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Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

This game could be given the subtitle “Winning in spite of yourself.” As I made some very critical errors due to my inexperience facing Tau and failing to pay proper attention to the terrain set up.

The game was played at the GW battle bunker in Franklin Mills, PA and I have to say Im impressed with the improvements they have made to the store since it was at its old location on the other side of the mall years ago. (Yeah its been that long since ive been there)

Thanks to Smashotron for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to help me out with a game against the Tau. His list follows below.
HQ:
Shaso - 75
AFP - 20
Missile Pod - 12
Shield Gen - 20
HW-MultiT - 5
• 132

2 Shas'vre - 70
2 Shield Gen - 40
2 PlasmaR - 40
2 Missile Pod - 24
2 HW-MultiT - 10
• 184

TROOPS:
FWT (9) - 90
Shas'ui + bond - 15
• 105

DevilFish - 80
SMS - 20
DP - 5
• 105

FWT (9) - 90
Shas'ui + bond - 15
• 105

DevilFish - 80
SMS - 20
DP - 5
• 105

FWT (12) - 120
Shas'ui + bond - 15
• 135

KROOT (20) 140
• 140

FAST ATTACK:
PATH (8) - 96
Shas'ui + bond - 15
• 111

DevilFish - 80
SMS - 20
DP - 5
• 105

PIRANHA (5) - 300
FusionB (3) - 15
TargetA (5) + DP (5) - 50
• 365

PIRANHA (5) - 300
FusionB (3) - 15
TargetA (5) + DP (5) - 50
• 365

HEAVY:
HH - 90
RailG - 50
SMS - 20
TLock + MultiT + DP - 20
• 180

HH - 90
RailG - 50
SMS - 20
TLock + MultiT + DP - 20
• 180

HH - 90
RailG - 50
SMS - 20
TLock + MultiT + DP - 20
• 180

TOTAL:
• 2497

Having never played against the Tau Empire codex I was interested to see how what problems it would give me. Turned out my worst problems would be of my own making.

Here is the list I tried out, I know that Im kind of alone in constantly wanting to run without a PBS but I just expect Ard Boyz Opponents to be looking for that and packing heavy Psycic defense. Playing without them keeps me from building my strategy around them and removes that automatic priority one target that most players will expect when facing Mech Vets. I may just be stubbornly resisting buying the damn things since I have already spent so much money on the army but if they turn out to be necessary I will break down.

HQCCS 4x Melta, Chimera, HS -155pts
HQCCS 4x Melta, Chimera, HS -155pts
Elites – Inquisitor + Mystics + Melta Bombs – 37pts
Troops - Veterans, 3x Melta, Chimera, HS -165
Troops – Veterans, 3x Plasma, Chimera, HS – 180pts
Troops – Veterans, 3x Plasma, Chimera, HS- 180pts
Troops – PCS 3x flamer, 1x Hvy Flamer, Chimera, HS – 130pts
Troops – Infantry Squad, Flamer, Krak, Melta Bombs – 70pts
Troops – Infantry Squad, Flamer, Krak, Melta Bombs – 70pts
Troops – Veterans 2x Flamer, 1x Hvy Flamer, Demolitions, Priest -175pts
Fast Attack – Valkyrie, Rocket Pods – 130pts
Fast Attack – Vendetta – 130pts
Fast Attack – Vendetta – 130pts
Heavy Support – LR Squadron: 2x Vanquisher, 2x LC, 2x Plasma Sponson, Pask – 470pts
Heavy Support – LR Squadron: 1x Demolisher -165
Heavy Support – LR Squadron: 1x Demolisher -165



Total : 2497

Sadly I forgot to print my list out Friday and totally forgot about the Priest in the Flamer Vets squad, DOH!!!


I will post extensive pics late tonight when I get home. I was planning to add some Vassal details but then I actually tried to do the first two turns and I don’t have that kind of time  Hopefully the pics will be sufficient.

