Eldar vs Tau 2000: Formation vs Super heavy

Craftworld Dem-Kirath take on the Tau in a game of Purge the alien, 2000 points. Its been a while since i played tau and this force even has a data slate, so i don't fancy my chances, but i have a lord of war for good measure, hopefully it will help take down the tau.

The Armies

Eldar 1999

I decided to try out a more Wraith heavy list this game and so used the Iyanden supplement (nothing really changed other than I got to use slightly better warlord traits). I haven’t used the Lynx in quite some time so decided to get that out for a change as well.

Spiritseer- 70 (warlord: lord of sorrowful dead) w/ wraithguard

[terrify, psychic shriek]

5 Wraithguard – 160

Wave Serpent – 135

Twin-linked scatter laser, holo field

5 Wraithguard – 160

Wave Serpent – 135

Twin-linked scatter laser, holo field

10 Guardians – 110

Starcannon

5 rangers – 60

6 Swooping Hawks – 96

7 Warp spiders – 143

Exarch

Crimson hunter – 160

2 War walkers – 140

2x bright lance

Wraithknight – 240

Lynx – 420

Tau 2000

Commander (warlord: no scatter on deep strike) w/ bodyguard

Plasma rifle, cyclic ion blaster, iridium armour, puretide chip

2 Body Guards

Twin-linked plasma rifle, fusion gun

Etherial / fire warriors

Honour blade, homing beacon

12 Fire warriors

12 Fire warriors

12 Fire warriors

Devil Fish

16 Kroot

Sniper rounds

16 Kroot

Sniper rounds

5 Pathfinders

5 Pathfinders

3 Crisis suits

2x fusion gun

Firebase Support Cadre

3 Broadsides

High yield missile pod, 2x shield drones, advance targeting

3 Broadsides

High yield missile pod, 2x shield drones, advance targeting

Riptide

Ion accelerator, stim injector, advanced targeting

This is a hard tau list to crack, and at the club it’s been doing the rounds quite nicely, destroying the Ultramarine list I struggle with and doing nicely against Necrons and Nids. I am not in for an easy ride. My tanks are in trouble thanks to the firebase having tank hunter.

The Mission

The mission for this game is Purge the Alien, so kill points. I have the advantage as I have less to give up, but I am outnumbered by superior fire power, a horrible trade off. We roll for deployment and its hammer and anvil, which is good as I don’t get to play this deployment often. The tau wins the roll for selecting deployment zone, but I win the roll for first turn and elect to deploy first (forgetting he can steal on a 5+ thanks to my lord of war).

My set up is quite simple, I place the wraithknight as far forwards as I can right in the centre so he can jump down the tau throat and force them to deal with him. To be sure it’s safe is he steal the initiative I place the Lynx behind the large line of sight blocking terrain. The guardians go on my right behind the sandbags, and both wave serpents go on the right, with the spiritseer going on the furthest right (hopefully to reduce the line of sight). I place the war walkers and warp spiders on the left so I have enough fire power on each side of the table. I place the hawks on the table at the far right and at the back to jump turn 1. Obviously the crimson hunter goes into reserve. As he has 2 units of kroot I decide to try to infiltrate the rangers, if I don’t he can get into some good position with the kroot and they will be on me before I can do anything about them, it’s a sacrifice but it’s all I can do.

His counter deployment starts with his riptide hiding behind his line of sight blocking terrain keeping it safe from the lynx, both the broadside units go in front of it spaced out as much as possible. A unit of fire warriors and pathfinders goes on each flank in terrain and the final unit starts in its devilfish on the left flank. The ethereal joins the unit on the left. In reserve he keeps the commander and bodyguard, and the crisis unit.

Infiltrators, we roll off to see who deploys them first and I win thank god and place them centrally reducing where he can put his kroot. They get deployed on each flank just outside his deployment zone.

Night Fight: Turn 5

Steal the Initiative: Yes (damn lord of war)

The Battle

Tau turn 1

The kroot on the right move further into the woods so they all have a cover save and are in range of something ot shoot. At the back the riptide walks out ready to shoot and attempts to nova charge but takes a wound for his trouble. On the left the devil fish moves forwards and the ethereal gives everyone feel no pain (6+) within 12 inches.

On the left the kroot target the rangers with their sniper rounds and manage to kill 2 of the eldar scouts. The left pathfinders then light them up with marker lights and get 2 hits. The etherial’s fire warriors use the marker lights to ignore cover and kill the remaining rangers for first blood. The snapshots from the kroot on the right fail to do anything to the wraithkngiht and the devil fish fails to do any damage to the war walkers. The riptide attempts to overcharge its shot at the wraithknight  but it scatters and kills 3 warp spiders instead (they hold). On the right the pathfinders light the wraithkngiht up and get 3 hits, allowing a unit of Broadsides to get +2 BS and shoot at it with their HY missile pods. All shots hit and get 5 wounds, I manage to fail all 5 saves reducing the knight down to a single wound. The other broadside unit then uses the last marker light for +1 BS and gets 2 wounds on it, and the wraithknight’s armour is again made of paper as I fail both saves, killing it, that was rather unlucky.

