Necromunda practice

   This time, I got together with the game group with the specific plans of making them feel comfortable with the rules of the game.  As I mentioned in a previous post, they seem to be interested in doing the campaign mode.  But you gotta know what you're doing to do that.  Even better, I get to play!

  My game saw me using the Escher against one of the guys' Orlocks.  I took Jelena, Tumala, Brae, Olina, Katy-kat, Murica, and another sister to provide the firepower and toxins I would need to beat these bikers.  He took Rocky, Zed Hackjaw, Lander, Mo Two-fist, Grimm, another warrior, and Slate Meridian (and his cyber-mastiff) as hired guns.  Effectively, the band had some firepower and two leaders!  This was going to be rough.  

  The opening salvo started with Brae climbing to a sniper position and then opening fire on the dog as they strolled through.  The cyber-mastiff was pinned but Brae's rifle used all of its power for the shot.  This started a whole series of events that took five rounds to resolve...

  While the Orlocks advanced, Slate and his dog recovered and moved to take out whatever just shot at them.  Zed noticed the female sniper trying to reload her weapon and aimed his harpoon gun at her.  As Slate closed below her position, Tumala appeared and sprayed toxic chemicals on them to slow them down.  The rest of the Orlocks tried to round the building, but Jelena had anticipated this and appeared with a roaring boltgun, mowing down any of the males that deigned to appear in front of her.  Zed's harpoon flew across the battlefield to pierce Brae's armor and drag her foward over a barrel and the railing to fall two stories.  Somehow, with a harpoon sticking through her chest, she stood up to wipe away the blood and look around.  

  Rocky then decided to show, only to have Olina, Katy-kat, and the other sister pour fire down on him.  Murica walked along a gantry above his pinned form and fired her plasma pistol at max power, stripping away all of his strength.  While lying there, trying to recover from the severe plasma burns, he saw Brae fall from the top building, charge past the coughing Slate and his dog, and descend upon him with wild fists.  Punching past the protruding harpoon, she took Rocky down with a haymaker.  Grimm and Mo made quick work of her after that, but they watched their leader go down and then saw Jelena stride up to their hired gun and finish him off.  The Orlocks lost their muscle, so it was time go.  The Eschers gathered Brae's heroic body and claimed victory for this district.  

  The other game, between the other guys' Goliath and Delaque, took place in the deep tunnels of some long-forgotten complex.  Rusty, often locked doors and bottomless chasms interrupted the dripping concrete walls that framed their darkeness.  

  This area apparently saw two battles between these two gangs.  I didn't get to watch it, but I did hear about Whisperblade and another ghost failing their jump tests and falling down bottomless chasms and watched as a Nacht-ghul got shot down immediately after appearing.  The second game was a bit better, but the Goliaths apparently learned how to shoot and didn't need their prodigious brutality to defeat the Delaque.  Sneaky doesn't always work when there's nowhere to run and hide...

  

  Overall, it was a very successful game night!  The guys felt comfortable with the rules, another guy from the game group showed interest (and fed us like nobles to boot!), and they asked about the campaign aspects.  Best, we have more ridiculous stories to tell from this world!!!

As always, Happy Gaming!

The Avatars

   As the Dragonlords terrorized the lands and enslaved the burgeoning societies even as they evolved, the pantheon of a dozen gods galavanted and antagonized the beasts until a great war happened.  When the halflings and gnomes were nearly wiped out and the dwarfs and elfs disappeared into their favored lands out of fear, the world had been impacted enough to finally enrage the father-god- Ao.  He intervened and punished all the parties, but his punishment for the gods was nuanced.  Each of the dozen were turned into avatars to roam the mortal realm.  Their punishment would end after 1000 years, but there were other ways to return to their divine realm.  Each avatar was bound by three specific rules while stuck as a mortal, and each was limited in their divine powers (priests of the mortal races would gain their power directly from Ao so the gods' absence didn't impact them even more).  The three rules were such: 

