BACK AGAIN. After the last game -
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/531832.page - we decided for a late in the week rematch with our two new-fangled 6ed armies, to see if different builds yield wildly different results. Panic went for less deathstars overall - no Daemon Princes and terminators, while I thought I'd see what would happen if I fielded mechanised Tau and broke out ALL my vehicles...
Ian's Bright Yellow Tau Army - 1500pts
* Commander (Vectored Retro-Thrusters,
TL Plasma Rifle, Onager Gauntlet)
* 1 Crisis Bodyguard (
TL Plasma Rifle) accompanied by a Gun Drone
* 6 Fire Warriors (Shas'ui with Markerlight & Target Lock) in a Devilfish (Disruption Pod,
SMS, Seeker Missile)
* 6 Fire Warriors (Shas'ui with Markerlight & Target Lock) in a Devilfish (Disruption Pod,
SMS, Seeker Missile)
* 7 Pathfinders (2 Rail Rifles) in a Devilfish (Disruption Pod,
SMS, Seeker Missile)
* Hammerhead (Railgun, Burst Cannon, Disruption Pod, Seeker Missile)
* Hammerhead (Railgun, Burst Cannon, Disruption Pod, Seeker Missile)
* Hammerhead (Railgun, Gun Drones, Disruption Pod, Seeker Missile)
* 2 Remora Drones
Panic's Gribbly Plague Marines - 1500pts
* Chaos Lord (Mark of Nurgle, Power Weapon)
* 7 Plague Marines (2 Meltaguns, including a Plague Champion with Power Fist) in a Chaos Rhino (Havoc Launchers)
* 7 Plague Marines (2 Plasmaguns, including a Plague Champion with Power Fist) in a Chaos Rhino (Havoc Launchers)
* Hellbrute (2 Close Combat Weapons)
* Hellbrute (
TL Lascannon & Missile Launcher)
* Hellbrute (Multimelta)
* 2 Obliterators (Mark of Nurgle)
* 2 Obliterators (Mark of Nurgle)
* 2 Obliterators (Mark of Nurgle)
* 10 Chaos Cultists
Mission
This time, we tried the Altar of War expansion for Chaos Space Marines and rolled
Vendetta! This is basically a kill-points scenario but with the added bonus of a certain unit being worth an additional 3
VPs if Chaos kill it, or to the Tau if it's still alive at the end. There's a table to roll on, to see if it's a Character, Vehicle, unit etc, but we opted to roll '6' and have multiple vendettas against LOADS of units. So, we ended up with a Kill Point game with the following special units (you'd usually only have one of these)
* Warlord: the Tau Commander was worth 3 additional
VPs
* Unit: the Tau Bodyguard was worth 3 additional
VPs
* Characer: one of the Fire Warrior Shas'ui was worth 3 additional
VPs
* Vehicle: the Devifish the
FW Shas'ui travels in was worth 3 additional
VPs
* Army: if the Chaos Marines can kill 75% of the models in the army, they get 3 additional
VPs.
Deployment & Pre-Game
The Chaos Lord rolled Exalted Champion, giving him the option to re-roll his Boons - but he didn't take any this game! The Tau commander rolled Through Unity, Devastation, which allowed all units within 12" to re-roll 1s to hit on one shooting phase of the game.
Tau deployed first, with the Pathfinders in the treeline, and the three Hammerheads in cover behind the hill & forest. One squad of Fire Warriors advanced near another forest in their Devilfish, and the super-valuable squad of Fire Warriors stayed in their super-valuable Devilfish in reserve, along with the Remoras.
Chaos then deployed in the typical 'as far forward as possible' configuration, with the Cultists and the
LR Hellbrute holding the strongpoint (because we wanted to use it!!) and one squad of Oblits in reserve. The Chaos Lord went with the plasma Plague Marines in their Rhino.
And the starting deployment. Chaos really far forward, and Tau hiding as far away as possible, as it should be. Tau get first turn.
Tau Turn 1
The Tau line manoeuvre for shooting, but it doesn't go as well as expected - all three combined manage to explode the
CC Hellbrute and Pathfinders managing to get a hull point on the closest Rhino.
The Fire Warrior squad have deployed into the woods farther forward to try and get decent marker shots, and the Commander and Bodyguard bounce forward hoping to Plasma themselves some Obliterators next turn (this was a REALLLY stupid move, for some reason I thought I was really safe in cover!!)
Nurgle Turn 1
The whole Nurgle line, of course, immediately advances and opens fire with almost everything on the Commander and his bodyguard. They easily kill the bodyguard and drone, but just as it looks like the commander might be able to run away, his last wound is taken by a Rhino's combi-bolter. Chaos immediately get 9
VPs - 2 kill points, Slay the Warlord and the Vendetta points for Warlord and Unit.
