The Many Chimera variations of the Return to Taros
Although the Chimera chassis has been used for many purposes from field artillery to stripped down open topped scout vehicles, In this review of tactical transport vehicles we will be examining several examples of Chimera.
Most regiments of the Astra Militarum have motor pools filled with examples of the exact same variant. The 4th Battalion Armored reconnaissance is not one of them.
The Emperor helps those that help themselves and in its many champagnes the 4th has replenished their mechanized components by helping themselves to whatever was assigned or requisitionable.
The first example is the classic Chimera that I commonly call the Mk1. Seen here with extra armor to keep the crew fully functional this Chimera is armed with the standard Mutilaser and hull mounted Heavy Bolter.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Based on the Chimera MKIi chassis ( taller turret providing more crew room and a slightly slimmer profile) this Chimera has a Heavy Bolter turret that is set further back on the hull. Although there is no tactical or support benefit to this configuration it has been popular with veteran squads. A smaller rear deck hatch limits this variant from functioning as a firing platform for Mortar teams.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Another Chimera configured with the main get positioned central on the body, this version hails from an active Forge World in system M248
Automatically Appended Next Post: Despite looking very different these Chimera are mechanically the same with very high parts compatibility between the variants. Surprisingly this Kangaroo transport acquired from the penal colony of Victoria also has a high percentage of parts compatibility with the Chimera. We like to call them Chimeroo
Automatically Appended Next Post: The large turret on the Chimeroo allowed some epic conversions that included being armed with a Battlecannon.
I'm digging the Chimera variants. Adds a lot of character and realism. Given how large the galaxy is and how many planets are out there, I would expect there are many variations.
Lost to Mythos, a venerable wheeled Chimera rescued from a broken house still serves. The simplicity of wheels extends the time between refitting in desert environments. Sand being exceptionally hard on tracks and bearings. The original turret having been replaced with another variant built on yet another planet is an example of how modular the basic hull design is.
Wheeled variants loose some off road capabilities but have an edge on roads or hard pack terrain. My favorite is another build from the M248 sector.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Imperial Forward Support Base, somewhere in the Pyhrea Heights, Day 4, second Taros War, just after dawn....
The imperial Guard stands to, as the distant sounds of engines can be heard and movement is detected in the lifeless high desert.
Kroot Trackers and Knarloc riders had moved into position during the bitter Taros night.
As the defenders scan the horizon from behind improvised barricades, a familiar shape rears its head above the skyline - Krootosaur!
With a roar of engines the Kroot advance on Mules. Weaving through the imperial fire, they close in on the compound, pouring in their own rifle fire to suppress the defenders as other Kroot sweep in on foot.
Kroot! Kroot everywhere! The defenders are sent reeling.
Sgt Bastonne battles a Kroot Rider hand to hand, and both fall simultaneously!
A flame troop prepares to sell his life dearly to defend his wounded sgt.
Imperial forces are driven to their final redout inside a fortified container as the Kroot hold the walls - but Col. Helstrom arrives with the speeding cavalry! The Command Sentinel quickly destroys both Mules.
Will it be enough?
Automatically Appended Next Post: We need dust rooster tails for vehicles.
Great battle report photos. I’m loving the blue sky background. The backgrounds to my battles are always chairs, garage walls, beer cans, and other things that spoil the realism. Nice work.
Thanks folks! The backdrop slows play a bit, but and is a bit cluttery, but I really enjoy it. I particularly like the grimness of this battle - rocks, sand, cargo containers, and not much else. Very hard sci fi! Not that it always has to be that way, but it still scratched an itch, so to speak.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I kind of want to do a guide to the vehicles of the 3rd Armored All Terrain Rangers after I finish the report next, inspired by I Walker's Chimera guide.
Also, all credit to Insurgency Walker for the design of the last group of scenarios.
The Master Shaper leads a charge against the last Imperial Holdout - only to be repelled by flamerthrowers. Checks his Ld 10... ...and fails! The unit falls back as the Kroot kill team grits their beaks and prepares to finish the job. They charge the container next, but the retreating kroot ox rider helpfully pivots his mighty kroot gun around as his steed flees... ...and fires.... ...through a firing port.... ...into a prometheum cache. The resulting giant explosion devastates multiple kroot units including the ruthless kill team....
At this juncture, the charging kroot riders manage to pull off a maximum distance charge against one car, which was in the act of nimbly dodging the lumbering Krootasour, only to look up and see a Kroot Rider leaping onto the hood, somehow wrecking it.
The final devastation:
At this juncture the kroot, though having taken at least 75% casualties, had more than the imperial vehicles could reasonably shoot off the objective (though I think they could have forced a draw), and we called it.
The secrets of the Kroot in the Pyhrea heights were safe, for the moment....
Here is some initial thinking on the next scenario:
Skymarshal Vhaine had stormed her share of castles in the sky, but Taros presented some intriguing difficulties. The Tau had prepared well. The original network of ground to space missiles the Imperium had built had been maintained. Space capable flyers operated from concealed bases with good coverage. Dual purpose satellites waited to make suicide ramming attacks. While the battlecruiser that had provided most of the planet’s mobile protection would fall to the Quasimodo ruse, there remained several smaller craft. But above all there loomed Dawnwater’s Edge.
She had carried the asteroid forts of Gnarcia by escalade, dueled with the Guns of Cartos and silenced them, and starved Fallow Core into submission over the course of her long career, but this was something different. It was massive for a start, bristling with advanced technology, the pride of a Sept. Further, the Tau, recognizing that most enemies would want to capture the valuable space elevator, had left much of the station relatively lightly defended, concentrating its defenses into the massive citadel overhanging one quadrant. Awesomely shielded by drawing on the reactors of the entire station, it was also thickly armored. The heavy lance turrets were bad enough, but then there were the Railguns - twin Peacemaker class triple turrets capable of dueling a battleship and likely emerging victorious.
Vhaine had only incomplete data on the station, for Dree had few ways to gain information on the Tau’s orbital infrastructure. None the less, she could see that that Tau had been too clever by half. They had chosen an unusual layout for the peacemaker turrets that forwent the wide firing arc of Dorsal mounts for the ability to engage targets *below* the station. The Tau did not think this an issue since the entire station could rotate to bring the Peacemakers to bear on any target, effectively given them a 720 degree field of fire. But she had a weapon for just this situation, taken from a Xenos wreck drifting in the Argo Cluster - Inertial Limpet Mines. Once attached to a ship, or station, they would steadily increase in effective Mass, slowing the ship, or in this case the station’s ability to rotate. With enough loaded on the Quasimodo she could ensure the station’s railguns’ field of fire could be out maneuvered. This synergized well with her plan of using fast escorts and light cruisers in the initial attack, to take the station by storm before Tau defenses were fully online and before they could evacuate, sabotage or scuttle the station. She carefully laid out the plan for the assault and briefed her captains and allies. There was a series of targets to be captured on the station, and rather than each ship having its own target, given that there would losses and it would be hard to predict who would arrive first, ships would dispatch their boarding parties to whichever target was not yet captured in a strict order.
A plan never survives contact with the enemy intact of course. As her ships swept in she eagerly scrutinized the initial scans, and one thing struck her - and unusual structure adjacent to the Citadel on Dawnwater’s Edge, above one of the secondary hanger bays. Was it a scuttling mechanism or something else? Her instincts told her it might be important, and after hundreds of years she trusted her instincts. The battle plan could not be upset, but she voxed all ships, ordering them to dispatch what forces could be spared to Hanger 12.
As it happened, her instincts were entirely correct, though this would not become apparent until after the battle….
Rough thoughts (still very much WIP):
This will be a simultaneous BFG and 40K game, with turns matched 1 for 1, 15 turns total.
The Imperium will have perhaps 3,000 points in 40K, vs the Tau’s 1,000, but those forces will be carried on the imperial ships, and any on ships that are destroyed will simply be lost. The others will arrive piecemeal as the ships manage to board the station using BFG rules.
To ensure that the iconic units of this battle are well represented, the Gauthi and Breaching Team will have the Sustained Assault (recycling) rule.
Imperial Order of battle will be escorts, heavy escorts (Hull 2-3), and Light Cruisers (Hull 4-7), with perhaps some space marine ships and the Toujours L’Audace. They will have an advantage over the Tau in space forces, particularly in the beginning as the Tau are surprised. Tau will have some ground based missiles and fighters, but these will be hampered by the destruction of Installation 6B.
Tau will have the Station (which will have to rotate in a fixed pattern, since the limpet mines were not wholly successful. This means that the Imperium will have to try to dodge its heavy firepower), a couple escorts, civilian ships, a EW ship, and a Kiff Hakkit class, however the Kiff will disengage early in the battle.
I love the idea of of the simultaneous BFG and 40k games. I also like your idea for the turn length, I always felt the 5-6 turns was so short in 40k, no real time to maneuver.
Nice to see a bunch of Chimera variants. I have one of the old Chapterhouse kits and want to gets some of the Blood and Skulls Industry ones to work with. Do you find them easy to work with?
Yes, very easy. The chapter house kits can have some odd stuff going on as the kit was designed from the Old Chimera kit and you may decide to move some of the cuts on the inside of the chapter house kit a bit which without the right tools can be a pain in the but. The kits I got from chapter house hadn't been finished and/or were prototypes and while some guide marks had been made on the inside he actually hadn't gotten around to making the cuts. The Blood and skulls kits are very easy to work with. I haven't built a lot of his stuff but everything I have gotten has been clean and well cast. Little bits of flash but nothing hard. Forgeworld is a flaming trash heap compared to Blood and skulls, and I like Forgeworld. For example the FW enclosed Basilisk kit I purchased had either gotten hot in transport or was pulled from the mold too soon and the bottom half of the compartment had folded in on itself. The blood and skulls Barmkin kit has a brace at the back to keep it square, with "remove me" or something like that legibly cast on it. Fething genius. The 8 wheeled kit and especially the variant Chimera top are very easy to work with. His variant turrets are gold! Looking forward to building the 6wheel kit this week. I have no idea what I'm doing with it yet.
Automatically Appended Next Post: A smaller sentinel for corridors?
I love the idea of a BFG/40k hybrid game. I have never played BFG but the ships would be such a crucial part of any campaign. The space battles and boarding actions are always tied together in the stories so this should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to seeing it come together.
Having some serious paint adhesion issues with the walker, which probably means I'll have to base it, at least temporarily.
I've reconsidered the scenario somewhat, so my to do list stands as follows:
Finish the write up
Tau Light Cruiser, Frigate, ground bases, fighters. (Fighters optional)
Low orbit board (this will be my desert mat with Taro's sea covering part of it and maybe some very low mountains.
Tau Space Station Board (This is tricky, since I don't want to invest lots of effort in a one off - parts need to be either easy or reusable.)
Rules/Points for Rogue Trader forces
BFG stats for space ships
Painting (Optional really) - Finish Armsmen, Paint 3 Sentinels, Paint Walker Thingy
Seems doable.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Armsmen are "painted enough for tabletop". I'll return to them later when the rest of the scenario is ready. Amazing figures really, deserve more. I'm enjoying piecing together the Rogue Trader forces.
The Riddle of Steel wrote: I love the idea of a BFG/40k hybrid game. I have never played BFG but the ships would be such a crucial part of any campaign. The space battles and boarding actions are always tied together in the stories so this should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to seeing it come together.
I'm a little nervous about getting the pieces to fit together into a fun game. Still I expect it will work out.
Going for low orbit here (kind of inspired by Drop Fleet Compander's "battles over satellite images" thing), but other battles in the Taros or nearby systems will hopefully happen at some point. After all, those poor Tau need to escape from Umia!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Or bomb it flat.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Or worship it. We're kind of unclear, what with all the voices in our heads.
Yup, I figure the Tau are in no position to contest deep space. Plus, there isn't that much space with a 40K board and a BFG board going at the same time. The space station is a beanstalk, so reasonably it should be pretty close to the planet.
Love the idea of owning wrecks for all my vehicles. I should work on that. Those look great and will look even better spilling Mechanicus craziness out of them! Gonna crash the hanger, huh?
kestral wrote: Love the idea of owning wrecks for all my vehicles. I should work on that. Those look great and will look even better spilling Mechanicus craziness out of them! Gonna crash the hanger, huh?
Amusingly, the wreck came FIRST. I got the lander a long time after it, and figured I'd keep going with the theme started with one of my Valkyries. It is very US Coast Guard.
Assault on Dawnwater’s Edge
Overview: As the Imperium descends upon the Rinn’va of Taros, their advance elements race to capture the Tau Fortress of Dawnwater’s edge. The fleet must navigate the tau defenses, balancing need to get onto the station as soon as possible to prevent the Tau from evacuating/sabatoging/scuttling the station with the risk to ground forces and the need to complete objectives in space. In game terms they must get to the station and contest sectors to prevent the Tau from wracking up too great a lead in Victory Points, but also avoid being destroyed piecemeal. The mighty Minotaur Strike Cruiser is a key resource with its speed, durability, payload of deadly space marines, and ground bombardment ability. Its loss would be devastating to the Imperial cause however. The Tau must try to reach the Imperial Transport with their outclassed force of light ships - however they have an ace in the hole - a bushwacking Hakkit class cruiser commanded by Hakkit Korfu, a legend among the Kif. Sadly, Korfu, while willing to fight for pay, is not willing to risk himself, though it would be well worth it for the Imperium to hunt him down to keep him from getting up to his tricks later in the campaign. On board the station the Tau must choose between aggressively hunting down early Imperial arrivals to keep them from contesting and denying them VPs, or conserving their forces.
