[foshizzle]

I play alot against a certain Space Marine player, and this is what he likes to take.

He's Black Templars so he always has this huge squad consisting of the Emperor's Champion, some sort of special character I forgot the name of (though I think it starts with a G and he is eligible in 1500 point battles), sword brethren and maybe some other stuff... Usually mounted in Rhino

He also like to take the following tanks, but he changes it up sometimes

Predator, Land Raider, and then either demolisher or another predator.

and believe it or not, I THINK he usually makes the rest tactical squads, but i think he might start taking an assault squad or two also...

What should I do against him?

[lube_skyhumper]

I PLAY SPACE MARINES ALOT
SO heres wut i suggest arm ur fire warriors with carbines so u can move and shoot a decent range, or mount them in a devilfish. the black templars have a rule where if they take a wound from shooting the move up/back d6 or 6" im not sure but that requires a leadership so get sum pathfinders light them up hit em with carbines and the squad shouldnt be a problem for a turn and they wont move up on u also as much plasma as possible cant stress enough hard my crisis suits own marines and termies for that matter. for the armor he takes id get a 3man team of broadsides or piranahas w/ fusion ur choice really, also take an ion cannon and railhead. there r a few more things i think u should take but overall id say its critical to take pathfinders and plenty of anti tnk guns.

[DevilSquid]

Well, battling the migrane the last post gave me, let me see if I can offer some advice (though I am new to tau, so take with a grain of salt)

Hammerheads are good against the Crusaders, as it has the best chance of blowing it up, and can hide behind terrain to begin with.

Plasma weapons are indeed very useful, as they'll drop marines very nicely.

(The special character is Grimaldus)

The problem with shooting Templar Squad is that they have a chance of advancing forward after taking a casualty. This is guaranteed if the squad is lead by a chaplain...and with Grimaldus, they could advance up to 9"!

A well placed squad of Kroot to distract the Templars may not be a bad idea, allowing the rest of your force to reposition.

You'll want to disable his mobility first, then take out any long range weapons that can hurt you. Thankfully, you don't have to worry about Whirlwinds...

A squad of Pathfinders to add some markerlight loving into the mix would not be a bad idea, as well as giving their devilfish seekermissles, and keep it hidden behind terrain.

Pirhana's with Fusion guns make good tank hunters, as well as giving the templars something to chase (i believe they need to advance towards nearest enemy, will have to check codex)

Just a few thoughts, hope they help.

D-DS

[foshizzle]

If you wouldn't mind looking at the army list with the topic titled:

"New change - now 1500 points" or something like that, tell me if it would be good against them... The pathfinders work in conjunction with the Sky Ray

[daniel.wilson]

Well, I'm trying mixing a Hammerhead with a couple Broadside squads. One Broadside has a TA and TL Plasma, the other squad of two has ASS and SMS. Generally, the Hammerhead is a big imposing looking thing that I fly about up front to distract my opponent from shooting at my Broadsides, which hit more and are more vulnerable to attack. I like to take out my opponent's Crusader early, to spill his troops out and knock out a pile of Vehicle weapons. I like taking Missile Pods for Rhinos. Once everyone is walking, I switch it up. The Broadsides aren't too useful firing once per turn, but the Hammerhead submunition round is pretty good, so I move the Hammerhead back a bit.

Versus the infantry squads, that Advance-under-Fire rule makes Helios a risky proposition for Crisis suits, unless you have a vehicle to block his advance. FireKnives have a Missile Pod for his transport and a Plasma Rifle for his infantry and work pretty well at range. A Missile Pod/Burst Cannon config isn't quite as good as FireKnife, unless your opponent likes to use cover a lot. Stealthsuits aren't too bad either.

I really think the best tactic is the Fish of Fury for you, but you'll need something else if he can move 9"+6"+6" before you can move again. You can flank your Devilfishies with Hammerheads to make the Templars walk more to assault, or equip Pulse Carbines and engage at longer range, although that seems riskier to me.

Devilsquid mentioned that the Templars may need to advance towards the nearest enemy. This gives you the possibility of manipulating his army. Piranhas and Hammerheads can force him to split his army into two, which you can then focus on one piece at a time.