ICT IV - part 2

Third Battle was against the Ruinous Powers again, on my first round's battlefield again. Juggerlord and spawn retinue, 2x2 nurgle Obliterators, Sorcerer with cultist blob, another cultist blob, marine warband on Rhino and.. 2 Helldrakes.
The Relic! mission, centered on the middle, Hammer & Anvil deployment. I deployed to punish the enemy contenders, as well as to throw my troops in for a quick grab. The Juggernaught mounted lord was stripped off his retinue easily, but they had transported him safely near my lines (cavalry is really fast! ). Due to sheer bad luck, the Chaos Lord didn't reach my Crisis team Honour Guard and was killed, giving me the upper hand (had he reached me, he would tie and kill my Commander and 3 XV8s). The Chaos scum that grabbed the Relic soon regretted it, killed to a man by hot plasma and powerful pulsefire. Now was my turn to grab the Relic and run towards my lines. Having achieved the secondary objectives of Slain Warlord, Line-Breaker and First Blood, I was confident about the future. Then came the Helldrakes. Diving, grabbing Tau with their talons and roasting others in baleflame, they decimated my infantry, leaving no way to control the Relic. The chance was seized by the Sorcerer, who ordered his cultist rabble forward, entered the building and got hold of this piece of knowledge. They only had to hold for 2-3 rounds, gone to ground inside the building until the game ended or passing it to the fresh cultist squad heading their way. While the Broadsides were at last bringing down both Helldrakes, concentrated fire from 3 vehicles and 7 Crisis Suits eradicated the Sorceror and his retinue, dropping the relic, just as the second cultist squad made contact with them. It was now their turn to taste the Tau firepower.. Electing to GtG, they couldn't move, thus being unable to grab the Relic, standing about an inch near them..
Tau Victory 3-0, though if the Chaos Lord had struck home, it would be really unpleasant for the Greater Good!

Last game of the Tournament was a standard pitched battle with Kill-Points. In the lush jungles of a deathworld, the Tau force made contact with a unholy alliance, Dark Eldar and a Guard detachment!
Due to my little knowledge of DE, I regarded all of them as.. T3 low armored elves with poisonous weapons, long sticks hurt armor and suits badly, leaders are unkillable frenzy machines. The DE list was ill-suited for KP missions, having 2-3 3-man squads and fragile vehicles. His assault units advanced, duke Sliscus and his wyches aboard a Raider dashed forward, hoping to withstand enemy fire and engage in "child's play" melee wiht the Tau. Their transport went down first, then the frustrated passengers were marked by the pathfinders, stripped of their cover and cut to pieces. On the other flank, the numbers of the Guard infantry were winning the gunfight, and outflanking kroot were ordered to intervene. Achieving light damage, they were the only kill point to yield. All along the battlefield, Crisis suits were assuming aggressive stance, closing into rapid-fire distance, pounding the GtG aliens, then Jump-packing back to safety. The Dark Eldar were trying to grab easy kill-points, Dark Lances seeking Tau vehicle armor plates. Due to the Disruption Pods, their accurate and powerful shots only immobilised one Devilfish. Owing to my Warlord's trait, the flying squadron of 2 Vendettas arrived on the last game turn, shooting once, doing nothing (disruption pods again! ). It was an easy win, nearly 10-1..

Mid-game..

And the final results: 7th out of 32, with 7 points and 5384 game points out of the possible 7000 pts max. That means that only ~1600 enemy pts have escaped the Tau menace (the best player got 6215 pts, genocide!! )
Mission successful.
Afterthoughts. I had a really nice time, my enemies being sportmanslike and fair.Looking forward to attending the next one, in Feb-March.
Tau are nice and strong, they just need some more variety in their choices, plus some more durable troops. It is a headache to grab and hold relics or objectives, but they pack a real punch against most other forces.