When are GW gonna get a grip? More thoughts on Tau.

Great comment on the last post pointed out that GW had dropped the ball again.  Only Broadsides can take Missile Drones.  Which means a highly versatile mobile firing platform is tied into a unit that doesn't really want to move.  Way to go GW, lets turn a win into a fail ... again!


This changes the dynamic quite a lot and balances the book better, as it quickly reduces the overpowering effectiveness of the "Commander+Drone Controller+Missile Drones" Blitzkrieg.  No one in 40k should have that kind of spammed firepower at their fingertips, unless they are Space Marines, or Space Wolves, or Imperial Guard.  Anyone non-human anyhow...

(Anyone from Nottingham may wanna skip the next paragraph, it's meant in jest, kinda.)

So is GW racist?  Well, dah?  Course they are, they're based in Nottinghamshire, (originally mistyped Nottinghamshite, oooo freudian) what do you expect?  I grew up not 30 miles from HQ and I can categorically state that while the 'gamers' were the most thought provoking of all my classmates, I also lived in a region that won 'whitest' in the UK.  Let's just say that if Morgan Freeman really had accompanied Kevin Costner to Nottingham Forest - he'd have been 'fuck this racist shit' in about four days.  That's not to say that Nottingham does not have a black and asian culture, it certainly does.  It also has one of the highest gun crimes rates in the UK, a big problem with gangs and drugs.

Anyhooo, my own childhood trauma aside... how does this effect the Tau list.  What would work?

Crisis Suits, ok they can't take Missile Drones, but marker drones are only 1 pt more expensive than pathfinders.  For one point they are toughness 4, gain a 4+ save over 5+ and most important are jetpack troops - allowing them to move-fire-move thanks to their relentless jetpacks.  They are BS2, but the addition of a drone controller makes them BS3, a commander with said controller makes them BS5.

So the real question is how many markerlights are effective.  This is a balancing act between several factors:

• Enough Markerlight hits to refuse cover save and give BS5 to an engaging unit (4)
• Having enough units to spread enough hits to 'spread the pain' around if needed.
• Making the unit big enough to impact severely (remember that each unit that shoots at the target will require 3-4 markerlights to maximise impact)
• Making the unit small enough that it can use cover effectively and minimise retaliation.

So lets see, the strongest contenders (ignoring Forgeworld loveliness) for 'markerlight' has to be the SkyRay, followed closely by the markerdrone (especially with a drone commander).  The last contender has to be pathfinders. 

4 drones at BS5 will score 3-4 hits, 8 drones score 6-7 hits.  This thrashes pathfinders raw, as two to three hits of each 55 point team is dire, PS: Using markerlights to 'breed' markerlights also seems shortsighted.  Yes, handing your team a 2+ to hit is nice, but it cost 2 markerlights.

There is another way...

Commander Shadowsun + Pathfinders

Commander Shadowsun and 10 pathfinders, including a command-link drone and an MV-52 drone costs 285pts.  Here's the advantages.   The MV52 'confers' a 3++ invulnerable save.  It doesn't have this, it confers it.  Let's share it around.  Shadowsun also just made her unit Stealth and Shrouded, oh AND night vision.  Your pathfinders now have a 2+ cover save and 3++ invulnerable save.  Hmmm, you still need a couple of markerlight bonuses to get 2+ to hit for your targets, but your command link drone also give you a reroll on 1's. 

Upside: That's pretty damn hardcore.  That's like Thunder termie saving throws on a markerlight until almost guaranteed to score 9-10 markerlight hits a turn.

Downside: Static and very squishy on the charge.  As upgrades go, she's pretty expensive and it ties her down to a low toughness unit.  Shadowsun will keep vehicles at bay though.  Although charging hordes aren't worried.  It's also expensive, just like the Stealth team below, it offers marginal advantage over just spamming pathfinder teams (285 buys nearly 26 pathfinders) and its not like there's loads of competition in the fast attack slot.

Stealth Team Rethinking...

Ok, here's my thinking.  A Group of Crisis Suits are hard to hide.  A Group of Stealth dudes, less so.  Combine the following:

Commander, 2 x Plasma Rifles, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker drones: 156pts
Stealth Team x 3, Shas'Vre with Markerlight and Target Lock, 3xATS, fusion blaster, 2 Marker Drones: 143pts

Total: 299pts

Now hear me out.  The advantage of this is as follows.  The unit is majority T4, it has 7 'disposable wounds'.  It makes 4 BS5 Markerlight shots a turn.  It's small, easily concealed and gets a 2+ cover save easily.  It has enough antipersonnel firepower, anti MEQ and anti tank firepower to make any unit wary of approaching it, and it can still be tactically useful while 'holding' an area.  Add in to this that the whole unit has ATS, and that means that the Shas'Vre can drop a markerlight precision shot on a specific model on a 5+.  Follow that with a Seeker Missile (no cover save, S8 and AP3) That's something worth talking about.  The rest of the team have enough firepower and precision shot ability (6's on 8 S5, AP5 shots, 5+ on the commanders 4 shots) to make terminators blush.

Is it better than a crisis team, or three large 9 man Pathfinder teams?  Sadly no.  But it's the most use I can make out of what GW have done to the Stealth team.  They would be a pain in the arse, they would be a super mobile toolkit of doom, they would be arguably less effective than a huge hulking elite robot.

Fecking GW.

Kroot Sniper Horde.

7pt each 24" range sniper rifles.  What's not to love.  They have some stealth ability, are slightly less accurate than ratlings, but 2 x 20 infiltrating snipers for 280 is awfully tempting.  Yes, they are prone to dying, but they will also throw a lot of firepower out before they do.  As an ambush unit, this is their best use, lulling the enemy into thinking they are 'just a deployment screen' and then unloading 40 sniper shots at point blank.  Add in enough markerlights against aggressive opponents (and try to save 4 for their charge and boost your snapshots to BS5) and watch the enemy drop.  40 shots should produce 5.55 rending hits with just 2 markerlights.  Remember to deny them cover with an extra two.  That's potent stuff.  That's a whole unit of space marines dead, or nearly 4 terminators.  Hmmmm.

Just watch out for Landraiders...

Tanks and Heavy weaponry

Speaking of which ... I can't see anything in the codex that beats the good'ole Hammerhead in tank destruction.  When you really positively have to kill a landraider, that's your only option (beyond suicide suits with fusion missing risk).  Even Broadsides with the Puretide engram commander only gets a reroll to penetrate, and that's expensive and also pretty shit.  If you want a killer, choose Longstrike - the combination of BS5, tank hunter, black sun filter and defensive fire automatically means he actually only costs 34pts for BS5, reroll 1's against Imperial Guard and reroll failed and non-penetrating hits on tanks - that's like a no brainer.  The downside is that Sensor Spines, Disruption Pod etc are essential - as this guy will attract Loads of heat.

Blocking with two sets of SkyRay's could do the job though.  4 markerlights, 12 seeker missile (for those precise Stealth team shots) Plus 2 Skyrays can block a charge, give cover to the real target and give you the option of 12 twin-linked Smart Missiles flying out every turn, as you retreat in the face of the charging enemy. 

New Thoughts, New List - 1502 pts

• Commander, 2 x Plasma Rifles, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker drones: 156pts
• Commander, 2 Missile Pod's, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker Drones: 156pts
• Stealth Team x 3, Shas'Vre with Markerlight and Target Lock, 3xATS, fusion blaster, 2 Marker Drones: 143pts
• Crisis Suit Team x 3, 6 Missile Pods, ATS, 6 marker Drones: 237pts
• Riptide - 180pts
• Fire Warriors x 9, Shas'Ui: 91 pts
• Devilfish, disruption pod, drones and sensor spines: 100pts
• Fire Warriors x 9, Shas'Ui: 91pts
• Kroot Sniper Unit, Shaper and 20 kroot, sniper bolts: 155pts
• Hammerhead, Longstrike, Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 190pts
• SkyRay, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 120pts
• SkyRay, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 120pts

Tactics:  consider this an army made of mobile sniper units.

The Kroot hold a flank, preferably in a bit of woodland for some extra cover.  The Shaper hopefully keeps them together long enough to launch a sniper ambush on them.  The on-foot firewarriors come on late for home defence, or take up a strong position.  The Sky-Ray's escort the Hammerhead to LoS on targets of opportunity and run interference.  Marker drones in both units attack targets of opportunity, with the riptide and kroot focusing fire.

Once vehicles are downed, it's on to the troops, which I believe this list will thrive at killing.

The danger is that the enemy get the drop on Longstrike... but then it's just a game of relocate for the win.  The inclusion of Shadowsun or the Stealth team really hold the same impact.  One has the ability to splatter a unit with so many markerlight it'll be taking every shot at its vulnerable bits.  The other has the ability to be a swiss army knife of killing at medium range, complement the markerlight tally and get away from the bad guys.

