Hello everybody... I've just recently started playing
40k, and had been doing hilariously badly until this, the first game I won. So I decided to post a battle report. I'm still new, so I forgot a lot of things in the game... like half my equipment... but at least I remembered to roll for reinforcements, unlike last time. Furthermore, I don't remember all the details, so sorry. This was a game I played at a local store, against an opponent I'd never actually played before... map was a pretty square affair, I'd guess 4'x4', with a river cutting off one quarter (which I will call the southwest)... we put a patch of trees in the southwest corner, another patch closer to the northeast, a ruined rhino in the center of the north edge, a fairly solid wall out of a ruin in the southeast, and finally, a bridge across the river, on its west edge. We ruled the river was difficult but not dangerous terrain, since all our troops had breathers anyways. (Well... except the Kroot. But they have fieldcraft)
Mission was Seize Ground, I think - the one with 1d3+2 objectives in midfield; deployment Pitched battle.
One objective was deployed on the southwest side of the river, amidst a bend, one next to the downed rhino, and the last behind the ruined wall. He rolled to go first, and chose the north edge to deploy from.
Now, the armies.
T'Ros Mobile Hunter Cadre K-8
HQ
Command Squad
Shas'O in XV-8 MK III Battlesuit (Shas'O Rymr's suit); Double Plasma Rifle, Adv. Shield, Target Lock, 2x Shield Drones, Flechettes
2x Shas'Vre in XV-81 Battlesuits;
SMS, Missile Pod,
HW Multi-Tracker, Targeting Array
Elites
Stealthsuits
3 Stealthsuits; All have Targeting Array (which I forgot) Shas'Vre w/Fusion Blaster, Marker, and one shield drone (actually two...).
Troops
Mobile Firewarrior Team B
11 Firewarriors + Shas'Ui; w/Photons, 8 Rifles, 3 Carbines, Shas'Ui has Marker, Bonding Knife, and Carbine
Devilfish Transport; Disruption Pod, Decoy Launcher, Gun Drones
Mobile Firewarrior Team K
Same as above.
Mobile Firewarrior Team D
Ditto
Carnivore Team F
9 Kroot Warriors + 1 Shaper; w/Enhanced Armor Strain (I since realized I could afford more Kroot...)
Heavy Support
Hammerhead A
Hammerhead w/Railgun,
SMS, Everything but Sensor Spines and Filter (including 2x Seekers)
Hammerhead E
Just like A.
Crimson Fist Space Marines
(Sorry if I get anything wrong, I'm not familiar with their Codex)
HQ
Chapter Command Squad
Pedro Kantor; Whatever he has...
Accompanied by ??? w/???
Elites
Dreadnaught 1
Ironclad Dreadnaught; 2x Close Combat Arms, 2x Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor, Drop Pod (No Model)
Dreadnaught 2
Ironclad Dreadnaught; 2x Close Combat Arms, Melta Gun, Storm Bolter, Extra Armor, Drop Pod (No Model)
Troops
Tactical Squad 1
Sergeant and 9
Tac Marines; Plasma Gun, 2x Combi-Plasma (Drop Pod)
Tactical Squad 2
Sergeant and 9
Tac Marines; Flamer, 2x Combi-Flamer (Drop Pod)
???
Master of the Forge
Master of the Forge; Conversion Beamer, Warbike
Sternguard 1
8/10 Sternguard; 2x Melta Guns, 2x Combi-Melta, Drop Pod (No Model)
Sternguard 2
8/10 Sternguard; 2x Melta Guns, 2x Combi-Melta, Drop Pod (No Model)
Deployment)
He starts the game by deploying Pedro and his retinue right next to the objective in the wrecked Rhino, and the Master of the Forge in the northwest Corner - however, I didn't actually
notice the Master of the Forge, which probably cost me... The rest, drop pod assault.
I put my Command just east of the river, infiltrate my Kroot and Stealths... line up Squads B and K to race up to the river and building objectives, and Hammerhead A in the SE corner. Squad D and
HH E are in reserve. I move my Kroot into the southwest grove, the Stealths into the Northeast. Roll for initiative...
Tau 1st)
B deploys next to the river objective, K to behind the wall, Commander heads north. Then, open fire on Pedro's unit. My submunition scatters off, but I still knock down two of his buddies from my stealthsuits and an unnattural number of missiles.
SM 1st)
First things first, Pedro takes his morale check. Twelve. Roll for fallback distance... eleven. Chapter Master runs off the board like a scared little forest elf. I'm feeling pretty confident... then, half the drop pods arrive. He places dreadnaught 1 right next to B and the river objective... Sternguard 1 next to my commander, and within sight of K and it's devilfish, and Tactical 1 just north of the wall. Dread scatters right back across the river, Sternguard on top of the Tactical squad... of course, their guidance systems lands them safely, but still, good news for me.
First in shooting, the Master of the Forge announces his presence by blowing the railgun off hammerhead A. Crap. The Dreadnaught proceeds to kill 3 out of B with its flamers, and the Sternguard and Tactical squad both fire on my Command Squad, taking out the drones, and inflicting a total of two wounds on my commander.
Tau 2nd)
No reinforcements - I'm a bit worried now - without a railgun, there's not much I can do about the
AV 13 Ironclad... Most of Squad K moves out from behind their wall, and B falls back (well, they move backwards... they aren't actually falling back). Command Team continues moving forward, hoping to get a shot on the Dread's vulnerable rear - not yet. Stealth suits move through the woods, trying to get a shot with the Shas'Vre's fusion blaster, but are hindered by the foliage, and don't make it...
