Tau Online

The Head of the Snakebite

Kelleron motioned with his hands to his men. His swift but subtle gestures conveyed as clearly as speech, his commands to his Scorpion kin fall back two meters. They were surveying.A mere one hundred yards ahead, the grunts and grumbles of feral orks could be heard. Kelleron recognized the mark of the Snakebite Clan, and smelled the stench of Boss Gutbug. He had stowed onto the one of Iyanden's many empy halls, now called "Tomb Domes". Utterly desolate, it's come to no surprise that remnants of Ork tribes had enough time to grow and develop into pockets of WAAAAGH. It was Farseer Sarielle's duty to cleanse this dome.And with that, Round 1 of the Playoffs begins. This first round matchup features the Feral Orks versus Iyanden's Ghost Warriors, at the Spirit Dome in Iyanden.

Sarielle's 11th Fleet, "The Remnant"

HQ:

Farseer Sarielle - WitchBlade, SP, Mind War, Fortune

Elites:

6 Striking Scorpions w/Exarch, Scorpion's Claw, Stealth

Troops:

5 Wraith GuardWarlock- Witchblade, SP, EnhanceWave Serpent, TW Brightlance, Spirit Stone5 Wraith GuardWarlock-SP, CC Weapon, ConcealWraithlord- Shuricat, Flamer, Scatter LaserWraithlord-Shurcat, Flamer, StarcannonTotal Points: 999The Strongarm Feint: A strongarm tactic is something I frequently employ against horde armies, particularly when I don't feel threatened by ordnance. Knowing Gutbug is going to have to close the gap with me as soon as possible, I can stagger and consolidate my army to handle the initial barrage. One combat is critical to the entire battle- and that will be his HQ, which is the only reliable means he has to deal with my wraithlords. I deployed them about 10 inches apart towards the middle, where they were behind the large building, and set the Wave Serpent on my right. The Farseer joined the wraithguard on foot in the center, and the Scorpions played watchdog, infiltrated 8 inches in front and behind the center building. This setup looks like I'm going strong right, in order to counter the regular cyboars, but in fact the whole army will make a sharp left, where Gutbug is headed, to consolidate fire and combat on that one unit.

WAAAGH!! Gutbug

HQ:

Warboss Gutbug, Super Cyboar, Power Claw, Choppa7 x Nobs with Cyboars, Sluggas & ChoppasWyrdboy with Wyrdboy Staff, Eavy Armor, Slugga & Choppa

Troops:

10x Huntas, 2 w/ Rokkit Launchas11x Huntas, 1 w/ Rokkit Launcha, 1 w/ big shoota14x Madboyz w/Pigdok, sluggas & choppas, 4 grot styboyz

Fast attack:

10x Boarboys w/ sluggas& choppas, all on cyboarsPincer Blitz: People tend to think that playing horde armies is more tolerant of errors, and this is true for the most part. But one huge disadvantage of playing a horde is a shotty deployment. Your army generally your entire deployment zone, and so staggering units, leaving gaps, etc. just falls right out of the window, and your left with your boyz standing shoulder to shoulder. That being said, I had only one goal- to get my HQ into combat while sustaining few casualties to fire. I parked them hard right, directly across from the foot Wraithguard, and assumed the Scorpions would be infiltrated in the middle. Knowing that my regular cyboar unit was be ineffective until those wraithlords were gone, I parked them on the opposite side of the board, to counter any units emerging from the Wave serpent. The HQ would be supported by one Hunta unit and the wyrdboy, while the other cyboars received support from huntas and madboyz.Before the battle began, I had the pigdok drug the Boss and his retinue. Now those nobs were swinging at S5, and the boss an astonishing S6/10!

Deployment

[gal_img]879[/gal_img]

Eldar Turn 1

Sarielle called up fortune on her wraithguard unit, and the entire army banked hard left. The two wraithlords fired upon the Warboss and his retinue, slaying 2 nobs and wounding Gutbug once in the process. The Wave Serpent was too far behind the building, and had no line of sight.

Ork Turn 1

Shaking off a starcannon wound, Warboss Gutbug rushed ahead at full speed, and called for his entire warband to do the same. The only problem was the Madboyz, who simply froze in a psychotic daze! The cyboars unit on the left side enjoyed a fleet of foot roll of 5, while Gutbug squeaked out a pathetic 1! The huntas behind him fired in vain at the Wraithlord, as did the Wyrdboy, but on the left side the huntas managed to stun the crew of the Wave Serpent with their rokkits, only to have it save with its spirit stone.

Eldar Turn 2

The Wave Serpent continue to bank hard left, and now the two Wraithlords were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder. Sarielle once again cast fortune- this time on the Scorpions, who were most likely to come under fire or assault this turn. More shots rang out against the HQ, this time only killing one Nob. It was too late- Gutbug would be upon us!

