Sister Hospitaller Sakura moved carefully through the hastily established medical stations, ducking and weaving through corpsmen, others of her Order, and medical servitors. Off to her left, a single Chimera Armored Transport surveyed the horizon, its Multi-Laser sniffing about like a wary dog. Guardsmen patrolled in fireteams of four, while others hastily dug foxholes, emplacing Autocannons and Heavy Bolters in commanding positions. Sakura was used to the commotion; though the Tau had been driven from this area nearly a day before, there was no telling if one of their Stealth Teams was still in the area. Vigilance still had to be maintained.
Stopping by a single soldier, still holding her helmet in her hands, Sakura quickly glanced down at her datapad, low Gothic runes appearing on the screen as her device communicated with the nanomachines in the Guardswoman’s body. Private First Class Miki, of the Tylansian 7th Marine Corps. The Tylansian Marine Corps prided themselves on their technological assets, usually working closely with the Adeptus Mechanicus. Every Tylansian had a series of nanomachines implanted into their bodies during Basic Training, which served to bolster their immune systems and allow them to keep fighting despite injuries that would slow a normal human. Sister Sakura had seen Tylansians emerge, victorious, from close combat with Tyranid beasts; though such survivors were few and far inbetween, the few that did survive recovered quickly. This system of nanomachines also allowed Tylansians to communicate via an internal Vox network; though more powerful vox casters were required for communications over a distance, squads could noiselessly communicate with each other over short distances. Known as “black blood”, the nanomachines rendered the user’s blood a shade of red bordering on black.
This nanotech made each soldier much tougher than the average Guardsmen, and the Commissars attached to the unit were reluctant to execute soldiers as such; Tylansians were less numerous, and executions were rare among the unit. Every soldier was needed; reinforcements were also quite rare. However, today might prove to be one of those rare days.
Sister Sakura sighed as PFC Miki’s dossier scrolled over her screen. The last survivor of Squad 1/3, Platoon Bravo, Omega Rifle Company, PFC Miki was subject to an inquiry shortly with the regiment’s Commissar for fleeing in the face of the enemy. Her squad and transport had been destroyed by Tau infantry, and though she initially attempted to return fire, she had eventually retreated under the force of Tau firepower. Sister Sakura couldn’t blame the young Guardswoman; she looked no older than about fifteen, fresh from the ranks of the Probitors. Promoted to PFC for showing bravery during Basic Training, this was her first real deployment with her unit. As Sister Sakura reached out to touch the woman- no, girl’s- shoulder, PFC Miki slowly looked up.
“I’m not worthy of this, am I? A trial, I mean. Commissar Markov should just shoot me. I can’t even fight like they told me to. If I had stayed and fought, S-Sergeant Tomoe wouldn’t have-” she whispered, her hands trembling as tears formed in her eyes. The Guardswoman was obviously in the throes of survivor’s guilt, and she gasped in shock as a gloved hand laid itself on her shoulder. Sister Sakura jumped in surprise; she hadn’t seen Commissar Markov enter. Tears flowed freely down PFC Miki’s face now, as the unreadable face of Commissar Markov regarded the young girl in front of him. Sakura was torn; on the one hand, the Guardswoman had fled from battle, but on the other hand, the girl had run from overwhelming odds, and was obviously terrified of what would happen to her next.
“Private First Class Miki. Before your trial, I want to hear your account of what happened firsthand” the Commissar’s flat, mechanical voice intoned. The Commissar’s throat had been torn out during an encounter with the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Kraken, and the man spoke with a vox implant in place of his natural voice. It served to frighten the Guardsmen he presided over; though Commissars were known for their cruel, unwavering sense of duty, Sakura had seen Markov to be stern but fair. Holding her breath, Sakura watched as PFC Miki, trembling with fear, began to recount her tale of the previous day’s battle.
