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2013/01/13 19:10:28
Subject: 1750 Hive Fleet Pandora vs SabrX's Tau-Orks Nob Bikers-Broadsides(Completed)
This time, SabrX will be using his own army - a mix of Tau with Ork allies. This is one of the builds he is thinking about bringing to an upcoming tournament. Up until today, he has never faced the new nids before. I think I will give him a good practice game to see how his army would fare against one of the "big boys".
This time, SabrX will be using his own army - a mix of Tau with Ork allies. This is one of the builds he is thinking about bringing to an upcoming tournament. Up until today, he has never faced the new nids before. I think I will give him a good practice game to see how his army would fare against one of the "big boys".
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to the upcoming tournament. However, I will be more than happy to be your practice partner if you are free this Thursday. Another grueling semester is about to start and I'm trying to squeeze in as much gaming as I can.
BTW, SabrX, feel free to offer your insights into this game.
Jy2, feel free to paste this in the PRE-GAME ANALYSIS.
SabrX:
This is my second time fielding Ork + Tau combo. In my first game, I ran a gimmicky list of Shas'el, 12 Fire Warriors, 100 Kroots + 6 Hounds, Bastion w/ Quad Gun, Warboss w/ 5 Nobz Bikers, and 60 Ork Boyz. It was terribly unbalanced, but was enough to win against Jy2's Nurgle Daemons + Ork list.
The Tau + Ork list in this game however is much more balance. It has a strong fire base with strong offense and horde element. Originally, I wrote this list in the aftermath of my Blood Angel's defeat against Jy2's Chaos Space Marines. The Broadsides were meant to counter Helldrakes and Mark of Nurgle Obliterators. Despite lacking flyers and skyfire, the Tau are surprisingly strong against flyers. TL-Railguns have a decent chance of rolling 6's and should have no problem against an AV12 flyer or even a T9 Flyrant. Bastion is great for protecting Shas'el Warlord and giving Broadsides higher elevation for TLOS.
After reading the previous battle report featuring Grey Knights vs Tyranids, I'm sure many of you know how nasty and brutal the Nids are. Strong Psychic powers can determine the outcome before the game even starts. Unfortunately, neither my Tau nor Orks have strong psychic defense. At the same time, Jy2 will have a tough time cracking open my Bastion and silencing my Railguns. My Warlord, the Shas'el, will man the Quad Gun. If danger arises, he will duck inside the AV14 shell. Doom of Malant'ai will be a problem. Both Orks and Tau are known for having incredibly low leadership. I hope the Quad gun will be sufficient in intercepting it. If the Flyrant manages to not get grounded and flies over my Orks unscathed, it will mean big trouble for my Tau. They have a reputation for getting slaughtered in assault and they won't last long against TL-Devourers. Aside from the Warboss and Shas'el, my list has no characters to issue challenges and prolong assault.
Fortunately, the Mission is Purge the Alien and Deployment is Hammer & Anvil. Hammer & Anvil will give my Tau a little more room to breath, but will be my difficult for my Orks who are most effective in short-medium range shooting and assault. Jy2 will have to be careful with how many Termagant units he spawns. His list also has more Victory Points than mine. His Biovores, Zoanthropes, and Hive Guards can't stick out their heads too far. My plan is to have my Orks serve as sacrificial pawns while my Broadsides and Fire Warriors pick off small units from afar.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/13 20:39:57
Zoanthropes have, for me, worked out well in 6th due to their ability to swap out powers or keep their very effective codex powers, depending on the situation. Synapse with a 3++ is always helpful for me as well... I am curious as to your thoughts on their inclusion as well, JY2.
This time, SabrX will be using his own army - a mix of Tau with Ork allies. This is one of the builds he is thinking about bringing to an upcoming tournament. Up until today, he has never faced the new nids before. I think I will give him a good practice game to see how his army would fare against one of the "big boys".
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to the upcoming tournament. However, I will be more than happy to be your practice partner if you are free this Thursday. Another grueling semester is about to start and I'm trying to squeeze in as much gaming as I can.
No prob. School/work comes first. Tournaments only if you have the time. See you Thurs.
Eldercaveman wrote: Always get excited when I see one of these Batreps turning up.
Jy2 can you explain the reasoning behind the addition of the Zoanthropes? Have they been effective? What extra do they bring for you?
Zoanthropes have, for me, worked out well in 6th due to their ability to swap out powers or keep their very effective codex powers, depending on the situation. Synapse with a 3++ is always helpful for me as well... I am curious as to your thoughts on their inclusion as well, JY2.
