NEW Tau/Eldar vs Necrons/CSM in "The Wise Learn to Adapt" (1500, 4/13)

[BigToof]

NEW Tau/Eldar vs Necrons/CSM in "The Wise Learn to Adapt" (1500)

Hi All,
Welcome back.

'TOOF IS PUMPED UP FOR THIS!  NEW CODEX!  WAAARAGH!!

Uh, ahem, I mean...

Been away for a while if only because I had to digest the new Codex.
Many people say nerfs.  Yes, this is true to some units.  But in a way, it's more of an evolution.

And is the play style different?  Oh yes.  But the raw FIREPOWER that the Tau now possess is just... just...

Sit down and watch me play a game.

With my new shiny Tau (and mostly proxied new models...  Where for art thou, Riptides???) and slowly gathering moss-level of ancient Eldar models, I sat down for a good game against a mate who is working on getting his Necron/CSM list solid.

It's pretty... mean.  I wasn't looking forward to fighting it, but I wanted to get a good guage as to how the Tau will play.  And I hoped that even if I got my fanny handed to me, I could see what I could and couldn't do.

So, relax and enjoy the unfolding rep.

Oh, yes, and there's fluff too.

Best,
-BT

P.S.  Comment away! The more I see the sooner the rep comes out!

------------
The Lists
------------

NEW Tau/Eldar List 1500pts: 49 Infantry, 1 MC, 1 Fort; 10VPs
Shas'O Sha'shiva w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Irridium Armor, Puretide Chip, Drone Controller, Marker Dronesx2, Target Lock, Onager Gauntlet, Multi-Sensor Suite
Ethereal Aun'ui
Shas'vre Kor'va (Riptide w/Ion Accelerator, TL-Fusion Blaster, Early Warning Override)
Fire Warriorsx12
Krootx15 w/Sniper Rounds, Kroot Hound
Pathfindersx7
Broadsidesx2 w/TL-High Yield Missile Pods, SMS, Missile Dronesx2
Farseer Lorilune w/Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones, Guide, Mindwar, Jetbike
Fire Dragonsx5 w/Exarch, Tank Hunter, Crack Shot
Guardian Jetbikesx3
Ageis Defense Line w/Quadgun

Necron/CSM Alliance 1500 (28 Infantry, 6 Vehicles, 1 MC, 1 Fort; 12 VPs)
Overlord w/Scythe, MSS in CCBarge
Warriorsx5 w/Stormtek in Night Scythe
Warriorsx5 w/Stormtek in Night Scythe
Wraithsx5
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Tzeench Daemon Prince w/Black Mace, Wings, Power Armor, Mastery 3
Cultistsx10
Helldrake
ADL w/Comms
---------------------

-------------------------
Chapter 3: Evolve or Die
-------------------------

Sha'shiva walked the deck of her new Flagship.  She couldn't get over the changes that swept over everything in the past few months.  A few months ago, they were prisoners of the Orks, held in a dank asteroid and forced to fight for their survival.  Then, the unthinkable happened.

They were saved.

An Ethereal came at the head of a small diplomatic envoy.  She wasn't present for the negotiations, but somehow the Ethereal had managed to barter their release from the green-skinned barbarians and more.  Things must have traded hands, but the Ethereal, Aun'ui, had said that it was unnecessary for her to know the details.  Which was more than enough for Sha'shiva.  She whistled as she walked, trying not to skip.  For the first time in a very long time, the universe was looking bright.  She turned a corner and saw a familiar Tau leaning against a railing, looking as if he was hoping that it would suck him up into its metallic core.  Sha'shiva smirked.  It was her time to get payback.

Sneaking up, she got within a few fingerbreaths, and jumped to her full height, barking out, "What do you think you're doing, Shas'vre?!"

To her surprise, the Tau turned very slowly, and she saw the clearly sullen face of the newly minted Shas'vre Kor'va.  Kor'va had been her friend for years, and she had never seen him so shaken.

"Oh.  Hi Shiva."

Sha'shiva frowned and leaned on the wall next to him.

"Kor'va.  What's wrong?"

Kor'va looked down into the engineering bay where the Earth Caste were reoutifitting their battlesuits.

"Heavy.  Rail.  Rifles."

Each word was thrown out like submunition shot, but with the tone of a Tau on the brink of dispair.  Shiva sighed.

"Kor'va, you can't let yourself be like this.  I know change is hard to get used to, but you'll adapt.  You'll see."

The Shas'vre nodded woodenly.

"I know.  The Ethereal said so.  So it must be true, it's just...  Just that...  It feels like they're cutting off my genitals and sewing on...  I don't know... a markerlight or something."

