2000pt Batrep

[Seahawk]

Played a fun game vs a new club member yesterday; 'twas entertaining and he was great to play! He suffered from some calamitous dice rolling though...he was testing out a new list while I had simply made up a fun all-purposes list (not knowing he'd be using Tau).

 

My list:

Captain Sicarius

5 Terminators - assault cannon

Land Raider - multimelta

10 Legion of the Damned - flamer, multimelta, plasma pistol/power axe

10 Tactical Marines (TacIII) - flamer, missile launcher, plasma pistol/power sword

Rhino

10 Tactical Marines (TacV) - plasma gun, missile launcher

Rhino

5 Scouts - power sword, meltabombs

Landspeeder Tornado - multimelta, heavy flamer

Landspeeder Storm - heavy flamer

Predator Annihilator - las

Whirlwind

 

His list:

Crisis Commander - stuff and shield drones

2 Suits bodyguard - stuff

3 Crisis Suits - plasma, rockets, multitracker, shield drones

3 Crisis Suits - plasma, rockets, multitracker, shield drones

3 Crisis Suits - plasma, rockets, multitracker, shield drones

6 Fire Warriors

Devilfish - disruption pods, multitracker

6 Fire Warriors

Devilfish - disruption pods, multitracker

5 Pathfinders

5 Pathfinders

Hammerhead - Railgun, disruption pods, multitracker

Hammerhead - Railgun, disruption pods, multitracker

3 Broadsides - stuff and shield drones

 

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Pitched Battle

 

I got the first turn, and we had plenty of terrain (but not too much). I deployed the terminator's raider (with Sicarius) smack in the middle, with TacIII's rhino alongside. The Predator was in some ruins to my right, while the Whirlwind sat behind a blocking building on the left, with TacV and the Tornado further left. He deployed two Crisis teams and a unit of Pathfinders into a forest on my right, with a Hammerhead and empty Fish on the mid-right. In the middle was the last Crisis team and HQ unit, along with more Pathfinders (all safely ensconced in a rock field). On the left in a building were the Fire Warriors and Broadsides, with the other Hammerhead and Devilfish as backup. TacV on the left was Sicarius' Scouts and shot forward, making my opponent uneasy that they were already halfway across the table. He rolled a 2 for Stealing the Initiative and so it began.

 

Turn 1

Ultramarines: All of my transports sped forwards along with the Tornado, which was gunning for the Hammerhead on the left. Smoke launchers provided all of these units with a cover save and I went straight to shooting. The Predator managed to only immobilize the Devilfish on the right, while the Whirlwind merely broke a shield drone on the command team (even though I hit 12 models in that area...sigh).

 

Tau: The Hammerheads jockeyed for better firing positions and then he let rip! One team got 5 markerlight hits on the Land Raider, while the others painted TacV's rhino with two, which was hiding in front of the ruins the Broadsides and Fire Warriors were sheltering in. The Broadsides made an impressive first-turn showing, using all 5 markerlight on the Raider to negate my cover and get BS5. Their twin-linked guns hit...2 out of 3, and of those two...one glanced, rolling a 1 for a Shaken result...hmm...maybe not so good (but a good foreshadowing for the game's results!). On the right, the Hammerhead obliterated the Predator, while on the left my Rhino was left immobilized and stunned. TacIII's rhino lost it's stormbolter and also was stunned, but due to some nice cover saves that was it.

 

Turn 1 Score: UM 0, Tau 1

 

 

Turn 2

Ultramarines: With impeccable timing the Legion of the Damned arrive precisely where I need them, behind the Tau on my right. TacV disembarked and busted into the building. The Land Raider trundled forward again and Sicarius and friends tumbled out into the Tau lines. The Tornado moved within 12" of the Hammerhead on the left to deny its disruption pods and proceeded to slag the railgun. The Legion shook the Hammerhead they were next to, and the whirlwind fired a nice set of rockets up into the Fire Warriors, killing 3 and 1 from different squads, causing the depleted squad to flee. In the assault phase, Sicarius and the terminators made short work of the HQ team, killing them all for the loss of the sergeant. TacV jumped floors and assaulted both the Broadsides and remaining Fire Warriors. I killed only two of them, but he didn't cause any wounds in return, and with two failed Morale tests both units were destroyed! They consolidated to the ground floor.

 

Tau: The Crisis team staring down the terminators decided to do so from another 6" back. Meanwhile, everything except the Pathfinders that were near the Legion of the Damned scattered to put as much distance between them as they could. One Crisis team rapid-fired into the Legionnaires, dropping two. The other two Crisis teams shot up the terminators and Sicarius, killing all the terminators and leaving the good Captain with one wound left (despite a 4+ cover save :tu:). The main-gun-less Hammerhead leap-frogged the Landspeeder to get behind it and burst cannoned its engines, immobilizing it.

 

Turn 2 Score: UM 4, Tau 2

 

 

Turn 3

Ultramarines: The Scouts showed up on the right flank (because I chose so ;)), disembarking next to a Crisis team while the LSS pointed at the Pathfinders. TacV moved out to shoot at the retreating Crisis team, and the Land Raider ground round to face the closest Crisis team. Sicarius hopped back in to allow time to treat his most serious injuries. This time my shooting was a little lackluster; one drone from each Crisis team was killed, despite the multitudes of laser and bolter and melta death screaming their way, while one team actually lost a suit. The LSS, despite hitting all of the Pathfinders, only killed three. The Scouts were too excited and everyone missed with their bolt pistols. TacIII heroically opened the rhino hatch and shot plasma and rocket into the back of the Hammerhead on the left...missing it. Close combat could have gone a bit better too, with the Scouts hitting three of their twelve attacks against the Crisis team to end in a 1 to 1 kill tie.

