Stepping Into a Nest of Salamanders…

This Saturday, I got in a 1500 point game to test my latest Tau list. My opponent this week was my friend Dan, and his Salamander successor chapter army. Dan's relatively new to the game, and this was his first 1500 point list. It was also the first list where he got to play with the new toys he received for his birthday: Vulkan He'stan, an Ironclad Dreadnought and a Thunderfire Cannon. Considering that Dan's had his entire army gifted to him, mostly out of Black Reach boxes, he's not doing too shabbily. Here's what he brought to the table:

HQ: Forgefather Vulkan He'stan (1#, 190 pts)
1 Forgefather Vulkan He'stan

HQ: Space Marine Chapter Master (1#, 190 pts)
1 Space Marine Chapter Master (Artificer Armour; Bolter x1; Power Sword x1; Auxiliary Grenade Launcher; Digital Weapons; Hellfire Rounds)

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 175 pts)
9 Tactical Squad (Bolter x7; Flamer; Missile Launcher)
1 Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; Chainsword)

Troops: Tactical Squad (10#, 175 pts)
9 Tactical Squad (Bolter x7; Flamer; Missile Launcher)
1 Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; Chainsword)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 120 pts)
Dreadnought (Extra Armor; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Heavy Flamer)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 120 pts)
Dreadnought (Extra Armor; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Twin Linked Heavy Flamer)

Elite: Ironclad Dreadnought (1#, 175 pts)
Ironclad Dreadnought (Hunter-Killer Missile(s) x2; Ironclad Assault Launchers; Seismic Hammer; Heavy Flamer; Hurricane Bolter)

Fast Attack: Assault Squad (10#, 255 pts)
9 Assault Squad (Bolt Pistol x7; Flamer x2)
1 Sergeant (Thunder Hammer; Storm Shield)

Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon (1#, 100 pts)
1 Thunderfire Cannon
1 Techmarine Gunner

Total Roster Cost: 1500

Note that there are no transports, or really any mechanized capability. That's mostly because Dan doesn't own any yet, but something that we may rectify before the end of the year. For now, it's all foot slogging.

Anyway, the mission was Seize Ground (4 objectives), with a Spearhead deployment. He put almost everything on the table - a tac squad on each of his two objectives, a fan of HQs and elites between them, and the cannon perched on top of a hill. Meanwhile, the assault squad was held in reserve. I paired up my Devilfish with my Railheads, and kept all my suits in reserve. I went first, and he chose not to attempt seizing the initiative.

Tau Turn 1: I move my 'fish out towards two objectives - one unclaimed, one currently held. I fire submunitions with my Railheads; one shot scatters off-target, while the other ends up taking out 3 marines from a tac squad.

Space Marine Turn 1: His fan of heavy hitters spreads out a bit. He tries landing shots from his Thunderfire on one of my Railheads. All either scatter off or fail to penetrate armor, a trend that continues for most of the game.

Tau Turn 2: 3 of my 4 Crisis Suit units come in from reserves, leaving only the two Deathrains remaining. I want to focus fire as much as possible, but his forces are still clustered in one quarter of the board. I make a gamble and start deep-striking my suits around the far end of the "fan", near one of the held objectives. The HQ squad scatters near the heart of the fan, next to his Ironclad. The Fireknives scatter near Vulkan. The fusion suits scatter little. I bring up the oncoming fish and disembark my FWs within rapid fire range. The Fire Warriors unload on the Tac Squad, and leave only one survivor - the marine with the flamer. He breaks and starts running for the nearest long table edge. The fusion team fires on the nearest Dreadnought, which explodes - catching 3 of the FWs in the blast. The shooting falls apart after that. The Fireknives are unable to land but one wound on Vulkan, and the HQ team only manages to clear out 3 more marines from the other objective. Meanwhile the Hammerheads fail to do anything useful.