The game was Dawn of War Annihilation ( The worst combo for IG deliberately ) and I gave my opponent choice of first turn. The goal here was to make this game as difficult as possible since I was not likely to get many other chances to play Tau before 7-12.

Terrain was set up bad for IG as well. On the left side of the board was a HUGE desert canyon piece that was 12”x12” and pretty much impassible to vehicles. The center of the board was a neat wrecked devilfish piece while he had a fortified mountain terrain piece on the right side of his deployment and I had a small wooded area on that side of mine. He also had a small bunker complex piece in the center rear of his deployment zone.

Only a small choke point to squeeze my vehicles through at board center or I would be forced to swing around the wrecked fish and go towards the right flank. My opponent chose to deploy only his HQ suit squad right behind the giant canyon piece and one squad of FW in the fortified mountain on his side of the right flank.



Tau Turn 1

My opponent surprised me by choosing NOT to bring in anything further other than his pathfinders and hold his entire remaining army in reserves. He said that he felt that if he came on that he would be shot to bits early. We discussed throughout the game if this decision had worked out for him and I can see his point since I had very effectively only 4 viable shooting phases in the game due to that decision. It also allowed him to ensure that my own tanks had very limited fields of fire



IG Turn 1

I made a number of critical errors here. First I moved my entire Chimera Phalanx into the board center making it easy for my opponent to spread out and minimize their firepower. Second I positioned myself so that the Melta CCS would be forced through the narrow chokepoint at board center. Third I put Pask’s Squadron too close to the board edge risking an outflank attack.

My Demolishers moved in with the Chims and my ValkDettas did my standard three pronged attack with the Valk carrying the demo vets up the center and my two Vendettas moving up each side. Everything popped smoke to make his turn two fire less effective.



Tau Turn 2

This turn was pretty unimpressive with the Tau getting only one RailHead and his Kroot from reserves. They moved in slowly with the Rail Head coming in between the fortified hill on the right and the bunker in the center. The Pathfinders came in and deployed into the fortification from their fish while the Kroot outflanked perfectly taking advantage of my poor placement. His suits jumped out from behind the rocks to position for a posthot at my chimeras.

His shooting went fair with his Suits managing to immobilize one of my CCS chimeras ( a blow that would prove crippling later on) This reminded me of how terrible my first turn move had been by not hiding my CCS chims behind the rest of the Phalanx. On the other side the Kroot rapid fired into Pask’s squadron but thanks to the smoke managed only to shake them and knock out one weapon, however it was Pask’s main cannon that was lost another early crippling blow due to my poor initial movement.





IG Turn 2

This was the turn where I made my most critical error. I ran straight for the chokepoint with my remaining CCS Chimera moving up leading the pack toward the narrow funnel flanked by the rest of my phalanx. On the far right flank of the phalanx the two plasma vets moved full speed to get around the wreck and make a separate attack supported by the Vendetta.

The Valkyries each moved forward slowly preparing to combine fire on the lone rail head while Pasks squadron moved as fast as their lumber hulls could go while the Inquisitor who had been positioned behined them moved to put himself and his mystics in between the vulnerable tanks and the advancing Kroot Horde. In the center my Vendetta moved ahead to position the demo vets for an attack on the Crisis Suit team.

Shooting went well for me as the Vendettas destroyed the lone rail head with concentrated lascannon fire. In the center the Pathfinders were almost wiped out by two perfect Rocket Pod hits that killed all but two of the dangerous marker lights. The Crisis team was annihilated by a combined assault of demo charge and demolisher cannon rounds while the heroic inquisitor killed a single Kroot before his inevitable sacrifice.



Tau Turn 3

This turn the Tau reserves arrived in force ( actually my opponent rolled for only one hammer head but in order to make the game more even we gave him all of his reserves at once ) So now the full force of the Tau Empire raced towards my simple guardsmen. He brought in both loaded WarFish just to the left of the bunker in the center at slow speed to enable them to pound on my demo vets. One Railhead came in on the far left and one in between the bunker and the fortified hill flying over the burning wreckage of the first Railhead. The Piranha squadrons came in on opposite corners. The one on the Left moving flat out while the one on the right moved in more conservatively using the fortified hill for cover.

