Planet 28, Death in the Throne Room Game 1: The Hothouse Heist

 Hi!

I've played the first game in the Death in the Throne Room campaign which sees the Cult versus the Loons Goons.

Scenario

Using a mixture of psionic divination, and having some handy informants in their congregation, the cult has set up an ambush on the Loons Goons who are patrolling a pleasure garden to the south east of the Throne Room.

The cult has been investigating the hothouse in search of healing herbs due to several of the congregation beginning to show worrying mutations due to warp exposure while the Loons Goons have been dispatched to loot the same herbs whose hallucinogenic qualities will allegedly ease the Loons raging case of Ythargian Syphilis.

Unfortunately for both sides, the pleasure garden is a toxic hothouse, brimming with deadly vegetation. To make matters worse, the fertilisers for said vegetation is highly explosive so stray shots may set off an explosion and attract unwanted attention.

The Board

The board represents a rather untamed hothouse with lush vegetation and arcane items of agricultural machinery and tasteful statues. 

Special Rules

The air in the hothouse is toxic so every turn each model must roll a d6 and on a 1 they take a point of damage.

The two forces deploy at opposite corners of the board. There are four locations that contain rare herbs which may be collected by spending an action and a fifth objective at the centre of the board which is an ancient and valuable relic that the old emperor confiscated from the church and the cult is desperate to retrieve it. By spending an action in contact with it, the cult can pick it up and will endeavour to recover it.

The Loons Goons are decidedly shady and if they retrieve a herb objective, roll a d6 and on a 1 the model promptly consumes it and cannot do anything but lie on the ground grinning vacantly for D6 turns.

Each herb objective recovered gives the player 1 victory point while the cult will get 3 if they recover the relic.

The cult also receive 2 victory points for each of the Goons that they take out of action. The Goons on the other hand get 2 victory points for each model that leaves the board via the cults deployment zone.

If a ranged attack misses a model in cover, roll a d6. On a roll of a 1 the shot has set off an explosion and any model within 5cm of the terrain piece takes D10+2 damage minus an armour save.

Complications and Sub-Objectives

To spice up the game, I added a couple of mini options. Murdoch Foyle will pay handsomely for the herbs and any player may sell him them for 100 credits but in their next game they will be facing Inquisitor Fisher who will want to ask them some rather pointed questions.

Secondly there is a chance that a gardening robot will turn up on a random table edge once the first herb has been harvested. Roll a D6 and on the roll of a 1-2 it will turn up and immediately move towards the nearest model, attempting to attack it with various gardening implements.

The Game

I set up a selection of scenery to give lots of cover to the two forces and had the cult deploy on the bottom left and the Goon squad on the top right.

Some of the objectives are fairly easy to recover but I tried to make things a bit more interesting by placing some of them in the middle of vegetation or on top of buildings that will require a bit more effort to get to and possibly throw a spanner into either sides plans.

I had contemplated adding in some dangerous vegetation but felt that I had enough special rules as it was so decided to go as is and possibly add extra elements and tweak the scenario as I went.

The Loons Goons

The Loons Goons are armed with a pair of pistols and medium armour and are better in ranged combat than the cult but don't have the best morale.

For this game I went with fairly generic profiles but will roll up proper characters once I've got a few test games under my belt.

The Cult

The Cult are lightly armed and equipped but they do have a power maul which will make a mess of pretty much anything as well as a slight numeric advantage.

The gardening robot (which sadly never turned up in the game!) and the central objective which has the cults relic concealed in it. 

The game played out in about half an hour and saw both sides manoeuvring to try and grab objectives but with an eye on also killing their foes or trying to escape.

The toxic environment proved to be pretty deadly as I rolled quite a few 1's on both sides which saw lots of coughing and choking as the toxins in the air began inflaming the eyes, noses and throats of the combatants. 

The Cult moves forward.

A lone cultist with a shotgun stalks his prey.

The Goon Squad spreads out and prepares to claim an objective!

As both sides got closer to each other, the gunplay began with a volley of shotgun fire from a lone cultist but he missed his target, narrowly missing causing an explosion in the process while in the centre the cult quickly seized a herb and made a dash for the relic.