First rule of shooting is target priority.  If you have to drop a target you want the markerlight hits to make it hurt with everything you've got.  10 markerlight hits on a charging unit can give 2+ to hit for 3 units and still save 4 lights to give them a 2+ on the unit when it charges.

On that analogy, the static, high stealth unit is stronger - offering a big juicy, hard to kill unit which will kill a lot of the enemy.

The mobile list above offers 14 markerlights, the static version offers 22 per turn. 

It's gunline versus mobile again.  Does the static variant sacrifice too much firepower to enable markerlights?

Thoughts on a Tau list

Commanders and Crisis Suits are the start and end of the Tau list.  With the nerf to Broadsides, now only toting S8 weaponry, there's some real question marks over their 'requirement' for an army list.  This, combined with the general meta moving away from tanks and I'm seeing the dominance of crisis suits coming through.


Here's my first thoughts on a Crisis Suit strong list:

1503 list

• Commander, 2 x Missile Pod, Drone Controller,Advanced Targetting System, 2 Missile Drones - 156
• Commander 2 x Plasma Rifles, Drone Controller, Advanced Targeting System, 2 Marker Drones - 156
• XV8 x 3, 2 x Missile Pod, Flamers and 2 x Missile Drones each - 243
• XV8 x 3, 2 x Plasma Rifles, Flamers and 2 x Marker Drones each - 243
• Fire Warriors [9] x 4, with Shas'Ui and Bonding Knives - 400
• 2 x Devilfish, sensor spines - 170
• Hammerhead, submunitions, Smart Missile System and Sensor Spines - 135

The tactics are quite straightforward.  The 2 firewarrior groups form a gun line in supportive proximity.  One group of Crisis Suits light up units with markerlights for the fire warriors and hammerheads to pummel.  The other crisis suit unit pounds targets with missiles.

The Missile Team throws out 12 missiles at BS3 and 12 missiles at BS5
The Marker/Plasma team throw out 8 markerlights at BS5 plus 12 Plasma shots at BS3/5 at things that get too close.  The Commanders both precision shot on a 5 or 6.  Allowing you to pick off plasma/missile launchers and the like.

The plasma rifles are there just in case anything gets too close.

Assuming 2 markerlight hits on a longfang unit, they would be saving against 17 (rounded up) wounds with hopefully no target to return fire on.

Thoughts on (the speculated) new Tau codex

Hoedr at DeviantArt

This is the first bit of news to get me excited about 40k in ages.  The second is that my much loved Chaos Marines will also get a new codex has me quite cheerful about 40k in 2012.

I'm not alone in being disenfranchised from 40k.  Infinity has stolen my heart from a tabletop POV, while World of Tanks has stolen my time away from modelling.  Despite having some beautiful 40k (Abbaddon Finecast and Forgeworld Blackheart) to paint and some exquisite Infinity models ... I haven't picked up a paintbrush or played a game since BLOGWARS I (30th May 2011).

I've just lost heart with 40k and can't find anyone to play Infinity with.  All in all, less than satisfactory.

The models are all packed up and safe (despite the insurgencies of my 2 year old boy - resulting in some 'reorganised' Leman Russes) and I'm waiting for the 'frisson' to happen again.  It'll come - no worries.

The first spark came with rumours of the new Tau codex maybe bumping up in Q1 2012   The 40k codici have been a bit hit and miss lately (generally HIT for the Imperium - Guards, Smurfs, Wolves, Angels, Grey Knights and MISS for the others (Orks and Nids).  The Dark Eldar was the fly in the ointment, offering functional but fluffy units which could challenge the might of the STC Marines...

Realisation may have struck after the Nids codex release that getting it wrong could really really cost.  Maybe they went the other way - but that'll sell a lot of Tau!  Check out the model leaks for Necron and there's some real badass looking monkeys in there (with swords and shields) ... looks like Necrons are getting hardcore.  Which is good ... because Spezz Merins have been dominating 40k too long.

The only Imperial army I run is guard, and even then I run a fairly fluffy build using stuff other people wouldn't.  The introduction of a Tau army with real firepower would be a wonderful thing, the top five wish list though?  Hmm lets see:

1. Close Combat punch: What HAVE those water caste been doing with their time?  Where's the close combat monsters ... even Dawn of War made hounds double hard, Krootox well a bit pointless and had the the T-Rex as backup.  Where are the close combat holding unit.  Plus I want a bonus for being a fecking carnivore, where's my legendary speed and feel no pain bonus eh?
2. Anti-Terminator:  The plethora of Terminator wings must be making the Dark Angels feel old hat now.  Fighting 2+, 5++ (or even 3++) is boring unless you have the right tools for the job.  Outside of Tau, only the Guard could field that kind of firepower (oh and other Termie armies of course, hence DraigoWing becoming the tournament Gorgonzola of choice.  Like the Earth caste wouldn't mass produce Plasma Rifles like candy?!?
3. Ordinance:  It's not pretty, but it is effective.  Earth Caste Siege Mortar, Kroot Catapult - I don't care.  Tau are all about direct fire, but with the cover rules as they are Ordinance rules (either fix 40k cover rules, or the other).
4. Fix the SkyRay, make it cooler.
5. Oh, and don't try to fix markerlights - just make the weapons that hang off them more varied and interesting.  For example - markerlight guided missile ordinance weaponry - now that's what I'm talking about.  Oh and pathfinders are either overpriced, or need Infiltrate.  One or the other.

Any thoughts?

Thoughts on the new Tau FAQ

Come see it here, interesting clarifications...

1. Piranha's can no longer "Buy one disruption pod, get one free." NERF.
2. Target priority ... well thank goodness for that, target lock Sergeant shoots who he wants.
3. Markerdrones can't move and fire. Last time I checked, drones have jetpacks, jetpacks allow relentless ... so this seems counterintuitive?
4. Seeker Missiles are getting better and better. They are now confirmed to ignore all cover except area terrain (for units) and 'special items' for vehicles. So a vehicle can only ever gain a 4+ cover save if you bought the upgrade ... that's nice! SkyRay's FTW!
5. Markerlights can totally negate pinning leadership OR saving throws ... how can you argue otherwise?
6. Gundrones don't benefit from markerlights on their vehicle - well no, doh, course not!
7. Detached gundrones are units and can contest and give away killpoints.
8. Undetached gundrones (say that three times with a mouthful of mouthwash!) DO NOT, but are destroyed with the vehicle.
   
9. Gundrones have leadership 7 and can disembark as if on an open top vehicle (ie anywhere within 2")
10. Bodyguards/Honour guards are retinue as specified in the 40k rulebook.
11. Some Ethereal and Sniper Drone clarifications ... but who takes them?

Overall this is GOOD news for the Tau. Seeker Missiles (alongside missile launchers in general) are seeing a resurgence and from XP, they rock. That whole move 12" and shoot everything is very very nice! The rise of light mech (Rhino, Chugs, Orks, DEldar and Razorbacks, Valks/Vends and Hellhounds) over AV14 monsters make seekers a positive choice, especially when they automatically ignore all cover for vehicles. Don't forget that SMOKE, disruption pods or DEldar cheating WILL still apply. But ... awesome!

The main win is obviously on gundrones. The clarification puts the choice in the Tau players hand, I can 'keep' the drones on board to consolidate killpoints, or I can drop a Drone Horde from Piranha's to contest. Very nice.

MiniAPOC - Battle Report, 4000pts

Squeezing a 4000pt doubles game into a Spearhead deployment is fun, but I was air-dropped in as a last minute replacement last night over at a friends house... no piccies I'm afraid - but dynamic dialogue anyhow!

Team Rhubarb - (me and MarkC, rolling with the Tau and the Space Marines)

Za Tau... baby!

• Shas'O with Air Fragmenty Boomgun, plasma and Missile Pod
• 2 squads of 2 Crisis suits, kitted up with largely missile pods, flamers and burst cannons. 2 plasma rifles and a Shas'O Air Frag Projector special. All with targetting arrays, All units have an escort of 2 gundrones.
• 5 Stealthers with 5 gundrones
• 4 x 9 Fire Warriors with a Sergeant each.
• Kroot Horde of 20 kroot and 10 kroot hounds.
• 5 Pathfinders with a Devilfish
• Piranha (say it like Darla from 'finding Nemo' for full effect) with Fusion (meltagun)Blaster
• 2 Broadsides with Targetters and 2 Shield Drones
• 2 SkyRays with Smart Missile Systems

All vehicles have Targetting Arrays (5pts), Disruption Pod (5pts) and Multitrackers (10pts)

Za Smurfs ... bluey?

