Content by Azraphael99, Written by Azraphael99, Edited by T0nkaTruckDriver
What Happened To All the Trees??
We've all seen it. A desert table, or an empty plain, with only one or two pieces of terrain... and all that vast emptiness between you and the Bad Guys. It always gets worse.. the Bad Guys always have tons of heavy weapons (especially the ubiquitus Lascannon) and it seems there's absolutely no way your mobility's going to save your rear end this time. I mean.. geez! All your tanks are in range, and if he gets first turn they're all going to be 'penetrated' in a most unfriendly manner before you can even twitch! Then it's just 'mop up the Tau' and you go home grumbling.
Well, never fear, my fellow Shas'O.. there IS a way to win on Planet Bowling Ball.. and do it with such style and panache that the enemy's percieved advantages all count for naught.
- Evaluate your Enemy
The important part here is the same thing we do every game.. 'what am I up against?' The important bits include whether the army you're facing is assault, shooty, heavy-weapons loaded, or the like. So... what's the concern on Planet Bowling Ball?
Shooty. Assault armies generally suffer from the universal issue of a lack of range, no matter what their speed... and we've generally got any given assault army beat on speed. (there are a few exceptions) Transports... often a problem for Static Tau forces... are even less of a threat to Mobile Tau than they usually are, as the beautifully empty table gives our Railguns, Markerlight/Seekers, and Crisis Teams plenty of room to work and unobstructed views everywhere. Once the enemy has to footslog it, planet bowling ball is an advantage to us rather than a problem.
No, shooty armies - especially the common Space Marine (SM) 5-man las/plas-tac-and-devastator combinations that layer huge amounts of heavy weapons into a small area- are our serious bane. It seems like nowhere is there a place to escape from the everpresent lascannon fire, and within a turn or two our tanks are smoking ruins.
- So What Do They Got?
With the exception of a couple of Guard tanks, what they got is Strength 9 48" range tank-killing squishiness. Layer on a few Krak Missiles (at str 8) and some Plasma (at 7) and that's a lot of hurty death out at four feet from their front lines. More than likely, there's a Whirlwind or other ordinance pie-plate throwing deadly-thing making a mess of us too.
- So How Do You Counter It?
It's all in the setup, and a slight difference in tactics that capitalizes on the weakeness of all of those heavy weapons and the strength of our own. Ready?
You make them move.
It's that simple. It really is. Every turn one of those heavy weapons teams runs around the table is a turn that they can't open fire on you with the big hurty-death guns. If you force them to move to engage you, on your terms, you can force those guns to be silent without ever putting a pulse shot into the guy carrying it. Now, making them move is a much more complicated proposition, as our general effective range is 36".... and theirs is 48". So.. we have to get tricky. And the trick? Rail-heads.
Our one advantage over every other army on the board when faced with Planet Bowling Ball is that Railgun. Strength 10, AP 1, ... 72" range. That's right, guys... that Railgun can shoot SIX FULL FEET and drop a strength-10 shot on anything you want to hit. It's also our ordinance gun, as we're using Hammerheads almost exclusively... and that's a strength-6 pie-plate dropped accurately wherever we want it to go. Without any terrain to break up LOS, we've got us a happy trump card in the long-barrels we rarely use as artillery.
Making the enemy move begins by realizing that you've actually got a gun more fearsome than anything his army can bring to bear... and there's absolutely nothing he can do to silence it.
This gives us our first maxim:
Make the enemy move - and Railguns make him move.
"But," you say..."Those guns start off in range of all of his... and he's only four feet away! That's no good!"
Well, then there's part two: Deployment.
Knowing we have to make him move, and knowing the one tool we've got to do that is in our Heavy Support unit, the next thing is to figure out how to get those units out there in such a way that he can't deal with them effectively. This involves a one-two punch that varies depending on the rules you're using for the fight and the actual dimensions of this empty field on which you're fighting.
