Hey all!

Got in another Tau battle, went the other extreme from my "all armour" list and went (almost) all infantry!  Squared off against a high activation Marine army... nasty!

Probably won't get the report up tonight as I've got *another* game scheduled this evening... no Tau tonight though... one of my friends wants to try out Alaitoc...

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Rules Used

Epic Update 2008
NetEA Recommendations
Tau v5.0

Armies Used

Many Mean Marines – 3000 points

Tactical HQ - BTS Goal
6 Tactical Marines
1 Supreme Commander
1 Hunter
3 Rhinos

Devastator Detachment
4 Devastators
1 Hunter
2 Rhinos

Scout Detachment 1
4 Scouts
2 Rhinos

Scout Detachment 2
4 Scouts
2 Rhinos

Land Speeders 1
5 Land Speeders

Land Speeders 2
5 Land Speeders

Terminator Detachment
4 Terminators
1 Librarian

Thunderhawk 1
1 Thunderhawk

Thunderhawk 2
1 Thunderhawk

Warhound Titan 1

Warhound Titan 2

Thunderbolts
2 Thunderbolts

Vior’la Sept Foot-Slogger Force – 3000 points

Fire Warriors 1
8 Fire Warriors
1 Ethereal

Fire Warriors 2
8 Fire Warriors

Battlesuit Cadre HQ
4 Battlesuits
Shas'O

Battlesuit Cadre Alpha - BTS Goal
4 Battlesuits
Shas'El
2 Battlesuits

Battlesuit Cadre Beta - BTS Goal (Yep, wasn’t paying attention!)
4 Battlesuits
Shas'El
2 Battlesuits

Steathsuits 1
6 Steathsuits

Steathsuits 2
6 Steathsuits

Steathsuits 3
6 Steathsuits

Barracuda Squadron 1
2 Barracuda

Barracuda Squadron 2
2 Barracuda

Hero Orbital Support

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

I wish I could be playing games as often as you are...  
Thanks mate for taking the time to write them up for us, REALLY appreciated.


Steve.

_________________
Just call me Steve.

NetEA Rules Chair
NetEA FAQ

Want to play Iron Warriors in Epic Armageddon? Click HERE
Some of my Armies.
My Hobby site.

All you need is a couple of patient friends that live nearby... and your own basement full of gaming stuff... *laugh*

And I had a heckuva dry spell there for a while... trying to get back to my "two games of Epic a week" stride.

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Battlefield:

4x6; Marines chose edge deployment

Deployment:

Tau indicates that their spacecraft is scheduled to arrive Turn 2.

Marines keep their Terminators in reserve.

Tau keep both Stealth suits in reserve.  (I’d deployed them via teleport before I took the deployment picture, so they’re in there.)

Marines garrison both Scout Detachments on overwatch and also garrison the Land Speeders.

Tau garrisoned Fire Warrior Cadre 2 off their Blitz and on overwatch.

Remaining deployment as shown:

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Turn 1

Both Stealth Groups appear near the Marine Speeder formations, with Stealth 1 picking up a Blast marker.

Strategy Roll: Tied roll… and then Tau win!

Stealth Group 1 advances to reposition and fires on Speeder Detachment 1… they drop 3 Land Speeders and break the Marines!

Stealth Group 2 advances on Speeder 2… drops 3 Land Speeders and breaks them as well!  OUCH!

The Thunderbolts are put on combat air patrol to prevent the Tau from harassing the Thunderhawks.

Crisis Cadre 2 marches up the Tau left flank hugging the edge of the large hill.

Thinking he can decapitate the Tau army if he takes out the Shas’O, the Princeps of Warhound miscalculates some targeting data and the double he takes only gets a single Crisis Suit of the Crisis HQ in range… but he still destroys it, unloading everything he’s got.

Crisis Cadre 1 doubles forward to fire on Warhound 1… drops its shields… and then blows it away with Fusion Blasters!  They jump into cover in the Cathedral.

Seeing that the crisis has been averted, the Crisis HQ marshals, moving in to cover.

The Tactical HQ doubles, debussing into cover and fires on Crisis Cadre 1… and manages to take out a Crisis Team!

The Devastators hesitate, but then follow the Supreme Commander’s lead, doubling to fire on Crisis Cadre 1, placing a single Blast marker.

Fire Warrior Cadre 2 drops overwatch, doubling to get the Tactical HQ in range… and also manage to take out 1 Tactical squad.

Scout Detachment 1 drops their overwatch as well, doubling to attack Crisis Cadre 1… taking out another Crisis team and breaking the Tau formation.

