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Kill team: Hunter Cadre Kunas'Ka--Tau vs Necrons (Narrative battrep with pics)

Started by Scoutfox, February 01, 2014, 06:48:10 AM

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Scoutfox

6 Months ago:  Deep inside the Anurak hills on planet Valoran;

Pebbles and slates of rock slid down the hillside, the unsure feet of Brimin and Merrick stumbling through the countryside looking to find the next big vein of gold. Rumors of a massive untapped gold reserve had brought thousands into the frontier land, these two were just a drop in the hat of prospectors looking to better their lives.

Brimin grunted as he ducked low under a stalactite, crouching to get into position near where his "gut feeling" told him gold would reside. He hefted his pick ax, and with his best friend, started the laborious process of mining the natural cave walls. Hours later his pick ax made a dull thump against something when it smashed through what he thought was solid rock. The wall gave way and unearthed a perfectly smooth object; runes carved throughout its side. He went to touch it when Merrick yelled out, "What in the Emperor's name are you doing? What if that thing is poisoned, or trapped. Doesn't look right, we should leave."

"What's the worst that could happen," the reckless miner questioned, his hand now patting the side of the mysterious object. "Weird it feels hot, and it's getting hotter." He pulled his hand back quickly to avoid being burned, the object heated up more rapidly than was natural. His eyes widened when the runes and glyphs started to glow a bright red color. Moments later the cave started to tremor; the two men half crawled half ran to the exit. Sadly their curiosity was stronger than their athleticism and they were crushed beneath the rocks, their bones snapping with ease as the ceiling collapsed in on them.

1 month ago:

"Admiral, target planet ahead, distress beacon identified." The cruiser Victory Bay powered down its warp drive, and coasted through realspace. Planet Valoran was at the edge of their scanners, and the Imperial ship was preparing to make contact. Admiral Swanson walked to the comms port, placing his gloved hand on the shoulder of Corporal Tonkins.

"Cpl, hail the planetary Governor, and ask the nature of their distress call." The Admiral said with routine efficiency.

"Roger, attempting to make contact." Tonkins adjusted the dials, while outside the communication dish spun to face the endangered planet. "This is the Imperial Class cruiser Victory Bay, state the nature of your distress. I repeat, state the nature of your distress." The crew in the operations deck collectively held their breath. Moments passed, and nothing.

Tonkins toggled the controls, and repeated the call several times with no results. Frustrated he tried one more thing. "Sir, the distress beacon is stable and our communications are level, they should be receiving." The corporal's face went white as he realized what was wrong. "Admiral our signal is being jammed!" He looked over at the Admiral who was quickly floating away. The Admiral grasped at Tonkins' hand as he was sucked out the cabin windows that had just been pierced by concentrated rail fire.

Aboard Y'Lano Dal'yth Explorer class Starship:

Commander Scoutfox stood on the bridge and smiled, the ship's weapons had neutralized the threat. His Cadre had been hiding for what seemed like forever awaiting the Imperial response to the distress beacon. His forces were ready to "save" the Gue'la population below. "Recourse the Gue'la ship's point of origin, encode an encrypted message saying the planet is barren of all organic life, and relay the information back to their docking station. After six rotaa send another message originating from their cruiser's automated emergency response computers. Indicate warp drive failure and imminent core meltdown."

The wiry air caste crew acknowledged and obeyed the orders. The forged Imperial message was sent as docking bays were open and countless of Manta and Orca dropships were launched from the fleet. Commander Scoutfox walked off the bridge and mentally prepared himself for war. "Better to assimilate millions as a savior instead of a conqueror" he thought to himself.

Present day:

Kaida cringed and cowered as the massive robotic looking suit landed deftly 30m from her home. She shielded her daughter and son behind her back, and waited. The metal beast lithely strode over to her and towered above the human inhabitant. Her heart jumped when she looked up at the dual missile pods on its shoulders. A hiss made her flinch and the chest cavity opened to reveal a blueish alien staring back at her. "Good day, I am Shas'Ui Chak'Ri, we are here to help. My scouts have reported Necron activity in the area; it is not safe for you here. Our transports will take you and your whole family to the space docks and off this war torn planet."
She sank to her knees, "so it is true then, you have come to save us?"

"Of course, it is our duty to protect those that cannot protect themselves. Take whatever belongings you can carry and make a new life for yourself; we Tau have much to offer." The Shas'Ui's head spun hearing the footsteps of a newly appointed Gue'vessa approaching.
The blond man in retrofitted Tau armor, lasgun slung over his shoulder, helped the woman up. "Kaida trust them, I've helped move my family and most of our town in the wake of the Necron invasion. She looked up at her childhood friend in alien garb, grabbed her children, and headed toward the hovering devilfish.

