Post by sholto on Jan 27, 2009 14:29:56 GMT
Not a complete battle report, this one, more a note of a huge game we got underway and had to leave as we ran out of time. We will finish it when we get a chance!
At this points level we could (should?) have played Apocalypse, but we didn't and just decided to do our own thing. I played Tau, while my opponents played Navy and IG, each taking control of their own forces, but playing as one.
Anway - here's the video to explain the setup and show you the armies - uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0PbyLk1S8jk You can watch in high quality if you go to Youtube.
Gary (the Navy player), who was hosting the game, set up the terrain beforehand and we rolled for sides. The terrain is all from www.amera.co.uk/ apart from the trees, and it looks amazing when it's all painted like that.
Army lists were (approx):-
Tau
HQ
XV84 Shas'o Missile Pod, Shield generator, Positional relay, Markerlight, Target lock, HW Multi-tracker, Shield Drone, Shield Drone, Stimulant inj.
XV8 Shas'el CIB, Plasma rifle, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker
Elites
Stealthsuit 'ui TL Burst cannon, HW Drone controller, Marker Drone, Marker Drone, Bonding knife, HW Target lock
5x Stealthsuit 'ui Burst cannon
3x XV8 Shas'ui TL Flamer, Fusion Blaster
3x XV8 Shas'ui Burst cannon, Missile pod, Multi-tracker
Troops
12x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Devilfish Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod, Flechette disch.
12x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Fire Warrior 'ui Pulse rifle, Markerlight
11x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Shaper Kroot rifle
15x Kroot Kroot rifle
6x Kroot Hound Fangs
10x Kroot Kroot rifle
3 Remote Sensor Towers
Fast Attack
Pathfinder 'ui Pulse C./ Marker, Bonding knife, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone
5x Pathfinder 'la Pulse C./ Marker
Devilfish Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod, Flechette disch.
2x Piranha Fusion blaster, 2x Gun drone, Disruption pod, Flechette disch., Seeker missile
2 Remoras
Heavy Support
XV88 'ui TL TL Railgun, TL Plasma rifle, A.S.S., HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone, Bonding knife, HW Multi-tracker, HW BS filter
2x XV88 'ui TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S.
Hammerhead Railgun, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Targeting array, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker
Sky Ray 6x Seeker missile, 2x Gun Drone, 2x Netw. Marker, Landing gear, Target lock, Disruption pod, AA Mounts
Barracuda
4 Drone Sentry Turrets w/ Missile Pods, Deep Strike and Disruption Pods
2 Heavy Gun Drones
We played this as two detachments of Tau. All 3 flyers (using Apoc rules) were held in reserve, as were the Stealth Suits (outflanking), the Flamer Crisis unit (deepstrike), the large Kroot unit (outflanking), the FW in the Devilfish, the Heavy Gun Drones (deepstriking) and the Drone Sentry Turrets (deepstriking).
Forces of the Imperium
Navy Strike Force
N.A.F. “NightHawks” : Fight Fire with Fire
1050 Point Detachment
HQ
Inquisitor Lord (Admiral) with power weapon and bolt pistol
3 x midshipmen (Warriors)
2 Servoskulls
Chief Medicae (Chirugeon)
2 Veterans w’ gr’n’de l’nch’r
Commissar (Combat Servitor)
CSB Branch Chief (Acolyte)
Astropath (Sage)
4xfrags
All in a Rumbler (Rhino)
Valkyrie
Elites
Covert Survey Bureau Strike Team (Inquisitor w/ Retinue)
Agent (Inquisitor) with bolt pistol and power weapon
3 Associates w shotguns (Acolytes)
3 Warriors with shotguns
4x Frags
Eversor Assassin
Troops
Navy Black Eagle Commando Squads (Inq Stormtroopers)
6 man squad with Lt (Vet Srgt) with pwrswd and 2 meltas
6 man squad with Lt (Vet Srgt) and 2 plasmas
Both teams in Groundhogs (Chimera)
Heavy Support
Orbital Strike
Imperial Guard
(I don't have the army list so this is a best guess)
Doctrines: Sharpshooters, Grenadiers, Carapace Armour
HQ
HQ unit with 2 Autocannon squads
Elites
6 Ratling Snipers
Troops
1 Platoon HQ, with 3 x 10 man HB squad
10 Stormtroopers
10 Stormtroopers
Fast Attack
2 Autocannon Sentinels
Hellhound
Heavy Support
3 Leman Russ MBT
FW Anti-aircraft turret
Macharius Vulcan Super Heavy Tank (disabled)
The Navy held the Valkyrie in reserve.