Sha'shiva snickered at the thought and then looked apologetically at her friend.  Kor'va sighed again.

"I'm not 'Bang' anymore, Shiva.  More like 'Fizzle' or 'Pew-Pew.'  You don't know what it's like..."

Sha'shiva nodded, paused and then said, "Bang, I've got something that'll make you feel better."

Kor'va jerked his head up and looked at her with a certain, somewhat familiar, look of surprise, which made Shiva roll her eyes.

"No, Kor'va, not that.  Tell me, do you know what a XV-104 is?"

--------------------

Farseer Lorilune snarled, pacing the deck and doing her best to ignore the Tau staring at her.  What in the world did she do to the universe to make it conspire against her?

Everything was fine.  The Book of Forgotten names was safely in the hands of the Tau under her control.  Grumgutz knew that.  So what if there was still a small chance of Daemonic incursion?  She could have handled it.

But, no, the Warlord had to take it all out of her hands.  She could smell his green-skinned handiwork on the 'sudden' arrival of the Tau and their sickeningly-sweet diplomats.  Grumgutz did all but give them the locks and keys as the Tau were handed over for some trinkets and weapons.  Not that she would have cared, but then on that fateful day, the brain-dead Tau Commander came over and told her that they had bartered for her 'freedom' as well.

Lorilune stopped to slam her foot against the deck at that thought.  She had nearly strangled Grumgutz for that, but the Warlord just told her to 'keep her eyes open' and 'play along.'

Play along indeed!   Who did he think he was talking to?  She was not a child at his beck and call.  She was a Farseer of the Saim-Hann.  First among the finest of the universe.  And now, she had to play the part of the grateful prisoner now being escorted back to Tau space on their irritatingly slow vessel that reeked of their foul machines.

Lorilune fumed a bit more and scowled as she heard a clicking sound.  Far beneath her were a group of taller aliens walking with a large beast-like creature.  She glared at them. 

Kroot.

She had seen Kroot before.  Savage, despicable, cannibalistic mercenaries, just a rung or two below Orks.  She shook her head.  How could things possibly get worse?

----------------------

Overlord Vas'ryn looked again at the enormous creature that sat in the cargo hold of their ship.  It was monstrous in size, but it's manners were very odd.  The winged creature sat, reading a stack of books with a set of odd looking spectacles perched on it's nose.  Vas'ryn was sure it was just for appearance.  The creature, calling itself 'Malarky,' came to him, saying that it spoke on behalf of the Chaos god Tzeench.  Vas'ryn knew little of this 'Tzeench' fellow, but any 'god' or otherwise that came bearing gifts could be of potential use.

Vas'ryn had recently taken a beating from the Imperial Guard, and his neighboring Overlords were already probing his territory for weakness.  He needed a victory.  And soon.

Then this Malarky creature had appeared, somehow finding it's way through all of his bodyguards and security, and offered his allegiance if Vas'ryn would help him get a book for his master.

Vas'ryn didn't like the idea of working with lesser, fleshed creatures, but the creature said that the book contained great power that could help him in his struggle for dominance.  It didn't even resist when Vas'ryn attached the Mind Shackle Scarabs, although the Scarabs seemed to do irritatingly little to it.  He supposed that even the Scarabs were confused by it.  To up the ante, Malarky then lead him to a few worlds ruled by the force known as Chaos, bartering with the insane keepers for a group of humans to serve him and an enormous flying beast.

It all seemed too easy, and Vas'ryn didn't like it.  He walked over, stood for a few moments as his internal circuits worked out a number of possible outcomes, and then tapped on the creature with his Scythe.

The creature looked down over his spectacles and smiled an irritatingly friendly grin.

"Ah!  Lord Vas'ryn. Please, come, take a seat.  Have a spot of tea."

Vas'ryn was about to say that there was neither a seat nor tea, but then there was a squeaking sound and a group of thin, barely-clad humans wheeled in a cart with some kind of odoriferous liquid and a chair cobbled together from random parts.

The Overlord thought again for a few moments, and then sat down.

"You must be wondering why all of this is going on."

Vas'ryn nodded.  The creature had the annoying habit of knowing what he was going to say before he said it.  While this sped up communication, Vas'ryn hated the idea that he was becoming predictable.

The creature nodded in return.

"Indeed.  And that is a very, very good question.  I only wish I had a very good answer.  My master, the Great and All-Knowing Changer of Ways, does not inform this humble servant about every detail of the Great Plan.  But, I am assured that the role we play will be of utmost import.  In fact, I do believe that we will have a grand time before this all plays out."

Vas'ryn narrowed his ocular outputs.  The fleshy ones recognized this as his 'frowning face.'

