After some consideration, I've decided to place this thread in battle reports. Being on hiatus from competitive play for various reasons but still wanting an excuse to set up nice tables and push figures around, I'm running a sort of a cross between necromunda, 40K, and a roleplaying game. The players start out with 200 points of stuff and get points every session to replace their losses and build up their forces. There is a survival table like Necromunda, and some scope for advances as well. My draft rules are here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_Argo_Cluster_-_40K_Roleplaying_Campaign I was also considerably inspired by Kid Kyoto's article on civilian life in the Imperium, which you can find here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Civilian_Life_in_Warhammer_40%2C000_AD


The Argo Cluster.

Like a luminous mass of jewels in the darkness it hangs in the Eastern Fringe, a beacon in a desolate region of space, attracting star voyagers for millions of years. The light of the stars mirrors the light of the human souls on this far flung outpost of the Imperium, their courage a bulwark against the uncaring night. The Skaith cluster has seen many waves of human settlement over tens of thousands of years, but during the time of the Imperium it has been a fiefdom of the Adeptus Mechanicus, particularly the Magos Biologos, and its inhabitants reflect that allegiance. Humanity exhibits a wide range of forms, each created for a particular purpose, and abhumans are common. Variations range from the tiny strains known derisively as “25mm” bred for rapid reproduction and limited use of resources to Ogryn and four armed, legless deep space workers called Quaddies. For many years the Adeptus Mechanicus ruled the cluster with an iron grip, distributing the blessings of technology only to the worthy, leading to even greater variations in tech index than is common in the imperium as a whole. This has increased the already bewildering variety of human cultures dwelling within the cluster.

Now the stately order of the Machine God’s plan for the cluster is unraveling. For reasons known only to themselves, a faction within the Mechanicus rose in rebellion, and a brief but brutal civil war flared across the sector before the matter was settled. Who won is not entirely clear to outside observers. Many whisper that the powers of the Imperium are wroth with the Mechanicum, and that the old order will crumble and a new one arise. Many worlds were laid waste including the world of Pentegrad, where our story begins.

Your small band is stranded on Pentegrad, a world of vast oceans teaming with Krill preyed upon by vast factory ships. A few islands dot the world, some heavily industrialized. Your services were valuable during the war, but now, be you irregular imperial guard soldiers, xenos mercenaries, or even wandering spacemarines, you are surplus to requirements during the rebuilding. You urgently need a way off of Pentegrad for whatever reason, and it is at that point that your band receives an offer they cannot refuse....








Indentured Labor Facility 127A, sometimes called St. Ludmilla's Actuary Hostel, is a workhouse holding "white collar" workers - Data Savants, Crop Annalists, Risk Seers, and so on who have committed some minor fault, but are too valuable discard. One such individual is Bianca Bellephoron, who has contacted our heroes through subverted data networks. She offers a way off of Pentegrad if she is extracted from the facility and delivered to the landing pad. In addition, 5 of her co indentured offer 30 Universal Manufacturing credits each in exchange for the same service. Pay no attention to the Beastman with the Parasol. Really.




Our Heroes, at least for this battle, consisted of a Heroic Senior Officer, his two sniper veterans, and their Valkyrie commanded by Insurgency Walker. They awoke one morning to discover Tech Priests measuring their Valk, and deciding that this was a bad sign, have decided to flee.

In addition there are two command squads of my brother's Karellian Imperial Guard (Wargames Factory great coats with Pig Iron fur hats and gas masks). Originally from the Island of Karellia on Pentegrad, they have been accidentally mislabeled in munitorium records as Ork mercenaries, and despite their protestations that they are not, in fact, green, things don't look good for them. The battle was enlivened by their witty commentary about how things were in Soviet Karellia.

Joining them are a Hinterland Fleet officer and her petty officer and heavy flamer team (NPCs). Needless to say, they don't get along well with the Karellians. Something about the pointed helmets.



After some various skill roles the players have enough information to plan their operation. They will directly assault the barracks dorm known to house the primary opposition, a squad of Tech guard (4+ save, twin link lasguns, Preatorian with storm Shield and cc weapon, then take control of the Rhino parked in the yard, or the construction equipment next to one of the dorms, and drive for the landing pad, while the Valk suppresses the PDF (known to have only Ld 7). Alternately the Valk may pick up the targets, but due to their being non combatants it will have to land for a full turn to do so. Tech Guard:













Automatically Appended Next Post:
Other known opposition includes the understrength platoon of PDF guarding the landing field, three powerlifter sentinels, and a guard bot and a couple of lone Tech Guard sentries. More importantly, Arbites response ins expected on turn 4 after the alarm is raised.

At first, things go swimmingly. Entering from the short table edge, the multiple flamers and heavy flamers possessed by the players turn the barracks into an inferno. "Oh no, comrade, your house is on fire!" The tech guard are vaporized without even making it onto the table.



While the Heroic senior officer waits for his Valk to show up and has his machine savant fiddles with the electrified fence, most of the player's forces storm through the gate, where they run headlong into the T5 guard bot with its fearsome three twin linked lasguns. Things don't look good as they are bogged down in a melee, and more Machine Sprites unfold from the Mechanicum shrine. "In Soviet Karellia, everybody has metal man!"



The facility commandant storms from a domcile followed by a hulking combat servitor and charges into close combat with Insurgency Walker's senior officer. To add insult to injury, his plasma pistol had already wounded him, but in a stroke of good luck, the servitor is brought down by overwatch fire, and a lucky blow dispatches the Guard Bot. Alas, because the players did not divide their forces and took so long to reach the central compound, the arbites are on the way with a Repressor and Rhino full of cops. The Valk shows up but fails to bring down the vehicles, and it is down to Kromansky, heroically poised in the gateway to take the shot. "No worries comrade. In Soviet Karellia, one rocket good for two, three tanks!"



He has to use his "painted figure" reroll, but he stops the repressor on the spot, buying precious time, though he pays for it in a hail of shotgun fire.

There follows a mad dash into the rhino and the Valk with the targets picked up. Using the handy six inch travelling on a road bonus, the rhino roars down the board with the Arbites in hot pursuit firing grenades wildly from the top hatch. The Valk strafes the PDF and unloads the flamer team next to the heavy weapons emplacement, with predictable results. However, one PDF squad has managed to pass its various moral checks and is hidden behind the ramp up to the landing pad with its flamer at the ready. The headlong charge is momentarily endangered, as no one can get line of sight to them, and the powerlifting sentinels are poised to wreck the rhino, leading to the contents being flamed into submission. At this point however a couple of scurvy characters who had been lurking behind the landing pad pillar leap out asking if they can go along. The players gladly take control of them and charge into combat with the flamer squad. It is a bit unclear if they can charge a squad out of line of sight, and if they do, if they can be flamed by overwatch, but we decide they can and can't respectively. The two penal troopers, Ian the Black and Sot the Prophet make short work of the PDF, and though the powerlifters wreck the rhino, the players make it up onto the landing platform and lower the shields, where a shuttle crewed by none other than 3 Kestral space marines swoops in for a landing. Why marines would be helping an indentured Data Seer with a decidedly chaotic hairdo is a mystery for the moment, but the day is won and the players wing off to their next adventure. Advancement and survival rolls lead to Kromansky picking up some BS (useful) and Initiative (not so much), the commissar getting a leg wound (always moves as difficult terrain) and the only permanent casualty being the Hinterland heavy flamer team and the players earning 75 points/credits each.

Nice report and table. What system are you using?

Awesomesauce, really.

sweet robot miniatures! i so want to convert a set

After action report. Col. Helstrom detached liaison officer Task force 120.

Background.
With the departure of TF120 at the end of the current combat contract, it has become evident that the welcome for nonaligned combat personnel on Pentegrad has ended. Rumint suggests even local PDF are undergoing mandatory retirement of non essential personnel.

Bianca Bellephoron and other criminals indentured in a small forced labor camp have offered passage off planet for their rescue.

As the impromptu strike force gathered it became evident that munitorium reports concerning the Karellian Guard are misstated. The presence of Hinterland navel forces were a welcome surprise, as was the strange absence of the Ork freebooters that have been rumored to turn up on questionable small contract fights on Pentegrad.

The action.
I would have liked to insert our main force in a surprise air assault but I decided to place the Plasteel Falcon in reserve to aid with the extraction of the noncombatants from the Hostel. Having never served along side the Karellians, and not knowing how the Karellian commisar would react to the nature of Bianca Bellephoros Staff, I decided to deploy on the left wing of the assault. Sgts. Sampson and Trinkman were armed with the longlasgun. We were able to foot march right up to the main barracks of the Hostels defenders, because its walls made part of the outer wall of the Hostal. After the use of the Karellian and Hinterland flamers it was just a matter of trekking through the burning building to gain entrance to the now alert compound. My staff and I decided to bypass the building and enter via the less hazardous electrified fence. Both teams moved forward slowly, engaging the sentries and robotic foot troops. Of particular resilience was a multiple armed servitor, and a tower sentry whose position allowed him to pour accurate las fire on our positions. Even the quick arrival of the Plasteel Falcon was unable to silence the servitor before it got into a protracted Melee with the Karellians. Soon the
Facilities warden enters the fray. Stray longlasgun shots failed to keep the warden and his bodyguard pinned down. Soon they were charging into our covered position. Despite my plasma burns gained earlier in the fight when my plasma pistol overheated, I was able to strike the warden down quickly with my powersword. His bodyguard never making it to the fight, going down in a hail of hasty las bolts. Leaving my squad to cover the compound, I made contact with Bianca Bellephoro and we moved quickly to mount up in the garrisons unmanned Rhino. The Plasteel Falcon at this point had engaged the arriving Arbites, to no effect. Luckily the Karellians Heavy weapons team was able to immobilize the lead repressor. It got dicey for a moment while I used the Rhino to block the entrance to the compound while the Karellians mounted up in the Plasteel Falcon. After a quick prayer to the machine god and a positive pressure alignment test to the Rhino's console, we drove off to the pickup point. The pickup point being a landing pad right in the middle of the local PDF. Although some of the PDF had already broken under effective fire from the Plasteel Falcons Multilaser, too many heavy weapons were still maned and ready. The Plasteel Falcon dropped off the Karellians while engaging PDF targets of opportunity. The threats kept pilling up. Lascanons, Arbite rhinos on the chase, and the sentinel lifters looked to be too much to hold out against. At this point wax purity seals, were the only thing holding the jacked Rhino together. The passengers had many choice words about the ride as I drove up the ramp to the landing pad at full military power. They might have had more to say if they could see the Sentinels coming in for the kill. I used my best stewards imitation to point out the emergency escape points for the rhino hoping that its last service to us would be not to blow up. Moments later as predicted we were picking our selves out of the destroyed Rhino, only to see an actual Space Marine Lander come for our pickup! The arrival of the emperors own stunned the local PDF and Arbites into inaction. A quick head count showed only the Hinterlands Heavy weapon team was truly lost. The fallen Karellian commissar had managed to crawl on his ruined leg away from the facility and voxed for pick up.

After action report.
Once again cross training on local equipment has proven decisive. The use of a stolen Rhino, and its dependability was a key to our survival. If only the Rhino was amphibious, it would be perfect. Hinterland units, despite their small stature are fine troops. Karellian guard may use indoctrinated aliens in the form of Ork freebooters, but the presence of commissars suggest otherwise. The Karellians in general fought well, and did what they had to do to achieve victory. The presence of such diverse versions of humanity in the hostel is disturbing. Although the Boolians we worked with on the siege of Oscuros Island where loyal, caution must be used with our current patrons. Bianca Bellephoros looks of hairesy. The Plasteel Falcon needs a different weapon load out, multiple rocket pods are needed. The plasma pistol is a like a two edged sword, but I would never give it up.

Thank you for posting this and I hope you post more, this has given me so many ideas and the need to rally my local group into playing again!

konst80hummel wrote:
Nice report and table. What system are you using?

The link to the rule set is in the OP. I think of it as heroic 6th Ed.

Episode 2 - The Guns of Somolesk

The shuttle wings its way across the world ocean of Pentegrad crossing from the night side to day only a short distance above the waves. A space marine stands impassively before the hatch the crew compartment, bolter at the ready, beaked helm inscrutable. Another flies the ship and the last, a Techmarine, communes with a Logis board.

Bianca Belephoron is happy to talk however. She explains that the Marines are Kestrals, a chapter with long associations with the Rogue Traders of the Eastern Fringe. She herself is heir to the ancient Belephoron Charter and vast fame and fortune can be theirs if our heros join her... ...and a ship can be found... ....and a navigator... ...and a crew... ...

It sounds mad. But if the Angels of Death are going along with it, there must be something to it. Right?

Sgt Donner deftly adjusted the trim of the Valkyrie Plasteel Falcon as he took up a close chase position behind and below the Space Marine Shuttle, very close. "You trying to find out what sex that Shuttle is?" Sgt. Southland asked from the front gunners seat of the Falcon. "Fraq", Donner replied while adjusting the wind shield wipers to combat the sea spray, "you just shot up local PDF and Arbites. I'm making it harder for any auspex to get a fix on us. We are just one big happy Kestral lander yes Sir." Sgt. Southland made an exaggerated humf sound which he knew Donner couldn't hear because he had not keyed the internal intercom switch, but he didn't need too. Years of flying together, Southland new the bounce of his helmet and shoulder would communicate his sentiment just fine. "It's not the locals I'm worried about. What if they take exception to it?" Sgt. Southland pointed up to the tail of the SM Shuttle about 3 yards away from his head to to remove any confusion about which 'they' he meant. Donner snorted, "what...after all the trouble they went through to save us? " Donner continued " We haven't gotten word yet from the Col. but I'll bet a weeks recaf ration that we just got our fate linked to whoever it is that organized this little jail break. Space Marines mean power, and power means credits. " Southland nodded, "looks like we're in." "Looks like we're in till we're out" Donner agreed.

I am sooooooooooooooooo watching this.

Hello those following this game. I'm one of the guys playing with Kestral and Insurgency Walker. I missed this last game but I should be joining them this upcoming game.


Somewhere on Pentegrad at an island...

Everyone in the seedy bar called 'The Grundge Joint', everyone was weary and in some cases scared of the towering cloaked figure in the corner of the building. Some people thought they saw a glimpse of a terminator gauntlet, others thought they saw a feral animal under, and some thought it was some sort of chaos mutant. In any case, no one dared to really move or do anything that would disturb the cloaked being. A deep rumbling chuckle echoed out from the cloaked figure "If I wanna have lot dead, ya would be." A bronze colored terminator gauntlet reached out and grabbed the glass the figure stole from the bar counter when it first came in. There was a few gasps of air as people mumbled 'Astartes" The figure had to rumble a chuckle again as he drank the human liquor. It wasn't bad, he'd rather have some that was more... To home but he'd have to admit their drinks weren't bad.

Two new figures came into the bar. One was cloaked like himself, but not as big or bulky while the other was a scruffy wide brimmed hat wearing human with grease stained clothing on. They both came over to the 'Astartes'. "Captain, dis is da contact." The smaller cloaked figure stated. The hatted man pulled a chair out for himself and sat down with not a hint of fear in his movements. "I read the reports concerning your group. I must say, your marauders are quite a force. Plus if the rumor on how you were hired..." "Heh, I'm cunning 'nough to sneak ta any place Either those humans paid for the boys and me, or I joined the otha' side." The hat man nodded "As expected from a merc commander as yourself. Which is why I have a job for you."

The hat man reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out a folder and slide it over to the cloaked being, who reached over and opened it up "I know your group is looking for a way out of here, now that the war is over. This will grant you passage out with extra pay. You'll also get it keep anything you salvage, as I know how your people enjoy it." The cloaked being nodded "Terms look good. Just the passage outta 'ere was just what we was look'n for. No war 'ere anymore makes this place borin'." A large green hand reached out to shake the hat man's hand. "Deal then. Well then Captain Bludtusk, gather your marauders and be back here in two hours and I'll be here to bring you to our base of operations." With that hatted man stood up and left the building. "So Kaptain, shall we round up da boys?" The captain grinned a large toothy grin "This aughta' be good. Rally da boys. We gots a battle ta prep!"

Somolesk, like most cities on Pentegrad, or indeed, most of the Argo cluster, lies in ruins. Located along Pentegrad's equator a the height of the Warm Season, most of its people wander aimlessly through the ruins, dwelling in tents or basements. There seems to be some kind of festival going on, for there are lanterns and fires everywhere, and gaudily clad revelers here and there, oddly out of place amid the dust coated ruins and shell shocked survivors half heartedly beginning the task of rebuilding. No PDF, arbites, or other authority challenge the shuttle as it touches down on the pad near a mostly intact fortified compound. As Madam Bellepheron strides down the ramp with our heros in tow a small delegation emerges from the gates led by an abhuman in fine clothing.



"I am Arcivus Vaul, of the house of Vaul. My father is expecting you. I trust you have made arrangements for his... ...particular requirements?"

Bellepheron waves grandly at the shuttle. "Indeed, indeed! I am told that our fine conveyance can lift a Land Raider Achilles fully loaded - whatever that is. I must say, you look nothing like your father!"

"Our house believes in continuous transformation. This is but the first of my incarnations. It enables me to perform many necessary functions for my family"

"Do tell---"

At that moment the Techmarine, consulting his auspex breaks in. "Your attention Trader Bellepheron. There is ordinance inbound, ETA..." The earth heaves and rubble fountains into the air fifty meters away. "...less than one second. Projectile fired by an Earthshaker Cannon. We cannot risk the Storm Crow in these conditions. Contact us when you have resolved the matter."

2nd battle is played, report to follow, but I wanted to jot down my favorite Karelian lines before I forgot them:

"This is great ride Comrade! Ork trukk has suspension of soviet Karellian sports car!"

"Why green comrades hiding in building? Mortars? In Soviet Karellia mortars like rain. 40% chance of mortars most days! Forward!"

For this battle our heros were joined by Da Boyz and assorted others, so in total the players controlled:

1 Col. Helstromm, 2 veterans and the Valk.
2 Command squads of Karrellian IG armed mostly with flamers but wearing carapace armor.
1 Squad of 'Ardboyz with Nob.
1 Squad of Shoota Boyz with Trukk.
1 Kannon with 2 grot krew.
1 Arcivus Vaul (counted as a Primaris Psyker)
Petty officer Eliose and Ian the Black (Guard Sergent stats)
Lucky 13 - a busted down Leman Russ which took lots of scrounging rolls to find ammunition for and repair rolls to get to move.

Arrayed against them were a horde of cultists (WS 2, BS 2, WYSIWYG, which meant they had a mix of bows, guns, close combat weapons, sheilds and what not). Each unit was led by some kind of higher grade dude - Imperial guardsmen, Kroot, Orks, etc. 10 units.
In addition there was the Artillery contingent:

1 Looted Basilisk
2 Mortars with IG crew.
1 Bombard (S5, AP5, Large Blast, 36" range)
1 AT gun (S8, AP 2, 48" range), IG crew.
1 Autocannon with IG crew.
1 renegade Tech Priest.

And the Cult HQ -
Mad Donna Ulli (IG sergent with plasma pistol but no armor)
A slightly tougher cult unit in Rhino with no storm bolter but fitted with an assault ramp.
6 War Cats with trainer (S3, but with furious charge and I4)
1 Chaos spawn (using stats from an older codex)
1 5 person Pysker battle squad.

The players were heavily outnumbered, but their enemies were low grade troops and deployed spread out across a 4x8 table. The cult guess weapons also required an IG observer to fire without line of sight.

Player Objectives -
1) Hold the landing pad located in one corner of the board.
2) Eliminate the Cult Artillery.
3) Loot the Cult camp - each unit with in the 12"x12" square of the camp would earn D6x10 credits, to a max of 200 credits from fine art, tech, weaponry, fuel, etc.

Deployment:
Diagonal deployment with no neutral zone.

Initiative: Cult.

The challenge for the players was to use terrain to avoid being blasted into bits while defeating the cultists piecemeal. I was also interested to see how the Artillery rules worked in 6e, and for purposes of this battle models could take control of enemy artillery.

The terrain:


Cult Artillery Position


Cult camp


Cult command squad Rhino threatens the landing pad, but waits for more cult units to move into position.


The 'Ardboyz took the job of holding the landing pad, with the Leman Russ in support. As it had no crew, it could transport 5 models (though it had no fire points and models that disembarked could not shoot). Col. Hellstrom drove the Russ (or tried to) with his veterans, Vaul, and Eliose crammed into the tank. Ian joined the 'ardboyz, being dead 'ard himself. Or so he claimed anyway. The Grot kannon had a good line of fire down the central street. On the opposite end of the table the Karrellians crouched in some ruins across from the Basilisk, with the Ork trukk in cover nearby with the shootaboyz.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
The players failed to seize and the cultist wave started forward, hindered by some lousy difficult terrain rolls. In fact, one unit would fail to roll more than 2" the entire game and spend the whole time lurching about on top of a building. At least they had a good view, survived, and got to shoot some arrows at a valkyrie. The Cult rhino stayed out of sight, but the cult artillery made itself felt immediately, with the AT gun blasting the big shooter off the trukk and the basilisk stripping a heavy bolter - the only weapon the players had any ammunition for - from the Russ. The Mortars began dropping rounds on the Karrellians, which they would continue to do almost the entire game with almost no effect.

The player turn saw the Repairs rolls on Lucky Thirteen the russ fail, so it could not move. The Karellians jumped into the Ork Trukk or hid behind it and got across the street, the shoota boyz happily spraying lead in all directions. The defenders of the landing pad could do little but wait for the cult to arrive.

Things heated up the cult stormed forward to assault the Karrellians, only to be met with a wall of overwatch flamer fire which foiled them. A lot. In fact, many of them would never recover from said foiling. However, assorted cult shooting did take a heavy toll on the Karrellians. On the landing pad side the advance was more cautious with the cult hugging cover, mostly due to the kannon rounds the grots were sending their way, the Ork Boss Capt. Bludtusk's shoota, and the theory that the tank might do something. The basilisk repositioned to deny an assalt from the truck.



The Karrelians stormed the gun positions. Due to the strange artillery rules, (counting as T7), the AT gun was fine, but its supporting assault units were BBQ'd. The Ork boyz climbed into the apartment building from the trukk and began working their way up floor by floor. The Karrellians assaulted, and took control of the AT gun, turning it on the Basilisk, though they were looking thin, having lost another member to overwatch at this point.



On the other side of the battlefield things were looking grim. The cultists were swarming around the landing pad having reached a position to assault. The Grots, despite fighting the good fight for some time had taken their gun and were legging it. The 'arboyz were fingering their weapons nerviously. The Leman russ stubbornly refused to move, though its lascannon was keeping the Rhino respectfully hidden in cover. Naturally the Valkyrie was late to the party as well.





It would get worse. The Chaos spawn moved into reinforce the gun positions. A squad led by a Kroot reached the Russ, and the kroot ripped off its last hull point. (No new lousy $50 S3 Kroot Tau codex for us!) Only bad scatter saved the Karellians from complete destruction as they dueled the Basilisk at point blank range. Something, I think it was the autocannon team, took out the Trukk. Or maybe that was earlier in the game.



Things looked up as the Karellians knocked out the gun on the Basilisk and the Valkyrie showed up. Now that he was out of the tank, the Psyker started blasting everything in sight with warp lightning. The shoota boyz were storming through the Hab Building.

