The Kauyon; past the walls

A lot of stress has been put into the Kroot Wall aspect of the Kauyon; if it is best, how it works in most lists, its survivability, etc. I thought it would be worthwhile to look beyond the wall for a bit, and highlight how key units to the Tau army fight in context of it, and how they fare outside. I will be looking at two units specifically; Broadsides and Pathfinders.

-Broadsides: Outside of Kauyon, Broadsides make a big show of themselves; the often deploy centrally, drawing attention to themselves whilst maintaining a cover save. They attempt to abuse the enemy's fear of Railguns; making them target the 'Sides before anything else, leaving you time to maneuver away.

The downside of this is that the Broadsides are likely to be eaten alive unless thoroughly defended; in Mont'ka lists, small Broadside firebases are left in the dust, meaning the silencing of your railguns immediately.

In the Kauyon, however, they remain. Broadsides are often placed very far behind protective lines, leaving them among the last of your units to fall, only sacrificed to save Crisis Suits and your Fire Warriors. This means that opposed to a near maximum of three turns shooting, Broadsides can last 5 or 6, easily. This effectively doubles your anti-tank; something you can't see when just glancing at your list's weapons.

-Pathfinders: Regardless of the style, Pathfinders will receive the same treatment; newer players will ignore their non-damaging guns, only to be wiped by your buffed suits, while veterans will target them early and hit them with enough shots to send them packing... which is not a great many.

Pathfinders are constantly in danger in a good game. In the Mont'ka, the player must choose between setting them up in cover and camping until death, or continually redeploying them via transport to avoid enemy assaults. They either suffer the same problem as Broadsides, or they lose turns of firepower to stay around. Either way, they get in around 3 turns of shooting in MAX if they are under pressure.

In the Kauyon, they suffer the same problem; they are relatively easy to shoot out of the game. But the Kauyon offers a slightly better alternative to sticking them in area terrain or ferrying them; putting them behind a Kroot Wall. This may seem trivial, but it adds two major changes to the playing style of the pathies:

1) The Pathies get a choice of the best possible lane of fire. This is due to the fact that the Kroot wall can stretch to give them cover regardless of where they are. Instead of anchoring into terrain, they benefit from freedom and cover.

2) Assault protection. The Pathfinders no longer have to relocate to avoid assault; the Kroot have that covered. Without having to relocate, they avoid assault completely, allowing a focus on shooting; critical, as during the first few turns they have a large amount to support.

Why did I choose these two units specifically? Again the answer is two-fold:

1) They are the best of their role: They are the cheapest renditions of their incredibly useful and limited weapons. While others exist, they are inferior for that specific role; Hammerheads are inaccurate and expensive, while Stealth Marker Teams and Skyrays cost far too much for the 'lights they bring.

2) They work better in the Kauyon. These units both suffer from one drawback in comparison to their more expensive and less effective counterparts; they lack mobility. In the Mont'ka, this regulates them to an Alpha-strike followed by their inevitable demise. In the Kauyon, a solid system of blockading, trapping, and cover synergy leave them strong and firing.

Kroot Wall list

The crude vehicles rumbled loudly down the beaten roads of the lost Imperial Sector, the sun rising in the distance to light the shadowy city. The smell of Ork fuel was easily distinguishable, not that it was a necessary marker with the sight of several greenskins protruding out of the topless compartments. The column came to brief stop upon sighting the scouts, but that brief moment was superseded almost immediately by war cries and the revving of engines. The Orks had found a target and would like nothing less than to engage it and tear it to shreds.

The Burnas were the first to reach their target, igniting flames that had proven effective at pushing back the avian forces they had faced earlier in the campaign. Massive swathes of burning fuel cut into the improvised cover of the creatures, killing a handful of the scouting party. Instead of a fleeing party, however, the Burnas were met with furious growls as wolf-like creatures pounced out of the mangled building and tore into them. The Burnas fell back under the onslaught, only to be caught and torn to shreds. The vehicles and their cargo were undeterred by the canines, thundering forward nonetheless.

The next instant can only be described as an explosion. A tremor shook the road, and the dust and soot of battles past obscured the road, shielding the scouts from view. Before the pollutants could fully clear, a bright bolt of energy struck outwards. It connected with the foremost Ork vehicle, reducing it to a smoldering wreck in the path of the Ork advance.

The origin of the blast appeared in the smoke. A hulking walker appeared, much like common weapon platforms of the Ork’s enemies, with a few striking differences. Great wings protruded from the suit, and a large spout of green energy spewed violently from its right fist. The walker was crowned in a helmet-like array of odd technology, including odd smoking areas to the sides of its sensor suite.

