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This is the second battle report for us. In honor of Claypool (finally) finishing painting his orkz, we decided to up the points to 1500 so he could show off his newly painted force. Special thanks to EmpBobo for the use of his Tau on my end.

With that, let's get started.

chupathingy's Tau

HQ
Crisis Suit Commander Shas'el w/ Targeting Array, Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, HW Drone Controller, 2x Shield Drones, HW Multi Tracker, HW Target Lock and Stimulant Injector - 142 pts

Elites
3x Crisis Suits w/ Missile Pods, Plasma Rifles and Multi Trackers - 186 pts
3x Crisis Suits w/ Missile Pods, Burst Cannons, 2 w/ Multi Trackers, Team Leader w/ Targeting Array, HW Target Lock, HW Multi Tracker, HW Drone Controller and 2x Shield Drones - 200 pts

Troops
6x Fire Warriors - 60 pts
6x Fire Warriors - 60 pts
Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod and Multi Tracker - 95 pts
12x Fire Warriors w/ Shas'ui, Bonded - 135 pts
12x Fire Warriors w/ Shas'ui, Bonded - 135 pts

Fast Attack
6x Pathfinders w/ Shas'ui, Bonded - 87 pts
Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod and Multi Tracker - 95 pts

Heavy Support
Broadside Team Leader w/ Targeting Array, HW Multi Tracker, HW Drone Controller and 2x Shield Drones - 120 pts
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, Smart Missile System, Disruption Pod, Multi Tracker and Flechette Discharger - 185 pts

Total: 1500 pts
Warboss Lemmy’s Speedfreeks
HQ
Big Mek w/ KFF and Cybork Body – 95 pts
Warboss w/ Power Klaw, Cybork Body, Attack Squig and Bosspole – 115 pts

Troops
11x Boyz w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw and Bosspole – 106 pts
11x ‘ard Boyz – 110 pts
12x Boyz w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw and Bosspole – 112 pts
12x Boyz w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw and Bosspole – 112 pts
12x Boyz w/ Nob w/ Power Klaw and Bosspole – 112 pts
19 Gretchin w/ Runtherd – 67 pts
5x Trukks w/ Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram and Boarding Plank – 250 pts

Fast Attack
20x Stormboyz w/ Power Klaw and Bosspole Nob – 280 pts
Deffkopta w/ TL Rokkits and Buzzsaw – 70 pts
Deffkopta w/ TL Rokkits and Buzzsaw – 70 pts

Total: 1499 pts

After the preliminary rolling, we're playing Seize Ground with 4 objectives, deployment is spearhead, and Claypool wins the roll to go first.

Shot of the map with the objectives (Green octagons)


Ork Deployment


Tau Deployment


Deffkoptas scout toward me, and Pathfinders move farther into the woods in my deployment zone. I fail to steal the
initiative, and Claypool takes the first turn.

After scout movements


Ork Turn 1
Movement: Both Koptas move right next to my Devilfish. He loses a Stormboy to a (which will happen a lot this game) and the rest of his force barrels across the field toward me.


Shooting: The deffkopta on the right immobilizes its devilfish, and the left deffkopta whiffs.

Assault: Both deffkoptas assault their respective devilfish. The pathfinder's devilfish gets wrecked, and the other devilfish explodes, killing one of the fire warriors.

Tau Turn 1
Movement: I try to spread out as best I can while lining up shots on as many targets as I can hit.


Shooting: This was my favorite turn of the game. Pathfinders light up the trukk on the left front. 12 pulse rifle shots later, the trukk is immobilized. On the right side, 12 more pulse rifles destroy another trukk. The two smaller fire warrior squads destroy both deffkoptas, and my broadside blows up the warboss' trukk. With no more viable targets, I end my turn.


Ork Turn 2
Movement: Everything moves towards me as fast as it can.

Shooting: The only trukk that can hit anything whiffs against my fire warriors.

Assault: One of the boyz squads assaults my 5 man fire warrior squad and wipes them.


Tau Turn 2
Movement: I'm still trying to move out, but he's making it difficult (Stupid 19 inch movement)

Shooting: My crisis suit commanders blow up a trukk, and my fire warriors wipe out the boyz that wiped my 5 man squad. The boyz in the trukk that just blew up fall back.


No assaults, so I end my turn.

Ork Turn 3
Movement: Gretchin come in from reserve. Stormboyz lose another to a , and everything he has piles towards the crater full of fire warriors.


Shooting: All of my gun drones from the devilfish die, and my Shas'el takes a wound from a big shoota.

Assault: The fire warriors in the crater get wiped, and i think I kill 1 or 2 boyz. My commander and friends also get assaulted and wiped. (Tactical mistake here...I should have moved them back last turn. I actually did, then decided against it. Bad idea)


Tau Turn 3
Movement: At this point, with my devilfish dead, I am looking at a severe lack of mobility against a highly mobile army...I spend this turn just running around trying to survive.


Shooting: I kill a couple Stormboyz and blow up the immobilized trukk...nothing too impressive


Ork Turn 4
Movement: The gretchin move onto the objective in his deployment zone, and he loses ANOTHER Stormboy. The KFF trukk moves toward my hammerhead.

Assault: He chooses to forgo any shooting this turn in favor of assaulting and eating my 6 man fire warrior squad.


