2024 league Tau list

So this is my sons list. He has gone for quite a mixed list, with a couple of units that he took as they are new and shiny, similar to me. These are mainly the Kroot Rampagers, which he got on release day (pre-ordered) and was very excited to use. 

As a result of the mixed list he went for the Mont’ka detachment rather than the Retaliation Cadre that I think is probably a better fit for him. Anyway, I'm not playing, so here is his list;

Detachment: Mont'ka

+ Epic Hero +

Commander Farsight

Darkstrider

+ Character +

Cadre Fireblade

Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit - 3x Burst cannon, Cyclic ion blaster, Warlord

+ Battleline +

Breacher Team - Support turret

Breacher Team - Support turret

Strike Team - Support turret

+ Infantry +

Pathfinder Team - 2x Shield Drone, Recon drone, 3x Railgun

Stealth Battlesuits - Homing beacon

Stealth Battlesuits -Homing beacon

+ Mounted +

Krootox Rampagers 

+ Vehicle +

Broadside Battlesuits - Heavy rail rifle, Seeker missile, Twin plasma rifle

Broadside Battlesuits - Heavy rail rifle, Seeker missile, Twin plasma rifle

Crisis Starscythe Battlesuits - Burst cannons

Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits - Fusion blasters

Ghostkeel Battlesuit - Cyclic ion raker, Twin fusion blaster

Hammerhead Gunship - Railgun, 2x Seeker missile

Piranha - fusion blaster, 2x Seeker missile

Piranha - fusion blaster, 2x Seeker missile

+ Dedicated Transport +

Devilfish - 2x Seeker missile

Devilfish - 2x Seeker missile

Total: 1,995pts

So his list basically has four main elements but works in different way to mine, with each part working alongside the others, rather than separately. 

The first element is his rail guns, with the Broadsides and Hammerhead, supported by the strike team. This little ‘castle’ will be used to hammer any big threats or vehicles that the enemy my have, with all this firepower, plus all the seeker missiles that he has access to, there shouldn’t be much that can stand up to a concentrated barrage. 

The second element is his infiltration units, this includes the pathfinders, stealth teams and ghostkeel. These units deploy as far forward as possible and try and take objectives early and put some pressure on the enemy right from the off. 

The next element is similar to the the previous as in it pushes forward early. Formed of the breachers in devilfish and the piranha's, these units push forward to bring an initial punch to the enemy, alternatively they can also be used to flank or out manoeuvre the enemy. 

The last element is the crisis suits, with commander and Farsight. These will be I used to drop in and tackle any hard points of resistance or to drop behind the enemy and cause the opponent issues. 

There Rampagers are a bit of an outlier, as they don’t really fit in to any group but can be used in several. I think they are best used in a counter strike role, waiting until the enemy charge and then countering, as they can punch hard but cant really take one. 

All in all, I think he has a well rounded list and I also think he has the ability to pilot this list to a victory or two. As always the dice and cards can give and take, so ultimately victory is in the hands of the Gods!

2024 league Guard list

 Here is my list that I am taking to the 2024 leave games. It is fixed in stone and can't be changed until the end of the tournament, so if I don't like it after my first game, tough! 

Detachment: Combined Regiment

+ Character +

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad - Prime: Command Rod, Grand Strategist, Medi-pack, Hot-shot Volley Gun, Plasma Gun, Grenade Launcher

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad - Prime: Plasma Pistol, Medi-pack, Plasma Gun, Hot-shot Volley Gun, Grenade Launcher

Platoon Command Squad - Commander: Warlord, Drill Commander, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Medi-pack, Regimental Standard, Heavy Weapons Team: Autocannon

Platoon Command Squad - Commander: Death Mask of Ollanius, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Plasma Gun, Grenade Launcher, Heavy Flamer, Medi-pack

Primaris Psyker

Primaris Psyker

Regimental Enginseer

Tank Commander - Executioner Plasma Cannon, Plasma Cannons, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon

+ Battleline +

Cadian Shock Troop - Drum-fed Autogun, Grenade Launcher, Plasma Gun, Vox-caster

Cadian Shock Troop - Drum-fed Autogun, Grenade Launcher, Plasma Gun, Vox-caster

Death Korps of Krieg  - Watchmaster: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Watchmaster: Bolt Pistol, Chainsword, Medi-pack, Flamer, Grenade Launcher, Meltagun, Plasma Gun, Sniper Rifle, Vox-caster

Infantry Squad - 2x Sergeant: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, 2x Plasma Gun, Vox-caster, 2x Heavy Weapons Team: Autocannon,

+ Infantry +

Heavy Weapons Squad - 3x Mortar

Tempestus Scions - Tempestor: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, 2x Hot-shot Volley Gun, 2x Plasma Gun

Tempestus Scions - Tempestor: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, 2x Hot-shot Volley Gun, 2x Plasma Gun

+ Mounted +

Attilan Rough Riders - 2x Goad Lance

+ Vehicle +

Leman Russ Exterminator - Exterminator Autocannon, 3x Heavy Bolter, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-killer Missile

+ Allied Units +

Knight Gallant - Ironstorm missile pod, Reaper chainsword, Thunderstrike gauntlet

Total: 1,995pts

So what is the plan? Well there are basically 5 elements to the list, static defense, armoured thrust, centre group, knight and deep strike. It probably doesn't take a genius to work out which part includes which bits of the list but I'll go through it briefly.

