OK I need to sit down and really think about how I need to build my list.
Jobs: Lures, Armor Killers, MEQ Killers, Crowd Killers, Speed Bumps
Lures: A lure's job is to sit somewhere and draw enemy fire. So far these fire magnets have typically been things like my Broadsides and Pathfinders. And while I'm not fond of losing those units I can deal with it when I have to.
Armor Killers: Shadowsun, anything that can be equipped with a fusion blaster, Railguns on Broadsides and a Railhead.
MEQ Killers: Anything that's AP3. Mostly just Crisis suits with Pulse Rifles, but an Ion Head will do in a pinch. Rail Rifles on Pathfinders will also work here.
Crowd Killers: Lots of shots, preferably AP 4 or 5, the higher strength the better. That means the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, the Cyclic Ion Blaster, Burst Cannons, Flamers, Ion Cannon (again), Submunition Shots, SMS Shots and to a lesser degree the Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, and a lot of Pulse Rifles at 12".
Speed Bumps: Yeah... that's the Kroot. Maybe the Stealth Suits.
OK so now we need to think of how we want to position these units:
Lures: Pathfinders for certain. Maybe deep-strike Shadowsun early if that can work in my favor. Other potential lures would be a small band of Firewarriors or a gun-drone squad.
Armor Killers: Shadowsun would be one dedicated armor killer, even if she's a lure. I don't fancy using my Crisis Suits for dedicated anti-armor, with the exception of forward armor (stuff that runs into my lines). My Piranhas, while traditionally used for objective contesting, are going to be pushed more to anti-armor. Naturally Raiheads and Broadsides will fit in here too.
MEQ Killers: This is going to be at least three Crisis Suits. If I want to go dedicated then a standard team of three with Pulse Rifles, Targeting Arrays, and... something? I could toss a fusion blaster on the suit but without the multi-trackers I'm forced to choose. By moving this to an HQ slot I can put the trackers as hardwired. If I wasn't using Shadowsun I could make two identical HQ units like this. If I wanted to invest in Farsight (I don't) I could theoretically move this up to seven bodyguards PLUS another three for the second HQ slot PLUS Farsight himself for a whopping ELEVEN dedicated MEQ/Vehicle killers. Tempting but honestly that's a bit out of my budget right now. Also in the MEQ slot I really think I want to field an Ion head, and I'll likely have a few Rail Rifles. I have no aspirations of the Rail Rifles living long enough to Kill a MEQ but hey - it's a threat. Theoretically I could also run some Vespids here but... meh...
Crowd Killers: Burst cannons, and lots of them. Where I can't fit a burst cannon I'm going to put in an SMS or a Missile Pod. Whatever I put in here must be able to make it up to the forward lines and quickly. I could start another unit of Piranhas with burst cannons (three would give me 12 Str 5 AP 5 shots, 3 twin linked... hmm). On the other hand I can put SMS on the Ion Head. This would give me a 24" range that I can pump seven shots into, or I can fall back to a safer distance and pump just three. On a Railhead I'd probably load up Burst Cannons to offset the cost and give it something better to do after I've removed most armor.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tau vs. Witchhunters - 1500
Farmpunk has the photo bat-rep up here
All things aside - I think my biggest flaw here is that I was playing a strategy that I wasn't equipped for. The strategy I was playing was supposed to be a careful influx of units followed by a turn-5 onslaught of objective-grabbers, but I neglected to bring my second Pirhana and I neglected to equip a Positional Replay.
I should have been playing a lot more agressive than my normal style and remembered to advance on objectives a lot more.
All that aside this game really helped me get more of a feel for Commander Shadowsun. A lot of people rightfully feel she should be a back-end castle. I personally think that she has a good showing in a more forward attack role and can support a few Crisis and/or Stealth Teams with her leadership bubble.
Shadowsun pops the armor the suits shoots the troops.
All things aside - I think my biggest flaw here is that I was playing a strategy that I wasn't equipped for. The strategy I was playing was supposed to be a careful influx of units followed by a turn-5 onslaught of objective-grabbers, but I neglected to bring my second Pirhana and I neglected to equip a Positional Replay.