Ork Turn 2

Iyanden had left their Striking Scorpions too close to the Warboss, who was looking to avenge his fallen nobs. The left side continued to advance, with rokkit fire they managed to shake the crew of the Wave Serpent, and this time the spirit stone failed to recover. In the assault phase, Warboss Gutbug roared a mighty WAAAGHH!!! And crashed headfirst into the Striking Scorpions. Fighting desperately to hold back the berserk charge, the Scorpions managed to wound one Nob, while losing all but their Exarch to the buzzing choppas and Gutbug himself. The Scorpion Exarch felled 2 Nobs with his claw, but it was not nearly enough, and he fled the combat, too nimble and swift for the Orks to catch him.

Eldar Turn 3

Infuriated by the Orks routing the Scorpions, Sarielle fortuned her unit again, and called upon the entire Remnant to avenge their dead. The Orks had made a critical mistake, and found themselves surrounded by the wraithguard and both wraithlords! The assault wraithguard unit disembarked in front of the nobs. The remains of the nobs were ripped apart by wraithcannon, two being sucked wholly into the warp. And staring death in the face, Warboss Gutbug fell to starcannon fire, point blank. The head of the Snake was crushed in Iyanden's trap, and all that remained was swallowing the body whole.

Ork Turn 3

Well, I was shorted inches from clashing into that Eldar line, and it cost me the game! Still, orkses is orkses, an we nevva stop tryin' te klomp! The huntas rounded each side of the central building, eager to fire at each wraithlord, while the remaining cyboars hurled themselves headlong at the assault wraithguard unit. The huntas and wyrdboy again were on target, but failed to wound. And the cyboars were faced with an interesting dilemma.See, a unit cannot end its move underneath a skimmer, which is blocking the direct path to the assault wraithguard. Normally this is not an issue with assault, as the model is generally too wide to declare a charge across, but not so with cavalry. Cyboars can assault 12", which they can make through the Wave Serpent, but they cannot end their move under it. So instead they had to wrap around the skimmer, which meant only half the squad was eligible for combat.Enhanced wraithguard are murder in combat. Having a S, WS, T, and I of all 5's…they smashed through three of the cyboars, and suffered no casualties in return.[gal_img]881[/gal_img]

Eldar Turn 4

Sarielle cast fortune on her squad once more, and this time commanded them to charge forward into the wave of Huntas. Two were killed by wraithcannon on the way in. Meanwhile, on the other side, the wraithlord with the starcannon decided to join the assault wraithguard in mopping up the cyboars, while the one with the scatter laser and the wave serpent concentrated on the other unit of huntas. While the Serpent fried another hunta, the scatter laser was just not up to speed this day. In combat Sarielle slew two huntas with her witchblade, while her wraithguard unit killed another 1, and suffered no casualties in return. However, the orks were undaunted, so combat continued.On the other side, the wraithlord and wraithguard smashed the remainder of the Cyboars to bits.

Ork Turn 4

Okay, so this one was turning out to be a slaughter, just not the way I hoped! I brought my huntas in closer, and went left with my Wyrdboy. Both rokkits landed true, wounding the wraithlord twice, but the Wyrdboy missed again! In combat The huntas were struck down trying to kill the Farseer.

Eldar Turn 5

I almost lost my Wraithlord, and I would not give the Orks the satisfaction of killing such an ancient hero. Farseer Sarielle brought her squad around to the center, and all attention switched to the other side of the field. Eldar shooting this turn was pitiful, and only 3 Orks went down to massed fire. Sarielle successfully got a Mind War with the hunta with rokkit launcha, frying his brains inside his skull.[gal_img]882[/gal_img]

Ork Turn 5

I was in too close now, and I wanted to inflict maximum casualties. I closed in with my 2 remaining units, and unleashed a volley of shootas and sluggas on the assault wraithguard, killing two. The wyrdboy missed again, failing to kill the Wraithlord with Scatter Laser. The madboyz charged the wraithguard, but were beaten 3-1.Definitely, things looked bad.

Eldar Turn 6

Sarielle cast fortune on her unit, inspiriing them to join combat with their wraithguard brethren. Meanwhile both wraithlords concentrated on the hunta squad. A combined 2 flamers, Starcannon, and Scatter Laser reduced the unit to just one last hunta, who stood his ground in the face of two wraithlords! Meanwhile, his Wyrdboy brother was vaporized instantly by a twin-linked brightlance from the Wave Serpent!Combat was decisive. The Farseer slew a madboy, before the rest of her unit and the other wraithguard slaughtered the madboys without sustaining a single casualty. And in one final act, the wraithlords tore the pigdok in half with their close combat weapons. Iyanden had cleansed the dome, and coasted into the 2nd round of the playoffs![gal_img]883[/gal_img]Final Score: Iyanden: 1001, Feral Orks: 249. Victorious Slaughter.