Assualting the trenches part 2

Good morning and welcome to the assault on the trenches from my perspective, the defender.
As Coldsteel eluded to this will be a 4 part post and next time I shall have the job of trying to dislodge his poxy Space Marines from those trenches I only just managed to hold.

We don't tend to play huge point games for 40k, not just because of the space needed but for sheer time factors. I hardly moved at all and we spent nearly 6 hours at Games Workshop HQ playing this game! But we both fancied getting our whole collection out and onto the field. So without further ado let me introduce you to my Tau.

 

My Left flank - Kroot in the first lines, XV8 suits and broadsides in the second line with XV108 Riptide, XV09 and Hammerhead Support



My Right flank, Fire warriors in both lines with Hammerhead support

My army comprised of the following:

HQ
1x Commander in XV8 suit with 2 XV8 crisis bodyguards
1x Cadre fireblade

Elite
1 x XV108 Riptide
3 x XV8 crisis suits
2 x 4 XV25 stealth suits

Troops
11 x Fire warriors
12 x Fire warriors 1 x Devilfish transport
20 x Kroot with 2 x krootox

Fast attack
3 x XV09 hazard suits
2 x 5 Path finders

Heavy Support
1 x R'vanna experimental battlesuit
2 x Hammerhead Gunships
3 x XV88 Broadside suit

I decided to put my R'vanna, XV09 and Riptide stationed on the bridge to help which ever side Coldsteel pushed hardest. The Path finders and Stealth suits were split on both flanks. My right flank I placed both my Fire warriors with a Hammerhead and Crisis suit support. My left I left rather lightly defended with the kroot up front and a Hammerhead, Broadside and Commander to support.
My thinking being that Coldsteel would rather face relatively weak Kroot than face the massed volley fire of my Fire warriors. One he took the bait I was planning to reinforce in strength across the bridge. The battle turned out very differently..........

The Fire warriors see the bait has not been taken and the are the intended target!

As you can see Coldsteel decided to put his best units against my strong gun line.


 

I luckily managed to get the first turn. However my dice rolling was poor to say the least. I only managed to destroy the Vindicator! Tau excel at shooting but are basically made of cardboard, they can dish out a whole lot of hurt but cant take it in return! My long range meant I would have at least 2 turns of unopposed shooting, but I had just wasted one!

This Quickly turned into a battle of two sides so I will briefly cover the holding action on the left flank. Coldsteel pushed up a Dreadnaught and tactical squad with scout squad support.

 

The holding action begins

The Kroot started to take casualties and eventually fled the battle.



The Kroot valiantly held for as long as they could



After pulling my Riptide and XV09 suits away from the left to deal with the impending terminator assault I was forced to push my commander into the front line to hold my left with broadside support.

 

Broadsides search for their next target

Luckily this managed to hold my left and we pretty much fought each other into a standstill here. Now onto the main event the right flank.

 

The R'vanna locks onto the Centurion devastators

Despite being hit with volley after volley the Space marines weathered the storm

Slowly the Space marines advanced, shaking off multiple hits from my ionised weapons. I managed to take out a tactical squad and the devastators lurking in a building but still the armoured warriors advanced.

The Fireblade shouted inspiration to his troops! FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

Finally the inevitable happened. The terminators hit home, and hit hard they did. The Tau are pathetic at combat. My first squad was wiped out. The crisis suits sent in to hold the line suffered the same fate.

The Terminators hit my first line

Terminators mop up

While what was left of the Terminators peeled left to mop up my Path finders and Stealth suits, his commander dealt with my XV09 suits that managed to arrive in the fight. Even with Space marine killing weapons these were quickly dispatched!

The terminators finally fell to my massed fire from the second line, and the R'vanna's duel with the Centurions ended with their death. Dans reserve bikers flew up the table and locked my R'vanna in combat until the end of the game. Tying up my most deadly asset while his flying gunship continued to strafe my lines.

His commander and what was left of his command squad turned their eyes to my second line. Despite only being two strong they weathered my fire and took out a second complete squad!

Coldsteels command squad breaks cover to assault while his bikes move to pin my R'vanna

The Slaughter begins

After decimating my right flank I finally managed to put an end to his commander with a well placed Hammerhead round. With us pretty much having fought each other to a standstill we decided to call it there. I managed to hold the trench lines but at such a high cost it wasn't much of a victory.


Aftermath on the left flank



What was left of the right flank

The Glorious dead 

As you can see we both were left with very little. It was a hugely enjoyable day and the next round shall be played next month. I am not looking forward to trying to dislodge Space marines from prepared defences. But that is for another day.

NFTR

Trojan8578