Carpet Campaign with Chaos

At the weekend I played my first 40k campaign.  Three missions and two Kill team challenges.  This was expanded upon when my girlfriend came home and wanted to join in the fray.  Having lost all but one Kill Team Jamie (My opponent) wanted a big final game using all of their Tau Forces. In total this came to 3300pts of Tau.

The biggest lesson we all learnt during this campaign is that dirge casters in chaos rhinos versus Tau are horrible. Preventing over-watch in an army that depends on its ranged combat was crippling.

The first game was: 1500pts Tau vs Chaos Marines using Echoes of War: The Scavenger War (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.

I deployed Chaos Marines and a renegade knight while Jamie used his refreshed Tau force including a riptide battle suit.  Having heard many terrifying things about riptides and also previously having faced a stormsurge, I was worried.  Sadly Jamie rolled beyond awfully in the first match and the Corrupted Aureus won 10-0.

Gottfried my second hand knight restored.

After this we moved onto a Kill Team Challenge: Against the Horde.  70 Chaos Cultists vs 200pts of Tau in a building granting 2 up cover.  This came down to the last hit of the final turn, in which my cult leader killed the Tau's final specialist in hand to hand.  As a reward and for flavour I rolled on the Chaos Boon table and got a 65 result.  Now I have to invest in a daemon prince, as the mighty cultists recived the best blessing from the dark gods.

The cult. The shotgun leader at the back is to become a prince!

Game 2 was 1000pts Tau vs Chaos Marines Echoes of War: The Sword of Defiance (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.  No knight was used in this game but again the score ended 13-0 in my favour.  a brutal and swift advance left the Tau forces in a lot of close assault.  Those that did not die in assault fell victim to the might of the deep striking obliterators.

My custom obliterators

Kill Team 2 was Prey Stalker: 200pts of Deathwatch (7 Astartes) vs a fully kitted out Riptide with two shield drones.  The challenge was a close one.  The riptide took 4 wounds but managed to take down all 7 men pretty swiftly... as one would expect.

In game 3 we played 2400pts Various Imperials vs Tau Tau  Echoes of War: The Emperor Protects (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.  In this the Tau were winning 8-5 but in the final two turns the Order Extermini caught up and the game ended 11-8.  Once the hammerhead and riptide fell the tables turned pretty swiftly.  Maulerfiends fare well against riptides :D

The days highlights.

Finally we played the 3300pts of Tau vs Chaos. Echoes of War: The Fall of the Kriegan Gates (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement. It took 3 and a half hours and was the largest game of 40k I have ever played.  The Tau hit hard but deployed too close. Once again it was a swift comeback from the Corrupted Aureus.

After 14 hours of 40k myself and Jamie were pretty damn tired but it was worth it.  Since I started in the hobby just over a year ago I wanted to play a thematic campaign and this weekend I achieved it.

Below is some fluff from the final game.

The Fall of the Peacekeepers. 

Lord Faustus had led them to victory in many battles. He had defeated the Salamanders, clashed with Death Guard, tore apart an Orc Warband and crushed the Tau, claiming three worlds in the process. Despite his overwhelming presence on the battlefield he had been taken from them seven times. Dragged into the warp to reemerge months later with even greater forces. Giant beasts of metal and flesh came to aid them from beyond the mortal realm. He had attracted warbands of traitor marines and cultists from nearby systems to defend the name of the Aureus. His direct link with the wolf mother had made him a beacon of the twisted and the lost. One uprising had successfully crushed the Tau without the Astartes intervention. The lead cultist being blessed and transformed into a daemon prince. He was without question, in their eyes, the High Jackal even if others did not recognise his status. Now without him again, they had to act. The odds stacked against them they descended into the Tau stronghold. With a mere fifty Astartes, a band of cultists and two demonic machines they disembarked from their vessel. Cranus could smell the Tau in the air. Tormented and tamed he longed to be released. As soon as the chains were cut, the mechanical monstrosity lurched into motion. Tearing through the fortified walls he made his way into the fort. The Tau weaponry bounced off of his hard metal carapace as he advanced. Out of the shining bronze central chamber burst the riptide battle suit. The beast had already eaten one a few days prior, Cranus was not perturbed. Dashing after its prey he flung himself from the ground and collided with the gleaming giant. Locked in brutal combat his fists punched into the suit, while the magma cutters tore at the cabling and circuitry beneath. From the opening the cultists strode through. Auto-rifles in hand, they spattered the central tau sentry point with fire. Instantly the xenos began to fall like dead fruit from a tree. Each impacting with a crunch spraying blue blood across the brass structure beside them. Hollering with glee the fanatics steadily advanced onto the building, tearing apart the enemy warlord with their firepower. Beside them spread out two units of Astartes, twenty strong each. Opening fire with their bolters they wiped the remaining sentry points clean. Not showing any signs of remorse as their brothers fell to the taus superior firepower, the Aureus pushed forward. Their Wolf Mother's Chosen emitted a sickly cloud of miasma that entered the surrounded piranha. Panicking the tau pilot opened fire. The vehicles corrupted weaponry lurched with vile energy before erupting in a ball of fly blown bile. Across the field of battle the other Chosen took off his helmet to reveal his twisted feminine face. With a seductive caress of his lips the kroot rifle team began to thrash and seize. Tearing at their own contorted, smiling faces five collapsed to the floor dead, before the rest fell victim to the hellbrute's heavy flamer. From the east the Baron Gottfried advanced. He refused to let the Canis Aureus down. His knight tore open a hammerhead before lurching into the hordes in front of him. Making light work of the infantry, he tried to ignore the systems alert signals. His knight had not yet recovered from its battle in the Exterminii's compound. The Barron knew the commander was his. The Aureus had taken down the bodyguard and left two crisis suits by his side. Walking over to their leader, he let her stare in horror before bringing his gigantic blade down upon her. With the battle over the remaining tau began to leave the system. Their losses had been too great and they needed to pool their resources before attempting another war. The Aureus would take control swiftly and with force. The war was far from over but the system was won.