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Saim Hann vs Tau

Submitted By: Date: August 24, 2004, 11:47:40 PM Views: 2259

I recently had the opportunity to test out my Saim-Hann army list, and I thought to share the battle reports with the group. 
Mission 1 (1700 points): 
Night Fight
Saim-Hann 
HQ 1 Wild Rider Chief (power weapon, shuriken cannon) 6 Kinsmen (2 shuriken cannon, family banner) 1 Farseer (jet bike, singing spear, fortune, Runes of Witnessing) 
FAST 7 Guardian Jetbikes (2 shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Bodyguard (jetbike, embolden, singing spear) 
7 Guardian Jetbikes (2 shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Bodyguard (jetbike, embolden, singing spear) 
2 Vypers (bright lance) 
2 Vypers (starcannon) 
2 Vypers (starcannon) 
HEAVY 
2 Support Platforms (Shadow Weaver) 
 
Tau
HQ Leader in Crisis Suite (Plasma Rifle, twin-linked missile pods, 2 shield drones) 
ELITE 
5 Stealth Suites (plus 2 shield drones) 
5 Stealth Suites (plus 2 shield drones) 
TROOPS 
15 Kroot plus 5 kroot hounts 
15 Kroot plus 5 kroot hounts 
20 Kroot 
10 Fire Warriors (w/ 4 pulse carbines and two shield drones) 1 Devil Fish (Burst cannon) 
HEAVY 
1 Hammer Head (Rail gun, smart missiles, range reducing thing, target 2 units thing, move and shoot like a Fast vehicle thing) 
1 Hammer Head (Rail gun, smart missiles, range reducing thing, target 2 units thing, move and shoot like a Fast vehicle thing) 
 
Setup
Terrain was good. There was lots of forest, with some buildings and enough fire lanes. I chose a quarter first, so he deployed a hammerhead near the center confining me to the back half of my quarter. My cards are the same size as the models, so I was packed in very tightly. I chose to have a guardian jetbike unit occupy a tree line that the rest of my force deployed behind. 
My opponent deployed he kroot in the tree lines as close as he could get to me. His fire warriors and a unit of stealth suits went next to the long quarter to my right (his left). The other unit of stealth suites and second hammerhead went near the center of the board. 
Game Notes: 
He got his special Tau infiltration moves, and then the scenario infiltration moves and was very close, then he got the first turn. He a large unit of kroot and a set of stealth suites right on me, and the other kroot occupied the quarters to my left and right. The hammer heads and most other shooters failed vision tests. 
When my turn finally came, I moved my entire force to my left and away from the rush of Tau, shooting all the way. 
The Tau followed for the next couple of turns. 
I lost 2 bikes to trees, but little to shooting. 
The shadow weavers pounded the troop concentrations, the vyper bright lances either could not see, or missed. The vyper starcannon worked on the Kroot and stealth suites. 
Over the next 2 turns, I pressed into the center attacking the tanks w/ bright lances and singing spears. The shuriken cannon took there toll on the Tau. Tau fire had a tough time getting past the fortuned screening element of jetbikes. 
Over the next 2 turns, one unit of stealth suits was approaching my shadow weaver emplacement. At the last minute, I fired my shuriken catapults and assaulted. I defeated them in hth, but they retreated too far for me to catch them. I did pursue and kept them from rallying on turn 6. Both unit of stealth suites gunned down my shadow weaver crew on turn 6, but over all the shadow weaver was a huge asset; even in death they locked up 2 full units of stealth suits. 
The wild rider chief and kinsmen proved ineffective against the Kroot and fire warriors with their S of 3. The family banner really did not make any difference, and nor did the chief's power weapon. 
In the end, I held 1 quarter and the Tau held one quarter with the remaining 2 contested. 
Lessons: 
Do not let the Saim-Hann get bogged down in hth combat. They really are not very good at it, even the HQ. 
Shadow weavers were an excellent compliment to this army. They allowed me to maintain constant pressure on my opponent and even pinned a unit once. 
Fortune is very necessary to support this army. The small number of models makes it very important to use screening when possible and an 8-bike unit can only take a large volume of fire if supported by fortune. 
The 3 singing spears complimented the bright lance vypers well to achieve an overall effective posture toward vehicles. Having only one or the other would not have worked well. 
The ability to lay down fire at range with the shuriken cannon in the jetbike units was very helpful. Twenty points is a lot for the upgrades, but they are worth it. 
Keep vypers as far from the enemy as possible, fire at 30" range if possible. 
Don't be afraid to withdraw from one target area to hit another in 1 or 2 turns later. Jetbikes move 18" per turn, so they are well equipped for feints. 
This army does not have enough meat to go toe to toe with any other army. Whittle the enemy down at range, and induce crossfires when possible. 
 
Game 2
Mission 2 (1700 points): 
Tau Special (hostage situation)- Random game length, be the closest model to the encapsulated ethereal when the game ends. 
 
