1850pts Tyranids vs Tau The Hive mind devoures...

[Dave Caruana]

Deployment was vanguard strike, we had 4 objectives and purge the alien. My list consisted of:

2 Flyrants with x2 devourers with brainleech worms, wings.
X2 Zoanthropes
X2 Venomthropes
X2 Venomthropes
X15 Hormagaunts w/ t.sacs
X15 Hormagaunts w/ t.sacs
X11 Termagants w/ spinefists
X11 Termagants
X20 Termagants
X2 Crones
X2 Exocrines
Aegis defence line

My opponent had:
X2 Ethereals
X10 Kroot
X10 Kroot
X10 (I think) sniper drones
Commander with command squad and drones, had ignore cover special rule.
X3 broadsides
X3 riptides each with drone.
Aegis w/ comms relay

So I deployed my aegis with half in between a ruin and a piece of difficult terrain almost on the edge of my deployment zone (vanguard strike) he did the same but put his a little more behind the edge of deployment.he deployed 1 riptide to the long sided table edge, 1 in tne middle with an ethereal (warlord) and 1 a few inches beside that unit, inbetween thise 2 riptides he put the sniper drones, which is dangerous because the ethereal gives something to them that make them fire an extra shot when within rapid fire range (24") and theyre snipers. He deployed the broadsides between the riptide with ethereal and the riptide on edge of long table edge, commander+squad on the right flank, kroot were going to outflank and 1 unit had other ethereal.
I put 2 exocrines touching aegis with a unit of venoms behind them, to their left I had 2 crones touching aegis and within venoms range with a unit of hormagaunts riight infront of them somewhere inbetween theirbases behind aegis, zoans were in the middle a little back, other unit of horms were deployed onto difficult (5+cover) terrain to the right I had 2 flyrants behind an impassable terrain piece getting a 5+ cover with venoms behind them givjng everything shrouded, while the termagants all deployed at the back of my deployment.
He started off, put marker lights on an exocrine and to cut the story short, removed cover gave it 1 wound from the sniper drones, 3 riptides shot at it, 2 failed to get nova, giving them 1 wound, then the commander unit shot at it giving it 2 more wounds and disappointingly for him he had to use the broadsides to kill it outright, he got first blood. Then strangely he moved the riptide bybthe long table edge forward into a ruin. (But seeing that I had 2 objectives behind my defence line I cud see why he wanted to attack me, good choosing of deployment on my part). During my turn 1 I gave catalyst to both flyrants, casted dominion and onslaught onto the last exocrine. 1 flyrant glided in front of riptide and the other swooped inbetween that riptide an broadsides. Hormagaunts moved 14" in total! And crones flew riiight infront of the sniper drones, to within an inch, exocrine ran a total of 8" forward, termas all went into terrain or behind aegis taking the 2 objectives while both units of venomthrooes gave cover to 1 unit of hormies and all the gants at the back end, zoans used dominion. Crones both used their drool cannons and left 1 drone standing, passed morale check, then this stupid thing on my part...I wanted to charge the riptide, but I **** at it with the flyrant on the ground, gave it 2 wounds, then I shot with the exocrine onto the unit of broadsides, they went to ground and denied all wounds, THEN with the swooping flyrant I was gna shoot at the broadsides but seeing they had a 2+cover save I decided to shoot at the riptide (forgetting that anyway the riptide+broadside still have 2+ save-__-) and shockingly gave him 5 wounds and HE GOT 4 1s and a 2!! So I outright killed a riptide plus drone!! Which was fricking nice, BUT I now had a flyrant on the ground and with those same dice that he rolled wudve killed 2 broadsides!!

His turn 2.
With a flyrant on the ground, a flyrant right beside him wiyhin gliding and assault range of his broadsides, 2 units of hormagaunts in his face and 2 crones touching his aegis and an exocrine inthe middle of the table (plus 3 units total of 42 gants with a 2+ cover taking objectives, he had quite alot of targets yet not much options. Both units of kroots came out, 1 behind my gants and 1 on the otherside. With the commander unit he tried shooting at my ground flyrant on the opposite side of the board, getting 2 wounds (I had a 3+cover as I was touching terrain plus within venoms but he had ignores cover) and saving 1 from fnp, the kroots he put marker lights on him, got 4, and with the outflanking kroothe upd their bs to 4 since they were gna fire snapshots with their sniper rifles and got 3 wounds, 1 rending and saved the other 2. The 2 riptides focus fired onto 1 crone, till it got grounded but survived the fall while the broadsides fired on the exocrine giving it 3 wounds, he then assaulted the fallen crone with the riptide yet we both didnt manage to hit each other for this turn.