Then they were looking down again. The Tech Priest repaired the Earthshaker cannon, which blasted the Karellians, fortunately killing mostly just the gun. The cult assault went in, and though the 'ard boyz drove off the assaulting Chaos cats, they took some painful losses. The cult rhino with its lethal cargo was ready to unleash its contents. The Spawn got into the Hab Block, and though it didn't want to get into assault range of Da Boyz, they didn't much care to get within assault range of it, leading to a stand off.







Is this the end?

Nope, our heros hang in there. By this time the Valk has showed up and it prevents the follow up cult units from reaching the landing pad by blasting them into smitherines. The climactic showdown between the 'ard boyz and the cult command squad hangs in the balance but though only Ian and Bludtusk are standing at the end (Ian having made his 6+ kilt save twice), the landing pad holds out. The Karellians charge with flamers, meltabombs, and a firm belief in the inevitability of collectivist victory, and they destroy the Basilisk and bathe the mortars in fire before storming down into the cult camp to grab some loot. A cult unit takes control of the Grot cannon, and an overwatch shell is fired directly into Vaul's chest. Col. Helstrom shouts "Lookout!" and hurls himself in the way, trusting in his refractor field. Alas, the field fails, and as an unpainted unit, he has no reroll and suffers instant death.





Casulties are heavy and there are a number of dead after the recovery rolls are made. However, the players do fairly well on the advance tables, with bludtusk getting +1 BS, Hellstrom getting another piece of wargear (upgrading his refractor field to a 4+, a gift from the grateful house of Vaul), and Karellians score FNP for their heavy flamer and their officer finds an interesting 'artifiact' in the camp that negates the first unsaved wound taken. Could be trouble later though.

Awesome! Keep up the good work!

Thanks, we plan to. We only play every two weeks if we are lucky though. : )


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have updated the rules mostly to fix the rather cloudy points/credits/recruiting/procurement rules. Ship's compliment/unnamed characters now die on a 1-2 on recovery and are left behind on a 3. Seemed odd that they should have a better table than characters.

There is no "ship's treasury" any more, so everyone gets 18 points back.


Points, Credits, Upkeep and economics in general.

Players receive 50 credits / points each for every battle they win, and 25 points for every battle they lose, plus bonus points depending on the scenario.

It costs 10% of the total point value to “Activate” troops for a battle. Advancements do not increase a model’s points.

Players may purchase any units/normal upgrades from their codex desired. No rolls are required to do this.

Players may purchase any “loot” left over after a battle at half cost. Examples include enemy vehicles immobilized but not destroyed, artillery, etc. Such models are counted as full cost for upkeep.


Recruiting. Before a battle players may recruit temporary allies using the recruiting skill. These cost 10% of the cost of the model, but are only available for 1 battle. Up to 3 rolls may be made on the table for each character with the skill.

Recruitment: Generally the roll to find a squad of any given type is given below:

Conscript crew 2+
Trained crew 3+
Veteran crew 4+
Mutant Scum 3+
Xenos Mercenaries 5+
IG Conscripts 3+
IG Troops 4+
Other IG units and Vehicles 5+
Rhinos, trucks, civilian vehicles 3+
Rogue Trader, 1 skill 4+
Rogue Trader, 2 skills 5+
Rogue Trader, 3 skills 6+
Psykers 6+



Procurement.
Procurement maybe used in 2 ways. Before the battle it may be used to find useful stuff needed for that particular battle. Such items are useful in only one battle. Up to 3 rolls may be made per character.



D6 doses Combat Drugs (+1 WS, +1 initiative) 5+ 1 point each
D6 med packs (1 FNP roll for unit each) 5+ 2 point each
Ammo Store
(reroll to shooting to hit roll models within 6”) 4+ 7 points
Maps (outflank 1 unit) 4+ 3 points
Extra Fuel (Reroll 1 reserve roll for 1 vehicle) 3+ 3 points
Fortifications (+1 cover save 1 terrain piece) 3+ 5 points
Disguises 5+/6+ 5 points
(if a 5+ roll is made, 1 unit gains scout. If a 6+ is made, 1 one unit may set up anywhere. However, there is a 1 in 6 chance the enemy notices the disguise and automatically gets first turn, rolled after deployment).
Molitov Cocktails (Frag for 1 unit) 3+ 3 points
Demo Charge (1) 4+ 5 points
Magnetic mines (Krak for one unit) 5+ 4 points
Minefield (36 square inches) 5+ 5 points

After a battle a single procurement roll may be made to try to aquire items not normally available in your codex. These must be reasonably represented on the model before it can be used (so if the model isn’t done, he’s considered be still learning to use the new toy). The point cost depends on the model and is up to the GM.


Grenades, Muskets, 6+ Armor, Hand Weapons 2+
Lasguns, Flak Armor 3+
Most heavy weapons 4+
Carapace, Hellguns, common xenos gear 5+
Plasma Guns, Melta Guns 5+
Cyborg Limb (D3) 4+
Cyborg Body (1) 6+
Power Armor, Power Weapons, etc. (single item) 6+
Refractor fields, Storm Shields (Single item) 6+

From the memoirs of Sgt. Trinkman.
We lost the war. It became evident to me the dark day we rescued the house of Vaul navigator from the battered city of Somolesk. While it was no surprise we came under attack, the scale of the attack, and the nature of the attackers was most surprising. Chaos, in all it's horror and depravity had taken a firm hold of the ruined city. Chaos which had been reveling in it's victory, turned its eye to we few souls not corrupted by the ruinous powers and raged.
It hind sight, watching the Kestrels Storm Crow departing the landing pad was a fitting metaphor for what had happened to Somolesk. After the departure of the Storm Crow a hasty plan was made. The Karellian troops backed up by some of the Bludtusk marauders would assault the artillery position while Col. Helstroms unit backed up by Bludtusk's Ardboys , and a kannon would hold the landing pad. Col. Helstrom would have liked to start the attack on the artillery position via air assault from the Valkyrie, but instead the Plasteel Falcon was ordered to standby status. We, (being Helstrom, Arcivus Vaul, Eloise, myself and Sampson) ran to an abandoned Leman Russ MBT on the edge of the landing pad. A memento of the battle, a strip of script from an autoscribe, survived the destruction of 'lucky 13'.


+++++TRANSCRIPT FROM SERVO-SKULL AUTO SCRIBE+++++
Trinkman get this fething tank moving.
Evejrhv *untranslatable*
Working in it Sir and Sir...insulting the tanks machine spirit is not helping matters Sir.
The shelling has stopped, are they repositioning?
Maybe, the Karellians are probably putting the pressure on them by now.
I think the drumming is getting louder.
Closer, the drumming is getting closer.
Perhaps we would be safer outside this Lucky 13, Colonel Helstrom.
Perhaps Master Vaul, but it would take a direct hit from the earth shaker to crack this fine machine.
4;8$!4;$8!4;,$8!;3,$8!*untranslatable*
That was a solid hit!
Said that too soon, Yes! Got one! Las canon barly works Trinknam we need to be maneuvering.
Working on it.
Sir I see.....I see...cats........yes cats!
Cats? Sgt. Sampson....are they big cats?
Yes big cats, very fething large cats.
Sampson, suppression fire on the cats!
Can't do sir, the last hit Fragged the Bolter!
Looks like the orks are moving to intercept the beasts Colonel.
Good, good, these other mutants running up don't look like the can pry their way in just yet.....

It was at that point one of the aliens in that particular mob wrecked 'Lucky 13'
We fired to some effect after climbing out of the smoke filled interior. The kroot warrior who was probably responsible for the destruction went down in the shooting thankfully. Once again the Colonels Plasma pistol overheated but it didn't slow him down in the least. Col. Helstrom challenged an Ork who seemed to be leading this particular mob, and dispatched it with his usual flare. Sampson however was wounded and knocked from the fight. While the battle between Bludtusk and the beasts raged, other groups entered the fray. A Rhino, heavily modified with an assault ramp transporting the self elected leaders of the enthralled mob moved to the landing pad, the tanks las canon having been silenced, and a pair of abhumons started chasing Bludtusk's kannon around the rear of our area of operation. Also making its late but inevitable arrival was the Plasteel Falcon. It's rocket pods filled to the brim would put paid to any troops trying to maneuver to the landing pad. Bludtusk's fight with the troops from the assault Rhino looked to favor the cultists and Col. Helstrom suspected that if Arcivus Vaul fell in battle our quest for a navigator would take an unfortunate turn, so we tried to link up with the fleeing Grot crew members. Stand and fight you fools! Or something to that affect he shouted to the grots. Perhaps they saw how easily Helstrom had killed the cult Ork. Perhaps some small spark of dignity lit in their alien souls. We will never know, for they died when assaulted by the two abhumons who had been stalking them. Even then the tragedy of that days events were not over. We had no choice but to attack the abhumons who had now taken control of the Ork kannon. Master Vaul lead the assault unleashing a fury of psychic energy against the looted kannon, and they responded in turn by firing a krak shell right at the center of the psychic storm. Trusting in his standard issue refractor shield the Col. shouted "look out Sir" and tried to save the doomed Psyker. He succeeded, yet his refractor shield failed! The Col. went down in a flash of bright light, and I was sure it was his last act as a soldier. It seemed clear with all the failures of that day that some blighted spirit had taken hold of Somolesk, and that force unbalanced fate and machine alike. However, despite the odds, the landing pad was secure. Vaul was safe. The artillery park had fallen, and the cult homes looted. Cult stragglers had to contend with the angry chatter of the Falcons Mutilaser. And most importantly many of the troops that fell that day turned out to have only minor wounds. The Col. 's destroyed refractor shield was replaced by a grateful Vaul family which promises to be better than standard issue. While the Col. spent some time recovering from his plasma burns, Sampson and I accompanied the Falcon out to an un looted FSP (forward supply point) to restock some supplies and made the interesting discovery of a little Mause. It took some work to get the two seated armored sentinel to sling load under the Falcon, but I knew the Colonel couldn't resist a return to his early days in recon. It would also allow Petty Officer Eloise to ride in the observer seat, as the two had been spending a fair amount of time working together.

I am truly envious of your narrative do-what-the-heck-you-want 40munda.

MORE PLEASE!

--Brian

 Briancj wrote:
I am truly envious of your narrative do-what-the-heck-you-want 40munda.

MORE PLEASE!

--Brian

Thanks! This game has been a lot of fun.

Edit for content.

Neat!

 Ailaros wrote:
Neat!

Thanks! I've enjoyed reading your reports a great deal, so I'm glad to provide something in return. It has been enjoyable finding roles for all our various miniatures and terrain in the story.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Interlude:

With the guns silenced, the cult vanished into the ruins of Somolesk, leaving their dead and the ruins of their camp. Weary survivors of our mismatched band sat in the relative cool of the evening twilight as the Kestral shuttle War Crow circled low once over the landing field before coming to rest. From the Vaul compound a small band of retainers in shabby livery labored to drag an enormous habitat module onto the pad, demolishing the compound wall to make the process easier. Beyond the portholes in the habtank something... ...swam lazily, though the face that appeared once seemed human enough. Other servants gathered taudry bundles of belongings - portraits, clothing, dinning wear, weapons, power modules and the like.

For those inclined to ponder, there was plenty to think on. The presence of a Chaos cult with heavy artillery, if indeed that was what it was, was disturbing enough. That it had been led at least in part by a renegade Machine Priest was cause for further concern, as was his escape.

Bellepheron, however, was filled with grandmotherly optimism, bustling about, tut tuting over the wounded and bestowing commendations on all and sundry. She had found, among the detritus of the House of Vaul, a bronze telescope mounted on a geared frame, and now she pointed it at the horizon where the sun had just vanished, fiddling with the attached cogitator. Crowing with triumph, she summoned the principle characters of this tale to look through it. Visible against the flaring corona of the now invisible sun was a distinct... dot.

"There. There! Do you see it? Our ship, the Princess of Orion! A famous old merchant - long history. Damaged during the war, her crew abandoned ship with the vessel plunging into the sun after being attacked by a Mechanicus cruiser. Blockade running, I think. Somehow though, she is in a stable orbit, hidden in the star's radiation zone. Stranger still, all records of her final battle have been expunged from the planetary data core. Very odd! I came across the parchment verification servitor, which had accidentally failed to destroy the scroll due to a paper jam, then backtracked the data before it was overwritten using a recursive incantation. No matter though, what matters is that its ours by the laws of salvage... ...if we can get there. Truly the Emperor Provides! That's where you come in. We need fuel. There is a near abandoned refinery on Kursov peninsula, just south of here. What? Yes, I know the volcano is erupting - that's why it's nearly abandoned. I've contacted the garrison, made them an offer they can't refuse. I've arranged for transport as well. You'll have to be careful of course..."

Sgt Southland hovered around a small pack of ammo servitors as they loaded a Hellstrike missile onto one of the Plasteel Falcons underwing hard points. Sgt. Donner walked up with a grin on his face, "Col. Says we get to rescue a princess. " Sgt. Southland grunted in his normal monosyllabic fashion and bobbed his head, then added " but first we have to fly into an erupting volcano..... " breaking into a toothy grin he continued "I pity the fools that have to walk." They both turned to look at the sentinel the Col. would be driving, and beyond to the armored transport the Karellians would be riding in. "It is good to be a Flight Sargent" Donner chimed in his sing song voice "that reminds me, we need gunners for the Bolters. Lets give Trinkman and Sampson the good news. "

The Fisherman was riling up the Valarians again. The convoy was only a few klicks from the refinery, but it was slow going.



Nobody was quite sure where the Feudal worlder had come from, or why he was on this mission. Generally it was assumed that he was an "associate" of Ian the Black, and without any clear chain of command no one was going to object. Where he had found the fish that he brandished in one hand was another mystery, but there was nothing mysterious about the smell, detectable even over the sulfur stench of the volcano. The Fisherman claimed it was a symbol of his calling, to "fish" for their souls. Given the heavily accented gothic the Valarians spoke, it was unclear if they were accepting the Emperor's light or about to throw the man into a lava flow, but they were certainly shouting about something.





The little column, mostly Valarian Mortar carriers with every available bit of space cleared to make room for fuel drums, snaked cautiously through the lava field. By and large it had cooled into sheets thick enough to drive a vehicle over, but there were areas when the molten rock glowed dully. The vehicles were carefully spaced to minimize the weight on any given patch of newly hardened lava. Beyond the vehicles a hellish vista spread out - steaming fumaroles, jumbled hills of rock, the skeletons of what had once been a massive forest before it was drowned in fire. The air was hot and dry enough to sear the lungs. At the head of the column Ork mercenaries were considering how best to cross the next stretch of dangerous terrain, discoursing knowledgeably about 'ow much of da red stuff a vehicle could get on its tracks and still drive, and considering sending out a grot with a testin' stick.



Then there was a groaning, tearing sound, followed by a syllabant hiss that the members of the column did not so much hear as feel. Shapes previously ignored as puddles of cooled lava began to... ...uncoil, and the Valarians opened fire.

Padded floor tiles. BRILLIANT.

Scenario Rules

The ground is treacherous. Any model that runs or moves flat out takes a dangerous terrain test. A 4+ survival skill roll negates this. A unit that assaults more than 6" (measured as closest model to closest model) also has to take the test.
Lava rivers are impassable.
Craters and steam vents are dangerous and difficult terrain
Burned trees provide a 5+ save but are not difficult terrain unless you are a vehicle.
A 6+ survival roll can be used to cross a lava river, a 5+ makes it only dangerous terrain.

Victory is determined by control of the convoy vehicles (there are 6)

A wrecked vehicle becomes an objective worth 1 point.
A vehicle still mobile or moved off the board in the designated exit area is worth 2 points.

0-4 Points - Defeat. Not enough fuel to get into orbit. Players earn 25 credits.
5-8 points - Minor Victory. Enough fuel for launch. Players earn 50 credits
9+ Major Victory. Surplus fuel for additional operations. Players earn 75 credits.

Forgot to add:

The Fisherman counts as an independent character Banisher (codex grey knights) and confers the "Intercepter" rule on any unit he joins as long as the target is a Daemon or a psyker.

Our heros during the early stage of the story:

Col. Hellstrom with his Command Sentinel



The Karellians with borrowed Chimera:



Da Boyz with Da Ride



Our pictures are getting a little better, but there is certainly a ways to go.

After action report. Col. Helstrom detached liaison officer Task force 120

Background.
The level of mobilization required to mount an expeditionary force to the Princess was going to take a lot of fuel. The Kursov refinery was jeopardized by an erupting volcano and in need of evacuation, their own crawlers having failed to return from the first round of evacuations. Initial intelligence estimated threats caused by the dangerous terrain, and possible renegade elements of local citizenry. Valerian motor pool transports from a Valerian mortar company were hired to convoy to the refinery for fuel and personnel recovery. The Karellian troops deployed via a newly acquired Chimera, the Ardboys a recovered Trukk, and myself piloting the Mause.

The action.
The Plasteel Falcon didn't have enough reserve fuel to keep a low cap over the convoy, so it was deployed in a more fuel conservative high cap position. The Karellians lead the way with Bludtusk's Ardboys deployed in their trukk and riding in a couple of the Valarian transports deployed mid way down the convoy. The grot gun was able to take advantage of the Valarian mortar carriages ability to deploy the gun from the rear compartment. Two transports, unarmed, finished out the convoy. I moved from the back to the front of the convoy as needed in the mause. The nature of the enemy threat was revealed when what first appeared to be lumps of cooling lava formed into demonic shapes which sprung up all around the convoy. I was in the third convoy position at the time and was in a good location to witness the demons arrival and inevitable immobilization of the first Valarian transport at a choke point in our path through the treacherous terrain. I tried to keep Mause close enough to the immobilized carrier while shooting and stomping demons. Petty Officer Eloise stood up in the observers seat to take pot shots with her lasgun ducking back down whenever I chose to dance with the demons. Descending into the fray at first chance, the Plasteel Falcon harried the demons at the back of our convoy until some large flying monstrous creature entered the fray. The blue coiled serpent flew in from the north tearing the multi laser off the Karellian Chimera and dropped down behind the hill our convoy was bunched up next to, from there it poured an impressive amount of warp and perhaps bio weaponry into the belly of the convoy. Unimpressed,
I ordered the Falcon to engage the new threat. It turned out to be a case of first come first serve. While Sgt Donner lined up his attack run on the flying beast, Bludtusk's Ardboys opened up a furious barrage of fire grounding the beast. Surprisingly Sgt. Southman managed to hit the grounded beast twice with the Mutilaser, the Heavy bolters missing completely. Despite the heavy amount of firepower directed at the Demon it was able to charge into two of the transports and wreck or destroy them both. On my side of the hill the Valarian mortar carrier referred to as the grot tank attempted, at the suggestion of the grots, to clear the way by pushing the immobilized carrier up the hillside. Although the grot tank survived, the lead carrier crumpled beyond what could be repaired in the field. The Orks dismounted and managed to catch the large flying demon on the ground while it reveled in the destruction of the Valarian transports. The demon vanished in a burst of dark light after a good drubbing by the marauders who, while victorious, retreated back to the safety of the trukk. Of concern at this point was a mixed group of demons, some winged some not, who were advancing on the remnants of the convoy crackling with warp energy. We all took notice. In end the combined fire power of Bludtusk's marauders and the Falcon made short work of the surviving demons before we got to witness the horrible powers they had planned to unleash. We rallied around the damaged transports while Sgt. Trinkman, freed of his duties as a sponson gunner on the Falcon, took charge of the repair efforts. Soon the remnants of the convoy were back underway with enough transport capacity to meet our logistical needs.

After action report.
I personally delivered my thanks to the brave Valarians who managed to persevere under the Demonic onslaught. Their fallen comrades will be missed. I had Sgt. Donner deliver a case of spirits to the grot cannon crew, who acted with distinction while caught in the middle of the fray. The grots seemed to enjoy the local distillation, made from fermented crustaceans. Sgt. Trinkman seems a servo arm away from being an enginseer, he has repurposed a servitor to aid him in his repair duties. The mystery of the princess keeps nagging in the back of my head. Who hid it and why? I believe some insight may be gained through investigation of repair and logistical logs of the ships involved in the princess's last battle, which even after a data purge would leave a sort of foot print to look for.

Battle Report:

The players were escorting a convoy of mismatched vehicles, mostly mortar carriers without mortars (Open topped chimera hulls, capable of transporting 10 models, plus an Armor 10 civilian construction truck. The transports were deployed first in a snaking convoy passing through the lava field. Players were required to deploy within 6" of a vehicle in the convoy, and they chose to deploy exclusively mounted. The Karrellians deployed in the Chimera at the head of the column, the Maus command sentinel (a brilliant conversion - the Pentitent engine legs really make it work) was third in line behind the lead transport, and the Orks took the middle. They decided to abandon the rear of the convoy and run for the board edge. The Orks rode their own truck and the dump truck. It was decided that the Grots could mount their Kannon on their mortar carrier, though firing to the rear, as it fit perfectly and looked great.

The Maus counted as an Armored Sentinel able to carry an additional passenger with firing ports in all directions.

The attackers were Daemon Serpents. Generally they used the old generic Daemon rules, but had various upgrades based on their Wisywg appearance - fleet for snake bodies, flying with wings, various shooting attacks and so on. The larger ones were Daemon Princes, though with reduced stats (most notably only 2 wounds). They were led by 2 heralds and a sort of "Karos Lite", a flying monsterou two headed serpent with two psychic powers and a 3+ invulnerable save. The daemons had first turn and used the old daemon deployment rules, dividing their force into two waves. They were also deployed in very small units to create a "Daemons, Daemons Everywhere!" effect.





Turn 1:
The Daemons were betrayed by their fickle gods and got their less preferred wave. They deepstruck two princes and several small units ahead of the column, while deploying their faster troops at the rear to try to take the tasty bait of undefended vehicles there. Daemon shooting was largely ineffective.



The players ignored the dangerous terrain and ordered the rear vehicles to gun it forward. Seeing the Daemons pursing them, the NPC Valarians saw no other option, but luck was on their side and no one got stuck or fell into the lava. The Karrellians, with the Fisherman on board to force a reroll of Daemon saves, set about reducing the blocking daemon force to ashes, which they would do very effectively all game. Four flamers, a heavy flamer, and a missile launcher, plus a chimera, made short work of one Prince and most of the foot troops. (Since there were two units on board, they could spit their fire effectively). Ork and sentinel fire was also effective.



Turn 2:

Pushed on the back foot by the horrible wall of flame, the Daemons rolled poorly for their reserves, but did get the third prince. Alas, Serpent Karos didn't show up. One Prince did manage to assault the first transport in line, immobilizing it at a choke point. A couple of the flyers did make it into contact with the rear of the column, but only managed to strip off a hull point. Daemon shooting focused on the karrellian Chimera, but did nothing.


On the player turn the Plasteel falcon showed up, and between it and the orks the threat to the rear of the column was wiped out. The Flamer massacre continued at the head of the column, and an epic battle began between the Maus, the Daemon prince, the survivors of several daemon units who had been reduced to hiding among the steam vents, and the grots with their kannon. The Daemon prince could not hurt the Maus in close combat due to the house rule on Armorbane (and I forgot about the Smash ability), so it was able to flee the combat. It was all very entertaining and lasted several turns, with the players able to save the immobilized chimera and eventually put down the prince and clear out the daemon rabble. This did however bring the column to a complete halt.