His shooting phase went rather poorly with only his two rail heads having a chance to fire. One missed and the other hit my left hand Vendetta shaking it. He did manager to use all of his burst cannon from the DevilFish to nearly wipe out my Demo Vets leaving only three who ran back towards the safety of my own lines. The ciritical problem here was that they ran directly back to block the chokepoint stalling my entire chimera advance.

His Kroot slaughtered the Inquisitor and his retinue but were left staring down the barrel at four plasma cannons from Pask’s Squadron.



IG Turn 3

I had a serious problem at this point as the survivors from my Demo Platoon were completely blocking the chokepoint between the devilfish wreckage and the canyon. This force me to make difficult terrain tests to move around them and in another devastating blow my second CCS Chimera was Immobilized not only robbing me of both of my best anti tank units but also blocking any further advance through the chokepoint.

I was forced to split up with the two demolishers moving forward over the rubble and wreckage respectively, my Melta vets and flamer PCS moving to the left to try and do an end run around the canyon and my two Plasma Vets moving off to the right to assault the Piranha’s.

Pasks squadron spun in place to annihilate the Kroot while all three skimmers moved to better positions. Both basic infantry squads disembarked one in the midst of the Piranhas and the other in perfect position to assault the Tau Firewarriors holding the fortified hill on the right side.

My shooting went very well as one demolisher wrecked one of the newly arrived devilfish forcing the firewarriors out into the open where they were quickly reduced to half strength from multi laser and missle pod fire after the remaining pathfinders had been dealt with. Pask annihilated the Kroot with massed plasma cannon fire while my Lascannons took out two pirhanna and my infantry squad facing the fire warriors killed 4 with flamer fire.

In the assault phase the squad on the left killed a single pirhanna while the squad on the right killed all but 4 fire warriors who then fled towards the board edge.




Tau Turn 4

With plenty of targets available now the Tau made only token moves. The firewarriors who lost the previous rounds combat fled off the table while the squad in the center ran to hide behind the bunker. Each Piranha squad moved at combat speed towards the nearest chimeras while the Hammerheads held ground targeting my Vendettas.

On the left the Vendetta, the Melta Vets Chimera and the infantry squad that had assaulted the piranhas were all destroyed in quick succession. On right the piranhas failed to score any serious hits on my plasma chimeras and the second rail head immobilized the Demolisher that was riding over the wreckage in the center.

At this point the battle was very even and momentum was turning towards the Tau. I had 6 KP to his 4 and my two best units were effectively out of the battle due to the loss of their rides. I had made critical errors in initial movement and was outgunned and outnumbered. Time to get my drek together!



IG Turn 4

This was my best turn. I moved the Melta Vets from the wreckage of their chimera towards the piranhas on the left while moving both plasma vet squads toward the piranhas on the right. Pask turned to focus on the nearest RailHead. My valkyrie moved to hit the hiding tau firewarrior squad behind the bunker, exposing its rear armor to a railgun shot my thinking being that the railgun would penetrate regardless so no need to play coy. The Demolisher on the left closed the distance on the remaining full devilfish while my infantry squad tried to move for a charge against the Devilfish ( and rolled double ones on the difficult terrain test!!!)

My shooting was devastating. I killed all of the piranhas on the right side between the rapid firing plasmaguns and the vendetta. Pask destroyed the pathfinders empty devilfish, the melta vets and chimera multilasers killed all but two of the Piranhas on the left flank while the Valkyrie and Demolisher killed all but one lone firewarriror from the squad hiding behind the bunker.

For my assault phase I prepared to attack the Rail Head on the right with my infantry squad,,, and rolled double 1s again for the difficult terrain test!!! As my troops apparently were unable to get out of all the Tau blood.



