Assault Tau Battle Report

On the 97th and 98th Episode of the 11th Company Podcast at http://www.tangtwo.com/11thcompany/episodes.cfm we were again featured and during that interview, I mentioned my Assault Tau as an aside.  A couple people heard it and jetted me a PM asking me how that works.  So I thought I'd post a battle Report from it.  Ironically it segues with the discussion we just had on Stealth Clouds.  I had forgotten that this army had both a cloud unit and a Crisis unit in it!  So it makes sense to post from both perspectives.  Excellent timing.

ASSAULT TAU VS CHAOS MARINES

CHAOS LIST

1 20 man Chaos marines

2 10 man Chaos Marine units (Rhino)

 8 Berzerkers *Rhino)

 2 units 10 Lesser Daemons.

 Daemon prince with Warptime.

 10 Havocs

 Chaos Land Raider

 

My Basic list

Aun'Va

Shas'o (2 Shield Drones)

2 x Team Lead Broadsides (2 shield drones each)

3 x 11 Fire Warrior units (Grenades)

1 x 10 Kroot

1 x Kroot plus Hounds and 3 Krootox

2 x Crisis Suits with Drones and TL Flamers.

Stealthsuit Cloud unit

Terrain:  Full Cityscape with roads in between.

 Mission:  Kill Points, Spearhead Deployment

First Turn: Chaos

CHAOS DEPLOYS:  Northwest:

3 Rhino’s, One as close to the vertex of the board as is allowed, behind a central builing (Rhino 1); one where the the deployment zone ends on his long board edge (Rhino 2) and the third on the road close to Rhino 2 (Rhino 3)

Havocs are placed in a building about midway along his allowable long board edge deployment, with only his 4 missiles Launchers showing, basically…

Daemon Prince right in the middle and ready to rush me.

TAU DEPLOYS: Southeast

Broadside 2 is near the 24” line, about 13 inches from the short board edge

Broadside 1 is 12 inches up from my long board edge, about equidistant from the sides.  Both are specifically spaced to disallow outflankers the charge.  the Shas'O is with Broadside 1.

Krootox unit is in a building within the first 12” from my long board edge with clear sight to his Havocs and Daemon Prince.

Round 1

Tau stole the initiative!

Broadside 1 fired at the Daemon Prince, wounding it once.

Broadside 2 Destroyed Rhino 3 with its mighty TL Railgun, moving back slightly to do so.  The Khornate Berzerkers inside were burned badly in the explosion, killing two, serving only to further enrage them.

The Krootox Squad fired and killed a Havoc from across the field of battle.  It's a start.  But then it was their turn...

The enraged Daemon Prince of Slanesh flew forward towards Broadside 1, closing the distance fast.

Khornate Berzerkers flooded forward towards a building for cover on the run.

The Havoc Squad was deadly in this game.  It fired its 4 missiles at the Krootox unit because it was an easier target to kill than Broadsides and dropped their small blasts with deadly accuracy.  The Krootox unit barely held its ground, losing 5 even despite their cover advantage.  It could have and maybe should have been much worse.

The rhino in the center (Rhino 1) moved around its cover and into the street, flanking to the left essentially.  Rhino 2 at his long Deployment edge zipped forward on the road.  Tau hate roads.  Insane Chaos Warriors in Rhinos love them.

Round 2

 Aun’Va fails his reserve roll on a 1 and does not come in.  Thanks to the positional relay, no one else is allowed to try.  All's lonely on the western front for the Broadsides.

Broadside 1 fires on the Havoc squad due to line of sight issue with the Daemon prince, killing one.

The Krootox unit opened fire on the Berzerkers, killing one more.  "The slow blade penetrates the shield"

Broadside 2 failed to wound the Daemon Prince.  This was seen as a bad thing by all Tau concerned.

The Reserve Land Raider rolled to come on and whisked up the road.  Did I mention Tau hate roads?

A reserve unit of Chaos Marines rushes onto the field to the left.

A reserve unit of Lesser Daemons Deep Struck off the Khorne Icon on to the Road ahead of the Land Raider.

The Khone Berzerkers ran further into the building they were using for cover and approach, making them harder to see.

Rhino 2 rushed up the road beside and past the Land Raider on the right.

Rhino 1 (on the left) rushed forward and turned right on the road, towards Broadside 1.

AGAIN, the Havoc squad landed devastating barrages against the Krootox unit!  3 of four hit dead on. This time the Krootox and its fellows went to ground but still sustained 4 losses.  Hopefully reinforcements would be coming soon or it might be curtains for the Kroot.

Round 3:

The Kroot Carnivore Squad came in from reserve, far left but Rhino 1 was too far away and the Chaos warriors far forward of them were also too far a target.

The Krootox unit peeked out from the bushes they were hiding in.  Briefly. 

Stealth Suits came in from reserve on the right side and jumped into difficult terrain, firing a torrent into the Khorne Berzerkers and killing all but three.  Party time.

