Tuesday 22 September 2015

YOOOOO SHALL NOT PAAAAASSSSSS!!!!!......Mr Close Assault Dreadnought!!!

The third instalment of four Rogue Trader scenarios that I played earlier this year. This type of game was one that I've wanted to play for a very long time, a Rogue Trader game in a fantasy setting.


The Scenario:

A small Ultramarine force had been tasked with setting up an observation outpost on an uncharted planet. An Ork Warlord is suspected of using it as a base of operations to launch raids on passing Imperial trade ships.

The planet was thought to be uninhabited (apart from the Greenskins), but not long after they had finished setting up their camp they discovered the remains of earthen dwellings, a disused mine shaft and other such evidence of human occupation.

A few days later (while out on patrol) they came across a small party of Ork's, sleeping in the open. They had a rather run down Walker (AT-ST) with them, but they were completely unprepared for the Marines. In a brief encounter the Ork's were slain & the Walker left as a smouldering wreck.

The Marine's returned to their makeshift camp to file a report of their engagement. Unaware that the noise of the battle had not only been been heard by the local populace, but that they were now on their way to the scene to investigate the cause of the disturbance.


Ultramarines: Pushed around by Rob_s

1 x 5 man squad with a flamer
1 x 5 man squad with a rocket launcher
1 x Close Assault Dreadnought (Chuck)


Locals: Pushed around by me

17 x humans in chain with hand weapons
3 x dwarves with hand weapons
1 x lvl 5 hero in plate armour with hand weapon
1 x lvl 25 wizard (Groondolf)



And so it begins:


The Local's find the battlefield remains and search through it....bemused at what they discover. Meanwhile, the
 Marines kick back and stare at the grass.



"Realistic" foot print effects lead off to the centre of the grass mat. What could have created such things?








Groondolf cast "Ectoplasmic mist" near the Marine's to shield his followers advance. Like he
somehow knew that they had guns & and that his best chance of success was to close
with them ASAP :)


1st squad moved forward from their base and set up a shooting gallery on top of the nearest hill. Killing the three
dwarves, even before they had a chance to scowl at them.


2nd squad now moved to the centre as well. Their superior armour & armaments making them nigh invulnerable to the
natives feeble weaponry. The Locals split into two groups. Groondolf and a small bunch of followers moved to engage
with the enemy head on, while.....



.....the other larger force moved to the left, trying to outflank the enemy using the Ectoplasmic mist as cover.



Rocket man proved to be pretty ineffectual during the game. Only killing a couple of  Local's.



Round & round the Mulberry bush.



I rolled appallingly for most of the game, hence the locals got churned up pretty good....for the first half anyway.



"Steal mind" made Chuck amble away from the combat for a few rounds. Giving me a
much needed respite from his menace.



Using up a few more of my magic points I cast Ectoplasmic mist again, enveloping the Marines in the centre. It enabled
 my followers to engage with them in hand to hand combat without getting gunned down on their approach.









The end result? I had lost half of my force, but he Marine's routed from their losses. 





I used the last of my magic points to cast "Temporal distort" to give my guys a second
 move. Allowing them to close with the last remaining Marine....annoying rocket dude!





Meanwhile, Chuck had regained his faculties & rather quickly set about driving Groondolfs' head down on through
his spinal column.



The Local's ended rocket man.



And then Chuck ended them all rather horribly in return :(


Conclusion:

Even though I had rolled quite horribly for most of the game, we both agreed afterwards that chain/plate armour is not a fair match for a bolter. I think to play these sorts of games you need a lot of terrain and/or cover, just to give the normal populace a chance. Either that or have a shit tonne of them in reserve? Actually that might be fun :D

We had a great time playing this type of game. I think it warrants some further investigation.


Ramble: 


I remember hearing about these types of games that were written about in Warhammer Siege when I was a teen. I wondered how you'd actually go about playing an equitable game (one side with guns vs the other with crossbows) without it turning into a turkey shoot. My gaming buddies & I never gave it a go, too much for our teenage brains to even contemplate attempting.

Then about five years ago I got hold of a copy of Siege and read through the whole book, for the first time! I was blown away with the & quality of the artwork, the detailed dioramas, the descriptions and just the sheer quantity of untapped possibilities, ripe for the picking. In my opinion it's up there with RT & 3rd ed Fantasy....I reckon it's that good.

In amongst all of the evocative illustrations, dioramas and complex (but awesomely detailed) siege rules, there's some random scenario generation charts. And more specifically, there's a chart solely devoted to playing mixed scenarios, pitting Fantasy against RT peoples/species.

Disappointingly though, I never got to see anyone playing it....over my entire gaming life (some 28 years worth). I never had the opportunity to witness or read about a mixed world game being played. No friendly face offs, no gaming convention display games, not even a WD batrep.....nothing! Which is a real shame, coz I think that if it was given the right amount of support I think it could have grown legs. Maybe even spawned a whole new direction for GW to take the RT world in? Who knows.....maybe it was just a fun little side project for Rick Priestley?

