A new location for the same old banter...
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:48, Tue 14 Feb 2017.

The hallmark of a good, engaged game is hitting 1000 posts in the OOC thread.  We've done just that!  Keep up the good work AC and thanks all of the players who've made the commitment!

Woohoo!
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:58, Tue 14 Feb 2017.

Wut wut!



Started off with 2 FP, now down to zero due to plasma overheats AND I've managed to roll juust over my TN the last two rounds.  So yeah, I've got luck on my side, it's just the bad kind :P

I'll take it though, as long as it keeps me alive and Ramirez keeps dishin' out the hurt with his rolls
This message was last edited by the player at 21:04, Tue 14 Feb 2017.

Well the times I roll low and succeed on my attacks I do less damage than the combined toughness+armour so I know for me it feels depressing at times to finally get a good roll and then...it come to nothing.  But I'm a medic...I'm not supposed to do a lot of damage.

;)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Tue 14 Feb 2017.

After this is done, remind us to sharpen your entrenching tool so you can hit with something more proper than the butt of a shotgun.

Yeah but pausing to get that out of my pack while a Tyranid is trying to eat me?

I just need to work my weapon mods and shift it to a pistol grip and saw off the barrel and lighten the thing till it's barely larger than a hack shotgun with a drum.

Ramirez, not sure if you're going to be able to respond before I make my post...do the Horms have to make pinning tests even if they dodge the shots you took? My initial gut reaction is to say no, but I don't know the particulars of the wording for your talent.

HAIL OF FIRE
Type: Order (Half Action)
Cost: 300 xp
Effect: With just a look, the Weapon Specialist signals his Comrade to lay down a coordinated hail of fire. If the
Weapon Specialist’s Comrade is in Cohesion, all of the targets of the Weapon Specialist’s attacks this Turn must take a
Challenging (+0) Pinning Test or become Pinned (see Pinning on page 254).

---

I'm guessing this is what he's talking about and by that writing it would be yes they would regardless of dodging.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Wed 15 Feb 2017.

Aye, its "targets of attacks" not "hit by attacks".

Ok...well two of them died and the other missed its target anyway, and as they are in melee they auto-escape at the end of the round, so the loss of a half action didn't affect anything this round. But that's good to know. Thanks.

Now that's what I call value! Upping my kill count like crazy this combat.

I can't wait to join you guys. My characters aren't done yet, but that's just because I vastly overestimated the amount of free time I was gonna have.

AC, does this game take place before or after the 13th Crusade?

 That's a good question. I had the actual year written down because it tied in directly with the purpose behind the title of the main IC thread "Rescue" of Endrite. I'll have to look it up again but its definitely after 748.M41, if that helps set your brain on track.

Also, I am not sure you can claim an Aim bonus if you switch targets, can you? I let it slide the first round, knowing that the Aim bonus was with regards to the single roll of Semi-auto fire action, but logic dictates that I look up the rule for it when I get home from work tonight.

You get the aim bonus when you make the attack; changing targets is determined after you succeed on the attack roll.  Therefore, you should still be able to claim the bonus.  I suppose this situation could be exploited by aiming at targets out of melee and then switching to targets that are stuck in, but I think the 2m rule is designed to prevent that sort of blatant rule-bending.  The semi-auto action description stipulates that subsequent targets cannot be harder to hit than the original.

If it helps, I've always rationalized the Aim action as less of an aim action and more of a bracing/stabilizing action when using semi-auto.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Wed 15 Feb 2017.

Hey, Two-Bit, did you serve with the Tanith at some point?

Nope.  I overheard* some cursing in a bar once and I thought it sounded pretty nifty.

*by which I mean I was on the receiving end :D

Huh. Neat.

fastest turn ever?

Looks like.  We're probably all eager to end the killin' so we can get to the killin'

Another lightning quick round!

Yes indeed! I'll write it up tonight after dinner.

GM, will I be able to snap off a shot at each of the remaining 'nids?

Yeah but I wouldn't waste a shot at Roland's with Jansen storming over.

Then again...he might just pause along the way and burn his action shouting at BOTH medics who chose to defy his order. :/

He'd already issued an order to me...Reload the gun and get into the fight.

Besides Sawbones is the better medic, lol :D

What's the Zakurian's standard Melee weapon? All I see in their standard gear is a Combat Shotgun and some grenades. While I admire Zilch's unorthodox use of the Shotgun, I don't think it counts.

Standard melee weapon is the typical kit issued knife...Which I replaced with my shield.

I'm almost done. I'm waiting for the GM to okay my sheets and then I get to join you guys for the fun part. I can't wait to die!
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

Y'all really should be closing to point blank range to negate the melee penalty :)

AC said we couldn't a few posts back.

Not entirely. I said using the PB range bonus to hit things beyond the 2+2+2m range for semi was an abuse of the rules as I saw it. I did suggest that, in the future, people should SAY they are maneuvering to within 2m of their target, or see that I post their distance is 2m from their target, before they assume they can use the PB bonus of +30 to hit.

:)

I was going off of the Hormagaunts being 0m away according to your posts, but I will admit I did feel a little dirty getting that +30 to my attacks. Only a little bit, though, because that loophole helped me dish out a lot of damage. Which feel good.

Zero meters away, meaning in melee with the troops. lol

I've got some good bio-acid to wash that dirty feeling right off you. ;)

Oh, that's not necessary. I already took a shower.

That's why I did a full aim to counter the melee penalty.

Also, +10 BS for scatter weapons at short range.  You don't get the +3 damage bonus but I think Zilch will end up hitting.



The way I interpret it, you close to PB, you can only hit targets within 3m if you anyway since the semi-auto rules don't let you hit targets that are harder to hit than your initial target.  You throw the 2m limitation on top of that and you can really only hit things in a smallish arc in front of you.  Consider the following scenarios (all targets w/in 2m):

Initial target in melee and subsequent targets out of melee, subject to the 2m limitation: OK according to RAW, as the ones out of melee are easier to hit
Initial target out of melee and subsequent targets in melee: NOT OK according to RAW, since targets in melee are harder to hit
Initial target at PB and subsequent targets at short: NOT OK according to RAW

The one boundary condition would be going from a target at short range (+10) to a target at PB in melee (+30-20 = net +10) but that would have to be a highly specialized circumstance given the 2m limitation.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

Totally forgot the +10...

Will have to edit that in.

Scatter doesn't get the +10 in Only War I'm pretty sure.

Per Only War



Per Black Crusade



Personally, I like Black Crusade a bit better.  Only War should be Point Blank and Close Range for the scatter bonus to proc in my opinion.

This message was last edited by the player at 19:05, Sat 18 Feb 2017.

The errata scatter is what let me nigh-obliterate the GS I was wrestling a few rounds ago (yes yes, Ramirez actually got the kill), so I definitely prefer that version.  +40 to-hit for 1d10+7 at PB is pretty badass.  Definitely need a pistol-ish version for dedicated melee use like Zilch suggested a while back.

Unless AC allows the Micro mod from Rogue Trader there isn't a raw way to make a basic weapon a pistol weapon suitable in close combat.

Hence why the best option is to simply get the chain attachment mod or get the melee weapon attachment and stick a chain/power/whatever on it so that when it becomes close combat we just move from blasting to slashing without a hitch.

Don't get me wrong using a recoil glove like I am now or a pistol grip will let you do the shield (for the defensive parry quality) and weapon combo but by adding that melee attachment or chain attachment you can simply just keep on fighting.

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 43):

Compact and Extra Grip. It's still Basic, but it's essentially a pistol at that point.

Well yes, but since it's not officially a pistol class you can't shoot with it in melee combat.

You'd need Micro or use the Hack Shotgun or Shotgun Pistol from Dark Heresy to be truly that and work.  And even then it gets wonkymwith scatter cause it doesn't address melee combat in conjunction with it.  It is neither short nor point blank as you get none of those mods for using it in melee so does it get multiple hits like from PB?  Does it get the damage increase?

