Mega Battle - The Report

This is the Mega Battle we had on Tuesday 7th August, 2007. In one corner we have Sam, using 4000 points of Tau. Facing off against this hideous amount of firepower, we have a combined Eldar and Blood Angels list, split evenly into two 2000pt detachments.

The Forces

Sam's 4000pt Tau List.

Brad's 2000pt Eldar List

Gavin's 2000pt Blood Angels List

The Terrain

We took it in turns to cover the board with terrain. A large ammount of boulders obscured Sam's firing in the centre of the board, to the left of the board was a trench system made up of sandbag walls, with a large ruined building positioned on the right side. There were also a few pieces of light cover scattered around, with a few columns to hide behind.

The Deployment

We were using the escalation rules in this game, so only the infantry started on the board, with the exception of the pathfinders and their devilish. Team Brav won both the rolls to choose board side, and deploy first.

Brad deployed 2 Farseers, 4 squads of Guardians, one squad of Scorpions and one squad of Dark Reapers. The Dark Reapers hung back in some light cover from which they rained death throughout the game. One squad of Guardians and a Farseer stayed back to support them, with the other Farseer leading the 3 squads of Guardians in the ruins. The Scorpions hid in the rocks, very close to the Tau lines (thanks to infiltration!).

Sam deployed 3 full Fire Warrior Squads, a full Kroot squad, a pathfinder squad (with Devlifish) and 2 squads of Stealth Suits. The Fire Warriors lined up in the best firing positions available (only one squad made it to cover), the pathfinders scouted to the left side of the board to snipe from, and the Kroot deployed in front of the Fire Warriors to protect them. On the right side of the board, the Stealth Suits infiltrated towards the ruins, hoping to wipe out 3 squads of Eldar as early as possible.

Gavin's whole army must have been in a Battle Barge or something, because they weren't on the board at all!

Sam rolled first turn.

Sam Turn One

• Stealth suits move into ruins occupied by a squad of Eldar Guardians, thanks to their infiltration move.
• They kill 6 Guardians, forcing the squad to flee - somehow they rolled a 12 on their Ld test!
• The Scorpions are marker lighted by a Fire Warrior Shas'ui - the rest of the squad could not shoot.
• Another unit of Fire Warriors kill 3 Guardians standing just outside the ruins.
• The Kroot use marker lights to fire on the infiltrating Scorpions, killing none of them, even with a barrage of 28 shots!
• The Devilfish also attempts to kill some Scorpions, killing none at all.
  
• The Pathfinders use their Rail Rifles to snipe a single guardian on the other side of the board.
• One squad of Stealth suits moves back to hide, leaving the other unit trapped in difficult terrain.
  

Sam
In this turn, instead of getting the kroot to go forward, I should have left them behind the fire warriors so that the Scorpions would have had to charge the fire warriors instead and on the next turn, counter charge with the Kroot which would have wiped out the scorpions according to the calculations I did later.

Brad
In my opinion, the Kroot wouldn't have wiped out the Scorpions anyway, but it certainly was a big mistake moving them forward, and Sam paid dearly for it.

Brav Turn One

• The fleeing Guardians don't rally, moving further away from the carnage.
• The other 2 squads of Guardians close in on the stranded Stealth Suits.
• Scorpions stalk the Kroot from the safety of the rocks, ready to pounce.
• The lead Farseer casts Eldritch storm on the Fire Warriors and Kroot, who are about to be crushed by the Scorpions. It kills only a Kroot and a Fire Warrior - he makes up for this by casting Fortune on a nearby guardian squad.
• The Dark Reapers kill 5 of the 6 pathfinders, in a glorious turn of shooting. The Shas'ui passes his all alone test.
  
• A Missile from the Guardian squad defending the reapers destroys the Devilfish in one shot, with 2 Gun Drones escaping.
  
• The Eldar Guardians in the ruins kill 4 Stealth Team members from the stranded squad, with the last one falling back.
• The Scorpions charge, killing 8 Kroot. The shocked Kroot fight back by killing 2 Scorpions. The Exarch then kills one more Kroot with his Scorpions Claw.
  

