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NEW Tau v Air Eldar (1500, 11/1) in "War of the Monsters"

Started by BigToof, November 01, 2015, 01:12:14 PM

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BT Points: How do the Gargantuan Creatures fare?

Fight another Day (Both GC's survive)
1 (16.7%)
Tau Ascendent (WK falls)
5 (83.3%)
Eldar Triumphant (SS falls)
0 (0%)
Monsters Destroyed (Both GC's fall)
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 6

BigToof

NEW Tau v Air Eldar (1500, 11/1) in "War of the Monsters"
------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All,
New Tau Codex.
For those of you not in the know, the Tau have their own formation, the Hunter Cadre, that lets units group their fire together and gain bonuses (including sharing markerlights!) when firing at a single target.

They also have that new, kind of strangely armless GC Stormsurge and the bigger, sort of badder oversized Stealth Suit known as the "Ghostkeel."

I wanted to try both out, and also see why everyone was having kittens about the Ghostkeel formation (it lets you hit vehicles on the rear, ignore cover and gain +1BS... on the Ghostkeel and it's nearby MANDATORY stealth suits...).  My opponent decided to try out his Air Eldar list, which uses the Crimson Death Formation (aka re-rollable jink saves) with the standard Eldar fare of Scatter Bikes, double Farseer and GC Wraithknight.

I expcted a good fight, and I was NOT disappointed!  Eldar are tough, but the Greater Good is...  Well...  Read on.

Best,
-BT

P.S.  Comments and Critiques are always appreciated!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------
The Lists
---------------------------

Tau'n Combined Force (1500): 43 Infantry, 2 MC, 1 GC; 11 VPs
Hunter Cadre
- Shas'O Sha'Shiva w/Missile Podsx2, Irridium Armor, PChip, TL, DC
- Shas'vre Kor'va AKA "Bang" in Riptide w/Ion Accelerator, TL-Fusion Blaster, EWO
- Krootx10
- Krootx10
- Krootx10
- Marker Dronesx4
- Broadsidesx2 w/TL-HYMP, TL-SMS, VT
- Stormsurge w/Pulse Drive Cannon, Cluster Missiles, TL-SMS, TL-AFP, EWO
Optomised Stealth Cadre
- Shas'vre Han'zo in Ghostkeel w/Stealth Dronesx2, Burst Cannon, Cyclic Ion Raker, EWO, VT
- Stealth Suitsx3 w/Fusion Blaster
- Stealth Suitsx3 w/Fusion Blaster

Air Eldar (1500pts): 18 Infantry, 4 Vehicles, 1 GC; 10 VPs
Farseer w/Jetbike, Spear, Stone
Farseer w/Jetbike, Spear, Shard
Jetbikesx10 w/Scatter Lasers
Jetbikesx3 w/Scatter Lasers
Jetbikesx3 w/Scatter Lasers
Night Spinner
Wraithknight w/D-Cannons, Scatter Lasersx2
Crimson Death Formation
- Crimson Hunter w/Exarch
- Crimson Hunter
- Crimson Hunter

------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------
Chapter Eight: Destroy All Monsters
------------------------------------------

Snow was falling heavily on the Tau force that clung perilously against the driving wind that threatened to fling them from the mountain face.  Shas'O Sha'Shiva looked around at her meager forces.  A handful of suits and some Kroot, but that should be enough.  She looked up at the two enormous Battlesuits that hung silently in the burnt-out alien ruin.

One was a Riptide piloted by her second-in-command, Shas'vre Kor'va.  He had been oddly silent since Farseer Lorilune was taken by the Orks.  Shiva considered the Farseer already lost.  The greenskin aliens cared little for anything outside of warfare, and the possibility that they would take a prisoner for anything other than short-lived sport seemed incredulous.

But, Bang had spoken passionately to the Council and the Ethereals had allowed him to pursue the Orks.  And as the only Shas'O in the area, Shiva had been assigned to this meaningless task.  It was obvious that Bang had emotional attachment to the Eldar.  A bit of bile rose up in her throat as she thought of the possibility that he truly loved her.  But, Shiva knew the truth.  The Eldar were of a moral standard that were completely unlike the Tau.  They lived for countless eons and were mercurial and treacherous as a baseline.

The Farseer had manipulated her friend into a pet, and that was something that Shiva was not willing to forgive lightly.  All the more reason to speed the entire matter up.

