Daemon Hunters vs. The Tau Empire (1850pts)

Good day,

Several days ago I got to play another game for 40k at the weekly gaming club down at Grimfoe Games (Monday nights are 40k nights). I was offered the chance to play a game at 1850pts by a fellow club member who wanted to show his friend how a game of 40k works at such high points. I agreed, and as I was taking out my Land Raiders I asked what army he played. With a huge smile he informed that he was playing Tau….Tau with plenty of Railguns. And here I was…using three Land Raiders and two Rhinos….with a sighed as I realized that this was going to be bad… a fully mechanized army against the army best equipped to take out armor.

Game Type: 1850pts, Capture and Control (Two objects), with a Spear Head Deployment (diagonal deployment)

My strategy:
It has been some time since I was able to go up against a Tau opponent, and the first time I’ve gone against someone playing Tau that I haven’t been coaching how to play, I had no illusions that this was going to be an easy game…I expected to lose by turn three. I figured that my best strategy was to push forward as fast as humanly possible and get into close combat with any Tau units as fast as possible all the while popping smoke and trying to keep my raiders up and running, especially my Land Raider Crusader. If I could get the GK’s in close combat, my tanks wouldn’t be as important anymore. His list revolved around fast and reliable transports, with some deep striking elements, I needed to tie down his main force, and try to at the very least cripple what transports I could so I could stop any extra pushes from his forces. I just hoped that I could keep up my mobility throughout the game to deal with his moving tanks.

The Game Board:


My 1850pt Daemon Hunters Army - “The Holy Rollers”
Head Quarters-
Grey Knight Grand Master with a Holy Relic, Psychic Hood, and Hammerhand
Retinue of 4x Grey Knight Terminators, Holocaust, Incinerator
Troops-
Grey Knight Squad One
Justicar with 6x Grey Knights (one with an incinerator)
Grey Knight Squad Two
Justicar with 6x Grey Knights (one with an incinerator)
Inquisitorial Storm Troopers Squad One
5x IST, two with Melta-guns- Mounted in a Rhino with extra armor and smoke launchers
Inquisitorial Storm Troopers Squad Two
5x IST, two with Melta-guns- Mounted in a Rhino with extra armor and smoke launchers
Heavy Support-
2x Grey Knight Land Raiders- Each with extra armor & smoke launchers (one with a storm bolter)
1x Grey Knight Land Raider Crusader- with smoke launchers

1850pt Mechanized Tau Army
Head Quarters-
Commander Shas’el with Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, Cyclic Ion Blaster, Targeting Array
Elites-
Crisis Suit Team One
2x Crisis Battlesuits, the Team Leader has a Flamer, Hard-Wired Target Lock, Twin Linked Missile Pod, and the second suit also has a Flamer and Twin Linked Missile Pod.
Crisis Suit Team Two
1x Crisis Battlesuit equipped with a Missile Pod, Plasma rifle, and a multi-tracker
Stealsuit Team
5x Stealth Suits, including a team leader with a Bonding Knife, Fusion Blaster, Hard-Wired Target Lock and a Markerlight
Troops-
Fire Warrior Team One
6x Fire Warrior equipped with Pulse Rifles
Mounted in a Devilfish Transport with Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger, Land Gear, Multi-Tracker and Targeting Array.
Fire Warrior Team Two
6x Fire Warrior equipped with Pulse Rifles
Mounted in a Devilfish Transport with Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger, Land Gear, Multi-Tracker and Targeting Array.
Fire Warrior Team Three
6x Fire Warrior equipped with Pulse Rifles
Mounted in a Devilfish Transport with Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger, Land Gear, Multi-Tracker and Targeting Array.
Heavy Support-
Hammer Head Gunship One-
Hammer Head Gunship with Railgun, Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Black Sun Filter, Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger, Landing Gear, Multi-Tracker and a Target Lock
Hammer Head Gunship Two-
Hammer Head Gunship with Railgun, Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Black Sun Filter, Disruption Pod, Flechette Discharger, Landing Gear, Multi-Tracker and a Target Lock
Broadside Battlesuit Team-
3x Broadsides Team Leader is equipped with Bonding Knife, Hard-wired Blacksun Filter, Hard-wired Drone Controller, Hard-wired target lock, Shield Drone and a targeting array. The other two Broadsides each have drone controller with a shield drone.
3x Shield Drones

I won the roll for first turn, and deployed first. The Tau’s players attempt to seize the initiative failed.

