[MalVeauX]

[size=12pt]By Inquisitorial Mandate! Know Thy Enemy; Tau; Sisters of Battle; File MLVX98398.234[/size]
[size=7pt]Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Inquisitor, MalVeauX[/size]

Preface:

One of the harder fights for a Sisters of Battle Witch Hunter is to face off the contrary of our force—The Tau. The Battle Sisters are masters of close range fire fights with resilient power armor and strong units that come in waves, however, everything that is a weakness to the Battle Sisters is one of the strengths of the Tau, so we have a huge gab of power struggle between them. Where the Sisters lack range, the Tau have superior range. Where the Sisters lack speed, the Tau have superior speed. Where the sisters have resilience, the Tau have weaponry that bypass such resilience. The only place that the Sisters truly show their stuff off against the Tau is when they’re in close combat, or very close range for flamer use or massed bolter use. Otherwise, it’s simply a long game of Sisters getting shot to pieces and Tau moving around the board without much fear of return fire. Sisters may have speed in their wide range of transports and mobility of their units, but the Tau have the perfect weapons to deny these transports from working well and all their weapons are strong enough to wound our units generally at the highest rolls possible, which makes quite a difference even to power armored units as more rolls of the dice result in more fails in the long run. So what can a Sister do from a Tau and Sisters player perspective?
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Know the Enemy:

When preparing to fight the Young Ones, it’s a good idea to know what it is that they can field against us and what we have that can last against them. The Tau simply have superior firepower at long and medium range, it is only the short range fire fight that the sisters become superior. However, the Tau have all the means to prevent us from getting close enough with every single gun in their arsenal. So knowing that, let’s take a look at the units available to the Tau, and what we should look out for from these units, and which units of our own in the Sister’s arsenal that are good against them.

Tau Units:

Headquarter Selection - Ethereal

Ethereals don’t pose any real threat to the Sisters of Battle, nor do they overly prevent us from doing anything spectacular. The Ethereal allows for much better leadership in the Tau army which merely translates to more stable Tau when they come under fire, or are assaulted and lose. However, this is a good thing because Tau that run away are generally free to fire their weapons again, which is something we do not want. So it’s actually beneficial to our fight should the Tau include an Ethereal as they will most likely dedicate a good portion of their movement and deployment to ensure the Ethereal is well covered from us, which means less to worry about from their potential movements. Should we actually kill the Ethereal, it would be nice to force many Tau to run off the board, but this is highly unlikely and not worth dedicating anything towards. Everything in our army list makes short work of an Ethereal, but he should be the least of our concern in any given situation typically.

Units that perform well against Ethereals: Everything, especially an assassin.

Headquarter Selection - Commander; XV8 Battle Suit

Commanders have become a new thorn in virtually everyone’s side as they are taking a lot of advantage of the independent character rules, so keep a strong firing unit safe from any form of return fire, while using the higher ballistic abilities of the Commander to decisively make good shooting decisions and actually execute them without too much chance of failure. This can be a problem for our transports because it is the Commander who will be able to pick off the Immolators from the rhinos should they be within sight, and it is the Commander with the higher leadership value that will allow the Tau to fire at units in the rear of your lines and not be forced to fire upon the closest targets (in our case, vehicles). The Commander unfortunately is a nuisance that we must learn to live with as we have no long range firepower capable of taking him out, and his damage output to the Sisters is drastic in terms of stopping any form of armor that we can possibly field in a Sisters army (short of a Land Raider). Seraphim are particularly good at stopping Commanders as they don’t rely on long range shooting or slow movement to catch up to the Commander, and the Seraphim can easily make short work of one in close combat. Repentia surprisingly are also good at taking down Commanders who are unwise enough to fire upon them to give us the ability to move up to 24 inches in a turn towards combat due to the zeal of the Repentia when they fail moral. Typically, any fast unit that is decent in close combat will do the job well, which also includes our Heroines. Shooting weapons work of course, as divine guidance would pierce the Commander’s armor and a single meltagun shot will remove him without question, however, getting close enough for that form or attack in one piece is another question. Commanders are lurking dangers and best ignored in an effort to quickly get to the core of the army instead of wasting valuable turns or movements to capture one; instead taking one by chance or by vulnerability of bad placement is a better way to think of taking one down. Typically one can expect to feel a salvo of missile pod shots from this character, as well as plasma rifles up close, both of which are long and medium range, making him rather inescapable. If a chance to fire upon him is available, by all means take it, but don’t waste valuable movement turns chasing him down.

Units that perform well against Commanders: Seraphim, Heroines, Repentia (situational), Assassins.

Elite Selection - XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team

The normal XV8 Crisis is always going to be a pain in our side simply because they’re the cheap, mobile, heavy weapon platforms that can hide from what little long range firepower we may be able to bring. What’s worse is that they can constantly step back from our range when we’re close to either become obscured or completely leave line of sight making them a constant pain. Mainly, we will be feeling the burn of missile pods and plasma rifles which will destroy all of our tanks and force us to lose models quickly or waste faith points to save lives from the burning plasma. The Crisis is the most common problem in the Tau army and that it will be a mistake to dedicate any real resource of our list to chase the Crisis as they simply can outmaneuver and out-shoot anything fast or long range that we have. So how can we deal with the pesky Crisis suit that will constantly pepper our transports, wreck our rhinos and immolators and just nail sister after sister on the battlefield? The same thing that takes down their commanders will help to take down the Crisis. The best way to make Crisis worthless as an opponent is to deny them their best targets, which are vehicles and instead present a target that they fear, such as a fast moving non-vehicular squad that is dangerous in the shooting and assault phase, and simply faster moving than they are. The Seraphim, Heroines and Assassins are the Crisis-killers where our shooting phase simply fails us. Crisis are good at taking down the large targets that we can present, but are significantly weaker at taking down mass numbers of targets, which is where our Sisters of Battle can take advantage of their high power, but low volume capability with hordes of power armored sisters. Actively dedicating squads to chase down Battle Suits is best left to the fast squads combined with fewer easy targets for them to take out in single volleys of fire.

