40k Tips & Tactics
Now let’s look at the individual unit confi gurations in the BEFORE list. The fi rst thing to notice is the weapon confi guration on the Shas’O. Tau Crisis Suit Commanders have the best ballistic skill in the entire army.
Equipping one with barrage weaponry like the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector doesn’t take advantage of such a high ballistic skill (or BS for short); it should probably be replaced with something that requires a traditional to-hit roll. Paired with the potential AP1 that a Cyclic Ion Blaster offers, a Plasma Rifl e would be a great choice for a replacement.
Next is the Ethereal. Here’s a model that a Tau army can really benefi t from – he’s fearless, and he allows some of your Tau to use his high leadership. Used in this capacity he has great merit, but it’s important to exploit his offensive strengths as well, otherwise he’s just a fi fty point piece of terrain. Give him a bodyguard of Firewarriors! In the same way that the Crisis Commander’s BS is important, a Firewarrior unit with a higher BS than normal is just as good.
Not only does the squad have the ability to hit 17% more often, but it also gives the Ethereal a greater degree of protection from enemy fi re.
No one wants to lose their Ethereal!
TIP #3 – Utilize the abilities and stats of your units as much as you can. Get the biggest bang for your buck. If a model has an initiative value of 6, don’t give it a Power Fist that makes its initiative useless. If a unit has Furious Charge, make sure that it is going to be able to charge. Don’t hamper your models’ strengths by giving them wargear that’s ineffi cient. Add
to their effectiveness by increasing their capacity for using their abilities.
Crisis Suit teams are excellent at gunning down infantry or cracking armor, and they can be tailored to suit either role. The Crisis Suits in the BEFORE list are extremely versatile, but in actuality this is a drawback.
Two of the suits each have three weapons, only one of which they can fi re each turn. They can fi ll any fi re support role needed, but too many points are wasted on weapons that will rarely see use. It’s a much better idea to
focus what Crisis Suits do by equipping them with two weapons each and allowing them the use of a multi-tracker. It’s also important that the two weapons they possess have similar strengths and possibly similar AP values. This way all the suits in a unit can fi re all of their weapons on a single target, allowing you to rely on a much more predictable outcome.
One of the most common Crisis Suit weapon confi gurations that players use has a Plasma Rifle, a Missile Pod and a Multi-tracker.
Additionally, if you want to add in just a little versatility, upgrading the Team Leader to carry a third weapon is always an option. His ability to take hard-wired equipment allows him three weapons and a Multi-tracker, as well as a Target Lock.
Stealth Suit teams are similarly versatile.
They can crack open a stray tank or harass enemy troops. Sadly, it is this writer’s opinion that giving the unit any upgrades beyond the extremely cheap Fusion Guns (two points each!) will make the unit extremely over-priced. With a starting price of thirty points per suit, they’re just slightly more expensive than a Crisis Suit, but have less potential for dishing out firepower.
Their true strength lies in their ability to infi ltrate.
TIP #4 – It’s better to do one thing well than to do many things badly. Every unit in the game has a point cost, and every unit has a specifi c window of opportunity during which it can have its greatest affect on a game.
If a unit isn’t using its abilities to their fullest, it’s a waste of points and you may as well not play with it (if it’s having no affect on the game, then you’re playing with an army that is essentially smaller than your opponent’s).
The force organization chart (FOC) is full of slots for your units to occupy. Try sub-dividing your units so that there are more of them, subsequently taking up more slots on the FOC. For instance, if there are three slots open, and you have two squads occupying those slots, why not divide one of the squads in half (if possible) and take up an extra slot?
There are some drawbacks to this, as well as 40k Tips & Tactics
some advantages. The sub-division of units gives their controller greater tactical fl exibility.
You get more units at the same cost, with very different applications and possibilities.
TIP #5 – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Many types of units fall into this category: Eldar Viper Jetbikes, Imperial Guard Sentinels, Tau Crisis Suits (although it’s rare to sub-divide them), and any other vehicle squadron. Why suffer the drawback of grouping all your Landspeeders into one squadron that can be affected by a single enemy unit’s fi re? Break them up into separate squadrons of one. More targets for your opponent means that he’ll have to dedicate more units to killing them.
Tau Troop units are a mixed bag.
There are so many different
ways to
use them, and so many different confi gurations that are effective. However, it’s not normally a good idea to give a shooting unit like Firewarriors any kind of extra equipment.
They’re good at firing their Pulse Rifl es, and not much else.
Equipping the squad leader with a heavy weapon while the rest of the unit has some great move-and-fi re capability is a risky maneuver. Many times, targets will present themselves at just over 12” from your unit, and a quick move forward into rapid fire range will double your fi repower; this leaves your squad leader’s heavy weapon out of the fi ght. Again, this is another case of valuable points going to waste.
TIP #6 – Keep it simple, stupid!
Wiser words I’ve never heard (thanks Dad). Don’t be afraid to utilize a unit for its basic strengths. Sometimes players get too caught up in giving their units a plethora of extra weaponry, veteran upgrades, transport vehicles, etc. There is
absolutely nothing wrong with taking a squad of ten Space Marines with Boltguns and a Plasma Gun (160 points). They still have a great deal of fi repower, a good armor save, and can tie up an opponent in hand-to-hand if necessary.
