Hey folks! Time for another battle report.. this one 2500pts of Tau vs Space Marines. My opponent normally uses the Dark Angel codex and i've been trying to convince him
for a while to try out the 5th edition rules since he's pretty much only losing out on a tiny bit of rules but gaining alot (including a bunch of points). He took a pretty
typical list for his Dark Angels (normally, he'd skip the whirlwind as that would make it 4 heavies for the
DA) and roughly got the whirlwind for free pointswise in the same
army. While he had to give up his 3 wound and better stat interrogator chaplain for a 2 wound variant and has no deathwing assault turn 1 deepstrike, he gains a real
venerable dreadnought, 3+ stormshields, a bs5 devastator lascannon, better machine spirit rules, a siege shield for his vindicator, orbital bombardments, better
captain/chap master stats, etc..
Picture Legend: blue arrows are movement, red is shooting, and yellow is assault/running... curved lines are usually deviations via scatter dice.
Mission: Annihilation, Pitched Battle, 2 objectives worth 2
KP each
Space Marine Army 2500pts
Chapter Master with Terminator armor/
TH-
SS/aux grenade launcher
Chaplain with Terminator armor
Terminator Squad x 10 with 2x assault cannons
Terminator Assault Squad x 5 with 2
TH/
SS and Landraider Crusader Transport
Venerable Dread with Plasma Cannon/Heavy Flamer in a Deathstorm Drop Pod with Beacon
Tactical Squad x10 with meltagun/lascannon
Tactical Squad x10 with meltagun/plasma cannon
Devastator Squad x10 with 2 lascannons and 2 plasma cannons
Vindicator with Siege Shield
Whirlwind
Tau Army 2500pts
Commander Shas'o with target lock/multitracker/
CIB/AFP
Ethereal
Crisis Team x 3 with Plasma/Missles/multitracker, team leader w/ shield drone
Crisis Team x 3 (identical)
Stealth Team x 6 with 2x fusion blasters
Firewarriors x 12 with 1 carbine, Devilfish with
SMS/targetting array/disruption
pod/multitracker
Firewarriors x 12 (identical)
Firewarriors x 12 (identical)
Kroot x 12
Pathfinders x 5, Devilfish (identical to
FW teams)
Vespid x 11
Broadsides x 3 with Targetting array, team leader with target lock and 2 gun drones
Broadsides x 3 (identical)
I won the pregame toss up and chose to go first. I set up my screening line of devilfish in front of my crisis suits with a center area of pathfinders (with attached
ethereal). The broadsides took up residence on the second floor corners of the table with
LOS to almost everything and no spot in the middle that could claim cover against
both squads. The kroot and stealth suits "infiltrated" so i set them up last. In reality, i was clueless where the kroot would actually be of use and decided to delay
the action while i was always planning to put the stealth suits in front of the pathfinders but wanted to see where my opponent was going to put the bulk of his force
first (and to encourage him to set up close to the middle where the vulnerable
ethereal was). The vespid were placed in deepstrike reserve.
My opponent set up his devastator squad in the tall building (we had a gentleman's agreement not to set up higher than the second floor... you could move up there but
not set up higher) and did not combat squad them suprisingly. The vindicator set up in the forest in cover (we houserule area cover as obscuring vehicles) with a tactical
squad combat squaded to protect it's flanks. The whirlwind set up shop behind the ruined one story building out of
LOS with a combat squaded tact squad guarding the
ruins in front. Off center, my opponent's customary deathstar terminator assault squad with chaplain and chapter master in the
LRC deployed at the 12" line. The mega
squad of 10 terminators and the dreadnought in a drop pod were in reserve. After his setup, my stealth suits deployed in front of the pathfinders (acting as a deterrent to
any deepstriking dread pods hopefully) with the kroot strung out along the board edge.
My opponent tried unsuccessfuly to steal the initiative and the game was on.