The battle for the Dawnwaters edge would involve 10s of thousands of points of Warhammer 40K ground troops, however we are showing only the critical fight for the Scuttling Mechanism. The Imperium did not initially realize the importance of this part of the station, and thus only assigned a small force from each ship to the task. Late in the battle both sides pour whatever troops they can into the critical area.
Forces
Imperial
750 points of Minotaurs Space Marines
750 points of Mechanicus
750 points of Rogue Traders (Based Primarily on Codex Witch Hunters). Breaching Team is added to the imperial reserves if it is destroyed earlier in the game.
750 points of Imperial Guard
Tau:
Station Defenders -
1000 points, Codex Tau Empire, no vehicles, no Kroot, may take Kiff and Gauthi auxiliaries, unit of Gauthi may be added to the relief force if it is destroyed earlier in the game.
Station Relief Force (starts entering Turn 7)
750 points of Auxiliaries who have been brought up the Beanstalk.
Fleets - Preset in advance. Spoilered for Length
Spoiler:
Order of Battle, Assault on Dawnwater’s Edge
Minotaurs Space Marines
Strike Cruiser
Carries 750 points of Space Marines.
2 Space Marine Escorts.
Mechanicus
Semper Vultis carrying approximately 250 points of Mechanicus.
Large Transport Cruiser carrying approximately 500 points of Mechanicus.
Rogue Traders
2 Iron Cruisers - count as Dauntless class Light Cruisers.
Each carrying approximately 300 Points of Rogue trader forces.
Toujours L’Audace (Counts as an Infidel raider), carrying approximately 150 points of Rogue Trader Forces.
Escort Carrier
3 Cobras.
Imperial Guard
3 Armed Transports (Heavy Escort Rule), each with approximately 250 points of Imperial guard.
1 Hakkit Cruiser - Counts as a dark eldar Torture class with assault Boats
Special - the Hakkit must attempt to disengage if it takes 2 points of damage.
Large Ag Ship - Counts as Ld 5 fire ship, Heavy Escort rule. Must use a “reload Ordinance” special order to convert to fire ship.
Small Ag Ship - Counts as Ld 5 fire ship. As above.
2 Airfields. Special rule - Due to the loss of Installation 6B, Tau Airfields are Ld. 5.
2 Missile Silos.
These are difficult to knock out unless attacked by ground troops. If they are destroyed, do not remove them unless they were destroyed by boarding or hit and run attacks. Each turn roll a die - on a 5+ they return to action.
4 Kamakaze Satellites - count as Orbital Mines.
Dawnwater’s Edge
The Primary station is largely unarmed and may not be fired on. It must be captured using the Warhammer 40k rules. However, the Citadel is a different matter. It is located on the side of the station and its weapon batteries fire only in the direction it faces. It begins facing towards a random board edge and rotates 90 degrees each turn (the Tau player does not control this - it must turn 90 degrees clockwise at the start of each Tau turn ). Profile:
Defense/6 6+ Armor, 3 Shields, 4 Turrets.
Lances - 45 cm, Front/Right/Left/Rear, strength 4.
Peacemaker Railguns - 60 cm, “Front” Strength 20.
The Citadel may not be boarded using BFG rules, but may have hit and run raids conducted on it.
Game Length: 12 Turns.
Each “turn” consists of one Battle Fleet Gothic turn, and one Warhammer 40K turn. It is likely that the early battle will have little 40K action, and the later battle little BFG action.
Deployment
Tau Station defenders must be deployed anywhere on the station table.
Imperial attack force begins on ships deployed within 30 cm of their table edge
Tau defenses are placed according to the map, but their ships deploy AFTER the imperium (they can see them burning for the planet a ways off), within 75 cm of their table edge.
The Hakkit enters from a long table edge Turn 2.
Reserves
Reserves become available Turn 7. Tau reserves consist of the Auxiliary force - Imperial Reserves consist of all units on ships destroyed in space. Reserves arrive on a 4+ regardless of turn, and each side may roll for up to 3 units of their choice per turn max. Reserves arrive by deepstrike - they are assumed to be riding elevators from lower levels (Tau) or cutting their way in (Imperial).
Imperial Reserves will have been damaged when their ship went down. Roll a die for each model in the unit - on a 1-2 that model is destroyed. They may be actual survivors of wrecks or other troops arriving from other parts of the station.
There are no BFG reserves.
Victory Conditions
Control of each of the three zones of the Station - 1 VP per turn. Control is defined as having an infantry unit in that zone and the enemy having no units of any kind in that zone. Units falling back do not count.
Tau:
Large Agricultural Ship moves off the table: 3 VP Small Agricultural Ship moves off the table: 2 VP Each Imperial Capital Ship destroyed: 3 VP
Imperial
Large Agricultural Ship Captured: 5 VP Small Agricultural Ship Captured: 3 VP Bombarding Tarokeen: Variable, max 10.
Each Tau/Kiff Capital Ship Destroyed: 3 VP
Control of each Zone at the end of the game is worth 3 VP.
Special Rules
Gravity Slingshot
Ships that move off a long table edge are out of play. Ships that move off a short edge may “Slingshot” around the planet. They are removed from the table. Each turn, they may test to use “All ahead full”. If they succeed they are placed on the opposite table edge. They are not yet in “in play” but will move from that spot on their NEXT turn - this represents them approaching on scanners.
Heavy Escort
Given the large role Escorts play in this battle, certain larger craft have the “Heavy Escort” rule. Heavy Escorts have +1 hit (thus 2) and may survive one critical hit, though a second will destroy them. They are considered Crippled when they have taken one point of damage. This upgrade is valued at 15 points.
Bombarding Tarrokeen. To score a victory point for Bombing Tarrokeen, the Imperium must have capital ships within 10 cm the city that do not fire on any other target, or use any special order other than “burn Retros” The strike cruiser scores 2 VP a turn this way, Semper Vultis scores 1, any other two capital ships score 1 together. The Imperium can also choose to fire torpedos or launch bombers at Tarokeen. If ordinance passes over Tarokeen it may attack. Remove the ordinance, score 1 VP per 4 torps or 2 bombers.
Boarding the Station
No more than two imperial ships may board the station each turn. Boarding the station requires either:
Being within 10 cm of the station and executing a “Burn Retros” order successfully. The ship is placed in contact with the station retaining its facing. This is the fast and exciting method. If the check fails, the ship moves on by.
Moving at exactly 1/2 speed for one turn, then move into contact with the station with a move of 1/2 speed or less. The safer way of doing things.
Warhammer 40K units embarked on the ships move onto the station in the next Warhammer 40K turn from one of the long table edges. Flyers may only move onto the “hanger” end.
Tau units may not move on the station board until Imperial Units arrive on the station Table.
Doorway Overwatch
A unit on the station board may “set Doorway Overwatch” by nominating a “doorway” (opening 6” wide or less” within line of sight if they do not move or fire in their turn. The unit may fire at any unit that becomes visible through that opening, interrupting the normal turn sequence.
Nowhere to run.
Units on the station table may not move off of it and fall back away from the nearest enemy unit. They also may regroup at less than half strength, but at -2 LD. They may, however, use the unmodified leadership of any independent character within 12”.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oops, forgot infiltrate and deepstrike. Tau may not deep strike. Imperials may, if thematically appropriate. That mostly means terminators, can't think of anyone else. Tau may not infiltrate. Imperial infiltrators get an extra D6 inches of movement on their first turn if they enter in Zone C, because they manage to sneak in a little further before the Tau catch them.
Working on a codex, Rogue Trader. I walker will no doubt add to it and is doing some of the units, but here's what I have that might work:
Rogue Trader Forces, Taros Campaign
Selected from mostly from Codex Witch Hunters and Codex Eye of Terror - the Lost and the Damned except as noted.
HQ Rogue Trader
Inquisitor lord, but is an independent character and does not have to buy a retinue.
Officer - counts as Inquisitor
0-2 Petty officers (Count as Priests). May join only troop units.
Elite
Armsmen
WS 3, BS 4, S3, T3, W2, A2, I3, Ld 8. Equipped with Master Crafted Lasgun, Master Crafted Laspistol, Frag, Krak, Carapace. May use one Imperial Guard Order each turn automatically.
Unit of 5 costs 80 points.
Special Rules:
Go Take Care of it. One model may become an independent character of at the start of any turn. Only one model may use this rule at a time, though if the first one dies another may be sent. Dogs and Hospitlars may not use this rule.
Options:
One Model may carry an assault cannon for +15 Points.
May add a Dog (WS 4, BS 1, S3, T3, W1, A1, I4, Ld 7 for 5 points).
May take a Sister Hopitlar for 25 points. Counts a Chiurgen, except that she wears power armor and allows the unit, not a specific character, to ignore a single wound that does not cause instant death.
Away team.
Counts as an inquisitional retinue.
Voidwalkers (5-10 Models, 8 points each)
Imperial Guard statline. Equiped with bolters, or laspistol and cc weapon, wearing Hostile Environment Armor (5+ save, save is invulnerable and rerollable vs template and blast weapons).
One model may take a Rock Drill (counts as an Eviscerator) at +20 points.
May add 0-2 Void Ogryn (Count as a Big Mutant, single CC weapon, Hostile Environment Armor) at 25 points each.
Special Rule:
Deepstrike
Valkeree
Imperial Guard Veteran Statline, Armed with Inferno Pistols and refractor fields (5+ invulnerable save). 10 points each.
Troops
Crew - Count as Traitors but may not infiltrate and cost 5 points per model.
Boarding Phalanx. Ws 2, BS 2, Ld 6. Equipted with Slab Shields (confer a 4+ armor save, but reduces assault distance to 3”) and a single close combat weapon. Cost 5 points per model.
Breaching Team
Mutant Slaves and overseer. Count as Gretchen and Slaver from Codex Orks, but they are T3 and do not have guns, just a single close combat weapon.
Fast Attack
Murder Servitors - Count as Arcoflagellents.
Beast Packs - Count as Chaos Hounds.
Znutar Class Jump Shuttle.
The Znutar is a fast skimmer that carries 10 models, has one access point, armor 12-12-11, and a forcefield that provides a 4+ invulnerable save to itself and any unit (friend or foe) with at least half its models within 3” of the hull, against shooting only. Costs 70 points, unarmed.
Heavy Support
Chalmers Assault Strider
VoidRaven Shuttle
Servitors. Chosen from Codex, Imperial Guard. They do NOT have to be accompanied by a tech priest (although they may) and do not suffer from Mindlock.
Somewhere on Taros.....Col Helstrom eats a sandwich while sitting on the fender of his command car 'Grief'.
His staff, consisting of one SSgt Morris monitored communications from the vehicles electronic suite.
"Sir, we have a report coming in from Sgt Cromwell, It sounds like he has Intel on what was causing all the Tau chatter in the heights"
Helstrom looked at his sandwich quizzicality before speaking.
"Crom? Alpha companies 2nd Platoons tank ace? What's he doing planet side? Tank crews were not supposed to be volunteered."
"His report indicated he made contact with the traders forces and helped free some troopers before recovering, a Warhound Titan."
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Automatically Appended Next Post: "That makes no sense, recovered a Warhound? Did this report contain proper comm codes?" Helstrom asked while waging a personal war with the tough stale bread of his sandwich.
"Apparently Crom stumbled upon the titans crew that had deployed separately from the Titan? Spent a few hours in a makeshift Tau prison camp too?
I'll pass your praise on to the person who built it. I didn't even know he had the thing. It was a long few days in real life with the power being out for days. I knew these crazy Rogue Traders were all focused on recovery of some important secret cargo thing but was distracted fiddling with putting miniatures away that had fallen in battle turned around and WHAM. See the war hound standing out side the building.
As a side note, Kestral has discovered a great way to rope in friends who don't play much anymore. He had been painting the RT forces with the yellow and black coat of arms from the Warhounds players army. Lol.
I find the key to getting older players 'back into the game' is to provide quality scenarios and warm, welcoming environments. The exact opposite of a tournament, yanno?
Really I just noticed that there was a lot of "black, yellow, red" stuff piling up, so I painted more, on the idea that it might turn into an interesting army, albiet spread among three people.
One thing that impressed me about the armorcast warhound was how great it was as a playing piece. Unlike a lot of wobbly, fragile, hard to position titans (mine included) it caused no problem on the table at all. Apparently it is bolted together.
In the meantime, Dawnwater station is starting to take shape, It is a really hard table to execute, given that I don't have much tau stuff, you can't use sand, it needs lots of terrain, and it should have both round and linear elements in the usual tau style. This is a very rough beginning.
Why the tau put their Agricultural display area overlooking a critical hanger is something of a mystery, but it does mean that part of the battle will take place in a... ....TRACTOR DOME!!!!!!