Is it necessary to give them a heavy weapon, a
transport, a veteran and his wargear? If that’s what you’re going for, that’s fi ne, but for all those extra points you could have another unit of fi ve Marines with a Lascannon.
Fast Attack selections for this force are extremely fragile, and in my experience have a very low incidence of success.
However, the Tau excel at allowing their units to cooperate with each other to achieve great results. I recommended removing a squadron of Gun Drones to make room for an entire unit of Pathfi nders and their accompanying Devilfi sh.
Pathfi nders can really bring a Tau army together because they have so many different attributes that augment other units. Markerlights are their number one asset, allowing other units to ignore cover saves, modify pinning tests, hit more often, and fi re Seeker Missiles. Not only do the Pathfinders themselves help coordinate things, but their Devilfi sh has wargear that allows a deep-striking unit to re-roll its scatter dice when it arrives. If you need a strong anti-tank presence on turn two or three, simply drop a single Fusion Blaster-equipped Crisis Suit onto the table with the Crisis Suit Commander’s Positional Relay.
40k Tips & Tactics
1 Watch people play.
2 Don’t take more wargear instead of more models.
3 Utilize the abilities and stats of your units.
4 Do one thing well than
11 Troops, troops troops.
12 Survival of the Fittest.
13 Steal home.
TIP #7 – Coordinate your units. If your individual units seem weak or inadequate, make sure there are several different units in your army that can work together for more effective results. For instance, Eldar armies tend to use the Avatar of Khaine in combination with lots of Guardians, ensuring that the Guardians are fearless and will hold their ground. A Farseer gives the Avatar re-rolls to his armor and invulnerable saves. The Guardians, in turn, provide a living shield for the Farseer.
Tau Heavy Support selections are often fraught with the same problems I’ve already mentioned; the only difference is that their tanks take the issue one step further. Many items of Tau vehicle wargear seem very appealing to a newer player, but in actuality are almost completely useless when subjected to the scrutiny of an experienced eye. Since Hammerheads and their sister models have the ability to move 12,” suffer only glancing hits, and fi re all their weaponry (due to the vehicle-mounted Multi-tracker), there’s no use for such wargear as the Blacksun Filter, Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines or Flechette Discharger.
TIP #8 – Investigate the army lists of more experienced players. Veteran players of 40K usually have many years of experience under their belts. They often know exactly how useful specifi c types of wargear can or can’t be, and what units use that wargear better than others.
For instance, any seasoned Tyranid player will tell you that Implant Attack is a staple biomorph for a Hive Tyrant since it doubles the number of wounds it infl icts against multi-wound models
in close combat. No Tyranid player wants to risk the chance of a Space Marine Librarian surviving long enough to cause a wound with a Force Weapon! Likewise, a Sisters of Battle army fi elded by a veteran player will never be without a Book of St. Lucius, and an Imperial Guard army’s Basilisk will almost always be upgraded to fi re indirectly.
Finally, there is one mistake that I see made very, very often with units of Battlesuits, and
that mistake is being repeated here with the Broadside unit. Not every Battlesuit in a unit must be equipped in the exact same way (except in the case of Advanced Stabilization Systems which clearly state they must be a uniform upgrade). This is why the Team Leader upgrade is so important, and why it’s not necessary to give all Battlesuits in a unit the Target Lock wargear. There is one initial target for a fi ring unit, and any other targets are determined by individual Target Locks. This 40k Tips & Tactics
HQ
Commander Shas’O - 130 (Plasma Rifl e, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Hard-wired Multi-tracker, Positional Relay)
Ethereal – 70 (2 Close Combat Weapons, Hard-wired Drone Controller, 2 Gun Drones) Ethereal Bodyguard (12) - 144
ELITE
Stealth Suit Team (6) –184 (2 Fusion Blasters) Crisis Battlesuit Team (2) – 146 (Crisis Suit, Team Leader, Fusion Blaster, Missile Pod, Plasma Rifl e, wired Multi-tracker, Hard-wired Target Lock), (Crisis Suit, Plasma Rifl e, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker)
Crisis Battlesuit Team (1) – 53 (Twin-linked Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array)
TROOPS
Fire Warrior Squad (6) – 60
Kroot Carnivore Squad (17) – 140 (Shaper) FAST ATTACK
Piranha Light Skimmer (1) – 70 (Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array)
Gun Drone Squadron (8) – 96
Pathfi nder Team (8) – 206 (Devilfi sh, 2 Seeker Missiles, Multi-tracker)
HEAVY SUPPORT
Broadside Battlesuit Squad (3) – 275 (1 Broadside Suit, Team Leader, Smart Missile System, Advanced Stabilization System, Hard-wired Drone Controller, 2 Shield Drones), (2 Broadside Suits, 2 Smart Missile Systems, 2 Advanced Stabilization Systems) Hammerhead Gunship – 125 (Ion Cannon, 2 Burst Cannons, Multi-tracker)
Skyray Missile Defence Gunship – 150 (2 Burst Cannons, Multi-tracker, Targeting Array)