Both Broadside Battlesuits combined to kill the Daemon Prince in his tracks, and just in time, for his deadly path would surely have been through them.

The Chaos Warriors on the left moved and ran forward towards the outflanking Kroot, making good time towards them.

Rhino 1 summoned Daemons off of its icon and they landed just barely within 12” and to the right of the outflanking Kroot.  The Rhino itself zoomed full tilt down the street towards Broadside 1, getting very close.

Rhino 2 humped over difficult terrain and placed it’s nose within 12” of the Tau Board edge and easily within striking distance of the Broadside next turn.  There would be no escape now.

Havocs fired at the stealth suits, but their Stealth Fields confused the Havoc sensors and they missed.  Of course, the Tau Ethereal command had once again proven its philosophy of not being where the punch lands.

The Khornate Berzerkers in the building finally tried to charge the cowering Krootox unit in their building but could not quite reach them.  However their pistols did do some damage (again the Kroot unit held its ground through sheer mass more than courage).

The Daemons ahead of the Land Raider moved forward, eager to assault the Stealth suits next round that had gunned their Khornate buddies down, but since they could not reach them they decided to attack Broadside 2 instead.  They managed to kill both of its Shield drones and cause a wound to it despite its tough armor.

The LandRaider itself moved forward at full speed so it too could unload its group of Chaos Marines next turn, secure in the knowledge that the Stealth Suits were unlikely to be able to hurt them in close quarters fighting.

Round 4:

Rhino 1 and 2 were now very close to one another, and prepared to kill, but had moved their full 12”.

Two of the three Fire Warrior units rolled on from Reserves and each charged the Rhino in front of them, but their guns were of no avail and their EMP grenades managed only to shake the fast moving Rhino 2 and take its Twin-linked Bolter off.

One of the Crisis Battle Suit units came on and moved into the cover of the building in front of Rhino 1 (which was to the left of Rhino 2 at this point), unable to reach it because the Fire Warriors were blocking their avenue, and their flamers were of no use against its armored hull, twin linked or not!

Broadside 1 fired at and assaulted Rhino 2 with disappointingly little result.

Aun’Va of the Undying Spirit emerged and the command suit that had been attached to Broadside 1 joined his unit proudly.  They then charged Rhino 2 along with the Fire Warriors but failed to pop it, despite a bunch of STR 5 attacks and their EMP combined!!!

The Krootox unit, emboldened, moved down from its perch in the Building it was in and fired a salvo into the Khornate Berzerkers, mowing the last three of them down at the risk of being charged.  The gambit paid off.

The outflanking Kroot unit to the left rapid fired at the one Daemon unit they could reach with their weapons and killed exactly one of the Daemons.  It was to be pretty much the last useful thing they would do.  LOL.

Broadside 2 was joined by the hard charging Stealth Unit which, thanks to the Krootox unit, had no better target unless they intended to kill a land Raider with STR 4 (or a lucky Fusion Blaster shot, but the range was iffy).  Not happening.  So they rushed in and managed to win the combat.  The Daemons ignored the Stealth Unit and tried to finish the Broadside but this time its saves held and it clung to life.  Despite losing by three, the Daemons didn’t fail any of their Fearless saves!  Bad news for the Tau.

In the end analysis, almost nothing worked well during this surge, and the Tau were hanging in the wind, yet the songs of the Ethereals caused them not to be daunted.

Perhaps they should have been.

Chaos Warriors jumped from their Land Raider and assaulted the Stealth Unit and the Broadside, killing almost every drone, although again the broadside itself defied the best efforts of the forces of Chaos to engulf him.  The Tau lost badly, but thanks to the bolstering strength of Aun’Va, they stood their ground against the combined might of charging Chaos Warriors and Daemons.  Still...ouch.

The Havocs dropped Blasts with unerring accuracy into the hugely crowded area where all the reserve Fire Warriors, Command group and broadsides were, a perfect killing field.  They did not miss and almost half the models from both Fire Warrior units had to be picked up and put away, as did a Broadside Drone and a Shas’O Drone.  Rolled 1’s for both 2+ Shield Drones.  Ouch.  Again.  The price of Failure was steep indeed.

Rhino 2 disgorged its passengers as it was unable to move.  Rhino 1 dumped its passengers as well, and they all fired their pistols and melta’s into the command unit and Broadside unit, killing the other Shas’O drone and wounding the Shas’O himself.

This emboldened Chaos and they assaulted both the command unit and Broadside 1.  The power of Aun’Va is great however and he COUNTER ATACKED them!  This resulted in Aun’Va winning the fight despite losing a bodyguard to a Powerfist, and one of the two Chaos units fled.  Aun’Va was unable to follow as the second charging Chaos unit held fast.

The Daemons that the Kroot had shot rushed over to help, attacking the Crisis suits that were stuck in the difficult terrain where they had failed to attack the Rhino.  The Daemons ferocious attack would have made a lesser Shas’ui quail in fear but the calming influence of Aun’Va saved them even though they lost five of their six  drones during the Daemon charge!