The Walker’s voice boomed loudly through its speaker suite, assuming a simplistic but effective Ork tongue, “Enemies of the Empire! This planet is the property of the Tau Empire. There is a cost for your trespass and belligerence, and you shall play it in blood!”

The road was lit by a plethora of lights, followed swiftly and lethally by a burst of plasma and a plethora of missiles. There would be no victory for the Orks that day.

In the post before this, I talked about competitive lists VS fun lists. I thought it would be worthwhile to post my preliminary idea of what such a list would look like, how it would work, etc. This may be the path I take with this army, for better or for worse.

So first, the list:

HQ

Fireforge Crisis Commander- Shas'el w/ TL-MP, FB, HWTL -85

Fireforge Crisis Commander- Shas'el w/ TL-MP, FB, HWTL -85

ELITE

Fireknife Crisis Team- Shas'ui TL w/ PR, MP, MT, HWDC; 2x Shas'ui w/ PR, MP, MT; 2x Gun Drones -211

Fireknife Crisis Team- Shas'ui TL w/ PR, MP, MT, HWDC; 2x Shas'ui w/ PR, MP, MT; 2x Gun Drones -211

TROOP

Fire Warriors- 6x Shas'la -60

Kroot-10x Mercs; 7x Hounds -112

Kroot-10x Mercs; 7x Hounds -112

FAST

Piranha Squadron- Piranha w/ FB, TA, FD, DP; Piranha w/ FB, TA, FD -165

Pathfinders-6x Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, DP -177

Pathfinders-6x Shas'la; Devilfish w/ SMS, DP -177

HEAVY

Broadsides- Shas'ui TL /AdvSS, HWDC, HWTL; 2x Shas'ui w/AdvSS; 2x Sh. Drones -280

Hammerhead w/ Railgun, SMS, MT, DP -175

1850

The list has a lot of synergy in it, and I'll be describing it by layer to help illustrate this.

The outmost layer will be a wall of Kroot, joined by one of my Fireforge Commanders. The attached IC will make them harder to run off, which will be helpful as they won't have too much staying power bar lucky terrain and tricks (see below). The Commander adds a little melta and a tankshock deterrent (I will actually put him directly in front of/assault a tank so they must TS him or go around... which is an auto melta-hit).

The second layer is completely identical except for the fact that their cover is nearly assured by the forward unit. Same deal with melta and such. This unit can function as counter-charge if it needs to, but will mostly stay in place.

Layer three are the Suits, who will be jumping in and out of my castle, ensuring cover for themselves whilst avoiding the enemy gaining the same favor. Their role is rather simple; shooting. Broadsides will sit pretty center stage and blast transports to pieces.

Piranhas will start a little behind the suits, and move out early on to block enemy movements and provide cover for my Kroot; it is unwise to underestimate the durability of AV11+cover; and I can see them absorbing a large amount of shots. If neither role is necessary, they will sit back for contesting duties. Flechettes allow them to be a pain to both hordes and vehicles in their quests to disrupt movement.

Seeing as how Markerlights only need to see a sliver of their target and there is no cover from the Valkyrie's Mark, they will sit farther back, and light targets of priority. They will stay still as long as possible, being my last unit to move into a blocking position, bar the suits. Fire Warriors who refuse to stay in reserve will sit with them as well.

Finally come the vehicles; they sit back and provide minimal fire support, but have two important goals. First and foremost, they will act as outflank blockers, covering my sides from enemy attacks if I am forced into a corner deployment. Secondly, they will act as mobile bunkers and objective takers. In KP games, heavily wounded units can shelter in them, and in objective games, they will pickup any maimed Kroot units or my reserved Fire Warrior squad and ferry them to an objective.

Against mass barrage IG or the such, this entire idea kind of goes in the toilet. I have to play loose in such a case; Kroot Outflanking, Suits moving with a escort Devilfish for cover, Pathies in cover, Broadsides making a big lure of themselves while hitting everything they can, Commanders DSing... not as static of a plan in that case, but I'll do what I can.

That's my take on it at least. I am rather new to the idea of kroot wall armies, so if I missed something big or you have a suggestion, please toss it into the comments.

Holding Ground! Troops, Part 1 (Kroot, the Creeping Menace)

Kroot are an odd unit for Tau. Statwise, they seem to be geared for assault, but point for point they are better at shooting than Tau. Unlike the rest of our technologically advanced army, they are unarmored, and use simple weapons. In fluff, they form the role of scouts and shock troops, doing everything from tearing apart advanced Marines, and Eldar to holding off swarms of Hormaguants.

But how to use them in game?

The problem with Kroot is that they are absolutely bad statwise, not making up their points in either shooting or combat against anything else in the game. Kroot can hold their own against guard and smaller squads of Nids, but they fail to hurt anything that is really dedicated to combat, and they are a flamer or blast away from extinction.