Which was the reason why they were half frozen on an unmarked world at the edge of explored space.  There were rumors that a group of Eldar were sighted in the area, and Kor'va had insisted that they try to contact them.  Shiva had expected nothing but silence, but to her surprise, her scouts reported that the Eldar had agreed to meet them on "neutral" terms.

Shiva could read between the lines well enough to bring a Cadre's worth of firepower with her, although Bang had been naive enough to suggest otherwise.

One thing was sure, the pointy-eared monsters were out there somewhere. 

Waiting. 

Scheming. 

This would be over soon enough one way or another.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Farseer Illandara chuckled to herself.  Tau.  The rumors of their wide-eyed naivete was not exaggerated.  She picked up the crudely translated message and read it again.  The Tau were "looking" for her hated rival Lorilune.  Apparently, Lorilune was spirited away by Orks, and these creatures were rushing to her aid. 

A growl forced it's way out of Illandara's throat, but she forced it down.  How dare Lorilune try to insinuate herself with another Tau force?  Illandara had tried to ally herself with the Tau some time ago, but had found the entire experience disappointing.  Now, another barbaric band had come, armed to the teeth with promises of peace. 

But, Illandara could see through this amateurish charade.  A Farseer abducted by Orks?  Preposterous.  Lorilune was trying pathetically to assassinate her. 

How droll.

She gestured to the enormous form next to her, and the gargantuan Wraithknight surged to life.
Let the Tau be the ones to run back to their master, weeping for forgiveness. 

There would be no peace this day.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission: Crusade (3 objectives)
Setup: Vanguard (Diagonals)
Warlord:
- Tau: Opponent -1 to Reserves
- Eldar: 3 units get Infiltrate
Psychic:
- Farseer1: Prescience, Psychic Scream, Invisibility
- Farseer2: Prescience, Psychic Scream, Invisibility (???)
Eldar go first!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Setup Teaser:



To Be Continued!
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Cammerz

Well, the terrain looks very sparse there, so that should help your shooting. It'll be good to see how the new tau work, I quite like the look of the ghostkeel model and those rules sound interesting. I reckon those fliers might have some trouble.

As for the poll, I'm going to remain optimistic and suggest that you'll kill the wraithknight whilst the stormsurge survives.

Mabbz

Well, I hate the Storm Surge model, and from what I've heard the Ghostkeel is retarded even by Games Workshop's standard (2+ cover in the open for something that size should not be a thing). Nevertheless, I think this is going to be a nice easy win for the Tau; there's too much firepower for the Eldar to survive. SS survives, Wraithknight falls.

Of course, the game is irrelevant compared to what we're all actually here for. Shiva and Bang are back, and facing Illandara, who I don't believe we've seen in a while. Let's get this party started!

The Man They Call Jayne

Haven't seen anything in the new Tau dex, but my faith in the Greater Good is unshakeable!
Jaynes Awesome Card Counter: +5

Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



Thantos

Reminding me of the old style battle reports in the White Dwarf in the 2004 era now :D Looks great, get the battle going ;)
You play with vassal or with minis and use vassal for the BR?


BigToof

Thank you all for the very kind comments!  Sorry it took a bit to get up, irl got a bit too busy...
I will get to individual replies later, but please enjoy the rest of the rep!

Best,
-BT
-------------------------------------------------------

Setup: Well, good news bad news on the setup.  The good is that there's cover in the middle of the board.  Bad news is that it's all forest.   Good news is that I have Kroot to help with that, bad is that well... this is going to be painful trying to root out Invisible Eldar units.  One side has two objectives  and the other has one.  The side with two objectives has plenty of cover, so it's going to be a pain to dig out.

My opponent chooses to deploy first, and puts his big unit of Jetbikes out with both Farseers attached.  The Nightspinner goes down next to them.  The Wraithknight goes into infiltrate (!) while the other Jetbikes go into reserve.  The Crimson Hunters are of course in reserve as well.

That's... quite distressing.

I decide to go HARD CASTLE mode and put Armless (my Stormsurge) in the corner with Broadsides and Shiva with her Drones.  Two Kroot go in front and the last Kroot go in reserves.  Han'zo and his Stealth Suits go into deep strike.

The Eldar then deploy their Wraithknight as far forward as possible and then declare they will go first.

I (of course) then fail to seize the initiative and the game is on!