I'll be jazzing it up with printouts of tau symbols, window, etc.
Thanks! I try not to buy smoke alarms based on how I think they'll eventually look as terrain, but I must admit I think about it. : )
Getting my army lists done this weekend -
Tau Defenders will be Codex Tau Empire, no vehicles, no Kroot, no Vespid, plus Kiff and Gauthi
Relief force will be Codex Imperial Guard (the edition before the one I-Walker uses, it doesn't have orders and is more basic, which seems appropriate), with a few units from Codex Catachans (which is what my IG were originally based on), plus the Gu'vessa human auxiliaries. Obviously it is not a jungle, so they won't benefit from those rules, but they are good close range fighters so I think it will work OK.
Briancj wrote: I was thinking of scenarios, and the lack of Tau air transport kinda sucks.
Well the Barracuda could help with that however one of anything ( I know this well ) tends to just become a big target however the Barracuda rules for 7th Ed and previous editions are crazy good. It also seems like the Tau skimmers can operate at altitude, much like how Waveserpents can technically break orbit but isn't a flyer.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
gobert wrote: Definitely hoping for beard/chest hair!
The Gauthi look cool, though I thought they were from a galaxy far far away... maybe they’re what the Tyranids are running away from?
Well as I said, it is a sexy kit.....
It's like a flap jack though.
First I've finished cool yet very strange tau guy.
Next a Tau Ceremonial thing. Currently displaying a hologram of Shas'bo Lo'Mash, Road warden of the Pyrehia Heights, treacherously slain by Imperial crash survivors as he sought to render them aid. Alas for Lo'Mash!
Though some say his "individuality" was never popular with the high command...
And a... uh... tau water cooler? Pill bottle + transfers = instant tau terrain!
Sentinels. These were the funnest things I've painted in a while. Very satisfying.
The Armsmen. Wonderful figures. So many interesting details. I wish I'd started from a white base coat, but the chance to take advantage of the base red plastic was too tempting. : (
Automatically Appended Next Post: All Insurgency's models, except the terrain of course.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I-Walker and I got together to play some battle fleet gothic so we wouldn't embarrass ourself before the mighty Admiral Brian CJ next week. Knowing our ships and maybe some of the rules couldn't hurt. : ) The scenarios were set in the run up to the invasion and used mostly ships appearing in the space station assault.
Scorpion Nebula, T-28 Days. Tasked with neutralizing a Tau listening post to allow the fleet to get closer before detection, the Toujours L'Audace (Counts as Indolator - that's a change in the Order of Battle) and Bonhomme Deth O'Kay (Escort Carrier) hunt a Tau Messenger. Even if all they can do is drive it off, they will likely be passed off as simple pirates.
Their plan suffers a bit of bad luck - a Tau destroyer charged with delivering supplies arrives at the same moment. The two forces hunt each other through the clouds, each striving to deal a lethal blow. Bombers prove ineffective, but the tau can't seem to get a decisive hit.
Captain Jean Dan'gebwae finally destroys the Tau destroyer in a boarding action and the messenger is hunted down. Victory for the Imperium - the armada begins to slip through the nebula.
Thoughts: My Blast markers are nice, but a bit too large and too garish (I was going for "blossoms of fire"), so I think I will make some smaller more yellow ones to fill out the bulk of what's needed. Escorts have trouble killing other escorts it seems.
T-18 Days. The Scorpion Nebula was not, as it turned out, completely undefended. The kiff Hakkit Gouge was using it as a hunting ground, lured by generous Tau bounties for verified kills on imperial ships. Picking his moment he stalked advance elements of the Imperial fleet, the Armed transports Hostile, Hotspur, Hellion and Helios, escorted by cruisers Inflexible and Intolerable, the cobra squadron Grey Company, and the Bonhomme Deth'O'kay.
Hakkit (which translates in Kiff as "Master and God") Gouge launched assault boats, evading the imperium's exploratory torpedo salvos trying to flush him from the clouds with ease. His Kiff boarders blew the locks, swarmed aboard in a frothing horde of vampyric weasels and detonated the Hostile's drives almost before the crew could react. The 25th Diving Eagles companies would take no part in the second Taros war.
Emboldened, Gouge lunged from the cover of the denser dust clouds, pausing only to re-arm his Rider Boats. He tore through the center of the imperial fleet, destroying two Cobras with boarding attacks and damaging Intolerable before vanishing into the clouds again.
Turning almost leisurely after the Hotspur, he grapples the fleeing transport under cover of the clouds. All the convoy can do is flee at top speed and listen for the detonation of the ship... ...but this time the kiff are met by hastily armed and mustered Imperial guard veterans who not only repel the attack but counter attack onto the Hakkit Gouge (Kiff ships have no name but that of their captain), damaging it and causing the Hakkitt to reconsider and flee the battlefield in the usual Kiff fashion!
Victory to the Imperium! The battle could have changed the path of the invasion - except that Gouge didn't report what he'd learned until he negotiated more money.... ....just as the Quasimodo rammed its target and it was too late.
Thoughts: Ok, Dark Eldar (what the kiff count as) are pretty bad ass, though obviously you need to be super careful, and it probably helps to have nebulas to hide in. Boarding is super risky, and that +1 to the enemy from special orders hurts. Fighters have a really hard time intercepting anything at close range. The extra speed on the Armed Transports is REALLY helpful.
I would call the Tau with all the add-on bits their version of the trading cast (was that the Water Cast?).
Pill bottle + transfers = instant tau terrain...for the table top I hope it has sand inside it for weight or it will be knocked over and rolling away with a single errant dice.
Water caste is a good call - although he is carrying a pile of guns... ...to sell? The water caste are shown with round hats, so that fits.
We played one more game - an episode where, at some point in the past, Orks attempted to storm the defense of Taros. The tau defenses were not handicaped as they will be in the big game, but it was pretty ugly. Two ork cruisers, a frigate, a ramship, and two heavy transports were destroyed without ever getting anywhere near the station, at the cost of a tau light cruiser and an escort. The Manta waves were brutal, though it was mostly the escorts getting behind the orks that really walloped them. Plus the Peacemaker Railguns of course.
Tons of great, creative stuff on here, as always. And an impressive level of output. This is one of my favorite projects on here because of the throwback to the Taros campaign, the old rules, the eclectic mix of models, the terrain, battle reports, unique scenarios. It’s all here. And it feels fun and spontaneous. Great hobby inspiration.
Glad you're enjoying it! It does sometimes feel like living the dream, miniatures wise. A dream that involves a lot of work of course, but that is kind of like "real" life. I'm looking forward to easing back a little, since a complicated scenario and getting up to speed on Battle Fleet Gothic have taxed me, I must admit.
I'm a little bit in mixed mind on these. I've been working towards these games for months, years if you count the general concept, and now that I'm done I'm sad that I wasn't able to do some of the details and pull off some of the things I wanted to. On the other hand, these are most likely one offs, never to be used again, so I limited the time I would put into them for sanity's sake.
Automatically Appended Next Post: In particularly, I wasn't able to capture the geography of Taros as closely as I wanted, which was kind of the whole point, especially since Brian has an amazing desert planet map, which I hope to play on some day. I screwed up the scale on the oceans, but it *REALLY* doesn't make sense to go back and fix it.
The space station also isn't quite what I was hoping for. : ( Didn't finish enough MFD walls and details to really pull that off.
This has become my new favorite model. All of its weapons and most importantly landing gear are magnetizable. It bugs me that often it's a choice of gear up or gear down on a kit. Awsome from a role playing perspective. Downside? How the heck does the pilot fit in that squished pancake hull. It's like an F1 race car. Tight fit.
The camo dudes are Kif from an english company. They are a little small, nominally 25mm, but I figure alien fighters can be small. The station uses parts from a couple different terrain sets and some cardboard/posterboard I've reused or thrown away.
Good to see this project is still as original and cinematic as ever! The Privateer rider is really interesting. And the fleet battle over the continent looks awesome with the lakes and the wisps of cloud. I can always count on getting some inspiration when I visit.
Here is the complete report for the Battle of Dawnwater's Edge:
The Tau Defenders brace for the attack, imperial forces muster. Inside the space station the Tau deploy near the central zone with good lines of fire to the imperial entry points. The most capable defenders, the broadsides, are deployed to the hanger due to the better lines of sight and the large number of fliers expected.
Sniper Drones - always wanted these, so I made them out of regular drones and bits of flying base. They are commanded by a stealth suit with no jump pack, which seemed like a reasonable stand in. I could see the Rinn Va using surplus older suits that way.
Aun' Mord Rinn's hologram inspires the troops.
Minotaurs and Admech
Euclidean Starstriders and their Swank Chrome Rides.
Kiff lurk out of line of sight from the hanger.
Above the planet, the fleets collide. Startstriders advanced in the north, Minotaurs in the south. The Imperium moved in cautiously, destroying everything in their path, but allowing the Tau to rack up victory points steadily. The space marines wiped out the ground installations as they encountered them. The Tau mostly were only able to delay the imperium, with two notable exceptions. Hakkit Gauge lunged in from the south pole, and was able to break through the Admech escorts and destroy their heavy transport, forcing 500 points of admech to take to their shuttles. He was eventually driven off by space marine escorts. Ground based Tau Mantas were able to break through and destroy an imperial transport over Tarrokeen. The heaviest Tau ship, the merchant Red Cloud, attempted an orbital slingshot to outflank the imperium, but was too slow to do much, and ran into the same escorts who had driven off Gouge, and was quickly forced to disengage. The Defender escorts did a good job slinging missiles across the board until they ran out of ordinance.
Still, at this point the Tau were well ahead on points despite their losses in space, having giving up almost no VPs and racked up a number. The Imperium needed to close in with the station, and was forced to take chances.
The Strike cruiser closed in on the rotating space station and was forced to take a hit from the massive railguns, which crippled her and damaged her engines. None the less, the combined fire of the Imperial forces knocked down the shields on the station, allowing terminators to get aboard and stop the hemorrhage of VPs! One squad teleported into the Tractor dome where they ran into non other than Station Commander Vre. They would be destroyed in a furious fire fight, but not before denying the Tau crucial VPs.
The other squad attacked the hanger and were able to make use of the Tau bunker to surive the game with some fancy footwork (and apparent inability of the Tau Broadsides to kill their own fortification!)
First to get aboard the station for the Rogue Traders was Jean-Dan Gbwe of the Toujours L'Audace, who had, as usual, managed to come through the battle unscathed somehow slipped through to dock.
Ogryn Getting the job done.... They were the first Imperial Guard on board, and despite being pinned by sniper drones, shot up, and occasionally assaulted, they advanced into the heart of the station.
Doom on swift wings for our valiant defenders.... The Admech from the destroyed transport arrived before most of the Minotaurs, which is a quirk of the scenario that should probably be fixed.
The heroic station commander, on fire but still fighting! He managed to clear the central dome to pick up a VP, but this was the high water mark for the Tau, the last VP they would score. Despite Auxiliaries riding the beanstalk and being flung into the battle, the Imperial forces were too numerous and too good at fighting in close quarters for the Tau. The Imperium turned the Semper Vultis around and began to bombard Tarokeen picking up more VPs. The Tau had nothing left in space to fight them and could only fight for each sector and try to stay alive to contest and hold onto their VP lead. The broadsides would repulse multiple assaults and hold their position until... ...well, you can see the picture. : ) A bizzare fight for the command center would eventually involve a sentil, growlers, firewarriors and Minotaurs - who would eventually sweep the area clean. The Tau had been using it as a central fire point, though not with much effect.
Auxiliaries storm out of the agricultural dome loading hatch to try to save the heroic Shas'o!
Human and tau fighting together to the bitter end for the greater good! Or just hiding in a broom closet to contest, depending on your perspective....
In the end, the Imperium edged out the Tau by a handful of VPs, capturing the fortress!
Final Thoughts: Well, that was certainly a thing! Thanks to the guys for playing this crazy scenario. It all worked out well and was a humdinger of a battle.
Tactically, I should have used the gravity slingshot to try to preserve a few tau ships for the late game. A fewer, heavier hitting units might have served me better in the station compared to the many small units I went with, but it is hard to say.
Design wise I'm not sure about the "kinder, gentler" version of the scenario I went with where units on destroyed ships could go into reserves. If I had it to do over, I'd probably have units on destroyed ships take some damage, and instead of Tau getting deepstriking reinforcements have them enter through hatches (Brain's suggestion). I'd also put some or all of the Tau reinforcements on ships that entered late in the game, to keep the BFG action going. For a shorter, tighter game I think it would have worked fine for the Tau to have no reinforcements at all and Imperial units on destroyed ships to be simply lost. I also wouldn't start the VP accumulation for tau until a bit later, say turn 3 if playing under those rules.
Yeah, Warhammer just somehow pushes all the right buttons. Of course, having great people to play with/against really helps!
Here is some fluff for the next battle, hosted by Brian on Umia.... (This is a prequel, but should finish up the prequels and bring the storyline up to date). It is going to have some epic miniatures dreams realized.....
Shas’o Rymr blasted some sort of scuttling mechanical thing with his fusion blaster, then put two missiles through the door behind it for good measure. Distantly he could hear someone shouting.
