SN Battle Reports are back! This time, Space Marine Raptors are battling it out against the battlesuit heavy forces of T’au.
Hello and welcome to another battle report! Finally getting to use the T’au again after a 6-month gap! This was William’s first game of 40k since then and opted to go for a small Battlesuit heavy list in order to bring something different to last time. Here we have an awesome board set up by the SN Team, sporting fantastic terrain made by the amazing Wargames Terrain Factory. They offer fantastic scenery, as can be seen by this Strike Cruiser crash site. The four scattered crates around the table from the crash hold munitions valuable to the Raptors and will be acting as objectives for this game, with the T’au forces attempting to obtain them in order to deny the Marines from gaining any more weaponry. And with all of that, let’s get this show on the road!
Mission: Front Line Warfare
Points: 1750 +/-
Deployment: Dawn of War
O’kua’s HUD pulsed red, the words INCOMING FIRE pulsed on his display. He banked his Crisis Suit away from the stream of fiery tracers originating from the debris field.
+++ Raptors +++
++ Spearhead Detachment +1CP (Imperium – Space Marines) ++
+ HQ +
- Captain: Chainsword, Storm Bolter, Teeth of Terra
- Captain: Storm Bolter, Thunder hammer
+ Dedicated Transport +
- Razorback: Twin assault cannon
- Razorback: Twin assault cannon
- Razorback: Twin Lascannon
+ Heavy Support +
- Devastator Squad
Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun
4x Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Grav-cannon and grav-amp - Devastator Squad
Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun
4x Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Grav-cannon and grav-amp - Devastator Squad
Space Marine Sergeant: Bolt pistol
4x Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Lascannon
++ Vanguard Detachment +1CP (Imperium – Space Marines) ++
+ Fast Attack +
- Assault Squad: Jump Pack
4x Space Marine
Space Marine Sergeant: Eviscerator - Bike Squad
Biker Sergeant: Combi-flamer, Twin boltgun
2x Space Marine Biker w/Bolt Pistol: 2x Twin boltgun
Space Marine Biker w/Special Weapon: Flamer, Twin boltgun
Space Marine Biker w/Special Weapon: Flamer, Twin boltgun
+ HQ +
- Captain on Bike: Chainsword, Storm shield, The Burning Blade, Twin boltgun
+ Elites +
- Aggressor Squad: 2x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant, Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher
- Contemptor Dreadnought: Combi-bolter, Dreadnought combat weapon, Kheres pattern assault cannon
- Sternguard Veteran Squad
4x Space Marine Veteran: Combi-melta - Veteran Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Combi-melta
The fire was deadly accurate and the suit shuddered as a brace of impacts struck it’s right shoulder assembly, denting the armor but otherwise leaving the suit and O’kua unharmed. Scans of the vicinity of the crashed human ship continued to be dumbfounded by the enemies skill at concealment, without clear targets the T’au were forced to adopt unconventional tactics to force these so-called Space Marines to reveal themselves.
++ Spearhead Detachment +1CP (T’au Empire) ++
+ HQ +
- Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit: High-output burst cannon, Missile pod, Shield generator, Stimulant injector
+ Troops +
- Strike Team
Fire Warrior Shas’ui: Pulse rifle
4x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle - Strike Team
Fire Warrior Shas’ui: Pulse rifle
4x Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle
+ Heavy Support +
- XV107 R’varna Battlesuit: Advanced targeting system, Multi-tracker, Stimulant injector
- XV88 Broadside Battlesuits
. Broadside Shas’vre: 2x High-yield missile pod, 2x Smart missile system, Counterfire defense system - XV88 Broadside Battlesuits
. Broadside Shas’vre: 2x High-yield missile pod, 2x Smart missile system, Counterfire defense system
+ Flyer +
- AX-5-2 Barracuda: 2x Long-barrelled burst cannon, Ion cannon, 2x Missile Pod
+ Elites +
- XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit: 2x Fusion blaster, Counterfire defense system, Cyclic ion raker, 2x MV5 Stealth Drone, Stimulant injector
- XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit: 2x Fusion blaster, Counterfire defense system, Cyclic ion raker, 2x MV5 Stealth Drone, Stimulant injector
Return fire from the rest of his team obliterated the cover from which the enemy had so recently opened up, blue flames melting metal to glowing slag. Another fusilade caught two of O’kua’s team mid-plasma recharge cycle, both suits crumpled to the ground under the weight of high caliber explosive rounds leaving nought but fragments of scorched armor.
Steven begins by deploying two of his Razorbacks on the left side of one of the crates in his deployment zone. In each, a 5 man Devastator squad armed with Grav Cannons, an excellent choice against a Battlesuit army, able to shred potential multiple wounds off at a time.
They were everywhere and they were nowhere. It was like fighting mists and shadows. O’Kua signaled his team to withdraw, it was clear that they were dancing to the space marines tune.
And on the far right of the board we see a unit of Bikers, followed closely by Steven’s Warlord; a Captain with the Burning Blade and a Storm Shield. The engines of the Raptor’s bikes hum through the battlefield, echoing throughout the ruinous remains of the crash site, distorting their exact whereabouts, as they prepare to ride up the flank of the T’au forces.
No more! These elite human troops were their equal in skill and this kind of fight would end in needless casualties.
And on the right side of the crate, Steven places his third unit of Devastators, each armed with mighty Lascannons. These weapons are sure to put the hurt on the Battlesuits further and provide Steven with some much needed heavy strength support from afar, looking to take down whichever target they lock on to.
If you couldn’t outfox your foe then you had to outfight them. As unrefined as it was, sometimes an all out assault was the lesser evil.
William then begins deploying and chooses to place his XV107 R’Varna Battlesuit right next to the objective in his deployment. This Forge World model is scary, to say the least, its Pulse Submunitions Cannons surveying the battlefield for any potential targets. William then sets up his Coldstar Commander, as well as one of the Broadsides to the right of the R’Varna, all within range of each other to support themselves in the Overwatch.
T’au units converged on the debris field to eradicate the stubborn space marines who refused to accept the inevitable triumph of the greater good.
Finally, the Ghostkeels close up William’s deployment, as they deploy ahead of the army, in hopes of getting into better firing positions, and to attract some of the attention from Steven, allowing him to get more firing in with his heavy hitting suits.
Let’s do this!
Check out the full report here.
About the Author: Steven Pardo
