Post-game Thoughts: 1500 Dark Angels v Tau Empire

Hello folks!

Couldn't be fussed doing a blog yesterday morning as post-gaming night's sleep was really bad and I was still only half awake until about 5 o clock in the afternoon.

So! Monday night, myself and Angryman gave the Tau Empire a final send off before their new Codex drops in this (or next) weekend.

I made some slight changes to my list from the last game I played, but I'm still not sure exactly what to make of it all. Playing v Daemons 1 week, then Tau the next is a hard gauge on usefulness.

Dark Angels

• Belial (Sword and storm bolter)
• Librarian (Psyker lvl 2, Auspex, Infavisor)
• 1 Deathwing Dread (Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod)
• 5 Deathwing Termis (3 Storm Bolter and Fist, 1 Assault Cannon and Fist, 1 Storm Bolter and Sword)
• 5 Deathwing Termis (3 Storm Bolter and Fist, 1 Assault Cannon and Fist, 1 Storm Bolter and Sword)
• 10 Tactical Marines (Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun, Sarge with Plasma Pistol)
• 6 Ravenwing Bikers (2 Plasma Guns, Vet Sarge)
• 1 Ravenwing Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile, Hull Multi Melta)
• 1 Ravenwing Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile, Hull Multi Melta)

Tau Empire (all with various upgrades I can't remember)

• Crisis HQ with Plasma, Smart Missile w/ Drones
• Crisis Squad with Plasmas and Smart Missile w/ Drones
• Crisis Squad with Plasmas and Smart Missile w/ Drones
• 10 Man Fire Warrior Squad
• 10 Man Fire Warrior Squad
• 10 Man Fire Warrior Squad
•  3 Man Broadside Squad w/ Drones
• 2 Hammerhead Tanks with Railguns

Mission was Kill Points and the short edge deployment (so playing the 6ft length).

I won the roll off for deployment and chose to go first and actually remembered my Scout move on the Ravenwing bikers this time! Which let them push up the field a bit more, which was handy since we were playing the long board deployment and I was up against a gunline.

I also managed to remember how to deploy my Deathwing in this edition! Hurray! I wrote it down on a scrap of paper and put it under a box until the turn I was deploying on.

Unfortunately for me, the Tau managed to sieze the initiative, but I think now it was probably a good thing as if I'd dropped my Terminators on turn 1, they'd have been battered for an extra turn. Whereas now, all that could be shot were my Tactical marines and Librarian and even then only by Broadsides.

I won't go through the game turn by turn as I'm short on time, all I will say is that it was a really ace game which had 1 turn of absolute and utter carnage where I had my bikers, terminator squad, Belial and both land speeders killed in a turn, whereas the Tau lost the remainder of a crisis suit squad, a hammer head and a Broadside squadron.

The game finished on Turn 4 due to the time, as a 7-7 draw:

Dark Angels:

• First Blood (Crisis suit squadron)
• Linebreaker (Deathwing Termis)
• Hammerhead
• Hammerhead
• Broadsides
• Crisis Squad
• Fire Warrior Squad

Tau:

• Slay the Warlord
• Belial
• 1 DW Terminator Squad
• RW Bikers
• Land Speeder
• Land Speeder
• Drop Pod

It was only prevented being a 8-7 win for the Tau thanks to my Dread passing a cover save on his rear armour.

Some interesting bits that went on through the game, and more "I need to remember next time!" bits...

• Drop-Dread failing to do anything to a Hammerhead he was 1" away from, TWICE, with a Multi-Melta. I think he managed to take 1 hull point off it.
• Me completely forgetting that I use Belial in 6th edition with the Sword of Silence, rather than a Thunder hammer. I split him off from the last remaining DW Termi in his unit so they could both hunt a Hammerhead each. DW Termi battered it, then when it was Belial's go, I remember he only had the power sword. DOH.
• Tau overwatch is nasty, and it's only going to get nastier if the rumours are true for this new book. My bikes got tore up by the Crisis suits on overwatch and S5 on the Firewarrior guns means a bike doesn't count for all that much.
•  If you have a squad that has 24" guns (my Tactical marines), don't deploy them in a corner building on the long deployment. They did absolutely nothing apart from be a meat shield once for the Librarian.
• I managed to get 2 psychic powers off in the game, 1 let me fire the Tau crisis commander's guns as if he were my own unit (so back armour shots at a nearby Hammerhead!) and the other forced the same unit to take a morale check and remove fearless, but that was a last ditch attempt to get them to run away.
• Lastly. Belial's "I don't scatter when deep striking" special rule is awesome. It allowed me to drop him down so that the Crisis commander was the closest model to me, as opposed to crones or battlesuit bodyguards... it didn't work out (only 1 wound off him thanks to look out sir) but still, it's good to do that. I only wish his Teleport Homer could work on the turn he deep strikes down!

So yeah, overall it was a really fun game and I'm enjoying playing a mixed Dark Angels force, rather than pure Deathwing as I did in 5th edition. I would really like to get a full Ravenwing force on the table though (I've done a list I'll post up soon) in the near future with lots of bikes. The only issue is the cost of the extra units in £, since bikes are quite easy to come by.

That's all for now though folks! Goodbye to the 4th ed Tau Empire book, long live the 6th ed Tau Empire book! (Unless you don't own a Tau army, in which case you must, by law, hate Tau with a passion).

SB