Intercepted Transmission

http://gotflag.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/is-retro-future-thoughs-on-rogue-trader.html?m=1

Total Chaos.... 80s style.

Well after Andy and I had generated by new character for our upcoming Rogue Trader RPG campaign (a heretical technomagus of the adeptus mechanicus who is convinced things will work if you just press the button and don't worry about the candles)we decided to have a look through the old 'Realm of Chaos' books 'Slaves to Darkness' and 'The Lost and the Damned'.

Now i bought these as a 13 or 14 year old on sale at GW Derby in the late 80s (probably because of the 'adults only' type sticker on it that was to leave me sorely disappointed...) but never really did too much with them. All a bit too crazy with D1000 rolls that could have your rampaging lord of chaos suddenly loose his legs and grow a tail for a head even if you were doing well. But we thought in the interests of exploring old school gaming we'd each have a go at creating a 40k realm of chaos warband and have a few narrative battles.

Deciding to stick by whatever the gods of fate gave us (and only re-rolling impossible to model or *really* lame mutations like 'farts a lot') Andy opted for a Slanesh renegade band and I thought i'd be clever and go for the 'Sensai' warband. For those not privy to the old rare yellow chaos book, the sensai were essentially descendants of the Emperor and about as close to Jedi as GW could get without being sued. Andy's rolls started well. He started off with a Rogue Trader who had sold his soul to chaos, gaining a bestial face and a tail for his loyalty... His first folower was a tainted navigator who had his eyes on stalks but quite fortunatley a chaos weapon (staff) forged from the ribs and still beating heart of his enemy which gave him some additional wounds. All good stuff so far and I felt slightly intimidated when Andy's next two group of followers were a couple of bands of human (7 and 5 strong) armed with shotguns and lasguns. 


So what would the Sensai have to stand against this force... not much to be honest. While i appreciate it says 'sensai bands are quite small' I was expecting a bit more than a basic profile navigator with a laspistol and a grumpy old squat hero with a bolter! Luckily Andy took pity on me and let me have another roll on the followers table, this fared only marginally better with a human minor hero as a sidekick. So I can see our initial clashes being *very* short and think we might be able to get a few dozen game in each night unless my Sensai can get his act together on the recruiting front. It was pretty good fun to mess about with though but it does prove that the products that nearly drove GW crazy (the ROC books) really were the true product of chaos... or perhaps one madman.. who just happened to be the studio manager at the time (i'll mention no names).

Me and my Monkey

Thought it might be fun to create a miniature to serve as my 'avatar' on the tabletop, so here he is - Colonel Kane (rtd), spy, xenologist and explorer extraordinaire. Scourge of the Obscura dens of Dread Mandragora sector, translator of the epic 'Transcendental Orbs of the Great God Vaul', and suitor of the Exodite Princess Lak'Shimbai.


He's made from a range of Citadel plastic components, with a head from Black Pyramid Games. I intend to use him in games of Rogue Trader in alien safari type scenarios. His weapon will count as a grenade launcher and he'll be equipped with all manner of unusual kit designed to bag himself some big nasties, especially stasis grenades and the likes.

Zoats vs Imperial Army, Deathworld Battle Report (of doom)

So then, last night we played what was possibly one of the funnest everest games of Rogue Trader ever. We made up a scenario more or less on the fly, deciding that there's a war being fought on a frontier world between a Zoat exclave and the local Imperial Army (a unit called the Swamp Tigers). Zoat infiltrators have ambushed a Swamp Tigers patrol by disabled its transport, wounding two important passengers in the process. The Swamp Tigers have called in an extraction but must hold out until it arrives. Meanwhile, nearby ground units are rushing to help in fending off the attack.

We used a load of different rules, some from Rogue Trader, some made up on the spot. For example, we had wandering Ambulls and Grox, and decided that once per turn, a Cthonian Worm would surface next to the model that made the loudest noise that turn on the roll of a 6 (this could be a heavy weapon firing, a vehicle moving, whatever).

Rather than me attempt to describe every dice roll, here are some highlights. I'm sure we can add more detail if asked or if we remember!

The battlefield. 

Imperial Army patrol awaiting extraction. 

And again from a different angle. 

Zoat infiltrators move in. The fourth, missile launcher-armed Zoat is covering them from a hill top. 

Nearby Imperial Army forces arrive. 

A wandering Ambull gets very close to the Zoat leader. 

The Zoat advance continues. 

An Imperial Army sentry spots the Zoats. 

More Army units arrive. 

Reinforcements approach through the undergrowth. 

An angry Ambull attacks a Zoat. 

Army reinforcements link up with the ambushed patrol. 

One of the relief units is charged by an Ambull.

