Gangfight results

Following the ‘Gangfight’ battle (Firefight at Asakhim Valley) between the cult and the garrison, the campaign stats are as follows.

We played with 700 credits worth of troops each (counting starting values, not including earned advances etc). The result of the game was a win for the garrison, the cult fighters eventually failing a bottle roll. Neither side lost any ‘characters’, so none of the models taken out of action had to roll on the serious injuries table.

The Cult controls the following territory:
Old Ruins
Holestead
Old Ruins
Slag

After income and rolls on the Rare Trade chart, the cult gained a red dot laser sight and a set of infra goggles. It has 108 credits left.

The Garrison controls the following territory:
Settlement
Slag
Mineral Outcrop
Settlement
Settlement

After income, and a roll on the Rare Trade chart, the garrison gained a hot shot laser pack. However, their grenade launcher exploded during the game and had to be replaced (130 credits), leaving the garrison with a disturbing 1 credit left in the regimental kitty!

Experience points earned Corporal Drake a roll on the advance table, which resulted in +1 BS, and the grenade launcher specialist gained a roll too, which gave her +1 WS.

Firefight at Asakhim Valley

+++CONTACT REPORT+++

On this day a patrol from A Company led by Corporal Drake encountered a small force of Betheljinn hilltribe fighters at the head of the Asakhim Valley in an area strewn with wreckage from the war, and heavy in naturally formed craters. The tribesmen were obviously hostile, and a firefight ensued. Drake’s patrol repelled the enemy with no serious injuries suffered by his force.



Although the contact was barely noteworthy in scale, it brought a serious concern to the fore. The same leader faced during Drake’s rescue at the New Minehead mining enclave accompanied the enemy. This individual is undoubtedly touched by the warp, and appears to in possession of prodigious witch powers.



During the battle, both sides had to be wary of the native fauna, notable a Jeriko belching toad and a pair of stragglehoofs. One of the later actually attacked and seriously wounded a tribesman during the fight. Drake reports that the enemy leader then exerted some form of mind control on the stragglehoof in an effort to steer it away from his men.

The enemy put up a sterling fight before withdrawing in good order. Drake’s patrol paused to regroup and treat what injuries had been suffered, before continuing the patrol of the Asakhim valley. The remainder of B platoon is standing to as a rapid reaction force should Drake encounter greater numbers of the enemy further up the valley.

The Emperor Protects

Addendum to report: During the night Drake reported a sighting of what may be an Eldar vessel passing low over the Asakhim-Narawa Pass. Staff meeting to be convened.

+++END+++

Jeriko Reach Planetary Data

+++PLANETARY DATA+++
JERIKO REACH

SYSTEM: Jeriko

SUB-SECTOR: Hypercleon Ebb

SECTOR: Ios

SEGMENTUM: Ultima

EQUATORIAL CIRCUMFRENCE: 28,000 Miles.

GRAVITY: 1.15G.

YEARS AND DAYS: Jeriko Reach has no day or night in the conventional sense, but a dayside and a nightside. However, the world’s satellites frequently align in such a manner as to create a false ‘night’ on Dayside. The length can vary from a few minutes to many weeks, depending on the alignment. These eclipses are considered highly auspicious by the native population, and many festivals are centred around them. They also often herald increased periods of warfare between the various tribal groupings, and on extended nights, a certain anarchy even creeps into the settled towns where the adepts reside, making life difficult for the garrison and arbites.

SATELLITES: Mutiny. Cantanka.

POPULATION: 30,500,000.

MEAN SURFACE TEMPERATURE: +55°C.

TROPOSPHERIC COMPOSITION: Very little airborne vapour, so few if any clouds. Otherwise breathable. Very little atmospheric turbulence. Regions surrounding Honourable Imperial Mining Concern facilities may be subject to localised atmospheric pollution, so the Concern’s troops and senior officers wear rebreathers in such zones (a luxury not afforded the indentured miners).

