Necromunda: Only You Can Prevent Workplace Fires

It's the second wave of attacks on Precinct 17, and the attacking gangs are invoking the Necromundan Law of Thermodynamics - Things On Fire Are More Fun!

It's the next installment of our foray into Necromunda. As the attack on Precinct 17 continues, the attacking gangs are heating things up. Their plan this time is to set a few fires and smoke the Enforcers out of their HQ. 

Gangers can set a blaze as a double action if they're within 3" of the centre of a tile (the Enforcers can instead extinguish them). These blazes can then get worse over time, and are graded out of three. At level one, everyone on the tile has a -1 T penalty and can't see more than 6". At level 2, there's a chance to get set on fire yourself, as though with a flamer, and at level 3 anybody there automatically breaks and flees towards safety, but these penalties are all cumulative. 

After the initial success of their attacks, the conglomerate of villains on the attack already have two chunks of the station under their control. To achieve this, they've each send a couple of gangers to make a team of ten, and their scheme is basically to set fire to these and try and keep me from getting to them. 

Sadly, I didn't know this when I set up, and my plan was to hide behind a barrier wall of landmines that I've carefully laid out around the perimeter, thinking that the gangers wouldn't be mad enough to torch their own holdings! Lesson learned - never underestimate a Hiver's capacity for insanity. 

As it is, I've got three basic groups of defence. The hangers-on are central on the top deck, along with a fire team of about half the gang looking down into the generator room. My riot squad are ready to rush the jail, with the Captain leading the rest of the team. Locked and loaded - let's break some heads!

Turn 1 - Van Saarsonists

The attackers start with initiative, and their very first move is for Orlock ganger Dangermouse to lob a can of kerosine on the floor of the prison cells and flick a lho stick at it. At least there's no question any more as to why the prisoners would be helping the Enforcers. 

Long ranged and ineffective fire starts rattling back and forth down the corridors - Team Law still can't hit for toffee, but at least the threat of their big, nasty guns makes the attacking gangs keep nervously back. Pootle himself nips forward to try and pin Hailstorm, the bolter-wielding enforcer, but misses the shot, and the Palanite respond by firing blindly at the Orlock boss before running for cover. 

That leaves a conundrum for the attackers. There's a tricky shot to be had at the Ammo-Jack on the bridge, whose bolter is already rattling and missing into the gangers round the lift shaft, and Goliath boss Prince Royal would like to make it with his assault shotgun. But the only angle he has to it is just past Pootle's ear, and for some reason the Orlock team is nervous about the consequences of a miss. 

It's Delaque thinking to the rescue. The only way to get Pootle out of the line of fire is the simplest way - shoot him out of it. Dwayne, the Delaque Heavy, pulls his shotgun out and tickles his ally with a little buckshot (this being the smallest gun they have to hand). It does the job, putting Pootle on the floor and swiping a wound off him! But he's got plenty more, and now Prince Royal lets fly with his shottie, blasting the Ammo-Jack off a ledge, onto one of the frag bombs rigged on the corridors and straight into the infirmary. 

Elsewhere, disgraced rookie Frontline is sent forward to try and draw out the gangers skulking in the entry hall. This he manages splendidly, taking a shotgun shell to the nose and bouncing off the stairs, but now the enemy gangers are visible to the watchmen on the high gantry, and hefty firepower picks off Statham, the Delaque. Batfink, his Orlock pal, panics and runs. 

The Van Saar are setting up an ambush to stop the bulk of the Palanites running to the fire extinguishers in the jail. Champion Sydney will plug the hallway with his energy shield, and when the nicely lined up to break through, Sark can pop out with the Rad Gun and toast the rozzers. 

This goes wrong, however, because lining up round corners doesn't help that much against gas grenades, and the captain has some left. A nice fat choke round pops over the two Van Saar, dropping Syd and giving Sark a flesh wound. But the Enforcers can't follow up on this success, instead managing to miss the rest of their shots. At least they're in a good position for a charge next turn, although Goliath axe maniac French Ruby quickly moves in as backup. 

