Tau vs. Dark Eldar - Guide

So I am playing the hell out of my DE these days, but in the back of my mind (and in my heart) I am always thinking of Tau.

So, with that in mind, and Tau being one of the older codexs, how do you go about handling Dark Eldar, with Tau?

Well, I am not going to talk about a Tau build. I subscribe to the mono-build of Tau at the moment with a winning list having large amounts of crisis with plasma/missiles and broadsides and a few small squads to hold score. I am assuming that you are running this or a variant of it (I run a hammerhead or two often).

Now, let's get too it.

The first problem is initive, who won? If you won set up in mid area if possible. Dark Eldar like to take advantage of Nightshields and you need to be able to respond with your entire army. Make sure that all of your fire can cover everyone else. Don't have anyone set up too far forward (do NOT infilitrate your kroot up).

Now then, if you have gone first, then the dark eldar has a problem, he can deploy, and get shot, or reserve his entire army. I think the smart play, but if not, and he sets up, move around as necessary and down every transport that has any of the following units in it 1. Wytches 2. Any Elite (Incubi, Grotesques, Wracks). After this is done, go to the Ravagers and guns in round 2 if necessary. If you fail to destroy all the vehicles you will have transports in your face on round 2, you need to kill them, and then kill the occupants. Remember your smart missiles, they will just obliterate Dark Eldar. I don't advocate shooting the warriors at first, they actually have no chance against the kroot, so are no threat in HTH, which is where you will get crushed.

Once the raiders and ravagers are down, the game should be in hand.

Now, if they reserve you have a problem. In objective based games there will be a certain desire to mill around and get closer to the objectives on round 1 and 2. DO NOT DO THIS. If you move within 27 inches of his table edge, you are asking to get in HTH. You have only one thing you can do. Stay in the center at around 30 inches away from his side. On round 2 he will scream in with 1/2 of his stuff. Still, DO NOT move toward the objective. Just kill, wipe everything that came on the table out, any way you can. On round 4 more of this stuff will come in, do the same thing again. On round 5 you need to get to the stupid objective, move 5, run, whatever. If he has anything else that is coming, you jsut have to risk it. If it is just kill points, then you shouldn't be in any problem.

If the Dark Eldar go first you have a problem. More then likely you will have 4-6 raiders or vypers full of troops that are directly in front of your army and have taken some casulties. This is the point when it is time to effect a fighting withdrawal. You need to pick a flank, right or left, and start killing one side off. Don't distribute your firepower, you need to wipe transports, and then try and make a wall of kroot to block off getting multi assaulted. Transports are key, do that first, but once their transports are done, you need to start killing troops on one side so that you can keep moving as far away while slowly feeding units to the inevitable hth.

I'm unsure that a choice to go into reserve will be successful against DE, but depending on what they are playing it may be possible... in fact that may be a better strategy if forces to go second.