Deathwatch (40k RP)
Posted: 2010-09-25 08:35pm
So, it's finally out (as of about a week ago) and I sat down with the dudes and we ran through a mission.
Character creation went quite smoothly; perhaps it's because we've rolled plenty of Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader characters, but the guys' Space Marines went quick and easy. There's less options on all those cool character-generation charts (only 10 random names per Chapter, for example), and the XP charts are more complicated, but equipment is a hell of a lot simpler. We had an Ultramarine Tactical Marine, Black Templar Assault Marine, and a Blood Angels Librarian.
There were a few hang-ups on the Squad Mode/Cohesion/ability system which we puzzled over, and plenty of learn-as-you-go on some of the other new mechanics like the pre-mission phases and horde combat, but other than that we had a pretty smooth ride. I gave them their briefing -- drop pod assault behind the lines of a multi-system rebellion, currently engulfing a shrine world, and locate and extract an embattled Ecclesiarchal convent vital to missionary work in the region, as well as the sacred relics which the shrine world had been housing. We tried a mission complication, and they got "Unexpected Enemies"... so I dropped a pair of Leman Russ battle tanks into a boss fight to secure the relics.
Aware of some amount of enemy armor (they had a secondary objective to take out armor columns reinforcing the front lines), the Librarian took a missile launcher in place of his bolter, and the other two stocked up on krak grenades, melta bombs, and plenty of special bolter ammo.
They landed in the war-torn countryside of the planet and encountered an enemy platoon dug in in a barn. I set it up as a small Horde (size 20) with a separate heavy stubber team, which seemed to work well. Unfortunately, the new Kill-team didn't. The Templar blasted off at full throttle, hurtling the 500m distance to the barn like a Stormboy in about 6 turns, enduring withering suppressive fire from the heavy stubber on the way. The Librarian and Tactical Marine (the team leader) were left in the dust to slog their way on foot. The heavy stubber wasn't able to really hurt the Templar, but did slow him down -- he usually failed the pinning tests, but quickly recovered from them the following turn. The rest of the platoon, however, adequately demonstrated the limits of a lone Space Marine. As the Templar closed the distance and landed, he endured several turns of autogun fire... which turns out to be rather dangerous from an entire Horde. In the time it took him to assault into the barn, he'd been reduced from his starting 21 Wounds to 7, spending a Fate Point and an Improved Demeanour (Zeal!) to recover about 10 (thus, he actually took over 20 damage). Once in melee, the platoon's primitive weapons meant they could no longer reliably hurt him.
About a minute later, the Blood Angel and Ultramarine arrived at the barn to a scene of carnage and murder. Dismembered and disemboweled rebel corpses were strewn around the barn's interior with a blood-soaked, chainsword-revving Black Templar standing amidst the bodies. Once in melee, it had taken about 2 turns after the initial charge to slaughter half the Horde with Swift Attack, at which point they broke and ran for the hills. I gave the Templar 50 XP for his very Black Templar conflict resolution and tactical (non)sense.
Moving on, the Kill-team sighted a pinned-down and dug-in force of Adepta Sororitas on a ridge line, hopelessly trying to hold off an enemy battalion and defend the missionaries and other Ministorum dudes. Establishing vox contact, they decided to circle around the attacking force to locate and destroy the rebels' artillery. A Chimaera idled next to a parked battery of Basilisks shelling the Sisters' position, and the Librarian put his missile launcher to work. Some very excellent rolls later, and one krak missile had obliterated the APC. The Tactical Marine cut down the artillery crewmen in a hail of bolter fire, and in moments they had captured the enemy guns. Coordinating over vox, the Kill-team ranged the guns on the attacking rebel force, going wide on the first barrage but following it up with an effective second and third, grinding the attackers to a halt. Three krak grenades secured the captured guns, and then the team moved on, leaving the Sisters to handle the remaining disorganized attackers.
The Kill-team hijacked a Rhino from some hapless (and hopelessly outmatched) rebel crewmen and drove off to a nearby city, where a detachment of Sisters had been dispatched with the sacred relics before contact was lost. En route, they spotted an enemy armor column. They discussed the matter, and decided to maneuver into the city and stage an ambush. Their plan was surprisingly sound (this group is not known for its tactical sense) and well-executed; once the column of Predators ran into their trap they quickly blew up or disabled most of the vehicles. After interrogating one of the tank commanders ("If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?"), they drove a Predator and their Rhino to a rebel HQ in the city. On the way, they uncovered the location that the relics had been moved to, and diverted to get them.