Tau Turn 4
This is the turn that my dice, which have been rolling fairly well this game, completely abandon me.
Movement: I have a meager force remaining, and I move my fire warriors out in the hopes that they'll get to an objective.


Shooting: I open up on the boyz with my hammerhead, 3 crisis suits, pathfinders and fire warriors and...I kill four. Total. I rolled about 15 1's for wounding.


Ork Turn 5
Movement: He moves his trukk back into my fire warriors, who fail leadership by 5 (I used up all of my 1's, I guess) and they fall back. He consolidates all of the units he can onto objectives.


Assault: He assaults my falling back fire warriors, who not only manage to regroup, but also win combat and cause the stormboyz to fall back.

Tau Turn 5
The only thing of note is that I kill the falling back boyz that are on the leftmost objective.


With this, I concede, as he's sitting on all four objectives and I have one troops choice left. Claypool takes the victory, 4-0.


Postgame: Although I was a lot happier with this game than the last (I'm FINALLY learning how to play Tau effectively) I'm still getting frustrated with losing to orkz. The two biggest problems are the deffkoptas in general and the fact that orkz have a possible 34" assault range on turn 2 with the WAAUGH! I still haven't figured out a good way to counter him...Ah well, there's always next game.

The biggest problem here was your list. Static gunline? A horde player's favorite opponent.

In this case, things would have been better off taking advantage of the genuinely swift movement of skimmers, instead of seeing them terribly mangled turn 1. Perhaps all-reserving and then appearing at random places on the field, making his orks chase you would have been the better plan.

Of course, this would only really ring true if everything had a ride, which it didn't. Being a strictly-no-close-combat army that just sits there as the close combattiest army in the game bears down on you is a recipe for ultimate disaster.

If you insist on foot firepower, you need more guns, and you really need to learn how to play the mid-range dance (here is a partial example).

I've been working to put everything in a transport, it's just a matter of actually getting the devilfish models. But I agree with the fact that I need to not have a gun line.

At least, not a static one.

Of course, mobile gunlines are tough for Tau, given that non-suit infantry has basically exactly 1 possible weapon they can take. If you're interested in keeping down vehicles, probably your only option is suits. For example, I know that a stealth suit burst cannon barrage can do some very unfortunate things to infantry out in the open.

Good match.

It sucks, tau is completely outclassed by most every army at the moment :( hopefully they get their re-written dex next year on time and its good! (hopefully necrons get theirs first tho hehe)

Zid wrote:Good match.

It sucks, tau is completely outclassed by most every army at the moment :( hopefully they get their re-written dex next year on time and its good! (hopefully necrons get theirs first tho hehe)

I wouldn't say they're completely outclassed. Had chupathingy's Devilfish survived the first turn, I'd have had a much harder time beating him as his mobility would have matched my own. I will say that Tau take a lot more thought to use than a lot of the current armies, especially compared to Orks, and chupathingy has been playing with Tau a much shorter time than I've been using Orks. With Orks, all I need to do is throw as many Orks down the field as fast as I can and hope that not too many die before I get in krumpin' range. chupathingy has a lot more factors to balance, and has been consistently improving each game we play. I'm sure, given time, I will come to fear the mighty pulse rifle.

Congrats Claypool on finishing up 1500pts of Speedfreaks - and good game. Makes me want to finish painting my DeffKoptas - 2 transports turn 1! Perfect.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think the most they can assault is 27inches

13 inches from a transport with a red paint job
2 inches to deploy from said vehicle
6 inch WAAAGH from GHAZ
6 inch assault move

If they deploy 12 in from your table edge and move flat out turn 1 - 25 inches + 27 from above equals 52 inch threat range by turn 2.

That looked like a pretty fun match there, But for some reason Tau can never really win against the orks :\ but just out of curiosity, how can orks assault 34'' in 1 turn? I know they move 6, Waaagh 6 (If lucky enough) and then assault 6 but how do they go the extra 16''??

Zid wrote:Good match.

It sucks, tau is completely outclassed by most every army at the moment :( hopefully they get their re-written dex next year on time and its good! (hopefully necrons get theirs first tho hehe)

That's actually not true. Tau are a very solid counter to Mech IG. It's one of my toughest draws.

Polonius wrote:

Zid wrote:Good match.

It sucks, tau is completely outclassed by most every army at the moment :( hopefully they get their re-written dex next year on time and its good! (hopefully necrons get theirs first tho hehe)

That's actually not true. Tau are a very solid counter to Mech IG. It's one of my toughest draws.

I wouldn't say they're a solid counter, but they're sure as hell NOT OUTCLASSED.

Tau have struggled with new orks since the book game out, and they've been a very tough draw for the poor Tau. Sometiems they just happen

nice report Chupathingy. As a long time Tau player, I know I have the hardest time with Orks. Lootas and the general speed at which orks can bring tons of close combat power makes for a tough fight. Of the top 6 or so players in our area, the one i have the most problems with is an ork player.

I don't know if it's a modelling preference or not, but I would really recommend some kroot and hounds. They will provide nice bubble-wrap and will slaughter those small Ork boyz squads on the charge.

Tau struggle in general against Orks because they lack the templates and large blasts in numbers while still maintaining competitiveness against IG/SM/Tyranids etc.