Whisper it ….. I’m playing a lot of 40k again!
Not sure why – but for the first time in a long time, I’m enjoying playing 40k competitively again. I’m just back from Heat 3 of the UK GT, where I qualified for the final (just!). I’m committed to trying to get into the Scottish ETC team (unlikely, but we’ll see), and more importantly I’ve found a Tau list that’s fun to play and reasonably competitive.
I know, I know … I vowed to put it all on the shelf and try something new, but I really couldn’t face committing to another game … I tried Dropzone, but it never really stuck. Some guys at the non-club play Flames of War and bolt action, but, despite being a WWII history geek, I just couldn’t face buying another game and painting a bunch of models etc.
What can I say – I’m hooked on 40k I’m afraid!
So what have I been up to? Well, since I “signed off” in my last blog post I’ve been doing a lot of running (!). I completed an off road half marathon a month or so ago. I’ve also committed to doing an Ironman next year (yes really – midlife crisis – move along, nothing to see here). If you’re even vaguely interested in this I’ve started a blog tracking my exploits www.oldfatbloke.com.
On the 40k front, I’ve only really started getting back into more competitive play in the last few weeks, and only really seriously at the GT. I attended a 6 game tournament in October. It was a local Scottish Tournament which attracted a bunch of the Scottish ETC team. I still wasn’t convinced how serious I was, so took 1850 points of podding marines. Big mistake. It was the worst tournament result I’ve ever had – went 2 – 4. Came to the conclusion that if I really wanted to get back into tournaments I needed to up the power level of my lists – so back to Tau it is.
But I really think the meta has changed – the tau lists of a year ago just don’t work anymore in 7th. So what did I take to the GT?
Well, first for those of you who don't know, the GT is one of the more competitive events in the UK. Three heats are run across the country, where the top 50% qualify for the final to be held in March. The event runs at 1,650pts and allows forge world. One combined arms detachment and one ally/formation. The rules pack is here http://40kgt.co.uk/EventInfo/40K_GT_2014_2015_Rules_Pack_v1.8.pdf. I wanted to take a reasonably competitive list, but also one I would enjoy playing. I wanted to move away from a static Tau gun line, to something a little more dynamic.
What can be more dynamic than a bunch of Crisis suits? Farsight Enclave it is then.
Commander, Twin Missile Pods, target lock
2 XV8s Fusion, Twin Linked Fusion
2 XV8s Plasma, Twin Linked Fusion
2 XV8s Plasma, Twin Linked Fusion
3 XV8s Twin Missile Pods, Target Lock, 4 Marker Drones
3 XV8s Burst Cannon, Twin Linked Burst Cannon
3 XV8s Burst Cannon, Twin Linked Burst Cannon
2 Tetras
2 Tetras
Skyray
Skyray
Tau Allies
Commander, M3S, C&CN, VTR, Iridium Armour, Stims
10 Kroot
10 Kroot
So, a couple of Skyrays, some Kroot, 4 tetras in 2 squads of 2 and ALL the suits. Fast, dynamic, packs a punch, but very fragile.
At the GT my first game was against Adamantine Lance, 2 serpents and a Farseer. First time playing Imperial knights. The Farseer summoned demons, everything bounced off the Knights and I lost big. However, I learned a lot about the army and about Adamantine Lance. If I had played it differently I think I might have swung it.
Game 2 was against Nids, with 7 flying monsters, and a bunch of gribbles. I won this one, but it was pretty close. As one would expect the skyrays were “immense”, but what really struck me was how good twin linked marker lights were at putting marker lights on FMCs, and then how good twin linked missile pods were at gunning them down.
Game 3 was against Flying Demons – my nemesis. I’ve mentioned in the past how much I hate this list. However, I focused, worked hard, and managed to win this one reasonably big. It helped that my opponent had one truly terrible psychic phase were he barely got a power off, and those that he did I blocked, or they didn’t do much. Highlight was a pack of Kroot gunning down a Demon Prince....!
Game 4 was elder serpent spam with 3 wraith knights and a Farseer. I might have swung this one but the Farseer was outrageously successful in summoning demons. Over the course of the game he spat out a herald with a portaglyph, 2 units of demonetts, 2 units of horrors and a unit of screamers. It didn’t help that I scrwed up my target priority and failed to down a Wraithknight until turn 3. A loss, but not a big one. Realy should have won this one.
Game 5 I was tabled by a really innovative Tau army. Farsight, with O’Vessa, and some of the 8, but taken with Darkstrider and a small unit of pathfinders. All the IC’s attach to the pathfinder unit to take advantage of his structural analyser (which reduces target toughness by one point). So essentially a “new” O’Vesa star.
