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Game with Poddy last night, he's not played with his Tau for a few weeks. I'm looking forward to this game as I think Poddy has some surprises up his sleeve. See, when I usually play Poddy I always drop him a line on FB and give him tips how to beat my army and what to do. I gave him a heads up, well asked him if it was ok to bring the Fleas (as I know he hates them) and he said it was cool and also he said he doesn't need any prior help. I think he's been swotting up on tactica!

A polite notice, this is a short game, so keep that in mind when making comments

Blood Angels "The Red Fleas" - 2,000 points


HQ

Librarian - jump pack, shield of sanguinus & unleash rage
Librarian - jump pack, shield of sanguinus & unleash rage
Honour Guard - jump packs, 4 x meltaguns & 3 x melta bombs

Elite

2 x Sanguinary Priests - jump packs

Troops

10 x Assault Marines - 2 x meltaguns - sgt w/ power fist
10 x Assault Marines - 2 x meltaguns - sgt w/ power fist
10 x Assault Marines - 2 x flamers - sgt w/ power weapon
10 x Assault Marines - 2 x flamers - sgt w/ power weapon
5 x Scouts - 5 x sniper rifles & camo cloaks

Heavy Support

5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers
5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers
5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers


Tau - 2,000 points

HQ

Shas'el - plasma rifle & missile pod
Crisis Suit Bodyguard - plasma rifle & missile pod
Shas'el - plasma rifle & missile pod

Crisis Suit Bodyguard - plasma rifle & missile pod

Elites

2 x Crisis Suits - 2 x plasma rifles & missile pods
2 x Crisis Suits - 2 x plasma rifles & missile pods
2 x Crisis Suits - 2 x plasma rifles & missile pods

Troops

6 x Warriors
6 x Warriors
13 x Kroot - 2 x kroot hounds
13 x Kroot - 2 x kroot hounds

Fast Attack

6 x Pathfinders w/ Devilfish - Devilfish w/ disruption pod
6 x Pathfinders w/ Devilfish - Devilfish w/ disruption pod
Piranha - fusion gun & targeting array

Heavy Support

3 x Broadsides - advanced stablisation system - team leader w/ bonding knife, target lock & 2 x shield drones
Hammerhead - railgun, 2 x burst cannons & disruption pod
Hammerhead - railgun, 2 x burst cannons & disruption pod

Pre-game Analysis

Ok, Poddy has got a lot of nasty AP2 weapons which can blow holes in my Marines, also means no feel no pain either. I am expecting to lose a unit or get one seriously mauled a turn thanks to all this AP2 weaponry, plus if Poddy uses the Pathfinders he can take away my cover saves. That's what worries me.

What I am going to do about it is use the Devastators to blast krak missiles at the Shas'El units first, they shoot better than the others so I'll use the others average ballistic skill as a get by. Then I'll move up and start slagging things with meltaguns and charge into combat with the Battlesuits.

Game: Annihilation + Spearhead

Deployment

Ok, the game was meant to be DoW, though I didn't want to play it really because of my Devs. Poddy said it was ok to re-roll, though I said about sticking, though ended up re-rolling and playing spearhead.

I won the roll off and deployed first bottom right corner. I am using the large shrine ruin to give cover to all jump infantry units, which are placed behind it, melta units are at the front and flamer units behind. Everything is in fnp and shield range. Devs all cluster together and deploy in a single ruin, the other ruin wasn't a option as they couldn't draw LOS on anything plus would be out of range. I think for lols I am going to infiltrate the Scouts so I can use the sniper rifles, it's not something I normally I do but lets go balls to the walls.

Poddy deploys well and puts all his Suits in the ground floor of a large ruin, Fire Warriors are also inside while the Pathfinders are in the Devilfish. Three skimmers deploy on side of the ruin while another deploys on it's own by Poddy's table edge.

I drop my infiltrating Scouts on top of the shrine ruin where they will be in reach of everything. Poddy infilitrates the Kroot, one in a ruin top right and another in a ruin bottom right. He then scout moves the Pathfinders out the skimmers and they move into terrain same as all the infantry.









