So, after a few skirmish games I discovered an interesting tactic. By leaving an approximately 1" gap between models of a FW team I lined up two teams in a similar fashion to Napoleonic warfare. By advancing one squad "through" the other I was able to pin my opponent at the maximum range of the Pulse Rifle while still advancing to the objective. I've also found that the Tau do much better at holding objectives then capturing them.

Thoughts and/or Comments?

Well, something similar to that was suggested by GW on the old site a while back. I have never used it though, so I can't comment on it's effectiveness.

I'm pretty sure this technique is called leapfrogging.

I think my biggest worry about it's effectiveness would be the relatively weak output/durability of a single fire warrior squad. What did your opponent through your way? What did they accomplish, exactly?


That's about the exact opposite of my experience (though I don't have much time in objective gameplay). What did you use, kroot in the forest, a tank plopped down next to it...? Something else entirely?


How I miss that old site. :[

Someone actually put up a link to an archive site that included most of the old GW site. I'm not really sure where that link was exactly, though.

Interesting tactic. Your opponent of course had a 4+ cover save from the unit behind, potentially halving the effect of their fire, but against some opponents that doesn't matter so much.

Could be handy for two kroot squads as one will give the over a cover save (althought the guys up front will get killed easily).
An adaptation of this could be for crisis teams and fire warriors: The suits move forward and unleash their payload while the fire warriors plink away and the suits move back for a cover save/speed bump. For the greater good, guys.

Crisis Suit version can be done with tanks too. But the Crisis suits will jump out to the side on their move before tucking back in out of Line of Sight (if possible). Whole formation advances across the board about 6 inches a turn, even though the Crisis Suits are travelling about 12 inches each turn.

I actually chose the flight stand heights for my Tanks and Crisis Suits to try and hide the Crisis Suit behind the tanks as much as possible.

I was up against Necrons, nasty buggers. He had me as far as hitting was concerned, but with the leapfrogging I was able to engage at farther ranges then really lay on the hurt once he got within the 12" rapid fire range of the Pulse Rifle. They managed to get themselves killed quickly...




It was a small 500 pt battle so there wasn't a whole lot of heavy hitters on the table, I think that helped. I used 3 squads of FW's a squad of Kroot with a Shaper, and 4 Gun Drones (Attached to 2 of the FW's) Holding the Kroot in reserve I deployed the two FW's with the GD's in the leapfrog formation and the third FW squad was deployed behind difficult terrain. (Ruined house to be exact) Advancing all three FW's towards the nearest objective the lone squad stayed to hold the objective while the other two continued advancing, firing away. I was able to outflank with my Kroot and pin him between the two squads, the FW's pounding away and the Kroot firing and advancing into assault. His warriors fell quickly under the might of the Kroot. Many FW's were lost, but overall it was a victory. The third FW squad (effectively immobile) helped Whittle down his forces before they had a chance to engage.

I've seen this technique used before and it was quite effective but the player used a crisis suit and a squad of kroots, I think there's a tutorial out there called the kroot wall. Here

Great tactic and a must to be successful imo. Good at keeping the enemy at bay for a couple turns unless their superfast(orks) or deepstrikers(deamons). Kroot walls with xv8's to the rear or with suits jsj behind nearby devilfish or hammerheads. Just make sure you space your kroot close enough, I spread them a lil' too far apart once and my opponent multi assaulted through them. Hello!!! Haven't made that mistake again. Another good thing is to bubble wrap important units ie" xv88's with kroot. They should be your opponents number 1 objective and he should be zeroing in on them. Place a 10 man kroot squad in a circle around them, you get 4+ cover and you prolong your enemy from reaching them for a turn. Best of luck!!

The absolute best use of Kroot I've found is bubblewrap... usually I prefer to get two squads in front of my broadside teams, move them to open firing lanes, and then Run them back into a wall after the broadsides fired.

Which reminds me.
When declaring fire, do you need to declare for ALL units at once, then resolve shots, or do you declare for each unit in turn? Aka, is it possible to Broadside a LR and then use Firestorms on the troops inside, or must you declare all shots on the LR?

You deal with shooting on a unit by unit basis in any order you choose. So in your example the broadsides taking out the landraider and then the Firestorms mopping up is spot on.

I think I must be missing something here. How are you keeping at maximum range if you're moving and firing? Also, if you move one at a time, doesn't that halve your firepower? Thirdly, how are you keeping them at range if you're simultaneously advancing on the objectives? There are probably perfectly reasonable answers to these, but I just don't understand it... .

Pantherus

He specified he employed two firewarrior teams to do this. This means he is probably employing a real world tactic like Bounding overwatch, where one team doesn't move and can fire out to their full range, while a second team moves forward. The next turn, the roles of the two teams switch, with the one that moved previously stays stationary and uses their longer range while the previously stationary team moves forward. By alternating which team is moving and which is stationary and firing, you can advance while having at least one firewarrior team's worth of long range shots in use each turn to whittle down your opponent.

The downside of such a tactic is that it takes twice as long to get both teams to your destination, plus it requires terrain that can provide both teams good cover and that is not so far apart that Infantry will be caught in the open after the Tau turn.

And it requires that your firewarriors are on foot and not cozy in their devilfish.

Ok, that was what I was expecting him to do with two teams. The other thing is how are you keeping them at maximum range if you're advancing? And if you're retreating then they'll catch you / get into their *puny* range quite easily as you're only moving half the speed.

I agree with Nevar though. You shouldn't really take more than 6, so will limit this, and they should be in their fish. However, this is the most I'll say on that as this is a tactic thread which involves them, so its probably best not to debate whether they should be here in the first place. It could work with Kroot though, as they're supposed to be present, outdoors and relatively close to the enemy. This does obviously increase your reliance on cover, though...