May I just say, recently I bought my first White Dwarf magazine and I found myself quite interested in it all. More the figures themselves than the game, I might have to start collecting some.

At 3/23/08 10:57 AM, Gagsy wrote: May I just say, recently I bought my first White Dwarf magazine and I found myself quite interested in it all. More the figures themselves than the game, I might have to start collecting some.

Indeed, one does not have to play in order to collect them, it is but one aspect of the hobby as a whole.

At 3/23/08 11:10 AM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

Indeed, one does not have to play in order to collect them, it is but one aspect of the hobby as a whole.

Just a shame that some of the pieces seem so expensive =P

Still, I will have to buy me a Corpse Cart, it has me hooked.

At 3/23/08 10:54 AM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

More Fire Warriors might be a good first step, so you can fill out the required 1 HQ, 2 Troops requirement and present enough bodies to take some hits before going down. While Kroot are often seen as a meat shield, they are excellent and cheap assault troops that when used properly can win you battles. They are a good investment, especially when given a Shaper, maybe some Hounds and deployed in cover to strike from or move through.

You also might want to get a normal Crisis Suit or Crisis Suit Commander kit first to replace the Ethereal. Commanders have access to some good wargear and are a standard requirement for Tau armies. Plus the Ethereal is a somewhat limited commander, I have not found good use for one myself as of yet.

What point value is your initial cap? 500 pts, 750 pts or 1.000 pts?

A good basic force to begin with is for example:

Crisis Commander - fusion blaster, missile pod, target lock
Stealth Team (3) - burst cannons and marker light drone
Fire warriors (12) - Shas'ui
Fire warriors (12) - Shas'ui
Kroot (16)
Hammerhead - Ion cannon and burst cannons

oh awsome, now how do I get my fire warriors from Shas' la to Shas' ui, or is Shas' ui just the commander unit?

I went with the Hammerhead, with Railgun and Smart Missles? should I have gone with the Ion Cannon, and Burst instead?

haha sorry for all of the noobish questions, its hard to find someone with experience with Tau, thanks for the info man, we should talk some more later on.

any stratagy tips :P

At 3/23/08 02:44 PM, Gagsy wrote: Just a shame that some of the pieces seem so expensive =P

Still, I will have to buy me a Corpse Cart, it has me hooked.

I'd love it people could just stop complaining about the prices. Yes we know the prices look steep, but even GW has to go along with the economy and raise their prices every five or so years. They need to feed their families somehow as well.

But the corpse cart is a real steal for such a highly detailed plastic kit, the new technology that GW is using for their designs is really shining through.

At 3/23/08 03:20 PM, darx wrote:
oh awsome, now how do I get my fire warriors from Shas' la to Shas' ui, or is Shas' ui just the commander unit?

I went with the Hammerhead, with Railgun and Smart Missles? should I have gone with the Ion Cannon, and Burst instead?

haha sorry for all of the noobish questions, its hard to find someone with experience with Tau, thanks for the info man, we should talk some more later on.

any stratagy tips :P

Oh my, do you have a codex?

The Shas'Ui if my memory serves me correctly is the squad leader rank of Tau Firewarrior squads. By simply giving the model a bonding knife or a slightly different shoulder guard colour scheme you can mark him out as the leader.

As for the Hammerhead, it might be better to build such tanks with the weapon options seperate, so you can swap them at a moments notice. I've done the same with mine, by adding a little green stuff to the hole in both guns you can easily swap them and not have them sag without the need to glue them in place.

Oh I just got Terminators, and I love em. Assualt Cannon and Heavy Flamer ftw!!! Now I just need to get some Devastator Squads and a dreadnought then I'm all set.

At 3/24/08 05:24 PM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

Oh my, do you have a codex?

The Shas'Ui if my memory serves me correctly is the squad leader rank of Tau Firewarrior squads. By simply giving the model a bonding knife or a slightly different shoulder guard colour scheme you can mark him out as the leader.

As for the Hammerhead, it might be better to build such tanks with the weapon options seperate, so you can swap them at a moments notice. I've done the same with mine, by adding a little green stuff to the hole in both guns you can easily swap them and not have them sag without the need to glue them in place.

yeah, i looked at the codex for the Shas'Ui and the only difference is the leadership, not really a big difference if you ask me.

I looked at the hammerhead, and I think i'll just use the railgun for now, and get another hammerhead later with an Ion Canon

Okay guys, we are having a dispute on a battle... Close Combat.