The reason for the zoanthropes are several.
First off, I know I am losing some very important AT by dumping 1 unit of hive guards, but I think the payoff IMO is worth it. Why?
1. The focus of my list are my TMC's - the flyrants and tervigons. Anything I can do to make them better only serves to make my army better. Zoans are the perfect complement to them with powers such as Endurance. They also help my offense with powers such as Enfeeble as well. Basically, they help to make the army better as a force-multiplier.
2. They fulfill the niche role as heavy armor buster if necessary. Otherwise, my only other way to bust heavy armor is through assault.
3. They allow me to play my tervigons much more aggressively. One of the problems I am encountering is the lack of synapse in my backfield. Currently, I have to leave 1 tervigon behind to babysit my biovores, objective-sitting gants and hive guards. Now with zoans, I have the flexibility to play much more aggressively with my tervigons. Now there is nothing holding them back.
After just a few games, I am really liking the combination of Doom-hive guards-zoans over the combo of Doom-double hive guards. Now, I've got to thank Janthkin for showing me how well this trio works together.
Zoanthropes have, for me, worked out well in 6th due to their ability to swap out powers or keep their very effective codex powers, depending on the situation. Synapse with a 3++ is always helpful for me as well... I am curious as to your thoughts on their inclusion as well, JY2.
The reason for the zoanthropes are several.
First off, I know I am losing some very important AT by dumping 1 unit of hive guards, but I think the payoff IMO is worth it. Why?
1. The focus of my list are my TMC's - the flyrants and tervigons. Anything I can do to make them better only serves to make my army better. Zoans are the perfect complement to them with powers such as Endurance. They also help my offense with powers such as Enfeeble as well. Basically, they help to make the army better as a force-multiplier.
2. They fulfill the niche role as heavy armor buster if necessary. Otherwise, my only other way to bust heavy armor is through assault.
3. They allow me to play my tervigons much more aggressively. One of the problems I am encountering is the lack of synapse in my backfield. Currently, I have to leave 1 tervigon behind to babysit my biovores, objective-sitting gants and hive guards. Now with zoans, I have the flexibility to play much more aggressively with my tervigons. Now there is nothing holding them back.
After just a few games, I am really liking the combination of Doom-hive guards-zoans over the combo of Doom-double hive guards. Now, I've got to thank Janthkin for showing me how well this trio works together.
So what powers you go for on them is entirely dependent on the situation, come up against a lot of AV13+ and stick with codex powers, need more endurance, go Biomancy.
So you like to leave them sat back of the field rather than moving up with the rest of the armor? Doesn't this make them counter productive, as their powers will eventually be pulled out of range? Have you considered podding them up, dropping them down near the doom at letting of 3 Psychic Shrieks?
So what powers you go for on them is entirely dependent on the situation, come up against a lot of AV13+ and stick with codex powers, need more endurance, go Biomancy.
So you like to leave them sat back of the field rather than moving up with the rest of the armor? Doesn't this make them counter productive, as their powers will eventually be pulled out of range? Have you considered podding them up, dropping them down near the doom at letting of 3 Psychic Shrieks?
If my opponent is spamming heavy armor (i.e. land raiders, leman russes, BA and/or necron AV13-spam), then I will have no choice but to keep the Warp Lance. Otherwise, in most cases, I will probably use rulebook powers for my zoans.
Actually, I tend to advance my entire army - monsters, zoans, hive guards, gribblies and even the biovores - at least to the midway point. However, tactics will vary depending on many factors:
1. If I have an objective in terrain deep within my deployment zone, then I will leave 1 unit gants there and forget about them. Either that or reserve them and have them come in to claim it.
2. If my opponent has weaponry that can insta-kill my biovores, then I would have to hide them (I usually hide them anyways). Where I hide them will depend on terrain.
3. Does my opponent have plenty of weapons that can insta-kill my zoans? If so, then I may be forced to leave them behind or out of range of those weapons.
4. I try to always put my zoans in range to buff my units or de-buff my enemies (i.e. Enfeeble). Usually at the midway point, they should be able to do that as well as provide synapse for some of my backfield units. One thing to note, however, is that the flyrants are so fast that many times, I find them to be out of range of my zoans for psychic buffs.