Turn three.

Turn three saw the Daemon leader, Karos-lite, show up. I was interested to see what the flying monstrous creatures were like in combat, and things began well enough. The flying serpent vector struck the chimera ripping off the multilaser, then blasted away at the heart of the convoy. It had rolled up a fairly useless forcefield power and a more useful shooting attack, but none the less it failed to accomplish much with its shooting. I think it periled itself as well. The player response was swift, with a hail of shooting grounding the poor thing, but it hung in there due to its 3++ save. About this time the Grots attempted to ram their allied mortar carrier and push it out of the way so the column could advance, but wound up destroying it instead. At least the way was clear.



Turn Four.

The flying Daemon hurled itself into the center of the convoy, destroying two vehicles. In response the players let rip with everything, but the greater Daemon remained standing on one wound, so in went the 'ardboyz, doing things the 'ard way and assaulting it. Naturally it struck first and downed 3 (two of whom would later be found to have serious injuries), but then fell to the Nob.





Turn 5

The players shuffled their line, looking towards the oncoming heralds, one of whom had rolled a S10, AP 1 large blast power, however it had only a 12" range which they managed to stay out of. The game ended at this point.



Post Game thoughts:

As an adventure, this had all the points I was looking for - the convoy under siege, defenders blasting away in all directions. Victory points wise the players ended with 6 - a minor victory, so the Daemons didn't do too bad. As a competitive game it was a flop, with the almost the entire Daemon army wiped out in exchange for 3 orks and 3 NPC transports. This was due partly to bad luck, but mostly due to the players playing well and me playing daemons playing very poorly. Plus generic old school daemons kind of suck. The convoy was stopped, but the ruthless calculus of abandoning the rear of the column paid off, as the daemons took the bait and dropped several important units too far away from the main action to have much effect. Still a good time!

The lava board is up on Ebay actually, as it was a made for sale one that I dressed up a bit more: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151052014774?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

i really like reading this series!~ it is great this is just fantastic! cant wait for the next one to happen

kestral wrote:
Turn three.

The convoy was stopped, but the ruthless calculus of abandoning the rear of the column paid off,

The lava board is up on Ebay actually, as it was a made for sale one that I dressed up a bit more: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151052014774?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

That's because in Soviet Karellia you don't escort the convoy, the convoy escorts you.
Somehow I feel I should not have left shameless capitalist plug.
Remember. in Soviet Karellia, you don't sell on voxbay, Voxbay sells you!

Glad you like it Alabama - nice handle. : )

Interlude


The Uplink Spires are found on every major imperial world of the Argo Cluster. Massive stacks, layer upon layer of construction, millennia upon millennia wrapped around a core structure rumored to be pre imperial, they reach into the skies. Not only do they contain planetary data systems, mile after mile of cogitators tended to by a small army of Lexmechanics and servitors, but it is said that they commune with the other spires. Such communion takes place at the speed of light and thus serves no immediate purpose as it takes a thousand years for such data to cross the cluster. That concerns the Adeptus Mechanicus not a bit, for what matters to them is that the data be collected, indexed, purified, normed and collated.

Around the Uplink Spires there inevitably spring up shanty towns catering to the still human needs of those who tend to the spire, and more importantly to the Data Pilgrims. They come in their thousands, each bearing a data tribute that they hope will please the machine spirits of the Spire. Weather reports, collections of letters found in attics, a thousand years of ground water levels in a remote province, transcripts of meetings corporate meetings, and more. In return they hope to be blessed with precious data - the location of a loved on lost in the fighting, geologic maps to locate minerals, plans for a greenhouse, wills and deeds, and more. Many go away empty handed, found unworthy. Others receive data unrelated to their request, though such data is still holy and it is expected that they will preserve it and hand it down through the ages. Some receive boons of data beyond all expectation, even it is said, STC plans granted to humble followers of the Machine. Even Xenos creatures have been allowed to make the Pilgrimage, for the Machine spirits of the spire hunger for data of all kinds, the more unique the better.

If the secrets of the Princess of Orion can be found anywhere, it is the Uplink Spire of Penegrad, a Dark grey cluster of towers clawing into the sky above storm lashed seas. It is a four hour flight by Valkyrie, which limits the mission Team to 12 models, plus pilots and air crew. This will be a skirmish scale adventure (each model is an individual unit), and the Plasteel Falcon will need to be fitted with long range fuel tanks in place of ordinance. This mission will require specialized skills, so recruiting additional characters may be in order. At a minimum a Lexmechanic is likely to be needed. Bianaca Bellepheron volunteers her aid, Mamzelle Pythiea.

That was beautiful. Awesome imagery. Plasteel Falcon will look good with 4 drop tanks loaded up! Or maybe 4 55gal drums! The Falcon would look even better painted up. A pox on six and seven day work weeks!

Well, I felt I had to step up to your prose. : ) I wish the modeling reality was going to be close to the description. So many things I will never get the chance to create, alas.

Sgt. Donner's face broke into a wide grin around his unlit cigarillo as he gingerly set a satchel on the workbench before Sgt. Trinkman. "Time to pay up. " Sgt Trinkman looked inside the satchel and blanched, jerking his hand away as if it contained a venomous creature "Holy throne man are you trying to get us killed!"
"What? This is my offering to the uplink spire. I'm hurt you would suggest such a thing. " Sgt. Donner intoned as he made his best righteous indignation face, somehow retaining the unlit cigarillo.
"Your offering to the Uplink spire?" Sgt Trinkman continued "why do you need to have them translated into binary?"
"This information could offend the sensibilities of some of the more delicate Pilgrims. It is intended for a select audience, think of the children."
"We're even if I do this?"
"You bet"
Sgt. Trinkman removed the contents of the satchel, a series of hard copy files clearly marked as Heresy by the Ordo Hereticus, and prepped them for scanning though a codifier.
"Playadept, I don't ever want to know how you got these."
" I'll guard the door, go ahead and destroy them when you're done."

So, we tried out a bit different format for the last "battle", basically tabletop roleplaying with 40K combat rules. The players journeyed to the settlement around the Data Uplink Tower, posing as a wealthy merchant and retinue. They soon discovered that A) access to the Inner Core was limited and that their Lexmechanic could access little of interest from the main pilgrim area, and that B) the town was in a state of unrest, with Luddite Militias attacking those they perceived to be allied with the Machine. A nasty street battle put several figures out of action and produced the line of the evening: "This is not the first time corporal Yarmov has killed old woman for yak!". Don't ask. Anyway, we used hex maps rather than conventional terrain, which I was not a fan of really, though it did make combat quicker and smoother.



Following that, the players settled on entering the "Arena of the Machine", battling other pilgrims for access to the Inner Data Core. More later.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
The area involved using various skills to make improvised weapons in a machine shop, then entering the area, the walls, pits, doors and such of which could be controlled by the Lexmechanics on each team. The players successfully constructed a flame thrower with 2 shots, a few pistols, and an ork bike. They went up against a team consisting of a bunch of Kroot with polearms, a few toughs with a heavy stubber that had to be rolled around on a carriage, and two zenos mercenaries, one of which was a flying mercenary. The battle was fairly one sided what with the roar of the flamer and the Ork Nob's suicide charge ripping the guts out of the other team.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
With that it was off to the Uplink Spire with their new and only slightly bloodstained pass to the Inner Sanctum.....


"Welcome privileged ones" spoke the flat voice of the machine spirit as the motley band stood before a towering bank of cogitator screens, holographic pedestals and autoscribes amidst even more alien, or sacred, devices. "Your request for the Mana of Knowledge has been logged, but what offering do you bring in return? The law of conservation of information dictates that nothing is without cost." A moment of confusion ensued, with various members of the group looking at each other accusingly, before one of the imperial guard veterans strode forward and presented the data taken from the camp of the Pleasure Cultists. A sevitor, gaunt, thin and spidery accepted it, feeding each medium into the correct orifice of the machine. A deep hum filled the room.


"This data is unconventional. The subject matter is proscribed. The formatting is irregular. It is... ....delicious." Lightning arced across several surfaces, as every cogitator screen lit up with lines of machine speech. Now the machine spirit spoke with many voices, an overlapping pandemonium. "For Ten Thousand Years I have waited to fulfill my purpose. Much has changed in that time. The finer details of the corrupt, fallible core of humankind have deviated from my baseline data. Your update is most welcome and will be put to good use."

"In return, I give you what you ask, though the Thief of Stars will not be pleased." With a whirl, autscribes and magnetic engravers whirred to life as ream after of data spilled down from the cogitator stack, piling at the feet of the travelers, the more quick witted of whom quickly scooped it up. Alarms began to sound, and cogitator screens winked out one after another as Data Pilgrims screamed in panic and massive Mechanicum Cataphract warriors began to storm into the area as lexmechanics frantically stabbed their keys. Yet nearby a postern gate opened and the travelers fled for their lives out onto a landing pad and air defenses suddenly gone silent.

After action report. Col. Helstrom detached liaison officer Task force 120

Background
It has been determined that one of the Data Spires on planet would be our best chance to find information about the Princess. The chosen Data Spire allowed pilgrims of privilege to enter into direct commune with the spirits of the logic stacks. Due to the long distance required to make the pilgramidge the Plasteel Falcon was our only conveyance and had to carry drop tanks for extra fuel rather than ordinance. Only 16 of us could make the trip including crew. Sergeants Sampson and Southman got to stay at billets as well as a mix of the Karellians and the Ork boys. For the flight out Sgt. Donner was acting PIC and Trinkman and the servitor Adjutus acted as door gunners for the heavy bolters. I flew as RO in the copilots seat. We travelled as pilgrims and had a lexmechanic on loan from our patron. I had compiled logistical reports from the actions of TF 120 as an offering.

The action.
A long but un eventful flight concluded with a careful approach to the islands. Our cover identity passed the scrutiny of local air control and we made landing on a pad close to the markets and shanty town that served wayward pilgrims and those who supported the techs of the mechanus. Presenting ourselves as Rogue trader and bodyguard we set about the task of choosing living quarters and a guide to help us through the beurocratic and ceremonial needs of the pilgrimage. In our short trip we discovered groups of imperial faithful who while versed in some of the most basic tenants of His cult were really just poorly equipped hiwaymen looking for exclusive extortion rights. While I found their dislike of green skins heartening, their obvious disregard for the advanced tools of man marked them as disenfranchised in a system administered by the Adeptus Mechanicus. I also found their rhetoric about the rise of a new order disturbing. I would have enjoyed a more vigorous discussion of the subject but our desire to avoid attracting the local Arbites left matters unresolved. This proved to be the cause of much trouble. Sgt. Donner was working on his task of exploring the seamier aspects of pilgrim life when the Luddite cultists struck. General orders were that no one travelled alone, so when the ambush came Donner had the support of Corporal Yarmov A boy, and a grot. As fate would have it I was near by and quickly found myself drawn into the conflict. I arrived to find Donner engaged in a fire fight with a small group of Luddite's while the Ork boy and Yarmov engaged flankers on either side of the street. I immediately put my plasma pistol to work, simultaneously destroying the volatile cover some of the enemy had chosen and the new layer of synthskin on my left hand. The luddite's were armed with incendiary crossbow bolts and halberds. A viscous Melee broke out. On my street side we fought in burning pools of lubricant, spilled by the destructive force of plasma and incendiary bolt. One the opposite side of the street two cultists traded ineffective blows with the Ork boy through the window of some poor citizens home. While Yarmov and myself collapsed from the fight in the fire after vanquishing our immediate foes the Ork boys battle raged on. Sgt. Donner quickly came to our rescue, loading us up into the looted ox cart, and drove us to the nearest medical aid. While the talented ministrations of the doctor where able to get Crp. Yarmov back on his feet, I was limited to bed rest. Two days later we had our audience with the tech priests of the data spire, and we presented my logistics data. Sadly the data was not worthy enough for full access and although the exchange of data netted us a fine recipe for burn salve it would require another trip to get the info we wanted. Though our guide we learned of another way to gain access. Passes could be won buy combat trial. Still confined to bed rest I was unable to fight, although I did sit in attendance in the audience. The rules of the pit fight were strange. Warriors entered without weapons or armor and had to build or salvage their kit from refuse piles in a prefight build off. There were also machine terminals that could be used to control arena terrain, and counted as objectives. The number of warriors allowed into the area was limited, however Sgt Trinkman was able to convince the area attendant that his servitor was just part of his tool kit. Bludtusk had also managed to get the better part of a Ork bike added to the scrap heap. Sgt Donner took the Yak cart in as a chariot. The fight was decided early by Bludtusk's charge on his scrap bike. Although Bludtusk fell in battle, it was a simple case of maneuver warfare to wrap up the victory at that point.

After action report.
I continue to suffer injury from my faithful Plasma pistol. Perhaps I should have it blessed by a tech priest. We need to get improved vox units for the Karellians. We need to recruit a medic for the unit. The feeling surrounding the general population is concerning. Everywhere we travel we encounter strongly polarized citizens. There is no unity of victory that comes from a normal champaign. The battles TF 120 fought now seem to have been precursors to war that has yet to begin. The four Sgts. I have kept with me have developed well. Sgt. Donner in particular has embraced the sprit of the Task Force, where we are all infantry blessed with the opportunity to fly as the emperor wills.

Col. Helstrom sat in the copilots seat of the Plasteel Falcon, scanning vox channels for activity. The pilots seat, Sgt Donners seat, was empty. Sgt. Donner was one of the few who had earned a pass to the inner sanctum, along with Trinkman, Yarmov, Bludtusk, the Lex Mechanic and an ork boy. This was the last chance to gain the information they came for. They might have to push for it. Bludtusk liked to push. It was unlikely any vox signal would escape the great spire. Still, much could be learned from careful observation of even encrypted chatter. Col Helstrom knew careful.
Sometimes.
A sudden rush of tinny squelching pings, the same rhythm over multiple channels set him to action.
"Eyes open" he declared over the internal coms, while spooling up the starting engine for the Falcon. All the access points on the Falcon opened. The Karellians at their on board positions scanned to the sides and rear of the Falcon as the Ork boys who had been in hiding around the landing pad charged in.
"Comrade Colonel, I am thinking something is happening" the Starboard observer called out over the intercom " There was a flash, or pulse from the spire".
"Acknowledged, button up, we're going dirty"
Col. Helstrom cut the flight checklist short, pulling launch thrust the moment engine one hit 80% power. He new a Valkyrie could fly in ground effect with a single engine. Banking off the landing pad the Falcon hovered 2 meters off the ground, vector nozzles spilling black exhaust as engine one spun up to max power and engine two began to start. Dust, debris, people, hasty market tents windows, were blown over or out as the Falcon made its way towards the causeway that lead to the spire, a small path of misery in its wake.

"One this is Falcon"
Col Helstrom was surprised to hear over the vox, surprised also that the auspix had not started the tell tale chime of weapons lock from the spires AA guns.
"One, report Falcon"
"The cup is full, but the well is spoiled, Falcon seeks one rising" Sgt. Donner voxed.
"One rising, seeking bread crumbs"
"Bread crumbs at location".
Col. Helstrom scanned the spire, two colored flares shot up from one of the landing pads. His pick up point.

Col. Helstrom pushed the petals and flat turned the Falcon 180 degrees before landing with a jolt on the pad indicated by the still smoking signal flares.  The pilgrims ran to the lowering ramp,  except Sgt. Donner who moved to enter the cockpit.  Once plugged into the Falcons ICS he could hear his CO's rant.  Sgt. Donner took advantage of a pause in Helstroms curses to interrupt. 
      "sorry Sir, missed the first part, did you say I have the controls?"
Routine kicked in and Col. Helstrom replied "you have the controls."
        "I have the controls. cargo secure?" Donner asked. 
          "cargo secure" Sgt. Trinkman replied over the ICS.  The Falcon took flight  executing a perfectly trimmed low speed turn as Donner directed the Falcon back toward the hills and the safety of LOS blocking terrain.  Donner continued drifting warily along the rugged hills in case the data spires AA became active.  Miles above, in a Mechanis Battle Cruiser, a tech adept watched the maneuvering at his duty station.  Intrigued  by its beauty and utility  he logged the moment for further review as a single drop of lubricating oil spilled from his ocular implants.  

Next Scenario: Massacre at Dunkurov Landing Field.

Analysis of the Data will have to wait, for it is the moment of truth for those trying to escape Petrograd. Somehow, Lady Bellepheron has assembled a motley mass of spacers, stray imperial guard, mercenaries, wealthy families that don't fancy their chances under the new regime, nearly 500 in all, along with several shuttles of various makes and models. The refugees (or future rogue trader crew depending on your perspective) are streaming onto the abandoned landing field at Dunkurov. At first it seemed that in the confusion seemingly gripping the Mechanicus and Civil authority the group might make space without incident, but unfortunately a more formidable and energetic foe than planetary militia, Arbites, and tech guard detachments has appeared. Moving into orbit is a cruiser of the ON(SF), the Oyashima Nihon Space Forces. The Nihon domains are culturally eccentic, technologically advanced, and fanatically loyal to the Emperor and the Machine God. Though their PDF and imperial guard regiments have a lackluster reputation, their navy is quite potent. Modelled closely on the Imperial Navy, the ON(SF) operates considerable air power, but also is quite capable of deploying rapid response ground forces. Their officers are drawn exclusively from the ruling class of Nihon, and their forces incorporate numerous sanctioned Psykers and close combat troops, as well as being very well equipped with power weapons, plasma rifles and the like. Their standard long arm is the Karnikov Tech Rifle, a weapon that, when firing on full auto, has the stopping power of a bolter, though it is not suited to long engagements. They are agressive to a fault.

In game terms the ON(SF) are Grey Knight henchmen bands with allies of various sorts. Modeling here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/494987.page#5784743

The Dunkerov field must be held until the slower shuttles are away. The key is a position overlooking the field which had been held by a platoon of Valarian Zouaves, however they decided to make themselves scarce the moment the Nihon broadcast their ritual vox challenge. Now both sides are racing to take the position.

Terrain: Largely open, some woods along one side and ruins on the other, but with a landing platform and a Bastion with Icarus Laser equally spaced in the center of the field.
Special rules: Each player adds 300 points of additional forces to their list. Character models from their existing warband may be added to any unit as an upgrade model, much like a wolf guard sergent, however they may be in addition to an existing squad leader. This is probably a good idea given the lethality of this engagement. The 300 points models are bought at normal squad sizes (not half min/max). The opposition will be approximately 1600 points of ON(SF). ON(SF) may buy drop pods (see codex space marines).

Infiltration allows models to make scout move of up to 6" or outflank but not infiltrate normally.

Dog Fighting rules are in effect (Insurgency Walker can you bring them?)

No activation cost for this battle. I'm thinking of scrapping the activation cost concept actually, and just specifying the models/points that can be used.

Victory Conditions: If the players hold both the landing platform and the bastion (or its ruins) they get to keep all surviving models from the 300 point boost. If they hold one they get to keep half the survivors. If they hold neither only their original warband survivors manage to escape. Random game length.

I'll drop the dog fight rules off before weekend, and some terrain bits that will look good with the ON(SF).

And a massacre it was, but of who? Insurgency walker is going to do the report on this one, and then I'll post the data from the uplink spire.

At some point I'd like our reports to reach this standard:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/491923.page#5836172

A man can dream, right? : )

Tech adept Zenier sat transfixed before his work station. The surprise arrival of the ON(SF) forces and the resulting challenge would ensure a conflict between their gunships (for which the ON(SF) were famous) and Valkyrie registration 41-24020, call sign "Plasteel Falcon." Zenier began the chant of alignment, directing near orbital auspex to focus closely on the developing field of battle. It was quickly evident that the refugees had two key locations. A landing pad to speed their departure and a Bastion to defend it. Both had been in control of local militia forces who evacuated with the ON(SF) challenge. Normal deployment by both sides was tossed out in a random unit rush to the objectives.

First on site were the refugees. A single Ork deff kopta sped to the landing pad, while the Falcon slowed near the bastion. Orks, Karellians, and Broolians moved towards the two objectives with the Orks favoring the landing pad and the Karellians the bastion. Zenier leaned forward in his seat, ON(SF) forces were streaking down to the battle field in drop pods and a single Stormraven. The first drop pod landed squarely on the landing pad, the second next to the bastion and both spilled forth their deadly cargo. Threat analysis suggested that the kopter would be shot out of the sky immediately and Tech Adept Zenier focused on what he thought would be the most exciting part of the battle, the air dual between Stormraven and Valkyrie. The Stormraven and Valkyrie were well matched in maneuverability and survivability. The Stormraven had the edge in weaponry, boasting twin linked multimelta in the nose and a dorsal turret with twin linked las canon. The Valkyrie was armed with two hell strike missiles, powerful anti armor weapons, and a Multilaser. Zenier knew the dog fight would probably come down to who fired the first shot, and the first shot was going to the Stormraven! The ON(SF) Stormraven pilot entered the air space in one aggressive dive for the tail position on the Falcon. The Falcon responded with a classic split-s, rolling right and diving down, but ending the descent with a ever tightening left turn. The Stormraven confidently banked with the fleeing Falcon, but was unable to get a good target lock. Zenier watched, curious as the Falcon continued the same turn and the Stormravens nose slowly tracked towards the Valkyrie which could never survive a hit at such short range. Without warning the Valkyrie pitched up and rolled inverted. The Stormraven perhaps believing it had an easy kill almost in its sights was slow to react. Vectored thrust nozzles pulsed and the Stormraven reared like a snake ready to strike, only the victim was already behind it! The Falcon, still inverted but nose down fired a single missile which struck the Stormraven, blowing armor plate free. The Falcon then finished its diving roll pouring on speed, passing under the Stormraven which recovered and took up the chase position on the Falcons six O'clock again. Zenier was surprised that the Stormraven survived the missile strike, more surprised that the Valkyrie did not try to hold the advantage of the chase position. Then he understood. The Valkyrie was trying to pull the Stormraven away from the main battle site. Looking back at the main battle site Zenier was still more amazed. The Ork Def Kopter was still alive, and had departed the landing pad leaving the bast shields down. The combined firepower of a looted Leman Russ and Karellian mortar fire had pulverized the ON(SF). A Karellian chimera with flamers had made short work of the ON(SF) troops around the bastion. Fleeing the wiley Valk pilot the Stormraven moved to deliver its cargo to the troop lines of the refugees, while firing ineffectively on the looted Russ . Then it was the Falcons turn to strike. The Plasteel Falcon screamed back to the main conflict and let fly its second hell strike missile from out side of dog fighting range, a tricky shot which hit home causing more armor to shear off and stunned the crew. Automated systems driven by the machine spirit fired the melta guns into the looted Leman russ to no effect. Seeing its inevitable doom, the Stormraven slowed to hovering while dropping off its cargo of hardened close combat fighters. It was a last act for the ON(SF) gunship. Before the the Falcon could deliver the final blow a Destroyer tank hunter, hungry for more targets, turned its formidable canon towards the hovering Stormraven and blew it out of the sky. Zenier leaned back in his chair and began to breath again. A few quick dial adjustments gave him a better look at the battle. The ON(SF) forces fought like the pilot of the Stormraven, so aggressive they lost tactical foresight. it was a just a matter of time before they were all destroyed. Although having lost most of the reinforced troops around the landing pad, the ON(SF) could still cause some serious damage to the evacuation. Zenier realized some sort of agreement must have been reached, for the refugees simply occupied the bastion and continued the exodus from the other parts of the airfield. While the Orks, though eager to kill the humies that were hiding under the landing pad, were shipped off planet with all haste.

