Dark Eldar vs Tau

[Melon-neko]

So basically, I am trying to figure out how DE have a chance against TAU.
I haven't played a match yet but maybe some of you have.
It just seems to me that there is little chance of DE getting across the board against the amount of S5 and 7 shots that Tau will be throwing at them, and once their, assaulting is suicidal with our normal assault troops (wyches). It might be slightly better with incubi.

I generally play a DE raider army, meaning the majority of my army is in raiders with ravagers for heavy support. If I don't go first I think I can expect every raider to be wreckage on turn 1 unless I have some good blocking terrain to hide behind. Going first of course gives an advantage, but the Tau are pretty good at ignore cover saves to shoot down the raiders either way.

A DE gunline might be able to have a shoot out with Tau, taking lots of splinter cannons, not really how I like to play though. If i wanted a gun line I'd play Tau =)

Anyway, mostly just looking for thoughts from other DE players or experiences if you have face Tau yet.

[Trystis]

I have the forums at The Dark City pretty much invaluable for Dark Eldar information. They even have a topic on this you may want to check out.

http://www.thedarkcity.net/t6092-de-vs-the-new-tau

[Sly]

Beastmasters, and assaulting on Turn 2 to minimize incoming Firepower. But I don't think it will be enough... DE are a pretty weak Codex, and Tau are quite strong.

[magickbk]

I'd have to think that it would all come down to terrain, so it will depend on the type of board you play on. You have to be able to only deal with part of the Tau force at once by blocking off sight lines. Use double-cannon Venoms to take out units that can do support overwatch, and try combo-charging to take away the overwatch advantage. Either that, or work backwards, by hiding the first few turns and sniping down battlesuits and vehicles, and then do a massive coordinated charge against every unit on say, turn 4. But I'd say the main goal is to be aggressive, just do it when you want to.

It's just a tough match-up. The primary opponent for my Tau has been Biel-Tan Eldar, and the greatest weapon in my arsenal has been that he generally isn't aggressive enough. If he did an all-out blitz, he would probably be able to overwhelm my army.

[Yriel_The_Angelic]

Anyway, mostly just looking for thoughts from other DE players or experiences if you have face Tau yet.

Well, I've found target saturation to be very effective. So far I'm 11-6 against tau with my DE and these are players that used to go to 'ard boys and adepticon. Take night shields as it'll help give you one more turn in which your opponent doesn't rapid fire and take flicker fields as they ignore our jink. After that just take loads of peeps and rush their face. You can't outrange them and you can't hide (seeker missiles).

Normally I take 3 venoms with warriors and 1 blaster each. Comes up to round 135 points. Then couple of raider warriors, 1 unit of incubi in a venom and a very cheap archon (normally comes around to 110 points). After that I unload my troops behind cover and charge through cover, making best use of our fleet rule and it gives me more saves on over watch (normally a 4+ cover save as phantasm grenade launcher gives stealth if within 8" of firing d00ds huzzah!)

Hope I helped.

[Francis Urquhart]

I'm new to site and Dark Eldar and 6th ed, (but I am a long time Eldar player) so I may be incorrect.

I think it's a question of winning/playing the scenario, or more specifically, Board Control. Five out of six scenarios are for objectives. You needn't kill the tau, just have your dark eldar troops (really fast) be on more objectives than the tau player's troops (really slow). As I understand the new tau, they only get really nasty when clumped together. If they want to take objectives, of which there are several, they'll have to split up their troops. Hold your boys in reserve if possible, then fly onto the objectives with some raider carrying dark eldar doom in the later turns. It may not be the most thematic victory, but you should be able to take the majority. Also, depending on terrain, dark eldar can be quite good at stalling and staying alive by zipping behind cover, and seeming to be about to attack the enemy's line, when in fact they're just waiting to grab the objectives in the middle of the board.
I think Tau are really poor at board control, I think it's their achilles heel in fact, not CC. I need more games with them to be sure, but I am confident this is so.

