Bash from the Past: Tau vs. Space Marines 1850pts Seize Ground

December 2009

Went down to the local store today, got a game in with a fellow named Andrew with a nice DIY Marine army, the Ice Hawks.

1850pts Seize Ground, three objectives. The report will be a bit erratic as I didn't take very good notes/only a few pics.

My standard Tau army:
Shadowsun
2x6 Stealth Suits (infiltrate)
1x3 Stealth suits with one fusion blaster (outflank)
2x10 FW
4x12 Kroot (one infiltrate, two outflank, one set up normally)
2xSniper Drone teams
2xBroadsides
2x6 Vespid

Ice Hawks:
3x Tac squads ML/melta (combat squaded)
5-man assault squad in pod
6-man Vanguard vets - jump packs, heroic intervention, various weapons (deepstrike)
5-man sternguard in pod, 3 combi-meltas
Ironclad dread in pod
Lysander and 5 TH/SS termies (reserve)
Whirlwind


Couple pics of setup:




Turn one - infiltrating stealth suit team burst cannons up the rear of the whirlwind and immobilize it. Not what I hoped for, but at least it couldn't turn around to present front armor or escape. We also shoot up various tac marines.

Marine drop pod assault forces arrive - sternguard land and drop combi-meltas and magic bullets into one broadside and strip its drones but don't kill the suit itself. Ironclad drops down and heavy flamers a kroot squad off of the right-hand objective while the whirlwind kills another kroot squad. Tac marines move up.









Turn 2 - One kroot squad arrives on my left and teams up with green vespid and stealth suits to clear the woods and stake a claim to that objective.


Purple vespid and others shoot up the sternguard squad - don't wipe them out but do make them fall back (to auto regroup). Broadsides take out the drop pods - wreck the sternguard one but blow up the ironclad's pod, giving sniper teams clear shots at the dread's back, and they explode the dread with a flurry of rail rifle fire. Stealth teams on the right manage to blow the whirlwind launcher off, much to the relief of the remaining fire warriors and kroot.

Vanguard squad arrives

and has good scatter, assaults and destroys both sniper drone teams. Sternguard move back up and assault vespid, who manage to survive several rounds before going down. Remaining two marines move towards fire warriors but get shot to death.


Turn 3 kroot and stealth suits arrive on right flank, join up with existing stealth suits and fire warriors to keep shooting up tac squads that try to get to the objective on the right. Try to shoot up vanguard but poor aim and good stormshield saves leave them largely unmolested.

Drop pod assault squad arrives on the right, and pistols down one stealth suit. Vanguard jump over and assault fire warriors holding objective on the left, with predictable results.




Turn 4 wipe out the assault squad and with the aid of green vespids and more stealth suits take out the vanguard vets, continue to shoot up tac marines.

Lysander and termies walk on by the kroot in the woods, get good terrain roll and manage to assault, again with predictable results.

Turn 5 start moving kroot and FW on left towards objective, try to kill off tac marines on right so he can't hold that side's objective. Vespid charge but don't manage to finish off depleted tac marines.

Lysander assaults a stealth squad, who manage to not all die at once.


We played another turn, but at that point I had no way to even contest the objective on the far left, nothing to hold the objective on the near left, and he had no way to contest the objective on the right, so we ended up with a 1-1 tie.

Fun game, nice opponent, some crazy dice on both sides. Fun to see the vanguard in action and working well.

Till next time and the sword is drawn again!