The static defense part of the list is formed by the platoon command squad with heavy weapon, joined to the infantry squad and one of the psykers, all supported by the mortars. This blob will sit on my home objective and secure it, while throwing out some shots here and there.

The armoured thrust will be mounted by the two leman Russ tanks, the commander and exterminator, supported by the Tech-priest and the Cadians. The Cadians are there to act as screens and keep the tanks out of combat, while the tanks hit what they can before dieing. 

The centre group is formed of the DKoK, second command squad and psyker. This group will be used to.move up.in to the centre of the board and take ground. It may or may not be the actual centre of the board, possibly one flank or the other but they will be used to move up, relying on their resilience to hold objectives. 

The Knight group contains, to no one's surprise, the knight. However, it will also likely contain the Rough Riders, to add some additional support and punch. The rough riders might also go with the armoured group, that will probably be decided on a game by games basis, but at the moment they are slated to go with the knight.

Lastly we have the deep strike group. This contains all the Tempestus units, mostly they will be two groups, a command squad and Scion squad together dropping in at the back to cause problems but also for taking objectives and scoring points. 

So that's the plan, not the simplest of plans but not complicated either. I suspect that things will not go nearly as smoothly as I describe, especially on the World Eaters games, where just castling up at the back and surviving might be the order of the day!

The only issue with this list that I might have changed was the weapons on the Knight. Even with two combat weapons he can still only use one at a time and so I probably should have fitted the fist with a ranged weapon, probably the battle cannon, for some additional ranged shots but it's to late to change it now. 

I'm aiming hight again this time round and just plan on not coming bottom of the pile! I would also like to win one game and not be tabled in any of the others but we shall see what happens. 

2024 League

 So, I have signed up to another League at the local club. It’s another 2000 point tournament to be played over the next couple of months, using the rules, points and missions from May, including the brand new Tau codex. This is important as this year I have been joined in the League by my eldest boy and his Tau. 

I’ll go in to my lists in a little more detail in the next post, as well as going to my boys list as well. Both of us haven’t gone for a meta list, me even less so, as most of my choices were made based on the fact I’d finished painting my knight and rough riders and so wanted to play them. 

Anyway, more on that later. The tournament has a total of 12 players, split in to two half, so we’ll each play 5 games over the next couple of months. By the time this posts, my son will have played his first game. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we were drawn in different groups, so no quick games under our belts to start with. 

My sons group has Custodies, Grey Knights, Thousand Sons, Leagues of Votann and Ultramarines.

There are a number of hard matchups here. Custodies and Grey knights will be hard, 1k Sons will be hard as well, with Magnus in there. Leagues of Votann and Ultras should be easier but still hard.`

In my group I have White Scars, Space Wolves, Necrons, Orks and World Eaters.

I don’t know if I have an easier group or not. Necrons and Orks shouldn’t be to hard (he says!), Space wolves and White Scars will be harder and World eaters will be very hard to deal with. I’m honestly not sure if I will actually be able to win any of those games with any degree of confidence. I’ve taken a different list than one I would normally take so we shall see. 

I’m excited to play again, as I haven’t played since the Tournament before Christmas and I do actually like playing, despite the fact that I tend to loose a lot!

I’ll go through both my sons Tau list and my Guard list in the next couple of posts and by that point I’ll be able to write up my sons first match. 

The little ones Nercrons

 So something a little different from the last run of posts but still in a similar vein. Here are some pictures of my youngest Necron army. For his birthday he was desperate for more Necrons, so we got on EBay and found a good deal for 41 Necron warriors. 

The bulk of the warriors

Most of them are based too.

The warriors are all in decent condition and fairly well painted, although I don’t know what the heads were glued on with but it’s almost like the old Uhu epoxy glue and is horrid stuff. Several have fallen off and I’ve had to clean and re glue the heads back on. 

Disco ‘Crons

There are also some less original poses in the bunch, such as “Disco ‘Cron”.

There are also a couple of gems, such as three original looking Chaos Androids, possibly from Space Crusade. I don’t know if they are or not but they must at least be contemporaries of theirs.

Square barrels

Lastly, it seems that when there models were put together, the original modeller lost some of the parts, as a number of the green glow sticks have been replaced with sections of sprue, with very little effort to shave them down in to any sort of cylindrical shape. 

Now he has lots of troops he’s after some vehicles, so we will have to see what Santa brings!!