Fire Warrior Cadre 1 doubles forward to take up Cadre 2’s old position.

Warhound 2 doubles around the large hill and opens fire on Crisis Cadre 2, plasma burning away 2 Crisis teams!

Thunderhawk 1 ground attacks the broken Crisis Cadre 1, taking out a single Crisis team.

Barracuda Squadron 1 then attempts to intercept Thunderhawk 1…



…and the Thunderbolts race in to CAP them… dropping 1 Barracuda even as they jink…



Barracuda Squadron 2 then intercepts the Thunderbolts, dropping them both!



Scout Detachment 2 stays on overwatch.

Thunderhawk 2 ground attacks Crisis Cadre 1 and eliminates them…

End of Turn:

The Devastator’s Hunter shoots down the second Barracuda from Squadron 1.

Speeder 2 is the only formation that fails to rally.

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Turn 2

The Terminators appear directly upon the Tau Blitz… horrifically close to the Ethereal…



Strategy Roll: Tied roll… so Marines win!

The Terminators engage Fire Warriors Cadre 1… the Ethereal actually manages to strike down a Terminator… but the Tau are still completely wiped out!



Things don’t do as well when the Tactical HQ sustains fire on Fire Warrior Cadre 2… they place a single Blast marker.



Crisis Cadre 2 advances on Warhound 2, dropping 2 Void Shields and 1DC.

Driving into a rage by the death of the Ethereal, Stealth Group 2 engages Warhound 2… and completely destroys it! (The assault was over so quickly, I forgot to snap a picture!)

The Devastators double around Stealth Group 1 and put a Blast marker on them.

Scouts 1 advance on Stealth Group 1… and take out 2 Stealth Teams, breaking the group!

Fire Warrior Cadre 2 sustains fire on the Tactical HQ and takes out 2 Tactical squads.

Speeder Detachment 1 advances on Stealth Group 1 and takes out a single Stealth Team.

Camouflaged in the ruins (Nobody really noticed the grey Crisis Suits hiding in the grey ruins… until almost too late!) advances on the Devastators… and destroys their all their vehicles!



Thunderhawk 1 drops down to the rescue, securing the Devastators and then firing on the Crisis HQ, taking out a Team and breaking them!


Barracuda Squadron 2 ground attacks Land Speeder 2, and takes out the broken detachment.

Thunderhawk 2 lands to pick up the Terminators and then takes a long range shot at the Crisis HQ… taking out the both the Shas’O and his bodyguard!

And then… the Hero arrives… a pinpoint attack hits the loaded Thunderhawk 1… does 1DC damage… *whew*… AND IT’S A CRITICAL HIT!  WIPE OUT!  The second pinpoint attack hits Thunderhawk 2… does 3DC damage… killing all the Terminators on board… (Okay, I nearly had to restrain my opponent after that… isn’t the Hero a little… under-costed for 2 x TK2+ (d3)?  I see no reason *not* to take one… At 150 points, it’s a fantastic Titan-killer… *and* you could planetfall stuff if you wanted to!)

End of Turn:

All surviving Marines rally.

Fire Warrior Cadre 2 fails to rally.

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Turn 3

Stealth Group 3 shows up near the Marine Blitz.



Strategy Roll: Another tied roll… so it’s Tau again!

Barracudas 2 ground attack Scouts 2… who are marked by the nearby Stealth Teams, and they lose 1 Scout and 1 Rhino.

Stealth Group 3 then engages Scouts 2 in a clipping assault… they suffer 1 Blast marker from overwatch fire… blast apart a Rhino, and then win by *FOUR*, taking out 2 more Scouts and securing the Marine Blitz. (And this is the *second* time an opponent has said, “I thought you said Tau sucked at assaults!â€Â

So, to those who say Tau can't assault... well... they can!  *laugh*

More discussion after I get some sleep!

_________________
"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

Good stuff man.

I will be interested to hear your thoughts on an all infantry force.

Hero by name and hero by nature!!
What an amazing activation.

Thanks for the report Chroma, great read.

_________________
Just call me Steve.

NetEA Rules Chair
NetEA FAQ

Want to play Iron Warriors in Epic Armageddon? Click HERE
Some of my Armies.
My Hobby site.

Nice report as ever.

One thing though your barrcuda's can't be CAP'd when intercepting. Only ground attack actions can be cap'd. So you should have been able to shoot at the T'hawk turn one.

And no kids.  And a wife that doesn't give you a honey-do list a mile long.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.