Tactics against tau missile pod command squad

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering what tactics people would recommend for dealing with a Tau Missile Pod command squad I come up against routinely, it contains a commander with no weapons but he confers tank hunter, ignores cover and re-rolls to hit. It also contains 3 crisis suits with double missile pods and target locks and six marker drones, so each crisis suit is putting out 4 twin-linked S7 tank hunter shots that ignore cover out to 48" at up to three separate targets, with the option to boost the BS against one target.

I have found that due to the range it is impossible to completely block LOS to all vehicles and this unit has by itself regularly destroyed 2-3 Ravagers/Raiders/Venoms a turn. Even if I manage to avoid LOS this typically hands board control to the Tau player resulting in a loss anyway.
 
It usually starts deployed centrally for maximum board coverage, in cover and as far back as possible dependent on the available terrain.

I have found that even when I go first the combination of cover and the screening marker drones means that my firepower fails to break through to the crisis suits themselves, with the result that the exposed vehicles die the next turn.

They are also surprisingly mobile with the jet-pack moves, so anything turbo-boosting close to the unit they can escape from.

Any thoughts?

TAU are overpower. There is nothing you can do against them if you play against a good player. The only way to win is if the TAU player roll only 1 over and over again.

They ignore cover, have a BS of 5+, move fast, have interceptor rule. They have a commander that gives them special rules like monster hunter or tank hunter. They can overwatch with multiple units if you charge them.

In my meta, no one wants to play against TAU.

Missile pods are only 36" range...

A deep striking WWP blasterborn gunboat should do the trick. Maybe just a regular WWP gunboat, even.

On second thought, Early Warning Override will be a pain for that.

I wonder how a big unit of covens grots will hold up to that firepower if they deep strike nearby and use their large footprint to attempt to trap or corner the suits.

Tau don't have BS5 stock as far as I'm aware; if you go first, shoot out their marker light sources to reduce the number of hits and ignores cover shots they can put out.

lustigjh wrote:

A deep striking WWP blasterborn gunboat should do the trick. Maybe just a regular WWP gunboat, even.

On second thought, Early Warning Override will be a pain for that.

I wonder how a big unit of covens grots will hold up to that firepower if they deep strike nearby and use their large footprint to attempt to trap or corner the suits.

Tau don't have BS5 stock as far as I'm aware; if you go first, shoot out their marker light sources to reduce the number of hits and ignores cover shots they can put out.

I would also recommend using the WWP Grot bomb tactic. You need a resilient unit with a large footprint to pin it in so that even if it tries to jetpack away, it's still within charge range next turn. I'd say a Grot bomb coupled with a WWP Dark Artisan could help neutralize this unit. Trying to use vehicles to take out this unit seems futile as it was tailor made to destroy DE vehicles. I've only played against Tau a few times with the new codex, but in every game, Coven units/formations were the all stars as Tau do not hard counter them quite as much as they do to regular DE codex builds.

If your opponent deploys centrally, then a Scouting/Outlflanking CtC could also prove effective.

One more idea. Even with an attached commander, this unit, like a lot of Tau units, can be subject to leadership shenanigans. WWP AoM + Freakish Spectacle + kill some drones the shooting phase = -3 Ld check.

Sorry you are quite right about the missile pod range, that is my error, my opponent plays it as 36".

I have been looking at the Voidraven as well as I understand that bombs are dropped in the movement phase before interceptor goes off, but this would be reserves dependent and rely on the bomb hitting, would it be worth a try?

Null deployment works great. Withmy list,I would only deploy a unit of 2 talos, out of LOS if possible and makes him go first (again if you get that option). On turn 2 nearly all my army arrive from reserve (thanks to an allied Autarch). If he can hide this units from my table edge, I'll deepstrike and blast the hell out of it with lance and splinter shots.

Deamon wrote:

Null deployment works great.  Withmy list,I would only deploy a unit of 2 talos, out of LOS if possible and makes him go first (again if you get that option). On turn 2 nearly all my army arrive from reserve (thanks to an allied Autarch).  If he can hide this units from my table edge, I'll deepstrike and blast the hell out of it with lance and splinter shots.

you know you have to declare they will be deepstriking when you place them in reserve, right? Not when they arrive?

as to the original question - crisis suits hate being hit by dark lances/blasters - they're 2W and T4 so lances instant kill them. Use splinter cannon venoms to strip out the covering drones then lance the suits like a victorian medic would a boil.

I don't really see a huge issue here. They do not outrange you, and they only have a 3+ save. Shoot the damn buggers Loads of Venoms should do the trick, but if not, deepstrike a gunboat of blasters on the spot where you can get to the suits before having to hit any drones. Intercept is a minor importance. With night shields, you ought to survive it, but een if you have to get out, you can still fire normally if you manage your pinning test.

The_Burning_Eye wrote:

you know you have to declare they will be deepstriking when you place them in reserve, right? Not when they arrive?

I do but just by looking at the table it's easy to see if they can hide out of LOS or not.

Tau are a complex issue. They are an awesome shooting army, so to beat them I need to deny them the ability to shoot me very often. If deepstriking, I'll probably want 2-3 units doing that to overload their ability to intercept.
I am going to play Tau on Thursday and although it will be a maelstrom mission, I am going to throw everything forward and at them, if I get first turn, to set the cat amongst the pigeons. I am trying to spam multiple small units to achieve this. Having an Autarch to manipulate reserves is a fantastic choice, BTW.
I don't have the Coven codex but hear the scalpel squadron can come in turn 1 deep strike. Nice way to clear the drone cloud before you lance 'em good and proper.

Tau hates grotesquerie. They are better than Dark Artisan as they are not MC. Add in Armor of misery for -3ld. Reavers are good for multicharge. Try to get some soft targets in a big cc as they all get to overwatch anyhow.

Shoot down markerlights fists if they are on pathfinders. Skyrays are more difficult.

If TAu gets to go first you are in trouble but if you go first it's the other way.

Got the win! MSU was very effective against enclaves. It helped that my Tau opponent split his deployment into opposite corners. I picked on the weaker half/smaller castle. This then kited the other half toward me and removed them from static markerlight support.
From there I could pick off the pursuing crisis suits with warrior and true born blaster squads.

Congrats on the win. Tau is not impossible opponent to DE always. But not easy ether.

Deamon wrote:

Null deployment works great.

I'm starting to get the impression that null deployment, or at least WWP and deep-strike strats, might be our most valuable weapon.

Are there any HQs or other techniques that can help us control when reinforcements arrive? Comms stations?

Comm station or Allied Autarch.

What is the ability of the Autarch? How does it work in the new box?

Autarch lets you alter your Reserve rolls by +1 or -1 in the new codex.

The Freakshow lists I've been advocating since December have proven to be brutally effective against Tau. While the short story is "Leadership negatives+Leadership based attacks=profit!" I've created a series of tactica articles for people interested in a more in-depth explanation, which you can find here.