Pushing Back The Imperial Guard

Pathfinders and Fire Warriors supported by a Cadre Fireblade and Ethereal

On Tuesday, I played against Ron for the first time! As part of our ongoing campaign, he decided to try and invade one of my asteroids with his Imperial Guard force. I managed to push him back however! The game was standard Tactical Objectives and using the standard 12" deployment. My dice and the cards were with me and ultimately I won 11-3 but it was a great game with some intense moments! Armoured Sentinels with Plasma Guns are great; they're extremely survivable and can put out some mean damage, destroying a group of Crisis Suits. Fusion Commanders are nasty as well, Manta Strike one in and it cripple a Leman Russ in the first turn! Some fluff from the game follows the images.

Infantry Squad closed up the gap by taking an objective

The Commander made short work of the Sentinels

Crisis Team about to take on the Sentinels

Pushing Back The Imperial Guard

Shas'El Elsy'eir Var'run was eager to prove herself. A skilled tank hunter in her own right, she'd risen through the ranks under the tutelage of Twinsun, learning the art of taking down vehicles and flyers alike. Today was her chance to prove herself, to earn her right to sit on the War Council alongside Steadstrike and the other veterans. The Astra Militarum had been detected on one of the asteroids claimed in the Charadon Sector, a small landing party likely sent to scout out and harass the Earth Caste stationed on the floating rock.

"Remember, be patient. Strike at the opportune moment and hit with all the might you can muster."

Steadstrike's words echoed through her head as the Manta neared the research station. Down below, she saw several infantry and heavy weapons teams, supported by Commissars, Sentinels and a Leman Russ. The T'au forces burst forth from their cover, taking the Imperials by surprise and laying down pulse fire, pinning down their infantry. Elsy'eir ordered the Crisis team to drop in and deal with the Sentinels. As they slammed into the battlefield, unleashing white-hot ion rounds towards their targets, the T'au Commander closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

With a fluid grace, she launched herself down, mere feet in front of the looming battletank. She could see the fear in the eyes of the humans as they bought their arms up to bear, las rounds glancing off the shield drones in front of her. Raising her fusion blasters, she let the words of Steadstrike echo through her mind once more as she unleashed a devastating salvo. The Russ wasn't destroyed but crippled, so she fired again, determined to remove it from existence. Elsewhere, the Pathfinders and Strike teams brought down the infantry squads. The Sentinels fought back, destroying the Crisis team but they didn't live much longer as Elsy'eir charged across the field, firing the fusion rounds into the walkers, bringing them down with ease.

As the battlefield fell silent and the remaining Guard left, she called her dropship and gathered her remaining troops. Kamais Tsua'kran was the first to congratulate her.

"You were like a demon! A silent ghost that they never saw coming. Ranerra'yaksha."

A name had been earned that day.