Two dead sentries later (although one of them went Joe Swanson on the Kill-team) and they had secured the relics... or so they thought. Those two Leman Russ tanks made their appearance, smashing through a wall to engage the Kill-team. The Librarian flung krak missiles from the (short-lived) safety of the Predator's driver's hatch, while the Assault Marine hopped atop one with his jump pack and began planting a meltabomb. The poor Tactical Marine had been caught out in the open handling the relics, and took a lascannon to the chest for his efforts. Although an Improved Demeanour (Pious) did nothing to appease the dice gods, it did allow him to throw the relics out of harm's way. The shot dropped him from about 20 Wounds to -5, saved by Unnatural Toughness and True Grit, without which he would have been at -14.
The Predator fared worse, taking a crippling lascannon hit and then detonated a round later with the Leman Russ's battlecannon. The Librarian was thrown clear by the explosion, landing face first in a nearby building (now rubble). Having lost his missile launcher, he dove for cover from the next battlecannon shot -- which caused more than a few bruises. Nevertheless, under the Ultramarine's (now staggering back to his feet) leadership, the squad rallied and flung a volley of krak grenades at the tanks. Assisted by the Assault Marine's meltabomb, both tanks were eventually disabled. Bloodied, battered, but still in one piece, the Kill-team rounded up the relics, rendezvoused with the Sisters and extracted by Thunderhawk. Although they missed one of the secondary objectives, they picked up a tertiary by capturing the enemy artillery, and cashed in a fair amount of Renown thanks to their Oath of Glory.
It was good times.
What can we learn from this? Point-blank lascannon hits, Bad For You but survivable. Black Templar impetuousness, also Bad For You. Enemy tanks? No problem... although a little tactical sense goes a long way. The krak grenades struggled against some of the Predators and would have been nearly useless on the Leman Russes, but some Emperor-blessed dice bounced a couple onto the top armor, so make sure you bring the real anti-tank equipment when playing tankhunters.
Character creation went quite smoothly; perhaps it's because we've rolled plenty of Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader characters, but the guys' Space Marines went quick and easy. There's less options on all those cool character-generation charts (only 10 random names per Chapter, for example), and the XP charts are more complicated, but equipment is a hell of a lot simpler. We had an Ultramarine Tactical Marine, Black Templar Assault Marine, and a Blood Angels Librarian.
There were a few hang-ups on the Squad Mode/Cohesion/ability system which we puzzled over, and plenty of learn-as-you-go on some of the other new mechanics like the pre-mission phases and horde combat, but other than that we had a pretty smooth ride. I gave them their briefing -- drop pod assault behind the lines of a multi-system rebellion, currently engulfing a shrine world, and locate and extract an embattled Ecclesiarchal convent vital to missionary work in the region, as well as the sacred relics which the shrine world had been housing. We tried a mission complication, and they got "Unexpected Enemies"... so I dropped a pair of Leman Russ battle tanks into a boss fight to secure the relics.
Aware of some amount of enemy armor (they had a secondary objective to take out armor columns reinforcing the front lines), the Librarian took a missile launcher in place of his bolter, and the other two stocked up on krak grenades, melta bombs, and plenty of special bolter ammo.
They landed in the war-torn countryside of the planet and encountered an enemy platoon dug in in a barn. I set it up as a small Horde (size 20) with a separate heavy stubber team, which seemed to work well. Unfortunately, the new Kill-team didn't. The Templar blasted off at full throttle, hurtling the 500m distance to the barn like a Stormboy in about 6 turns, enduring withering suppressive fire from the heavy stubber on the way. The Librarian and Tactical Marine (the team leader) were left in the dust to slog their way on foot. The heavy stubber wasn't able to really hurt the Templar, but did slow him down -- he usually failed the pinning tests, but quickly recovered from them the following turn. The rest of the platoon, however, adequately demonstrated the limits of a lone Space Marine. As the Templar closed the distance and landed, he endured several turns of autogun fire... which turns out to be rather dangerous from an entire Horde. In the time it took him to assault into the barn, he'd been reduced from his starting 21 Wounds to 7, spending a Fate Point and an Improved Demeanour (Zeal!) to recover about 10 (thus, he actually took over 20 damage). Once in melee, the platoon's primitive weapons meant they could no longer reliably hurt him.