My turn 2.
Things were looking good. Since my crone cudnt kill much as everything had armour 2 and no armour value targets I decided to go for broke. I glided him to the rear of the unit wit the ethereal, drone and riptide so as to get in bsb with the ethereal. 1 unit of hormagaunts moved close to the riptidevs crone combat while 1 flyrant plus a unit of hormagaunts swarmed the broadsides, termas stayed where they were, venomthropes gave shrouded to the termas and exocrine and zoans stayed back with the termagants. I shot with the exocrine on the unit of the commander and the flyrnt that was on the ground swooped infront of the unit of riptide+ethereal. Exocrine killed 1 member of command squad and some drones, flyrant gave 3 wounds to the riptide in the unit. I assaulted with everything and I must say, thencrone was man of the match (or xenos) I smashed the ethereal, wounded him, he tried to LOS and got a 1, ethereal ID'd and +3pts (Slay the warlord+1 kill point+ethereal special rule) flyrants and hormies charged broadsides, killed them outright, hormagaunts charged riptidevcrone but stroom at I1 as riptide was in cover, bth crones died from riptide smash attacks yet they made their mark, hormies gave 4 wound from 45 attacks total, t.sacs are a beaut on those hormies!!

Opponent turn 3.
Realised I totally forgot about the kroot at the back of my army, he shot with them at the unit of 20 termas with only 5+ cover as they were behind aegis but within range of venoms, killing 3.commander unit tried to contest an objective in my line so he moved, ran and when he wentto get his thrust move, ended up half an inch too far to contest, so he moved them in a way to get linebreaker. The riptide that lost the ethereal fired at the flyrant, missing and not doing a wound hormas failed to wound riptide and riptide killed 3, fearless so I tarpitted him.

My turn 3.
Basically consolidated, hormas took 1 objectives in enemy deployment zone, both flyrants shot at riptide, got 2 wounds but he saved them on 5+inv save.hormagants kept riptide tarpitted, exocrine killed 8 kroot and gants killed the other 2, game ended as time ran out.

Overall great game!! Really wanted to kill the riptides, disappointed I didnt manage, but they only had 1 and 2 wounds respectively and it was still turn 3, so who knows ;) the fact that I only had 1 unit of zoans was a concern for me so I tried my best to give my opponent an overdose of target priority to forget abt them. Hormagaunts poisoned, hormagaunts poisoned, hormagaunts poisoned!!! Im sorry some might disagree, but horms are back with a bang ladies and gents!!! 8pts for +3" to run, fleet, MtCover, fearless, poisoned and 3 attacks on the charge!!! I mean WOW!!! Might not go if u play a footslogging army with fexs and haruspexs and walking tyrants but if ur going for crones, with flyrants and exocrines...these are troops for you, have loads of termas safeguard ur back objectives and let these guys take the 1s of ur opponent. Venomthropes =must take, If they kill them for you, they saved wounds off ur MCs in the beginning, if they dont kill the venoms, theyll be saving ur *** for the whole game, AP2, oh sorry, im behind a ruin and have evnoms behind the wall, thatll be a 2+cover save right? XD

P.S I FINALLY got to beat TAU convincingly again!!!! YIPPPPEEEE!!!!!

[chicop76]

Why he have 3 hqs?

[Dave Caruana]

I think he had an ally from farsight enclave

[John Bower]

See, now to me looking at all these batreps, nids seem to be doing better now than ever, despite the hate levied against the new dex.

[chicop76]

I think he had an ally from farsight enclave


To do that he have to run 3 crisis suits and he have to take bonding knife. Which still don't explain 3 HQ s.

[John Bower]

Aren't Broadsides counted?

[chicop76]

Aren't Broadsides counted?

Have to double check, but I'm pretty sure it's X-V8s.

[wh14sxb]

Also remember when facing Tau. They can up BS, BUT the FAQ states you can never in crease the BS of snap shots.

Q: Can the BS1 of a Snap Shot ever be modified by special rules
that modify the BS of a model’s Shooting attack (such as Space
Marine Signums or Sergeant Telion’s Voice of Experience)? (p13)
A: No.

So moving sniper rifles on kroots he wouldnt be able to hit on 4's. Not that it would've made a big deal this time, but can't help out against flyers with simple marker light bonuses. That is correct how I am reading that right?

Awesome batrep btw. I look forward to facing nids.

[Gleipnir]

No you're right if he has 3 HQ then it would have required 3 Crisis suits as a troop for Farsight units

[Learn2Eel]

Also remember when facing Tau. They can up BS, BUT the FAQ states you can never in crease the BS of snap shots.

Q: Can the BS1 of a Snap Shot ever be modified by special rules
that modify the BS of a model’s Shooting attack (such as Space
Marine Signums or Sergeant Telion’s Voice of Experience)? (p13)
A: No.