5. Terrain, and especially the LOS-blocking type.
Just because I use my zoans to "babysit" my backfield units doesn't mean that the zoans will be all the way in my deployment zone. A tyranid army should be constantly advancing and putting pressure on the enemy. In the meantime, you have to delicately balance the need to help out your units with psychic buffs and the need for protecting your backfield units. And you usually do this by advancing your entire army as much as you can without greatly risking your more fragile units. Thus, when the big bugs move forwards, so do all the little ones most of the time, at least to the point where they are receiving synapse and also in cover or out of LOS/shooting range of your opponent.
No, I haven't considered playing my zoans so aggressively. That is too great of a risk IMO. What if the opponent is still meched-up when my zoans come in. What if your opponent is bringing cheap, throwaway units like 5-man MSU squads? Worse of all, what if your zoans come in late? And besides, if you play them so aggressively, then you would have to hold back one of your tervigons, which for me defeats one of the purpose for having zoans in my list in the first place. I much rather have my zoans on the board Turn 1 so that my army can reap their benefits right away.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/14 07:20:15
So what powers you go for on them is entirely dependent on the situation, come up against a lot of AV13+ and stick with codex powers, need more endurance, go Biomancy.
So you like to leave them sat back of the field rather than moving up with the rest of the armor? Doesn't this make them counter productive, as their powers will eventually be pulled out of range? Have you considered podding them up, dropping them down near the doom at letting of 3 Psychic Shrieks?
If my opponent is spamming heavy armor (i.e. land raiders, leman russes, BA and/or necron AV13-spam), then I will have no choice but to keep the Warp Lance. Otherwise, in most cases, I will probably use rulebook powers for my zoans.
Actually, I tend to advance my entire army - monsters, zoans, hive guards, gribblies and even the biovores - at least to the midway point. However, tactics will vary depending on many factors:
1. If I have an objective in terrain deep within my deployment zone, then I will leave 1 unit gants there and forget about them. Either that or reserve them and have them come in to claim it.
2. If my opponent has weaponry that can insta-kill my biovores, then I would have to hide them (I usually hide them anyways). Where I hide them will depend on terrain.
3. Does my opponent have plenty of weapons that can insta-kill my zoans? If so, then I may be forced to leave them behind or out of range of those weapons.
4. I try to always put my zoans in range to buff my units or de-buff my enemies (i.e. Enfeeble). Usually at the midway point, they should be able to do that as well as provide synapse for some of my backfield units. One thing to note, however, is that the flyrants are so fast that many times, I find them to be out of range of my zoans for psychic buffs.
5. Terrain, and especially the LOS-blocking type.
Just because I use my zoans to "babysit" my backfield units doesn't mean that the zoans will be all the way in my deployment zone. A tyranid army should be constantly advancing and putting pressure on the enemy. In the meantime, you have to delicately balance the need to help out your units with psychic buffs and the need for protecting your backfield units. And you usually do this by advancing your entire army as much as you can without greatly risking your more fragile units. Thus, when the big bugs move forwards, so do all the little ones most of the time, at least to the point where they are receiving synapse and also in cover or out of LOS/shooting range of your opponent.
No, I haven't considered playing my zoans so aggressively. That is too great of a risk IMO. What if the opponent is still meched-up when my zoans come in. What if your opponent is bringing cheap, throwaway units like 5-man MSU squads? Worse of all, what if your zoans come in late? And besides, if you play them so aggressively, then you would have to hold back one of your tervigons, which for me defeats one of the purpose for having zoans in my list in the first place. I much rather have my zoans on the board Turn 1 so that my army can reap their benefits right away.
Seems a fair logic, and obviously something you have put a lot of thought into, I wasn't overly impressed with how they came across in the last battle report, but maybe that's because their effects were more subtle, than a battle report lets on. Or maybe just because the rest of your army performed exceptionally well, so they didn't need to be game changing or anything like that.. I'll be waiting curious to see how they do in this game, may have to give them a run out.
Tyranids: (by Jy2)
I love the combination of orks and Tau. There is a lot of synergy between the two. Early on in 6th, SabrX was looking into allies for his Tau. I was the one to strongly encourage him to take a look at a Tau-Ork alliance. IMO, orks are the perfect complement to Tau, providing them with cheap, screening Fearless bodies and the counter-assault that they lacked. Now I wasn't really thinking of nob bikers as allies but I have to admit, the combo does kind of make sense. Broadsides bust tanks. Nob bikers and the ork horde overrun the enemy.