The game was Capture and Control. You can see the Tau objective (an unusual looking drone) in the forest near the Kroot in the corner of the Tau deployment zone and the Imperial's objective is a large stone chess figure next to their Command HQ unit. Deployment was rolled for and we got table quarters, but due to terrain placement and the size of our forces we agreed on Pitched Battle.
The rules for using the Macharius were:-
"position it in the middle of the table and call it immobilised. The Imperials need to get to it to re-activate its Machine Spirit, so any infantry unit (infantry units means anything that is not a vehicle) in contact with the tank at the end of their movement phase (which means that getting into contact through Running won't count) can re-activate it on a 5+. If unsuccessful, the unit may not do anything for the remainder of the Turn. More than one unit may try at once, but obviously only one unit can be successful. If re-activated, the tank functions normally right away. Here's the kicker - the unit that succeeds in re-activating the tank must board the tank to pilot it - ie. that entire unit is lost and is removed from the game. So choose wisely. To compensate, the tank will fire with the BS of the unit that re-activates it."
(NOTE: looking at the Imperial's army, which unit would you choose to re-activate the tank? Yes, the Eversor, with a BS of 5! Which is exactly what my opponents did. An assassin driving a tank = I love this game
The Forces of the Imperium went first.
There will be photos to follow, plus another video to wrap up the end of Turn 3 (which is as far as we got).
(When I mention the grove, I am talking about the forest with the Tau Objective in it - watch the video to see where it is)
The Imperials had got it into their heads that my Sensor Towers and Skyray were among the most dangerous things on the table. This is a lesson in talking up your units to draw attention from other units :cool:. The Sensor Towers are feeble, with a drone's BS, but they appeared to dominate the battlefield and so my opponent focused on them.
Their strategy was to sit back with the IG and let the much more mobile Navy Strike Force reactivate the Macharius and assault the grove of trees where the Tau objective lay.
My strategy was to take out enemy armour with Seeker missiles and railguns, repel the assaults in the grove and at the other end of the table and then take the fight to the Imperium with my reserves. I would worry about the Macharius if they ever got it working!
Turn 1
Forces of The Imperium
The Hellhound advanced and popped smoke as did the Rumbler with the Admiral in it. One of the Groundhogs moved towards the Macharius and the CSB team marched forward on foot. Oddly, the Leman Russ nearest the Tau objective moved forward, as did both Sentinels and the troops behind them. The other IG stormtrooper squad in the middle of the table also moved towards the Macharius. The Eversor, who had infiltrated in contact with the large tank, stayed where he was, but did not attempt to reactivate the Super Heavy yet. Not sure why...
Shooting saw the Kroot in the grove go to ground almost immediately, failing only 2 of their 2+ cover saves. The Skyray was Shaken, a couple of fire warriors in front of it died but nothing else on the Tau side was hurt.
The Tau Empire
The Piranhas moved up towards the front of the grove they started in, staying in cover and dropping their drones. All the other vehicles dropped their drones. My Fire Warrior squad beside the Pathfinders moved over to the Pathfinder's Devilfish and got on board. Nothing else on the Tau side moved.
Firing began with Markerlights. I had 12 on the table with another 4 in reserve - the first time I have tried fielding so many. I lit up the advancing Groundhog, the Hellhound and the Leman Russ directly across from the Hammerhead. The Hellhound was Shaken by the Broadsides and the Leman Russ was Stunned by the Hammerhead. The Groundhog exploded under a brace of Seeker Missiles from the Piranhas (I did not rate their survivability and decided to use their Seekers asap!) killing quite a few of the Admiral's retinue.