Was it him? He was in a fugue state, his mind twisting in knots, the past death of his Etherial on Taros twinning with his present battling the Imperium and Mechanicus on the red planet of Umia. All that really mattered was the thing he had found within their fortress - the thing he kept clutched in his suit’s off hand as he fought.
He was shouting, shouting for carnage, but some else was too, calling over the command channel.
“Shas’o!” It was one of his underlings, Shas’el Yinvre. “Shas, the support party is cut off from the shuttle!”
Reluctantly he let go of the battle joy and and looked at Yinvre’s suit.
“We must leave them. We are needed on Taros. What I have found is needed on Taros.”
“Shas’o! That thing - it is Warp Tech. You know it is forbidden!”
“You are young, Yinvre, and the Greater Good is still a pure white light to you. To me it is a spectrum, the white light divided. Do you know why the Guela rule half the Galaxy despite the cruelty of their oppression, despite the lunacy of their technology, despite the lives of billions they throw away?”
Yinvre said nothing, simply staring at the commander’s blood spattered blue suit, draped with kroot fetishes and feather banners.
“Long have I pondered this. It is not in spite of their madness that they prosper, but because of it. We must become like them, and I will show the Rinn Va how to prosper in a universe more insane then we ever imagined. Your sept will unveil a new way to all the Tau through your victory on Taros.”
“Taros is at peace!”
“No longer. I go. Choose your path - join with me, or stay, fight, live or die. The thread of your life is yours to follow.”
“I will not abandon our own. And I will not die - Aun Mord Rinn must know of this!”
“Aun Mor knows more of this than you can imagine I suspect. Still, I wish you fortune.” Shas’o Ry’mr turned and leapt into the sky.
Two tank forces take advantage of a storm front to avoid enemy air attack when they collide. Both are under orders to move full speed to their objective, resulting in an unexpected armored clash.
Rules
Dust Storm:
All weapon ranges are halved for all purposes, including melta rules, etc.
Fast skimmers/flyers may not be used.
Any unit outside a vehicle moves and assaults a D6 inches.
Walkers move and assault as if as in difficult terrain.
Exploded Vehicles are left in play.
Forces
Initial Clash - 3000 Points a side.
Tau (Kestral) will be reinforced by the Valarian 4th Armored All Terrain Rangers who have turned traitor!
Imperial Guard (Insurgency Walker) will be allied with whatever Brian wants to bring (1500 points each).
Heavy support is doubled to 0-6, otherwise standard Force Org.
All infantry must be deployed in a transport.
The Night After
(Night Fighting in effect)
Infantry units remaining on the table + Immobilized Vehicles from the previous battle.
In addition each side has 4 Heroic Tank Crews (2 FW with Pulse Carbines, 3 IG with Lasguns, or 3 Ig laspistol and close combat weapon)
500 point recovery force (Fluffy, list to approved by I-Walker in advance)
Table
Open desert with some sand dunes and a few rocks.
4x8.
Deployment
Each side deploys within 36” of their table edge. However, deployment is divided into 6 zones, each 24” x 24”. Players secretly alocate their units to these deployment zones before the battle. Each zone must have at least one unit deployed in it, no zone may have three units deployed in it until all zones have two units in them.
No reserves, No Outflank, No Deepstrike, no reserves, no special deployment rules, Scout move only.
Roll off. The winner MUST deploy first, but will have first turn, no seizing the initiative.
Game Length - 10 Turns + Random Game Length
Victory Conditions -
Units moved off the opponents table edge earn VPs equal to the value of the unit.
Mobile vehicles still on the table at the end of the game and infantry that have a transport (does NOT have to be their dedicated transport, any transport counts for this purpose) score half VPs. Mobile Vehicles and walkers from the last game have gone on to their objective and are not left on the table.
Game Two.
Steel Rats.
Same Table, Vehicle wrecks are left in place. Immobilized vehicles are left in place. Infantry left behind are deployed alternately (high roller deploys first), using the infiltrate rules, though this is not Infiltrate for an other purpose. (12” out of sight, 18” in sight). High roll deploys unit first.
500 point force plus heroic tank crews are deployed within 12” of a random LONG table edge.
As per previous battle, only scout moves, no other special deployment abilities. Set up first, deploy first, no seizing the initiative.
Immobilized vehicles are abandoned, but can be reactivated by heroic Tank Crew, who must embark into them. It is still immobilized.
Heroic Tank crew are treated as independent characters though they must remain with the rest of their crew.
Any recovery vehicle can tow any vehicle. Each side chooses 3 vehicle wrecks not within 12” of any table edge or other objective (if possible). Enemy vehicles must be chosen first, but a wreck from either side can be an objective.
Victory Points:
1 VP per objective controlled by any unit, 2 VP per objective vehicle towed off the table or in own deployment zone.
The Greater Good Needs that Train! So does the Inquistion, so they forge an uneasy alliance to escape off world and reveal the taint of chaos in Shas'o Rymr and the Mechanicus. The trainworkers and local arbites object.
If they can eliminate the defenders, the alliance can steal additional train cars, like this laser defense car!
Uh Oh... Powerloaders!
Shas'el Yin'vre advances with ablative drones - my new favorite combo.
Powerloaders wreck the rhino - while firewarriors bravely fight hand to hand allowing the imperials to escape.
Yin'vre takes out the enemy Arbites Rhino. How do we tell these Gue'la traffic officers apart?
The firewarriors keep the Loaders busy.
Drones Pin the Arbites.
Yin'vre fires a parting shot and ejects from the suit and hops into the Locomotive, with the inquisitor riding on the fender on the last turn.
They have the train (though no extra cars) but can they make it across... ...a Bridge Too far?
With the train running full speed down the tracks, Tau and Inquisitional forces try to clear a bridge so they can make their escape to an orbital shuttle. Arrayed against them is a mass of light and heavy mortars, backed by a Deathstrike Missile!
The objective is a control house that will lower the bridge.
Pathfinders occupy a building with good lines of sight to the battle.
Pirhanna makes a suicide run on the Deathstrike. Alas, too late! The fearsome missile fires on turn 2, vaporizing a large chunk of inquisitional armor. It was nice to see a Deathstrike actually work for once, even if it meant that the allies lost much of their firepower.
Devilfish charge the objective, desperately trying to get there before turn 5. It was, indeed a bridge very far!
Kroot Outflank to attack the mortars, hoping to roll up the flank - but they are too well defended. Not pictured - the Stealth team that tried the same thing, accidentally wiped out the unit they needed to assault by hitting and wounding with every single shot, then died.
Counts as Al Raheem shows up and assaults the Allied fire position, leading to a 3 turn melee with the Tau commander in the building. Alas, he can't quite hold out long enough. Kind of a theme for Tau commanders on Taros.
Firewarriors and Drones from destroyed devil fish have made it to the objective.
An accursed Psyker battle squad sends the Kroot running with their mind tricks! Or holy prayers, you decide.
To be continued....
Automatically Appended Next Post:
With a blast of steam and a squealing of steel, the train hurtles onto the board - but with a roar of turbines, so do the Vendettas!
The Engine is blown to bits!
A few valiant Tau manage to make it to the objective through the deluge of guard ordinance, but have no chance against the massed imperial/traitor forces. The inquisition fights valiantly to reveal the treachery on Umia, but to no avail, and they die at the side of the Xenos - a strange fate! It was, indeed, a bridge too far. Very thematic, lots of fun, great table - and AMAZING train.
This was a Triple header, so we followed up with a Battle Fleet Gothic Game - in which the tainted Shas'o R'myr aboard the Custodian class 'Thunderchild" ran the imperial blockade on Umia, completing his escape - and destroying the Inquisitional Cruiser to boot. No warning of Chaos' vile plans will reach either the Imperium or Tau on Taros. This neatly wraps up the "Prequel" games, and nicely sets the stage for the story. It also brings us up to date chronologically.
Those Rogue Tank Destroyer crew models look excellent. And that is quite an epic battle report. I love the unique and flavorful scenarios you guys come up with, and making good use of the concept of linked games across systems and rule sets. Good inspiration for own campaign.
I would really like a construction battalion army personally. I need to make some Tau tank recovery gear, and I am kind of at a loss (and also running out of time). I may just declare as I Walker suggested that the Tau just use swarms of drones to life their wrecked tanks.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Stormtroopers - painted with a light grey spray primer, nuln oil, followed by Space Wolf Grey and Nazdreg yellow contrast on some areas. The facemask is 2 layers of gloss nuln oil over the grey.
I really enjoyed these figures. I wish they'd made more variations, or done them in plastic. They have a unique, cool style in the 40K line that I really like.
What started out as a complex maneuver under the cover of inclement weather turned into a brutal knife fight between the opposing armies during a storm that became known as the second battle of the Iracunda Isthmus
Automatically Appended Next Post: During the first battle the Titans of Mars overwhelmed the Tau defense.
During the second, it was the heavy tanks of the 114th Guard Regiment.
Laser Destroyer looks great and that light-up hatch is a really nice touch! You need to get some in-game pictures with night fighting where you darken the room and use the lights on the tanks for some epic battle photos.
I'm bummed that FW dropped the kit. That one hadn't properly cured so sat in my basement for a few years. Kestral is hoping to do some photoshopping on the pictures he took to get a sand storm look so a battle report with photos could be a ways off. Night fight with low light, good idea. Kestral has some light up smoke effects for wreckage, it would be very atmospheric. Alas, these last two scenario took place at a game store where reducing the lightning would have been disruptive to others. Still it's bucket list item.
Anyway, here's the best of the rest of the pics....
Automatically Appended Next Post: And a few more without effects.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Automatically Appended Next Post: Quick Summary of the Mayhem....
With the fortress and beanstalk of Dawnwater's edge firmly in their possession, the Imperium moved swiftly to begin the invasion in earnest. Heavy armored units moved down the cable from orbit, brushing aside early Tau attempts at resistance and closing on Tarokeen. The Rinn'va attempted to borrow from the tactics of the first Taros war, engaging in hit and run attacks and trying to exploit the superiority of the Railgun over the battle cannon in long ranged armored clashes. However, much was different this time around. The Imperium was better prepared, and largely enjoyed air superiority. The Rinn'va were not as well equipped as the original defenders of Taros, who had been front line Tau military. In addition, the Imperium order of battle included a company of Shadowsword super heavy tanks for which the Tau had no good answers. These behemoths turned the tide of any long ranged engagement in which they appeared.
There were two bright spots for the Tau - first, the Imperium had not captured Dawnwater's edge intact, and thus lost access to its formidable planetary bombardment capability which would have rendered hundreds of kiloms of the surface uninhabitable for the tau. Second, the Rinn'va's efforts to integrate other species into their vision paid off, as Laura Montaign, the "Human Etherial" convinced the entire 3rd Valarian Armored All Terrain Rangers to defect. Including the Valarians had been a questionable choice from the onset, but every armored regiment that could found was needed, and thus they had embarked to Taros... ...to the Imperium's cost.
The most notable engagement of the first phase of the ground war occurred in the deep desert. A massive dust storm descended, leaving both sides blind. In an effort to seize an advantage and avoid air attack, both sides sent columns on flanking maneuvers - which then collided.
The carnage was enormous. A tau mechanized DemiCadre and a Valarian reinforced armored platoon encountered two shadowswords and an imperial armored company. Both sides engaged at point blank range while trying to break through according to their original orders, leaving the field littered with destroyed vehicles. Tanks rammed, infantry scrambled through the dust attempting to plant grenades on enemy armor. In the center the shadowswords blasted any target that appeared supported by their Trojan vehicles, while conquerers, chimeras and devildogs clashed on the flanks. One side resulted in so much wreckage that some vehicles were hemmed in unable to move amid the burning tanks of both sides. The Valarian Basilisk "Ferra Domina" survived the battle and caused notable damage to the Imperium. Tau disruption fields provided critical protection against the heavier Imperial firepower, but in the end it was not enough and the Imperium won the day.
The Imperium was victorious in that it suffered lower losses, but several Valarian vehicles did manage to break through, including the "Lucky 13", one of their few Leman Russ tanks. Lucky Thirteen would go on to shoot up the Imperial rear areas, though the damage done did not outweigh the loss of the entire DemiCadre and most of the Valarian infantry.
That night both sides sent out recovery forces - the Imperium fielding Atlas recovery vehicles and powerloader sentinels supported by the surviving tank crews and infantry. The Tau fielded an eclectic mix of Valarian Mechanics, Night fighting optimized crisis suits, Void Ogryn auxiliaries and a vehicle never seen before - the Flatworm drone carrier which provided highly effective at locating and recovering prized hammerheads with functional railguns. Both sides fought with ingenuity and tenacity, sentinels seeking out targets, tank crews taking control of semi functional vehicles (sometimes those of the enemy), and mechanics making hurried repairs under fire.
Although the Imperium had narrowly won the day, the Tau were somewhat more effective at night, recovering more of their hulls than the Imperium.
Still, the Imperial Onslaught drove on towards Tarokeen, though its strength in armored units dwindled as the drive continued.