GEOGRAPHY: Most of the surface is land, with a series of seas dotted around the surface. Some inland mountain ranges, and numerous craters caused in the planet’s distant past and preserved due to minimal winds. The seas have a complex mineral composition, and are toxic to most lifeforms. Processing stations exist along the coasts, but the liquid takes a lot of processing to make potable.

Further from the seas, the vegetation becomes more dense. Much of this is poisonous, dangerous or even hostile, and where thickest home to many carnivorous autochthonic lifeforms as well as creatures probably introduced thousands of years ago, such as wild grox. The most dangerous of these regions are referred to as ‘deathzones’, and are rarely entered.

Nightside is almost entirely unexplored, and even orbital surveys are rare. The Honourable Concern has attempted limited explorations, though these are seen as low priority as enough of the polyioxikon they mine exists on dayside. It is thought the majority of nightside falls into the deathzone category.

GOVERNMENT TYPE: Tribal monarchy

PLANETARY GOVERNER: Grand Exhaltant Salabad the Twenty-Ninth.

ADEPT PRESENCE: Low. Administratum in major settlements; Adepta Sororitas Abbey of the Desert Rose in mountains; Imperial Guard garrison; small Adeptus Arbites presence.

MILITARY: The Jeriko Reach garrison is the main military force, consisting of an Imperial Guard battle group, largely drawn from Mordant regiments following their actions in the war. This force has the task of maintaining the Imperium’s authority and guarding against the sector-wide recidivism that led to the last war. In emergencies, the garrison can be bolstered by troops from the Defence Volunteer Force, drawn from the ‘urban’ native population. This body is irregular and semi-professional, but has a long history of service and it is a great honour for a family to be called upon to send a son to war. The volunteers are loathed by the hill tribes.

The Devine Janissary. Salabad’s personal bodyguard. These warriors are the Grand Exhaltant’s private army. They undertake missions against the Salabad’s rivals and other tribal groups the garrison would rather not get involved with.

The Indentured Defence Corp of the Honourable Imperial Mining Concern. Offworlders brought in by the Concern to guard the mining enclaves.

Hill Tribes. The native hill tribes are highly warlike, and every male of fighting age is expected to take part in constant tribal conflicts. The Bethaljinn tribes are currently the strongest, and these have started raiding on outlying Mining Concern enclaves.

Adepta Sororitas. The Abbey of the Desert Rose in the Beylik mountains is home to a small force of Battle Sisters, but this has yet to fully recover following the war.

RELIGION: The natives worship the emperor as a distant and vengeful figure, though the Bethaljinn have recently started worshipping a figure they call ‘the angel’. To date, it is not known if this figure is a literal person or some personification of the emperor or one of his saints.

Indentured HIMC personnel are drawn from a range of worlds, and therefore worship the Emperor according to the dictates of a thousand different cults. A small contingent of the Missionarius Galaxia is attached to the Mining Concern to provide for their spiritual needs.

CLIMATE: Hot and arid on dayside. The lack of cloud cover is particularly uncomfortable for the troopers of the garrison, who being drawn from Mordant, a night world, must wear glare protection in the open. Nightside is cold, with a single glacier in the very centre.

SOCIETY: Grand Exhaltant Salabad’s authority is centred around the main settlements, and these are populated mainly by ‘urbanised’ natives as well as various adepts of the Administratum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica etc. Further from this centre society breaks down into ancient tribal groupings. The Mining Concern maintains small facilities called ‘mining enclaves’, which it administers largely as it will. The mining enclaves are unofficially considered ‘neutral ground’ where the rule of the Grand Exaltant is ill-defined and even the garrison is careful to operate.

WATER SUPPLY: No potable water exists on Jeriko Reach, and therefore every settlement must rely on its condensers to extract water from the toxic liquids held in the subsoil. These are common features across the world, though the hill tribes, which predate the authority of the Imperium, have there own, closely guarded, means of extracted water.