Tau Turn 5

For Turn 5 the Tau Drones moved in on each side. On the left the came around the canyon to attack the melta vets while on the right they moved in to attack my suddenly keystone cop imitating infantry. The lone surviving Devlfish moved to hide behind the bunker in an attempt to deny further KPs Both Railheads moved to get better shots and the two surviving piranhas moved toward my PCS in their chimera, the last surviving Chimera that had tried to make the run through the chokepoint of death.

His shooting was quick but he did manage to Shake my Valkyrie, immobilize my second demolisher, kill all but 4 of the Melta Vets, slaughter all but the sgt of the slippery idiot infantry squad and wreck the PCS chimera but was unable to stop the approaching plasma vets or vendetta on the right side.

IG Turn 5

At this point I was trying in vain to take out the Rail Heads and managed to do exactly nothing more than shake one of them with all my combined firepower. I did finish off the Pirhana squad by disembarking the Melta CCS that had been hiding in its chimera since it was immobilized on turn 3 and plama fry the drone squadron that had been devastating my infantry squad. My melta squad killed a couple drones then Charged but were unable to do enough damage to route the damnable tau automatons.

My lone sgt did manage to charge the devilfish but missed with his meltabomb.


Tau Turn 6

With only , two railheads and one devilfish left alive and his drones locked in combat my opponent had little movment. He did try to hide his Devilfish better and got another good shooting positon with his unshaken rail head. His shooting immobilized my valkyrie and killed the lone SGT but nothing more.

The assault phase saw the drones kill all but my Veteran Sgt from the melta vets squad.

IG Turn 6

Trying for easy KP I focuses all my firepower on the last surviving Devilfish but the damned disruption pods foiled me again. I was able to do no more than blow off its burst cannon but I did manage to scatter one demolisher shot into the lone firewarriror and finish off the annoying little blue coward.

The last moment of drama for the game came with My lone SGT actually won the combat against 9 drones and denied my opponent the KP for his squad. Medal for you SGT!!!



FINAL RESULT: IG 10 TAU 6

OBSERVATIONS:

Most of my problems this game were caused by my own mistakes in the first two turns and I was actually very pleased with how the list was resilient enough to allow me to rebound from those early mistakes and still pull off a fairly convincing win.

I did discover just how tough tau vehicles are with those damned disruption pods of theirs. I think I would have actually done better against broadsides since so many more of my weapons would effect them. The hammer heads were just very hard to take out since my opponent used the reserve deployment to bring them on the board in the most difficult positions for Pask to deal with them.

I did not feel the need for the PBS but I may swap the PBS back in for the second demolisher. Im still undecided on that. Otherwise the army performed perfectly even though Pask was greatly reduced in effectiveness due to my early mistakes.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, finished up and added the pics, hope y'all enjoy it.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2009/06/25 14:52:17


Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in ca
Whiteshield Conscript Trooper



Canada

Great battle report, thanks for the read.
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Great Battle report but take specific point values off the lists.
   
Made in de
Ultraviolent Morlock







Cool report, but the tau list is crap. Tau actually only hit hard with broadsides/shield drones and crisis/shield drones combos.

More of those reports! Cool looking armies/tables.
cu

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2009/06/18 08:45:43


 
   
Made in nz
Rough Rider with Boomstick






great report keep it up!



40K 5th ed W/L/D
65/4/6, 10/2/1, 10/3/0, 2/0/1, 0/1/1

40K 6th ed W/L/D
1/0/0

WHFB 8th ed WHFB
Empire: 12/3/2, Lizardmen: 16/3/2 
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

Nice report but I'll have to agree that that is a pretty sub par tau list for this point level. Someone with broadsides with ASS can really put the hurt on mech anything.

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

I really wondered how well Broadsides would have done vs the Heads. This is my big problem here in that I just dont have any tournament experienced Tau players so I know it is a huge hole in my preparation. Hell id travel 4 hours just to get in a couple games against a solid tau player.

