Regular Dakkanaut
Planet Funk-O-Tron
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ANOTHER NARRATIVE BATTLE REPORT
Shas'el'ksi'm'yen'mont'hai of the Crimson Leaves Cadre
V
The Silent of the Legion of the Damned
~~~
My list:
HQ: Shas'el'Mont'hai: Counts as O'Shovah "Farsight" 170
Elites: 6x XV15 Stealth Suits (all Burst Cannon equipped)
Shas're, Targetting Array, Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Hard-wired Multi Tracker
Shas'ui, Multitracker, Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod
Shas're, Targetting Array, Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Hard-wired Multi Tracker
Shas'ui, Multitracker, Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod
Troops: 11x Shas'la, 1x Shas'ui with Bonding Knife. Devilfish with Multitracker, Disruption Pods, Decoy Launchers
11x Shas'la, 1x Shas'ui with Bonding Knife. Devilfish with Multitracker, Disruption Pods, Decoy Launchers
Fast Attack: 4x Pathfinders, 3x Rail Rifles. Devilfish with Multitracker, Disruption Pods, Decoy Launchers
Heavy Support: 1x Hammerhead Gunship with Rail Gun, Burst Cannons, Multitracker, Decoy Launchers, Disruption Pods
His list:
HQ: Commander, Artificer Armour, Master-crafted Lightning Claw, storm bolter
Elites: 5 Terminators, 1 with an Assault Cannon and 1 with a Heavy Flamer.
Troops: 10-man Tactical Squad with Heavy Bolter and Flamer, a Veteran Sargeant with a lightning claw or something.
9-man Tac Squad, Flamer and Meltagun. Rhino with Extra Armor and Smoke Launchers. (Commander goes here). Veteran Sargeant with Powerfist and Teleport Homer (and a combi-flamer?).
Fast Attack: 10 Assault Marines with various kit
Heavy Support: Dreadnought with Twin-Linked Lascannon, Smoke Launchers, Extra Armor, and Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon.
Deployment: The combat zone was on the outskirts of an abandoned Imperial position near Raffaelo's Spine. Mont'hai had been ordered to patrol the position, as enemy forces were known to be in the area. Mont'ka had been authorized, and total destruction of the enemy would be required to relieve pressure on the Tau positions further up the Spine, which were reeling from a massive Imperium counteroffensive.
The Shas'el followed a typically cautious deployment, keeping the majority of his combat assets out of range or line-of-site of the Imperial positions, which were concentrated on the right flank and central buildings. Specifically, the Pathfinders were deployed on the extreme left flank, with an eye on a hill that had excellent fire lanes across the board; the Hammerhead, a Devilfish, and all Crisis Suits deployed in the center, masked from Imperial fire; the final Devilfish stood alone on the extreme right flank, prepared to withdraw and fold if necessary. All stealthsuits infiltrated deep on the left flank, in front of the Pathfinders and nearly behind Imperial forces. The Dreadnought and Tactical Squad held the center buildings, relatively safe in hard cover. Meanwhile the Assault Squad and Rhino deployed on the right flank, intending to roll back or isolate the Devilfish. The Terminators remained in reserve, to Deep Strike as required.
First Turn
"Shas'el, there is something different about these Gue'vre. They are exhibiting an unusual energy frequency; they are showing up as being similar to the Mont'au 'Chaos' forces, but are using standard issue Imperial equipment and show no signs of mutation. However, there is an unusual Warp energy pattern eminating from them."
"It's probably just interference from the stellar anomaly," replied the Commander, with an eye to the bleeding sore of insanity in the heavens. Any further dialogue was interrupted as the human Dreadnought unmasked itself to fire a lascannon shot at the Hammerhead. Fortunately, the bolt went wide. While the central position remained relatively static, the human vehicles and jump troops on the right advanced at a breakneck pace.
Mont'hai knew the flying humans from stories of other Cadres. They would tear through his entire Cadre with ease if they were not immediately destroyed. "Red team, advance and deploy! All Crisis units, open fire on the flyers!"
