ToSsA - With Commissar Yarrick!

By Suneokun.


"Welcome, Scum and All, Welcome to the Tournament of Six Small Armies - or ToSsA. [Aside] tell Jones in marketing he's dead, no I really mean it this time!"

"My name's Commissar Yarrick - you may have heard of me?? Anyway, out here in the Kochi sector we're having a friendly little crack about between six competing species ... needless to say, I'm not allowed on the pitch - otherwise this would be a one way bloodbath with my bootprint stomped all round the bathroom, yersee?

Unfortunately, some ninny-hammer decided to pit six 500 pt armies off against eachother. Oh, and each of the armies will be competing in a total of 30 battles. We're fast approaching the end of the first 5 battles and the roundup looks like this: ROUNDUP.

Sooo, without further ado, I'll pass over to errr ... Commissar Bob for the in action game report of battle four .... Commissar Bob, who let him in, the man's an idiot ... I'm what? I'm still on? But you gave the hand gesture ... I'll give you a bloody hand gesture in a minute! Yeah? Well with my right hand, so brace yourself - plebicite! WHAT? We're still on, oh ... OVER TO YOU BOB!

*****

Hi and welcome to the fourth matchup in this exciting tournament, on the dice roll, Devilin rolled for the Eldar, whilst Suneokun took out the enraged Orks.

Eldar Roundup: The Eldar have had a typically enigmatic tournament so far, forcing the Space Marines to a draw, they lost on points difference, but only by a paltry 58 points. So while in the lower part of the table, they are still in a strong position to move forward.

Eldar Strengths: Their indomitable Farseer. While lacking the raw close combat destruction of the Orks Warboss the Farseer is kitted out with fortune - this means that in close combat he enjoys two 4+ invulnerable saving throws. He can form up a decent close combat option out of most units.

The Eldar force is troop option rich with Guardians, Dire Avengers and Eldar Rangers. These forces give this army real options, especially when combined with the Waveserpent transport - the most versatile transport in the tournament. The Eldar only lack in one aspect (boom boom!) and that's high strength firepower. They lack either the high strength or low AP weaponry to challenge many adversaries.

Orks Roundup: The Orks have been uncharacteristically underwhelming in the tournament so far. Against the Imperial Guard they scraped a technical draw whilst losing by 242 killpoints. This points difference will prove difficult to climb and they have a mammoth task ahead of them.

Orks Strengths: Close Combat. The Orks have a dominatingly cheap number of close combat attacks. Led by their Warboss, who is a walking lethiathan in close combat. Alongside this element is the more specialist Nobs squad and the invaluable Deffkoptas. These units are tough and have the firepower and brawn in close combat to hold up and challenge units across the board. I wouldn't be surprised to see these boys as key game makers. Finally they have the gretchin, nuff said really.

Deployment and objectives: The roll came up with a seize ground objective (with the maximum 5 markers) and a Spearhead deployment. We rolled to see who went first and Devilin won the roll and opted to go second.

The 'Grey' Horde muster up!

Turn 1: The Ork Horde surges forward. The Orks and Warboss break right towards the closest Eldar - the Guardians - while the Gretchin fill the middle of the board. The small group of Ork Nobs flank left behind some detritus and out of line of sight from the Eldar Rangers. Everybody Runs. The Guardians retreat back, while the waveserpent drops the Dire Avengers and Farseer within 18" of the Gretchin. The Eldar let loose with everything they have on the Gretchin mob, devastating wounds with no cover save reduce the gretchin to 5 models and the runtherds and they fail their 6 on Leadership, routing and leaving the game.

The Eldar Guardian play 'distraction' behind the hill.

Turn 2: The Ork Horde on the right charge, warrrghh and attempt to assault the guardian's, but are out of range. The Nobs on the left are luckier and manage to engage the Waveserpent, succeeding in a surprising two 6-to-hit results, unfortunately they fail to glance or penetrate the armour.

The Deffkopta's perform an essential job and nullify the Eldar's most lethal unit.

Meanwhile, on the reserves roll the Deffkoptas flank, shoot and charge the Dire Avengers, killing one on their assault. Despite only having an iniative of 2, the deffkoptas have a T5 that effectively nullifies the Dire Avengers attacks, leaving only the Farseer to threaten, in the combat the Orks kill a total of 4 Avengers in return for one wound. Despite this the Farseer easily passes his leadership test and carries on! The Avengers Are Trapped! Woohahaha! The Waveserpent repositions and picks up the Rangers while the guardian shuffle back from the Ork horde.

