The Heavy Stubber kicked as shells tumbled down into the depths of the Chimera, showering Lieutenant Colonel Steele as he leaned up to call to his marksman.
“Sergeant, status of the purging?”
Sergeant Harrison’s ear to ear grin widened as he dropped the Heavy Stubber’s gunsights over the Tau soldier about fifty meters downrange of the Chimera. The alien’s midsection was torn open, and blue ichor trailed for a few meters behind the dying xeno as it crawled towards a discarded weapon. A near-miss from a Heavy Bolter had ripped the carapace armor of the xeno wide open, giving Harrison a perfect kill shot. Clearing the weapon’s chamber, Harrison drew his Laspistol, hitting the Tau square in the right shoulder. The xeno flinched, and Harrison laughed.
The Tau stood up, yelling something in its alien language. Harrison fired his laspistol again, hitting the xeno in the left arm this time. The xeno’s hand exploded, and the creature dropped to the ground, blood loss obviously beginning to take it’s toll on the Tau. A voice in the back of Harrison’s head cackled gleefully at the sight of the Tau’s blood spilling onto the soil-had he always been this vindictive?-as he lined up the kill shot. The last lasbolt blew the xeno’s head wide open, and the headless body tumbled backwards as Harrison sneered at the body.
“Xenos purged, Lieutenant Colonel” Harrison reported, shaking his head. The voice had whispered with what seemed like an unspoken promise, a reward for all of the blood spilled by the Tylansian 7th as they began to scour the Tau from this world. Lost during the Damocles Gulf, the Imperial Guard were moving in to secure their former losses as the uppity Tau Empire continued their expansion.
Unbeknownst to the Sergeant, the Strike Cruiser in orbit above the planet knew full well the folly of combat on this world. A great Daemon of Khorne slept here, feasting on the blood spilt as the Imperial Guard moved across the planet. There was no way that the Guardsmen remained uncorrupted; even now, the Daemon twisted and warped the very souls of the once loyal Guardsmen into devotees of Khorne. The process was subtle, but the Grand Master in charge of the Grey Knight detachment had an unexpected ally in the form of the world’s Tau sept. With a high resistance to the corruption of Chaos due to their meager Warp signature, the Tau were the Grand Master’s only ally in their quest to destroy the Daemon slumbering on this planet.
The Grand Master stared out of the viewports as his Thunderhawk broke from the Strike Cruiser, preparing his mind for the battle to come.
-
Hello Dakka! My friend and I played a 2,000 point game a few weeks ago, using my new
IA: Second Edition book and his new Tau Codex. We allowed him to take Suits as troops (in preparation for the upcoming Farsight Enclaves dex), so long as no specialized wargear was taken (no Onager Gauntlet, for instance). In our meta, we choose our warlord traits (we dislike some of the aspects of FANTASYHAMMER
40K; call us scrubs if you want
). This was an experimental game for the both of us; I'm trying out the Thunderer (as a WWII geek who just finished Girls und Panzer, the StuG just HAD to be here) and the Sabres, while my opponent is trying what we call the "FishWing" (because
lol Tau are fish people) with Draigo.
My list was as follows:
Imperial Guard:
HQ:
CCS:
Officer (WARLORD. Trait: Re roll reserves)
Sniper
Vox
Chimera (Stubber)
Troops:
X2 Veteran Squads (Meltaguns)
Infantry Platoon:
Command Squad:
X2 Plasmas
Troops:
X3 Infantry Squads (Plasma Gun, Lascannon, Vox; one mounted in Chimera)
Sabre Defense Platforms (x3, Lascannons; they’re the Flak 38’s)
Fast Attack:
X2 Vendettas
X2 Sentinels (Scout, Naked)
Heavy Support:
X2 Manticores
Thunderer (the StuG III model)
Fortifications:
ADL w/ Quad Cannon
My opponent brought the following:
GK/Tau
HQ:
Draigo (WARLORD. Trait: Re-roll reserves)
Troops:
X5 Paladins (Halberds, 1 Hammer, 1 Banner)
X5 Paladins (
Id)
Heavy Support:
X2 Land Raider Crusaders
Tau Allies:
Farsight
Assload of suits (I can’t remember loadouts)
Troops:
Suits (x2 Missile Pods/Suit)
Suits (x2 Missile Pods/Suit)
Mission was 5 objectives and Deployment was the Third Type (can’t remember the name). My opponent won the roll to deploy/go first. I did not seize the initiative.