Units that perform well against Crisis Suits: Seraphim, Heroines, Assassins, mass ground troops of Sisters of Battle

[MalVeauX]

Elite Selection - XV15 Stealth Team

Stealth suits are actually one of the more dangerous units against the Sisters of Battle because of their ability to destroy transports, mow through infantry and infiltrate up close to perform these jobs very quickly. Stealth suits cannot be seen easily past the 21 inch range due to their stealth ability and night fight rules. The reason they’re so dangerous is that because they’re so close, we can mistake them for a real target and lose a few shooting units to firing at them and missing the chance due to the night fight roll. In this case, standard foot squads just can’t keep up with the stealth. On top of it all, while we do worry about these stealth suits which are forcing a lot of armor saves on our troops, the rest of their army is also unloading upon us as well, so while we feel the burn of the burst cannon we’re also feeling that submunition plate fall upon the same squad and it’s hard to know which unit to run after. However, chasing stealth suits with foot squads is a futile effort and is better left for faster units, such as Seraphim, Heroines, Repentia, Mounted Squads, Immolators and any squad with an Auspex. Auspex are an incredibly useful tool for taking early shots at Stealth suits before the dance begins and should never be overlooked as they also help versus other infiltrating units that the Tau have to offer. Fortunately, our jump pack units can over-run Stealth Suits with their faster movement rates and frag grenades.

Units that perform well against Stealth Suits: Seraphim, Heroines, Assassins, Immolators when taking a taxi, Mounted squads when taking a taxi, potentially Repentia (situational) and any squad with an Auspex and decent range.

Troop Selection - Fire Warrior Teams:

Fire Warriors are an interesting troop against the Sisters because of their superior range and ability to bust all of our transports as well as wounding us so easily that it’s no wonder that they can drop our units before we’re close enough to respond. When they’re mounted they’re even more dangerous as they can use their skimmers to block our assault paths and turn it into a fire fight, in which case we’re better in close range, but not if they’re further back and supported by battle suits and tanks. Fire Warriors are most susceptible to flamer templates and especially those of the heavy flamer nature, but getting a flamer close enough to use it is the tough part. We could run enough tanks at them to only allow a few to be hit while hiding an immolator behind the ranks, to instantly break a Fire Warrior squad in half with a twin-heavy flamer, however it is not a guaranteed method and quite risky depending on the enemy’s setup. Our normal slew of fast moving units are always great at taking out troop selections, but generally it’s not easy enough to come close for that to happen. In this case, massive squads of pure sisters in power armor are the best offense and defense while our faster squads are more free to move. After all, the Tau cannot always shoot what they cannot see at great distances. Keeping that in mind, they may be forced to focus on our large squad of power armor which are very similar priced to the Fire Warrior, and very much more resilient with a much better leadership ability combined with the book of St. Lucius. Another good option against sedentary Fire Warriors are the Retributor heavy bolter squads as the heavy bolter rips through Fire Warriors lines with ease. The problem is keeping the Retributors alive long enough to accomplish this and they’re not even useful if the Fire Warriors are mounted in a Devilfish, which is very difficult for the Sisters to damage and very difficult for them to catch. A single Devilfish only has to fear a meltagun shot, which does not have a very good chance of destroying it and two of them can be a complete nuisance. Celestian squads can be a diamond in the rough with the multi-melta for a quick stun on a Devilfish to allow us time to reposition for better shots on the armor to either destroy it or at least disable it enough to eject the contents and entangle the Fire Warriors within. A special mention is worth while for the black sheep Repentia who can potentially move very quickly into combat should they fail a moral check, but may be a secret weapon when shielded behind a rhino or immolator and near by very large squads of Sisters of Battle. The reason is, the Repentia have a close combat threat and an easy kill-rate for the Tau, which will draw more attention than the more valuable Immolator or Sisters of Battle sometimes. Even in small squads they can perform this service (much like Arco Flagellents). Fire Warriors will be the most common enemy of course, but are relatively harmless until we entire their firing range and only if they’re in large amounts. Fire Warriors are exceptionally vulnerable to flamer packing Seraphim and any unit with a jump pack such as a Heroine equipped for combat who can benefit from independent character status to get close enough for an assault unharmed.

Units that perform well against Fire Warriors: Heroines, Seraphim, Assassins, Retributors, Immolators, Repentia (situational), Acro-Flagellents and Celestians when the Devilfish is present.

Troop Selection - Kroot Carnivore Squads

Kroot are a danger to the Sisters merely because they’re a distraction from the real danger. However, ignored Kroot can pose serious problems on their own as massed amounts of cheap bolter class fire can be a pain. The real kicker is that they infiltrate upon us and we have the answer for that in the form of the Auspex. Every weapon in our list will wreck a Kroot squad, but flamers are of course the prime weapon. Immolators twin-flamer simply destroy squads of Kroot. Kroot pose a particular danger to our fast squads, such as Seraphim and Heroines and close combat squad like Repentia because we need every turn to quickly get near the core of the Tau instead of worrying with their small infiltrating detachment that is far from the meat of the force. Kroot are best dealt with via breaking them with moral check as they flee easily. Heavy bolters, flamers and storm bolters make short work of Kroot at their respective ranges, but don’t waste a combat phase from your fast units upon them unless it’s completely on the way. Kroot may not be a major threat, but they can cause damage enough to stall our advancement which is very precious against the Tau enough to cost us that last turn of movement that would have allowed victory.

