5 marker lights.  Marks something to die that turn. Stays with Breacher team to allow run+fire rule.
Stealth Team x3
Shas'vre Markerlight & Target Lock Gun Drone x2
Extra firepower and annoyance. Required to take Cadre
Strike Team x10
Shas'ui DevilFish Disruption Pod
Takes objectives and lays down fire
Breacher Team x10
Shas'ui DevilFish Disruption Pod
Goes find something to smite
Strike Team x5
Turret with Missile Pod
Holds home objective
Kroot x10
Krootox Rider x3 Kroot Hound x1
Outflanking fun, these guys have always been a pain in my enemy's side.
Marker Drones x4
Goes with commander
Hammerhead
Railgun Submunition Rounds TL Smart Missle System Disruption Pod
Big Gun
Hammerhead
Ion Cannon TL Smart Missle System Disruption Pod
Not so big gun, aims to take out MEQs a squad at a time.

Retaliation Candre
I tried to get all suits to have a drone, so I can DS the drone first and then I have better options for the suit to place around it. Trying to limit mishaps, especially with the Riptide.
Commander (AKA One Punch Tau)
Fusion Blaster Plasma rifle Vectored Retro Thrusters Iridium Armour Onager Gauntlet Shield Drone x2
Beat Stick, all comers. The Onager stays, I have too much fun with it.
Crisis suits x1
Fusion Blaster x2 Positional relay Shield Drone x1
Tank hunter near enemy table edge so that Kroot can come on their edge and be even more annoying.
Crisis suits x1
Fusion Blaster x2 Shield Drone x1
Tank Hunter.
Crisis suits x1
Flamer x2
Unit in cover hunter
XV104 Riptide x1
Early Warning Override TL Fusion Blaster Shielded Missile Drone x1 Ion Accelerator
Tank/TEQ hunter
Broadsides x1
TL Plasma Rifle Missile Drone x2
Tank/TEQ hunter. Love the fact I can get side/rear arcs as well as relentless!  Oh A.S.S.... how I've missed you.

1840 points
67 Models
I have 10 points left.  Options I was thinking about. Burst cannon, flamer, or failsafe detonator on Retaliation Commander.  Sniper rifle shots for kroot.  Another fire warrior. A seeker missile.  Turn the Ion head into a Rail head but that might be a waste.

Actually, do I need that Railhead?  Would another Ionhead be better because I have the anti-tank covered with the Retaliation Cadre?

For anti-flyers, if I'm understanding the rules correct, my plan is to fire all the markerlights at it first, hopefully getting 1-2, then I shoot at least 3 things at it, turning that BS 1 snap shot into BS 3-4 with things like Fusion blasters and Ion thingies.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2016, 12:09:18 PM by Halollet »
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2016, 12:28:29 PM »
Overall I like the list. I'm a little itchy about all the monat suits dropping in by their lonesome (real potential for some scatter lunacy there).

Rather than the Positional Relay on the Fusion suit, take those points to buy a Locator Beacon on the Stealths (can't remember the costs off the top of my head--you may need to spend your ten extra points there). Having an option to avoid scattering will be very nice for this list, especially with the flamers and fusions, which need to be pretty close to their targets to be effective.

As for Railhead/Ionhead, I think the Railgun is pretty sweet, but the Ion Cannon is a perfectly viable option these days. If you tend to play marines, keep the Ion Cannon. If you play against Eldar/IG/AdMech etc., take the Railhead.

Offline Halollet

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2016, 03:24:42 PM »
The one game I played with this list, only 1 suit got thrown off, but he just went back into reserve.  I like the homing beacon on the stealth suits, forgot they could take that actually, so that's a really good idea! Thanks!

Dropped the Railhead to an Ionhead too since I only seem to play against marines at this point.

But now I still have 10 points left!

Hmm... but now with the homing beacon, I could drop the drone from the riptide and have 35 points to play with.  Teaming up the dakka stealth suits with the riptide would be a nice combination and balanced firepower on the field.  Plus I really don't want that thing scattering at all!!!

So... what could I do with 35 points?  Another stealth suit since they became more important?  Fill out that smaller Strike team? I could squeeze in a second double flamer suit with a target lock. Hmm...
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2016, 04:17:56 PM »
Why would you give a lone flamer suit Target Lock?

I would honestly recommend cutting a lot of the shield drones. You could free up almost 50 points. Add in the extra 10, and that's a bunch of points to buy a whole new unit or two with.

For the record: Still not convinced that Breacher Teams will work as advertised. 5" is an awfully short optimum range.

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2016, 04:44:56 PM »
Breacher teams can work, particularly if you play against a list that intends to get close to you to apply damage. And if, for example, you can't take out the damned markerlights, those breachers are going to ignore cover, and delete a small MEQ squad. Which is kind of annoying. :)

I probably should have taken a less "funsies" list than I did. I'll know better for next time. Damned Tau.

Offline Halollet

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2016, 06:06:27 PM »
Why would you give a lone flamer suit Target Lock?

