Tau Vs IG 1500

So another brief write up because it's late and I don't have time for a full write up, nor did I get pictures of every round yet again.

Josh and I played a 1500 pt battle at Big Kidz Games tonight. 

He ran something like 2 identical HQ's with camo cloaks, masters of ordanance, medics, autocanon team, and a generic guardsman, 3 chimeras with veteran squads, one stormtrooper squad, a Valkrie, an Executioner, and a leman russ proxied as a variant with an assault canon turret I don't know the name of.

I ran a farsight enclave list with Farsight and 7 bodyguards with 7 shield drones all with MP and twin linked flamer, a crisis suit shas'el with twin linked MP Pos Relay and shield drone, 3 Sniper Drone teams, 8 man pathfinder team DFish with DPod and drones, 2 broadsides with 2 shield drones, 2 6 man firewarrior teams.

The game was Dawn of war deployment with Capture and Control Primary and Annihilation Secondary.

Josh went first and deployed 2 chimeras with vets, and a command team.  I deployed nothing, but walked on everyone but the Farsight Bomb on my turn one.  This really sucked for me as it demonstrated one of the key weakness's of the Tau Codex.  On my turn 1 though I had 11 markerlights available, none of them could fire because they are all heavy wpns attached to non-relentless units.  This is why I hate markerlights.  It makes no sense to have a fast troop choice equiped with a primary equipment that they can't move and fire.  How is that a fast unit?

Moving on, Neither of us accomplished much on turn one obviously.  Turn two  both Josh's Leman Russ variants came on from reserve along with his stormtroopers and his second HQ walked on then ran into the cover of the ruins, he moved up and fired his two chimeras wiping out most of my pathfinders, shot at my shas'el attached to my broadsides with the exterminator and his stormtroopers and failed to get any kills but put a wound on my shas'el.

On my turn 2 Farsight bomb hit on a 2+ thanks to the Pos Relay, though they scattered from my intended position behind a chimera over closer to the command squad, I chose to go with it.  I could have rerolled due to the pathfinder DFish, but decided that the command team was a good target and that put me closer to his tanks anyway.  I fired 2 sniper drone teams at a chimera failing to glance, and the 3rd at the stormtroopers killing one model.  Shas'el fired misslepods at stormtroopers then assaulted.  One Broadside had LOS to the executioner but failed to even glance the 14 front armor.  The farsight bomb fired 14 MP shots at the executioner and managed one glancing hit immobilizing it.

Turn 3, Josh's Valkarie failed to arrive again.  The chimeras wiped out a Sniper Drone Team both leman russ' and his command squad fired on my Farsight Bomb killing 6 out of 7 shield drones, and the storm troopers remained locked in assault with my Shas'el.

My Turn 3 I rolled for both firewarrior teams but only got one.  Farsights team moved up into position setting up to fire their twin linked flamers at the first HQ while also setting up a multi-assault later on into the HQ and one Leman Russ.  Here is where I bitch about FNP for a moment.  After hitting the HQ for 14 wounds, with my flamers, I failed to kill a single model due to FNP from the Medic.  Now they had Carapace armor on so they had a 4+ armor save.  but 5 models 14 wounds, all saved?  That is just ridiculous.  Anyway, my broadsides moved up on the hill and wrecked the executioner, I managed to immobilize a chimera and destroy both its guns, and in the later assault Farsight exploded the other Leman Russ while his body guards did nothing to the HQ on Init 1 due to assaulting into ruins.

Turn 4 Josh's Valarie still didn't come in but his last chimera did.  He moved it 12 and popped smoke.  He killed 2 sniper drones and all but 3 firewarriors in the first team.  Both units made their leadership.  I ended up winning both the ongoing assaults, catching his storm troopers and the HQ and wiping both out unfortunately for him as this allowed me to consolidate farsights team toward the second HQ.

My turn 4 I brought on the last of the firewarrior teams who shot up some veterans, destroyed a chimera with the broadsides, fired inefectively with everyone else other than farsights team who caused 21 wounds with flamers on the second HQ which due too FNP took 1 wound on the autocannon base..  again.   Ridiculous.  I then assaulted them but failed to do much in the way of wounds, the combat was a draw, or he lost one but made his leadership.










Turn 5, his Valkarie came on which he moved 24" and couldn't fire.  He got a vet squad out of their chimera and fired at my firewarrior team.  His other vets moved and fired at the other team.   I don't think he killed anything this turn.  Farsight and friends wiped out the other HQ and consolidated towards my objective.

My turn 5 we were in a rush at this point as it was after 11 and BKG closes at 11.  They kindly let us finish up.  I moved farsight towards my objective again.  I fired the broadsides into the immobilized weaponless Chimera assuming any result on the damage table would destroy it, I rolled a wreck anyway.  I unloaded 6 firewarriors and 4 sniper drones into one vet squad killing it.  I unloaded 14 misslepod shots from farsights team on the other vet squad, then finished it off with fire from the DFish.

We called the game at this point in part due to the time, and in part because Josh had 2 units left on the board and I was winning 8 kill points to 2 and there was just no way for him to catch up.

My thoughts on the game and our lists:  While the sniper drones were very effective last time against Erics jetbikes, the dawn of war deployment and Josh keeping his troops locked away in the chimeras pretty much neutralized them.  The pathfinders are still worthless in my opinion.  They added very little to my game considering the 181 pts they cost to field.  Tactically they just suck.  Farsight and his bodyguard.  The whole reason I brought the pathfinders was for the rerolled deepstrike, and because having a unit with 8 models 7 with missle pods meant I'd finally have a unit worth giving markerlight hits too.. Only they never really got to use them.  That said, they were very effective, wiping out 2 HQ's, a tank, and most of a unit of veterans.  I doubt they paid for themselves points wise.. but by tying up those HQ's in assault the whole game, I minimized the effectiveness of his Masters of Ordnance.  I really don't see why people say Farsight breaks the army.  There are enough options in the codex you don't need to bring more than one of any given unit anyway.  Though I do miss the kroot, vespid and ethereals in the farsight list.

I think Josh would have been better off bringing all his units on on turn 1 except the stormtroopers.  As it was he was simply denied the shooting from all those units for most of the game and allowed me to focus my fire on the units he did have on the board.  Deployment wise, he brought on his Second HQ in the corner behind the first, even though I had Farsight still in reserve and planning to deepstrike.  I think he should have brought them on on the far end of the board to limit the units farsight could get to given any particular deep-strike position.  I'm also less and less in favor of bottling up  troops in transports.  yes they are more maneuverable, but you are denied half your firepower and with capture and control being the primary objective, I'd have been inclined to mass all my fire to guard my objective in his position.  Either way it was a fun game.