There is a common sense answer of course but it would be up to AC wat they want to rule for here.

Ultimately it'll be easier to simply get a chain attachment.

I think the naval ripper gun from HoE is a pistol scatter weapon.  Not quite as badass as modding a combat shotgun, though :)

Got an invite to a birthday dinner, which works fine so Ramirez has time to shoot more xenos before I get home later to post. Maybe 4-5 hours I'm thinking, as it's a 45 min drive there.

Posted, with my first Righteous Fury hit too! Hopefully that sucker doesn't Dodge...

Crisp high-tens, all around!

Iiiiiiii didn't realize that I'd already been introduced in the last combat post. Now my introduction post seems dumb.

Fixed it.

You know if our primary troopers kick it we are going to be awash in Heavy Gunners all over the place between Bull, Oggie and Everest...

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 52):

Who needs healing and is Zilch assisting?

When I'm not on my phone my post will be assisting.

In reply to GSN 1610292302 (msg # 53):

Roland and his comrade could definitely use some healing.

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 52):

Sergeants never die, they just go missing in action.

I'm down 5 and my comrade is down 4.  I'll think we'll both skip healing this time around as I think it would be a waste of wounds healed.

I have been looking but couldn't find anything that says you can only receive first aid 1 time per day.  If that is the case, we should heal up each time.

Under the special uses of Medicae on pg 126, it notes that any given person can only receive first aid once/24 hours.

I got through that without a scratch on me. I'll be fine. On another note, there's a Deathwatch game I joined and my Assault Marine in that can't hit SHIT because the GM had us have no stat above 60 AFTER chapter bonuses. I'm thinking I like playing Guardsmen a lot more, because I can actually hit sometime. That, or melee is just a shitshow and nobody ever should get into a fistfi-*BLAM* HERESY

Sawbones...

It's only 5 degrees of success since each point of critical damage Go es a -10 penalty.  Still good work on that Recaf bumps up those 5 plus your Int bonus in wounds which last I remember seeing was 5 as well.  Should put them at 7 wounds.

Zilch, I noticed a small but amusing typo in your post. I think it should catch on that Recaf is 'Decaf' whenever she gets K.O.'d

Damn...

I caught the autocorrect changing I here in the ooc but somehow missed it in the IC.

I second the new nickname, the best ones are always those given by your squadmates.  That reminds me, we still need come up with a good one for Ramirez and Emilia, no?  I motion we call them "Boom" and "boom" (sic) given how much 'splosives we just saw them put out.

Also, it would make for a pretty amusing image to see them side by side.

In reply to GSN 1701041631 (msg # 64):

That's not too bad, as it also plays off the bit of Twinlepathy I've been RPing them with. Referring to the two of them as a singular entity (i.e. "Boom-boom") could also make for some interesting (if not playfully confusing) antics.

Don't let my opinion affect what nicknames Ramirez and Emilia get, though. I've never known a soldier who got to pick what their comrades called them ;P

Heh. Glad I named this thread 'Banter'. You guys make me grin.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:14, Mon 20 Feb 2017.

Yeah, I just left it as ?? because AC might want to tack on extra penalties considering we're knee deep in xeno corpses, in a dark tunnel, etc.  That said, I had a good roll.

True.  At least the worst the penalty can get to by raw is -60 so you'll still heal her from Decaf to Recaf with 7 instead of 10 wounds.

Good point.  I was hoping to avoid another exp investment in Medicae.  But it's probably worth grabbing one more +10.  That or another dump into Int might be worth it as well.

Every +10 matters in a game like this since we don't have psyker healing that can bridge wounds faster than 1/day.

Int is always good but gets expensive and usually is cheaper to get the skill bump.  If you can get a medicae mechadendrite that would help too...or a Narthecium or the like.  Really anything we can get our hands on to give us better numbers heals more on a success.

Best would be Good Cerebral Implants that give us Unnatural Int x2...*that* would be a hella big boost.

I have considered changing the rule on healing of once per day to once per mission. That would make these follow-on assignments less of a death sentence.

The tradeoff is the game is therefore less deadly, and you have less tension in every encounter.

It is still in the consideration phase.

I've always hated mechanics that limited healing to 1x/day.  I can understand mechanically why systems do it, but it stretches my suspension of disbelief just a bit too far.

One way we used to do it in d20 Modern was limit first aid actions to 1x/hit, although the level of bookkeeping that required ended up being a tad too much.  I'd be a fan of 1x/mission, though.

I'd throw a vote in for 1x/mission as well.  It most likely would be less than 24 hours, but an odd mission or two could extend well beyond that.

I agree, 1x/hit is way too detailed, though more realistic.

Much as I'd love more per day or mission I think the arbitrary way they put it at once a day is a decent representation of simply the fact that the human body can only take so much beating before it fails from shock.  Sure you can staple a wound shut and burn one closed and apply sutures and other drugs for every hit but it won't make the person any better equipped to handle more.

Even considering that just think what we went through...

A half dozen genestealers plus thirty-two termagants and thirty-eight hormagants just ran up against ten guardsmen and thier Commissar.  When it all ended a few had some gashes, one seriously wounded on the ground...And 76 of them are dead on the ground.

That alone says either were damn lucky or were even tougher than we should be.

We did expend a lot of ordinance to do that though.

The brood is still testing your capabilities. You are not the squishy indigenous people they initially encountered. They will adapt numbers and tactics as they find weaknesses to exploit. :)

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 76):

Begins mental prep for the carnifex

There is 100% probability that you will NOT encounter a carnifex in the first three
missions.

There is 100% probability that you are being stalked by a lichtor.

No further data is available at this time.

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 78):

Almost worse :). Can't outrun a lichtor

Says you. I still have at least 18 frag, krak, and incendiary grenades. Each. And three more clips of lasgun ammo, so I'm ready for a lictor. Probably.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
There's something to be said about how a lot of explosives can make a man cocky.

---

If no one else needs healing, I'm think we're good.  How's Jansen looking?  He took a hit right?

Looks like he got hit twice and is down in the single digits, based on looking back through the combat thread.  Since he's still walking I think it's safe to assume no critical damage.

Parallel question for AC: would we have enough time to sharpen up Zilch's (and anyone else missing a melee weapon) entrenching tool to act as a weapon, per HoE?

I'm on the road so if it's a matter of turns, rounds, or actions then probably. If it's a narrative time -slash- discretion thing, then probably not.

Yes Jansen is in single digits but not near death. If he survives this mission he will be even tougher, I assure you. :)

Problem with Jansen is we healed him on the wall so he's not due for another healing of our type till likely post destruction of this vat.

Using a weapon as an improvised weapon is no worse than using the e-tool really 1d10-2 Prim 7, Unbalanced versus 1d5+3 Prim 8, Uwieldly.  But to use the tool I'd have to take the action to drop my shotgun and ready my e-tool.

Also Sawbones...

Roland and Tristan need healing so they should be next our your dice rolling schedule.  Roland is down 9 and Tristan is down 8

Unfortunately I've already had healing done on the wall so I think i'm stuck where i'm at unless we are adopting the healing per mission idea.

Ahhh had forgotten about that.

Between 1d10-2 Prim (7) to 1d5+3 Prim (8), I'd take the latter every time.  The minimum damage on the improvised weapon is SB-1 vs SB+4 for the e-tool; max is SB+5 vs SB+7.

Now, throw in a d10 range and the different Prim ranges in there will screw with the damage distribution, and I haven't run a Monte Carlo on it, but I'm fairly certain the e-tool stats outperform. If you're just planning on contributing ganging up bonuses to melee or going defensive and aren't expecting to deal damage, then sure, go ahead and save the action to switch, but otherwise it seems like the superior (read: Commissar's preference) course would be to move to an actual melee weapon.

note: I deliberately excluded the unbalanced and unwieldy stats here as I'm assuming you won't be parrying.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Tue 21 Feb 2017.

RE: Healing ppl.