Game 6 was against Nids again. He conceded after 3 turns. To be fair, he might have pulled it back – he had 3 Carnifexes sitting on 2 objectives in his deployment zone and I still had a Flying Hive Tyrant to deal with before I could focus on them. However, I had pretty much wiped out the rest of his army, and had board control – it really was just a matter of time.
A great tournament, but more importantly, I think I have a list that will be fun and reasonably competitive. It plays to the Tau strengths of fire power, but also builds in mobility with deep striking suits. It’s also reasonably flexible. The key decision is what to deploy. In 2 games I only deployed the Skyrays (was absolutely the right thing to do in one, not so sure in the other), and deep struck all the suits. In others I deployed the missile squad with the buff commander along with the Skyrays. The key was to create a threat my opponent had to address, draw them out, and then deep strike the XV8s behind them. It worked reasonably well, but only if my opponent took the bait so to speak. If they hung back, and had a significant counter assault threat, not so much.
Before the event I had wondered about whether to swap out the skyrays for a Riptide. I’m glad I didn’t – the skyrays were key in the 3 games I won (15 FMCs in total!). In the other games they were “OK”, not outstanding but OK. What they do is give me a resilient (AV13) bait unit, to tempt assault armies out of their deployment zone, allowing my deep striking suits to pick of weaker units. They are a bit “hit or miss” however – in my 2nd game against Nids, I fired both of them an a Malanthrope. Twelve S8 AP3 missiles at a T6 W4 3+ save MC, having stripped cover with marker lights …. and he still had 2 wounds left after the dust settled!
The missile pod Mark’O unit with buff Commander were sound. The C&CN twin linking the missile pods was a significant threat to FMCs, even without skyfire (buffed by marker lights from the Skyrays), and the additional marker lights were invaluable. On occasion I would deep strike this unit, and the extra range made it extremely flexible.
The other suit units worked well. The double burst cannon suits are great horde cleaners. Twin linking one of the burst cannons effectively increases their BS to 4 meaning I didn’t need to support them with marker lights to the same extent. The plasma - fusion suits were also good, but they lacked a bit of punch as 2 man units – 3 man would be better. The double Fusion suits were excellent, but only having one of them made me very dependant on getting them on the board exactly when I needed them, and in a couple of games I was let down by bad reserve rolls. For the future I think I need to rejig the load out of my suit teams – try and get 2 double fusions suits in, and bump up the numbers in my plasma fusion suits to 3 rather than 4.
The Tetras aren't as good as they were – but to be honest they were too good in the past. They’re still good though – the biggest benefit being that the marker light is now twin linked. That means I’m much happier to jink and relay on getting a couple of sixes, even if I’m snap shooting. Also, being able to scout and move 12 inches before shooting the marker light is great for landing some marker lights on target your opponent thought were out of range for seeker missiles to pick off on turn one. However, the best use I think is reserving them with your suits and out flanking them to provide marker light support for the suits when the deep strike in, particularly if you can deep strike off the Tetra’s homing beacons.
It pains me to say that the 2 Kroot squads were a little lack luster. I don’t’ need meat shields as much because I don’t have a gun line to protect.
My next tournament is at 1850pts, and I’m thinking about this list
Commander, Twin pods, Drone Controller, Target Lock, Talisman
3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin Linked Plasma Rifles
3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin Linked Plasma Rifles
2 XV8s with Fusion Blaster, Twin Linked Fusion Blaster
2 XV8s with Fusion Blaster, Twin Linked Fusion Blaster
3 XV8s with Missile Pod, Twin Linked Missile Pod
3 XV8s with Missile Pod, Twin Linked Missile Pod
2 Tetras
2 Tetras
2 Tetras
Skyray
Skyray
Skyray
Tau Allies
Commander, Twin Pods, Drone Controller, Target Lock, Iridium Armour, Puretide Chip.
10 Kroot
- The commander with Pure Tide Chip and Iridium Armour costs 228pts, when you factor in the Kroot tax for the ally slot. The equivalent Farsight Commander, without the chip and 2+ save is 128pts. Is the Chip and Iridium armour worth 100pts?
- Thoughts on the XV8 load outs? In a nutshell its 2 units to kill infantry (Burst, Plasma suits), 2 units to kill heavy armour (Fusions, Twin Fusion) and 2 general purpose units (the Deathrains). I've twin linked one of the weapons on each suit to make up for dropping the Mark'O unit, and relying on less robust platforms for my marker lights.
- Riptides - I cold rejig the list to replace some XV8s, and the skyrays, with 2 or 3 Riptides.I don't think Riptides are quite as good as they were, but they're still pretty good.
Finally, if I decided not to take the Puretide Chip and the Iridium Armour, I could ditch my Tau allies and take a culexus assassin instead. Has anybody played extensively with the culexus - any good?
Thoughts?
EYIG
In your new list why have you got two drone controllers?
ReplyDeleteVery good point - hang over from previous lists. Scrub the Drone Controllers.
ReplyDelete