Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report #40 – Craftworlds vs Tau Empire

The ATC trial runs continue, this time with the Eldar and the Tau squaring off in the streets of an abandoned city. Mal’caor Mont’yr has spent many months in travel, but he is finally entering the battlefields once more. Can he drive back the Eldar forces of Iybraesil, and claim this planet for the Greater Good?

The Armies

Iybraesil Strike Force

Craftworlds – 1,850

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Maugan Ra: WARLORD (Mark of the Incomparable Hunter)

Farseer: Jetbike, The Spirit Stone of Anath’lan

TROOPS

Windriders: Scatter Laser

Guardian Defenders: Scatter Laser

HEAVY SUPPORT

Fire Prism: Shuriken Cannon, Holo-fields

Falcon: Bright Lance, Holo-fields

Aspect Host

Dark Reapers: two additional Dark Reapers; Dark Reaper Exarch, Starshot Missiles

Swooping Hawks: one additional Swooping Hawk; Swooping Hawk Exarch

Warp Spiders: Warp Spider Exarch

Dire Avenger Shrine

Dire Avengers: two additional Dire Avengers, Dire Avenger Exarch; Wave Serpent transport       with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-Fields

Dire Avengers: two additional Dire Avengers; Wave Serpent transport with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-Fields

Dire Avengers: two additional Dire Avengers; Wave Serpent transport with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-Fields

Vior’la Tok’rhenna Shi

Tau Empire – 1,850

HUNTER CONTINGENT

Hunter Cadre

Commander: XV8-02 Iridium Battlesuit, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Command and Control Node, Vectored Retro-Thrusters

Strike Team: five additional Fire Warriors; DS8 Tactical Support Turret with Smart Missile           System, Devilfish transport with Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, and Twin Smart Missile    Systems

Strike Team: five additional Fire Warriors; DS8 Tactical Support Turret with Smart Missile           System, Devilfish transport with Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, and Twin Smart Missile    Systems

Strike Team: five additional Fire Warriors; DS8 Tactical Support Turret with Smart Missile           System, Devilfish transport with Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, and Twin Smart Missile    Systems

XV104 Riptide Battlesuit: Ion Accelerator, Twin Fusion Blasters, Early Warning Override

Pathfinder Team: four additional Pathfinders

Pathfinder Team: four additional Pathfinders

XV88 Broadsides: two additional XV88 Shas’ui, 6x Missile Drone; Twin High-Yield Missile       Pods, Twin Smart Missile Systems, Target Locks

Optimized Stealth Cadre

XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit: Cyclic Ion Raker, Twin Fusion Blasters, Early Warning Override

XV25 Stealth Team: Fusion Blaster with Target Lock

XV25 Stealth Team: Fusion Blaster with Target Lock

After Action Review

Carnage. Sheer, utter CARNAGE. The Hunter Contingent is fantastic, but my favorite rule came in the form of the Hunter Cadre’s ability to Run before firing their weapons. This gave me superior positioning on several occasions, allowing me to make shots that would have otherwise been Snap Shots. The biggest winners for this rule were the Pathfinder teams. In the past I’ve found myself moving them for optimal positioning, only to make Snap Shots and drastically reduce their effectiveness. Now they have a good bit more versatility, and don’t feel like they need to plant their feet as much as before. The Coordinated Firepower was also nice, as it gave me decent buffs in situations where the Markerlights were needed elsewhere.

This Tau list is one I have played in the past, with a few minor tweaks to add the Optimized Stealth Cadre. The additional rules have only made it that more gruesome. That Broadside nest never fails to impress, as it accounted for almost every vehicle in his force!

I think the Eldar would have benefited from a different deployment. I don’t think the massed Reserves did him any favors, and I know that deploying the two Wave Serpents in my fields of fire was a bad move. If they had all hunkered behind the building complex, they could have at least ensured an intact move against me on the first turn. When he chose deployment zones, I thought that this was definitely his approach. That said, I’m sure he deduced as much, and will handle the opening set-up differently in coming games!

Come on armchair generals, tear us up; what would you do different?