• 2 Biker Scout Squads (5ish)
• 4 Biker Squads (5ish)
• 1 Command Biker Squad (7ish)
• 10 Assault Marines

Team Custard - Necrons and D-Eldar (played by Hutch and t'Mark, another Mark)

Neccies

• Destroyer Lord with Res Ord, Scythe and stuff (ok I never really saw him)
• 2 huge squads of Neccies (20)
• Unit of Destroyers (3)
• Immortals (5)
• Flayed Ones (10)
• Monolith with everything ...

D-Eldar

• 2 x AV11 multi darklance tanks (Ravagers?)
• 2 x Av10 transports (Raiders?)
• 6 Jetbikers
• 2 x D-Eldar Warrior Units
• 2 x large Evil Beast units, with warp beasts and razorwings
• Incubi unit with death weaponry
• Some mad-ass chosen dudes sporting S8 plasma guns, Eeeek!

Deployment

Table quarters and annihilation - Great! I set up my Tau behind a veritable wall of Smurf bikers. The pathfinders and the Broadsides get the high ground while the firewarriors sit in their transports and the SkyRays get their markerlights warmed up!

The Kroot horde infiltrate into the right flank building, filling all 4 stories with their smelly bodies, the Stealth team go out on the far left, deep behind enemy lines and looking to disrupt the enemies movement.

Game Highlights

First turn, They start, stealing initiative on a 4+! but Marks cunning scout move with his bikes mean that they can't get the shots and combat they want. They spend a frustrating turn killing a few Marine scouts and thanks to E-Eldar/Necron firepower (scary but VERY short ranged), I'm left unmarked.

Marks entire army races off into the wild blue yonder, intent on murder (hence I'm a little hazy on his army really). I focus on what I do best. 4 markerlights hit the Monolith, giving me a 2+ rerollable to hit and ignoring the 4+ cover save he should have. 2 shots later and the Broadsides have paid for themselves.

To follow up, the Pathfinder light up the AV11 Raider thingie and ping it with a couple of seeker missiles, only to fail. A Crisis Suit team does a duck and cover and blows it to bits with four missiles from the missile pods.

The Necron Swarms are looking threatening, until the Shas'O detachs and drops a S4 big blast causing 14 wounds into their midst! At the end of the shooting only 4 of 9 bases remain. Ignoring cover saves and dropping a template on swarms ... finger licking good! The Stealthers sneak forward and unleash serious firepower on a warbeast horde, but they only kill a couple. They retreat to the corner.

Marks Smurf Bikers make short work of the Beast Swarm on the right and consolidate towards the Necrons.

Turn 2: The Stealthers get charged by the Swarm of nine Scabbie thingies. 4 rounds of combat will result in a final ignoble death of the Stealthers ... ho hum. The Flayed ones flank and come in behind a SkyRay, stunning it. Nothing much else happens to my forces, so I wander off and make TEA.

The four unit scabbie swarmie thing I dlew up charges my fire warriors ... WS2, I2 S3 fightoff is embarressing in the extreme, but all the flapping hands goes his way, but my Shas'ui holds it together. He has many more attacks and 3 wounds each - and I have marginally better armour.

Ha, I'm back! Broadsides, all crisis suits, 9 firewarriors, 2 Smart Missile Systems, a Transport and the Smart Missile Systems on the Broadsides ALL target the Flayed ones and kill. 8 out of 10 (shouldn't that be cats?), ironically 8 out of 10 flayed ones WWB in my face - boo.

The Kroot make their first mighty move through cover roll and manage to throw 72 attacks at a 9 unit Necron horde. Cover save my ass - the Krooty muller them ... yeah! He takes 21 wounds after armour saves, and then gets kyboshed by the 21 fearless saving throws he has to take against the 2 remaining bases. The Shas'O has other problems, his move-fire-assault move jetpack thingie, back into cover kills all his gundrones ... must get new ones.

Mark's Bikers jump the D-Eldar Incubi and Lord and die tragically (but not without turning the Necron Lord into a tube of toothpaste using a powerfist - how graphic!), the rest of the bikers decide that eating Necron units is funny and get on with their job.

At this point the score is like "PURE WIN FOR THE MARINES AND TAU" - like 8-2.

Turn 3: Revenge of the Green Eyed Man/Robots...

Ok, looking good. But now we're in range and stuff gets nasty. First up, the beasts on the far left attack some bikes, but it turns out this is the command squad and its peachy. I couple of 'uber-marines' die and the beasts flee - but not far.

The D-Eldar also unleash S8 uber-plasma death on said command squad as the 'chosen' and Necron immortals in the centre get in on the game. The Destroyers blow up one of my devilfish - boo. The Flayers (all 8, fecking WBB rolls), charge the fire warriors and the warriors hold them (why can't these damned tau learn how to die properly), protecting the flayers.

They also shoot up my Piranha, which has been turbo-boosting a screen for the firewarriors on the left. Speaking of which, those FW's lose their combat to the scabs and run... ho hum.

5 incubi make a break for my pathfinders.

MY TURN! Broadsides target another AV11 Ravager (is that right?) and pop it open, S10 AP1 - yummy! The Markerlight sail into the Incubi and 2 seeker missiles make pulp of them. One is gutted by a Broadside shot (damn 1's) while 2 teams of crisis suits, a SkyRay SMS and the Shas'O manage to pulp the remaining Incubi.

The Kroot make another 'mighty' 6 inch MTC roll and assault a 6 man jetbike squad that's supporting the Flayed ones ... the Jetbikes get 1 attack each and kill 1 kroot. Unfortunately for them, 29 Kroot and kroot hounds then eat them. Mark's Assault marines valiantly come to the defence of the dying fire warriors as the devilfish moves away - denying a killpoint.

TURN 4: Last turn.

The D-Eldar and Necron have very little left. It all comes down to how much damage Marks command and other bikers have done in the DEldar and Necron backfield. Killing Destroyers and all sorts. The Terminators arrive and save the command squads, although catching those damned Beasts at I7 is tough work.

The Flayed Ones massacre the Assault Marines (eh?), I then 'bravely' charge my Kroot in, 84 attacks are stymied by the Flayed Ones 'SCARY FACE' roll. The Kroot fluff their Ld7 test and have to hit the neccies on a six. Not good, but doable. Awful rolling later and every save is passed. The Necrons kill 5 kroot in reply and suddenly I've got to roll a double 1 to not run ... with a sense of the inevitable the kroot are caught and massacred. Doh!

In any case, everybody attacked everybody else and the game ended with us winning by about 8 killpoints. The Broadsides were dependable and the SkyRays were just pure dirt against the D-Eldar.

Conclusion

Sometimes, going wappy with 4000pts on a 6' x 4' board just works. Tau are a great support army (like Guard) and work in great synergy with Space Marines and other 'attack' armies. In fact, for the most part we could play two separate games. On reflection, the Kroot were on for being 'man of the match', before being pipped by a unit of 10 lowly flanking slayers. Who killed a firewarrior squad, 28 kroot and an assault marines squad and managed more killpoints against me than the rest of two entire 2000 pt armies... (but mainly because I had a lot of bikes to hide behind).

Feed me back if you likey? Yes...?

"Baying for Blue Blood" Tau v Blood Angels Battle Report

"Ahh", said the Reclusiarch, "There's the Broadsides ... let's go smack em!"

"COWABUNGA DUDE!" Cried the Captain. (Common Emo-Marine Cry I hear?)

INTRODUCTION

When I challenged Mark to 'another' game, I decided that I fancied a bit of 'Tau love' after their mighty demolition of Anton's Chaos Deamons. Mark sportingly offered to take his Black Templars instead of his Guard along ... I was dreading facing guard with Tau (it rarely goes well), too much cheap armour, mortars and antitank is a nightmare for the selective Tau. Just too many targets.

Plus Mark had Manticores, Vendettas and even a Deathstrike Missile to pull on ... out technology-ing the Tau'Va. I'm yet to see a Tau army compete against Guardsmen - its just the wrong fit. After a brief discussion, Mark suggested he ran his Black Templars as 'Black Angels', using the Blood Angels codex ... I said ok.

What met me at the other end was a serious surprise ... and I practically packed up the bags there and then!

ARMY LISTS

Joetsu Tau'Va (1505pts): slightly tweaked list from the one posted, with the Target lock on the Broadsides being swapped at the last moment for a multi-tracker. I had 'comically' nicknamed the army "Smurfbane" AND "Lightning Shatter Squish" - which would prove more apt?