Units that perform well against Kroot: All units except your Fast units which should not waste valuable time on Kroot.

Fast Attack Selection - Gun Drone Squadrons

Gun Drones are actually a surprisingly effective unit against Sisters because of their ability to deep strike and possible force extra moral or leadership tests upon our squads should they already be under loads of pressure. They are particularly good at intercepting our fast squads and posing a stall for a turn or more which may be enough time for our Tau opponent to reposition or mount up and leave a bad situation and make it into a good move for them. Gun Drones are cheap and also good at stopping our advancing vehicles and pose even more threat because they can deep strike and damage even our hiding vehicles that may be making a taxi run behind other vehicles, or harass our sitting Exorcist or Retributors that may still be alive once the Drones become available. The point is, they’re a surprise sometimes and can cause enough of a stall to allow the Tau to get away from our grasp. The good news is that Gun Drones are easily broken and once they’re small in numbers they are generally guaranteed to break and flee. Single storm bolters or heavy bolters will easily rip through a small squad of gun drones, but we should prioritize removing them in the shooting phase as we do not want to be forced to take random pinning tests which we can actually fail and cost us a very large portion of the movement phase for a squad that should be moving quickly, such as Seraphim.

Units that perform well against Gun Drones: Everything with a bolter, but combat should be avoided with them.

Fast Attack Selection - Pathfinder Teams

Pathfinders make interesting appearances against the sisters in that they’re generally not on the offensive, however, they do have various abilities that may warrant a heavy bolter. Pathfinders that simply use markerlights are going to be augmenting other units, which may seem like not a big deal, but it can force more armor saves on us in the long run. Pathfinders are also used very easily to quickly send a seeker missile strike upon small static squads or small expensive squads such as Retributors or Celestians which we really want to avoid having to pass an Act of Faith to survive it. What’s worse is that they now have a long range anti-power armor weapon which causes pinning that can prove to be very annoying against Sisters, because it is almost guaranteed to hit once, wound and force a pinning test each turn that it’s alive and has line of sight (in the form of the rail rifle). Unfortunately, unless we have any ranged weaponry, there isn’t much we can do. Our fast combat units and assassins are going to be very useful in this struggle and pathfinders are very good targets for quick victory points, but they’re also a prime target for any squad with spare shots and decent range as we only need a few casualties to break them. Generally though, the Pathfinders will have a more active roll simply making other units work more efficiently, which means if we ruin the other units, we ruin the effectiveness of the Pathfinders in that case. Another big part of the Pathfinders to watch out for is the Devilfish as it can be very dangerous left floating around the board as it can still take care of our armor, or tank shock at will our fast units with their pre-game move to quickly gain ground upon our slower force.

Units that perform well against Pathfinders: All units

Heavy Support Selection - XV-88 Broadside Battlesuit Team

Broadsides really only have a single purpose and that is to ruin armor. Should they have not have any armored targets to eliminate, and then they quickly become largely wastes of points as they can only attempt to kill a single model per shooting phase for a very large investment in points. Granted, should we have any armor on the field, they will definitely crack it with no effort at all, which is bad for us. They can be useful with their Smart Missile System to fire a few good shots that do not require line of sight up to 24 inches at an approaching unit, such as Seraphim, but generally they’re just not going to do much when they’re locked in with some bolters that are divinely guided or feel the wrath of an Eviscerater, or assassin. Of all units in the Tau list, the XV-88 is probably the least of our worries unless we have a tank heavy force, in which case they become the scourge. If we deny the broadside their prime target, we deny their worth on the battlefield which is in a sense beating it without actually doing anything. They’re best taken out with something like an Exorcist, but that sort of tank will never live long enough to make such an attack, so the most reliable way are with fast units and assassins. One thing to remember is that they’re not super in combat, but they’re quite resilient against non-combat squads, so if you attack one with sisters, be sure to have an Eviscerater handy or perhaps a power weapon if nothing else.

Units that perform well against Broadsides: Seraphim with Inferno pistols, any unit with an Eviscerator, Assassins, Heroines and Repentia (situational).

Heavy Support Selection - Hammerhead Gunship

The Hammerhead is a real problem for the Sisters of Battle because it is simply too fast, too resilient and has the perfect weapons for destroying every unit we have. Meltaguns could be useful, so could multi-meltas, but we simply do not have a reliable way to really crack one of these gunboats unless we’re absolutely up close, and it requires several shots, instead of a single hard one. That being said, we don’t really have much in the way of a weapon that will do this job against their front armor very well and combat isn’t a very reliable option as they are skimmers. Really, the best weapon we have, other than a first turn Exorcist strike of luck, are Seraphim who can pound the rear armor with krak grenades and shoot them with inferno pistols, if we can get close enough, and still alive to use them. The harsh reality of the Hammerhead is that it can quickly become a crutch for the Tau, in that no matter what weapon system it takes, it always poses problems. If we have small squad sizes, its fire power is saturating and easily overwhelms us. If we have massive squads, it has an ordinance template just perfect for us. And should we have powerful units, an Ion cannon is always handy when punching through our power armor. A Tau player with 3 of these battle tanks will simply have too much going for them, unless they’re utterly unlucky with a first turn loss due to Exorcist fire. As if they don’t stop the hammerheads first turn, they’ll never see the 3rd turn with Railguns pointed at them. The only thing we can do is either take the fight to them with fast units, dodging line of sight and cover when possible and simply having more models than they can kill to outlast them until we’re close enough to work our magic.