The Centurion commander and the unit of Crisis Suits all jumped into the grove. Their firing managed to Stun, Weapon Destory and Immobilise one of the Sentinels. Brian (the IG player) has painted the driver of this Sentinel to look like Robert Downey Jr from Tropic Thunder (although a lot more hunchbacked than Mr D), complete with rude hand gesture - he spent the rest of the game fuming and swearing!
The Drone Towers lit up the other Sentinel and a Seeker missile from the Skyray turned it into a wreck.
In assault moves the Gun Drones moved forward as did the Centurion commander and the Crisis suits, staying within the grove of trees. It would do them little good for what was to follow.
Quite happy with Turn 1, we summoned the delights of Turn 2.
Turn 2
Forces of The Imperium
The damned Valkyrie came on. DAMN! She was toting dual Hellstrike missiles, and these things had badly wounded my Tau in previous games.
In movement, the Leman Russ near the grove backed off (sensibly) from the Fusion Blaster equipped Piranhas. The troops nearby moved forward, clambering over the wreck of the Sentinel, listening to Forrest Gimp in the other Sentinel raging incoherently. The Hellhound advanced as did the Admiral's squad, ending up between the gun drone units from the Hammerhead and the Pathfinder's Devilfish. The Navy Stormtroopers disembarked from the Groundhog near the Macharius, moving into contact with it, as did the IG Stormtroopers. They failed to activate it. The CSB squad moved up into some trees near to the grove where the Tau objective lay, while the other Groundhog moved forward in support.
The CSB squad were contemplating assaulting my Crisis Suits. Eek, I thought. "How tough are they?", they asked me. Well, since all is fair in love and war, I replied that they were like flying Dreadnoughts! They are, sort of, if you ignore their actual stats. As you will see, this piece of misdirection helped me not a jot.
In shooting, the Navy and the IG opened up on the grove of death. Two Hellstrike missiles, the Leman Russ, the snipers, the CSB squad with shotguns and a load of autocannons managed to wreck one Piranha, immobilise the other, kill all 4 Gun Drones, kill all 3 crisis suits, kill another 2 Kroot and instakill my Centurion commander. Bits of Tau and Kroot dripped from the mangled trees, but the Kroot held firm. They were being well paid, after all.
The rest of the army managed to kill some Fire Warriors in front of the Skyray and killed both units of Gun Drones near the Admiral, but that was all.
The Tau Empire
Bruised and bloody, it was time for some payback. Forget the Positional Relay - I had a lot of reserves and I wanted them all now!
In from reserves came the large Kroot unit, outflanking from the right (ie. near my Hammerhead), my Flamer/ Fusion Crisis Suits, the unit of 4 Drone Sentry Turrets, the Stealth Suits and the Barracuda.
I used four Markerligths to position the Drone Sentry Turrets exactly. This is a very cool rule that means they do not scatter, provided you have enough Markerlight hits to spare. I placed them behind the IG lines, with great lines of sight to the side armour of the Leman Russes! They wouldn't last long, but would force the IG to turn and deal with them.
I tried to DS the Crisis Suits behind the IG lines also, hoping to flambe the lightly armoured IG, but even with the Beacon on the Pathfinder's Devilfish, they scattered off the table. Stupid me - I forgot about the DS mishap table and just put them back in their foam tray
The Barracuda came on behind the Leman Russ near the Grove of Dead Tau while the Kroot came on in a long line near the Admiral and his retinue.
In shooting I managed to destroy the Hellhound (who would have flamed my Pathfinders next Turn - phew!), Stun two of the Leman Russes and Destroy the one nearest the grove. Not a bad round of shooting. My Devilfish moved up and the Fire Warriors disembarked. They rapid fired into the Admiral's squad with the benefit of +2 BS from Markerlight hits. Ouch. Only the Admiral and two of his better armoured retinue survived.