• HQ: Shas'El, 2 Flamers, fusion blaster, 1 gun drone (78pts)
• Elite: 2 Crisis Suits, team leader with Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod, hard wired Multi-tracker and targeting array, 2 Gun Drones, Shas'Ui with Missile Pod, targeting array and Flamer. (148pts)
• Elite: 2 Crisis Suits, team leader with Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod, hard wired Multi-tracker and targeting array, 2 Gun Drones, Shas'Ui with Missile Pod, targeting array and Flamer. (148pts)
• Troops: 6 Fire Warriors in a Devilfish with Disruption Pod and 2 Seeker Missiles (165pts)
• Troops: 10 Kroot and 9 Kroot Hounds (124pts)
• Troops: 10 Kroot (70pts)
• Fast Attack: 6 Pathfinders with a Devilfish and Disruption Pod (157pts)
• Fast Attack: Fusion Blaster Piranha with gun drones, targeting array, Disruption Pod and Fletchette Dischargers (85pts)
• Heavy Support: 2 Broadsides with targeting arrays, team leader with hard wired multi-tracker and 2 shield drones (200)
• Heavy Support: Sky Ray with Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multi-tracker and Disruption Pod (165pts)
• Heavy Support: Sky Ray with Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multi-tracker and Disruption Pod (165pts)

Tactics: My plan was to split the bases and force lots of side armour shots on the rhinos, predators and razorbacks from the Broadsides, Sky Rays and Missile Pods. Those cracked vehicles would then give me the speed advantage to get clear and loop their target/stay out of charge range.

Marks Blood Angels: Instead what I got was the following ... and it chilled my blood!

• Blood Angel Reclusiarch
• 10 man Assault Squad with Jumppacks, leader with Powerfist and 2 melta pistols
• 10 man Assault Squad with Jumppacks, leader with Powerfist and 2 melta pistols
• 10 man Assault Squad with Jumppacks, leader with Powerfist and 2 melta pistols
• 10 man assault squad with powerfist and 2 meltaguns in a drop pod (storm bolter)
• 10 man assault squad with powerfist and 2 meltaguns in a drop pod (storm bolter)
• Dreadnought with Muiltmelta, Heavy Flamer and CCW in drop pod (storm bolter)

It was a fast, multiple redundancy spam list of Tau killing ... gulp! With 5 large 10 man troops choices ... I was in real, real trouble.

DEPLOYMENT

I 'luckily' won the roll off and opted to go first. I had been reading an article about area denial, and unluckily we rolled for Dawn of War AND take and hold (I think ... it was the one where you have one objective and the enemy has the other...) - Dawn of War was going to be a real pain, as Mark would get a free turn to run his 2 assault units at me AND the droppods would be coming down in darkness - not good.

I deployed the 10 Kroot squad in the centre of the board with a Devilfish 18" behind them. Meanwhile, a six man squad of Fire Warriors clambered to the top of a three storey building and got out their range finders. The Shas'El sort of hung about looking hopeful.

To compound my fatalistic streak, I planted the objective smack in the middle of the board and right in front of my Tau ... so I was doomed. The double fire base plan was put to the sword, and I had some serious jump-move-jumping to do.

Mark arrayed his two hordes of Jump troops 18" from my Kroot and prayed to a 6. It didn't come (thank god).

They look such a long way away ... but 18" ain't nothing to a Emo-Marine!

TURN ONE - "I'm covered in Emo-Bees!!!"

MY TAU'VA STUFF

I opted for my second tactical genius move and decided to bring on everyone apart from the large Krooty band that I blatantly just wanted to flank their objective with ... obvious - dah!? Only after starting deploying everyone did I realise that I'd just brought out every target for the impending double tap drop pods arriving imminently.

As such, although I'd committed everyone, I placed them in a cunning corral and tried to 'manage' (or massage) the impending death death death.

Broadsides and Crisis Suits target the Left Flank...

The SkyRays formed up a right flank in the centre of the board, with the pathfinder stuck out uselessly in the deadlands in the middle of the board. The pathfinders ran to their objective while the SkyRays tested to 'see' the enemy, or the leftmost horde of Emo-marines. The Broadsides stalked on, but without ASS (which allows them to move and fire), they could only run to a good-ish position. The Piranha turbo'd into the open and dropped his drones, as did the devilfish - giving me good 'space filling' units to stop the drop pod bisecting my cluster.

Oh look, a drop-pod, what fun!

The Skyray scored some hits and the subsequent firepower of the Skyrays and Missile Pods downed a few jump troops. They actually failed their leadership test and backed away ... at which point the "I'm a space marine and rules are for other numpties" rule kicked in, and they were back in the fight.

Pathfinders get into position as the Kroot clamber aboard the joyship... and drones are jettisoned.

The Kroot in the centre, well they legged it to a Devilfish and climbed on board. Now labelled the 10 Kroot scoring joy-ship, camp enough for you?

HIS EMO STUFF

Marks Drop Pods arrived and didn't scatter worth a damn. Out stomps a multimelta dreadnought from one and 10 meltagunning 'normal' assault troops from the other. I'm COVERED IN EMO MARINES - HEEELLPP! Meanwhile the other assault troops arrive to charge at my army. The first two groups are a bare 19-ish" away and still running. I need to hurt them hard AND now!

The Dreadnought fire his multimelta and fluffs his penetration. Considering Marks constant litany of 1's and 2's during our last game, I should never underestimate his ability to miss with a multimelta. Meanwhile the meltaguns rip open the side armour of the furthest SkyRay to the right and wreck it. Boo-hiss! And that's it, no more shooting.

TURN TWO - "Whoever invented jet-packs... I love you!"

MY TAU'VA STUFF

The Kroot arrive on the right flank (which is the RIGHT flank), follow me? And run towards the enemy objective. Meanwhile the Tau start flitting about in the Tau'Va shuffle. The Devilfish full of Kroot (Loveboat #1), drops bak and the Kroot jump out to pepper the Assault marines. The gundrones also leap out and play 'blockers' to the rightmost assault marines, wanting to charge. The Kroot are backed up by a move-fire-move Crisis Suit team. Meanwhile the SkyRay backs away from the impending enemy and lines up on the left-most assault team.

That's the strength of Tau ... you may have thought you were fighting the left flank of my army, but now they've just switched...

Kroot assist the pathfinders and Crisis Suits in shooting up the assault marines (hiding in the top right corner behind their drop-pod)

The Pathfinders light up the assault squad at point blank range, while the SkyRay lights up the jumpy assault squad.

The Piranha and 2 Broadsides have a lovely line of sight on the side armour of the Dreadnought. Three shots later and he's immobile and cannot shoot for a turn (the fusion gun missed ... maybe Marks "thing" with melta is catching...?).

The fire warriors, crisis suits and Kroot shoot up the assault squad and manage to kill 3, forcing a leadership test which the squad passes with ease. Ld 9 - good grief.

The left most Assault squad is less lucky and gets peppered well and truly, reducing them down to three members. Everyone backs off from assault range - how annoying (snigger snigger).

HIS VAMPIRE STUFF

Mark drops another Pod full of assault marines at point blank of my left flank ... I'm starting to feel a little boxed in here! The jump pack squad I pummelled last turn decide to turn their ire on the right flank and break away. Meanwhile, a full squad of assault marines break off to chase the kroot down. A jump and a run latter and they'll be in assault range next turn - gulp!

The command group leap towards the loveboat but are held up by the drones ... 1" please. This means they are out of assault range. To compound the irritation, their fusion pistols (who sold them them, eh, Fio'la quartermaster work if ever I heard it) fizzle... melta fail again!

The pathfinders are equally shocked when they find themselves charged by the Assault squad and chewed up into little pieces. The assault squad on the right flank target a crisis team with melta. But I sacrifice the drones to the greater good and make good on my bolter saves.

NB: At this stage I'm feeling awfully vulnerable. I'm still waiting for the close combat monster to eat me, but the wriggling is helping.

TURN THREE - "Time to turn on the fireworks!"

MY TAU'VA STUFF

The Devilfish 'Loveboat' races away with Kroot aboard. Meanwhile, the Fire Warriors try and fail to debark they lofty perch - I failed to roll a 6 which would have allowed them to leave - and they concentrated on the shooting. The Missile Boat relocates to the corner of the board. The Crisis Suits on the left flank (with the Shas'El in tow) targets the assault squad.

Sooner or later in any Tau force, you have to absolutely kill every motherf***er in the room, or face near certain close combat death. I had reached that point. The Crisis Suits, gundrones, Broadsides, SkyRays and other Crisis Suits, not to mention the Devilfish (including loveboat) opened up everything on that assault squad.

The last three men went down to Broadside shots (one each) and the last to concentrated gundrone fire (I was desparate). Throughout the game, gundrones killed about 4 marines. I have to note that I failed to request a single pinning test throughout ... doh!

With a small assault squad still in range, I ducked the Crisis Suits out of sight and barricaded the door with two two drones squads of gundrones.

On the right flank, the Kroot moved up to open a volley on the Assault marines. They manage to down two troopers, leaving eight assault marines to engage in the attack.