Footslogging Ork Horde, out of range after a dissapointing 3 on the fleet roll.

Turn 3: With the Waveserpent moving only 2", both the Ork Horde and the Nobs concentrate their attacks on this vehicle. With a combination of 5 S5 attacks each, the Nobs batter the vehicle (with only a 4+ to hit) and destroy it. Due to the proximity of the Ork Horde only 3 rangers survive the blast and can be deployed. The Deffkoptas and Avengers experience a turn of stalemate with rerollable saving throws rescuing the Eldar. The Rangers and Guardians flee behind a building, hoping to attack the Deffkoptas or flee.

The Nobs and Deffkopta's surround the Eldar Tank.

Turn 4: The Ork Horde turns its attention to the Eldar, the Warboss and Mob manage to roll some solid 'through cover' moves and catch the two units. The Warboss finishes the Rangers off while the guardians are assaulted and break off the board. The Nobs charge into the combat with the Avengers. Despite losing a Nob (at a pitiful T4) before he could come to grips a further 2 Avengers died, drawing the combat again.

Warboss and Posse catch the fleeing Rangers and Guardians (this is pre charge, which scored a 3!)

Turn 5: The Eldar were trapped in combat, but failed to wound in their own turn, meanwhile the Ork Warboss charged into the fray while the Ork Boys retreated back to stretch between two objectives. The Warboss piled into the combat and with his powerfist denied the saving throws for the Avengers, only 2 more avengers fell to poor rolling, but it was enough to challenge the Eldars nerve. The Farseer passed his leadership test and also passed his perils test for the pesky fortune.

Turn 6: The boys spread out, securing two positions as the final combat loomed. The combined weight of the boys and the warboss killed off the remaining Avengers, leaving only the Farseer within 3" of an ovjective to contest it.

Boys Mob spread out, connecting two objective (spore mines), while the lonely (but frustratingly undamaged) farseer can only contest one.

Conclusion: a convincing win by the orks, the Deffkoptas speed AND flanking really won this game. With the Eldar's best anti horder unit tied up in combat with T5 mini's I was free to massacre the others at my leisure. Devilin felt frustrated in this game as a moment decision making cost him the battle, but it only takes one mistake at 500pts to break an army. Spliting the Warboss off from the Nobs also proved a useful trick, while not being T5, the nobs were a small enough group to evade sniper fire and engage the enemy. Their S5 on the charge shouldn't be underestimated, if only they had big choppa's?

After this match, Dev and I discussed the pro's and con's. I think that the Eldar's biggest mistake (like the Tau) was deploying everything on turn one. With the Waveserpent and the pathfinders in reserve I would have been a lot less confident in deployment. As soon as Dev saw me holding my deffkoptas back, he should have been planning against ambush. That didn't happen.

We've also agreed that we should plan a rematch with swapped sides for us both. This means I'll need to come up with something clever to face down the Orks with the Eldar - and the Nid's with the Tau. My personal favourite would be to match the Farseer with the Guardians and charge the Ork Mob with the Warboss. With the dice on side I could manage 9 wounds to their ten, with a little luck (and some rerollable invulnerable saves) I could hold up the Orks for one or two turns allowing the Waveserpent/Avengers and Rangers to counter ambush the Deffkoptas and then mop up the other squads. The Gretchin would be easy, the Nobs persistent. Then I have time to massacre the Ork mob at my leisure (with a 12" move skimmer tank in the way, maybe surplying a tank shock as well...) and kill the Orks. Then the Warboss would need to choose between charging the Rangers or the Avengers to contest - either way I win.

Ork Victory, 3 points to the Orks. 412 killpoints to 90 killpoints. This affects the tables as follows:

1. Orks: P2 4BP 80KP (322-242)
2. Tyranids: P1 3BP 266KP
3. Guard: P1 1BP 242KP
4. Space Marines: P1 1BP 58KP
5. Eldar: P2 1BP -380KP
6. Tau: P1 0BP -266KP

The Eldar's loss gives the Tau a really good chance of breaking out of the bottom position with a game in hand. The Orks have claimed a narrow lead, but if the Tyranids can continue their performance in this second round against either the Space Marines or Imperial Guard, they'll be no catching them on wins or points difference.

Stay tuned!

