Part 1: Day 01, Or'es Tash'n, Planetfall (Voting)

And so on, and so on, and so on...


And thus, another flurry of votes came in chiming in support for either the Imperial Guard and the Orkz. Votes were changed, reasons for either side were given, and it was a tight race. However, the ultimate victor was...


Well, let's see. Tallying up the votes, it looks like we're going to be playing as the Imperial Guard--




















































































Pffffffffffffft! Bwahahahahaaaa! I can't keep it up any longer! It's a prank! A prank! Oh, Ethereal save me, what a hilarious prank! It was hilarious, wasn't it, Shas'uis?
It was hilarious, Shas'o!
Hello, I'm Shas'o Kais, the Commander of the Tau forces on Kronus. There was never any choice, this LP was always going to be the Tau rescuing our beloved colony from the clutches of fanatical alien scum. Hahaha, what game did you think we were playing? "Democratic-Vote-Hammer 40k?" Haha, filthy Gue'la. Now that most of you have outed yourselves as supporters of the vile forces that are invading Kronus, you shall all be quarantined, sterilized, and re-educated. Oh, don't worry, it's for the Greater Good. See, we don't want to kill you, merely ensure you'll never pass on your traitorous genetics while simultaneously showing you the irrefutable rightness of the Greater Good--it's a win-win solution! More on that in a moment, let's celebrate the fact that we shall be leading the Tau Empire into victory:




The rise of the Necron and the arrival of the other powers on Kronus was a threat the Tau Empire could not ignore.
Oh, shhh! It's starting.


With their doctrine built firmly around the so-called Greater Good, the Tau could not tolerate seeing a thriving colony taken away from them.
I take issue with their use of "so-called", but as you can see, the Tau Empire are clearly the good guys. Great intro, huh?


The Ethereals, leaders of the empire, responded to the distress signals from Kronus by sending some of their best and brightest to retake the world.


Aun'el Shi'ores was among the most lauded of a new generation of Ethereal caste; he would be responsible for restoring proper order to this wayward world.


With him came the military leader Shas'o Kais.
Oh, haha, that's me!
A student of the teachings of Commander Puretide, O'Kais brought a massive force of Fire Caste warriors as well as auxiliaries from the Tau's allied races, the Kroot and Vespid.


Tau ground forces landed in the city of Tash'n (or Asharis to use its true Imperial name) and from there began the crusade to retake the planet as a whole.

Ah, good stuff. Alright, all you filthy Gue'la sympathetic to the invaders, off you go to boot camp! Shas'el Shovah will give you a basic run down on the structures and units currently at our disposal here on Kronus. Once you've been re-educated to better appreciate the Greater Good, you may come back to work on my council.
With me, Gue'la, let's get you trained up!
Actually, if any of the rest of you want a review on Tau units and structures, it'd probably be a good idea to go off with El'Shovah, as well. He's a good guy, he'll sort you out. Now, the rest of you Gue'vesa who showed your true dedication to the Tau Empire may come directly with me to the war council room to help plan our first move. You, Shas'la, who are the Gue'vesa who proved themselves to be honourable and trustworthy?
Let's see, that would be:

• Black Balloon
  
• Agent Interrobang
  
• habituallyred
  
• Jobbo_Fett
  
• Godna
  
• sullat
  
• JamieTheD
  
• and, Kaboom Dragoon

Alright, you group get to decide our opening move. Let's take a look at our war map:


This is Kronus. We currently hold the city of Tash'n, but that's it. Every other force have had a chance to better entrench themselves. To the north of us are the Eldar and Space Marines. Directly east, and perhaps the greatest threat, are the Necron. South of us are the Ork Hordes. The only positive thing about being surrounded by the Necron and the Orkz are that they're acting as buffers to the Imperial Guard and Chaos Legions.
Shas'O is right. Now, as we are limited to ground movements, we can only attack provinces directly next to ours. A wall to the west of Tash'n protects us from the Eldar, but it also means we cannot advance directly west. The numbers on each province indicate their strength. The higher the number, the more dangerous and difficult the battle will be. We have not liberated any forces, so we cannot send Shas'O into combat with any wargear or honour guards--we'll get more into those when we can liberate them.
As my war council, you, the thread, are going to choose which province we attack, and how. As for actual tactics on the ground, they will be left up to my own discretion, but the decision to play defensively, or aggressively, or with swarms of vehicles, or on either the path of Mont'ka or Kauyon, will be left to you. This is the Hardest difficulty, so your decision can either make my life easier or more difficult. Make informed decisions or I'll send you back for re-education. Oh, and don't forget that pausing for a round is a legitimate strategy. It allows us to track our enemies' movements and build up more requisition for later use.
The three provinces currently open to us right now are as follows:


The Panrea Lowlands are held by the Space Marines and might provide a moderate challenge with our current limited resources.


The Western Barrens are held by the Necron, and they are fairly well entrenched. They only have a single base, but it still might be a vain effort to retake it at this point in time.


The Agamar Desert is technically held by the Orkz, but they've left it so poorly guarded that O'Kais could waltz in there on his own and retake it.

My advisers can only advise you. Ultimate decisions are left up to the thread. Everyone will be able to offer suggestions after this first move, but in honour of the Gue'vesa who proved to be truly loyal to the Tau Empire, I'm going to allow them to decide on our very first action.


The thread has "decided", we shall be playing as the Tau Empire. By the Etherals, aren't I simply the very model of a modern Shas'o Fire Warrior?