Yeah, I was waiting to see if we made a final conclusion on that. It's not a thing to roll some dice during the scene advancement if the rule change comes into effect now.

Also, Jansen needs some healing, but he too was already healed.

Well there also is the point of needing to spend actions while in combat to try and pull an e-tool out of my pack...which when you try to imagine someone who isn't the best at front line combat in the middle of deadly combat with a tyranid beast with razor talons...forget the mechanics do you really think that they would go to open their pack to pull an e-tool to flip it open to swing it wildly at the creature or would they simply use the blunt instrument of a shotgun to bash the thing?

'Tis simple, keep it on your belt or some sort of "combat strap" on your pack.  An instrument that large wouldn't usually be stored in your pack, so I think it would be somewhere between a half action and a full action at most, particularly if you intended to make it reachable in combat.

Knowing that troops used to use entrenching tools for hand-to-hand is enough rationale for me.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Tue 21 Feb 2017.

Well barring something nutty real world e-tools generally aren't that large and I carry one in my pack anytime I go camping.  I can see your rationale for it but the way Zilch works currently he wouldn't try and find a suitable spot mid mission to sharpen his e-tool and then hang it somehow on his pack, belt or webbing when he hadn't done it before.

I respect your choice; hopefully Jansen understands too :).  Some quick background reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...y_entrenching_shovel

That being said, you could always argue, "what are we, Iron Warriors?" and call it a day.

Probably should have rolled a knowledge imperial guard check before telling the commissar to slow it down.  But didn't think of it until now.  Anyway, wouldn't a medic actually have the authority to send a wounded warrior home?  I wasn't ever in the military, but if it's anything like sports, the soldiers would want to keep fighting even if they're injured or wounded and you need someone to protect them against themselves.

"Life is the Emperor's currency. Spend it well."

Guardsmen are meant to die for the glory of the God-Emperor. We are billions and we are replaceable. I'm surprised Jansen didn't give you a good BLAMming right then and there.

In reply to GSN 1610292302 (msg # 94):

The real morale killer would be seeing the commissar leave the frontlines. The men need to see that commissars are perfectly willing to do anything the men can do, and do it better. And also, Jansen probably masturbates to the thought of dying a glorious death in the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind.

Jansen is more religious than dickish, and his time with the Adeptus has tempered his hatred of xenos with his understanding that your current 'employers/commanders' are able to modify and reverse-engineer many useful [and powerful] xenos weapons for the continued success of the Imperium with [virtually] zero side effects that require his intervention. He is a man with great internal conflict, held in check by constant warfare. Like a modified version of the marines' "God, Corps, Country" his is "Emperor, Duty, Humanity."

Probably won't be playing cards with him during your downtime.

Would standing 5 feet from the frontline using your bolt pistol really be "leaving the frontline"?

BLAM!  Anything but metric is heresy, I sez!

^

I say metric is heresy. I only use Imperial units.

Heading to bed, then work tomorrow. Then tabletop gaming. Then bed again. Then work. See you all for a post update and mission-forward action Thursday night, if I can stick to my own schedule.

I expect to be out of town Friday and Saturday night for a school function, so minor updates but no combat between now and next Sunday [or Monday] night.

Please continue with your IC interaction. :)

AC, how wide is the tunnel? Specifically, is it wide enough for a Chimera?

Wide enough, yes. High enough...in some places, yes, but in others it would scrape or halt. This is a mass-transit tube for the humanoid sized 'nids, mostly. The bigger stuff is being deployed elsewhere, currently.

I'm sure you'll hear all about it in your after-action review. ;)

We need assault trikes.  Just sayin'

I'm expecting (but not actually waiting on) another post from the new Sgt...but completely understand if he's waiting until my post tonight to make his Big Announcement.

No, it is not a 401k plan for guardsmen.

Wait I thought it was going to be about the IGSS program.  You mean there won't be a sit down with representatives of the Imperial Guards Social Security team?

Is it a Dental plan? I have a feeling we're about to get our teeth kicked in by some bigger 'nids.

Heh. I really do have a system for balance in this game very similar to the point costs for each of you as models on the table top version vs. the cost of squads of enemies. Then I try to keep it between 125%-150% them vs you. So far so good. :)

If you've figured out that equation you are amazing AC :)

I thought that *was* the battleplan.

I'm not saying I'd forgotten the thing I was supposed to be doing, but I am saying that you shouldn't trust me to be a courier for anything.

Well then, that's certainly a nice surprise!

Yeah that's kinda real important there :P

Nawww, our shiny new sarge can't be afflicted by that, can he? ;)

No, not afflicted. But you're going to get a teensy glimpse into the [one] flaw of your commissar. He's like your very own Dr. Leonard McCoy: "Why use a transporter when there's a perfectly good shuttle available? Getting your molecules all jumbled up and reassembled. It's not natural, I say!"


He's not in the phobia stage, but he knows that the Teleportarium does take you on the fringe of warpspace to move you through realspace. He's always going to have questions for those who use it. ;)

I don't know if that description is accurate. I don't even know what a teleportarium is.

*chuckles*

Nope it's a pretty good description.

@AC = What will be the skill roll(s) necessary to apply the toxin?  We need to know in order to know who will be stuck carrying it and responsible when we fuck it up for everyone?

Eh...I don't want to give too much away, but because of the speed required to fabricate it, it is a slightly wide-range bio-toxin than was hoped for, meaning it will affect the tyranid genepool for sure, but it may have some...side effects...on humans standing too close when it is released.

I would suggest you find someone with a great throwing arm to strap it to a grenade and hurl it into the pool. Or run up, uncork it, and drop it in. Or anything in between, really. Set it on the ground and snipe it from a distance so it spills into the pool. Swallow it and let your self be devoured. So many options...

No, it cannot be combined with a grenade launcher. Different sizes and too violent a propulsion for the canister.

"Uh...Zilch you have three arms man!  That teleportarium is going to get you killed by Jansen!"

"No I don't.  That's a biodendrite and was attached by Magos Mengele before we left..."

"You think he'll buy that excuse?"

"No but I'm going to try and say it with a straight face and it might get me till he checks with the Magos..."

So, I just realized that while my Strength isn't great, I've got a ton of BS (no pun intended) and don't take penalties for long or extreme range. If it comes down to it, I think I'm the guy best suited to huck that sunovabitch in there.

If it counts as a grenade (unlikely) we could use the sling to throw it.  Range of 15m instead of SBx3.

Personally, I think Sawbones should put his money where his mouth is and snipe it.

I could snipe it to expose the canister.  But Sawbones is also weak on strength, so he's not going to be too effective if he has to lob it.  Luckily, the target we're aiming at should be massive as in +30 or more to hit.

If we're going the sniping route, we'd want our fastest to deliver it to the gene pool and run back.  I've got a move of 4m, anybody higher than that?

Note that I've given you enough to continue your dialogue in the scene: toxin being made available, Jansen's declaration he wants you guys to live & succeed or die trying, finishing off the xenos, etc. I don't need to make a "major update" tonight, and will move things along in bits over the weekend.

Sunday's [or Monday's] post will be the opening scene of your arrival at the gene pool.

Totally had to do that...

Now to figure out if Ramirez is the type of idiot to further provoke the medic or not...

Well he did have a brain-fart moment and thought either Sarge or Ramirez was Zilch...

Sorry, your portraits are too similar and I was posting from my phone.  Editing it now.

Most cool movie & tv stars are interchangeable. ;)

Both are from the same TV series, Stargate SG1, in their later seasons.

I'll specify by saying that I was looking at them at a quarter inch size on my phone, please forgive.

There is nothing to forgive Sawbones.  Doesn't matter which name you put in the text cause it is irrelevant in the grand scheme cause whoever rose his ire was going to get a lashing and the intent was known even if the name was slipped.

Nothing personal, eh Sawbones?