I am actually somewhat concerned about his army. The last time I played againt Tau, it was a Tau-Space Marine alliance and I couldn't handle broadsides in a bastion. Though my natural tendency is to just ignore that unit, now I'll be facing 2x the number of broadsides....and in Hammer & Anvil no less. I just don't think any of my units other than my flyrants will make it to his side of the board intact, especially not when there are nob bikers and 60 orks in my way. Now if this was an objectives game, I think I would be in good shape....but it's not. I'm playing what is perhaps tyranids weakest mission - Victory Points. Here, I can't freely generate the gants I would normally otherwise do. Moreover, I need to hide my biovores and zoanthropes less they get insta-gibbed by so many railguns.
I think it's going to boil down to how well my opponent can deal with my flyrants. If he can take them down with shooting or at the very least, ground them, then I think he will be in good shape. If not, then they will probably run through his back lines. The x-factor here will be the Doom. I have big plans for him...and hopefully that doesn't involve getting insta-gibbed by his broadsides.
I still have confidence in my army, but the deployment and mission type isn't going to be doing them any favors. It's going to be a fight and it's not going to be an easy one.
Tau-Orks: (by SabrX)
This is my second time fielding Ork + Tau combo. In my first game, I ran a gimmicky list of Shas'el, 12 Fire Warriors, 100 Kroots + 6 Hounds, Bastion w/ Quad Gun, Warboss w/ 5 Nobz Bikers, and 60 Ork Boyz. It was terribly unbalanced, but was enough to win against Jy2's Nurgle Daemons + Ork list.
The Tau + Ork list in this game however is much more balance. It has a strong fire base with strong offense and horde element. Originally, I wrote this list in the aftermath of my Blood Angel's defeat against Jy2's Chaos Space Marines. The Broadsides were meant to counter Helldrakes and Mark of Nurgle Obliterators. Despite lacking flyers and skyfire, the Tau are surprisingly strong against flyers. TL-Railguns have a decent chance of rolling 6's and should have no problem against an AV12 flyer or even a T9 Flyrant. Bastion is great for protecting Shas'el Warlord and giving Broadsides higher elevation for TLOS.
After reading the previous battle report featuring Grey Knights vs Tyranids, I'm sure many of you know how nasty and brutal the Nids are. Strong Psychic powers can determine the outcome before the game even starts. Unfortunately, neither my Tau nor Orks have strong psychic defense. At the same time, Jy2 will have a tough time cracking open my Bastion and silencing my Railguns. My Warlord, the Shas'el, will man the Quad Gun. If danger arises, he will duck inside the AV14 shell. Doom of Malant'ai will be a problem. Both Orks and Tau are known for having incredibly low leadership. I hope the Quad gun will be sufficient in intercepting it. If the Flyrant manages to not get grounded and flies over my Orks unscathed, it will mean big trouble for my Tau. They have a reputation for getting slaughtered in assault and they won't last long against TL-Devourers. Aside from the Warboss and Shas'el, my list has no characters to issue challenges and prolong assault.
Fortunately, the Mission is Purge the Alien and Deployment is Hammer & Anvil. Hammer & Anvil will give my Tau a little more room to breath, but will be my difficult for my Orks who are most effective in short-medium range shooting and assault. Jy2 will have to be careful with how many Termagant units he spawns. His list also has more Victory Points than mine. His Biovores, Zoanthropes, and Hive Guards can't stick out their heads too far. My plan is to have my Orks serve as sacrificial pawns while my Broadsides and Fire Warriors pick off small units from afar.
Map of the terrain. SabrX deploys his bastion on top of the hill in the upper-right corner
Night-fight is on.
Warlord powers:
Shas'el - not very important
Flyrant - FNP within 3" of objective. Yippee! Too bad we were playing Victory Points.
Psychic powers:
Flyrant #1 (Warlord, Forgeworld) - Enfeeble, Life Leech
Flyrant #2 - Endurance, Haemorrhage
Doom - Psychic Shriek
Zoanthrope #1 - Smite, Haemorrhage
Zoanthrope #2 - Enfeeble, Life Leech
Tervigon #1 - Iron Arm, Enfeeble, Life Leech
Tervigon #2 - Enfeeble, Endurance, Life Leech
Not bad. I've got 2 Endurances which will be useful against railguns and nob power klaws. I've got a lot of Enfeebles so taking out the nob bikers isn't going to a problem.
Tork (Tau-ork) deployment. He puts the 6-man fire warrior unit in the bastion. Going first, my opponent has a huge advantage. He picks the side with the tall ruins. Coupled with his bastion, he's got excellent LOS to my units, especially as I advance towards his lines.