In unison, the doors on the Devilfish opened, and the trained, faceless Shas'la disembarked, rifles at the ready. The grim skull helmets of the Gue'la seemed to focus in, and the speed of the jump-packers increased. "Fire at will!" exclaimed Ui'Ko'Leez. The fire kata was succesful, impacting several of the jump-packers and dropping them from the sky, the machine spirits of the jumpjets screaming in agony and protest as their masters were slain. However, while weakened, the squad was not finished off. The Fire Warriors realized they were no match for the buzzing chainswords the aliens carried.
Suddenly drowning out the screeching human engines and the terrifying buzz of the chainswords was the distinctive rumble of Tau jetpacks. The familiar shapes of the Crisis suits were sillhouetted on the rooftop of a nearby station, and a whoosh of air and corkscrewing contrails revealed that the humans were already dead. Caught now in a perfect L-shaped firezone, the assault squad was completely wiped out under the Cadre's guns.
Meanwhile, the air caught fire under the shot of the Hammerhead, which impacted the Dreadnought with a heavy thud-- but the sabot didn't penetrate the blessed hull of the sacred sarcophagus. The Pathfinders advanced as the Stealth Team opened fire on the Tactical Squad occupying the central building-- killing the Heavy Bolter battle brother and one of his fellows.
Turn Two
With a rumble, the Rhino suddenly burst through the smoke it had launched. Roaring over the bodies of their brothers, the doors on the Rhino swung open-- and now it was the Marine's turn for revenge. However, the armor of the Fire Warriors remained true and only 2 of the Shas'la met their end at the hands of the humans.
The Tactical Squad in the center, robbed of its heavy weapon, advanced into the open as the Dreadnought swivelled and shot the Pathfinder's devilfish out of the sky. In the ensuing fire, however, nearly all the squad escaped, having lost one of their brothers in the crash, fingers still tightly gripping the Rail Rifle as his body was crushed by a collapsing bulkhead.
In response, the Crisis Team in the center quickly advanced into the open, felling several of the central Gue'vre and reducing the right-flank Rhino to a hulk of useless metal in a violent hail of metal and plasma energy.
Jumping into the central clearing, the Stealthsuits were unprepared for the huge metal Dreadnought approaching their location. A breakdown of unit discipline lead to a hail of pulse charged deflecting harmlessly off the frontal hull of the killer coffin as it continued to clank towards them. The Pathfinders worked to extricate themselves from the wreckage of the Devilfish, seeing the great danger the Stealthsuits had gotten themselves into.
Turn Three
On the right flank, the Tac Squad fired ineffectively at the Devilfish, its hopes of stranding the Fire Warriors dashed temporarily. Only the nose burst cannon was reduced to scrap metal. An assault from the Sargeant's Powerfist proved equally futile as the craft hovered maddeningly aloof.
The air shimmered around the Right Flank tac squad-- and a squad of Terminators stepped out of thin air. Opening fire immediately, the assault cannon and heavy bolter killed more than half the weakened squad. Though the fire warriors stood their ground, their situation was now hopeless-- retreat or reinforcement from the Crisis team was their only hope. The squad fell back several dozen yards, putting them out of immediate reach of the Space Marine's deadly lightning claws, chainswords, and powefists.
Meanwhile, the Dreadnought missed another shot at the Hammerhead, as the two engaged in a deadly long-range dance of fire control and evasive maneuvering. Fire from the Tac Squad managed to punch through the eyelense of a Stealthsuit, sending it unceremoniously to the ground with a serene crunch.