Annoyingly the goon who collected the herb promptly jammed it into his face and would spend the next several rounds lying on the ground grinning like an idiot...

His compatriot, having been shot at by the shotgun wielding cultist returned fire with some surprisingly accurate pistol fire, resulting in two dead eyed hits which sent the cultist fleeing off the board.

Meanwhile a second cult member, having snatched the relic, also began making a beeline for the exit, clutching the holy sculpture to his bosom.

At this point I got carried away with the game and forgot to take more pictures! The cultist with the power maul trundled up to the stoned goon and proceeded to batter him around the head. Fortunately the maul failed to kill him and the blow to the head revived the fellow and he proceeded to begin blasting driving the cultist back.

The cultist with the relic managed to flee the battlefield giving the cult bonus victory points and the scrawny black clad cult sub leader screeched a warbling warcry and charged the Goons leader. Miraculously he got two perfect hits (in my mod of the rules using the D100 method, there's a 10% chance of doing maximum damage with a hit) and the surprised goon leader dropped very dead with a blunt dagger stuck through his eye.

Seeing his minions fleeing, the cult leader decided that discretion was the better part of valour and legged it, but not before getting a face full of plasma from the revived goon whose shooting since imbibing the illicit herbs has been stellar. The badly scorched cultist scuttled off muttering curses and the game ended.

The Aftermath

The cult managed to retrieve the relic as well as one dose of herbs as well as killing one of the goon squad so ended up with 6 victory points while the goons, having been left in control of the hothouse managed to retrieve 2 doses of herbs and 2 escaped without being taken out so gain 6 victory points too.

I played the scenario twice and each time it ended up in a draw. I think if I was to play it again, I'd try to cause more explosions by purposefully firing at opponents in cover as there's still a chance of doing more damage through explosive destruction. 

Both sides did a good job of sticking to their objectives, although the Goons didn't try too hard to escape the ambush they found themselves in, relying on their superior armour and firepower to hold the day. If the cultist with the power maul had rolled some better damage, the game could have gone very differently.

As with my previous post, neither side took control of the pleasure gardens as they were either carrying out a raid or didn't outright win the game so it's still up for grabs.

The next game will feature Fisher and her Inquisition trying to infiltrate General Shunt's secret weapons lab that the illusive Murdoch Foyle has been developing something unpleasant!

Until next time, All the best!

Planet 28 Death in the Throne Room Campaign Thoughts part 2

 Hi!

Following on from my last post, I thought I'd look at the process of putting together a campaign using my assortment of rulebooks.

Having rummaged through my collection, I've selected Rogue Stars, Stargrave and Five Parsecs as they're both absolutely chock full of handy scenarios and nicknacks that I'm planning on incorporating into the main campaign and while they're designed for other skirmish rulesets, I think I'll be able to shoehorn them, or at least elements into my campaign.

Speaking of the campaign, Nic Evans, creator of Planet 28 includes a campaign outline and map of the Imperial Palace in the Death in the Throne Room book:

So we have the basic map that I'll be using for the campaign with each faction claiming a starting territory:

I've placed each faction on the map with Princess Josephine located in the throne room in the centre while the remainder are spread out around the edge in hab zones. 

In order to capture a zone, a faction has to be in control of the adjacent hex but it is possible to raid other hexes in specific scenarios but they cannot gain control of them unless they first capture one of the spaceports.

In the first game of the campaign I used the scenario generator from Rogue Stars for the basic outline and rolled randomly to see which forces were involved which results in The Temple of Boniem ambushing Baron Thaddeus's Goons in a toxic hothouse in the pleasure gardens south east of the Throne room.

 

I'll be posting up a full scenario outline in the next post but I've really enjoyed getting the creative juices flowing and I'm looking forward to getting the first game in the bag!