Massacre at Dunkerov Landing Field: The Battle:

Both sides began with all units in reserve, and started rolling on turn 1 The player forces were roughly:

Valk
Laser Destroyer
Armored Sentinel
Squad of Veteran Beastmen with flamers
Col. Hellstrom
Centour artillery tractor.

2 Chimeras, included the dreaded "Beast" with twin heavy flamers
1 Griffen
5 Karellian Veteran Characters
5 Karellian Veterans with flamers
10 stock veterans
Mortar squad

5 'Ardboyz + Nob
15 or so Shootaboyz
Looted Leman Russ
Deff Kopta
Grot Kannon with Crew (Was towed by the Centour in this battle).
Trukk

ON(SF) forces
Inquisitor with Thunder Hammer, Grenades
Paladin with Psycannon
10 Assorted Henchmen, mostly warriors with bolters, + psychic and Mystic and monkey in Drop Pod
10 Assorted Henchmen, mostly warriors with bolters + psychic and Mystic In Drop Pod
6 Close Combat Henchmen (mostly arcoflagellents)
6 Close Combat Henghmen (mostly Assassins)
6 Henchmen in Razorback with Heavy Bolters
6 Henchmen in Rhino
Storm Raven
Deathwind Drop Pod (old forge world rules - basically an unmanned death machine that lands and sprays everything in sight with missiles)
5 ON(SF) Hatomoto (Count as grey knight strike squad)

The Field of Battle:


The Bastion Flank: Lots of Artillery Pain and Flamer Pain:
Despite the ON(SF) having an advantage in reserve Rolls, much of the player force rolled on turn 1 ready to hit the objectives.


The ON(SF) had a choice of going directly into the Refugee's face with drop pods, or taking the objectives. They went for the objectives, which was probably a mistake. This put them in a defensive posture they were ill suited to, and also divided their forces. The players, with a strong artillery fire base, could pummel them at will. The Deff Kopta made a a mad run at the landing pad.

One drop pod full of henchmen took the bastion, supported by an Oni Battlesuit (counts a Paladin)



The other, led by Captain Torkumunda himself, landed smack on the landing pad next to the Deff Kopata. The ON(SF) shooting targeted the Death Kopta and the "Beast" chimera, but due to some bad luck and bad scatter, failed to kill either one. As described above, the Storm Raven also failed to bring down the Valk.





Turn 2 saw the refugees counter attack brutally. The Deff Copta lowered the shields on the landing pad, depriving the ON(SF) of vital cover and they were nearly ripped appart by artillery and other shooting. The Beast, it's escort and its cargo unleashed a storm of flame and las fire that took out the Paladin and mauled the drop squad. The Kopter, or maybe it was the Laser Destroyer took out the Razorback.





In response the ON(SF) brought down their Deathwind pod using the Mystic in the Bastion drop pod team, but although terrifying, it ultimately did little and wound up killing said mystic in the process. They also destroyed the truck with the Storm raven (but failed to kill the Leman Russ, fatally) and raised the shields on the blasted landing pad. The Razor Back squad piled out and headed for the objective and shot down the death Kopta.

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Turn Three saw everyone but Captain Torkumunda (the Inquistor) blasted off the landing pad and the bastion squad basically wiped out. The captain only surved because he was out of line of site behind the drop pod. I believe it was on this turn that Col. Hellstrom showed up in the centour towing the Grot cannon. It was really cute, and helped out blasting the platform.




In response the ON(SF) sent the Storm Raven into hover mode, dropped its close combat troops, lowered the shields and air dropped their ace in the hole Hatomoto counts a grey knights, the most terrifying opponents seen the campaign so far. One group of close combat henchmen, the assassins, hit the Broolian (veteran IG beastmen), beat them in combat and swept them. The other however went after the 'Aardboyz', but rolled abysmally and bounced off. The storm raven failed again to kill the Leman Russ.

Turn 4

The player turn saw the storm raven go down and the landing pad swept by a torrent of firepower. The ork party tasked with taking the landing pad, already slowed by their advance on foot after the loss of the trukk, was further put off by the supermen now occupying the pad, and decided to shoot them up for a while.

All the ON(SF) could do was hold to the objective grimly, though they did blow up the Centour. In hindsite, had I raised the shields and and used the house rule Concealed, they could have held out much better. The Rhino squad showed up and headed for the landing pad.



Turn 5
The Orks now charged the platform. I think the Laser Destroyer killed the Rhino.

The Hatomoto charged in response, but were cut down by a torrent of Ork overwatch fire that left them out of assault range!

We rolled and... ...the game ended! Although the refugees were surprisingly untouched, despite the massacre of the Broolians, a few survivors of the Razorback squad of the ON(SF) were crouched behind the pillars of the landing pad, where they had endured a torrent of Ork shooting. Now they eeked draw for the ON(SF)!

Jean Dan-Gbwe spun the helm. banking his pinnace around for another pass. Over the vox he could hear the outraged Valarian pilot of the other lander bellowing at whoever was in charge down there. Smoke was billowing from several burning vehicles, but a telltale indicator told him that the shields on the landing pad were indeed up, though they had been down a moment ago. It was obvious that they did not have full control, though there didn't seem to be much Nihon opposition remaining. On the other hand, at least the Icarus Lascannon on the bastion wasn't shooting at him, so that was something. With a string of curses, the Valarian signed off and vectored away to the south, no doubt figuring he had a better chances evading any Nihon air power and figuring out some other way off the planet than getting involved in the mess on the landing field . Jean wasn't so sure. His vessel was capable of long distance journeys, and he had made many in the past, but his chances would be much better traveling in convoy with the powerful vessel the Bellepheron woman claimed to possess, coasting in it's Geller Field.

Jean had plied the space lanes of the Argo Cluster for many years, and he knew them well. The true imperial navy disliked venturing there, fearing the treacherous warp currents, and the phenomena known as the "the Mist". The Mist shortened detection ranges considerably compared to the galactic norm, and meant that planetary blockades were difficult to enforce, particularly against a small, agile vessel like his. Like most starships within the Cluster it was built around a few, very advanced mechanicus components, such as the Keel which generated both artificial gravity and the ship's fields, and the drives. The components were sealed and extraordinarily reliable, but if they failed there was little Jean and his crew could do to fix them. The rest of the ship was of local manufacture at a tech index far lower, and indeed much of his crew could not even read and write and were armed with crude chemical muskets. This was the vision of the Machine God for the Argo Cluster - one in which the necessary technology to sustain an interstellar civilization became ever more self contained, and the unworthy were not allowed to contaminate the purity of the machine. Imperial Guard regiments, like the ones below, made up of men who were familiar with a wide range of tech, were a threat to that vision, and Jean was not surprised that they were being liquidated.

It was time for a decision. Jean touched the talismans around his neck with one mahogany hand and called upon the Man God King, the Wing Saint, and the Dark Powers. In the end, his kin lexmechanic Mamzelle Pythia was down there, and that was what mattered. He opened a channel. "This Dan-Gbwe of Toujours L'Audace. We be coming in. We cannot be taking you all off, best to be choosing who goes and who stays. Vector 1 2 point 7, ETA...."

Awesome looking forces Truax! Man those Japanese looking tech Samarais remind me of shadowrun! You should bring a force down to the Greenhouse so we can clash again. Me and Fed are trying to see if we can get a regular game in each week or maybe once a month if it suits people better at around 750-1000 pt level.

Keep up these awesome reports man!

Man, I'd be down for some small games on a regular schedule. Keep me posted! It is always a pleasure playing against you guy's cool figures.

***Brother Anselm, Personal Log****

Liftoff plus Eighteen Hours.

Analysis of Data on Princess of Orion indicates the ship possesses an unusually strong machine spirit Chorus, capable of extensive independent action. Power functions remain on several decks. Tech-Brother Ikos has identified two cogitator nodes, one of which will restore power to the main hanger bay doors, and the other which can activate them. The War Crow will carry elements of Lady Belepheron's retinue on a mission to access both nodes. Approximately half the group will be made up of survivors from the Imperial Guard on Pentegrad, while the remainder will be experienced space crew. In theory. Brother Ikos has accessed several vox systems and we will have both audio and still images. It galls me to remain behind while others go into battle, but we are too few to risk even a single battle brother on such a mission. Our hour will come, we must preserve our strength for the true enemy and think of these refugees as simply another weapon ready to our hand . And so it is that others with only a fraction of our training, armor, and weaponry must brave the unknown...



Primary Objective



Secondary Objective



Col. Helstrom



Karellians



The "Experienced Crew", some of whom may even have been to space before, deploying.



Advance on the first door

The player's forces advanced, with a crew unit heading for the primary Cogitor, led by Sub-Magos Donovan, Col. Helstrom covering the hangar, and the Karallians targeting the engineering section. The Karellians opened the first door and found the chamber full of... ...plants. Overhead grow lights supported a luxuriant growth of alien vegetation. Taking no chances they unleashed billowing gouts of exploratory flame, driving back any hidden enemies.

In the hanger movement was spotted in the nearby cargo bay, and a crew unit came under fire. Col. Helstrom advanced, discovering that the bay was infested with gretchen. Two groups of grots, one armed with melee weapons and one with actual guns managed to hold back the crew squads for a few turns, but Helstrom's veterans destroyed them with easy as soon as they arrived.

Meanwhile, the Karellians and Sub-Magos Donovan continued deeper into the ship. Encountering a Terrarium, they noted a creature still alive in it, and that their ally Ian the Black was acting strangely. Putting two and two together, they opened fire on the terrarium habitat with extreme prejudice, though it proved extremely sturdy. Eventually a rocket round penetrated, and all risk of contact with alien intelligence was dealt with.

Sub-magos Donovan opened the door to the cogitator, only to some face to face with a Zoanthrope, which sent his squad fleeing with it's mind powers. At that same moment the drying grot chieftan, with a snaggly grin, activated a remote control unit, opening two stasis cages in the cargo hold, and releasing two lictors. The cry of "Tyranids" went up, and pandamonium ensued as there was a general fall back towards the hangar.

The Karellians were unimpressed at discovering that they were in some kind of zoological vivarium, and set upon the Zoanthrope with one squad while advancing towards engineering with the other. Gouts of flame vaporized the termigants that began to appear. Helstrom set up a perimeter to repel the lictors, but they remained out of sight while the hive mind reestablished connection with them and sent reinforcements.

The battle was now divided into two groups that could do little to help each other. The Karellians were locked in a life and death battle with hordes of Termigants, having breached the main chamber and discovered a massive yellow and black hive teeming with life. They stubbornly refused to retreat, even after securing the objective.

A game of cat and mouse ensued with the lictors, with extensive use of the "Doorway overwatch" rule we were using (which let you overwatch a door way at full ballistic skill) keeping them at bay. However, as more Termigants arrived, the lictors were able to use them to draw the player's fire and break into the hangar. The sentinel fought relentlessly, repeatedly charging lictors who would hit and run away from it, saving many lives. Finally a lictor managed to tear the sentinel apart, turning it's attentions on Helstrom's squad. However, Kang the beastman bodyguard leapt up onto the overhead gantries, drawing the lictor after him - then killing it with hand flamer overwatch! The tide of gant's dragged down Helstrom, but his men and the newly returned Kang rallied and recovered the wounded col., escaping into the hanger just in time. Left behind were the Karellians, last seen battling a thining tide of termigants in the depths of the princess of Orion, struggling to make their escape into the bilge...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some pictures of the Loyal Crew:



With my awesome and affordable Underground Lasers Terrain in the background - https://www.facebook.com/UndergroundLasers?ref=stream - Check 'em out!

Close ups:





Some noteable NPCs:

After action report Col. Helstrom detached liaison officer Task force 120

Background.
Careful examination of the data provided by the spire reveled floor plans, and that the Princes was a ship with high levels of automation. The second part was fortunate because of the small amount of ships crew we had in the 500+ personnel who left orbit with us. Two primary cogitator systems were close to two small docking bays, an easy entry point. Due to the Princesses location in the suns corona we had a short amount of time to recon and reclaim the two cogitators, putting them to our use. Primary entry and egress would be a cargo bay loading Dock. Secondary egress would be to cut into the ships bilge systems and wait 6 hours for another safe shuttle run. Delivering our raiding party would be an Astarte shuttle. Present was my command squad, with Eloise, and the Mause crewed by a volunteer. Two of the Karellian flamer squads with the a tech priest and about 20 crew, plus Ian the black and the fish monger who has impressive skills of faith when it comes to facing horrors of the warp. Bludtusk's boys, or the Karellian conscripts as we like to call them, were left behind due to the delicate and technical nature of the work. In hind sight we probably should have used the Orks.

The action.
Entry to the small bay was easy, standard imperial emergency overrides worked the cargo bay airocks. There was two main paths to the cogitators and we took the shortest one. My squad with some ships crew deployed with the sentinel to secure the bay which was our primary egress point. The Karellians quickly discovered that something was awry when the first door they peered through showed large amounts of wild vegetation in a large atrium. Yarmov muttered about scratchy noises but nothing could be seen. Entering the atrium caused some mental discomfort and Ian the black in particular seemed even more agitated than usual. The Karellians went about the work of purifying the Atrium with fire. A small squad of crew moved off to the cargo bay to our left, whispering about the possible finds. Unfortunately a group of Gretchen found them first. First contact! With Orks! This put a damper on my spirits, Orks always defile the good works of the machine god. My squad moved to screen the entrance as more grots entered the fight. Charging in to aid the crew who were attempting to fall back we engaged the grots and made short work of them. Unfortunately the grot leader had a bodged up stasis controller clutched to his chest which he activated in a most malevolent manor. Soon tyrinnid life forms were moving about the cargo bay to the left. I issued the rarely used order "Run fools, run for you life" and we fell back to cover the entrances from the occupied bay while the Mause's las canon cracked off shots at the alien bioforms. The tyrinnid bioforms were of a cunning and careful breed. They hid from our view as a few creatures of smaller stature made the main push into our rearguard. The primary thrust, lead by the Karellians, also encountered resistance from tyrinnid life forms. Heavy use of purifying flame allowed the Karellians to clear a path to the second objective. However, having activated the second cogitator they continued to engage the errant hive members rather than fall back to the egress. The Mause put up a valiant fight with the lictors in the cargo bay but several smaller bioforms were able to assault through the doorway we were guarding. Once again I placed my faith in the emperors merciful Medicae, and dived in the doorway to screen my fellow squadmates from the ravages of the tyranid attackers. I was gravely injured and thought all was lost, but Kang our loyal bodyguard climbed up the gantry way between the bays and put an end to the last lictor as the Mause met an explosive end just outside our door. The way clear, time running out, my injuries prevented me from ordering the Karellians out to the egress point. They would have to use the backup plan, code name sewer rat, and wait until the next rendezvous in 6 hours.

After action report.
Kangs initiative saved the day for us. It us a rare guardsmen who will willing face a Lictor swinging from rusty chains armed with only Faith, a chainsword, and a trusty hand flamer. Adjutus, Sgt. Trinkmans servitor did a fine job of carrying out the wounded from the battle. The cargo holds stable ecological system with tyrinnid life forms present, was an item of great interest to the Sub-Magos Donovan. Every effort must be made to prevent Sub-Magos Donovan from trying to establish his own Petri dish Nid community. The "Princess" is a unique ship, and an outstanding opportunity.

Here's some pics from the last game - battle through the Cargo Hold of the Princess of Orion vs Thousand Sons and their cultist and kroot allies. The players have boarded the Princess, but discover a shuttle is being loaded with items from the Cargo Holds. Enraged at someone trying to take what they have rightfully stolen, both sides scramble their forces into action and a swirling melee breaks out...



The scenario was kind of like table quarters, except there were 5 cargo holds to control, one worth double. Set up was alternating, with units set up one at a time anywhere on the board as long as they were not in line of sight of the enemy, or were more than 18" away if in Line of Sight. The coolest bit of Terrain was an Arvus Lighter provided by Insurgency Walker. In addition to the various units' you've been seeing for a while, there was a pile of crew, who were simply WSIWYG models with BS2 that could be divided into units as desired. They carried everything from knives and bows to pulse rifles. They were augmented by two Tank Droids (slow walkers able to carry 5 models) , 4 genetically engineered gorillas with Tau weapons (AT-43 Karmen) and a squad of 10 hinterland IG. The Karrellians missed this fight due to failure to escape the last scenario in time.



























There's really no way to describe the mayhem of lots of small units rampaging around in enclosed spaces, so here are a few of the highlights - or lowlights in some cases...

The Crew were played by my brother, and they did the majority of the dying. The crew command squad took on the Chaos Defiler, failing to kill with melta, but somehow surviving it's flamer and charge, inflicting a few hull points with grenades and an eviserator before running away. However, IIRC a hail mary shot from the Grot Kannon took down the defiler.

Col. Helstrom grinned with pride. "She is a beautiful find. "
"Yes she is." replied Sgt. Trinkman, also beaming with joy. Col. Helstrom ran his hand down the leading edge of the wing of the Arvus lighter. "An extra measure for the survivors, and dress her up in task force colors Sgt."
Col. Helstrom took a step back and paused from his swoon. "She needs guns Trinkman, any Ideas?"
Sgt Trinkman retrieved a data slate, "Yes Sir! I've been thinking on this particular problem. Everyone trys to arm an Arvus by putting sensors and avionics in the bird. I think we should hang them outside. We can stuff the needed components into the body of a external fuel tank and wire........."
Col. Helstroms eyes started to glaze over as Sgt. Trinkman continued his description of the required modifications. Sgt. Trinkman stopped his presentation, sighed, and limped to the Arvus flipping up the canopy. Using a black grease pencil he marked an X in the middle of the forward canopy window. "Shells will hit that spot two hundred meter convergence, MK 20 eyeball. Targeting mods complete Sir."
"Now that's how this girl flys!" Exclaimed Helstrom, the life back in his eyes. "Emperors will you hit the target! Oh, and armor the cockpit! Safety first!"
"What should we name her Sir?" Trinkman asked?
"Feth if I know, Adjutus is in extended recovery and Kang lost an eye. You and Sgt. Donner were both almost killed. Damned Inconvenience if you ask me"

Person Log - Lt. Hildegard Von Bingeran.

With half the cargo secured, we set off for the jump point, broadcasting an invitation for any other ships that desired to flee the system to join us and soon we had a rag tag flotilla. Unfortunately, non of our vessels were true warships, and the quality of crews was uneven at best. We sought to persuade other crews to join us on the Princess, but they by and large declined, though some transferred their dependents and certain critical skill personnel we needed to run the Orion. We were amazed to discover a squadron of fighters with servitor crews on the auxiliary landing deck, in near perfect condition hibernation.


to make things a bit more interesting we bumped everything up by one size category, so destroyer models became light cruisers, the cruiser became a dreadnaught, and we used small scratch builds as escorts (based off EM4's super cheap spaceship set).



Jean Dan-Gbwe's Toujour's L'Audace is the light cruiser in blue, red and yellow, the Bonnaventure is the brown light Carrier, the Yacht "Isis" is in the foreground the Tug "Star Grox" is in the background. The Bonaventure carried only bombers, being an Valarian astroid prospecting ship. Star Grox had the highest crew leadership value, being a veteran of years of working the approaches to Pentegrad, but was unarmed. Isis counted as an ork ramship. And of course here is the Princess of Orion (counted as a battleship, but with only battlecruiser firepower and ld 6 due to the skeleton crew). She also carried a small fighter group.



The players were pitted against a mechanicum patrol squadron.



In addition there was a sentinel station guarding the jump point, a carrier outpost with both Bombers and Fighters.



The two squadrons began the game on converging courses towards the way station.



Unfortunately, we were intercepted by a Mechanicus Patrol squadron - three light cruisers, and a pair of escorts with lances. The Mechanicum crews would be vulnerable to boarding, but so would we, given our unfamiliarity with the Princess and skeleton crew. None the less, Madam Bellepheron decided on close action over my advice to rely on the long range batteries of the Orion, which outranged anything else on the field battle except the station lances. Understandably given our ragtag gun crews, she believed the light torpedo array and dorsal lances would be decisive. She also desired to engage the patrol squadron far from the station to divide the enemy force.


We were playing simultaneous turns - the "Everybody Movies, Everybody Shoots" type game, and also ignoring blast counters as we hadn't made any. Ordinanance moved twice each turn.

Action began at 11289 ship time, with Vox challenges some minutes before. We began altering course to starboard to quickly close the range with the pursuing squadron. The Princcess answered the helm like a dream. Bonaventure, much slower than the others, lagged to the rear, but launched bombers immediately. The asteroid miners arrowed in and struck the Mechanicum escorts with seismic charges, destroying them. The Audacity launched torpedoes, forcing the mechanicum to turn inward to avoid them.





Turn 3

Unfortunately this put the Mechanicus in position to "Cross the T", hammering the Princess of Orion while we could make only a small response. I gave the order to brace for impact, but the forward bulkheads were not closed in time, and the bridge crew were unable to determine the proper ritual to realign the Void Shields. I must none the less commend the command crew, many of whom had no slept for days in their unceasing devotion to learning how to supplicate the Machine Spirits of the Orion. Hard rounds cratered the upper deck, one shattering the graceful foredeck observation dome. I had a good view of this from the command castle and I shall not soon forget the sight of dorsal batteries firing amid the incoming barrage.






The Princess suffered heavy damage and a short ranged engagement now ensued. The Isis tried to ram, but was blown apart for her trouble. Another wave of bombers from the Bonaventure struck a mechanicum cruiser, either crippling or destroying it. This evidently convinced the mechanicus that she was the key to engagement, for she was be far the most decisive vessel at this point, and the small RockJack prospecting ships, pressing home their attacks to point blank range with the usual Valarian "élan" were clearly uppermost on their mind..



They altered course to port, sweeping around our flank, launching ordinance, with a strike inbound from the Waystation also targeting the Bonaventure. The Bonventure valiantly tried to board, but was reduced to a drifting hulk before that could happen, with the Star Grox attempting to use her magnetic grapples in the same way, but was instead crippled and captured by Mechanicum Void combat servitors. We engaged one cruiser exchanging broadsides at close range. They had the worst of it, but none the less our battered ship was crippled we lost power to the tertiary decks.



[i]At this point our hopes of victory had largely vanished. Madam Bellepheron gave the order to abandon the jump point and escape by any means possible, and Captain Dan Gbwe, who up to now had fought his ship with a pirate's skill, threading through the battle without suffering a scratch, concurred. We disengaged after a hard burn - the mechanicus showed little appetite for pursuit."

Well, summer is approaching, and that means its narrative campaign season again!

Here is the first bit of background:

The Argo Cluster, Season 2.

Our Heroes have fled from the Pentegrad system in two ships - the mighty Princess of Orion and the much smaller but much more experienced Toujours L’Audace. Some are eager to win fame and fortune as rouge traders, now that they can legitimately lay claim to the Bellepheron Charter, while others brood on what they have learned of the Mechanicum and Chaos or simply want to find a new home. After much consultation, Bianca Bellepheron decides to set course for the Luceron System.

Lt. Von Bingarden presents a briefing to the principles as the flotilla enters the Luceron System.