Picture Caption: Gunline vs Gunline.  This seems fair.  Wait... what's that Wraithknight doing there?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------
Interlude: The Calm Before
--------------------------------

Shas'vre Kor'va sighed again, watching the holopic of his love, Lorilune for the umpteenth time.  Her haughty frown, her long, alien hair and strange pointed ears.  She was equally unfathomable and alluring... and she was lost.  Taken by foul Orks, and Bang would not rest until he brought her home.

Shiva had said all sorts of things about Orks and Eldar and how he shouldn't assume things, but nothing could change the way he felt.  And it was sort of luck that they had heard rumours about these other Eldar.  Bang didn't know much about the Eldar as a species, save that they were ancient beyond imagining and had incredible powers.  Lorliune had never talked about her people, and Bang had never pried, but part of him had always wondered how the other Eldar felt about her.  Some of the other Tau had expressed concerns that Bang was so invested with an alien, but Bang hadn't really listened to them.  He had never really thought about it, but maybe the Eldar would feel the same way.  So maybe it wouldn't be best to bring it up in the first conversation.  That much was...

"Look out below!"

Bang had a moment to look up as a massive metal object fell from the sky.  Instincts kicked in and he barely had time to leap out of the way.  The ground tremored with the impact, and he turned around to see a pair of familiar new faces shaking their heads and arguing with one another.  It was the new Shas'vre Dia'va and her co-pilot Hia'ko.  Both were new to the Cadre and recently elevated to the new honour of being Battlesuit pilots. 

However, something had happened during their evaluation that Bang wasn't privy to, so the two girls were instead given the dubious duty of being the handlers of the new experimental suit.  Normally, Bang would have been all over the new, rather pretty additions to the unit, but his mind was elsewhere.  In fact, Bang had almost forgotten their names, but not their suit.  He looked up at the enormous new Stormsurge that towered over everything.  It was easily twice the height of his Riptide and had a massive gun that looked like it could shoot a sun out of the sky.  But... there were interesting... changes about the design.

For some reason, the Stormsurge was built without arms, and it lead to some problems.  The least of which was the inability to pick things up that fell off the enormous suit.  Bang wasn't sure if it was the untested nature of the suit or the pilots, but the Stormsuge had picked up the nickname "Armless," as the lumbering machine seemed like it wasn't that big of threat.

"Hey!  Can you give us a hand?"

Kor'va looked over to see the two still struggling with the enormous metal cylinder, and he ran over quickly and only slowed down when he realized what it was.

"Umm.. is that...  Is that a Destroyer Missile?"

The two girls nodded and Bang felt his blood go cold.  Destroyer missiles were part of the new suit and were made specifically to destroy the alien enormous machines that started to pop up with increasing frequency.  Each was capable of annihilating even the heaviest of armored battlesuits and even make short work of a Hammerhead.  The fact that one had casually fallen off the Stormsurge made Bang more than a bit worried.

"It...  It just fell off.  I...  I think it's a problem with the magnetic locks."  Dia'va said with a look of concern.  Kor'va remembered that she was the oldest of the two sisters.  They had been briefly introduced, but it was obvious that there was some kind of black mark on their record that wasn't spoken about openly, but it made everyone in the Cadre hesitant to talk to them.  Bang realized that even he was keeping his distance.  But, he thought, looking at the accidentally dropped massive missile, perhaps there was a reason.

Dia'va's younger co-pilot whimpered, "You...  You don't have to tell the Shas'O, do you?  We haven't gotten to fight yet, and I don't think anyone... you know... likes us."

Bang's insides swum as his feelings of concern for the overall safety of everyone and the enormous ego boost of having two attractive girls in his favour fought for a while, but ego eventually come out with flying colours.

"Not to worry.  Just, let me suit up and we'll get this missile right back on..."

Suddenly, alarms blared out from every suit, and Shiva's voice came over the comms.

"New sightings.  Eldar jetbikes armed to the teeth."

Bang nodded and replied, "That's... That's good right?"

Shiva snarled back, "Bang, get back to your suit.  We have to be ready in case..."

There was a sudden burst of light and all of the Tau ran to the front of their burnt-out ruin, looking across the snow-covered fields.  An enormous creature made of alien crystal strode out wielding two enormous cannons.  It loomed over a forest as the Jetbikes swirled around it's ankles.

Bang swallowed.  Apparently, Eldar didn't get along with each other as much as he had hoped.

