[Damian_Alpha]

• Carapace

An elite corps of warriors, these few Gue'vesa have survived their own Trials by Fire, earning the right to form their own armed forces. In exchange for their dutiful service, they have been fully outfitted with armor by the septs of their origin.

• Grenadiers

Under the guidance of the Earth caste, their warriors are supplied with salvage and scrap metal from a thousand battlefields. Each assault team is armed to the teeth, and outfitted with transports for forward fire support.

• Drop Troops

[i]Those that prove themselves are put to critical missions, airdropping in to claim key positions during battle, or to provide support to a weakened battle-line.

• Techpriests

However, they are not alone on the battlefield. The Earth caste keeps a watchful eye, ensuring that there is no misuse of the equipment gifted to the Gue'vesa. Equipped with heavy armor to guarantee their safety, they will occasionally step in to lend support to stalled or damaged vehicles

• Iron Discipline

Thusly forged, these gue'vesa draw strength in their unity. Surrounded by their brothers-in-arms, knowing that they are not alone in their purpose, they embrace their fate as part of the Greater Good.

[hr]

Yeah, that's what the "official" listings say, at least. But the Tau aren't always forward with the real nature of the situation, especially Dal'yth sept. The 13th Dal'yth Company is a ragged bunch of the Tau empire's worst, escaped imperial convicts, and all-around useless bodies who were classified as "too eager, or too violent" to be shuffled alongside the rest of the Empire's forces. These men fight for the Greater Good, alright...So long as the greater good involves stuff burning, dying and blowing itself to kingdom come.

To this end, Dal'yth has seen fit to send them AWAY from the front line, and behind enemy lines. FAR behind enemy lines. The entire company is outfitted for mobile warfare, mounted in APC's and toting enough weaponry to tide them over for an entire campaign. However, not wanting to risk the company's considerable assets being lost to the enemy they assigned several Earth Caste Technicians to assist and monitor (mostly monitor...) the progress of the 13th Company. They have been given strict orders that any of the Gue'vesa found attempting to flee should be apprehended, or...incapacitated

The one man (and the only man) holding this force together is self-titled Officer Sherwin Jackson, the one-man wrecking crew. On orders from high (command), he plunges head-first into the battleline and is usually the last (or only) man to walk back from the fight. He specializes in seige warfare, guerilla tactics, and aquatic combat, and has indoctrinated his troops to do the same: flank the enemy by sea, cut off their supply lines, and then hit them with the almighty hammer of high explosives!

Preffered special weapon: Meltagun
Preffered heavy weapon: Mortar

(IMAGES ARE STILL BEING PROCESSED FOR EACH UNIT, AND WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE AS THEY ARE FINISHED)

[hr]

HQ 477pts

• Command Platoon, Command Squad: 75 pts IMAGE

Carapace, Iron Discipline, Mortar

• Commissar (Etheral): 50 pts IMAGE

Power Weapon, Trademark Item

• Chimera Troop Transport: 97 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber

• Mortar Team w/ Carapace: 100 pts IMAGE

• Mortar Team w/ Carapace: 100 pts

• Sentinel w/Lazcannon: 55 pts IMAGE

ELITES 642pts

• Techpriest (Earth Caste Technician): 110 pts IMAGE (both ECT's)

Tech Servitor x3, Gun Servitor w/ Multi-Melta

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Rough Terrain Modification

• Techpriest (Earth Caste Technician): 110 pts

Tech Servitor x3, Gun Servitor w/ Multi-Melta

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Rough Terrain Modification

• Hardened Veterans x6: 116 pts

Plasmagun, Meltagun, Grenade Launcher, Plasma Pistol, PW

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Extra Armor


TROOPS 976pts

• Infantry Platoon, Command Squad (Sherwin Jackson): 131 pts

Carapace, Iron Discipline, Meltagun, Medic, Honorifica, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Trademark Item

• Commissar (Korl Moor, Fallen Shaper): 85 pts

Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol, Refractor Field, Medallion Crimson

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Extra Armor

• Infantry Squad: 86 pts IMAGE

Carapace, Flamer

• Infantry Squad: 86 pts IMAGE

Carapace, Flamer

• Grenadier Squad x5 w/ Meltagun: 60 pts

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Extra Armor

• Grenadier Squad x5 w/ Meltagun: 60 pts

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Extra Armor

• Grenadier Squad x5 w/ Meltagun: 60 pts

• Chimera Troop Transport: 102 pts

Turret Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber, Extra Armor


FAST ATTACK 381pts

• Hellhound: 127 pts IMAGE

Turret Inferno Cannon, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber

• Hellhound: 127 pts

Turret Inferno Cannon, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber

• Hellhound: 127 pts

Turret Inferno Cannon, Hull Heavy Bolter, Pintle Heavy Stubber

HEAVY SUPPORT 525pts

• Basilisk: 145 pts IMAGE

Earthshaker Cannon, Hull Heavy Bolter, Armored Crew Compartment

• Leman Russ Demolisher: 190 pts IMAGE

Turret Demolisher Cannon, Sponson Plasma Cannons, Hull Lascannon, Extra Armor

• Leman Russ Demolisher: 190 pts

Turret Demolisher Cannon, Sponson Plasma Cannons, Hull Lascannon, Extra Armor

TOTAL ARMY SIZE: 3001 points

[hr]

General Army Information
The 13th Dal'yth Company is my first imperial-type force, but being the Xeno lover that I am I couldn't just do any old IG; I had to do Gue'vesa. Having done the varied forces of the Tau Empire and the Massed infantry of the Kroot mercenaries, I thought it would be fun to go all out on the armor...and boy was I right.