PRINCIPLE EXPORTS: A chemical compound called polyioxikon, used in the manufacture of low grade mass plasma transmission systems. The Imperial Mining Concern was incorporated at the end of M35 by an offworld cartel in order to exploit and export this material. Polyioxikon remains in demand, though the profits from the operation are not high.

PRINCIPLE IMPORTS: The garrison is periodically re-supplied when segmentum command remember they exist. The Mining Concern ships in machinery and personnel on a semi-regular basis. The Grand Exhaltant is known to maintain a zoo of exotic creatures, many of which are shipped in at exhorbitant prices from offworld. In common with many of the tribal leaders, he also maintains a large harem, and he is known to import Simulacra - artificial humanoids, to add to this. These particular simulacra, sometimes called 'joysims', have blue skin and white hair, and are considered amongst the finist expression of the genomancer's art - they are also highly elicit and only the likes of an Imperial Commander such as the Grand Exhaltant can afford them.

DEFENCES: The garrison forms the world’s primary defence. A network of automated surface to orbit missile silos was built during the last war to defend Jeriko Reach from planetary assault. These were never used, and the secrets of their operation are entirely lost. This causes some concern to Mining Concern and munitorum vessels as they approach the world, though to date, none of these automated defence missiles have fired.

OFFWORLD CONTACTS: Although Jeriko Reach is, on the surface an isolated frontier world of little concern to the Imperium at large, this makes it of interest to a number of other groups. Eldar pirates are known to operate in the Wilderness Space regions beyond the Reach, and these periodically raid the world. It is believed these pirates have recently undergone some form of civil war, and a new leader has taken control. This may lead to heightened activity. It has furthermore been suggested on several occasions that various representatives of the Grand Exhaltant’s authority have colluded with the pirates in highly illegal activity.

Many scavengers and looters have been drawn to Jeriko Reach in the years since the war, drawn by the promise of high value loot amidst the old battlefields. Some of these have established small settlements of their own out in the wastes, sheltering inside long burned-out tank wrecks and shipping high-value goods off world.

The small Adepta Sororitas presence in the Beylik mountains provides further links off world, though the sisters rarely interact with the population at large. The Abbey of the Desert Rose was almost entirely destroyed during the last war, and has yet to be fully rebuilt.

Corporal Drake finished

Here's Corporal Drake, as he was first made as a captive, and later on after he escaped. I've used the same head (West Wind Productions 'US Bare Heads' blister) and tried to keep the paint scheme consistant.

And here's a shot from behind showing how the hands were done. The manicles are just greenstuff.

Corperal Drake WIP

Here's my conversion for the fully-armed and ready for action Corperal Drake, as seen after his rescue from the cult, at New Minehead. He's carrying the power sword his section recovered from the supply drop in the mission before that (in which he was captured).

Below is the original (unpainted for comparison) captured version that was used as the objective in the Rescue at New Minehead game. I've used the same head (West Wind Productions - 'American Bare Heads' blister) so its clearly the same character in two different situations.

Volunteer Force troopers (finished)

Finished the Native Defence Volunteer Force troopers. They share a lot of kit with the Imperial Guard of the Jeriko Reach garrison, but use locally produced autoguns and wear additional armour plates manufactured by local smiths.

Rescue at New Minehead

++Contact report++

Following the capture of Corporal Drake, a section of B platoon, A Company mounted a rescue operation. The section, reinforced by two volunteers of the newly raised native defence force infiltrated the Imperial Mining Concern settlement of New Minehead. The corporal was found to be held within a power-field protected area in the very centre of the settlement, suggesting very firmly that the entire settlement has fallen under the control of the hostiles.



Having killed one sentry and freed Drake, enemy reinforcements began to arrive. These soon proved too much for the rescue force, which retreated under heavy fire, a number of troopers receiving wounds as they extracted. At one point the enemy’s fire touched off a defensive reaction from a yaga plant, and a large cloud of hallucinogenic spore were released over the enemy’s leader, aiding the extraction of our troops.