This is the deal, Space Marines Vs. Eldar

Eldar-

5 Guardians
1 Warlock
1 Avatar

Space Marine-

5 different Squads of different Space Marines.

This is what happen.

There was one group of space marines already in combat with Avatar and the Guardians.

The Eldar's turn is over with 2 space marine units were left at the end of the turn of the Eldar user.

The Space Marine user did this.

He took his seperate groups and combined them into the group attacking at close combat. The avatar attacks first due to initiative and wounds two units. The rule book states that the Attacker can choose what unit the wounds go to in the battle.

The Eldar user is trying to take out some of the units that just came into attack. ( two units with power fists ) But the Space Marine user is arguing that he cannot take them out because of the previous battle, and they have not had a chance to attack yet.

When you go into a battle the person with the higher initiative can choose ANYBODY to take out in the battle correct? Not just the units that have attacked already correct?

Well from what I know the person who owns the units who get wounded chooses which units to take out, unless the unit attacking can specifically target a certain unit.

At 3/25/08 04:57 AM, JaconWes wrote: Well from what I know the person who owns the units who get wounded chooses which units to take out, unless the unit attacking can specifically target a certain unit.

Thanks that helped with a couple questions.

My god that was probably the most complicated battle that I've fought,

basically the Space Marine owner was being a **** the whole time and wasn't following his own rules. So there was a 2 hour long argument about the assault topic above. Then to make it worse, later on, The eldar User was making everyone search for the "Feel No Pain" rule. which didn't matter cause I killed him with a Railgun.

so basically

Three Way Battle- Roughly 800 pt. Armies

Eldar:
1 Fire Prism
1 Falcon Grav
1 Avatar
1 Fuegon
5 Fire Dragons + 1 Exarch
5 Sweeping Hawks + Exarch
8 Guardians
1 Warlock

Space Marines

5 Assault Marines
18 Space Marines + upgrades, power fists, plasma ,melta, etc.
1 Force Commander

Tau ( Me :D )

1 Etheral
1 Hammerhead w/ Railgun and Smart Missles
12 Fire Warriors Shas' La *10 Pulse Rifles 2 Carbines*
2 Gun Drones

*To make the points more even, the I used a squad from the eldar army*
5 Dark Reapers + Exarch + Magh N Rah'

In the End- I lost maybe 8 of my fire warriors, and I won :D

Oh, Hai I've just upgraded your STC.

Anyways, I'm just written a piece of Warhammer 40k fiction on the Black Library forum, and I could do with some feedback. Please put comments on the forum here where you'll find the story. Sorry for not being an active member anymore, but I have a busy life with work and all. Hope you enjoy the story, and Lt Brookman {SP?}, you may remember me from a few years ago during the 13th Black Crusade Campaign as either Darthdaver/Davydave or DarthClock/Lock.

Adios.

Haha YES!!! another EPIC battle!

Eldar vs. Tau + Daemon Hunters

Eldar Army Roughly 1,500 Points
Tau Army Roughly 600 Points
Daemon Hunters Roughly 300 points

One of the most epic battles that we have fought, it was getting down to the luck of the dice. Here is a summary of what happend.

The Daemon Hunters and the Tau on one side of the map and the Eldar on the other. I shot twice with my hammerhead's railgun but missed shots to his Fire Prism.

He destroyed my Hammerhead, and we thought all hope was lost, but A group of Stealth Suits Deep Striked on his side of the Map, along with a small group of Space Wolfs, we attack his group of Fire Dragons with Fuegon. We kill them somehow, along with his Wraithlord.

about 20 of his Guardians were in the middle of the map next to his Falcon Grav. A "Orbital Strike" was called directly onto the units killing over half of the guardians and the Grav. *EPIC MOVE!* Then the next following turns took out two wounds on the Avatar as it tried to get by.

He uses mind war on my Stealth Suits and fails Twice ( question, do you have use the "night fire" rule when using psychic powers on stealth suits? ) Then gets into close combat but dies two turns later, killing one of my stealth suits.

So here is the mid point

He has A Fire Prism that we can only kill from the rear amour, with our normal guys, his assassian can kill him but keeps failing... my Stealth Suit unit can kill him with the upgraded weapon with one. *name escapes me* He has his Avatar, 8 guardians with Warlock, and Dark Reapers with Exarch and Magn' Rah

This is a close battle!

Somehow I was able to make him turn around to shoot at my steath suits with the Fire Prism, but he missed, and I had a clear shot at his rear armor. I was able to make a Glancing hit, but only rolled a crew shaken. He retreated, we killed his Dark Reapers after They killed all of the Daemon hunters but the Assassin.