* Tactical Notes

Right, Poddy has bunkered down most of his infantry, though I think has made mistakes infiltrating those Kroot where he has. If it was me I would have used them as bubblewrap instead. Seems I am heading straight towards Poddy I can pick off one unit in the bottom left and either back track to get the one on top right or just plain ignore it. Getting krak missile shots will be difficult as Poddy has placed his units well, I guess I'll have to see what I can see.

Turn 1

I move and run all my Blood Angels over the shrine ruin, the jump infantry has to split to go round, I have a melta unit and flamer unit on each side of the board with the Honour Guard in the middle.

Shooting; Devastators fire and blast a Shas'El and Bodyguard to bits spraying Tau fishing guts all over the board. Snipers fire at the Broadsides and kill two Drones and put a wound on a Broadside - unit passes morale and pinning. That's all she wrote!

Poddy's turn; he jumps out of terrain to get LOS better (just realised he forgot to do terrain tests). He brings both Kroot units out to play and the Hammerheads move forward a bit while the Devilfish move about.

Shooting; I cast shield with both Librarians. Kroot fire though don't get many shots in as mostly out of rapid fire range. Honour Guard get blasted by pretty much everything including smart missiles by the Broadsides (I advised Poddy to fire railguns) and pulse carbines by Pathfinders (which were out of range) and pretty much everything bounces off, only three remain and the squad passes morale.

Kill points - Blood Angels: 2 Tau: 0









* Tactical Notes

Ok, decent start for the Fleas. Battlesuit unit is down so that's a little less plasma coming my way. I am surprised the Honour Guard took so much punishment, they took fire from 6 burst cannons, two large blast hammerheads (both landed on target), smart missiles from Broadsides and every single missile pod going.

Next turn I will be capitalising on Poddy's mistakes. I will move the flamer unit closest towards my board edge to get the Kroot in the bottom left while melta units head towards vehicles. I am in two minds whether to send the other flamer unit to get the Kroot in the top left or just bound forward as the Kroot will be out of range shooting at my again. I'll give it some thought.

Turn 2

Angels second turn; flamer unit by my board edge bounds towards the exposed Kroot while the supporting melta Assault Squad and Honour Guard bound right up to the Hammerheads. By Poddy's board edge the other melta Assault Squad moves up to the Devilfish along with the flamer unit behind, reason I didn't go for Kroot is I want the shield range, so I run the flamer squad to make sure the melta unit has shield coverage.

Shooting; snipers fire at the Broadsides and fail to do anything. Meltas fire at both Hammerheads and both blow up, shrapnel kills a Marine along with Kroot and Pathfinders - both pass morale. Devs drop full house of frags on the Kroot top left, they fail morale and run off the board. Meltas fire at the Devilfish on Poddy's board edge and fail to do anything.

Assault; flamer unit charges the Kroot bottom left, Librarian casts unleash rage and the Kroot are totally battered. Melta unit charges the Devilfish, krak grenades blow off all the weapons and immobilise it and the power fist wrecks it.

Poddy's turn and his Tau are starting to drop. He bounds the Battlesuits out of terrain and lines up to blast away.

Shooting; I cast shield with my Librarians and the one closest to my table edge fails and takes a wound from perils. Honour Guard get blasted to bits and are wiped out. Melta unit which slagged a Hammerhead gets picked on as well, only three of them are left are they get shot to pieces.

Kill points - Blood Angels: 7 Tau: 1







* Tactical Notes

Ok, the Fleas are cleaning house at the moment and I've scored a lot kill points based off Poddy's mistakes. All units which he put too far forward have been slagged or punched in the face. I think next turn I'll have a problem as I am not close enough to get my troops into assault, this means Poddy can move up and rapid fire me with plasma. If Poddy keeps all his Battlesuits together in a single direction he could take out the reminder of that melta unit and damage the flamer unit badly or finish them off.

Next turn I'll suicide the depleted melta unit towards Battlesuits while the flamer unit moves up behind to give shield support. Other melta unit will bound up and blast the Broadsides with bolt pistol support from the Flamer unit.

