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Briancj wrote:I have a space mat, and planets.

--Brian

Yup, I figure the Tau are in no position to contest deep space. Plus, there isn't that much space with a 40K board and a BFG board going at the same time. The space station is a beanstalk, so reasonably it should be pretty close to the planet.

kestral,

So are your Armsmen based on the old Imperial boarding teams they pictured in some of the Battlefleet Gothic?

Cheers,

CB

The Mechanicus are searching for Taros. The Semper Vultus leads the expedition.





(Kitbashed Imperial Cruiser.)

--B.

Love it! Good job capturing a more mechanicus like vibe out of the cruiser kit.

Kitbashed cruiser looking good so far!

After the paint servitors:





--B.

Wow! Looking real good

 Captain Brown wrote:
kestral,

So are your Armsmen based on the old Imperial boarding teams they pictured in some of the Battlefleet Gothic?

Cheers,

CB

They are Games Workshop ones from Kill team. Insurgency walker did the conversions, I just painted them. : )


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 Briancj wrote:
After the paint servitors:


--B.

Damn, I wish I had paint servitors...

I seem to have refreshed paint servitors as of late.



--B.

 Briancj wrote:
I seem to have refreshed paint servitors as of late.



--B.

So sad that didn't make it into plastic.

TECHnically....





--B.

Love the idea of owning wrecks for all my vehicles. I should work on that. Those look great and will look even better spilling Mechanicus craziness out of them! Gonna crash the hanger, huh?

 kestral wrote:
Love the idea of owning wrecks for all my vehicles. I should work on that. Those look great and will look even better spilling Mechanicus craziness out of them! Gonna crash the hanger, huh?

Amusingly, the wreck came FIRST. I got the lander a long time after it, and figured I'd keep going with the theme started with one of my Valkyries. It is very US Coast Guard.

--B.

PS: Hangar/shmanger. *GO MISSILES*

OK, here is the current draft scenario write up:

Assault on Dawnwater’s Edge
Overview: As the Imperium descends upon the Rinn’va of Taros, their advance elements race to capture the Tau Fortress of Dawnwater’s edge. The fleet must navigate the tau defenses, balancing need to get onto the station as soon as possible to prevent the Tau from evacuating/sabatoging/scuttling the station with the risk to ground forces and the need to complete objectives in space. In game terms they must get to the station and contest sectors to prevent the Tau from wracking up too great a lead in Victory Points, but also avoid being destroyed piecemeal. The mighty Minotaur Strike Cruiser is a key resource with its speed, durability, payload of deadly space marines, and ground bombardment ability. Its loss would be devastating to the Imperial cause however. The Tau must try to reach the Imperial Transport with their outclassed force of light ships - however they have an ace in the hole - a bushwacking Hakkit class cruiser commanded by Hakkit Korfu, a legend among the Kif. Sadly, Korfu, while willing to fight for pay, is not willing to risk himself, though it would be well worth it for the Imperium to hunt him down to keep him from getting up to his tricks later in the campaign. On board the station the Tau must choose between aggressively hunting down early Imperial arrivals to keep them from contesting and denying them VPs, or conserving their forces.

The battle for the Dawnwaters edge would involve 10s of thousands of points of Warhammer 40K ground troops, however we are showing only the critical fight for the Scuttling Mechanism. The Imperium did not initially realize the importance of this part of the station, and thus only assigned a small force from each ship to the task. Late in the battle both sides pour whatever troops they can into the critical area.

Forces
Imperial
750 points of Minotaurs Space Marines
750 points of Mechanicus
750 points of Rogue Traders (Based Primarily on Codex Witch Hunters). Breaching Team is added to the imperial reserves if it is destroyed earlier in the game.
750 points of Imperial Guard

Tau:
Station Defenders -
1000 points, Codex Tau Empire, no vehicles, no Kroot, may take Kiff and Gauthi auxiliaries, unit of Gauthi may be added to the relief force if it is destroyed earlier in the game.

Station Relief Force (starts entering Turn 7)
750 points of Auxiliaries who have been brought up the Beanstalk.

Fleets - Preset in advance. Spoilered for Length


Game Length: 12 Turns.
Each “turn” consists of one Battle Fleet Gothic turn, and one Warhammer 40K turn. It is likely that the early battle will have little 40K action, and the later battle little BFG action.



Deployment

Tau Station defenders must be deployed anywhere on the station table.
Imperial attack force begins on ships deployed within 30 cm of their table edge




Tau defenses are placed according to the map, but their ships deploy AFTER the imperium (they can see them burning for the planet a ways off), within 75 cm of their table edge.
The Hakkit enters from a long table edge Turn 2.



Reserves
Reserves become available Turn 7. Tau reserves consist of the Auxiliary force - Imperial Reserves consist of all units on ships destroyed in space. Reserves arrive on a 4+ regardless of turn, and each side may roll for up to 3 units of their choice per turn max. Reserves arrive by deepstrike - they are assumed to be riding elevators from lower levels (Tau) or cutting their way in (Imperial).
Imperial Reserves will have been damaged when their ship went down. Roll a die for each model in the unit - on a 1-2 that model is destroyed. They may be actual survivors of wrecks or other troops arriving from other parts of the station.
There are no BFG reserves.