Kroot also do not work well in a combatant role in small numbers. A squad of 10 will get knocked out of the game too fast for you to even realize you wasted 70 points. A full horde of 20 Kroot can give some punch, but the combat resolution rules still don't favor our unarmored, uninspired brethren to take out combat specialists. The size increase does help against shooting, however, increasing the amount your opponent has to down before you have to take a moral test; an annoyance for the opponent if you hide them in cover.

Kroot have two buddies that can be brought along with them for the purpose of boosting their abilities in one way or another. The first buddy is the Krootox, sporting the Rapidfire equivalent of a Missile Pod. I would suggest never taking Krootox in your whole life ever as it takes away your Kroot's ability to Infiltrate, drastically reducing their effectiveness (see below). The Krootox is made to increase the effectiveness of "sit and shoot" Kroot. I have never such a monstrosity work, and do not plan to.

The second buddy for Kroot is Kroot Hounds (puppies!). Kroot Puppies cost a point less than the common Kroot, put out equal attacks, with equal Strength, Toughness, Weapon Skill, etc. but with I5! The downside? Kroot Puppies have no guns, as puppies with guns would be to awesome even for 40k to contain. The Puppies also do not benefit from fieldcraft, as they break cover to chase grenades.

Kroot Puppies are very effective for Kroot, as they bring in two boosts via their I5:

1. Sick of your Kroot getting killed before attacking? Take wounds on the Kroot Puppies, who have probably already attacked, to keep your units that have yet to swing alive. This is useful if you want your Kroot to actually have a chance to kill the enemy on the charge.

2. Are your Kroot forming a wall of expendability against a charging foe they cannot hope to defeat? Save the Puppies! If, at the end of combat, you have more Puppies than Kroot, you flee (or sweep) at I5 as opposed to I3. This can keep your Kroot from being run down, allowing them to get away without dying miserably.

Shapers are another upgrade Kroot can grab at. Costing as much as 4 Kroot, a Shaper benefits from getting a free T-Shirt saying "I Love Angkor Prok", which gives him a 6+ save, and has brought a box of spares that he is happy to sell to any Kroot for 1 point. He is slightly less challenged than normal Kroot, bearing a leadership of 8. He has figured out the contraptions of Tau weaponry, allowing him to use a Pulse weapon for free, though that takes away from his total amount of attacks in CC, making it a poor option. Sadly, he does not hold his points weight in neither shooting or CC compared to 4 of his kind and thus is used by Tau players very rarely.

How does one use Kroot to get good effect out of their weak, armor-less hides? The true advantages to Kroot are four-fold, and come from outside their statline.

1. Kroot are Troops. This means Kroot can score objectives, a modern marvel as it was once thought they would simply eat them. A tactic known as pillboxing has evolved from this, and it is the simplest form of objective scoring you will ever see. Place an objective in cover, preferably woods, and sit a massive blob of Kroot on it, who continually go to ground when fired upon. It will annoy anyone who has not brought effective cover-ignoring weapons to know end, as they bring hundreds of fifties of pounds of ordnance down on a difficult to extricate horde. This leaves your opponent's with an irksome choice; dedicate firepower to the 100 or so points of Kroot hiding away, or hit your actual firepower.

2. Kroot hordes take up space. This can be used to make a very annoying wall, circle, etc. that can screw with your opponent's ability to maneuver. In DoW games, you can place your Kroot far forward if you get first deployment, limiting the area your opponent can deploy into. You can form large blocks around vehicles to dissuade deepstriking melta from landing too close. You can circle up around your Broadsides to protect them from quick assaults. They can provide a wall of cover to your Crisis Suits, allowing them to jump behind it after firing freely.

3. Kroot make great outflankers. A 20 or so man squad (with Puppies!) can threaten the flanks very well, tarring up units in assault or killing weakened enemies. If no targets are available, they can come in on a cornered objective and score. Your success with this strategy will vary, but back in the day when I used outflanking Kroot as part of Ninja Tau and Ethereal Tau (I know; ew) they ranked up: 2 Rhinos (1 full of TacMarines that couldn't disembark), a Daemon Prince with 3 wounds, 2 Basilisks, and some Scouts. It can be rather effective.

4. Kroot can INFILTRATE. This is a big deal. You can set up to push back enemy Infiltrators, or stop a first turn rush, or any such nonsense. You can get yourself into shooting range or threaten infantry targets. It is a very reactive ability that can help to remove alpha-strike threats from a less tactical opponent. That being said, I prefer to use Stealth Suits for this role, as their guns have more of a punch, but Kroot are cheap and effective at this.

Tau players, how do you use Kroot? Do you see them as useful or useless?

One last thing; Kroot can win you the game automatically against an all-reserved all-bike/infantry army :D

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