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"Terror-warfare"

2K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  A-Tau 
#1 ·
Hi ya'all!
Something I havn't seen much on the forum is the actual terror-warfare that settle many battles. The fact that you can out-psyche your enemies commander is something that you all really need to consider. I mean, you all know the feeling that grip your soul at some point in a game. It's called fear and YES many a player has lost battles due to it.

I want you all to discuss the do's and dont's in Tau "terror warfare". Which experiences have you made on the tabletop/battlefield? What makes your oponent frown and withdraw his jump-infantry? There are many ways to make the enemy fear you.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Kristofer said:
Hi ya'all!
Something I havn't seen much on the forum is the actual terror-warfare that settle many battles. The fact that you can out-psyche your enemies commander is something that you all really need to consider. I mean, you all know the feeling that grip your soul at some point in a game. It's called fear and YES many a player has lost battles due to it.

I want you all to discuss the do's and dont's in Tau "terror warfare". Which experiences have you made on the tabletop/battlefield? What makes your oponent frown and withdraw his jump-infantry? There are many ways to make the enemy fear you.
There has been a thread about this in the chaos forums, but that is no reason not to discuss it here.

The best way to demoralize someone is to take out their heavy hitter. If you're tau, seeing your hammerheads go down to lucky shots on the first turn (due to lack of terrain) is both a horrible setback and a demoralizer. I once won a game because my opponent gave up mentally after I got a lucky fusion shot on his chaplain, who was riding a bike while turbo boosting to make his save invulnerable.

Other ways are to overstate the power of a unit so that it becomes a fire magnet. Hammerheads are huge fire magnets, my broadsides hardly ever get shot at as my opponents waste all their firepower on hammerheads.

One more effective tactic is to look/act upset about your skimmers being assaulted, just before your opponent gets nailed with a wall of flechette.

Do not use harsh language or insults, this may work with some players but it'll more likely get you in trouble with the owners.

Do not make fun of their units or strategy, as you're underestimating them and giving them an edge.
 
#3 ·
That's true, I've noticed that people that are underestimating you are the easiest to demoralize. A prime tactic is to play out your own feelings - as you said - to make the adversaries attack the units you actually want them to attack, many will se through this though....you need to play it out from the beginning.

But to break a persons morale on the battlefield there is a lot more needed than simple theatre. You really need to know which units he loves and then take them out as soon as possible. But it is not always as easy to know what your oponent is thinking...
 
#4 ·
Most de-moralizing thing for a Guard Player. First shot of the game, a Broadside blows away your Leman Russ with three straight rolls of 6. :shifty: Yeah...Guard player lost.

One thing that makes your opponent *at least newer ones* a little edgey is a well painted army. I've had a couple kids *new players* just staring at my old Aun'Shi model, because I spent a long time making it look crazy-good.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, killing off the biggest unit or HQ early, or atleast bring it down 2 wounds, is an easy way to get your opponent nervous.

What I've found also that works on their fear is to set your units up as big as they can get. It isn't always the best strategy to start your fire warriors outside of your devilfish, but it does make them look atleast twice as big plus since all the Tau vehicles look alike, it makes it even more intimidating.
 
#8 ·
High armor saves

I believe that getting all the units with 3+ armor or better killed is one of the best ways. Your opponent thinks "Aw crap, now I'm completely vulnerable.". Either that, or deepstriking 12 Stealths and 3 Crisis suits, along with infiltrating 40 Kroot... Maybe add some Gun Drones to the mix.
 
#10 ·
Conclusions so far: Massed ranks of fire makes up an intimidating first turn, taking out the big ones first might demoralize the oponent quite a bit (it might work with ´his favourite piece or something like that too....

Something else I have noticed is that composure coult work to unsettle some enemies. When you just don't show a thing when he shoots down your only rail-head or some other big, expensive model...he/she could get nervous.
 
#11 ·
Kristofer said:
Conclusions so far: Massed ranks of fire makes up an intimidating first turn, taking out the big ones first might demoralize the oponent quite a bit (it might work with ´his favourite piece or something like that too....