We kill the rest of his units amazingly and corner his fireprism, I was able to get into an assault and use my EMP grenades and Imobilized him for the turn where I then shot him on side armor with double 6's

It was the most exciting game of my warhammer playing, to date. Truely and epic battle...

Stealth Squad -
kills- WraithLord, 5 Fire Warriors, Exarch, Magn' Rah, Farseer, Fire Prism
losses- 1 unit ( Thanks you Shield Drone!!! )

I just bought the Stealth Squad today, and I'm really happy with their uses!

At 3/25/08 03:48 AM, darx wrote: Okay guys, we are having a dispute on a battle... Close Combat.

He took his seperate groups and combined them into the group attacking at close combat. The avatar attacks first due to initiative and wounds two units. The rule book states that the Attacker can choose what unit the wounds go to in the battle.

The Eldar user is trying to take out some of the units that just came into attack. ( two units with power fists ) But the Space Marine user is arguing that he cannot take them out because of the previous battle, and they have not had a chance to attack yet.

When you go into a battle the person with the higher initiative can choose ANYBODY to take out in the battle correct? Not just the units that have attacked already correct?

Base to base contact, initiative has NOTHING to do with picking targets. Models that can hit may be hit in return and can be removed as casualties.

Please, they are models, not units. The term unit is used for squads or vehicles, not individual infantry models.

At 3/25/08 01:13 AM, darx wrote:
yeah, i looked at the codex for the Shas'Ui and the only difference is the leadership, not really a big difference if you ask me.

I looked at the hammerhead, and I think i'll just use the railgun for now, and get another hammerhead later with an Ion Canon

You're still a newbie, so Ld values don't say much as of yet, nor do most of the wargear options. With time you'll get the gist of why Ld 8 can win you games where Ld 7 might be found lacking.

There's nothing wrong with the railgun as it can fire sub-munitions, though it is not the ultimate weapon for each target. The seemingly less powerful Ion Cannon is an excellent marine killer.

At 3/24/08 05:21 PM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

I'd love it people could just stop complaining about the prices. Yes we know the prices look steep, but even GW has to go along with the economy and raise their prices every five or so years. They need to feed their families somehow as well.

Don't worry I'm not complaining. I've been known to spend silly amounts of money for things I like, just currently I need to watch my bank balance a lot.

At 3/26/08 03:33 PM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

Base to base contact, initiative has NOTHING to do with picking targets. Models that can hit may be hit in return and can be removed as casualties.

Please, they are models, not units. The term unit is used for squads or vehicles, not individual infantry models.

Yeah, we got this all figured out shortly after we posted, basically what happened was there was a big battle 1 powerfist in two different groups, we just read that the attacker chooses the unit to take out in close combat, but we realized we just choose the group to attack, unless a unit is by itself and now with a squad.

So yeah, I'm still learning some things about the Tau, such as, I bought a stealth squad and the squad will come with 3 troops a Sheild Drone, and something else that is on the ground what is that unit?

At 3/26/08 04:08 PM, darx wrote: So yeah, I'm still learning some things about the Tau, such as, I bought a stealth squad and the squad will come with 3 troops a Sheild Drone, and something else that is on the ground what is that unit?

That last bit is the model of a location beacon. A piece of scenery that can be used as a marker.

At 3/26/08 03:43 PM, Gagsy wrote: Don't worry I'm not complaining. I've been known to spend silly amounts of money for things I like, just currently I need to watch my bank balance a lot.

You have nothing to fear until you discover the model marvels of Forge World. Ever since they started releasing the Death Korps of Krieg my bank has never been the same again.

At 3/26/08 07:14 PM, Lt-Brookman wrote: That last bit is the model of a location beacon. A piece of scenery that can be used as a marker.

Oh okay, so for special missions Im assuming?

Alright, here is my Temporary Army List, can you check it Brookman, to be sure i'm withing the rules.

Basically I want you to skim through and make sure I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I'm not goin to a tourny. I just want to be within the rules with my friends and I.

Tau Army List

HQ-

Etheral
- 50 Pts

Elites-

XV8 Crisis Shas' Vre
- Plasma Rifle
- Missle Pod
-Sheild Generator
- Inidium Armor Plates

- 123 Pts

Troops-

Stealth Suits
- Shas'Vre Leader
- Markerlight
- Failsafe Detonator
- Sheild Drone
- 140 Pts

Fire Warriors
- Shas' La Infantry
- EMP Grenades
- Shas' Ui Leaders
MarkerLights
- Gun Drones
- 464 Pts

Heavy Support

HammerHead Gunship
- RailGun
- Smart Missle System

Armory-
Target Lock -
MultiTracker -
Distruption Pod -
Seeker Missles x2
- 200 Pts

TOTAL: 977 Pts

I just got my ork army up to 30k points, all finsihed and painted.