Turn 3

Depleted melta unit bounds up, they will be out of assault range though I hope can slag some Battlesuits. Flamer unit bounds up, though the melta unit is out of shield range. Other melta unit and flamer unit bound up, Poddy hasn't moved the last Devilfish last turn.

Shooting; depleted meltas slag a single Crisis Bodyguard - Shas'El passes morale. Flamers and bolt pistols blast and burn Pathfinders and they are wiped out. Snipers blast the Broadsides and do nothing, meltaguns and bolt pistols win the day and the unit is wiped out. Not sure what the krak missiles fire at this turn.

Assault; I wasn't going to do anything on the Devilfish as I wanted to give Poddy a break, though my flamer unit was just standing there and was going to shoot at the Broadsides. I'd be taking the piss out of me and him if I didn't assault it. I offer to count the Devilfish as moved, though Poddy isn't having any of it and I auto hit the skimmer and it goes boom.

Tau's turn; Battlesuits move to engage the oncoming Assault Marines all on the side of the depleted melta unit. They blast the melta unit and slag some from the flamer unit, Poddy scores a kill point.

At this point Poddy conceeds. He still has a Piranha left (which I cannot draw LOS to which I helped him hide it when the Piranha came on last turn), two Fire Warrior units, Pathfinders and several Crisis Battlesuit units. Poddy's reason was that he's backed into a corner and next turn I'd assault him and finish him off.

Game goes to Blood Angels.

Summary

Well, that was a surprise ending. I admit I was a bit disappointed Poddy conceeded this early, though I don't want to go around wiping people and cause them upset, though it is a game of toy soliders I guess.

I think Poddy was having problems this game. Both me and himself was looking forward to this game, though at the start his dice were shockingly gak and turn 2 his things starting going boom. He wasn't particularly interested in the game and mentioned he's going to take a break from 40k as he's getting disheartended of his Tau and has even dropped his Salamanders he was starting. Put it this way, Poddy's missus even had enough of his whining this game and told him to sell the Tau and get a better army lol

Besides problems with 40k itself, I don't think Poddy played as well as he has done in the past. He had a heads up I was bringing Fleas and knows how fast they can move, though he played six units straight into my hands. I think better deployment would have helped him. If I was playing Tau I would have put the Devilfish in front of the Hammerheads and then bubblewrapped them with Kroot. I would have also bubblewrapped the building front with Kroot as well. Pathfinders I would have deployed on the top floor or the balcony with the Broadsides. Before the game Poddy mentioned about taking more Broadsides and less Hammerheads and ditching the Bodyguards. I suggested doing this for this game, though he's a stubborn donkey and he knows it

Well the Tau had nowhere to run, and the Assault squads had <24" to go so the infantry was in for a smooshing from turn two. The Tau list wasn't very strong for an army facing infantry, considering the BA nearly outnumbered them. BA 69 to Tau 72 total models approx.

Simply, I think because of Spearhead, the Poddy had no time to spread out and suffers for it. IMO, it is the worst deployment for a shooty army because you are forced into a box and will be surrounded by close quarters troops very quickly.

Poor Poddy. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you get beaten too badly and too often....it's just really discouraging. It's also why I don't like to bring my ultra-optimized competitive lists to a casual game (unless I know my opponent is doing the same or is a very good player). I have my un-optimized lists for more casual play.

BTW, your home terrain is much, much better than the ones at your LGS. I like it.

Ya I agree that the deployment and mission really screwed him here. Combine that with fast moving BA, the absolute worst army for him to be facing off against imo, and that battle was lost from the beginning. This tau list was never going to beat BA anyways, not with so many pathfinders that ended up being useless here. An is there some strategic value that I am missing here for having just 1 piranha? B/c it dosn't seem at all like a good choice to have just one. Perhaps I am wrong though?

If it's possible, your reports just keep getting better

nice table.

I'd like to see your purifier list take on that Tau (maybe that already occured, not sure). Probably a more even match. Tau just don't deal well with jumper BA

I'd probably be in the same boat with him if I was getting whooped consistently. You're pretty ruthless. Not in a bad way mind you, I just would never play you outside of a tournament setting!

