Lego Microscale: Tau Hammerheads

So my brother visited me and the family a few weekends back. During his visit he and my two-year-old played a lot with Legos. Among their creations were these amazing microscale Tau Hammerheads.

Video Battle Report: Ulthwe vs Tau

I've gotten some request for speaking English in my Battle Reports, and this is my first attempt in doing so. Please note that English is not my primary language, so be nice :)

Please let me know what you think about this Battle Report format, especially compared to my other Video Battle Reports.

For this Battle Report, I fielded my Ulthwe once more against my buddy Norau's Tau army. We played a mission from an upcoming tournament.

Alpha mission: Objectives
If both players claim an equal number of objectives, they both get 8 Battle Points
If one player claims 1 more objective, he gets 10 Battle Points, whereas his opponent gets 6
If one player claims 2 more objectives, he gets 12 Battle Points, whereas his opponent gets 4
If one player claims 3 more objective, he gets 14 Battle Points, whereas his opponent gets 2
If one player claims 4+ more objectives, he gets 16 Battle Points, whereas his opponent gets 0

Beta Mission: Quadrants
A player that has 1-3 units (scoring or otherwise) in either quadrant that were not used as Deployment Zones, that player earns 1 Battle Point
If a player has 4 or more units in these quadrants, this player gets 4 Battle Points

Gamma Mission: Enemy Leader
The player that kills or routs the enemy HQ unit with the highest points value gets 2 Battle Points.

Check out www.invasion.no for more on the Invasion tournament.

Video Battle Report: Dark Eldar vs Tau

I played this game versus my buddy Norau about three weeks ago. Always eager to play different armies, I took my brothers old Dark Eldar to the field. I took a webway portal list, complete with a Dracon with retinue, Talos, Ravager and a lot of other interesting units. I even included some Scourge, Mandrakes and Grotesques!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dark Eldar and the webway, the Webway Portal is a wargear item which can be deployed on the field by a character. When activated, any Dark Eldar reserves can enter from the portal, as if it was a board edge! This can be devastating, and was one of the most powerful builds in 4th edition. Watch the video to find out how the Dark Eldar fared in 5th.



Apologies for the lighting. We played late at night, and my camera isn't very good in poor light conditions.

Video Battle Report: Necrons vs Tau

The Necrons will rise again!
Originally uploaded
by Xadhoom.

I have read a lot of negative press about the Necrons in 5th edition. Determined to prove that they are still at least playable, I took them to the field once more. This time, against my buddy Norau's Tau.

The Necron army I played actually won a tournament for me in 4th edition, so I was very excited to see how they would perform in 5th.

The game was 1500 points, Seize Ground with 3 objective markers. The Tau set up first and got first turn.



Music from http://www.freeplaymusic.com

Video Battle Report: Tau vs Chaos Space Marines

My brother came to visit me last weekend, and we played a lot of Warhammer 40k. This game is between my brother (playing Chaos Space Marines) and my buddy Norau (playing Tau).

The game is 1500 points, and the mission is Seize Ground. Both players placed a total of 4 objective markers. The player who controls the most objective markers at the end of the game is the winner.



Music
Alan Silvestri: End Credits, from the movie "Predator"
Breaking Benjamin: Firefly, from their album "We are not alone"
Photex: Ren 2, from the Animatrix soundtrack

Can Stealth Teams win the game for the Greater Good?

Stealth Team Leader
Photo by Will Merydith.

My buddy Norau started playing 40k Tau about six month ago. He's having mixed results in learning to play both a new game and a new army, so I've tried to think about some builds that will work well in 5th edition.

Most of the time, we play the three standard missions in the main rulebook, so both Kill Point denial and controlling and contesting objectives are important aspects of our meta game.

The army he uses is based on these principles:

1. Placing large amounts of the army in reserve
2. Using the Positional Relay to control when reserves arrive
3. Using the Pathfinder's Devilfish transport to increase the accuracy of Deep Striking units

He has been using a 6-man Stealth Team (one Hard Wired Target Lock and a Fusion Blaster) in the last few games, but their performance has so far been unimpressive. The standard method of delivery has been Deep Striking them next to a tank and a weak infantry unit, trying to destroy both in a single blow. Unfortunately, the odds are heavily against them, as they are often very unsupported at this stage in the game. They are always annihilated the turn after. See how they performed in our last game.