Although the rescue and extraction were successful, the small force was badly mauled. Thankfully, no troopers were lost, and over the next few hours all returned to their blockhouse.



Of dire concern to my staff and I is the report filed by Corporal Drake after his return. He reports seeing a number of beasts of xenos origin, as well as some form of human/xenos hybrid succubus, which lounged naked throughout the battle, watching impassively as lasbolts cracked through the air. Even worse, when the rescue section arrived, it appears the uprising’s leader was en route to enact some vile ceremony upon the corporal. This individual displayed a number of witch-powers, and was by all accounts a terrifying presence.



Having consulted with my staff, I am of the opinion that some manner of xenos species has infiltrated the hill tribes. They clearly have control of a number of mining settlements too, and it may be that Imperial Mining Concern personnel may be affected too.

I plan to gather more intelligence as to the nature of this threat, and if the garrison is unable to contain it I shall make a request for off-world aid. Imperial Commander Salabad has voiced his objection to this course of action, apparently wishing to avoid any ‘Imperial entanglements’.

The situation in the hills looks dire. I shall up patrol activity whilst clamping down on the mining settlements. My staff are even now putting together recommendations for the capture of one of these xenos, so that, should I be forced to request off world aid, I can at least present them with proof.

The Emperor Protects.

++Colonel Kane, Jeriko Reach Garrison. ++

Rescued

Following the ‘Rescue’ battle between the cult and the garrison, the campaign stats are as follows.

The result of the game was a win for the garrison in that they rescued the captured corporal. The patrol was decimated in the process however, but no actual fatalities were sustained, the survivors limping back to base in the hours following the battle.

The Cult controls the following territory:
Old Ruins
Holestead
Old Ruins
Slag

After income and rolls on the Rare Trade chart, the cult bought a bio-scanner and a silencer. It has 195 credits left.

The Magus sustained a serious injury – Partially Deaf (-1 Ld). One hybrid earned 5 experience points, and another 2.

The Garrison controls the following territory:
Settlement
Slag
Mineral Outcrop
Settlement
Settlement

After income, two rolls on the Rare Trade chart, and the equipping of the three native volunteer troopers with autoguns, the garrison bought a skull chip as rare trade, which was given to the corporal. They have only 17 credits left (clearly the garrison is underfunded!).

The grenade launcher trooper sustained a ‘Blinded in One Eye’ serious injury, and earned enough experience points for a roll on the advance table. This resulted in +1 BS, which cancelled out the eye wound nicely! The rescued corporal earned 1 experience point, and the missile launcher trooper 5.

+++Stay tuned for in-character updates from both sides (and try to figure out where the truth lies!)+++

The Hill Tribes arise.

Blatantly stock tallarns but these were painted to fit in with an existing army, the next band of tribesmen will have imperial insignia filed of and conversion to make them less well equipped and a little more rag tag.

Local fauna... WIP

Decided to make some local beasties courtesy of some pound store dinosaurs and copious amounts of static grass and PVA glue.

Hopefully with a herd of these we can have some very interesting scenarios.

A shadowy figure...

A rare data scan of one of the orders more senior brothers...

Native Defence Volunteer Force WIP

Having rolled three "juves" from the three settlements that the Garrison controls, I've decided to make these as auxillary troops fighting alongside the Guard. As Jeriko Reach has a Persian feel in places, I decided to make these up as the 40k equivelent of British Indian Army Sepoys.

The conversions use Imperial Guard Catachan legs and Cadian bodies, matching the main bulk of the Guard, as they would draw many of their supplies from the same source. The arms and weapons however are Forge World pieces, representing the troops being armed with locally manufactured autoguns rather than the rarer lasguns the Guard hold only limited stocks of. The heads are from West Wind Productions, from their British Indian Army WW2 range, and the feathers are from plastic High Elf infantry.

Hopefully they'll be painted up in time to take part in the captive rescue mission we'll be playing next week!

House rules

Here are some of the house rules we've used so far.

