Online play

[Deemer125]

Played an online match 2v2. Me,Tau,+ IP, vs SP + Orks, in over the breech or whatever its called. Found the hard way that 4min to get an army up is too slow.
My BO:
1 builder, 2 SS
Barracks, que 2 gens
Next builder comes out, starts working on gen
SS cap points
Barracks finished, TC, then builder starts working on other gen, by then 1st gen is 90% done
When 1st gen done, help with 2nd gen
By the time 2 gens have been built, SS finished capping 2 point and going to cap next one, build 2 LP
1 SS caps other point, other SS harrass/cap point
TC comes out, Kroot squad starts building, then upgrade flamer
Then build LP, upgrade one outside base, then FW, FW, Kroot/Vespid

All of that takes 4 min give or take. Any tips on how to make faster/what units to build/etc
Thanks in advance

[LloydsGamble]

I'm no expert, but I can try and offer some advice anyway.

Firstly, I wouldn't bother with the 2nd gen right away, one should keep you going for a while. Can add 2nd/3rd later in the game when you feel you really need it.
Apart from that your BO seems fine, I'd probably use something similar though maybe SS > B > SS (but that's just personal preference).

I think it's also good to get your Vespid squad out pretty quickly, they are incredibly useful in harassing when paired with the TC.

It sounds like you may also want to try and be more aggressive at the start. Sometimes its worth having your first SS go straight for a point in the middle and work his way back while your 2nd SS caps secure points near your base. Should also have the TC + Vespids out contesting a middle point or perhaps even a point on their side. "Always better to be the harasser than the harassee". (Think I stole that from somone, its not my quote)

Edit: Incidentally, I sent you a message - maybe we can work out a time for a game.

[Pseudonymn]

I would suggest that you promote your 2 SS teams ahead of your builder as they can start capping sooner that way. Every second lost is Requisition points not earned, which are critical in the opening two minutes of play. The 2nd builder is really only necessary for the building speed bonus. There's no economic or military advantage to building it first.

Where's your Jumpjets research factored into your BO? My first four purchases are always SS, SS, Builder, Jumpjets. Without jets, SS are the slowest, most expensive, most vulnerable cappers in the game.

Also, queuing two power generators is 150 requisition points that are sunk into a static building that is not doing anything but sitting there, waiting for someone to build it. That's 71% of the cost of your first Fire Warrior team sitting idle. Save that requisition for building a listening post as soon as possible for, A.) The increased requisition income B.) The +50 requisition bonus for completing the LP1 C.) That's one more strategic point hardened against the enemy team's harassment squad(s) bent on decapping your precious SPs and deciding the game early through an economic victory. Listening posts are a much better investment. Only build the 2nd power when you have spare Req and can afford it.

Rather than building your TC first, consider building the FW team or Kroot instead. They come out faster, which is important for defeating harassment squads and, when used cleverly, they can assist your SS teams capturing more points without tying them down in one place for too long. That is to say, you can use the FW team to finish capping a SP that a SS has already captured to 50% or whatever. The commander can't assist in this manner; his just there for fire support, tanking damage (though not as well as durably other commanders), and snare traps.

Personally, I prefer to build a FW squad before I start building Kroot because harassment squads can be danced out of melee, making them harder to punish when using Kroot; the little bastards don't do so well vs FW teams and melt under their Pulse Rifles. The exception being against melee squads like Mandrakes and Orks, who eat unsupported FW teams, so consider your opponent and their motives when choosing which to build first. Still, the dancing thing works both ways, and a melee squad busy chasing a FW squad represents resources sunk into a unit that isn't doing it's job (decapping) and could set your opponent back every bit as much as losing the units outright in open combat. It's a conundrum. None of this matters after the first 5 minutes though. Most games are pretty much decided by that point anyhow without superb micromanagement to make up for any economic deficits.

If you're aggressive, you might consider delaying your first combat squad and bulding 3 SS teams, sending the first one in to decap anything he sees. That map is so small, he can literally jump in right on top of and start decapping points faster than any other race. Annoying as fuck if you can pull it off, but you really have to watch him because with just one starting model per squad at 100 requisition points each, they're expensive little guys who are easily detected by most races and easily punished if you're not watchful (the minimap is your best friend). Having said that, however, most early T0 units, SM Scouts for example, don't have enough firepower to stop and kill a SS on their own without a whole lot of luck. I'd say 95% of the time, they'll bring it to red line health before the detection radius of any SP they are decaping gets dropped and they cloak again, removing them as a target to be shot at or melee'd. Make that gamble with caution.

Races who build detectors automatically regardless of their build orders include: Eldar, IG, DE, Chaos, SoB, Orks, and Necron. Eldar always add Warlocks to their Guardian squads, IG always adds a Psyker to the Command Squad, SoBs automatically build Missionaries, all Ork commanders detect, etc.. In fact, the only two races who have to go out of their way and spend extra requisition to get detectors are the SM and Tau and the only race not capable of bulding turrets are the, again, the Tau. Against these two races, this tactic is particularly devastating, but use caution when including it in your strategy against all others. Be warned though that all this can fail colossally if you delay getting your combat squads out for too long, especially if your SS decapper is lost without accomplishing anything, as your SS teams carry pea shooters and are useless as defenders, at least early on (the do decent anti-vehicle damage with upgrades). Again, make that gamble with caution.

Lastly, don't waste time so much in allowing him to capture what he's decapped. That's not his function, which is expressly to do economic damage; he's not a bread winner, he's a home wrecker. Decap and move on and only capture when he's decapped all other SPs (unlikely) or decapping is no longer possible because an LP1 was started or built on any others you didn't decap (more likely).

[Deemer125]

Thanks for the advice. I forgot to put in the jetpack upgrade