2000pts Tau vs Tau (18/04/13)

[Cammerz]

Well, I've just had my first experience of using the new Tau, and my first experience of facing them. The first thing that became immediately apparent is that neither of us would get to really test out any of the fancy new overwatch rules but never mind, here are what I can remember of the lists;

Me:
Commander; Plasma Rifle, CIB, Shield Generator, Iridium Armour, Velocity Tracker, Repulsor Impact Field
Ethereal; Honour Blade, Homing Beacon
2 XV8 Bodyguards; T-l Missile Pods, Velocity Trackers
3 XV8s; Missile Pod-Fusion Blaster Combo
6 Stealth Battlesuits; Bonding Knife Ritual (hereafter abbreviated to BKR), Shas'Vre
11 Fire Warriors; Pulse Carbines, EMPs (with Ethereal)
12 Fire Warriors; Pulse Rifles, Shas'Ui w. Markerlight, BKR, EMPs
12 Fire Warriors; Pulse Rifles, Shas'Ui w. Markerlight, BKR, EMPs
10 Kroot Carnivores; 6 Kroot Hounds, 3 Krootox, Shaper, Sniper Rounds
6 Pathfinders; Shas'Ui
4 Pathfinders; 3 Rail Rifles
3 XV88s; 2 Shield Drones, Velocity Trackers
Railhead; SMS, Sub, Flechettes, Blacksun, D-pod

Him (I've almost certainly missed some wargear options out):
Ethereal; Honour Blade
Ethereal; Equalisers
3 XV8s; 1 with Plasma/Fusion, 1 with Plasma/Flamer, 1 with Fusion/Flamer, 4 Gun Drones, 2 Marker Drones
6 Stealth Battlesuits; 1 Fusion Blaster, 2 Marker Drones
12 Fire Warriors; Shas'Ui w. Markerlight, Pulse Rifles (with Ethereal A)
12 Fire Warriors; Shas'Ui w. Markerlight, Pulse Rifles (with Ethereal B)
12 Fire Warriors; Shas'Ui w. Markerlight, Pulse Rifles
10 Pathfinders; 3 Rail Rifles, 2 Marker Drones
12 Vespid Stingwings; Strain Leader
10 Gun Drones
Railhead; Longstrike, Sub, SMS, D-pod
Railhead; Sub, Burst Cannons, D-pod, Seeker

So immediately we can see some significant changes to last edition, most notably the large unit of Vespids and the fact that the table held Three Ethereals!
Now, I'm afraid I didn't take notes or pictures so there aren't any images of the battlefield but I can tell you we each had a large ruin in our left backfields and most of the board was strewn with large LOS-blocking piles of rubble which meant that neither side had very clear views of the other army at the start (not ideal for Tau on Tau but nevermind).

We rolled Hammer and Anvil but both immediately decided to ignore that and do Dawn of War instead, we then rolled Relic and placed the counter in the middle of the board. We then looked into the Tau codex to try out some new Warlord traits; his honour blade-wielding Ethereal managed to get Skyfire (not helpful whatsoever) whilst my Commander got the trait which increased his 'jump pack phase' move from 2D6" to 3D6".

He won the roll and set up first, he had a Railhead on each flank with Longstrike on my left with the large Vespid mob, also towards the left hand side was his unit of Pathfinders. In the centre of his battleline he had the two Ethereal-led FW teams with the Gun Drones forming a defensive wall in front of them. The final FW team sat in his ruins whilst the XV8s were deep-striking and the Stealthsuits were infiltrating.
My Railhead sat on my left flank opposite Longstrike, in ruins so I was up to a 3+ cover save. The ruins were also shared by my larger Pathfinder team. In the centre of my battleline was a large bit of rubble-cover, to the left of it stood my Kroot, waiting to rush the Relic early on, in the rubble sat one of my FW rifleman teams and the rail rifle lads who were balancing high up so they could at least try and get a better view of the field. To the left of the rubble were my other two FW teams, the carbine squad accompanying the Ethereal to the left so all of the Fire Warriors were in his nice leadership/ability bubble. On a very large rubble-covered hill on my right flank stood the Broadsides, mourning the loss of their Railguns.