Tau: 3 – Eldar : 0

Eldar turn 1

Jumping to the sky, the swooping hawks leave the battlefield ready to attack from another quarter later on. On the left the warp spiders jump forwards towards the kroot ready to attack. The lynx moves to its right able to see the tau force, On the right both wave serpents move forwards, ready to attack together.

Firing their bright lances, the war walkers get a single penetrating hit and immobilise the devil fish. The warp spiders shoot at the kroot on the left and kill 3 of them before running back. On the right both wave serpents target the kroot on the right, and together rack up 12 kills leaving only 4 models left. The big shot for the turn, the lynx targets the right side unit of broadsides, the template manages to clip 3 models and both shots lock on, I roll and the unit gets removed from the table.

Tau: 3 – Eldar: 1

Tau turn 2

Both units of battle suits arrive from reserve, the crisis suits are placed in front of the lynx and lock on. The commander doesn’t deviate and goes to the left of the lynx. The riptide attempts to nova charge its gun but takes damage instead. On the left the kroot go for the warp spiders and the fire warriors get out of the devilfish and join in the fray. The ethereal allows units within 12 inches to both run and snapfire.

Again the riptide attempts to overcharge its gun and target a wave serpent but it over heats and it fails its armour save. The crisis suits target the lynx with their fusion guns. All the shots hit but thanks to the titan holo field it is only stripped down to 2 hull points. The commander and bodyguard attempt to finish off the tank but they unit only manages to strip it down to a single hull point. Running first, the kroot move 6 towards the snipers but fail to hit with their shooting. The fire warriors do the same but manage to kill a single spider. The devil fish then kills another spider. On the left the pathfinders markerlight the warp spiders and hit twice. The fire warriors who didn’t move get +2 BS and kill off the last warp spiders. On the right the pathfinders mark the wave serpent 3 times and give the broadsides +2 BS, even with this and tank hunter the broadsides fail to do anything thanks to its jink save.

Assault phase and all of the suits move back as much as possible.

Tau: 5 – Eldar: 1

Eldar turn 2

I roll for the crimson hunter and it arrives and moves straight towards the commander. The hawks come back in, at the back of the tau deployment zone and drops its grenade pack on top of the ethereal, it locks on killing 3 fire warriors, wounding the ethereal and killing 2 pathfinders. They all pass their pinning tests. On the right one wave serpent drops off the wraithguard who moves towards the crisis suits, and the guardians follow suit. On the left, the war walkers move towards the commander and his bodyguard. The other wave serpent carries on forwards. At the end of the movement phase the broadsides intercept with the smart missiles, and kill a single hawk.

Shooting from the war walkers brings down a bodyguard with their bright lances, the commander looks out a few shots and the shield drones absorb the shots. The crimson hunter attempts to do some damage as well but again the shield drones absorb all the shots. Now on the floor, the wraithguard target the crisis suits and kill them all with ease. With its passengers on the battlefield, the empty wave serpent targets the small kroot unit and kills them off for an easy kill point. The other wave serpent shoots both its scatter laser and serpent shield shoot at the right pathfinders and kill all 5 of them in a single turn. The lynx can just about target the riptide and locks on with both shots, I roll to see what happens and one is a 1, the other only deals 2 wounds, leaving it alive. Shooting at the fire warriors, the swooping hawks deal a further 3 kills, and the fire warriors (including ethereal) fail their moral test and run 7 inches!

Assault phase, and with the commander still alive I am forced to charge him with the war walkers to keep the lynx alive. The combat is pathetic as no one deals any wounds.

Tau: 5 – Eldar: 4

Tau turn 3

Unfortunately for me the ethereal and fire warriors rally. The pathfinders move up and the fire warriors turn to face the hawks.

Using marker lights the pathfinder’s target the swooping hawks but all miss. The 3 units of fire warriors combine their shooting and Is needed to kill off the hawks in a single turn. Again shooting at the empty wave serpent the broadsides shoot and this time manage to shake it. Not happy with the lynx’s shot, the riptide shoots back and gets a single glancing hit, causing it to explode! The blast then scatters off the table leaving my force unscathed.

Assault phase and the riptide moves back. The continuing combat carries on doing nothing, as both sides really aren’t very good at combat.

Tau: 8 – Eldar: 4

Eldar turn 3

The wave serpents move up and the wraithguard move back to hopefully help the war walkers next turn. Moving off form the commander, the crimson hunter moves up the table to face the broadsides.