The creature raised up his hands, "I do apologize, great Overlord, and I only wish I knew more to help you, but I think...  No, no, I know, that we will work splendidly together.  Milk or lemon?"

Vas'ryn felt a bit of satisfaction.  The creature did not know everything indeed.  He liked his tea black.

--------------------
Pre-Game Thoughts: Holy gack, no wonder nobody wants to play against this list.  It's got AV13 shooty death mixed with an MSS Lord, Wraiths, a tricked out Daemon Prince and... a Helldrake.  And my opponent clearly knows more than what he's doing than me, as this is my FIRST game with Tau.

Er...  The NEW Tau at least.  I added an Ethereal, went gonzo on the Shas'O (my fault, too many choices!), and wanted to try out the Riptide, sniper Kroot and the Missile Broadsides.  I kept the Eldar because at least I know what THEY can do.  Fire Dragons for anti-everything that isn't horde, Lorilune for shenanigans and Guardian Jetbikes for Turn 5 contesting.  All I have to do is SURVIVE to get that far...
-----------------------
Mission: The Scouring (6 random point objectives)
Setup: Dawn of War, Night Fight ON
Warlord: Shas'O: Precision of Skilled Hunter (can't LOS), Overlord: SCORING (!!!)
Psychic: Lorilune: Prescience, Invisibility (!), Daemon Prince: Tzeench Primaris, Enfeeble, Haemorrhage
------------------------

To be continued!

[The Man They Call Jayne]

One thing that I have come to consider essential in the new Tau lists is the Neuroweb System Jammer. Stupidly cheap but can really save your skin from most Rapid Fire units.

Other than that it seems pretty solid. Look forward to seeing this game.

[Cammerz]

Oh I'm so happy for Bang getting his new suit, a great little bit of fluff there. I'm also loving Malarky, sounds like a fun antagonist there, especially teamed up with a Necron who drinks tea.

I haven't had a game in with my tau yet (will do today though, I'll try to remember to take notes so I can write it up), but your list looks solid, especially with the Eldar contingent, we know what they can do so you're safe using them, they should also make up for the complete lack of railguns (never thought I'd see the day where Tau lists were being created without them).

So, conclusions; great fluff and a decent-looking list, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

[BigToof]

Hi All,
Thank you very much for the kind comments.

One thing that I have come to consider essential in the new Tau lists is the Neuroweb System Jammer. Stupidly cheap but can really save your skin from most Rapid Fire units.

Other than that it seems pretty solid. Look forward to seeing this game.

Thanks for the comment Jayne!
I liked the list too, but even what I had on my Commander turned out to be enough...

What are you planning to use on yours?

Oh I'm so happy for Bang getting his new suit, a great little bit of fluff there. I'm also loving Malarky, sounds like a fun antagonist there, especially teamed up with a Necron who drinks tea.

I haven't had a game in with my tau yet (will do today though, I'll try to remember to take notes so I can write it up), but your list looks solid, especially with the Eldar contingent, we know what they can do so you're safe using them, they should also make up for the complete lack of railguns (never thought I'd see the day where Tau lists were being created without them).

So, conclusions; great fluff and a decent-looking list, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Hi Cammerz!

Glad you like the fluff and the list.

Malarky's intesting eh?
I'll have to see what I can do about giving him more time then.
And yes, the Riptide is very, very satisfying.  Both in fluff and on the tabletop.

Oh, and I would love to see those games when the do come out!

Here's a bit more.

-----------------------
Setup: We roll to see who deploys first.  My opponent won the roll for choice and (sort of surprisingly) made me go first.  My ADL goes central making a U shape in the center of the board.  Some scattered ruins went to my right and center of the board.  Woods to the left.  My opponent didn't get as much coverage, and deploys his ADL long-ways across the center and right, sort of connecting with a ruin on the left.  Things are going to get nasty I feel.

We're both squeamish about getting shot and thus line our backfields with our three objectives each.  Rolls come up for me 1, 4, 2 and his come up 3, 3, 2.  So... slightly in his favor.

My Kroot go down as a long conga line just behind the ADL.  Fire Dragons behind them on the Quadgun.  Fire Warriors behind everyone with the Ethereal.  The Pathfinders go slightly to the left.
I put the Guardian Jetbikes in reserve.

Then I'm left where to put Bang (Riptide) and Lorilune.  I ask my opponent if I can join them together, and present the arguments for and against it.  As he's an occasional 'Nid player, he says he's used to seeing this sort of combo and just to see how nasty (or not) it is, he lets me go for it.
So I put Lorilune and Bang together on the roof of the ruins on the right with a pretty commanding view.