Turn 1 Tau
My devilfish advance 6" staying outside of melta range (and in disruption pod distance) with the suits following closely behind them. Normally, i would probably
have kept the whole army in reserve but i decided instead to try to knock out the two tanks before they could do anything. The pathfinders opened up on the vindicator and
scored three markerlight hits, negating any cover save against the broadsides in the ruin. Those broadsides opened up on the tank and easily exploded it with their side
armor shots, killing one marine in a combat squad in the process. The other broadside team opened up on the landraider, immobilizing it. The left two devilfish opened up
on the devastators in the skyscraper, killing 3 regular marines but not breaking their morale. The other two devilfish opened fire on the already weakened combat squad next
to the smoking crater that was the vindicator, killing another and forcing them to take and fail a morale check, running back 6". In the hopes of doing the same, the
two crisis suit teams fired off their missle pods on the other combat squad next to the vindicator husk but only scored one kill. In the assault phase, the suits jumped
back 6" and the round was unsuprisingly over.
Turn 1 Space Marines
The dreadnought drop pod came in slightly off center from the stealth suits and initially deviated onto them and the pathfinder but corrected its course due to its
guidance system. The dread deployed out of the pod and popped smoke, hoping to draw fire for one turn to protect the pod. Realizing that fighting the tau with ranged
warfare was a losing proposition, the bulk of the marine forces moved and even ran towards my line. The routing combat squad regained their composure and returned to
exactly where they started (rolled a 6 on difficult terrain) and then made up for their momentary loss of faith in the emperor with a 5" run. The terminator assault
squad of
HQ doom disembarked and moved/ran 13" total towards my line flanked by the special weapon combat team from the ruins.
In the shooting phase, we erroneously let the deep striking drop pod fire its large blast (my opponent took out the small template and i corrected him to the big boy much
to his pleasant surprise!), scattering back onto the side of a devilfish and failing to penetrate the armor. Perhaps the speed of the speed of the descent affected its
aim... Unfortunately, the whirlwind had no excuse for it's poor aim and scattered onto the drop pod but was incapable of penetrating its thick armor. The devastator
squad took aim at the closest broadsides with one lascannon and two plasma cannon wounds on the squad; due to the cover provided, only one wound was actually inflicted
on a suit. The rest of the army that didn't run shot at the devilfish, immoblizing one and destroying the other on the right flank.
Turn 2 Tau
The vespids heard the call of battle and responded immediately but not unerringly, deviating 8" away from the squad they were aiming for and almost off the table. On
the left flank, one devilfish zoomed 12" towards the devastators and unloaded its firewarrior cargo within rapid fire range; unfortunately, it was all for naught with
the 10 wounds inflicted by the transport and squad resulting in a SINGLE dead marine!! The second devilfish, confident that its sister squad was capable of taking out the
devastators, swung toward the middle and unloaded within rapid fire of the rear of the dreadnought. Both crisis suit squad advanced the full 6" towards the enemy while
firewarriors on the right evacuated their crippled devilfish and moved towards the back of the field.
As customary, the shooting onslaught began silently with the aiming of almost invisible markerlights through the smoke onto the dreadnought in front of my lines,
scoring 3 hits. One fusion gun from the point blank stealth suits hit and got a penetrating hit and i chose to use all three markerlights to completely negate the
cover save. The ensuing 6" explosion caught 5 stealth suits, 9 firewarriors, and two crisis suits but only 3 firewarriors actually died when the smoke cleared and the same
squad spread out in the shooting phase now that their only target was destroyed. The center devilfish and left crisis suits killed two of the three tactical marines in the
open. The left broadsides opened up on the drop pod for an easy kill point (Strength 10 AP1 vs AV12, opentopped) while the team leader split his fire onto the remaining
tactical marine in the open, killing him. Without realizing it, this decision had profound effects on the rest of the game... On the right, only 9 of the 11 vespid were
in range due to the deviation but the firepower was enough to ensure that only the meltagun marine was left in the fight. Opting for killpoints over glory, the
broadsides send mach 10 rounds towards both the land raider and the remaining meltagun marine, finishing off both. Now the only thing left was the deathstar terminator
squad barreling down on my front lines; after the crisis squad (just outside of rapid fire) and the immobilized devilfish fired, only one terminator lay dead on the ground.
