New Layout! Again...

So despite the older layout being a lot cooler looking; grim, dark, etc., it was becoming less and less manageable; so I've switched back to this style for the time being. It's brighter, more streamlined, and better organized, at least I think.

Thoughts on the change? Want the older blog layout back?

Aloh'Nan'El goes Airborne

My first big conversion is finished! As my skimmer tactics are becoming more and more complex; walling, trapping, mobile cover, touch-shocking, etc., I decided that to keep up with a mobile Cadre my Commander needed some better gear.

So some pics of the new conversion, fresh from the shop!

The head here is the standard head, but the antennas have been replaced with the business end of a Fusion Blaster. The "hat" piece is a Shield generator, and the space in between is green stuff, painted black. Up close you can see a bit of the mess I made with the Green stuff on the backpack; no amount of sanding could smooth that down too well.
A look at the "Fusion Sword", made from the back of a Fusion Blaster and a flying stem, and painted with various shades of gold and white, and its simple yet effective accompanying Plasma Rifle. You can also see the magnetic base here; a simple magnetix toy glued to a base and attached to a magnet mounted on the suit. Note the golden tipped Seeker Missiles, acting as the thrust for the wings.

A quick view of the wings; the green stuff is a bit off here as well, but it luckily doesn't mess with the magnificent wingspan.

The bottom angle gives a better look at the missile pod, as well as giving a good look at the bulked up shins; it makes sense that a suit flying at high speeds would need more effective shocks.

Holding Ground! Troops, Part 2 (The Noble Fire Warrior)

Fire Warriors are one of the most conflicted units in the game, and as such are rarely fielded en masse anymore.

Fire Warriors hold the best basic gun in the game, both in terms of range and strength. On the other hand, their Weapon Skill, Initiative, and Attack stats leave them in the dust for melee; their weakness to close combat is in fact the source of the meme that Tau suck at close combat.

Many players simply take this in stride, falling back on the seemingly above par shooting skills of the Tau. This is, in itself a folly, however. While Fire Warriors do excel in tearing apart light infantry targets at range, their shooting can't really match up to the posterboy of 40k; the Space Marine. If Space Marines and Fire Warriors fought at 24", simply plonking shots at each other, the Marines would cause more hits, equal wounds per hits, and cause more deaths per wound. I'm well aware that I am comparing to a more costly unit, but to be honest, this is assuming a fight on the Tau's turf; shooting. The Marines could cut down the Tau with ease if they moved in; not that they'd have to.

Fire Warriors aren't the toughest thing in the game, with MEDI-class (Medium Infantry Equivalent) toughness and armor, but they aren't the weakest, they can survive against a good amount of basic rounds, and can outlast enemies such as guardsmen and orks, but these forces tend to outnumber them almost two-to-one, and can outmaneuver/mob your Warriors if they ever reach close combat.

When Fire Warriors gain Markerlight support, they gain a fearsome new set of teeth. Being able to strip cover away from light infantry and boost accuracy makes long range warfare a deadly nuisance for opposing forces, and a bloodbath when the Fire Warriors close to rapidfire range. However, there are downsides to this. The use of Markerlights for Fire Warriors is generally a waste unless the Fire Warriors are facing their favorite form of enemy; light infantry. The cost of Pathfinders or a similar Markerlight source is also a factor, as is their survival.

What do Fire Warriors bring to the table that make them more favourable than Kroot? To me, it's rather simple; they can bring a Tank.

The Devilfish is expensive, and has a slight deficiency due to starting with an extra killpoint attached, but they can become a very powerful asset for your army; from the SMS, a rather rare cover-ignoring weapon for the Tau, to the chassis itself blocking off lines of fire and assaults to your Crisis Suits. The durability of AV12 combined with a near constant cover save makes this vehicle one of the more difficult targets to kill; meaning that tossing a small squad inside and using the vehicle as a scoring unit is an effective tactic. Using the vehicle in this way gives it a great role; early game it blocks paths, drops SMS fire, keeps your shooters alive. Late game, it moves in to score, able to deploy a relatively healthy Fire Warrior squad out for a rapidfire if the enemy gets within range.

Flechettes on the Devilfish cement their role as a wall and allow them to dissuade light hordes from trying to reach your Fire Warriors inside; and also protect the Fire Warriors from the enemies using your Devilfish as extra movement without a large penalty. And if you are moving at cruising speed, you are incredibly durable against all but some of the best equipped vehicle shredders.

Basically, I see Fire Warriors not as a unit in and of themselves, but almost as symbiotically connected to their vehicle; they give it extra firepower and the ability to score, and it gives them protection and speed. As a quick example, the Fire Warrior unit I've been using most lately is:

6x Shas'la w/ Rifles; Devilfish w/ SMS, Multitracker, Targeting Array, Flechette Discharger, Disruption Pods -190

I run three of these and a small squad of Kroot in 1850. They are more than capable of keeping my suits alive, withstanding enemy firepower, and shredding light infantry. Their cover-denying capability and good Ballistic Skill allows more to forego a lot of need for Markerlights. They can Tank-shock onto heavily protected objectives, and they can simply drift onto any objectives that are not. They are a valuable asset in my army.