About a minute later, the Blood Angel and Ultramarine arrived at the barn to a scene of carnage and murder. Dismembered and disemboweled rebel corpses were strewn around the barn's interior with a blood-soaked, chainsword-revving Black Templar standing amidst the bodies. Once in melee, it had taken about 2 turns after the initial charge to slaughter half the Horde with Swift Attack, at which point they broke and ran for the hills. I gave the Templar 50 XP for his very Black Templar conflict resolution and tactical (non)sense.
Moving on, the Kill-team sighted a pinned-down and dug-in force of Adepta Sororitas on a ridge line, hopelessly trying to hold off an enemy battalion and defend the missionaries and other Ministorum dudes. Establishing vox contact, they decided to circle around the attacking force to locate and destroy the rebels' artillery. A Chimaera idled next to a parked battery of Basilisks shelling the Sisters' position, and the Librarian put his missile launcher to work. Some very excellent rolls later, and one krak missile had obliterated the APC. The Tactical Marine cut down the artillery crewmen in a hail of bolter fire, and in moments they had captured the enemy guns. Coordinating over vox, the Kill-team ranged the guns on the attacking rebel force, going wide on the first barrage but following it up with an effective second and third, grinding the attackers to a halt. Three krak grenades secured the captured guns, and then the team moved on, leaving the Sisters to handle the remaining disorganized attackers.
The Kill-team hijacked a Rhino from some hapless (and hopelessly outmatched) rebel crewmen and drove off to a nearby city, where a detachment of Sisters had been dispatched with the sacred relics before contact was lost. En route, they spotted an enemy armor column. They discussed the matter, and decided to maneuver into the city and stage an ambush. Their plan was surprisingly sound (this group is not known for its tactical sense) and well-executed; once the column of Predators ran into their trap they quickly blew up or disabled most of the vehicles. After interrogating one of the tank commanders ("If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?"), they drove a Predator and their Rhino to a rebel HQ in the city. On the way, they uncovered the location that the relics had been moved to, and diverted to get them.
Two dead sentries later (although one of them went Joe Swanson on the Kill-team) and they had secured the relics... or so they thought. Those two Leman Russ tanks made their appearance, smashing through a wall to engage the Kill-team. The Librarian flung krak missiles from the (short-lived) safety of the Predator's driver's hatch, while the Assault Marine hopped atop one with his jump pack and began planting a meltabomb. The poor Tactical Marine had been caught out in the open handling the relics, and took a lascannon to the chest for his efforts. Although an Improved Demeanour (Pious) did nothing to appease the dice gods, it did allow him to throw the relics out of harm's way. The shot dropped him from about 20 Wounds to -5, saved by Unnatural Toughness and True Grit, without which he would have been at -14.
The Predator fared worse, taking a crippling lascannon hit and then detonated a round later with the Leman Russ's battlecannon. The Librarian was thrown clear by the explosion, landing face first in a nearby building (now rubble). Having lost his missile launcher, he dove for cover from the next battlecannon shot -- which caused more than a few bruises. Nevertheless, under the Ultramarine's (now staggering back to his feet) leadership, the squad rallied and flung a volley of krak grenades at the tanks. Assisted by the Assault Marine's meltabomb, both tanks were eventually disabled. Bloodied, battered, but still in one piece, the Kill-team rounded up the relics, rendezvoused with the Sisters and extracted by Thunderhawk. Although they missed one of the secondary objectives, they picked up a tertiary by capturing the enemy artillery, and cashed in a fair amount of Renown thanks to their Oath of Glory.
It was good times.
What can we learn from this? Point-blank lascannon hits, Bad For You but survivable. Black Templar impetuousness, also Bad For You. Enemy tanks? No problem... although a little tactical sense goes a long way. The krak grenades struggled against some of the Predators and would have been nearly useless on the Leman Russes, but some Emperor-blessed dice bounced a couple onto the top armor, so make sure you bring the real anti-tank equipment when playing tankhunters.