I failed to seize the initiative and the game, Mrs Hudson, was afoot.

Turn 1 saw the centres of both armies move forwards towards the relic and some substantial shooting from my opponent (with a good deal of markerlight help) saw my leftmost Fire Warriors (the ones amongst the rubble) brought down to just three men, who were hiding well out of sight but did not run due to the nearby Ethereal. I think I lost four kroot models as well, three hounds and a carnivore. Longstrike fired at my Hammerhead but the cover intervened and I was spared for this turn however my return fire (despite being assisted by three markerlights, two removing the cover save and the other boosting my ballistic skill) saw me roll a 1, and so no Hammerheads were destroyed ths turn. I forget what the one on my right flank was doing but I'm sure it maneuvered forwards a bit.

Turn 2 was the turn when my opponent's Stealth team infiltrated behind my ruin and a torrent of Burst Cannon shots tore my Hammerhead to shreds, granting First Blood. It also saw the true power of the markerlight unleashed as ten BS5 Gun Drones unleased hell upon my Kroot, bringing them down to a single krootox (having caused 18 wounds!). The krootox was then destroyed by something else, completely wiping out the unit. My turn began with all three of my reserve units Deep-Striking in, first the Stealthsuits who leapt in next to the Relic and gouged a large chunk out of the Gun Drones. My XV8 team leapt in behind his non-Longstrike Railhead and caused it to explode dramatically, catching three of his Fire Warriors who sadly all made their armour saves. Finally my Commander and his bodyguard daringly leaping into the gap behind my enemy's centre and doing not inconsiderable damage with a variety of weapons, but most importantly the Overcharged CIB which took out several Fire Warriors and almost killed an Ethereal (who was saved by a Look-Out Sir! roll).

Turn three began with his Vespid Stingwings buzzing cinematically en masse through a bit rocky archway and, with the help of a few markerlight hits, systematically annihilating my Stealth Team. It was probably also this turn when my opponent's Crisis team came in, scattered 11" and landed on the complete opposite side of one of his FW teams, avoiding a mishap by an inch. Mass pulse fire from the FWs boosted by his Ethereals saw the death of one of my standard Crisis suits and both Bodyguards. I might mention at this point that the one with the Honour Blade, (his warlord), was constantly invoking the Storm of Fire (the extra shot within half range) whilst the other was invoking the Sense of Stone (6+ FNP) which occasionally saved the odd Fire Warrior from death throughout the battle.
My Ethereal and his squad either perished this turn or the next one (probably this one) whilst the final FW team was brought down to 4 Tau by the Gun Drones who then charged them and they were locked in combat for a while. On my left flank, my Pathfinders were wiped out to the last man by the Stealthsuits, the last man then turned and fled the field. On the right flank, his FW team and my broadsides were exchanging shots, Pulse Rifle to Smart Missile and I lost both Shield drones fairly early on. My Commander's CIB overheated and he fell back behind cover towards the other Crisis Suits who were also trying to avoid the incoming fire.

Turn 4 saw my 2 remaining Crisis suits join up with the Commander who managed to take out a few more Fire Warriors with his Overcharged CIB but unfortunately the Warlord Ethereal was saved from death by a Look Out Sir!, hardly surprising really given that they were 2+ rolls. Incoming fire brought him down to 2 wounds and one of the other Crisis Suits to 1 but they outlasted the turn and managed a fancy 13" jump in the 'jump pack phase' to try and link up with my remaining (yet ever diminishing) forces. My three Fire Warriors from the unit that had been all but wiped out in turn 1, along with the Rail riflemen were exchanging shots with the enemy Stealthsuits and they managed to take out the front three of them before Longstrike dropped a pie-plate on the Pathfinders and killed them. The Fire Warriors were also brought from three down to one but the last man stood and would not falter. In the tail-end of turn 4 the Gun Drones finally defeated the Fire Warriors in combat and ran them down so at the end of the turn I was left with one Fire Warrior, my Commander, two Crisis Suits and two Broadsides.

