A TALE OF TWO FIRE WARRIORS
The most basic element in a Tau army is the team of Fire Warriors. No Tau army can be without at least one, and all Tau players should know how to use a Fire Warrior team in a way that maximizes its strengths against infantry and light vehicles and minimizes its close-combat weakness.
Though the Pulse Rifles that the Fire Warriors carry are perhaps the best infantry gun in the game, the Shas'la are not the best shots in the universe with a BS of 3. They will only hit 50% of the time without the help of Markerlights. That's only relevant if you apply it to a gaming situation, so here we go.
| A Note for Non-Tau Players. This hypothetical situation has a major flaw in that the Assault squad is moving rather inefficiently, but even then the Tau are in trouble against such a squad. Still, if you're fielding an Assault squad against Tau, it makes a lot more sense to avoid Rapid Fire range altogether by using a combination of jumping and walking to get between 18" and 12" away from the Tau unit, which is inside your assault range with jump infantry (or other fast-movers). Tau players: This note should make you even more wary of fast assaulters. |
EXAMPLE ONE: Vs. Assault Squad.
Let's say a squad of 12 Fire Warriors is shooting at an Assault squad of eight Space Marines that's 20" away. On average, six of these shots will hit. Of those hits, 66% will wound your targets, which leaves you with 4 Wounds. The Space Marines get their Armour saves, which is a 3+ or 66%. Their armour will save them from 2-3 of your hits, so you will probably kill one or two members of the Assault squad in the end. Two dead will force a Morale check, but Space Marines rarely run.
Now, the Space Marines will jump at you and close the distance to 8". That's outside their assault range but inside your Rapid Fire range. Now they're gonna get it, right? You open up again, this time with 24 shots. That makes 12 hits, 8 of which wound, and three more Space Marines fall. The enemy unit of three to four Space Marines is below 50% of its original strength, but the chances are good that they will hang tight to make their assault. Though this Assault squad will be badly outnumbered in the assault, the Fire Warriors will be occupied for at least a turn or 2 in close combat with the Space Marines (or slain outright). That's bad! We'll get into how the Tau can handle fast assault troops like an Assault squad in the second part of this article.
A team of Fire Warrior miniatures.
EXAMPLE TWO: Vs. Tactical Squad.
However, let's take a look at a team of 12 Fire Warriors shooting against a regular Tactical Squad of 10 Space Marines that's 25" away (after they moved into range from their Deployment Zone). You're outside their Bolter range, so you can fire without fear. Again, you will kill one or two Space Marines, but that won't slow them down. They'll advance to 19" away from you, which is inside the maximum range of their Bolters, but they're moving, so you're safe for now. You fire again, and they lose another one or two and force a Morale Check (which they'll likely pass). They move again, but they're still 13" away, which is still outside of Rapid Fire and Assault range. You fire again and slay another pair, which might be enough to get them to run at 50% of their original strength.
Chances are these Space Marines will pass, and they'll be advancing again to 7" away. If you have the room, you can fall back 6" to move out of the Space Marines' Rapid Fire and assault range, but that also moves you out of Rapid Fire range and your movement means you won't be able to shoot at them from this new 13" distance. So, it probably makes more sense to hang tight at this point and blast away at each other in Rapid Fire mode. They open up with Rapid Fire, but at 50% strength or lower, they only get eight to 10 shots, which will only kill one or two of your Fire Warriors on average. Now it's your turn to Rapid Fire, and you blast 'em with 20 shots, 10 of which hit, 7 of those wound, and two or three of them get by the power armour. The Tactical squad should be down to only one - three Space Marines. They will try to assault you at this point if they haven't run, and the remaining Space Marines will likely cause you some trouble before succumbing to the Greater Good. Though you have taken out 175 points of the enemy force while only losing about 50 points of your own, you have still wasted valuable shooting and objective-taking time. Plus, your low Leadership leaves you very vulnerable to running if you start losing Fire Warriors.
Imagine, though, how this example would have been different if you supported the Fire Warriors with another unit, or gave them Devilfish transports with their additional weaponry and the option to hop aboard and flee before getting locked in assault. The Pulse Rifle is a very powerful and useful weapon in the hands of a Fire Warrior, but it won't win you the game on its own.
Next: Devilfish
Previous: Introduction
