Countering Deep Strike Battlesuits.

[interrogator_chaplain]

So my regular opponent is a Tau player who regularly pulls a tactic that devastates at least 1 squad every round of shooting and I have a difficult time fighting back when it happens.

So I'm playing Dark Angels Greenwing (Already not looking good against Tau) and what usually happens, is that around turn 3, when space in my deployment zone opens up he drops in his Battlesuits running full plasma and full drones as a defensive screen. Due to his pact with some sort of Luck Daemon, he often never rolls scatter (I've checked it's not loaded. (Unfortunately, as that would explain his preternatural luck!)) and they plonk down unleashing something like 18 pulse carbine shots and 15 plasma rifle shots often enough to rip apart 1 10 man tactical squad (I run high tactical squads) and then jump away and then come back and do it all over again. As he does it on deep strike, I've got no response for this and I've yet to eliminate his commander.

I'm often trying to win the game through objectives and he's often trying to wipe me off the table and ignore the objectives.

It would be going a lot better for me against him if I could fight back against that one move he makes against me and the only way I can really fight back is to have him roll on the deep strike mishap chart OR keep all of my forces back in defence of my deployment zone and let him capture objectives.

Clearly neither of those are good moves.

I beseech you hive mind, little help?

[Magpie]

Taking an Allied detachment of Inquisitor Coteaz with an Inquisitorial Warband of 3 Plasma Acolytes, 6 Acolytes with Storm Bolters and 3 Servitors w Heavy Bolters along with a Grey Knight Strike squad or two will shut down any Deep Strike shenanigans.

The Strike Squads cause an auto mishap to anything within 12" if they have their Warp Quake Psychic power running. Combat squad them and you can cover a vast area.
Coteaz with the Warband can shoot at anything arriving from reserve within 12". That's 6 S7AP2 + 12 S4AP5 + 9 S5 AP4

You can also add a Quad Gun that can shoot the Deep Strikers at the end of the turn that they arrive.

[Isaac Gutierrez]

I also play dark angels, but as I have a large colection of incompleted armies, I often use allies. Some of the strategies I would use are.
1: use smaller units. (5 man assault squads, 3 bikes, cheap tactical squads, scouts, etc) that way, he will need to kill more of your units to make up for his points, and will only be able to do it one at a turn.

2: divide your force is small detachments spread trough out the table, this way, your units wont be too close, preventing his death star to move from one to the other.

3: make use of cover, specially if there is an open space where he would like to drop.

4: use allies: the grey knights have inquisidors with skulls, which affect deep strike, imperial guard is very cheap, and veterans can be very well equipped and remain cheap. Blood angels have assault troops as core and the priests give them Feel No Pain (3 for one elite choice).

4: use the same strategy and bring azrael and bikes with terminators, That way your deep striking guys wont scatter, and you will be landing right in his face from turn 1 (thanks to scout and teleport hommer on the bikes and deathwing assault on the termies)

[Magpie]

4: use allies: the grey knights have inquisidors with skulls, which affect deep strike,

They only affect your own Deep Strike, they don't worry enemy DS'ing.

Nice move with the smaller units idea tho' I'd not thought of that but it is a good way in general to lessen the Tau's firepower.

[DarkLink]

Tau have easy access to split fire. They can target multiple units at once, so it wouldn't do much good unless he doesn't take that upgrade. Make sure to check his list before the game for that.

Take transports, and use them as shields. Small arms fire kills off the drones, then once those are dead you need stuff that can kill his suits.

4: use the same strategy and bring azrael and bikes with terminators, That way your deep striking guys wont scatter, and you will be landing right in his face from turn 1 (thanks to scout and teleport hommer on the bikes and deathwing assault on the termies)

Riptides would love that.

[Magpie]

Tau have easy access to split fire. They can target multiple units at once, so it wouldn't do much good unless he doesn't take that upgrade. Make sure to check his list before the game for that.

They do but in taking that they are sacrificing something else, so if nothing else you are forcing him to spend his points on an otherwise less than useful upgrade.
Even if he does take the upgrade you are still diluting his fire power by spreading it across a number of units

The beauty with Space Marines is they can instantly double the number of units they have at deployment and with the new combat squad rule you don't lose out on you transports.

[G00dySmiley]

I am in agreeance with the coteaz idea and allying grey knights.

I use them as allies to my eldar often to counter deep strike armies liek all drop pod armies or farsight bomb

coteaz 100

henchmen w/ 3 plasma cannons 60, 3 acolites in power armor with plasma guns 72, 4 storm bolter acolytes 28, and if you have the points 2 jerako at 35 are a hell of a buff team for them and add a few multimelta shots which you can have them take last and could instant kill suits .. but at 70 they cost alot.

strike squad w/ 10 guys, combat squaded with a rhino, 2 psycannons 260 (for small games 150 for psycannon, rhino, and 5 man)

they are an axpensive ally at 520(without jeriko), but if you are playing lower points games drop to a 5 man strike squad and lose the power armor and storm bolter acolytes (they exist to catch bullets up front first really)

the strike squad casts warp quake and prevents deep striking anywhere near your guys except for near coteaz who unloads 3 plasma cannons, 6 plasma gun shots, and 12 storm bolter shots. added bonus if you have an aegis line with quadgun to rip into them as well.

you could also instead of the henchman squad get

coteaz 100

attach him to a dark angels command squad with 5 vertrans with plasma guns 175

thn strike squad in rhino with psycannon 150 if poitn sallow do this x2 and warpquake is in two places

[Magpie]

That's the bugger of only having Allies of Convenience, Coteaz can never attach to anything other than Grey Knight stuff

[Aegwymourn]

I would agree with the general consensus that taking Grey Knight allies for deep strike defense is a no-brainer. They are just so good at it.

Darklink also has an excellent point about bringing transports. Depending on your opponents composition he might have a hard time removing enough before his deep-strike squad comes in. I think transports are going to be on their way back in after Tau and Eldar are so obviously good at killing infantry out in the open.

Also remember killing drones counts towards the 25% moral check for shooting casualties. Tau leadership is pretty meh.

[G00dySmiley]

That's the bugger of only having Allies of Convenience, Coteaz can never attach to anything other than Grey Knight stuff

hmm just looked that up, i am always when allying imperium convenience ally at best but i thought all the space marines played nice together guess not