The Kroot charged into close combat, and managed to only lose two Kroot. I had strung them out in a long line so that not all of them would take part in the fight. The Admiral perished before the snapping jaws of the Kroot hounds, but the remaining two Acolytes made their morale check and stayed in the fight. This was an amazing stroke of luck, since it meant my Kroot could not be fired upon!
The more observant of you are wondering, "but what did your Stealth Suits do?" The embarrassing truth is that I forgot to bring them onto the table. Don't worry - they come on in Turn 3.
Turn 3
Forces of The Imperium
The Eversor succeeded in getting the Macharius going, so he was removed from the table and placed on top. A BS5 Macharius, whose main gun is Heavy 15? Nasty
The Valkyrie moved 36" and stopped just beside the mountain. Various IG units, including the central unit of Stormtroopers and the IG Command HQ moved towards the Drone Sentry Turrets. Near the Grove the various units moved up, and the Groundhog stopped to allow the Navy troopers inside to disembark. The Grove, with its objective within, was looking very threatened.
The Navy Groundhog near the Macharius picked up its Stormtroopers again and advanced on my Pathfinders.
Two of the Drone Sentry Turrets were destroyed, although one exploded so violently that the Commissar and HSO of the IG Command HQ took a wound apiece. My opponent finally realised where all the pain was coming from, and the Macharius turned all its weapons on the Pathfinders, wiping out 4 of them along with 3 shield drones (2 belonging to the Shas'ui and 1 to the Shas'o). They easily passed their morale check with the Shas'o along.
The anti-aircraft emplacement shot at the Barracuda's side armour, but missed even with twin-linked autocannon.
There was only one assault, which the Kroot won easily, killing the last two members of the Admiral's retinue. They consolidated 4" towards the Imperial lines, putting them within charge range next Turn! (this was the other reason I deployed them in such strung out fashion. Even with the initial assault and the pile in move at the end, there were still some Kroot who had not reached the close combat, making it much more likely they would get to charge again next Turn).
The Tau Empire
My Stealth Suits came on (again!), this time outflanking into the Grove of Dead Tau. The Fire Warriors and their Devilfish came on, again into the Grove, and disembarked into both cover and rapid fire range. The Kroot, seeing that their bacon was in the manner of being saved, leapt to their feet and raced towards the Navy forces on the edge of the wood. Finally, both Remoras appeared in the skies overhead. The fight to save the Grove was beginning!
The other Kroot (the one with the hounds) moved up towards the Imperial lines, getting within charge range. The Pathfinder Devilfish with the Fire Warriors inside moved up alongside the Kroot.
Markerlights did very little this Turn.
The Fire Warriors who had just arrived shot the CSB team to pieces, leaving only the Inquisitor who failed his morale check and fell back towards the IG Stormtroopers. The Stealths were just out of range at the back of the Grove.
The Remoras did very little, missing with almost all their shots.
The Barracuda took out the Navy Groundhog from behind, killing one or two of those inside. The six remaining Fire Warriors in front of the Skyray rapid fired a few more back to the Emperor. The Hammerhead Shook one of the two remaining Leman Russes.
The Valkyie was destroyed by Seeker Missiles.
With 2 Markerlight hits on the Macharius the Broadsides let fly. All three shots hit (Twin Linked BS 5!) and I rolled 2 Penetrating and 1 Glancing Hits. The end result was the loss of 1 Structure Point and, much more seriously, the loss of the Vulcan Mega Bolter and both Heavy Bolters. For a 400 point tank, this was pretty sobering.
###
We stopped at this point, took a video - uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Hq0Bu_LoE- and we will finish the game asap.
The Imperials and Tau still have two tanks left apiece. The Macharius is wounded, but it can be repaired, while the Barracuda is still vulnerable to the anti-aircraft piece. Kroot and Fire Warriors are not likely to be able to assault the IG lines successfully (although they are going to try), while the situation in the Grove of Dead Tau is finely balanced.
Place your bets - who will win?