1.  You cannot use your station as a divine being to interact with the mortal races.  

2.  You cannot use your divine powers to interfere in the affairs of the mortal races.

3.  You must defend the mortal races against all other divine threats.  

  Most avatars understood what this meant and were loyal to this oath of punishment.  However, ages passed and some of them forgot and began meddling.  Each of the avatars had their race, gender, and even special abilities given based on their roles in the Godswar.  Otherwise, their stats are almost always the same- a CR5 character with 100HP, but one or two stats at 30.  Beyond their abilities, the avatars have collective powers that they can use in the worst-case scenario of another gods war.  The most important of these is a ritual to teleport themselves back to GodSpire.  But it takes six of them as any threat that brings half of the avatars together is great indeed.  

from Red Ragged Fiend

The God of Magic:  This was the god that really antogonized everyone.  He galvanized the gods against the dragonlords and used his massive powers to encourage aggression and irritation amongst all the races and the parties.  Because of his instigatory role, Ao banished him as a human mercenary, named Mikel, that couldn't work magic at all.  Worst, he retained his knowledge but had no talent.  Eventually, he sought solice by visiting the Oracle of the Elvenqueen and being told of a union between him and a elf maiden to create the savior of the Feywild.  His quest eventually led to the creation of a banshee, the awaking of one of the dragonlords, and his daughter's installment as princess just in time for the fall of the Feywild.  He finally met his death at the hands of the adventurers tasked with bringing his daughter back to him.  With his death, he will now return to imprisonment by Ao at Godspire.  

The God of Knowledge:  Always the god to instigate, and often claiming for the purpose of "behavioral study", he was despised the most of all the pantheon.  As the resident 'know-it-all', he was constantly trying to outsmart everyone with his artifacts and cunning.  Because he was the most annoying, Ao sent his in form of a human thief named Pete to the mortal world.  Pete found a way back to God Spire and stole an artifact from the god of luck and wealth.  When this artifact was found and used to instigate a war against between the goblins and humans, Pete intervened and was killed in a massive explosion.  But Pete was still spiteful after Ao's punishment, so he enacted a curse that removed knowledge of the artifact and its whereabouts from the mortal world.  He is now imprisoned by Ao and tormented by an imp.  

The God of Adventuring and Wanderlust:  Always ready for a challenge and never satisfied with peace, this god was known for escalating any situation.  He didn't mean to cause any trouble, but  his constant role in the Godswar led Ao to banishing him as a female human warrior named Xena, set to wander the land and enjoy the chaos of the mortal races.  Coincidentally, the warrioress met the same group of adventurers that killed Mikel, mated with the Dragonborn to follow the same rumoured prophecy as her companion, and met her end in an attack by the awakened green Dragonlord.  Her death allowed him to return to Ao's good graces, but he grieves for the loss of the Dragonborn and their child.  

The God of War:  He never did more than his job, which was to inspire the mortal races and his companions to settle their conflicts with passion.  Whether that be organizing the war efforts against the dragonlords or inspiring the Orcish races to invade the human lands, the god wasn't ashamed of any of his actions during the Godswar.  Ao understood and banished him as a brave knight with the entire role of guarding against the return of the dragonlords on his shoulders.  That human knight was named Sir Knight and spent most his time aiding the elves in their quest against the minor dragons.  The avatar continues to wander in the hopes of slaying a dragon.  He is AC 30 and can make six attacks in a single round.

The God of Nature : She was completely uninvolved, even as she watched her fellow gods begin a war that would be so destructive.  Her own sphere was directly affected as her forests were burned, mountains were leveled, and waterways emptied and dried up.  The fertile realms she helped to created and maintain suffered greatly and still she did nothing.  Ao was very angry at one of his children showing such apathy at their own responsibility and punished her with the form of a Treant, named Still Oak, and then forcing it to stand constant vigil over the prison of one of the dragonlords.  As time trundled along, the tree grew older and slower until eventually a gnome showed up to awaken and accompany it on its mission.  The tree is nearly dead but can't enter God Spire until it helps to defeat a dragonlord in some way.  Still Oak now wanders with an adventuring party and the gnome.  It has Con 30 and is resistant to fire, which can be used as a breath weapon like a  young red dragon.

The God of Luck and Wealth:  He wasn't hesitant about working both sides, and his natural good-looks and charisma certainly helped with his activities.  Playing both sides of the war and acting like a double-agent spy, his antics also angered Ao.  As punishment, the god was sent as an old, female human beggar that would never achieve success without the very luck that he was denied.  The female avatar took the name of Angela and, luckily, ran into the very adventuring party that would free her companions.  Currently, Angela wormed her way into running the adventurers' tavern in the forgotten city.  She has a Charisma of 30 and can create food/water/coins.  