Many players would throw in the towel at this stage but what is there to lose, play on, it's more fun that way.

Turn 5. The Stealthsuits get their man and my final Fire Warrior falls. Exorbitant amounts of firepower finally ground down my Crisis Suits and eventually the Commander stood alone until he too rolled the inevitable 1's required to bypass his Iridium armour. All that remained were my two Broadsides and they were fired at by a large number of Vespids (their SMSs had taken a chunk out of them in the last round but it wasn't anywhere near enough), the remaining Gun Drones and a few Fire Warriors. They also rolled the inevitable 1's and that was Game Over.

So I was pretty much massacred, but never mind, fun was had by all and that is rule 1.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, a note on the new things.

The first thing to note is the Ethereals. They are astonishing, fantastically useful pieces and I would strongly recommend using at least one (if I didn't find Commanders as cool as I do I'd consider two, maybe a regular one and Aun'Shi or even Aun'Va - bet you never thought you'd here that). We didn't test out the Water or Air abilities but the Fire one was certainly worth it and the Earth one saved a few lives along the way, but the best advantage of the Ethereals were the huge Ld 10 bubbles which they generated, at various points throughout the game I'm sure I asked "Is this what its like Space Marines?" This certainly makes up for the previous editions where they did the opposite and caused your entire army to flee the field.

Next up we get the Vespids, the other outsider unit, the one you never saw. Probably quite delicate, if I'd managed to drop a submunition on them they would have died but I didn't, so they didn't, and they annihilated my Stealth team. 4+ armour and an 18" range really helped these guys out. Full squads of 12 are recommended.

We didn't see much of them, but what little we did overcharging Ion Weapons was fun, dropping S8 blast templates on Ethereals is something I'd like to do a lot more of in future.

I miss Broadside Railguns. I didn't get to test these guys out on fliers, that might have made me feel a bit different about them, but they fired at both Hammerheads and did no damage to either of them.

Fire Warrior teams are great, a nice big gunline versus another nice big gunline. I have no idea how it'd all go against an army that actually wanted to charge me in combat but these guys were just powerful, Tau can play well as an infantry horde this edition. I personally didn't get around to using the Shas'Ui markerlights but my opponent did and he made them work.

Kroot. No idea, they didn't survive long enough for me to find out. Cover would have been nice for them, trees would have been even better. If there's one bit of my list I'm tempted to switch out for other things, it's this unit. I'll try them out a bit more just to see, maybe a large unit of 20, all snipers, no hounds or Krootox.

Stealthsuits are great as usual, you can't go wrong with them, the loss of the Targeting arrays is made ujp for perfectly with the extra Burst Cannon shot.

And Pathfinders. Placement is everyhting and I don't think mine were placed very well, although I can blame all thje scenery for some of that. My mate/opponent suggested I merge the two units so I get a big team of 10 like his. One of my issues was simply poor rolling, particularly for the Rail Rifles. I added that unit because the new rules for it look amazing and I reckon a few markerlight tokens in the right place would have improved them dramatically.

Finally the Markerlights. Boy are they good. They're much simpler this edition and when you only need two to eliminate all cover saves, well, let's just say without them my Stealth team might have lasted a bit longer and I wouldn't have been completely tabled. There's a knack to using them efficiently and I hope to learn it soon, last edition I baely used them at all but now they truely are essential.

Thanks for reading, and thoughts on my list would be nice, I was trying to make one where I didn't need to buy any new models and with this list I succeeded. I don't think this list was too bad but the dice were against me and I didn't steal the first turn. And once again sorry for the lack of pictures, and fluff, I enjoy writing that but I wanted to get this all down before I forgot it all, maybe next time eh?

