Vfish

[NileChild]

Hey I've been readign up on my Tau tactica recently(my army is almost finished yay!) and was lookign over fish of fury and pathfinder tactics and came up with a swell idea.

Basically the idea would be to make a V shape with the fishes and FoF with all the three squads(the pathfinders being the apex). The V would open up to a particulary tough squad so the pathfinderfish would be lined up straight with that unit. I'm still working out distances but maybe have the target within rapid fire range and the pathfinders still within that 36" markerlight range. The Pathfinders would open up with the markerlights and then the fire warrior squads would wail on the target with rapid fire pulse rifles. Or if the first unit destroys the unit the second group of firewarriors would fire on a nother squad.

Anf if either of the flanks of this V are being hit the Shas'ui in the pathfinder squad would have a HWMT and possibly be in range of the flanking unit and the firewarriors on that flank could fire on them while the rest of the pathfinders and second firewarrior squad hit the V's target.

I don't know if you call this a oarticular tactic, it's just me trying to use markerlights, pathfinders and FoF in unison. I'll be experimenting with it when my army is finished and any help refining it or criticizing it would be much welcomed.

[Stubber]

It sounds good, tell us how it works out.
I myself would prefer to have 3 full squads of fire warriors with devilfish (smart MISSiles all round), fly up to an enemy squad and obliterate it.

72 pulse rifle shots, 9 burst cannon, 12 Smart MISSiles.
It isn't overkill, it's being sure.

[NileChild]

With pulse rifles there is no such thing as over kill.


That would be amazing obliteration, but I don't have the points to put three SMSs on the devilfishes, though it would be fun.
48 pulse shots, 6 burst shots and 8 carbine shots is pretty good, and with the markerlights from the Pathfinders, they are a lot ore likely to hit. So it basically comes down to two choices- maximizing shots or maximizing hits.

[JoeGuardsman]

You are on the right train of though by combining your units abilities. My only concern is the point value of the combined assault. Creating a wedge is expensive with any army, let alone Tau and you are liable to be devoting too much in one place. In this game there is definitely such a thing as overkill because economy of firepower is one the ruling elements.
What I mean is that if you devote one squad too many in that V then that squads fire is wasted. On the other hand your opponent might be using just the right amount of fire around the board and killing more models or effecting the battle more pointedly with pinning and moral checks.
Good stuff though, because markerlights are such a powerful instrument for that army and pathfinders are big.

[NileChild]

Yeah I just thought about the whole economy of firepower thing. But sadly Shas'la aren't the best shots in the game and a good portion of the time it takes devoted firepower to kill some units. I would never recomend using this tactic to completley replace a single squad FoF, but in certain cases when you have a really tough unit that your other more powerful squads(helios crisis teams, broadsides or even railheads) can't get to, two squads of Firewarriors in unison with 6 markerlights can work wonders. I could also be used to get rid of an incredibly pesky unit(Las/Plas marine squads) faster so the more powerful units survive longer to take out tanks and such. I guess I didn't think beyond the actual mechanics of the maneuver into areas like Economy of Firepower and when to use it and such.