Alongside the main Death in the Throne Room campaign, I'm running the Hathor campaign so Inquisitor Fisher will be making an appearance in quite a few games as each scenario has an optional objective which sees the assorted factions aiding Murdoch Foyle, Fisher's nemesis either knowingly or unknowingly in aiding his obsessive quest to recover the mysterious Lostech item known as Hathor's Armour. Any side that takes the mission will face the wrath of the Inquisition in the next game.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to add lots of odds and ends into forthcoming games!

To aid with adding an extra element of randomness, I'm using some rpg and storytelling goodies to help out build the story:

I must admit that half the fun of getting this campaign together has been rummaging out a host of books, dice and assorted gubbins to thrash out ideas and developing a story and I'm really looking forward to getting the games going to see how things go and which faction is going to come out on top and indeed whether Inquisitor Fisher will catch up with the dastardly Foyle!

In the meantime, All the best! 

Planet 28 Death in the Throne Room Campaign Thoughts part 1

 Hi!

I am busily painting my way through some military types for my Planet 28 warbands and following a chat I had here recently about solo gaming, I thought I'd spend a bit of time looking at the campaign itself and my thoughts on how I play each faction.

The premise of the campaign is that the Emperor is on his deathbed and various factions are vying to seize the throne in the rather dystopian hiveworld of Neo-Trantor. Considered the Emperors personal residence, the planet is a jumble of pleasure gardens, palaces, underground warrens and populated by 12 billion souls.

There are five factions vying for supremacy in the book and are as follows:

Dramatis Personae

Princess Josephine-Bois-Lewitt, eldest child of the Emperor, Heir apparent, Mistress of the Imperial Household and Overlord of Ceremonies

In a rational universe Princess Josephine would have been declared ruler of the galaxy the moment her father was declared "dead". Luckily for the princess this is not a rational universe, as a rational universe would also not have let her ancestors establish such a silly thing as a galactic empire. 

Despite this, Princess Josephine has the most backing and the only real claim to the throne, and so commands not only a host of courtiers and assassins, but also the loyalty of the imperial household and its many guards, soldiers and other associated killing machines. Ruthless and efficient, The princess is a proven political master - in her time she hasnegotiated the surrender, punishment, and vaporisation of at least three armed uprisings and was personally responsible for no less than 13 of the attempts on her fathers life.

The princess has waited decades for her shot at power and is not about to let herself be outmanoeuvred by any pretender.

Princess Josephine Loyalists

The Princess' forces will be focussed on holding the Throne Room itself as well as trying a mixture of straight forward strong arm tactics as well as the odd assassination towards rivals. She also has access to power armour straight off the bat so will be in a good position early on to take the fight to her enemies but will need to secure the factories on planet so that opposition forces don't get easy access to heavy firepower.

The central location of the Throne Room in the campaign will also allow her to quickly take territories in the surrounding areas but she'll be facing multiple opponents too.

General Supreme Neville Shunt

A man of simple conviction, General Shunt has suffered greatly under the rule of his most peaceful majesty emperor Callpoc. As high commander of the imperial fleet and armies, Shunt feels that every day without a new declaration of war is a personal insult.

Fearing that the next ruler of the galaxy may seek to follow in the late emperors footsteps and that the empire might lose its way, General supreme Shunt has decided that a good traditional military junta should get things back on track. Shunt has his supporters in court - ex military types and doughy fantasists alike have pledged to back him should he bring his forces to bear and seize the imperial throne by force.

For now however Shunt will follow the official and accepted methods of espionage, assassination and gang violence. If these polite methods fail he will either fall in line or, should the new ruler not be to his liking, unleash a firestorm of atomic destruction - Whatever takes his fancy really.

Shunt's Troopers

The General's forces are going to be armed to the teeth and concentrating purely on might making right so will be trying to smash all opposition without much care for collateral damage which will not endear it to the populace and his nuclear option (literally a nuclear bombardment!), he's got a powerful ace in his hand. Saying that half of his troops are classed as Toy Soldiers who may not be the most steady and could run for it when things get hairy.

Baron Thaddeus Charalchracht Gregarious Caesar XVIII AKA "The Hero of the People" 

AKA The Loon

Baron Thaddeus is, for want of a better word, stark raving mad. Some say he was kicked in the head by a grav-horse, others say he lost his mind after gazing into the void at the edge of space whilst coming down from a particularly nasty hangover.

