My aspirations of 2013's post count equaling the number of posts in previous 4 years combined fell short by 18 posts. Oh well, I still had a solid 7 month run of averaging over 10 posts a month! Hopefully RL will settle down to a manageable size in the next month or two. With that in mind, my son and I played another game of 40k...
Deathbot and I played a 40K rematch, but this time we doubled our forces to 1,500 points--The largest battle I have played in about 20 years!!
Our first match was played back in May and I posted a bare bones BatRep in August. If you are curious to see the setup and pics at the end of each turn (as I did not write much of anything), check out this post.
This battle (and the last) unintentionally turned out to be a hybrid of 5e and 6e rules. To put it simply, I used the 5e rules and codecies, but built the forces with Army Builder using the 6e rules set. In hind sight, I would have written the forces out by hand. However, I don't think it impacted the game too much as both forces were created in the same fashion.
Our force selection was limited to assembled models. The Space Marines actually have more options (by digging into my Aquamarines) but I am fielding all of my assembled Tau forces.
- Terminator Captain (140): Storm Bolter; Power Axe (Figure is actually a Librarian)
- Terminator Squad (205): Sergeant; Storm Bolter x4; Power Fist x4; Power Sword; Hvy Flamer
- Terminator Squad (205): Sergeant; Storm Bolter x4; Power Fist x4; Power Sword; Hvy Flamer
- Tactical Squad (205): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
- Tactical Squad (205): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
- Assault Squad (215): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Chain Sword x8; Flamer x2
- Devastator Squad (230): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x5; Hvy Bolter x4; Chain Sword
- Predator (105): TL Lascannon. (Razorback is a count as Predator because all of my Predator tanks have non removable sponsons)
Total Points: 1510
- XV8 Commander + Bodyguards (313): Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Shield Drone x2
- XV8 Crisis Team (230): Shas'vre; Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Shield Drone x1
- Fire Warrior Team (237): Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle x12; Gun Drones x2; Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod
- Fire Warrior Team (237): Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle x12; Gun Drones x2; Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod
- Remote Sensor Tower Team (120): TL Markerlight x3
- Heavy Drone Team (150): TL Burst Cannon x3; Burst Cannon and Markerlight x3
- Sniper Drone Team (58): Rail Rifle x3; Networked Markerlight
- Hammerhead (161): TL Smart Missile System; Railgun w/ Solid & Submunitions; Disruption Pod; Seeker Missiles x2
Total Points: 1496
I let Deathbot choose all the terrain. I told him only one piece per tile. The only terrain I "placed" was the river, but under Deathbot's supervision. The battle area was 4' x 4'. We had determined table edge before setting up terrain, so the next step was to determine the mission and deploy forces--Seize Ground and Spear Head.
Even though I let Deathbot choose table edge, we did roll for first turn. I won and chose to go second. We both put all of our deep strike capable units in reserve. I let Deathbot take his turns as he wants to, answering his questions by telling him the risk/reward of his options.
Turn 1 opens with Deathbot advancing his Predator, taking out a Remote Sensor Drone (his only visable target).
I advanced my Hammerhead and Sniper Drone Team, Stunning the Predator crew. I also shifted both Defilfish towards the middle of my table edge.
The Space Marines get 2 Terminator squads to deep strike, disaster strikes in Turn 2 (see below). Soldering on, one of the Rhinos lets out a Tac Squad. Both the squad and the Rhino press on. A Terminator squad lands on the friendly side of the hill, offering a bit of cover.
I did not get any reinforcements this turn, but did release a squad of Fire Warriors to lay claim of an objective and placed the second Devilfish to do the same next turn. The Sniper Drone Team advanced and fired with no effect and the Hammerhead missed.
When placing his first Deep Strike unit, Deathbot initially placed his target about 2" from the left corner on my table edge. When I told him he had a high chance of scattering off the table, he asked where would be safe. I measured out 12" from the left edge and my edge of the table and marked it. Deathbot placed his target in the corner of the "safe" zone. Unfortunately, he scattered right on top of my Hammerhead and rolled a Terrible Accident!, loosing the entire squad of Terminators!
On Turn 3, the Space Marines got more reinforcements in an Assault squad. The Tac squad advances again, taking out 5/6th of the Heavy Gun Drone team.
I received 2 units of reinforcements--The Heavy Gun Drone team and the XV8 Crisis team. An empty Devilfish bolted to my right flank. The other Devilfish released its occupants and the Hammerhead drifted left. The only damage caused to the Salamanders was 4 Tactical marines.
Turn 4 saw more movement on the Space Marine side. Their Commander dropped safely in their own deployment zone, the Assault Marines, Terminators and a Rhino toting a Tactical squad advanced. The other Tactical squad claimed and objective while the Predator backed up to get out of the way.
The Tau focused all their firepower on the dangerously close Terminator squad that had popped up on top of the hill, decimating them entirely. The only movement was from the Crisis team that had pulled a jump-shoot-jump maneuver.
Turn 5 got messy. Deathbot advanced his Rhino full of marines in an attempt to challenge one of my objectives. He also advanced his Predator, Captain, and Assault squads, but caused little damage to the Tau. The Predator stunned the Hammerhead.
In return, the Tau destroyed the Assault squad to a single marine (who failed morale and retreated to the rocky terrain). The Tau also got their Commander and bodyguards to join the battle. I took a risky move and landed them behind enemy lines (almost in the exact opposite spot Deathbot originally wanted to place his Terminator squad). The Commander and his team were able to take out half of the Salamander's Devastator squad, which had not moved the entire game.
The Tau retaliated by finishing off the last of the Devastator and Assault squads. I also positioned 3 Gun Drones in between the Space Marine Captain and the Fire Warrior guarding the blue objective as speed bumps.
After lining up for a perfect shot, Deathbot attempt to take out my Fire Warrior Team sitting on an objective. He took out all but 2--They failed their morale, but recovered and was able to reach the objective the next turn.
Turn 7 was simply a formality to see the game through. The good news was the Predator destroyed the Hammerhead. Unfortunately, the Captain and Tactical squad failed to deny the Tau's objectives. On my turn I was able to killed the Captain and all the remaining Tactical marines from both squads, leaving only the three Salamander tanks undamaged.
Game ends 2-0 Tau.
There was a real chance in the 6th turn that Deathbot could have pulled a 1-0 victory. It just didn't work out. He waited too long to make his move plus loosing a Terminator squad was crippling!
Deathbot still had a blast and can't wait to play again. I knocked off more of the rust on my game play and am anxious to get some more Tau assembled and painted.
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