My opponent has put his Comm station slightly to the right and puts the Cultists surrounding it.  All three barges near the center with the CCB and Overlord slightly to the left.  The Prince goes to the left hiding out of Line of Sight.
And with that, the game begins!
My opponent tries to steal the initiative, but fails.



Picture Caption: Well, either we go big or go home.  Personally, I hope for the former.

[The Man They Call Jayne]

My commander is currently (unless I use a character) taking a Cyclic Ion Blaster and Missile Pod, Iridium Armour, Shield Generator and the Neroweb System Jammer and a Drone Controller.

This lets him fire from turn one and add more power the closer he gets. If he happens to intersect with some marker drones or gun drones, he can boost their power while he is there, and one he is in range, start overcharging that Ion Blaster for S8 Blast goodness. Once he is close to enemy lines, the Neuroweb can start making enemy guns really unreliable.

[Chicop76]

It's been debated at our store to add Bs 5 drone commander to rip tide's drones for BS 5 missile pods, or add Shadowsun to him for a +2 cover save.

It's like th hive tyrant bodyguard mess.

[Osiris]

i always enjoy reading your batreps. this one is no exception! cant wait to see the outcome of the battle, itll be interesting to see how the Tau/Eldar worked against those pesky CSM/Necron units. so hurry and post up the rest!!!

[BigToof]

Thank you all for the very kind comments!
I will reply a bit later, but please enjoy the rest of the rep!
Comments and Critiques greatly appreciated!

Best,
-BT


Turn 1: Tau/Eldar
-----------------
"Fascinating.  So you are saying that this Eldar Farseer has had no disruptive effect on the command of your units?"

Shas'O Sha'shiva swallowed, looking down at Ethereal Aun'ui.  She didn't know why the Ethereal was set on coming down for a supply run, but that wasn't her immediate concern.  She couldn't lie to an Ethereal.  But, the options of presenting potentially damning information was certainly under her discretion.

"Farseer Lorilune is a... valuable part of my formations.  She offers certain... properties that are not otherwise normally found in a Cadre."

Before she could say more, a pair of voices rang through the still dark night.

"I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

"Get down, you idiot, you're going to bring the whole roof down!"

Sha'shiva held her head for the necessary few moments, and looked over to see the Farseer Lorilune on her Jetbike, hovering and shouting at an enormous Battlesuit, ungainly perched on the roof of a ruined building.  She glanced over at Aun'ui, who had a contemplative look on his face.

Before she could respond with the necessary plaintives, a chirp went over her comms.

"Shas'O!  We have a problem."

Sha'shiva frowned.  That was one of her Pathfinders.

"Report, what's going on?"

"Gunships ahead.  Unknown model and origin."

Sha'shiva frowned.  What was going on here?  The merchant that had given her the location of the drop seemed on the up-and-up.  Although she did think his name was rather odd.

But what kind of name was Malarky anyway?

--------------------------------------
Right, so first things first.
Prescience goes up on the Riptide.
I put the Ethereal to Fire stance and the Shas'O to Tank Hunter.  We would stay in this configuration pretty much all game.
I don't move up much as I'm well aware of the Necrons' close range firepower.

Pathfinders throw up markerlights first and I get a decent 4 hits.
My Broadsides and Commander then fire, with the Broadsides ignoring cover and upping their BS by 2!
The resulting fussilade of missile-related fury gets thrown the way of the cultists and the entire unit is wiped.
(Cue Necron player jawdrop #1)
Simultaneously, Sha'shiva's drones (BS5) fire and hit the Barge on the right.
Bang uses the Ion Accelerater on Nova level and hits dead on, taking down a nearby Wraith and also exploding the Barge after some Fire Dragon help (with no cover!  ...  And Cue Necron player jawdrop #2)
Satisfied with destroying two of my opponent's units, I pass it to the Crons.



Picture Caption: Wow, that was... a LOTTA dakka.


Turn 1: Necrons
--------------------
Overlord Vas'ryn was greatly displeased.  The humans that were guarding the communications hub had been rendered to smaller fleshy components despite their cowardly attempts at hiding from the Tau fusillade.

He was always surprised at the depths to which flesh could fail.

Gesturing to his Wraiths, he watched in satisfaction as proper Necrons took took their place behind the armored line.
Things needed to be done soon.  The Tau would have to be broken up close.

He looked over, feeling his ire build as he saw the Daemon Prince squatting behind a chunk of rubble, reading it's book while toying with an enormous mace.

Before he could activate it's Scarabs, the creature looked up with a smirk and took flight.

"To arms, my Overlord!  It is time to strike, is it not?"

