Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report #43 – Craftworlds vs Tau Empire

The ATC missions are beginning to enter the streamlined phase, but we have a few more weeks of testing before we get back to general gaming. Today the Tau Empire and the Eldar square off over the Relic. It promises to be interesting, as we haven’t played this mission in a very long while!

The Armies

Iybraesil

Craftworlds – 1,850

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Maugan Ra: WARLORD (Mark of the Incomparable Hunter)

Farseer: Jetbike

TROOPS

Windriders: 2x Scatter Laser

Guardian Defenders: Scatter Laser

Dire Avengers: one additional Dire Avenger; Wave Serpent with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-  fields

Dire Avengers: one additional Dire Avenger; Wave Serpent with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-  fields

FAST ATTACK

Swooping Hawks: one additional Swooping Hawk, Exarch

HEAVY SUPPORT

Fire Prism: Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones, Holo-fields

Falcon: Bright Lance, Holo-fields

Aspect Host (+1 BS)

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

Fire Dragons: Exarch; Wave Serpent with Twin Scatter Lasers and Holo-fields

Warp Spiders: Exarch

Vior’la Tok’rhenna Shi

Tau Empire – 1,850

-          - HUNTER CONTINGENT –

Hunter Cadre

Commander: WARLORD (Through Boldness, Victory); XV8-02 Crisis “Iridium” Armor, Multi- Spectrum Sensor Suite, Command & Control Node, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Drone       Controller, Vectored Retro-thruster

Cadre Fireblade

XV8 Crisis Team: two additional Crisis Shas’ui, four Marker Drones; 6x Missile Pods, 3x Target Locks

           

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

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

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

Pathfinder Team: four additional Pathfinders

Hammerhead: Railgun with Submunitions, Twin Smart Missile Systems, Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, Blacksun Filter

Hammerhead: Railgun with Submunitions, Twin Smart Missile Systems, Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, Blacksun Filter

Optimized Stealth Cadre

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

XV25 Stealth Team: Fusion Blaster, Target Lock, 2x Advanced Targeting Systems

XV25 Stealth Team: Fusion Blaster, Target Lock, 2x Advanced Targeting Systems

After Action Review

In hindsight, I jumped the gun too early in the game. The Eldar didn’t have the presence in the center of the board to drive me back, and I could have easily just focused fire on the units that came after the Relic each time. After the Warp Spiders’ initial movement, there was little else that could be done except stepping onto the Objective and waiting to weather the fire. This was especially true as the game wore on, and the Optimized Stealth Cadre took a horrendous toll on his numbers. Although my plan worked out in the end, it cost me an exorbitant amount of Fire Warriors early on that didn’t have to die.

The Eldar plan kept the initiative thoroughly in their court throughout the game. No matter how well I was doing on the Kill Points and table control, I just couldn’t let them continue to run away with the Relic. It was a significant number of points in their favor until the end. I really think that if he had continued to commit in the early game, I would have been in trouble. The Crisis Team had one turn where they were in range of the Dark Reapers. If they had punched into my anti-tank team early, they may have prevented the several vehicle kills that the XV8s produced.

In the end, I cannot complain with the Tau performance. I got the rolls I needed on time, despite a few poor bits of shooting, and the Eldar were very quickly melted away. If he could have capitalized on the other Objectives instead of focusing solely on the Relic, I think it could have been a very different game.