At 3/26/08 11:29 PM, sirtom93 wrote: I just got my ork army up to 30k points, all finsihed and painted.

Holy Emperor......got any pictures to go with that? Because thats alot of Orks man.....alot of Boyz.

At 3/26/08 11:29 PM, sirtom93 wrote: I just got my ork army up to 30k points, all finsihed and painted.

Holy WAAGH!!! yeah, pictures?

At 3/26/08 11:17 PM, darx wrote: Alright, here is my Temporary Army List, can you check it Brookman, to be sure i'm withing the rules.

Basically I want you to skim through and make sure I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I'm not goin to a tourny. I just want to be within the rules with my friends and I.

Tau Army List

HQ-

Etheral
- 50 Pts

Elites-

XV8 Crisis Shas' Vre
- Plasma Rifle
- Missle Pod
-Sheild Generator
- Inidium Armor Plates

- 123 Pts

Troops-

Stealth Suits
- Shas'Vre Leader
- Markerlight
- Failsafe Detonator
- Sheild Drone
- 140 Pts

Fire Warriors
- Shas' La Infantry
- EMP Grenades
- Shas' Ui Leaders
MarkerLights
- Gun Drones
- 464 Pts

Heavy Support

HammerHead Gunship
- RailGun
- Smart Missle System

Armory-
Target Lock -
MultiTracker -
Distruption Pod -
Seeker Missles x2
- 200 Pts

TOTAL: 977 Pts

You uh, really need to buy a codex or already owning one, read it through thoroughly. You also need a 40k rulesbook.

1. You MUST take a Crisis Suit commander, the unit entry says so. (1+ per army)

2. The battle suit has Iridium armour as an upgrade. Only Commanders and bodyguards can have SPECIAL ISSUE wargear or if the unit entry states so.

3. Stealth teams are ELITE choices, not troops. Plus the fail-safe detonator is SPECIAL ISSUE and can only be given to independent models, not models in squads.

4. You have one troops choice, which is not enough for playing in games. You must field at least two seperate troops choices in order to comply to the required 1 HQ, 2 troops.

Judging from what you have at the moment, I'd suggest the following:

HQ.
Shas'O - Plasma rifle, missile pod, shield generator, hardwired multi-tracker, Iridium armour
132 pts.

Elites.
Stealth Team - Shas'Vre, hardwired drone controller and Marker-light drone
130 pts.

Troops.
Fire Warriors (6) - Shas'Ui, drone controller, gun drones (2)
90 pts.

Fire Warriors (6) - Shas'Ui, drone controller, gun drones (2)
90 pts.

Heavy Support.
Hammerhead - Railgun, smart missiles
160 pts.

Grand total: 602 pts.

At 3/26/08 11:29 PM, sirtom93 wrote: I just got my ork army up to 30k points, all finsihed and painted.

I'd love to see pictures of that, or is this just a typo?

At 3/27/08 05:20 AM, Lt-Brookman wrote: 1. You MUST take a Crisis Suit commander, the unit entry says so. (1+ per army)

So the Crisis Suit commander is a MUST? I didn't see that anywhere

2. The battle suit has Iridium armour as an upgrade. Only Commanders and bodyguards can have SPECIAL ISSUE wargear or if the unit entry states so.

Oh okay, after the Shas' Vre upgrade I thought it stated I could upgrade.

3. Stealth teams are ELITE choices, not troops. Plus the fail-safe detonator is SPECIAL ISSUE and can only be given to independent models, not models in squads.

I gave the failsafe to the leader in the squad not the whole squad.

4. You have one troops choice, which is not enough for playing in games. You must field at least two seperate troops choices in order to comply to the required 1 HQ, 2 troops.

I didn't make that part clear,

I had 5 squads of 6 fire warriors ( 30 total )

Judging from what you have at the moment, I'd suggest the following:

HQ.
Shas'O - Plasma rifle, missile pod, shield generator, hardwired multi-tracker, Iridium armour
132 pts.

Elites.
Stealth Team - Shas'Vre, hardwired drone controller and Marker-light drone
130 pts.