In a real unit, the men talk shit to each other. It's a fact of life and everyone is always cool with it. You got a small dick, you're weaker than my momma's dead granny, you shoot worse than a stormtrooper, and so on. Feelings get hurt for zero-point-three seconds and then you're saving each other's lives again. No big deal. :)

Yep this.  My old soccer coach you use to say, "You couldn't score in a whore house" when we didn't score a lot of goals.

PS - no one is dying because of this thing.  I own the shit out of it.

20:36, Today: GSN 1610292302 rolled 1 -- 8 degrees of success using the Only War system with a target number of 72 with rolls of 1.  tech use 52 +20 routine.

Success!  You have identified the giant red button that says "ARM".

Oh and he found the safety...

Don't forget to flip that switch otherwise it's all for naught!

Ha, I think we all wise it was a big red easy button.

Well, don't forget to make the proper supplications AND the special handshake.  If I recall, it was, "Put right hand in, put right hand out, put right hand in, shake it all about...."

notsorryatall

meh, a crit roll like that means I know everything, including the delayed release switch that will allow us to arm and move back a safe distance..that is I just jury rigged It to do so :)

This is only tangentially related to the game, but does anyone here listen to Sabaton?

No, but a quick google search would lead me to believe I would very much enjoy!

I know they're popular but then again so was Pantera for a while and that was a disappointment. So was System of a Down. Both one hit wonders as far as I'm concerned, followed by albums of crap and noise.

I'll stick with my 80s rock and country music for now. And occasional bouts of Dragonforce. :)

Just listen to "To Hell and Back" by them. It's amazing. I haven't heard a bad song by them yet.

What a miserable weekend. I'm glad I left the contingency for posting Monday and not just last night. I look forward to combat again. Heading off to work now. See you all tonight.

Sad to hear that, hopefully you can get a bit of catharsis with the next go-round!

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 148):

Sorry, man. Hope stuff goes better for you this week.

I mirror that AC, here's to the next rung of death and destruction...

Oh it's rarely a 'me issue'. This weekend I had a friend with benefits from years ago start messaging me again about visiting but there's complications. I had an ex getting a promotion at her job but she's slept with at least three people in the office and wants advice  on how to handle those guys. I have an ex friend who fell off the wagon for both gambling and coke in the same night and came knocking at midnight again after three years clean to bail him out of a bad underground dice game so he wouldn't have to wake his 90 year old mother and beg her for help. And local police that don't want to do their job right. And pals that let me drive 250 miles to have dinner and play games and they aren't home even though we confirmed the day 30 hours earlier.

Then there was the weather. Lol

I'm so lucky to be stable, relatively speaking. Good job good house good health. Just a tornado of problems that people want me to fix for them because I'm good at it.

Yowza...

Mine was a tiny mirror compared to that.

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 152):

There are no words to say, other than...good luck, man.

Apparently I am a GM at life as well as RPGs. If only I could fudge the rolls...  ;)

Nothing says you can't...

If you're good at people reading skills and are willing to be a little loose with the moral compass.

It is literally as easy to manipulate people as it is for the man on the tv show The Mentalist. Thank goodness I'm not Lawful Evil!

Like I said...

You can fudge the dice rolls if you want to be Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil.

Lawful Evil: fudging the modifiers
Neutral Evil: fudging the rolls
Chaotic Evil: what the [fudge] is a roll?

So, I just bought my first miniatures today (the 3-piece Space Marines + paint set) to try my hand at painting before I get a codex and some Guardsmen for a 'real' army. Three of the paints were dry :/

BUT! when I went to my local GW to buy more paints, they replaced them for free! Talk about a damn good company!

I suggest we start off with a mole mortar barrage and a T-scan (in that order) and ifwhen we find something big and nasty get the scout sniper teams in on the action.

AC, how many meters to the closest edge of the pool?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:29, Mon 27 Feb 2017.

60m, which is where the closest ripple of movement that turned out to be horms came from. :o

Shucks, that's practically next door, only four rounds of running full out to get there! (ignores the really sharp teeth sticking out of the ground on the way over)

How exactly does the T-scan work?  Does it illuminate targets for us, or just make us aware of their presence?

It will make non-human dna-based creatures glow slightly for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, offering +10 to hit during that time. You can't control the dosage, though, you just ask for the scan, give your depth, and they do the rest. Piece of cake! :)

Note: a roll of 98-00 on the scanning power may have some side effects on the unit of guardsmen...

Yeah, don't forget we also have a sniper squad and mole mortar volley we can all in.  Sarge, it's a command roll, so you're the one to decide if and when we use it.

Also, whoever has the best Navigate skill (I assume it's Zilch) can assist to grant a bonus to the mortar volley.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Tue 28 Feb 2017.

Zilch has a 47 base.  Whether or not the auger array he has in his head helps due to his continued count of distance and depth is debatable since it's not explicitly a Locator Matrix nor do I have a multi-compass.

I assumed that, to combat boredom and focus your mind, you probably [long ago] started a routine where you ping, find nothing, walk up to the max range that you'd just scanned, ping again, and so forth. With it being integral, I'm sure it has some sort of ability to tell you when you've had overlapping fields of scanning. So, just like walking with 'ranger beads' and counting paces, you've probably done the same. Creative/narrative writing license. :)

*grins*

Well just because that certainly would have been the method doesn't mean that when I'm trying to give coordinates after 12 kilometers of walking (that likely wasn't just a straight line) and approximately a kilometer underground that it will net me a +10 or +20.  It will just make be damn sure that my base 47 is accurate...just not good or flawless.

With range being 50 meters that means I would have gone through at least 240 readings to get where we are and likely more as thick stone or other things (strange dense biomass left behind by Tyranid swarms) can dampen the radius of the scan.  My MIU helps keep things straight but it's no Good Craftsmanship Cortex Implant like I'd love to have to do things like this ;)

You'd be slightly amazed at the things even an average soldier manages to come up with when fighting boredom in between bouts of terror. ;)

Does shitting your pants every 10 meters count as leaving a trail?  Because, er, I heard that Sleepy might have been doing that :)

Plasma gun = more shooty. At least you've still got Brick and her autocannon for support fire!

And it will help quite a bit.  Personally, I would rather have a heavy stubber right now for the extra hits it can generate.  I need something to suck up the GS dodges :)

Tactics discussion: we could drop the mole mortars on the pods before they open and use our personal dakka to take out the horms and GS (I wouldn't recommend dropping the mortars on the GS as they will likely dodge).  Thoughts?

GM, we're not that far off from our first XP Milestone. Provided we survive the mission and earn enough XP to get to 2.5k, how do you feel about Advanced Specialties?

Also, mole mortars on the pods seems like a good idea. I'll be launching some incendiaries at the hormagaunt hordes, unless some Semi-Auto clusters at the genestealers are a better idea.

Tactical advice: the subsurface mortars have a (hidden) modifier in favor of the guardsmen for purposes of hitting their designated target, but the explosion is avoidable with normal dodge tests. The airburst had a (hidden) modifier to the to hit roll against the guardsmen, but one of the target units (randomly determined) gets no dodge roll because the AoE is larger than they can move to reach the edge of the blast.

The units are currently running through the pods and around the pond, so you could designate up to three targets like: pods, GS, Horm A, or whatever...if you're quick about it.

Just a thought.

I'm taking a crack at FL:Xeno to see if I know anything of use to help make a decision on high priority targets.

You mean for the primary character, of course, since the comrade isn't accruing XP for these missions.

Tell me the source material and I'll look it over.

We could target a group passing through the pods, potentially killing two wee birdies with one stone?

I'm not going to dignify a fishing expedition - with an unwarranted question mark at the end of what should be a bold statement - with a response.

Oh wait, I just did!

Oh, that wasn't to you, that was to the group at large.  Yeah. Not a fishing expedition, not at all.  But since you bring it up...

The timing on it would be tricksy, so I imagine we'd need a pretty good hit on the Navigate check (i.e. highly precise and accurate coordinates and time signatures) in order to make up for the penalties.  That's my thinking, anyway, I assumed that due to the rule of cool we can figure out a way to make it happen mechanically :)

Edit: at any rate, my choice is to target the pods and try to get the timing right to zook a group passing through.  Hitting at least one is more important than the risk of missing both.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Tue 28 Feb 2017.