The Goddess of Chaos:  She loved everything about the Godswar, including Ao being upset at everyone and punishing them.  She knew she was getting something fun and she wasn't wrong.  After deliberating, Ao gave her the form of an old human man man named Smothers and turned him into a sick deviant that would be kicked out of every society he would join.  Smothers has endured centuries of gross behaviors leading to exile from scores of cities, and loves all of it.  Currently, Smothers is in the human Kingdom of Twain enjoying the strife.  He has a Wisdom and Intelligence of 30 and can curse at will.  

The Goddess of Life:  She was the kind light in all the Godswar, but she prolonged the event by giving everyone escape from pain and damage.  She healed everything everywhere all the time and this meant that the destruction visited on the mortals was not felt by the divine and draconic beings causing it.  Her mercy caused mercilessness and her patience prolonged suffering.  Ao wanted her to learn, so her form was as a male gnome wanderer who could never forget all that happened, named Bobby.  The avatar grew tired of this knowledge and began acting like a real gnome- being a nuisance and annoying all those around.  Eventually, Bobby found Still Oak and figured out what was happening.  Unfortunately, his antics may have caused the awakening of the dragonlord.  The gnome is now accompanying the adventuring party that actually did and bringing Still Oak in hopes to find a solution before Ao finds out.  He has a Dexterity 30 and can teleport short distances.  

The God of Death:  Almost always known as the most powerful of the gods below Ao, he very much enjoyed the destruction from the war.  Ao banished him in the form of a ghost that must possess mortal beings to act at all.  The avatar is named Kelemvor and tries to stay out of all the affairs of mortal realms.  But he isn't dumb and realizes that another war is upcoming and has spent his time finding and gathering undead armies.  He has the ability to teleport to any corpse anywhere across the mortal lands and can't be turned or destroyed.

The Goddess of Order and Wisdom:  She already took the form of men and women and presented herself to all kinds of mortals, carrying words of wisdom or warning.  She always tried to protect the mortals from the wiles of her brother god of war and felt that her role as a stormbringer was as beneficial as her role as oracle.  During the Godswar, she took on the form of Erathis- a strong human male that embodied righteousness to the embattled mortals below.  Despite her role in saving many races and peoples, Ao still banished her as the form of a blind, male elf named Eltharion.  Eltharion created a maze that would teach patience and prowess.  Only the greatest generals and leaders have passed this maze, but none have defeated Eltharion in combat and had to leave with humility as the final lesson.  That was until a polymorphed dragon infiltrated the maze and killed the elf.  She was returned to God Spire and now prepares for the upcoming war at Ao's request.

The God of Justice:  He tried very hard to prevent the Godswar and constantly obstructed the rest of the pantheon in the hopes of mitigating the damage.  He even demanded strong penalties when Ao intervened as he had been so adamant against their actions.  Ao, feeling challenged, decided that all of the gods would be punished and none of this pantheon would be spared.  For believing that he can judge his companions and overstepping his role, Ao banished  him as a Roc that has to patrol Mt. Sunset.  Always looking down on the mortal races and yet being trapped on a mountainside and being surrounded by violent and terrible creatures.  In bird form, he is called "Dredd" by the surrounding tribes of Orcs.  He has Telepathy and can't be slowed.  

  There is one more avatar...

  The God Spire is the mountain, far to the north, protected by the North Star Mountain Range and overlooking all the world down to the equator and the Southern Forests.  At the top of the mountain sits the divine realm of the gods and can only be accessed by a powerful teleportation spell ritual.  There are currrently four gods, two imprisoned and another crippled by grief, in that home.  Of the remaining eight gods still stuck as avatars, one of them is a ghost and can't return, one of them is a tree will soon return, and another is outright missing.  To counter the threat of the dragonlords, the avatars will need their powers restored by getting back to the God Spire.  One dragonlord may be defeated, but trusting the lesser dragons to help is completely contrary to the Scorpion and Frog fable known across the lands.  The avatars will have to come together again.  

from Ancient Origins

Our fantasy world

The "Big Picture"