I was rooting for poddy the whole way through !! Sorry to see the outcome so one sided - but thats war

jy2 wrote:Poor Poddy. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you get beaten too badly and too often....it's just really discouraging. It's also why I don't like to bring my ultra-optimized competitive lists to a casual game (unless I know my opponent is doing the same or is a very good player). I have my un-optimized lists for more casual play.

BTW, your home terrain is much, much better than the ones at your LGS. I like it.

Well, I don't think it's that. He said it was Tau and said they are gak. Problem is Poddy is a stubborn bugger and won't change his list even though I have suggested more Broadsides and many others have. Another problem is he only plays against me, well mostly, I have suggested to him to play other people at the club we both go to.

As for lists, well I don't think that really matters. There's a different way I play in casual games, I help the other player more (as mentioned in this report) and let off with mistakes (as mentioned in this report).

Yeah, I like my terrain . Problem with the club stuff is it's all low stuff and there isn't much LOS blocking stuff. There's a lot of terrain, but most of it is small fiddly bits and the real stuff is the GF9 bits.

darkcloud92 wrote:Ya I agree that the deployment and mission really screwed him here. Combine that with fast moving BA, the absolute worst army for him to be facing off against imo, and that battle was lost from the beginning. This tau list was never going to beat BA anyways, not with so many pathfinders that ended up being useless here. An is there some strategic value that I am missing here for having just 1 piranha? B/c it dosn't seem at all like a good choice to have just one. Perhaps I am wrong though?

You make some good points here.

Piranha, I've mentioned to Poddy about dropping it and getting more Pathfinders as I am sure they would benefit his army better. He likes it and wants to keep it for last minute objective contesting, it hardly works as it's too weak and only one of them.

yamgrenade wrote:If it's possible, your reports just keep getting better

Thanks, dude.

Deathmachine wrote:nice table.

Thanks. The table is Poddy's though the terrain is mine.

winterman wrote:I'd like to see your purifier list take on that Tau (maybe that already occured, not sure). Probably a more even match. Tau just don't deal well with jumper BA

There's a report of Purifiers vs Tau around here, posted it about a month ago. Here's a link to it on my blog: http://www.imperiusdominatus.com/2012/02/battle-report-grey-knights-vs-tau-2000.html

gpfunk wrote:I'd probably be in the same boat with him if I was getting whooped consistently. You're pretty ruthless. Not in a bad way mind you, I just would never play you outside of a tournament setting!

I think you misunderstand me. I am a casual player who knows what he is doing and run tough lists, that's all. If you had the attitude of you wouldn't play me outside a tournament then that's your loss and sounds a bit childish to me. You've got the wrong word here, ruthless.

As I also mentioned, Poddy plays mostly me and played a few others a couple of times. I have suggested to him to play other people and he just doesn't want to. Not a lot I can do about that.

sumi808 wrote:I was rooting for poddy the whole way through !! Sorry to see the outcome so one sided - but thats war

I thought that he might have picked up on some anti flea tactics last game. I was expecting him to hold everything back and blast units until massively depleted or gone. I do think that the Fleas are a bad match up for Tau as none of my other armies come close to giving out so much pain. Unfortunately things turned out the way they did in this game.

Oh so he is just stubborn lol I see. I have a friend here who plays orks and he has got a similar problem. He gets discouraged really easily, like a couple bad dice rolls could just set him off. But he thinks his ork army is terrible b/c the only person he ever plays is me and my tau and I gun down his units before they have a chance to make it to CC.lol I tried explaining once he plays other people he will have a better chance to play his army the way it is intended.
But ya I forgot to mention nice batreps, I notice the pictures look a little bigger? I liked the zoomed in view a lot, the armies are painted really well.

Yeah he is, he'll even say himself. I've suggested max Broadsides to him several times, I know other people on here have as well. His first turn wasn't that brilliant with dice rolls, there after he was doing ok.

Yeah, he plays me mostly. He's playing against another guy twice and another guy once. Poddy has mentioned he is going to expand and play others.