Moreover, with blacksun filters on 1 unit of broadsides and on his shas'el (who will join the other unit of broadsides), he gets to ignore the effects of Night-fight.
Tyranid deployment. I reserve both units of termagants. The name of the game here is...what's that river in Egypt called again?
My deployment from the Tork perspective. He has no LOS to my big guys, only to my gargoyles and perhaps 1 zoanthrope.
The ork horde advance and then run for cover. Bikers do not turbo-boost. My opponent is careful not to jump the gun with his bikers and is planning a coordinated attack.
He only has gargoyles to shoot and kills 5 with his broadsides and quad-guns.
Tyranids 1
Spoiler:
After casting my psychic powers, both flyrants swoop.
Biovores scatter badly and only manage to kill 2 boys from the left squad (from my perspective).
To my right, biovores, hive guards and 2 dakka flyrants gun down 14 boys.
Tau-Orks 2
Spoiler:
Overview of the top of Turn 2.
My opponent prepares to take out my flyrant, if not with shooting then with assault.
Left boys advance as well.
1 unit of broadsides with quad-gun shas'el fire at my flyrant but fails to hurt or ground him (he's in cover with FNP). The other unit of broadsides fire at my zoans but I pass all my Invuln's.
Boys do manage to successfully ground my flyrant (but not hurt him). Bikers and boys then assault him. I issue a challenge to his warboss, who declines. My flyrant then opts to Smash.
Orks still wipe out my flyrant for First Blood and they don't even lose a single biker thanks to Cybork Bodies.
Torks: 1, Tyranids: 0
Tyranids 2
Spoiler:
1 unit of gants come in from reserves.
The Doom comes in as well but then scatters off the table. I then roll a on the mishap table.
Torks: 3, Tyranids: 0
X-factor my arse. What he is is X-terminated, X-tinct and X-#$%&@!!!!!.
Tyranids converge onto the nob bikers. My Warlord goes into Glide mode in preparation for assault. By the ways, bikers are now T3 due to 2 Enfeebles.
1 unit of biovores and the gargoyles fire into his left boys and, due to bad scatter, only end up killing 5 orks.
Shooting by my flyrant ends up killing 4 nob bikers thanks to my insta-killing devourers who also ignore their FNP. 1 unit of biovores kills 4 ork boys. Fortunately for me, his nob bikers pass their morale.
I then charge in with my Warlord and issue a challenge. He accepts with his warboss and I am forced to Smash in order to bring him down.
My Warlord then completely whiffs all his attacks. His warboss then puts 2W on my flyrant.
Tau-Orks 3
Spoiler:
Overview of the top of Turn 3.
Both units of orks advance.
Broadsides insta-kill 1 biovore who was peeking out. BTW, I believe my tervigon sustained 1W due to Perils last turn.
His other broadsides insta-kill 1 of my zoans.
Ork boys then shoot down 7 gargoyles....
....and finish the rest off in assault, consolidating forwards afterwards.
Torks: 4, Tyranids: 0
In combat, I finally kill off his Warboss with a Smash attack....
....and then run down the squad with a Sweeping Advance.
Torks: 4, Tyranids: 2
The only bright spot for me is that I finished off his bikers on his Assault phase so that I will be able to act on my turn.
Tyranids 3
Spoiler:
Currently, it's looking pretty dismal for my bugs. I'm already down 5-2 (including First Blood for my opponent) and only have 1 unit - my Warlord - that can really do anything. The rest of my army would have to march forwards and probably into certain death in order to really do anything....and even if they were to run every turn, I don't think I would be able to reach my opponent's deployment zone, at least not without giving away massive VP's. The most they can probably do is to kill off both units of ork boys so really, it's up to my Warlord. My fate lies in his hands.
My Warlord swoops forwards. I swap out my flyrant models because my Forgeworld tyrant's wings are preventing me from positioning them properly.
Left tervigon spawns 15 gants and then runs out. My bugs go after his orks.
Flyrant can only see 2 fire warriors and shoot them down. I just needed 1 more to force morale.
It takes the combined firepower of both biovores, 2 units of gants, my tervigon and Enfeeble from the zoan to kill off 17 orks!
Orks then fail morale and break! As they are currently below 25% unit strength, they would need snake-eyes (1,1) to regroup. They would not regroup.
Torks: 4, Tyranids: 3
Tau-Orks 4
Spoiler:
Overview of the top of Turn 4.
Fire warriors move to the edge to try to shoot down my flyrant. Unfortunately, I believe he only gets something like 4" for his movement.