Whatever the reason, the baron is utterly deranged.This may present an obstacle to some men: it can after all be rather hard to find support for ones attempts to overthrow the crown when one is just as likely to lose interest and declare war on the concept of brunch as they are to stick to their plans.

The baron however has something many aspiring tyrants do not - A fortune beyond counting. The baron is, through inheritance and a financial canny that defies his eccentricities, one of the wealthiest people in the universe. As such he has the support of a great number of politicians, generals, minor royals and, thanks to his generous habit of hurling cash into the streets, vast swathes of the general populace, Who have come to think of him as a hero/ cash machine, depending on how cynical they are.

That many of his more senior supporters see him as a tool by which to attain power for themselves has either not crossed his mind or is simply of no concern to the baron. For the time being he wants to be emperor and so he'll keep spending until he gets crowned, bored, or dies. whichever comes first.

The Loon's Hangers on

The mad Baron is an interesting faction to play as he's got tons of cash to spend on his goons but they're not what you can call loyal and I've decided that each game will have a random chart that will be the Barons orders for that skirmish which may result in some utterly random results. 

I also think that he's probably going to be trying to make some flashy moves to showcase how important he is so rather than concentrating on defeating any particular enemy, his troops will be fighting pretty much randomly according to his whims.

High Priest Boniem Razp'tin, Prophet of the Convergence

The church of the universal convergence is an odd faith. Adapted from a mixture of ancient alien Inscriptions, long lost old earth religions, and bureaucratic busy work from the depths of the imperial administrative system, it preaches that at short, irregular intervals, a saviour will arrive to lead the faithful to paradise. 

That these saviours almost always seem to be members of the royal household and almost always arrive whenever the previous saviour dies is merely a happy coincidence. Few in the clergy actually believe any of the faiths teachings, with the more "enthusiastic" members being kept safely away from holding any real power.

Unfortunately being the spiritual leader of an entire galactic empire does tend to go to even the most level of heads. And so it is that High priest Boniem Razp'tin has come believe that he is the ultimate and final prophet of the convergence. He now believes wholeheartedly that he alone is fit to rule the empire as both emperor and, weather permitting, god.

Razp' tin has gathered courtier punks to his cause, but has also been shipping in some of the more temperamental of the clergies younger members to "persuade" people of his divine message.

Cultists!

The church will be trying to take as many hab zones as possible in the campaign as they seek to "protect" their flock but will be making a mixture of frontal suicidal assaults as well as seeking holy relics in each game which will mean that while they're going to be trying to slay the unbelievers, they do need to be trying to grab some loot (something their opponents will no doubt decide would be better if they not have).  

The Trantorian People's Front

Outside of the rarefied atmosphere of imperial court life, Neo Trantor is a grim place - Billions toil

to provide the luxuries of the ruling classes. From the lowliest rat catcher to the filthiest sewage

reclamation officer, to the millions of bored and directionless administrative officials, the working

masses of the planet are constantly on the verge of going from merely annoyed to well and truly fed up.

From these innumerable ranks the Trantorian peoples front has arisen, a militant revolutionary

group committed to doing something about it all. What that something is no one, not even the front itself, is quite sure - But when they figure it out there’ll be trouble! At present the fronts goal is simple - Destroy the entire political infrastructure of the entire galactic empire and place one of its own representatives in command, then restructure the economic, political and social framework of the entirety of civilization. Easy stuff.

Or at least it would be, were it not for the splitters…

Trantorian Peoples Front

The rebellious Trantorian Peoples Front will be trying to take and hold the hab zones too but are also going to be trying to infiltrate other locations for sabotage and carrying out targeted assassinations so they can be expected to pop up pretty much anywhere.

There may end up being multiple groups of them all competing against each other!

Inquisitor Fisher

Inquisitor Fisher has arrived on Neo Trantor in search of a rogue Xenobiologist named Murdoch Foyle who recently escaped a maximum security prison. Fishers investigation has led her to the Imperial Throne world as the Inquisitors information network has spotted her quarry in the company of several of the main competitors in the succession crisis.