Striking back, a massive barrage of missile and plasma fire at the Terminators succeeded in killing three of the Tactical Dreadnought team. The few remaining Fire Warriors shot again, killing another Terminator. The Dreadnought suddenly gave a heave, and a sickly green fluid leaked from the cockpit as it slunched into the ground. Its warrior would fight no more, he had returned to the bosom of the Emperor. The firefight between Stealth Team and Tac Squad continued, the Stealth Team now finishing off what remained of the central Tac Squad, with a little help from the rail rifles of the Pathfinders, coldly extinguishing the marines at long range. The single Marine remaining was set upon and sliced neatly in half by the Shas'el's Eldar blade. Now the central Devilfish moved into action, heading to lend assistance to its sister troop carrier. All Crisis units converged into the center of the board in preparation for the death blow.
Turn Four:
But the long arm of the Emperor does much to guide the hands of those who do His work. Clambering over the wreckage of the Rhino, the Commander hefted his lightning claws at the Crisis Suits. The pilots realized their overconfidence all too late, as claw and gauntlet ripped the Crisis Suits to pieces. Moving rapidly, the Gue'vre converged on the second Crisis squadron, now left to fight for their lives.
In a terrible hail of Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter, the entire right Fire Warrior squad was wiped out- save the Shas'ui, who prudently started running. The Terminators relished their victory but knew the battle ahead would be difficult.
All the more difficult, indeed, as the Shas'ui remembered his sacred vows of communion and stopped to return fire, the blue shots bouncing harmlessly off the ancient armor. At the same time, the Crisis Suits in the center were overwhelmed, even as the other central units struggled to escape the range of the Space Marines.
Turn Five
The Silent One now set his sights on the holographically cloaked Stealthsuits. Moving rapidly, he and his battle brothers set upon the hapless Shas'ui and, once again, systematically and brutally killed them. The cloaking fields did provide some help, however, as one of the Shas'ui drew his bonding knife and drove it through the chestplate of one of the Marines, before being ripped asunder by the lightning claws.
The Terminators now levelled their weapons again at the Hammerhead, however no weapon could bite its metal skin and its weapon capacitors charged up menacingly. Firing a full spread of all weapon systems, the full fury of the Tau war machine was unleashed on the two remaining Terminators. Neither survived the storm of fire that followed.
Amazed at his own survival, the sole remaining Shas'la numbly followed the shouts of the Devilfish crew, boarding it before the craft sped off in the hopes of rejoining the fight against the sole remaining resistance on the board.
Screaming hateful defiance at the aliens now coldly regarding them through their camera lenses, the Valkyrie's Mark found one of the Marines. The stomp of Shas'la boots on the hard packed ground and the chatter of the pulse rifle left none alive, save the Commander.
Turn Six
In an act of final defiance, the Marine resolved that he would at least take the Tau commander with him into the afterlife. Leaping at the Crisis Suit, weapons fully powered up, the Shas'el was caught completely unprepared. The lightning claws bit deep into the metal skin of the Crisis Suit, and the Shas'el knew that he had but one chance to survive-- defeat the human in combat!
The two met again in a flurry of blows-- this time, the Tau's shield generator caught the blows from the Lightning Claw, and Mont'hai's response left a deep gash in the Power Armor. With a solemn battle cry, the Shas'la now charged the single Marine. In the flurry of rifle butts and bonding knives, the Marine Commander felt the full vengeance of the Cadre for his destruction of the Crisis Suits.
End Result:
Me: 1300 VP
Him: 658 VP
Solid Victory!
Reflections:
This game was mine to lose after I destroyed all the mobility in his army, as well as his tank and dreadnought. Of course I very closely almost did lose it, and what would have otherwise been a Massacre was reduced to a Solid Victory as I allowed my Crisis Suits to get too close to his Tac Squad. All in all, however, it was a dramatic and thrilling game, complete with single combat between the army commanders! Would that all games be so much fun. I won, but it could have been the other way around and I would have been just as satisfied. Of course now my points go to defending the Spine, so hopefully the Tau will do a little better in the rankings this week. Anyways. We both had a lot of fun, my opponent was a very cool guy and pretty close to my age (he seemed early 20s-ish). Very cool guy, though some of his Legion of the Damned conversions were really, really excellent. Gotta make sure I game with guys like this more often!
Shas'el'Mont'Hai signing out.
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