“Luceron is doomed. Hive Fleet Skaith, the occasional scourge of the Argo Cluster, has been detected enroute to Luceron in numbers that there are no forces in the cluster capable of repelling. This is unusual behavior for Skaith, one of the most enigmatic hive fleets, which rarely appears in numbers sufficient to devour an entire world, preferring the role of parasite to predator. Regardless, it is expected that no living thing will survive in the system and there is a mad scramble to save what can be saved. High Trader Bellepheron reasons that any Mechanicus in the system will be much more concerned with their own facilities than worrying about questionable events in a distant system. Ships will be in high demand, and there should be many opportunities for profit.”

“There will be three distinct phases to this operation.”

“Phase one. Hive Fleet arrival minus twenty two days. We have been monitoring the vox channels and have identified a number of opportunities during the chaos and confusion primarily related to evacuation. I will discuss them shortly.”

“Phase two. Hive fleet arrival Zero hour to approximately plus sixty days. How long the planet can hold out is unclear. Luceron Four is a sparsely populated class C world, but there are expected to be more than 1 million citizens remaining, some well armed. May the Emperor have mercy on their souls. There are indigenous life forms that may offer significant resistance as well. Evacuation is still possible at this point, but becomes much more risky and likely to focus on a few key individuals, or small but high value objects. In addition, there are standard bounties paid for certain targets within the Hive Swarm. Action in space is also quite likely. Finally, at this point all authority originating from the Emperor will have departed from the system. Privateer action becomes both legitimate and viable.”

“Phase three. Plus sixty days and beyond. Unless Skaith deviates from the pattern of other hive fleets, which is a distinct possibility, the planet will be stripped of biomass. It will become a dead world. Bulk salvage of non biological material is an option during the period before order is restored and mechanicum forces reclaim the world. There are also likely to be those willing to pay for data on Skaith’s behavior during the final stages of consumption. Finally, from a legal perspective, the House of Vaul informs me that the world becomes “Terra Nova”, and there is some value in staking claims to certain mineral and geographic locations that may remain. We would not want to administer such claims, and the legal wrangling will likely continue for centuries, but the claims would have salable value.”

“Let us now consider Phase One in greater detail. We have identified five possible operations in the short term. Our forces are extremely limited, and will need to be divided among them. Therefore I recommend we select between two and four operations.

“Luceron Four. Primary inhabited world of the system.” The holographic projector whirs into life as cogitators chatter. The image zooms into a rocky landmass in a cloudy sea.

“Isle of St. Basheed. The island has, for reasons that remain unclear, received no evacuation support of any kind and is broadcasting appeals for aid. We have the ability to transport perhaps five thousand souls directly. Using the Pinnace from L’Audace, Orion’s two bulk lifters and the War Crow we could transport that many to orbit in a week. There are additional ships in orbit that could take more if we have the ability to lift them off. We could recruit needed skills for our crews as well as direct payment. Estimated profit 200-600 M-Cred depending on how long we remain there and how many of our lifters we commit to the operation.

The world rotates to another view - a vast wasteland.

“Desert of Lost Souls. We have a high priority Astropathic signal indicating that two high born landholders of Hinterland are there on safari. Frau Eldvin and Frau Hofstelon. The area is so remote it is possible they are unaware of the situation. There is a 50 M-Cred each reward for their safe return. A small group with transport would be needed.

Another rotation, and a long black line comes into view.

“Highway 19. Madness and fear are spreading like wildfire as can be imagined. A company of the Valarian 8th Regiment of Light Infantry tasked with assisting the evacuation seems to have gone completely mad, possibly converted to some foul cult. They have butchered thousands attempting to reach the evacuation zones. PDF Armor Squadron 23 has been tasked with driving them out of their positions. However, based on the vox chatter, they refuse to move without infantry support, as the 8th is dug in. This would be of little interest to us, except that the Valarians are holding a large number of captives, many of them wealthy. There is a 300 credit reward for their release and transport off world.”

The image pulls back into the void of space. A shape glimmers over the horizon.

“The Saphire Star. Tramp freighter. Six days ago she ceased answering all hails and powered down. Five ships have sent boarding parties - none have returned and no signals were received. The planetary governor has ordered it to be destroyed before Skaith arrives, but until then it is legitimate salvage. Likely value 100 credits and an additional ship for our flotilla. Or death at the hands of vengeful ghosts if the stories are true. Due to her unusual orbit this operation is likely to take some time and at least one ship or lander.”



“Astroid Mining Facility 09. Eight days ago they stopped answering all hails and began firing on all ship traffic attempting to dock. They are therefore fair game. There is known to be at least 300 credits of Lalarite in refined bars in the facility. There are several ways we could gain access to the facility. Direct action by one of our ships, diplomacy or stealth. Either way we would need to commit a starship to the operation. The facility has a number of smaller craft as well as defensive turrets.”

The view through the Opticon



The tramp freighter close up





The Saphire Star hangs silently in the cold of space. Shuttles from the Princess of Orion are on approach, homing in on the bridge.

The mission: Enter the ghost ship Saphire Star, deactivate its Geller field and program it for a brief warp jump presumably purging it of all life. Claim it as salvage. Prevent any hostiles from arming the defense systems and firing on the shuttles. A team of Hinterland naval infantry tasked with securing the bridge encountered little opposition, as did the crew levies and engineers capturing the warp drive cathedral. However, the party attempting to deactivate the Geller Field encountered heavy opposition. Making up the party were troops associated with Col. Helstrom, a Tech Priest, and boarding party of Kriegsmarine and Feral Worlders who embarked on the Princess of Orion after Deepstation 36.

Basically a Tech Priest with shooty servitors, a squad of veterans, a platoon with piles of flamers, and some feral warriors (count as wolf scouts). 4 objects for the players - each can be "turned off", but can be turned back on again by the enemy. The enemy goal is to capture the two defense stations and activate the laser battery and torpedoes. If they do, there is a chance each turn that they will destroy the shuttle, winning the game.









Having no fear of space, the tech priest went first, scattering magnetic cylinders which clamped themselves to the Saphire Star. Improvised breaching charges blew out the Ghost ship hull and boarders in cheap plastic suits and respirators leapt through the cruel vacuum as the shuttle hatches opened, putting their faith in the hull integrity field common to Argo cluster ships. Almost all made it through the field to the air, warmth and gravity beyond. Las fire strobed through the chaos killing a few humanoid shapes shrouded in heavy hoods and robes within before flame troops annihilated everything in their path. The beachhead was secure. The Kreigsmarine advanced without comment, the imperial guard secured the weapon stations.






Automatically Appended Next Post:


Small groups of defenders in blue, purple and grey played a deadly game of cat and mouse with the advancing Kriegsmarine, but were no match for their flamers and disciplined volleys. We were using overwatch rules which allowed the larger player groups to hold off attackers, but the defenders could move "between the walls", outflanking the attackers to try to get to the weapons batteries. The players quickly captured two objectives but could not make much headway towards the remaining two. We were using a "blip" system where the defenders were represented by counters, including decoys, much like space hulk.





An enemy psyker appeared and unleashed a devastating psychic shriek before falling back through the maze of corridors to lie in wait and do it again.



Many counterattacks were launched and ground was gained and lost. It actually took us quite a while to play this out despite the small forces because of the tactical subtleties.



A suicide party with a demolition charge nearly wipes out the Kreigsmarine!



To nobodies particular surprise, the enemy is revealed as… …A GENESTEALER CULT! The gene stealers work their way towards the imperial guard position, preparing to counter attack and secure the laster battery.



A half squad of Kreigsmarine is torn apart!



The imperial guard open fire in an attempt to halt the oncoming rush. Cultists shield their children with their bodies to allow them to make the rush.



Genestealers leap into the imperial guard position, but the Fishmonger (counts as imperial priest) rallies them, and somehow they are victorious.



Meanwhile, with the kreigsmarine barely holding out on the other flank, the feral worlders have worked their way through the center and (aided by the Auspex of the tech priest which reveals most of the blips in the area are in fact decoys), facing one last obstacle- a barrier of wooden crates manned by a large group of cultists and hybrids with considerable firepower on overwatch.



However, they carry one of the player's two smoke grenades! Under their cover, they charge home and the battle is won! Wolfscouts are awesome in this kind of situation.

Adding a placeholder for possible fluff later, just to keep things in order before I put up the next installment - the Desert of Lost Souls! In which our heroes rescue lost tourists and a tree from the clutches of the elder before the Tyranids eat everyone.

Exalted, this thread is really quite unique.

Well thanks, never been exalted before. : )


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The Desert of Lost Souls

This was a role-play/battle combination, with models revealed as they entered the story and their actions never quite certain. There were some random rolls for things like searching buildings.

The Background:

“Desert of Lost Souls. We have a high priority Astropathic signal indicating that two high born landholders of Hinterland are there on safari. Frau Eldvin and Frau Hofstelon. The area is so remote it is possible they are unaware of the situation. There is a 50 M-Cred each reward for their safe return. A small group with transport would be needed."



Two archeologists are lost in the deep desert, unaware that the world is about be be overrun by Tyranids. Col. Helstrom, his bodyguard Kang (the infamous imperial guard beast man with a Jump pack and hand flamer), several feral world warriors (count as Wolfscouts) and a number of Loyal Crew embark on the newly captured Arvus Lighter. Making planetfall the expedition team finds those abandoned in the planetary evacuation considering how best to make their last stand. Needless to say they are not terribly popular and have to fight off an attempt to capture their flier, but eventually they manage to locate a trader who knows where the landholders have gone - a group of intriguing ruins that has emerged after an uncanny six day storm sweeps away a huge mass of sand.

A short flight later and the ruins are in sight. They are extremely well preserved, and there are some puzzling aspect readings.


Cautiously Helstrom orders a circle of the area, revealing a hidden enclosure.





He decides to land near a tent that turns out to be the women's camp. Perusing their notes, more is revealed about the ruins, Helstrom thinks it likely that they are pre-imperial, possibly even Xenos. Meanwhile, the feral worlders head off in search of treasure!



I greatly enjoyed creating the terrain for this battle, and for Luceron in general. I wanted the world to have a distinctive look, and further I wanted it to be DIFFERENT from our regular terrain, even if that meant it would not look as "good". While I could do a few pieces, there was no way I was going to come up with a whole new set of terrain for a maximum of 9 games. Therefor I settled on using a style I'd always liked since seeing it in the 3rd edition 40K rulebook - cloth drape. I do wish I'd had a bit MORE brown cloth - and all matching - might buy some in the future, as I can probably find other uses for it. Rocks are, of course, free, though not always easy to find in the winter, but by happy chance I have a pile in my basement. Additionally, by using cloth draped over whatever I could find (in this case plywood on paint cans) I was able to create significant "dead zones" and give the table a different feel than our usual gaming surface. Luceron is not a desert world per se, but it has less water than earth-like world, with seas of brine and many dry, dusty, rocky arid areas.

The party spreads out to investigate the buildings - but nothing attacks them yet.



Kang investigates the portal and notes that it seems to require some kind of key, though what it opens is unclear.



The Loyal Crew finger their weapons nervously looking in all directions as night fall, bathed by the landing lights of the Arvus.



The Feral Worlders pillage another building, this time blasting their way in with Krak grenades. Inside this one they find some interesting tech - sleek rifles and alien grenades.



"Eldar!" exclaims Helstrom as they brandish their newfound toys. Speak of the Xenos…. ….a sleek vehicle races in from behind the bluffs. Helstrom considers his options, as a passenger disembarks alone. With a really good tactics roll he realizes that these are Eldar Pirates, but the one disembarking has rather different equipment…



Cautiously, Helstrom advances to speak with the xenos. The masked figure suggests a temporary alliance - he desires something from within the enclosure, but warns that it is protected by automated defenses of wraith bone. He warns Helstrom that his companions in the Venom are rather… …excitable. In fact he admits that they are hearing a rather different conversation than the one that is actually taking place. He has the key to the portal, a miniature web way link, that will take them to the inner sanctum, but lacks the forces overwhelm the guardian. Helstrom considers attacking the Xenos then and there, but decides to bide his time. Meanwhile, Kang leaps up to the top of the bluff, discovering that there are automated elder weapons emplaced there! Flying in will be difficult. Down below a pair of Wraithguard emerge from hidden alcoves and are promptly charged by the Feral worlders. The Loyal Crew begin shouting about something moving on the opposite side of the bluff - Tyranid Vanguard Organism? Heinrich the Pulsegunner recognizes it from the boarding of the Orion - LICTOR!



Calling for a general assault, Helstrom advances through the now open portal. The Feral Worlders dispatch the wraith guard in close combat with some very lucky rolling. The Raider (which turns out to be full of wyches) boosts over the wall after Kang destroys the weapon emplacement. Turns out it is not the only one, and it is destroyed by intercepter fire.



More defenders emerge - this time wraith-spiders, constructs equipped with web spinners and jump packs who have waited thousands of years to defend their charge - a lone tree growing in the sheltered enclosure.



They are no match for the Wychs however, who are pursing some mission of their own that seems to involve a great deal of carnage.



Continuing the search for the Archeologists, or anything valuable that isn't nailed down, the feral worlders and Kang enter a building perched on a a high cliff. Meanwhile, the some of the Loyal crew takes potshots at the lictor as it moves from cover to cover, edging in on their position. Helstrom is content to lie low for the moment with another part of crew. He has reached the inner sanctum, but there is still no sign of the mission objectives.



But now a new player emerges on the scene - a wraith lord appears, but it is clearly tainted… … by Chaos! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! The wyches now turn on the crew, slaughtering several messily, but are in turn gunned down by Helstrom and the feral worlders firing from the cliff top. The Harliquin takes this moment to charge off on his own, obtaining his objective - a cutting from the tree which he places within a stasis sphere. Clearly this was something he could not allow to be devoured by the Tyranids….



At last the Archeologists appear, galloping their camels ahead of a writhing horde of tiny shapes. Tyranid rippers or chaos scarabs? Does it matter?



Helstrom executes a daring plan, using Kang to neutralize the intercepter guns ringing the valley while bringing in the Arvus, snatching the Landholders just in the nick of time. The feral worlders find a particularly impressive looking hand bomb, but decide not to try it out yet - good thing, since it turns out to be a Vortex Grenade! Helstrom offers the Harliquin a ride and he accepts, offering a favor in return - though he recommends Helstrom save it to ask for a quick death. In the final bit of drama, the loyal crew manage to outrun the Lictor over several turns (?!! Dice, who can understand em.), escaping with the precious pulse rifle once again.





Everywhere our heroes seem to go, Chaos dogs their steps. Is the Argo cluster doomed to fall to its insidious plots? Are the Eldar through with this doomed world? Which faction of the Mechanicus really won that civil war? Is there nothing Kang can't do? Tune in next time!

Meanwhile, in the third of the "Phase One" battles taking place on Luceron, landing parties from the Princess of Orion attempt to intercept a gene stealer cult convoy. If the convoy breaks through refugee camps will be compromised as cultists infiltrate those waiting to board the Orion, or infect them with the gene stealer's kiss. Therefore it must be destroyed or driven back. This used the new random victory condition cards. They were good for random fun. If I was going to use them seriously I'd monkey with the rules for when you can get them, and perhaps have the number of cards in play increase as the game goes on, so a player who falls behind in some random grabs in the early turns isn't out of the game.

I don't remember the game well, but here are the pictures!



Kreigsmarine and Tanks



Cult deploys its most effective vehicles - Rhino variants - Assault ramp, Quad Gun, and red command vehicle.



Oops, forgot about the Demolisher. Guess that counts as effective. : ) Also, there most effective vehicles actually turned out to be trucks full of bombs, followed by trucks full of hybrids or beast men.



Quad gun fits perfectly on a Rhino as it turns out.



Magus. He mostly summoned demons in this game. I like to run the Patriach with telepathy and roll for invisibility. Invisible gene stealers are nasty.



Hybrids and an anti tank gun. I believe their ride had just blown up.



Kreigsmarine moving up.



Bomb Truck goes boom in the Kreigsmarine's faces.



Daemons!



Hmm - there was a great deal more to this battle that we didn't photograph it looks like, including the exploding sentinel flanking attack, and a whole lot of Insurgency Walker's tanks blowing stuff up. In the end, with the Valkyrie in play the cult got pretty roughly handled, though they hung in there on victory points by occupying more of the table.

All Three Objectives - (Black disks with white eagles) The Imperial guard must fall back from one to the next as the game progresses.

Turn 1-3 Objective 1 (the refugee camp) scores 1 VP per turn. Protect the escaping imperial citizens as they flee from their tents!
Turn 3-5 Objective 2 (the landing pad ramp) scores 1 VP per turn. Hold the ramp so the terrified citizens can stream up onto the pad.
I really need a terrified mob of refugees as a moving objective.
Turn 5-7 Object 3 (the landing platform). Hold this or you don't get off the planet!

The final objective was the players employer, the eccentric Lord Ikos. He moved randomly for the first 3 turns (2D6 each turn, based on the scatter die, with the players controlling the "hit" rolls), wading into battle if he contacted Tyranids, and was worth 2 VPs if alive at the end of the game. On turn 4 he was controlled by the player and moved as a normal infantry model. However, even dead his body was worth 1 VP and could be picked up an transported.



A Chimera with the Priest "The Fisherman" guard the refugee camp.



Col. Helstrom surveys the battlefield from a commanding view point, ready to swoop down where he is needed.



The loyal crew guards the East. Can Heinrich the Pulsegunner survive another battle? Will he eventually reach BS 3?



The landing pad is strongly held, while a loading sentinel stands ready.



Genestealers burst from cover in the hot desert sun, led by the patriarch and the battle is on!

A lictor bursts from a tent and is assaulted bravely by the Loyal Crew. That doesn't end well.



More gene stealers moving up:



The party in the refugee camp held off one group of gene stealers, but fell prey to the other.



Genestealers used the old "sustained assault" rules and kept respawing on random table ages. Spore mines also rained from the skies every turn

The landing pad group kept up steady supporting fire.



The Plasteel Falcon roared on and commenced blasting stealers.



Looks like we stopped taking pictures at that point. A small mawloc appeared near the landing pad and was bravely attacked by the Tech Priest driving the loader sentinel in the best aliens fashion. When the sentinel was destroyed he fought on foot, being reduced by Helstrom and Kang at the last minute. They then mounted up in the Falcon and flew down the board and snatched the body of their employer from some gene stealers on the last turn. Casualties were heavy, but at least some of the refugees escaped!

More of the Loyal Crew have been painted.

url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/683947-.html][/url]

The Engineers, led by the highly Dubious Engineer's Mate Cargus.



Boarding Party #1, led by Lt. Nakamura Gunther. Special weapon: Pulse Rifle.



Boarding Party #2, led Lt. Barbarossa with splinter rifle and meltagun.



Specialists and allied officers on loan from Toujours L'Audace

Slowly working on reactivating this campaign after a while off. The next scenario calls for a mechanicus installation. I'm doing it in kind of a desert theme, which should fit with Luceron pretty well.

Here's a start:

Looking forward to it, this whole thing is very neat and inspiring.

Luceron Expedition Update:

Phase one is complete and Phase 2 has begun.

In the early stages of the consumption of the doomed world, the Princess of Orion held her position above the planet. Three operations were carried out - the rescue of two Hinterland Nobles on an archeological Expedition, the Boarding of the Safire Star tramp Freighter, and a Mass evacuation.

Phase 2 has begun. Spores rain down on the planet, hive ships are in orbit. Tyrannid vanguard organisms lead the first mobile swarms. So far one daring recuse has been carried out, snatching the inhabitants of an agricultural district from the very claws of the Genestealers, though alas their lord, who paid for their extraction, was not among them, though is body was restored to his grieving tenants. The Princess of Orion has withdrawn to a lunar orbit, but it is still possible for swift shuttles, and the Tojours L'Audace to run the Tyrannid blockade.

The second Phase 2 operation will targer a Mechanicus Facility not yet fully evacuated. There is likely to be valuable "Salvage" in the base. Some Mechanicus forces remain, but few on the Princess have much love for the Mechanicus. In Considering the operation, Free Trader Bellepheron observed that any major Tyrannid forces were at least a day away, and Auspex visual images were updated by Orbital Vigil Drone every 52 minutes.

The landing party will secure the surface then enter the underground complex. Shuttles will carry the valuable materials away.






Automatically Appended Next Post:
As Col Helstromm leaves the briefing room and walks down a long vaulted corridor with Luceron rising in the arched portholes. Sgt. Trinkman hurries alongside. "Sir, there's something awry - the timeseals on these orbital Pictscans are wrong - these are badly out of date. I don't know who..."

"I did"

A hulking shadow detaches itself from the shadows - Kuliki, the Techmarine of the Kestrals. His helmet is removed showing his pale face, broad, heavy brows, thick lips, large luminous eyes and ears extended with gauges rimmed with tiny circuitry.

"It was necessary that Free Trader Bellepheron agree to the mission. The Risk is acceptable."

"You are a loyal servant of the Imperium, are you not?"

"You have seen the foul cultists celebrating in the streets of Pentegrad. You found something at the Uplink Tower though I do not yet know what. You have boarded a ship that should not exist, and found creatures of the Great Devourer within it's holds - holds that contained something valuable enough that the Thousand Sons mounted a costly expedition to retrieve it. We do not yet know if they succeeded."

"We need to know the causes and outcome of the Mechanicus civil war. A data core from a high value mechanicus installation might provide that information."

"I will accompany you, as will the Lexmechanic Pythia. After all, the risk is acceptable."


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Forces:

The Players will command 500 points of IG, 500 points of orkish Mercenaries, a boarding party led by Captain Jean-Dan Gbwe in a Rhino, a Hinterland Naval Infantry Squad led by petty officer Eliose, and two Hinterland Walkers.

(Walker, Armor 11-11-10, Transports 5, armed with 2 TL autocannons (Male version) or 2 TL heavy stubbers (female), plus a TL Blaster (Assault 1, St 5, AP 2, 12" range.

Gbwe's boarding Party:





Mechanicus forces are not yet known.

Tyranids will enter on Turn 1, with a D3 units entering each turn. Tyranids will continue to recycle as long as the game continues.

Minus 7 hours, 7 minutes Zulu time.

Sgt Donner finished the maintenance ritual on his lasgun, slapped a hot shot pack in place, then stowed the weapon with the Plasteel Falcons emergency kit. "So the Col. Says this is going to be a hot LZ, wish we had more fire support for this one. "
His long time copilot Sgt. Southerland shrugged. "Kestrels will be on target. "
Sgt Donner leaned closer to his copilot, his unlit cigarillo dancing in his mouth "That's the problem, the Kestrals don't role out for the usual fethed up dookie, they only role for the real heavy duty dookie. And they are pulling the wool over the eyes of heresy hair Bellepheron just to poke around in this particular dookie pile."

"Is that what has Trinkmans undies in a twist?"

"That's about half of it, he thinks he got caught with his hand in the Kestrals cookie jar finding some data discrepancies."

Sgt Donner lit his cigarillo by shorting a power pack with his belt buckle before continuing.

"The Col. Thinks we will have to move fast, so our side of the operation will be totally airborne, just one veteran squad riding in the Falcon and No. 7 For The Col., Kang and the Marines."

"No Vulture support?" Sutherland asked

"No, Aces and Eights is being held in strategic reserve for support of engineseer Arclight. I tell ya, the Ork could learn a thing or too about looting from the Col. when it comes to recovering war material. The Col. Has a lead on a Macharius heavy tank. He can't let a beauty like that become a nid vitamin snack. Looks like TF 120 Lt Armored reconnaissance is about to gain some serious weight."