-------------------
Turn 1: Eldar
-------------------

Farseer Illandara chuckled as the Tau scrambled amongst the ruins like children hiding from a lightning storm.  And in a way they were.  The Eldar were everything that the Tau were not.  Ancient, powerful and magnificent beyond imagining.

But, she reminded herself, it would be too cruel to prolong their inevitable demise.  Summoning her psychic might, she reached into the minds of the collective Tau cadre and simply made the Wraithknight vanish.  Their screams of surprise caused a small smirk to cross her face.

Did they really think they ever had a chance?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eldar get Invisibility off on the Wraithknight, who moves forward to tangle with the Kroot-screen.
The Jetbikes move up and shoot the beans out of the front Kroot squad, who despite having 3+ cover saves are nearly shot to bits.
The Wraithknight takes a pot-shot at the Stormsurge, but luckily I make my saves (bless night-fight!).


Picture Caption: Kroot do what they do best:  Get in the way.

-------------------
Turn 1: Tau
-------------------

"Check again!" roared Shas'O Sha'shiva as her sensors scanned the suddenly empty treeline.  The enormous Eldar monster had just disappeared.  What was going on?

"Negative, Shas'O," came the reply from her forward scouts, " It's... It's like it turned into a ghost."

Murmurs started to spring up from the comm-line, but Shiva quieted them with a sharp bark across the lines.

"Quiet!  We are Tau.  Whatever trick the Eldar has does not stand up to the Greater Good.  We will be the victors today."

Shiva squinted in the darkness, and then nodded when a patch of trees shifted unnaturally.

"There, it's there!  All units, open fire!"

"You got it, Shiva!  Suck this you invisible Alien Monster!  ION BLAST!"

Shiva sighed as she watched Bang fire wildly into the air.  At least there was only one of him.

"Uh...  MEGA-MISSILE STORM!"

The cry made Shiva jerk her head back as she saw the massive KV128 let go with a massive salvo of missiles.  Shiva sighed as she saw the missiles spin in random directions, and very few found purchase on anything.  She would have a talk with the pilots of that Stormsurge, assuming, of course, that they survived.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kroot mill around to try and make a better shield.

As the Jetbikes pulled back using their Jetbike assault move, I'm sort of just stuck shooting at the Wraithknight.  As Markerlights are shared using the new rules if you're in a Hunter Cadre, I manage to stick one Markerlight on the Wraithknight, but only a single wound goes through despite many handfuls of dice thrown it's way...

Oh, and I did put down Stabilizers for Armless, so I so hope next phase will be more eventful...


Picture Caption: Helpless flailing beginning in 5... 4... 3... 2...

----------------------
Turn 2: Eldar
----------------------

Illandara looked around at the rather bored looking Guardians around her.  The Tau were in disarray as the Wraithknight loped before them, causing chaos as it went.  Not a single Eldar had fallen.  A perfect victory was within her grasp.

"Is this really necessary, Illandara?"

Illandara felt a quiet distemper come over her features as she turned to look at Farseer Kelros.  Kelros has been a quiet proponent in her recent return to power at the Craftworld, and had eagerly attended her on the mission.  Nary a contrary word had ever crossed his lips, but something was bothering him.

"Kelros," she nodded in return, "Why would exterminating an annoyance be unnecessary?"

Kelros shrugged, "They are clearly powerless against us.  Why not just leave them in disarray?  It makes no sense to..."

"No sense?  No sense?!" roared Illandara, "Lorilune left me to die on a nameless desert world.  She started me on the road to...  to a dark place and time."

Kelros pulled back against the verbal onslaught.

"My apologies, Illandara, I did not..."

Illandara paused and then with a visible effort reigned in her anger.

"No, Kelros, you... you did not know.  That abomination taints everything that she touches.  More the reason to be thorough..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eldar are somewhat hampered by my Warlord trait, and only a single Crimson Hunter pops in.

The Jetbikes are forced more forwards now, and it looks like they will finally be within 36" or so (finally) if they want to put Invisibility on the Wraithknight.

They sadly do manage to get off their psychic shanigans again, and everything continues to move forwards.
The rest of the Kroot are pretty much shot to ribbons at this point earining First Blood for the Eldar, and some shots are thrown the Commander's way, but to little effect.  Thankfully, the Jetbikes kind of stall out in their assault move, so are forced to stay hunkered down in a ruin, which is just outsite of 36" of my forces...