AC wanted to update by today, so I'm gonna go ahead and fire off an incendiary at the GS squad.

EDIT: AC, I was looking at the Sharpshooter on page 82 of Hammer of the Emperor.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Wed 01 Mar 2017.

Agreed, but I think we should hold fire on the GS until they're a bit closer.  Flame is less useful against them since they have crazy high Ag.  Let's focus on the 60m horm squad first.

They might have a crazy high Ag and can dodge twice but as my last post showed, bad rolls happen.

Maybe they'll be drunk and unable to dodge straight?


I think you should keep it that way--me, I'm a big fan of fortuitous misspellings :D
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Wed 01 Mar 2017.

I'll give the new sergeant until I get up in the morning to post something, then proceed with the dodges and reactions of the enemies. Everyone gets a freebie. :)

Of autocorrects you mean?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:54, Thu 02 Mar 2017.

Autocorrects, misspellings, same deal in this instance.  That being said, with a roll like that the GS must surely have been drunk. :D

Or they ate up their dodges with my incendiary grenade~~

You know, I assumed without looking that the incind gren has a blast radius of 3m but if I'm wrong let me know. There is definitely some wounding there but no deaths, and the squishy nature of the "fauna" makes burning less effective, sort of, kinda. As you do more dispersal damage to the units I'll begin to include how many of each are wounded, like last combat.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:20, Fri 03 Mar 2017.

The spicy grenades have Blast 3, yeah.

Posting this in OOC too so people can see, there are also xeno pods on the ceiling which are most likely gargoyles.  Not sure if we want to cleanse those before they hatch because that could be a nightmare.

Also, should we call in that scan while we're at range and can possibly get more success out of our semi-auto/full-auto attacks?

Also, should we have sarge call in mortars or snipers this turn to get one of the incoming blobs shredded up?  Mortars might be good on a horm group that's in a field of pods. The snipers would be good on the genestealers.

We should use the snipers on the biovore when it shows up (hopefully the T-scan will reveal it).  Seems like it's less likely to dodge the attacks than those pesky pantaloon-hoarders.

Yeah, probably a good call there.  So, do we want to scan this turn or what?

Sorry I haven't done anything guys. I kind of haven't had access to the books, and I don't know the rules by heart like I do some other systems. How do I roll initiative, and how do I take care of command checks and the like?

For initiative, roll 1d10 and add your Agility modifier. For Command checks, use the dice roller's standard setting but replace the number above the box with "Only War" in it with your Command score, plus or minus any modifiers.

On another note, Warhammer's Twitch is streaming a battle between Smurfs and Khornates. Papa Smurf is back with an S10 AP1 Armourbane sword that can become S D and has this one other mechanic I missed.

In reply to GSN 1702071903 (msg # 194):

If nothing else, just describe what you want to do and the rest of us will run ourselves ragged trying to figure out how to make it happen :)'

On the subject of the T-scan--I say do it next round after we've set off the mortar barrage
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Fri 03 Mar 2017.

Since using Navigate usually takes a minute that was my action last round.  Now if we're lucky it won't take a full minute otherwise Zilch will be out for 12 rounds of combat.  Course I didn't roll so well so that's kinda moot but...

Just remember:

Toxin *in* the vat ;)

So, am I calling down the mole mortars thing this turn, or am I waiting? I don't wanna make a post before I know what I'm doing. Also, if I am calling it down, what am I calling it down on?

Ultimately it's Sarge's call, but I think we've decided that we wanted to at least destroy the unopened pods near the gene-pool and the ceiling.  We have 3 "shots" to allocate for the barrage; the Blast rating for a standard mole mortar is 4m but I don't think we have a clear idea yet for how many pods that will destroy.  We should also decide if we want to use the airburst option so any xenos caught in the one lucky blast won't be able to dodge--currently I'm of the opinion that if we're targeting the pods as primary targets then we should use the standard option so we don't incur an additional penalty to hit.

I believe we also agreed to try to hit the pods at the same time a group of xenos was moving through them, but which group hasn't been agreed upon yet.  I agree that targeting the roof-bound pods would be a high priority because anything that flies is going to be a mess to handle.  That gives us (potentially) two more shots to use, so if we can target both pods and xeno groups, we could target a) two groups of horms, or b) a group of horms and the group of GS.

My preference would be to target horm group C (the closest one) and the GS because the longer we can keep the suckers away from us the better.  In summary:

Shot 1: ceiling pods
Shot 2: Horm C (if it's near a pod group)
Shot 3: GS A (if it's near a pod group)

^ that

I just want to be sleeping 10 hours from now, so let's try to knock it out in 8 or 9. If the Sgt prefers to let Jansen make the call that's fine, just be sure you word the request in such a way he doesn't execute you for dereliction of duty. ;)

Just blame it on a comm-bead malfunction.

Sarge - having the commissar call in the mortars might be our best bet.  You inspiring the troops for a +10 on our next action would be good.

Zilch and I are PMing to coordinate setting the demo charges here at this tunnel.  Since we will need to blow it at some point,  we might as well rig it now.

And I'm a much better demo-setter than I am a shooty-kill machine...

...but if we fail either they don't go off at all or we blow up spectacularly and get to play our comrades a whole lot faster than expected. ;)

...at which point y'all get to see how poorly I rolled for Sleepy' stats :)

@AC - put anything of note into our demos PM thread.  Since it's bit more than setting a charge, let us know what we need to do to wire a tunnel for collapse and what kind of roll(s) and modifiers we are experiencing.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:18, Fri 03 Mar 2017.

I wouldn't want to ruin such an interesting dialogue by pointing out you are a good distance from your potential blast points, blocked by seemingly innumerable enemies, and still tasked with three specific objectives in the mission thread. I feel like any suggestions I make will lead you on a path that might not be what the group actually wants to risk trying. 0:)

Well musing about doing so and what we can do to make it succeed is the first step.

Knowing where those blast points are is next...

Getting rid of enemies between where we are and where we need to go to is also still part of the objectives...

Two of the three can be accomplished if we do manage to blow things up aka destroying the pool and the alpha inside...cause if tons of rock crushing it doesn't do the trick nothing we have will do the trick barring the toxin and depending on how it spreads.

........................................Would not blowing the 3 access tunnel be "burying it"?

I'm  still not in favor of blowing up the cavern. I'd rather toxify the fuck out of the pool after grabbing a sample. It's really risky, but if we can take out these initial broods and hatches along the way, we should be able to press with a less severe degree of difficulty. This isnt going to be an encounter we can stand ground at forever. I won't say no to falling back a LITTLE bit to funnel the broods into a tighter killzone.

In reply to GSN 1612091751 (msg # 210):

It's not like we are blowing this tunnel, we are setting it to be ready to blow.  What happens if a huge horde comes down this tunnel?  We could easily seal it off and then that mob would be shit out of luck trying to save their vat?  IDK, there's a ton of logic in that.  Also, what about when we;re leaving with mission complete but we're getting chased?  Would be pretty handy to press that button and not have to worry dont you think?

Well, until we kill the Trygon, the 'nids will still have tunneling ability. Probably.

Again, it's not like we would care if the vats toxified and we're done with it.  We just need it to be buried and blocked off so we can escape without heavy pursuit.  Apparently AC has a difference in opinion so its immaterial at this point anyway.

Not that grunts need to know every detail of their missions, but since there is some grumbling, let me clarify something.

Burying the vat was an early option, but the idea behind putting a toxin into it is to keep the genetic identifiers that have been collected from the IG and PDF from being used to gain advantage by making new troops that are tailored to your abilities, armor, and weapons of choice. Killing the 'biovore' engine that 'powers' this particular vat is a way of ensuring the vat and its genetic templates die here.

