Scouting Report
Well, I've begun putting together my Tau army and I've been working up lists and studying tactics, so I felt it was about time I get a little game in to see if I've been paying attention! Fortunately, my able assistant Marissa was up for a showdown. She fielded a Genestealer list from my Tyranids, while I fielded a small army of my Tau. Since she is very new to 40k, I kept the mission simple and the lists small. (800pts, Last Man Standing.)

800pts Tau vs Tyranids. Mission: Last Man Standing!
Tyranids

195pts Broodlord (3+ Sv, Flesh Hooks, Implant Attack) and Retinue of 5 Genestealers (4+ Sv)

160pts 8x Genestealer (4+ Sv)
160pts 8x Genestealer (4+ Sv)
120pts 6x Genestealer (4+ Sv)

165pts 3x Zoanthrope (Warp Blast)


Tau

97pts Shas'El Commander (Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, BS5, HardWired MultiTracker) (Note: I believe this is known as a Helios5)

131pts Crisis Team Alpha (Each w/Burst Cannon, Plasma Rifle, MultiTracker. Team Leader has a Hardwired MT and BS4) (Note: Bladestorm config)
131pts Crisis Team Beta (Each w/Burst Cannon, Plasma Rifle, MultiTracker. Team Leader has a Hardwired MT and BS4)

70pts 10x Kroot Carnivores
80pts 6x Fire Caste Warrior w/Pulse Rifle. Shas'Ui is equipped with a Markerlight.

140pts 2x Pirahna Skimmer w/Fusion Blaster and BS4
140pts 2x Pirahna Skimmer w/Fusion Blaster and BS4

Programs, Get your Programs!
Since the bulk of my Tau aren't assembled, and I have no Broodlord, there was a fair amount of proxying for this battle. A Tyranid Warrior made a decent Broodlord, and I had plenty of Genestealers to go around. For the Tau, I used some Terminators (from the Doom Eagles Strike Force 1) for my Crisis Suits. (The ones with Cyclone Launchers were the Team Leaders and the one with only a Cyclone Targeter was the Commander.) I used my one assembled Fire Warrior as the Shas'Ui with Markerlight, while the rest of the Fire Warriors were Termagant models. Spinegaunt models made up my Kroot squad, but I didn't have anything the right size for the Pirahnas. I finally chose some pieces of paper and a small notebook that were close to the right size. In the Deployment picture below, you can see the Kroot in front of the Fire Warriors, with the Crisis Suits clustered next to them and behind the Forest. The Pirahnas basically make a line across the deployment zone. (We were using my gaming table as a 4x4 board, given the size of the game.) Across the table, you can see a brood of 8 Genestealers in the Forest, along with a Zoanthrope. Then there's another Zoanthrope, the Broodlord's Retinue, the other brood of 8, the last Zoanthrope and the brood of 6, respectively.

Turn 1
Quick note: Since I have never played with the Broodlord before, I totally forgot that he and his Retinue can Infiltrate, which makes up for their lack of Fleet of Foot. Since we started the game before I had realized my mistake, I simply let them Fleet instead. Tyranids won the roll for first turn and moved forward. A Zoanthrope Blasts Crisis team Alpha, causing a Wound to the regular Battlesuit and killing 1 Kroot in addition. Another Zoanthrope blasts at a Pirahna, but misses.

The FireWarrior Shas'ui lights up the Genestealers in the forest. The combined firepower of the Fire Warriors and the Kroot Carnivores manages to take down 1 Genestealer. The Pirahnas from Squadron 2 manage to fry a Zoanthrope. Crisis Team Beta combines with the Commander to kill off another Zoanthrope, while Crisis Team Alpha cuts down 4 more Genestealers from the group in the forest. After that devastating amount of fire, the remainder of the brood begins to fall back.

Turn 2
As the Genestealers move ahead, the remaining Zoanthrope kills the wounded Crisis Battlesuit from Crisis Team Alpha. Genestealer brood C (the six-strong group) assaults one of the Pirahnas, but can't catch the nimble skimmer.

Pirahna Squadron 1 cuts down the final Zoanthrope, while the Fire Warriors and the Marker-lit Kroot kill off two members of the Broodlord's Retinue. The Crisis Teams, the Commander and Pirahna squadron 2 focus on brood B and kill 6 of the 8 members. The remaining two promptly pass their Morale check and shrug their shoulders.

Turn 3
Perhaps in response to the amount of fire nearby last turn, the Broodlord leads the Retinue through 6" of difficult terrain and then a 6" Fleet roll to barrel into the hapless Kroot, but only kill 3. (Brood lord rolls: 1,1,2,2,3) The Kroot manage to kill off a single Genestealer in turn, but make their morale test and are ready to continue the fight.

The Team Leader of Crisis Team Alpha has a sudden outbreak of common sense and falls back off the field of battle. (Missed All on His Own test.) The Fire Warriors move to Rapid Fire the remnants of Genestealer Brood B, but don't go quite far enough. (They could have made it, but I misjudged and moved too conservatively.) Crisis Team Beta walks into the forest and take out 4 from Brood C before jumping back out of the woods. The Commander himself jets forward and engages the remnants of Brood B with Plasma and Fusion, leaving only charred remains. At that point, the Broodlord and Retinue kill 3 more Kroot for no damage in return, run them down and advance toward the Fire Warriors.

Turn 4
The Broodlord and Retinue hit the Fire Warrior team, killing 4. 1 Fire Warrior actually manages to hit back, but fails to Wound. The two remaining are demoralized, fail their Morale test and are run down by the Retinue. The two remaining members of Genestealer Brood C charge Crisis Team Beta and rend the regular suit into shreds while the Team leader flails bravely but ineffectively.

The two Pirahnas from Squadron 1 and the Commander manage to cut down the last two members of the Retinue and put 2 Wounds on the Broodlord. Crisis Team Leader Beta takes a Wound from Brood C, but passes his test to fight on to the end.

Turn 5
The Broodlord assaults the skimmer wall of Squadron 1 in frustration, but accomplishes nothing. The remaining members of Brood C finally kill off Crisis Team Leader Beta and move forward but cannot get to the Commander.

The Commander turns and blazes away into Brood C, leaving their ashes scattering in the wind. The Pirahnas of Squadron 1 focus their Fusion Blasters on the Broodlord and char him as well.

Some Good, Some Bad
Well, I did manage to set up some skimmer walls and I did a lot of damage with my Crisis Suit teams. On the other hand, I also realized that I am bad at judging distances. At least twice I moved the wrong distance, one time leaving my Fire Warriors just an inch or so outside of Rapid-Fire range, which doomed Crisis Team Beta. As important as Jump-Shoot-Jump is to Tau in general, and my army (since I focus so heavily on my Crisis Suits) that's a skill I'll really need to learn. Ultimately, though, I think it was a good showing in general. I tried to balance the armies as much as possible, having them take items that weren't necessarily ideal for this matchup, but that I would field in an all-comers list. If I were to do it again, I'd either give the Tyranids more shooting or I'd take fewer Pirahnas. Fast AV11 Skimmers are hard to handle for a close combat list.

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