I have a couple of other theories (possibly more plausible than my previous supposition) as to why it may have not taken off as well; Most gamers (or more specifically GW gamers from that time period) usually only collected one type of miniature, either Fantasy or 40K. And you sort of involuntarily locked yourself into that gaming mindset....never thinking about them ever coexisting. Also, there was really no reason or opportunity to play alongside each other either. Be it in a tournament setting at each others homes. And lastly, when my friends & I got into wargaming we really only ever had the time and/or money to collect (and occasionally paint) one genre of miniatures. So we just played in one setting....all the time.


I'll definitely be exploring more of this style of game.


Cheers all :)



34 comments:

  1. I really love your battle reports for once but mixing fantasy and RT just adds another layer of cool for me. I was reading Sho3box' blog just minutes ago with portals and all and I think those are in teh same vein. If you decide to play fantasy/sci-fi, why restrict to a certain view with a certain background an why add limits and boundaries to a game which just asks to open them?
    Of course I can understand people wanting to play WHFB or 40/30k like it's historical stuff but I'm far more appealed by your kind of games where you just put everything you like on the table for the sake of fun and story !
    DId I say I love what you just did ? I do.

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    1. Thanks JB,

      Yeah, each setting on it's own still has a lot to offer, but by mixing them together you can explore manifold gaming possibilities. The Siege tome has such a wealth of material to draw from, it's a great resource.

      Did you like the report? I couldn't see if you pointed that out ;p

      Cheers buddy.

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  2. Lovely report. I love the comic strip layout (even if it does make the blog harder to read sneakily while at work!) and the minimalist background for the battles.

    I don't recall ever having played a mixed WFB/40k game either, but then I missed out on Rogue Trader originally and 2nd edition didn't slot in quite as neatly. It's definitely something I'll look forward to trying in the future though.

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    1. Thanks Peter,

      I like doing the cartoony style of batrep's for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'm not a very competent writer...sure, I can string a few sentences together, but I ain't no Shakespeare that's for sure. And secondly, their quite fun to make. I just load them into a picture App on my tablet & while away a few hours doodling & covering up my photographic mistakes :)

      If you get a chance to I highly recommend having a flick through the Siege book. Like all the GW publications from that era they are packed with far too much info to realistically apply to just one game.

      Cheers.

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  3. Love the post - made me laugh out loud. We did play a few of these type of games back in the day and you wisely gave the yokels a wizard to try and help balance it. The dreadnaught was probably overkill for the Marines though.

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    1. Hello Mr Anonymous.... if that is indeed your real name?

      How did your games go for you? Way back when. Did you have enough of each genre of miniature's to make it plausible? Or did you have to use proxies? What sort of scenarios did you try?

      I'm really curious to know :)

      And yes, those Dreads really are tough hombres aren't they. In any game for that matter!

      I'd like to try playing with other species, have a bit more scenery/terrain and a few objectives too. Should spice things up quite a bit.

      Cheers.

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  4. Fuck that was epic mate =)

    "Oh no, I tripped over my intestines!" is def going to find it's way into a Hybrid game (except I may have to amend it to "oh no, I tripped over HIS intestines!"
    These are a great read at the end of a shit day at work, and man, I needed it today.

    Thanks dude, looking forward to the next one =)

    Ace

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    1. I'm glad it provided a bit of a pick me up Ace :)

      I fear that I may be starting to run out of disgusting internal organ jokes.....actually, I don't think that's possible :D

      The next one will be a little tricky though, coz I'll have to draw it! Didn't take any photo's did I :(

      Cheers buddy.

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    2. Draw it?, hey that sounds intestining, I mean interesting... =)
      I like the PS stuff you have been adding to the bat rep photos so far, I say just go for it!

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  5. Worth the wait. The dread was overkill. If I am remembering right Groondulf had 'Mental Blitz' which would have given him a shot at taking out 'Chuck'. Other than that the natives really had no chance against the dread.

    Big fan of the special effects you've added to the pics. Nice work, they really add something to it.

    I guess there just the one battle rep left to post. Bring on the 'Cautious marines, mad ork pilots slamming skimmers into trees and surprise Robots!'

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    1. I hope the wait gave you a warm & fuzzy feeling in your tummy Bob. Just like a good old dose of cheap scotch does :P

      I think the reason that Groondolf couldn't cast that spell was due to a lack of magic points. He used them up damn fast!

      Maybe next time we could equip them with a catapult? Or maybe even two logs suspended from ropes, that when released will collide against each other....with the dread in the middle of the impact? Ewok style!!!! I know you'd love that sort of theatrical angle :D

      The effects were done using an App called "Picsart". It's a pretty easy piece of software to use, and best of all it's free!

      The last batrep's gunna be a slow one to complete. I'm not even going to bother attempting to write a full batrep of it. That'll only result in embarrassment & shame....directed at me:(

      I'll try the drawing idea. Stay tuned....but don't hold your breath that you'll see it soon. Maybe in a month?

