Short Game at the Comics Keep

Game: Last Man Standing 1500pts

Lists

Anthony's List

Terminator Chaplain

Terminator Squad

Tactical Squad: Missile Launcher and Flamer
Tactical Squad: Meltagun and Missile Launcher
Scout Squad: 5 scouts with Bolt Pistol/CCW

Scout Bike Squad

Whirlwind
Devastator Squad: 2 Lascannon, 2 Multimelta
Devastator Squad: 4xHeavy Bolter

Approximately 1500pts

Tau List:

100 Shas'El Commander w/Cyclic Ion Blaster, Plasma, TA, HWMT
97 Shas’El Commander w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Target Array, HWMT

189 3x Crisis Suit: Plasma, BC, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA
201 3x Crisis Suit: Plasma, MP, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA
139 2x Crisis Suit: Plasma, MP, MT. Tm Ldr w/HWMT and TA

80 6xShas’La FireWarriors w/Pulse Rifles, Tm Ldr also has Markerlight.
80 6xShas’La FireWarriors w/Pulse Rifles, Tm Ldr also has Markerlight.

70 Piranha Fusion Blaster, TA
70 Piranha Fusion Blaster, TA
70 Piranha Fusion Blaster, TA

180 2xBroadside, Advanced Stabilization. Tm Ldr w/HWDC and 1 Shield Drone
180 2xBroadside, Advanced Stabilization. Tm Ldr w/HWDC and 1 Shield Drone

1456pts

Anthony had suggested a 1500pt battle for this game. We ended up starting late, so we didn't have time for the full game, but we had a good time anyway.

Setup

We set up the terrain until we were both satisfied and got down to playing. Each side basically had a line of buildings or forests giving a fair amount of cover, but being a little forward of the deployment zones, so that we would have to move into some of the terrain to utilize it. We also left a small "no man's land" section in the middle, giving any troops that moved far enough forward a nearly limitless fire lane across the board. To hurry things along, I skipped standard deployment rules and we just deployed simultaneously. (Ie: instead of him placing a selection from the force organization chart, then me and so on, we just both placed until we had everything on the table.) Anthony basically made a line across his deployment zone with his Marines while the Whirlwind sat in back (as it should.) He also chose to Deepstrike his Terminators and Infiltrated his Scouts on my far Left Flank. I went back to my original plan for my Tau: a modified version of the Split deployment. I put a set of Broadsides and a unit of FireWarriors and a Piranha more or less out on each flank. I put the bulk of my Crisis Battlesuits center, planning on reinforcing either flank with their mobility if it came to that. I also made sure that everything was as far out of sight as possible. I won the roll for first turn, but as we were both well-protected by terrain, I let him take first turn.

Turn 1

Space Marines: Since he didn't have much in the way of targets, he pretty much moved everything forward, with the Devastators trying to get good firing positions and the Scouts and Scout bikes moving toward my left flank. The Whirlwind took a shot at my fairly tightly packed Crisis Suits in the center, Wounding one.

Tau: On my Right flank, the Firewarriors move up toward the large building there, planning on taking advantage of the heavy cover. On the same end, the Broadsides moved between the building and forest, angling for some shots at the Whirlwind (but failing.) On my Left Flank, the Piranha moves toward the Scouts, with the FireWarriors lending some fire support. The Broadsides and all the Crisis suits move up and concentrate on the more immediate threat: Scout Bikes. These guys are fast and furious. Although they aren't fabulous in close combat, and there were only three of them, against my Tau, that's still a serious threat! After a hail of plasma and Railgun and Burst Cannon fire, only scattered pieces remained. The remainder of the Crisis suits that didn't fire at the Scout Bikes pour their fire in to the nearer of the Devastator squads, killing them to a man.

Turn 2

Space Marines: The Tactical Squad and the Chaplain on my Right move forward aggressively. The Devastator squad fires into Piranha 2, shattering it's engine and bringing it to the ground in a smoking wreck. Scattered fire into the second Broadside team, but only manage to damage the shield drone, rendering it useless for the rest of the battle. The Whirlwind fires again, but it scatters too far off the target.

Tau: The FireWarriors on my Right move back away from the building to keep away from the Tactical squad opposite them. The Crisis suits move up and target the Chaplain and the remaining Devastator squad. The Chaplain is Wounded, but his Rosarius keeps him alive. The Devastators are riddled by fire and cut down to less than half strength. The FireWarriors on my Left move toward the Scouts, Rapid-firing on the way and adding their fire to the Piranha and it's Drones. Aside from the sergeant, the rest of the scouts die, leaving him falling back on his own in the face of heavy firepower.

Counting the Cost
Here we had to end the game. I had to leave, so we did a quick tally of Victory Points and packed up our armies. I had taken 1 Devastator squad to under half strength and wiped the other out. I had also taken out the Scouts, aside from the Sergeant. (Initially I was thinking that he was falling back at the end of the game, but given the And They Shall Know No Fear special rule, I think he technically rallied.) I also took out the Scout Bikes and Wounded the Chaplain. In turn, Anthony took out a Piranha. He also damaged several Crisis Suits, but didn't kill any of them. He also took out a shield drone, but didn't do enough damage to the Broadside team to count for points. That left us with these point totals...

Tau:
1/2 Chaplain: 55
1/2 Scouts: 32
1/2 Devastator squad: 75
Devastator Squad: 150
Scout Bikes: 75

Space Marines:
Piranha: 70

Final Score 387 to 70. Solid Victory for Tau.

Wrapup

Anthony was a little disappointed at how little damage he'd managed to do to my army. I explained that that was how my army was designed to work. They hide, jump out and do a little bit of damage, then jump away again. I told him how it was designed around the Tau concept of preserving their own lives, rather than doing damage. I pointed out that the loss of the two lives of the Piranha crew would sadden the Tau, as opposed to Space Marines who would view Space Marine casualties as heroes that died in service of the Emperor.

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