After action report. Knight Commander Katya Georgena 3rd Platoon 4/495th Armored. The worse than expected weather did its job of providing cover from air attack with the added benefit of successfully countering all auspex beyond a few hundred meters. Our detachment rendezvoused with two Shadowswords from the 114th Guard regiment and escorting elements of the 123rd reconnaissance. The area of our action had been scouted but transit routes were not secured as per SOP. At 1417 hours we engaged Tau forces with accompanying PDF troops. The Tau preformed as expected during the day battle as did the accompanying human auxiliaries. The Shadowswords were particularly effective against the Tau grav tanks as expected. The close range combat took a heavy toll on both sides. My own platoon deployed as a duo, being one track short. During the short engagement we lost our second Destroyer to a fire in the main guns capacitors, per SOB the crew abandoned the tank, "Thunderbolt". That evening my platoon returned on foot to aid the 114th Guard in the recovery of damaged vehicles. During the recovery attempt we noticed that the vehicles we engaged were not local Auxiliaries but troops from the XXXXXXXXXX. During the fight we encountered new Tau recovery equipment in the form of some sort of drone powered lifting framework. The XXXXXXXXX employed some overly large labor mutant of questionable origin.
Knight Commander Katya Georgena, exhausted from little sleep over three days of combat operations, approached the regimental command bunker. She paused out side and watched as staff officers exited. The 3rd Valarian Armored having turned traitor and joining with the Tau has sent shocks through the senior staff and most everyone was moving with a sense of urgency. The camps mood was grim and tense. She quickly spotted her quarry; wool field cap, ornate cuirass, plasma pistol, power sword, unlit cigar.
"Col Helstrom?"
The Colonel turned to face the young tank commander.
"Knight Commander Georgena of the 495th, good to meet you in person, did any of the Thunderbolts crew survive?"
Katya was used to being recognized, it's not like she didn't have her name on her uniform or unit insignia but was surprised that an officer who was not in her chain of command would know the name given to a vehicle by its crew in her platoon.
"You must have read the after action report in detail. Sgt Oster and crew survived the first battle but all three were lost the next evening during the recovery efforts"
"The crew of the Thunderbolt were good soldiers, they well be missed."
After a pause he continued
"I didn't just read it. I tend to closely monitor hot spots when my regiment is engaged via available comms. Your team generated a lot of useful chatter during the fight. You passed on the kind of information we need up the chain. You have a good mind for the larger battle. Clearly you earned your knighthood. So, why have you hunted me down?"
"How much of my personnel file have you read?" Suddenly, she wondered if she had chosen the right person to approach with her concerns.
"None, but I think I should perhaps remedy that, I could be working for you someday, let's walk and talk" Col Helstrom turned and started walking briskly towards the motor pool and his staff car Greif. "I could use a sandwich, want one?"
Together, sitting on a sand bank under the cover of a camouflage canopy, they ate sandwiches of dry bread and partially rehydrated porcuswine.
Katya began "There is a classified part of my file that covers my previous units assignment. I was part of a garrison on Umia. Two Inquisition agents, Inquisitor Westwind and Inquisitor Sonfra arrived on Umia and discovered the Tau and Mechanicus involved in some sort of trade. Furthermore potential radical elements of the Inquisition were also present with the Mechanicus. My tank platoon was taped by the Inquisition to provide fire support. My platoon was assigned an Arbites squad for support and then it was classic hurry up and wait. We weren't at the first engagement where the Tau and their Kroot allies defeated Westwind. However, when Inquisitor Faith Sonfra returned she and the Tau warriors that were with her believed that the Tau commander had been corrupted. Apparently the Tau Commander had directed fire on some of his own troops and abandoned them on Umia. Sonfra also believed that the Mechanicus couldn't be trusted, although she wasn't sure if she and Westwind had stumbled on to what she called a poison pill operation or if the corruption started from something that was discovered in the excavations that the local Magos had been directing. My platoon became involved in an attempted escape from the planet. It went poorly. I and two of my crew were the only survivors of my platoon after a Deathmissle strike. We might have faced a firing squad but an Arbites Enforcer helped us blend in with prisoners being held overnight in a drunk tank. The whole garrison was broken up piecemeal and I ended up in the 495th. According to Sonfra the abandoned Tau didn't understand the significance of their commanders worlds but he apparently chanted "Blood for the blood god" when he fired on his own troops.
Col Helstrom scratched his head as he spoke.
"So to sum up your history, you fought alongside the Tau on Umia under the direction of an Inquisition agent, against other Inquisition assets working with Mechanis who were trading with the Tau. And said Tau believed their commander was under some dark influence caused by his interactions with aforementioned Mechanicus and that this irrational Tau commander had come from Taros?"
"Yes Sir, that's the high light. I don't think that the 3rd Valarian Armored are fighting for the greater good. I think the next time we see them they will have defiled themselves and their equipment with the dark signs of ruinous powers."
"You could be right Commander, we have had reports of some very unusual behavior amongst the citizens and aliens on Taros. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to request your platoon assignment to the 123rd is extended. I'll see that Thunderbolt is put back into commission ASAP"
youwashock wrote: If I get the chance to play games, I want them to be games like this. Great work.
Thanks! Stay in the hobby long enough and you'll get there.
The problem with a new GW Taros book is now all our stuff looks either copied or reconned. Shouldn't really bother me, but it kind of does. I suppose if the Tau win the GW war it can be a prequel.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Insurgency Walker wrote: Well, you painted the BFG stuff, so I could always do up the IA stuff. I plan to pick up the IA soon with this lurking in the future.
That would be awesome! There is a sad lack of dogfighting so far. I wonder how IA stacks up against X wing. I *really* like X wing. It is hard to imagine a typical GW IGUGO indifferent game design offering measuring up. Certainly willing to give it a shot though.
Each side must hold off the table at least 1/4 and no more than 1/2 their units. All Strike Assets are held off table in addition. The decision on what to hold off is made after players have examined their cards.
Standard reserve rules are not used. Players may either enter their units using either cards, or they may attempt to enter any units they wish from turn two on. A Unit enters on a roll of 5+, you may attempt to enter any number of units.
Movement on the road adds 6” for vehicles, even skimmers (not sure why).
Buildings are Armor 13, two models may use each window or Fire Point.
Game Length - 9 Turns.
Night began to fall as the battle continued. Turn 7 and onward are Night Fighting.
Tall dunes are impassable to ground vehicles and skimmers may not end their movement on top of them. Low dunes are difficult terrain going “up” the steep side, but not going down or up the gentle side.
Special Rules: Scout moves are used. Deepstrike/Infiltrate/outflank are limited. You may only use these options when you have the right tactics cards. For a unit that can “Always” use a special option, you may still use it, but you have to use up a Tactics card (of any type) to do it.
Tactics Cards. At the start of the game each side is dealt 6 tactics cards.
Hearts Number Cards
Mobile Reserve. Enter a unit from your table edge.
Hearts Face Cards
Strategic Redeployment. Move a unit any distance as long as it does not come within 12” of an enemy unit. A unit may move off your table edge this way and then back on from a different part of the table. This may represent actual movement of the unit, air lift, or decoys and entirely new units.
Spades Numerical Cards
Static Ambush.
Play this to enter a unit in your deployment zone 6” away out of line of sight of all enemy units, 12” and obscured or in cover, or 24” and away from all enemy units. This can include deploying inside an empty building. Units with the Infiltrate rule reduce this distance by 6” Unit may assault and shoot normally, but not move.
Spades Face cards
Mobile Ambush
Play this to enter a unit in the Neutral zone or your deployment zone 6” away out of line of sight of all enemy units, 12” and obscured or in cover, or 24” and away from all enemy units. This can include deploying inside an empty building. Units with the Infiltrate rule reduce this distance by 6” Unit may assault and shoot normally, but not move.
Diamonds Numerical Cards
Deepstrike/Infiltrate/Reposition - play this card to deepstrike a unit capable of Deepstrike onto the board. Before the game begins you can play this card to infiltrate a unit capable of infiltrate. Alternately, you can play this card to give a unit an extra 12” of movement. The unit cannot fire or assault if you use more than 6” of extra movement however.
Diamonds Face Cards
Outflank - play this card to enter a unit from a short table choice of your choice. The unit does not need to be capable of outflank.
Clubs Numerical Cards
Zeroed In. You may direct a strike asset to hit an enemy unit within 6” of an objective. This will not scatter (if artillery) and does not use the “Danger Close” rule. Alternately you may re-reroll all shooting at a target within 6” of an objective. Finally you can play a clubs number card to direct an attack by a fast mover or any unit with guess weapons that can reach the opponent’s board edge on an enemy off board artillery unit. This is resolved as if the flyer was 12 inches from the target, and does not allow defensive fire. If the target is an infantry unit it is considered to be in cover (4+), however each large blast or template used automatically hits d6 - 1 models and small blasts hit d6 - 2. Vehicles are hit by small templates on a 3+ and large templates on a 2+, with the hole considered over the vehicle on a 4+.
Clubs Face Cards
Minefield. Deploy two minefield markers within 12” of each other. The minefield occupies the markers and the space between them. The minefield may be placed so that a single enemy model is in contact/in it and is attacked by the minefield but no more. Any unit moving in contact with the minefield is attacked. Minefields DO attack skimmers, but do NOT attack jump troops or fast moving flyers. Infantry models are hit on a “6”, vehicles are hit on a 4+. The minefield is S8, AP 3 and hits a vehicle’s rear armor. Dozer blade equipped vehicles are hit only a 6.
Aces High. Aces may be played as number cards of the appropriate suit, or they can be used to impact broader game factors. You can play an ace to: Cancel an opponent’s Ace, Seize the Initiative, cause the game to end on Turn 8 (unless your opponent plays an Ace), or extend the game to Turn 10.
Use of Strike Assets. Strike assets may only be invoked when a Forward Observer Unit does not move or fire weapons of S6 or greater, and must be declared against targets in the FO’s line of sight. On a 2+ a single Strike Asset is activated. Off board Artillery may fire Guess weapons, measuring range from anywhere on your table edge. Flyers set up to execute an attack run (the run will take place in the opponent’s turn, as per Chapter Approved rules), and must attack only the target unit (mark it in some way if needed). Note that defensive fire will hit only a 6+ as per those rules, except for designated anti air units that may hit on a 5+ if they do not move.
In Addition, units on the fortified High Ground objectives may act as Forward Observers, but they only activate a strike asset on a 3+. If you control High ground objectives in the enemy deployment zone, you can direct artillery/air strikes against their off board artillery as though playing a Clubs numerical card (one for each objective controlled each turn).
Intercept. One flyer can intercept another only if you hold the Auspex Tower. The two flyers are placed D6x 5 inches apart as indicated. Their fire is resolved simultaneously so they can destroy each other.
Roll D6.
1-2 Intercept fails.
3 Flyer attacks head on. The attacking flyer is placed in the defender’s front arc facing as desired.
4 Flyer attacks from the side. The intercepting flyer is placed in one of the side arcs of the defender.
5-6 Flyer attacks from the stern. The intercepting flyer is placed in the rear arc of the defender.
Off board Artillery always scatters. However, place a smoke marker where template was placed originally. Firing on the same point a second turn will use normal rules, and a third turn can place the template anywhere within 6” without scattering at all.
Danger Close. The battle is confused, and with both sides operating some of the same units and engaging in deception operations, the risk of striking friendly units is high. When the attack is resolved, if friendly units are within 18” of the target unit, there is a danger of friendly fire. If the enemy unit is within 6” it occurs on a 4+, within 12” on a 5+, and within 18” on a 6+. If friendly fire occurs your opponent resolves the attack on your nearest unit to the target.
Victory Points
The Shadowswords can be fired on, but they will not explode and are objectives even after being “destroyed” They can be claimed by any unit in contact, or contested. However, a non troops unit cannot contest a Troops unit.
Every full 500 points of enemy forces destroyed = 1 VP.
Imperial: Each Shadowsword not “destroyed” and not held by any player = 2 VP Tau: Each Shadowsword destroyed but not held by the Tau= 1 VP.
Each Shadowsword held by a Troops Unit = 3 VP (even if “destroyed”)
Each Shadowsword held by a non Troops Unit = 2 VP.
Each High Ground objective Held by an infantry unit. = 1 VP.
Holding the Auspex Tower = 1 VP.
Great looking flyers with very interesting and unique colors and patterns. And that scenario looks intriguing. There are so many possibilities for movement and deployment by both sides that it seems like it would be hard to have any strategy in advance. It will be fun to see how it plays out.
That's so pretty it makes my ... HEART sing I really love it, and that's a variation on the Tau colours I think I'll steal for Aeronautica Taros in an attempt to persuade my younger son to play (he's a bit more excited about the fish-bulbs).
kestral wrote: Thanks! Fortunately, Insurgency Walker has also provided the Tau with Air Power beyond the little Seahorse-D.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Barra-Barracuuudahhhhh!
That is simply beautiful. Gorgeous. Plus I think it's an outstanding kit. As an added bonus with all the magnets in that puppy you could probably degauss a monitor if needed.
Thanks! The blue works pretty well against the lovely teal skies of Taros. I should maybe have gone for a stronger dazzle effect, but I was having problems with paint, since despite my best efforts there are some paint adhesion issues (I washed that thing with great care!), and masking tape pealed off the base coat - which I was incapable of replicating with brush paints.