The Chaos Warriors on the left decided to stop running and rained 16 shots into the outflanking Kroot that were slogging along in the buildings ahead of them.  5 Kroot bit it despite going to ground.  Ouch.  

Round 5:

The Last Crisis suit unit came on the board along with the Fire Warriors that remained. 

Unfortunately, there really was only one avenue of attack for them, so the fire Warriors took it, charging rhino 2 with their EMP grenades and exploding it. 

The newly deployed Crisis suits milled about waiting for an opening.

On the right, the Daemons and Chaos Warriors beat on the Tau Stealth unit but this time, the Tau concentrated all attacks on the Daemons and managed to finish them.  This so shocked the Chaos Warriors that they ran!  The Tau took no chances, gunning them down as they did run.

The first two units of fire Warriors that had come on decided they didn’t like getting blasted by the Havocs and they threw themselves into the fray against the Chaos Warriors and Daemons, making an impression.  The Crisis Suits continued to duke it out with the Daemons alongside them, holding their ground with the help of the fire Warriors influx of attacks, but the suits took wounds and were not in good shape.

The unit still engaging Aun’Va (and the Broadside) managed to kill one of his Bodyguards and with a swipe of his Power Fist, the Shas’O ceased to exist as ell.  Aun’Va held his courage though.  The Broadsidefought on as well, but to little effect.  Apparently Broadside 1 was executing the “shadow boxing” routine or something.

The Krootox unit, battered but not broken rushed forward, ready to help if needed, making up ground.

The outflanking Kroot had gone to ground and could do nothing.

Chaos Responded:

The huge Chaos Warriors on the left fired yet again at the pinned Kroot, whittling them down to two Mercenaries.  The Havocs, having a veritable heyday, blasted the newly deployed Crisis unit and Fire Warriors that were once again clustered near the wreckage of Rhino 2.

The Land Raider had no targets except the Krootox unit or the stealth suits, and so it fired at the Stealth suits in front of it, but it had little effect. 

The unit fighting Aun’Va that had run in Turn 4 was too close to the ongoing combats to regroup and it fell back again, just past a building for cover perhaps.

Rhino 1 hit the reverse switch and rushed backwards to the building its Chaos Warriors were running to in preparation to pick them up perhaps.

The Battle with Aun’Va ended, the Chaos Warriors punching a hole through his gut and dropping his lifeless corpse to the ground unceremoniously, alongside the Broadsides corpse for good measure.  Aun’Va, his retinue and Broadside met with unfortunate luck (and a Power Fist, which allows luck to be less relevant.)  Shock waves went through the Tau troops as this registered.

The Crisis unit that had just shown up to the battle was so shocked it immediately jumped off the board (waaah crap!), and the Fire Warriors that had just come with them did the same!!!!  Every other Tau unit grew angry; and anger focused itself into hatred, the white hot knife of vengeance.  The unit that had killed the great leader looked apprehensively around as every Tau Warrior became a bloody killing machine with one mission:  get free and kill those bastards.

It showed.

Oblivious to the change in Tau aspect, The Daemons continued their attack on the remaining Crisis suits, finishing all but one (1 wound left).  This time the Daemons lost to the combined anger of Fire Warrior and Crisis Battle Suit Preferred Enemy attacks, ending them.  There was only one target on their mind now:  the murderers of Aun’Va.

Turn 6

The Tau Empire rose on its heels that day and smote a mighty blow in memory of its fallen leader.

The unit of Fire Warriors that had fallen back from the shock of losing Aun’Va regrouped and fired into the infidel Chaos Warriors nearest them and they killed two.

The Stealth Unit fired its Fusion Blaster and annihilated the nearby Land Raider, then proceeded onwards towards the building where Rhino 1 had reversed into.

The Krootox unit (blasted in half now) rushed forward towards the Rhino as well, along with the now freed Fire Warrior remnants (less than half strength); and the remaining Crisis Suit (whose other two partners had died). 

The Crisis suit dropped its twin linked Flamer into the midst of the Chaos Warriors, immolating their sergeant, the last survivor of Aun’Va’s killers.  The Krootox rushed towards the retreating Rhino and shot the Chaos Warriors that had fallen back, killing more of them.

Then the Fire Warriors attacked and planted EMP grenades on the Rhino, wrecking it for good measure.

Seeing that they only had one hope to win the contest, the Chaos Warriors behind the building regrouped and then flung themselves at the Kroot hoping for an easy kill point.  Unfortunately, the krootox are not so easily fought and though the Chaos Warriors did several wounds even with their small numbers, the Kroot miraculously saved two of the wounds and then proceeded to hand out a beating.  With Kroot hounds in the majority, having lost so many Kroot Mercenaries to shooting, running the Chaos Warriors down was a simple matter (Majority init 5 on Hounds).

The Havocs fired at and killed the last Crisis suit, exacting their own vengeance, while the large unit of Chaos Warriors tried to kill the last two Kroot forward of them, and succeeded.

11-7 Victory for the Tau.