Tournament Roundup with Commissar Yarrick

By Suneokun.

"Hi, this is Commissar Yarrick here at the 2009 interspecies battle tournament. As you may be aware, five different species and a bunch of genetically modified farmboys ... heh, farmboys? Ummm... are duking it out to be the pick of the crop.


"I'm here with the boys, [behind his hand: smile and wave, boys, smile and wave] to get you the latest, bestest and greatest lowdown on this historic tournament. To get the lowdown on the lists involved and to laugh expotentially at the cow faced Tau, check this out.

"Before we get to the result, can I just direct your gaze back to here. Suneokun has pulled his digital camera out of the cupboard and has updated the blog-post with battle photos, reviewed and updated scores and even added witty comment ... yeah right whatever?!?"


"Look shmuck ... do I have to read all of this ork-spillage? I do? Good grief, I'm a blasted war hero! I've fought of the Orks off Armageddon! Twice! I don't have to do this, its beneath me... sorry what? I do, do I - or what? Ah, ok, the Arrogance? Oh right ... damn you all ...

"HERE'S the latest results!"


Tyranids: After a brutal display of hording evilness, the Tyranids wiped the Tau out to a man. Well actually half a man! That mean a full 3 battle points in the bag and an impressive 266 killpoints. Tyranids are definitely one horde to watch, but they are fragile and highly dependent on good deployment and keeping the Synapse creatures alive.


Guard: Surprisingly, the old guard are leading the 'drawists' and coming in a strong second. Despite having a codex that so outdated it could have dated it own daughter's offspring. The Guard managed a very convincing draw against the Orks, picking up 1 battle point. Convincing - try a 242 victory point difference. At 500 pts the range and firepower of the guard, combined with their 'Chimera gunship' is a telling challenge for all.


Space Marines: The Smurfs can only manage a paltry third after a lack lustre performance against the Eldar. They got one battle point for the draw, but only secured 58 kill points. This means a solid draw ties the middle of the table. The Commander was repeatedly unlucky in close combat. The saying power is good, the firepower is less so.


Eldar: For a battle that hung in the balance for so long, the Eldar were actually very unlucky to come off second best. A bit more survivability on the Waveserpent and victory would have been theirs. That said, they were very jammy with Farseer 'RockSolid' Redhelmet hitting every turn with his ONLY attack! One battle point, - 58 killpoints.

Orks: The Orks equitted themselves well, but failed to make it to the Imperial Guard gunline. Despite this, the huge mobs saved them as the killpoints were pitiful. The Orks still represent a dangerous challenge. The deffkoptas are the most mobile force in the tournament and most of the other armies will struggle to shoot them down, the Orks were lucky and got a single battle point. Despite this, the Orks face a significant hill to climb with a deficit of -242 pts.

Tau: Such promise - sadly misplaced. The combination of the Tyranids lightning attack and the persistent pestering of the Ethereal doomed the Tau of J'Etsu to their first ignominious defeat ever! The firepower failed them and their leadership tests never went the right way. That said, only the Tau have the fire power to face down the Guard AND the space marines. And if guided well, they stand an excellent chance of beating the Orks. Their small troop option is a significant weakness however. They sit at no battle points and a deficit of -266 killpoints.

"Stay tuned to your pict-slates for next weeks exciting installment of Six Army Battle Tournament Thingie... I can't read that! This goes out before the watershed, Emperor damn you man!

"Good Grief?!"

The Tournament of Six (small) Armies, part two.

By Suneokun.

In the final battle of round one, the intrepid Tau were seeded against the Nids. While the Tau have faced the Nids a few times, Devilin was blushing like a prom Virgin - after all, he'd never played Tau, and he'd never faced Tyranids (except in third edition and that doesn't count, too many 'spell-cards' after all!)

What shocked Dev most of all was the number of Nids on the board. By trimming the nids back to the bare essentials, the nids fielding 45 models at 500 pts. As a reminder here's the nid list:

Tyranids: No-frills troop horde with tyranid warrior support.

• Tyranid Warrior team, one with scything talons, enhanced senses and devourer. One with rending claws and deathspitter. One with rending claws and spine fists.
• 10 Genestealers with rending claws and flesh hooks.
• 16 Hormagaunts with flesh hooks.
• 16 Termagaunts with fleshborers.