So moving sniper rifles on kroots he wouldnt be able to hit on 4's. Not that it would've made a big deal this time, but can't help out against flyers with simple marker light bonuses. That is correct how I am reading that right?

Awesome batrep btw. I look forward to facing nids.

Sorry, Markerlights overrule this. Straight from my Tau codex;

"Pinpoint can increase the Ballistic Skill of Snap Shots and Overwatch."

Still not too useful against Deathleaper, as the Markerlights themselves have to Snap Shoot as well....

[Gleipnir]

Also remember when facing Tau. They can up BS, BUT the FAQ states you can never in crease the BS of snap shots.

Q: Can the BS1 of a Snap Shot ever be modified by special rules
that modify the BS of a model’s Shooting attack (such as Space
Marine Signums or Sergeant Telion’s Voice of Experience)? (p13)
A: No.

So moving sniper rifles on kroots he wouldnt be able to hit on 4's. Not that it would've made a big deal this time, but can't help out against flyers with simple marker light bonuses. That is correct how I am reading that right?

Awesome batrep btw. I look forward to facing nids.

Tau markerlight rules specifically say they can be used to increase Snap Shots and overwatch in their description. The rules for which were released following the FAQ errata you are referring to that applies to basic rulebook, meaning the Tau codex rules would take precedence.

[Learn2Eel]

Aren't Broadsides counted?

Just XV-8s, you have to take a mandatory team of them as Troops.

[chicop76]

Just XV-8s, you have to take a mandatory team of them as Troops.

Yup. Otherwise I would run a stealth suit army.

Oh and I wasn't gonna say it earlier, but not even really reading the report I doubted the Tau would win. I never see a list like that. Not one marker light in the whole army for starters and a heavy reliance on heavy support and riptides. I could beat that list with any decent army list with any of my armies.

Also you had a good nid list which took advantage of his lack of non marker lights. Now beat a real Tau list against a good Tau player than I'll give you props.

[Dave Caruana]

Ok, 1st of all the army was legal he had 3 hqs but he made it legal somehow probably with the broadsides, dno much about tau so dont judge me on a name mistake of a unit :D This guy is 1 of the top tau players in Malta, we're going up for ETC in serbia this summer, hes already been there last year so I believe he has some experience and knows how to use a tau list. He was going to play vs another buddy of mine who plays basically kairos, 2 deamon princes of tzeentch, 3 helldrakes and sme marines here and there but when I arrived I begged him to play as I wanted to playtest my army against tau, normally hed have farsight with 1 riptide, 2 units of 3 broadsides and some other changes, or a taudar list, this was a different list, he never used sniper drones before and never used 2 ethereals but anyway, he had marker lights in the commanders units and quite alot at that and he also had quite a few in the sniper drone unit and im preeeetttyy sure he wanted to playtest the potential there was in having sniper drones with pulse weaponry added with the thing the ethereal gives to pjlse weaponry that when within rapid fire range they fire an extra shot, so thatd be 3 shots from each sniper drone, rending, unfortuantely for him I burned all his snipers turn 1 with my drool cannons, maybe next time hell deploy more backwards and that cudve changed things, remember it was his 1st game vs the new nids too. All I want to say to all tau and eldar players is this, I find it unfair that when we do manage to beat those said armies its down to luck or a bad opponent, thats unfair as any listnis beatable with the right tactics. What I can say is this, IMHO if u want to show that you are a good player, dont play tau or eldar, play any other army and dont play the OP, broken ones, win with them, time and time again against these 1 click win armies then u can call urself a good player

[chicop76]

Let's see I played Tau since they came out in 2003 with a lot of metal in my army. I still have my 3rd edition Tau codex lying some where. Not my fault GW decided to make them good now. Picked up Eldar and Nids in 4th edition so I can play an army with melee options. Oh I forgot I had a Necron army in 4th, sold it for more Tau lol. Also in 4th I picked up Daemons when they first came out, also due to Escalation I pick up a Marine bike and assault marine army, when you can use assault marines as troops. Also in 4th I started collecting sisters, guard, and grey knights. In 5th I played Daemons a lot with my Guard alliance with grey knights and sisters.

Thinking about it more so. I didn't pick up any new armies since 4th edition and just been adding to my collection in 5th and 6th editions. Would had picked up Dark Eldar in 5th/6th if Daemons and Tau didn't change so much.

All that being said I think a good player would play way more than one army and know how each army works before he have to face it. Looking at the Tau list it's not really all that good. It seems to do good against a certain type of meta that's all.

Also me and three people pointed out that the broadsides don't meet the requirements as to taking O'shova as allies. To take O'Shova as allies he have to take one hq and one troop at least, also you have to take 3 crisis suits as troops. Plus all units must take bonding knives.

