Team Tournament!

So, got a couple thoughts for you. There is a chance in my area to attend a 1500-pt team tournament, 750 pts per side. Each one has to bring at least one HQ and at least one troop choice. And, unless the special rule states otherwise, such as ethereals and morale check re-rolls, they apply to your allies army. Well, I own two armies: Tau and Blood Angels. So, I'm going to talk about combining them!



First, Tau. They're my favorite army, so I'll talk about them first. What do they have going for them? Firstly, guns. Their weapons are better than basic space marine weapons, mostly. Their basic pulse weapons are more powerful than MEQ equivalent, as are their railguns. The plasma rifle is weaker, but doesn't have the Gets Hot rule, and the missile pod shoots twice to make up for less strength and ap than the MEQ equivalent. Next, the crisis suits are mobile and abuse cover rules shamelessly. Also, Tau fear no night-fighting. Between blacksun filters and Acute Senses they can generally see as far as their range can shoot. Also, cheap spammable troops! Kroot are decently shooty, and Hounds are generally assaulty. The downside to Taus are pretty rough too: low leadership across the army, expensive kit options, and no solid assault presence.

Next, Blood Angels! Everyone's favorite crazy rampaging power-armor. What good things do they have going for them? Synergy! Sanguinary Priests offer furious charge and FNP gets offered to anyone close enough. Also, they are solid on the assault phase, with assault marines as troops and librarians that can break transports, provide cover saves, and lots of other fun stuff. What's bad about Blood Angels? A reliance on melta, for starters. Anytime that you don't get that double-dice roll, its gonna be tough to pop the vehicles. Also, their short-range shooting-phase is pretty weak. So, how do we combine these?

We want an army that is shooty, assaulty, and resilient as all get-out. So, here goes! Firstly, the shooting base: Broadsides and Crisis suits! Two Broads, make them team leaders, give them the ability to move-n-shoot, and a shield drone. Then, a Crisis squad and a Commander both outfitted as deathrains. And, add your requisite Fire Warriors. And some blocking/hitting presence... large kroot squads! A squad of 14 Kroot and 10 Hounds sets us back 158 points, so bring two!

Now for BA, the synergy-kings! We want a Librarian and Reclusiarch. And, for fun lets make the Reclusiarch a terminator. Why? Shenanigans! Tacking them onto the Kroot squads, one squad gets a dude to generate cover saves, the other gets a guy to re-roll attacks! Awesome! Next, resiliency. Sanguinary Priests are amazing for their perks, so lets take 4! We'll take one and give him a jump pack and power weapon, and two to go with the kroot, who will pack power weapons, and a 4th to sit back with the Broads and Fire Warriors to create a shooty firebase. And of course, we need a troop, so 10 Assault Marines with two melta-guns and a power weapon on the sarge.

Now for the summary! We've got two Kroot who can deploy forward, and have a Sanguinary Priest and either a Reclusiarch or Librarian attached as well. So now you've got better leadership, rerolls to hit or a cover save, FNP to provide a 4+ to anything that isn't ap1, ap2, instant death-causing, or a power weapon. Also, they pick up a couple power weapons, to ensure that they win combat. Talk about nasty. Furious-charging FNP kroot, backed up by a Reclusiarch or Librarian, not something you sneeze at. Also, we've got a 10-man troop choice who's goal is to run or DS forward, break vehicles, and then assault till every last one of them is done. To break vehicles and reduce mobility, you've got deathrains and Broadsides. And for scoring, you've got whatever is left of your Assault Marines, whatever is left of your Kroot, and your Fire Warriors. There you have it! Heres the list for summary. Until next time, keep it real!


shas'el: x2mp, flamer, bsf
x2 crisis: x2mp, bsf
2x14 kroot, 10 hounds
x6 fw: 60
2x1 broad: ass, leader: bsf, sd

libby
reclusiarch: termie
4x sang priests: x1jp, x3 pw
x10 assm: x2mg, pw

~Shas'el Mike