“We were instructed to guard two weapons caches. General Ambrose set up an orbital relay station and we were getting ready to setup a forward firebase when the Tau attacked…” -- -
Hello everyone! I played an 1850 game with my Imperial Guard a while ago against a friend’s Tau. This was my list:
Army Shot:
Tylansian 7th MEU, 1850: HQ:
Command Squad:
General Nicholas Ambrose (Creed)
Autocannon
Vox
->Chimera (H. Stubber)
Troops:
Veteran Squad:
X3 Meltas
Veteran Squad:
X3 Meltas
Infantry Platoon:
Command Squad:
X2 Plasma Guns
->Chimera
First, Second, and Third Squads (all armed the same)
Sergeant
Plasma
X5 Guardsmen
Lascannon
->Chimera
Fast Attack:
Vendetta
Vendetta
X2 Sentinels (Autocannons)
Heavy Support:
Leman Russ MBT (
HB Sponsons)
Leman Russ Demolisher (Lascannon, Plasma Cannon Sponsons)
X2 Hydras
And the Tau list was as follows:
Army Shot:
Agnius Sept, 1850:
HQ:
Battlesuit Commander (I can never remember if it’s a Shas’o or ‘
el,
Fireknife configuration)
-x2 Bodyguards
-x2 Shield Drones
Elites:
Battlesuit Squad:
X3 Battlesuits (Fireknives, all armed slightly differently for wound allocation shenanigans)
-x2 Shield Drones
Stealth Suit (Fusion Gun)
Stealth Suit (Fusion Gun)
Troops:
Fire Warrior Team:
X12 Fire Warriors
-x2 Shield Drones
Fire Warrior Team:
X12 Fire Warriors
-x2 Shield Drones
Fast Attack:
Pathfinders:
X8 Pathfinders
->Devilfish
Heavy Support:
Hammerhead (Railgun)
X2 Broadsides (ASS)
-x2 Shield Drones
X2 Broadsides (ASS)
-x2 Shield Drones
^this list is approximate.
We rolled for mission and deployment, rolling Seize Ground (3 Objectives) and Spearhead. I got to deploy first, deploying as such (lolparkinglot):
Hydra Flak Cannon:
And the Tau deployed:
Left Side:
Right Side:
The Tau tried to seize, but failed.
Scout moves saw the Pathfinders advance forward, while the Vendettas zipped to engage the Battlesuit team and the Hammerhead. The Scout Sentinels shuffled forward, while Creed gave Tactical Genius to himself, bringing his Chimera forward, to ensure Orders range on both Veteran Teams.
Pathfinders scoot:
Vendetta 1 flies forward:
Sentinels scoot:
Left Vendetta flies the friendly skies:
Guard Turn 1: The whine of engines alerted the Tau to the presence of Imperial dropships. Two Vendetta hunter-killer gunships swooped overhead, dropping chaff and flares in order to discourage Tau thermal missiles from shooting them from the sky. Hovering in place, the two gunships dropped ropes, and two teams of Combat Engineers fast-roped from the craft, while crew chiefs aboard both Vendettas laid down a steady stream of covering fire with their Lasguns. Meanwhile, General Ambrose began to calmly issue orders in his long drawl, encouraging both teams that their work was crucial to the upcoming battle. Thus inspired, both Combat Engineers began their short and brutal work.
“Let’s rock!” came the cry from Curbstomper, one of the Sentinels under Ambrose’s command. I disembarked both Veteran Teams, while shuffling Chimeras and the Sentinels forward. The Demolisher immobilized itself in difficult terrain (FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU-). It would stay there, useless, all game. 220 points of useless metal box. Yay.
Shooting saw Creed issue For the Glory of Cadia! to the leftmost Veteran Squad (closest to the Battlesuits), and Bring it Down! to the farther Veteran Squad. The farther Veteran Squad managed to stun the Hammerhead repeatedly. (two ones
FTW). The farthest Vendetta fired at the Command Suit squad, killing a Drone and one Suit (which then passed morale). The other Vendetta fired at the Broadsides, killing two Drones.
The Main Battle Tank opened up on the Pathfinders, but scattered into oblivion, and didn’t have
LoS for the Heavy Bolters. Multilasers chipped away at the Pathfinders, as did the Hydras and Sentinels. The Pathfinders failed their morale check at the end of the turn and began to flee!