Something else I have noticed is that composure coult work to unsettle some enemies. When you just don't show a thing when he shoots down your only rail-head or some other big, expensive model...he/she could get nervous.
I honestly can only think of 3 things that freak out opponents:

1 3 Hammerheads with railguns, but the thing I love about HH is not armour killing its when your facing low save 4+ to 6+ armies and you drop 3 submunnition rounds on their infantry units in the 1st turn, I once played an imperial guard player in a touny (1500pts) and I was wiping out 1 or 2 units a turn it was a slaughter.

2 Pathfinders, they have always been feared and draw a hectic amount of fire, but the new ML rules are going to make them even more feared so playing them correctly is going to be even more essential (use of cover and distraction to protect them)

3 Stealths, much overated for the actual damage they can cause but put 2 units of these on the table and it always worries opponents,

All this aside the new codex is obviously going to throw up new units to fear, Vespids are an obvious I can just read the Marine players thoughts when he sees the Vespids "ok they are going down FIRST" which could work o the Tau players advantage, and thats the thing about threat units you can use em to your advantage tactically.
 
#13 ·
I don't know, maybe the look on Marine players faces when your crisis suit/s jump out and you announce to them that your plasma rifle is now in double tap range with an AP2 value. If they have terminators, you can just the anguish crawl up and grab their faces. That alone gives me joy enough to keep playing.
 
#14 ·
I was playing an apoc battle once and had a sinking feeling my marine enemy would feild that fury of the anichents dred formation so i gave my static FW EMP grenades and dropped 2 of the 4 when they came in later my master shaper from my kroot merc formation dropped one with a witchblade the look on his face was awsome.
 
#17 ·
My cup of tea

In my humble opinion, each army must have 1-2 "fear" units. For some armies this is easy. The prime example is the vindicator. Easily the best fear unit in the game. For armies like the tau, however, the "fear" units are not so easily recognized. When this is the case, all I can say is experience tells. I cannot advise on which are the best "fear" units, since I have only been playing Tau for 6 months (mech marines & orks I am experienced). I will say this, though. For a relatively cheap cost, you can get a single static broadside with TL plasma & TL railgun and multi-tracker. This individual can psychologically force your opponent into playing the way you want the battle to be played.
 
#20 ·
XV88's especially static ones are one of the easiest units to handle and they definitely do not control whole games. One XV88 will be overwhelmed very quickly in 5th (it was easy in 4th and its even easier in 5th). You pretty much summed it up yourself with the last sentence.
 
#21 ·
I just started playin Tau after a long hiatus from the game. I have to admit that space marines themselves always make the fear section of my brain twitch. I have an upcoming 4 way battle with Necrons, Space Marines, Orks, and Tau (me). I'm really looking forward to it, but the Marines with their seemingly unpenetrable armor always makes me wary.

I understand that everything can fall, even from the most unlikely source so I don't let it stop me. But i completely feel and understand the fear associated with different armies and specific squads within said armies.

Its good to hear what other people think causes fear from the Tau point of view. I always heard that just suits themselves cause fear in opponents and that broadsides are often a point of concentrated fire.

I look forward to finding out what my opponents fear from me and using that to my advantage......For the Greater Good!
 
#22 ·
the fear of the stealth suits is that they are a unit with the firepower of a full firewarrir squadn when there's 3, the manouverability of a gun drone, the save of a marine [iirc] and the shrouding of a grey knight. I don't care who you are, a unit that can boast those traits will get noticed. Not to neglect mentioning the potential to tote a freefiring fusion blaster.
By that time they're expensive, but totally worth the ZOMG MY TANK!! look on your opponents face.

as for terrorising them, taking out the heavy hitting armour is priority along with high investment units. this then if I managed to play safely leaves me with a large portion of my force to bear down on a relatively insignificant threat. that is if I havn't overextended myself in pursuing the targets.
 
#24 ·
I know from playing Eldar, two Wraithlords and the Avatar walking up to your lines tends to make people twitchy.