GK 1:
With a loud clang, the Thunderhawks swooped low over the battlefield, past the burnt out remnants of Tau settlements, dropping the pair of Land Raiders directly to the side of the Guard’s armored column. Speed and faith in the Emperor would see the Grey Knights through on this day; hoping that the Tau relief force his Auspex had spotted would take the initiative, the Grand Master began to pray as the Land Raider lurched forward, rumbling towards the entrenched Guard positions.
My opponent scooted both Land Raiders up and popped smoke before ending his turn.
Guard Turn 1:
“Contact! Hostile forces sighted!” Sergeant Harrison yelled. Down in the command Chimera, the Lieutenant Colonel, feeling an almost alien sense of apprehension at the sight of these unknown Astartes, designated both Land Raiders as firing targets for his artillery.
I didn’t move much beyond the Sentinels at this point.
Shooting saw me strip hull points from the Land Raiders. Beyond that, nothing much happened.
GK Turn 2:
The Land Raider, shuddering under incoming fire, roared towards its target. The presence of the daemon intensified as the Grand Master meditated, deep in prayer.
My opponent scooted the Raiders forward again. Machine spiriting the Assault Cannon resulted in no rending hits against the Chimera.
Guard Turn 2:
“Fire! Fire! Spill their blood!” Harrison yelled as the combined ordinance of his battlegroup poured into the Astartes transports. The dark form of a Vendetta cast a shadow over the battlegroup as the vehicle fired its lascannons at one of the Marine transports, its adamantium hull groaning as the energy disappated harmlessly over the thick hull plating.
One of my Vendettas arrived this turn, and I moved nothing else.
I continued to shoot vainly at the Land Raiders, stripping both down to a single Hull Point (ARGH!)
Nothing assaulted this turn.
GK Turn 3:
As the Grand Master opened his eyes to the sight of the Land Raider’s ramp, the vehicle halted, opening its assault ramp as a hail of fragmentation rounds exploded from the frag launchers on the side of the vehicle. As his adamantium boots clanged down the Assault Ramp, he could feel the Daemon’s presence at the back of his mind, slowing his movements as the massed Imperial Guard opened fire.
His mind cleared for a second as Tau Battlesuits rained from the skies. The Guard’s anti-air defenses targeted the xeno battlesuits, destroying one in midair. The melted remnants of the suit rained down upon the soil as its brethren lent their fire to the Grand Master’s side.
The Land Raiders arrived at their objectives, disgorging Draigo and friends. The second Grey Knight unit disembarked in front of my StuG. Farsight and one Suit Squad appeared.
Draigo and friends shot at one of my Guardsmen camping on the objectives. I took two casualties, while the Land Raiders shot at the Chimera, stripping hull points from the vehicle. The Tau supporting fire destroyed the Chimera.
Draigo failed to make combat with the Chimera’s Guardsmen, while the other Grey Knights assaulted my StuG, destroying it (to nobody’s surprise). The suits jumped away.
Guard Turn 3:
The roar of engines heralded the arrival of the second Vendetta, which soared over the battlefield before firing its lascannons into the Grey Knights. Several of the noble warriors fell as the Guard exacted their vengeance upon the Grey Knights and Tau. In a frenzy, lasbolts flew, blood hit the ground, and the assembled warriors could almost feel their bloodlust feeding the entity that slumbered within the planet’s core.
My second Vendetta arrived. I managed to airdrop the Meltavets using Grav Chutes perfectly next to the Land Raider.
The Veterans meltagunned the Land Raider, destroying it. I fired the first Vendetta’s Lascannons at the back field Suits, which instant killed one. The Manticores took out the second Land Raider. Combined fire dropped some of Draigo’s entourage and half of Farsight’s team.
I didn’t assault this turn.
GK Turn 4:
As the Guardsmen fired, lasbolts and plasma blasts slamming into his armor, the Grand Master stood and walked forward, seeing the dark strings of Warp energy surrounding the Guardsmen in front of him. The Tau moved of their own accord while the Grand Master closed the gap, watching swathes of Guardsmen fall to his sword, their blood soaking into the damned ground…
Suits jumped around some for movement.