Troops.
Fire Warriors (6) - Shas'Ui, drone controller, gun drones (2)
90 pts.

Fire Warriors (6) - Shas'Ui, drone controller, gun drones (2)
90 pts.

Heavy Support.
Hammerhead - Railgun, smart missiles
160 pts.

Grand total: 602 pts.

Ok, thanks, I have the rulebooks, I was just checking if I did everything correctly, cause there are some fuzzy things.

Thanks Brookman... what is your Tau army?

At 3/27/08 01:28 PM, darx wrote: So the Crisis Suit commander is a MUST? I didn't see that anywhere

When a unit entry says 1+ you must have one of those in your army. Same with the Fire Warriors, you are required to have at least one Fire Warrior squad in your army.

Oh okay, after the Shas' Vre upgrade I thought it stated I could upgrade.

No, only when the unit entry says so.

I gave the failsafe to the leader in the squad not the whole squad.

Still, you CANNOT give the stealth suit leader a fail-safe detonator, please read the wargear entry more thoroughly. Only Independant models in Crisis Suits can have one.

I had 5 squads of 6 fire warriors ( 30 total )

5 squads of 6 each? It might be better then to resize them into three squads of 10, more firepower concentrated that way and the squads should be able to take some more hits before they break.

Ok, thanks, I have the rulebooks, I was just checking if I did everything correctly, cause there are some fuzzy things.

Thanks Brookman... what is your Tau army?

I have a basic out of the box army that I keep around for people without an army, I'm a staunch Imperial myself.

HQ.
Shas'O - Cyclic Ion blaster, missile pod and multi-tracker
Bodyguard 1 - Twin-linked plasma rifles and target lock
Bodyguard 1 - Missile pod, plasma rifle and target lock

Elites.
Stealth Team (3) - Shas'Vre with hard-wired drone controller, markerlight drone and fusion blaster

Troops.
Fire Warriors (8) - Shas'Ui and carbines

Fire Warriors (8) - Shas'Ui and rifles

Kroot Carnivores (17) - Shaper

Fast Attack.
Gun Drone squadron (8)

Vespid (6) - Strain leader

Heavy Support.
Sniper Drone team

Hammerhead - Ion cannon, burst cannons and disruption pods

At 3/27/08 05:26 PM, Lt-Brookman wrote:

5 squads of 6 each? It might be better then to resize them into three squads of 10, more firepower concentrated that way and the squads should be able to take some more hits before they break.

Thats true, I had multiple squads so I could surround his tank, to get to rear armor easier,

I have a basic out of the box army that I keep around for people without an army, I'm a staunch Imperial myself.

Ha, I see, I could take it off your hands for yah :D

HQ.
Shas'O - Cyclic Ion blaster, missile pod and multi-tracker
Bodyguard 1 - Twin-linked plasma rifles and target lock
Bodyguard 1 - Missile pod, plasma rifle and target lock

Elites.
Stealth Team (3) - Shas'Vre with hard-wired drone controller, markerlight drone and fusion blaster

The Drone that came with the squad in the "Stealth Squad" box, is that a Shield drone? or Does it matter, just whatever you make it? I can't tell, they don't have enough pictures lol.

Troops.
Fire Warriors (8) - Shas'Ui and carbines

Fire Warriors (8) - Shas'Ui and rifles

Kroot Carnivores (17) - Shaper

Fast Attack.
Gun Drone squadron (8)

Vespid (6) - Strain leader

Heavy Support.
Sniper Drone team

Hammerhead - Ion cannon, burst cannons and disruption pods

nice army, I'll have to look through the codex again to check the Crisis Rule

At 3/27/08 11:18 PM, darx wrote: Thats true, I had multiple squads so I could surround his tank, to get to rear armor easier,

Odd strategy, I prefer suits and skimmers for anti-tank, not infantry. Tanks that explode tend to take people with them.

Ha, I see, I could take it off your hands for yah :D

Sorry, I don't trust minors who offer to take stuff of my hands. Nothing personal but I don't feel like being ripped.

The Drone that came with the squad in the "Stealth Squad" box, is that a Shield drone? or Does it matter, just whatever you make it? I can't tell, they don't have enough pictures lol.

The drone included is a marker-light drone. Shield drones look different, like this.

nice army, I'll have to look through the codex again to check the Crisis Rule

Just read through the rules and unit entries of the codex several times to get the gist and general idea of them. That's how we do it, read it through thoroughly and play some small games with the basic units. A small 500 pts game with some Fire Warriors and a Crisis Commander can be very rewarding.