My First Defeat

Ah, back to the regen tank and for the first time without a victory to show for it.

I just faced off in an awesome match against a Tau player and got completely annihilated, both on objectives and getting blown off the table.

If the guy had been arrogant it would have been different, but he was a complete gentleman and we've tee'd up for another game next week. I'm bringing my Uthwe strikeforce this time, so it should play out very differently.

It was fantastic. He had a really badass Riptide variant from forge world that he had never played before and his face lit up when it torrent flamered about half my army off the table turn 1. It was an awesome baptism for it and at that point it became obvious that the battle wasn't about objectives, just seeing how much of my army this one unit could wreck. As it turns out, nearly all of it single handed.

It did not help that my rolling was absolutely terribad for the entire game. My wyches (yes I brought wyches. shut up) managed to fail no less than 3 charges, eating wall of death overwatch for 2 of them, not one of which was more than 7 inches, including fleet rerolls. My Shadowfield failed turn 1 on a single instant death hit, first roll. I failed to kill a single unit in the entire game, despite concentrating my entire army on one target (that damn riptide!) and ignoring objectives for the sole purpose of killing it (and failing). Oh, and my reserve rolls were consistently awful too.

Still, it was good to not just be curb stomping my opponent and we both had a blast. It was all about sportsmanship. (One of the failed wych charges was declared in by my opponent because it was literally half a mm out and I'd just rerolled and failed a 6" charge again.)

When the dice gods are against you, its hard to win. I like to think that this is a strategy based game and that eventually the dice correct themselves, and will roll averages, but I too have had games where its like WOW. At the end of the day, its a dice game based on luck. A fun dice game that I plan on continuing playing

Tough loss.  But it sounds like a fun game and there's not a whole lot one can do when the dice gods abandon them.  I will note, however, that you must like a challenge, as bringing Wyches against Tau is...er, not optimal, I would think.  

Personally, with their panoply of cover ignoring weapons, and vast array of units nearly as mobile as we, Tau are a tough row to hoe. I have long since been of the opinion that unless the Tau player makes a mistake in their movement/positioning, the Dark Eldar player is probably going to lose. (Almost EVERY player messes up at least once or twice per game, giving you a chance, but I've had games myself were no opening presented itself.)

sweetbacon wrote:

 I will note, however, that you must like a challenge, as bringing Wyches against Tau is...er, not optimal, I would think.  

It was my standard list which has completely curbstomped all opposition so far, but I went into this expecting to lose. My only surprise was at exactly how quickly I was curb stomped, as half my army was gone by the time I got to move and my opponent and some bystanders agreed that my deployment was as optimal as possible given the circumstances.

Splint their army in half and kill the fire Warriors.

Archangel of Pain on someone who webway's in on a Raider for much hilarity against Tau

Combine with Armour of Misery and maybe a Haemunculus formation for even more deaths.

FuelDrop wrote:

sweetbacon wrote:

 I will note, however, that you must like a challenge, as bringing Wyches against Tau is...er, not optimal, I would think.  

It was my standard list which has completely curbstomped all opposition so far, but I went into this expecting to lose. My only surprise was at exactly how quickly I was curb stomped, as half my army was gone by the time I got to move and my opponent and some bystanders agreed that my deployment was as optimal as possible given the circumstances.

Were you playing on Planet Bowling Ball?  How did half your army get wiped out before you got to move?

sweetbacon wrote:

FuelDrop wrote:

sweetbacon wrote:

 I will note, however, that you must like a challenge, as bringing Wyches against Tau is...er, not optimal, I would think.  

It was my standard list which has completely curbstomped all opposition so far, but I went into this expecting to lose. My only surprise was at exactly how quickly I was curb stomped, as half my army was gone by the time I got to move and my opponent and some bystanders agreed that my deployment was as optimal as possible given the circumstances.

Were you playing on Planet Bowling Ball?  How did half your army get wiped out before you got to move?

Start of game he had line of sight to 0 units due to heavy ruins. 1 riptide 1 forgeworld riptide variant. Riptide moved forwards, EDIT: smart missiles (no line of sight required, ignores cover). Forgeworld riptide uses special rule to move 24" in the movement phase, S6 AP 3 Torrent flamer fired twice in the same turn. No saves, no cover, no line of sight required. Lost 2 raiders, all my incubi, my archon, most of my wyches, and a third raider lost its gun.

Torrent AND doesn't need line of sight? That's crazy!! How do you deal with that? Is the riptide a gigantic creature? Is it possible to kill him with deep striking units?

Wait a minute.  Tau have a FW Riptide that has a torrent flamer that DOES NOT require line of sight to its target to fire?  I know about SMS, but even for Tau, the flamer having SMS-like abilities seems kind of odd.  Did your opponent show you the rules for this?

Edit: I just looked up the rules for the Y'vahra FW Riptide. The flamer rules are only a six inch torrent instead of the normal 12 inches. Also, there is no rule for the flamer that lets it ignore line of sight restrictions normally needed to target a unit during the shooting phase. Rules are below link:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/X/Tau-XV109.pdf

sweetbacon wrote:

Wait a minute.  Tau have a FW Riptide that has a torrent flamer that DOES NOT require line of sight to its target to fire?  I know about SMS, but even for Tau, the flamer having SMS-like abilities seems kind of odd.  Did your opponent show you the rules for this?  

He moved 24 inches and could see one raider through the doorway. He then torrented to hit both.

It was one of these I believe: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/X/Tau-XV109.pdf

Follow up.

Rematch this week. I lost again, but only barely. 10 Victory Points to 11. I'll get him next time.

When fighting Tau, concentrating on the Riptides is something Tau players want you to do. I would concentrate on their weaker elements and play to their low Leadership values. If you have a unit that can get into CC with the Riptide then do that, but shooting him early on usually is not the best thing to do.

If he has Firewarriors, Pathfinders, or even Broadsides in the open, target them and go from there. Out lances with ID the Broadsides and our Poison can make short work of the 4+ Armor Saves of Tau and with their poor LD, they should fail a LD check here or there.

If he is meched up, then concentrate on one vehicle at a time so then or poison can shoot the contents or simply to eliminate the return fire from at least 1 unit.

I took my first defeat yesterday in a long time. It was in an Escalation league, and I draw some small comfort from the fact that I crippled his score enough that he won't be able to take 1st now (in all likelihood). My other games are still unblemished, so I might finish ahead of him despite the defeat.

I know what I did, too: crippling overconfidence. I deployed far too brazenly, ignoring the possibility of him stealing the initiative, and it bit me in the ass.

Jimsolo wrote:

I know what I did, too: crippling overconfidence.  I deployed far too brazenly, ignoring the possibility of him stealing the initiative, and it bit me in the ass.

Like a true archon.

That crap was so Dark Eldar it wasn't even funny. I even managed to stick the knife in on the way out in a display of self-destructive spite.

I came prepared this time. Webway portal'd in an Archangel/AoM bomb with a ton of soulfright weapons on one flank while my razorwings hit the other flank. He was down from 3 squads of pathfinders to 2 fleeing models by the end of turn 2, and most of his broadside battery was also history. Without markerlights to negate my cover saves I did a heck of a lot better, even if I stupidly forgot about how Tau can co-ordinate overwatch.

I've got the feeling that soulfright weaponry is real great and the way to go with dark Eldar! Unless you pay against loyal Marines or Khorne Deamonkin...

I pretty much avoid Soulfright unless I've got a Tantalus/Reaper in the list, or a 15 pt hole and NOTHING else to spend it on.

I would love to use a Tantalus.maybe once I get my army completed I will buy one. Now tell me why you only run ld fun with a tantalus