Brad
Yeah Sam pretty much got mowed in this turn, there's no two ways about it. The only thing I would say was particularly lucky was taking out the Devilfish in one shot. Can't believe that one Pathfinder survived the Dark Reaper fire, and didn't even fall back.

Gavin
I did nothing in this turn, but it looked as if it was a good start for the Eldar. Combat on the first turn is something you only usualy dream about when fighting against Tau.

Sam Turn 2

• Sam's Tau get some reinforcements - the Hammerhead with Rail Gun, Broadside and both Monats.
• The last Stealth Suit from the stranded squad runs off the board.
• A squad of Fire Warriors retreat a safe distance away from the melee involving the scorpions - but it won't be far enough!
  
• The Broadside sniped a Guardian, on the other side of the board, with a Railgun.
  
• The Hammerhead missed all it's shots.
  
• The squad of fleeing Guardians were pinned by Gun Drones, stopping them from leaving the board!
  
• Sam measured the range on a guess range weapon, so we counted it as not firing.
• Combat - Sam loses 7 Kroot, Brad loses 1 Scorpion. The Kroot flee, the Scorpions consolidate.

Sam
I forgot to use my Stealth Suits bonded rule..... 2 mistakes so far!

Gavin
Thank god that the Kroot fled in Sam's turn, leaving the Scorpions safe from Sam's firepower.

Brav Turn 2

• Brad's Fire Prism arrives to join in.
  
• All of Gavin's Blood Angels with jump packs arrive - but far too early! 3 Squads deepstrike into the heart of Sam's army, hoping to engage his men in combat before too many Tau reinforcments arrive.
  
• Since they can't charge, the Blood Angels shoot, killing one single Fire Warrior. The Death company try in vain to penetrate the rear armour of the Hammerhead with Pistols.
  
• The lead Farseer kills a Monat's Gun Drones with Eldritch Storm.
• The Dark Reapers kill 8 Fire Warriors in one volley.
  
• The Fire Prism annihilates 6 Fire Warriors in a single shot! Points well spent.
  
• The Scorpions charge in again! They kill a whole unit of Fire Warriors, and move on into a second unit of Fire Warriors.
• The Guardians in the ruins charge the Monat who still has his Drones, killing the drones.

Brad
I was loving the Fire Prism shot in this round, as soon as it arrived it kicked some ass, just a shame it went down so early in the next round.

Gavin
I was worried at this point, and doubting the wisdom of Deep Striking my entire army. The game rested on Sam's reinforcements in Turn 3, if he managed to drop enough Crisis Suits he could wipe out my army in one turn - if he failed his reserve rolls, I could tear the still beating heart from the corpse of his army!

Sam Turn 3

• Tau Reinforcements - Second Broadside, Devilfish with Fire Warriors, Auxiliary Command Squad, Vespids
• The lone Pathfinder markerlights an Assault Squad.
• Death Company are markerlighted once out of 3 attempts from Shas'uis.
• The last Stealth Team open fire, killing 5 Guardians
• The newly arrived Vespids use the Markerlights to kill the whole Death Company. There is much rejoicing from Sam, and Gavin will probably have nightmares about Vepids for the next few weeks.
  
• The Commander and his bodyguard finish off the Chaplain. The Fire Warriors finish off the Assault Squad. Sam celebrates, he's wiped out half of Gavin's army already!
  
• The Broadside destroys the Fire Prism in a single shot. Sam reaches a state of oneness with the universe.
• Combat with the Scorpions continues, although we forgot who killed who!
  

Sam
My best turn here. I managed to seriously do some damage to the Blood Angels, meaning that the following turn, the assault squads couldn't do anything to me. I also managed to down the Fire Prism, something that would have caused a lot of havoc. In all, the dice were with me here.