NB: At this stage, I still felt vulnerable, despite wiping out the immediate threat, there were still lots of close combat monsters in range ... but I had managed to turn a weak play into a stronger one. I had a strong hand at a draw and an outside chance at a win?

HIS BLOOD SUCKING STUFF

The Jump pack Assault Command Squad (Reclusiarch and Captain intact) moved up to the bottom of the building I held with my abandoned fire warriors. The other squad ran forward, positioning for my objective. Meanwhile the far 'kroot hating' assault squad made ready to charge, popping a few krooty on the way in (that's just mean).

Meanwhile the smaller assault squad started out towards the Kroot as well. Probably looking to deny me a draw. Ho-hum.

The kroot got jumped. The 9 Kroothounds went first and downed 3 marines (woop!), the Marines went second a killed 5 hounds (sorry hounds, but your work was done). Then the normal Kroot killed a further marine. I'd lost the combat! With only Ld7, reduced to leadership 6 - I rolled ... a 3! Ironically, he'd killed a quarter of my troupe, while I'd killed half of his, things started to look a little more lucky.

TURN 4 - "Can the Tau really, really win this one?"

MY TAU'VA STUFF

Once again I found myself facing a kill-all unit with the whole of my army. Luckily for me, Mark had placed the 'thunder hammer' of this captain through a window. Otherwise half my army couldn't shoot at his. He was reluctant to remove that model (oddly really). And paid dear. By the time my pulse batteries were empty, only the Reclusiarch, Sergeant and Captain had survived.

The Kroot battled on against the Marines. The hounds killing a further 1 marine, the marines fluffed their attacks, killing a single kroot (despite no body armour - amazing!). The kroot (probably sensing victory) then cut the whole unit down to a single man. Who failed his leadership.

He was easily within 'running off the board' range on 3D6, but I managed to catch him with my paltry I3. At which point, the 'massacre' turned into a 'business as usual' as the marine pulled the 'I don't like leadership rules' rule and held my boys up another turn. Grrr.

HIS VAMPY STUFF

The Kroot win a worthy victory ... who's needs armour, its overrated ... chow down lads!

The command leftovers mounted the parapet and quickly slaughtered the fire warriors, denying me a scoring unit within 6" of the objective. Meanwhile the assault squad moved up to stalking range of my objective and the dreadnought shot a fire warrior (prior to their slaughter). The mini-jump squad beavered off towards the other side of the board and the Kroot finally, finally got the victory they deserve ... killing that last marine.

TURN 5 - "tying it up!"

MY TAU'VA STUFF

The Crisis Suits, Piranha and markerlights lit up the retreating mini-jump pack troops. The Kroot moved into position, ready to take a shot too. It wasn't necessary, as the last remaining markerlight hits gave me BS5 on the crisis suits (Targeting Arrays too) and a smart missile in the back. The fusion gun on the piranha missed ... again. But the 3 marines died. The Kroot then ran to the objective. Secure.

How secure is my objective (the gun in the middle) ... not much.

Meanwhile, the Tau'Va Shas'El targeted an immobile Dreadnought in the back at point blank range with a fusion gun and err missed. What is it with melta and this game?!? That dreadnought must have been break-dancing his heart out to dodge that shot!

The rest of my army moved up, comfortably contesting my objective and offloading a mountain of firepower on the command squad. Plasma and Railguns don't mix with power armour. Three 'poofs' (in the non-sexual sense I assure you!) later and the day appeared to be mine.

HIS VAMPS STUFFED IN A BOX AND TAKEN HOME FOR A GOOD TALKING TOO!

With only an immobile Dreadnought, a battered assault squad and some dead drop-pods, Mark ceded defeat.

CONCLUSIONS

Mark was a top opponent throughout, and a top laugh. Considering he 'almost had me' for two turns, he took the final scoreline well ... I don't think it reflected the game.

It was a bit of a surprise, not just to win - which I would have given myself an outside chance at ... but to win convincingly?!? The dice were hard on Mark, especially with the Kroot combat at the top, but I thought I was going to get trounced ... so what went wrong.

Mark had killed barely 317pts of Tau, compared to a nigh on elimination. We have a lengthy after game chat (always necessary after a drubbing), and we discussed his options...

1. He should have come harder and faster at me. Alike to our previous game, he'd let me distract him with sacrificial units (pathfinders, empty Devilfish, flanking Kroot) when he should have been in my face killing Crisis Suits and Broadsides. By coming in waves he gave me the chance to 'concentrate firepower' on one squad after another... allowing me to win.
2. The immobilising of the dreadnought was a real blow, as he immediately lost an excellent antitank monster. It could still shoot, but only at Pathfinders and Fire Warriors - wasted. However, one Dreadnought on a board against Tau was never going to last long ...
3. All troops, nearly all jumping was a masterful stroke. It undermined my Broadsides, Crisis Suits and Piranha, who carried on regardless, but were misled by the lack of armour. It made a mockery of my tactics, and had me on the backfoot, with no clear plan beyond 'get away, get away'. For the first two turns Mark was completely in charge, but failed to drive home the stake. In addition, all those points I spent for disruption pods were made useless as MArk ONLY fire from <12".
4. He failed to 'close the box'. Mark admitted afterwards to a perennial fear of the deep strike and the didn't want to risk losing drop pods by going too close to the board edge. However, if he'd dropped a pod on my far left flank I would have been trapped between the anvil and hammer, and my crisis suits and broadsides would have bought it.

Suggestions in the list. Although, you are going against Tau - two Dreadnoughts in drop pods would have been an awesome combo. In addition, the attachment of a Sanguinary Priest would have made all my S7, high AP shots pretty pointless.

FEEDBACK ON THE TAU

1. Targetting arrays do help, although twin linked would have been better - saving me many many points.
2. SkyRays are useless against Guard, but awesome against Marines. All that AV11 and AV12 armour, combined with a S8 AP3 missile for instant-gibbing the enemy... nice.
3. Broadsides are awesome, whatever the weather. As demonstrated in my game against Deamons, the twin linked Railgun spoke again and again this game. Although shooting on Assault marine felt like a total waste.
4. Piranha, its an ace in the hole. That speed gives you real tactical advantage. It did very little, but played backup to a load of options which came off, well worth it.
5. Gundrones were the star of this game. When not blocking deep strikes, they were playing anti-charge screens and repeatedly taking hits for the 'big dudes' and killing marines. Again, against guard, I find them pathetic - against marines they are invaluable.
6. Need more plasma rifles. I really missed out on the lack of plasma in this game. Build more.
7. Fusion sucks. Most of marks melta and my fusion either missed, failed to penetrate or was negated by cover saves.
8. Markerlights are my favourite thing. Hands down.

So chalk up a good result for the old Tau.

Tau Tactica - trying something different

I like running multiple armies, my burgeoning Guard army are now accompanied by Tau, Tyranids and the new Swords of Alpharius Chaos marines force... and I still have 114 Orks in a box to paint. The beauty of its is multiple. Firstly, painting one set of mini's can get dull after a while. The paint scheme or fur/chitin/power armour/cloth effects can get repetitive.

Mixing things up with another set of mini's is a perfect way of keeping things fresh and the 'painting doldrums' at bay. The second reason is that with different armies you have very different games. Name a man who's played Dawn of War and hasn't 'tried it out' with every faction, well playing different armies (and you don't get much more different than mine) means keeping it fresh and playing an army to your mood and temperament of the day...

It also means that you CAN have games against that great guy with the rock hard Blood Angels army, because you don't HAVE to take the Tau.

Or for tonight entertainment and in my case ... I do.

TAU CADRE LIGHTNING SHATTER SQUISH

I'm trying something different here (and as usual, potentially suicidal). Way back when I looked at deploying SkyRay missile boats and found it a remarkably unhappy experience ... so I've decided to do it again! The concept and tactics for this army are inspired by the excellent work of Sholto and Old Shatter Hands and hopefully should make for an entertaining fight against the Gue'la Emo Vampire Astartes.

• HQ: Shas'El, 2 Flamers, fusion blaster, 1 gundrone (78pts)
• Elite: 2 Crisis Suits, team leader with Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod, hard wired Multi-tracker and targeting array, 2 Gun Drones, Shas'Ui with Missile Pod, targeting array and Flamer. (148pts)
• Elite: 2 Crisis Suits, team leader with Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod, hard wired Multi-tracker and targeting array, 2 Gun Drones, Shas'Ui with Missile Pod, targeting array and Flamer. (148pts)
• Troops: 6 Fire Warriors in a Devilfish with Disruption Pod and 2 Seeker Missiles (165pts)
• Troops: 10 Kroot and 10 Kroot Hounds (130pts)
• Troops: 9 Kroot (63pts)
• Fast Attack: 6 Pathfinders with a Devilfish and Disruption Pod (157pts)
• Fast Attack: Fision Blaster Piranha with gundrones, targeting array, Disruption Pod and Fletchette Dischargers (85pts)
• Heavy Support: 2 Broadsides with targetting arrays, team leader with target lock and 2 shield drones (200)
• Heavy Support: SkyRay with Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multitracker and Disruption Pod (165pts)
• Heavy Support: SkyRay with Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multitracker and Disruption Pod (165pts)

Total: 1504 points

Sacrifices had to be made at this points level, and were made heavily. Another Broadside or a couple more gizmo's on the crisis suits would have been nice ... as would my stealthers - but I've got a cunning plan - well that's probably taking it too far.

