Dae-Day: Tau and Daemons vs Custodes

 

A quick two-for-one battle report, catching up on a pair of remote games I played against Kas recently. 

Kung Tau Chicken

Kas has become a semi-professional player these days, slaughtering his way through his local meta with a variety of deadly lists. I see myself as the Oliver Reed to his Russel Crowe in Gladiator here, mostly because I die during the filming of the practice bouts and have to be photoshopped into the report afterwards. 

The first battle was back in January, when Kas was sharpening his mixed Custodes/Knights list prior to a big tournament. It's a pretty max-strength list, packing an unexpected Knight Castellan along with a triple HQ Custodes list. Trajan Valoris, a teleporty terminator Shield-Captain and a Bike one, along with various terrifying Forge World entities like the Achillus Dreadnought, the jetpack Venatari and the Aquilon uber-Terminators.  

Sparring against him, I was taking T'au. Farsight Enclaves, with three big packs of Crisis Suits, along with a super-heavy of my own, the Stormsurge. A Sky-Ray missile gunship, which Kas had picked up lately, for a variant on support firepower, plus plenty of fast vehicle-killing Piranhas and laser-locking Tetras.

It was a matched play game, we were playing from the corners, and those of you looking to see some super-heavy-on-super-heavy action can look elsewhere - it wasn't to be!

No, after a pretty strong start where I managed to gank a couple of squads here and there with Crisis Team drops (plus their bonkers reroll everything strat, which is even tastier with Farsight), I ended up being rolled over with terrifying ease when the Custodes counterpunches landed. Crisis Squads don't like it up 'em in close combat, any more than my light scout speeders liked being washed off the board by the Knight's firepower. 

My own big guy whiffed his shots, although he still took chunks out of what he could see. But the dense urban ruins were definitely a boon to the infantry here, and I lasted until a mere turn three before there was nothing left but a few drones desperately searching for any T'au to throw themselves in front of. 

I do like the knight as a custodes' partner. I've tried several different unit choices, and always been underwhelmed by the custode shooting. This combo gives some high power, long range shooting, whilst the golden boys make their way across the board; then either the opponent takes out the knight and the custodes have made it to where they want to be (and reinforcements arrive); or the opponent focusses on the incoming infantry and the knight is free to shoot with impunity. I was grateful to the practice games, as by the time the league kicked in, I had tried a few times and won all my games with it. 

Rebelakor Alliance

The second time out, I got to use the Custodes and Knight list myself! Hurrah, I thought, time to flex my revenge muscles!

I was at a point when I could change list before next round of league, and had been playing with a few options, but have settled on a daemon version. What better way to test it than against my previous league entry!?

You won't be surprised to learn I ate no dishes, served cold or otherwise. Kas's list was now a Belakor-led Daemon army, thick with giant named super-heavy Greater Daemons (look up the rules for Zarakynel's sword, I think you'll be pleasantly appalled). In another two-thousand point matched play clash, I again started out reasonably well, grabbing the middle field early and wiping out the very gentle opposition Kas had left out across it. 

This army mostly ignores turn one, throws a few sacrificial units out to get some points/force an action; but really comes into play once turn two arrives....

The classic mistake with Custodes, I am gradually learning, is to grab the middle field early and wipe out the gentle opposition left across it, because that has the hallmarks of a filthy stinking trap. Sure enough, Belakor (who had been lurking behind a ruin with a GUO and a tooled-up Bloodthirster) teleported across behind my lines, sending his giant henchmen in for easy charges whilst he stood at the back grand-standing. 

Belakor can teleport (for 2cp) and then can bring in some mates from reserves nearby, which due to his warplocus are 6" from enemy as long as within 6" of Belakor. Having, a previously hidden, Belakor, and two extra greater Daemons appear has the potential to cause trouble!

Okay, the GUO got biffed to bits by Trajann (what a beast he is, especially with a well timed moment shackle played) and a Terminator Shield-Captain. The Knight hadn't been screened at all well (or indeed at all; custodes don't have many units, and so the early push to the mid field comes with risks in opening holes; still not sure how I would have played it the other way round), however, and when the Bloodthirster tore it to glittering confetti in two short rounds, I knew the game would be up. That firepower was going to be essential to finish off the big Daemons fast enough to stop them eating all my troopers, and so it went. Zarakynel ate the middle (it did take multiple rounds, you held him back well), Belakor mushed the Aquilons, everything else got eaten by swooping Screamers. 

It did at least go to turn four and was tremendous fun! Just like seeing an alpha predator being abruptly eaten by a hitherto unsuspected alpha-er predator on a nature program. 

I have now submitted my list for the next round of league. I don't know if others switching, or keeping the same. If my potential opponents remain unchanged, I have knights of both varieties, tau, guard, and two different votann lists to play against. Whichever it is: the games will be brutal. 

Good games both, and as ever, I have been made stronger by that which killed me!