Picture Caption: Please let reserves be good...


-------------------------
Turn 2: Tau
-------------------------

Shas'vre Han'zo took a quiet sip from the water tube inside his XV95.  He and his Stealth Suits had been deployed for days, watching and waiting for the unexpected.  High Command had issued orders deploying him and his unit to follow Sha'shiva's Cadre from a distance.  Although they trusted the Shas'O, the involvement of the Eldar made the entire situation unpredictable.  And he was there for situations just the like this one.  The aliens had surprised the cadre, and their main lines were clearly in disarray from the now invisible creature.

Han'zo had fought the Eldar before.  They were a powerful enemy in their own right, but their main enemy was one that they could never conquer: their own arrogance.

He made a silent motion that spoke volumes to his fellows.  The throat of the serpent lay open and ready to be cut. 

Let the Eldar not find the Greater Good wanting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone comes in to party, with the Kroot coming in on my left and Han'zo and his Stealth Suits landing around the ruin with the Jetbikes.  I decide to move Bang up so he can potentially add some shots to the guys in the back, and also jump up with Shiva.

I think for a bit about what to shoot and decide that I need to eradicate the bikes, but something has to be done about the Wraithknight.

So, I power up Bang's shields and ready for an assault (gulp).

The Markerlights all go off on the Jetbikes and now everything shooting at them gets ignore cover and +2 BS...
Pulse Cannon shots hail down on them as does a surprising amount of firepower from the Stealth Suits.  The Bikes are cut down to just Illandara, who fails morale and falls back.  Han'zo shows why the OST is kinda OP and takes out the Nightspinner by himself!  (S7 attacks versus rear armor is just crazy good)

The Broadsides take out the Crimson Hunter and shooting puts another wound on the Wraithknight.  Bang assaults into the Wraithknight.

He announces his SMASH attack and despite taking a wound from the Gargantuan Creature, he also deals one out, keeping combat locked up (this is good).  Shiva jumps back to safety as does the OST.


Picture Caption: Being able to share Markerlights is just dirty!  Han'zo also getting scary OP.

-------------------
Turn 3: Eldar
-------------------

Bang yelped as the enormous fists of the now very-visible Wraithknight slammed into the shield on his Riptide.  This idea seemed so much sensible when he couldn't see it.  The creature seemed completely unnatural.  There were no roars of battle or signs of rage.  Just silent efficiency.

It was like fighting a drone.

A Stormsurge-sized drone with fists as big as his suit.  But, a drone nonetheless.

Perhaps...  perhaps he had bit off a bit more than he could chew...

A roar of engines brought his attention to the sky as a brightly coloured Eldar plane streaked right for the rear lines.  Bang was about to shout out a warning over his comms when suddenly a shadowy figure emerged from the trees near him and unloaded a fusillade of energy with incredible accuracy, shearing the plane in half with a single burst.  Before he could even look at the suit, it faded back into the shadows.

Right, maybe they did have a chance after all!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One set of Jetbikes comes in, and Ilandara shifts over to join up with them in the corner.

Another Crimson Hunter comes in, but is torn from the sky by Han'zo.
(Note to self: ignore cover + S7 + velocity trackers is REALLY good)
The Jetbikes fire a bit at Han'zo, but 2+ cover saves mean that not much happens.
The focus then shifts to the Wraithknight who takes a wound from Bang, but delivers back two wounds!

Bang doesn't run though (uh oh), which means that the Knight is going to be locked in combat on my turn...


Picture Caption: Bang... maybe we should have a talk about knowing when to let the big guys win... and then get shot to pieces.
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

BigToof



-------------------
Turn 3: Tau
-------------------
Things weren't going well.  No, not well at all, thought Bang as more warning lights popped up on his suit.
He hated to think of it, but maybe he had been too hasty.  Maybe he should have held back.  Maybe...

"JUSTICE KICK!"

Bang looked up to see the most ungainly looking kick he had ever seen come in and painfully miss the Wraithknight by a large margin.  The trundling form of Armless stumbled into the fray, and Bang felt his jaw drop as he heard Shiva's cries of dismay over the comms.  What were the girls thinking?

"This is Shas'vre Dia'va and Hio'ko reporting.  We are engaging the foe.  Pull back Kor'va, we've got him!"