If all you do is bury it, or seal it in, then you will be leaving behind more than just microscopic bits of information for the hive mind to gather and defeat you [more] easily]. It can literally dig it out and keep going as if nothing had happened. A few hours or days is all you'd gain.

Yes, blowing the tunnels to seal yourselves in with the vat is a good idea, but it seems unlikely you'll ever get a moment's respite to sit and contemplate the gene pool, as there will be constant eruptions of pods, as well as combat with the already-present enemies. As the game description says: you're always against the odds, but it's not a Kobayashi Maru.

The Dirty Dozen wishes they had your good fortune right now. ;)

I'm gonna wait to post until a few others have.

In other news, I just finished my army list for Astra Militarum and I got a little out of hand... I'm sitting at 2000 points.

It feels like we're overthinking this a bit, we have a clear objective in front of us which is to kill all the approaching xenos.  Let's get those mortar barrages off and throw dakka at the rest, and once it's down to a dull roar we can start thinking about the longer term tactic.

I think you're right. The mortars come in the round after they're called for...maybe two rounds. So do your other things and plan accordingly.

Like I've said before, I could keep the rank structure and spoon-feed you orders and then you'll just have to roll dice and live or die. But I think it's better if you have an active say in how you complete each mission, don't you?

Of course, then there's the tension of "Who's taking out that squad? Who's moving up under covering fire? Who's going to save my bacon while I'm saving yours?" ;)

 I think the mortars should be called on everything on the ceiling. What we have on the ground shouldn't be too hard for us to deal with, because if the last encounter is any testament to our skill, a few broods shouldn't be too hard for us to deal with especially because me as a Grenadier With brick helping out to thin the numbers means that we should be able to clear up or ground encounters fairly quickly. However, AC has undoubtably wisened up and will put me in melee when the horns and pants-thiefs close the gap

Jansen's already made his choice, so the mortar target discussion is a bit moot now.  We need to focus on eliminating at least one of the horm groups in the next round--if we don't do that, we're going to be heavily outnumbered when they hit the line.

Yeah, if we wanted something, we should have been the ones to call it in.

Also, Sarge seems to have a lost cell phone at the moment. So he's not able to access the game frequently.

Well, shucks.  We really could have used some of his support right now.  Semi-auto shotguns it is, then!

We also need someone to use a half-action to activate the T-scan, since every +10 is going to be needed right now.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Mon 06 Mar 2017.

I can sacrifice an aim. I'll call in the scan.

Probably shoulda been me, what with the third 90+ roll on my plasma in five-ish shots :/

oh fuck off with your 90+ roll ;P

EDIT: sheeit, if I knew you were hitting at a 90+, i would have suggested you take the half action to call in the T-scan
This message was last edited by the player at 06:45, Mon 06 Mar 2017.

Ah crap, I had my plasma expertise completely bolloxed in my head.  It's a miss but not an overheat.

I apologize guys, but what with my phone being stolen and some more personal stuff going on, I don't have the time to devote to this game what it deserves. I'm gonna have to drop, or at the very least take a break. I'd like to come back once everything's quieted down in my life, but I understand if you don't want that. Thanks for letting me join you.

In reply to GSN 1702071903 (msg # 226):

Alternative, you could just roll an inspire check with a TN 41 every turn.

I know I didn't put a "next post" due date on the end of the last round, but I'll update tonight after work. Then we'll see about getting back on our 48 hour schedule again for this mission.

We have another prospective player rtj. In light of the problems our current Sgt is having, I'll suggest to him that he make another of those, or if he prefers, a Heavy. His initial thought was a junior commissar, which isn't available at this time, so there may be some confusion when he actually reads the character creation rules. You'll probably have to steer him in the right direction, as a group.

I'd prefer a heavy to join; we have Jansen for Command checks but we're lacking in sheer dakka at the moment.

In reply to GSN 1701041631 (msg # 229):

Either would be good.  The Sargents ability to give +10 to everyone's checks or +4 to damage is pretty fucking good too.

I'd like another Heavy, too.

Well...

It won't happen now but Sentry was on my short list of advanced specialties to get in a few hundred xp.

drools at the idea of landing shotgun blast at PB range

That being said, I think the last combat vs the GS showed that we needed additional hits/attack more than another +10.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Tue 07 Mar 2017.

What's gonna happen with these pants thieves is that I'll be switching to my lasgun and overloading it for some Pen hits with decent damage, grouped up on just one of them so when(if) i land three attacks, at least one will be getting through.

If Brick can roll lower than an 80+ for her semi shots, and Jansen can roll well on his next (not current) round attack, you may be in the clear for the GS and only have to deal with the horms and a few pesky "other critters".

I agree it's a tough decision between extra command abilities and extra heavy weapons fire. Fortunately there are enough of you that it might not be a one-sided argument.

It kinda sucks being at the top of the initiative order when reactions are regenerated per round instead of per turn.  Makes it harder to land unavoidable shots.

Yeah, you can always delay to drop yourself down the list.  I did that in the first battle to get the sniper killshot on the Warrior.  Yeah, the medic has the most impressive kill of the squad so far :)  I also have a fair number of genestealer kills too.  I will have to go tally them up for grins at some point.

If we're talking kill-count, let's not forget the grenadier ;P

Pretty sure once those mortars go off the commissar will have y'all beat

Someone pull a fully-auto grenade launcher out of their ass next round; i want to kill-steal all the commissar's mortar kills.

EDIT: AC, what sick, unimaginable rite do I have to perform to turn into a Wyvern battery? I only have one round.

EDIT 2: The Heavy Flamer instead of the Heavy Bolter and some Multi-Melta sponsons would be great, too.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:01, Wed 08 Mar 2017.

Please...

You just need to turn into a Deathwatch Kill-Marine ;P

One man xenos killing legion.

Quality over quantity ;)

Deathwatch Kill-Marines don't have two twin-linked Stormshard mortars. I'll take two Heavy 2, Barrage, Blast, Ignores Cover, Shred, S4AP6 guns that re-roll Scatter over a single Marine. Besides, a properly-kitted Kill-Marine for Tyranid-eradication will have much, much higher point-cost than a Wyvern.

... Whoops, I went full-miniatures there for a second.

*sniffs air*...is that the scent of more fresh meat for the grinder? :D

I'd have something up, but the wife suprised me with dropkick murphys tickets for tonight.

Well I didn't help this turn...

I think you forgot an aim bonus...not that it would help without an extra +5 or +10 somewhere.  This would have been an excellent time for an Inspire!

yeah, you're right, semi-auto isn't a full action.

FYI the new soldier/comrade [GSN-0812] will join the scene on, or shortly after, the scout snipers are deployed. They will be joining from the same location as the scouts, having been teleported at the same time as the Sgt but displaced to one of the other access tunnels on the far side of the cavern.

For those that haven't posted yet AC will letcha know if you understand what Zilch just said and/or if I should hit up individuals with a translation or if I just give it to everyone.

I'm gonna need a translation before I post.

Cryptic I know but AC understands.  Soon as AC pops back in peeps will know or not know.

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 252):

It means the big bad is on the radar

Basically, Zilch is telling you he has discovered a new threat, 45m away to the front. It is a second-tier enemy, meaning sub-leader...warrior, lichtor, zoanthrope...something that can act independently. The range would indicate it is at/near the closest edge of the gene-vat.

His powers of perception are definitely above the average. :)

Thanks AC :D

Can it be seen with the T-Scan? Because I want to go "pew pew" at it. Or, alternatively, go "whoomp THUMP" at it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:02, Thu 09 Mar 2017.

23:28, Tue 07 Mar: Adeptus Custodes rolled 344 using 5d100 with rolls of 69,13,100,88,74.  Scrutiny, in order.

The only one to spot this hidden enemy, even with the T-scan 'glow', was Zilch. Sorry!

You can take a half-action on this or any subsequent round to make another Scrutiny check of your own. It's a gamble, definitely.

But at least you likely have a better chance of seeing it now that you have a pretty good idea of *where* to look.

What is this "Scrutiny" and does it produce more Dakka?