Space Marine Turn 2: Things start to fall apart for me here. The lone flamer marine rallies, and the fan of elites reverses itself, closing in on the HQ team. The Thunderfire cannon takes out two of the three fusion suits with a 4-shot barrage. My FWs are lined up neatly under the Devilfish - all within flamer range, and the marines claim revenge. Only 2 FWs from that team remain. The heavy flamers and hurricane bolters on the remaining dreadnoughts fail to make much of a dent in the HQ team, but they more than make up for it in assault, along with the Chapter Master, who slaughter that squad. Vulkan cuts down one Fireknife and catches the other two in a sweeping advance. The flamer marine charges the remaining FWs, and they lock each other up in combat.

Tau Turn 3: My gamble has backfired, and now most of my firepower is dead or unavailable. Vulkan shrugs off a railgun round thanks to his mantle, but is not so lucky against the gun drones on the Devilfish - a second wound is inflicted. The remaining fusion suit is unable to land a wound on him, though, and tries to jump away. More submunitions from the other Hammerhead, but still 4 marines stubbornly sit on the other objective. All this time, the other 'fish is sitting on an uncontested objective across the board.

Space Marine Turn 3: The Assault Team comes in from reserve, deep-striking near the rest of the carnage and within assault range of the empty Devilfish. The dreadnoughts flank around the bastion in the middle of the table and each start moving towards a different Hammerhead. Vulkan ducks behind the bastion, hoping to avoid taking any more fire. The Ironclad launches an HK missile at a Railhead, but misses. The fusion suit is finished off by a krak missile shot from the remaining Tac Squad. Assault, on the other hand, does not go as well - a Fire Warrior falls, but his last remaining squadmate takes out the final marine.

Tau Turn 4: The Deathrain team still refuses to come in from reserves. The lone Fire Warrior re-embarks in his 'fish and tries to move away from the Assault Team. The Hammerheads reposition and fire, but no damage is dealt.

Space Marine Turn 4: The fan closes in on its targets and goes straight into assault (prefixed by a second ineffectual HK shot). The thunder hammer in the assault squad makes short work of the Devilfish, causing it to explode and kill its passenger. The Ironclad drops its Hammerhead with one solid blow. The Chapter Master tries to get into a good position to drop an Orbital Bombardment on the remaining Devilfish. Vulkan remains near the bastion, biding his time.

Tau Turn 5: The Deathrain team drops in within flamer range of the remaining 4 Tac Squad members in hopes of clearing them out. Another railgun round misses, but the Deathrain flamers do not - two marines die, and the squad breaks and moves off of the objective. The Devilfish swings around behind a building, but still within capture range of the objective, denying the Chapter Master line of sight.

Space Marine Turn 5: The last two marines rally and move back onto the objective. Vulkan charges the Deathrains, finishing them off in assault. Meanwhile, the normal Dreadnought and the Assault Squad catch the remaining Hammerhead in a pincer move. The Dreadnought lands a hit, immobilizing the tank, and the assault squad's thunder hammer finishes the job.

The game ends after Turn 5, with each of us holding an objective. Falling back to kill points to resolve the tie, he clearly came out ahead. So, what important lessons did I learn?

1. Don't underestimate Dreadnoughts. I ignored these early on because they were focused on assault, something that I didn't consider to be a threat to my tanks. In the end, my tanks fell to them in assault. That's a mistake I won't be making again.
2. Deep-striking within assault range is a bad idea. I thought I had enough firepower to seal the deal and clear out what was in my deep strike target zone. I didn't, and it left me with my pants down. I lost almost all my heavy hitters in one turn because of it. I had firepower, sure, but the targets I couldn't clear survived because they were just that resilient. I needed more turns of firepower, and that meant that I needed to deep strike further away.
3. Better control of reserves is necessary. I'm considering modifying the list to fit in a positional relay for the command suit. Having most of my suits come in on turn 2 wasn't to my advantage, and neither was having the Deathrains coming in on the last turn. It would require me to keep my HQ suit out of reserve, but I think it might just be worthwhile. Alternately, I may just keep a couple of units in reserve (probably the fusion suits and the Deathrains), and keep the rest out and able to harass from turn one.
4. Vulkan He'stan is a bad-ass. He's killer in assault, he's damn near impossible to kill, and his special ability does great things for the army. He is not to be underestimated.

So, I dust myself off, tweak my tactics, and try again... and just remember that next time, Dan might be Drop Podding that army into place.