Archived from groups: rec.games.miniatures.warhammer (
More info?)
<pbowles@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1124784676.077203.254110@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >So, after getting whacked again by Tau (Grrr..), Im seriously thinking
> >about
>>investing in a Whirlwind or Vindicator for my UM army. Trying to get into
>>hth range with these bozos is a real pain, and Id like an "equalizer" of
>>sorts, something to quickly reduce the number of troops pointing their
>>rifles at me. Any thoughts or advice?
>
> Against anything with 4+ saves the Whirlwind is a prime pick, and
> outranges everything in the Tau army bar the Hammerhead to boot. Crisis
> suits will make short work of it when they deep strike into play,
> though, so don't rely on it beyond the first few turns and have assault
> troops standing by to attack any Crisis that turn up behind your lines.
>
> Land Speeders are good at getting into range quickly and both the
> Tornado and Typhoon pack a punch against light and medium infantry -
> but massed pulse rifles will take them out of the sky pretty quickly.
>
> Attack bikes with multimeltas and bikes with melta or plasma should
> make swift work of Battlesuits, and they've got the speed to close
> quickly.
>
> The Predator Destructor is very well-armed for anti-Tau work, has a
> decent range and because the heavy bolters are defensive weapons, can
> move up to 6" and keep firing. Weight of S5-7 fire makes it respectable
> against Devilfish too.
>
> Infiltrating Scouts give you a range boost as well as being armed with
> heavy bolters and bolters. For additional fun you can try a sniper
> rifle just in case you get to pin a Battlesuit team, but I wouldn't
> rely on it. Tau infantry have relatively poor Ld, making them one of
> the few armies readily susceptible to pinning, so it could still be
> worth a try against Fire Warriors and Kroot.
>
> Deep Striking Termies is fun, but they're a points sink you don't need
> against Tau unless you can get into combat with the suits - and as you
> found, don't last long against Battlesuits at range. The assault cannon
> looks tempting, but against T3, Sv4+ Tau it's just a short-ranged heavy
> bolter with an extra shot - both rending and S6 are irrelevant against
> the infantry and you'll be lucky to get close enough to bother the
> Hammerheads let alone destroy them. You can't rely on getting these
> before the Tau get their suits, and so you can't be certain of their
> value as anti-Crisis weapons either.
>
> I'm not really sure what your problem would be against Tau - Marines
> should be a tough army to beat. The Tau lack weaponry with the
> combination of high power, high AP and long range, and most of what
> they have is restricted in availability, so if you have a decent number
> of Marine infantry they'll have a hard time killing them all. Don't
> waste points on superfluous units like Terminators or Land Raiders,
> which won't do enough to justify their cost against these targets
> (Termies pay a lot for power fists that are pretty much wasted against
> T3 Sv4+). Your basic troops are far more capable than theirs, for only
> 150% of the cost; they've got better range, higher accuracy, greater
> access to AP4 and high rate-of-fire weapons than the Tau have to AP3
> ones or anything that fires more than one shot at long range. Just in
> terms of basic weapons, both sides are equally able to wound the other,
> but the Tau are 1/6 less accurate and 1/6 less likely to score a kill,
> so they need a third again as many troops as the Marines to hold their
> own in a ranged war of attrition. It's hard for the Tau to destroy
> transports, but not for them to cause glancing hits and so throw your
> troops out, so close with jump pack troops and bikes and ditch the
> Rhinos - though one or two of those can reliably distract a couple of
> Fire Warrior teams for a turn. Scouts are cheap, can get close and are
> a league above Tau in close combat, so use these to give your army bulk
> and some extra firepower.
>
> I don't have the Marine Codex to hand and I don't know points values
> for most units, but off the top of my head I'd want a selection
> somewhere along the following lines:
>
> HQ
>
> Librarian - some ranged Tau-killing power. Minimise points spent on
> him; an Iron Halo for protection, perhaps, but he certainly doesn't
> need a boost to kill Tau, including Tau characters, up close. No points
> wasted on force weapons, though a power weapon is worthwhile.
>
> ELITES
>
> Dreadnought: Twin heavy bolter, missile launcher.
>
> TROOPS
>
> 9 Tactical Marines: 2 x plasma gun. Rhino: normal upgrades
>
> 9 Tactical Marines: Plasma gun, missile launcher.
>
> 10 Scouts: Bolters. Heavy bolter, sniper rifle (can you take both in a
> squad?).
>
> 10 Scouts: As above.
>
> FAST ATTACK
>
> 5 Bikes: 2 x meltagun
> Attack Bike: Multimelta
>
> Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy bolter, assault cannon
>
> HEAVY SUPPORT
>
> Predator Destructor: Heavy bolter sponsons
>
> Predator Annihiliator: Lascannon sponsons (for Broadsides)
>
> Whirlwind
>
> No idea what this comes to - somewhere in the 1500-2000pt range would
> be my guess. But it gets you a lot of troops and a lot of firepower
> that will wound infantry on 2s and suits on 3s.
>
> Philip
Wow! Thanks to everyone for your advice and insight! Phil, you gave me
things to think about in regards to building a fast, hvy shooty UM army.
Next time I see those goofy grey turds, watch out!
drgrbek
Thanks for the brain fodder.
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