Brad
There were many tears in the Brav camp in this turn. I can't believe Sam's Vespids came on - as soon as we saw them, we knew there was going to be some maulage. Also it seems we forgot to write down the combat with the Scorpions, I know one of the Scorpions died, and several of the Fire Warriors did as expected.

Gavin
Bugger. At least one assault squad was left alive, and Mephiton was unscathed.

Brav Turn 3

• The Wave Serpent joins the battle.
• Gavin's single Tactical squad and his Devastators arrive by drop pod, and his Terminators teleport onto the battle field.
• Mephiston suffers a wound trying to summon wings of sanguinius. WTF?
  
• The Devastators open fire and kill 8 of the 10 Vespids! The Terminators follow suit, and a Crisis Bodyguard falls to assault cannon fire.
• The Tactical squad shoot at a nearby Fire Warrior squad, 6 Tau die and the Plasma gunner suffers a fatal overheat.
• The Dark Reapers kill 3 Fire Warriors, a pretty poor performance. A Guardian Squad kills the destroyed Devilfishes Drones.
• The newly arrived Wave Serpent stuns the Hammerhead with Railgun, making it easier to destroy next turn.
  
• Mephiston suffers a wound summoning the Might of Heroes.
  
• Gavin regrets spending so many points on Mephiston
• The Guardians in the ruins engage a Monat and Stealth Team in combat, killing the Crisis for the loss of one man.
  
• The Crisis engaged by Mephiston is killed by a lowly Guardian! Mephistion is officially useless.
  
• The Scorpions finish the turn by killing 3 Fire Warriors in combat, losing none of their own.

Sam
Ow, this turn wasn't too good in combats. The Hammerhead was open to some good movement from Brad which was why it got mauled quickly. Nice to know Mephiston likes me so much he gives me points

Brad
A pretty decent performance from the Guardians in this round, I was pleasantly surprised. Yet again Gav's luck fails us, no idea how Mephiston managed to wound himself twice, it was so unlucky.

Gavin
No comment.

Sam Turn 4

• All of Sam's army arrives, apart from the last Hammerhead.
• The last few Kroot regroup, after running several miles.
  
• A newly arrived Crisis Suit fails to blow up Wave Serpent from behind, proving once again how hard the Eldar tanks are.
  
• 5 Devastators fall to the Vespids and Crisis Teams firepower.
  
• Only 4 of the 5 Terminators fall to the combined fire of the honor guard and 7 Crisis Suits armed with Plasma and Fusion weaponry, leaving Sam furious.
• Sam's Commander and Bodyguard charge the Devastators, and the bodyguard is wounded. The Vespids offer support, but no Marines die to their pitiful blows.
• Combat - Farseer kills a Stealth Suit. Stealth Suits kill a Guardian. Scorpions kill all but 1 Fire Warrior, who flee. Scorpions run him down, and charge into a Broadside.

Sam
The aim of the Vespids was to hold up the Devastators in combat, along with the squad in there with them. It meant that they didn't shoot any heavy weapons for the entire game. It was a pity the last terminator didn't fall though. This would have meant that the Honour Guard might have been able to deal with the assault squad more effectively. The good thing is that my Broadside got into combat, meaning I effectively pinned the scorpions in place so that later on, my kroot could finish them.

Brad
I pretty much only charged the Scorpions into the Broadside here because he was the only enemy close, and they would have fallen to gunfire anyway.

Gavin
I think Sam made a fatal error by charging his suits in. Even Devastators outclass Tau in close combat, all Sam managed to do with that charge was sign his commanders Death Warrant. I was very impressed by the resilience of the Terminators, not many 5 man squads can survive that kind of firepower and leave a man standing.

Brav Turn 4

• Gav's Baal Predator arrives as reinforcements.
• The main Farseer casts fortune on himself and the warlock aiding him.
• The Dire Avengers disembark and charge a Crisis Suit.
• Mephiston finally passes a psychic test and flies to aid the Farseer in combat.
• Gavin forgets to shoot his Baal.
• The assault marines move into position to attack the honour guard.
• Combat - Assault Marines kill 9 Honor Guard, Terminator does jack shit. The Tactical Marines kill Commanders Bodyguard. Mephiston kills none, but Honor Guard kill 2. The Dire Avengers kill the Crisis suit they were fighting. The Broadside kills the last Scorpion, the Exarch kills a drone.

