As I recently mentioned, I hope to get some more solo/co-op games in this year, and base those games in the 40k universe-ish (maybe even an RPG session or two).
In my previous post I outlined the homebrew planet where this will be taking place (hence the ‘ish’ part mentioned above), and in this one I’ll do a brief recap of the first game I played with a friend on TableTop Simulator (TTS).
So, for the table, I was able to find a bunch of assets that folks had already uploaded – so that we had a nice area to play on, and all the ‘bad guy’ miniatures we would need (note that even though there are tons of models available on TTS – I only used ones similar to those I have painted… because even though we are playing online, the whole thing is still being used as a means of encouragement for getting actual miniatures painted).
Also, one of the nice things about TTS is that it allows you to import images of your own – to make little standees. For example here’s a shot of the models we painted for our ‘heroes’:
On the left is Khalia (an inquisitorial acolyte) and young Capt. Tommard Howas (of the Magna Prefects)
Now, the system we used for this game was ‘StarQuest’ from One Page rules – which seems like a fun little skirmish game – as it pits a number of ‘heroes’ up against waves of random enemies (I say ‘random’ – but you create a list ahead of time, using their ‘firefight’ army builder – and it only draws from that list… so that you can ensure that you only face off against models you have in your collection).
Anyway, you can also randomise the mission’s objectives (primary and secondary) if you like – but since we are playing a bit of a narrative game, I chose these ahead of time so as to tailor them to the setting.
So, I went with ‘Area Search’ as the primary objective (i.e. there are three markers on the board… and one of them will be the thing we are searching for), and ‘Escort’ as the secondary (so that once we had found ‘the thing’ we had to get ourselves, and it, to the extraction point).
As such, the set up went something like this (note that the idea is that I’ll set things up for the first mission, then my friend will do the next, and we’ll alternate back and forth whenever we play):
An Inquisitor by the name of Yadec was investigating disturbances in a newly opened (previously abandoned) manufactorum level of Magna Prime. Now this area is not technically part of the underhive (as it’s not low enough) – but due to the fact that it’s been lost/sealed-off for as long as anyone can remember, it commands a similar status.
To begin with, these ‘disturbances’ were little more than the usual gang squabbles/claims over the area, the enforcers trying to keep order, and miscreants and ne'er-do-wells daring its depths in the hope of uncovering ancient artefacts and lost technology. However, this didn’t last long, and the two most prominent gangs in the area (‘the scabs’ and ‘the skinnies’) actually seemed to start working together – a worrying sign.
Enforcers of the Magna Prefects attempted to clear the area out on several occasions (in order to make way for a more official exploration/reclamation undertaking) – but each time they were either repelled or lost entirely. Since then, the usual rumours of cults and mutants occupying the area have begun to surface (along with tales of it connecting to the actual under hive) – which led to an investigation by the aforementioned Inquisitor. However, he has not been seen or heard of for quite some time.
However, several faint signals/beacons have recently been detected in one part of this area – ones bearing Vermillion level security codes of inquisitorial origin.
As such Khalia has been tasked with the retrieval of whatever it is that is sending out this beacon… and has been accompanied by young captain Howas of the Magna Prefects (as a local escort).
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE = AREA SEARCH (locate the data slate containing the inquisitorial data)
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE = ESCORT (retrieve that information, and return it for decoding)
THE GAME
Now, we actually played this game at the start of the year – so some of the details are a bit hazy… but I think it went something like this (I’ll try to keep it brief):
Acolyte Khalia and Capt. Howas proceeded with caution as they entered the eerie structure – weapons drawn and at the ready. While not really part of the underhive, the whole place had a similar look and feel – along with a faint smell of rot and decay… a rather unsettling thought.
However, it didn’t take long for the source of that odour to make itself known, as several mutant undead creatures shambled towards them as the pair made their way down a broad corridor towards the first marker.
The beasts were quickly dispatched, and the marker proved not to be the thing that they were looking for… simply delaying them long enough to attract the attention of yet more walking undead… twice as many as before… closing in from the other end of the corridor.
These were dealt with in a similar manner – though this time things resorted to close quarters combat – with both the acolyte and enforcer suffering minor injuries.
The duo then ventured deeper into the complex, avoiding the attention of more blighted creatures and pox-ridden cultists, only to realise that the second signal was also little more than a false reading.
As such, the last signal had to be the thing they were looking for – so off they went.
This was a race against time, as more enemies started to pour into the area… and, of course, the data slate proved to be difficult to extract from it’s surround. Yet, in time, the data was retrieved, and several nearby enemies were slain.
But, with more and more foes making their way to the site of the last marker...
...Khalia and Howas were forced to sneak around them, and on to the extraction point before the area was totally overwhelmed.
* * *
And that was about it. I think there were some search tokens investigated along the way… and there was an ineffectual frag grenade thrown into the mix at some point – but, all in all, it was a fun evening’s worth of gaming :)
