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Tau Empire vs. Imperial Fists Mini Bat.Rep.
Keep in mind, this is my first TT battle in over 20 years, and my wife's first ever, so I apologize if I missed or misinterpreted any rules. I hope the battle report is fairly clear, let me know if you have questions, or corrections!


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We went for ~130 points for this one; an inter-squad skirmish, perfect to get more familiar with the 6th Edition rules and the new Tau Codex as well. No special weapons, Tau took Pulse Rifles and Photon Grenades, Space Marines' Sergeant took a Boltgun and Chainsword.

Tau Side:
12 Fire Warriors @ 9 points each - 108
1 Shas'ui @ 10 points - 10
Bonding Knife Ritual 1 per unit - 12
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130 points

Space Marine Side:
5 Man Tactical Squad - 90
2 Additional Marines 2 @ 16 each - 32
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122 points

We set up a 1x2 tile game board (2'x4') as we were playing such a low point value game.

To begin, Amori won the roll off with a six versus my four. Her Fire warriors took to the field first, then the glorious forces of the Emperor. The roll to steal initiative was unsuccessful...
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First Turn
Tau Empire:
Movement Phase- No movement.
Shooting Phase- Enemy units beyond 30" max range of Pulse Rifle.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Imperium of Man:
Movement Phase- Imperial Fists move 6" towards enemy.
Shooting Phase- Enemy units beyond 24" max range of Boltguns. Roll of 4" for running during shooting phase (thanks for the reminder Kolden!)
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Second Turn
Tau Empire:
Movement Phase- Tau pre-measure and move 5" to bring all elements within 30".
Shooting Phase- 12 + 1 for Shas'ui = 13 rolls to hit. 8 hits at 4+. 5 wounds at 3+. Space Marines only save 2 at 3+. THREE WOUNDS ALLOCATED- THE EMPEROR PROTECTS? Space Marines make their morale check, having lost over 40% of their numbers in the first turn.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Imperium of Man:
Movement Phase- Imperial Fists move 6" towards enemy.
Shooting Phase- 4 + 1 for Sergeant = 5 rolls to hit. 3 hits at 3+. 2 wounds at 3+. Tau saves both wounds at 4+.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Third Turn
Tau Empire:
Movement Phase- No movement.
Shooting Phase- 12 + 1 for Shas'ui = 13 rolls to hit. 7 hits at 4+. 4 wounds at 3+. Space Marines only save 3 at 3+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED- Space Marines make their morale check, having lost 25% of their remaining troops.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Imperium of Man:
Movement Phase- Imperial Fists move 6" towards enemy.
Shooting Phase- 3 + 1 for Sergeant = 4 rolls to hit. 3 hits at 3+. 2 wounds at 3+. Tau saves both wounds at 4+.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Fourth Turn
Tau Empire:
Movement Phase- No movement.
Shooting Phase- 12 + 1 for Shas'ui = 13 rolls to hit. 5 hits at 4+. 3 wounds at 3+. Space Marines save all 3 at 3+.
Assault Phase- Enemy units beyond 12" max charge range.

Imperium of Man:
Movement Phase- Imperial Fists move 6" towards enemy.
Shooting Phase- 3 + 1 for Sergeant = 4 rolls to hit. 2 hits at 3+. 2 wounds at 3+. Tau save only one of the 2 wounds at 4+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED.
Assault Phase- Space Marines declare a charge. Tau declare they will Overwatch. Since the marines are within 15" the Tau get 2 attacks with their Pulse Rifles (Rapid Fire weapons)= 22 + 2 for Shas'ui, 24 rolls to hit. 7 hits at 6+. 3 wounds at 3+. Space Marines only save 2 of the 3 wounds at 3+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED. Space Marines make their morale check, having lost 25% or more of their remaining troops. Space Marines unfortunately roll double
ones for the charge result, which is insufficient to close the distance between forces- the charge breaks down!

Fifth Turn
Tau Empire:
Movement Phase- No movement.
Shooting Phase- 22 + 2 for Shas'ui, 24 rolls to hit. 10 hits at 4+. 5 wounds at 3+. Space Marines save all 5 at 3+.
Assault Phase- Tau elect not to charge.