Remember that most gaming tables are 6'x4' - 72"x48". Now, let's go back to hich-school geometry:
The diagonal of the table is SQR(6^2+4^2).. or about 7.2'. Roughly 86". Interesting.. but not all that useful.. generally, your opponant doesn't deploy at the far corner, right? He deploys right in the middle of his side. Well.. that means on a six-foot table, the center of his deployment will be at 3':
SQR(4^2+3^2)=5' exactly. That means, guys, from the center, rear of his lines to either of your side's table corners is 60".
Yes, you read that right. 60".
Now, this begins to imply a strategy. Assuming that your enemy sets up in the center of his side, any units placed in the corners of your side of the table are out of range of his fire... and within range of your railguns. Let's look a little closer:
Assuming he has units deployed 12" in from his side, that distance changes only a little:
SQR(3^2+3^2)=4.24', or about 51". Tighter tolerances... but still room to play...
Anyroad - the gist of this is our second maxim for fighting on Planet Bowling Ball:
Get him to deploy in the center, and you get to the flank.
Now - to get the enemy to deploy to the center, you can do one of two things:
First, make him deploy first. If you win deployment, then he'll likely begin by deploying towards his own center. Once he does that, he'll largely be committed in the upcoming fight.
Second, put out a hard (but tempting) target. A Devilfish full of Firewarriors in your own center reinforces the idea that you're going to deploy typically, and by the time he's got a couple of units down, he's committed.
Then, you deploy in a classic 'refused flank'... but split your forces to do so. If he moves to counter you, you're back to Mech Tau, not breaking up a concentrated firebase... and that's an easy fight. If you're coming from both corners, however, often he'll continue to set up in his "castle" simply because he cannot see any other alternative.
Besides... the table's empty, right? You're not a threat with his guns around.
- The First Turn:
The rest of this battle will be determined by the actions you take on your first turn. You'll want to win first turn, generally speaking, as you're going to want to force him to waste a shooting phase trying to respond to you and get a few free bangs in of your own. Hey - a free shooting phase is great, right? That said, if you lose - don't despair! You've still got him in the proverbiable vise:
Move Pathfinder units on your pregame move up the flank, keeping to extreme range. These guys are your 'shield' to his movement, and keeping them at range is vital. Firewarrior teams can be used in pinch, but the more Markerlights they have, the better! Keep your Crisis Teams near your Hammerheads - and don't even touch the big guns unless you must. They aren't even really going to have to move, at least at first. Stealth Teams should move up to about 30", and start using Markerlights as soon as they can.
What happens?
Well, on your shooty, start targeting his Artillery, Tanks, and Transports. Put Hammerhead solid shot into anything with armor, and giggle with glee as he watches his mobility further erode. Keep your more fragile Devilfish and Crisis Teams back, for now, and pound on his entrenched formations.
If you've Railgun rounds left, switch to submunitions and hit him with strategically-placed pie-plates. Try to aim for heavy weapons teams, if possible... if not, hit the troops carrying the big guns. Work him over at range. The big trick here is work the part of his lines extended farthest into the table; try to push him back against his table edge as best you can.
On his turn, your enemy is faced with the realization that your Railguns have him beat. If he stays put, you won't even have to move all that much for the rest of the game, and can simply decimate him with Railgun fire. If he moves to chase you, all those fancy heavy weapons are completely useless when he moves, and on top of that, he's got to figure out exactly which part of your forces to chase.
Once he starts moving, you go into action. Keep working him over with the big guns, and moving your tanks out of his immediate firing sphere. Your Stealth Teams should be softening him up with Markerlights and laying down burst cannon fire. A deepstruck unit of Gun Drones or Crisis Suits (if the scenario allows) can seriously mess up his plans in the bargain, forcing him to deal with another problem in his ranks as the Railguns continue to do serious damage. As he approaches, your forward pathfinder teams should light him up with Markerlights and take out choice targets with Rail-Rifles. Make the killing field on his march to get into range.
When the moment is right? Drop your Firewarriors and their Devilfish right into his path, and let him enjoy Pulse fire.