Five Parsecs. Campaign Game 19. The Close

Last time, in Hive Primus...

Gallius Marbec had entered the Underhive and stolen a blasphemous totem. As the crew load their shuttle to leave Necromunda, the cultists send a crack team to exact their revenge...

"Stop them! Get back our sacred icon!"

The cultists tactically advance across the shuttle bay.

The crew run from the shuttle after hearing the blast.

Roma takes a commanding position, but realises she is exposed.

Chugger doesn't waste time thinking- he comes out blasting!

Marbec directs his crew to a hasty defence behind the pipes.

The cultists still have a way to go.

The crew put a weight of fire across the hangar.

A marksman tries to slip into the room...

... but Chugger guns him down! (Deafening poor Hezel.)

The cultists' fire is becoming more accurate. Hezel goes down.

As the cultist deploys his heavy stubber, Lady Heldycryn takes him out.

Marbec slags a cultist with his plasma gun.

The marksman is back! But Lady H snipes him first.

The cultists are closing the gap, but Marbec feels confident.

Stazie Rendir tries to flank the cultists with her shotgun.

A second wave of cultists appears, led by an ominous cloaked figure.

Chugger downs another!

But the numbers are great.

Stazie misses with her shotgun!

She, too, is taken out.

Roma Jyan goes down under the weight of incoming fire.

Marbec decides to run for it.

The flanking cultists get a clean shot on Chugger- the ogryn goes down.

The cultists close the trap.

Marbec's armour saves him from multiple shots.

A cultist commander is at the shuttle!

Lady Heldycryn leaps off the pad. The exit door is so close...

She fights off a cultist, as the flamer gets a clear shot at Marbec.

Marbec staggers to the door- he reaches out to the control panel, but collapses. His campaign is over.

Whew! What a finale! I had planned to complete a twentieth mission, but after such a dramatic and definitive battle I've decided to wind up this campaign here. I haven't done any post battle rolls. Did the crew live or die- who knows!

I used an 'elite' force from the Five Parsecs Compendium as enemies, as well as some of the variant and random rolls. Not only were the enemies tougher and better fighters, but there were more of them coming on in waves. I think there were fifteen in the end against the six crew.

The shuttle is an FDM print from The Dragon's Rest. The ramp opens and closes.

Did Marbec escape? Is he nursing his horrific wounds in the Underhive and planning vengeance? Would anyone listen to his crazy tales of monsters in the ducts? Or did he die forgotten, his crew destroyed?

Postscript:

"I have saved the icon for you, masters."

Betrayal! I never trusted Corvin anyway. Where was he in this battle? How did he fight off three genestealers last time?

Next time: my thoughts on Five Parsecs from Home.

Five Parsecs. Campaign Game 18. A secret revealed

 Last time, in Hive Primus...

Gallius Marbec's resolve to unmask his mysterious opponents is unquenched, despite the death of Julio Rybeck and the injuries to his other companions. Marabec leads his reluctant team deeper into the Underhive...

"Down here will be proof of our enemies!"

Chugger runs forwards, enraged by what he sees!

He uproots the hated totem,
but is distracted from approaching swift movement...

Xenos! Terrifying monsters slide out of the gloom!

Chugger swats them back but more erupt from hidden passageways!

"Fall back!" cries Marbec.

Roma guts one of the monsters with her sword

Chugger takes the foul totem with him.

Impossibly, Akenz fights off three xenos.

The last beast hisses and withdraws under a crossfire.

Marbec returns to safer levels. His crew are rattled by what they have encountered, and can barely explain it to Venda and Lady Heldycryn in the sickbay.

Is this blasphemous totem the proof Marbec needs?

Gallius decides it is time to leave. His crew are loading supplies into their shuttle when the hangar bay doors explode inwards...

To be continued!

Christmas Cultists

These festive fundamentalists are 3D prints from Imitation of Life.

I'm trying out Speedpaint 2.0, with mixed results. Early days.

40K Combat Patrol: Lamenters vs Genestealer Cult

So, I played my first game of 40K in about 25 years... We used the Combat Patrol rules, which are slightly pared down and don't require list building. Each side is competing for points over five turns, via objectives which are the 40mm MDF discs. This was a learning game for both of us, and we forgot and likely misinterpreted many special rules. I've spiced up the pics with the LensFX app.

One one side: Lamenters Space Marines. Strengths include short-range firepower and armour, weaknesses include low numbers.

Lamenters Combat Patrol

• Terminator Captain
• Terminator Librarian leading five Terminators
• Five Infernus Squad Marines

Their opponents: the Genestealer cult. Lots of bodies and mobility, but squishy.

Genestealer Cult Combat Patrol

• Magus with ten Neophyte Hybrids
• Ten Neophyte Hybrids
• Five Aberrants
• Five Acolyte Hybrids
• Rockgrinder truck

The forces meet across a ruined mining facility.

The Cult dominate a rocky outcrop and prepare
to advance on both flanks

Merely six Astartes face down the xenos foe.

The Neophytes seize a ruin as the Rockgrinder rumbles forward

The Infernus Squad take an objective

Heavy Stubber fire ricochets off the tough Terminator plate

"Purge with flame!"

Terminators teleport in, but the Rockgrinder withstands
the ambush

However, the Captain leads a charge and the vehicle is torn
apart by powerfists.

The resulting explosion kills a Terminator
and wounds the Captain

The Astartes destroy the remaining hybrids.

The Aberrants seize the opportunity to tear down
the wounded captain.

The marines get their revenge.

A doomed counter-charge.

Behind us! More hybrids emerge from the shadows
and threaten the Astartes' rear.

The pyreblasters eradicate one threat.

The Terminators about-face to eliminate the other.

The Magus desperately leads her troop off the hill
to seize an objective as the marines are distracted.

But the Terminators' firepower is devastating

A charge finishes off the Cult.

A victory for the Lamenters, but they did lose their Captain. The cult will rise up again!

The rules were... fine. Nothing innovative, but they appear to be a streamlined improvement over previous editions. They behaved as expected, and I'm glad they're free. I struggled with all the special rules and multiple weapon types. Bigger games will be very bloody and complex.

The 'buckets of dice and then nothing happens' critique of 40K is reasonable, but as a player-participant it is quite fun. Sometimes it does all swing on a D6.