Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Got to play my first game with my Tau against my wife Amy's Daemons last night. Here's the lists:

Tau - 998 pts

HQ
Commander (XV8-02 Crisis 'Iridium' Battlesuit, Drone Controller, Shield Generator, Twin-Linked Burst Cannon, 2 Gun Drones)
Cadre Fireblade (2 Gun Drones)

TROOPS
12 Fire Warriors (Shas'ui, 2 Gun Drones)
12 Fire Warriors
12 Fire Warriors

FAST ATTACK
4 Gun Drones
6 Pathfinders (Pulse Accelerator Drone)
7 Pathfinders (Pulse Accelerator Drone)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Hammerhead (Submunition Rounds, Disruption Pods, Smart Missile Systems)

Chaos Daemons – 999 pts

HQ
Changeling
Herald of Tzeentch (Exalted Locus of Conjuration, Exalted Reward)
Herald of Tzeentch (Lesser Locus of Transmogrification)

TROOPS
16 Pink Horrors (Blasted Standard Icon, Instrument, Champion with Greater Reward)
10 Pink Horrors (Champion with Greater Reward)
10 Bloodletters (Champion with Greater Reward)

FAST ATTACk
5 Flesh Hounds
5 Flesh Hounds

HEAVY SUPPORT
Soul Grinder (Daemon of Tzeentch, Phlegm)

Scenario: Big Guns Never Tire
Deployment: Vanguard Strike
Tau won the roll to deploy first, though Daemons won the roll to have the first turn.

The table was set up as a desert ruins, with bits of area terrain and ruin sections blocking LoS and providing high-ground vantage points, etc. I deployed the Fire Warrior squad with the drones (and attached Cadre Fireblade) in the second and third floors of a tall ruin, a Fire Warrior squad in front of them on the ground (the bottom floor had window-less walls), my Hammerhead to the left of it followed by Pathfinders, then on the right went my other Pathfinder unit, my Commander joined to the 4 Gun Drones, and the last Fire Warrior unit.

The Daemons deployed as close as possible opposite, with two Flesh Hound units hiding behind and next to ruins and the Soul Grinder hugging the back-side of a ruin in case I seized the initiative. However, a Bloodletter unit was deployed entirely out of LoS in a ruin with an objective in it. Everything else went into reserves. My Warlord trait allowed me to once per game have any units that have gone to ground act normally on my turn (declared in the movement phase), and the Daemon's was the Changling and its unit have Hatred. I then failed to seize the initiative, and we forgot to roll for night fighting.

Turn 1 - Daemons
The Flesh Hounds advanced through the ruins, trying to get out of LoS where possible while being as close to the front edge as they could, ready to hop out next turn. The Soul Grinder moved to my right to line up a shot against my Commander and his drones, and did so (starting the shooting phase). Warp Storm made all of her Daemons lose a point of Invulnerable save to start everything off, but a large, direct-hit Phlegm blast from the Soul Grinder killed 6 out of 6 drones in my Commander's unit (since he came with two as well) and left him standing by himself. He passed his morale and Amy passed the turn.

Turn 1 - Tau
My Commander decided standing out in the open was probably not the best idea and hopped effortlessly into the ruins joining Cadre Fireblade's unit (or so he thought it would be effortlessly until he failed his Dangerous Terrain roll but then passed his armor save). I then proceeded to put two wounds on the left-most Flesh Hound unit (killing a dog), put a few Marker Lights on the Soul Grinder only to make a glancing blow with the Hammerhead, and mopped up the right-most Flesh Hound unit with the massed shooting I had thanks to Cadre Fireblade. This guy proved to be invaluable in his first use by doubling the amount of shots his unit was putting out at 30".

