As I hadn't bought any of the newly released Tau kits, the army I took to try and capture the first location of our campaign was quite a straightforward, unflashy affair, but with some Forge World treats included...
Commander o'Ralai - My Warlord and lone ranger since he's no longer an Independent Character.
2 XV9 Hazard Suits - My recent purchases from Forge World open day. One was equipped with standard twin-linked burst cannons. The other with two fusion cascades. They shall hopefully be being updated in the soon to be released Taros Campaign 2nd edition.
2 squads of Fire Warriors, both in Devilfish - These were going to be my objective grabbers. Fast and with good saves thanks to Jink and Disruption Pods.
Kroot Squad - This was a test run to see if they could hold their own, or if I should just stick to the Tau proper.
3 XV8 Crisis Suits - I armed these for middle range shooting, plenty of missile pods, with a plasma rifle, flamer and fusion blaster thrown in for any situation.
Hammerhead - I've never fielded one before, and with the threat of what my friend would be bringing I thought the strength 10 shots would help massively.
Ethereal - Morale boosting rather than everyone taking bonding knife rituals.
Piranha - Armed with a fusion blaster this skimmer was to be a suicide unit, getting to a threat quickly and hopefully taking it out.
2 XV8 Crisis Suits - These were armed in a much more specific way than the previous team. Twin-linked fusion blasters, a couple of plasma rifles and a pair of shield drones. These were going to be the deep-striking monster killers, fingers crossed.
On the Chaos Marines side, I don't have a complete list of what was taken, but the general impression is still there.
Daemon Prince with wings.
Defiler.
Maulerfiend.
Small squad of cultists.
Marines, with a Heavy Bolter and Plasma gun.
A dreadnought/Hellbrute.
Small squad of Chosen.
A Squad of possessed.
And finally a lone Obliterator.
And there you have it. With that, the scene is fully set for the first battle of the campaign to see who will reign supreme over the planet of Thrask. Next up is the actual battle report, and more narrative based off it. Cheers.
Forces present at the Starport Assault
by Tim Walker | Apr 23, 2013