   Long ago, the gods and the dragons were of equal power.  Where the gods used their powers to create a playground and fill it with friends and distractions, the dragons used it to corrupt and to claim dominion over.  This led to conflict and the war was devastating- so much so that the highest of the gods and the great creator, Ao, intervened and meted out punishment to all parties.  The dozen gods were banished to their mortal realm as Avatars, with their powers diminished and only limited access to their sphere's power.  The five dragons were each imprisoned across the mortal realm, put to sleep for eternity, and the avatars would guard against those that would threaten the development of their world.  

by Pavel Atanazov

  Ages passed and knowledge of these "god-dragons" passed from all but the elves, and the even some of the Avatars began to forget their missions and meddled in the affairs of mortals.  While they never influenced major events, they nonetheless enjoyed their friends and took for granted that this existance wasn't supposed to be a vacation.  Eventually, certain of these avatars forgot their oaths altogether and hatched plans that caused big problems.  The avatar of knowledge, disguised as a rogue named Pete, stole a Wand of Cosmic Forces from the avatar of trade and luck.  He then hid it in a place that was later found by a human and used to escalate a war with the goblins.  When Pete tried to intervene, the wand disappeared and he was killed.  His final curse was the knowledge of the artifact and its hiding place shall be lost to the world.  Another avatar that slipped from the path was the avatar of magic, disguised as a mercenary named Mikel.  He went to the oracles and received a prophecy that led him to relations with an elf to create another avatar that would prevent a war between the Fey and Shadow Realms.  Instead, it led to his death by some adventurers and the fall of the Feywild to the Shadow Dragon Lord.  

  Even with the machinations of the avatars, waxing more ignorant to their true purposes, the world still continued.  Eventually, the humans spread and began colonizing the lands abandoned by nature and the elves.  Dragons (the lesser kind that men speak of) had warred with the elves even as their kind slowly died away for both sides.  The dwarfs long retreated west under the mountains and set up ancestral trade agreements anywhere they could.  Society advanced until the world was filled with legends and wanderers.  Today, a few groups of adventurers range the surface of the world, trying to solve the mysteries of their age and enrich themselves while doing it.  One group, in particular, has a unique perspective as they go through their journey.  Equally, they will be the cause of the end of their world and the force that will defeat it.  

   

Chaos vs. the Lion!

   Finally!  I finished painting the Lion and we had an opportunity to put him on the table.  I am going to use my Chaos Space Marines, but this time with less emphasis on the Dark Pacts for previously mentioned reasons.  My son was using a '-wing' army led by the Primarch himself.  Most of our forces weren't painted, but we just had to get our 40k on and let the Lion do his thing.  I wasn't looking forward to this, but I had a plan...

The Scenario

  Using the Leviathan cards, I drew the "table quarters" deployment and the 'Supplies' (Lines and Drop).  This is easy- capture the objectives in No Man's Land and hold your own to get that extra Command Point.  Now on to the table setup:

"fun" view

overhead view

  This wasn't a heavy-cover table, as we wanted to focus on getting to each other and kicking some enemy rear-ends.  Placing the objective markers in each quarter and the center, the buildings were added to trace the tablemat's design and get that maximum immersion (ignore those Christmas trees set up in the corner).  

The armies

  Now it was time to reveal our forces.  For my Chaos Space Marines, I still wanted to bring some of the 'ol standby's, but I went a different direction in a few cases.  First, I had to bring the Lord with the Thunderhammer, leading a squad of Chosen.  I really, really wanted to take advantage of the Warmaster's Gift- the only reason I have this model and play this detachment!  I also took a Dark Apostle leading another squad of Chosen and riding in the Land Raider, all specifically for the firepower to kill a Primarch and the +1 to wound on those already beastly veterans.  Then I had to return to my trusted Master of Possession and his posse of Possessed.  Sticking with more of the tried-and-true, I also brought the Winged Daemon Prince with a couple units of winged Warp Talons.  But I had to mix it up some more, so I brought a Helbrute with Plasma Cannon for the double-Dark Pact bonus, gave him a walking Daemon Prince as a buddy to give the aura of cover, and backed all that up with a couple of Predator tanks- one to kill a Primarch and one to kill his bodyguard.  There are five characters and six monster/vehicle units, meaning that I was offering up a lot of points to my opponent.  But I have a plan...

