When a draw feels like a win!

Scrolling back through pictures from tournaments I was in over a year ago, I found pics of one particular battle that while it ended in a draw, it felt like a personal victory. Back then I was fielding an army that was sub-optimal but I was going for Best Painted at the time, which I won.

 I had spied an Imperial Guard army  in the opening round and begged the ethereals not to be assigned to fight it. I couldn't believe the amount of tanks this guy could pack in. Granted this was played at 2250 point but even so, I knew I would get wrecked by the sheer weight of fire power. As a Tau, there is only one thing I fear, it's not close combat armies or outflankers, it's army that can out-shoot me. To my horror, when the matchings were annouced I would be fighting this huge metallic behemoth on my own.

Mission was seize ground (counters were our troops models) and first thing I took note of his troops choices that had been minimized, mounted in Chimeras. I had another advantage on my side that I was not aware of at first, fear. Old Shatter Hands and his Cadre were a new foe to this player and he feared the fire power and technology at the disposal of Old Shatter more than I feared his. It was the reputation of Tau firepower that helped me pull out a draw.

As we rolled for deployment, my opponent won and in wishing to get an alpha strike to cripple my forces, he chose first turn. He wanted to fire at me first. As it was a pitched battle deployment and his force was large, he was forced to deploy in a long gun-line. I instantly knew I would have to choose a flank and strike at half of his army while the other half re-positioned. Mind you the board was noticeably sparse on terrain, so his fire power could potentially wipe me out by turn 3 if I let him have his way.

Old Shatter Hands studied the battlefield and data feeds of the opposing forces from his Manta Destroyer. He called the fio'la to cloak the army and strike when necessary. Priority targets: APCs and infantry. I put my entire army in reserve and told myself that if I took out the troops I could pull a draw or a win against insurmountable odds.

The plan worked. My opponent milled about and repositioned for 2 turns. When it was time for forces to arrive, I knew where to strike. Deathrains targeted the chimeras and stealth suits went for the troopers pouring out. In his shooting phases, I took horrendous casualties. Vandettas and Manticores took out my Hammerheads. The Broadsides were nailed by plasma fire from Leman Russes. I spent most of my time removing models. This didn't matter though. I mentioned earlier that fear played a f\huge role in this game. He was so focussed on getting rid of my dreaded tanks and battlesuits, he inadvertently left my Fire Warriors unharmed and claiming two objectives. Unfortunately, he was able to hold one objective and contest one of mine, ending the game in a draw.

Old Shatter Hands cheered his comrades on. We had not gained position but the Cadre had held off the enemy! Sometimes a draw is a personal victory when 5th edition armies like this face off against a Tau list with Shadowsun (aka huge points sink).