Any of the readers use a different build? Any static players? Anyone who throws six Fire Warriors in a Pathfinder fish and grabs Kroot instead?

Spearhead Formations are out!

The new expansion, Spearhead, is out, and in its infant stages:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=9800021a

I immediately see three of the spearheads as useful to the Tau. In order of least usefulness to greatest, I'll give the explanation of why they are useful (in my eyes) and an example 500 point Spearhead:
-Skyfall Spearhead: Though there are problems with Deep Strike, the Skyfall allow the Tau to get into a good position mid-game, and they can slow infantry and wreck tanks. Railheads, would be ideal, as the blast would gain pinning and the Railgun would be near unstoppable. The Ion Cannon becomes more attractive due to the side armor rules. Smart Missile Systems would really come into their own here as well; Move 12" (Multitracker standard) fire the Rails at vehicles and the SMS at infantry entrenched in cover (no target lock needed). Possibly blow up three tanks and pin three squads on the deepstriking turn with the triple Hammerhead Spearhead.
Example Spearhead:
Skyfall Rule -45
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, SMS, Multitracker, D. Pod -175
Hammerhead w/ Ion Cannon, SMS, Multitracker, D. Pod -140
Hammerhead w/ Ion Cannon, SMS, Multitracker, D.Pod -140
500
This Spearhead relies on the multiple Pinning shots of cover-ignoring SMS and the Side armor rule to maintain a fast-moving, long-ranged war machine, capable of blasting away anything that relies on its front armor value.
- Seek and Destroy Spearhead: Would allow for a massed Piranha Squadron/ Gun Drone rush on a flank, with a melta threat of 30" once per game. That is an amazing threat, especially en masse.
Example Spearhead:
Seek and Destroy Rule -50
Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Flechette Dischargers; Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array -150
Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Flechette Dischargers; Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array -150
Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Flechette Dischargers; Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array -150
With the six Skimmers and twelve Drones provided here, you can harrass the enemy to hell and back. The strategy I'm thinking of is simple; the Piranhas rush forward as a long line, flat out and empty their Fusion Blasters into six seperate tanks. Mass panic from the enemy. Mass kills for you. Noticing the threat, the enemy will likely dedicate massive amounts of firepower to killing these squadrons; when the suprisingly durable vehicles remain, they will move at cruising speed and do so again, and again, all while dropping Drones to annoy and blocking the now dismounted and disarrayed enemy's movement. During this time, the rest of your army tears them to shreds.
Against hordes or footsloggers, the addition of Flechettes and the durability of the Piranhas gives you the luxury of simply corralling the enemy into a nice circle of Piranhas as you shoot them to hell. It is literally shooting fish in a barrel, in 40k form.
-Ambush Spearhead: THE best option for Tau. Three Hammerheads, all infiltrating to create an independent firebase of Ion Cannons or Railguns, deploying last (or at least after most) to gain side/rear armor shots. Not to mention that our vehicles get Stealth. This is huge. When equipped with Disruption Pods, our tanks get a 3+ cover save. This is amazing. Our vehicles have STORM SHIELDS. The tank goes from annoying to hard as nails. Diamond nails.
Example Spearhead:
Ambush rule -75
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, 2x Burst Cannons, Multitracker, Disruption Pod -165
Hammerhead w/ Railgun, 2x Burst Cannons Multitrackers, Disruption Pod -165
Hammerhead w/ Ion Cannon, 2x Burst Cannons, Multitracker, Disruption Pod -130
A cheaper version of the skyfall, as the SMS lacks the pinning sting, this unit can infiltrate in, with zero risk (unlike skyfall; thought of 500 points gone in a mishap = *shudder*), get side/rear armor, and proceed to pound the opponent.
There are three things that (in my opinion) make this Spearhead better for Tau in terms of the effect on the battlefield (even assuming that the deepstrike is successful). First is the 3+ cover. That makes this Spearhead impossibly durable to enemy shooting. The second is that the threat is there from turn one, as opposed to waiting for reserves. The third is that it has a psychological effect. If the enemy sees the Skyfall, they will continue on as is, expose rear-armour, than react after the turn they can come in; they can't stop the side armour shots, but you can't benefit from rear armour until the turn after. By then they react. With the Infiltration, the enemy has to deal with the threat of a flanked, near-invincible firebase, and that will have an effect on him. Does he dedicate units to it? Does he attempt to ignore it to hit your main army? Is he stuck in a side/rear armor crossfire between your real firebase and your Spearhead? You give the enemy the opportunity to make mistakes, to split forces, and you can capitalize on it.

What do you guys see as the potential of Spearhead formations? Any experience with them yet?