Orks retreat into the safety of terrain.
They shoot down my lone zoanthrope.
Torks: 5, Tyranids: 3
Broadsides and his Warlord on quad-guns then focus on my left tervigon, inflicting 4 Wounds despite 4+ cover! He is down to just 1W left.
Fire warriors fail to hurt my flyrant.
Tyranids 4
Spoiler:
My Warlord jumps up onto the ruins.
Gribblies advance towards the orks. Wounded tervigon goes back behind the ruins to hide.
Between Enfeeble by the tervigon, biovores, hive guards and gants, I kill 6 orks.
My Warlord casts Life Leech to kill 1 fire warrior and to regenerate back 1W. However, his fire warriors would pass every single save from 1 pair of devourers.
Orks then fail morale and flee. They would not regroup.
Torks: 5, Tyranids: 4
I see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. At the same time, I can sense the feeling of despair starting to creep up on my opponent's face....
My flyrant then assaults his warriors, opting to Smash so as to not kill his unit or break them this turn. It works as I only kill 1 warrior. However, they miraculously cause 1W to my flyrant as well (2W remaining) for a drawn combat.
The momentum has just shifted. Just a couple of turns ago, I was down 5-0 in VP's (flyrant, Doom, spore, gargoyles, First Blood) and it was looking like my opponent would finally get one on me. A couple of turns later, I am only down by 1 VP but am poised to kill his fire warriors next turn. I will then go after his broadsides (and perhaps Warlord Shas'el) for potentially 2 more VP's. Finally, I've got Linebreaker with my Warlord.
My opponent can't believe what is happening. Victory was just so close for him....
Tau-Orks 5
Spoiler:
My opponent shuffles his broadsides to the side to try to get a view of my tervigon. He is just able to barely see part of its legs and that is enough. The broadsides shoot it down.
Torks: 6, Tyranids: 4
Other broadsides and quad-guns shoot down some gants.
I have my opponent reeling on the ropes and then all of a sudden, a desperate upper-cut catches me and knocks me the f**k out!
Flyrant kills a couple of warriors. With only 6 guys left, needing 5's to hit and 6's to wound, he gets 3 hits of which 2 wounds. I then proceed to fail both armour saves!!!
Torks: 9 (including First Blood and Warlord), Tyranids: 4
With that, there is no chance for me to win and I concede.
Tyranids: (by Jy2)
Wow...what an exciting game! These close game are always some of the best. Coming in, I thought I was at a big disadvantage with both the mission and deployment type. Thus, I decided to play a little more defensively than what I was normally used to. Knowing that his orks would most likely advance, I was waiting for them to come to me. I knew I could handle his orks if he did. Thus, with the exception of the flyrants and gargoyles, I was trying to deny my opponent his shooting againt the rest of my army. Fortunately, he did come to me even though he could have very well played a defensive game as well and dare me to go after him.
One thing my bugs....heck, any bug army....will have trouble against is an army with good, ranged AP3 or better AT, especially when they are going first and the bugs have to march a long distance towards them. It's fortunate that the bugs have flyrants. Otherwise, this game may have been even more lopsided in favor of the Tau-orks. Unlike our last game (nids vs grey knights) where my bugs had all the advantage, in this game, the Tau-orks had all the advantages. They had the more favorable mission - Victory Points, a weakness of tyranids. They had favorable deployment - Hammer & Anvil where tyranids would have to travel the farthest to reach Tau lines. They had 2 tall terrain pieces where the broadsides could have excellent view of just about the entire board. And finally, they went 1st in a VP game. In terms of game conditions, this game was almost a complete reversal of our tyranid-GK game. I was expecting an uphill battle for my bugs and I was right. Fortunately, my opponent's inexperience against tyranids in 6E gave me a slight chance.
I'd definitely have given the MVP of this game to his fire warriors. If they hadn't killed my Warlord, I could have very well tied or even have won the game, despite being down 4-0 initially. That just goes to show that you should never give up as long as there is hope. Who knows where the most unlikely of heroes will show up.
Tau-Orks: (by SabrX)
Wow, I didn't expect my Fire Warriors to win combat! One of the weakest assault units prevailing over a Monstrous Creature! With both Ork units falling back, I was certain defeat was inevitable, but my Fire Warriors showed the Boyz how it's done.