Kor'va paused as he watched the Stormsurge try it's best to headbutt the Wraithknight who stood a few paces back and silently watched the Tau suit flail helplessly in the air.

Is that what he looked like when he was fighting? 

Perhaps the whole close quarters thing was really overrated...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right, this is officially getting silly now.  Bang won't do the sensible thing, so I'm going to have to throw in my least important unit to stall for time.  ...  Yes, I'm talking about Armless.

I pull up Armless' stabilizers and set him on Wraithknight dancing duty.
The Jetbikes are pretty out of range of everything, so I let them sit in the corner while moving everyone to better positions.

Then I charge in Armless and the Wraithknight just makes fools of the Tau, putting two wounds on Armless and taking none in return.  Bang and Armless both fail their morale checks, and the Eldar player is about to take them both off the table... until I remember that Armless is fearless as he's a gargantuan creature!  So only Bang falls back to relative safety  (yay!).


Picture Caption: Even if you super-size them, the Tau are still bupkiss in combat.


----------------------
Turn 4: Eldar
----------------------
The last Crimson Hunter and the Jetbikes come in looking for trouble (and staying out of Han'zo's range).

They fire at the Broadsides holding the point, who go to ground and luckily don't take a Brightlance to the skull.
And in the Clash of Titans, Armless learns why trying to fight in hand-to-hand, NOT HAVING UPPER LIMBS is kind of serious disadvantage as he does manage to put a single wound on the Wraithknight, but takes another two for his trouble.  Meanwhile, the Jetbikes have Invisibility and Prescience, and fire twice on Han'zo, who activates his countermeasures which saves his bacon as he takes no wounds.


Picture Caption: Design note: Having NO ARMS is a major design flaw.


--------------------
Turn 4: Tau
--------------------
Massive shooting goes out on the Crimson Hunter who manages to duck almost everything, but takes a stun for his trouble. Bang rallies and he fires some Marker-drone enhanced shots which take out the Jetbikes (with you know, some help from Shiva thrown in there).

The Wraithknight continues to beat down on Armless, but Armless manages to land a wound.  My opponent then shakes his head, and down goes the Wraithknight!


Picture Caption: Wait... Armless beat a Wraithknight???  Nuffle preserve us!

And with that, the Eldar player calls it.
With Armless out of combat and at least one more shooting phase left, the Jetbikes have no hope for survival, much less taking objectives.

So it's a...

---------------------
Result: Tau Victory!
---------------------

Post-Game Thoughts:
Wow, alright, new units and thoughts.
1.  Hunter Cadre rules
Letting everyone share markerlights if they fire at a single unit is kind of crazy.  I had ignore cover pretty much all the time, which was nuts.

2.  The OST
Han'zo is hella OP.  HELLA OP.  Sorry, had to say that twice.  Ignore Cover and +1 BS on a MC with a S7 gun is just crazy.  With Velocity Trackers, he was just death incarnate to anything with an AV that dared to be within 24" of him.  5/5 Cheeze Muffins with Fancy Chedder topping

3.  Stormsurge AKA Armless
Armless (as I've come to name him) looks hella stupid.  Granted I've seen worse, but you think the Tau would realize that having upper limbs is sort of a good thing.  Also, the stats are kind of terrible, with T6 and 3+ armor, the only thing that keeps him from being an utter disaster is that he comes with FNP as a GC and is also FEARLESS.  I think he would have been more useful if I wasn't dealing with an invisible Wraithknight, but I might keep him in as a millstone for the rest of the list.

.

..

...

I can't believe that I'm actually considering the Stormsurge as a weak point in my build, but in all honesty, for almost 400 points, you would expect something fairly OP.  Armless did almost nothing as everything was either out of range, in heavy cover or just didn't care (invis Wraithknight).  Having a Stormsurge might be good if your local meta has a lot of Deathstar/GCs wandering around, but I think it's far from mandatory.

I'll have to bring Han'zo and Armless back at least one more time for final impressions, but they were both very interesing to have around.

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------
Epilogue
------------------------

This is preposterous! thought Farseer Illandara as she sped away on her Jetbike.  How had the Tau managed to outwit her?  Could any of this be her fault?  No, no there must be...

A sudden thought came to her mind, and Illandara growled inside.  Lorilune.  She must have known that Illandara would take to the field personally to deal with this insult.  She knew.  And she had planned against her again.  The traitorous filth had taken advantage of her and had once again shown her true colours to the Eldar race. 