The
LR Hellbrute targets the most visible Hammerhead, and explodes it with a single shot, and the topmost Obliterators turn on the Fire Warriors, killing two with flamers.
Only a few models down, but Tau have some catching up to do!!
Tau Turn 2
Markerlights open fire, marking both Rhinos
And the Remoras arrive, firing at the Obliterators. However, it takes a Hammer head to actually do any damage, killing one.
The Devilfish take advantage of the markerlights to glance the Chaos Lord's rhino into a wreck.
And, in the far back corner, the super-valuable Fire Warriors and Devilfish appear and hide behind some terrain. This is really what the Commander should have been doing...!
Nurgle Turn 2
In a fine display of photoshop-style effects, the Obliterators in reserve attempt to
DS right next to the super-valuable squads, but mishap off the board and arrive at the complete opposite corner of the battlefield!! They still manage to shake the forward Devilfish from afar.
The rest of the Chaos line runs forward.
The lone Obliterator continues with the flaming, killing another two of the forward Fire Warriors.
And at the end of turn two, Chaos are getting very close to the Tau.
Tau Turn 3
The Tau do the only sensible thing - RUN AWAY SOME MORE! even the Pathfinders fall back, getting another Snap Fire glace on the remaining Rhino
The Rhino is finished off by a Railgun.
And the remoras turn on the untouched Obliterator squad, but fail to hurt them.
Massed
SMS fire has taken out the last of the flamey Obliterators and the remains of the Fire Warrior squad have retreated into their Devilfish
Nurgle Turn 3
The
LR Hellbrute scores another point, wrecking the Fire Warrior Devilfish as it tries to retreat.
And both squads of Oblits spot the Remoras silhouetted against the bulk of an Imperial Bookcase, but fail to hit them.
The Plague Marine advance has taken out most of the Pathfinder squad, leaving only three survivors.
Tau Turn 4
The Remoras wheel around and target the
LR Hellbrute, but both markerlights miss! The rest of the army wheels around to target the closest Plague Marine squad.
However, despite the firepower of the full Tau force being poured into them, none of the Plague Marines go down!!!
Nurgle Turn 4
Massed fire managed to glance one of the Remora drones, while the Plague Marine squads continue their advance, one killing the remaining three Psthfinders, and one killing two of the depleted Fire Warrior squad and forcing the lone survivor to flee off the table.
The Obliterators round the corner of the forest, glancing the closest Devilfish twice.
Tau Turn 5
RUN AWAY!!!
The Remoras, with nowhere left to zoom, switch to Hover mode, and turn on the closest Plague Marines, but still can't cause any wounds.
the rest of the army don't fare much better, stunning the closest Hellbrute but failing to hurt any of the Plague Marines.
Nurgle Turn 5
The Nurgle army runs through the forest, hoping to get close enough to target the super-valuable dEvilfish and it's super-valuable cargo.
And the stunned Hellbrute goes mental, charging the hovering Remoras and destroying them!
Tau still running away.
Turn 6 (Combined)
Turn 6 is more of the same. The Tau move as far away as it's possible to get but fail to harm anything.
While Nurgle inflict glances on the Hammerheads and try to target the prize Devilfish, but fail to hurt it.
Nowhere left to fall back!!
Turn 7 (Combined)
The Tau finally start to score some wounds on the Obliterators, but not enough to get the
KP.
But a Railgun shot explodes the
MM Hellbrute.
And though the Plague Marines wreck the closest Hammerhead, they still can't get to the prize.
So, we count up the victory points and find, to our surprise, that Nurgle haven't just wn outright! Nurgle have managed to get the points for Commander and Unit, and Tau have managed to keep the Chatacter and Vehicle safe, so that's even. Nurgle get two more kill points than the Tau at 7-5. Nurgle get Slay The Warlord and Linebreaker, and Tau get First Blood. However, we count up the number of dead models and it turns out that Nurgle haven't quite managed to get the Vendetta Army points - they're two models short of killing 75% of the Tau, so it's actually a draw! Moral victory to Nurgle??
Nurgle - 15 (7
KP, Vendetta Commander, Vendetta Unit, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker)
Tau - 15 (5
KP, Vendetta Character, Vendetta Vehicle, Vendetta Army, First Blood)
8th Grand Company (Iron Warriors 8,000pts): 36-11-2
Heavy Rain Cadre (Tau 4,000pts): 9-3-0
Hive Fleet Lunulata (Tyranids 2,000pts): 6-4-0
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Cratfworld Alaitoc (