Units that perform well against Hammerheads: Cannoness with appropriate weapon, Seraphim with Inferno Pistols, close range meltagun and multi-melta units, massive squads of sisters of battle, and the Callidus Assassin.

[MalVeauX]

Strong points of the Sisters against the Tau:

Luckily for us, not all hope is lost. We may not be able to take our favorite rhinos and mounted squads full of wonderful special weapons, but we can still take an ocean of power armor. The Tau really have a hard time dealing with massive amounts of models in general, however they make up for it with template weaponry which generally pierces the armor save, however, against the Sisters, not too many weapons will be piercing our power armor, which we can easily have more of than they even have models. In fact, simply having massive amounts of steady infantry is a tactic against the Tau in its own right, aside from our fast units which spell doom for the Tau. So let’s take a look at what we have specifically that works best against the Tau, no matter what style game the are presenting.

• Seraphim

Seraphim are the sister form of the secret weapon against Tau as they embody everything the Tau fear. Seraphim are fast, come in small or large packs and can deny the precious line of sight to the Tau via terrain when possible (or with mobile purchasable bunkers, known as rhinos). Seraphim work wonders with flamer templates, but they really shine best with the inferno pistol as well due to its ability to help rock the armor that the Tau present. Their krak grenades are the last straw when it comes to taking down the armor from behind or the side in a desperate attempt to do something miraculous. Aside from obvious tank busting duty, Seraphim are the perfect unit to take in small supply, but multiple units of for quickly chasing down and punishing all forms of battlesuits that the Tau field against us. The Eviscerater is the prime choice for combat, as combined with hit and run and acts of faith, we will always be able to punish the Tau in the combat phase and with our faith and twin-linked weaponry, we can easily dispatch of single targets and small groups. Our frag grenades even help when assaulting stealth suits to ensure we deliver every ounce of pain possible.

• Heroine

The Cannoness and Palatine are not to be over-shadowed as once they are in combat via the protection of independent character status and the power of a 2+ invulnerable save potential with a blessed weapon, they really start to make our Tau opponent sweat as they chop through everything in their army with ease while shaking off even the heaviest of fire power. One Cannoness can do the job, but a Palatine sister for backup is not unheard of in the struggle against the Young Ones. Typically, Heroines should seek the combat phase with the Tau with a passion. Remember, as independent characters with jump packs, they can move fast and remain untouchable, and when using a Book of St. Lucius can provide instant leadership to all near by squads that she protects. Once close enough she can leave the packs or the vehicles and enter combat without too much worry, but do not forget your frag grenades!

• Callidus Assassin

The Callidus is not a Sister of Battle, but she is in every right the perfect weapon against the Tau. The Callidus can move hiding battle suits to a more line of sight granting position, or pulling an entrenched unit from cover for the chance of a first turn strike before the Railguns remove our armor. After her wonderful deployment ability, she arrives later in the game to do her deed for the Emperor. She is great at eliminating those pesky suits that may have kept us down and they’re great at rooting out Broadsides. However, don’t underestimate her ability to auto-stun a Hammerhead should it be a vital turn for you. The downside is that if she is caught in the shooting phase, she is most likely going to be destroyed so keep her in combat and keep her close to many squads if you have that luxury when she arrives.

• Retributors with Heavy Bolters

Heavy Bolters are an infantry Tau nightmare; however, they’re not that useful if our opponent is mostly mounted in armor. On the other hand, the Retributors are also wonderful at granting us more Faith, and an auspex that is powered by up to 4 heavy bolters as with a little luck we may eliminate early Kroot infiltrations or Stealth suit infiltrations (but this is with good luck). Mainly these units are valuable due to being one of the only semi-resilient forms of long range damage or at least harassment. Unfortunately they’re not a good idea at all fielded with multi-meltas but the heavy bolters are definitely the prime choice.

• Heavy Flamer; Twin-Flamers; Twin-Heavy Flamers

Just a mention about these 3 particular weapons that are simply devastating to Tau units from all around. Should we ever be close enough to use these potent weapons, we would be in luck, but know that it is not regrettable to have these if there is a chance that we can get a close encounter with the Tau kind.

• Large Squad Sizes of Power Armor

Power armor is the best around for a troop generally, and we can have the absolute most of it for a very good price. One of the best methods of dealing with Tau is to take huge squads of Troops of Sisters of Battle, backed up by minor squads of fast units such as Seraphim and Heroines as the Tau may be masters in the shooting phase from afar, but even they cannot match the sea of power armor that the Sisters can present, after all, the submunition plate is not a battle cannon![/list]
Inquisitorial Aid:

The Sisters of Battle are not alone of course when it comes to the Witch Hunters and various inquisitorial teams can be very valuable as can various other squads that they allow us to bring to the battle field. It is also worth nothing that specifically Daemonhunters inquisitors are some of the rarer, but potent methods of keeping the Tau at bay in the shooting phase.