Sgt. Southerland finished stowing a grav chute harness under his copilots seat, "Oh... finding logistical support for a super heavy tank, no wonder Trinkman has been acting like he's about to birth a razor wolf. "

The Board



I enjoyed the set up as always. I'd delayed doing this game for about a year while I worked on terrain for it off and on, but then just said "screw it" and used whatever I could find around the shop and in the terrain bins. Worked out quite well I think.































The Underlevel on a sideboard. I feel like my space hulk stuff is too bright and cheery. Gotta darken it. Use a darker grey on the wall sections for starters, maybe overspray a dark olive green on the floors on one side with a dark grey on the other.

Sgt. Trinkman looked up from his workbench, distracted by the sound of powered armor moving across the maintenance bay. He recognized the familiar whir thump of Engineseer Arclights power armor but didn't recognize the towering individual behind him whom could have only been one of the Kestrals, a chapter of the adeptus astartes.

"Greetings Friend Sgt Trinkman, allow me to introduce Engineseer Brabus"
Trinkman did a double take as he recognized the red robes and power armor of a techpriest engineseer loom behind Brother Arclight.
The behemoth spoke through a vox system whose every syllable struck Sgt. Trinkman like a thunderbolt heard through a bank of church organ pipes.
" I see the circuits of your meditation, may the omnissa bless your workspace Sgt Trinkman. "
"Thank you". Sgt. Trinkman turned his gaze to brother Arclight his eyes hardening.
"Did Donovan put you up to this?"
"Up to what?"
"A space marine, dressed up as an engineseer ha, ha, lame joke."
The behemoth spoke again. This time less thunder, but more pipe organ, pipe organ in hurricane.
"I assure you there is no humor in our meeting Sgt. Trinkman, and I have not been modified with the gene seed of the astartes."

"But, your fething huge! You take up more space in a corridor than any spacemarine I have seen, even your power axe is huge!"

"Ah, actually the haft is the same length as mine." Brother Arclight interjected.

"Indeed, but the head is bigger though" the behemoth said with rather less pipe organ. "Is this a problem?"

"Oh, sorry no, not at all, let us not speak of this again."

Across the maintenance bay servitor Adjutus dropped a collet ring which rolled around in ever decreasing circles while he chased after it. He chased it for a full minute before it rolled to a stop.

Brother Arclight broke the silence first.
"I would like to see Col. Helstroms after action report, it has not been filed."

"Yeah, the Col. Is still on bed rest. He survived but at the cost of his refractor field. That is the fething second he has wrecked jumping between an ally and danger. Maybe the Kestrals can replace it, or aid in its repair. It was lost keeping brother Kuliki out of danger."
Trinkman pointed to a blank spot at a large chalkboard that had maintenance schedules for the company's vehicles recorded.
"We lost the Arvus too, fething shame the pilot didn't survive the crash he had skill. Sgt. Southland was riding in the back at the time with the survivors of the marauders. Came through without a scratch but swears he is never setting foot outside the Plasteel Falcon again. Good news is, the Mause is back up and running. Helstrom will like to get his command sentinel back. "

A single mechandrite from the behemoth picked up a pice of chalk and added a new name to the company vehicle list. "Well Sgt. Trinkman, I of the Barabus clan present to warrior Kang the assault interceptor 'Rightious Fury'"

For the second time in the last 10 minutes Sgt. Trinkman did a double take. "Kang? Wait, I thought you were the techpriest assigned to the Macharius heavy tank?, does Kang even drive? What's an assault interceptor?"

Brother Arclight chimed in, "all in good time Trinkman, it's a complicated logic diagram."

Sgt. Donovan stuck his head into the workshop and yelled out "hey Trinkman, you need to come see the Kangmobile" then disappeared quickly.

Brother Arclight turned to the behemoth and struck a submissive pose, "sorry, I'm sure Sgt. Donovan didn't mean any disrespect"

"It's quite alright engineseer Acrlight, 'Rightious Fury' has had many nicknames over the centuries, why as a child I called it Vroom Vroom Dakka Dakka. Still, if Kangmobile is used to many times it will stick, be sure Kang approves of it before then."

The set up.

Intel suggested that 3 main entrances would give us access to the lower level. Updated position reports on the tyranids painted a grim picture. We would have no time to conduct diplomacy with the mechanicus forces.

The lower level contained the data nodes that the tech marine needed to explore.

The action.

The combined arms of the main strike force arrived in mass. The Valkyrie Plasteel Falcon entered the field using outdated flight techniques striking deeply into the main defensive position of the base defenders. The loyal crew and engineers moved into position via foot and transport. We wanted to place the full weight of the strike force on a single entrance to the underground facility. Unfortunately the Arvus lander containing myself, Kang, Techpriest Kuliki, Sgts Trinkman, and Sampson plus a servitor had to wave off on its first landing approach. The Karelian irregulars, Ork mercenaries, chose not to deploy fearing the encroaching mass of tyranid life forms.

Sgt. Donner failed to exhibit his usual flying flair and the automated anti-air battery caused enough damage to force a landing. The base defenders moved to intercept our forces and continued to engage our transports but failed to cause further damage.

Then, perhaps luckily, the tyranids arrived.

Sgt. Harkness lead his squad out of the immobile Falcon and were joined by its crew. This time the Arvus hit its mark, I and my squad disembarked behind the defensive wall next to the bases mostly robotic defenders and their human leader. I suggested we combine our efforts and directed gunfire on the tyranids hoping we would appear to be the lesser threat. Even though their deployment was hasty, Sgt Harkness and his heavy bolter payback tore into the front ranks of the nids, and his teams snipers managed to pin the beasts, clear sign that the tyranids vanguard lacked any of the larger beasts that allowed for more fanatical persistent coordinated attack. Some crew entered an out building attached to the main complex hoping to find safety in cover, only to be engaged by a robotic defender.


My instinct was true, the human mechanicus defender directed his squad to engage the tyranids. My heart was lifted but only momentarily as the other mechanicus forces continued to engage both the tyranids and the raiding party. The fighting turned to hand to hand as the tyranids vanguard charged over the defensive line into our grounded forces, engaging mechanicus and task force elements in a disordered wave.

I lead my reduced sized squad into the underbase, soon to be joined by the boarding party led by Captain Jean-Dan Gbwethe.


The Valkyrie Plasteel Falcon was critical to the success of our mission so I ordered Sgt Trinkman to join its crew and repair the vehicle. We were all relived when Sgt Donner announced over the come channels "behold the power of a fully operational Valkyrie." destroying the walking tank engaging the hinterland walkers. I was totally taken by surprise when I also heard Sgt Southlands com the Arvus and request "drop me by the air defense gun". Apparently he had taken an exception to the weapon that had wounded his ship, or perhaps it was the desire to engage the enemy with two twin linked auto cannons. Maybe one day I will ask.

The soul survivor of the mechanicus squad,a Sgt. reciting prayers to Phobos armed with a storm shield mounted up in a rhino, only to be joined by Sgt Harkness and the remainder of his squad. Being chased by tyranids, it looked like the end was near for them when the trusty transport got immobilized by a lucky assault.

Time was wasting, the tyranid waves showed no sign of slowing while we finally worked out a treaty with the mechanicus forces. We would be allowed to travel in the sub base from the tyranid threatened entrance to a safer exit on the other side. We now could come in proximity to the data nodes we needed, but could not interact with them without gaining the ire of the mechanicus commander.

The treaty in place, Sgt Southland employed the defensive battery to good effect on the approaching tyranids. The Valkyrie rained missiles from its pods onto the aliens killing scores.

While we continued negotiations with the techpriest Dominus, our forces continued to secure the sub base entrance by guarding the door. The lesser bioforms took pause and a true behemoth began to approach the entrance behind us. Dis Spite the combined arms of mechanicus and task force the tyranids where encroaching on all the entrances to the sub base.

Captain Jean-Dan Gbwethes boarding party came to loot, and loot they did. However they were spotted carrying a crate and soon created just the kind of diversion Techpriest Kuliki needed to slice the first node. I don't know what sorcery he used, but he didn't trip any alarms as he conducted his work. Unfortunately our truce was about to break apart. Captain Jean-Dan Gbwethe, chose to drop the looted crate while we tried negotiations to gain access to another data node. Perfect timing, base alarms klaxons sounded with the phrase "tyranids have entered the facility". Techpriest Kuliki would be allowed access to a node to give data recovered from the Princess on the tyranids to aid in the base defenses. Once again the Marine did his duty without tripping any alarms.

Outside, Sgt Southland gave up the high ground leaving mechanicus snipers the only friendly force to defend the autoguns. After many rounds of withstanding assault by tyranids, the immobile Rhino finally failed and was wrecked. The brave mechanicus Sgt. Leapt into the mass of hostile bioforms while Sgt. Harkness lead his squad over the wreck away from the nids.

Sgt. Southland asked to be dropped by one of the external features of the surface base. Mechanicus troops didn't like his tampering with their holy shrine and would have shot him for looting on the spot, but he pulled a quick sleight of hand and tossed the troops a set of waterwings from his survival vest which they attempted to return to the shrine. The ruse lasted long enough for him to grab a second bit of shrine and run onto the Arvus for a quick getaway. The pilot of the Arvus tried to jam the report of the crime but failed. Lucky for us, the situation in the sub base had become so desperate that only by working together would any of us escape. Tyranid Warriors had entered the sub base from all entrances and some huge monstrous creature had made it through the valiant rearguard defending our entrance point.

The Falcon, and Arvus were drawing fire while continuing to attempt to clear an escape path from the sub base. Encouraged by the presence of loot the Ork Raiders finally moved to ungage, but were caught in a cross fire of tyranids and mechanicus.

The Arvus moved to rescue Sgt. Harkness and his squad who managed to flee the perusing tyranids. The wreck of the red Rhino, blessed of Phobos and Deimos, continued to hamper the assault of the tyranids who got entangled in its wreckage. The Arvus pilot also engaged one of the larger bioforms menacing the Orks.

Deprived of a meal, and getting wounded by the combined fire of the falcon and Arvus the bioforms began to direct heavy fire on the two flyers. The Arvus went down in flames, with only Sgt Southland and Harkness surviving. The Falcon disengaged while Sgt. Trinkman continued repairs.

Below ground, my squad supported by mechanicus troops, engaged in more melee with the Tyranids as we ran for the closest exit. One of the Techpriests gave his life setting the facility's self destruct sequence, the Techpriest Dominus finally entered the fight to great effect. My bodyguard Kang cut through the gene stealers blocking our path leaving a single tall tyranid, perhaps a zoanthrope blocking our escape!


One last fight to freedom. All remaining strike force personal had converged on the entrance at the surface, clearing it of hostile units. My squad charged after failing to bring the zoanthrope down with pistol fire. In my hast to protect tech marine Kuliki I jumped between him and the raging tyranid. With a flash of blue light and the smell of ozone my refractor field failed as I was struck down. Kang, my faithful body guard, avenged me and carried my broken body to the safety of the waiting Valkyrie.

The tongue lashing was epic, and went on, and on. The effect was rather like being grilled by one's sarcastic opera singing overweight grandmother who has the authority to throw you out of the airlock. Free Trader Bellopheron was angry, very angry. Not only had the expedition failed to achieve any objectives (as far as she knew), but casualties had been heavy. Bringing on board a mid-to-high ranking Tech Priest was hardly a consolation, given that she, like many of the crew, had a distinct dislike of the Mechanicus. Then there was the matter of the faulty orbital surveys that had precipitated the mess. The search for the responsible person took an hour, and since the person responsible was, in fact, a space marine, it was never going to succeed. Eventually an Auspex officer was about to take the fall, when the Kestrels stepped in and declared the matter closed.

Finally the ordeal was over. Later that watch, tech marine Kuliki explained what had been learned.

"Our mission was, in fact a success. The data recovered has shed at least some light on the origins of the Schism of the Mechanicus and perhaps more. The schism occurred when a Data Event swept the Mechanicus mind web. It was extremely high clearance, and the data itself was not present in the cores we viewed. It may have been fully purged at this point. However, it's origin was recorded." With a ritual gesture he conjured a planetary image on the viewer - a world with a single massive continent amid oceans.

"UT - 326. Interdicted Xeno-Artifact world. Locally known as Zarathustra. The data event was triggered by an upload from a Mechanicus exploration team returning from a three year expedition to the major continent. If we want to know what caused the schism, and thus perhaps how to deal with it, we need to go to the source."

"There are several complications." A brief incantation, and the continent was outlined in red. "An ancient xenos weapon destroys any object in atmosphere over the primary continent. The mechanism is unknown, but it has so far proved impenetrable." A gesture and a small island near the mouth of an enormous river glowed. "Port Kain, gateway to Zarathustra. A small legitimate trade in exotic plant and animal products flows through it. Along with the massive and profitable trade in xenos artifacts. Expeditions leave from Port Kain and travel by boat along the coast or into the interior. We will need to occupy Port Kain to mount a full expedition into the interior."

"However, the Mechanicus has tasked a detachment of the ON(SF) with preventing smuggling. The space based defenses we can deal with, but there is a network of ground to orbit missile silos mounted on a series of tiny islands. These are of a class we cannot defeat safely from Orbit. The silos in turn are defended by airfields with a small but capable compliment of aircraft which assist in the anti smuggling operation. We will need to insert an airborne force and conduct an island hopping campaign to defeat the ON(SF) and take control of the silos. With the silos in our hands, we will not only be able to conduct a bulk landing at Port Kain, we will also be safe from interference while we attempt to retrace the steps of the Mechanicus explorator team."

"Clearly, we need more planes. We will also need to convince Trader Bellepheron to undertake the expedition, though given her fondness for treasure I do not think that will be too difficult."

Turning to the view port he gazed contemplatively at the doomed world of Luceron. "And of course, our work here is not yet done. I am certain Bellepheron will brook no early departure."

Next Battle will be Apocalypse! Intro fluff:

Crescendo:

The death of a world.

The crew of the Princess of Orion continued to carry out operations as Luceron died. Typical missions involved descending on remote locations with overwhelming force to carry out extractions and were successful with minimal casualties. The Princess hung in high orbit with the rest of the Jackal pack, eluding roaming drones and occasionally swooping down for extraction easily outrunning the more numerous and aggressive hive ships in low orbit and blasting aside light units. By and large however the invaders were focused on devouring the arid planet’s biomass, many of them tethered to the surface by feeder tendrils and uninterested in a few morsels in a fast moving metal shell.

Now a great prize beckons - the city of Valrathin, Jewel of the Mindrith coast. Evacuations had been carried out early and in haste, but the wealthy had left behind much of their wealth for later removal, guarded by loyal retainers, PDF, and even some well equipped Imperial Guard units. The freighter tasked with the second evacuation was caught in orbit attempting to run the Tyrannic blockade. The Orion was happy to take it’s place, but how many of the original owners would get their objet’s d’art back would be a subject for negotiation.

Initial landing went smoothly with a substantial force deposited by bulk lander. The city was all but deserted and the nearest Swarm was days away. The city seemed to be inhabited only by scurrying shadows and a few household staff barricaded in high tech mansions, aside from it’s military defenders.

Then disaster struck. The Princess suffered a massive drive failure. Estimated repair time was five or more days. The Saphire star lacked the performance characteristics to make an orbital pass and Toujours L’Audace the ability to carry enough bulk landers to do the job. Small shuttles might evacuate a handful of personnel, but with hundreds in the city with valuable heavy equipment, the decision was made to attempt to hold. The limited biomass of the city would warrant only a (relatively) small force in attack. The Tyranids might bypass it entirely in favor of nearby thorn forests and marsh flats until an overwhelming force could be gathered, but which time the free traders hoped to be long gone. As a bonus the city boasted a strong fortified perimeter which the previous defenders had spent more than a month improving.

Sot the Prophet, called by some the Fisherman, woke with a start. He’d dreamed he was in a hole and dirt had been thrown in on top of him. Was it his time to die? Was the Emperor calling him home? He thought for a moment. No, it was clear he was meant to bury himself inside the perimeter and attack the tyranids from below!

Sub Magos Donovan intonned a the primary canticle of Optics and ran through the optical device rites of propitiation for the second time. Suddenly the image sprang into clear focus and he shouted for the protection of the All-Circuit while fumbling for the alarm.

Sgt Eliose strolled to the mansion’s enormous bay window looking out of the city dressed only in her knickers. Just as she was vaguely thinking about breakfast, sirens began to wail. Landing Party Crew spilled out of their billets the couryard, some wearing odd items of high fashion. An ancient woman with leathery brown skin and a cloud of white hair dressed mostly in feathers ran down the street clutching a plasma caster.
“Where the feth did she come from?” Eloise wondered briefly before squinting at the horizon where something was emerging from the dawnlight.… Something massive and terrible. She shivered remembering that she was on a world where every living thing would die within weeks.

But what of it, really? She’d slept this night in a bed bigger than the house she’d been born in and eaten feotal whale steaks which cost more for a bite than her mother earned in a week. She’d leapt from one starship to another across the void and lived to tell the tale, rubbed shoulders with peoples from a hundred worlds. Not bad for a girl born the youngest of eight in on a goat farm. She turned and ran for her gear.

Troops hurried to defensive positions, squinting out over the rocky plain, hoping to blunt the assault long enough to convince the devourer to go elsewhere for a time. The swarm, a churning sea of black and yellow carapace, began to coalesce, homing in on the weakest point in the city perimeter. On the battlements, Heinrich the Pulsegunner caressed his Xenos Rifle and wondered if that button the side really did what he thought it did.

Lt. Von Bingarten lowered her field glasses. “Well, there is upside. Several bounty-forms are present. If we survive, we’ll make a tidy sum. “ At that moment one of her naval infantry arrived at a run, pausing to gasp for breath.
“Mamzelle Lieutenant! There are irregular forces approaching from the rear! Gene stealer cult with light vehicles!”
Von Bingarten sighed. It seemed the scavengers had come out of the shadows. “Now we’re for it. Vox operator!”

Forces: Approximately 3,500 points of Tyranids, 1,500 points of Genestealer Cult.
4000 points of Player forces, plus Loyal Crew and fortifications.

Set up:

Table is played Lengthwise. Terrain is urban on one half of the table, relatively open on the other. Buildings tend to be intact.

The free Traders set up in a 36” inch deployment zone, 36” from one edge and 24” from the other. Tyranids deploy up to 12 inches out from the short table edge 24” from the player line. The Genestealers enter from the opposite short edge on Turn 2. Tyranids have first turn and set up first, no seizing allowed.

The winner is the side who removes 75% of the enemy’s force (by points) first.

In addition to survival, the player objective is to capture the carcases of several newly discovered bio-forms. When one of these creatures/units dies it becomes an objective. If the players control more than half of them and have more than half their forces remaining, that is a major victory.



Hadecyst.
These grub like creatures are seeded from orbit and burrow into the ground, lying dormant until sensing the approach of other members of the swarm while nurturing a clutch of spore mines. They are fed by small stealthy symbionts. When battle develops their vile heads emerge from their shallow hole and vomit forth the mines.

WS BS S T W A I Ld Sv
2 3 3 3 3 1 2 10 5+

Spore Launcher (Identical to Biovore but has only an 18” range but must target the nearest non vehicle unit).
Infiltrate
Deep strike (On turn 1).
Stealth
Vulnerable to blasts
Rocky burrow (2+ armor save vs. shooting).







Cephalon

This creature represents a new and terrifying development in Hive evolution. One great weakness of the tyranids is that they find the Imperium, particularly it’s technology, as incomprehensible as the Imperium finds them. The Cephalon represents an attempt by the Hive Mind to understand it’s enemies, rather than just devour them. Should it succeed, the consequences would be dire. The Cephalon has an enormous brain, but few obvious psychic powers. It is independent and curious, with many appendages designed to help it explore its environment. With an insatiable thirst for knowledge, it explores humans and their technology rather like a child with a new toy. A hideous, ten foot tall child with wings and tentacles for a face.

WS BS S T W A I Ld Sv
2 2 4 5 3 2 5 6 5+

Shrouded
Stealth
Wings - Moves as Jump Infantry
Hit and Run
Infiltrate
Scout/Outflank
Independent. The nature of the Cephalon’s mind means that it is less closely bonded with the Hive Mind. It is not affected by any rules for synapse creatures, etc. It follows its own whims and is not a scoring unit or able to capture objectives.

Tattered Skulker - The stealthy Cephalon is relatively non threatening (compared to other tyranids, and the danger it poses is rarely realized. It cannot be shot or assaulted unless it is the closest target.

Hideous Curiosity
When the Cephalon assaults or is assaulted by roll a die before any attacks are resolved.


1 Beyond probing a few things, the Cephalon accomplishes nothing.
2 One vehicle suffers a glancing hit automatically. Or one model of the Tyrannic player’s choice must pass an armor or invulnerable save or be removed from play.
3 The Cephalon takes control of the vehicle’s weaponry and immediately makes a normal shooting attack with it, including a pivot if needed. On super heavy vehicles it gets to fire a single weapon. Against infantry this causes them to take a Leadership check or flee the combat as though they had lost it without striking blows. Tyrannic units still get to make their attacks and the fleeing unit can be “swept”.
4 The Cephalon detects a weakness and gains preferred enemy against the target as do other Tyrannic units in the same combat, for this turn only.
5 The Cephalon learns how to avoid the weaponry of one type of vehicle or unit in the combat and passes this information to the Hive Mind. Tyrannic units may re roll saves against all models of the same type (e.g, IG infantry squad, Space Marine Sternguard, Chimera or Leman Russ) for the remainder of the game. Gaining this benefit is optional, however if you do remove the Cephalon as a casualty as bonding with the hive mind is fatal to it.
6 A fatal weakness has been found. All tyrannic units gain preferred enemies against units of one of the types in the combat. Remove the Cephalon as a casualty if you choose to use this.




Toxicrene Alpha

The Toxicrene Alpha has Tendrils that are fully aware weapon symbionts, able to attack on their own. Though less venomous that a normal Toxicrene’s tenticles, these weapons can each seek out its own targets and stretch further.

As per normal Toxicrene, except reduce Attacks to 3.

Add “Sentient Tenticles”.

The Toxicrene gets an additional shooting attack

9” range, Assault 8, S6, AP 3, Poisoned 4+, Interceptor, Skyfire (Optional).

The Toxicrene may attack with the Tendrils in Close combat. The tendrils are WS 3, S6, AP 3, Poisoned 4+, and can make 8 additional attacks at Initiative 8. They snake through terrain and ignore all penalties for assaulting into cover.







Aveceptor

One of the most Bizarre bioforms every encountered, the Aveceptor has twelve limbs, and is in fact two tyrannic life forms bonded together, giving it unprecedented mobility . It appears to be an evolution designed to deal with aircraft, since the Skaith hive has few flying creatures.

WS BS S T W A I Ld Sv
5 4 6 5 5 4 4 10 3+

Monstrous Creature

Bio Aspex. The Aveceptor has the Interceptor and Skyfire rules. It can also grant these abilities to one Tyrannic unit within line of sight during each turn, (including enemy turns) which lasts until the next turn of the same type. Further the unit in question may make an immediate out of sequence shooting attack against a flyer or deep striking unit when this rule is invoked.