Defeated, the relief unit flees, right into the path of a herd of grox! 

Now in range, the Zoats open fire and a flamer immolates the squad medic. 

The Army fight back. 

The Sentinel comes under flamer fire and is set alight. 

Zoat missile fire draws a Cthonian Worm, which causes the first fatality amongst the aliens. 

The relief unit is defeated by the Grox. 

Another Ambull charges into the ambushed patrol's flank. 

The Zoat leader overruns the ambushed patrol. 

A Zoat charges the Sentinel. 

The extraction vessel arrives overhead, but its not yet safe to land. 

Having killed a Zoat, the Sentinel is charged by an Ambull. 

The Zoats wipe out the last of the ambushed patrol, leaving only the wounded.

The relief squad's las cannon gunner, having been detached from his squad and ordered to fire at the big stuff, kills first an Ambull, and then the Zoat leader (before being gunned down himself by the last surviving alien). 

The extraction vessel comes in to land. 

Last charge of the surviving Zoat. 

And he's furiously beaten off...! 

Home in time for tea and medals.

And that's it! We now plan on playing more games set on this world, as the idea of an ongoing bush war between an alien exclave and the local Imperial Army is pretty cool. Next up we may play a game with the Imperium attempting to detonate a virus bomb and the Zoats having to get past the defending robots and disarm the bomb before it wipes everything out!

Incident on Deathworld 242 +++Incoming Distress Transmission+++ ++ Standard Encryption Decyphered ++ ++ Priority Alpha ++ Recconaisance patrol Dog Four One ++ Location rock clearing, South Crystal Veldt, Sector Able Three Zero Heavy Fire Recieved +++ APC Drive Train Destroyed Casualties three KIA, two Alpha grade wounded one Beta, one Delta +++ Med pack supplies sufficient for triage only +++ Request Immediate Evac, Caution Advised Minefield Suspected ++ +++ Jones, Jones.. watch your arc there's something in that hellgrove bush.... +@:$%^& (Sounds of incoming small arms fire...) CONTACT... WAIT OUT! +++

And dear readers you can find out what happens when Andy and I play our first game in what seems like about a decade tonight! Stay tune to this secure channel to find out whether the Imperial Army lads make it out alive!

Deathwatch vs the Wyrm of Porphyria Delta

Just for funs.

Frontier Bug Hunt - Inq28 Battle Report

Well then, its clearly been way too long since any of us had a chance to post on Tales from the Maelstrom, but Martini Henri and myself had a chance to play a game yesterday, so we took a few shots to post here. We're both taking part in an event called the 'Inqvitational' in July - this is a campaign day to be played in Warhammer World in Nottingham, using the Inquisitor rules set with 28mm miniatures. John Blanche is taking part, and apparently special terrain is being made for the day, so it should be pretty cool. While I'm just playing, Martini Henri is GM'ing, so we thought we'd get a few practise games in to re-acquaint ourselves with the rules.

So, for this game we decided to have an Inquisitor and his two henchmen swagger into a frontier town following up reports that the inhabitants had been infected with some sort of xenos taint. His objective was to acquire a grav-sled cargo shunter carrying a pair of stasis crypts with bio samples within and to get it out safely. The enemy would be represented by the classic 'blips', so while the Inquisitor could see them on his bio-scanner he didn't know what each represented until they were revealed.

Martini Henri came up with a really good system for revealing the blips, inspired somewhat by the WW2 strategy game 'Combat Mission'. In that game, whenever your troops hear a vehicle over the hill its tagged 'Tiger', because that's what they most fear it is! As it gets closer it's inevitably downgraded, such as to 'Panzer 4' until eventually a 251 trundles around the bend and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. We did the same thing, so when the blip was revealed a Lictor was initially placed, which was later on replaced by a Genestealer, and finally by a small (and perfectly innocent )dog! (most of the time...)

So, here's a few shots from the game, along with some commentary on how events played out.

 Our Soul's End, a small frontier settlement on Jeriko Reach. Quiet, ain't it...?

 Inquisitor Sickle and two henchmen, Arbitrator Max and Subhadar Jemshi arrive.

Contact right!  

Inquisitor Sickle takes to the rooftops to get a better view of the town. 

The Subhadar hears something... sure its nothing. 

Tiger! Open fire... nope, just another dust rat... 

More movement, this time on the rooftops ahead. 

With Sickle and Max covering him, the Subhadar makes a dash for the objective. 

The bold henchman fires up the grav-shunter, only to vanish in a cloud of blood a moment later.

The killer reveals itself and Inquisitor Sickle leaps from the rooftop to engage it. The ensuing combat was brief but bloody, and by its end the Inquisitor was only one left standing, a fresh bio-sample in hand to take back to base.