Sholto
At this points level we could (should?) have played Apocalypse, but we didn't and just decided to do our own thing. I played Tau, while my opponents played Navy and IG, each taking control of their own forces, but playing as one.
Anway - here's the video to explain the setup and show you the armies - uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0PbyLk1S8jk You can watch in high quality if you go to Youtube.
Gary (the Navy player), who was hosting the game, set up the terrain beforehand and we rolled for sides. The terrain is all from www.amera.co.uk/ apart from the trees, and it looks amazing when it's all painted like that.
Army lists were (approx):-
Tau
HQ
XV84 Shas'o Missile Pod, Shield generator, Positional relay, Markerlight, Target lock, HW Multi-tracker, Shield Drone, Shield Drone, Stimulant inj.
XV8 Shas'el CIB, Plasma rifle, Targeting array, HW Multi-tracker
Elites
Stealthsuit 'ui TL Burst cannon, HW Drone controller, Marker Drone, Marker Drone, Bonding knife, HW Target lock
5x Stealthsuit 'ui Burst cannon
3x XV8 Shas'ui TL Flamer, Fusion Blaster
3x XV8 Shas'ui Burst cannon, Missile pod, Multi-tracker
Troops
12x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Devilfish Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod, Flechette disch.
12x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Fire Warrior 'ui Pulse rifle, Markerlight
11x Fire Warrior 'la Pulse rifle
Shaper Kroot rifle
15x Kroot Kroot rifle
6x Kroot Hound Fangs
10x Kroot Kroot rifle
3 Remote Sensor Towers
Fast Attack
Pathfinder 'ui Pulse C./ Marker, Bonding knife, HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone
5x Pathfinder 'la Pulse C./ Marker
Devilfish Burst cannon, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Disruption pod, Flechette disch.
2x Piranha Fusion blaster, 2x Gun drone, Disruption pod, Flechette disch., Seeker missile
2 Remoras
Heavy Support
XV88 'ui TL TL Railgun, TL Plasma rifle, A.S.S., HW Drone controller, Shield Drone, Shield Drone, Bonding knife, HW Multi-tracker, HW BS filter
2x XV88 'ui TL Railgun, SMS, A.S.S.
Hammerhead Railgun, 2x Gun Drone, Landing gear, Targeting array, Disruption pod, Multi-tracker
Sky Ray 6x Seeker missile, 2x Gun Drone, 2x Netw. Marker, Landing gear, Target lock, Disruption pod, AA Mounts
Barracuda
4 Drone Sentry Turrets w/ Missile Pods, Deep Strike and Disruption Pods
2 Heavy Gun Drones
We played this as two detachments of Tau. All 3 flyers (using Apoc rules) were held in reserve, as were the Stealth Suits (outflanking), the Flamer Crisis unit (deepstrike), the large Kroot unit (outflanking), the FW in the Devilfish, the Heavy Gun Drones (deepstriking) and the Drone Sentry Turrets (deepstriking).
Forces of the Imperium
Navy Strike Force
N.A.F. “NightHawks” : Fight Fire with Fire
1050 Point Detachment
HQ
Inquisitor Lord (Admiral) with power weapon and bolt pistol
3 x midshipmen (Warriors)
2 Servoskulls
Chief Medicae (Chirugeon)
2 Veterans w’ gr’n’de l’nch’r
Commissar (Combat Servitor)
CSB Branch Chief (Acolyte)
Astropath (Sage)
4xfrags
All in a Rumbler (Rhino)
Valkyrie
Elites
Covert Survey Bureau Strike Team (Inquisitor w/ Retinue)
Agent (Inquisitor) with bolt pistol and power weapon
3 Associates w shotguns (Acolytes)
3 Warriors with shotguns
4x Frags
Eversor Assassin
Troops
Navy Black Eagle Commando Squads (Inq Stormtroopers)
6 man squad with Lt (Vet Srgt) with pwrswd and 2 meltas
6 man squad with Lt (Vet Srgt) and 2 plasmas
Both teams in Groundhogs (Chimera)
Heavy Support
Orbital Strike
Imperial Guard
(I don't have the army list so this is a best guess)
Doctrines: Sharpshooters, Grenadiers, Carapace Armour
HQ
HQ unit with 2 Autocannon squads
Elites
6 Ratling Snipers
Troops
1 Platoon HQ, with 3 x 10 man HB squad
10 Stormtroopers
10 Stormtroopers
Fast Attack
2 Autocannon Sentinels
Hellhound
Heavy Support
3 Leman Russ MBT
FW Anti-aircraft turret
Macharius Vulcan Super Heavy Tank (disabled)
The Navy held the Valkyrie in reserve.