This worrying development has resulted in Fisher moving her investigation to focus on the crisis on Neo Trantor as Foyle had been searching for a mysterious piece of Archeotech known only as Hathor's Armour which legend claims will give it's wielder unlimited power. It appears that Foyle is searching for something on Neo Trantor and Fisher is determined to stop him, no matter the cost.

Fisher and co

The Inquisition are going to be a bit of a leveller in the campaign as they will be used to smack down any faction that starts getting a runaway lead as they're obviously in league with Murdoch Foyle. Fisher will also be trying to gather information to help track down her quarry and rooting out any other dangerous threats to Imperial rule so there's going to be lots of opportunities to weave an interesting narrative in the campaign.

I'd already played a few games in the campaign but have decided to reset it and start from scratch with some more detailed plans on setting up the narrative and keeping the games coming in and will be adding whatever other random elements I can think of, be it an outbreak of Poypp invaders in the sewers under the palace to mercenaries deciding so shoot up the place or the illusive Foyle's machinations but either which way, it should be fun!

I need to bulk up the warbands and keep building on the themes of each but its great to get some of the old figures out and into use.

I'll post again with more musings on how I'm actually going to get the narrative going and the breakdown of how I actually play solo in the next few days but until then, All the best!

The Hathor Campaign Part 3: Bore IV Pacification Level 2

 Hi!

I managed to play out the second level of the Bore IV pacification game this evening which sees Inquisitor Fisher delving into the main prison level of the Imperial facility in search of the cause of the outbreak of violence and attempt to find clues as to how the convicts managed to escape the supposedly secure fortified prison.

Introduction

Fisher has secured the upper level of the prison and her security teams are spreading out, looking for survivors and pacifying any prisoners they encounter. 

Before proceeding down to the second level of the prison, Fisher interviews the prison warden, John Parliament. He states that he was awoken in the middle of the night when the prisons alarms began sounding. Rushing to the control centre on the upper floor he says that the systems went down across the whole prison, the Cyclo control unit that all the prisoners are implanted with failed to activate and for the next 72 hours chaos reigned as the incarcerated criminals ran amok. 

Fortunately only a small number managed to get up to the first level but their sheer ferocity overwhelmed this guard force by sheer weight of frenzied numbers and he was forced to lock the control centre down with his personal security code which still seemed to be somewhat effective as it not only locked the security doors on the upper level but also sealed off the elevator. He further claims that his next step was to send out a distress call and await rescue.

Despite his insistence that he doesn't know what caused the near complete breakdown of the security systems, Fisher suspects that Parliament is concealing something and orders Vash to begin a technical diagnosis of the prison systems. Vash soon reports that while the environmental and power systems are online, he cannot gain access to much of the system without going to Engineering on level 3.

Further interviews with Parliament reveal that during the riot six individuals managed to escape the prison aboard a supply shuttle and as yet he cannot confirm who was aboard until the security systems go back online.

Fisher turns her attention to the other inhabitants of the room. The first is a prison guard who identifies himself as Thornton. He wears a thousand yard stare and quietly answers Fishers probing questions. He doesn't know what happened but was stationed on level 2 when all hell broke out and the prisoners turned on the guards and one another. Fighting a desperate retreat, Thornton and his colleagues managed to reach the elevator and make a run for the safety of the control centre but only Thornton made it. He perks up when he learns that Fisher intends to travel down to level 2 to seek answers and volunteers to accompany her.

Turning her attention to the final person in the room, Fisher sees a blue skinned and heavily cyborgised individual. He appears to be almost catatonic and will only mutter "I want to go home" over and over. Parliament identifies the man as Covenant, a mind wiped prisoner who is used to communicate direct with the prisons systems but the man has been in this condition since the opening moments of the chaos.

The interviews complete, Fisher decides to relieve Parliament of his duties and confines him to his quarters. Whatever else, the man has obviously been derelict in his duty to the Imperium and Fisher has a niggling suspicion that somehow he is connected with the prison riot and the escape.