Eh...I suppose it should be Awareness. I just like the way 'scrutiny' rolls off my tongue. It's like when Penny said the name 'Smoot' over and over.

well, there's a semi-successful shot at the GS. They'll probably Dodge, but it's Burst so some of them can go fuck themselves. Here's to a not-so-shitty melee encounter in a round or two.

*raises a toast to all the high rollers in the squad*

...wait, doesn't high rollers usually mean good luck?

Edit: toast to all of AC's high rollers, too :D
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Fri 10 Mar 2017.

Are there any 40k miniatures players around who would like to help me out by looking at my Astra Militarum army list (for Apocalypse, mind. It's 10000 points.) and give me some feedback?

I was into it 22 years ago, when Orks were the kings of the battlefield and Chaos made everyone pee their pants. Then they started nerfing and maxing everything, one army at a time, to please themselves in their own office games at HQ.

Just started getting back into it. I have some Tyranids, some Astra, and might build a small Necron army. But those are all more than 6 months away.

My own AM army will either require me winning the lottery or spending damn near two years to build up, and huge changes are on the horizon for 40k now that Rowboat is back in business. My current list is a mechanized infanty army that features 3 platoons, 3 veteran squads, 2 leman russ squadrons, a basilisk squadron, a wyvern squadron, a small squadron of valkyries to transport the main force of a militarum tempestus platoon, a deep-striking tempestus platoon to drop on the first one's augur arrayed taurox prime, some bullgryns to make a shieldline to cover the artillery, and a Stormlord baneblade to hold 3 full heavy weapons squads, two enginseers, and a detachment of servitors to auto-success their repair rolls. The Stormlord is probably the crowning point of the army, rolling around as a big old tower of "fuck off".

I've seen the effectiveness of that shield line. *shudder*

I've never used a wyvern. I've not yet used air/flying troops with IG.

Big fan of [modified] Leman Russes. Never have enough points for a Baneblade.

I may have a decent number of Guard...

But I bought them all to mod them into Necromunda Gangs.

Then have a bunch of Tyranids...to simulate a Magus Cult in the underhive.

Space Marines...for the unlucky times when a shrouded Chapter teleports into the underhive and takes your best buddy poor bastard for alteration into a Marine himself and you loose valuable gang members.

A few Eldar...just to surprise the gangs from time to time with a nebulous (see totally not there plotline) agenda of the creatures.

And of course a group of Arbites, Redemptionists and Inquisition to 'purify' the underhive while retaining order and picking up a few new acolytes.

The Stormlord alone is only 480 points. The Enginseers with their full accompaniment (4x servo-arm servitors and a plasma cannon servitor) are 105 points each. The Infantry Platoon I'm running all my Heavy Teams in is 1591 points, but it is FULLY LOADED. I'm unsure about the returns I'll be getting on the Bullgryn squad because if the cover save they give enemies, as well.

Wyverns are great because of their ability to shit all over infantry. Earlier in the thread I went on about their stormshard mortars. The air squad I have I'm sort of iffy about, but I replaced the multi-las with lascannons and I'm hoping I'll have enough threat on the ground to pull enemy attention from them.

I also forgot to mention I have a Hellhound squadron and some Scout Sentinels loaded with Heavy Flamers and HK missiles to LOL about with Outflank and either force the enemy to waste some S6/7 shots at it for a turn or lose some serious backline infantry and vehicles.

The full list of the Cadian 420th Mechanized Infantry Division a.k.a. "The Spicy Boys" is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ul4u...picy%20Boys.txt?dl=0

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Why are they the 420th? Look at all the Flamers they field and listen to them scream BLAZE IT

---

Zilch, if you add Point Blank bonus, and the +10 to hit glowing targets, you have successes. Please recalculate and roll damage, then edit your post. :)

Totally forgot that was where I was and had thought kitty-corner.

One hit, minimum damage 8 to its head.  Added to the pm in the post...

Oh, I've also trimmed the list down to 2544 points and taken out a LOT, but here's my "starter" version of the Spicy Boys:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggjx...s%20Starter.txt?dl=0

I went to bed right away, slept straight thru, and am heading to work shortly. Maybe I can roll now and post from work, since it will probably be a long, boring day [aside from the frigid temps and high winds with snow]. Bleh.

Katherine "Hard 8s" Hardigan of the 99th Cadian mechanized will be up for inspection soon. As well as her comrade "Juve".

Another Cadian! Welcome to the fold!

AC, I should probably mention I still have another incendiary in the launcher and 10 more after that.

I'll be holding off posting until the update; sounds like there's a big something that wants to party with some krak grenades.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Sat 11 Mar 2017.

In reply to GSN 1612091751 (msg # 274):

Also, maybe now that our demographic is sliding towards Cadian, we might get a transport!

Too bad we don't have an Operator.

I believe our Cadians all have Operate (surface).

And it's not a hard skill to pick up anyways.  With my having a Good MIU I could be a decent impromptu operator if I bothered to drop the xp into the skill.

Not quite with the proficiency an Operator would have, though.

Updated!

Since only Zilch and Brick have seen 'the critter', I haven't put it on the roster for turn order yet. Yes, it is glowing from the T-scan, but it also has normal camouflage that requires an Awareness roll to spot it. Once revealed...well, good thing you've got a Commissar who knows the Litanies of Last Rites. ;)

...that's the one you say over the smoking corpses of your enemies, right?  Right?

"The enemies of Mankind may employ dark sciences or alien weapons beyond Humanity's ken, but such deviance comes to naught in the face of honest human intolerance backed by a sufficient number of guns."

We are Guardsmen and we got a whole lotta boom. Bring it.

This game is a microcosm of the tabletop strategy: IG brings their firepower to bear on the enemy in the hopes that they can sufficiently dwindle their numbers to the point where the inevitable crash of melee is not overwhelming or an instant rout.

I'll admit this Only War game and a Deathwatch game I'm in (against Orks) has influenced my army building for the tabletop. It's one of the reasons the Spicy Boys field so many flamers.

In reply to GSN 1612091751 (msg # 284):

Someone kill the horms that are charging me if you don't mind!

Sorry Sawbones already busy with Jansen's guys.

On the plus side?

3 Hits on the Genestealer with a Righteous Fury that cripples one of it's arms.  At least I know I'll eat up his dodges doing 15/16/17 Damage.

Also...

Yay me!  First time I made a good combat attack and damage in...a very, very long time.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:24, Sun 12 Mar 2017.

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 286):

Good!  I guess I'm the current lead on the no contribution to damage streak then.

Only current lead if we only take into account this fight.  All rights and I soar far, far above in the realm of 'why is this guy in the field?'

:)

I was planning on killing the horms on Brick first...

If mine are killed before tehy reach me, I don't have to waste action and can start sniping at the big target.

I'll be home in 6 or 7 hours to check on how things are progressing, and let you know some early resolutions.

Brick can help with the GS and the big bad, was my thinking.

Since Brick has seen the creature totally.  I was trying to help Jansen since we'll need him to be clear for a good Command to bring in the snipers to deal with the Alpha that eventually shows.

Everything is on a timed schedule to appear. There's a master plan and you're the wrenches being thrown into the machinery. ;)

Sawbones don't forget that at PB you not only get the additional +10 but also +3 to damage...

Huh...that's all five of you posting. Guess I can have dinner and get down to rolling for the NPC and villain side of things.

Good call good sir!

I think Two-bit should have had a 81 Target Number, but I'll go ahead with this unless something else comes to mind because it doesn't change anything [though a 91 would make another possible hit]. 51, +10 scan glow, +10 shotgun scatter PB, +30 PB range, -20 target in melee with ally. No aim, no red dot on shotgun, no gang-up bonus for ranged...

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 298):

+5 for comrade?

That makes sense. And makes me look like an idiot. This will be reflected in my quarterly report. Heh.

Ok...one more thing.