I should have been playing a lot more agressive than my normal style and remembered to advance on objectives a lot more.
All that aside this game really helped me get more of a feel for Commander Shadowsun. A lot of people rightfully feel she should be a back-end castle. I personally think that she has a good showing in a more forward attack role and can support a few Crisis and/or Stealth Teams with her leadership bubble.
Shadowsun pops the armor the suits shoots the troops.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Scatter: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Deepstrike
Deep strike is scary, that's for sure. You bring a unit in but there's a chance of the unit being deployed, placed somewhere completely useless, or not arriving for another turn. Granted some armies make Deep Strike even worse but if you're fortunate enough to not have to deal with those issues, Deep Strike can make a glorious entrance.
The Odds: To Hit or Not to Hit
There is, roughly, a one in three chance of landing spot on to your target and a two-thirds chance of "scattering" in one of 360 degrees worth of drift. This means that - by the numbers - you're most likely to drift some distance away.
While this is fairly random, you do have the ability to guess just how far you'll drift. We'll come back to this latter.
The Odds: So Close...
We've established that we're likely to NOT land where we want we have to figure out just how far we're going to drift.
What this essentially means to us in terms of Deep Striking is that we have the highest odds of drifting 7" away from our intended landing zone and a little over a 41% chance of drifting over 8" away.
The Landing
This is how I've begun to calculate my drift: First I calculate the "fire" range of my deep-striking unit: I subtract 8 from the range of the weapons on the unit I want to fire and call this my "effective range" for the deep strike. Then I look for the Landing Zone. A Landing Zone will be approximately 12-14" of mostly clear or at the very least just has no models or impassible terrain. Models, impassible, and/or table edges reduce my odds of a good landing.
Landing Zones are then evaluated by the following criteria:
Tripping the Drift
Now we've drifted and, with luck, no more than 7" away from my original target. If you drifted towards your opponent you're likely in a better range. Drifts that are covered by the front half of your axis are still likely to leave you in a decent range of your opponent. If you drift away you may still have a chance, but at the very least you will have to move and shoot next turn.
The Odds: To Hit or Not to Hit
There is, roughly, a one in three chance of landing spot on to your target and a two-thirds chance of "scattering" in one of 360 degrees worth of drift. This means that - by the numbers - you're most likely to drift some distance away.
While this is fairly random, you do have the ability to guess just how far you'll drift. We'll come back to this latter.
The Odds: So Close...
We've established that we're likely to NOT land where we want we have to figure out just how far we're going to drift.
% Chance of Results on 2D6
| Dice Result | Exact Roll | Less Than or Equal To | Greater Than or Equal To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2.77% | 2.77% | 100% |
| 3 | 5.55% | 8.33% | 97.22% |
| 4 | 8.33% | 16.66% | 91.66% |
| 5 | 11.11% | 27.77% | 83.33% |
| 6 | 13.88% | 41.66% | 72.22% |
| 7 | 16.66% | 58.33% | 58.33% |
| 8 | 13.88% | 72.22% | 41.66% |
| 9 | 11.11% | 83.33% | 27.77% |
| 10 | 8.33% | 91.66% | 16.66% |
| 11 | 5.55% | 97.22% | 8.33% |
| 12 | 2.77% | 100% | 2.77% |
What this essentially means to us in terms of Deep Striking is that we have the highest odds of drifting 7" away from our intended landing zone and a little over a 41% chance of drifting over 8" away.
The Landing
This is how I've begun to calculate my drift: First I calculate the "fire" range of my deep-striking unit: I subtract 8 from the range of the weapons on the unit I want to fire and call this my "effective range" for the deep strike. Then I look for the Landing Zone. A Landing Zone will be approximately 12-14" of mostly clear or at the very least just has no models or impassible terrain. Models, impassible, and/or table edges reduce my odds of a good landing.