• Inquisitors; Witch Hunter and Daemonhutners

Witch Hunter Inquisitors can be useful due to the potential use of the Liber Heresius and the ability to alter the game a bit with deployment options. Another potent option is the Divine Pronouncement ability which happens to work marvelously upon Tau units, should the Inquisitor be able to get close enough for a use. Generally Inquisitors from this section of the Witch Hunters are also useful to grant us one of the more interesting heavy support choices which are rarely seen on the battle field: the Orbital strike.

Though you may giggle like I’m a madman, the Orbital strike combined with the Liber Heresius and a Callidus assassin can be a tiny network of plans within plans to drop a really nasty surprise upon a heavy suited Tau army that may be sedentary enough to stay near the same terrain too long and quickly lose a few battle suits to a surprise strike from a Lance Strike. Granted, this is not anywhere near guaranteed to work, but it is merely an honorable mention for another non-armored use of the heavy support slot.

Daemonhunters Inquisitors take another honorable mention as all things Inquisitor are available to all Inquisitorial armies. The Daemonhunters Inquisitor brings a very potent potential in terms of the Psycannon and independent character status which makes for a virtually immune 36 inch weapon that pierces most Tau armor and cannot take return fire unless it is the closest model to the enemy. This is a perfectly good option for that Inquisitorial slot when attempting to field Assassins such as the Calldius without losing too many points to a Tau-bait Inquisitorial unit which will cost way too much for it’s worth generally.[/list]
How can we apply all of this?

Luckily we can easily take the more simple route to beat the Tau, rather than the elaborate route of fast transports, tricky Faith use and surgical precision of target priority. It is of course a good idea to focus fire upon Tau units to annihilate them, but our real problem is survival above dealing damage. The sisters can deal the appropriate damage only if they’re close enough to do so. Faster units simply speed up the process and knowing that a Tau in combat is a Tau that may not shoot speaks for itself. So what very simple, but key elements can help us to achieve a better foot hold against the Tau?

• Large Squad Sizes
• Fast Combat Oriented Units (ie: Seraphim; Heroine)
• More 3+ armor saves than they have guns
• Special units just for the Tau (ie: Callidus Assassin; Inquisitor)
• Leave the Armor at home
• Pack metalguns for later use; Endure the shooting phase until you’re at their lines

Conclusion:

I hope this little tangent on the Greater Good can help you to better understand what you’re facing or merely to remind or inspire you what your units are actually more capable of with various Tau units in mind. Sometimes, our perfect weapons for Tau are mounted on imperfect units for Tau while a seemingly expensive waste of points on a specific unit may end up being the life savor of the day.

Not every Tau army will run in this manner, and not every Sister army can respond in such as manner to fight them back. However, knowing a little bit about sure methods that work well against Tau is a great start on developing your own personal method of dealing with the Young Ones.

Keep in mind that I am a Tau player, and a Sisters player, so I try to keep things apparent for both sides and of course, my experiences will be different from many others. So consider it as advise or inspiration for you to think of, not to play by and Suffer Not the Witch to Live (or in our case, the Empire!).

[size=7pt]End Transmission[/size]

[MalVeauX]

[size=12pt]Discussion - Knowing the Tau[/size]

Feel free to discuss, rant or anything that may be helpful to understanding more about the Tau from a Witch Hunter and Sister of Battle perspective. You are free to discuss specific anti-tau strategy, Tau tactica employed against the Witch Hunters, etc. Anything about the Tau and the Witch Hunters in an attempt to have a single localized resource for everyone to use.

Cheers and enjoy!

[Starchilde]

Well, we should probably kick of this discussion by pointing out that there are two primary forms of Tau army you will run into: Mechanized and Static Firing Line. Both can be difficult for Witch Hunters. My experience has been with the Static Firing Line version, so that is what I will comment on by expanding on comments from other threads.

Which I will do tomorrow, since I need to sleep now.

[Starchilde]

Fighting a Static Firing Line Tau Army Using Sisters of Battle

This will probably be one of the tougher battles to fight with a pure Witch Hunters force. Since the primary vehicles you would use for transport can be rendered burning hulks by even the lowest level of Tau weaponry, it is best to leave them at home. That means your force is going to have to march straight into the teeth of a very firepower heavy, or "shooty" army. However, the Emperor protects, and with some simple to follow tactics for deployment, movement, and attack strategies your army should do fairly well.

A Sister in Battle Armor with a Bolter is Your Best Friend

This is a very important thing to note. Point for point, the standard Battle Sister is just slightly better at shooting, wounding, and surviving wounds than the standard Fire Warrior. What that means is that for this particular engagement you should be constructing a Troops heavy army. The Sisters' bolters and power armor have the ability to win the day for you, even though they are on foot. The best recommendation possible is to use larger, rather than smaller sized troop squads. Most likely you are going to want squads of at least twelve. This will afford you the luxury of taking "acceptable losses" as the squad marches up into position and still have enough firepower to lay low the Xenos threat.
The next most important thing to take with your Troops squads is Veteran Sister Superiors carrying Books of St. Lucius. The primary thrust of a Static Firing Line Tau army is to inflict overwhelming numbers of wounds to a squad, causing a morale check with negative modifiers. The Tau's ability to break squads through the shooting phase is their key to victory. The Book of St. Lucius all but denies them this ability since it removes any negative modifiers from a morale check. This will allow your squads to take the most horrendous losses and still stand their ground - which is very important if you are carrying short ranged assault weapons such as meltaguns and flamers.
Tasking each of your Troops squads with a specific assignment can also be beneficial in fighting the Tau. In other words, instead of mixing the special weapons in a troop squad, give each squad two of the same weapon. For example, a squad can be assigned anti-armor/anti-battle suit duty by equipping them with two meltaguns. When firing on a squad of Crisis Suits, or a Commander this all but guarantees wounds - most of which will be "instant kills." Do the same for flamers and stormbolters (although stormbolter effectiveness is debatable). Remember: double up on the special weapons, maximize squad size, and take a Veteran Sister Superior with a Book of St. Lucius. These will all but guarantee the effectiveness of your Troops squads against this type of Tau army.