Ordering Vash to stay in the control centre and begin a full diagnostic search for any information she sets off to the great elevator that will take her down to level 2 of the prison and hopefully to the answers she seeks.

The Game

Geralt, Fisher and Thornton

The scenario requires Fisher to investigate the level in search of clues which will reveal what happened in the prison, who escaped and what caused it. 

There is 20% chance of any room the party enters being trapped by the as yet unknown authors of the violence but she will also have to deal with Thorntons shaky mental state as he has a death wish which will require him to roll to see if he suffers a breakdown each time he enters a room.

Level 2 of the prison is laid out in a T shape with Fisher and co entering from the south from the elevator into the entry hall. North of the entry hall is the main communal area of the cell block and connected to it to the west lies a storage area and shower block while to the east is the sleeping quarters.

Upon emerging from the elevator into the entry hall, Fisher is struck by the sheer wanton destruction. The floor it littered with bodies of prisoners and guards, lying twisted and broken and mute witness to a scene of utter carnage. Geralt stirs beside her and tilts his head to listen. Someone is in the room with them and almost on cue, a pair of ragged and feral looking convicts stagger towards them, teeth bared (the first room had D6 convicts)

Before they can react, Thornton lets out an inhuman cry and they turn to see him looking ashen faced at the bodies of his co-workers. With an inarticulate scream, he launches himself at the convicts, his bolter forgotten. Seeing the man is at his wits end, Fisher and Geralt spring into action, quickly subduing the convicts but Thornton rushes to the control panel at the door and uses his ID to open it, rushing through into the darkness beyond. (As part of the course for these games, I managed to roll poorly and Thornton immediately went mental and his much needed firepower was discarded as he will move towards any convict he sees and try to kill them with his bare hands, his sanity well and truly broken).

As Fisher and Geralt rush to the doorway after Thornton, they see more signs of destruction and violence, blood streaking the walls and floor but their attention is drawn by the sizable group of convicts who are in the room waiting for them (this room contains D6+1 convicts and D6 armed convicts)

Rather than let the unhinged Thornton meed his end in the room, Fisher and Geralt spring into action rushing through the doorway into the midst of the mob, swords swinging and pistols blazing. 

The ensuing melee was indeed bloody, seeing Thornton flailing ineffectually at the convicts while Fisher and Geralt try to do as much damage as they can in the initial charge to whittle down enemy numbers but poor damage rolls saw the convicts largely unhurt. While Thornton continued his tussle with a pair of burly hard cases, Fisher managed to gut her opponent who staggered away from the combat before slumping lifeless on the ground. 

Before she can take advantage of the gap in the scrum, shots bark out from a pair of armed convicts and Fisher snarls as she starts taking hits from the pistol rounds. Seeing his boss taking fire, Geralt goes a bit mental and kills two thugs in short order rolling first a critical hit and then a 12 point damage roll for the two.

Fisher takes further damage from the pistol toting cons but Geralt's frenzy has given her the space she needs and she dives under the fire from her opponents and comes up swinging killing both pistol toting bad guys in an impressive display of skill.

Whilst Thornton continues to ineffectually flail, Geralt goes to work and kills the last remaining convict in the room and at last the frantic fight is over. Approaching the wild eyed Thornton, Geralt tries to shake some sense into the man but Fisher tells him to leave him be as he's beyond help and begins searching the bodies of the slain for clues (I rolled a D6 after each room to see if he recovers and every time I did he rolls a 6 which means he keeps flinging himself at any convict he sees, screaming unintelligently).

At this point I used three random Rory's Story Cubes and rolled them to see what clues she found and got the following result:

Fishers investigation of the corpses shows her that the Cyclo pacification units fitted to the skulls of the convicts appear to have burnt out, almost like an electric charge has passed through them and she surmises that this in part has been the reason for the over the top nature of the rampaging as the discharge seems to have fried their brains.

Completing the sweep of the room, Fisher then leads the group towards the next room and attempts to open the door but it is securely locked and she prepares to take her power sword to it.

