Manchester GT Supermajor - an event to remember
DAY ONE:
I took my T’au to the Manchester GT Supermajor, ready to test my list across five intense games. With a mix of excitement and a bit of nerves, I was eager to see how my evolving army would perform. My list had already gone through multiple refinements, and I felt confident in my choices. Would the adjustments pay off? Day one featured three challenging matchups, each with its own twists and turns. Here’s how it went down.
Army List
Commander Farsight – Warlord with the deadly Dawn Blade and High-Intensity Plasma Rifle.
Coldstar Commander – Armed with quad Fusion Blasters, acting as a high-speed elimination unit.
Firesight Team – Precision sniper support with Longshot Pulse Rifles and Precision of the Patient Hunter.
Cadre Fireblades – Two Fireblades providing buffs and Gun Drone support.
Three Breacher Teams – Close-range pulse blaster firepower, each with a Guardian Drone and a Shield Drone.
Devilfish Transport – Providing mobility for the Breacher Teams.
Broadside Battlesuits – Heavy Rail Rifles and Missile Support.
Crisis Fireknife Team – Plasma Rifle specialists, ideal for taking down elite units.
Crisis Sunforge Team – Packing Fusion Blasters for armor-melting potential.
Ghostkeel Battlesuit – Cyclic Ion Raker and stealth-based resilience.
Hammerhead Gunship – Ion Cannon variant for high-damage output.
Riptide Battlesuit – Ion Accelerator and Fusion Blaster, a versatile powerhouse.
Sky Ray Gunship – Seeker Missile launcher for precision strikes.
Two Stealth Battlesuit Teams – Equipped with Fusion Blasters and Burst Cannons, perfect for forward deployment and harassment.
The Event was buzzing!
Game 1 – A Hard-Fought Draw (84-84)
Mission: Terraform & Swift Action
Deployment: Dawn of War
My first game was an absolute slugfest, ending in a rare 84-84 tie. I faced a Genestealer Cults army running the Broodsurge Detachment, packed with Aberrants ready to rip through my lines. I opted for Assassination and Storm Hostile Objective, knowing my opponent wouldn’t want to keep their key characters hidden. Choosing fixed secondaries felt like the right move, as it meant I could focus on systematically eliminating key threats without worrying about shifting objectives. With so many characters in my opponent’s list, Assassination gave me a reliable scoring path, and with his aggressive playstyle, I knew he’d be throwing units onto objectives—making Storm Hostile Objective a strong way to score consistently.
Right from the start, my Crisis Fireknife Team was forced into a reactive role, gunning down key threats as waves of Aberrants and Neophytes flooded the board. Meanwhile, my Firesight Team, benefiting from Precision of the Patient Hunter, eliminated a key Genestealer Cult Magus early on, reducing my opponent's ability to manipulate the battlefield. My Stealth Team provided crucial spotting for long-range firepower, allowing my Broadsides to take down a key Primus before it could coordinate another ambush. The game became a war of attrition, with my Riptide holding firm in the center, tanking an incredible amount of fire before finally being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
The final turns came down to primary points—both of us scrambling for last-minute holds. In the end, neither of us could pull ahead, making for an intense but evenly matched start to the event. A draw felt fair, but I couldn’t help but think that a slightly more aggressive push earlier on might have tipped the scales.
Game 2 - A Close Victory (89-83)
Mission: Smoke & Mirrors & Purge the Foe
Deployment: Dawn of War
Game two was another tight battle, this time against an Aeldari army running a Warhost Detachment, with a heavy focus on infantry. I chose to go Tactical for secondaries, adapting to the shifting battlefield, which turned out to be a strong decision.
Early on, my Stealth Team marked enemy movements, allowing my Broadsides to unleash devastating volleys that severely crippled a key squad of Warp Spiders. However, my opponent struck back hard, using Fire Prisms to chip away at my forces and movement bonuses from their detachment and army rule to ensure key damage landed.
Midway through, my opponent made a strong push on my left flank, but my Breacher Team pulled off a surprising counter-charge, tying up their advance just long enough for my Coldstar Commander to swoop in and wipe out a unit of Howling Banshees. In the final turns, I leaned on my mobility to contest objectives, and with some last-minute repositioning, I managed to pull ahead for an 89-83 victory.
Game 3 – A Strong Finish to Day One (90-79)
Mission: Hidden Supplies & Take and Hold
Deployment: Search and Destroy
The final game of day one saw me take a solid 90-79 victory against a Chaos Daemons army running the Demonic Incursion Detachment, featuring Be’lakor and Shalaxi Helbane. With Hidden Supplies in play, the extra objectives meant more opportunities to score, and I capitalized on them well.
My Coldstar Commander, enhanced with Exemplar of the Kauyon, spearheaded a surgical strike, eliminating Skarbrand in a devastating fusillade of Fusion Blasters, with Exemplar of the Kauyon allowing my Detachment ability to activate early, ensuring maximum efficiency in my strike, clearing a major threat from the board early on. Bloodletters were still a presence on the battlefield, but without their demonic champion leading them, their assault lost momentum. Meanwhile, my Piranha flanked around the board, harassing enemy backline units and denying objectives. The absolute highlight of the game came when Shalaxi Helbane charged my Riptide—and it didn’t take a single scratch! It withstood the Greater Daemon’s onslaught and continued fighting, only to later be taken down in melee by Be’lakor. However, in a final act of defiance, the Riptide exploded upon death, taking Be’lakor with it! A true legend of the Greater Good.
By the final turn, I had established a strong lead and closed the game with a decisive win. My mobility and firepower had allowed me to control the pace, preventing the Daemons from overwhelming me with sheer numbers.
End-of-Day Reflections
Going undefeated on day one was a huge achievement, but it also meant the road ahead would be even tougher. Climbing the rankings meant I would be facing some of the best players at the event, and every mistake would be punished more harshly. I knew day two would be filled with tighter games where every move, every secondary choice, and every dice roll could be the difference between victory and defeat. The challenge was ahead of me, but I was ready to take it on and push my T’au to their limits.
With a 2-0-1 record at the end of day one, I was feeling confident heading into day two. My list had performed well, with Crisis Suits and Broadsides proving their worth time and time again. The Riptide, while sometimes taking early pressure, still managed to have a big impact when it was allowed to fire freely.
I had some tactical adjustments in mind for day two—perhaps playing a little more aggressively in the early turns and leveraging my mobility even more effectively. But overall, I was happy with how the games had gone so far.
Stay tuned for my recap of day two, where I faced even tougher matchups and put my T’au through their paces!. With tighter games, fewer mistakes could be afforded, and every decision would carry even more weight. The challenge ahead would be immense, but I was ready to see how far my T’au could go.
. My strong performance meant I’d be climbing the rankings and facing even tougher opponents on day two—likely some of the best players at the event. With tighter games, fewer mistakes could be afforded, and every decision would carry even more weight. The challenge ahead would be immense, but I was ready to see how far my T’au could go.
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