Topic: Are Tau easy to play?

[2quiet]

I have been collecting for a while and know some armies, but I am not very sure about Tau. I do not know much about them and have never had the pleasure of facing them. A while ago a young friend of mine asked me what army he should start to collect, as he wanted to play. He said he really likes the Tau, and thought he would collect them. Now I couldnt help him much with this as I know less than he does, so I just wanted to ask some of you guys what you thought. My main concern is whether they are simple enough to use. He is only about 12 and I dont think they teach military tactics in primary school, if you know what I mean. I guess what I need to know is do the Tau need a lot of tactics to play or are they fairly simple? I play Dark Eldar and know what its like to be punished severely for every little mistake. I just dont want to advise him into getting an army that he constantly loses with. Well, thank you in advance.

[Lanfeix]

Well their a more forgiving than dark eldar but not as much as the other armies 

He should be able to do hold line tactics as lone as he knows how to set up (enemy at max gun range....)

I say he could do my bro started when he was 13 and it was all right for him and the base colours aren't the hard.

[LoGrei]

i play tau but am still new...then again i've been so busy with work that i've not played for a while now BUT i've had my ups and downs.

all armies need tactics, just that some probably need less than others.

many of the post here will have about the same comments

- powerful fire power especially for basic troops and it comes standard for their fire warriors
- only army whose basic troops have long range. 30 inches
- only army with battle suits so you can hop away after shooting in the assault phase
- very good tank
- have rail guns for battle suits and rail rilfes for troops (limited to path finders only)
- dodgy ballistic skills
- very bad weapon skills but thats where their kroot allies come in to play
- have gun drones and shield drones
- stealth suits
- armor save better than imperial guard

overall the key to playing tau is to move and keep your opponents away from you. So in answer to your question the tau in my opinion requires a fair amount of tactics and yes...you do get punished for a mistake...very very costly

BUT i believe that if you like the army that much then its up to you to see them through. like i'm sure you have a helluva time playing DE what with your poor armour saves and all yet you still play them

so if your friend really likes the tau and if he's willing to see them through then go for it. from my experience its tough but i still play them coz i like them...plus i believe they are the only sane ones in the entire 40k story line

read up on the other posts. There's tonnes of useful tactics.

[Pvt. Dancer]

You need to stay out of close combat with your warriors as they simply will be fried by almost anything that tries to kick their ass..
The Hammerhead battle tank with a Railgun will be rightly freared by any army as its weapon has Moderator Edit and the submunition has Moderator Edit

Just tell the guy to get loads of fire warriors and avoid Close Combat, use Railgun armed hammerheads and maybe a few battlesuits equiped with Missile Pods Moderator Edit , plasma riflesModerator Edit and a Multi tracker(Moderator Edit

but battlesuits should be used in 1000 pt games i think because the cost around 65 to 80 pt(roughly speaking).

Kroot might be also useful to have, but not Krootox!!!!

You shall NOT post specific Rules for weapons, it violates this board's rules. - Moonsinger

[LoneDragon]

You might wanna edit those weapon stats out of your post.  GW gets pretty anal about copyright stuff...

[Catachan Devil Sniper]

they are kinda like the IG but better i think. there isnt an EASY army to play.

[The_Outcast]

they are kinda like the IG but better i think. there isnt an EASY army to play.

Guess you haven't thought of playing smurfs, very easy to play.

Tau are a shooty army that focuses on keeping out combat and keeping thew opponent at arms reach. Basically just sit and shoot pretty easy to play. Mobile firepower is the key. Using a fire base to annhilate the opponent and as he closes in move out of the way.

The_Outcast

[Seriivolk]

 Tau army can be hard to use since our firepower may not be enough to provide a guaranteed kill against some of hard,fast-moving targets,which would get into close combat and its game over.If played in the guard style (stationary firebase with tanks and suits)
then a certain skill is required to keep those threats to minimum or annihilate them before they are too close.The mechanised tau lists on the other hand tend to sacrifice portion of firepower for mobility,meaning that mech tau would require a lot of skill to use since you would be outnumbered most times.But then mech tends to be much more fun to play with all those tanks zipping around
 If he want,he can give them a go...some advice from tau tactica boards or mechanise tau tactica may be useful too

[Fishy]

@Omnicron: please be careful, a lot of your posts seem to just directly quote stats from codexes and rulebooks, and often in detail. This is bad practice here for copyright reasons. I suggest using the edit button above the offending post/s in future if this occurs.

As for using Tau, well it may get easier with some help from us here at the boards  Beware of using Tau as a stand and shoot army - this can get you into trouble and various losses when combat comes around. Mobile firepower is a great asset here.

[Y'zar]

I also know a younger friend who is starting the Tau as his army.  If he doesn't know tactics very well (though i am sure he will catch on) then have him use hold the line tactics.  Set up at maximum gun range behind cover and unload all of your weapons on to the enemy.  This is the easiest least complex strategy out there.  Good Luck.

[carbine]

Yeah, Omnicron, take those stats out.

Anyways, i am still a noob and have not played many games with tau, and am 12 also. I have found them fairly easy to play with. You just need to set up your army far away and blast the hek out of your enemy, and if they start to get close, move your FW in a devilfish. You need to be mobile, and stay out of CC, and you will win most of the time.

Don't forget to have half a brain.

There are some armys I find hard to beat, like Necrons, but that may just be because the people who play them in my area are good commanders.

[madscientist]

http://uk.games-workshop.com/tau/reference/1/

Here are the stats of all the tau weapons, from games-workshops site.

[Moonsinger]

http://uk.games-workshop.com/tau/reference/1/

Here are the stats of all the tau weapons, from games-workshops site.

Yesyes, but WE are not allowed to post those rules on this board... GW are allowed to do whatever they want with their stuff on THEIR site.. this is not their site and we don't hold ANY copyright over GW stuff.
The thing you made is a reference to the rules, where to find them, that is okay... writing them directly on the board is Not a good idea.
You get my point?

Anyway, enough with me being "Moderatorish"
//Cheers

[thegreatergood]

Tau are a hard army to play for the simple reason that most players WILL play "hold the line" because mobile Tau is too hard for beginners to grasp.   With "hold the line" almost anything that is not a basic troop, or marine, will kill your whole army like nothing.   One terminator can literally terminate your whole line.   But they are a fun army to play though.   Beginners I would recommend necrons, or SMurfs.

[Lanfeix]

- only army whose basic troops have long range. 30 inches
- only army with battle suits so you can hop away after shooting in the assault phase

these arent tau only stuff,  ALIEN hunters get 30 range AP 4  on top of normal stat's

the eldar have warp spiders same thing

[2quiet]

Thank you for all the input. I believe he is going to choose Tau. (Although I would prefer him to collect necrons- oh well, its his army I cant push him.