Kroot Tactics

[The_Peacemaker]

Discussion on kroot tactics in 5th eiditon:

I know most people don't like using kroot and they just don't fit into the popular mechanized army.
In about half my lists I throw in some kroot.


Advantages:
-cheap in points which allows you to field lots of guys
-they are a decent shooting unit. For 7pts you get a strength 4 weapon at BS3.
-kroot hounds have great Initiative for close combat
-they all have 2 attacks in close combat.
-infiltrate

Disadvantages
-Low leadership
-low Initiative on normal kroot
-die to flamers
-can't use markerlights
-krootox still blows(the best krootox was the original one in white dwarf that had the shooty gun as strengacth 8).

Tactics:
Make sure they get a a cover save ALL the time. 10-12man squads are best. If you want them to do anything in assault then you need hounds, take 8-12 hounds.

From my experience kroot are the best used when sitting in cover and soaking up enemy fire with a 4+ cover save.
They are also the best anti-power weapon unit I can think of. I don't know how many terminator squads I've taken down just by throwing a 150pts kroot + hounds squad. They also do alright agasint banshees.

Some people like to think they are a counter charge unit. From what I've seen they are not. If you have a squad of fire warriors locked in close combat, charging kroot in will usually make you loose.
This is because fire warriors have a 4+ save while kroot have none. So a smart enemy will target as many attacks as he can against the kroot to get more casualties to win combat. Now this does depend on what enemy you are facing.

[LanceWarrior]

I've seen them used as an objective grabber using out-flank. One guy I faced took two squads of them - he placed his objective near one side of them board and thus used his out-flanking Kroot to reinforce his objective when I wiped the Firewarriors off.

of course this only works if the objectives are near the edges of the board, but using 2x 12-man Kroot squads with no upgrades it's a fairly cheap and effective way to grab/reinforce objectives.

[Steele]

Kroot pillboxes.
3+ Cover save? Yes.
And I think you can get a 2+ cover save if you go to ground.. Not sure about it, but I didn't see anything that says no.

[yWizePapaSmurfy]

Yeah, Kroot should get a 3+ Cover Save most of the time and shield the rest of the army.

Other uses -

Speed Bumps - Sure the enemy assault troops will kill them, but your big guns can shoot them again!

Deep Strike Denial - Spread 'em out, deny area = Horrible Deep Strikes.

[The_Peacemaker]

I never even thought of those other options. How do they get a 3+ cover save though? They only get +1 in jungles which goes from 5 to 4+.
If they go to ground they get a 3+.
And then that means they don't do leadership checks.... and since most enemies have frag grenades now it won't matter if they get charged when they are gone to ground!

A good tactic if you want to take a big 20man squad with 12hounds is to put your Shas'O with the squad. Give him a target lock and he can shoot whatever he wants and the kroot will have leadership 10!

[RossMM]

I never even thought of those other options. How do they get a 3+ cover save though? They only get +1 in jungles which goes from 5 to 4+.

Woods are a 4+ cover save.

This is, in my opinion, the best use for Kroot. They are not a dedicated close combat unit; they are skirmishers and the only truly adaptable unit in the Tau army.

Shooting Marines, 140pts of Kroot do slightly more damage than 140pts of FW (1.67 vs 1.56), and if in cover they are more survivable (3+ vs 4+). Therefore Kroot make an excellent addition to a gunline army for killing infantry. But as well as this they are none too shabby in assault, hitting like Assault Marines, and they have Infiltrate.

As has been said Kroot are unlikely to win you games, but they are a perpetual annoyance to my opponents. They look like a mere distraction (and have a points cost to match) but as they can perform so many different roles they are rarely useless.

[Tarion]

Yeah, Kroot should get a 3+ Cover Save most of the time and shield the rest of the army.

Other uses -

Speed Bumps - Sure the enemy assault troops will kill them, but your big guns can shoot them again!

Deep Strike Denial - Spread 'em out, deny area = Horrible Deep Strikes.
The first one is golden against any assaulty army. The way 5th ed handles combat, as long as you can stop them from getting multiple assaults, you can just feed them one unit at a time, opening fire on them every turn.

And the second one is beautiful against Daemons who have to get as close to you as possible.

[The_Peacemaker]

I never even thought of those other options. How do they get a 3+ cover save though? They only get +1 in jungles which goes from 5 to 4+.

Woods are a 4+ cover save.


ah, I didn't realize this. My friend and I designated the 1 jungle terrain to be 5+ to mix things up a bit since there were so many 4+ save everywhere else on the table.
Gets kinda annoying how high powered weaponry gets negated by a cover save even though the high powered weapon would blow away most cover. Like Broadside shooting through some bushes made of wood....

[Tarion]

Gets kinda annoying how high powered weaponry gets negated by a cover save even though the high powered weapon would blow away most cover. Like Broadside shooting through some bushes made of wood....
I think it's more, if you can't see them because they're behind a few trees and some hedges, how are you going to shoot them?

[RossMM]

Gets kinda annoying how high powered weaponry gets negated by a cover save even though the high powered weapon would blow away most cover. Like Broadside shooting through some bushes made of wood....
I think it's more, if you can't see them because they're behind a few trees and some hedges, how are you going to shoot them?
Yup, in 2nd Ed. cover affected your chance to hit your target to represent this. When the game moved to 3rd Ed. they took out this mechanic and turned it into a save, to reduce the number of Terminators skulking in cover.

[VoxDei]

they each get 3 attacks because they carry 2 close combat weapons.