Awaiting the updated 7th edition (or 7.5 edition as I like to call it) Tau Codex, a question rattles around in my mind; will this update to an already challenging foe of the Sons of Russ spell certain doom for our chapter? As a veteran player I feel like I receive tons of questions from newer players on how to deal with the many gun lines of the Tau Empire. The Supporting fire rule and the Tau’s ability to augment “ballistic skill” and add “Ignore cover” can be a huge challenge if a Wolf Lord is not skilled with identifying target priority and attacking the units that maintain these support properties.
In short, tactics are difficult! This difficulty can be compounded when there is a constant flow of new equipment, special rules, and format changes to the game, i.e. formations and forgeworld releases. This is by no means a complaint, in a way the always varying tapestries of change can keep the game fresh and perpetually challenging. With that said, it’s safe to say that the Tau Codex will most likely see another power surge if they stay with the current 2015 trend and the sneak previews of the new battlesuits is a reflection of the updated codex to come.
This can leave the Rout in a somewhat challenging situation, as we will most likely not see any additional updates to our equipment or formations for some time. This is equally frustrating when one realizes that a simple FAQ could adjust some stat-lines and unit options we see in the updates of our brother Astartes, i.e. Tech Priest, Dreadnoughts, and multiply tank squadrons. Don’t read this the wrong way, I do believe the current Space Wolves Codex is still a force to reckon with. Furthermore, the Champions of Fenris is an amazing supplement with some outstanding formations.
So, what are our options you may ask yourself? First things first; know your enemy! That does not mean you have to go broke and buy every codex out there, but there are tons of resources (including this blog) that can give you overview and some review of Tau options. Don’t skip over understanding what’s hitting the shelves and what everyone is building out there either. Just because a new “super unit” is not optimized based on tournament standards doesn’t mean that your buddies and guys at your local game store will not buy it and throw it on the table. I see this a lot with the Tau Stealth Suits, people trash these units on the “interwebs”, but I have a buddy who uses them effectively and efficiently. This seems to be a problem with some new guys who come to the club and play him. They always say the same thing “Stealth Suits? I heard they suck!”, then about halfway into turn two they didn’t have a plan to address them. All of a sudden, those “Sucky Stealth Suits” become a serious problem. There is an old saying, “Be wary of the man who always carries the same gun, he most likely knows how to use it”. In the day and age of moving on the “Next Best Thing”, sometimes we don’t give ourselves time to master what we have.
Don’t be too proud to call upon your allies. The armies of the Imperium are vaster than ever and the varieties of optional build are almost limitless. I’m planning my Space Wolves and Admech lists as we speak. I wanted to move towards a very shooting heavy alley to fill in some battlefield roles that I feel my Wolves struggle with. I have also been using a very effective Thunderwolf and Ravenwing strike force which has been very successful counter measure to Tau gun lines. Allies, like it or not, are the current parameters that has been set forward by Games Workshop. Is this a ploy to sell more models or are they simply meeting the demand for the creation of more dynamic forces? One will have to decide for themselves. In my opinion, Games Workshop has opened the gates and allowed us all to be adults. We are now responsible with communicating with one another to set the expectations of the power curves of our games.
Give something different a try! Do you have a unit you have never used or do you have an opinion that it’s a substandard choice next to another unit in the codex? Throw it on the table and give it a game or two. The worst case scenario is you don’t score a victory. Although you may lose victory points, you do win experience and possibly some idea on how to use that unit or how better to deal with an opponent’s units. Hopefully you had some fun in the process.
Although I sometimes hate using the term “Meta” as it has become trendy at nauseum, I do believe it does take a few months to shake out all the great options from each and every new codex. That being said, if the release of said book are right on the heels of one another that leaves little time to digest each one. I believe this is definitely the case with the AdMech releases. Dropping Eldar was most likely a big problem with fledgling AdMech players as updating an old codex is always going to adapt faster to the Meta because people already have a majority of the models and are familiar with that army's play style. In other words, it is much more streamlined to play updates to an existing army then to buy, build, paint, and learn a recently created army.
The coming weeks will bring us more intelligence on our foes, together we can stir the Rout and cut the threads of the Emeror's enemies. We can all count on veteran Tau players hitting the ground running with their new battlesuits, and upgraded tech. I’ve already heard stories about the GhostKeel being a force to reckon with! The older hunter has patience, understanding his prey. For you should never wound what you can't kill! So know your enemy and look to your allies, victory will be ours!
For Russ and the Allfather,- Adam Russman