Before she can, a second door slams open and a pair of convicts rush in, the first wielding a pistol starts blazing away at Fisher, wounding her (this convict rolls more critical hits and high damage than any other character in the game!) whilst the second rushes Thornton and begins pummelling him. 

The trap has been sprung that I'd mentioned at the start of the battle report which resulted in D3 armed and D3 normal convicts appearing. Fortunately for the adventurers, I rolled low but even so, these two would cause considerable mayhem!

As Geralt sprints toward the gunman, and Fisher reels following the shot, the convict spins and opens up on the Wolfbane and sorely wounds the clansman but he grits his teeth and responds with a bolt pistol shot which drops the gunman where he stands.

Fisher regaining her composure, rushes the last convict and following a brief struggle sends the large woman crashing to the ground.

The fight now over, Geralt uses the first dose of his Med Kit to heal some of his wounds and Fishers before they carefully approach the now open door to the main cell block. What they see inside worries both warriors. The room is full of convicts who stir from their cells as they see the party at the doorway (this room contained D6+1 convicts and D6 armed convicts. Fortunately most were unarmed but their sheer numbers would be problematic for the duo, especially as Thornton is still incapable of using his gun!)

With a long suffering sigh, Geralt pulls himself upright and stalks into the room towards the convicts and raises his pistol to fire but rolls a misfire! As expected Thornton launches himself into the room and barrels towards the convicts past the swearing Geralt. As the convicts begin to rush the two, Fisher enters the room and calmly drops one with a well aimed pistol shot, pausing to smirk at Geralt, she calmly raises her sword and prepares to meet the horde.

The convicts rush in and quite a few pile into Thornton, and he disappears under a horde of kicking, punching and biting crazies but Fisher and Geralt have problems of their own as the swirling melee continues and the two warriors hack and slash at their foes but for every enemy they kill, another seems to take his place.

Eventually they do manage to clear the scrum and turn to aid the stricken Thornton but too late as the unhinged guard lies dead at the feet of the remaining prisoners. With a bestial yell, one of the convicts carrying a length of bloodied pipe launches herself over the prone form of the guard and strikes Geralt a fearsome blow to the head.

Geralt drops lifelessly to the floor and Fisher screams in grief and outrage. Swinging her sword wildly, she cuts the leering convict she is facing down and rushes towards the prone Wolfbane. It cannot end here! She has come half way across the Imperium with the stalwart Geralt and she refuses to believe he is going to die at the hands of some scum wielding a pipe but as she stands over him, sword raised and the remaining convicts edging closer, she begins to worry and mutters a quiet prayer and braces herself for the final rush.

Suddenly there is an explosion of light and sound and the doorway behind the convicts flies back into the room and Vash strides in, his thunder hammer glowing dully as it charges up for another strike. Unbeknownst to Fisher, the Mechanicus has managed to get the security cameras back online and seeing them enter the prison block and facing stiff opposition, he rushed to the elevator and has arrived in the nick of time!

Two of the convicts fighting a badly wounded Fisher turn to face the new threat, one of which leaves himself open to a thrust from Fishers power sword which drops him dead before he can react but the other rushes the heavily armoured mechanicus who calmly brings his hammer round in a swing which pulps the convict.

Gasping with relief at the sudden reversal of fortunes, Fisher redoubles her efforts to bring down the scarred woman who knocked Geralt out of the fight (at this point Fisher has about three hit points left and as she's badly wounded has a 50% penalty on all her stats and the combat between her and the convict sees the convict repeatedly hit her but her armour saves her each time and finally I managed to get a decent damage roll, despite the wounded penalty!) With a shout, Fisher swings her crimson power sword and the convict raises the pipe to try and parry the wild blow but her sneer freezes as the keen blade cuts cleanly through her weapon and severs her head. The body stands upright for a moment before crumpling to the ground, the head rolling to a halt several yards away. The combat is over!

At this point, I rolled another three story dice to see what happens and got the following result:

Fisher drags herself over to the prone form of Geralt as a worried Vash rushes to join her and as she feels for a pulse, she is relieved to find one. It is faint and reedy but the Wolfbane isn't dead! With Vash's help they drag Garalt onto a table and begin applying medical aid and the mans eyes snap open as the adrenaline injection Fisher has just pumped directly into his heart kicks in and he sits up with an inarticulate bellow before being cuffed around the ear by a relieved Fisher. "Really Geralt, there's no time to be lying around sleeping while we've got work to do!". 