Draigo shot at the Guardsmen, while the Tau continued to shoot at my Vendettas, dropping the first one. Farisight and friends destroyed the Sentinels.
Draigo and friend assaulted the Guardsmen, wiping them all out (to nobody’s surprise). The Suits hopped around again, with some taking Dangerous Terrain wounds. The surviving Grey Knights to the South assaulted the
PCS in the
ADL, killing them (but not before taking 2 wounds on overwatched Plasma Guns!)
IG Turn 4:
Holy blood leaked from blessed adamantium as the Guardsmen counter-attacked. Combat engineers, deploying from their Vendettas, dispatched of the Battle Brothers to the south. The Tau, seeing this sudden resurgence of aggression, began to flee the battlefield as the Grand Master himself was laid low by the massed firepower of the Guardsmen.
I didn’t move much this turn, besides the second Vendetta, which air-dropped my Vet squad next to the Paladins to the south.
Shooting saw me drop Draigo and some of his entourage. The Paladins to the south succumbed to two meltavet teams worth of shooting, while I destroyed the second to last suit in Farsight’s squad. Farsight failed leadership and ran, almost making it off of the board. (damn!) The last suit failed its Dangerous Terrain check and died (
lol).
I didn’t assault this turn.
GK Turn 5:
The Grand Master, his vision swarming in and out, saw his retinue charge forward, knocking the Guardsmen from one of their hilltop positions. Additional Tau arrived on the battlefield, firing their missiles in support of their comrades as the Grand Master slipped into unconsciousness…
The last Paladin moved forward, towards my backfield objective. Farsight rallied. The backfield suits chilled on the objective. The last squad of suits deepstruck in next to the far objective.
Shooting stripped hull points from my last Vendetta, but didn’t drop it.
The Lone Paladin assaulted, wiping the Guardsmen squad on the objective.
IG Turn 5:
Bellowing orders over the vox net, the Lieutenant Colonel cringed as one of the Manticore’s rockets detonated prematurely, showering the area with shrapnel. The tracks of the one launcher were ruined, while the other’s crewmembers were unresponsive; obviously stunned from the close impact.
I moved nothing in my turn.
Shooting saw me try to hit the Paladin with my first Manticore strike, but a tremendously terrible scatter resulted in me hitting both of my own Manticores! Penetrating hits on both resulted in Crew Stunned and Immobilized; in fairness, I did tempt fate by muttering “Since when does Shepard care about danger close?”
I killed all but one of the recently-arrived suits. The Paladin and the last backfield Suit made ALL of their freaking cover saves from the rest of my shooting.
I rolled to see if the game continued, which it did not.
My opponent held three objectives while I held none; victory went to the
GK/Tau!
---
“Administering the final rites”
“Increasing dosage. Grand Master, can you hear us?”
The Grand Master woke, staring upwards at his Apothecary. Back aboard his own Strike Cruiser, the Grand Master sat up slowly, berift of his Terminator Armor.
“The intervention by the xenos and your strike were decisive in prompting a full retreat by the Imperial Guard. All corrupted Guardsmen have been screened and executed. The Tau have agreed to withdraw from the world, and Exterminatus has been declared. Your sacrifices have paved the way for a great victory today, Grand Master” one of his last Paladins spoke. As the Strike Cruiser fired volleys of destructive weaponry through the planet’s atmosphere, the Grand Master stared pensively out of the viewport. Victory at what cost? Nine members of his personal retinue were dead; great warriors all.
As a small, retreating speck of light signaled the final retreat of the Tau forces, the Grand Master nodded once in appreciation. Though it was the sacred duty of the Adeptus Astartes to purge and destroy all xenos, their aid in this case was…appreciated by the Grand Master. Giving the xenos no further thought, the Grand Master and his last surviving attendant watched as the world below them burned, and the Daemon howled, denied his final victory.
---
All in all, a good game. This particular opponent and I have had a long history together, and this game was one of our favorites. Closely fought games like this (ESPECIALLY in the face of my blistering firepower) are what we both live for.
Thanks for reading!