Victory Conditions

Control of each of the three zones of the Station - 1 VP per turn. Control is defined as having an infantry unit in that zone and the enemy having no units of any kind in that zone. Units falling back do not count.

Tau:
Large Agricultural Ship moves off the table: 3 VP
Small Agricultural Ship moves off the table: 2 VP
Each Imperial Capital Ship destroyed: 3 VP

Imperial
Large Agricultural Ship Captured: 5 VP
Small Agricultural Ship Captured: 3 VP
Bombarding Tarokeen: Variable, max 10.
Each Tau/Kiff Capital Ship Destroyed: 3 VP

Control of each Zone at the end of the game is worth 3 VP.


Special Rules

Gravity Slingshot
Ships that move off a long table edge are out of play. Ships that move off a short edge may “Slingshot” around the planet. They are removed from the table. Each turn, they may test to use “All ahead full”. If they succeed they are placed on the opposite table edge. They are not yet in “in play” but will move from that spot on their NEXT turn - this represents them approaching on scanners.

Heavy Escort
Given the large role Escorts play in this battle, certain larger craft have the “Heavy Escort” rule. Heavy Escorts have +1 hit (thus 2) and may survive one critical hit, though a second will destroy them. They are considered Crippled when they have taken one point of damage. This upgrade is valued at 15 points.


Bombarding Tarrokeen. To score a victory point for Bombing Tarrokeen, the Imperium must have capital ships within 10 cm the city that do not fire on any other target, or use any special order other than “burn Retros” The strike cruiser scores 2 VP a turn this way, Semper Vultis scores 1, any other two capital ships score 1 together. The Imperium can also choose to fire torpedos or launch bombers at Tarokeen. If ordinance passes over Tarokeen it may attack. Remove the ordinance, score 1 VP per 4 torps or 2 bombers.

Boarding the Station
No more than two imperial ships may board the station each turn. Boarding the station requires either:

Being within 10 cm of the station and executing a “Burn Retros” order successfully. The ship is placed in contact with the station retaining its facing. This is the fast and exciting method. If the check fails, the ship moves on by.

Moving at exactly 1/2 speed for one turn, then move into contact with the station with a move of 1/2 speed or less. The safer way of doing things.

Warhammer 40K units embarked on the ships move onto the station in the next Warhammer 40K turn from one of the long table edges. Flyers may only move onto the “hanger” end.

Tau units may not move on the station board until Imperial Units arrive on the station Table.

Doorway Overwatch


A unit on the station board may “set Doorway Overwatch” by nominating a “doorway” (opening 6” wide or less” within line of sight if they do not move or fire in their turn. The unit may fire at any unit that becomes visible through that opening, interrupting the normal turn sequence.



Nowhere to run.
Units on the station table may not move off of it and fall back away from the nearest enemy unit. They also may regroup at less than half strength, but at -2 LD. They may, however, use the unmodified leadership of any independent character within 12”.


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Oops, forgot infiltrate and deepstrike. Tau may not deep strike. Imperials may, if thematically appropriate. That mostly means terminators, can't think of anyone else. Tau may not infiltrate. Imperial infiltrators get an extra D6 inches of movement on their first turn if they enter in Zone C, because they manage to sneak in a little further before the Tau catch them.

Nice visual aids.

I-Walker's Chalmers Class Assault Strider. I simply can't shake the resemblence to my childhood family tractor.

Working on a codex, Rogue Trader. I walker will no doubt add to it and is doing some of the units, but here's what I have that might work:

Rogue Trader Forces, Taros Campaign

Selected from mostly from Codex Witch Hunters and Codex Eye of Terror - the Lost and the Damned except as noted.

HQ

Rogue Trader
Inquisitor lord, but is an independent character and does not have to buy a retinue.



Officer - counts as Inquisitor


0-2 Petty officers (Count as Priests). May join only troop units.

Elite

Armsmen
WS 3, BS 4, S3, T3, W2, A2, I3, Ld 8. Equipped with Master Crafted Lasgun, Master Crafted Laspistol, Frag, Krak, Carapace. May use one Imperial Guard Order each turn automatically.
Unit of 5 costs 80 points.
Special Rules:
Go Take Care of it. One model may become an independent character of at the start of any turn. Only one model may use this rule at a time, though if the first one dies another may be sent. Dogs and Hospitlars may not use this rule.

Options:
One Model may carry an assault cannon for +15 Points.
May add a Dog (WS 4, BS 1, S3, T3, W1, A1, I4, Ld 7 for 5 points).
May take a Sister Hopitlar for 25 points. Counts a Chiurgen, except that she wears power armor and allows the unit, not a specific character, to ignore a single wound that does not cause instant death.


Away team.
Counts as an inquisitional retinue.



