This battle took place in 2012 as part of the Feud of the Red Clouds campaign. It uses customized rules from the campaign and scratchbuilt aircraft.
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Warzone: 3- Station Alpha
Kor' Kau'ui Sa'cea- Graceful Hunters
Ix-02 Interceptor – Pilot: R'ian- Ace: Going Ballistic 32pts
- Additional Weapon Load, Escape Pod
Barracuda- Pilot: Ki'ra 20pts
-Escape Pod
Barracuda- Pilot: Sh'ue 18pts
Barracuda- Pilot: H'deo 18pts
Barracuda- Pilot: An'lou 18pts
Total 106 pts
Cabal of the World Walkers
Hell Razor -Pilot: Blakroe the Aspirant- Ace: MoT 29pts
- Weapon Load
Hell Razor- Pilot: Ve'Grath 24pts
- Weapon Load
Hellfang- Pilot: Klaug 24pts
Hellfang- Pilot: Lon'Bherd 24 pts
Total 101pts
Set-up:
We decided to use the optional advanced rules for clouds found in the Feud of the Red Clouds/Airspace Rules Compendium. A large batch of clouds somewhat bisected the board, and two other patches flanked it. We randomly determined the altitude, and I was disappointed that they ended up at relatively low levels, being at 3, 1 in the center, and 2 respectively.
We also decided to place a platform on the board to add more potential hazards for clumsy flying. We placed it just off the center of the board not far from the center cloud bank. The platform ended up at level 3.
Blakroe and his wingman entered the board at the center of their deployment zone. They came in high and slow. Their comms blaring out a challenge to any Tau craft in the area. The Hellfangs flew with them, so they formed a big clump of chaos fighters in the middle of the board.
R'ian and her Elegant Hunters came in on the opposite side, picking up the challenge On the far right, R'ian and her wingman came in at mid speed and high altitude. On the opposite side, came a group of three barracudas, spread across the various altitudes, but moving at mid-speeds. The Tau were cautious of the Chaos aircraft's speed.
Turn 1:
Initiative: Chaos
Movement:
The Chaos aircraft break to the left and stay high and fast. The Tau Ace and her wing man sideslip to the left and stay high and at mid-speed. The other Tau flight adds some height, and moves straight.
Shooting:
None
Turn 2
Initiative: Tau
Movement:
The Chaos forces turned back in and started skirting the edges of the board, heading towards the Tau Ace. They managed to scatter to different altitudes. The Tau turned in to meet them.
Shooting:
The Tau Ace takes a long range missile shot at Hell Razor 2, but fails to cause any damage.
Hellfang 2 fires a full burst of auto-cannons and Lascannons. The altitude difference saves many of the shots from hitting the Tau Ace, but a shell manages to strike home.
Long shot missile from Blakroe and his wing man shoot across the Tau Ace's bow, but miss.
Turn 3:
Initiative: Chaos
Movement:
Everything turned into a huge furball in the middle as planes dropped and maneuvered into position.
Blakroe used an extreme maneuver to drop into position on Barricuda 3.
Shooting:
Hellfang 1 saw Barracuda 2 drop onto his 6, so he opened fired at close range on Barracuda 5, and managed to sink a few shells into the xeno plane. However, it wasn't enough to down the craft.
Barracuda 3 desperately tried to knock the Aspirant off his attack angle and opened fire with his drone burst cannons. In an unbelievable piece of luck, the shells tore through the Aspirants Hell Razor and sent it spiraling down. Things looked bad, but at the last moment, Blakroe managed to eject.
In a mad rage, Hell Razor 2 fired at close range on Barracuda 5, and managed to blast the plane from the sky. However, the Tau pilot ejected to safety.
Inspired by Barracuda 3, his wing mate in Barracuda 4 fired at close range on the passing Hell Fang 2. His drone cannons locked on and put a wall of shells in the chaos fighters path. They tore through the plane and knocked it our of the sky. However, the pilot managed to eject.
Finally, Barracuda 2 opened fire on Hell Fang 1 at close range. Hellfang 1 prayed that the difference in altitude would be enough. Despite unloading all of his weapons on the Hell Fang, nothing seemed to strike home.
Turn 4: Disengagement Turn- Yeah, this battle was that fast....
Initiative: Chaos
Tailing Fire:
Barracuda 2 opens fire on Hell Fang 1, and a missile and Ion blast put paid to that order. The Pilot attempts to eject, but he is caught in the fury of fire surrounding his plane and killed.
Movement:
The last Chaos fighter dives and accelerates away from the battle and out of reach.
The Tau give half-hearted chase, but are content to let the last Chaos airplane disengage.
Conclusion:
Tau win! Again, the Cabal of the World Walkers face defeat during this campaign. So, what went wrong? My initial move on Turn 1, made it too easy to determine where they would be in turn 3 and 4. Plus, I don't think I had a clear plan of attack once the game started. As a result, my pilots suffered.
Of course, it didn't hurt that the Tau had some amazing (some would say lucky) accuracy with their drone cannons. Again, my fault as I let them get too close to me. The Hellfang pilot Klaug who downed the Tau Ace R'ian last game.... well he got killed this time around.
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