[The Man They Call Jayne]

One thing I will say is Aun'Va rocks. 2 Invocations a turn and total immunity to AP1 weapons, and near immunity to AP2 makes him great. You can seriously reduce the amount of hits he has to take, and I find the Storm of Fire and Grace of the Zypher, combined with Markers makes you brutally mobile.

Other than that this game looked like a lot of fun

[Chicop76]

One thing I will say is Aun'Va rocks. 2 Invocations a turn and total immunity to AP1 weapons, and near immunity to AP2 makes him great. You can seriously reduce the amount of hits he has to take, and I find the Storm of Fire and Grace of the Zypher, combined with Markers makes you brutally mobile.

Other than that this game looked like a lot of fun

I think Va is ok since bolters or storm bolters can kill him. Unless you add shadowsun to him I don't think he's really all that survivable to mass low ap fire.

I was rooting for the twp Etheral army and it happens that he won ;(. I was thinking of running two and was happy to seem it in action.

I think this battle talked me out of using kroot. Even with forest around he coould had simply negated your save and they would had died rather badly. The only army that doesn't really have reliable negating saves is dark angels who can reduce cover saves by one. The other new armies have something that can completly negate cover saves etc. Although Tau by far are the masters of doing so.

I used my broadsides and didn't really like them. They don't have the fire power of old and just feel not as good. Although they did help take out my opponents mobility I felt that a Skyray would be a better fit.

i think the Skyray is better for several reasons.

1. Besides making a staelthsuit cost around 70 points it's the only other model that you have that can skyfire and that have markerlights as well. Added with other marker lights hitting flyers should be a piece of cake.

2, With the amount of marker lights you already putting on the table seeker missles wouldn't be a bad addition. the seekers can ignore cover saves which means no jink, smoke, or other cover save to save vehicles. They also in a pinch can put some pain on a bike squad you really want to get rid off.

3. More marker lights the better, and with armour 13 and +4 cover save at worst, =3 behind a ruin. It will be rather hard to get rid off, or simply just ignored. Personqally I would focus on hammerheads and pathefinders over this model. Which is good since you do not want to move so you can be able to shppt all your weapons.

i havn't used a skyray yet and hope it does well for me.

I may drop my transports or keep them, so many people do not want to take them at all.

I am thinking of running 2 pathfinder teams with the extra points. 3 railguns each with at least 4 pathfinder in each squad marker lighting. in the past I added drones for more meat shields. Seeing that drones cost more I won't add your standard drones to my pathfinders. i might go ahead and add more marker lights.

that being said i think i will try out marker drones in my squads with Ui's with marker light. The problem I see i think it's too much. it;s adding like 60 points to my squads for 3 marker lights which i can get almost at half cost by taking more pathfinders.

I also like my commaner, but run him with 2 marker drones with controller and stick him with my stealth suits which have 2 drones. I think that a 4 man stealth team might be a good ideal with 4 drones which will make them all T 4 due to majority. I still like having 5 marker lights in that sqaud which 4 of them hits on bs 5.

[BigToof]

Hi Cammerz!
Great to hear that you're having a good time with the Tau and the Tau on Tau fight was pretty hectic sounding.
Would love to see pictures and fluff as things progress.

Oh, and karma'd!

Best,
-BT

[Cammerz]

One thing I will say is Aun'Va rocks. 2 Invocations a turn and total immunity to AP1 weapons, and near immunity to AP2 makes him great. You can seriously reduce the amount of hits he has to take, and I find the Storm of Fire and Grace of the Zypher, combined with Markers makes you brutally mobile.

Other than that this game looked like a lot of fun

The only thing really putting me off using him is that I'm not a big fan of using Special Characters, but I've had the model sitting around since it came out in 4th Edition and it's done nothing so who knows, maybe he'll see the tabletop eventually.

I was rooting for the two Ethereal army and it happens that he won ;(. I was thinking of running two and was happy to see it in action.