The Riddle of Steel wrote: Great looking flyers with very interesting and unique colors and patterns. And that scenario looks intriguing. There are so many possibilities for movement and deployment by both sides that it seems like it would be hard to have any strategy in advance. It will be fun to see how it plays out.
I want to come up with a set of "tactics" cards that take the place of some of the rolls normally used in 40K and open up some more ambush possibilities. If you know what cards you have, you can plan cunning tricks while trying to outguess what your opponent has. This scenario is a first stab at that, though I'm sure it will need refinement. Flames of War did a reasonable sort of job of that and I'd like to duplicate that. The ohly thing I wasn't really able to work in was the dedicated Recon vehicles that FOW has to prevent ambushes.
The scenario is mostly symmetric, which makes it much less worrisome to design than, say, Dawnwater's edge. Of course, the different forces will make things tricky.
Imperial/Admech strengths:
Assaults around LOS blocking terrain will deny the Tau chunks of the board.
Ambushes with entire squadrons of vehicles will be pretty ugly.
The Lightning is superior against heavy armor.
Better Artillery will punish any tau camping out on observer points or on objectives.
Access to Orders make infantry more effective.
Crisis suits can't guarantee deepstrike Fusion attacks on Vehicles.
Tau Advantages:
Railguns and disruption pods mean they generally win long ranged tank battles, although there is a fair amount LOS blocking terrain that may mitigate this some, as will tactics cards.
The Barracuda is a light vehicle death machine and superior air to air, and virtually untouchable once night falls.
Funky Auxiliaries can get up to various shennanagins, meaning the Tau can do more than stay at arms length and shoot. I"m going to roll out all of them for this game I think.
It is good terrain for Crisis suits Jump, shoot, Jump pop up tactics.
Good scouts to reach objectives early potentially.
Superior Night fighters turn 7 on.
The Imperium has the advantage that it scores some points if the objective's aren't claimed at the end, so it could just blast them clear, while the tau can pick up some guaranteed points by attacking the Shadowswords directly. Night fighting at the end of the game means that long range fire won't win the last few turns, and you'll need to cover the objectives fairly well to prevent end of game tactics card grabs (that could be a problem with the scenario design, but we'll see) - on the other hand, Aces High can also dictate the end game, so you probably want to be pretty well on the objectives by turn 7. Tau lack of close combat means that holding the objectives will be an issue, though Auxiliaries can help. Generally the Tau have taken heavier losses in our games than the Imperium, so VPs will probably favor Imperials.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Not to forget the Dragons of Taros, the Valk/Vendetta/Vulture crowd, though I plan to bring enough Broadsides to make them respectful, meaning that the Imperium might want to hold them off board until they can clear the broadsides off the high ground.
Automatically Appended Next Post: On further reflection, I think I will ban Tactics cards from Turn 7 on. Too much potential heartbreak.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Enjoying the Color Scheme. I have a broadside, a Pirhanna, and 3 Tau jet bikes to go on the Tau themselves, and I think I may do them as Air Caste (or at leat the broadside in "skyline" camo.
Although the operation to destroy the shadowswords began well, the battle for T'mekel was an unmitigated disaster for the Tau.
Hunter Cadre Ins'la took up a strong position with the higher ground and was able to act before the Imperium. However, the Imperium's cunning use of the terrain mitigated the initial volley of Railgun fire, and not a single tank was destroyed. Shas'o Ins'la's indicision, shooting to spread her fire and forces along the line rather than committing directly to the objectives (or destroying the shadowswords at range) would cost the tau dearly. The mechanicus forces proved to have capabilities the Tau did not expect, and given the warping powers of Chaos, could not even understand. Mechanical constructs teleported across the battlefield, warriors and machines warped and twisted into hideous tech spawn who shrugged of torrents of pulse fire. Imperial forward observers, veterans in chamoline, proved largely untouchable, calling in mass air assaults that harried the Tau relentlessly, despite the desperate efforts of the Air Cadre Kita Barracuda able to vector into the air. In the end the mighty plane would limp home to its air field with only a single functioning burst cannon, riddled with holes. Tau observers and anti air assets accomplished little. The Broadside Team Vokath, pride of the Cadre, were outflanked and overrun by rough riders in short order, and the Kroot who avenged them were annihilated by air attack. There were a few bright spots: The To'ok Knights, fighting with their customary honor and courage destroyed a Landraider, a Demonic Machine, and damaged a shadowsword. The cunning Kiff secured one shadowsword. Still, the Cadre was virtually wiped out to minimal imperial losses. Shas'o Insla and her Crisis teams fought hard against the murder machines on the right flank with every bit of skill she could muster... ...until the Mechanicus Dominus's vile Tech Sorcery merged her with her armor and turned her into an insane tech monster, ending her part in the Taros Story, she who had once been the great hope of the Rinn'va.
The Way to Tarrokeen was now open - the Imperium had advanced further than in in the first war, and in much less time.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Notes:
Well, that was a pretty thorough pasting. Overall, the Imperium had better tactics, better lists, better use of the special scenario rules, and better deployment. Hats off to my opponents for that! With a bit of luck the Tau could have perhaps eeked out a draw, but the dice weren't having it. I failed 10 (10!!!) 5+ rolls to bring in two of my units, who never even appeared in the battle. The odds of that are something like 1 in 70. I think the Demon princes killed like 500 points of my stuff while both on 1 wound left.
It was quite a game - great fun as always, thanks!. The tactics cards I wouldn't use quite the same way again, but I personally like the overall effect. I preferred the days when you couldn't guarantee infiltrating/deepstrike etc because it adds variety to the battles. I like cards because while they are random, you can know what you've got so you can make Kunnin' plans. The current CP stratagems are good, but they're tied to totally beardy FOC manipulation silliness. Like most veteran gamers I've always wanted to create my "perfect" edition, but trying to write your own rulebook/codexes, etc. is really a bridge too far (especially if you actually want anyone to play against you). I might be able to accomplish what I want to do with scenario design and tactics cards. Probably take a lot of time to figure out, but a good start.
I'm going to write up a set of cards rather than using playing cards for some future game. They could be used a couple of ways -
*We have a perfect plan* - choose the cards you want.
*We had a plan but it didn't survive contact* - Draw cards, but you can discard and redraw once.
*We're going for total mayhem* Draw random cards.
*We're fluffy* Assign cards to certain armies, you make a "deck" and draw from that.
At this point I've narrowly won two games with my funky Tau+Auxiliaries lists and lost 5, usually with most of my stuff dead. The good news is that means I can relax about the set up being OP, but the bad news is I need to get my act together and play better, or my opponents may get bored. Mostly I think I need to CASTLE more rather than spreading out, Focus fire, and try to achieve local superiority, as well as ditching some dead weight units. Also, bubblewrap.
There was also a Battle Fleet Gothic game I'll put up later.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I'd also note that the interaction of FO and Strike assets turned out to not be fully thought out, which led to some confusion. Don't think I'd do that again - it would be better if the cards worked with any army list.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Although the early war went against the Tau on the ground, in space Kor'o Ishia and Kor'el Mas'i enjoyed considerable early success, primarily against the Rouge Trader Starstrider fleet. Typical of this phase was the surprise attack on Silicar, where a Star Fort was being emplaced to support the invasion. The Thunderchild, backed by two explorers, and the ever enterprising Hakkit Gouge launched a sudden attack destroying the Carnage class Profiteer, two light cruisers, and a squadron of Vipers. Although Gouge found himself embroiled in boarding battle in which he may have been killed (hard to say with the Kif, he may just have had to kill his bridge crew when they sensed weakness and turned on him), the slippery raider managed to escape, albeit in a badly damaged ship. The Tau were able to disengage with no losses.
Thanks to Brian for organizing the BFG stuff! I'm starting to get the hang of the game, though I hear the next couple scenarios are tougher for the Tau.
Wargames Exclusive Greater good Jetbikes. I greenstuffed them lightly. Warbrides!
Modellng note - the placement of the flight stand hole is blatently wrong. I moved it forward a cm, and they were still off balance once I put the drones in. I had to add fishing weight fuel tanks to the back to balance them out.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Thanks to I-Walker for the gift of these.
Thanks! I'd love to have a roughrider army - my first exposure to 40K was planning a roughrider company in epic at a convention - and the nostalgia is REALLY strong.
The the loss of Shas’o Ins’la, to a fate worse than death, the Tau on Taros were forced to gird themselves for the defense of Tarrokeen. They did not abandon mobile warfare however and were determined to seek opportunities to turn the tide. One such opportunity existed at a drill site on the Imperial line of advance. Before the Tau, the Imperium had not much bothered with drilling, as most useful materials lay out of reach beneath millions of years of Taros geology. However, the combination of Tau and Mechanicus technology meant that far deeper depths could be reached, yielding both promethium and fossilized water, both vital for the Imperial war machine, particularly given the Tau’s relatively successful campaign in space.
For the operation the Tau turned to Shas’o Kith’Kannon, Ins’la’s mentor. He had retired to head the Rinn Va training Cadres, but now returned to active duty, burning to avenge his favorite pupil and vindicate his teachings. The operation he proposed was risky - it would require two precious Mantas for a start, but the Rinn’va were in no mood to quibble. The operation was code named “Sandstorm”, though more traditional minded officers had another name: Kith’kannan’s Folly.
For his operation Kith’kannan drew upon his veteran training staff, the survivors of Ins’la’s Cadre and proven auxiliaries. He would be joined by the enigmatic Shas'o Rymr, hero of the First Taros war, accompanied by several of his elite "Warbrides", female tau warriors who had forsaken all things but combat.
Brian's Scenario write up:
The Wellhead - a 40K Mission
Outside the city of Tarrokeen, at a distance of around 100 kilometers or so, a complex of buildings and machines stood. This complex surrounded a Promethium Wellhead, a mix of Tau and Imperial constructs showcasing how ownership of the wellhead had changed hands through various battles.
Now, as the Imperium drives on Tarrokeen, a group of loyalist forces have been dispatched on a laightning raid, in an attempt to cut off supplies to the city, prior to the main assault. Their mission, to sieze the wellhead complex. Control is key, and there's a lot of moving parts...
---
This battle will use the "Maelstrom of War" concept. The standard 8th Edition "Tactical Objectives" deck will be used, but without the army-specific cards.
The Battlefield:
There will be four fixed objectives on the board, one semi-mobile objective, and one fully mobile objective. The four fixed objectives are standard, and are Controlled by Infantry Troops units. To Control an Objective, the Infantry Troop unit must be within 3" of the objective and there must be no Enemy Infantry units within 3" of the objective. If the Controlling Unit is a unit of Infantry Troops only another unit of Infantry Troops may contest the objective. Non-Infantry Units may not Contest or Control an Objective.
The semi-mobile objective is a Drilling Machine, which may be moved by appropriate machinery (an Atlas Recovery tank or like unit). It must still be controlled as a regular objective, for the purposes of Maelstrom of War. Finally, starting on turn 3, a train will attempt to leave the board, escaping the complex with valuable fuel. Nominally under Tau orders (it is an automated train), it can be Controlled as any other objective. The train moves 6" a turn. A unit in Control of the train's Locomotive, as per the rules above for Controlling an objective, may choose to stop or start the train. The train does not operate in reverse. If the train is Uncontrolled, it will continue its last "order" (ie: move or stay still).
The deployment zones are "Table Quarters". The Imperial side deploys first, choosing their deployment quarter and placing their forces. The Tau Player will then deploy their forces. The Imperial Player goes first, with the Tau player having the option to "Sieze the Initative" by using some or all of their Tactival Objectives cards, as detailed below.
The Game:
The game will last up to 12 turns. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a 2+, the game continues. At the end of turn 7 the game continues on a 3+, and so on. Attrition may make a side's position hopeless, a side may surrender at any time after turn 6.
Night Fighting Rules apply to turns 1 through 3!
Each side will consist of 3500 points. Of this, 1500 points MUST be placed into Reserves. Any true 'air' assets (Lightnings, Barracudas, etc.) start in reserve as per their rules, and counts toward the 2000 points. Reserves are divided into 3 groups of roughly 400-600 points each. On turn 4, one of these groups will arrive as reserves at the start of the player's turn, roll randomly (ie: 1-2,3-4,5-6). On turn five one of the remaining groups will arrive, roll randomly. Fiinally on turn 6, the last group will arrive.
Each side will be dealt three Tactical Objectives cards. These are dealt face-up, and are "open knowledge". If at the start of their turn a side has less than 3 Tactical Objectives, they must generate back up to 3. At the end of each turn, all Tactical Objectives will be checked to see if they have been achieved. If a Tactical Objective is achieved, you must immediately score the Victory Points for it. Once achieved, a Tactical Objective card is discarded.
At the end of a player's turn they may also discard 1 Tactial Objective card, which scores no victory points. If a side recieves a tactical objective card that cannot be acheived (For example, the 'Kill a Psyker' Objective when the other side's army has no Psykers) that card may be immediately discarded and a replacement drawn.
If the train's Locomotive leaves the table, any cards referencing "Objective Six (6)" may be immediately discarded.