I didn't expect my Broadsides would have such a huge impact this game. Jy2's Biovores, Tervigon, and Hive Guards were "pinned" behind terrain. It's rare to see Nids being cautious. Those Biovores however did a number on the Orks. Jy2 was rolling an unbelievable number of hits with his Biovores. Unfortunately for him, luck averages out with the Doom scattering off the table. If it hadn't been for that, the final outcome would have been much closer with edge going to the Nids.
Enfeeble shut down my Nob Bikers, though to the Death Star's credit, they did take down one of the Flyrants. My Ork Boyz were shooting like Tau that day. Literally half the Shoota Boyz shooting hit (they are BS2 for emperor's sake!!!). It wasn't a smart decision to have the right most Ork Boyz unit assault the Gargoyles and consolidate closer to Jy2's gunlines. Tervigon's newborn Termagant babies and Biovores sent them home packing. Falling back and needing snake eyes to regroup is brutal!
Overall, my list performed a lot better than I expected. It has an answer to flyers, it has a horde and death star elements, and the Warlord is well protected. While it does have a critical flaw in no psychic defense, it does pack one hell of a punch in both assault and shooting. Bugs_N_Orks brought up a good point in fielding a Lobba unit. It would compliment the Broadsides well. My list is stretched already at 1750, but there's more room in 2K. While this list is effective in missions Purge the Alien, Big Guns Never Tire, The Emperor's Will, and The Relic, it's questionable how it will perform in high objectives missions.
Kudos to fellow Dakkalite Kingsley, who lent me the Bastion. It served its purpose and gave my Broadside good field of vision.
This message was edited 11 times. Last update was at 2013/01/15 14:50:38
The Tau ork list is powerfull combination, a bit the same with Tau combined with Immothek and a scarab farm, altough here the shooty boys give nice blob squads. and another powerfull bikersquad.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/14 22:22:21
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years
Yet have little of account to show for your efforts
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things
And we shall do so again.
4500 pts
2013/01/15 02:01:44
Subject: 1750 Hive Fleet Pandora vs SabrX's Tau-Orks Nob Bikers-Broadsides
Valek wrote: The Tau ork list is powerfull combination, a bit the same with Tau combined with Immothek and a scarab farm, altough here the shooty boys give nice blob squads. and another powerfull bikersquad.
Yeah, I think shoota boys is the best way to run orks now....assuming you want to run any ork boys at all. I would take the ratio of 2 units of shoota boyz to 1 unit of choppa/slugga boys. They choppa boys will be there to counter-attack the enemy when he assaults my shoota boys.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/01/15 02:03:11
I can see you scraping through this game, thing I find against both Tau and Orks, is they are brutal first few turns, unitll you begin to whittle them down, and then when it starts to happen, they break very fast. Doom would have been a killer in the is game. How did the mishap happen?
Eldercaveman wrote: Doom would have been a killer in the is game. How did the mishap happen?
Scattered off the table. Doom was limited to where it can land without getting shot at by interceptor quad gun. Unfortunately, the best spot out of TLOS happens to be near the board edge.
When I saw the powers you rolled I was hoping you'd go for a triple enfeeble + hemorrhage on one of his boyz mobs, not that it's really necessary with all the AI you have in your list, but it would've been awesome. Rough luck with Doom but I like where you placed him, if you went on the other side of that squad/building he and his spore pod would be easy pickings for broadsides/etc.
Were his bikes enfeebled when they charged your first tyrant? If not, it might have been a good move to accept the challenge with his warboss, it's unlikely your tyrant would have killed him (needing 4's to wound and the warboss has a 5++/FNP with one re-roll). He probably wouldn't have killed your tyrant in 1 round so he wouldn't have had those 12 S6 shots coming in, and any unit you sent to help would have to give up it's shooting.
I think a Lobba unit would work well with SabrX's list, and add some long ranged AI which his list is lacking at the moment. Although I'm of the opinion that everyone who can take a decent barrage weapon should, they're just so useful for sniping weapons and picking on squads trying to hide out of LoS. 3 with a Runtherd, 3 ammo runts, and 3 extra crew is 103 (roughly the price of a broadside and 3 firewarriors). Put em in cover with 6 grots out front and it's a bunch of T7 wounds to take down.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/15 04:24:45
2013/01/15 04:34:20
Subject: Re:1750 Hive Fleet Pandora vs SabrX's Tau-Orks Nob Bikers-Broadsides(Completed)
Well that bites. Seriously, you must feel like the Seattle Seahawks after that one. Great comeback, even if it was snatched away, and good report though. Tough loss, dice happens.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/15 04:53:20
2013/01/15 04:55:15
Subject: 1750 Hive Fleet Pandora vs SabrX's Tau-Orks Nob Bikers-Broadsides(Completed)
Well, ummm...I cant say I saw that one coming haha.