Gavin
He he he, that is the kind of combat I want! 9 Honor Guard killed in the charge is a fantastic result.

Sam Turn 5

• The last Hammerhead does not arrive! Team Brav almost cheer.
• Sam finally silences the mighty Storm Bolter on the Drop Pod, by blowing it up.
• Broadside trys to kill the Baal, but is pitiful and fails.
• The other mighty Drop Pod is annihilated.
• The Baal is hit by a Seeker Missile, but survives.
• The Kroot charge the Lone Scorpion exarch, and kill him.
• The remaining Crisis suits charge in to assist their commanders in the melee.
• Assault Marines kill the ethereal, and move in to assist the terminator, just as he dies.

Sam
I needed the terminator to die in my turn. If he had, without the Honour Guard firing at him, it would have resulted in the honour guard being able to fire on the assault marines, doing some damage at least.

Brad
Finally the Scorpions die, but they certainly made their points so it was all good, not much else exciting happened in this round, it was good that the assault marines managed to kill the ethereal though.

Gavin
Sam was treating the Drop Pods as if they were Land Raiders in this turn, putting nearly all his firepower towards them. Why he was so terrified of 2 Storm Bolters I will never know.

Brav Turn 5

• The Falcon finally arrives, along with the Whirlwind.
• Mephiston fails his psychic test yet again!
• The Wave Serpent destroys a gun on the devilfish, and the Baal wipes up a Fire Warrior squad. The Falcon destroys the last Devilfish.
• The mighty whirlwind misses it's first and only shot.
  
• The rest of the infantry optimise their positions, getting into cover.
  
• Combat - A crisis suit fighting the tactical marines takes a wound. The Tau retaliate by killing 2 tactical marines. The assault marines in combat with the crisis suits avenge the terminator by killing both bodyguards and a drone in the commanders squad.

Brad
A good performance from the assault marines yet again, it was good to see, especially for Gav since he didn't have much else left.

Gavin
Whirlwinds - why are they so useless?

Sam Turn 6

• The last Hammerhead finally arrives and takes up position on the flank of the Baal and Falcon, Sam celebrates prematurely.
• A Broadside blows up the Whirlwind with ease, with the second Broadside taking out the assault cannon on the Baal predator.
• The Hammerhead kills 4 Dire Avengers, their morale holds.
• Combat - Assault marines kill 2 gun drones, the Tau commander kills 2 marines. The devastators and tactical marines kill one bodyguard and wound the commander twice.

Sam
Here I should have moved the Hammerhead on in a different place, perhaps away from the Falcon in order to destroy the Dire Avengers. It is annoying that it came right at the end where it didn't do much good.

Gavin
The Assault Marines seem to have slowed down here, which is a pity.

Brav Turn 6

• The Fire dragons disembark from the falcon and proceed to annihilate the Hammerhead. The Falcon takes out the Broadsides' drones.
• The Wave Serpent attempts to finish off the Kroot but only kills a hound.
• The Farseers spells combined with the Dark Reaper exarch finishes off the last fire warrior squad.
• Combat - The assault marines take out two drones, while the tactical marines finish off a bodyguard.

Brad
Mostly just mopping up here but all in all it was a good turn. I was thinking the Fire Dragons weren't going to do anything, and I was unsure of their abilities when facing a skimmer but it turns out they live up to their position as tank hunters and kicked ass. We almost got full points for the Kroot squad but that little jammy git was left at the end.



Result

Brad - Major Victory
Gavin - Minor Victory
Sam - Loss

We decided on this result because while Team Brav annihalated almost all of Sams army (and would have mopped them up with ease given 3 more turns), Gavin lost 3/4 of his army, compared to Brads 1/4 losses.


- Gavin, Brad and Sam