Turn 2 - Daemons
While it seemed I had the upper hand, the Daemons suddenly forced their way out of the Warp as the 18-man unit of Horrors and attached characters appeared with a resounding "hit" right in the middle of my lines, followed immediately by another 10-man unit of Horrors (and a single Herald), but so anxious were they to wreak havoc that they scattered and mishapped back into the Warp for good (they rolled a 1). The remaining Flesh Hound unit jumped out of the ruins and advanced towards my Hammerhead, and the Soul Grinder hugged the ruins in the middle of the table some more to get cover against my Hammerhead but to also line up a shot against my main Fire Warrior unit. For the Warpstorm effect this turn, a bunch of my units got hit by the effect that caused Soulblaze and Warpflame so I took a few casualties army-wide and things were burning for multiple different reasons. Then, the Horror unit plopped down a portal and fired a ton of shots at my right-most Fire Warrior unit (which went to ground) eliminating all but five of them, while the Soul Grinder fired its Phlegm shot again at my main Fire Warrior unit (which also went to ground) killing three of them. The portal released four Pink Horrors and those shot at and killed a few Pathfinders who went to ground as well but lost a model. Then, the Flesh Hounds charged my Hammerhead, but because there were Pathfinders and Fire Warriors within 6" of it, I got to use the new Supporting Fire rule and proceeded to cause two wounds to them before they got into contact with the tank. Once there, they stripped two hull points and shook the vehicle.

Turn 2 - Tau
After losing a few more models here and there due to Warpflame and Soulblaze, I used my Warlord trait to bring my three gone-to-ground units back to attention. I moved my Hammerhead 12" (away from the Flesh Hounds) while also lining up a Snap Fire shot against the Soul Grinder. I hopped right into my shooting phase and lit up the Soul Grinder with 4 Marker Lights (that's the total amount of hits from both Pathfinder units), then shot it with the Hammerhead making my BS 5 since all I could do was Snap Fire anyways (moved 12", shaken). After all of the hassle, I only managed a glance and she failed her invul. I then fired my main Fire Warrior unit at her Horror unit, and killed everything but the Changeling (who had made an astounding amount of Look Out Sir! Rolls and invul saves). I also killed the remaining Flesh Hounds and the four Pink Horrors with the rest of my units. I also lost a few more models from random fires.

Turn 3 – Daemons
The Changeling backed away and fired at my right-most Fire Warriors (killing the last one), and the Soul Grinder moved to fire directly at the Hammerhead with the Harvester cannon but failed to do anything. The Nurgle Warpstorm effect for the turn killed of a half dozen more models however.

Turn 3 – Tau
The game was pretty much wrapped up here. I fired Marker Lights at the Soul Grinder and used them to remove its cover and increase my BS, ultimately scoring an “explodes” result, then my main Fire Warrior unit shot the Changeling off the table, and that was the game. I could have tried to go after her Bloodletters but it was already 12-4 in my favor since I had scored Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker (with my Hammerhead thanks to Big Guns Never Tire), and killed her Heavy Support (all while scoring three objectives). She scored First Blood and an objective.

A pretty handy win for me, but had her first turn Warpstorm been more random wounds for my units, and had her 10-man Horror unit not mishapped, it would have been a different game.

Thanks for reading, and I apologize if the descriptions were too confusing or not detailed enough. I’m looking forward to more games with the Tau and I learned quite a lot from this game. I just hope the rest of my GW order comes through so that I can experiment with more units.

Sounds like a solid victory, although I wondered where the bloodletters were?

While your list isn't ultra competitive either (it is very solid for 1k though), I think her list is pretty sub par. If she is looking for ideas on how to shore it up, I'd suggest she drop the changling for a regular tzeentch herald, then give both of her heralds the locus of conjuration and mastery level 2. She wants to get the primaris from the change table in the codex, and the primaris from divination in the rulebook on both of them.

Also, tell her not to waste points upgrading horror squad leaders. Not only will they still be horrible in close combat no matter what you do, but because of the brotherhood of psyker rule you will lose your squad leader and all of his upgrades automatically the first time you suffer perils of the warp. It also forces you to use him as the focal point for the shooting attack. If you don't upgrade him, you can use any model in the unit which is a lot more flexible for purposes of denying cover and whatnot.

I think those are the glaring issues, and changing those might give you a much closer game next time.

Such a shame to lose a whole squad to Mishaps.

That really does suck, I had it happen to my lord of change before the new codex came out (when everyone had to deep strike). I did turn the game into a win, but it was a tough battle.... Thanks for the report... You are a lucky man to have your significant other play 40k with you. My wife saw the rule book once and said I will never play that with you. I am hoping my son will try it when he is old enough... cheers