Assault saw the Veterans assault the Battlesuits and the top Veterans assault the Hammerhead. The Battlesuits took one wound and lost both Drones, while inflicting 4 casualties to the Veterans (who lost another due to No Retreat saves). The Veterans used Krak grenades on the Hammerhead, immobilizing the skimmer and stunning it again.
Attack!
Losses:
Objective Count:
Guard: 1
Tau: 0
Tau Turn 1: Quick to begin their counter-attack, the Tau Battlesuits leapt into action, scything down the Veterans. Meanwhile, Broadside Teams blew holes in the point Vendetta, sending the flyer tumbling to the ground in a ball of flames. The final mayday call from the Vendetta chilled General Ambrose to the core as the flyer vanished in a ball of rolling flames.
“Fighting retreat, Echo 1! Marines, we are leaving!” came a cry over Ambrose’s vox. The sound of plasma fire and missiles told Ambrose that one of his teams of Combat Engineers had just been killed; gritting his teeth, Ambrose’s hand strayed to his holster, the other to his vox as auspex reports showed the Tau beginning to press the Imperial weapons caches. The Tau didn’t really move much; the Pathfinders did continue to retreat off the board, however. The Battlesuit Team jumped over the Hammerhead, preparing to cut down some veterans. Fire Warriors boarded their Devilfish and scooted towards the nearest objective.
The Battlesuit Team killed 8 out of 10 Veterans, causing them to flee, but not very far. Broadsides popped off shots at Vendettas, killing the farthest one and doing nothing to the brown one.
Dead Veterans:
In assault, Veterans killed one suit and took about 4 casualties, failing morale and running! The Battlesuits caught them and gunned them down.
Tau...winning combat?
Objective Count:
Guard: 1
Tau: 0
Guard Turn 2: Rotating the turrets to face the enemy, Vendetta “Big Damn Heroes” turned to annihilate the Battlesuit team that had claimed its former passengers. Ambrose slammed his fist onto his console, opening a vox channel to the retreating Combat Engineer squad, Echo 1/2.
“I have given you your marching orders, Marines! Tylansians do not run in the face of the enemy! Do not question my resolve! Turn and face your enemy like true warriors of the Emperor!!!”
Within seconds, the sounds of a Meltagun firing echoed over Ambrose’s vox, and then the sounds of two Krak Grenades exploding swiftly followed. Peering out of his observation periscope, Ambrose saw the primary cannon of the Tau Hammerhead lying in smoking ruins. The skimmer itself was grounded and couldn’t move; his Engineers had done their jobs. Movement saw the retreating Veterans roll snake eyes for their fall-back roll. Chimeras scooted around, moving towards the middle objective, and the Russ crept up a bit. The pair of Sentinels continued to advance.
Shooting saw Creed Order “Get Back Into the Fight!” on the Veterans, who rallied and fired at the Hammerhead, taking out the railgun. The Vendetta obliterated the suits that had killed the left Veteran squad, while the Sentinels fired on the Fire Warriors, picking off two. Multilasers opened up on the Fire Warriors, killing one more. (my rolling was kinda bad,
imo)
FREEEM (the sound a Lascannon makes! Dead Suits):
Get Back in the Fight:
Assault:
Objective Count:
Guard: 1
Tau: 0
Tau Turn 2: Threatened by the remaining Imperial gunship, the Tau began to focus their efforts towards bringing the final Vendetta down. A Stealth Suit, detected by the Imperial sensor array, emerged at the far end of the battlefield, trudging up towards the Imperial Comms Array.
Taking careful aim, a Broadside team fired its railguns at the Imperial walkers, obliterating the lightly armored vehicles before their operators realized what was happening. Reserves saw one Stealth Suit with Fusion Gun arrive; he misshaped while trying to deep-strike next to my Main Battle Tank, and rolled a 4 on the Mishap table, meaning I got to put him wherever I wanted. Putting on my best trollface, I put the short-ranged warrior at the far back end of the battlefield.
U Mad Xeno Scum?
Movement saw the left Devilfish scoot up for a side armor shot on my Chimera, while very little else moved ,besides a set of suits jumping from behind the Hammerhead. Fire Warriors disembarked from the Devilfish, preparing to shoot the Chimera as well.