Turn 2
SM
My opponent rolled for his reserves and his GIGANTIC terminator squad came in on the turn. Not knowing that the drop pod had a locator beacon, i had destroyed it simply
for the easy killpoint.. that decision would pay off now. The terminator squad chose to come in on a nice big open area of land at least 6" away from any of my squads...
and they deviated 11" off of the table!! With 20% of his entire army at stake, my opponent rolled on the mishap chart and got a 2... destroyed! It was now up to the
remaining terminator combat squad and
HQs to rampage alone through my lines so they advanced to within 1" of my immobilized devilfish, exploding it in the ensuing assault
while their armor protected them from the inferno. The combat squad in the woods opened up on the tightly pack firewarriors, killing 6 with a single plasma cannon.
The devastators combined their fire on the transport and wrecked it at the same time. Only due to the ethereal's inspiring presence on the field, the firewarriors stood
their ground despite their casualties. The whirlwind misfired again while aiming at the squad of less tightly packed firewarriors in the center while the vespid lost two
of their number to fire from the combat squad in the ruins.
Turn 3 Tau
Knowing that this turn would probably seal the game if i could destroy the remaining terminators, i focused my efforts on that target. Both crisis suits advanced as close
as possible to the mega squad, with the closest in rapid fire range. The nearest two firewarrior squads held their ground as did the stealth suits (with both fusion guns
in range) and kroot. The only exception was the remaining devilfish that moved towards the remaining combat squad in the forest but maintaining a line of fire on
both them and the terminators. On the right flank, the vespid deftly jumped into the ruins (i forgot to roll for dangerous terrain with them but i doubt it would make a
significant difference as vespid can reroll failed tests) to open up on the combat squad while simultaneously taking cover themselves from any possible fire. On the
other flank, the firewarriors held their ground in preparation for a return volley against the devastators.
Markerlights opened up against the terminators but only scored a single hit. Between both broadside squads, two crisis suits squads (the closest one aided by the
markerlight), two firewarrior squads, and the kroot... every single terminator was killed in the torrent of fire, even with preferention placement of high strenth/low
AP
fire onto the stormshields. The vespid killed two marines with their fire and another one in the following close combat without the loss of any of their own. The
devastators lost one of their number to firewarrior shooting while the final devilfish fired ineffectively into the forest. In the assault phase, flush with victory, i
forgot to jump the crisis suits towards the enemy (now that the threat of terminator assault was over) and my turn was over.
Turn 3 Space Marines
My opponent at this point was ready to concede with the loss of both his
HQs and 15 terminators but decided to see how many
KP he could take off with a final turn. Both
the devastators and unengaged combat squad in the forest opened up on the lone devilfish, stunning it but not able to destroy it. The squad engaged with the vespid
lost another of their number in the assault but were unable to kill any bugs in return. Finally, the whirlwind continued its grand tradition of being on time and WAY
WAY OFF target, deviating off to uselessness. With a current score of Tau 9 vs
SM 3 and both objectives withing movement/run distance of the firewarriors, my opponent
conceded.
Although i had initially thought it unlikely, a serious of (un)fortunate events led to a resounding victory for the tau. Going first and taking out the threat of two
powerful marine tanks on the top of turn 1 was a huge help. Although i'd like to claim it was superior tactical planning, i got lucky that i went for an easy killpoint
and destroyed the drop pod without even realizing that i had removed the only surefire way of accurately deepstriking the remaining 2/3 of the terminators (and 20% of his
entire army). My opponent normally plays deathwing heavy
DA armies i usually can't knock out everyone one of his teleport homers (ravenwing bikers) before half his
squads come in. With 70% of my entire army firing on 7 terminators and just barely killing them, i suspect the game would have been a loss for me without that mishap.
If i had been forced to split my fire onto two squads of 15 terminators total (including two multiwound
HQs), one definitely would have survived if not both. As
for MVP and game chump, I'd have to go with the pathfinders and whirlwind respectively. While the pathfinders gave me just enough hits to negate the all
important cover saves every turn i needed them, the whirlwind couldn't hit within 6" of it's target for the entire game. Hope you guys had fun reading this and we'll see
you again in a week or two!
5000pts Grey knights
New Inquisition guard army