Tactics and Strategy : Tau Part 1

Tactics and Strategy: Tau Part 1

 

 

The Tau are one of the armies of 40k that are somewhat singular in terms of strengths when a player first looks at them  as a possible army they may want to play. When you take a closer look you may find that they also have maneuverability which helps their shooting greatly. If you are a seasoned player or new to the game this series of articles will examine some basic strategy and tactics that I have learned playing games with my Tau and hearing from other player experiences. I am by no means an expert and I am barely getting back into the game of 40k after a three year break. With the Tau codex getting redone and my excitement about playing with them again I decided to remind myself of their strengths and tactics when I play with this formidable army.

Tau Tenants

1.       Target Priority

2.       Marker Light Importance

3.       Maneuver

4.       Unit and Weapon Redundancy

5.       Defensive and Misdirection Options

 

These tenants are not the only ideas that help a Tau player but they are always on my mind when I play with my Tau and they are constant factors that help me keep winning.

 

1.       Target Priority

This is a huge factor for any army when starting a game. Before you even deploy most players are looking at their opponent’s list or models and deciding which unit is their “death star” unit or their point heavy unit that will carry the game for them. For Tau players target priority is a key to victory and it helps the Tau player achieve a psychological as well as in game victory. I do not always go for that point heavy unit but what I do is look at how mobile the enemy is. I tend to find that most armies have limited mobility. In some cases the entire army is mobile and I am sure some of you that are reading this can think of a few right off the top of your head that you have faced. Those armies tend to be very hard for us to fight since they close that gap so quickly. Fortunately most armies are not designed that way or they purposely leave back units to guard objectives which in turn piece meals the army and allow us to filter some of our target priority.

 

                So finding the maneuver and mobile elements of the enemy are a key factor because most of the time they also incorporate the close combat specialists of the army which is the bane of any Tau army. Some of you may be asking the question about drop pods and that will be addressed when we cover Defensive and Misdirection Options. With enough firepower the mobile elements should be slowed on turn one and possibly destroyed by turn 2. It is quite possible for enemies to assault by turn 2 and it is also quite possible for us to destroy those mobile targets first.

 

                If there is a Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminator squad or equivalent in a Land Raider, we destroy or immobilize the Land Raider and let the squad foot slog. We move onto something else that has a priority in terms of mobility. Always remember that targets such as Land Raiders or AV14 vehicles require a lot of shooting and simply removing their Hull Points by turn 2 might be enough to stop them. This of course will require some marker light use which will also be covered later.

               

                So what is next after mobile units? I typically start picking off units that a threat to might heavy units at this point. This would be Devastator squads, Weapon Teams, Autocannon Dreadnoughts and similar units that are dishing out anything Str. 7 and up that can start laying the hurt on me. Once I have taken them out, the foot slogging guys are usually getting close to my lines. Keep in mind if you blew up some of those transports your target priority might change as the enemy may be too close to you. Always assess what got out of the transport and is it an immediate threat. Meaning is it going to kill something of yours in one to two turns?

                Target Priority:

1.       Mobile Units

a.       Troop Transports

b.      Jump and Jet Pack Infantry

c.       Cavalry

d.      Fleet

2.       Disembarked Units

a.       Units that have disembarked from transports that are close to your lines

3.       Shooting Units

a.       Units that are firing Str. 7 or higher weapons

b.      Units that are designed to sit back and shoot

4.       Scoring Units

a.       Troops

b.      Fast units that can claim objectives

 

So these factors come into play when I start rolling the dice. The trick is that once you destroy one unit you need to stop and assess again what your priority is. Then destroy it, don’t stop until its dead, because you designated it a priority so don’t feel that you’re wasting shots or its taking too long. As a Tau player we need to be able to identify threats and destroy them. Later on we will cover how to ensure that this happens. Hope this helps and feel free to leave comments and corrections.