[HERO]

Also, depending on terrain, dark eldar can be quite good at stalling and staying alive by zipping behind cover, and seeming to be about to attack the enemy's line, when in fact they're just waiting to grab the objectives in the middle of the board.

Your Tau players don't use markerlights?

[Uncle Nutsy]

To have a chance against Tau with DE.

Lots of sneakiness with cover. Take units that can deepstrike. And never ever cluster. Use a divide-and-conquer method. You have a scalpel, they have a scalpel. Make sure yours is sharper and quicker. Sure Tau have you on range, but they still have issues with dealing with attacks from the flanks. If the tau player takes Longstrike, you can be guaranteed your ravagers will bite it.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. A venom, loaded with blaster born, deepstrikes behind a hammerhead (courtesy of Duke), and you'll have that hammerhead in the bag.

I have both armies. I know the strengths and weaknesses pretty well.

[HERO]

To have a chance against Tau with DE.

Lots of sneakiness with cover. Take units that can deepstrike. And never ever cluster. Use a divide-and-conquer method. You have a scalpel, they have a scalpel. Make sure yours is sharper and quicker. Sure Tau have you on range, but they still have issues with dealing with attacks from the flanks. If the tau player takes Longstrike, you can be guaranteed your ravagers will bite it.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. A venom, loaded with blaster born, deepstrikes behind a hammerhead (courtesy of Duke), and you'll have that hammerhead in the bag.

I have both armies. I know the strengths and weaknesses pretty well.

Really? Please tell me how you're shooting that Venom with Blasterborn out of DS.

Are you familiar with the amount of weight of fire Tau can put out at range vs. DE? Or their ability to remove cover all together?

I'll pass on this advice.

[Uncle Nutsy]

Yeah, I've owned Tau since early 5th, and bought the DE 5th ed book when it was released. I've have had many games with both, yet have no idea how either of them work.

Ain't you a bright spot, hero!

[thecactusman17]

So basically, I am trying to figure out how DE have a chance against TAU.
I haven't played a match yet but maybe some of you have.
It just seems to me that there is little chance of DE getting across the board against the amount of S5 and 7 shots that Tau will be throwing at them, and once their, assaulting is suicidal with our normal assault troops (wyches). It might be slightly better with incubi.

I generally play a DE raider army, meaning the majority of my army is in raiders with ravagers for heavy support. If I don't go first I think I can expect every raider to be wreckage on turn 1 unless I have some good blocking terrain to hide behind. Going first of course gives an advantage, but the Tau are pretty good at ignore cover saves to shoot down the raiders either way.

A DE gunline might be able to have a shoot out with Tau, taking lots of splinter cannons, not really how I like to play though. If i wanted a gun line I'd play Tau =)

Anyway, mostly just looking for thoughts from other DE players or experiences if you have face Tau yet.

Sems to me that the key for an assault army of any type is mass, specifically mass that gets you into a declared multi charge against every (or almost every) unit. The reason is that crazy overwatch--you need to force all the overwatch rolls at once, because as soon as those models are touched then it's too late--they are stuck and boo hoo for them. Towards this end, I might assault with 1-2 units of Incubi or beastmasters and then as many Wyches as I can manage. Declare and charge the Incubi/Beasts first,drawing all the shooting onto your 3+/4++ saves, then hit hard with the Wyches while they are tied up. You want to force your opponent to roll as much of his overwatch as possible at models that will either survive or take a ridiculous number of successful shots to kill.

Whatever you do, do NOT allow your opponent to get that extra distance in the deployment or movement. A good solution to achieve this could be taking sails on all your Raiders. Make that first turn count as much as possible for distance, and assume that by default you won't get a second shot. As with all armies, Tau need to heavily prioritize to keep that massive shooting wall functional because it collapses like a house of cards in all but the most lopsided of fights.

Another way to mess with his priority is to give your wyches Haywire grenades and position to threaten his tanks and infantry simultaneously. And don't forget to leave wrecks that block off his fire lanes and give your models that crucial extra cover save.