Another trick I use is more related to list construction. It is the "shock-and-awe" effect. This where I build lists with three Wraithlords and an Avatar and two full wraithguard squads, or field as many Eldar tanks as I can. Or an all jet-bike army.

Though these could be called "min-max" lists, they really aren't. Yes, they have some power in one way, but usally the weaknesses are much greater, as I build them for visual intimidation and /or thematic interest. The trick is to play up the scare factor. Especially during deployment.

Then try like hell to not have your weaknesses exposed too early =)


Really though, the idea is to get that "ahh crikey!" look out of your opponent before the first shot is fired.
 
#25 ·
I actually raised a similar point on Advanced Tau Tactica in regards to the psychological side of the game. My point was the deployment and use of out-psyching your opponent is a valuable tool. For instance taking time to place a certain unit and making a point of deciding between which two units you are going to place your unit can influence an opponents deployment. Saying such simple things as " man I love XV88's" whilst placing them on the table can dramatically effect how much importance an opponent places on that unit, simple stuff but very true nonetheless. I was basically called an idiot and when I attempted to discuss the point (and no it was not one of my famous debates but a perfectly normal answer to the points raised about my post) I actually got banned because I dared to disagree with the owner of the site (I am still emotionally scarred from the rejection :sinister::sinister:).

Psychology does play a large point in the game, something as simple as taking a beautifully painted army out of your case can put an opponent at unease, the dude is thinking something along the lines of "jeebus that dude is serious,no one puts that much effort into an army who can't play"

Tau units wise, I think the thing that strikes fear into most opponents in my experience is multiple Hammerheads. I always play on this fear, if I have not played the opponent before I will make a big fuss about where I deploy these, making sure the player sees I am trying to get LOS to his (in his eyes) most valuable units, while casually placing my Deathrains to take out the real targets. If I play an opponent who knows me then I will often surprise them by for instance placing a HH in totally exposed positions or deploying one on its own miles away from the rest of the army.

Way way back when the first Tau codex came out I used to use a really nice freakout tactic. I used an XV88 with two Shield Drones (when Shield Drones actually shielded) and placed it as close to the opponents army as I possibly, legally could. This used to have three effects:
(1) The opponent would avoid the thing like the plague and try to deploy his tanks out of LOS and move around it (this was surprisingly common)
(2) Send a couple of units up the field to take it out and I would then spring the trap (KauYon)
(3) Shoot as much at it as they could because the opponent attached more importance to it than it warranted due to the simple expedient of its field position.
Just placing that lone model with its twin linked Railguns in such a provocative field position used throw a spanner in the opponents plans. OK it was not a game winner and it did not sway the whole of the opponents tactics but added to other tactical play it worked a treat. I do not use it now because Shield Drones are not as good.

To me the psychological aspect of the game is my favourite part of the game and done well it really can swing a game. It has to be remembered though that the out-psyching should be used throughout the whole game and not just in deployment.
 
#26 ·
personally, i prefer to use deepstrike to fear my opponent
imagine 3 kitted out battlesuits popping up BEHIND your army, i would freak out if that'd happen, ofcourse, there's always the possibility that it goes wrong

like with my space marines, very first game i played with them, my uber 5 man assault squad + chaplain deepstruck behind my mates army, and 1 model has to be placed outside the table edge, unit counts as having had an accident while deepstriking, roll a 1, byebye unit
 
#27 ·
The shear fire power of the Tau always demoralizes my enemies. And the fact that they can't effectively shoot back against jet packs, far away shielded XV88s/skimmer tanks.

So what mostly inspires terror is what you said in the initial post:
The battlesuits with jump-shoot-jump (TA, MT etc helps too) and
The railguns - esp. a fast skimmer tank with two munitions. Too bad the CC always vs rear armor rule, still mourning my skimmer walls.
 
#28 ·
Also something I have been able to use to an advatige is when the enemy knows your feilding several full kroot units with hounds and outflanking them they try to avoid the table edges. This can sometimes bottleneck them for better abilty to shoot at them. Works best when you have a good amount of blast weapons.
 
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