Smash warned me that he was not that expereinced with Tau as its not his primary army. Still it was a good learning experience but if I had been facing a more expereinced Tau opponent I would probably not have recoverd from all those early errors.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




Wales,UK

Broadsides in cover with shield drones are incredibly resilient and if he maxes out on them then you won't have many tanks left by the end of the game thats for sure =P.

But anyway it was a great report, thanks for sharing.
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

My biggest concern and what I feel to be my biggest weak point is the following:

9 broadsides, 2 pathfinder squads to mark for them 2 or three small kroot outflank or infiltrate squads and 8-12 death rain crisis suits.

That Army, I think, kicks my Tucas no matter what I do, yes?

How likley am I to face something like that in round 1? I have not seen a Tau player around here who plays seriously yet so maybe im just worried about the equivalent of Big Foot locally.

Still is there anything that I can do to counteract that threat that will not fundamentally hurt the strengths of the list. Perhaps the PBS is critical as Broadsides and Massed Lootas are two key threats to my Chimera Phalanx that I am most concerned about.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Nice report I play Tau and I think you're going to be able to handle them, but it's cool to see you preparing for all possibilities!

I have been under the impression that most Tau players prefer hammerheads, but I could be wrong about that. For myself I take a hammerhead and 3 broadsides (2 in one of the units) at 2500 points.

I don't think you'll see 9 broadsides! These squads also have their weaknesses and are dam expensive, so even if they'd give your army fits, I doubt you'll see that army fielded. Unless you believe in Big Foot
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

9 broadsides probably not. 4-6 I could see as feasible. The thing is they can all shoot at different targets. So you could easily see all your armor gone by the second turn if they also take piranha's with fusion blasters and play them well.

If you know your area well and know there arent any tau players you could run with the idea that you wont see tau or at least take into consideration that even if one shows up you might not face them. I know last year a lot of people traveled for the tournament though. I know my club hit up a store we've never been to in NJ for it since there were no other hosting stores near. So the situation may arise where you end up facing some randoms.

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in us
Pulsating Possessed Chaos Marine




Denver, CO

I'm still waiting for the missions before I decide on an army. But if there is as much mech as I think there is going to be I might be pulling out a 9 side list for the 2nd round (if I make it to it).

Here is a tau list I'm currently pondering.

HQ
1 Shas'el w/ tl flamer, fusion gun

1 Ethereal

Elite
2 Crisis Suit w/ tl flamer, fusion gun

2 Crisis Suit w/ tl flamer, fusion gun

2 Crisis Suit w/ tl flamer, fusion gun

Troops
6 Fire Warriors
1 Superfish

6 Fire Warriors
1 Superfish

6 Fire Warriors

11 kroot

11 kroot

Fast Attack
2 Pirahna w/ target lock, fusion gun
1 Pirahna w/ fusion gun, flechette

2 Pirahna w/ target lock, fusion gun
1 Pirahna w/ fusion gun, flechette

8 Pathfinders
1 Superfish

Heavy Support
2 Broadside w/ plasma rifle, multi-tracker
1 Team Leader w/ plasma rifle, multi-tracker, drone controller, target lock
2 shield drones

2 Broadside w/ plasma rifle, multi-tracker
1 Team Leader w/ plasma rifle, multi-tracker, drone controller, target lock
2 shield drones

2 Broadside w/ ass, sms
1 Team Leader w/ ass, sms, drone controller, target lock
2 shield drones


I think most mech vet players are going to realize pretty soon that they don't have a whole lot of reach out and touch you power. Which will probably herald the switch to more artillery instead of the big tanks. I love my demolishers and they do fine in most missions except dawn of war but they are definitely at a disadvantage against mech eldar and long range tau. A PBS will help against tau, not so much against the eldar. But I wouldn't expect the PBS to last very long if you field one. You will do much better against the tau list in capture and control and seize group missions than the annihilation missions.
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

I guess my best hope is that they shoot at my tanks since they are mostly just there to draw fire anyway. If My chimeras make it past turn two unmolested I can clear out anything once the vets get in there.