  He brought quite a bit of '-wing' elements in the form of Terminators and bikes all over.  It was worrisome to my small, very elite force.  The Primarch was joined by his sword-wielding Deathwing Knights as a bodyguard.  Asmodai attached to a big squad of Inner Circle Companions and Belial came with his Deathwing Terminators.  And, of course, the two venerable Dreadnoughts had to come to add that firepower with their twin Lascannons.  The Ravenwing was made up of a full Outrider squad and their ATV, while the rest of the force added some Heavy Intercessors, a full unit of regular Intercessors (buffed with that new rule from the recent FAQ), and a mob of sneaky Reivers.  The chosen detachment allowed everyone in the force to 'advance-and-charge'...  great.  This was going to be a tough and fast force for the Chaos Marines to deal with.  

Deployment
  The problem with deployment phase is having to plan for going first AND second because there's no way to control it.  And the Dark Angels are set up to be in my face immediately, so I had to think about my table quarter and taking advantage of anything that could slow him down and give me the initiative.  I put all of my Possessed, the walking Prince, and winged Prince and one of his units of Warp Talons on the flank so I could take advantage of their speed while also staying just far enough away to react.  The center was held by all the vehicles, with every big gun aimed in the direction of the loyalists.  

  The Dark Angels kept the Lion and his bodyguard in reserves, had the Reivers sneak around the battlefield to arrive at a key moment, and deployed everything else in the center to push into the Heretic lines.  Leading the charge were the Dreadnoughts, hoping to provide that wisdom through vehicle-shredding cannons and fists.  Belial and his Deathwing, followed by Asmodai and his companions, held the building that guarded their flank, seeing the Possessed lined up that way.  Seeing the armored fist facing them, all the forces took advantage of ruins where they could, while still ready to press the center.   

Ready for battle!

Round 1

  The game started with the Word Bearers winning the roll-off and taking full advantage.  The Possessed rushed by the statue and ruins to try and gain control of that table quarter, Belial's unit couldn't respond as the Helbrute and Destructor crept up and unleashed on them.  Some Dark Pacts and very poor dice rolls led to all the Deathwing falling and Belial wounded.  This allowed the Daemon Prince on foot, following the Possessed, to blast him down and get the points for Assassinate and Engage on All Fronts.  The other unit of Warp Talons fled to some ruins, claiming another quarter and ready to countercharge.  In the rear, the Lord and his squad spread around their home objective, trying to prevent the loyalists from getting behind them, and ordered the Dark Apostle's Land Raider to kill a Dreadnought.  It did, with a Command Reroll.  The Chaos Marines had begun their strategy- wiping out a couple key units quickly and spreading into other quarters to slow the arrival of reserves.  

No More Belial!

  The Dark Angels were caught completely by surprise at the furiosity of the Word Bearer's opening moves.  But they weren't slowed and commenced to returning the favor.  The surviving Dreadnought stomped forward and unleashed his fury on the Annihilator but failed to do any damage.  The Intercessors moved into position with the battleline version noticing the Warp Talons and emptying their bolter magazines, wiping out all but one.  It should be noted that the new update rule on Intercessors makes them very dangerous!  Finally, the Ravenwing revved their engines and zoomed straight at the Possessed trying to flank around, firing their guns and charging with chainswords (buffed by another new rule!) and dropping two.  The mutated Possessed struck back and killed four bikers in return.  

End Round 1- Word Bearers 6, Dark Angels 0

Round 2

  It was a good start for the heretics, but this was the turn that the Lion and his reinforcements may arrive, so they had to keep the pressure on.  The armoured spearhead moved up to engage with the Intercessors but failed to do any damage as the last Warp Talon from that unit moved behind the ruins to farm victory points without being threatened.  The Winged Daemon Prince and his Warp Talons moved to help the Possessed against the bikers and countercharged to finish them off.  Bolstered, the Destructor and Helbrute unleashed on Asmodai's companions, wiping them out and leaving the Interrogator wounded.  That gave the opportunity for the walking Prince to stroll past the Possessed scrum and decapitate Asmodai himself.  With all of the deployed characters dead and most of the table secured, the Word Bearers definitely had the upper hand.  

No more Asmodai!