The man, Henz, unfolded a topographic map of the area, and pointed at a valley not too far from their current location. "My men have spotted repeat Necron patrols in this area here Shas'Ui"

"Excellent work, get the other families evacuated. We don't need the convoy being ambushed. We will take care of the patrol and hopefully find their Western base of operations." Chak'Ri leaned back into his XV8 and sealed it. "Patrol on me, we have a positive target." He engaged his jump jets and boosted into the sky flanked by a pair of piranhas. The trio sped into the valley, their kroot contingent quickly working their way through the forest underneath them. The Shas'Ui switched on his long range mic, "Orca 6 this is Chak'Ri patrol, enroute to sector 14, requesting supply drop."


***********************************************

Kill Team: 200 points
Mission: Supply drop

Tau list:
Shas'Ui Chak'Ri XV8 missile pods X2 (leader)
Piranhas with burst cannons X2 (preferred enemy + mastercrafted for 2 drones)
Kroot X10, +1 hound (rending)

Necron list:
Wraiths X2 (FNP, and
Warriors X10 (1 was the leader)

Pregame thoughts: I wanted to try what I thought would be a strong and fluffy kill team. I was worried the XV8 was going to be overkill, but I knew that those 4 str7 shots would be a perfect anti-armor setup if my opponent brought something with an av value. I was also hoping for the 16% chance of getting split fire for my leader. I really didn't want him to be the leader, but it made sense fluffwise and there was no other way to get another model with a higher leadership value in the team. Kroot I think are perfect for kill team. I took them naked because I feel the sniper shots are not needed at this level. Their ability to infiltrate should come in handy, like my kommandos in the last game. I brought one hound just because of the points, and it was an easy way to give a model rending and know which one has the USR. I really think a lot of Tau kill teams are going to have piranhas in them. The front armor of 11 will make them very hard to deal with, they are fast, and popping those drones gives you more models on the board that are also deadly.

Deployment:


Tau: As you can see Shas'Ui Chak'Ri was hidden behind a wall with a piranha to his side. The other piranha took the opposite flank. I infiltrated all the kroot forward of deployment zone, two of them already on objectives.

Necrons: The left most wraith had FNP, not sure about the other one. The leader is the warrior in the back middle, standing on the rock. The warriors were bunched together because of how reanimation protocols work in kill team; they need to be within 2" of another Necron to roll for it.

The game:

Shas'Ui Chak'Ri crept up to a low wall, and scanned the horizon. He switched on his squad comms system, and contacted Klertok, the Kroot leader. "Klertok I have a visual on the Necron patrol; two wraiths and a small warrior squad. The locator beacon for the supply drop must have interference from the gauss weapons, as I'm getting six readings. I'll send you the coordinates of each. Have your kindred scout forward and inspect them before being spotted.

Luckily for the Tau the kroot remained unseen as they crawled through the rubble toward the two closest possible locations for the supply drop. (no stealing initiative for the crons). One of them reached out around the corner of the building and his quills shook with excitement as he pulled a large canister from a small crater. They had their weapons resupply and could continue the fight. Knowing they had what they came for Chak'Ri ordered the destruction of the patrol. He began by engaging his jet pack and bounding to the right. His missiles locked onto the oblivious leader and tore his body apart with high explosives. The kroot revealed themselves and another warrior went down to concentrated solid slug rounds to the chest. Neither was able to self repair.



The Necrons were caught off guard, and with their leader destroyed their counter attack was not coordinated with much combat efficiency. The warriors moved toward the kroot threat, most likely uncaring they had their objective already, but aware that the resupply posed a threat to them. The kroot holding the supply drop had his skin flayed from his body, gauss fire atomizing his flesh. The wraiths likewise slithered toward their prey, claws twitching in anticipation.



The previously disengaged drones initiated their protection protocols and skim directly at the wraith threats on each flank. The one coming down the right flank was punctured multiple times from the pulse carbine fire of two gun drones. The other two missed their targets, and adjusted their optics. Chak'Ri again boosted over the wall he had hopped back behind after the initial volley. He targeted the closest warrior in the open and let loose with four missiles. One missed and sent shrapnel harmlessly off the advancing warrior squad, but the other three rounds detonated perfectly and ripped off its left leg, blew a hole through the torso, and turned its head into a jigsaw puzzle that could never be completed. The kroot let out a roar, and tried to enact revenge for the loss of one of their own. A warrior was dropped to his knees, a slug logged in his eye socket, but stood back out and the nano-tech closed up the eye and allowed the warrior to continue the fight. A warrior to his right was not so lucky as four kroot slugs blasted out the back of its midsection cleaving it in two.