And that would be exactly what she would report as soon as she was out of range of the Tau guns.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Shas'vre Kor'va shook his head at the battered mess that was his XV104.  One side looked as if a massive hammer had beaten it nearly flat, which was mostly accurate given the situation.  Still, it could have been worse.  Shiva could be yelling at him.

A hiss of servos brought his attention to the front and he swallowed hard as he saw Shas'O Sha'shiva's battlesuit slam into the ground with a withering jolt.  The suit opened and Shiva walked out, glare in her eyes and teeth grinding in fury.  He took a reflexive step back and put his hands up as she stormed towards him, but to some surprise, she moved right past him and further down the line of suits set up for repairs.  At the end was the massive form of Armless the Stormsurge, still on fire and being put sprayed with foam by Shas'vre Dia'va and Hia'ko.  The two girls had finally gotten things under control when Shiva stormed up to them.  Bang winced inwardly as he saw them slowly come to the realization that their commanding officer was standing right behind them.

"What were you two idiots thinking about?!"

Dia'va and Hia'ko swiveled around and tried to form some kind of meaningful explanation, but Bang jumped in front of them.

"Shiva, lay off.  They...  They came in to save me."

The two girls blushed, exchanged looks and nodded, keeping their eyes on the ground.

Bang watched as Shiva got about halfway into launching another tirade, then stopped.  Then started again... and then stopped.

She then snarled and said, "You know what, Kor'va?  You're right.  They followed your lead.  Instead of listening ot the chain of command.  In fact, this ENTIRE debacle falls right on your shoulders."

Bang swallowed.  Right, maybe this wasn't the brightest of ideas.  But, he had to do something.

"Shi...  Shiva, I didn't...  I mean...  It's hard being a Shas'vre, it's a big step from just being a Broadside pilot.  Just...  Let me help them out, show them the ropes.  I...  I'm sorry I rushed in there before you ordered it, I just didn't think."

Shiva took a step back and set her gaze squarely on the somewhat trembling Bang, "Of course you didn't, Bang.  You never do.  That's your problem.  But you know what isn't my problem anymore?  These two.  They're your problem now.  The Academy almost scrubbed them out after they nearly killed a group of cadets by accident, do you know that?  Accident.  That kind of nonsense seems to follow you around.  So, you know what?  I'm going to let you 'show them the ropes'.  Anything either of you do will be tied to the other.  Either you both rise up, or you both fall."

And before Kor'va could say anything more, Shiva turned on her heel and stormed away.  Bang looked over at the duo who had a very apologetic look, and a very, very bad feeling started to creep over the back of his mind.  He only hoped that everything would work out...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Cammerz

Well I'm surprised at how little Armless was able to do, but I suppose if your oppoenent is invisible then a massive gun isn't as helpful as you'd imagine. Perhaps it'd do better against Space Marines or something, fancy challenging Maximus again?

Han'zo really does sound overpowered, although I wonder how he'd fare against something that ignored cover (like close combat, monstrous creatures could feasibly cause some havoc if they get in fast enough).

Although of the two units, I think I like the characters for Armless more than the character of Han'zo (we've not heard too much from him but I can see Dia'va and Hio'ko taking up more room in the fluff and I think we can all agree that's a good thing). Bang is good as usual but I would like to hear a little more from Shiva in future, maybe hear a bit more from her perspective.
And all this talk of Lorilune just makes me want to hear from the orks again. I understand that they may not be doing as well as they used to be, but I'd be surprised if Grumgutz and Da Big Five couldn't still cause some damage in this edition.

Great job on the victory (yay another point for me!), I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Job's a good un!

The Man They Call Jayne

From what I hear, Armless and his brethren are capable of prodding serious buttock. When they can see things. And they can come in quads of 3 too I understand. Shame we didn't see it's true power. I do like the portrayal as being like a Jeager though, two pilots having to work together to make it work.

And I am glad to see my faith in the Greater Good has not failed me.
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BigToof

Hi All,
Thank you all for the kind comments.  I will try (hopefully successfully) to answer ALL the comments :)

Quote from: Cammerz on November 01, 2015, 03:32:40 PM
Well, the terrain looks very sparse there, so that should help your shooting. It'll be good to see how the new tau work, I quite like the look of the ghostkeel model and those rules sound interesting. I reckon those fliers might have some trouble.

