So Austin received his first win, the second win for Tau in 8 games. I do believe that the fact that the Mission was Purge the Alien played a large part in this game since Austin probably didn't move more than 24" total with his army and never really left his deployment zone. The Final tally I believe was 4 to 2 (maybe 3 I need to go back and see if Dreese made Line Breaker or not). either way that is a win for the fish.
The game was mostly Dreese walking into the Tau fire and not having much luck with his saves. It also hurt quiet a bit that the Sorcerer never actually hit with his power. In truth he only passed his Psychic test once and even that was a Peril. The Dice Gods were not of Dreese's side for this game.
The whole thing reminded me of a dog biting at a snapping turtle where the turtle would occasionally pop it's head out to take a bite at the dog while the dog just took it. Eventually the dog gives up due to all the bites and the turtle goes on its way. That is how this game played out. Austin turtles in the back and took bites at Dreese as he moved into position to do something useful which never really panned out. Sure he got some bites in but it wasn't enough to get the points.
I saw nothing wrong with Austins list though I would have liked to see him to be a little more aggressive at the start just in case Dreese got a couple of shoots into him and caused a route. Dreese while having an OK list needs some sort of support in order to fight against shooting armies. Having to walk into a firing line was murder on him.
The game was at least entertaining to watch and I had a good time sitting on the side lines. Since I usually run as the arbiter for any game I don't play this was a refreshing change.
So post game I would say from the viewpoint of an observer, the game went precisely as I thought it would. Due to the low points, neither army was able to be well rounded. The Tau were able to throw a ton of lead down range as I attribute their ultimate strength. The ability to sit back, and just establish a firing line in which death spews from.
ReplyDeleteThe Chaos, at this low point, are simply excellent melee troops. If you get into hth with them, you might as well quit, they just seem to get mad when you would them. But in this case, they had no ability to get into range rapidly other than a run and there were no objectives outside of the opposing force.
Basically, the two heavy hitters of Chaos were ultimately useless. Either due to placement, or simple bad luck of the dice. Once they were gone, there was only so much the rest of the troops could do to get across the table in 5 turns. Even at full run.
For the Chaos army, they need help to round out the forces. Either long range support or some sort of transport to get them into hth faster.
For the Tau, it remains to be tactical experience that is needed. The firing line concept is there. But using cross pattern fire and knowing how to flow a line is still beyond the players knowledge.
Both of these players have the basic precepts of their forces in line. Its now just a matter of taking things to the next level.
It would also help if we didn't have three observers. Those of us looking on had a very hard time not saying something and caused some unneeded drama as a whole. I think the next time we have the group together, we need to have two battles going. If for nothing but just to keep two heads out of the other game.
As stated though, it was a good time. It was also good to see other armies and their struggles as they somehow seem less rounded out than my Eldar forces at 500. I have a feeling at a 100 points, all the will be remedied.