Pictures, I recently updated my phone and lost all my settings so maybe the pictures are bigger..maybe.

From the moment Mercer walked into my home, kicked the dog and spat in my drink I knew he meant business and was a man on a mission.

I think my biggest problem in 40K is that I still don't know what dice score is needed to penetrate and hurt units. After around 20 games I should but I just look to Mercer to tell me what I need to roll (I can only penetrate Red Fleas and wound them on 6's and he get's a 2+ armour save and 1+ Invulnerable save right? That's what he says...) I think it's fair to say I don't make that many mistakes nowadays but in our game Tuesday I was more than aware that I took my eye off the ball. I hung my Krooties out to dry and first turn firing thought I'd have a play with my Broadsides SMS's instead of nuking the Fleas with Railgun fire.

With regards to my list, as it's my first foray into 40K early on I chose a lot of units that I thought looked cool or fun. Unfortunately, a shed load of money later I realised I've misspent quite a lot and really what I need is six more Broadsides. I'm at a stage now that I don't want to waste any more cash on my Tau though. If acquiring the extra Broadsides would turn my army into a fire breathing, ass thrashing, monster of an army I would take the hit to my wallet. Fact is however that it won't. It'll make me more competitive sure but I'll still be playing with an out of date relic of a codex that really doesn't measure up to the newer codexes or a lot of the older ones for that matter.

Forgive me and with no insults intended to anyone, using Mercer's Red Fleas and Razorspam lists as examples, I look at them and think how the heck can anyone go wrong with them? I think even myself, blindfolded, in a straight-jacket and hung upside down could have moderate success with them. They have so many re-rolls on so many things it's unbelievable.

Tau however are a different kettle of fish, you make small mistakes you lose, average dice rolls you lose, you play Mercer you lose. I exaggerate on the first two points but not on the third. Mercer is a very good player and knows more than most about his stuff. He keeps telling me to play other chaps but I just can't be bothered right now because 40K is just a side hobby for me. I like just having a laugh with him even though I lose (I take pride in my draws!) almost every time. I know if I went up against other guys I'd have more success than I currently have but playing Mercer I nearly always learn something new about the game every time we play. Getting back to my Tau... For a starting army I think I chose poorly. They're just too unforgiving and over the course of this last year I've just lost interest in them. Please don't go thinking I'm blaming my army for my losses. I know I'm too inexperienced with them and the game in general to be able to use them to their best potential against an experienced opponent such as Mercer. That and the fact I can't be bothered spending more money on them to make them more competitive.

I felt like a stroppy teenager on Tuesday night but I just couldn't snap my head out of it. I'm a competitive person when it comes to stuff that matters like football but not silly little plastic men and the fact I felt the way I did that night really ticked me off ! It wasn't the fact I was having my behind handed to me it was just the fact I really, really do not like the army I've chosen to play ! I'm going to get my hands on a more forgiving army and one that visually excites me... I just can't be dealing with painting any more suits, they're just so boring! For the Greater Good? My backside...

Rant over.

Well Poddy props to you for going up against one of the hardest lists for tau. Tau are the underdogs of 40k. If you can win with Tau you can win with anything. That said, it is a very rough 40k learning curve staring out with Tau.

I have seen them used in a very competitive way but they require alot of thought for army composition and then all the way through each and every game.

They will never be the type of army that you learn a specific formula regardless of the army you are playing (kind of like a point and click concept). This is due to a number of reasons but the most salient are that their codex is so old that the cost and effectiveness of their units dont always compare to the other codex's.

But this doesnt mean that they cant compete. They can, and will. it just takes a little more skill to apply their armies.