I would honestly recommend cutting a lot of the shield drones. You could free up almost 50 points. Add in the extra 10, and that's a bunch of points to buy a whole new unit or two with.

For the record: Still not convinced that Breacher Teams will work as advertised. 5" is an awfully short optimum range.

I meant take a unit of 2 crisis suits, both with 2 flamers, and one with target lock. :)

Shield drones are there for help with deep striking purposes and making sure I'm 9" from my intended target. Shield drones on the commander is for 2 more wounds and an invulnerable save for 1 point less then taking a shield himself.

Breacher teams I find would work best as a counter assault unit.  Its Tau, not a lot of armies are going to want to have a straight up gun fight with them.  Therefore something is going to come forward and want to get into close combat. Breachers have a 6" transport move + 6" deployment + 1d6" run before shooting.  The breachers, the gun drones off the fish, and the fish itself is 3 units so they'll all get +1 bs against the offending CC unit.

At least that's my thoughts on them. :D  Great anti-white scar unit IMO.
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2016, 08:20:34 PM »
I can see that, but don't they just get blown up immediately thereafter? I like my FW squads to live to shoot twice, you know?

I can definitely see their uses against bikes, actually--that's a good point I hadn't considered, since I only ever see bikes in tournaments, and I don't go to many tournaments anymore. Hmmm...


Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2016, 09:03:34 PM »
Lulz... I didn't have anything to hit back with! My only unit to retaliate with was a 5-man Tactical, and they had to decide between breachers, some Plasma Suits, and a Commander with drones, if I recall. I admit, I deployed aggressively expecting the first turn, but by the start of my second turn I'd endured two rounds of shooting with more-or-less no response.

So yeah, if I had something to hit them with it would have been an issue, but by the start of Hal's third turn he'd already wiped out 2/3 of my stuff. Markerlights being leveraged by multiple units can delete units much faster than would otherwise be possible.

I'm looking forward to the next game, having learned some lessons, but by the Emperor it was a vicious beating. I'm a fan of breachers for that specific reason. You can finish off a squad very easily when you're rocking lots of Ig-Co, MEQ AP shots... at BS 5 / 6 / 7... and 3 or 4 units have that. With the detachment bonus, 3 ML hits means however many units with BS 5 and Ig Co. Stuff dies.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2016, 09:04:44 PM by Spectral Arbor »

Offline Wyddr

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2016, 10:05:58 AM »
I know they can do that, but they do have to get damned close. Feints and Ambushes helps, I guess, but then they need a babysitter or a Cadre Fireblade.

Hmmm...will have to do further investigation. 

Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2016, 11:14:09 PM »
No F&A. Think of them as a finishing move. They only move in to clear the final obstacle. They, ironically, aren't a front line troop. They're the cleanup crew.

You're right. On their own, a single crew in a fish is going to get shot down in the first couple turns... unless you're playing them as a second string, if you catch my drift. Reserves you don't have to roll for. They sweep in after the suits have dropped, and people are scrambling to deal with MSU blasty-ness.

I'm not sure about your neck of the woods, but we've still got punchy units hitting the table. Just not all of the units are punchy. These guys perfectly fit a Tau version of that niche. Something you need to use, to dislodge that stubborn unit. They wipe out the last survivors. Final nail in the coffin, a late-game ender.

Like I said, if you try them, try a strategy that lets you use them as a second wave. They'll shine.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: 1850 The Sky is Falling!
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2016, 08:07:33 AM »
My cleanup crew has traditionally been a pair of strike teams with pulse rifles in fish with an ethereal. 60+ pulse shots @15" plus coordinated firepower, etc. Enough to kill most things, cover or no cover, no Markerlights really needed.

I can see Breacheers potentially filling that role a bit more efficiently. Maybe. I feel strike teams still possess more flexibility.

Quote
No F&A. Think of them as a finishing move.


I think you misunderstood what I meant by "F&A." That isn't a tactic, it's a special detachment rule that lets Tau Hunter Cadre units move a bit further than normal before shooting. I was referring to its utility in getting Breachers into optimum range. Still and although, the effective range for a mounted breacher squad becomes about 20" compared to a Strike Team w/Rifles range of ~30" for double-tap and 45" altogether and a Carbine squad's range of ~33".

Unless you can isolate the element you're trying to eliminate with the Breachers to prevent reprisal, you're as likely to lose the Breachers as not. As bike squads have few wounds and their defensive capabilities are able to be countered by Breachers, I can see their use there (Monstrous Creatures also fall into that category). For a lot of other units, I'd rather have the range. Probably.

Then again, it's worth noting that I've barely needed to *use* my cleanup crew in a Tau game since the advent of 6th Edition. The rest of my army does such a job on the enemy, the Firewarriors barely have anybody left to slaughter by the time they would be deployed.

For that reason, I only play Tau these days against top-level opponents or at tournaments. 
« Last Edit: January 24, 2016, 11:25:19 AM by Wyddr »

 


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