Landing Zones are then evaluated by the following criteria:
- Targets of Opportunity: How many critical targets are there within the effective range of that unit"? How many targets that I can hit - period - are there near that landing zone?
- Targets of Reach: On the next turn, are there any units I can reach once I can move?
- Safety of Landing Zone: How safe is that zone as I drift from it? Will I come under heavy fire? Do I run into a chance for a mishap or a Dangerous Terrain test?
Tripping the Drift
Now we've drifted and, with luck, no more than 7" away from my original target. If you drifted towards your opponent you're likely in a better range. Drifts that are covered by the front half of your axis are still likely to leave you in a decent range of your opponent. If you drift away you may still have a chance, but at the very least you will have to move and shoot next turn.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Shadowsun Files - The Shadow Bomber
There are in my mind three key roles that commander Shadowsun can fill:
The Shadow Bomber
Deep in the back field behind some sort of cover it sits... cocky and confidant. Or perhaps it's some piece of armor or a gunner that just took out your rail gun platform. Maybe it's just some niggly little Tech Priest that is just on your nerves.
It must die.
This is where the Shadow Bomber comes in. The Shadow Bomber tactic gives you at least one good solid attempt at taking out some key unit and making sure it or at least hurts. Think about it: two strength 8 AP 1 hits, not a lot gonna live through that.
How it Works
Keep Shadowsun in reserve and declare her as a deep-striking unit. Most armies I've played against so far like to deploy a fair chunk of their army in one go, which makes this process easier. By the end of Turn 1 you'll have a fair idea of what needs to be targeted.
When Shadowsun rolls up for deployment from reserve you need to pick your landing zone. I personally like to deploy her about 3" away from a vehicle or 6" away from non-vehicle units. The reason, of course, is scatter -
The Downside
The downside to the Shadow Bomber is that if that she doesn't succeed at ending her target, she's left fairly open. Granted she has three drones she can drop wounds on but that's only a stop-gap measure. Another problem is if said target is also surrounded by other nasties such as a Space Marine squad and you don't have any difficult or blocking terrain you can jump in, on, or behind to protect yourself. Granted you can easily take out two Marines a round on her own, but that's just two.
So then when is your best opportunity to use the bomb? On a big, beefy two-wound target or on an isolated bit of armor. Transports are risky, but if you can melta blast and get away the go for it. Stay about 5" out and you're solid.
The other downfall is the Deep Strike itself. If you're not landing in plenty of clear terrain then you run the risk of mishap. You also run the risk of drifting out of her effective range: remember on the turn you deep strike you don't get a move phase movement. I like to eye-ball a spot about 6" out. if I drift, there's a good chance I'll still be within the 12" of the fusion blasters. If I'm really lucky I'll be in Melta range.
After the Bomb
Once she's done her job, your opponent should have a dead critical model and, if you're lucky, you'll still have the good commander and a few drones left over. But odds are she's stranded near your opponent's deployment zone and possibly penned in by a lot of nasty things between her and the safety of numbers.
This, surprisingly, is a good thing.
No matter where she is, she is a big shiny unique sitting largely by herself and that makes her a juicy target. People will be gunning for her. On top of that if she's close to the enemy lines a lot of deployments will be happening in her vicinity. If she's closer to your side of the board, jump her towards the deployment zone especially if you're lucky enough to be able to JSJ at a larger squad of... well... ANYTHING. Again she has a good chance of instant-killing two MEQs a round.
If she does die this honestly doesn't bother me. Since she comes in from reserves it's not a guarantee when the bomb will drop, and by then she provides a good lure - one or two turns devoted to taking her out after she's done her job gives another unit one or two turns to kill things off.
Synergies
While on the surface she works alone, there are a few great areas where she would work and play well with others.
Horde Killers: Any unit loaded with Burst Cannons, Missile Pods, and/or Flamers work well here. They can deep strike in behind her and take care of any other sort of units.
Pathfinders/Broadsides/Railheads: Let's face it: these things tend to be priority targets for our opponents and for good reason. So when they load up a unit specifically to deal with these key units, let Shadowsun take care of them.