The Tau player may choose to "Seize the Initative" to take the first turn by discarding all of their Tactical Objectives. This represents an all-out push to destroy the spearhead of Imperial Forces, before they can secure objectives themselves. The discarded Tactical Objectives do not count for victory points.
Air Units:
We will be using the Flyer Rules in Imperial Armour Volume One. This is page 277.
Air Units will follow the rules for their model, including units that can convert to Hover Mode. Air Units that are off-board return on a 2+, as per the usual rules. Air Units that are off-board when the game ends are NOT counted as being destroyed.
A reminder of the rules:
Flyers must start in reserve.
Place the Air Unit(s) on the board at the start of your turn. Place them on ANY table edge, facing the direction you wish it to fly. Take the rest of your turn normally.
Opponent takes their Movement Phase.
Air Units then move in a straight line, any distance.
Opponent takes their Firing Phase - No Ordinance or Barrage Weapons may fire at a Flyer, target any point where the flyer moved, add 12" for height. Flyers hit on a d6 roll of 6.
Air Units that survive/are not shaken/stunned may take their Firing Phase, which may include a pivot of up to 45 degrees before shooting.
Units which have the option may convert to "Hover Mode" (Valkyries).
Please note the Valkyrie Rules on page 248 of Imperial Armour Volume One.
Units that are known to count as having an "AA" mount, and thusly may fire at their normal BS including barrage and ordinance weapons, are the IG Hydra and the Tau Skyray.
Here's some better and hopefully finished pictures of Lawrence, Al-Muktar, and the Desert Dogs.... (Or whatever I-walker plans to name them) : )
Automatically Appended Next Post: Because several of the figures were identical I tried to vary their colors a bit. At first I had too much variation - Identical figures look kind of dumb (and not like a unit) when each model has a different colored hat, shirt, and pants, so I dialed it back a bit and redid some bits to make them more uniform, but still varied. Great as Taros veteran or Insurgency fighters.
Blue grenades! Those poor Tau, Lol. They are definitely a good looking vet squad. Too bad nobody has picked up the Maxmini line. Wonder how long I can resist the urge to buy Vic's new desert raiders.
Fifty wrote: Those Desert Dogs are really nice. What range are they?
Those were Maxmini figures. They made some great stuff but are no more. I thought I saw some comments about someone else picking up the line but I haven't seen any info. I think they partially did themselves in with a Kickstarter from a few years back.
I like the scenario around the drill rig and well head. As someone in the drilling industry, I look forward to seeing a battle where a drilling site is center stage. And the rules sound quite interesting, although I wonder what is the thought process behind having up to 12 turns. In most of my games, there is generally not much left on the table after four turns unless the terrain is very dense and the table is very large. Keep up the good stuff.
This particular scenario puts a lot of points on the table, with many reserves. The table is also most likely going to be about 5'x9'. It's a large, engaging battle, requiring lots of mobility. So, if we compress it into a typical 5-7 turn game, there's less chance of cool maneuvering, and it just becomes a big scrum that rewards brute force killing over maneuvering. At least, that's my thought process.
You basically get a whole new army to play with starting turn 5. That should cretae a cool "reset" where if the battle was going poorly for you, you can try to recover. We've been playing a lot of long games really - seems to work Ok as long as you have the whole day to work with.
As far as game length goes with the variable game length it will possibly help prevent "last turn tactics" which can place units in very untenable positions for last minute objective points. Though as I didn't make the scenario I'm not sure if that's what he had in mind. The older rules set we are running tends to lend itself to more stun locking than out right destruction on the vehicles too. Odds wise, and I'm sure someone already knows them, it is not to likely to last past turn 9.
Almost considered a Regimental relic, the Rhino No. 7 still serves as a living piece of Guard History. Saved by an obstreperous enginseer from the Departamento Munitorium order that removed all Rhinos transports from Imperial Guard inventory through the installation of a powered lifting arm and reclassifying No. 7 as a Munitions Carrier.
The Munitions transported, Guardsmen, who utilized No. 7 often referred to themselves as the Emperors Hot Shots,
Automatically Appended Next Post: As a Historical side note, Rhino No 7's maintenance log book also has it classified as a MK1 Rhino that has been heavily repaired over the years. Even though the chassis shows signs of its many years or service it is believed the only original part of Rhino No 7 is the entry in the Regimental equipment list.
Insurgency Walker wrote: Almost considered a Regimental relic, the Rhino No. 7 still serves as a living piece of Guard History. Saved by an obstreperous enginseer from the Departamento Munitorium order that removed all Rhinos transports from Imperial Guard inventory through the installation of a powered lifting arm and reclassifying No. 7 as a Munitions Carrier.
The Munitions transported, Guardsmen, who utilized No. 7 often referred to themselves as the Emperors Hot Shots,
As a Historical side note, Rhino No 7's maintenance log book also has it classified as a MK1 Rhino that has been heavily repaired over the years. Even though the chassis shows signs of its many years or service it is believed the only original part of Rhino No 7 is the entry in the Regimental equipment list.
Awesome fluff. The only original part is the entry in the list.
The pace of cool stuff on this project log is just unbelievable. It feels like you guys are cranking out at least a few new things every week!
Thanks! It is coming to an end though, at least for now, as we wrap up Year 1 of the Taros War - "From the Stars to Tarokeen". There are only a couple more battles and I have only maybe 2-3 more things to paint. Then we're going to take a break for a while.
Another Regiment for Taros! These are only partially my work, and very much a speed painting project, but there has been a shocking lack of human wave attacks on Taros so far, so I felt I head to help out.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Remaining Taros To do list:
Touch up the Kangaroo -
Two Battlepods
1 Pirhanna
Finish the Ghostkeel
Tau Fleet: 3 Heroes, 3 Defenders.
Hard to say for the whole thing, but I'd say I did the 15 basecoated figures I was working with in 2 hours. Quick increments interspaced with other things, so no waiting for drying.
Basecoat desert Yellow.
Paint belts, boots, pouches black
Drybrush whole model off white.
Contrast fireslayer flesh.
Paint uniform with Serphim sepia.
Nuln oil selectively.
Few details on some models.
Paint base and do sand.
Great job banging out a big block of infantry so quickly. While some of us inch along getting a small squad done every couple weeks, you are racing along pumping out whole armies! I’m sad to hear this is coming to an end shortly but it’s been quite enjoyable to watch.
Me too. One of the few things I'm good at greenstuffing.
Thanks everybody! There are far faster painters than I though.
Covid -19 has a lot to do with my current productivity really, plus I don't generally watch TV or read much any more, so I've been spending a significant fraction of my free time painting. Very zen.
Taros will probably be back when we take up the fight to take Tarrokeen street by street! A project near and dear to my heart, but it is (almost) time for something different.
Ghostkeel! Not really sure I'm done with this. It is kind of hard to do well - I was worried about winding up kind of chaotic and random with all the little lights in different colors. On the otherand, just black, grey, blue and white would be boring. I might glaze it with black ink someday too.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Happy with the magneting of the two weapon options - really solid.
I should say the models are very static, and it only with some sketchy conversion did I get as much variety as I did. Maybe that helps resist the temptation.
Happy with the Blue Tau - Shas'o R'myr's Warbrides. Eventually I'd like a few more wargames exclusive figures to go with it - the sniper unit with the big helmets, maybe one of the weapon bikes and a suit, but in the meantime, a nice group. Looking roward to doing Taros Glamour shots with terrain and backdrops at some point.
Wow - a quick google and a mystery is solved! I never knew what he was or where he was from. Very pleased that he's Judge Dredd it seems. From now on his name shall be Klegg Chuma instead of just Chuma.
Love me some Kleggs! Great to see. There was a Klegg in a storyline a couple of years back who had the paperwork to prove he was legally human, and he wanders about in a trench coat and fedora. And not eating people honest.
Mine are buried somewhere, but I think that one is from the Mongoose Games version a few years back, think the backpack was closer together on the original GW ones - and I can't recall if GW had an open mouth version of the Klegg, just the Klegghounds.
It could be from the new version, but I've not seen any of that range in the flesh - although graven is probably far better verses in what's what....
This Klegg is really old - he came with a Dr. Who timelord and some other ancient bits from a friend who wound up with them randomly some distant time in the past - and gave them to me a decade ago I'd say.
The mighty Macharius! This is a classic chunk of resin - forgeworld at its best. Not a ton of guns, just a ton of neat details and a nice overall aesthetic.
A classic from the Taros campaign, purchased years ago but was such a mangled pile of questionable resin that I hid it away in shame. Found while looking for Ork heads I decided to melt that puppy back into shape. A day of boiling water later......
Imperial forces muster before deployment to Taros.
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Automatically Appended Next Post: A formation of heavy armor is obscured by "Hell Smokers"
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Automatically Appended Next Post: Maintenance crews work on recovery of a damaged Conqueror
Automatically Appended Next Post: Shock troops dismount deep in Tau territory during a nighttime raid.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Col Helstroms Batman Cpl. Lawrence chooses a stick grenade over a swagger stick while interacting with local insurgents.
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Automatically Appended Next Post: Fighting a "Flat Earth Campaign" Col. Helstrom encouraged his tank commanders to make 'Fish cakes' whenever practical.
Illumini wrote: That is a really cool armoured force! The two-seater sentinel is great
Automatically Appended Next Post: Where did you get the hell smokers?
They came from a Kickstarter, but I don't remember which game it was for. The same folks did a plastic drop ship too. I always wanted some civilian vehicles for terrain, or garrison type vehicles and those trucks fit the bill. The hell smoker is just some war gear tossed in the back.
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gobert wrote: A really cool photo shoot guys, some great action shots. The two seater sentinel on the ridge line with the sky backdrop is just great!
Kestral really nailed that shot. I just snap away with an IPad. Normally we just take pictures in game but lockdown got boring.
Col Helstrom clenched a communications bulletin in his fist as he climbed out of his staff car. A seemingly random mix of armored vehicles were scattered about the Forward Operational Base, many with service hatches open and enginseers performing their sacred rights in the sun of the Taros day. Rights that almost always started with the removal of soft Taros sand from the air filtration systems. Col Helstrom found his batman, Cpl. Lars Rytkr eating a sandwich on the shaded side of a Salamander scout tank.
"Lars, round up the commanders of my security section and the 495th tank hunter platoon, request support from the Tech priests to be in attendance at a mission briefing at the TOC in 30min and I'll swing by the shrine and see if one of the priestesses from the Order of Diane can join us. "
Thirty minutes later Col Helstrom was bent over a map table with the landscape around Tarokeen displayed.
"The effort to take Tarokeen has been sidelined momentarily by a push for this well head. Various war masters seem to have differing ideas on the strategic impact this particular well head will have. Those opinions may be caused by our lack of solid intelligence on the Tau forces in that area."
Automatically Appended Next Post: "The 495th tank battalion has diverted a full company with Infantry support for a night assault on the Well head."
The TOC duty officer, a sanctioned psycher Master Gefren, assigned to support the Battalion raised an eyebrow as he looked at the maps. "Even if we knew what type of forces were assigned to that facility, the core of the Tau cadres are within easy support distances."
"Indeed" Col Helstrom replied, "however the governing opinion is that because the facility is not hardened only secondary units will be deployed in its defense. Furthermore do to the value of the well head indirect artillery fire is not approved."
The Col. paused to let that information sink in. "Night flights are suspended, so no Air support until sun up. However, on the plus side Space Marines of the Blood Angels chapter are deploying to the location."
Knight Commander Katya Georgena was the next to speak.
"Do you have your own force estimation for the Tau?"
Helstrom jammed a finger down on a Tau airfield. "significant numbers of battle suits and Devilfish are within easy striking distance. Plus, our recon teams have encountered large numbers of Kroot auxiliaries. Given the anti armor capabilities of the Tau I suspect maybe a platoons worth of tanks and infantry actually make it to the well head. When they get there, we have no idea what the orders will be. Every cook in the kitchen wants something different from the pot."
Sgt. Harkness, the burly squad leader of the 4th security platoon spoke next.
"Where do you want us, and how are we getting there?"
"Deploying on my position, via Valkyrie. Due to the night flight restrictions you won't be part of the first wave. Commander Georgena, take your Destroyer squad with 3rd platoon for support and deploy behind this ridge line here ASAP. You will be our rear guard and counter any pursuit in the event we have to fall back."
Col Helstrom turned to Master Gefren, "I'd appreciate your presence on this one, and I could use at least one volunteer from the Tech Priests". I diminutive woman in the garb of a hospitalier spoke up. "The Holy Order of Diane give their blessing to this mission, I realize you had hoped for one of the Swordsmistresses Col. You will have to settle for my presence".
Col Helstrom nodded, "there will be kroot."
"Yes" she replied.
"Good, my staff car will accommodate the last of us. Driving hard we should be able to join the fray with elements of our 1st recon company. I'll assemble a command squad and as many mechanized squads as we can from the remnants of 1st Platoon."
