The Woods of Thoth: Inner Circle Combat Patrol Mini-Tournament

Combat patrol

Rymo Voir’la stood before his great commander. The heat of the settlement dome comforted him after months of campaigning on the cold lands of Thoth. He stood at attention. Fio’la attendants flanked Old Shatter Hands as he addressed the ground troop captain.

“My lord, the Fire Warriors are ready. Devilfish transports serviced and operational.”

“Good, my cousin. Take your Shas’la and patrol the parameter. Eliminate any ground forces. A Piranha Patrol Wing will accompany you. I’ve also arranged for a number of Kroot Scouts to guide you and the Shas'la. The woods of Thoth are rife with enemy troops. The Kroot will sniff them out."

"But sir, the Kroot are---"

"If I want your opinion, Shas'ui, I'll give it to you! The Aun have commanded it. Keep an eye on them, report any abnormalities. ”

"Affirmative, sir."

Club night with Inner Circle this week was a mini combat patrol tournament. There were 3 rounds of games to determine the winner in about 3 hours. Each player had 500 points and could build force within the following parameters.

1) No 2+ saves, well that means no broadsides for me

2) No vehicle with an armor value higher than 33 (devilfish ok, piranhas ok but no hammerheads)

3) No model with more than 2 wounds (Crisis Suits ok but that means no Shas’El)

4) No unit valued at higher than 250.

5) No single model valued at 100 points or higher.

6) FOC: HQ 0-1, Troops 1-3, Fast Attack 0-1, Elites 0-1, Heavy Support 0-1.

Within those parameters I constructed a mobile force with plenty of bodies and 2 troops choices.

2 XV8s with Twin-Linked Missile Pods and Flamers.

2 Piranhas with Fusion Blasters and Targeting Arrays.

10 Fire Warriors with Shas’Ui.

1 Devilfish Transport with Disruption Pod.

10 Kroot.

This list was designed to have plent of anti-infantry firepower, mobility and the ability to knock out Rhinos if needed.

Game 1 Tau Patrol vs. CylonDave’s Traitor Guard.

CylonDave’s models were all forgeworld Guard Renegades and were painted in a dark blue colors scheme that matched really well with the winter-board we played on. He had an infantry force of about 45 guardsmen with special weapons and heavy bolters. He deployed in a line so first off I noticed that outflanking kroot could ambush a flank and wipe it out. I alos noticed a few meltaguns so I was pretty conservative with my Devilfish until they were neutralized. CylonDave sent some units out in the open to claim objectives. My fire warriors and XV8s opened fire and caused significant casualties. My piranhas had no tanks or vehicles to hunt so they deployed their drones and zipped back and forth on my side of the board to claim cover saves. Kroot outflanked and wiped out a unit in close combat then consolidated into a wood to gain a 3+ cover save. One volley of fire was dead on as CylonDave blasted away with heavy bolters and I rolled four 1’s for my cover-save, even after going to ground. The Kroot then promptly ran away. The last turn I was able to move out to control one objective and contest the two others. Tau victory.

Game 2. Tau Patrol vs. Mike’s Tyranids.

Mike seemed fairly new to the game but had a pretty compact force of Tyranids. He had two units of Genestealers with scything talons, and 5 warriors with one Venom Cannon and four Deathspitters.

He set up everything and took first turn. I foolishly set up in a firing line and outflanked my Kroot. I say foolishly because I really underestimated the damage that those deathspitters could cause on my Fire Warriors. He took out 6 of them in the first volley of fire. My turn the Fire Warriors jumped in their 'fish and sped away. The XV8s jumped from cover, fired at Genestealers and jumped behind the 'fish (circling the wagons tactic.). Then I started to feed the 'Nids my gun drones to tie them up a bit and allow for punishing volleys after the assault had left them in the open. At one point I even got him to assault my Devilfish, shaking it and then my XV8s jumped out to flame the bunched up unit of ‘Stealers to a crisp (grilled lobster anyone?). Then my Kroot outflanked into a wood and soaked up a lot of fire, taking zero casualties. By turn 5 I had wiped the Nids off the board. No need to claim objectives. Tau Victory.

Game 3. Final Round. Winner takes all. Tau Patrol Vs. Dameon's Loyalist Marines

I played Dameon in this round who had brought a tight list to this mini tournament. 2 razorbacks, and 3 speeders in a squadron, bristling with fire power: heavy bolters and maxed out Typhoon missile launchers. He set up in a corner and took first turn. I set up in the opposite corner and infiltrated my Kroot into a wood. I turbo-boosted my piranhas to one corner and he fired at my Kroot who went to ground for a 2+ cover save. Then I decided I needed to get in his face and distract him a bit. I boosted my piranhas right up in his corner. If he ignored them for my 'Fish or Kroot, the piranhas would waste a Razorback and my disembarking Drones would have had shots at the Speeders. He poured all his fire into the Piranhas, destroyed one and stunned the other. The drones disembarked, passed the pinning test and hid behind cover. My turn I moved out with my Devilfish and the got a few shots off. No Damage. Turn 5, Dameon moved his Razorbacks onto objectives. I took one in my turn and contested one of his. Roll for Game End: a ONE. Game over. As there are no draws in this tournament so we went by kill points. Dameon got 2 kill points and I got ZERO. Marine Victory! Dameon’s patrol wins the whole thing. Congrats!