- A deep-striking sure-shot killer (the Shadow Bomber)
- A key-unit protector (Castle Shadow)
- A morale booster (Shadow Leader)
The Shadow Bomber
Deep in the back field behind some sort of cover it sits... cocky and confidant. Or perhaps it's some piece of armor or a gunner that just took out your rail gun platform. Maybe it's just some niggly little Tech Priest that is just on your nerves.
It must die.
This is where the Shadow Bomber comes in. The Shadow Bomber tactic gives you at least one good solid attempt at taking out some key unit and making sure it or at least hurts. Think about it: two strength 8 AP 1 hits, not a lot gonna live through that.
How it Works
Keep Shadowsun in reserve and declare her as a deep-striking unit. Most armies I've played against so far like to deploy a fair chunk of their army in one go, which makes this process easier. By the end of Turn 1 you'll have a fair idea of what needs to be targeted.
When Shadowsun rolls up for deployment from reserve you need to pick your landing zone. I personally like to deploy her about 3" away from a vehicle or 6" away from non-vehicle units. The reason, of course, is scatter -
The Downside
The downside to the Shadow Bomber is that if that she doesn't succeed at ending her target, she's left fairly open. Granted she has three drones she can drop wounds on but that's only a stop-gap measure. Another problem is if said target is also surrounded by other nasties such as a Space Marine squad and you don't have any difficult or blocking terrain you can jump in, on, or behind to protect yourself. Granted you can easily take out two Marines a round on her own, but that's just two.
So then when is your best opportunity to use the bomb? On a big, beefy two-wound target or on an isolated bit of armor. Transports are risky, but if you can melta blast and get away the go for it. Stay about 5" out and you're solid.
The other downfall is the Deep Strike itself. If you're not landing in plenty of clear terrain then you run the risk of mishap. You also run the risk of drifting out of her effective range: remember on the turn you deep strike you don't get a move phase movement. I like to eye-ball a spot about 6" out. if I drift, there's a good chance I'll still be within the 12" of the fusion blasters. If I'm really lucky I'll be in Melta range.
After the Bomb
Once she's done her job, your opponent should have a dead critical model and, if you're lucky, you'll still have the good commander and a few drones left over. But odds are she's stranded near your opponent's deployment zone and possibly penned in by a lot of nasty things between her and the safety of numbers.
This, surprisingly, is a good thing.
No matter where she is, she is a big shiny unique sitting largely by herself and that makes her a juicy target. People will be gunning for her. On top of that if she's close to the enemy lines a lot of deployments will be happening in her vicinity. If she's closer to your side of the board, jump her towards the deployment zone especially if you're lucky enough to be able to JSJ at a larger squad of... well... ANYTHING. Again she has a good chance of instant-killing two MEQs a round.
If she does die this honestly doesn't bother me. Since she comes in from reserves it's not a guarantee when the bomb will drop, and by then she provides a good lure - one or two turns devoted to taking her out after she's done her job gives another unit one or two turns to kill things off.
Synergies
While on the surface she works alone, there are a few great areas where she would work and play well with others.
Horde Killers: Any unit loaded with Burst Cannons, Missile Pods, and/or Flamers work well here. They can deep strike in behind her and take care of any other sort of units.
Pathfinders/Broadsides/Railheads: Let's face it: these things tend to be priority targets for our opponents and for good reason. So when they load up a unit specifically to deal with these key units, let Shadowsun take care of them.
The Shadowsun Files: Overview
Of all Tau units, Shadowsun sticks out to me. She's barely used on any list - especially a "competitive" list and it's fairly obvious why: she has an effective 18" strike range with her two guns but her stealth field generator really only protects up to about 21," and she cannot join another unit as an IC nor can you (reasonably) have an IC such as an Etherial or monot Crisis Commander join her unit because then the commander becomes visible to the free world.