Voidwalkers (5-10 Models, 8 points each)
Imperial Guard statline. Equiped with bolters, or laspistol and cc weapon, wearing Hostile Environment Armor (5+ save, save is invulnerable and rerollable vs template and blast weapons).

One model may take a Rock Drill (counts as an Eviscerator) at +20 points.
May add 0-2 Void Ogryn (Count as a Big Mutant, single CC weapon, Hostile Environment Armor) at 25 points each.
Special Rule:
Deepstrike



Valkeree
Imperial Guard Veteran Statline, Armed with Inferno Pistols and refractor fields (5+ invulnerable save). 10 points each.

Troops
Crew - Count as Traitors but may not infiltrate and cost 5 points per model.


Boarding Phalanx. Ws 2, BS 2, Ld 6. Equipted with Slab Shields (confer a 4+ armor save, but reduces assault distance to 3”) and a single close combat weapon. Cost 5 points per model.


Breaching Team


Mutant Slaves and overseer. Count as Gretchen and Slaver from Codex Orks, but they are T3 and do not have guns, just a single close combat weapon.


Fast Attack
Murder Servitors - Count as Arcoflagellents.


Beast Packs - Count as Chaos Hounds.


Znutar Class Jump Shuttle.
The Znutar is a fast skimmer that carries 10 models, has one access point, armor 12-12-11, and a forcefield that provides a 4+ invulnerable save to itself and any unit (friend or foe) with at least half its models within 3” of the hull, against shooting only. Costs 70 points, unarmed.

Heavy Support


Chalmers Assault Strider


VoidRaven Shuttle
Servitors. Chosen from Codex, Imperial Guard. They do NOT have to be accompanied by a tech priest (although they may) and do not suffer from Mindlock.

The Arvus Lighter (10-10-10 BS:3 no weapons, deep strike, transports 12) is 75 points. That Jump shuttle is grossly underpriced

I suggest at least 150 points, more like 180 points.

--B.

Hmm, well, when you put it like that. : )


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Couple of figures for Taros part painted "enough to use on the table" for a (slightly) goofy side adventure.

As far as I can determine, the tau is wearing neither shirt nor underwear.

...

I've heard of a no-pants party...

--B.

Working on some seriously large Tau Terrain. It has to be durable and it has to nest, but it is at least a start.

Starting with tote, then riviting stuff to it with pop rivets, since there isn't any glue I've ever found that will stick to a tote.

An Imperial Warhound has been spotted on Taros!

Somewhere on Taros.....Col Helstrom eats a sandwich while sitting on the fender of his command car 'Grief'.
His staff, consisting of one SSgt Morris monitored communications from the vehicles electronic suite.

"Sir, we have a report coming in from Sgt Cromwell, It sounds like he has Intel on what was causing all the Tau chatter in the heights"

Helstrom looked at his sandwich quizzicality before speaking.
"Crom? Alpha companies 2nd Platoons tank ace? What's he doing planet side? Tank crews were not supposed to be volunteered."

"His report indicated he made contact with the traders forces and helped free some troopers before recovering, a Warhound Titan."


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"That makes no sense, recovered a Warhound? Did this report contain proper comm codes?" Helstrom asked while waging a personal war with the tough stale bread of his sandwich.

"Apparently Crom stumbled upon the titans crew that had deployed separately from the Titan? Spent a few hours in a makeshift Tau prison camp too?

NICE Paint job!!!

I'll pass your praise on to the person who built it. I didn't even know he had the thing. It was a long few days in real life with the power being out for days. I knew these crazy Rogue Traders were all focused on recovery of some important secret cargo thing but was distracted fiddling with putting miniatures away that had fallen in battle turned around and WHAM. See the war hound standing out side the building.

As a side note, Kestral has discovered a great way to rope in friends who don't play much anymore. He had been painting the RT forces with the yellow and black coat of arms from the Warhounds players army. Lol.

Hah!

I find the key to getting older players 'back into the game' is to provide quality scenarios and warm, welcoming environments. The exact opposite of a tournament, yanno?

--B.

Really I just noticed that there was a lot of "black, yellow, red" stuff piling up, so I painted more, on the idea that it might turn into an interesting army, albiet spread among three people.

One thing that impressed me about the armorcast warhound was how great it was as a playing piece. Unlike a lot of wobbly, fragile, hard to position titans (mine included) it caused no problem on the table at all. Apparently it is bolted together.

In the meantime, Dawnwater station is starting to take shape, It is a really hard table to execute, given that I don't have much tau stuff, you can't use sand, it needs lots of terrain, and it should have both round and linear elements in the usual tau style. This is a very rough beginning.

Why the tau put their Agricultural display area overlooking a critical hanger is something of a mystery, but it does mean that part of the battle will take place in a... ....TRACTOR DOME!!!!!!







I'll be jazzing it up with printouts of tau symbols, window, etc.

Definitely building that Farming Chimera now

 Insurgency Walker wrote:
Definitely building that Farming Chimera now

My field kitchen needs veggies.

Looks like smoke alarms make for a good Tau building! Loving lurking on this very creative blog, looking forward to seeing more winning models!