Retributors and Heavy Bolters

Although the Exorcist has heavier front armor than any other tanks in the Witch Hunter army, it is still extremely vulnerable to fire from a multitude of Tau weapons. Its use in this particular engagement is extremely debatable, since it will draw considerable fire. If you wish to sacrifice points for a "fire magnet" then by all means, take an Exorcist. However, if you are looking for a Heavy choice that has some survivability and can inflict serious damage to the Tau, then a Retributor squad equipped with Heavy Bolters is your best bet.
The Heavy Bolter will instantly kill any Fire Warrior it hits, and is very likely to wound Tau Battle Suits too. Do not fire your Heavy Bolters indiscriminately; rather use them in conjunction with your Troops squads' bolters to increase their firepower and effectiveness. Also consider using the Act of Faith "Divine Guidance" to afford you AP1 rounds, this is extremely effective against Tau Battle Suits.
Since Heavy Bolters tend to be the bane of the Tau existence, consider beefing up or increasing the size of your Retributor squads. Do not use a bare minimum squad. They will be a priority target for the Tau and will take considerable fire. Take extra Retributors to have a "margin of safety" - you don't want to be forced to remove those Heavy Bolters too early! Also, consider the use of a Veteran Sister Superior with a Book of St. Lucius. The reasoning is the exact same as with Troops squads, the Retributors will be able to suffer horrible losses and not take negative penalties during a morale test. This should almost guarantee their staying power on the battlefield.

Seraphim

A lot has already been said in other postings about how effective Seraphim are against the Tau. They are a faithful unit that can be either kitted out as anti-infantry (with hand flamers and "Divine Guidance"), or as anti-armor (with inferno pistols and meltabombs). If you are going to take Seraphim against this kind of Tau army, you may consider taking more than one squad. This will maximize their effectiveness. It will also avoid the possibility of a single squad showing up late during a Gamma or Omega level mission. Making a reserves roll for Seraphim is critical to their effectiveness in those missions.
With an anti-armor Seraphim squad, consider taking a small squad with two sets of inferno pistols and leaving the meltabombs at home. Since the Tau tanks are skimmers that often move fast, the likelihood of rolling a "6" to hit during assault is low. Save the points and simply take two shots with the inferno pistols. A Veteran Sister Superior with an eviscerator is tempting, but will have the same problems as meltabombs. However, if you are tasking this squad with hunting Tau Battlesuits the eviscerator then becomes highly effective. The choice of one comes down to points, tactics, and taste.
Anti-personnel Seraphim on the other hand are more effective in larger squads. Two twin flamers along with many twin linked bolt pistols have enormous destructive power when fired on infantry, especially if when used in conjunction with the Act of Faith "Divine Guidance". Few enemy squads, especially Tau, will be able to stand up to large amounts of AP1 fire. The use of a Veteran Sister Superior with this kind of Seraphim squad is debatable. The squad itself is faithful, and her appearance does not add a Faith Point to the army as a whole. Should you choose to use one, consider equipping her with a bolt pistol and power weapon. This will make her somewhat effective in close combat and more cost effective than giving her an eviscerator.
In either case, should you choose to use Veteran Sisters Superiors always equip them with Books of St. Lucius. Again, it is highly effective in stopping the unit from breaking due to heavy wounds. This is good, since even a small Seraphim squad behind enemy lines can cause a considerable amount of havoc.

Deployment and Tactics

To maximize fire against the Tau, deploy your Troops squad in wide, shallow formations. This will present the most "surface area" towards the enemy and allow more bolters to fire at once as you move. If using squads of twelve, a 6x2 or 4x3 formation is recommended. Modify this based on the size of your Troops squad. Position your squads at the start of the battle to take the most advantage of terrain as possible. The longer you can stay out of "line of sight" the closer you will get before you start taking fire. This will increase the firepower you can return to the Tau and will increase your chances of victory. Scenery is also important for another reason - it provides a cover save. Although Tau Fire Warriors are formidable, the Tau Battlesuits with their "instant kill" weapons will slowly whittle away at your squads leaving them less than effective. Cover saves and the Act of Faith "Spirit of the Martyr" will help to stop this. Remember, use cover to your advantage!
Retributor squads need to be set up in cover with large open fields of fire. Deployment positioning of Retributors should be in one of two ways. Either at opposite ends of the battlefield, so that their fields of fire cover most of the battlefield and slightly overlap, or very near to each other. This second tactic does not allow for full coverage of the field of battle, but does maximize the potential of the Retributors' heavy bolters by allowing them to fire simultaneously on the same targets.
This brings up an important point. The Tau have longer ranged weapons than a pure Sisters force. Thus they can bring the fire of multiple squads to bear on a single target and cause considerable damage. To counter this, the Sisters must do the same - concentrate fire. To do this most effectively, Sisters squads must work in close formations. Squads will need to march up to a firing position, somewhere between 18" and 24" and start rapid firing. Consider marching them into position very much in a Napoleonic way: nice and clean, well dressed lines of troops marching forward in unison. Once in this position you will need to prioritize you targets and bring as much firepower to bear on them as necessary to make they go away. This is where the Act of Faith "Divine Guidance" is important. AP1 massed bolter shots from this range are extremely deadly, and extremely effective.
Once into range, you will need to prioritize your targets to make the most of your shooting. Recommendations for targets are as follows:

Primary: Commanders in Battle Suits, Crisis Suits, Stealth Suits, Broadsides, Fire Warriors
Secondary: Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, Ethereals
Tertiary: Fire Warriors, Devil Fish, Hammer Heads

The Battle Suits are high on this list due to their "instant kill"/”whittling away” ability. Fire Warriors are listed on all three since they are always important targets. Tau vehicles are listed last, not because they are ineffective at dealing out wounds, but because of the lack of anti-armor capability in a pure Sisters army. Devil Fish will need to come within 18" to use some of their weapons; this does give you a chance at taking one out with a meltagun. But, be careful, a crafty opponent can lure you out into a kill zone with a tempting Devil Fish target. In terms of the Hammer Head, there is no really effective way of dealing with it since any Tau player worth his or her salt will keep they out of the range of your meltaguns. Only Exorcists and anti-armor Seraphim squads have any real chance of being effective against these Tau units. In most cases, spreading out, cover saves, power armor, and faith in the Emperor will be more effective with dealing with Tau tanks than hunting them.

Final Notes

Let me repeat what I said in the beginning: this is going to be a tough battle for you. Make no mistake, your army will take very heavy losses. However, you can be triumphant. Think seriously about your army build, how you intend to use each unit, and how you intend to use the army as a whole. Deploy your army effectively using cover and line of sight to your advantage. Always keep the mission objectives in mind – never, ever, ever stray from them. Never ever attempt to run in and decimate the enemy, unless that is the only way to achieve victory. Prioritize your targets and move units into positions that will bring effective amounts of firepower to bear in order to neutralize those targets. Remember, your goal is to out shoot the Tau. Use your Faith Points wisely, do not squander them. But, above all else, place your faith in the Emperor - he will see you through!

[redbeard]

On Playing Mech Tau

To play against Mech Tau you have to understand their thinking. *Mech Tau as described on the boards on this website, and using the Mech Tau Bible's doctrines, revolve around a few simple concepts, that you want to negate.

Choosing their Battles
Mech Tau, like all highly mobile armies, pays a lot of points for their mobility. *In terms of sheer damage output potential, and damage absorbtion potential, they will have less than you. *Think about this; A devilfish mounted squad of Firewarriors costs 66% more than a non-mounted squad. *That means they only get two squads of firewarriors for every three a non-Mechanized force would have.

The reason they do this is because they want to be able to pick their fights. *The more mobile army usually has the luxury of being able to focus their whole army's firepower on a subsection of their opponent's army, which generally means they can wipe out one half of your army, and then focus all their force on the other half, wiping it out too. *

Your counter to this is to stay together. *Do not present exposed units that he can isolate and destroy easily. * Force him to face your entire force, or none of it. *There are however, two notable exceptions to the Stay Together rule, that I will address below.

Preserve Their Victory Points
Mech Tau seeks to win via preserving their own victory points. * If you cannot kill their troops and they can kill a few of yours, they win. * However, with most games being classified as a draw if only a few troops are killed, you can force your opponent to accept a draw, or engage you. *If they engage you, they are ignoring Part 1 and Part 2 of their own doctrine, and if you can get them to ignore their own doctrine, you're well on your way to victory. *Mech Tau isn't just a list you throw together and play, it's a list that you have to maintain discipline with. *And you want to break their discipline.

Force them into a situation where they trade a unit for a unit, and they'll lose. *As stated above, they're going to have less units because of the premium they pay for their mechanization.

Play scenarios
You want to do this too. *See, Mech Tau states that they should offensively take objectives, but never defend ground to hold objectives. *That means you can take the initiative to move your whole army onto an objective and dare your opponent to come and take it from you. *If they do, they've committed to a fair fight, one that you will win. * If they don't, or if they choose to try and snipe at you from range, you get the objective and the bonus points for holding it. * They cannot possibly kill enough of your power armoured sisters, while staying out of your range, to drop full-sized squads below scoring levels.
(Case Point: Hammerhead submunitions that hit, say 8 sisters (that's probably generous if you space out well) will score 4 hits over the course of a game. *That's 32 sisters hit over the course of the game. *Of those, 1/6th won't be wounded, so we're talking about soaking 27 wounds. *27 Wounds, against a 3+ save, means that one hammerhead can be expected to, over the course of a whole game, kill 9 sisters. *You need to kill 11 to drop a full sized sister's squad below scoring, so if they plan to simply snipe at you at range, they're not going to kill enough to win the game.)

If there are multiple objectives to claim, take your entire army to a spot between 2 objectives, and with just enough time to claim it, (if the mid-point is 12 inches from either, then move on turns 5 and 6) move to the separate objectives. *You'll still be close enough together that your opponent will have a hard time engaging just a portion of your forces, and if you draw them out on the last few turns, they may also fail to claim any objectives of their own.


Choosing the right force
Playing against Mech Tau requires bringing the right tools for the job. *Moreso than playing other lists, their mobility and transports will render a lot of your potential choices useless. *When you figure that it's possible that you can go an entire game without seeing a single firewarrior disembark from their transport, anti-personel weapons and units lose effectiveness.