My real concern is massed broadsides mixed with massed deathrains, that allows the deathrains to concentrate on the chimeras and valks while the broadside focus on the big tanks. I dont think I can combat that.

Of course that Tau army just gets swallowed whole by demons, nob bikers, dual lash and such so Im hoping that rest of the metagame helps to keep Broadside/Deathrain Tau away.

This, of course, makes me think even more about "Salamanders on Wheels" as they do not fear either Tau build or any version of Mech Vets. They may not have the huge advantage Mech Vets have over many other armies but they also do not have its weaknesses.

Too bad my Bonus check is on 7-10 :-( No way im building that many bikes in one night.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

bigtmac68 wrote:I guess my best hope is that they shoot at my tanks since they are mostly just there to draw fire anyway. If My chimeras make it past turn two unmolested I can clear out anything once the vets get in there.

My real concern is massed broadsides mixed with massed deathrains, that allows the deathrains to concentrate on the chimeras and valks while the broadside focus on the big tanks. I dont think I can combat that.

Of course that Tau army just gets swallowed whole by demons, nob bikers, dual lash and such so Im hoping that rest of the metagame helps to keep Broadside/Deathrain Tau away.

This, of course, makes me think even more about "Salamanders on Wheels" as they do not fear either Tau build or any version of Mech Vets. They may not have the huge advantage Mech Vets have over many other armies but they also do not have its weaknesses.

Too bad my Bonus check is on 7-10 :-( No way im building that many bikes in one night.


I agree that tau can get hosed by demons but i dont think they have it so bad against nob bikers and lash. With markerlights to remove the cover save railguns make short work of nob bikers and unlike with melta's they will insta jib a warboss. If lash is using DP's then its just pouring fire into them until they die again with railguns but also with missile pods and plasma's, if they are on foot sorcs in transports then popping that transport becomes a priority.

I think tau can be a good contender played well at this point lvl. The thing is is they do need a good player at the helm to do well. So another thing is even by some chance if you do face them dont panic and hope you can out play the other guy.

I'm probably going to start testing my version of the sallies on wheels next week if I can get the bikers borrowed. I'm hoping they are as deadly as you say and I hope

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

I'm probably going to start testing my version of the sallies on wheels next week if I can get the bikers borrowed. I'm hoping they are as deadly as you say and I hope


I havent had a chance to test them that well but I can say the flat out WRECK Mech Vets!!! It may be because Im so familliar with Mech Vets that I know just where to hit them, but if Mech Vet is as popular at regionals as I expect it to be then Sallies on Wheels could be a fantastic wild card.

Heres hoping, It would absolutely rock for a Marine Army to win it all for once!

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

bigtmac68 wrote:
I'm probably going to start testing my version of the sallies on wheels next week if I can get the bikers borrowed. I'm hoping they are as deadly as you say and I hope


I havent had a chance to test them that well but I can say the flat out WRECK Mech Vets!!! It may be because Im so familliar with Mech Vets that I know just where to hit them, but if Mech Vet is as popular at regionals as I expect it to be then Sallies on Wheels could be a fantastic wild card.

Heres hoping, It would absolutely rock for a Marine Army to win it all for once!


well i should have at least a mech vet and 2 marine armies to test against. One of them being a tough drop pod sallie army. I'll let you know how testing goes.

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in pt
Tea-Kettle of Blood




bigtmac68 wrote:
I havent had a chance to test them that well but I can say the flat out WRECK Mech Vets!!! It may be because Im so familliar with Mech Vets that I know just where to hit them, but if Mech Vet is as popular at regionals as I expect it to be then Sallies on Wheels could be a fantastic wild card.

Heres hoping, It would absolutely rock for a Marine Army to win it all for once!