I have a plan at least.

What are your thoughts fellow Tau'Va - suicide or inspired?

New Camera - nice photo's

Same shot ... from 3.2 megapixel cameraphone to 14.1 megapixel Canon ... a world apart.

Just a short post to highlight what a difference a decent camera can make. The following photos were taken at night with just the aid of two 'natural light' biobulbs (one in the roomlight and the other in a desklamp) and my new Canon Powershot SX210 (yummy) camera.

The 14.1 Megapixels are a bitch ... they show up my shoddy inking - bummer.

The beauty with this camera is that you can digitally control your aperture rating. For the unintiated (or the barely initiated like me), this basically means you can control how long the 'film' is exposed through the lens. This means that rather than 'snapping' a shot of the miniatures it can take a slower paused shot to really soak up the details.

Mr Trygon ...now with even more detail.

I hasten to add that these photos were taken at night, under artificial light and with no 'photoshop' work done beyond some 'paint' cropping.

1000pt BATREP: Fighting Admiral Drax!

You going down, Drax! You hear me! Just as soon as I get this GPS working!

Dear Diary,

It's been an intense and interesting week so far. A big job dragged me down to Devon in the southwest of England for two nights. Knowing that this would be an ideal opportunity to meet up with my esteemed Admiral Drax, I packed up 1000pts of Tau and started the drive down to Devon.

4 hours later (yes American Friends ... you can drive the length of England in only 8 hours ... I live in the middle!) I had covered the 250 miles plus to Draxville, near Drax City ... Devon. I met the Admiral and Mrs Kate Drax for the first time. I was introduced to the lovely little miss Drax (who at six months ... would repeatedly gave me a piercing glare, not at all reminiscent of Captain Jean Luke Picard, between grins and giggles) ... and Cadfael the dog.

After a nice chat about the Liberal Democrats (FTW!) and a trip to get fish and chips (the Scampi was really good!) ... we all chatted about his job, my job, Parenthood, America and the like. Despite my Fiancée's concern over meeting 'People off the Internet!', we hit it off straight away and I think we all had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

So much so, that I almost regretted bringing up the option of a game.

As their lovely little girl headed up for a bath and bed with a look of 'make it so!', Drax and I turned their lounge into a warzone.

I'd decided to go 'classic' Tau'Va for 1000pts:

• Shas'El: Air Fragger, Flamer, Missile Pod, Multitracker and Stimulant System (FNP)
• Crisis Team #1 [2]: Plasma Rifle and Burst Cannon, 2 Gundrones
• Crisis Team #2 [2]: Flamer and Missile Pod, 2 Gundrones
• 10 Kroot plus 6 Hounds
• Firewarriors [6] in a Warfish: Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Targetting Array and Smart Missile System.
• Firewarriors [6] in a Warfish: Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Targetting Array and Smart Missile System.
• Broadsides [2] with team leader, target lock and 2 gundrones.

Drax went for bodies ... so many bodies:

• Primaris Psyker and Platoon Command #1 (2 Grenades and a Heavy Bolter) in a Chimera (HEavy Flamer/Multilaser)
• 2 Squads, one with plasma, one with melta.
• Platoon Command #2 with grenade launcher (3)
• 2 Squads, both with Grenade Launchers
• Autocannon Team
• Mortar Team
• Missile Team
• Penal Squad (rolls and get 'rending' and an extra weapon ... nice!)
• Hydra tank (played by Drax's Wyvern)
• Leman Russ Battle Tank with Battle Cannon, a lascannon and three heavy bolters.

And of all the missions to roll ... we get annihilation. Drax has lots of killpoints ... but my Tau aren't really built for attrition. We deploy spearhead and Drax wins and has me go first. Drax deploys everything bar the Hydra and penal squad (flanking).

I almost deploy 'just' the Broadsides, in an attempt to exploit the nearside flank. However I bottle it and infiltrate the Kroot (who I should have flanked with)...

Drax steals the initiative (he didn't really want to). Thus starts Drax's run of biblically good luck.

TURN 1

Drax shoot half the Kroot dead (despite going to ground) and kills one gundrone on the broadsides. In revenge the Broadsides both hit the Chimera (which holds 3 kill points!), score hits but one rail shot fails to penetrate (on a 1) and the other pings harmlessly off Drax's cover (where are the markerlights?)

TURN 2

Drax gets all reserves and flanks the rending killers into my Broadsides. Before they hit the Guard pour firepower into the Broadsides and Kroot. All but 3 Kroot die (although they still hold ... my bad rolling being good for something), meanwhile the Broadside lose all but a single wound on one model. He takes out a criminal ... but dies screaming under their frankly terrifying knives. In a change of fortune I roll 4+ for ALL my reserves ... clearly lady luck has changed sides.

My Plasma suits deep strike, while my others and the Warfish move onto the board. The Warfish concentrate fire on the Krak Missile team and despite good hits, the cover saves save all but one wound. The missile team hold. Meanwhile the Missile Pods immobilise and disarm the Hydra...

TURN 3

Drax manages to slaughter the plasma rifle squad with everything in his army and the Leman russ immobilises one Warfish. My squads open up on the troops, hoping to score some important wounds and force lots of pinning and leadership tests. I kill many guardsmen ... who all pass their tests!

TURN 4

Drax immobilises the other warfish and shoots down the other Crisis Team... now only the Shas'El and two immobile Warfish stand between him and ignominious defeat. The Fire Warrior step out and lay down blistering firepower, combined firepower eliminates 3 whole squads. The Missile Launcher team have one wound left and still hold on! The kroot are taken down to two men and break ... shooting at the criminals ... they kill one!

TURN 5

Mortars and Autocannons and Battlecannons make short work of the Tau warriors in the open. One group hold and dies while the other flees. The Shas'El is brough down the one wound. One Kroot is killed by cross fire (from the Hydra), while the remaining Kroot manages to strangle one penal member (ooo saucy!) before being massacred. The Shas'El and Warfish garner a couple more points ... but its academic.

DRAX WIN: 6-3

The first turn steal made life an uphill struggle, combined win Drax's squarely biblical rolling. In two rounds he was scoring 75-90% to hit and wound rates. It was awesome to behold! With the Broadside jumped and the Kroot miss-deployed, my remaining army didn't have any answer to the AV14 or AV12 on the board. Add to that the fact that Drax failed ONE leadership test all game, and his army was biblical...

WHAT I LEARNT

Trust the flank... The Penal Squad was brilliant ... with dirty options all round (either fleet and furious assault, 2 ccw and rending or assault lasguns) they are a real 'pocket battleship' option at 70pts and really good for giggles ... looks like I'll be rolling with one or two next Guard game. Also, 6 man firewarrior squads are useless without their rides and too neutered for only grabbing objectives. I think I'll stick to the 9 man plus Shas'Ui option for maximum durability.

I'm also thinking that Stealth teams definitely have a strong part to play in smaller games... they would have been so powerful deployed where the kroot were and really threatened.

It was great fun and brilliant to be playing against such an awesome opponent. I'll definitely be back ... for round 2!

IF I'd flanked with the Kroot? IF I'd deployed onto the board turn 1. IF Drax wasn't a genius at rolling the dice and coming up trumps ... ? Such is the quandary of 40k ... as I journeyed to my hotel through a dark and foggy night, I smiled to myself.

A damn good day!

BATREP: 1850 Tau v Chaos Deamons

Tau "Way of the Gun"

I have to admit that I had kind of 'lost the love' for the Tau back there for a while. The combination of the 'shiny new' Imperial Guard and Tyranid codici had grabbed my attention. I was pulled away from the Tau'Va and the Greater Good.

A couple of batrep's reinspired me: Sholto continued fight for the Tau'Va in the face of the great Devourer. Something about the tank shocking and the 'concentration of firepower' grabbed me.

Damn it ... I was gonna dig out those Tau and give some Genestealers a damn good drubbing!!

Introduction

The Joetsu Sept arrived at the planet of Kor'Vak to find a world in desolation. The planet had been bled to breaking point my Hive Splinter Orubus ... but something else was treading in these waters. The dried up husks of Hive ships and shells scattered about the planets orbit attested to a great contest. The recon cadre met no resistance ... there was little left. As the Shas'El made to order the Manta in for a retrieval, the sky blossomed with swirling clouds ... like ink it spread across the sky ... tinged green, it turned quickly violet and suddenly, inexplicably black.