I am starting to think that they can be used better in another role: Outflanking harasser!

Using the Positional Relay, we can control which turn they arrive from reserve. Coming from the flank in the later stages of the game can be a game-winner. Let's say that the opponent have placed a relatively weak unit, for example Guardians or a combat squad of Space Marines controlling an objective far away from the action. Six Stealth Suits can unleash a torrent of fire, severely weakening the unit. They can also take out Razorbacks or Wave Serpents sitting on the objective.

Due to their Stealth Field Generators, they cannot be dealt with at long range. The opponent has to send units to deal with them at close range. This can also help at the front lines if the opponent gets confused and tries to send units back to support the defenders at home.

Get more for free
To make the unit even more dangerous, we can give every model a Drone Controller for free, even the Team Leader. This gives us the ability to take 12 Drones for 120 points, which gets Stealth Field Generators for free (see Tau Empire Codex, page 27). They can also Outflank with the Stealth Team (see Tau Empire Codex, page 35). Compared to Drone-only units, you get two nice upgrades for free.

This unit has 18 wounds, is highly mobile, and can unleash overwhelming amounts of fire power against the relatively weak defenders. In objective-based scenarios, this can win the game for the Tau. In Kill-Point missions, the unit is difficult to kill due to its size and Stealth capabilities. At 312 points, it is fairly expensive, but the offensive and defensive capabilities should mitigate this somewhat.

If they fail to take out all troops on the objective, they can even assault if needed. Yes, Tau are fairly weak, but these guys will operate far away from the thickest action. 42 attacks on the charge should be able to kill about two Space Marines. Not much, but maybe just enough. All they really have to do is get within 3" of the objective and not die.

What do you guys think? Is this a workable unit tactic? Will it perform better than Deep Striking close to the action?

Video Battle Report: Eldar vs Tau

Once again, I have played against the defenders of the so-called "Greater good", the Tau.

I played a game of 40k against my buddy playing Tau at Oslo Miniature Games Club (www.2d6.no).

The game was 1250 points and the mission was Kill Points. To make things a little more interesting, we had a secondary objective at the center of the table. This objective was worth the same as having the most Kill Points.

I played my Ulthwe army, with no Wraiths and no Aspect Warriors. Seers and Guardians for the win! Fortunately, the Eldar vehicles are piloted by Guardians, or this army build would never work. The Falcon, Wave Serpent and the Vypers are essential components in the list.



We are speaking norwegian, but you guys should be able to understand what's going on anyway, as I've written about the action in english. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask questions in the comments.

SPOILER ALERT! Watch the video before reading any further!
As for tactics, I made a few really stupid mistakes in this game:

1. I lingered with my Wave Serpent, even though the Tau had a Twin-linked Fusion Blaster up its tailpipe. I should have used the Star Engines to get out of there immediately!
2. I deployed too wide, and left units unsupported. My War Walkers were completely stranded, and my Storm Guardians and regular Guardians should have been dead thrice over! I was lucky, really lucky. Only two of the Guardian Defenders survived, and three of the Storm Guardians. Between them, they passed five Morale Checks and one Pinning Test. Really lucky, but not well played.
3. I gave up the objective. Sure, the Falcon can take a lot of damage, but the Fusion Blaster-armed Battlesuit was still alive after turn 5, so he could have taken out the Falcon, and the 22 Fire Warriors would have had no problems in taking out the Seer Council! The game ended after turn 5, and I contested the objective. Lucky for me, but again, not well played.

In addition to my mistakes, the tau player made some of his own. The Hammerhead trying to tank shock the Seer Council was unwise. I don't think the he will do that mistake again.

All in all, I won, but it really could have gone either way. One more turn, and both Guardian units would have been wiped out, the Falcon and Seer Council were in serious jeopardy, and I would have been unable to reliably contest the objective.

Do you guys see any other mistakes I made? Could you have done better? Feel free to comment!! :)

Battle Report: Eldar vs Tau

I played a game of 40k against my friend Norau a few days ago. He plays Tau, and I tried the Ulthwe list that I posted earlier.