Ramirez, you know that you go last in the round. The hormagaunts are upon you before you get your [awesome] shot off. Do you want to keep the shot and half-action move away from combat to make it [incurring two free swings by the enemy], keep the shot and let your comrade take the hit(s), or lose the shot and switch weapons? You cannot fire while engaged in melee.

Emilia can take the hit.

Question Bossman...

Don't the 'nids go on 13 at the same time as Zilch which would allow him to back off 3 meters and get off another shotgun blast set and stay out of melee?

In this coming round, yes, your movement and firing will occur simultaneously with theirs. You can choose to shoot at short or PB range, but they have enough movement that after your shots they will be in melee with you.

Now, in case someone goes through the dice roller log and wonders why I didn't put any of the hits and damage into the turn post...none of the hormagaunts hit for more than 7! Everything was so weak I am not going to bother with them. Most people would just LoS and it's negated, so I'll save us all the hassle and wrote it into the narrative. ;)

Cool.

I knew that timing would be the real question and I doubt I'll get the same sort of perfect storm to hit with all three doing max damage and crits on all leaving none standing but it's worth a try to thin them out.

AC, just to clarify: I'll be able to keep PB bonuses and Semi-Auto'ing the horms on Emilia to death with some overcharged lasgun fire, yeah?

As long as she doesn't go down with the first one's swift attack routine and let the other one charge you before your turn, then yes, you're clear to fire as she blocks for you. Remember comrades take the hits, without recourse to dodges or parries.

It has to be Everest's shotgun.  Two hits and they should be within 2m of each other to put one in each.  17 damage Head + broken nose blindness and possible stun and 16 damage head on the second one.

Seriously Everest has the golden shotgun.

The canister is too wide to be shot out of a grenade launcher, right?

Correct.

Also note that this "blocking" by comrades is usually only going to work for creatures like these horms with instinctive behavior. Smarter enemies like genestealers and heretics will not be so easily held at bay.

If they were so smart they wouldn't diverge from the light of the Emperor.

Can someone remind me what the Pen on the horms is?

You mean the penetration of their claws?  Less than Guard flak and more than unarmoured.  ;)

Horm d10+3 pen 3, Stealer d10+5 pen 5

That is for THIS generation of tyranids. Success in this mission will delay the creation of the next generation, adapting to your (as in the IG) tactics and weaponry. Learning curve and all. ;)

Right-o, the horms' Pen doesn't make much of a difference when choosing who will take a hit but the GS certainly does.

Edit: and as for why...certainly sucking up five AOOs won't leave a scratch, will it? :P

Edit 2: well...that was an underwhelming result
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Mon 13 Mar 2017.

Big storm moving in here near Buffalo. Might not get home in time to update so don't kill yourselves trying to get a post in tonight.

Save that for the tyranids. ;)

I don't be get back in til midnight anyway so. I won't be posting tonight until LATE

EDIT: Actual dialogue said by me when I was calculating my bonuses "oh wehhh I only get a target number of 98"

...AC, if you kill off Emilia by means of dank rolls, I probably deserve it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:27, Tue 14 Mar 2017.

Hope you all are not buried in the snow, it's nearly 80 here in sunny CA :D

I just picked up paints for my Guard army ($150... ouch) and had to hustle though snow to get to my bus stop before it drove off. In my big green Vietnam-era military trenchcoat, I felt a bit Guard-like.

Not only am I buried in it, I'm walking in it. All day. And getting paid to do so. :)

3/5

Hope the other two are done in the next 6 hours so I can sleep tonight.

Hope Brick hits something so we can use the snipers and bring the new soldier(s) in.

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 321):

Just finished meetings,  will be posting within the hour

In reply to Adeptus Custodes (msg # 321):

Getting it in now, sorry for the delay bossman.

count me as a +1 for snipers on the oncoming genestealers. We need to pause to reload soon or this won't end well.

It's going to be hard enough to fight off the ones we have.  Much as I'd love to keep the snipers for the Lictor or the Alpha creature if we have 8 Genestealers roll up on us I imagine that people are gonna die rather than bugs.

So if we like playing with our comrades and making new comrades we could hold off ;)

Right now I kinda like Zilch and say we should use the snipers to thin the genestealers (or focus fire on the Lictor but unless Jansen sees it to point it out I don't think we can have him target the Lictor).  If we don't I have a feeling that while we are tied up with them the Lictor will sneak in and start flanking skewering us...

Yeah, I vote for the Genestealers, too. Sniper fire on a Lictor or Biovore would be nice, but I'm also loaded AF for bear and if we can focus fire, we've got a chance at eating up all its Dodges.

What's the Pen of the Horms, again?

This ^

Rad. Thanks.

In other news, I just picked up my Start Collecting! box today and the amount of gluing and construction I have to put into these models is so intimidating ;-;

Still, though, this is going to be great practice for my REAL army, which I'm still working out the kinks for as far as a playable list goes.

"Pause". That's cute! :P

This is a fairly heavily defended room, and there will most likely be a steady stream of enemies coming at you from the pool and the other tunnels. You should not expect to be able to kill all of the enemies and walk up and drop the canister, take a sample, then stroll over to the other two tunnels and plant explosive charges...someone will eventually have to make the decision to break off and make a run for it, or move the whole squad, or retreat, or die trying.

Seriously, didn't any of you ever see The Dirty Dozen?

You know, Weapon Specialists are fun but we've got plenty of them in the squad... I have about 18 krak grenades and 10 fire bomb grenades. I could drop the canister then 'nade-hug the lictor and biovore.

That's what comrades are for :)


Yeah...mentioned that back during the first round :P


Yeah.  They were able to setup, surprise their targets (mostly) and they still almost died to a man.

One with each arm?


Edit: I think we're trying to reach a steady-state here (because steady-state is life!) before we make a move.  I have a move of 4 on Two-bit--does anyone have anything higher?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:58, Wed 15 Mar 2017.

In reply to GSN 1701041631 (msg # 332):

Yeah, the logistics are a little difficult to pull off. I can leave you guys some Krak and just 'nade hug the lictor, then, yeah?

You don't have to take the "Sacrifice" part of the game title literally. :P

But yeah, deciding to strategically move forward is something you discuss here and I implement it thru Jansen IC. I'll have him lead you but he won't be making major decisions when there are still PC's around.

Cute comic, btw.

Well, I've had some fun with Ramirez and the whole twins thing was fun for RP, but Emilia is about to get shrekt and we need an active Sergeant. Now that I'm more comfortable with the system, I don't mind losing a character in a meat grinder game. At least this way I get the chance to choose how my character dies?

An active Sergeant is inbound, if that helps. :)

You have a big problem though with this...you haven't seen the Lictor yet to hug him with grenades ;)

I don't usually go for cute 40k but the unyuufex tickles my funny bone, for some reason

In reply to GSN 1610311843 (msg # 337):

I have sprint.  As soon as it's reasonable possible.  I will be sprinting every other turn, with the interc true to aim and snipe on the other large targets.

Kind of wish I had taken the hip shooting talent, would be incredibly useful right about now

There is always after we get more xp after this you can.

A Heavy, then! Granted, I could always just survive this encounter and pick up Weapon Proficiency (Heavy)... With Ramirez's BS and the modifiers I get frequently, I could be a nasty autogunner.

That'll work Ramirez.  I might fill part of that as I was considering Sentry as an Advanced Specialty since it still gives me Int as a aptitude so I can keep picking up more Medic skills without them getting arse-expensive.  I don't have the BS that others have but it would give me a Best Autogun, and either a Best Heavy Stubber, Good Heavy Bolter or Common M41 multi-laser.

I took Cover Fire! and Tactical Repositioning, both of which, sadly will arrive too late to help the current situation.

There will always be another situation where it will come in very handy.  Good to know though.

In reply to GSN 1612091751 (msg # 342):

I have yet to see someone do a krak missile Marksman build, so there's always that option :D

I'd still like to go into Sharpshooter because that Triplex lasgun is 2dank4me. I could do some serious damage with it if we ever end up fighting anything other than Tyranids.