The stunned, and rather concussed Wolfbane can only look on as Inquisitor begins searching the room and discovers one of the cells is decorated with some form of hieroglyphic text. It is unmistakably her quarry Murdoch Foyles handiwork and she now knows that he is involved with the breakout in some way. Vash helps the bloodied Geralt to his feet and they trade sympathetic stares before the mechanicus goes to join Fisher in the disgraced Xenoarchaeologists cell. Looking at the pictographs, Vash notes that it resembles some form of ancient machine script he's seen before on some of the machines on Farpoint but he's only able to decipher a small fraction: Beware He Who Smites From the Deep.

With this clue, Fisher and co move towards the last room of the level. As the door slides open, they are confronted by the sight of John Parliament and a group of prison guards. Sneering at the Inquisitor, the rogue warden tells her he is going to join his master and orders his guards to kill the meddling woman and her lackeys before disappearing towards the elevator.

With a howl of outrage, Fisher launches herself forward but the riot armoured guards meet her with shields raised and a shock mall to the ribs sends her stumbling back. A strong hand catches her and stops her fall and Geralt raises his pistol with the other and even the heavy armour of the guard isn't a match for a bolt pistol at close range. Geralt empties the clip into one guard, sending the man reeling to the ground while a now enraged and slightly frazzled Fisher avoids a second clumsy swing from the guard and carves through his shield and into his torso with her sword.

Once again I rolled three random story cubes to see what clues were discovered and got the following:

Kicking the corpse off her sword, Fisher stalks into the room but there is no sign of Parliament. The man has fled but one of the guards is still alive, if sorely wounded and she curtly demands to know where he has gone. The guard, knowing he faces death, admits that he accompanied the Warden down from the upper level using a previously unknown elevator that transported him from the Wardens private office to the main prison level. He claims that the Warden told him and his colleagues, who had just been rescued from the barracks by Fishers security teams, that the perpetrators of the prison riot were on level 2 and needed to be stopped and he was unaware that he had crossed the forces of the Inquisition.

With this admission, the guard breaths his last and Fisher says a brief prayer over his body, Geralt closing the mans staring eyes. 

The Warden will pay for this. Not only is he involved with the uprising in the prison but has obviously aided Foyle in his escape and has corrupted loyal Imperial servants with his nefarious deeds. Justice demands a pound of flesh and Fisher is determined to collect.

Conclusion

Geralt, still a bit woozy following his close call with death turns to Fisher with a questioning, "Shall we?" while gesturing back to the elevator. The Warden, John Parliament is a traitor to the Imperium, betrayed by his own words and deeds and the only way he can go is down to the third level to the dark core of Bore IV where the worst of the worst were kept securely locked in solitary confinement. 

Down on the lowest level also lies the Engineering section where the security files that will finally reveal who escaped the facility and what has caused the utter breakdown of order in the prison. Parliament is a dead man and Fisher nods grimly at her companions. They will descend into the depths and bring the righteous might of the Inquisition unto those who broke Imperial law and betrayed the oaths they made!

Whee! Another rather nail biting session which saw my characters once again almost die a the hands of a horde of scum and only Vash's timely arrival saved Fisher and Geralt from certain death! I must admit I bodged things a little to get it to work but I figured it would be a sad tale if my whole crew got wiped out in only the second mission of the campaign!

Once again I used playing cards to determine initiative and it worked out really well resulting in some properly cinematic moments and genuine panic from me as I willed Fisher to make her saving throw and Geralt not to die from a lead pipe to the head.

The next mission will see Fisher venturing into the lowest (as far as she knows!) level of the prison complex in search of answers to her questions and the duplicitous Warden.

I'm hoping to get the next report played out tomorrow on my day off and will update it when I can but I've also got a fair few miniatures painted that I want to show so until then, All the best!