My Bodyguard suits fire their missiles at the Ironclad's side armor... nothing. Since nothing else can damage it, everyone else fires on the two squads by the wall objective. Sternguard loses most of its number, and Tactical 1 loses 3 marines. Finally, since the Stealthsuit Shas'Vre can't get in blaster range, he focuses his markerlight on the dreadnaught...
HH A fires one of its Seekers... a glancing hit, with a result of stunned... but it has extra armor, so it's merely shaken...
SM 2nd
My opponents also gets no reinforcements, which is a small favor... The Sternguard holds their ground, passing both their morale check and a pinning check from carbine fire. Tactical Squad 1, meanwhile, apparently decides Pedro had the right idea, and falls back into the grove where my Stealths are lurking... within 6" of them, incidentally. Mr. Ironclad, meanwhile, wades across the river... only to get bogged in the muddy bottom, moving only two inches, out of assault range.
In shooting, Sternguard fires at the Command Team... doing nothing. Master of the Forge over in the corner fires his beamer at Squad B, but scatters off target.
Tac Squad 1, meanwhile, has more luck, its plasma guns destroying my Stealthsuit drones and one of the Shas'Ui... and one of them dies from his own weapon too boot.
Tau 3rd
Squad D arrives! I begin moving them up the center, hoping to put them in cover by the wrecked Rhino. I move my Kroot in the Southwest, Team F, out of their position, sending them sprinting out to deal with the Master of the Forge. My Stealthsuits managed to break out of the forest... and are now in range! Hammerhead A moves up to encourage
Tac 1 to continue advancing to the rear. Command Team continues its advance...
My Stealth Shas'Vre fires his Fusion Blaster - target destroyed! The rest of my army's firing wipes out the Sternguard, and does precious little to
Tac 1.
SM 3rd
The rest of my oppenent's infantry force crashes down from orbit in their fancy invisible drop pods...
. Sternguard number 2 lands about 7 inches east-by-northeast of the rhino,
Tac 2 hits on target just west of B and their objective.
Tac 1 continues running...
Tactical Squad 2 completely annihilates Team B... Sternguard fires at Stealthsuits, and destroys them... Master of The Forge moves back, away from the (slowly) approaching Kroot, and fires Conversion Beamer at my Command Team... Commander blocks with his shield!
Tau 4th
Kroot continue moving up the west side of the battlefeild, as B's devilfish moves to pick them up, and Team D moves up to take the place of their fallen comrades... but the remain in their transport for now, where they're protected those damn flamethrowers. Command Team attempts to move into the NE woods... A vengeful hail of fire pours down upon the second Tactical Squad, cutting them down to five models or so... meanwhile, although
HH A and Squad K fire at the Sternguard, they take no wounds.
SM 4th
Tac 2 routs as well, running past the two devilfish, and Sternguard 2 approaches Hammerhead A... Both
Tac Squads shoot, doing absolutely nothing. The Sternguard, meanwhile, has more luck, immobilizing Hammerhead A. Over in his corner, the increasingly concerned Master of the Forge fires his beamer at the Kroot, dropping two.
Tau 5th
Finally, Hammerhead E arrives, coming in along the river. Other than that, my Command Team makes a minor adjustment, Team D disembarks, and my Kroot continue their charge. The Master of the Forge, focused on the Kroot, has no time to react before being turned inside out by E's railgun. Meanwhile, the rest of my army fires at various targets, killing one or two more out of
Tac 2, and A kills 1 from
Tac 1. The Sternguard adamantantly refuses to die.
SM 5th
And here comes the second Dreadnaught! Both
Tac squads continue running,
Tac 1 leaving the board entirely... Dreadnaught #2 fires its melta at my brand new hammerhead... armor penetration 19... it explodes.
Tac 2 kills another Kroot and inflicts a wound my Shaper... but really, everything else pales in comparison to that.
Tau 6th
The dreadnaught, perhaps, realizes that to attack the Hammerhead, it had to face away from the bulk of my army. I am not amused, and I have S5 weapons in abundance. My Kroot continue moving, now heading to the Rhino objective. Meanwhile, my Command Team opens fire on the Dreadnaught, inflicting 3 penetrating hits in a flurry of missiles. Dreadnaught goes up in a firestorm. Vengeance! The rest of my army fires at the Sternguard. And inflicts two wounds. Wow.
SM 6th Sternguard fire at the Kroot, inflicting one more wound on my Shaper. Meanwhile, Tactical Squad 2, that I'd been ignoring like an idiot, promptly obliterates the Kroot, except for the shaper, who, somehow, doesn't rout.
So
Tac 2 is still fleeing, I outnumber the enemy by a ludicrous margin, and I have two out of 3 objectives securely under my control... it's really all over but the shouting. Yet, we roll and continue anyways.
Tau 7th
My army opens fire, wiping out all but one obstinate Sternguard. For the lulz, my Command Team assaults, and hits twice... he makes both armor saves, but concedes, having no realistic chance of victory.
Results: Tau 2 Objectives Held, 1 Contested;
SM 1 Objective Contested
Tau MVP: My Command Squad. Not only did they easily destroy the last dreadnaught, but they probably inflicted at least 8 unsaved wounds on the enemy, and soaked up a surprising amount of damage without a single casualty (Drones don't count. That's what they're for).
Tau Failunit: Team F (Appropriate, eh), my Kroot. They literally did nothing. Except die. They did die.
SM MVP: The second Tactical Squad. It's tempting to say the second dread out of sheer frustration, but it was really that Tactical Squad that inflicted the most damage, falling out of the blue and wiping out whole units...
SM Failunit: Pedro. Just... Pedro.
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So, anyways, that's my first battlereport. I hope it isn't too bad... I know having more suits would be more competitive, but one day, my Hammerheads will not suck. I know this. Now I just need to get it to happen... any advice other than 'more Crisis, n00b' would be appreciated.