The world was benighted. As the cadre fanned out in preparation, strange howls split the inky darkness. Were they humans, their weak souls would have been ripped asunder by the simulcra of power now holding the planet in sway. While the Tau could sense the abnormal night and their devices could map the titanic damage to the planet... they were yet untested.

That was about to change.

Army List

A week before the game I posted my army list for this conflict. Effectively designing a Tau force optimised for speed and durability and the ability to drop a lot of firepower very very hard indeed.

The army was all about regurgitating what the Tau do best. I would adapt 'fish of fury' into a durable anti assault screen for shooting my fire warriors past, I would exploit the assault moves of the Battlesuits to whittle the enemy down.

I would deploy the Kroot in a defensible position, confident that the Tyranids wouldn't have access to frag grenades. I would go back to what the Tau'Va do best ... pure and simple high strength firepower. And I would use pathfinder markerlights and Tank shocking to save the day... The list is as follows:

• HQ: Shas'El, Air Fragmentation Projector, Flamer and Missile Pod, Stimulant Injector [136]
• Elite: Crisis Team #1 [2]: Burst Cannon, Plasma Rifle, Multitracker, team leader, 2 gundrones [141]
• Elite: Crisis Team #2 [2]: Flamer, Missile Pod, Multitracker, team leader, 2 gundrones [117]
• Elite: Stealth Team [5]: with 3 gundrones [180]
• Troops: Fire Warriors [9] in Devilfish (Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Fletchette Discharger, Sensor Spines [205]
• Troops: Fire Warriors [9] in Devilfish (Multitracker, Disruption Pod, Fletchette Discharger, Sensor Spines [205]
• Troops: Fire Warriors [9] [90]
• Troops: Kroot [12] with 2 Kroot Hounds [96]
• Fast Attack: Pathfinders [8] with Shas'Ui and Warfish (Smart Missile System, Fletchette Discharger, Multitracker, Sensor Spines, Targetting Array) [246]
• Fast Attack: Piranha [1] with Targetting Array, Fusion Blaster, Disruption Pod and Fletchette Discharger [85]
• Heavy Support: Broadsides [2] Targetting Arrays [160]
• Heavy Support: Hammerhead (Railgun, Disruption Pod, Fletchette Discharger, Multitracker and Target Lock and Smart Missile System) [190]

The gauntlet was thrown down to Anton of the Anarchy, and in true 'anarchy' fashion he decided to go for his 'tried and tested' Chaos Daemons rather than tempt fate with an untested Tyranid list. So the Tau were in for an upset ... and a rather tasty list!

• HQ: Great Unclean One
• HQ: The Masque
• HQ: Herald of Khrone on a Juggernaut
• Elites: 2 Fiends of Slaanesh
• Troops: 10 Bloodletters
• Troops: 20 Deamonettes
• Troops: 15 Plaguebearers plus icon
• Troops: 15 Plaguebearers plus icon
• Troops: 10 Pink Horrors with a Changeling
• Fast Attack: 8 Flesh Hounds including Karanack
• Heavy Support: Soulgrinder with Phlegm and Mawcannon
• Heavy Support: Deamon Prince with Ironhide, Mark of Nurgle and Boon of Mutation

Ant hadn't lost a game so far with his Deamons (3 in a row) and was looking forward to eating the Tau'va ... his confidence well placed. Ant is the master of 'carrying the day' and his Deamons had made a meal of both Space Marines and Guardsmen - what were some WS2 Tau gonna do?

Battle Missions

As in the previous game, we opted for battle missions. After a random roll-off (that Ant won) ... we establish 'Night Fight' as the battle.

Night Fight is different in two key ways. Firstly the 'night fight' rules used in turn 1 of a dawn of war battle apply throughout the night fight. Secondly the deployment of the defending Tau and the deepstriking Daemons is randomised. The board is divided by a diagonal cross, and all models must be deployed within those diagonal segements. 1-4 gives you a segment, with 5 or 6 giving you free choice.

The tau were denied any reserves ... while the Deamons would enter via their special rules... gulp.

Objectives

We placed 3 objectives ... one smack in the centre and one of to each side. Placing the objectives was a little random ... as neither of us had either 'a side' or any concept of what would end up where.

Deployment

"Bunch up boys!" Said the Shas'El "Ethan the Ethereal wants a 'group shot'!"

The rolls were all 1-4, with only one unit gaining a 5-6 result! Thus my only way of holding the centre was to bottle myself up. Feeling a bit exposed, I tried to keep all my units pretty close to the centre. This also meant that I was fanned out over plenty of ground ... meaning that the Daemons couldn't come too close. I kept all the firewarriors close to their transports too and placed the Stealth team and Crisis Suits in good fire support positions. The only units 'out on their own' were the pathfinders AND the broadsides...

Devilfish back to back to avoid the first turn firepower and Crisis Suits on high alert ... it's like 4th edition all over again!

Turn 1 - Deamon Entry

The Deamons arrive ... and the Tau run away!

Deamons: The Soulgrinder, Plaguefather, two plaguebearer units, Khrone on Juggernaut, Deamon Prince and Fleshhounds all arrived. First up, the Deamon Prince deepstruck into one of my units and gets delayed. Next a Plaguebearer unit gets destroyed in a warp mishap (that doesn't really make any sense) after scattering on to my crisis suits.

The other units made it down securely. The other plaguebearers and Juggernaut hiding behind a small building while the Soulgrinder popped up right next to the pathfinders. The Plaguefather and Hounds deep struck a long way back ... but those hounds worried me with their 6+D6+12" charge!

Tau: Sticking to my plan ... the Tau'va boarded their transports and got with the relocating. The Crisis suits moved within 18" of the Flesh hounds and opened up with everything they had. The Shas'El missed dramatically with his AFP ... but the Missile Pods and plasma rifle fire dropped a few Hounds ... and two hounds died by Gundrone fire.

Note to self: Do Gundrones hate Chaos?

The markerlights lit up the soulgrinder (at point blank range) and the Broadsides did too. BS5 reroll, plus no cover save resulted in a weapon destroyed result (boo). the markerlight on the Hammerhead was less effective ... rolling a 1 to penetrate. The Piranha had broken off to turbo-boost across the board, running interference across the front line of the Tau and running in front of the Soulgrinder.

The Devilfish moved back on mass, pelting some odds and ends at the Plaguebearers and Juggernaut and achieving little. Acutely aware of the Hounds and the Soulgrinder ... the Crisis Suits backed off - making their dangerous terrain roll to keep their distance!

Turn 2 - Deamon Attack

Soul Grinder 'Linford Christie' makes the 100m dash look easy...

Deamons: Anton rolls for the reminder of his nasties and get the Deamonettes and the Masque, a unit of Pink Horrors and the Deamon Prince. They all land safety, with the pink horrors away in the backfield behind the pathfinders. The Deamon Prince and Deamonettes all opt to drop within 6 inches of the Plaguebearers Icon ... putting them front a centre. Rolling a few run moves, these guys spread out.

The pink horrors let rip with shots on the pathfinders... I opt to go to ground and suffer a single casualty. Meanwhile the plaguebearers trudge forwards, hoping to get to grips with the Tau. The Herald on the Juggernaut does the same ... approaching fast-ish (Jugg's aren't cavalry - go figure?)

The one's that really worry me are the Soulgrinder and the deamon hounds. The Soul grinder ignores the pathfinders beside it and race fullsquare at the plasma rifle and Missile Pod team. After consulting the W40k book on charging with vehicles (which handily uses the Defiler as a reference - and yes the charge is measured from the leg ... not the 'hull' - a rare circumstance where GW directly relates to a problem!) The soulgrinder kills all but one of the Crisis Suits, but thanks to the gundrones I get to take a swing and achieve nothing. The final crisis suit bottles it and gets eaten (which suits me fine!)

The Fleshhounds attempt to achieve likewise and roll a huge 4 (3" move, plus 1" run) and fail to even vacate the ruins they are cowering in!

The Tau go 'old school' with an anti-assault Fish'o'Fury!

Tau: There's a bloody great Soulgrinder in the middle of my ranks and he wants to eat me for breakfast! Time for the AP1 weapons to actually work! The Piranha doubles behind the Soulgrinder (dropped his gundrones as a screen) and goes for a rearshot with its fusion gun. The two Broadsides also spot the great monster. The Fusion gun hits, but fails to pen (I forgot the fusion gun was melta ... doh! Told you I hadn't played in a while). Meanwhile one Broadside failed to hit while the other managed a immobilised result - YES! The real threat of the Soulgrinder was in close combat ... so this was good. It was sitting on the central objective though. BOO.