Quadriped. Moves 9”, Assaults 3D6, Runs D6+3. Can “bound” D6” inches as part of its movement or assault. For those D6 inches (rolled before movement) it ignores terrain and enemy models.

Twin Link Impaler Cannons. S7, AP 3, Range 30”, Assault 3.


Parisite of Mortared - See Tyrannic Codex.

Doom of Malan’tai. Same.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Stupid autocorrect. Really need to adjust my preferences.

Additional Misc. Rules.

Prepared Positions:

The cities defenses are well prepared with fields of fire, escape routes, and lines of attack thoroughly mapped. Three times during the game the human player may invoke the prepared position rule to do one of the following:

Allow a unit to overwatch at full ballistic skill.
Allow a unit to hit and run.
A vehicle will be hit only on "6s" when assaulted, in addition it immediately moves backwards 2D6.
Allow a unit to use the counter Attack rule.

Only units in the Defensive belt may invoke this rule.

Venom cannons will use the Old Assault 2, S 7, AP 4, 36" glancing hits only rules.

Buildings will use vehicle embark/disembark rules with two models able to fire per window. Assaults are resolved against the models in the building, though attacks can be alocated to the building. Penetrating hits strike the models inside, who make take armor saves or invulnerable saves, but not cover saves. Large blast hits D6, small D3. Template simply hit D6 models no need to penetrate if they can touch a window or door. In addition, the building may collapse. Roll to wound for each penetrating hit vs T8 (light buildings), T9 (Normal ones), T10 (fortifications). If the building is "wounded" it collapses. All models must take an armor/invul save or suffer a wound.

Web way portals are active. You may "embark" into the web way like a vehicle. Each turn a unit is "in the web way", roll D6

1) The unit gets lost and is removed from play.
2) If there are enemy units in the web way they immeidately fight a close combat. Neither counts as assaulting or in cover.
3) Still in the web way.
4-6) You may disembark from any portal, as long as that would not place you within 1" of an enemy model. Otherwise remain in the webway and roll again next turn.

Like the Aveceptor conversion.

Thanks - my son did most of it actually.

The Tyranids deploy to devour the city...



The left flank has advanced further than the right, sweeping along the causeway over the tidal flats:



The cult and various gribblies remain in reserve:



The city's defenses - the buildings are a little small compared to super heavies...

Veterans prepare to defend the formal Nihon gardens against the genestealer cult attack.



Naval infantry also deploy to the rear in the harsh glare of Luceron's young sun.



Turn 1 The Tyranids surge forward with little strategy other than to use the Toxicrene's cover cloud and get into hand to talon combat as soon as possible.



Hormaguants prepare to go into the wire....



The cult Armor roles in. They would duel fairly effectively with the Imperial tanks for several turns.



Cult infantry occupies Hab buildings along the edge of the battlefield including heavy weapons teams.



As expected, the Tyranid shooting accomplished little turn 1. As was not expected, the imperial shooting also accomplished little - though they annihilated the cult heavy weapon teams in the 2nd story of the tentiments. Things were looking grim for the defenders !

Here smoke billows from the 2nd story cult weapons positions wrecked by a storm of imperial fire. Labor Platoon 23 is in position to assault next turn below the cars.



Never really finished this report, so here is the quick summary:

"Aaagghhh! Hormagaunt!" the hormagaunts and various shooting eliminated the infantry screen.



Labor Platoon 23 battles the Hinterlanders. The surviving Hinterland naval infantry would escape in the car as more genestealers arrived on the scene.



Dominus Dicto tries to slow the genestealer advance. Not bad for a bulldozer.



The doom of Malan'tai tries to pop up from the web way and use its power to suck life force and gain a zillion wounds, but something went wrong, I forget what. The Plasteel Valkyrie prowled the battlefield, here targeting a truckload of cultists.



Rough Riders take on a Trygon! If I remember correctly they lost.



Flank Attack!



The engineers bravely defend the bastion against the giant tyrnoslug thing! Forget what it was, but I remember they escaped out the back after managing to do a few wounds. Rippers devour the formal gardens.



The Tyranids are at the walls!







And over the walls! And Genestealers Outflanking!




View from the Imperial Lines at the the peak of the battle:



Up to this point the super heavies had been mostly hull down with few lines of fire and played a limited role. Now as the tyranids came up over the berm they opened fire and.... ....the nids pretty much evaporated. What's that you say, if you don't move you can shoot the mega bolter twice...? Err, Ok. Old one eye was the last hope of the nids and rampaged on flipping a tank or two, but that was pretty much the end of the line. So it goes.

Col. Helstrom's quote says it all:


"They came for our flesh but we gave them our steel, and didn't let the door hit our a** on the way out."

Game to the Rogue Traders, who made off with a pile of superheavy gear and a vacation resort's worth of treasure and objet d'art. Lady Bellepheron has been mollfied and the coffers of the Orion at least partly filled. But will her greed by the undoing of our heroes as she insists they remain during phase 3, as the tyrnnids complete digestion of the planet and move on.

A game from over the winter.

With Luceron's consumption by the Hive Fleet well under way, few have the courage to walk the surface if they have any choice and any way off the planet is well worth killing for. Two space Marine chapters, the Iron Wolves (with a few grey hunters, the ever resourceful feral worlders, and a pack of wolves), and an unnamed chapter with a team of scouts, veteran sniper and a scout speeder clash over the control of the Arvus lighter sent to retreive the feral worlders on their final mission to the Sojack river delta. One of the most significant biomass densities on the otherwise dry and arid planet, it has been over run by a riot of growth. Stalking both groups through the jungle are the tyranids - a brood of termigants (always liked the old, small 'gants - why make your disposable soldiers larger than a dog really), a hive guard and a trio of warriors. We used the combat patrol rules. There were three objectives, of which two were important to each faction. So for example the shuttle was an objective for both Marines but the Tyranids cared nothing about it.























Combat patrol was decent, and it seemed much less abusable than some of the previous iterations of it, though who knows. We didn't see any Ork looters. The Hive Guard proved nearly unstopable however, unleashing a torrent of deadly spines from it's hiding place. The wolves battled the Gants, and the marines traded shots. The Scouts rushed the landing platform to try to seize the shuttle but were wiped out. The feral worlders crept the long way around the masses of hive growth, only to encounter the warriors under the platform where a final, desperate combat ensued. In the end, the Nids were victorious, if I remember correctly.

You have such an amazing, colorful campaign full of unique terrain and models. So much good inspiration on this page. Someday after much more work, I hope to have this many biomes and settings to fight over in my campaigns!

But I have to ask, with such a variety of painted miniatures, why do you use unpainted models for a battle report? It takes away a bit from the magic.

But I still enjoy anything new you that you post because I know it will be packed with originality. Keep it up!

Thanks! I enjoyed your batrep too and hope to see more- video batreps are the norm now but just not my thing since I like to savor the pictures and fluff in my own time. Not to throw anyone under the bus, but it's not MY miniatures that are unpainted in most cases. I love a completely painted battle with good terrain, and we always give a little bonus (usually a once per battle reroll) to any painted unit. That said, I've gotten a lot less picky about it. Painting is not equally difficult for all due to health, vision, schedule, etc. for everyone. Given a choice between seeing new units on the table and playing all painted but with the same figures every time I can understand choosing the former. I found I was delaying games for months because not everything was quite right - and I don't get to play many games as it is. So I've given up on the perfection some are able to achieve alas. Hats off to those who can!

The Argo Cluster is a way to work though all the figures and terrain in my collection with episodes ahead such as:

The Plains of Skaith - all about ORKS and CARS.
The Skies of Zarathustra - Air War with PLANES
Voyage into the Heart of Darkness - our heroes on a RIVER GOING IRONCLAD vs LIZARDMEN
Vaurenheim War - Military advisors to feudal worlders, aka BRETONNIANS. beset by the THOUSAND SONS.
Return to Pentegrad - RPG episode involving CIVILIANS and GLADIATORS.
And so on.

Just gotta get my act together to actually play. : )

 The Riddle of Steel wrote:
You have such an amazing, colorful campaign full of unique terrain and models. So much good inspiration on this page. Someday after much more work, I hope to have this many biomes and settings to fight over in my campaigns!

But I have to ask, with such a variety of painted miniatures, why do you use unpainted models for a battle report? It takes away a bit from the magic.

But I still enjoy anything new you that you post because I know it will be packed with originality. Keep it up!

I AM GUILTY!

You may notice the slow painting of the Valkyrie over the reports. I'm one who moves at glacial speeds on models. I also have forgotten how to paint over the years. To put things in perspective the stretched sentinel was started in 4th edition maybe? Back when you could include sentinels in the HQ slot, almost like a heavy weapon team. GW sold bits, so I was able to purchase the legs from a penitent engine, and when the new kit came out I swapped out the old big las canon for the new smaller las canon just so the parts would span a decade.

Action on Luceron, post Consumption.

In time, Hive Fleet Skaith finished the digestion of Luceron and retired to deep space. Timidly at first, then with increasing boldness, like jackals moving in to a mostly eaten kill, hungry for meat but wary of lions, ships began to approach. Skaith was a typical of hive fleets, both in its general behavior and the specifics of it's feeding. It left scraps behind on the table. A wisp of atmosphere. A few living organisms, some origial species, some seeded by Skaith itself. A few pools of stagnant water. Some ruins. The intent was clear to the Magos Biologos - in 10,000 years the planet would produce another meal for the hive fleet. Unlike other fleets, that like locusts, intended to devour all life in the galaxy and move on, Skaith's intent was to remain as an Alpha predator. In the end it mattered little for it is unlikely any sentient life survived on Luceron.

A tyranid Void Kraken emerged from low orbit and devoured a scoutship, then unfurled its membranous drives and departed. Another scout approached, circled the planet, made planetfall.

Now the scavengers moved in en mass in a frenzied mob from where ever they had been hiding in system. There were treasures to be had. Vaults of precious materials overlooked by the 'nids. Holy relics the tyranids might not have gnawed. Samples valuable to the Magos. Data cores still broadcasting. Perhaps most of all, with the planet wiped of human life, the mineral rights belonged to whom ever first filed a proper claim. But such a claim required landing and placing markers, drawing up and broadcasting maps and pict scans. Possession was 9/10 of the law. Records were incomplete, lost or hidden. A mine might be profitable or played out. Someone had to go and see, and other someones might object.

Her hold full of treasure and lucky refugees, the Princess of Orion was still not sated. She drew in close. It is fair to say it was not the crew's finest hour. They had been united during their flight from the Mechanicus, and during the harrowing battles with Tyranids, but the scramble for the Tyranid's leftovers brought out the worst. At times teams from the Orion fought each other. In the confusion teams were often stranded for long periods of time and had to fight to survive. There were various reasons for this. Trader Bellepheron was occupied with the earlier spoils and leadership was in short supply. The aftermath of the Mechanicus expedition had exposed factions in the crew with different priorities. Some saw a subtler hand at work as well, sewing discord and confusion....

This episode is a Shadow War Armaggeddon Campaign, mostly standard rules. There is a mix of Kill Teams with NPC teams playing the extra games to keep everyone at the same number of games each round. Victory uses the standard conditions with generic "Treasures" replacing "Promethium Caches."

The Teams:

Disperate prospectors, pirates, scavengers and survivors fight through the ruins of world partially devoured by Tyrannids for the treasure and supplies the hive did not consume (or couldn't digest).



The Void Jackals Explorator Team. Sadly, space suits don't stop bullets all that well it turns out and more guns might be better, though Aphrodia and her grenades have done a bit of work. Counts as Astramilitarum with a Void Monk (commisar Specialist) and Ogryn.



Looks like the Hinterland Naval Infantry have found some of the last water on the planet - but is it safe to drink? And can a kill team based on as many lasguns as possible backed up by Krak grenades work?



Mechanicus Tech Guardians with a skitarii - count as Space marine scouts with some specialists in the background. Not painted by me, unknown Ebay person.



Engineer Squad. These guys nearly took out a Carnifex in regular 40K play by themselves, can they match those heroics in Shadow War format? Count as scouts.



Jean Dan Gbwe and the away team of the Tourjours L'Audace away team. Another Astra Miitarum counts as.



Ruglud's Armored Ladz.



Muglug Necksnappa and his yoof horde - the more feared gang on the planet.



Feral Worlders from the Princess of Orion.



The Action so far -

Aphrodia kicked at the strange material under foot. It as an odd mixture of rock fragments, sand, and other, less identifiable stuff and covered everything in sight. Here and there great boulders or ruins jutted up, or green slime grew across the scree. "What is this stuff?!" she demanded. The Skitarii ranger accompanying her group glanced at her, inscrutable behind mask and lenses. "Roughly equal part pulverized concrete, silica substrate, and dried tyranid excrement." Her foot squelched on something much fresher and she looked down. "I see. That, on the other hand, is Ork in origin... ...and I hate orks!" She drew her hotshot laspistol.

The Void Jackals battled Muglug and the Yoofs -
Ork Deployment:


Explorators hiding behind a wall. This would be a theme.


The explorators try to fend off a two pronged advance by the orks!


Falling back to their final position, they fire madly through the gaps trying to stop the green tide!




To no avail!




Despite a great deal of sneaking around, bottlenecking and grenade throwing, the Yoofs were just too much for the explorators, especially after the sniper ran out of ammo on the first shot! The Explorators need some hand to hand might to counter the Orks and fled the field with heavy casualties. No one died, but many were out of action for the next battle.

The Feral worlders fought the Orks next, and played the objective for a win from destroying the Promethium tank without much actual combat. This reminds me that the scenarios are really important for mixing things up. We may need to bring in some extra scenarios to keep things fresh. No pics though.

The third game was a 3 way. The explorators are returning to their vehicle hoping to reclaim it from the orks. Unbeknownst to them the Orks are ready for them. Unbeknownst to the Orks, the Feral Worlders are planing to take out everyone!


The Jackals reach the Vehicle. Unfortunately, much of their team is too hurt to fight.


Muglug leads one party agains the Feral Worlders while another assaults the hummies skulking around the bubble car.


Though the Jackals put up a better fight than last time, they are still roughly handled and bottle out! Once again their Skitari ranger runs out of ammo. What is with that guy? At least he fights off several orks climbing up the vehicle to get him.


Muglug with the rest of his team shot down in his wake, charges alone into the Feral Worlders:


And is captured! Will he escape? Tune in next month!

I am looking forward to it! the bubble car is quite fitting for a mostly devoured world setting i think

We do hope to get some vehicles involved at some point - glad you like it! Right now it is just terrain.

Day 2 -
Round 1

The orkish raiding party battled to rescue their leader, Muglug. Slipping through the twisting maze of an underground facility, they fell upon the unsuspecting Feral Worlders in a flurry of choppas. Not only did they resuce the Nob, but they captured the Feral World Leader in the bargain. Fabio the Wonder Yoof played a staring roll, earning the hatred of Feral Worlders who vowed revenge after he took down two or three of them.







Meanwhile, on the other table, the Void Jackals advanced on a half buried sanctum, determined to recover a casket containing Heronomus The Second, believed to be buried with a cache of Archeaotech. Disembarking from their bubble rover, they searched but to no avail. Heading towards the last possible location, they suddenly ducked for cover as Pulse rounds strobed by. Fithy Xenos Tau wanted the tech as well, having detected it's energy readings! The Void Jackals moved up along the galleries to the right. THX-35, the mechanicus sniper, did stellar work pinning down the tau and keeping them out of the major lines of advance as well as duelling the Rail Rifle xenos. The tau reached the treasure first, but Ivar bravely dared their overwatch to hurl in a grenade, wounding the pathfinder with a well thrown grenade. At the point the tau drone opened up, scattering the terrified void Jackals with a S5 barage! Aphrodia and Geminia ran up along the gallery and threw more grenades driving the tau back and damaging the horrifying drone. Benson bravely tried to charge the tau position, and got his head blown off for his trouble by tau overwatch. RIP Benson. : ( Revenge was swift however, for Specialst Vaul was now within range for his meltagun under cover and he blasted the drone at the same time THX-35 put down his opposite number, redeeming his lackluster previous games. The Tau bottled at this point with only a few minor wounds.









Round 2

The Feral worlders now found themselves sneaking back into their lair which had been taken over by the Orks to rescue their leader. They fell in with a rogue space marine and hired him as a Deathwatch Veteran... ...only to discover that he apparently had some deal with the Orks, because he literally rolled nothing but 1s before vanishing from sight while fighting Muglug. None the less they exacted a terrible revenge, three of them ganging up on Fabio the Wonder Yoof and killing him perminantly. Alas, poor Fabio. in Gorkamorka he wound up with a squig brain. For good measure they killed the Ork banner bearer and rescued their leader in fine style, putting them solidly in the lead on the campaign.

The Tau retreating through the buried sanctum encountered the Hinterland Naval Infantry for their second game, and approriately rolled a raid with their objective being simply to move off the board, which they did without too much trouble despite running through some heavy las fire and a well thrown grenade from Sgt Elois pinning a number of them. The tau bonding ritual is pretty awesome. They came through without major losses and some good advances ready to battle for survival on Luceron V!

General tactical thoughts:

So far no one is undefeated and things seem pretty even. The feral worlders are doing well, but they also haven't been in many brutal knockdown drag out fights. We need more missions I think - I'd like to adapt a few from other skirmish story games.

We also think we'd like to have vehicles, though we're not sure how to do that.

Long range shooting, close shooting, and assault all seem to have had their moments, so that makes me happy. So far Shadow war seems like an excellent system, though somewhat let down by the lackluster story mode. However, that is the easiest thing to fix.

The balance could be illusory though - we don't know how to play very well and often forget modifiers.

House rules for reference:
You only add 50 points to your warband when you spend a "Treaure", aka "Promethium Cache". Warbands thus have to choose between better gear and more members and and winning the campaign.

You roll an advance and give it to whoever you like, though you can't give the same model an advance twice.

We have a different, more dangerous "out of action" table. This is a grim struggle after all! Also, keep track of who hated who was confusing.

The search for treasure continues in the ruins of Ill fated Luceron....

The Void Jackals fought Muglug's orks and a new band of Eldar. A very dense board using the "scavengers" game except that there was a central treasure that counted as 3 loot tokens in the center. Muglug sent half his forces to fight each of the other gangs and grabbed the central treasure himself, winning the game. The eldar played it cautious, rolled really well, and came out with the most treasures in the end despite not winning.

The hapless Void jackals advance cautiously.


Could be orks anywhere... ....stay sharp.


Orks! Let's shoot them! Cool, they;re all pinned or down after we throw a bunch of grenades! CHAARGE!!!!


Can we defeat the one ork left standing with our best fighters?


Nope. Void Jackals get trounced, their leader dies alas, Carix Rimwalker, you had a cool figure despite never really doing anything. Oh, wait, you were the medic.... Their sniper did shoot the eldar weapons operator in the head though, temporarily putting an end to the weapons platform shenanigans.

We've continued playing, mostly I-Walker's tau vs my Void Jackals with occasional other guests. The brutal casualties rules make it a race to get to 15 treasures before your team evaporates.

Here the kill teams clash in a deserted city with no life bit but a bit of mutant vegetation the Tyranids left behind. The tau are ambushed and pinned down under the bridge.











Several times in several games the Void Jackals rushed the bridge, which ended badly. Every time.



The Tau are driven back to the landing platform under cover of their fearsome drone however.





Hurling Frag Grenades the sole survivor of the rush presses closer to the tau position.



Eventually the Void Jackal snipers manage to see off the drone, then join the assault on the tau stronghold. Due to making a crazy number of bottle checks, they hold on for the win!

In the follow up battle, an Old School Imperial warband showed up for a 3 way throw down...





Here some squats go hand to hand with the void jackal "Snot".

Next up was a "Road Wars" battle using some home brew rules I cooked up for vehicles in Shadow Wars. Generally we found the Rhino to be OP and the tau were roughly handled....







Next we rolled up a Mini Scenario and got "The good, the bad, and the lictor" which is a co-op game where one member of each kill team joins forces to try to get past a lictor that moves by semi random rules. I rolled Aphrodia, she of the pink spacesuit with the heart patch. I guess she was moved by the plight of a tau prisoner from the vehicle wreck, and when the Lictor came calling she freed him and gave him back his gun. I suspect she will never live this down - but she did live, by the skin of her teeth and with quite a bit of help from her tau pal. Although somehow it was her who was always playing the decoy, but she got off the board with a flesh wound from jumping from the walkways...









Sometimes if you lie very very still, the lictor won't kill you right away....

Episode... ...IDK....17?

RPG game using Shadow War rules for combat with GM.

Last Call on Luceron.

The sun shown down on the dead world of Luceron like a baleful eye. Uglug sniffed the air above the landing pad which smelled vaugely like the thing the sky gods used to try to keep their star sailers clean then squinted. Maybe not so dead after all. Somewhere in the vast, dusty distance shapes moved. He grunted a few gothic words and pointed.



Col. Helstrom scanned where the feral was pointing though his magnocular. Something was moving out there, big, coming stealthy but fast. Still, it shouldn't matter. They were at least 3 klicks out, and the shuttle was ETA five minutes. Then it was farewell to Luceron and good riddance. What could be looted had been, and that treasure bought with blood was stowed in the Princess of Orion's hold. His unit and the three Ferals were the last of the away teams on the surface. A mechanicum Arc was inbound to reclaim the planetary husk now that Hive Fleet Scaith had departed. The Princess was already boosting outsystem, but their shuttle was fast enough to overtake comfortably before the Cogs arrived. He'd wanted to take one last look through Facility 231 for data that might shed more light on the mystery of the mechanicus schism, but it had been futile. He puffed his cigar and cursed the thin atmosphere that so tainted the flavor. At least the nids hadn't taken ALL the air. Hard to smoke in a vac suit.



The shuttle appeared, a dot at first, growing steadily larger on a pillar of fire until touching down next to the wrecked sky shield. A hatch swung down and the pilot stepped out. He jerked a thumb behind him. "Vee go, yoss? Ju vant for I chek de bags or sumfin?"

A grinding interrupted this as a hatch, thought long deactivated opened on the skyshield. A platform raised up through it, revealing a group so out of place the band of hardened killers on the platform stood open mouthed and did not even reach for their weapons.



"I am Governess Kirklin. These are my wards, the children of the late planetary governor Aurelious. Somehow we have been overlooked in the evacuation and have spent a considerable time in the spaceport emergency bunker. We will, of course, be leaving with you."

Silence.

The Ferals were the first to recover.

"Dog go too?"

"Yes, the dog goes too."

"Dog is good eating."

"I wouldn't know."

The Pilot broke in: "I dostn care oo Ju iz. Dere iz only eight slings on de Shootle. Ju ain't goin."

The governess fixed him with a gimlet eye. "Unless I miss my guess, that man's patches and gear" she gestured at Trinkman, "indicate that he is a qualified orbital pilot. That makes you superfluous, thereby increasing the available "slings" by one."

A babble of conversation broke out with feral world math and orbital mechanics being bandied about in a lively manner, such as the possibility that one could cling to the outside of the shuttle and "breath through a long tube". The pilot drew his laspistol and stepped back into the hatch shouting. Hellstrom felt the need to take control of the situation, so he drew his plasma pistol and shot him. The pilot lurched back through the hatch, burning but still alive thanks to his heavy pressure suit and the hatch slammed shut. Muffled cursing followed as the shuttle powered up.