As for the poll, I'm going to remain optimistic and suggest that you'll kill the wraithknight whilst the stormsurge survives.

Quote from: Cammerz on November 09, 2015, 12:43:54 PM
Well I'm surprised at how little Armless was able to do, but I suppose if your oppoenent is invisible then a massive gun isn't as helpful as you'd imagine. Perhaps it'd do better against Space Marines or something, fancy challenging Maximus again?

Han'zo really does sound overpowered, although I wonder how he'd fare against something that ignored cover (like close combat, monstrous creatures could feasibly cause some havoc if they get in fast enough).

Although of the two units, I think I like the characters for Armless more than the character of Han'zo (we've not heard too much from him but I can see Dia'va and Hio'ko taking up more room in the fluff and I think we can all agree that's a good thing). Bang is good as usual but I would like to hear a little more from Shiva in future, maybe hear a bit more from her perspective.
And all this talk of Lorilune just makes me want to hear from the orks again. I understand that they may not be doing as well as they used to be, but I'd be surprised if Grumgutz and Da Big Five couldn't still cause some damage in this edition.

Great job on the victory (yay another point for me!), I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Job's a good un!

Great to hear from you Cammerz, and I'm glad that you like Armless and the twins!
I will try and get another game in soon and maybe, just maybe try and get Lorilune out again.
Orks is a bit harder given my local meta, but I'll see what I can do.
Maybe switch out Han'zo and his OP team for Lorilune?
That'll give some semblance of psi defense...  And it might bring the lovebirds back together again!

Quote from: Mabbz on November 01, 2015, 04:48:47 PM
Well, I hate the Storm Surge model, and from what I've heard the Ghostkeel is retarded even by Games Workshop's standard (2+ cover in the open for something that size should not be a thing). Nevertheless, I think this is going to be a nice easy win for the Tau; there's too much firepower for the Eldar to survive. SS survives, Wraithknight falls.

Of course, the game is irrelevant compared to what we're all actually here for. Shiva and Bang are back, and facing Illandara, who I don't believe we've seen in a while. Let's get this party started!

Hi Mabbz,
Armless the Stormsurge is really really...  Ok, there's a reason why I'm poking fun at it's design.  The Ghostkeel is really op only if it's far away.  Once you get within 12" it's not that bad and outside of the special OST formation, it's actually really lacking.  If it's not too bothersome, I might try and get in one more Armless mission :)

Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on November 02, 2015, 02:48:59 PM
Haven't seen anything in the new Tau dex, but my faith in the Greater Good is unshakeable!
Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on November 09, 2015, 04:24:42 PM
From what I hear, Armless and his brethren are capable of prodding serious buttock. When they can see things. And they can come in quads of 3 too I understand. Shame we didn't see it's true power. I do like the portrayal as being like a Jeager though, two pilots having to work together to make it work.

And I am glad to see my faith in the Greater Good has not failed me.
Hi Jayne,
Yeah, Armless is supposed to be hella OP.  He's kinda... not.  The Jaeger idea is a GREAT idea.  Love Pacific Rim personally.  I may steal that if you don't mind :)  And yes, the Greater Good keeps rolling!

Quote from: Thantos on November 03, 2015, 11:17:53 AM
Reminding me of the old style battle reports in the White Dwarf in the 2004 era now :D Looks great, get the battle going ;)
You play with vassal or with minis and use vassal for the BR?

Thanks for the reply Thantos!
I really appreciate your comment and I loved those old WD reps!
I play with real models and then recreate the best I can.  If I had the time, I'd love to get in vassal games, but I can kind of put up the games as "social events" and then it sort of excuses it.  I actually wish if Vassal could be a bit more updated, but them's the breaks I suppose.
Have you seen the new Raven Guard rules?  It's actually pretty neat bonus for the Kauyon books.

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

The Man They Call Jayne

Take the Jeager idea, although it will need a 2 part name now :P Twin Moons, Hollow Victory, White Elephant, something like that :P
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Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



BigToof

Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on November 10, 2015, 03:30:32 AM
Take the Jeager idea, although it will need a 2 part name now :P Twin Moons, Hollow Victory, White Elephant, something like that :P

I'm thinking "Red Herring" ;) or "Unlimited Failure" :) if it'll keep the Marines off of Armless.
There's another rep in the works, thankfully this one without Invisibility, so the carnage can be appreciated!

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3