Shaken, but not down, the damaged wave serpent shoots at the broadsides hoping to take down the shield drones, but only manages to kill 1. With 1 left the second serpent shoots them as well but I didn’t take into account a broadside was closer and it just absorbed all the shots. Unfortunately I had to have a go anyway, but to my luck the crimson hunter hits and wounds will all of its shots, the shield drones systems are overloaded and fails, allowing the rest of the broadsides to be instant killed by the strength 8 ap 2 shots. The wraithguard run,

Assault phase and the war walkers manage to kick a drone into oblivion, but a war walker gets glanced for its troubles.

Tau: 8 – Eldar: 5

Tau turn 4

Invoking his power, the ethereal lets models within 12 inches fire an extra shot. All of the fire warriors converge on the crimson hunter, hoping that with enough fire power they can force it out of the sky. The kroot carry on their path towards the wraithguard.

A few sniper shots from the kroot are aimed at the wraithguard but they fail to do any damage. Adding its fire power the devilfish does the same but again the wraithguard prove too tough. Using its standard shot, the riptide targets the empty wave serpent and manages to stun it, leaving it on 1 hull point. Using marker lights the pathfidners attempt to mark the crimson hunter but they all fail to hit. It takes all 3 units of fire warriors on the crimson hunter to bring it down, the pilot manages to avoid 3 penetrating hits but the sheer weight of shots wrecks it.

Assault and the tau manages to wreck the damaged war walker.

Tau: 9 – Eldar: 5

Eldar turn 4

Unhindered the undamaged wave serpent moves up carrying on its course while the wraithguard move behind the building ready to aid the war walkers in combat.

Shooting from the damaged wave serpent targets the pathfinders, and it manages to get a few shots in killing a single model. The other wave serpent targets the fire warriors on the right and down 4 of the tau. The wraithguard run.

Assault and again nothing happens.

Tau: 9 – Eldar: 5

Night Falls upon the Battle Field

Tau turn 5

Needing to deal with the wave serpents, the riptide moves to the right. The kroot move up towards my deployment zone. This turn the ethereal gives units feel no pain 6+.

The pathfinders target the front wave serpent but fail to hit it with any marker lights. With a rather slim chance of doing anything, the kroot attempt to glance the damaged wave serpent but can’t even hit it. Not allowing it live, the riptide shoots the damaged wave serpent and wrecks it.

Assault phase and the combat finally comes to an end, the commander finally wrecks the last war walker.

Tau: 11 – Eldar: 5

Eldar turn 5

In a desperate attempt to gain a few last minute kill points, I move the wave serpent 6 then disembark both the wraithguard and spiritseer, but they both separate with the wraithguard going after the riptide and the seer to the fire warriors.  Back in my deployment zone the wraithguard go after the commander.

 

Shooting from the wraithguard in my deployment zone targets the commander, and all hit and wound, killing the squad outright. The other unit of wraithguard shoots at the riptide and gets 2 instant death shots, which gets past the invulnerable save killing it. I attempt to cast psychic shriek onto the fire warriors in the ruins but the tau somehow deny the witch! As a last ditch attempt to rack up some points the wave serpent fires both its scatter laser and shield at the ethereal and fire warriors, but I only down a single warrior.

Tau: 11 – Eldar: 9

We roll to see if the game carries on (I need it to)…

Tau turn 6

Again the ethereal gives feel no pain and moves up. All the fire warriors move up and the kroot go after the guardians.

Wanting to kill as much as possible the pathfinders mark the wraithguard in his deployment zone and the fire warriors have +1 Bs and manage to kill 3. The squad of fire warriors that the spiritseer attempted to kill shoot back and kill him. A few sniper shots from the kroot kill 2 guardians but they hold.

Tau: 13 – Eldar: 8

Eldar turn 6

I move the wave serpent up towards the ethereal to get the shuriken catapults in as well and the guardians move over the barricade towards the kroot.

Shots from the wraithguard kills a single kroot, and I attempt to run the guardians into range of the kroot but I roll a 1 with the re-roll so only the shuriken cannon is in range and kills 1. The wave serpent targets the fire warriors with ethereal again and does enough damage to kill the warriors but the ethereal looks out all the shots. In the tau deployment the wraithguard kills a single fire warrior.

Assault and the wraithguard charge into the fire warriors and kill 1 but they hold.

Tau: 13 – Eldar: 10

We roll to see if the game carries on but it ends.

Tau: 13 – Eldar: 11

Tau Victory

Post-Battle

That game went a lot better than I expected, granted I still lost but I was very worried about the broadsides and riptide. If I hadn’t taken the lynx I probably would have lost a lot quicker, it was a large deterrent which does panic people thanks to the strength D weapon. Could I have played the game better? Probably, i feel I wasted the warp spiders a little; they could have been more useful elsewhere instead of taking on kroot.  My use of the hawks was very risky, and it didn’t pay off. If they had killed the ethereal with their barrage that could have been a massive game changer but it didn’t happen.

What do you guys think I could have done better?

Hope you enjoyed the report.