Vas'ryn nodded.  The Tau would pay for their insolence.  Soon there would be less flesh on this world, and the universe would be better off for it.
---------------------

Surprised and maybe a little scared with how two of his units were just erased, my opponent makes a sort of hard decision that I wouldn't have (personally) made.  He moves his Wraiths over to the Comm Station.
The CCBarge zooms out to threaten my left flank and Malarky flies over too.
The Prince tries some Tzeench shooty-ness, but it's nicely blocked by wards.
The Annihilation Barge has scooted up and throws some shots at that pesky Quadgun, but it only suffers a wound.


Picture Caption: Yeah, I'm... gonna in be in trouble.


Turn 2: Tau/Eldar
------------------
Farseer Lorilune swore as she saw the Daemon Prince take flight.

Chaos.

Now things were making sense.  They wanted the Book.  No doubt somehow, a bargain had been struck with the Necrons.  She was always discomforted with the ways that the Metallic Undead were so keen to ally with various forces.  If only they just wanted extermination of the universe like the Tyranids.  It would make dealing with them far more simple.

There was a glow next to her as the enormous Battlesuit disgorged a massive bolt of energy, which flew over the battlefield and landed next to a group of Necron Wraiths.  Lorilune felt a mental twitch as she altered the fates so that it actually hit where the Tau was aiming.  Most of the Necrons phased out of existence at the right moment.  A few did not.

She rolled her eyes as the Tau whooped with joy next to her.

"Did you see that?!  Who needs targeting arrays?!  I'm a master of disaster!"

Lorilune snorted.  At least that much was true.
--------------------

I decide to keep the pressure on.
Prescience goes on the Riptide again as my Crisis Suits become available.
They land nicely enough near the CCBarge.
My Fire Warriors retreat back a bit and the Kroot move over to pad the left flank.
Pathfinders boost the Crisis Suits and they nicely blow apart the barge.
The Overlord gets out, rather miffed that his ride is ruined.
The Quadgun fires and wounds the Prince, who falls from the sky (but isn't wounded).
My entire army then unloads into the Prince and Overlord.  The Overlord falls, but the Prince survives on one wound.
Huh, that's probably not that good...
Oh, and Bang fires the Ion Accelerator at NORMAL overcharge (S8 is good enough!) at the tightly packed Wraiths and takes down another one.


Picture Caption: Well, at least that's going to make things harder for the Crons.


Turn 2: Necrons
-----------------
Overlord Vas'ryn hated getting blown apart.  The resurrection protocols always seemed so lengthy.  There were some gasps of the usual fleshy fear as he got back up.  He turned as he sensed something next to him and narrowed his ocular outputs as he saw the enormous Prince.

"Shall I lead the way, oh great Overlord?"

Vas'ryn considered the possibilities.  The Prince would be more damaging given it's size, but it was also clearly heavily wounded.  But, then again, it was better than being shot to shreds again.

Vas'ryn nodded and the Prince gave a haughty salute in return.

"Very well, I will do my best.  But, perchance if things do fall to the wayside, I will see you back in the ship after a stop in the Warp.  Bon chance, my friend."

Vas'ryn scowled as the creature walked forwards into a curtain of explosives.  He hated chance.  It was unpredictable by definition.  Death, on the other hand, was quite reliable...
-------------------

The Overlord GETS BACK UP.  (Oh yeah... they can do that...)
Despite the help from the Comm Station, one Night Scythe stays out, but one Necron flyer still comes in and so does the HELLDRAKE.
Trogdar flies over to my center, ready to flame apart my (unfortunately tightly clustered) guys.
The Night Scythe is about to consider firing when the Fire Dragons' Quadgun tears it from the sky.
The Annihilation Barge backs off to the center, where the Wraiths move over to help out.

Malarky moves up and declines to shoot this time despite my best encouragement to do so (aww...)
And not but far from least, the Overlord shuffles up to make more trouble.
Just as I feared, Mr. I'm-the-new-OP Helldrake flames and manages to throw his template over 4 pathfinders, some kroot and some fire warriors who ALL DIE horribly.

It's enough for morale checks, which my opponent is quite pleased with.

The AnniBarge shoots out a bit, trying to bait my Crisis Suits, who lose a wound, but don't take much else.
Thanks entirely to the Ethereal, nobody runs off the board as all morale checks are made.  (Whew)

Down to assault, the Prince decides his luck first, gets lit up by a markerlight and then the HORDE of missiles, SMS, plasma, fusion and perhaps even a kitchen sink.  Needless to say, he decides to a take a powder in the Warp.
The Overlord (perhaps thinking it safe), decides to try his luck.  The Kroot and Fire Warriors throw in their shots and he rolls a 2 for a save.  The Overlord goes down.  I remind my opponent that he has a 2+ save, but actually... not this time (No Sweave???).



Picture Caption: FIRE ALL MISSILES!


Turn 3: Tau/Eldar
--------------------
Sha'shiva nibbled on her lip as the reports came in.  They were being shot to shreds by the strange flying monster, but more importantly, the Necron backfield was vulnerable.  If she dared, it would be possible to drive them from the field of battle.  But, she needed something sizable.  Something massive.

She winced internally as the obvoius choice came to mind.

"Bang?  This is Shiva.  I need you to take the Necron backfield.  Move forwards with..."

"Can I take Lorilune?"

Shiva frowned.  The Eldar wasn't even supposed to be on the field, much less play a part of it.  She wasn't sure the Ethereal would like that.

"I don't know Bang, she might...  She might be more of a hindrance than..."

" A HINDRANCE?  You dare besmirch the might of the Eldar?!"

Shiva winced as the screech came over the comms.  She had forgotten that she gave the Farseer a device in the last battle.

"I... didn't mean to say that..."

"Oh I understood you clearly.  Let's see then.  I suppose that obfuscating the presence of myself and the large Battlesuit here would not be of import?"

Bang interjected, "Obscu... what?"

Lorilune sighed, "Invisibility.  Nigh complete as you'll be able to find.  Much more than your lamentable technology can generate."

"Like... A Stealth Suit?  By the Tau'va! I'm...  I'm gonna be a GIANT XV-25!  Do it!  This is going to be so great!"

Sha'shiva was about to say a word of warning, when she felt a touch on her shoulder.  She looked over, and then bowed in respect when she saw Aun'ui next to her.

"Patience, my child.  Let us see what they can do.  The Greater Good is brought about in a myriad of ways."
----------------------

Well, first things first, I pop Invisibility on Bang and Lorilune and they jump down, getting ready to clear out the Wraiths.
Jetbikes come in and I move them over to the right to settle down next to my right 2pt objective.
The Crisis Suits move forwards to finish off the last barge.

The last Pathfinders show that they share my distaste for large, flying, obviously OP-expensive models by lighting up the Helldrake twice.
The Broadsides fire out and tear it down from the sky with something like 4 or 5 glances/pens, while the Shas'O lights up the AnniBarge to ignore cover.  The XV-8s then tear it apart.
The rest of my army then fires into the Wraiths, bringing them down.

Bang and Lorilune shuffle forwards using their assault moves.


Picture Caption: Big Daddy and Little Sister movin' out!


Turn 3: Necrons
----------------------------
Vas'ryn HATED getting shot and pulle back together.  HATED it.

There were less gasps this time, much to his irritation as well.  The flesh was getting haughty.

He took a moment to consider the battlefield reports.  They were grim.  But defeat was not the way of the Necrotyr.

Hefting his Warscythe, he readied himself for another charge.  Even if it took a thousand times, he would make it to their lines.  Flesh fails.  Metal perseveres.
---------------------------
Guess what I forgot?
The Overlord gets up.  AGAIN.
The last Night Scythe also comes in.
Also, one of the Warrior squad comes in and snuggles out of LoS onto the left back objective.
The Fire Dragons annihilate the Night Scythe with their intercept shots.
The Overlord decides to try his charge again.
Cue Missile Barrage.
Overlord goes down.


Picture Caption: Hiding...


Turn 4: Tau/Eldar
-----------------------
Overlord Vas'ryn was displeased.  His ocular outputs were being obscured as the Kroot Hound tried to gnaw on his decapitated head.  Breaking his armored exterior with mere bony teeth was nigh-impossible.  But it was significantly slowing down the already annoying slowly resurrection protocols.  Things were not looking up at all.
--------------------

Well... ummm...
I move the Kroot over to deny the Overlord getting back up.
Bang and Lorilune keep going forwards...




Turn 4: Necrons
------------------------
The other squad comes in.  Bang fires a shot at them using overwatch, knocking two down... but they get back up!




Turn 5
Bang and Lorilune eventually make it over to the objective and the Necrons, still invisible.
The small Warrior squad assaults, but it's hard for them to do much between the invisibility and Bang's enormousness.
The Riptide squashes two Warriors and Lorilune and the Stormtek swing pointlessly at each other.
The Warriors run off the board, and the Necons concede...



Result: Tau/Eldar Victory!

--------------------
Post-Game Thoughts:

Tau are SO much different this time around.

Solid defense with supporting fire basically allowing your entire army to discourage assaults is just mean.

The new Shas'O worked out quite well, and I think I took far too many upgrades, as I didn't even get to use the Donkey Punch...  I mean Onager Gauntlet.  Still, the Commander was a powerful, powerful force-multiplier and now I want to try other combos just to see what it can do...

The Broadsides were devastating when combined with the Pathfinders, just mowing down everything with high BS S7 firepower with Tank Hunter.

In retrospect, I think the Pathfinders were really key, as their markerlights basically let me ignore cover and massively mitigated snap shots.  When most of them got burned by the Helldrake, it became much harder to deal with units.  Luckily, I still had the Commander's drones and well...  I got a bit lucky with 6's.

The Riptide was fun, but I think I should have been a bit more aggressive, as he could relly have done more, but now I know.  S8 intercept large blast is also really rude.

The Eldar played their usual solid form.  Lorilune didn't disappoint and helped Bang's admittingly terrible BS (how is it that our elites aren't better shots than Fire Warriors?).  And the Fire Dragons once again proved that they are point for point perhaps the deadliest anti-tank in the current game meta today.

Now that I know (and am impressed by) how the Tau play, I think I'm willing to try new lists.  Any suggestions?
-----------------

Farseer Lorilune sighed as the Necron in front of her flailed pointlessly in the air around it.  Invisibility was one of her favorite abilities, if only that it showcased the inherent clumsiness and inferiority of the lesser races.  She heard a whooping sound and glanced over at the large Tau Battlesuit that was kicking and swinging it's arms in ungainly arcs, only hitting some of the Necrons because they couldn't see it.  Apparently the power worked both ways.

"I'm the Big Bad Invisible Riptide, and I'm going to smash you all up!  Feel my Fist of Fury!"

Lorilune shook her head and counted the seconds until the Necrons phased out.  The Tau let off a cheer at what was perhaps the most underwhelming part of the entire afternoon.

Victory was inevitable at the start of the battle.  After all, the Eldar had chosen to ally with them.  What more did they need?

"So uh... you wanna get something to eat after this?"

Lorilune frowned, looking up at the Battlesuit.  A scathing rejoinder bound to her lips, but she paused in consideration.  On one hand, this Tau seemed to be of some social import, as he was clearly piloting one of their advanced prototypes.
And on the other hand, this might be an opportunity to eat something other than the foul drek they were handing out to the Eldar.

"Your proposal is... acceptable."

"REALLY?!  I mean, uh... really, now," said Bang, fist-pumping the air inside his battlesuit so hard he might set the Nova-reactor on fire.  "So it's a date then."

"No, this is a dinner.  And I expect nothing but finery."

Bang nodded, bouncing up and down with glee.  This was his chance.  He'd pick the best spot in the dining concourse and get the purple AND the pink food ration bars.  This was going to be great.  Nothing could possibly go wrong.
-----------------

Everything had gone wrong.  The only thing Overlord Vas'ryn hated more than the resurrection protocols was teleportation and THEN resurrection protocols.  He fumed, seated in his chair while the newly remade Daemon Prince sat across from him, pouring something into his cup.

The Prince seemed almost bemused by the whole situation, and was saying polite rejoinders about the events as if they were amusements.  Vas'ryn was considering activating the Scarabs when the creature spoke.

"One lump or two?"

Vas'ryn looked over at the creature with a dainty spoon in it's claw.  He normally didn't take anything.  But, in this case, with every circuit set to annoying discomfort, perhaps a change from the norm was in order.  He held out two fingers and the creature complied.  Next time, he thought, next time the Tau would feel his pain.  And that would be a sweet day indeed.

[Cammerz]

Brilliant, markerlights are just so good nowadays, and Ethereals are amazing with their big Ld 10 bubble. Well done on the slaughter, I sort of feel sorry for your opponent there but the Heldrake was a nasty piece of work.

As for the fluff, great as always, I really enjoy Lorilune and Bang's friendship, he somewhat reminds me of a slightly cleverer Bigtoof the Deff Dread, and his Ion Accelerator looks to be a fantastic weapon (Ion weapons are one of the fun parts of this new codex, even if it's just a CIB on overcharge).

And you want suggestions for new list ideas? Something tells me that Sniper Drones are amazing this edition, put them in near the Ethereal for the Fire boost. And Vespids, harder to kill than last edition with better armour and longer range, a big unit of 12 can make mincemeat out of MEQs, especially with a few markerlights thrown into the mix.

So, a fantastic report as usual, looking forward to the next one.

Job's a good un!

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Excellent battle. Tau firepower can be scary when used correctly, as it should be. The sheer difficulty in assaulting them now is great, and we have a few tricks to make enemy shooting less effective if we need to. For 2 Points the Neuroweb Jammer is one of my favorite toys.

The Cataclysm suit is just an utter beast, just have to watch out for overloads. Other than that, its a point and kill beatstick.

[Osiris]

awesome battle. great conclusion to it. looking forward to seeing a rematch between the Cron and Tau. maybe another appearance from Lorilune as well.

congrats on the win as well.

[Lord Sotek]

Well written as always 'Toof, and that Tau firepower was jawdropping. It felt like you basically had him shut down from Turn 1, and everything else was just the prolonged decapitated flailing.

That said though....

The merchant that had given her the location of the drop seemed on the up-and-up.  Although she did think his name was rather odd.

But what kind of name was Malarky anyway?

>Malarky
>Not Mal'aur'ki
Bigtoof, what are you even doing?!

[BigToof]

My commander is currently (unless I use a character) taking a Cyclic Ion Blaster and Missile Pod, Iridium Armour, Shield Generator and the Neroweb System Jammer and a Drone Controller.

This lets him fire from turn one and add more power the closer he gets. If he happens to intersect with some marker drones or gun drones, he can boost their power while he is there, and one he is in range, start overcharging that Ion Blaster for S8 Blast goodness. Once he is close to enemy lines, the Neuroweb can start making enemy guns really unreliable.

Excellent battle. Tau firepower can be scary when used correctly, as it should be. The sheer difficulty in assaulting them now is great, and we have a few tricks to make enemy shooting less effective if we need to. For 2 Points the Neuroweb Jammer is one of my favorite toys.

The Cataclysm suit is just an utter beast, just have to watch out for overloads. Other than that, its a point and kill beatstick.

Thanks for the reply!
I really am going to have to try out the Neuroweb Jammer, as it sounds like fun.  One thing I do want to try is mass Pirhanas with Seeker Missiles and then have mass Markerlights through a Support'O and Marker Drones just start erasing things.
I did have a neat game that will be up that has...  different things though

It's been debated at our store to add Bs 5 drone commander to rip tide's drones for BS 5 missile pods, or add Shadowsun to him for a +2 cover save.

It's like th hive tyrant bodyguard mess.

Agreed, but I think that perhaps the Riptide doesn't need the support as strongly as some of the other Tau units.  It's nice to have, but that becomes a lot of points rather quickly...

i always enjoy reading your batreps. this one is no exception! cant wait to see the outcome of the battle, itll be interesting to see how the Tau/Eldar worked against those pesky CSM/Necron units. so hurry and post up the rest!!!

awesome battle. great conclusion to it. looking forward to seeing a rematch between the Cron and Tau. maybe another appearance from Lorilune as well.

congrats on the win as well.

Thanks for the reply and I'm glad you're liking Lorilune.  She's always a fun character to write and I think I'll keep the Eldar for a while as it seems that Psykers are the main source of trouble for the Tau, as some powers (i.e. Hallucination, Invisibility, JAWS), can just spell disaster for your army.  And thank you for the kind reply about my writing.  I seem to write too much at times (or so it seems), so it's always good to see that people want more

Brilliant, markerlights are just so good nowadays, and Ethereals are amazing with their big Ld 10 bubble. Well done on the slaughter, I sort of feel sorry for your opponent there but the Heldrake was a nasty piece of work.

As for the fluff, great as always, I really enjoy Lorilune and Bang's friendship, he somewhat reminds me of a slightly cleverer Bigtoof the Deff Dread, and his Ion Accelerator looks to be a fantastic weapon (Ion weapons are one of the fun parts of this new codex, even if it's just a CIB on overcharge).

And you want suggestions for new list ideas? Something tells me that Sniper Drones are amazing this edition, put them in near the Ethereal for the Fire boost. And Vespids, harder to kill than last edition with better armour and longer range, a big unit of 12 can make mincemeat out of MEQs, especially with a few markerlights thrown into the mix.

So, a fantastic report as usual, looking forward to the next one.

Job's a good un!

Thanks Cammerz!
I really did like this little write-up and Bang and Lorilune are just flowing so well.  They really do help make a good rep and hope to flesh things out as my list progresses more.  I do like Drones, perhaps I'll try Marker drones in a bit...

Well written as always 'Toof, and that Tau firepower was jawdropping. It felt like you basically had him shut down from Turn 1, and everything else was just the prolonged decapitated flailing.

That said though....

The merchant that had given her the location of the drop seemed on the up-and-up.  Although she did think his name was rather odd.

But what kind of name was Malarky anyway?

>Malarky
>Not Mal'aur'ki
Bigtoof, what are you even doing?!

Haha, I suppose that's true about the decapitation.  The firepower on T1 was just so tragically amazing that it stunned him into now deciding to go first against all Tau.
Re: Malarky
I've always been a bit puzzled about Tau naming/pronunciation.  Is there a good rule of thumb someplace?

Best,
-BT

[The Man They Call Jayne]

As a rule, it needs an apostrophe every 2 syllables

[BigToof]

That will make some names rather long...

But thanks for the help!

Best,
-BT