Part 4: Day 03, The Panrea Lowlands, Attack (Victory)

Shas'ui Ka'buum, though your drone's recording of your encounter with the Orkz pleased me, your peers felt this was the more sound tactical decision. I leave at once for the Panrea Lowlands. Bring the Tau guns online, let us drive back the enemy for the Greater Good!




This is what a beginning base looks like. Under normal circumstances, we only have time to establish a Cadre Command and a single Earth Caste Drone before the enemy is aware of our presence.


I normally build a Plasma Generator first, but knowing I'll be facing an active Space Marine presence, I opt to set up a Barracks first. For the record, my standard build order is: Drone builds Plasma Generator -> Queue up two Stealthsuits, an Earth Caste Drone, and the Jetpack Upgrade, in that order -> send Stealthsuits to start capturing points -> have second Drone start Barracks, first Drone builds second Plasma Generator. When the Barracks comes up, it's important to build a Fire Warrior team or two. With this set up, though, you're off to a safe start and can send your Honour Guard to begin scouting the area or pressing the attack.


I--geez, record time. Is that? It is! It's Davian Thule (pronounced "tool", cause he is one, heh heh) of the Blood Ravens! What does he think he's doing?


Piss off, Thule, get off my planet!
Frig off, Xeno!


Oh crud, he brought reinforcements. Late, but here they are.




These are Scout Marines. Pathetic excuses for recon. I mean, I guess they're okay with the proper upgrades, which is not unlike our Stealthsuits, but they their stealth is a research upgrade. Ha, ours comes factory standard.


The Space Marines themselves are a bigger problem. Fortunately, this squad hasn't been reinforced. If I can train up some Fire Warriors in time, I should be able to fend off this attack.


Aaaand, they appear just in time, since I nearly bite it thanks to the Space Marine's combined gunfire.


Shas'o, we've killed Captain Thule's reinforcements. He's, uh, still pretty focussed on our Barracks, though.


The idiot. Concentrate fire!


He's making a break for it!
Don't let him get away. Hey Thule, if I were to describe you as a Dostoyevsky novel, I think I'd call you "The Idiot"!
F-frig off!


You'll be happy to know Thule didn't get away--though I'm sure the Space Marines are already re-cloning his geneseed.


The base is a little worse for wear, and construction has been halted in order to reinforce the Fire Warriors. Their base is probably undefended, though. Let's make the most of this opportunity.




They're capturing command points near our base. Take it out and claim it for our own!


I, what--they're sending Skull Probes this way.
Are they dangerous, Shas'o?
No, completely harmless. Useless detectors. Blast'em.


These are cheap scout units. They can sabotage buildings and vehicles, and are good for detecting infiltrated units, but are otherwise trash. The Space Marines don't have a lot of effective detecting capabilities, though, so they mass produce this junk.


We found a Chapel Barracks and Turret just beyond that command post. Both went down without incident.


We, Tau, do not bother with stationary turrets. For one, the railguns we attach to Listening Posts are costly enough. Two, it's a waste of resources to build such stationary guns. Why bother? If you really need to defend a location, send a couple of Broadsuit Battlesuits over to entrench in the position.


Hahaha, whoa! I just looked over that cliffside: it's the Space Marine's base!


Let's put them down fast. They're trying to rebuild a Chapel Barracks at the base entrance.


Euugh! It's one of those Servitors. They're part human, part machine. They function as the Space Marine builder unit. They're as useless as our Earth Caste Drones, to be frank.


Speaking of the Earth Caste, their Drones are setting up a Plasma grid to supply our forces with power.


There's the Chapel Barracks! Move in and disable the base, but don't eliminate the HQ.
Shas'o?
Follow the order!




Ah, Kroot Carnivores have joined us on the battle--and, uh, have gone straight to eating the pile of dead Servitors we've created. The Space Marines really want to rebuild that Listening Post. They're just throwing Servitors at it.


They built it, but for nothing. I'm just gonna make the Kroot knock it back down.


Now while my forces knock out that power grid, let me introduce you to the coolest mechanic of this game: persistent bases. Whatever you build in a match will remain the next time you have to defend your territory. Wanna cover the entire map in your own defenses? You totally can! Only enemy base spawn points will clear away buildings--see, the attackers blow that shit up when they attack. Everything else stays behind, allowing for easier defenses. Makes the battles feel more real.
Who are you talking to, Commander?
Quiet, pull back!


Now we prevent the Space Marines from leaving their spawn point while my Earth Caste Drones reinforce the area.


Here's our power grid.


Our base is set up to follow the path of Mont'ka in future encounters here.


Hahaha, and our Mont'ka Command Post has been build to overlook the enemy base across the river. Suck it down, humans!


I've set up a second Cadre Headquarters in the north.


And we have a second Barracks beside a Vehicle Beacon in the center of the map, ready to engage first wave enemy attacks.


Okay, the Space Marines are starting to rebuilt. Tear it back down, men, but permanently this time!




They keep sending out Scout Marines.
More food for us!




Aaaahahahahahaaa!




Welcome to the Wargear screen. For performing certain feats in battle, you get to purchase unlocks for me, your Commander. Here's a run down on the available Wargear:






(Requires Fusion Blaster)












(Requires Shield Drone)


I do not wish to die an early death, so Wargear selection will be left to my own discretion. When playing as Tau, though, you want to prioritize utility. Get the Stealthfields, Sensor Array, and Jetpacks first. Your Commander is now a jack-of-all trades unit, and you can save on requisition by not having to train specialist to fill those roles. Then focus on survivability and attack--the Missile Pods make your Commander a great anti-vehicle and anti-building unit. Once you've run out of options, then get the Drones, which are little more than distractions. They're mostly useless anyways thanks to the Stealthfields.
Are you talking to yourself again?
Let's return to the War Council.




The Orkz are advancing dangerously near Or'es Tash'n.
We have no need to fear, they lack the strength to breach our defenses.


The Eldar leave their base.


Reports indicate that the Necron attempted to assail an Imperial Guard position. They failed, and were beaten back.


We have a number of options available to us.


We can attack the Pavonis Space Port, if we wish. Claiming it will grant us advanced technology capable of planning extremely low orbit flightpaths.
How does that help us?
It allows us to attack any province on the map, regardless of where Shas'o and his forces are. The only places we could not directly attack are enemy HQs, which have too much anti-air defenses.
The Space Port would be a boon for our cause, but it's very well-defended. I don't like our odds of taking it at this point.


The Space Marines home base, at North Vandea, is open to us. Attacking it now would be suicide, though.
A waste of resources, too.


The Demes Northlands are weak. Farseer Taldeer is on the battlefield with her Honour Guard, though.


The Ariel Highlands present another opportunity. Though the defenses their are formidable--dangerously so--if we captured it, we would be able to better shore up the defenses of our claimed territory.
We could always hold our current position and stock up on requisition, or even return to other currently held territory.
Well, what's our next move?