Maybe you should sell your guys and use the proceeds to start a list more to your liking? If so let me know

They sound like a good second army

(edited for crazy double post)

"when you player merecer you lose..." lol

Your right in that Tau are a difficult race to play. Also playing some of the most competitive lists, like razor spam or grey knights is going to be a challenge with them. But then again those lists are going to be challenging no matter what army you use. Mercer is going to be a challenge no matter what army you choose :p I do not play very competitively right now with my tau, and from time to time I used fun units like pathfinders and gun drone spam, but even then I wasn't annihilated against every other army I played with them. An I wouldn't say your current tau army is bad, Hammerheads are not bad. Using 1 or 2 can have its advantages, I personally just would prefer to use 2 Broadside squads and just 1 HH. I think the recent failures have more to do with the fact your current list isn't made to go up against all of the most competitive lists out there at the moment. You could take it to tournaments or play it against other people and do fine im sure. Just some re-ranging here or there, not drastic changes like 6 more Broadsides, should help your list out. I say if you want to play with units that look cool , even though they are outdated, such out Vespid or Gun drones or Pathfinders then go ahead, I choose what looks cool as well. You just have to understand the armies capabilities when you do that and pick your battles. I'm not saying tailor your lists to the point where you will wi every battle against every opponent. Just edit them to the point where you will stand a chance against whoever you are playing.
Also your Crisis suits should be punching through his red flea's armor pretty easily if they all have plasma rifles. Unless that 2++ is an invuln save. Which would be ridiculous lol Good luck in future battles though Pod. An tau should be getting an update soon, so don't completely abandon them yet!

No wonder Mercer likes to play you ... Sounds like an auto win situation to me.

it is admittedly a bummer that you rerolled a battle scenario which was bad for you and instead of toughing it out played a scenario which was then terrible for Poddy.

That said, im of the opinion that you need to be able to play any scenario so it was just better practice for Poddy than it was for you.

regardless of the scenario i really liked your battle report Mercer. Its a good format and easily digestible.

-666- wrote:No wonder Mercer likes to play you ... Sounds like an auto win situation to me.

Yeah, I love to auto win....

TheMicah25 wrote:it is admittedly a bummer that you rerolled a battle scenario which was bad for you and instead of toughing it out played a scenario which was then terrible for Poddy.

That said, im of the opinion that you need to be able to play any scenario so it was just better practice for Poddy than it was for you.

regardless of the scenario i really liked your battle report Mercer. Its a good format and easily digestible.

Thanks about the report.

TheMicah25 wrote:Maybe you should sell your guys and use the proceeds to start a list more to your liking?

I'm thinking the same thing to be honest mate. It's not only because I'm poo at using them but because I don't actually think their style of play suits or really appeals to me. I'm thinking of an army with a higher rate of fire and that does better in CC.

darkcloud92 wrote:Good luck in future battles though Pod. An tau should be getting an update soon, so don't completely abandon them yet!

Thanks darkcloud92 and good luck to you too! Unfortunately I've already got my life jacket on and got one leg over the side of the ship.

-666- wrote:No wonder Mercer likes to play you ... Sounds like an auto win situation to me.

Would you believe me if I said really I always let him win to make him feel better about himself?
Except for the occasions when I decide that I want us to have a draw...

Hahaha, Poddy, you joker

Great batrep, love reading about JP armies!
And +1 for the cat in the background in the 5th pic.

Thanks, dude

TheMicah25 wrote:Well Poddy props to you for going up against one of the hardest lists for tau. Tau are the underdogs of 40k. If you can win with Tau you can win with anything. That said, it is a very rough 40k learning curve staring out with Tau.

Scope out the Army list thread we just did fo Tau in the Army List section (titled "As requested...). Dunno if it will help. Also in the Battle Reports section not too far down is one a guy with a similar army to yours got 4th out of 47 at a GT Qualifier and he is about 20 games in as well. there was a lot of convo generated there. Might be able to glean something from those two.

TheMicah25 wrote:Well Poddy props to you for going up against one of the hardest lists for tau. Tau are the underdogs of 40k. If you can win with Tau you can win with anything. That said, it is a very rough 40k learning curve staring out with Tau.

I have seen them used in a very competitive way but they require alot of thought for army composition and then all the way through each and every game.

That is correct. Tau can only be used in a very competitive way. Ironically, i am only unbeaten with my Tau, and not with my SW, DE, SM, or Orks.
There are still alot of people who form crap lists with the Tau codex, and never realize it until they step out of their small pond.