The game was Capture and Control. You can see the Tau objective (an unusual looking drone) in the forest near the Kroot in the corner of the Tau deployment zone and the Imperial's objective is a large stone chess figure next to their Command HQ unit. Deployment was rolled for and we got table quarters, but due to terrain placement and the size of our forces we agreed on Pitched Battle.
The rules for using the Macharius were:-
"position it in the middle of the table and call it immobilised. The Imperials need to get to it to re-activate its Machine Spirit, so any infantry unit (infantry units means anything that is not a vehicle) in contact with the tank at the end of their movement phase (which means that getting into contact through Running won't count) can re-activate it on a 5+. If unsuccessful, the unit may not do anything for the remainder of the Turn. More than one unit may try at once, but obviously only one unit can be successful. If re-activated, the tank functions normally right away. Here's the kicker - the unit that succeeds in re-activating the tank must board the tank to pilot it - ie. that entire unit is lost and is removed from the game. So choose wisely. To compensate, the tank will fire with the BS of the unit that re-activates it."
(NOTE: looking at the Imperial's army, which unit would you choose to re-activate the tank? Yes, the Eversor, with a BS of 5! Which is exactly what my opponents did. An assassin driving a tank = I love this game
The Forces of the Imperium went first.
There will be photos to follow, plus another video to wrap up the end of Turn 3 (which is as far as we got).
(When I mention the grove, I am talking about the forest with the Tau Objective in it - watch the video to see where it is)
The Imperials had got it into their heads that my Sensor Towers and Skyray were among the most dangerous things on the table. This is a lesson in talking up your units to draw attention from other units :cool:. The Sensor Towers are feeble, with a drone's BS, but they appeared to dominate the battlefield and so my opponent focused on them.
Their strategy was to sit back with the IG and let the much more mobile Navy Strike Force reactivate the Macharius and assault the grove of trees where the Tau objective lay.
My strategy was to take out enemy armour with Seeker missiles and railguns, repel the assaults in the grove and at the other end of the table and then take the fight to the Imperium with my reserves. I would worry about the Macharius if they ever got it working!
Turn 1
Forces of The Imperium
The Hellhound advanced and popped smoke as did the Rumbler with the Admiral in it. One of the Groundhogs moved towards the Macharius and the CSB team marched forward on foot. Oddly, the Leman Russ nearest the Tau objective moved forward, as did both Sentinels and the troops behind them. The other IG stormtrooper squad in the middle of the table also moved towards the Macharius. The Eversor, who had infiltrated in contact with the large tank, stayed where he was, but did not attempt to reactivate the Super Heavy yet. Not sure why...
Shooting saw the Kroot in the grove go to ground almost immediately, failing only 2 of their 2+ cover saves. The Skyray was Shaken, a couple of fire warriors in front of it died but nothing else on the Tau side was hurt.
The Tau Empire
The Piranhas moved up towards the front of the grove they started in, staying in cover and dropping their drones. All the other vehicles dropped their drones. My Fire Warrior squad beside the Pathfinders moved over to the Pathfinder's Devilfish and got on board. Nothing else on the Tau side moved.
Firing began with Markerlights. I had 12 on the table with another 4 in reserve - the first time I have tried fielding so many. I lit up the advancing Groundhog, the Hellhound and the Leman Russ directly across from the Hammerhead. The Hellhound was Shaken by the Broadsides and the Leman Russ was Stunned by the Hammerhead. The Groundhog exploded under a brace of Seeker Missiles from the Piranhas (I did not rate their survivability and decided to use their Seekers asap!) killing quite a few of the Admiral's retinue.