So then... is she any good? I think she is. In fact my last few games she's proved to be a very critical portion of my army. Over the next few weeks I hope (hope) to post a few articles writing about her, her abilities, and where the Pin Up Girl of the Third Sphere fits in with our armies.
Tau'va!
So then... is she any good? I think she is. In fact my last few games she's proved to be a very critical portion of my army. Over the next few weeks I hope (hope) to post a few articles writing about her, her abilities, and where the Pin Up Girl of the Third Sphere fits in with our armies.
Tau'va!
I swear! That's not happened to me before!
Was priming last night using my stock Color Safe Green and just as I neared done... "pfft" nothing.
ARGH
And to add insult to injury as I primed the only models I black-prime (my stealth suits) I realized I had left the antenna off of three of them.
On the upside I did prime the good commander Shadowsun a nice white. I'm going to paint her a little closer to the prescribed color scheme in the codex for her model, but will be adding in a silvery wash or something then I'm going to do a gloss clearcoat. I think it'll work out well.
ARGH
And to add insult to injury as I primed the only models I black-prime (my stealth suits) I realized I had left the antenna off of three of them.
On the upside I did prime the good commander Shadowsun a nice white. I'm going to paint her a little closer to the prescribed color scheme in the codex for her model, but will be adding in a silvery wash or something then I'm going to do a gloss clearcoat. I think it'll work out well.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Bat Rep Dumps
I really do not have the time or focus to sit down and write batreps the way many people will (but I hope to have a link to my second game as soon as farmpunk has it up) so instead I thought I'd do a bit of a summary of my first three games.
Game 1: SM/Tau vs. Tyranids (about 1500 points) Dawn of War / Capture & Control
My first game could have gone far better. I showed up with a 1000 point army at LGS hoping for a pickup game. As I chilled Colin, the owner introduced me to a veteran 'Nids player who only had 1500 points. However a college kid with about 530ish points of Space Marines (from Black Reach) showed up, and we partnered.
Now we lost - naturally. SM kid was more interested in list building his Guard army than the game. But I did learn a few things. Most notably is that you need a speed bump: I had no Kroot but the Marines got nicely in the way. I managed to kill off a significant number of nids but when the game ended we lost one objective to 0.
Game 2: Tau vs. Witchhunters (1500 Points) - Dawn of War / Seize Ground
This game came out a lot nicer than I expected. First I had a nice mountain butted right up against a my deployment edge that I was able to park my Broadside on the apex of. Commander Shadowsun snuck behind a mountain and everything else stayed in reserve. The 'Hunters rolled in. Shadowsun proved to do quite well - dropping two (three?) land raiders on her own. The Broadside never got to do anything fun as a fracking assassin dropped right in next to him. The irony? She had 14" of mountain to cross.
My big lesson? While I held too much in reserve my biggest flaw was I had no way to ensure things coming in a more metered fashion - such as the Positional Relay.
Game 3: Tau vs. Space Wolves - 1750 point - Pitched Battle / Annihilation
Yeah... see... I wasn't holding nearly any hope. This game happened today, so it's a little fresher.
He was fielding Canis, a single Land Raider, a drop pod full of Termies, and a whole bunch of... footsloggers?!?! OK - Wolf mistake of the day.
I deployed my HQ slot (equipped with a Pos. Relay that I had already decided to write off with the Annihilation scenario) and dropped my Broadside on top of another giant mountain. My kroot lined up outside a forest until I was reminded by someone outside the game that the could have infiltrated. Ah well - coulda woulda shoulda.
He lined up... well.. everything except the drop pod. WOOHOO Targets.
I infiltrated my path finders behind a mountain with three of them peeking around the corner with their Rail Rifles.
The game went poorly up until the end of turn 5. My pathfinders dropped in turn 2 to Canis inflicting only one wound in return. Shadowsun deep stuck in and finished him off. The Kroot died (horribly), and a Pirhana went BOOM and left a crater. Biggest upshot was the massive irradication of the drop-podded terminators by Shadowsun, the Pirhanas, and a Devilfish.