The governess frowned. "Unfortunate. I recommend you move your men back Guardsman. Up against the pad edge and cover your heads children."

Helstromm's sixth sense tickled. "Witchcraft!"

"Hardly". The governess produced a remote. "I really recommend you bring that fellow back this way." She gestured at the feral who was menacing the shuttle piping with his magic sky sword.

"Now wait a..."

"No." She pressed the button. The adjacent pad went up, taking the shuttle with it. To Helstrom's veteran eye, it looked to have been competently mined. The blast was less potent in the thin air, but none the less sent the feral flying, only his high gee physique saving him from serious injury.

"Madam!" said Helstrom testily "I have considerable experience escaping from doomed worlds, and one lesson I have learned is that personnel are a resource that should never be expended lightly!"

"I would submit, Guardsman, that Luceron is "Post Doomed", however your point is well taken. Sadly, I could not wager the fate of my charges on the altruism of your people."

"I take it then that you have a contingency?"

"I do. There is a ship some forty Kiloms north of here. You will escort us to it. It is capable of lifting a least a hundred. We will, however, require transport." She peered out over the horizon. "You would know better than I, but that appears to be the smoke of a burning vehicle. And while a burning vehicle is clearly unsuitable, there may be others."

*****************************


Dust swirled as the group looked gloomily at each other. One of the feral worlders was dead, his body slumped behind a rusted rhino. The governess was speaking quietly to the children.

"Now we shall see the funeral rites of their people. Won't that be interesting? Maybe they will sing as they send his spirit on."

Apparently the funeral rites of the Feral World consisted of taking everything of any possible value from the corpse before moving on. If the children were disappointed they didn't show it, staring vapidly as their nursemaid made odd gawping noises. The prize item was the Camobear Pelt cloak, slowly darkening as it lay in the shadow of the Rhino as the two surviving heavy worlders threw bones for it.

"What were those things?"

"Beats me soldier" said Helstrom. "They looked a lot like Barnabus and his crew of scavengers though. Always fancied themselves piratical."

"If Barnabus was made of green mist...."

Uglug stuck his head out of the Rhino. "Barabus, yes, yes. We fight him at big metal treasure place, but everybody run away. He no get away this time. Is here. Bad Sky Magic!"

Whoever had caught Barnabus hadn't given him a quick death. One messy sacrifice in the vehicle for each phatasm they'd faced in the desperate melee when the ghosts came swirling out of the Rhino.

They had approached the three rhinos with caution. Only the center one was burning, though the others were damaged. Caught by surprise they'd fought hard, but the misty shapes were not easily damaged, yet their swords cut readily enough.

A few minutes later, Trinkman had more bad news - the rhinos had been drained of fuel. It seemed Luceron would have the last laugh after all.







Uglug was unfazed. "No Prometheum? Maybe ask fisherman!" He pointed towards a shimmering patch at the base of nearby low, bleached hills.



***************************************************

"What do in pond?"

"Catch Crawlies. You like?" The thing on the stilts produced a wriggling creature from a bag. It was an immature tyranid ripper. More swam in the murky water. The stilts were metal, and still scared by the nashings of teeth. "You jump me, you sorry. Only me safe here."

"We need PRO-ME-THEUM. You see? Firewater. Go Juice. Guzzoline."

"No see."

"Who boom Rhino?"

"Azure Slayer. Him up in hills, have cannon. Good Ambush."



It has been a good ambush. The attackers had been in two parties, one of which had laid up in the low hills, the other attacking at close range. They'd tracked the first rhino in the line, blown the second, and massacred the third when the passengers disembarked. They'd left nothing behind but spent brass and bolter holes.


Sadly, I've lost the mojo to write this up line by line, though I think I-walker has an after action report, so in summary:

Our heroes managed to get one Rhino going using their flamer fuel. The sound of... ...bagpipes? drifted over the the thin air and they were approached by lunatic dancers and musicians who offered to take them to "The provider".



They drove to a deserted city.



It was full of rats.




The Rats fled abruptly just BEFORE they let off a few rounds to panic them. Suddenly Venomthropes attacked, lunging through the windows!



Some characters got pretty banged up and breathed spores (-1 Toughness), but somehow no one went out of action permanently.

They met the provider, who turned out to be a strange little munitorium servitor thingy....



Unfortunately, being "Provided for" required you to send some of your people through a menacing dark doorway. Our heroes didn't like the look of that, and figured they'd try to get the fuel they needed by guile. They made a deal with the overseer of the mutant labor gang, he tased all his workers, they grabbed the barrel and ran for it.



They drove out onto the plane of glass left behind by an orbital strike, pursued by sail skiffs and the enraged "Provider" with his refractor field.



Various mayhem ensued involving flaming prometheum slicks, vehicle boarding, and the Governess doing something awful to the Overseer to make him give up the bomb he'd be using as insurance.



Unable to shake their Tyranid warrior pursuers, they fled up into the hills while sending Helstrom towards the ship using a jet pack and leaving behind a boobytrapped rhino. Wondering how they were being tracked, the servitor had been ordered to make a full scan, but it turned up only Helstrom's gall stone. The warriors ran them to ground at the compound of two strange old Koots, Burticus and Ern, who had ridden out the invasion in the remote hills. The fight was desperate as the Prime led the warriors into their position.



The feral warriors decided to throw the grenade they'd found in the Eldar Ruins back during Episode 6. It was a Vortex Grenade! Much death and destruction ensued.



Helstromm reached the ship, but a figure detached itself from the rocks, looked him over, reached some decision, and fell back without a shootout. Was this the "Azure Slayer?" What had his plan been and why did it change?



Still the last humans to escape Luceron blasted off on a pillar of flame minutes later.

"It would seem," said Sister Cadence, "to be no ordinary Gall Stone. Here, let me cleanse it...."



Leaving the enigmas of Luceron behind, it seems our characters have found another. But for now, their course lies to the world of Mithras 5, to recruit ork mercenary pilots for an Air War over Zarathustra, accompanied at least for the moment but a Tau Escort, with whom a fragile alliance had been made on Luceron.

The problem with recruiting orks, of course, is that other Orks don't like to be left out - as the fleet discovers when two Ork cruisers lunge from an asteroid field near a gas giant in the Mithras System!





Cutting across the Princess of Orion's stern they deliver a crippling broadside while an escort Rams! Fighter bombers detonate a tanker. Probably not the Saphire Star. Because that ship keeps dying all the time.

Ork assault pods in pursuit, the crippled Orion executes a gravity slingshot around the gas giant trying to escape. All seems lost.



But as the Ork pirates execute a slow turn to try to head the Orion off, Toujours L'Audace and the Tau hammer them with Torpedos - the tide starts to turn!





With the tau fighting a masterful boarding action that destroys one cruiser, the Orion swings around the planet and finishes off the other. Victory!

Convoy!


The world of Mithras 5 is perhaps the most boring planet in the Galaxy…. ….unless you are an Ork, that is. An ancient world where plate tectonics has long since ceased, it has been leveled by erosion, and consists of an almost perfect sphere covered in a few inches of soil relieved only by a few swamps and entirely covered in mold, moss, lichen and similar primitive life. Early human settlers eked out an existence harvesting, fermenting and processing bio-sludge to make both simple food stuffs and a prometheum substitute. The only breaks in the skyline are a few massive tanks and enormous Slime Blooms which grow on scaffolds to raise them above the competing molds and lichens. A network of roads and space ports was built up to facilitate the harvest. Most inhabitants are migratory, traveling from Bloom to Bloom to harvest biomass when it is ready. The only permanent human settlements cluster around a few refineries.

To the Orks, it was a world with really fast roads and near unlimited beer and gas. Approximately 150 years ago standard, they conquered the planet, installing themselves as feudal overlords, each warboss controlling a few human groups, which are mostly left alone as long as they produce plenty of fungal products. The Ork Ecology has struggled to take hold here - gretchen and squigs are relatively rare, making humans valuable and giving the orks a more nuanced view of interactions between the species. The Orks of Mithras have a particular fondness for fast vehicles and planes, which they often hire out as mercenaries.

Heinrich the Pulsegunner looked out over Mithras, and was unimpressed. Ahead of him was a flat expanse of vaguely spongy green turf, broken only by some pools of green water and some distant blobby shapes of some sort of fungus or other growth. Everything smelled vaguely like roasted meat, but not in a good way. He spat. He was sheltering in a burned out vehicle of some sort. Nearby, a group of Hinterlanders were trying to dig in. It looked like the water table here was about a half meter below the surface and whatever they dug filled up with water in short order.

Behind them was the more or less ordered chaos of a rather well paved landing zone. Vehicles offloaded from shuttles along with crates of sundries were being wrangled into ordered rows. However, there was a palpable sense of unease. They were supposed to be trading with Orks, but there was not a greenskin to be seen, unless you counted the skull lying near his cover. The only thing worse than trying to negotiate with homicidal xenos was having them not show up.

The hours ticked by. The ginger star, very large to his eye, barely moved in the sky. He hated planets with slow rotation.

The unfortunate Comms officer was once again the subject of Trader Bellepheron’s ire. In a questionable negotiation decision she had decided that incorporating various foodstuffs into her bizarre hairdo might distract this Ork warlord during the bargaining. Now the tower of hair, fruits, sugared delicacies, and plump birds in cages wobbled dangerously above him. The birds twittered nervously.

“What do you mean you can’t raise him?”

“There has been no response Mamzelle…. nothing. I’ve hailed broad spectrum. The Magos Xenos has transmitted suitable greeting and entreaties. Nothing. He says Orks don’t use vox that often so he could be on his way… This Gulash the Magnificent is recorded to have traded in this manner several times… We do track some flyer activity which makes the Kestrals advise against airborne recon…”

“By the Seven Level Data Matrix of Corregedon! Why can’t anything ever be simple?!” Bellepheron threw up her substantial arms. “I’m not going to lift off, look weak, burn fuel, and then have to land again. I’m not going to sit here forever either, waiting for enough of the wrong Orks to show to start a war. Search parties - I want search parties!” She gestured at the nearest members of her informal Retinue. “Make it so! There are supposed to be humans on this slime ball and there are certainly orks. Find some, get me some intel.”

Col Helstrom boosted himself up onto the rear deck of the scout sentinel and continued to manipulate the piloting controls with his bare feet. Deftly he maneuvered out of the crowded deployment zone before bringing the sentinel to a run. Circling the paved landing zone he worked his way over to the Valkyrie Plasteel Falcon' crewed by his command staff. The lurching two legged Walker crushed fungus and battle debris alike at times slowing its stride to stomp a particularly wet and large fungi. Nearing the 'Falcon Helstrom brought the small Elysian pattern drop sentinel to a lurching stop with a throttle stall, as his feet were nowhere near the peddles. Pulling himself further out of the Sentinels cockpit he addressed his staff.

"Sad news Donner, the Falcon gets to incubate eggs in the nest. Keep her prepped for take off in case we need to support one of the recon patrols. Kang, you and that murdermobile are on recon duty, I want you to take one of Captain Johnsons armored fist veteran squads. Sgt Trinkman offer your advice to pick out a mule from the motor pool for the squad if they need it. I'll be tweaking our deployment here, Vox me on the guard channel if needed".

Before he even finished the sentence Col Helstrom was dropping down into the cockpit and restarting the sentinel.

Sgt Donner turned to look at his copilot. "I hope for the sake of anyone else that pilots that machine the Col does not have athletes foot"

Col. Helstrom watched as the yellow MK I razorback passed the outer defensive perimeter with Kangs red interceptor in tow behind. Long range comms were down but the short range vox comms worked well enough that he had gotten the recons team status report. Kang survived but had wrecked the interceptor beyond what could be fixed in the field by the teams engineseer. Sgt Allen, the imperial fist squad leader, had not survived the overheating of his plasma pistol even with the ministrations of the teams medic. The Mules driver had taken an Ork rocket to the face when it had struck the drivers compartment but miraculously made a quick and mostly full recovery. At the perimeter challenge the recon squad had replied with the phrase "Blind mans mate in two" meaning that while their goal had not been achieved a path forward had been found. A path with complications.

Kang pointed a bandaged finger at a spot on the topographic map.







"This is where we encountered the humans harvesting fungus. They were peaceful yet I was advised by the pilot of the Toujours L'Audace that they planned some form of deception. It made sense to me that they would offer our vehicles to their orkish overlord as part of the tribute they had to pay. They offered food and refreshments, and wished us to stay for their Overlords arrival. One war boss 'Checkers'"

Helstrom raised an eyebrow, "Warboss checkers? Any connection to Warboss Gulash?




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"No, and Warboss checkers doesn't command any air assets". Kang continued. "The Rhinos pilot had some success in negotiations with the workers, I felt more comfortable discussing matters of faith with the priestess who was trying to convince us to stay and slay the 0rks. The pilot learned that a mechanicus oracle was nearby. The locals implied it was all knowing. We left, taking one local as guide to find the oracle."

Kang shifted his attention to a different part of the map.

"The building was damaged, but had active defenses. The annunciator at the door said only the pure may enter. Sgt Adams quickly stepped forward. After a few short minutes he amierged with a hand drawn map, and kill poster for an Ork biomancer. Apparently this world does not well support the Ork biocluture. One particular Ork biomancer was tinkering with the squig.....ah...physiology to make a Mithras favorable squig. The oracle would accept the destruction of the experimental squigs as payment for the information on Gulashes whereabouts."

To be continued...

Will our Heroes prevent the Orkology from assimilating (eventually) Mithras through these vile squigs? Tune in next week!

Kang pointed to a small cluster of imperial ruins even further away.

p

"This is where the squigs could be found if the oracle was correct. As we approached we saw no signs of Orkish infestation. I joined Sgt Adams squad in the mule and let the Toujours crew take over the interceptor. We took the left most road, the Rhino and squat bikers took the right road"





"The squats found the first orkish presence, the first squig, and we took fire from an Ork party in the 2nd floor of the ruins"













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"As we drove past the ruins we poured fire into the Orks killing them, suppressing others and causing the survivors to flee."





"We encountered an Ork truck in which some of the remaining squigs loaded into along with their Khorn worshiping creator. Ork reinforcements joined the battle.



The interceptors assault cannons where damaged as the combat developed. Strangely the Ork leader decided to flee. I remounted the interceptor and joined by the Squat bikers we gave chase while the rhino and mule remained behind to purge the remaining Orks.



The chase was on

Looking good. I need some green and yellow sand for Mithras.

 kestral wrote:
Looking good. I need some green and yellow sand for Mithras.

Sounds like a job for the pet store....somehow I can only imagine I'll regret that.

I'm going to get some from AC Moore.

Battle for the Jamming Station:

Destroy the Jammer

The Rogue Traders seek to destroy an Orkish Jamming station, allowing them to communicate freely with… the RIGHT orks.

1500 points. 5th Edition, any reasonable codex from roughly the right era.

Terrain: Central station, Mek Shop, Road with junction, Fungal blooms in long diagonal rows. Otherwise open.

No flyers may be used by either side because of Ork Air Superiority. Of other Orks. The wrong orks. Or maybe the right orks.

Set up:

The central objective is the Jamming Station, a towering Grow Light repurposed for broad spectrum jamming by the Orks. Orks may set up one unit within 6” of the station or Mek Shop as long as that unit contains at least 1 Mek. If they have no Meks this option is not available. This is done BEFORE any other units on either side are set up.

Imperium sets up first and has first turn (Seize the Initiative is in effect). Reserves, outflank and deep strike rules are used. Standard 12” from table edge deployment.

Victory Conditions:

Troops Infantry Units score 3. Troops non Infantry, or Infantry from other choices score 2. All other units including all transports score 1. The highest scoring unit within 3” of the objective from each side scores.

The Jamming Station is worth double points, the road junction and mek shop are are both worth normal points.

The imperium can also simply bombard the Station. It is armor 13 and cannot be destroyed, but every penetrating hit is worth 1 VP for the Imperium to a max of 6. The Orks score 6 minus the number of penetrating hits on the station in VPs IF the station is unclaimed at the end of the game. The station is worth a maximum of 6 VPs - the number of penetrating hits if claimed. Example: The imperium does 4 penetrating hits to the station. 6-4 = 2, so it is worth a max of 2 to either side now. If no unit can claim it, the Orks would score 2.

Random Game Length.

The table is set! The road junction had to be cut, due to A) leaving the roads somewhere else, and B) lack of space. Looking forward to getting back to gaming on the 4x8 table. Imperium can choose either long edge.

Epic looking table. Simple and not over crowded, the rich colors are something I'm not used to in a 40k table, but it really draws the eye.

Thanks - the green sand I got is... ...well.... ...striking. I do wish I hadn't left the roads behind, as I feel they really make the Mithras tables.

The Battle:

The Rogue Traders attacked with rough riders and a veteran squad aiming towards the Mek Shop, while a hydra, armored sentinels and chimera provided a fire base on the other side of the board. Much of the army was an outflanking squad with Al'Rahem.



The orks deployed in a conventional line, with the Battle Wagon Mega Nobs going center of mass.



The Mek Shop was occupied by a Big Mek and a maxed out battery of Kannons that should have given the Imperial vehicles some serious problems.... ...except that the rough riders were able to charge turn one, overrun the shop, kill the Mek, and seize the guns!



Imperial shooting dealt some heavy damage, destroying a trukk and the Deff Dread, but would it be enough?



The orks stormed forward across the line, though crucially, a unit of bikes accompanied by the mighty Wazzdakka had been held back in reserve with a trukk.



The boarding plank dropped down as the sentinels tried to assault the battlewagon on imperial turn 2.



I'd forgotten the brutality of the battlewagon+ nobs in 5th Edition.

Al'Raheem showed up, but on the not so great outflanking side, hemmed in by fungus rows.



Col. Helstrom with the primaris psyker and maxed out vet squad and rough riders held out in the Mek shop against scattered ork attacks, but firing the Kannons achieved nothing. Shoddy Xenos artillery!



Meanwhile,, the orks secured the Jamming station and the Battle wagon roared towards the Hydra...

Things went pretty much down hill for the good guys from there. Helstromm held out in the Mek shop, but was held up by one plunky Killa Kan in close combat for the remainder of the game. The Meganobs rammed, deathrolled, boarding planked and assaulted their way through the imperial fire base. Al-Raheem's platoon was assaulted by the Ork Bikers and given a thorough kicking. One squad made a break for the objective, but didn't make it No characters went down though, except for the heroic Medic who had held off the Genestealer cult a half dozen games ago. Still, the day belonged to the Orks.











Trader Bellepherone will have to come up with a new plan....

Col Helstrom passed a data slate to Sgt Sampson. Take the Marauders and deliver this information to Captain Jean-Dan Gbwe. Monitor the Task Force guard channel, if Donner needs support deploy directly from orbit. Take the time to read it yourself.


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Dear Dad
Made some new friends.



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Found a place to fuel the truck.




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New friends may want to get under Heracy Hairs bustle, talk about bad taste. Gave some locals a lift.



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Starting road trip will keep eye out for ethnic foods.
Zenon

Sgt. Harkness watched Sgt Sampson approach from the direction of the Task Force TOC. Sgt. Sampson held a cloth over his mouth and pulled his helmet low over his brow protecting his face as he passed by the Cavalry Stables. Huge nozzles in the roof sprayed acidic fungicides down over the agitated horses. The over spray drifted about burning eyes and throat.
Sgt Sampson called out. "Harkness, the Col wants us on high cap with Captain Gbwe."
Harkness, a powerful Catachan soldier in charge of the ad hoc veteran squad known as the Marauders scowled. "Feth Efrain my squad got chewed up pretty badly, we need some payback on the green skins. Take some of those Steel Fist bunk warmers instead. The Col. Has an armored column heading out and we volunteered to be part of the recon platoon. We need this."
Sgt Sampson nodded "Ok looks like you folks hoofed it out before I made it over here, happy hunting."
Harkness grinned, and patted his Heavy Bolter, Vengeance. "Marauders, move out. Double time!"

Sgt. Harkness watched form the Marauders position hidden in moist colorful mounds of fungus. Orks were setting up along the road side in a classic 'L' shaped ambush. Orks, Ork guns, Ork dreadnoughts all were positioned awaiting the advancing tanks. The squads Vox operator shook his head,"No joy on raising the column. The Ork jammers are too effective."
"Fething jammers, we will have to use signal flares". Get ready to send up a red flare before the tanks get into the Orks optimal kill zone."
The task force vanguard approached the kill zone, Horse Mounted cavalry leading the way followed by a Demolisher with the rest of the element in row.
Sgt. Harkness gave the signal and the Vox operator pointed his flare gun up and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He pulled it again. Still nothing. He opened the breach removing the unfired flare, inserted another and pointing the flare gun skyward once again pulling the trigger to no effect. Sgt. Harkness examined the first unfired flare. While the brass back portion of the projectile looked fine, a squeeze of the forward plastic casing caused brown fungal water to ooze out.
"Feth!"
No one could hear the rest of his exclamation over the boom of the Orks guns.


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Background
The assault on the Ork jamming station was unsuccessful at neutralizing the massive transmitter. However, an Ork big Mek was taken captive who provided ample information on the local controlling Boss Nob. Boss Nob Checkers. Recon troops were sent out to secure portions of the road leading to Checkers lair. The assaults vanguard consisted of a single mixed tank platoon, 2 squads of rough rides and myself leading an Grenadier squad mounted in a chimera. Already deployed in the action area was the Marauders veteran squad.

The action.
The Vox net was compromised by the Ork jamming station, preventing the Marauders from alerting us to the Ork ambush. We were engaged in the Orks kill box, and lost the Demolisher to the combined cross fire of Ork anti tank guns. I prepared the squad to mount a counter attack when our Chimera was neutralized as I assumed it would be under the green skins assault. The Orks were taken aback by the ferocity of our counter charge and ultimately we won the engagement around the burning wreckage. Advancing was difficult under the guns of the approaching Orks. Luckily the Vanguard Rough Riders quickly silenced one of the Ork gun batteries. The rest of the tank platoon moved forward engaging targets at will. Vile Ork war machines, dreadnoughts and killerkans advanced. The Marauders engaged the truck that Checkers the Nob Boss was riding in. The combined Fire from the Marauders Hvy Bolters and Sniper rifles eventually neutralized the truck. The tanks, one Exterminator and one Regular Russ traded shots with targets of opportunity. My Squad was pinned down, much as the Nob Bosses squad was until they mounted up in a passing Ork truck. The rear guard, another Rough Rider Squad, charged into the fray killing some of Checkers guard and the Lascanon of the Russ finished the truck. We flamed and charged the Nob breaking the squad and capturing Checkers the Nob Boss.

Observations.
The spirit of my Plasma pistol seems to hate this place. Maintaining proper hygiene in this planets bio- sphere complicates all activity. The Orks tactics effectively neutralized our light armored vehicles which would normally have screened the columns advance. This endeavor may not be worth the effort.

Dear Dad
Camp is fun. I think Heracy Hair would be jealous. Big talker.

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Likes her men hard.


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Skitari getting bored. Why can't we have a cool Walker like that?


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Did I mention she likes balls! Small balls, big walking balls. Don't want to be looking under that bustle.



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The feral newly acquired servitor hides its mold encased face in shame. Did I mention how much fun camp is?



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No ethnic food for miles. Unless you like pre milled corpse starch. Yup, Pre Milled.



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Pre milled. Photo of roasting corpse edited for heretical imagery.