This was the crunch moment. Could the Tau deploy the ultimate firepower at point blank range and turn the terror on the Deamons...?

The devilfish went into 'fish 'o' fury' mode. 3 squads of nine firewarriors dropped at 9" away from the Deamonettes. The Crisis Suit Commander and two XV8s joined in with their firepower (Flamers, Air Fragger and Missile Pods) while the Stealth team went ballistic. To add insult to injury 12 Kroot make a 26" spotting check and add their S4 shots to the mix.

The Crisis Suits kill 10 Deamonettes. The Stealth team then wade in and wipe them out. The first firewarrior team fires blistering firepower on the Herald and wipes him out. The remaining units (and tanks) fire on the suddenly exposed Plaguebearers and killed a few (T5 plus 5++ plus 4+ being hard to beat) ... but the back of the assault was thwarted. The Masque and the Deamonettes were gone.

The Hammerhead was having equal fun on the other side of the board. They hit all 10 Pink Horrors and wiped them out to just 6, they then followed up with some particularly devastating Smart missile system shooting which left the changeling more than a little exposed.

TURN 3 - Turning the tide

The Chaos Deamons regroup for the charge....

Deamons: Hats off to Ant for pushing through. The rolls weren't going his way and I was bringing 1500pts+ of firepower (TAU FIREPOWER) to bear on his piecemeal army!

All Ant's 'others' arrived. A unit of Bloodletters and 2 Fiends. They followed the Deamonettes in and took up the space (but this time behind the plaguebearers).

Fiends, Bloodletters and Plaguebearers - oh my!

The Fleshhounds leapt out of the ruins and race towards my gundrones and Piranha. While the two hounds made short work of the drones, Karnock failed to wound the speeding Piranha. I revenge the piranha let off it fragmentation device and wounded and killed Karnock!

The Soulgrinder ... immobilised but unbowed shot up the crisis suit team, killing a drone. Meanwhile the Plaguebearer trudged dramatically towards the enemy. The Great Unclean One continued his 'slow and purposeful' trudge towards the centre of the board. The Changeling wisely hid.

.... only for the Tau to run away ... again!

Tau: Popping up, the Pathfinder focussed their shots on Soulgrinder. The broadsides followed up and accomplished another 4. Resulting in the Soulgrinder being and immobile close combat monster - grrr! The Piranha sped away from the exposed Fleshhounds, who met short shrift when the crisis suits (dropping the commander) and Kroot took aim. The Hounds go down as the Stealthsuits and Commander line up on the Bloodletters. The Firewarriors decide they are less than brave and jump back into their transports (we're Tau after all ... who believes in giving a fair chance?!?) and the Devilfish retreat. The firepower of the commander, the hammerhead (on dispersed) and the stealth team prove too much for the real threat - the Fiends are downed. Meanwhile the Bloodletters are mauled but not out.

TURN 4 - Jumping the stealthies.

The Deamon Prince shows how its done and gets the drop on the Stealth Team

Deamons: The Bloodletters approach behind a wall of Plaguebearers ... forcing the Tau'Va back! The Deamon Prince leaps forward as the Great Unclean one makes a stellar run move and finally joins the fight in the middle of the board (cue roar of approval!). The Deamon Prince manages to turn a Gundrone into a Spawn (nice?!?) and then charges into the Stealth team.

The XV25's fight to the last to delay the Deamon Prince ... for the Greater Good!

However, he has underestimated the ability of Suneokun stealthers! They hit the Deamon prince first. Hitting him TWICE and putting a single wound on him. In response the Prince kills 4 suits ... but the stealthers hold (at Ld5) and fight on!

The Tau 'rinse and repeat', dropping a biblical pile of S5 death on the hapless Deamons

Tau: The markerlights spot and pick out the Plaguebearers this turn as the devilfish rinse and repeat their fish of fury firepower. The broadside manage to finally (FINALLY!?!?!) blow up the soulgrinder. Meanwhile the Fish formation wipes out the Bloodletters and tears great holes in the Plaguebearers. The Kroot join in as the XV8 suits dispose of the spawn. The Changeling is dismissively gunned down by SMS fire as the Hammerhead Railgun shot scatters and nearly shoots its own fish'o'fury formation!

The Kroot back away from the Deamon Prince as the stealth team is stripped down to nothing but a single member who unbelievably HOLDS HIS GROUND! The Crisis Suit commander moves forward to potentially intercept the Deamon Prince (Tau'Va and all that!)

TURN 5 - Backs to the wall

The Plaguebearers attempt to tie the game ... as the Deamon Prince finally escapes the Stealthers

Deamons: Four Plaguebearers, an injured Deamon Prince and an out-of-puff Great Unclean One are all Ant has left. The Stealth team have done a stellar job ... holding the Prince off the Kroot and allowing them within 5 inches of a 'clean' objective. Meanwhile, all I need do is shoot down his plaguebearers.

He makes a do-or die play. The Deamon Prince tries to turn the last Stealth team member into a Spawn ... but the Stealther passes his toughness test, holding the Prince up! The Plaguebearers surge from the ruins and assault the Kroot. 4 T5 5++ FNP Plaguebearers versus 12 Kroot and 2 Hounds. The Hounds go first at I5, downing a single Plaguebearer. The remaining 6 attacks bite home, but most missed and the subsequent reroll to wound of the poisoned weapons is awful. The Plaguebearer kill a single Kroot. In retaliation the Kroot pile on the wounds and only one Plaguebearer survives.

He then has to take two saves and a FNP to either hold up the only unit in scoring range ... but Ant rolls a 2. The Plaguebearers are wiped out and the Kroot get to consolidate on to the objective.

Look Familiar? ... Butch Cassidy or Way of the Gun ... The Deamon Prince and Greater Deamon make their last stand!

The Deamon Prince strangles the last of the Stealth Team and the two MC's retreat as the Tau encirclement begins.

Way of the Gun. Cumulative firepower rules ... they don't survive to turn 6.

CONCLUSIONS

Well Tau are redundant ... aren't they?

I think we put that one securely to bed. Needless to say, this wasn't the most enjoyable game ever played by Anton. The ability of the Tau to 'concentrate firepower' would make even Admiral Akbar proud. The Fish of Fury and assault moves made for some impressive play. Resulting in an army that Ant just couldn't get to grips with ... which is hardly fair.

In fact, Anton and I discussed it afterwards and struggled to think HOW the Deamons could get the drop on the Tau with their deepstrikers. Clearly the Plaguebearers were the only unit that didn't fold like a damp cloth when targetted, but even a 4+ cover save meant very little in the face of so many high strength rifles.

Even when the Deamons got to grips, the slippery Tau proved just that - slippery! The added insult of the Air Fragmentors was particularly nasty. The Tau simply had the ability to 'upsticks' and run away ... while offering firepower the Deamons couldn't afford to absorb.

SECOND THOUGHTS ... is 1850pts too much?

I've been playing around in the 1750-1850pt arena for a good six months now. The last 1500pt battle I played was a cracking match against Mark's Guard... very close and 'down to the wire'. The problem I'm finding is that at 1850pts the battle very quickly swings one way or the other.

This problem is further compounded by Jervis Johnson's battle missions. I'm wondering whether they should have been released with a disclaimer of 'designed to be played at 1500 pts' ... as the two games I've had at 1850pts have resulted in demonstrable wipeouts.

Maybe the real question is this. If at 1850pts I can take pretty much everything I would want to ... perhaps the 'balance' of the 1500 game is that I have to 'sacrifice' 350pts worth of 'like to have' and choose between several good options ... but I can't take them all?

BEST UNITS

The stealth team wins best unit through their stalwart holding up and wounding of the Deamon Prince ... they managed to bog him down for two turns. After that ... I loved flying around my new Piranha. Fast skimmers are a lot of fun to field. I remember an earlier game against Ant where he was fielding Saim Hann and kept saying 'I can't get over the speed' ... yeah I get that!

On the Deamons side, the Plaguebearers were solid ... although their 'slow and purposeful' turned them into nothing but mobile cover against such mobile foes. Two units (if they'd arrived) would have given Ant some nastier options (especially for 'precision' deepstriking) and put me under more pressure ... but even so.

COULD YOU BEAT TAU WITH DEAMONS?

Without dedicated anti-tank, even killing my broadside or the Kroot would have been an uneven leveller. The pathfinder too, would have played ample sacrifice. A nid army full of Zoanthropes and Hiveguard would have proven a bigger challenge ... but then the S5 comes into play. And there were just too many 2+ to wound hits going on.

Clearly against enemies with plenty of firepower (like Guard) or a mix (like Marines), Tau still struggle... but avoiding the gunline and using the firepower is the first in more confident steps...

How would you beat Tau with Deamons?