Deployment:
At first I was considering using the two Rhinos as a moving cover against his incoming Railgun fire, with the raider sitting hull down directly behind the two tanks. However, fearing the two rhinos’ being immobilized or wrecked I was worried about getting stuck in the center of the table & opted for a quick push forward with the raiders. Keeping the mission in mind I placed the two rhinos in my back field next to my own objective hopefully to keep it safe, or at least to contest the darn thing if events turned sour for me. I positioned my Grey Knight strike force consisting of the three land raiders as close as I could to the Tau deployment.
The Tau player seeing my deployment set up his Broadside team & Hammerheads in a perfect firing position in the tree line towards the back of his deployment section. He placed his Devilfish transports behind the ruins, so it would harder for me to get a shot off against them, keeping his mobility safe for at least the first turn. He moved his stealth suits along the hill and tree line adjacent to my deployment section. He also kept his two crisis suit teams in reserve for deep striking later on. A really smart deployment based off of how I deployed, as it really forced me to make some tough decisions right off the bat...I had to charge directly into the teeth of his guns…




Turn One:
GK Turn
I immediately moved my three raiders forward with the Crusader upfront. I needed to get these raiders up in his face to get the GK’s out and amongst the Tau as soon as possible. I moved the Rhinos around the objective to make deep striking a tad bit harder for any incoming Crisis suits (being all sneaky like). I popped the raider’s smoke to hopefully better protect them, and quickly covered my eyes in preparation of the coming Railgun fire…



Tau Turn
He moved his devilfish transports to my right hooking across the board going towards my objective, whilst moving his other transport around the left side of the board. Effectively scattering his transports away from where my Grey Knights were going to impact his forces (a really smart move). His stealth team attempted to light up one of the standard raiders but missed the tank. At this point….his Railguns opened up. Splitting fire between my lead Crusader and one of the standard raiders he opened fire with his unguided anti-tank guns. Luckily for me the Tau managed to get into the vodka before the game, missing with the majority of the shots. Two shots managed to connect, one on the standard raider & the other on the Crusader. The standard Land Raider sustained no damage as the shot failed to even glance. The Crusader took a glancing hit due to the smoke launchers (go 3rd edition rules!) and could only fire one weapon come the next turn thanks to the power of the machine spirit.



Turn Two:
GK Turn
As I carefully took my hands off my face and slowly opened my eyes expecting to have to remove three Land Raiders I was rather pleased that they were all still and running (well mostly), and charged two of the some how still alive land raiders at full speed towards the Tau Lines, and let one squad of PAGK & the Terminators out. The PAGK lined up in front of the Hammerhead Gunship, sharpening their str 6 weapons in front of the rather nervous tank. Meanwhile the Terminators managed to climb out of the Land Raider Crusader. The third standard raider moved to engage the repositioning Devilfish to ease the pressure off the two IST squads holding my objective. I unloaded with all of the weapons I could, a lascannon from each Raider & the Multi-Melta from the Crusader. All failed to do anything productive.
The Terminators rather hung over from the pervious evening attempted to assault the Broadsides in the forest, needing a 3 to get their. Rolling a one and a two…wonderful. The Emperor’s finest warriors can’t move three inches to do rude things to a group of Tau scared at the very site of the stumbling armor death machines…. The PAGK attempt to show the Terminators how it’s done and manage to be in range to assault the Broadside team. Inflicting several wounds, but only managed to wound a single Broadside. (which are insane btw- getting that 2+ save in CC due to the majority of the wounds being the Broadsides’) The Broadsides in turn sucker punched two of the GK’s into last week with their missile pod arms…talk about packing a punch. The Grey Knights LOST combat against the Tau Broadside team, and promptly failed the armor save on the extra wound due to be being fearless. Who the hell every said that Tau suck at close combat? It has become rather clear at this point that our dice needed to die- preferably in a rather creative and rude fashion.





Tau Turn
I think he was as shocked as I was about this rather strange turn of events. Neither of us were doing well with our armies (accursed Dice…). He moved his Hammerhead back a few inches, and had his commander hug the battle tank for comfort & cover. The right most Hammerhead moved towards the right more, gaining a far better firing position on my objective, and the two paper er…I mean Rhino tanks. His Devilfish along he left flank unloaded the Fire Warrior Team just short of rapid fire range on my terminators along the tree line on the hill. His other two Devilfish continued their move along the board edge to hit my objective, teaming up with the steal suits. As I attempted to figure how I would deal with such an oncoming force with just over two hundred points of IST’s and Rhinos things went from bad to worse. His two manned Crisis Suit Team deep struck nearby by objective along the southern edge of the table. My objective was now caught within a massive pincer movement. Well played good sir…well played indeed….
I covered my eyes again as he started his shooting phase…one of his two rail guns managed to miss again, and the other only forced the Crusader to fire but only one weapon again come the next turn. These things happen…twice apparently. All of his shooting against the Terminators failed to do anything productive. He did managed however to wreck my southernmost Rhino tank with fire from his crisis team, and the IST squad was forced to walk it from now on. The Broadside close combat managed to kill a total of zero models on either side…we just couldn’t put a dent in each other’s forces…awesome.