Just curious and since I respect your tactical knowlege of the game, what makes you say that they are so deadly against Mech Vets?
   
Made in gb
Defending Guardian Defender





UK

Great battle report, very well written.

 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

PhantomViper wrote:
bigtmac68 wrote:
I havent had a chance to test them that well but I can say the flat out WRECK Mech Vets!!! It may be because Im so familliar with Mech Vets that I know just where to hit them, but if Mech Vet is as popular at regionals as I expect it to be then Sallies on Wheels could be a fantastic wild card.

Heres hoping, It would absolutely rock for a Marine Army to win it all for once!


Just curious and since I respect your tactical knowlege of the game, what makes you say that they are so deadly against Mech Vets?


Mainly because Mech Vets is one of the only 2500pt level army I had available to test them against , 3 games , 3 slaughters but like I said I cant really tell how much of that is the army, and how much of that is the fact that I know my own Mech Vet army so intimately. It was very easy to use all those highly mobile meltas and multi meltas to annihilate the chimeras early, and if you can do tht, Mech Vet folds like a house of cards.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

One thing to remember is that unlike a rhino mounted tactical squads with melta's a bike squad can zoom up to a chimera, hit it with 3 melta hits and charge the occupants that fall out either doing their job and wiping out the vet squad or putting them safely into cc. Do this across multiple chimera's in a single turn and you can rip the guts out of the mech vet army.

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

Khornatedemon wrote:One thing to remember is that unlike a rhino mounted tactical squads with melta's a bike squad can zoom up to a chimera, hit it with 3 melta hits and charge the occupants that fall out either doing their job and wiping out the vet squad or putting them safely into cc. Do this across multiple chimera's in a single turn and you can rip the guts out of the mech vet army.


Bingo, got it in one!

Turn 1 Turbo boost, Turn 2 Chimera's Die along with most of the vets inside, Turn 3 Vulkan and the Termies mop up the scraps.

I have not figured out how to really combat this yet, but fortunately VERY few people have this many bikes laying around

(Including me or I would be running it already!)

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Pulsating Possessed Chaos Marine




Denver, CO

bigtmac68 wrote:
Khornatedemon wrote:One thing to remember is that unlike a rhino mounted tactical squads with melta's a bike squad can zoom up to a chimera, hit it with 3 melta hits and charge the occupants that fall out either doing their job and wiping out the vet squad or putting them safely into cc. Do this across multiple chimera's in a single turn and you can rip the guts out of the mech vet army.


Bingo, got it in one!

Turn 1 Turbo boost, Turn 2 Chimera's Die along with most of the vets inside, Turn 3 Vulkan and the Termies mop up the scraps.

I have not figured out how to really combat this yet, but fortunately VERY few people have this many bikes laying around

(Including me or I would be running it already!)


I might need to take a look at how many melta's a bike list like that would have. But I'm confused by you saying 2nd turn chimera's die. Now granted my guard lists don't run as mech vet heavy as most everyone elses but I only see 2 maybe 3 chimera's actually going down. Me being the guard player I would dump the squad and move some empty chimera's up 12 to block off your routes and force you to go after the fast moving smoked chimera. Then once you spent your wad shooting them down is when I open up with the rest of my force? If you turbo up on me and I've got a lot of ap2 then I'm going to move 12 and smoke, and then with my back units you can't reach I'm going to pepper you with fire, rinse repeat? I think it would be a really interest game to play out. Did you guys post sample lists or are they secrets? I have a massive ravenwing army so I could probably proxy the bikes to try it out against a couple of things for you.
   
Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes



NY

the list i'm testing out has 5 bike squads with 2 meltaguns and a MM attack bike. On top of the is 4 land speeders with MM's and 2 land raiders with MM's. So in total I have 11 multi-meltas and 10 meltaguns that can all move 12" a turn and fire. The thing to remember is multi-melta's can easily pop chimeras at range on side armor. If you dump your chims I'm just going to eat them up at range and then charge into your now stranded squishy guardsmen after they are popped. If your packing lots of plasma then I will hide as many bikers as i can behind my 2 land raiders when I advance on your guardsmen.