Imperium of Man:
Movement Phase- Imperial Fists move 3" towards enemy.
Shooting Phase- Bolt Pistols all around. 2 + 1 for Sergeant = 3 rolls to hit. 2 hits at 3+. 2 wounds at 3+. Tau save only one of the 2 wounds at 4+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED.
Assault Phase- Space Marines declare a charge. Tau declare they will Overwatch. Since the marines are within 15" the Tau get 2 attacks with their Pulse Rifles (Rapid Fire weapons)- 20 + 2 for Shas'ui, 22 rolls to hit. 8 hits at 6+. 5 wounds at 3+. Space marines only save 4 of the 5 wounds at 3+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED. Space Marines make their morale check, having lost 25% or more of their remaining troops. Space Marines' charge result is adequate,
and the Sergeant enters melee with the Tau. He attacks first as his initiative is higher. Because he has a chainsword, he gets 2 + 1 attacks, but doesn't get the charge attack bonus, as the Tau have Photon grenades (see defensive grenades). So, 3 rolls to hit. 2 hits at 3+. One wound at 3+. Tau save only one of the 2 wounds at 4+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED. Tau retaliate, Tau have 6 units engaged or within 2" of an engaged model in their unit, the shas'ui being one of those engaged. That gives 6 + 1 for Shas'ui. 7 rolls to hit. 3 hits at 4+. However, none wound at 5+. Tau lose the combat, 1-0, so they must make a Leadership test at -1, which they pass, barely... Piling in..

Sixth Turn
Assault Phase Continued- Space Marine Sergeant continues melee with the Tau. Once again, he gets 2 + 1 attacks, 3 rolls to hit. 1 hit at 3+. One wound at 3+. Tau fail their saving throw at 4+. ONE WOUND ALLOCATED. Tau retaliate, Tau have 8 units engaged or within 2" of an engaged model after the pile-in move. That gives 8 + 1 for Shas'ui. 9 rolls to hit. 5 hits at 4+. 3 wounds at 5+. Sergeant fails on one of his saves at 3+. BATTLE ENDS.

FINAL TALLY
Tau Empire: 4 Fire Warriors lost.
Imperium of Man: 6 Tactical Space Marines and 1 Tactical Space Marine Sergeant.

So, my wife and her Fire Warriors were victorious in their first-ever tabletop battle! Beginner's luck I guess...
In a small skirmish like this, the Tau's superior weaponry proved victorious (Rapid Fire Pulse Rifles are Strength 5, with a range of 30").

Drop-pods, anyone?

For future reference, max squad size is 12 on Firewarriors, so when you get the Shas'Ui you are actually turning a normal Shas'La into a Shas'Ui keeping you at however many models you had before you bought the upgrade.

I think the error isn't number of models - the players were rolling shooting attacks based on models' "attack" characteristic. To the OP, That stat is for close combat ONLY. When shooting refer to the weapon's profile for its number of attacks. In this case, rapid fire weapons fire 1 shot at full range and 2 shots (double-tap) at half range or less.

EDIT - I'm not sure this was the case after all, the second half of the report mentions rapid fire with correct rules usage. Ignore my above comment if it was in error.

Miri wrote:For future reference, max squad size is 12 on Firewarriors, so when you get the Shas'Ui you are actually turning a normal Shas'La into a Shas'Ui keeping you at however many models you had before you bought the upgrade.

She had a 12 man Fire Warrior squad, we were just incorrect with the number of shots fired.

tetrisphreak wrote:I think the error isn't number of models - the players were rolling shooting attacks based on models' "attack" characteristic. To the OP, That stat is for close combat ONLY. When shooting refer to the weapon's profile for its number of attacks. In this case, rapid fire weapons fire 1 shot at full range and 2 shots (double-tap) at half range or less.

EDIT - I'm not sure this was the case after all, the second half of the report mentions rapid fire with correct rules usage. Ignore my above comment if it was in error.

Yeah, at the beginning of the game, we were using attack stat for number of shots in shooting phase. Thanks for the correction!

Nice blow by blow!

Quick thing though, don't have to take a morale check for loses caused during over watch!

4TheG8erGood wrote:
Nice blow by blow!

Quick thing though, don't have to take a morale check for loses caused during over watch!

Cool- did not realize that (even though it's in boldface text in the explanation of the rule- lol)!

I enjoyed this little skirmish report. Thanks! - I think I'll try this with my gf.

zaak wrote:
I enjoyed this little skirmish report. Thanks! - I think I'll try this with my gf.

Sweet! Very short battle, even for newcomers. Has she played for long?

I guess I was wrong. I could have sworn when I looked through the new codex the pulse rifles had dropped to 24". Sorry about that.

The DRis wrote:
Pulse rifles aren't 30" anymore, they are only 24".

Don't spread Misinformation. Pulse rifles are 30" rapid fire weapons still.

Yep, have to agree with tetrisphreak. Pulse rifles are 30". Kroot rifles are 24".


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A couple of picts from the battle:

Wow, I guess I completely read the Codex wrong. I'm going to have to check it again when I get home.

Yeah, those extra 6" make a big difference from the Tau perspective.