The Centurion commander and the unit of Crisis Suits all jumped into the grove. Their firing managed to Stun, Weapon Destory and Immobilise one of the Sentinels. Brian (the IG player) has painted the driver of this Sentinel to look like Robert Downey Jr from Tropic Thunder (although a lot more hunchbacked than Mr D), complete with rude hand gesture - he spent the rest of the game fuming and swearing!
The Drone Towers lit up the other Sentinel and a Seeker missile from the Skyray turned it into a wreck.
In assault moves the Gun Drones moved forward as did the Centurion commander and the Crisis suits, staying within the grove of trees. It would do them little good for what was to follow.
Quite happy with Turn 1, we summoned the delights of Turn 2.
Turn 2
Forces of The Imperium
The damned Valkyrie came on. DAMN! She was toting dual Hellstrike missiles, and these things had badly wounded my Tau in previous games.
In movement, the Leman Russ near the grove backed off (sensibly) from the Fusion Blaster equipped Piranhas. The troops nearby moved forward, clambering over the wreck of the Sentinel, listening to Forrest Gimp in the other Sentinel raging incoherently. The Hellhound advanced as did the Admiral's squad, ending up between the gun drone units from the Hammerhead and the Pathfinder's Devilfish. The Navy Stormtroopers disembarked from the Groundhog near the Macharius, moving into contact with it, as did the IG Stormtroopers. They failed to activate it. The CSB squad moved up into some trees near to the grove where the Tau objective lay, while the other Groundhog moved forward in support.
The CSB squad were contemplating assaulting my Crisis Suits. Eek, I thought. "How tough are they?", they asked me. Well, since all is fair in love and war, I replied that they were like flying Dreadnoughts! They are, sort of, if you ignore their actual stats. As you will see, this piece of misdirection helped me not a jot.
In shooting, the Navy and the IG opened up on the grove of death. Two Hellstrike missiles, the Leman Russ, the snipers, the CSB squad with shotguns and a load of autocannons managed to wreck one Piranha, immobilise the other, kill all 4 Gun Drones, kill all 3 crisis suits, kill another 2 Kroot and instakill my Centurion commander. Bits of Tau and Kroot dripped from the mangled trees, but the Kroot held firm. They were being well paid, after all.
The rest of the army managed to kill some Fire Warriors in front of the Skyray and killed both units of Gun Drones near the Admiral, but that was all.
The Tau Empire
Bruised and bloody, it was time for some payback. Forget the Positional Relay - I had a lot of reserves and I wanted them all now!
In from reserves came the large Kroot unit, outflanking from the right (ie. near my Hammerhead), my Flamer/ Fusion Crisis Suits, the unit of 4 Drone Sentry Turrets, the Stealth Suits and the Barracuda.
I used four Markerligths to position the Drone Sentry Turrets exactly. This is a very cool rule that means they do not scatter, provided you have enough Markerlight hits to spare. I placed them behind the IG lines, with great lines of sight to the side armour of the Leman Russes! They wouldn't last long, but would force the IG to turn and deal with them.
I tried to DS the Crisis Suits behind the IG lines also, hoping to flambe the lightly armoured IG, but even with the Beacon on the Pathfinder's Devilfish, they scattered off the table. Stupid me - I forgot about the DS mishap table and just put them back in their foam tray
The Barracuda came on behind the Leman Russ near the Grove of Dead Tau while the Kroot came on in a long line near the Admiral and his retinue.
In shooting I managed to destroy the Hellhound (who would have flamed my Pathfinders next Turn - phew!), Stun two of the Leman Russes and Destroy the one nearest the grove. Not a bad round of shooting. My Devilfish moved up and the Fire Warriors disembarked. They rapid fired into the Admiral's squad with the benefit of +2 BS from Markerlight hits. Ouch. Only the Admiral and two of his better armoured retinue survived.
