FoF Explained from TauOnline.Org

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Thanks to 42 for this.

Firstly, What is FoF?

Well it stands for fish of fury and is one of the main reasons that a mechanised Tau force will do so well in battle. It involves a full Fire warrior squad mounted in a Devilfish (Often two.)

So then, how does it work?

Ok, you have your 2 Fire warrior squads mounted in their devilfishes. Firstly you have to look for a weak spot in the enemy's line; this isn't absolutely necessary but it helps, just somewhere where your devilfish can fit and you are confident of taking out a target/squad.

Basically the devilfish hovers up to about 12" to the opponent, stops and then unloads the fire warriors. The fire warriors "hide" in the gap between the two devilfishes.

[Image] The Devilfish makes a 'gap' for the Fire Warriors

Then the Fire warriors fire at the enemy squad from underneath the devilfish (Seeing as it's a skimmer this is allowed in the rulebook), unleashing 24, rapid fire shots (48 when used in pairs; a wise idea.)

So, is the enemy dead now?

Well I hope so! But the tactic is there so even if the Fire warriors can't wipe out the whole squad (Unlikely with 48 rapid fire shots...), they still can't be assaulted. Yes, even though they are well within assault range (12" for normal units with a 6" move then 6" assault,) the unit fired upon (Lets call them Tactical Marines for example) can't assault the Fire warriors from underneath the Devilfishes and therefore have to go round the back, this will take them more than 12" so they will not be able to assault the fire warriors.

But what about next turn, the Fire Warrior are gonners?

Well there should be few of the enemy left and lots of you so another round of shooting (This time from the devilfish's burst cannons as well) should finish off the squad. If you aren't confident this will work or you have lost too many Fire Warriors/more enemy are in assault range now, then don't panic. Just simply load up the Fire warriors in their fishes again and scoot away 12" to safety (Into cover would be nice but just general retreat is fine.)

If I'm using this tactic on a really strong squad, what do I do?

Firstly, as said before, you have to choose the squad wisely, a squad of Terminators is Plasma rifle prey, not FoF prey, but if you have no other choice but to take on a fairly tough squad (Wraithguard, Chaos with feel no pain etc) then remember you are not just limited to those pulse rifle shots, there are the drones on the devilfish, and you could bring in a Crisis or Stealth team to help you out (Just make sure their 6" assault phase move will bring them out of assault range from the targeted squad)

Ahh, but what about armies with fleet of foot, or jetpacks?

Again, choose your target squads wisely. Jetpack squads are not a good idea to use this tactic on and should be a top priority by your battlesuits instead. As for fleet of foot/claw/hoof opponents then not to worry. Look back at the diagram and you will see that the enemy still has far more than 12" to travel.

Also just remember there is a good chance you will have completely wiped this squad out, or caused it to break and fall back, so even if (By a miracle!) it manages to assault, you should only have to deal with very few models and the fire warriors should actually win the assault! (This situation should never arise however.) Then after wiping the enemy out in assault (Sounds odd, you'll probably never need this advice) consolidate back into the safe sanctuary of the Devilfish.

What about squads with heavy weapons or grenades which will just blow up your fishes?

The target squad will be severely depleted when they come to attacking back. Furthermore grenades hit skimmers [Like the Devilfish] on a 6, so will everything in assault with it so you needn't fear the fish being blown up in assault. There is a danger from Rocket launchers and heavy weapon squads, but the Devilfish has a handsome front armour value of 12, and with only glancing hits and decoy launchers you should be fine! Bear in mind if the squad fires their Heavy weapon, they can't assault or move at all.

One thing you do need to be wary of though is ordinance and template weapons (Heavy flamers etc) however the template (Blast and Ordinance) weapons should be dealt with anyway and bear in mind they scatter. Also, when picking the target make sure there is no enemy that can take a clear shot at the rear armour of your Devilfish, or the Fire warriors can be assaulted by a different squad from behind (This is why it helps to pick a more isolated squad for this tactic)

Summary

So to conclude my one piece of advice is planning, plan exactly who and where you are going to strike, make sure it's totally safe and that you have a backup plan if you don't kill as many as expected (E.g Bring in a crisis team.)

I hope this answers anyone's queries about the FoF tactic and will encourage people to use it for themselves.