The orks/tau combo actually played quite well which Im quite surprised about. I guess taking one of the best shooty armies with the best cc army does kinda work out.
2013/01/15 05:09:41
Subject: 1750 Hive Fleet Pandora vs SabrX's Tau-Orks Nob Bikers-Broadsides
I can see you scraping through this game, thing I find against both Tau and Orks, is they are brutal first few turns, unitll you begin to whittle them down, and then when it starts to happen, they break very fast. Doom would have been a killer in the is game. How did the mishap happen?
I did a risky deepstrike behind the ruins. And because my mycetic spore's footprint was huge, the 10" scatter took it off the board. The reason why I deepstrike there was two-fold.
1. I believe that was the only place where if I had landed, I would have been able to place the Doom up on the 2nd level of the ruins (his fire warriors were near the front and would have blocked off my Doom had I landed in front of his ruins). Then his Spirit Leech would have been able to affect both the fire warriors and broadsides. He would have then also been able to use Psychic Shriek on the broadsides.
2. For protection against broadside shooting. I was hoping to deny shooting from at least 1 of the broadsides and maybe even both.
bigentasty wrote: So do you use the Doom for just fun games or do you think he is competitive and should be used in tournaments?
He is competitive. I wouldn't recommend using him in fun games because some opponents are going to find that he just isn't that fun to play against.
Bugs_N_Orks wrote: When I saw the powers you rolled I was hoping you'd go for a triple enfeeble + hemorrhage on one of his boyz mobs, not that it's really necessary with all the AI you have in your list, but it would've been awesome. Rough luck with Doom but I like where you placed him, if you went on the other side of that squad/building he and his spore pod would be easy pickings for broadsides/etc.
Were his bikes enfeebled when they charged your first tyrant? If not, it might have been a good move to accept the challenge with his warboss, it's unlikely your tyrant would have killed him (needing 4's to wound and the warboss has a 5++/FNP with one re-roll). He probably wouldn't have killed your tyrant in 1 round so he wouldn't have had those 12 S6 shots coming in, and any unit you sent to help would have to give up it's shooting.
I think a Lobba unit would work well with SabrX's list, and add some long ranged AI which his list is lacking at the moment. Although I'm of the opinion that everyone who can take a decent barrage weapon should, they're just so useful for sniping weapons and picking on squads trying to hide out of LoS. 3 with a Runtherd, 3 ammo runts, and 3 extra crew is 103 (roughly the price of a broadside and 3 firewarriors). Put em in cover with 6 grots out front and it's a bunch of T7 wounds to take down.
From where my units were positioned, I never really had range to cast 3 Enfeebles on the same unit, at least not at the expense of my protective powers. I actually did try to triple-Enfeeble his nob bikers but 1 tervigon was just a few inches out of range.
No, his bikes weren't Enfeebled when they first charged my flyrant. I didn't have range or LOS to them initially. Yeah, he definitely should have tried to keep his guys locked in combat during my turn. However, it was probably due his lack of experience against the bugs (this was actually the first game we played that day and his very first time playing against the new bugs) and with 6th edition psychic powers overall. Most people who have never played against nids before will be unprepared for how good their psychic powers can be.
Well that bites. Seriously, you must feel like the Seattle Seahawks after that one. Great comeback, even if it was snatched away, and good report though. Tough loss, dice happens.
No biggie. I've been having much more luck in our games together than SabrX. It was about time that he was due for some.
And you were so close. Is that your first or second loss in 6th with nids?
This was my 3rd loss in probably about 20+ games. All my losses have been documented in my batreps (but not all my winnings). Losses were against Space Wolves (just pure nastiness), Epidemius-Typhus CSM (stole the initiative on me and shot down a flyrant) and now this game.
tuiman wrote: Well, ummm...I cant say I saw that one coming haha.
The orks/tau combo actually played quite well which Im quite surprised about. I guess taking one of the best shooty armies with the best cc army does kinda work out.
It was a great back-&-forth game. And it was poetic justice that SabrX was able to do to me what I've been doing a lot to him - beat him with dice. Lol.
I definitely like the combo of orks and Tau. You don't necessarily need orks to be assaulty, but they make better screens than both kroots or warriors and they are more dangerous than either.
.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
on the mishap table. 
wrote:
