Midnight Corsairs [BT] Vs Au'Taal Recon Force [Tau] | [750pts][non-standard FOC]

[Narric]

This game was between RailgunConvention and I via Vassal. We were using the limitations of the First Round for the Storm of the Centaurus Arm Campaign. Depending on how you play your army, you can do a lot within the restrictins. There aren't that many anyway

My list composed of:
HQ - Marshall with Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Adamantium Mantle, and Artificer Armour
(yes, thats a 2+/3++ Eternal Warrior Character at 750pts)
Warlord Trait - Intimidating Presence

Troops - Crusader Squad made of Seven Initiates with their Neophytes (14 models), with one Crusader Upgraded to weild a Power Axe. A Dedicated Transport Land Raider Crusader with Blessed Hull, and Bozer Blade

Fast Attack - Assault Squad of five Marines, two with Plasma Pistols, one with Power Axe and storm Shield.

RGCs' List Composed of:
HQ - Ethereal
Warlord Trait - Through Unity, Devastation

Troops - 2x Fire Warrior Teams with twelve models

Fast Attack - ten Pathfinders

Elites(?) -  Riptide with Ion Accelerator and TL-Fusion Blasters

Heavy Support - Sky Ray



Field Deployment
Tau
RGC set up his Infantry and Riptide on the left side of the field, with his Sky Ray sitting in the right.

BT
I set up my Crusader in the centre of my d-zone, with my Crusader Squad and Marshall mounted within.

Turn One
Tau
RGc opened with confering FNP (6+) to all his Fire Warriors and Pathfinders thanks to his Ethereal.
One unit took up better positions in a ruin on the edge of his Deployment zone.

To gain a better firing position he moved his Riptide to the center of the field, using both its Run and Assault Move.

His Sky Ray locked on a Markerlight (the Snap-fire Hit, but not the @BS ), and used it to fire a Seeker at my Land Raider, causing a Glancing Hit.

BT
I moved my Crusader forward to get some shots off at the Riptide. Could only get a single Hurricane Bolter set in LoS. The Assault Cannon inflicted two wounds, whilst the Bolters caused one. The Multi-Melta did nothing. All were saved byu the Riptides' armour.

Turn Two
Tau
RGC kept with FNP (6+) on his Infantry.

The Pathfinders managed to land five ML hits on the Crusader (We played it as ML can be negated with Cover, and from the PF pov, the Crusader was obscured)), Which the Riptide used for increased BS.

The Riptide Ripple-Fired its Fusion Blasters. Firing at increased BS, and Overcharging the Ion Accelerator, it targeted the Crusader. The Ion inflicted a Glancing and a Penetrating Hit. The Pen causing a Vehicles Explodes result on the Damage Table. 4 Wounds were scored against my squad, killing one Initiate. The Crusader squad pass its Pinning Check.

The Sky Ray fires its MLs and misses. Then fires its SMS system, and misses again.

The FW squad in the ruins fire a volley at my Crusaders, killing the Power Axe equipped Initiate.

<Narric> - NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Axe Dude!!!! Gunned down in his prime *le sad face*

The Second FW squad in open ground fired, inflicting another four wounds. All were saved.

The Riptide then uses its Thrust move to move away from the Crusaders.

BT
Natural six when rolling for Resevres, bringing in the Assault Marines. They land right behind RGCs' Sky Ray. I completely skipped the movement phase, and went straight to shooting. The Assault Marines target the Sky Rays' rear armour with Plasma and Bolt Pistols, causing a Glance and a Pen. ON the Vehicle Damage Table I rolled a natural six. The resultant explosion engulfed the Assault Marines, but didn't wound them.

Turn Three
Tau
Etherl Ability change to "+1 shot at half range" and the Riptide failed to Ripple shoot.

The Pathfinders targeted and marked the Assault Marines with seven MLs.

Blue FW Team fire at BS10 at the Assault Marines, scoring nieteen wounds. RGC guessed 6 saves would fail, and low-&-behold, six saves failed.

Red FW Team fired on the Crusaders, inflicting five wounds, with two causing fatality.

The Riptide fires it Ion Accelerator, and missed due to scatter. Its TL Fusion Blasters then also miss. in the Assault phase, in Thrusts further asway from the Crusaders.

BT

I simply ran my Crusaders towards The Relic
Screeming:

<Narric> - Run-NAHN!!!!

Turn Four
Tau
Etheral ability changed to "Double Tap", and the Riptide did not use the Nova-Generator.

The Pathfinders score seven ML hits on the Crusader Squad.

The Riptide uses three ML hits to become BS6, and fires the Accelerator. rolls scatter, but isn't large enough to miss. Hits seven models, wounding five. Firing the fusion incurs another wound. Six Initiates and Neophytes die.

Red FW Team fires, with three shots each. after rolls, inflicts 16 wounds. this wipes out the Crusader squad, and the Marshal.

BT
I realised that Black Templars are crap for the Relic mission



Personal thoughts
Considering this list was made a month or two ago, I'm surprised that it fits the Campaign rules, as well as actually being usable.
Will; definately change a few things for another game. Probably swap out the Crusader and Neophytes for more Power Armoured models.
Completely forgot about Power of the Machine Spirit on the Crusader, which could have achieved more hits on the Riptide earlier on.

RGC Comments
The Riptide was his MVP, and definately destroyed its points worth during the game.

Conclusion
This was a good game. Looking forward to my next on Vassal.

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Sounds like a fun game, although this "(We played it as ML can be negated with Cover, and from the PF pov, the Crusader was obscured)" confused me, when the codex states outright that you cannot take cover saves against them.

[Narric]

Sounds like a fun game, although this "(We played it as ML can be negated with Cover, and from the PF pov, the Crusader was obscured)" confused me, when the codex states outright that you cannot take cover saves against them.

Oops, my bad.

I don't have the 6th ed Codex, and if thats the case, I'm surprised RGC didn't quote it.

Considering how beaten I was though, I doubt it would have changed much. Mostly just how quickly I died

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Ah right. Coversaves are taken against wounds, MLs cause none, so, no saves Still, lessons learned eh?

[Railgun Convention]

Ah right. Coversaves are taken against wounds, MLs cause none, so, no saves Still, lessons learned eh?

I still think that's crazy. Even if it doesn't wound you, it still needs to hit, and for the most part there was a giant rock and/or an XV104 in the way. Hence why I let it be played like that.

Not that it matters when you have 10 pathfinders and two marker drones, but still.

[Narric]

Well I've definately learned a few things from this game.

For starters I kinda skipped over the manadatory Emperors Champion, and there were a few rules I didn't use which are technically automatic use (PotMS & Righteous Zeal).

I'll be making adjustments to the list for the next unfortunate soul to play against me

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Yeah, I agree, it is crazy, it should be Hit, coversave, Wound, armour/invun save.

But then you would be struggling to do any damage at all.

[Tom]

Yeah, I agree, it is crazy, it should be Hit, coversave, Wound, armour/invun save.

But then any shot should against an enemy wearing armour with a force field and sitting behind cover should need to roll to: be on target, miss the cover, pierce the forcefield, pierce the armour, and wound the enemy... (I think it works something like this in LOTR - every obstacle in the way of a shot requires a roll to pass) I agree that it would make more sense this way but the number of mechanics in 40k that could be more realistic is almost beyond count so I think it's best just to pretend and happily play with the toy soldiers.

As for the battle report - nice to see the report up here Naric. Could you add vassal screenshots next time too? It would be nice to visualise the battle even though it's so small.

[Narric]

nice to see the report up here Narric. Could you add vassal screenshots next time too? It would be nice to visualise the battle even though it's so small.

I had considered snapshots, but kept forgeting.

Had I saved the game, I could have supplied a Battlefield map, and initial set-up, but from there it gets incredibly fiddly to do constant snapshots.

[BigToof]

This was a neat sounding game, and I feel for the BT player (and the Tau player to a lesser extent).
Tau really do have so many tools to deal with elite forces, it can be pretty deadly from the get-go.
Excited to see that the Campaign is starting already, and love to see more!

Best,
-BT

[Narric]

This was a neat sounding game, and I feel for the BT player (and the Tau player to a lesser extent).
Tau really do have so many tools to deal with elite forces, it can be pretty deadly from the get-go.
Excited to see that the Campaign is starting already, and love to see more!

Best,
-BT

This isn't really part of the campaign. Its more of a test game to get RGC into Vassal. I'm still open for other contenders, so they can test their lists before entering the Campaign.

And I was the BT player

[BigToof]

This was a neat sounding game, and I feel for the BT player (and the Tau player to a lesser extent).
Tau really do have so many tools to deal with elite forces, it can be pretty deadly from the get-go.
Excited to see that the Campaign is starting already, and love to see more!

Best,
-BT

This isn't really part of the campaign. Its more of a test game to get RGC into Vassal. I'm still open for other contenders, so they can test their lists before entering the Campaign.

And I was the BT player

Ah, I see.  Apologies for the mix-up, for some reason, I skipped that part about the Campaign (even though it's clearly labeled).
Also, kudos for writing up a game that didn't err... go exactly as planned on your end.
Those kind of games are sometimes hard to bring up, but I find that I learn most from games where things go tactically wrong (unless, of course, it's just "bad dice")
Best,
-BT

[Narric]

Ah, I see.  Apologies for the mix-up, for some reason, I skipped that part about the Campaign (even though it's clearly labeled).
Also, kudos for writing up a game that didn't err... go exactly as planned on your end.
Those kind of games are sometimes hard to bring up, but I find that I learn most from games where things go tactically wrong (unless, of course, it's just "bad dice")
Best,
-BT

I lose more than I win, so I don't much care for going for a win I mostly just go for fun ^_^