WARSURGE

Friday 20 March 2015

Tau Vs. Skaven 1000pts Play Test

Tau Vs. Skaven!

Mission: Eternal Battleground (BFR Demo)

Greetings! Today we play tested Tau (with some custom human auxiliaries) against a force of Skaven. Will the rats be exterminated, or will the Tau be overrun? Read on to find out, and to view the results of the play test.




Quick News Update
We are currently doing closed demo play testing. Before we get started, here are some links to the project sites. Be sure to like us on Facebook! You can stay up to date on Facebook and here on the blog, though Facebook gets more regular updates while the blog is mostly dedicated to batreps.


Battlefield Royale Project Links:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/battlefieldroyale

Google Site: https://sites.google.com/site/battlefieldroyale/
Blogger Link: http://battlefieldroyale.blogspot.com.au/


Objectives
Players are to secure land (divided into quarters) and attack the enemy. The player with the most Conquest Points (CP) wins. The enemy deployment zone is worth the most CP.


Deployment
The board is divided into quarters. The player who wins the roll off selects the zone to deploy in, while the other player must take the opposite quarter. Players take it in turns deploying units until both sides are finished. Players are able to deploy anywhere inside their quarter.

Photo taken during the deployment of the game
Click any image to enlarge or view in a slideshow!

More deployment photos are below for your viewing :)

Scroll down ahead to read about the game, starting at Turn 1.
























Turns 1-3

Due to the time gap between the battle and the report you are reading, some details have been lost (should've taken notes, lol) but essentially, a bloody clash in close combat occurred very early. The Order (the Tau player) had a unit of Mk27 Marines (a custom built elite unit) against the mightiest Skaven warriors early in the game.




There were smaller clashes between human auxiliaries and other Skaven units. The Skaven's sniper units 'Warplock Jezzails' were devastating, while the stealthy Gutter Runners were largely a distraction. The forests proved to be useful cover against incoming fire.






The Order (Tau) shooting was about average. The Mk 27 Marines bit off a little more than they could chew when they engaged in melee against the large Skaven units...








With each Mk 27 Marine fallen, it was like defeating a lesser Hero/HQ choice. They were powerful, multi-HP models with excellent offensive and defensive stats. They were not indestructible though, as the rat plague eagerly demonstrated!

Throughout the game, Warlock Engineers were a blight upon the Tau, causing some grievous damage especially when targeting them outside of cover. They were very dangerous!







The Hammerhead missed a couple times where the blasts could've been devastating, but some hit home. Throughout the game though, it's performance was a little lackluster. 


Towards the middle of the game, the Mk 27 Marines were dwindling down to one or two models...



Though they fought valiantly, it would be the the humble Fire Warriors and the human auxiliaries that would need to try and turn the tide of battle.






Tau units cautiously advanced on the board, while the Skaven spread their Clanrat units around, seizing ground where possible and taking refuge in the forests.


Turns 4-6





The Vermin Lord  was more powerful than the Tau player expected. It was more akin to fighting a greater daemon! This fight took place in the middle stages of the battle.










The Mk 27 Marines by around mid-game were 'on their last legs' so to speak. They had heavily damaged the rat's primary attack force, but they had been spent in the process.


The Tau were keen to capture an adjacent board quarter, but they would need to fight off a unit of Clanrats. The Tau brought some Gun Drones in to assist with the task.
 The Hammerhead didn't have very clear line of sight to some units, but it's firepower was useful nonetheless. Of the two Fire Warrior units on duty, one unit clung to the ruins in the Tau player's deployment zone.
 Human Auxiliaries stalk the woods, but little did they know that a Rat Ogre was stalking them! In the meantime, they opened fire on some Clanrats that were threatening Fire Warriors in a different forest.




The Rat Ogre's handler outlived the big fella' itself, and amazingly tied up the human auxiliaries in a melee. The Gun drones were free to pester some rodents elsewhere. This fight was not to be over just yet however.


The Hammerhead performed a little better in the second half of the game, but in the end, it didn't cover the point cost to field it. Who hired that crew?

The last Mk 27 Marine is in the photo on the right, moments before he was defeated by the Skaven. He did some damage before he went down, but alas, such is the price of war. A glorious death indeed!
 Later, another Rat Ogre joined the fray to assist in the fight against the Human Auxiliaries, but it was already suffering from low morale - the Skaven player chose 'Fright' to keep it from falling back, which means several of it's 'skill' based stats were halved.

Sad to say, but not long after this photo, the Rat Ogre passed into the next life. He will be missed, but not by the Tau... Probably not the Skaven either actually.


The Clanrats finally engaged the Fire Warriors in the forest, but due to gunfire from several sources (including a devastating volley from the Fire Warriors in question), the Clanrat unit was fighting a one-sided battle.
The Tau managed to defeat the rats at melee range. Maybe those compulsory close combat drills weren't wasted after all? That said, there were only like two Clanrats to fight... nothing to get be excited about really.


Skulking around in a corner of the board were these 'Globadiers'. They had devastating bombs, but due to the board layout and deployment, they only got to throw a few of their stinky grenades.
Here the handler bravely stood against the Human Auxiliaries. Though the humans weren't built for close quarters, they finally managed to deal with the lone Skaven model.


At the end of the game, the only units standing for the Skaven were the Warplock Jezzails, the leader of Gutter Runners and... that was about it. The Tau managed to do fine without the Mk 27 Marines. Seems the damage they inflicted along with their sacrifice paid off. Very well in fact.

The Tau, through either luck or other reasons, had seized victory on this day.





The Victor?

The Tau managed to deal the damage when it counted, and hold the most land. They were victorious. However, this was only a play test - the data we gathered was very useful, and we tweaked a few things, covered next.





Conclusion

We decided that Warhammer Fantasy, with a lack of ranged firepower in several armies could use a boost. At this time, the Warhammer Fantasy point cost is reduced by an amount to create more balance. This may change over time when we hear from other play testers and continue to investigate this ourselves!




Battlefield Royale Project Links:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/battlefieldroyale

Google Site: https://sites.google.com/site/battlefieldroyale/
Blogger Link: http://battlefieldroyale.blogspot.com.au/



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