Turn Three:
GK Turn
By some miracle, either the grace of the Emperor or the curses from the Dice Gods all of my raiders have survived and my forces were about to come down on his anti-tank weapons like a hammer. I moved my Crusader directly in front of the leftmost Hammerhead, the other raider pushed forward to get a solid side armor shot on the leftmost Hammerhead, and the third raider moved towards the two Devilfish, getting dangerously close to the two transports. I moved the IST’s towards the ruins to get a good firing position against the two Crisis suits, and the still surviving Rhino moved along the objective. The Terminators inched forward so I could ensure a close combat this time around…
My shooting phase was surprisingly effective. My Crusader blew up his Hammerhead, wounding the Tau Commander hugging the exploding tank. The now center Raider wrecked his second Hammerhead tank (Huzzah!). The leftmost raider shot at the lead Devilfish, catching the engine compartment of the Tau transport, blowing it out of the water. Before I could fire another shot my opponent conceded the game.









The Tau player conceded the game as he no longer had any anti-tank weaponry. His attempt to pincer my objective between his deep striking Crisis Suits, Stealth suits, and mobile transports was stalled due to one of my raiders intervening.

Afterthoughts:

A really well played game by my Tau opponent, we spoke for a few minutes after the game about what had happened. He was fighting an uphill battle from the onset of the game, when he lost the first turn, and again when he was unable to get anything done against my forces in the second turn. His dice weren’t with him during the game, and it could of gone completely the other way around if he was able to even cripple a single raider in turn one or even in turn two. He ended up buying new dice however, and vowed to creatively destroy the old dice- possibly in a vice.
The pincer move was a great tactical decision, something where if I didn’t have mobility, there was no way I could of countered it, and my two Rhinos and IST’s would have been lost rather quickly. In the end my gamble to push the two raiders forward worked would rather well, keeping the pressure on his main force- keeping his heaviest guns in close combat and not allowing them to open up fire against my tanks for more than a single turn.
The Land Raiders once against proved their worth by blowing up three tanks in a single turn as well as allowing me to have the mobility to move my GK’s across the board in just a turn or two. The power of the machine spirit allowed me to fire a single lascannon even at moving full speed- which encourages the GK player to move the raiders rather than having them long range snipe against targets.

All in all, another great game against another great opponent. This game came down to dice rolls over anything else unfortunately, where his dice just left him for the game.


As always I hope that you enjoyed this Battle Report. I added in some maps from Battle Chronicler for better clarification about what went down in the game. I’m always trying to look for new ways to record my wins and losses & I hope that this new program will help me to better display the lessons of what I have learned while I’m still learning everything there is about this game of Warhammer 40k.

Any suggestions or comments are always welcome.
Thank you very much for your time,
-Cease

very good batrep !!
and hurrah for the GKs !!
even if it's desperateful when dice are not with you
Aubec

i thought GK land raiders didnt have machine spirit
but nice battle

They do thanks to the FAQ, and at BS4 too.

is that all landraiders or just crusaders and I've so could some1 supplie a link to this FAQ plz

It's both. FAQ Link.

Only grey knight land raiders though, not inquisitorial raiders.
Tell your friend that he has to destroy the dice with the other near it so they can see what happens if they roll bad!

Excellent report Ceasarian! I love these; the pictures were very very VERY helpful!

It would look as though the Emperor himself was shielding your LR's, amazing they managed to survive and completely obliterate the Tau's moral. Oh dice gods, thy giveth and thy taketh away.

And again, its always excellent to see your LR's in action I personally love using a Crusader and Godhammer pattern, albeit in a week or two my GK Redeemer from forgeworld will arrive and I will be anxious to get that up and running. It's just one thing; Land Raiders and Grey Knights are so rare, so using more then a single one always gets me down a bit inside. Oh well, its the best we've got to contend with all the newer, flashier codexs.

If only I could weather Railgun fire like that. Last game I played Tau both my LR's and and Dread we're toast at the bottom of turn 1. Great batrep, pics and graphics. Congrats on the victory.

Indeed; last game I had a single lucky multi melta, one not even for range of the 2 D6 for pen, wreck my Land Raider bottom of turn one. The sheer absurd luck forced me to face palm...

Broadsides: 3 shots BS4 twin linked. 8/9 hit chance. s 10. 1/3 pen 1/6 glance. On average that means 8/3 hits, 8/9 pens, and 8/18 glance. The 8/9 pens have a 1/2 chance to kill, 1/6 chance to immobilize., whereas the glance has 1/6 of each. that averages to a 50% chance to kill a LR per turn, and a small immobilized chance. The two hammerheads do slightly worse. On average, tau with that list kill about 1/turn if they focus fire, and with any immobilized or better the usually move to the next LR

However, since you went first, you're 12" closer, and you get only glances. this cuts the results to, on average, 1 1/3 glances. roughly 25% chance to kill one, 25% chance immobilize and even if they do you are 12" closer.

And people wonder why i take the tarot in LR lists.

Nice report Brother, very clear.