Shooting saw the Broadsides annihilate the Sentinels, with two clean railgun shots dominating the Sentinels! The other Broadside team fired on the Vendetta, but due to the angle and
LoS blocking terrain, the Vendetta received a 5+ cover save…which it made. I felt like such a terrible troll at this point.
Bye bye, Sentinels...
Burst Cannons on the now cannon-less Hammerhead finished off the Veterans, while Fire Warrior shooting at the Chimera’s side armor proved fruitless. Meanwhile, the Stealth Suit ran towards my home objective. The suits popped shots off at the Chimera, shaking it, while the Devilfish blew off the Chimera’s Multilaser. The disembarked Fire Warriors then exploded my Chimera in a volley of shots! The Sergeant and a few Guardsmen were killed, and the Guardsmen inside were pinned!
Side shots:
Assault saw the Suit team jump behind the Hammerhead.
Objective Count:
Guard: 1
Tau: 1
Guard Turn 3: The obliterated wreckage of the Chimera smoldered, scorching the flak armor of the Guardsmen who had survived the explosion. Sergeant Tomoe lay amidst the wreckage, in critical condition, and PFC Miki’s shaking hands fumbled for her lasgun. By some miracle, she’d survived with only minor damage, and what few bruises and lacerations she did have were quickly being sealed by her “Black Blood”. Pinned beneath the rubble, PFC Miki struggled to move, and as she reached for her weapon, her body was suddenly imbued with a burst of strength.
“Stand and fight, Guardsmen!” came the voice of General Ambrose. The General had activated some of the more latent nanotech in PFC Miki’s body; adrenaline and strength-enhancing stimulants were now being released in her bloodstream. Feeling empowered, PFC Miki pulled herself from the wreckage, joining her squad, who were fighting from the wreckage of their vehicle. Already, the Lance Corporal had gotten the squad’s supporting crawler up and running; the lascannon hummed, before releasing a bright burst of energy, blowing a Tau Drone to pieces. PFC Miki took a knee and opened fire, dropping her crosshairs over a human in Tau gear. Gue’vesa; humans who now fought with the Tau. Traitors all, Miki smiled, grimly, as the man fell to the ground, a fist sized hole blown in his chestplate. Movement saw my Chimera shift into position to claim the middle objective, while the MBT scooted up in support.
Shooting saw Creed issue “Get Back in the Fight!” to the pinned Guardsmen squad. Receiving the order, the squad then opened fire on the Fire Warriors, killing two drones and a Fire Warrior with Lasguns, Plasma Gun, and Lascannon. Not my best shooting ever.
Pew pew pew:
Multilasers popped off shots at the middle Fire Warrior team, dropping their number to four; the team promptly broke and fled. The MBT opened fire with its battlecannon, blowing the Command Suits sky high, while taking a Shield Drone from the Broadside with it! My opponent failed his cover saves en masse, unfortunately.
Fleeing Fire Warriors:
I didn’t assault anything.
Objective Count:
Guard: 2
Tau: 1
Tau Turn 3: Leveling their powerful guns, the Tau Fire Warriors took swift vengeance upon Miki’s squad. First, the crawler fell to plasma fire from the Devilfish. Then, the remainder of her squad were scythed down by the Fire Warriors, firing in waves. As the Lance Corporal was blown to ribbons, something inside of Miki snapped. She didn’t want to suffer the same fate; not like this. Standing up, adrenaline pumping, Miki ran, in a vain attempt to escape the Tau.
Had she stayed, Miki might have noticed the wavering air pass by her, signifying the presence of a Tau Stealth Suit. The cloaked warrior landed next to the pair of Imperial anti-air guns, preparing its Fusion Gun to take them down. My opponent’s final Stealth Suit arrived, landing next to my Hydras. The far Stealth Suit moved towards my home objective. Nothing else moved.
Shooting saw my left Guardsmen squad take fire from the Devilfish and disembarked Fire Warrior team, leaving one survivor, who subsequently broke and ran. Broadsides fired at my Chimeras…rolling 1’s for Armor Penetration vs. my front armor. The far Stealth Suit took a long range shot with its Fusion Gun, blowing the Multilaser off of my Platoon Command Chimera. The Stealth Suit next to the Hydras failed to penetrate AV12 at
2d6 pen range!
