Leagues of Votann vs T’au

Deployment

A gap in the armour

My first Warhammer 40K 11th edition game put my Leagues of Votann against Harvey's T'au, ending in an agreed 93 to 33 win. I used a setup similar to the one we'd been working on in Tactica, with a few positions tweaked on the table. By round three both Hekaton Land Fortresses were gone, but the centre was still held and the counterattack was ready.

The two Hekaton Land Fortresses started together in the middle, with the Sagitaur and Kapricus Defender on the left and the Einhyr Hearthguard and Hernkyn Pioneers on the right. The Hearthkyn Warriors on my home objective stayed around the ruin. Harvey had his larger battlesuits spread across the other side, with Stealth Battlesuits already at the central ruin and his Pathfinders further to the right.

I'd left the Einhyr Hearthguard near my natural a bit too exposed. That gave Harvey an opportunity straight away, and he took it.

Battle round I

The opening exchange

Harvey won the roll off and went first. He tried to punish the misplaced Einhyr Hearthguard with a Riptide, but only picked up three and left the Riptide open. He also put some chip damage into the Hekaton Land Fortresses.

I pushed the Hekaton Land Fortresses forward and got the Ironkin Steeljacks with Heavy Volkanite Disintegrators out at the central ruin. The fortresses stayed close behind them. The Sagitaur and Kapricus Defender moved up the left, while the surviving Einhyr Hearthguard shifted towards the right-hand ruin. Across my rear, the Hernkyn Yaegirs kept the screen in place. The centre had its anchor and the backboard was protected.

The Brôkhyr Thunderkyn picked up the exposed Riptide in one volley. The Hekaton Land Fortresses also picked up the battlesuit on Harvey's home objective, which looks to be the cream missile-armed Broadside beside his right-hand Riptide. His need to position units to spot gave me more targets, and the Ironkin Steeljacks picked up his Pathfinder Team and four Stealth Battlesuits. Secure No Man's Land came from my early positioning, while Outflank was scored by the Hernkyn Pioneers.

Battle round II

Holding the line

Going into round two, we slogged it out. I'd got into Fortify Takeover by then. Both Hekaton Land Fortresses were further up the board, now beside the central ruin with the Ironkin Steeljacks still anchoring it. The Sagitaur and Kapricus Defender were working up the left, and the Einhyr Hearthguard on the right were moving around their ruin. The rear screen stayed spread across the back.

You can see the blue Riptide from the earlier pictures is gone. The cream missile-armed suit on Harvey's home side has also disappeared, the Pathfinders are no longer at their original right-hand position, and just one Stealth Battlesuit is visible behind the central ruin. That is the change on the board after the opening shooting.

Harvey continued to chip away at the Hekaton Land Fortresses, but Reactive Reprisal picked up another Riptide. The maroon Riptide on his right is still in this photograph, but is gone by the last one. I was taking damage, while also removing the units that could keep that damage coming. Holding the centre and my natural expansion kept the early primary moving. Display of Might came from having more units in No Man's Land, while my Einhyr Hearthguard on my natural scored Burden of Trust.

Battle round III

The armoured line breaks

Round three was the big moment. Harvey had to get aggressive and deep struck his Crisis Battlesuits and the Twin Lance in front of the Hekaton Land Fortresses and Ironkin Steeljacks. I knew that was a big play and needed to counter it, so I used Rapid Ingress to bring in my other ten Einhyr Hearthguard 12.1 inches from the Twin Lance. That kept them outside charging distance and in cover from the battlesuits, ready to hit back. Harvey then picked up both Hekaton Land Fortresses, but it took his whole army to do it. An aggressive move that almost paid off, and losing both together was a big hit.

The last picture shows how much had changed. The Hekaton Land Fortresses were gone, Harvey's new battlesuit group was in front of the centre, and the Ironkin Steeljacks were still at the central ruin. My fresh Einhyr Hearthguard were now on the right by the smaller barricades. My backboard was screened well, so he couldn't deep strike behind me.

I also sent the Sagitaur up to out-OC and sabotage Harvey's natural. You can see it right up against his left-hand ruin, and taking that objective helped lift my primary score. On the other flank, I whizzed the Hernkyn Pioneers around the back towards his home objective for Plunder. While the main exchange was happening in the centre, those units were putting pressure on his scoring positions.

The counterattack

The Hearthguard answer

This was my big go turn with the stratagems. I used Fury of the Hearth on the Einhyr Hearthguard, while the Ironkin Steeljacks got Ancestral Sentence with Yield Points spent for Sustained Hits 2. The Hearthguard moved up and picked up the Twin Lance with shooting. That's Sunsear and Scatterflare, the two larger suits amongst the new arrivals. I was also ready to charge if needed, so I had that option there.

The Einhyr Hearthguard on the objective at the back picked up the three Sunforge Crisis Battlesuits at range. The Ironkin Steeljacks picked up the Fireknife Crisis Battlesuits and left Commander Farsight on six wounds. Between them and the rest of the army's shooting, I was able to pick up almost everything Harvey had committed. That mass shooting was where Bring It Down came from.

That was the important part for me. Both Hekaton Land Fortresses had gone, but the Ironkin Steeljacks were still doing their job in the centre and I had the fresh Einhyr Hearthguard ready to hit back. The Sagitaur and Hernkyn Pioneers were also working on his objectives, with the rear screen still doing its job behind them.

Battle rounds IV–V

The agreed finish

At that point we shook hands and talked the remaining rounds out. In the agreed round four, I had Ancestral Sentence on the Ironkin Steeljacks again for Sustained Hits 2 to clean up. They picked up Assassination, I kept scoring, and everything apart from his final Riptide was removed in the talk-through. Round five had my Hearthkyn Warriors holding for Defend Stronghold, with several options available for Cleanse. That brought the agreed result to 93 to 33.

The debrief

What I took from it

The Einhyr Hearthguard near my natural are one thing I'd tidy up next time. Losing three was manageable, but I'd given Harvey a target there that I could have protected better.

I'd also position my Hekaton Land Fortresses a little better. Harvey chipped damage into them in round one, and if he'd rolled better I could easily have lost one.

The screening, the timing of the other ten Einhyr Hearthguard and the moves onto his objectives all worked well.

I also had a good dice day. Harvey didn't have the best rolls, while mine seemed good, especially when I was hitting on 5+ a lot of the time. I think the heavy magna-rail cannons on my Hekaton Land Fortresses hit eight out of fourteen shots overall. That definitely helped, and it's fair to give the dice some credit in the result.

Thanks to Harvey for the game and for talking the remaining rounds through with me.