Tau (Kroot Hunting Pack) vs. Astra Militarum (Death Korps of Kreig) (loss) 55-56
Dak vs. Dan: battle of the big Ds!
Oh goodness. Had the most fun game of 40k I've had in a while against a new player's second time playing. Scorched Earth, Supply lines, Search and Destroy deployment.
On the embattled forge world of Robothaus, a contingent of Kroot mercenaries--supported by Tau mechanized infantry--launch a daring raid to cut Imperium supply lines to the crusade front. A battalion of Kreigsmen stand guard to defend a critical factorum. Who will win?
I unfortunately forgot to track the game via my app, but we had an excellent game.
Kreig deployed first, Tau had first turn. I deployed infiltrators to left and right NML objectives, and kreig deployed all but an earthshaker on the line. After scouting I was able to destroy 1 sentinel and give 2 wounds with a broadside railgun shot, followed by a minimum wound seeker missile shot, to a second my broadside was promptly destroyed, but was able to hold objectives to turn 2, and sticky home.
Lord Solar, with a Command Squad as bodyguards, was able to advance to middle NML and give my Rampagers *extremely* direct fire, followed by a charge to lock me up.
A Guard block of 20 make an incredible 10" charge to take left NML from me. The Unit of sentinels were destroyed, and Reinforcements! was used to put them back into reserves. New unit of sentinels were also deployed to left NML.
End of Round 2. 20 - 5 with Dan leading, but Dak not real far behind. After a failed Round 1 push, Dak makes a couple of important charges to flip control of half the board. and Dak manages to shoot a considerable number of kroot off the board, and was responded with deleting 2/3 sentinels from a clutch command reroll from the Ghostkeel's attacks.
Somehow, my unit of rampagers lived through 3 rounds of melee combat with a basilisk and a unit of 10 guardsmen, with one rampager making some incredible saves and stayed alive with 1 wound. The wall of fists finally succumbs to bolter fire from the basilisk and I lost middle ground. The (now named) Hero of the Kroot, Bakor'tche falls. End of Round 3: 32 -20.
With Kreig now catching up, our secondary draws remain unkind, but both lines hold strong. Lost my lone-spear, Ghostkeel takes a lot of hits, but still stands. End of Round 4: 42 - 38. Both armies are pretty spent. This one could come down to the wire folks!
The guard hold 3 objectives, and somehow, no objectives have been burned as both players forgot that it was an option. Right NML objective was not burned for the extra VP by the kroot, and I only remembered at the end of my last Shooting Phase.
Score is 55 - 38, with Kreig able to score max at begining of the 5th command phase.
By now the Kroot's only hope at victory rests in being able to deny primary against Kreig. The only option is to charge in and out OC Lord Solar and a unit of 5 Guardsmen. The Tau Ghostkeel changed focus to the middle, and clears the Guard off the middle objective, leaving only lord Solar alive. This was a big mistake for the tau, as Solar was 10" away, and the closest Kroot reinforcements of a single Flesh Shaper was 6" away, but would not be enough OC to take it from Solar, and a second unit of carnivores at full strength were 10" away. The full unit of carnivores were hit by Earthshake shots artillery, making them -2" to move and charge.
Top of 5th, The flesh Shaper fails his charge with a 5. The full unit Carnivores need to roll a hailmary roll of 12". No command points left for the kroot, and a possible victory comes down to the last roll in the charge phase. The kroot roll charge......And it misses with a 4! Not even close!
Kreig score will Score is 55 - 53 at the end of the game. And then Dak pulls Defend Stronghold and succeeds at scoring an additional 3 VP making the final score 55-56! Kreig win by 1 point!
With a solid secondary draw and a failed charge into the center, Dak turns it around and wins!
The factorum stands, and it looks like the Kroot won't be eating Polish sausage today!