This is intended to be a highly tactical army. TLOS means that certain vehicles will be able to fire over others, but I have to be very careful about how and who I expose. The demolishers are my biggest weapons platforms and also the biggest targets, but the paired Earth Caste Technicians running behind them should be enough to keep them on the field. Small squads mean that cover is my friend, and downed vehicles help ME more than it does my enemy.

Headquarters Units

The decision to do mortar team rather than Spec Weapons teams is more a fluff choice than a tactics choice: even though this army is composed largely of the men no one else wanted by their side, they still aren't going to waste them on suicide missions. So, they get the pleasure of watching explosions from a safe distance behind several meters of ceramic-steel armor and firepower, rather than from 10 feet away.

The command team is supposed to be led by a senior of the Earth Caste, who is there only to maintain order and a sense of aknowledgement from the Tau Empire about who foots the bill, and who makes the final call. The two Gue'vesa will be replaced by another pair of Fio, who will be carrying remote mines (stand in for the mortar; if they can see the enemy, they have a better idea of which mines to activate. Otherwise, it's click and pray). The ethereal model as a commissar is also a fluff choice, though he will play only a small role on the battlefield. Given that there is no good item from the IG codex to represent a Honor Blade, I stood it in with a Power Weapon and left it at that. The trademark item represents the normal ethereal rules of re-rolled leadership, and also the morale test in the case of his death (since these really only effect the squad he is with).

The sentinel is a fun piece that I had wanted to do ever since I started playing Tau. I have other weapons that I can slap on him if I wanted, but I like him as is. The lascannon puts him well out of range of most weapons that would damage him, while giving him a chance to earn many times his points back in vehicle kills.

Elites Units

Techpriests have some fun rules that don't do much combat-wise, but add an element of character to an otherwise bland force. The multi-melta servitor/drone allows this unit to do a little sniping of their own, whether against vehicle, MC's, or IC's, while keeping relatively safe around the sides/backs of the army's tanks.

The veteran's squad was a tough decision. I originally wanted to make it a las/plas firing squad, but didn't the stationary depedancy in an army so oriented towards mobility. Also, it just didn't blend well with the character of these men. I went with the mixed special weapons to make them true veterans; armed to deal with any situation. If they are in their transport I can pick and choose which jumps up the hatch, for mobile fire with a blast template, close-range anti-tank, or a decent rifle-ranged weapon that can pop off heavy infantry or light vehicles. I intend to pick up the Kasrkin Sargeant model for the veteran sergeant; it's such a beautiful sculpt I can't turn down putting him in. ;D

Troops Units

This is where the real character comes in. Sherwin Jackson is the commander of the army in the traditional Tau sense; a warrior elite, who leads his bretheren into battle. His purpose is to hunt down enemy units, mop them up, and move to the next target. The medic improves squad durability considerably, while the plas/melta blend allows for solid firepower at close range. The commissar is actually the old Master Shaper from my Kroot mercenary army. After him dying one too many times, I decided to put him down for a new MS, but the character appealed to me so much I brought him back as Sherwin's personal bodyguard. He's minus an arm and an eye, but his shamanistic powers make him a formidible foe (thus the sorce of his plasma-pistol and invuln save, as well as his ability to shrug off Instant death). When things start looking bad, he calls on the ancestors to safeguard his master, and teleports Sherwin to safety. The squad has to evaluate if they should also stay or flee, which was exactly the effect I wanted in that team.

Each grenadier team is unique, and the Sergeant characters show this to great degree. They are fairly straight-forward in their purpose: claim objectives and hold the line. The infantry platoon squads are generic ambush troops (thus Drop troops), intended to surprise and supress, hitting the enemy fire support and infantry to throw them into dissarray.

Vehicle Support

Two Demolishers are the core of this army's heavy weaponry. They are oriented for short-range engagements, but pack enough punch to engage at longer ranges as well. The basilisk is ironically not often used a long-range artillery platform, but as a direct fire-support unit. The earthshaker cannon's ridiculous range (as well as it's height, which lets it fire OVER most of my other vehicles) means solid impacts on enemy forces time and time again, with IDF reserved for flanking units that threaten my scoring units.

The hellhounds, oddly enough, are dirt cheap for what they do. They don't have the range of my chimerae, but make up for it in wounds inflicted. Whereas the Demolishers and basilisk are oriented toward heavy infantry, hellhounds absolutely destroy medium and light infantry. The flamer template's versatility and accuracy make it a must against dispersed squads, while the ability to strip cover and ignore 4+'s make taking on Tau, Eldar, Orks and Nids a breeze.

Chimerae make up the bulk of my vehicles. I must say, what they lack in firepower they make up for in numbers. 100 points is dirt cheap for 9 S4+ shots in a guard army. The two transports assigned to the Techpriest are intended to rush forward, plow the enemy lines and keep them distracted from the other ordnance coming in. Heavy flamers means that if I can't tank shock them, I can at least hurt them enough to make them a non-issue. With everything else laying down the rain, they can weather a surprising amount before kicking the bucket.

[hr]


So that's my first Guard army, as it is and as it's planned. Any thoughts, sports fans?