Although losses had not been light, the war on Taros was proceeding according to the Empire's satisfaction. The Tau were reeling from a series of defeats, a number of the Rinn'va's best commanders were dead or missing, and lead elements had reached Tarokeen. While the Tau appeared ready to hold the city, it was estimated they would have little taste for streetfighting. The imperium held the "Needle" fortress of Dawnwater's edge, and for the moment supply lines were adequate to the guard
Only two flies remained in the Imperium's Ointment. First, the Tau Fleet, more specifically the Rinn'va Sept's fleet, had suffered only light losses, and was proving aggressive and resourceful. The Imperium had come out on the losing end of several raiding actions led by Ko'ro Ishia and the flagship Thunderchild. Even more infamous was the Hakkit Gouge, commanded by a kiff warlord of the same name. Faster than anything on the Imperial Roster and boasting impressive stealth tech and "shadow" armor, the mercenary was proving more efficient at space warfare than the Tau, despite his species relatively low tech base. Specializing in boarding actions, his ship had been bolstered by a strong contingent of To'ok, experimental Tau Suits, and other Mercenaries from Shas'o Rymr's cabal of tainted warriors, whose effectiveness was estimated as equal to a space marine company.
Still, it was not all glory for the greater good in the depths of space. The Rinn'va's two explorer Carriers, East Wind Rain and Nimbus, launched what could have been a classic surprise carrier assault on the Imperial fleet in the nearby D'naib system. However, the tau had crucially missjudged the position of the Imperials in the gas clouds, and launched from point blank range. While this enabled them to immediately cripple one enemy carrier, both slow lumbering Explorer class ships found themselves sailing down the imperial line...and under its guns. East Wind Rain went down over D'naib, but Nimbus, fighting skillfully under Ishia's personal command managed to escape into an asteroid field. With half the Tau Carrier strength destroyed, the Imperium looked to force the Tau to commit to a decisive battle.
Even better news awaited commanders on the Surface. The Mechanicus announced that new surveys indicated that the near fabled Volmar Reservoir, a mass of water and promethium trapped beneath Taros since the planet's formation, could be reached using upgrades of some of the drilling equipment remaining on Taros from its imperial days. Handy to Tarokeen, the Well Head, once firmly in Imperial hands, would ensure no repeat of the first Taros war, even if the tau managed to cut off the supply convoys.
Automatically Appended Next Post: On the Tau Side, the battle for the Wellhead represented a last chance to slow the Imperial Juggernaut. Well before dawn Shas'o Kithkannon knelt painfully, his old joints protesting, in his personal rock Garden. The thunderous thrum of a Manta's engines spinning up told him it was time. Reaching the arming hall, he passed Shas'o Rymr in his outlandish, feather decorated suit and it nodded to him, a bobbing of the sensor package. Kithkannon gazed into the pitted lenses and hoped he wasn't making a terrible mistake.
Col Helstroms vox specialist kept the squad updated on the imperial deployments. Among the good news, the 495th had an attached Storm trooper squad which had infiltrated the battlefield led by a local insurgent known as the Dune Dweller.
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Automatically Appended Next Post: The Dune Dweller was a very sly and dangerous individual know for a fondness of explosive ambushes. However, his love of the ambush, any ambush put his loyalties in question. Bad news included the 495ths attached infantry platoon being at half strength with only two full squads. Very bad news was that the Tau were able to engage both the Guard and Marine forces with little very little return fire due to the inky darkness of the predawn morning.
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Automatically Appended Next Post: Master Gefren watched as Col Helstrom and the enginseer fought with installing a pic imager on the Chimeras targeting system while the driver carefully jinked around both the dangerous terrain in the deployment zone and stray incoming fire.
"You couldn't install that before we hit the front?" Master Gefren asked.
Both the Col. And the Enginseer responded with a garble of frustrated tech babble, both speaking at the same time.
"Guess that sounds like no."
"Contact! Kroot! 12 O' clock" the Chimeras commander rang out. I large mob of Kroot warriors was swarming towards the Train engine at the north end of the well head. The staccato hammering of the Chimeras heavy bolters rang out as both hull and turret guns sent explosive shells out towards the enemy.
Master Gefren opened the top deck hatch and peeked out, eyes just above the deck level. To better remain concealed the Chimera was not illuminating the Kroot with its search light but he could still make out the lanky hunched shapes of the alien Kroot. Master Gefren reached with his mind, a low hiss like a snake filled the air and not unlike a writhing snake he wrestled a greasy slick energy that fought to escape his control. Frost formed around the open top hatch as a bolt of electrified witch fire formed amongst the Kroot arching from one to another and eventually reaching back to Master Gefrens open hand. He closed his hand into a fist and a half dozen Kroot fell to the ground dead, smoke gently rising from the electrified corpses.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Master Gefren dropped back down closing the hatch.
"Col. You say we should expect to be attacked from the rear by Kroot? If so we are surrounded."
Col Helstrom patted the Enginseer on the shoulder "Good job brother, now we just need to keep this track alive. Commander, hold here. Everybody dismount! Loose skirmish line at the tracks back." Col Helstrom used his comm bead to give orders to the Chimera in their section. "Track one hold here, track two position on track ones left flank pointed to about 2 o'clock. Give me about two Kroot width between the front of the tracks, let's see if we can funnel the Kroot to me."
Automatically Appended Next Post: "Let's hope the Kroot choose to attack us and not the Chimeras. Drivers once we are stuck in, break off. If we fall let the Flamers of the Armored Fist squad finish the Kroot."
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Automatically Appended Next Post: The priestess was the first out, and as each member of the squad dismounted she quickly blessed them and pressed a wafer in their mouths.
"Body of Diane?" one of the Guardsman asked
"No, alpha level combat stimulants, you shall feel no pain today." She replied.
The Kroot warcry started out as a victorious shriek but quickly turned to low grunts as the brutal exhausting combat dragged on as imperial troops matched steel for steel.
When the last of the Kroot had finally been dispatched, Col Helstrom raised the Chimera commander on the Battalion comms " I could see some blue skyline camouflage suits and bikes drop near the trains locomotive. Did you get a good auspex feed on the suits? "
"Looks like a good feed Sir" the commander replied.
"Excellent, we'll get that Intel back to HQ, drop the rear hatch so we can mount up. Perhaps we can salvage something from this battle."
As the scattered imperial troops maneuvered to positions of safety under the cover of massed artillery batteries Col Helstrom examined the data from the Chimeras enhanced Auspex.
"Look at that Tau commander! If they had Commissars it would have already faced summary execution. I think we can work with this....."
As they waited on the tarmac beside the Manta, Kithkannon briefly reviewed his troops as he made the ceremonial walk to be first up the ramp. Passing his auxuiliaries, he stopped before one kroot kindred, their greenish skin, black and red warpaint marking them out from their fellows. To the largest he proffered a scrap of synthleather. "From the command chair of a wrecked vehicle. We believe it to have the scent of the most enterprising of the Imperial field commanders. Find and slay him, and you will eat with honor, both on the field and forever after among the Rinn'va". The kroot seized it with a gutteral cry, the others crowding around him, tearing and snuffling. Kithkannon walked on. It might be that kroot would hare off across the sands and not return for days, but it seemed a risk worth taking.
Thanks! We've been lucky to get to play it - it certainly took a lot to bring it together. Many thanks to Briancj and Insurgency walker. I've been away from Dakka - I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's been doing.
Here's my battle pics:
The battlefield - mostly Briancj's work, but I did provide the rocks and sand.
Brian's lovely train. Someday I want to do a 40k campaign modeled on the Czech trainride through Russia during the revolution.....
Fish of Fury!
The Tau make their play for the train.
Objective Secured!
Who's this guy? Just the local noodle seller, I'm sure....
What do you mean they can air drop a landraider!?!
Go GO GO!!!
Incoming!!!
The Flatworm struggles to drag away the precious Drill.
It has indeed been a great stroke of luck and honor to find some sympathetic souls who share my love of incredibly detailed games of toy soldiers. I too look forward to many future games!
In the meantime, here's the end of the Campaign, at least as the Tau understood it....
In the end, confusion and secrecy among the Imperial command doomed in the Imperium's cause at the battle of the Well head. Imperial forces often received orders to capture objectives they could not reach as different factions among the Mechanicus, the Rogue Traders, and the Guard demanded their priorities be met. The Tau, by contrast, were largely able to take their objectives, partly due to the fact that they controlled much of the battlefield with mobile troops, but perhaps mostly due to the objectives chosen by Shas'o Kithkannon being much more accessible. Tau night fighters had also dominated the early stage of the battle, and unlike in previous engagements, the Skyrays had been able to keep imperial air power at bay. The Tau suffered considerable losses, and despite a clever outflanking maneuver the Kroot failed to bring down Col. Helstromm, but the Tau victory was clear.
Translation: Maelstrom objective cards are fun, but bad draws meant the imperium fell behind with no real chance to catch up by Turn 6.
When Kithkannon took the field himself, it brought to an end the hopes of the Imperium for a reliable planet side Water and Promethium source through drilling. The Tau had stolen some equipment, sabotaged other gear including mining the well itself, and corrupted the drilling data and key machine spirits, sabotage that would continue to do damage through the "S'tux N'et" code for years. The imperial bombardment destroyed much of what was left.
Meanwhile, an even more critical engagement was unfolding near the gas giant Hela in the Taros system....
(Yes, that's right, we got to play battle Fleet Gothic too!)
Automatically Appended Next Post: The loss of one of their carriers convinced the Rinn'va that they could not avoid decisive battle, since they now lacked the long range strike ability to disrupt the Imperium's shipping without risking their own ships. Acordingly, Aun' Mord Rinn directed that plans be drawn up for an engagement on the most favorable terms possible. Accordingly, battle plan "Storm Rising" was selected from among several plans put forward.
The two remaining Tau Battleships (Custodian Thunderchild and Explorer Nimbus (Torpedo Variant) would shelter behind the Gas Giant Hela, launching ordinance as long as possible. Other forces would hide in nearby asteroid fields to avoid the long range Imperial fire. The valiant but ancient and battered merchant Red Cloud would serve as bait. The Imperium, suspecting the final battle was at hand, formed line ahead, carriers and a massive Lance armed Victory Class battleship forming the van, while rogue trader cruisers and an ancient battleship brought up the rear.
Initially, it appeared the Imperium would brush aside the tau ordinance and destroy the Xenos piecemeal. Fighters from the imperial carriers proved more than able to screen the line, and of the huge volleys of ordinance launched by the tau, only one cunning salvo launched by the cruiser "Warbride" and covered by baracudas that cleared a hole in the imperial screen got through, slamming into the imperial battleship "Triumph". To the disappointment of the Tau however, the mighty vessel sailed on, billowing flame but her lances as deadly as ever. The Red Cloud's valiant but useless resistance saw it reduced to a blazing hulk.
Judging it to be now or never, the Tau signaled to their allies. From the Asteroids raced the loathed Hakkit Gauge, the Kif mercenary burning hard to outflank the rogue trader squadron. Near the center came the signal "Demiurge Brotherhood Responding" (always wanted to say that), and a massive factory ship sortied from the rocks, syphoning the wreckage of the Red Cloud to power its weapons. Truly, a sacrifice for the greater good.
In the end, though, if Taros was saved, it was the vile Hakkit who could claim most credit. Maneuvering into the imperial drive flares to blind their sensors, he executed a series of daring boarding actions wreaking havoc down the imperial line, taking no fewer than two cruisers as prizes.
Near Hella however, things were not going nearly so well. Imperial bomber strikes had rolled the tau defenses back after the Nimbus ran out of ordinance, and now the battleships were forced to emerge from their shelter and engage directly. Nimbus was brutally mauled, enduring a three hour nightmare of imperial torpedo, bomber and lance attacks before she managed to disengage into the atmosphere of the gas giant. Thunderchild charged head on into the imperial fleet for a decisive confrontation with the Battleship. As the two closed in, brutally mauling each other, who should surge from a nearby asteroid field but the enterprising Hakkit Gauge, outflanking the battleship. What is more, imperial carriers had been heavily targeted by the Tau, and now their strength waned, as missiles from flanking tau ships streaked down the line scoring hit after hit. In the confusion of the final mayhem, the battle devolved into a boarding action, and Tau auxiliaries, especially the armored To'ok and other, less savory things from the retinue of Rymr, combined with the forces of the Thunderchild to carry the day aboard the Triumph. The Imperial fleet scattered, giving the Tau effective control of area until reinforcements could be found.
After a long string of defeats, the Tau had done much to level the playing field in a single day. The previously unstoppable imperial drive on Tarrokeen was now seriously hampered by supply issues, giving the Tau the chance to wage a true cityfight (a la Stalingrad). The Imperium still held the orbital fortress Dawnwater's edge and thus near orbit of Taros, but the Tau controlled the outer system, meaning the Guard would have to ration supplies more than ever. The Greater good, however tainted with the unknown corruption of R'myr, was not yet defeated, and the Tau girded themselves for a long fight they hoped would favor them, with their on planet industry
At the well head, Kithkannon found what remained of his student Ins'la, now a corrupted half machine servitor spawn. He took the task of ending the pain of the most promising hope of the Rinn'va on himself, bringing to an end Chapter One of the Second Taros War.
Thank you kestral, Brian, and Insurgency Walker. It has been such a pleasure following these battle reports on Taros. A lot of great and creative setups and ideas. I'm sorry to see it at an end.
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