The second shock for Dev was that the Tau force was squarely focussed on fire warrior fire power. The list didn't have the perpetual Crisis Suit commander, but was instead fielding an honour guard and ethereal...

Tau: troop focused firepower backed up by a Crisis Suit and Stealth Squad.

• Ethereal and 12 Honour Guard.
• 6 Fire Warriors.
• 6 Fire Warriors (with pulse carbines).
• Crisis Suit Team Leader, Fusion Blaster, twin linked missile pod, hard wired multitracker.
• Stealth Team [3], Fusion Blaster with target lock and 2 Burst Cannon, 2 gun drones.
  

From my own perspective, this six way battle was my last 'do or die' for what was increasingly appearing to be the demise of the Ethereal. Despite the ethereal governing over two Tau victories, he'd not particularly enarmoured himself in either engagement - and despite painting a pretty model, he was starting to look like a blueskinned liability.

Objective: Seize Ground
Deployment: Pitched Battle (again??)

Synopsis

Throwing caution to the wind I decided to throw everything I had at the Tau. I won the toss, but gave the first turn to the Tau, forcing him to deploy first. Dev deployed his troops on a layered hill with plenty of cover in his deployment zone. The crisis suit held the left flank and the stealth suits the right. I was surprised to see both elites on the board - and delighted, as this meant I could charge his lines knowing my Tyranid warriors weren't about to be ambushed.

Dev's never faced the Tyranid Horde's charge before... in the past he's mainly held the ambushing army (Eldar, Orks etc) and he was very quickly suffering from what I like to call the "Gunline Jitters" - checking run movement, quibbling over movement through terrain et cetera. I've been there before so I know how he felt. I decided that the hormagaunts should close as quickly as possible, They could move up to a wood and then (with a little fleet of foot luck) could hop skip and jump into the Tau lines. Hopefully, Dev's attention would be focussed on these critters, which would allow my Genestealers to fleet without range and start chewing up his lines.

I decided early on to simply ignore the crisis and stealth suits - as these could only offer punitive firepower damage and would distract me from the real target, the troops around the hill. The whole Tau battleline opened up on the Hormagaunts on turn two and despite a 4+ cover save they sustained 10 casulaties. The rest of the army approach untouched - surprisingly Dev hadn't thought to target the Warriors.

On turn two six hormagaunts leapt straight over Dev first defensive line (fire warriors with carbines in cover) and attacked the second squad who were in the open! The fire warriors fought bravely, killing a single hormagaunt - but the nids cut down four fire warriors. At this point the fire warriors would normally have run - but thanks to the Ethereal and his inspiring presense (rerollable leadership), the Tau stuck in it. Worst luck.

The hormagaunts had leapt well out of 12" Synapse range and so leapt back out towards the warriors. Remembering my rules, I moved the warriors over the hill - keeping their toes behind the hill (I know, jammy, but those are the rules, and warriors ain't monstrous creatures!) The warriors, and tergamaunts managed to shoot down the other 6 man fire warrior squad, leaving the honour guard exposed and only contesting the hillock objective.

Meanwhile, the Genestealer had done a sterling job and managed to catch a gundrone of the stealth team. With only one stealer lost to enemy fire on the way in, they hit the stealth team, only to be hit first! The stealth team (with S4) managed to kill one stealer, meanwhile the stealers killed 2 gun drones and a stealth team member. Again the dice were rolled, and yet again the Tau (unfortunately for Dev) passed! Genestalers live.

So by the start of turn 5, Dev had one free Crisis Suit and a 13 man honour guard (perhaps that the mistake, it's not a good number) facing down 8 genestealers, 10 termagaunts, 3 tyranid warriors and 5 Hormagaunts (all within charge/shooting range). Facing imminent mincing the Honour guard target the warriors, but only achieve one wound. The crisis suit (circumventing the cover saves) manages to plant two hits and two wounds with his missile pod - one warrior down.

The genestealers and hormagaunts pile into the Honour guard at the end of turn five, killing eight in combat and a further 3 in fearless death rolls... this guy is a liability! If Dev rolls a 1 or two, it will be a draw as Dev will at least contest his own objective... he rolls a 4?!?

Needless to say the Genestealers score 2 rending hits (killing the remaining honour guard and wounding the Ethereal) and 9 normal wounds (which makes the Ethereal dead 4 1/2 times over, which was thoroughly justified). The warriors and termagaunts went 'Crisis-hunting' - but the crisis suit cannot claim the Tyranid objective and suffers a wound for his troubles.

Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch ... ad infinitum.

Resounding victory for the Tyranids: 3 pts.
Goal difference: 435 points versus 202.

Conclusion: Ok, so the ethereal is a LOT of a liability. He's not even that cheap?!? This battle feels like a perpetual nail in the coffin of this great model, he has little strategic use, he's a liability to combat both for his squad and for others - and if he dies, it all goes pearshaped!?! For the 74pts difference, I can buy a half decent Shas'El with twin linked missile pod and a flamer. He would have given Dev better options against this horde. Dev didn't really put a foot wrong, except for the Stealth suit team being within charge range.

That said, why didn't Dev target my tyranid warriors? The whole army can afford so many models because its dependent on the synapse creatures - which are a weak link. I believe that Dev had seen the lethality of the Tau gunline and simply assumed it would carve right through the smaller beasts. The problem was that the termagaunts and hormagaunts were fearless.

The Tau army wasn't the best for this fight, but he could have infiltrated his stealth team and deep struck his crisis suit, if they had targetted the tyranid warriors from turn one, I could have lost badly. Also he should perhaps have spread his line wider. A speedbump, or juicy target (like stealth suits) may have given him another turn or even two - or potentially given him enough time to kill the warriors or even simply delayed part of my 'charge' isolating the enemy.

I felt I played well, effectively denying Dev his first turn through deployment and despite the reckless charge - constantly forcing Dev to make difficult choices. In one turn I forced him to choose between shooting at 16 termagaunts in the open, 5 'running' hormagaunts which would rally next turn, 9 genestealers in cover or three warriors in cover. Despite the heat associated with the Warriors, Dev opted for maximum kill ratio on the termagaunts.

Unfortunately for Dev, by retreating into a corner he only offered one choice. It was just a case of who got there first.

The Tournament of Six (small) Armies

A view across the battlefield.

By Suneokun.

Just a quick update and battle report. Devilin and I have partaken on a strange and unusual course. Effectively we've drawn up six army list at 500 pts each and will play a 'tournament', dicing off for each of the armies and playing two games a night.

The idea is that each army scores 'premiership' points for each game, effectively 1 point for a draw, 3 points for a win.

I drew up the Tau, Tyranid and Guard lists, while Dev took care of the Ork, Space Marine and Eldar lists. The armies are as follows:

Eldar: A light but mobile force, lacking the firepower or range of some of its contemporaries.

• 1 Farseer, fortune, singing spear.
• 10 Defender Guardian with a Shuriken Cannon.
• 5 Rangers
  
• 10 Dire Avengers.
• Wave Serpent with twin linked shuriken cannon, normal shuriken cannon.

Imperial Guard: Troop heavy with all rounder high range weaponry.

• Command HQ, Junior Officer, power weapon, 2 greande launchers, Autocannon.
• Platoon Command, power weapon, 3 grenade launchers, company standard.
• Squad #1: Sergeant and 10 men, Autocannon.
• Squad #2: Sergeant and 10 men, Autocannon.
• Remnant Squad: Sergeant and 4 men, flamer.
  
• Armoured Fist, Sergeant and 10 men , Heavy Bolter, Meltagun.
• Chimera: Multilaser and Heavy Bolter.
  

Orks: 500 point horde with lethal command squad and fast attack.

• Ork Warboss, 'eavy armour, big shoota and powerklaw.
• 3 Ork Nobs, 'eavy armour, sluggas and big choppas.
• 20 Ork Nobs, Shootas.
• 20 Gretchin and 2 Runt Herds with grot prods.
• 3 Deffkoptas, twin linked big shootas.

Space Marines: 4 squads of lethal firepower.

• Space Marine Commander, Boltgun with Auxillary Grenade Launcher.
• 5 Sternguard.
• 10 Tactical Marines with Missile Launcher and Flamer.
• 5 Scouts with boltguns and heavy bolter.

Tau: troop focused firepower backed up by a Crisis Suit and Stealth Squad.

• Ethereal and 12 Honour Guard.
• 6 Fire Warriors.
• 6 Fire Warriors (with pulse carbines).
• Crisis Suit Team Leader, Fusion Blaster, twin linked missile pod, hard wired multitracker.
• Stealth Team [3], Fusion Blaster with target lock and 2 Burst Cannon, 2 gun drones.
  

Tyranids: No-frills troop horde with tyranid warrior support.