The fire doesn't get worse, but it isn't going to get better by itself. Sydney takes an inhaler and gets back up, and the Enforcers score priority for next turn.

Turn 2 - It's Getting Hot In Here

There are quite a lot of potential targets for the Enforcers to try and hit here, but in the end they go for trying to take out Prince Royal and Pootle. Spreadshot, the enforcer with the shotgun, goes down the stairs to try and snipe, but fails to connect. Prince Royal shoots him back up the stairs shortly after, but at least its towards the Rogue Doc, who moves up to apply plasters. 

French Ruby then immediately pops his steroid supply, rages round the corner and bisects one of the shield Enforcers with his outsize axe. This causes the other shield bearer to panic and break - so much for the Palanite breaching team! 

The Captain barks orders to respond to this misfortune. It doesn't go too badly, but it's not the conclusive charge he was hoping for! He runs out of choke grenades to no effect, then his stub pistol puts French Ruby on the floor, as Skeleton Key fires frag grenades from his assault ram, blasting the Van Saar off their feet. Amazingly, this doesn't hurt either of them, so when Overhead charges in and attempts to lock the tech champ in place with Magnacles, Sydney quickly gets up and whacks him over the head with his charge stick. Down goes another enforcer. 

On the other side of the complex, the overhead fire team come down from their gantry, ready to rush into the corridor and finish off the attackers' plan for a second fire. Not in time to stop the Goliath ganger, Clove Tree, there setting one anyway. But this one immediately starts burning out of control, which leaves the attacking gangers standing in a gathering inferno!

French Ruby also discovers that he's overdone it a bit on the old combat drugs. Frothing at the mouth, he goes down, crippled by a bad trip.

Turn 3 - A Song of Ice and Fire Alarms

The Attackers are in a good position - two good fires set, and the chance to get a third one going in the middle with a bit of fast footwork. Pootle leads a charge into the centre, bounding over the barricades to threaten the very heart of the Precinct, and hip firing as he comes in. 

It's a miss, sadly, and this leaves him in the crosshairs of Watchtower, the overwatch specialist, who knocks the Orlock over with a concussion shot. Fearing reprisals, the Delaque heavy darts forward and takes out the enforcer bolt-gunner lurking at the back. Prince Royal moves in too, narrowly avoiding stamping on Pootle's head as he thumps over the barricade, but he falls to a surprise shot from the Rogue Doc's laspistol. Awkward!

The Van Saar manage to pick themselves up, put down another enforcer with their electric prods, and slam the door on the enforcers, who do their best to get through with scare gas and frag rounds, but to no avail. 

And as the enforcers in the generator room get in position to put out the flames (although not quite this turn), the gangers who set the fire succumb to it, running about in various directions screaming and burning. Clove Tree escapes the blaze, drops and rolls, whereas Batfink runs deeper in, apparently in love with the noise his face makes as it melts. 

And that proves to be it for the night! 

Sprinkler System

Great fun, but you'd never accuse multiplayer Necromunda of being fast over Skype! Partly this is the problem of not being able to see what your gangers can see properly, however well I position the cameras, but also from the back and forth between the four players controlling the gangers, debating who to send forwards to die next. 

We call it a night after four hours, because it's patently obvious that the Enforcers aren't going to put out any of these fires in the last turn. They aren't near enough, and the Van Saar are blocking the way in anyway. 

The toll for the night is nowhere near as bad for the Enforcers as last time, but it's still bad! One of the prisoners has burned to death in the cells, the Ammo-Jack is missing a foot, and the big guy with the shield needs emergency work from the Rogue Doc to avoid death. They've also lost another chunk of the precinct, which is bad news for later. 

But the gangers are also hurting - Batfink dies in his own fire, and Delaque ganger Statham doesn't show up for the next headcount either. Nothing that's going to stop them coming back for more, though!