I think this battle talked me out of using kroot. Even with forest around he coould had simply negated your save and they would had died rather badly. The only army that doesn't really have reliable negating saves is dark angels who can reduce cover saves by one. The other new armies have something that can completly negate cover saves etc. Although Tau by far are the masters of doing so.

I used my broadsides and didn't really like them. They don't have the fire power of old and just feel not as good. Although they did help take out my opponents mobility I felt that a Skyray would be a better fit.

i think the Skyray is better for several reasons.

1. Besides making a staelthsuit cost around 70 points it's the only other model that you have that can skyfire and that have markerlights as well. Added with other marker lights hitting flyers should be a piece of cake.

2, With the amount of marker lights you already putting on the table seeker missles wouldn't be a bad addition. the seekers can ignore cover saves which means no jink, smoke, or other cover save to save vehicles. They also in a pinch can put some pain on a bike squad you really want to get rid off.

3. More marker lights the better, and with armour 13 and +4 cover save at worst, =3 behind a ruin. It will be rather hard to get rid off, or simply just ignored. Personqally I would focus on hammerheads and pathefinders over this model. Which is good since you do not want to move so you can be able to shppt all your weapons.

i havn't used a skyray yet and hope it does well for me.

I may drop my transports or keep them, so many people do not want to take them at all.

I am thinking of running 2 pathfinder teams with the extra points. 3 railguns each with at least 4 pathfinder in each squad marker lighting. in the past I added drones for more meat shields. Seeing that drones cost more I won't add your standard drones to my pathfinders. i might go ahead and add more marker lights.

that being said i think i will try out marker drones in my squads with Ui's with marker light. The problem I see i think it's too much. it;s adding like 60 points to my squads for 3 marker lights which i can get almost at half cost by taking more pathfinders.

I also like my commaner, but run him with 2 marker drones with controller and stick him with my stealth suits which have 2 drones. I think that a 4 man stealth team might be a good ideal with 4 drones which will make them all T 4 due to majority. I still like having 5 marker lights in that sqaud which 4 of them hits on bs 5.

The two Ethereals did work well, although the Fire invoker seemed the most useful of the two. If anything the main advantage of two was the massive increase in the Ld 10 bubble. The Ethereal bubbles saved us both on multiple occasions, particularly my Fire Warriors early on.

I'm going to give the kroot a bit more of a chance, they were possibly the only unit in my army which didn't get any cover in deployment and my opponent suggested afterwards that they might have worked better if I'd swapped things around so they were further to my right and some Fire warriors (with their substantially better armour) were on the left. But if I drop anything, they'll be quite high on my list. If it wasn't a relic game I would have tried to sit back and snipe/kroot gun things from a distance with the hounds acting as ablative armour around the important things, if they don't work out them I'm strongly considering a mob of 12 Vespid Stingwings.

Swapping out the Broadsides for a Skyray sounds like a very good idea, I'll look into doing that, I've got a couple of Devilish APCs that are no longer getting used and if I can find a turret it will be an easy conversion, and additional markerlights are always advantageous.

Transports may or may not work, it depends on the mission and the opponent. In this game we both had solid gunlines so Devilfish wouldn't really have helped but with their disruption pods and jink saves they're more survivable than the transport tanks of other races.

Your idea of a Stealth Commander with Marker Drones sounds like a good one, if I can find room then I'd like to give Drones to mine, the BS5 is just too good not to really.

Hi Cammerz!
Great to hear that you're having a good time with the Tau and the Tau on Tau fight was pretty hectic sounding.
Would love to see pictures and fluff as things progress.

Oh, and karma'd!

Best,
-BT

Thanks BT, sorry about the lack of pictures or fluff but I was in a hurry to get it all done before I forgot everything (and it was about half one in the morning when I finished typing), I'll do my best to include them for any future battle reports. My next series of games are for a tournament this weekend so I probably won't manage to write anything more than a brief summary, and that's with my untested CSM/Daemon list. Maybe keep an eye on the Battle Anecdotes over the coming days.