…and the Tau empire won the day

 Wargaming  No Responses »
Nov 062010
 

So, two full games later, I notice that my list needs tweaking. We used the scenario generator PDF from Dice Like Thunder and as a result we got two very interesting battles.

The first game was Strategic Postions with a Corridor of Fire deployment which I lost on the seventh and very last round. The second game was Hold The Line with a Split Force deployment which I lost 3 to 2.

Lessons learnt

Autarch: this time I used him solo, deep-striking behind enemy lines trying to take out armour. The first game he failed miserably and was subsequently executed by Fire Warriors and Stealth Suits. The second game he redeemed himself by neutering a Hammerhead and wrecking another before being shot to bits.

Swooping Hawks: overpriced, underpowered, probably used incorrectly. The Yo-yo tactic is just too inaccurate against anything else than Orks so these guys will have to get a stats boost and price reduction before I consider to use them again. I might run them as ablative wounds for my Autarch, but for the points they cost I’d rather have two more Vypers or six jetbikes with Shuriken Cannons.

Wraithlords: Resilient, but T8 with a 3+ save is no match for massed S10 Railguns.

Pathfinders: A squad of 5 just might be good enough to take out Battle Suits, Broadsides and Terminators. A little mathhammer tells me that the chance of inflicting an AP1 wound is about 1/6 which isn’t that great. Still, Having a 2+ in cover makes Pathfinders useful for holding objectives. Need to test this a little more.

Vypers: Not to shabby with Missile Launchers, but being open-topped they don’t last very long (something we missed in the first game – my Vypers should be smoking piles of debris rather than flying around with their main guns blown off).

Wave Serpents: Great as always. Not to sure about using anything more than Shuriken Cannons and Scatter Lasers – at least not for Wave Serpents that deliver Fire Dragons. I think I need more than three Wave Serpents though.

Fire Dragons: It’d be nice to be able to use these as something else than suicide squads. I bet my problem is that I fail to support them with other units. I obviously need more Wave Serpents for this.

It’s that time of the month again…

 Wargaming  No Responses »
Oct 232010
 

Today the Eldar of Thaine battle with the Tau. To the battle field I bring a 2000 points mixed army.

Army list

HQ
Autarch with Swooping Hawk Wings, Fusion Gun, Power Weapon, Mandiblasters
Farseer with Singing Spear and Guide

Elite
6 Fire Dragons, including Exarch with Fire Pike and Crack Shot and Tank Hunters
5 Fire Dragons, including Exarch with Dragons Breath Flamer and Crack Shot

Troops
6 Rangers
10 Dire Avengers including Exarch with Dual Shuriken Catapults and Bladestorm
7 Dire Avengers including Exarch with Power Sword and Shimmershield
7 Pathfinders
5 Dire Avengers

Fast Attack
5 Swooping Hawks including Exarch with Hawk’s Talon, Skyleap and Intercept
2 Vypers with Shuriken Cannons and Missile Launchers

Heavy Support
2 Wraithlord with Brightlance and Missile Launcher
3 War Walkers, 2 with Brightlance and Scatter Laser, 1 with dual Scatter Lasers

Dedicated Transports
2 Wave Serpents with twin-linked Brightlances and Spirit Stones
Wave Serpents with twin-linked Shuriken Cannons and Spirit Stones

The plan

We will probably end up running two games as we got plenty of time today. I know that I will meet plenty of fast-moving armour and Battle Suits, and thus I’ve decided to scale back on the my usually high number of Scatter Lasers and instead add more, costly Brightlances. I’ve never run War Walkers with Brightlances before so it’ll be fun to see how they perform. In order to make the most of their massive (but fragile) firepower, I’ll try to keep the Farseer close by to Guide them. The Autarch goes with the Swooping Hawks and deep strikes behind enemy lines, primarliy targeting armour. Fire Dragons and the main Dire Avenger squad goes into Wave Serpents and strikes the enemy early and hard. If I can eliminate the Tau armour, I get free reign and can hopefully redeploy any survivors using any surviving Wave Serpents. The Rangers Pathfinders go on a home objective, the minor Dire Avenger squad does the same – ideally together with the Farseer. The Wraithlords hang back and try to take out armour and Battle Suits. The Vypers either circumvent the enemy or screen the Wave Serpents. Combining a Missile Launcher with a Shuriken Cannon gives them the ability to move fast while still firing all their guns. Once they’re on the enemy’s flank or rear, they can bring use Krak Missiles on the side or vulnerable rear armour. They’re also good at moving down infantry such as Fire Warriors.

All in all, it’s a play style that I’m getting used to and comfortable with. The downside is that it contains very few surprises for my foe so I actually expect to get a very tough fight or two on my hands today. Also, I’ll try out the WordPress iPhone app in conjunction with my new iPhone 4 so with some luck I’ll be able to post a couple of shots from the battle itself.

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