TAU versus Dark Eldar Wych Cult

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Patrol
1st turn: Dark Eldar
Points: 1000

Tau

• Shas’O’Tau’Ko’Vash’Ch’ien’ShiShas’O - plasma rifle, fusion blaster, shield generator
• Shas’Ui’Tau’Ho’Lu’Demlock Crisis battlesuit - Shas’ui with plasma rifle, missile pod and multitracker
• Shas’Ui’Tau’Ho’Lu’Hemlock Crisisbattle suit - Shas’ui with plasma rifle, missile pod and multitracker
• Shas’Ui’Tau’Kais’Mal’Coar - 5 stealthsuits
• Shas’La’Tau’Han’Dan- 12 Fire warriors, all with pulse rifles
• Shas’La’Tau’Mont’Yr - 6 Fire warriors, all with pulse rifles, Shas’ui
• Shas’La’Tau’Mull’Kin’Tyr - 6 Fire warriors, 5 with pulse rifles, one with pulse carbine
• Murabla - 10 Kroot
• Shas’Ui’Tau’Yu’Rang Shas’ui Broadside - twin linked railguns, smart missile system and shield generator
• Shas’Ui’Tau’Tzun’Dau Shas’ui Broadside - twin linked railguns, smart missile system and multi-tracker
  

Dark Eldar

• Wych drachite with agoniser and combat drugs
• 9 wyches with wych weapons, succubus with agoniser, 2 blasters, Raider
• 9 wyches with wych weapons, succubus with agoniser
• 4 warp beasts
• 5 reaver jet bikes
• Ravager with night shield
• 10 warriors with 2 splinter cannons
• 6 mandrakes

The game
My large fire warrior squad started on the table and were quickly mauled by the wych squad in the raider. My reserves got revenge though, and the wyches were completely wiped out.

The Dark Eldar bikes and warp beasts hove into view but were quickly destroyed by the Tau massed fire. The kroot were shot up and destroyed by the ravager.

One broadside came on at my far right in a calculated gamble. It was charged by the drachite and mandrakes and died - but it was all for the greater good. The Dark Eldar swept on into the teeth of the Tau guns.

The mandrakes fell to the guns of the battlesuits and fire warrior squad. Only the drachite remained. But I had a surprise in store. My final fire warrior squad came on from reserve right next to the drachite and peppered her with shots. Unluckily for the Tau she only lost one wound so I had to charge her with the fire warriors. She killed one warrior but fell to the charge. Hurrah!

The only threat now was the large wych squad to my left but the stealth squad and broadside smart missiles devastated the squad and they routed off the board. In the closing stages the stealth team also took down the ravager and the Dark Eldar warriors.

Result: Win

Learning points

• A superb game with an army I haven't played in a while. It looked over by the second turn when the wych squad was right in my deployment zone but my reserves did well and pulled me back into the game. It could have gone either way in the early stages.
• I loved the move with the broadside to pull the Dark Eldar away from my main lines and then ambush them with my reserves. The gambit worked a treat.
• The reason I won this game was because the Dark Eldar couldn't mount a concentrated attack. The army came in on distinct waves - the raider mounted wyches, the dogs and bikes, then the mandrakes, drachite and wyches on foot. By concentrating my fire to completely destroy each element in turn, I won the game. The only downside to this was that I could never target the ravager and it did for half a dozen fire warriors and all the kroot.