• Tyranid Warrior team, one with scything talons, enhanced senses and devourer. One with rending claws and deathspitter. One with rending claws and spine fists.
• 10 Genestealers with rending claws and flesh hooks.
• 16 Hormagaunts with flesh hooks.
• 16 Termagaunts with fleshborers.

And so we rolled.

Battle One: Eldar versus Space Marines.

Objective: Annilate
Deployment: Pitched Battle

"Look, you go there and you go there ... no the other way ... urghhh, hurry up, those blasted Monkeigh are nearly here!" - Farseer 'RockSolid' Redhelmet.

The space marines succeeded in infiltrating their scouts into the Eldar deployment zone and massacred the Guardians. Despite Dev's best attempts, the Guardians (eventually) held firm thanks to the Farseer. The Smurf commander and the 'flamer' combat squad charged the area terrain holding the rangers. The rangers succeeded in killing two sternguard (and pinning the unit for a turn), but have to retreat to avoid the Space Marines charge. They are then set upon by the space marine commander and cronies. To their surprise, the Farseer and 5 remaining guardians charge, shoot and attack the Smurf lines (in cover) - despite the space marines hitting first, the combat is drawn.

"Damn those crafty Eldar, they've found our cunning hiding place!"

To Dev's continued frustration the guardians and Farseer (with a singing spear and only one attack) hold the commander and troops up for 3 turns of combat. The Farseer hits (on a 4+) EVERY TURN and the guardians manage to land 3 hits on the commander (although none wound, much to our dissapointment!) They manage to kill all the combat squad despite losing only three men. The farseer and the single remaining guardian manage to wound the commander, but he finally remembers who he is and kills off the farseer and buddy.

"Argggh Monkeigh! Quick Guardians, charge! They'll never expect that!"

His happiness is short lived however as he discovers that the wave serpent and dire avengers have killed the scout squad, sternguard and the other combat squad in a series of hop, skips and jumps! The waveserpent has been destroyed by the missile launcher - but 5 dire avengers survive!

Final Result: 4 kill points each.

Battle Two: Orks versus Guard.

Deployment: Pitched Battle (again?)
Objective: Annihilate (are these diced loaded???)

Warrrggghhh The Green ...err... gray wave of the Ork horde!

I knew I was up against it in this fight. Despite having almost equal numbers of men, those orks would mash me in close combat and I'd brought nothing but Autocannons. Just to make matters worse, the Guard are bleeding victory points all over the place, whereas the orks were fielding a paltry 5... hohum.

The thin blue (and grey), victory point bleeding line (9 in total!!!?!)

I decided to range my guard units across the left flank with good fire lines. Only the Warboss could really threaten my Chimera's armour, so I kept the Armoured fist unit inside the chimera (deniance!), but poked the heavy bolter out the top. This would provide me a roving platform of 6 heavy bolter and 3 multilaser shots!

The first turn didn't go so well, with the Orks surging forwards and the Deff koptas forcing my Squad two to go to ground. They held despite 3 deaths. The gretchin bullet shield was peppered with frag grenades from the command squad, but to no avail. The rest of the firepower, the chimera (moving 12" on a road!) and the autocannon attacked the warboss and managed to strip away his nob bullet shield.

"Kill the gretchin!" Yelled the Colonel. "They're squishy, distracting and ugly!"

As the orks approach within charge range, the injured Squad two and the remnant squad retreated towards the left flank as the remnant 3 of the command squad (deffkopta's again) charged the gretchin line. They managed to kill 5 gretchin with no comeback, forcing and failing their morale test the gretchin screen died. The Ork Boys ignored the command squad (much like boromir in 'the fellowship of the ring') and made headway towards the left flank, led by the 'denuded' warboss. The deffkoptas made short work of the remaining 3 command squad.

The Chimera 'gunship' runs interference on the Ork Boyz.

The chimera however moved up close to the orks (12" again), making a tempting target and the other command squad and chimera managed to down a further 5 boys - not enough to shake their confidence. The Warboss charged the chimera, but failed to hit on a six with his five attacks, the ork boyz moved, Warrghhed and then charged the surprised remnant squad, hoping to drop a flamer on them next turn. The deffkoptas targetted the autocannon squad two, but only managed to kill a further two men, bringing their numbers down to four. The Ork Boys massacred the remnant easily with only one death in return.