  The loyalists were watching their forces disintegrate under the furious assault, but they still had their ace- the Primarch.  A flash of light saw the unit of Deathwing Knights appear in the corner of the battlefield and the Lion simply materialize from the fog-of-war nearby, making the arrival very obvious.  The Chaos Marines had their complete attention drawn on the demigod of war while the Reivers appeared behind their lines and charged the Chaos Lord and his bodyguard.  With Precision and purpose, they cut down the Lord instantly, stunning the Chosen as they watched their leader be deleted.  Taking advantage of the ensuing chaos, the Intercessors squads and venerable Dreadnought charged the Annihilator and Land Raider to lock them down and reduce the firepower targeting their gene-father.  The regular Intercessors were highly motivated and punched the Predator to death, while the Dreadnought just wasn't as excited and only inconvenienced the massive Land Raider.  But it was locked and wouldn't be as effective going into their turn.  

"Where did they come from!?!"

No more Annihilator!

End Round 2- Word Bearers 20, Dark Angels 7

Round 3

  Well...  It was time for that plan to execute for the Chaos Marines.  The forces had been deployed in counter-charge range and put pressure in all directions so they couldn't be surrounded.  The firepower was all Damage 2 and 3 or higher to ensure everything targeted died.  The units were tough, all having multiple Wounds and strong saves so they could absorb at least some of the Primarch's wrath.  And most importantly- they saved Command Point for a key moment...

  The Lord's Chosen, now recovered from their shock (and losing control of the home objective), backed up, shot, and charged back into the Reivers to exact revenge, dropping three of the loyalists.  The Dark Apostle's Chosen also wanted to get stuck in, so they disembarked from their Land Raider and charged the Heavy Intercessors, killing four.  Their Land Raider crushed the remaining one.  The Winged Daemon Prince had the opportunity to charge in and wipe out the regular Inercessors, but instead chose to move to the loyalist's home quarter and claim the objective.  Finally, under the suppression fire from the Destructor and Helbrute, the Warp Talons flew up to the Deathwing Knights to harass them- knowing they couldn't get too close or the Lion would swing through to dispatch them.  The firepower did kill two of the Terminators, but that left no room for the daemonkin to charge.  The Lion's impact was already being felt, even if it was all the Dark Angels had left.  

"FIRE!!!"

Dark Apostle and Chosen, clearing the way.

"These punks killed our Lord!"

  The Dark Angels were finally going to field their Primarch- the fearsome Lion El-Jonson!  He sent his Deathwing Knights to go mop up the Warp Talons after failing to charge into the heretic Destructor and strode forward confidently, ready to cleave through the daemonkin and their Daemon Princes.  The last battleline unit, the Intercessors, returned back toward their home objective and shot at the winged Prince but caused no damage and thought better than to charge the hulking, enraged monster.  The Reivers fought bravely against the Lord's Chosen but were wiped out instead, Battleshocking the veterans one last time on the way down.  The venerable Dreadnought continued to punch the Land Raider, but was effectively combat ineffective.  The fearsome Lion would be the only hope now.

"Let's not and say we did."

First, the successful Charge roll, with a re-roll

Each warlord's perspective

And then came the trickery

  As the Lion charged into the mob of Possessed, he noticed the Master of Possessions casting some crazy powers and used his Secrets Revealed special rule, but the psyker successfully passed his check in time.  This allowed the Possessed to activate their Unholy Bloodshed rule, take a Dark Pact (with both advantages due to the nearby Helbrute), take advantage of the 'Oath' rerolls, and finally pop the Bringers of Despair strategem to Strike First!  Because of the turn order, this means that my unit gets to attack before the Lion with every buff I could muster at that moment.  Rolling it up- 6 Mortal wounds and 11 more normal wounds, and not enough successful saves-  the Lion goes down!!!  

No more Lion!

End of the Game
  Before the Primarch even gets to attack, he his slaughtered by the Possessed!  If any single part of that series of dice-rolls would have failed, the whole thing would have been for nought and the Lion would have destroyed everything over there within the next two turns.  But everything worked.  Everything!  The Dark Pacts didn't kill me, the re-rolls for the Chaos version of the 'oath' worked, the saves worked, and the timing of rules and strategems worked!  It was all a precarious plan, and it all worked.  

  The Chaos Space Marines win with a final score, after three rounds, of 40-15.  I finally broke my curse and won a game, and won against a Primarch to boot!  It's nice when a plan comes together.  

Happy Gaming!