With the XV8 and drones jet packing to safety the warriors brought their guns to bare on the only targets in range: the kroot. The avian xenos tried to take cover in the blasted out building, but the amount of gauss fire sent their way was overwhelming; four brave kroot were vaporized protecting the ammo drop.



In an instinctive and protective feat of aggression the lone hound darted out from behind the obelisk and tackled the nearest warrior. The two battled on  the ground, the hound to fast dodging attacks left and right, and the warrior's exoskeleton too tough for the hound's teeth to pierce. While that battle raged on a missile obliterated another warrior, and a second was taken down by kroot and gun drone fire. On the left flank the piranha and gun drones hovered to the right trying to distract the wraith. The piranha blasted its coiled tail with the burst cannon and melted a few vertebrae.

The wraith took the bait and spun around to face the new threat. On the other side of the battlefield a warrior aimed his weapon to stop the pair of gun drones from pestering them from behind. Gauss fire sent a gun drone spiraling to the ground and it crashed in a heap, the optics going blank. The piranha pilot juked to the right to evade the massive clawed hands of the wraith. Unfortunately the dodge was .00001ms too late and the wraith's hand phased through the bottom of the skimmer and eviscerated the pilot. The scout vehicle flew out of control and hit the ground hard. The wraith slithered over to the wreckage and beheaded the co-pilot, blue blood dripping off his claws.

The warriors continued to shamble closer to the objective. Yet again Chak'Ri fired his quad missile pods and sent a warrior flying through the air. It came down with a hard thud and never got back up. One of the few remaining warriors was blown apart by kroot slugs too. It fell next to the hand to hand between the hound and warrior #3456. The hound was able to find a chink it the armor and tore out something vital from its insides. The skeleton went limp and the hound raised its head and howled in triumph.

The howl ended prematurely the skin disappearing from his face. The last warrior soundlessly continued towards the objective. To his right the wraith phased through the ruins and picked up the nearest kroot. It grabbed the squirming kroot from each end and pulled him in two. The chunks of flesh were dropped and it looked up at the many guns aimed at it. The rest of the Tau patrol surrounded the two remaining Necrons and easily dispatched them. Chak'Ri bounded up to the supply box and handed out rations and ammo to those still alive.



Final score Tau-6  Necrons-0


Shas'Ui Chak'Ri signaled the fleet that he was in need of medical evac for his patrol. He surveyed the battlefield with grim remorse. He was glad they were triumphant but the loss of life always weighed heavily on his heart. "Go get the new Gue'vessa and have them try and pick up the Necron patrol's point of origin. We need to find their base and shut down their operations in this area if we want to claim this planet for the greater good." The remaining piranha boosted into the sky and headed back to the town.


Post game thoughts:
My friend realized that wraiths really aren't that good for a kill team game, and thought about brining immortals next time. Some people overvalue them, and I remember a guy on BOLS saying 5 wraiths would beat any kill team, but I highly doubt that. Close combat units can only kill one model per turn, and then they have to survive a round of shooting. Plus they have to get close before they are effective. I think things that are beasts, infiltrators, or jump infantry will do fine but otherwise I'd stick to shooting units.

My list performed well, and I don't think I'm going to change it up. The XV8 was overkill but it was nice to basically guarantee a kill/turn with his missile pods, and they would have come in handy if my opponent had brought any armor. I was worried about all the gauss for my piranhas, but I kept them away and he focused on the kroot. The kroot worked well even if they did die easily, but they were able to drop a few warriors. I like that I can pick where to deploy them, and the single hound is just fun. I'll have to think of a name for it.


BigToof

I always wondered where the name Scoutfox came from, but now I know!

The Crisis Suit was pretty brutal in this game, and I was sort of surprised that the Wraiths didn't do much, as I also saw much bally-hootin' about how great they are in kill zone...

Hmmm...

You make me want to try this out now :)

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

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

Scoutfox

Scoutfox actually comes from what I did in the Army. I was a 13 fox, which is a forward observer for artillery, a kind of scout. Of course I named my Shas'O Scoutfox, and he is a legacy character in my Cadre. He lead in the Golgotha campaign on TO, helped bring down an asteroid during the GW Medusa campaign, and is now battling Necrons.

Though I thought he might overkill I think I'll keep the XV8, since the alternative is some fire warriors ans sometimes I will need 4 str7 shots.

Try what, kill team? It is fun, especially if you don't have a lot of time to play.