Combat Patrol Video

As promised, a quick explanation of the Stealth Recon list in the last post, explaining the use of Piranhas in combination with Stealth Suits.

Running a Combat Patrol

So due to fan questioning and the general 40k blogosphere, I'm jumping on the Combat Patrol bandwagon.

What is CP?
Combat Patrol is an odd little game that is simple to play and an easy way to get started. It is small enough to get a general grasp on the rules of the games, and see the synergy between units on a smaller level; synergies that larger armies can be built on.

Combat Patrol can, however, be brutal. The small points level rewards the leanest of players, who can fit every fist and bullet into their list they can. Those small level synergies can be deadly combinations, with no way to force through them; take, for example, Fritz's Harlequin list: http://saimhann.blogspot.com/2010/05/clown-patrol-harlequin-combat-patrol.html#/

The list has a very low model count that you won't expect from Foot Eldar (Footdar), but has a few nasty surprises; it is practically unshootable due to durability (2+ saves in CP via cover!) and the Shadowseer (unshootable over 24", annoying night-fighting-like tests). It snipes something early and then books it away and hides, and can handle itself in assault (Harlequins are very good).

In this competitive form of CP, every move counts; there is no room to blunder, as a single mistake, a single model's death, can change the game. It is a very exciting game, and it is over shortly enough for a rematch or three.

What does a CP list need?

First off, CP is about Victory Point denial. There are two ways to do this; unit-pinching and, on the opposite spectrum, unit-spam. Unit-pinching puts massive amounts of points into units that are made very hard to kill; see Fritz's list. Unit spam means putting very small amounts of points into units so that when they give up points, the amount is very small. An example of this would be a list with 5 8-man Fire Warrior squads.

A CP list, first and foremost, needs a single Troop choice. For us Tau players, this choice is a bit limited; we are stuck, as always, with a choice between Kroot and Fire Warriors. My opinion on this is simple; the Fire Warriors are more durable, and give us more deployment options (i.e. not cover-tied) than the Kroot, meaning that they can take up better firing positions; furthermore, their 30"range means that on the 4'x4' tables that CP is played on, they;ll always have a target. They prefer backfield sniping in CP, while Kroot are used up-close; meaning that unless your opponent has brought as much ranged firepower as, well, the Tau, he will be far more likely to pick up Kroot points than Fire Warrior points. So I give my personal edge to the Fire Warriors. (I should also note that it is undecided whether a unit of Fire Warriors are 1+ in CP. I'd say no, as the Commander cannot be taken. Otherwise, I assume normal FOC limits for CP, as it makes the game easier to get through. Yet another reason for Fire Warriors ;D).

My second maxim for Combat Patrol is to have some anti-tank, while my third is to have vehicles. The reasons? First off, while most vehicles aren't allowed in CP, some are. You need a solid way to deal with them when your opponent starts spamming chimeras or something else stupid. Second off, while Pulse Fire can down AV10 when you hose it at them, a meltagun can't hurt for emergencies. The inverse applies to my statement; most players lack effective vehicle killing weapons, rationalizing that they are unnecessary in a game with only light armor. For this role, and one that will be explained below, the Piranha (with Fusion Blaster and Targeting Array) makes it into my list.

Now it is clear we need a firepower element. Right now my list has very few actual guns, and thats bad for any army, but specifically Tau. Many will take the knee-jerk response and jump right to Crisis Suits, and for good reason; Crisis Suits are the workhorse of Tau. A Fireknife can put out more high strength shots than most, can do it from a long range, and likely pick up cover.

There are downsides to the Crisis Suit, however. One wound and it gives up half its Victory Points, and even at its extreme range it is in danger; Instant Death! can remove it outright. So it is our best shooter but, is a glass cannon. Note that this is a problem in CP, as they can get away with being rather fragile in objective games, but here, it matters.

Instead I prefer the Crisis Suit's overshadowed brethren; the Stealth Suits. The Stealth Suits work up-close, which is problematic, but with the use of Piranhas as a mobile terrain piece, they can draw assaulters away yet stay safe against enemy returns. They are nearly immune to long range shooting due to the Stealth Field. Also, Infiltration allows them to hit turn 1. So Stealth Suits are my go to CP unit, despite my general dislike of them in the normal game.

My final CP list ends up looking like this:

8x Shas'la (Rifles) -80

3x Stealth Shas'ui -90

3x Stealth Shas'ui -90

Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array -70

Piranha w/ Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array -70

-400

The overall synergy of this list is a bit hard to explain without a representation of the models of some sort, so I have a video for you all! Next post is the general strategy of the army, with, of course, the visual examples.

New Layout

So after tossing around some layouts I found around, I settled for this.

Personally, the dark feel of it lends more towards 40k than the Purple that I used to have to represent my Cadre. This blog layout can be found at Blogger Templates, a link to which is at the bottom of my blog. For anyone starting up a blog or looking for a change, I'd HIGHLY recommend taking a look.

What do you think? If everyone prefers the simple purple I'd be happy to change back.