 

Tau: The most exciting thing that happened for him this turn was the Crisis team in the middle of the board, which killed off four members of TacV on my left as they advanced. He also managed to burst the Landspeeder with the burst cannons and broke the LSS's heavy flamer. Once again he missed the Land Raider with the intact Hammerhead's railgun, sealing its fate. In the assault phase the Scouts managed to rout and destroy the Crisis team they were fighting, despite having less men and attacks than the previous turn. *shrug*

 

Turn 3 Score: UM 5, Tau 3

 

 

Turn 4

Ultramarines: The Legion advanced implacably toward the Crisis team in the middle of the board, while Sicarius spurred his mount over the rock field where he once again leaped out for combat. TacV moved to set charges on the Devilfish that was still on the left, while the Scouts and TacIII also readied their bombs for the vehicles they were near. Shooting wasn't terribly effective again, but it was where close combat that it all mattered. Sicarius and the Legion of the Damned routed and destroyed their units of Crisis teams, while TacV, Tac III, and the Scouts all wrecked their targets with well placed grenades and meltabombs. TacV even routed and destroyed the Pathfinders they combo-charged.

 

Tau: With only two Pathfinders being the most useful unit on the board, he conceded.

 

Final Score: UM 10, Tau 3

 

 

He made some bad mistakes, but they all cropped up when the Legion arrived next to him and the rest of my army was knocking on the doors. Basically, his carefully wrought plan disintegrated when my army didn't do as expected (and vice versa!). The first turn he played well....but the dice simply didn't agree. Eh, win's a win!

[Pasta]

Great battle report, I really enjoyed reading it. It's a shame he was so unlucky with the dice, but it was a fair win :P

 

Pasta

[Captain Idaho]

Nice win. His army was well built I reckon, so I think a victory here is well earnt.

 

Every time I see your battle reports I want to try out some Legion of the Damned! I'm thinking 8 of those bad boys, with a Sergeant with Power fist, a Plasma gun and a Multi-Melta. That is 320pts mind.

[Seahawk]

Yea, in general he is a math-hammerer to eek every last point, but in this game it just didn't work well.

 

the Legion...they are beckoning...

 

To be fair they didn't do a whole lot, just killing off a Crisis team and preventing a Hammerhead from shooting for a turn. Psychologically, however, they did everything on that half of the table.

[greatcrusade08]

The tau list is definately min/maxed, optimised the way the interwebz does it.. i have my own ideas about making tau work, but nows not the place for tau tactics..

 

i liked the report, good to see you mixing it up with tau, if my sterngaurd direction fails to impress i reckon LotD will be next in line.. they dont have combat tactics though do they?

[Seahawk]

They are Fearless, so no.

[greatcrusade08]

its never a bad thing to be fearless.. well apart from losing combat i guess

 

i see my bad luck is affecting your scouts too :D

[Marshal Wilhelm]

A solid win Seahawk. DSing units can really be awkward for Tau :lol:

 

The tau list is definately min/maxed, optimised the way the interwebz does it.. i have my own ideas about making tau work, but nows not the place for tau tactics..

 

i liked the report, good to see you mixing it up with tau, if my sterngaurd direction fails to impress i reckon LotD will be next in line.. they dont have combat tactics though do they?

 

He needed Piranhas, for move-blocking vehicles like a LR full of Termies, and Kroot, to bubble wrap against DSing things like LotD. Without those things to slow the enemy down, it is hard to have enough shooting to get the job done - more time is helpful :)

[Seahawk]

I was gonna say, his list didn't seem very strong, and it wasn't just the dice. Once I shut down his three units of railguns, nothing could touch the land raider.

[greatcrusade08]

I was gonna say, his list didn't seem very strong, and it wasn't just the dice. Once I shut down his three units of railguns, nothing could touch the land raider.

 

his list is very iconic of interwebz lists tbh, as marshall wilhelm said you need piranhas and kroot to screen your shooty stuff.. a good tactic is a small line of kroot half in cover (woods give 3+ cover save).. the half out of cover provide a screen for crisis suits, who jump over the to shoot and jump back in assault phase.

piranhas with meltaguns (fusion blasters) are very nice, but alot of the tau suffer from being over priced, its an old dex it happens..

everybody seems to min max the FWs to crisis suits.. i agree to an extent you need lots of suits, but guys get carried away with the points they invest.. 9 plasma rifles is 180 points without anything else added on.. with BS3 they only hit half the time, so need to be close.

personally i favour the TL missile pod and short range weapon, leave the multi-trackers you wont need them with this build.. a flamer or fusion blaster as close range back up and have at the enemy with S7 AP4 missiles.. anti-mech up the wazoo.. it really makes the railguns dedicated AV14 killers, becuase you have a back up to deal with other armour.

a single unit with plasma works well, on the bodyguard units is generally better, they can have more upgrades and can have BS4.

 

im still not sure why FWs get shafted, they are 10 points each but a unit of 12 combined with two markerlight hits giving them BS5 hit on 2 and wound on 3s (MEQs).. i kinda figured two units jumping out of devilfish at close range ona unit hit by half a dozen markerlights could be very handy.. it would decimate ork mobs and tyranid hordes

 

sorry bit off topic perhaps, but tau can be deadly if used correctly