What not to bring
Flamers of any sort: *The flames cannot hurt the hull of a devilfish, and will rarely get shots at anything else. While they're bread-and-butter weapons against many lists, against Mech Tau, they're next to useless.

Assault-infantry: *They're too slow, they won't get there, and if they do, the firewarriors will hop back in their 'Fish and fly away.
This includes Celestians. *The extra points you pay for Celestine combat prowess is wasted against the Tau, as all Sister's hit on 3+ against the Tau anyway.

Transports: *He will be more mobile. *His transports can fly over terrain, over your transports, and get skimmer protection. *Your transport options can be destroyed by every weapon in his army. *Let him have the mobility, buy more troops.

Minimum size squads: *Look again at the math above. *A Hammerhead will kill 9 sisters over the course of a game, from many inches away. *You need LARGE squads of girls to soak that kind of damage. *Your biggest advantage is fielding more suits of power armour than he can hope to destroy. *

What To Bring
Seraphim: With 2 inferno pistols and a superior with an evicerator. *This is one of the two exceptions to the rule that everyone should stay together. * Your seraphim want to go tank hunting. *They don't want melta-bombs, because they're going to need 6's to hit them, for only glancing hit results. * You want inferno pistols, as they're almost guaranteed hits (8/9), and you want a superior who can make 3 attacks with her evicerator, at 6+2d6 penetration.

Their primary job is to take out hammerheads and loaded devilfish, but, they're also excellent Suit Killers, and should do so if the opportunity arrises. *The best of both worlds is frying a couple of suits with insta-kills from the inferno pistols, assaulting to no effect, and the following turn, using Hit&Run to move an extra 3d6 inches towards the target tank. *If your opponent presents that opportunity take it.

Be aware, though, that your opponent will consider Seraphim as the greatest threat in your army, so be careful and hug terrain unless you know you can get into assault.

Melta-weaponry: If all your squads have 2 meltaguns, that's a strong deterent for him to keep his tanks and suits away. *For as useless as flamers become against Mech Tau, Meltaguns become more useful. * There will be an abundance of targets (if he chooses to engage you) - between tanks, and suits that you can score insta-kills on.

Callidus Assassin: *She's the best suit hunter there is. *My personal belief is that she should go after Stealth suits first, and crisis suits second, but she's good against either. *Against Stealth suits, she should neural shred them once, then charge into what is hopefully only 4 attacks back. *They will need 5's to hit her, 4's to wound, and you get a 4+ save, so with 4 attacks, they're only 33% likely to score a wound on you. *The shredder will kill roughly half the suits it covers, which should allow you to place well for your assault to minimize the number of incoming attacks.

Against Crisis suits, the shredder is less effective, as they have 2 wounds each, but you go first, so charge, and then on your opponent's turn, hop out of combat, and shred and charge again on your turn.

A correction from above: The shredder does not auto-stun a tank, it auto-shakes it. *It only scores a stun 33% of the time. * Don't waste your assassin chasing tanks.

To take her, you will need an Inquisitor. *I recommend a 30 point Elite Inquisitor with a bolter and meltabombs. *Run him at an enemy tank. *He'll either absorb a whole round of enemy fire, or will get a chance to slap a bomb on a tank. * In Higher point games, for shock/surprise value, you can let him ride in a land raider, which is a good way to get some heavy armour into your force.

Exorcists: *Normally, taking tanks against Tau is a bad idea, but, the Front Armour on an exorcist is strong enough that he will have few weapons that threaten it. *The Railgun is the biggest threat. * But, as Mech Tau lists don't run broadsides, you're looking at shots from Hammerheads. *A Hammerhead with a Railgun with a round of shooting, has a 43% chance of penetrating the exorcist's front armour. *After that, there's the Fusion Blaster. *But it has minimal range, and if you keep your forces together correctly, it should never get close enough to threaten your exorcist. * After that, there are the Strength 7 Missile Pods and Ion Cannons, which require sixes to glance your front armour. * *

In exchange, your exorcist averages 3.5 shots a turn, and so has a 77% chance to hit the front of a Hammerhead. *Normally, that's a glance, but, if you can get the first turn, that's a 77% chance to penetrate the hammerhead. *Not bad. *In fact, so good that I recommend deploying your exorcists, if possible, in a position where they can take first turn shots at the Hammerhead, even if they have to withstand shots in exchange. *Because the first turn is when you can actually get penetrating results on a skimmer, and the numbers are in your favor, it is to your advantage to deploy your exorcists with a chance to hit the Hammerheads. *This is tripply the case if you're using the newer missions that use Strategy Rating dice to determine first-turn, as you're then rolling 3 dice to his 1.

[Brother Paidar]

For assassins other than callidus what is their effectiveness against Tau. Specifically i'd like to know about the eversor and death cult.

[MalVeauX]

Bro Paider:

http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php?topic=6454.0

There is a little information there regarding your assassin questions. Death cults aren't very useful against Tau, and the Evesor can be, but really not super great unless you have transports that survive a few turns to follow them with.

[redbeard]

The eversor will kill any one unit he gets in combat with, and will then die to shooting. He's useless against Tau vehicles. IF you can find an infiltration spot 12 inches away, where he can charge on turn 1, without the risk of being shot before he does, he can be golden. I've used him to take out a full unit of crisis suits and (different occasion) a full unit of stealth suits. Problem is, he has no longevity after that, and if you cannot find that early hiding spot, you're toast to shooting.

Death Cultists are much the same, but worse. They have no first-turn charge potential at all, and their save is poor enough that they die to people looking at them funny.