http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/17.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net
Mission: The Scouring, 1500 points

Deployment: The Diagonal One haha

Dark Angels:

Land Raider Crusader x2
Command Squad with SoD, Flamers x5
Deathwing Terminators x10 (2 Heavy Flamers) with Belial
3 Ravenwing Bikes with Flamers
5 man Tactical squad with bolters.

Tau:

Commander Farsight
Some pathfinder character that did cool stuff
Pathfinders x10ish
Devilfish
Firewarriors with Shas’ui and bonding ritual x33
Kroot times 20ish
Crisis Suits x6
Stealth Suits x6


Dawn broke over the decrepit waste of a city that had long since surrendered its inhabitants to some forgotten scourge. The nascent Tau Empire and the Dark Angels chapter of the Space Marines had fought a vicious battle as part of a larger campaign for regional dominance the night before. It was time to collect their dead and recover intact weaponry left on the field out of panic or necessity. Unfortunately for the xenos scum, both armies elected to scour the field at the same time.

Old Imperial buildings were crumbling in all four corners of the field, with a tree-filled swamp occupying the Dark Angels center and a fortified bunker across from it where the Tau forces were mustering.

The Dark Angels vanguard of two hulking Land Raider Crusaders rumbled onto the field. The command squad inside the rightward raider surveyed the Tau force.

Perhaps a mirage, it seemed a Tau stealth suit team stood barely visible next to a fire warrior squad holding the bunker. A slightly larger fire caste warrior stood behind them, directing the initial attack. A Devilfish troop carrier hovered next to the stealth unit, harboring what was certain to be a team of the deadly pathfinders. On the left and a squad of Kroot snipers held the building to the right.

Alarmingly, a squad of firewarriors had slipped across the lines and taken over a building close to the land raiders, and another lurked just outside the building, hugging its exterior facing the their Tau brethren.

It was time to act. The Crusaders turned to their right and with the rising sun cresting over their spewing exhaust pipes, unleashed a salvo on the fire warrior squad closest to them. The Sacred Banner of Devastation inspired the gunners, who were deadly accurate. The entire xenos squad was wiped out by the steaming hurricane bolters and assault cannon. The air was now filled with the mist of xenos blood.

Grand Master Belial and 10 of his Deathwing terminators descended directly in front of the bunker where their commander, the stealths and a squad of fire caste were dug in. The terminators’ heavy flamers and storm bolters nearly wiped out the stealth suits and killed many fire warriors.

The Tau did not sit idly and take their punishment. The Devilfish transport maneuvered and from its bowels, a pathfinder squad took position on the roof of the far left building. Two full Crisis suit teams descended from orbit, landing behind the bunker to join the volley. Expertly coordinating their fire with markerlights, the Tau tore into the terminators. Tragically, all 10 fell to the torrent along with Grand Master Belial.

Shaken, but undeterred, the Land Raiders maneuvered back towards the center of the field to take aim at the center of the Tau line, felling several. The situation was still deteriorating. Their reinforcements of tactical marines and Ravenwing bikes remained in the reserves. Perhaps the Tau were jamming their signal somehow.

Pressing their advantage, the Tau crisis suits moved forward to try and damage the raiders with their fusion guns. A fire caste team worked its way into the swamp to toss haywire grenades at the hulls. Pathfinders fired rail rifles attempting to pierce their armor. The thick plate held up against the barrage.

The raiders pushed forward to get more shots on target, slaying several Crisis suits and the last stealth suit. The five tactical marines sprinted onto the field and immediately took hold of the nearest, and luckily most valuable objective. They dug in to the building surrounding it and held fast.

Creeping through the swamp, the fire caste squad closest to the raiders hurled grenades and damaged the raider. The pilot estimated that a ‘hull point’ had been removed, a system of evaluating damage. After the rest of their weapons proved ineffective, the fire warriors charged the nearest land raider, attempting to affix a grenade right to the hull. Another hull point was lost.

The Dark Angels were losing. Still, they managed to wipe out the fire warriors assaulting their hulls. More importantly, their Ravenwing brothers finally rode theatrically into the fight, outflanking perfectly behind the pathfinder squad that had been hounding them so effectively. The pathfinders were wiped out by flamers from the bikes and the rest ran off the field, in surprise and terror.

The Tau consolidated their remaining Crisis suits, fire warriors, commander and pathfinder sub-commander in the bunker around a valuable objective. The Kroot still held the far right building where another objective was held. The day was waning and the Tau held more objectives. They would need the light to last a little longer, lest the xenos slip away with the most important items. The remaining Tau may have held more valuable objectives, but their guns were decreasingly effective. They killed nothing of the Dark Angels in the ensuing volley.

Meanwhile, the Ravenwing bikers swung out from behind the old pathfinder’s building and slung krak grenades onto the rear armor of the devilfish blocking the land raider advance. The transport exploded in a ploom of smoke and fire. The land raider without cargo sped down the right flank towards the Kroot, while the command raider bullied its way through the swamp towards the Tau center.

The bikes courageous move to disable the Devilfish ended with their being cut down by Crisis fire. Blessed be the Emperor, this was all the Tau could do.

Saying an angry prayer for their brothers, the raiders unleashed a double salvo of bolter fire on the Kroot, fire caste and Crisis. In the final coup de grace, the command squad disembarked and used flamers to cook the remaining fire warriors, their commander, sub-commander and crisis team. The Kroot ran from the field after losing most of their number and the command squad assaulted over the ramparts and took hold of the center objective. Victory was costly, but the entire Tau army had been struck from the field.


Wow, what a blood bath. I managed to table my opponent but only because the game went to turn 7. I would have lost on turns 5 or 6. The new codices are both pretty balanced and fun!

Final thoughts:

Never deep strike in the middle of a Tau line…with anything.

Mobility is invaluable.

Land Raiders are tougher than you think they are.

Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/526796/5613180.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/526796/5613180.page GMT
In my meta, there is are several DA players and a lot of Tau, so we run into this sort of fight often. I would recommend trying a Tech Marine w/ PFG on a bike with a RW bike squad following the LRs. Statistically, the only thing to be really afraid of is melta, but even the chance of that is pretty low of taking out a LR. 9-)]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/526796/5616696.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/526796/5616696.page GMT