The Kroot charged into close combat, and managed to only lose two Kroot. I had strung them out in a long line so that not all of them would take part in the fight. The Admiral perished before the snapping jaws of the Kroot hounds, but the remaining two Acolytes made their morale check and stayed in the fight. This was an amazing stroke of luck, since it meant my Kroot could not be fired upon!
The more observant of you are wondering, "but what did your Stealth Suits do?" The embarrassing truth is that I forgot to bring them onto the table. Don't worry - they come on in Turn 3.
Turn 3
Forces of The Imperium
The Eversor succeeded in getting the Macharius going, so he was removed from the table and placed on top. A BS5 Macharius, whose main gun is Heavy 15? Nasty
The Valkyrie moved 36" and stopped just beside the mountain. Various IG units, including the central unit of Stormtroopers and the IG Command HQ moved towards the Drone Sentry Turrets. Near the Grove the various units moved up, and the Groundhog stopped to allow the Navy troopers inside to disembark. The Grove, with its objective within, was looking very threatened.
The Navy Groundhog near the Macharius picked up its Stormtroopers again and advanced on my Pathfinders.
Two of the Drone Sentry Turrets were destroyed, although one exploded so violently that the Commissar and HSO of the IG Command HQ took a wound apiece. My opponent finally realised where all the pain was coming from, and the Macharius turned all its weapons on the Pathfinders, wiping out 4 of them along with 3 shield drones (2 belonging to the Shas'ui and 1 to the Shas'o). They easily passed their morale check with the Shas'o along.
The anti-aircraft emplacement shot at the Barracuda's side armour, but missed even with twin-linked autocannon.
There was only one assault, which the Kroot won easily, killing the last two members of the Admiral's retinue. They consolidated 4" towards the Imperial lines, putting them within charge range next Turn! (this was the other reason I deployed them in such strung out fashion. Even with the initial assault and the pile in move at the end, there were still some Kroot who had not reached the close combat, making it much more likely they would get to charge again next Turn).
The Tau Empire
My Stealth Suits came on (again!), this time outflanking into the Grove of Dead Tau. The Fire Warriors and their Devilfish came on, again into the Grove, and disembarked into both cover and rapid fire range. The Kroot, seeing that their bacon was in the manner of being saved, leapt to their feet and raced towards the Navy forces on the edge of the wood. Finally, both Remoras appeared in the skies overhead. The fight to save the Grove was beginning!
The other Kroot (the one with the hounds) moved up towards the Imperial lines, getting within charge range. The Pathfinder Devilfish with the Fire Warriors inside moved up alongside the Kroot.
Markerlights did very little this Turn.
The Fire Warriors who had just arrived shot the CSB team to pieces, leaving only the Inquisitor who failed his morale check and fell back towards the IG Stormtroopers. The Stealths were just out of range at the back of the Grove.
The Remoras did very little, missing with almost all their shots.
The Barracuda took out the Navy Groundhog from behind, killing one or two of those inside. The six remaining Fire Warriors in front of the Skyray rapid fired a few more back to the Emperor. The Hammerhead Shook one of the two remaining Leman Russes.
The Valkyie was destroyed by Seeker Missiles.
With 2 Markerlight hits on the Macharius the Broadsides let fly. All three shots hit (Twin Linked BS 5!) and I rolled 2 Penetrating and 1 Glancing Hits. The end result was the loss of 1 Structure Point and, much more seriously, the loss of the Vulcan Mega Bolter and both Heavy Bolters. For a 400 point tank, this was pretty sobering.
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We stopped at this point, took a video - uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Hq0Bu_LoE- and we will finish the game asap.
The Imperials and Tau still have two tanks left apiece. The Macharius is wounded, but it can be repaired, while the Barracuda is still vulnerable to the anti-aircraft piece. Kroot and Fire Warriors are not likely to be able to assault the IG lines successfully (although they are going to try), while the situation in the Grove of Dead Tau is finely balanced.
Place your bets - who will win?
Sholto