      I'm making some terrain ATM too, so I'll do a post about them first. How's Mr Bonce coming along? Finished yeah? Surely!!!!

      Cheers.

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    2. Iron Bonce may just coax me out of painting retirement. I need to steal a goo paint job off the net.

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  6. We played a few rt/fantasy fantasy games though we didn't use RT and Fantasy but RT alone, everything you need is in the book. Beastmen with crossbows are a good match for guard in Flack armour with lazguns.

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    1. Sounds like a good match between the beastmen & guard. Although, the underdog approach is very appealing to me. The challenge of trying to take down that dreadnought with a wizard was pretty entertaining. He could have pulled it off too, if it hadn't have been for all those pesky marines.

      Did you play many games in that type of setting Erny?

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    2. Not as many as I woudl have liked to be honest, we used to ping from one ge=ame and or idea to another far to quickly back in the day.

      Our wizards were always psychics rather than fantasy wizards. Tha Machine curse power woudl have been helpful in your fight I guess though I suppose summoning an elemental would have worked too...

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  7. Ooh, now THAT is a writeup! Splendid TO. Splendid!

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    1. Thanks Composer,

      I had to look up what "TO" meant. It means "greatness" yeah? If so, I thank you very much for the compliment :)

      There's one more to come, but it requires more work i.e. drawing the scenes. Should look "interesting"?

      Cheers :)

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  8. Great stuff, I love the gunfire effects in these shots. Lovely painting on these figs - have you posted up the fantasy chaps before? I'm off hunting an RT book right now darn it! This last batrep- praps you could 'stage' some action shots instead of draw? There are some map apps you could also use if u wished..

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    1. By stage I mean use figures you have to hand of course!

      Delete
    2. Hi Ragsta,

      Those fantasy dudes were all supplied by my partner in crime. I'm unsure as to the amount that he may or may not have uploaded. If he did, they would either be on his almost derelict blog (sixironspikes) or over on the Oldhammer forum...but many moons ago.

      What book are you on the lookout for ATM?

      Regarding the recommendation to restage the battle. I would do that, if I had enough terrain to do so, but unfortunately I don't.

      I'm actually in the process of making up some now, but I'd still need a few burnt out buildings and a couple of hills before I could even contemplate reshooting it. It's not such a bad idea though....build some much needed terrain & reshoot it then?

      The other option i.e. drawing it, has got to be a much faster way. But I'm waiting on my brother in-law to find his digital drawing tablet. I wouldn't mind tinkering around with it. I've seen some D&D map's made digitally and they look great!

      So there's two options on the table at the moment. Both of which will take a bit of time. Food for thought hey :)

      Cheers Ragsta.

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  9. Haha, that is a report! If it was as fun to play as it is to read (and I believe it was even more!), this must have been epic! Nice!!

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    1. Thanks Suber,

      Yeah, it was a lot of fun to play. Makes me really enthusiasts to try out some other mixed battles now.

      Cheers.

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  10. Great battle and BEAUTIFUL minis! Fantastic stuff!

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    1. Thanks Mr Mouse,

      You know, it's only been over the past few years that both myself & my gaming buddy have produced enough painted minus to be able to field a fully painted force...of two sides no less!

      It really does make a difference to playing, I'm sure you'll agree.

      Glad you liked the report :)

      Cheers.

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  11. Nice battle report, bro.

    I feel sorry for the poor yokels. I think I'd throw away my sword and run and hide in a hole somewhere.

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    1. Yeah, as soon as I saw all those blue space men cutting down my companions in short order, followed by a hulking machine thundering towards me as well I reckon I would've poo'd my pants :)

      Hopefully if you ever get a chance to come over my way we can get a few games in together. That'd be great!

      Cheers Pete.

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  12. Creative, beautiful and entertaining report...excellent job!

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  13. I have just managed to grab a few minutes to peek at your blog...... this report should have a health warning. Reading may result in you dying laughing. Had me in stitches and some great old figures there (goodly knights of law no less, and I even recognised that the space dudes were quite old even though I never got into that sci-fi stuff).

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    1. Thanks Springfield,

      I'm glad my batrep caused you so much pain from laughter :D

      I've got one more to do, but it'll take a few more weeks to complete.

      I'll be playing a few more games of this type in the future I reckon. It was a lot of fun.

      Cheers :)

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  14. Papa I dont think I ever saw this till you shared it the other day. Awesome stuff man! These are the kind of games I'm after.

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    1. Hey Grover, yeah it was a fun game to play. I used to get a few good games in with my mate during my annual return trips back home. I miss getting to play them more often. Hopefully we'll get to roll dice together again mate :)

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  15. Hilarious battle report, love the minis and the humour.

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    1. Cheers Alex :)

      When I write batreps (which is not very often) I try to create a silly story around what actually took place on the day. But you can never go wrong with slipping on intestines for humour though right?

      Glad you enjoyed it :)

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