Messy Death: Inspired by the WW2 skirmish game 'Operation Overlord', we decided that when a model killed by a high impact weapon (Str 7+) goes out of action, all friendly models within 6" (rather than the normal 2") should take a Leadership test. Furthermore, that model doesn't get to roll on the Serious Injuries table after the game - he's dead Jim!

Pinned: we reckon a target that's just ducked for cover would be harder to hit. Therefore, shooting at a Pinned model is at a further -1 to hit.

Campaing mechanics intro

The campaign system we’re using is essentially that described in Necromunda, but we’re making a few tweaks as we go along…

Most importantly, territory isn’t tied to a ‘gang’, but to a faction. A faction can have multiple gangs, but only the last one to fight in a battle can work the territory, trade etc. This represents the faction sending out a patrol in an effort to enforce its control over an area. The income collected represents the faction’s control as much as any monetary benefit.

Furthermore, we’re keeping the gangs pretty fluid and not always tying specific characters to specific gangs. In order to keep things manageable we use each fighter’s starting value to determine whether we have a roughly even match up. Any skills and gear accumulated in the campaign are ignored in this value, as gaining them requires the fighters be put at risk actually fighting. So a typical fight might feature roughly 1,000 credits worth fighters, measured by their starting values, even if the actual gang ratings are much higher.

Only gang leaders, heavies and other models we consider especially characterful can earn experience points, though anyone can be bought special gear. Having said this, we've adopted a similar mechanic to Mordheim's 'Lads Got Talent' roll, so on a 2D6 roll of double 6 a single fighter of the owner's choice becomes a 'hero' and can start earning experience, gaining skills etc.

We’ve decided to ignore a few of Necromunda’s campaign rules, in particular awarding experience for wounds scored (we always forget to record it in the excitement of the battle!). We also ignore the rules for profit margin, which sort of balances off the above.

In terms of building gangs, we’re counting factions as different Necromunda gangs. For example, the Imperial Guard garrison members are counted as Orlock gangers for the purposes of gear and skills lists, while the Eldar Pirates that will be making an appearance soon will be counted as Eschers. If we think a gang should have gear that would normally be rare, we’ve ignored that and given it to them anyway, so the Guard troopers all started out with (and paid for from their starting value) flak armour even though they would normally have to earn this, and the Eldar Pirates will start out with mesh armour.

No doubt we’ll tweak things more as the campaign progresses, and if we do we’ll be sure to note it here.

Campaign background intro

The world of Jeriko Reach is situated on the galaxy’s northern rim, far from any strategically important worlds. Half a century ago, the planet, and the entire sector was ravaged by war as one after the other, the region’s worlds arose in outright rebellion. The Imperium’s response, though slow to mobilise, was brutal. The rebellions were put down in a crusade that lasted two decades and claimed the lives of billions. Jeriko Reach was just one battleground in this terrible war, and although decades have passed, the arid wastes are still littered with the remains of rusty warmachines and bones long bleached by the sun.

In the war’s aftermath, a small Imperial Guard battlegroup was posted to Jeriko Reach. This force was given the task of guarding against future uprisings against the rule of the Imperium. Although the garrison receives intermittent resupply, its commanders are largely left to prosecute this mission as they see fit.

Despite being so far removed from the Imperium’s interests, Jeriko Reach is an interesting place. Indentured workers mine the world’s only exportable asset – an ore used in the production of bulk plasma transmission systems. Salvagers and looters too are attracted to Jeriko Reach, drawn by the detritus of war to be found in the wastes. It is even rumoured that an intact, abandoned titan still stands, immobile, out there somewhere in the cratered wastes.

The world’s native population generally despise all outsiders, and the feeling is generally mutual. The garrison has its hands full maintaining what peace there is, periodically conducting punitive strikes against recalcitrant tribal leaders.

But now, those tribes are uniting, and the formally random attacks on the garrison’s patrols are becoming increasingly coordinated, and lethal. Some new influence is at play, and the Imperial Guard must face it alone…