I have the O'Shova codex on my book shelf to quote if you want me too. I'm just saying against the Tau list I seen in different tournaments and my own tau experience I don't see that nid list fairing well against them.

[Dave Caruana]

Well tbh not many nid lists fair well against any tau list :D hence why u shud play 1 of ur other armies since u basically make a gd list and auto win, maybe not against eldar but against every1 else thats hw it almost always is, hence why u shud use ur other armies and 'show how rly gd u are by beating tau lists u know so well since u played them for so long :)

[Gleipnir]

Adding to what was already said the only way he could have had 3 HQ legally is with O'Shova allies which would have required a unit of at least 3 Crisis XV-8 suits which is what was being pointed out. It was simply being pointed out that the Tau list wasn't one that was a FOC legal build at 1850 points and Broadsides can't make it so.

Also I should point out the ethereal joined to a riptide would be considered Toughness 6(due to majority Toughness of the unit) this not something you would be able to Instant Death with a smash attack.

The 10 "Sniper drones" maybe were gun drones? with 24" Assault 2 shooting range and BS 2, otherwise not a legal unit

Where were all the markerlight hits coming from again? the commanders's 2 drones? you would have needed at least 3 markerlight hits for the Kroot to get +3BS on snap shots

Sorry gotta agree that this Tau list was fubared from the get go, poorly built also not 1850 FOC legal, and from the description of how the battle was played out, played incorrectly.

[chicop76]

Adding to what was already said the only way he could have had 3 HQ legally is with O'Shova allies which would have required a unit of at least 3 Crisis XV-8 suits which is what was being pointed out. It was simply being pointed out that the Tau list wasn't one that was a FOC legal build at 1850 points and Broadsides can't make it so.

Also I should point out the ethereal joined to a riptide would be considered Toughness 6(due to majority Toughness of the unit) this not something you would be able to Instant Death with a smash attack

I am thinking of doing 3 broadsides, Riptide IC, and Irdidium support commander in a unit. They will all be toughness 6 and with the Riptide and commander up front you can easily allocate wounds. Due to both assault move you can shift them so you can alternative who you as closer too each turn which you can spread the wounds. You would probably never kill off the Unit, unless you assaulted it.

Did I miss something. How you use a a Drool cannon in the first turn?

Oh playing with Tau a lot makes it easier for me to face Tau and exploit their weakness. I thought Eldar would be a good match vs Tau, but I proved that wrong several times, I have faced serpent spam, but no Wraithknights.

To answer an earlier question I probably kill the Crones first since they are far easier to kill than a hive tyrant. Not saying the tyrant is less of a threat. It all really depends. For example my seeker missiles will go for the Tyrant every time over a cone.

Thanks to nids and looking at a friend use Tau I am seriously thinking of using two skyrays.

[Tynskel]

Also I should point out the ethereal joined to a riptide would be considered Toughness 6(due to majority Toughness of the unit) this not something you would be able to Instant Death with a smash attack.


You got that wrong. Joining the Riptide makes the Ethereal T6 for the purposes of rolling to wound. It does *not* replace the Ethereal's Toughness Characteristic.

[Gleipnir]

Agreed I had that interpretation wrong T6 for rolls to wound w/ a chance to Look Out sir on a 2+ but not ID proof

[Glyph]

Hi there all,

I'm the guy Dave played against. To answer all your "*Gasp* ILLEGAL LIST" comments, he didn't give a proper list of what I played. Here's the proper list:
Ethereal (Warlord)
O'mmortal Commander with 2 Marker Drones
Riptide with Ion, FB, EWO, VT, 1 Shield Drone
Riptide with Ion, FB, EWO, VT, 1 Shield Drone
10x Kroot with Sniper rounds, 1 Hound
10x Kroot with Sniper rounds, 1 Hound
3 Broadsides with HYMP, SMS, and EWO
7 Sniper Drones, 2 Marksmen
Farsight Ethereal
3x Farsight XV8s with 2PR+TL each, 4 Marker Drones
Farsight Riptide with HBC, FB, VT, EWO, 1 Shield Drone, Earth Caste Pilot Array
Aegis with Comms Relay


All that being said I think a good player would play way more than one army and know how each army works before he have to face it. Looking at the Tau list it's not really all that good. It seems to do good against a certain type of meta that's all.
I also own and play Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Eldar, and I've played with most builds most armies have. I'm confident in saying that I know the major tricks in all of them but still like to learn new ones so I play as often as I can.
Regarding my list, it's a deviation from my anti-MEQ list...wanted to increase the amount of snipers in my army to deal with Wraithknights, Daemon Princes, Tyranid nasties, and Riptides. It's still in the play-testing stage.

[Dave Caruana]

There!! And in his defence hes a reaaly really good player and is training to go up for ETC this summer!!