Saim-Hann 
HQ 1 Wild Rider Chief (power weapon, shuriken cannon) 6 Kinsmen (2 shuriken cannon, family banner) 1 Farseer (jet bike, singing spear, fortune, Runes of Witnessing) 
FAST 7 Guardian Jetbikes (2 shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Bodyguard (jetbike, embolden, singing spear) 
7 Guardian Jetbikes (2 shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Bodyguard (jetbike, embolden, singing spear) 
2 Vypers (bright lance) 
2 Vypers (starcannon) 
2 Vypers (starcannon) 
HEAVY 
2 Support Platforms (Shadow Weaver) 
 
Tau
HQ Leader in Crisis Suite (Plasma Rifle, twin-linked missile pods, 2 shield drones) 
ELITE 
5 Stealth Suites (plus 2 shield drones) 
5 Stealth Suites (plus 2 shield drones) 
TROOPS 
15 Kroot plus 5 kroot hounts 
15 Kroot plus 5 kroot hounts 
20 Kroot 
10 Fire Warriors (w/ 4 pulse carbines and two shield drones) 1 Devil Fish (Burst cannon) 
HEAVY 
1 Hammer Head (Rail gun, smart missiles, range reducing thing, target 2 units thing, move and shoot like a Fast vehicle thing) 
1 Hammer Head (Rail gun, smart missiles, range reducing thing, target 2 units thing, move and shoot like a Fast vehicle thing) 
 
Setup
Terrain was good. There was a fair amount of forest, with some hills and buildings and enough fire lanes. My opponent deep struck his army in accordance with the mission. He hit on all but two of his deployments and was well set up as a result. His three vehicles were back to back created a sealed-off triangular space in which he had fire warriors and the objective. 
My army was in reserves and deployed form a random board edge. Fortunately I came on from the best board edge to do so (given the Tau setup). Unfortunately I only got my guardian jetbikes and vypers on the board. 
Game Notes: 
This was a very tough game. With my HQ and Heavy elements off-board, I did not have fortune to protect my bikes, not the support platforms to put pressure on the enemy. 
The scenario dictated that I got the first turn, which I made count. My brighlances dropped one hammerhead, and shuriken cannon dropped the devilfish. The starcannon vypers tried to gun down the stealth suits, but their shield drones protected them. I also fired up a unit of kroot with my other jetbike unit. 
The Tau also made his first turn count. Both brightlance vyeprs wend down, 2 starcannon vypers went down, and the other two were stunned. The kroot and a unit of stealth suits were right in my face. 
The next turn, I got my HQ. I took the opportunity to fly a set of bikes around to the rear of the kroot unit; the other guardian jetbikes flew in front of the kroot and behind the stealth suits, and the HQ unit flew in front of the stealth suits. 
In the shooting phase, I fired up both units. The Kroot broke and were crossfired. The stealth suits stood firm, but did not survive the assault from 2 units of jetbikes. The HQ did a sweeping advance past my other bike units (and toward the enemy) such that they screened the guardians (the HQ bikes were fortuned). The farseer did not join any particular unit allowing him to do some interesting things later. The vypers drifted out of LOS?(Lucky for me!) The Tau pressed forward getting new units into shooting range. They dropped a vyper (starcannon) and a few jetbikes (embolden helps a lot; it's a must have for guardian jetbikes). My shadow weaver finally arrived. I moved my last vyper to the top of a building and started shooting down passed vehicle wreckage to the fire warriors. A unit of kroot was nearby, so I have to be careful not to give them an opportunity/ reason to get next to the ethereal's pod. My Chief and Kinsmen (what was left of them) assaulted the Tau commander and did very little. My guardian jetbike units advanced a little closer, my lagging element about 16" from the fire warriors next to the pod. The lead guardians were fortuned. The farseer by not joining a unit was able to throw a spear at the hammerhead while the guardians fired up another unit. The spear took out the smart missiles (more dangerous to me than the rail gun). A spear from a warlock stunned the vehicle as well. The Kroot nearby counter assaulted my HQ but the chief would not break. The chief failed to hurt the Tau commander. Several more bikes fell to shooting, but one unit still had 6 members plus the warlock. The last vyper was finally lost. When my turn came, I fortuned the big guardian jetbike unit, had the farseer join up, and then they flew in over vehicle wreckage to shoot a stealth suit unit (fire warriors were behind wreckage) and assault the fire warriors. The fire warriors lost both of their drones, and could not get through the 3+ saves with re-roll. They rolled a break test and.. Just barely made it. Had they broken, I would have occupied the space next to the pod. The Tau response was huge. Sixteen kroot charged, getting 24 attacks. They only produced 1 wound, and the fire warriors did not wound anyone. I could only produce 1 wound in the combat, and made my re-roll. The game ended after his turn (random game length, this was the end of turn 5), an my opponent won. This was an excellent game that was not decided until the very last minute. Lessons: Do not let the Saim-Hann get bogged down in hth combat. They really are not very good at it, even the chief and kinsmen. The power weapon and family banner cost 47 points together that could be used more effectively elseware. Fortune is very necessary to support this army. The small number of models makes it very important to use screening when possible and an 8-bike unit can only take a large volume of fire if supported by fortune. Embolden also helped immensely. I could not afford to have anyone break. The 3 singing spears complimented the bright lance vypers well to achieve an overall effective posture toward vehicles. Having only one or the other would not have worked well. The ability to lay down fire at range with the shuriken cannon in the jetbike units was very helpful. Twenty points is a lot for the upgrades, but they are worth it. Keep vypers as far from the enemy as possible, fire at 30" range if possible. This army does not have enough meat to go toe to toe with any other army. Whittle the enemy down at range, and induce crossfires when possible. My lessons have given me a new army list: 1700 Points 
Saim-Hann 
1 Wild rider Chief 6 Kinsmen (2 with shuriken cannon) 1 Farseer (jetbike, Rune of Witnessing, singing spear, fortune, mindwar) 7 Guadian jetbikes (2 with shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Jetbike (embolden, singing spear) 7 Guadian jetbikes (2 with shuriken cannon) 1 Warlock Jetbike (embolden, singing spear) 2 Vypers (Brightlance) 2 Vypers (Starcannon) 2 Vypers (Starcannon) 3 Support Platforms (shadow weaver)

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