Now was the crunch time, with make or break for the guard. The Chimera reversed and trained its guns on the wildly swinging Warboss, they'd kept him out of the fight - now if only they could finish him permanently. The Ork boys were targetted by 2 grenade launchers, 3 laspistols, 6 autocannon shots, and 21 lasguns. the boys lines were decimated, reducing the swelling 15 orks down to a bare 6. To add insult to injury the Chimera 'gunship' opened up on the Warboss and managed 2 heavy bolter and a multilaser wound. The warboss failed his multilaser wound, robbing the boyz of his much needed leadership. The boys leadership cracked and they ran, leaving a paltry deffkopta squadron to take on the might of the chimera gunship and 3 autocannons.

Final score: Guard Victory (just).

*** Edit: The Orks actually achieved a draw on kill points (1 for the officer, 1 for his retinue, 1 for the remnant squad), the Guard achieve 3 (Gretchin, Warboss and Nob Bodyguard). However the battle resulted in a 395 v 153.5 thrashing by the Guard ***

Conclusion

I was pleased with both battles. Despite a rocky start in both battles and some incredible rolling by Dev (The Ork deffkoptas managed a total of 8 out of 9 hit rate on turn one) I struggled through. Patience and 'tricksy play' like retreating and denying charges allowed me to survive long enough for 'madame luck' to reallign and to come back strong. The deployment in both cases was key, despite Dev winning the roll twice, I got to go second in both case which allowed me to deploy my forces in response to Dev's. This meant that I wasn't wasting a first turn without a target and importantly I made him run the furthest distance.

Battle One Round Up: In the first engagement, I should have placed the Eldar further away, forcing the Space Marines to engage either the guardians OR the pathfinders. The guardian and farseer assault held together under nothing but luck. However, this was more than compensated by the poor performance of the dire avengers who took 2 turns to kill the scouts (all 2 of them) and 2 turns to kill the Sternguard (all 2). The lack of low AP weaponry sucked - as Devilin made statistic defying saving throws for multiple turns.

Only by chanting "1's and 2's and 1's and 2's..." was the ridiculous terminator like invulnerability reversed! That said, I'll take a high rate of fire over low AP anyday - eventually the saves fail. I was unlucky to lose the waveserpent to the missile launcher, maybe I could have done something clever-er - but by this point I could be bothered and just decided to duke it out. He had a less than 10% chance of killing my tank (about 3.5%), so go figure...

Importantly, I forced Dev to make choices, commit his force to a charge on the rangers and then cherry pick his force using the Waveserpent. If he'd deployed second, and attempted to seize the initiative he could have deployed out of LOS of my rangers and 'castled up' forcing me to bring the fight to him with my short range weaponry... luckily I didn't have to. Circles, circles, circles.

Battle Two Round Up: I'm very pleased with Battle two. The victory was all about range and deniance. I needed to delay the Ork horde and the easiest way to do this was to offer up a 'closer' target which could then retreat. The Chimera gunship ruled. Moving 12" on a road makes guard vehicles awesome, despite the autocannon being only good for shooting the warboss, the 9 shots per turn of the Chimera dominated the board. The orks had no reply.

Dev played his Deffkoptas well, using their speed and 36" range to cherry pick off my stragglers - however without serious ranged firepower he couldn't risk getting too close to the autocannons. The Chimera would simple have out-gunned them. The battle was very close in the end, with the Orks a bare 4" from my final gunline. Thank goodness rapid fire lasgun's came to my rescue as I couldn't speed bump them any further. The Orks are tenacious, but once commited they are very vulnerable to the gunline.

With the Tau and the Guard, I'm quickly reassessing my vulnerability to 'assault troops' under 5th edition. The simple fact is that remnants and small squads are invaluable as sacrificial squad, laying the enemy open to blistering fire in the following turn. The run move makes the enemy faster, but also gives you the chance to 'get away' from the wild charge. Although my army lacked any 'stellar' unit, like his Warlord and Retinue - this also meant that the less effective Autocannons and grenade launchers did not attract the 'heat' I was expecting - which was good.

Leaderboard *** edited to include killpoints ***

Guard p1 1pts 242pts
SMurfs p1 1pt 58pts
Eldar p1 1pt -58 pts
Orks p1 1pt -241 pts
Nids p0 0pt
Tau p0 0pt

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen - who's gonna win the tournament? Personally - my moneys on the Tau!

What do you think?