Quote Originally Posted by Melon-neko View Post
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.