Stealth Suit fail:
Ones for the one god!:
Ffffffuuuuuuuuu-!:
Hi Stealth Suit!:
My opponent did not assault me this turn.
Objective Count:
Guard: 2
Tau: 1
Guard Turn 4: The crackling of a stealth field alerted Ambrose to danger from behind. As Sergeant Major Hawkeye leveled her Plasma Gun at the shimmering Tau Stealth Suit, Ambrose placed an arm in front of her, drawing his pair of pistols. Utilizing a specialized armor-penetrating round and based on a positively ancient design known as the M1911, Ambrose leveled his pistol at the Tau Stealth Suit, firing a single round through where he guessed the Xeno’s body was hidden within the suit. The right pistol barked once, a single round blowing a hole through the shimmering stealth suit of his enemy. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the Tau Stealth Suit fell to the ground in a heap, fusion gun still smoking from its failed assault on the Hydras. Movement saw the lone survivor run off the board, while Creed disembarked, moving towards the Stealth Suit.
Multilasers killed off the last Broadside, while Creed’s hotshot Laspistol killed the Stealth Suit. The Platoon Command Squad rolled correctly to see the Stealth Suit, and returned fire, with Plasma Gun shots blowing the Stealth suit from the board. The Broadsides in the back field were killed by my Hydras; four ones for armor saves.
Creed executes Stealth Suit:
At this point, my opponent and I called the game, as my opponent was just rolling terribly and had no offensive punch remaining. It stopped being fun when Strength 10 Broadsides couldn’t penetrate
AV 12 Chimeras; I felt that prolonging my opponent’s bad luck streak wasn’t very fun for either of us.
Final objective count:
Guard: 2
Tau: 1
Tau Objective (far left):
Center Objective:
Guard Objective:
Final game shot:
As PFC Miki concluded her tale, Commissar Markov stood, gazing impassively upon the PFC. Sakura heard a low snapping noise, and realized that the Commissar had drawn his power sword. Trembling visibly, the pathetic form of PFC Miki began sobbing as the Commissar strode towards the girl, power sword in hand. Raising the sword above his head, Miki flinched as the Commissar’s blade descended-
-landing gently on her shoulder. A tense couple of moments passed, as Miki opened her eyes. Looking up at the Commissar, his face still impassive, a single tear fell from her face as the Commissar spoke.
“After hearing your account of the battle, and reviewing the vox logs, I have concluded that you, Private First Class Miki, recognized that discretion is the better half of valor. I do not appreciate wasting personnel in pointless executions, nor in vain stands against a superior enemy. Though my cohorts would execute you right here, I do not see the point of wasting soldiers in a warzone where every fighting man and woman is a precious commodity”
Sakura noted that the Commissar hadn’t activated the weapon’s power field; withdrawing the tip of his blade from the girl’s shoulder, Commissar Markov sheathed his blade.
“You will be re-assigned to a new squad shortly. Make sure that you are prepared” the Commissar spoke, his toneless voice delivering a dead, flat instruction to the young PFC. Standing up at rapt attention, PFC Miki’s face was filled with relief. Sakura breathed a silent sigh; she’d been holding her breath from the moment the Commissar had drawn his blade. Cloak billowing behind him, the Commissar strode from the tent, leaving a relieved Sister Hospitaller and Guardswoman in his wake. I’ve not used my Guard in over a year, and I think it showed. Honestly, I feel my opponent had a good chance of beating me; had he pressed the center objective with a mounted Fire Warrior Team, he would have won. That, and if his dice didn’t hate him so much; between rolling one’s for armor/cover saves and penetration, to rolling boxcars for Morale checks, he would have easily blown me from the center objective at least. He’s got sound tactics, has beaten my Marines and Tyranids, and knows what to do in order to beat my Guard; it’s just that his dice always desert him at crucial times. I’ve even given him my dice to roll, and this STILL happens.
Thanks for reading; hopefully, more battle reports to come soon!
WAAAGH! Gutsnagga Mo-ork- 5000pts Kult of speed + goffs
red space marines, (almost angry enough!) 2000 points
