Tau vs Space Marines

[duane]

Holy crap!!! Been a while since I have played but getting back into it. Decided to purchase the Tau and give it a go. I know the Tau are squishy to start but I managed pretty well to carve out a plot of territory with the plan to build and develop before exploring too far. Then came an army of space marines who just rolled over me. nothing I had...I mean nothing even slowed them down. I was just starting to build some entry level battle suits but I dont think even that would help.

Clearly I am taking too long to develop tech or I am picking the wrong priorities. What unit do I need that will have at least some success in getting through their armor?

[Jey]

Depends what they have.
Vehicles are countered very hard by Hammerhead and Ghostkeels are okayish (but Ghostkeels are countered by Melta Bombs so...).
Infantry is countered by Crisis.

Don't hesitate to abuse gun drones to take overwatch/finish an unit/pin an infantry unit to prevent their escape/divert shots towards them.

There's a pretty decent guide somewhere on Steam by adozu ("Lobster Sept" or something?), while some data is outdated, the underlying idea is still good.

[duane]

Originally posted by Jey:

Depends what they have.
Vehicles are countered very hard by Hammerhead and Ghostkeels are okayish (but Ghostkeels are countered by Melta Bombs so...).
Infantry is countered by Crisis.

Don't hesitate to abuse gun drones to take overwatch/finish an unit/pin an infantry unit to prevent their escape/divert shots towards them.

There's a pretty decent guide somewhere on Steam by adozu ("Lobster Sept" or something?), while some data is outdated, the underlying idea is still good.

It was all infantry. I just started building crises suits but way too late to help. I will look for the guide you mentioned. Thanks!

[stone.fire.smoke]

Tau are one of the "slow-burn" factions. if you get into an early war with a nearby faction it can stop you pretty quick if you aren't' careful. I was able to win relying on fire warriors, hammerheads, a gun rig and constant use of the convert power and gun drones.

The gun drones, kroot hounds and stingwings were the sacrificial units, they're only there to draw fire and scout (often enough they'll make a difference in a fight too). Most other tau units have enough range to keep them out of melee range which is usually lethal for them.

[duane]

Originally posted by stone.fire.smoke:

Tau are one of the "slow-burn" factions. if you get into an early war with a nearby faction it can stop you pretty quick if you aren't' careful. I was able to win relying on fire warriors, hammerheads, a gun rig and constant use of the convert power and gun drones.

The gun drones, kroot hounds and stingwings were the sacrificial units, they're only there to draw fire and scout (often enough they'll make a difference in a fight too). Most other tau units have enough range to keep them out of melee range which is usually lethal for them.

I started do just that with the kroots and stingwings but quickly remembered how important influence is...which I ran out of quickly. My two cities (i needed more) could not produce enough units, influence, ore etc to keep up with my needs. resource management is a thing. lol.

[stone.fire.smoke]

Well I've only won with the Tau once; the other thing with the Tau is initial positioning; if you don't get a solid base setup early with the right mix of resources and terrain advantage, it becomes harder right from the start.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

I think the best early Tau counter to space marines is probably vespid stingwings. xD

Idk about taking too long to tech but you probably did take too long to expand.

[duane]

Originally posted by TheDeadlyShoe:

I think the best early Tau counter to space marines is probably vespid stingwings. xD

Idk about taking too long to tech but you probably did take too long to expand.

I restarted from a previous save and have not expanded in that direction. So far they have not appeared. Kind of cheating I guess but oh well. I have been building crisis suits like crazy and spamming droids at every encounter...OK those things are a huge force multiplier. The AI seems to focus on them more as well (not sure why).

The entry level vehicles are pretty much worthless so not going to waste my time with them right away. I've buffed my regular infantry with better armor and better weapons so I am holding my own against the random xenos so we will see.

[Solis]

I try to rush for Crisis Suits and the Commander Battlesuit before moving towards tanks and such. The only early vehicles that is helpful is the devilfish before hammerhead. A few fire warriors, a bunch of Crisis suits and a pathfinder, with all the gun drones will pretty much handle anything in the early game(Especially with the commander, that hero is so strong imo)

[duane]

Well I ended up beating the Space Marines. Crisis suits worked wonders and spamming drones with a few builder drones (for their healing) overwhelmed them. Now I have run into Tyranids...um, wow...completely different beast (literally). very cool how each faction truly does play so differently from the next.

[~HaY~]

I'm no expert but i found seeker missile research to be very useful as it gives seeker missiles to vesicles and XV88s.

It's an extra attack that does not require action points and does not require line of sight. It's very powerful (without the moving accuracy reduction)