In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
BATTLE OF THE MONTH  -  FEBRUARY 2005
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FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
TAU - TURN 4
    Daun'sha also realized that the tide may be turning but he was unfortunate to be on the losing side of the tide.  He grimaced for a moment and then ordered "Let us continue, we cannot be defeated. Concentrate some fire on the Imperial Armor, and advance toward our objective."
    With that, the Fire Warriors began to shift so to support thier brothers in the center of the field who were locked in close combat with Karel's men.  Daun'sha signaled to the XV8 Crisis suits to strike.  They jumped into the air, powered by their jet packs and spotted a group of guardsmen closing in on the Tau defenses.  The squad leader gave the order and the 3 suits fired a volley of rockets from thier deadly twin-linked missle pods.  The vulnerable men could do nothing but go to ground or run.  Many of them fell and after stabilizing themselves, began to run in the opposite direction of the Tau battlesuits.   "Well done, brothers," the Crisis squad leader complimented and with that they all returned to their safe spot behind the hill dodging fire from the Imperium.
    Obeying the commands of thier leader, the crew of the Hammerhead gunship moved into position to face a Leman Russ.  The turret of the tank turned to counter and fire at the skimmer, but the Tau were quicker to the draw.  With a vibrant blast from the tank-mounted Railgun, the Russ tank was reduced to a wreck.  The crew of the Hammerhead cheered loudly as they knew they had struck a blow to the Men and less Tau would fall to the might of the battlecannon.
    Officer Karel's resolved remained strong and he was using it to push back the Fire Warriors who were poised to recapture the objective.  Even with their Shas'vre joining the fight and having greater numbers than the Imperial guardsmen, the two enemies locked themselves further, each side losing 1 soldier to the deadly melee.
The Hammerhead struck a nice blow to the Imperium by knocking out a Leman Russ and the close combat was still locked
IMPERIAL GUARD - TURN 4
    "Where is that damn tank?" Amorki grumbled as he watched one of his tanks reduced to a halted wreck.  His third Leman Russ had failed to show up as of yet and he was a little worried.  Although, the Imperial firepower was outmatching the Tau considerably, the Tau were making strides and the objective was to recover the body still.  He grunted as his chimera advanced toward the close combat in the middle of the battle.
    The left side of the Imperial forces concentrated most of thier fire on the hammerhead, which was very resilient, using its speed to better deflect shots and cause the enemy to miss.  However, a well placed Krak missle from an infantry squad hit the hammerhead directly in the front of the hull.  The shaped charge of the missle burned through the thick armour of the skimmer and exploded, ripping the crew apart.  The hammerhead fell from its low perch in the air and partially buried its front end into the earth of the steep hill. 
    The other Chimeras would prove useful as they saw the Tau Gun Drones moving very quickly to support the Fire Warriors engaged with Karel.  They fired a heavy payload of shots into the Drones' unit, destroying many and scattering the rest. Other supporting fire was uneventful meaning it would be up to Officer Karel to win his fight.
    Officer Karel knew he needed to make haste in this close combat and was then filled with resolve so much that he began cutting down Tau after Tau with his cleaving power sword.  His men saw his valor and began to cry out as they too slayed many fire warriors.  The remaining fire warriors could not take the advance of the men, and fell back.  Karel looked over and saw the fallen body of Tuno'vre lying on the ground.  The Imperium's resolve had caused the aliens to run in spite of thier mission. In spite of the 'Greater Good.'
A huge step forward for the Imperium.  Controlling the site of the objective and knocking the hammerhead from the air.  The Imperium now had an even greater armoured superiority. 
TAU - TURN 5
    Daun'sha turned on his jetpack and flew forward toward the Chimera and the Imperial battle line.  "For the Tau" he proclaimed as he unleashed his weapons at the front of the Chimera which could not withstand the missles from the Shas'o's missle pods.  The tank exploded with a fiery blaze.  He communicated with his troops, "Do not falter brothers, our numbers are few.  Do not let them take our honourable Tuno'vre! Attack!"
     The crisis battlesuits responded immediately by flying directly in front of Amorki's command chimera and firing their missle pods into the frontal armour of the transport.  The missles penetrated the light armoured shell of the chimera setting the inside afire.  Amorki was the only man to make it out alive. 
     The handful of remaining Fire Warriors began to once again move toward the objective. They tried to find a good shot on Karel but could not see him.  The broadside's however did not need that luxury. They let loose a volley of smart missles which flew high into the air and then down into the complex, leaving only Karel remaining in the command squad.
The XV8 Crisis Battlesuits poise to strike at the Imperial Commander's transport. 
IMPERIAL GUARD - TURN 5
    Amorki gathered himself after escaping his burning transport and then looked across the battlefield to notice that the Shas'o emerged from his troops and was advancing back.  He radio'ed to his men.  "Take the leader down now!" Calidur waved his hand as a signal to fire and his entire side of the battlefield concentrated on the flying Daun'sha.  Dodging many shots from lascannons, missle launchers, autocannons, and the like, the lascannon from Officer Calidur's command squad struck the Shas'o hard and cut him cleanly in half.  The Tau let out a collective gasp.  Their leader had been slain.
     The final Leman Russ rumbled onto the battlefield and fired it's battlecannon toward the few remaining Fire Warriors, tearing two of the apart.  Trying to defend his own leader, a missle launcher gunman from the infantry squad took down one of the elite crisis battlesuit Tau who were closing in on Amorki's destroyed vessel.
    Karel once again found himself in a good position.  He picked up the body of the ethereal and hid behind the cover of the farm complex hoping that backup would soon be there.
Daun'sha had fallen and dealt a blow to the Tau resolve. But the Imperial Guard knew that the battle and mission was far from over.
TAU - TURN 6
    The loss of their leader was a blow to the Tau, but it also enraged them.  Too many of thier brethren had fallen just to save the body of a fallen warrior.  They moved into position and fired their pulse rifles into the complex.  Two shots deflected off the wall near Karel and he began to sweat.  The Broadsides used their advanced sights to find Karel through thermal imaging.  "Fire" shouted one of the broadsides, and he pulled the Trigger to fire his smart missle batter at Karel. 
    Karel heard the noise of incoming fire and hit the ground but it would not fool the highly advanced smart missle systems and he was dismembered by the viscious explosion.
Time was running short for both armies.  The Tau make a good move, killing the officer in possesion of the objective. It looked hopeless for either side to win a decise victory now.
IMPERIAL GUARD - TURN 6
    Amorki surveyed the battlefield and looked into the complex.  He did not want to waste any more human life for the silly Ethereal.  The Tau, only having 5 troops remaining, had begun to retreat.  Realizing this was over and that more Tau forces could be on the way, he too ordered a tactical retreat. 
CONCLUSION
   This bloody battle ended in a draw.  Neither side was able to capture and hold the objective at the end of the battle.  It was a hard fought test indeed.  Each side was at a disadvantage. The Tau, a long ranged army is vulnerable getting into the middle of the field and risking melee combat.  The Imperial Guard, although superior to the Tau in close quarters are not meant to be very mobile.  Each commander did well.  Congratulations to Isaiah for his first non-loss. And I hope everyone enjoyed the first All our Games battle report in a long long time.
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