Turn 6 things turned around as the 3-turn assault my HQ was tied up in ended in victory. My Devilfish fired a submunition round that took out a third of a massive collection of Wolves (including a termie). While two Devilfish, the remaining Pirhana, and a unit of Stealth Suits whittled the unit down to two, Shadowsun killed off half of a VERY annoying unit that had a damn missile launcher that had been pegging at key units all game.
Turn 7 saw Shadowsun finishing off the annoying unit, the railhead killing off the damn Land Raider, and the Crisis HQ and the two Devilfish killing off the vast majority of one entire Troop unit. In the end? He was left with two Space Wolves (not units... Models). That... didn't last through the end of Turn 8.
My first win!
Game 1: SM/Tau vs. Tyranids (about 1500 points) Dawn of War / Capture & Control
My first game could have gone far better. I showed up with a 1000 point army at LGS hoping for a pickup game. As I chilled Colin, the owner introduced me to a veteran 'Nids player who only had 1500 points. However a college kid with about 530ish points of Space Marines (from Black Reach) showed up, and we partnered.
Now we lost - naturally. SM kid was more interested in list building his Guard army than the game. But I did learn a few things. Most notably is that you need a speed bump: I had no Kroot but the Marines got nicely in the way. I managed to kill off a significant number of nids but when the game ended we lost one objective to 0.
Game 2: Tau vs. Witchhunters (1500 Points) - Dawn of War / Seize Ground
This game came out a lot nicer than I expected. First I had a nice mountain butted right up against a my deployment edge that I was able to park my Broadside on the apex of. Commander Shadowsun snuck behind a mountain and everything else stayed in reserve. The 'Hunters rolled in. Shadowsun proved to do quite well - dropping two (three?) land raiders on her own. The Broadside never got to do anything fun as a fracking assassin dropped right in next to him. The irony? She had 14" of mountain to cross.
My big lesson? While I held too much in reserve my biggest flaw was I had no way to ensure things coming in a more metered fashion - such as the Positional Relay.
Game 3: Tau vs. Space Wolves - 1750 point - Pitched Battle / Annihilation
Yeah... see... I wasn't holding nearly any hope. This game happened today, so it's a little fresher.
He was fielding Canis, a single Land Raider, a drop pod full of Termies, and a whole bunch of... footsloggers?!?! OK - Wolf mistake of the day.
I deployed my HQ slot (equipped with a Pos. Relay that I had already decided to write off with the Annihilation scenario) and dropped my Broadside on top of another giant mountain. My kroot lined up outside a forest until I was reminded by someone outside the game that the could have infiltrated. Ah well - coulda woulda shoulda.
He lined up... well.. everything except the drop pod. WOOHOO Targets.
I infiltrated my path finders behind a mountain with three of them peeking around the corner with their Rail Rifles.
The game went poorly up until the end of turn 5. My pathfinders dropped in turn 2 to Canis inflicting only one wound in return. Shadowsun deep stuck in and finished him off. The Kroot died (horribly), and a Pirhana went BOOM and left a crater. Biggest upshot was the massive irradication of the drop-podded terminators by Shadowsun, the Pirhanas, and a Devilfish.
Turn 6 things turned around as the 3-turn assault my HQ was tied up in ended in victory. My Devilfish fired a submunition round that took out a third of a massive collection of Wolves (including a termie). While two Devilfish, the remaining Pirhana, and a unit of Stealth Suits whittled the unit down to two, Shadowsun killed off half of a VERY annoying unit that had a damn missile launcher that had been pegging at key units all game.
Turn 7 saw Shadowsun finishing off the annoying unit, the railhead killing off the damn Land Raider, and the Crisis HQ and the two Devilfish killing off the vast majority of one entire Troop unit. In the end? He was left with two Space Wolves (not units... Models). That... didn't last through the end of Turn 8.
My first win!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Neglect
Hey - I've been busy on WH40k stuff, but I've been neglectful of this blog.
Quick link to show you some of what I've done
Quick link to show you some of what I've done
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