Admittedly all that is in theory. I'm trying to borrow the bikers to try out the army myself next week. And who knows the actual scenarios could throw us for a loop and change everything up like they did last year.

Where is your saviour now?

"War is an act of force, and there are no limitations to the application of that force" - Clausewitz 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

I did play three test games agains my own mech vet list ( its all over the place so i wont re post it here) with my Salamanders on Wheels list that is over in Army Lists.

My opponent tried going after the bikes, hiding from the bikes and even using the tanks to shield the chims, but I was very single minded and the crazy mobility of the army makes it very hard to protect the Chimeras from that many meltas multi meltas ( its the multi meltas that really kill you here due to the ease of getting side shots at 24" range)

I was going to test it more heavilly but cant afford to buy that many bikes before 7-11 so im back to testing my Mech Vet ( which rocks and I love, but everyone is ready for )


Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Missionary On A Mission





Great and Interesting Battle report! I have a question though for the Tau Player: Why did the Kroot RapidFire instead of charging? If he moved 6 inches he could have done some more damage.
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

Since the tanks moved at combat speed coming onto the board he would have needed 6's to hit so he chose to rapid fire into the rear armor instead.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






bigtmac... you mention in your report mistakes you made in deployment. Could you give a run down on how you would do it differently. Great BRep by the way.


 
   
Made in us
Rough Rider with Boomstick





Philadelphia

zedsdead wrote:bigtmac... you mention in your report mistakes you made in deployment. Could you give a run down on how you would do it differently. Great BRep by the way.



Sure

There were two big mistakes on my first turns movement onto the board. The easiest one to see and correct was bringing the Paskquisher squadron in so close to the board edge and with the rear armor facing available to be shot at. That was just forgetting that the Kroot could outflank, but it cost me Pask's Main Gun for the entire game.

The second is more subtle, but more costly. I brought my Melta CCS squads straight towards the chokepoint with the demolishers and vet squad flanking to either side. This left them extremely vulnerable, and cost me my two best units. Even if they did not die, they did not have any major effect on the battle, loosing them left me unable to really effect the enemy hammerheads beyond the destruction of the first one by a close range Vendetta Shot on turn 2.

What I should have done was to use the Tanks and Vets to screen the CCS as I usually do. I should also have not tried to ram both CCS down the chokepoint and should have come on so that I had Two Chimera formations, each consisting of a CCS, and Plasma vet squad, with the Melta Vets going towards the center and the flamer PCS going toward the right.

This was simply based on terrain so it would have been best no matter how he had deployed.

Hope that helps.

Big Troy, The Samurai Gunslinger of South Philly

Dystopian Wars fleets: KoB, EotBS, Prussian, FSA
Firestorm Armada Fleets: Sorellian

Current 5th ed WL record
Salamander Marines 22-3(Local) GT Circuit 2-0-1
Mech Vet Guard 54-8-4 (local) 5-1 Ard Boyz


 
   
Made in us
Awesome Autarch






Las Vegas, NV

Nice report, good to see the Mech Vets pull it off.

   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




Wales,UK

bigtmac68 wrote:I did play three test games agains my own mech vet list ( its all over the place so i wont re post it here) with my Salamanders on Wheels list that is over in Army Lists.

My opponent tried going after the bikes, hiding from the bikes and even using the tanks to shield the chims, but I was very single minded and the crazy mobility of the army makes it very hard to protect the Chimeras from that many meltas multi meltas ( its the multi meltas that really kill you here due to the ease of getting side shots at 24" range)

I was going to test it more heavilly but cant afford to buy that many bikes before 7-11 so im back to testing my Mech Vet ( which rocks and I love, but everyone is ready for )



Aren't the 'Sallies on Wheels' sort-of vunerable to lash?
   
 
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