Dyin' Air: Sweetwater Civilians vs Sweetwater Civilians

Sweetwater Egress campaign; episode 10

Empty vaxseed wrappers blew along the corridors that led to the departure hall. A stale draft rattled the leaves of an overturned pot-plant. Tinny inspirational music wafted from the tannoy. 

The Spaceport was almost empty. 

Those few souls able to escape on the official shuttles had already gone. Thousands more had perished, starving in the cold forecourt or crushed in panicking crowds. 

As a deadly rain of hellish ash began to fall in glowing drifts over the port, there was just one hope left for the few doomed souls still alive. One desperate chance to escape the coming death, if by some miracle they could reach it before anyone else got there. 

The last shuttle out. 

Now Boarding

The campaign is very nearly over (catch up on its progress here), but there was just time for me to shoehorn in a little sidebar game of Necromunda!

Tonight, three of the campaign generals will be commanding a tiny selection of Sweetwater civilians. When that shuttle leaves, whoever has the most of their gang on board will be the night's winner. Simple enough, right?

Well, yes, but obviously I'm not making it that easy. Here's the shuttle terminal:

That tower in the middle, as well as the tall one at the back, have important-looking terminals on them. A third one stands right next to the shuttle itself, just behind the access bridge. Other than mentioning them, I'm not giving the players any more hints as to what they need to do to get the bird in the air. 

They have enough on their plates selecting teams - they've each picked a Necromundan House, and can select a team of WYSIWIG models from my collection. Either four gangers or three if you take a heavy or special weapon - but no Leaders or Champions this time, these guys are the very dregs of Sweetwater!

Let's meet them. 

Passenger List

First up is a first-timer - Jhnlk, who's never played before. This means he is 100% undefeated and the other two won't feel bad about ganging up on him. 

He's taking Delaque - four standard guys with an assortment of standard Delaque gear. These are the Men In Coats:

Left to right: Long (lasgun with monosight), Trench (throwing knives and autogun), Great (lasgun with infrasight) and Fur (autopistol and web pistol). They all have flak armour. 

Next is hive veteran Pootle, as ever bringing the Orlocks. He's also taking numbers over heavier guns, the four members of Steel Hipsters:

Left to right: Distressed Tiling (autogun and frag grenades), Vinyl (twin tub pistols with dum-dum ammo), Waxed Handlebar (autogun and photo-goggles) and Craft Beer (shotgun with solid, scatter and shatter shells). They've all got mesh armour. 

Finally, Stylus is stepping out from behind his DM's screen for this game. He's piloting the Cawdor (and hopefully the jet, later on). This is Cawdor in a Trap:

Left to right: Mr Rats (reclaimed autogun, incendiary charges, bomb rats, fighting knife), Mr Guns (blunderbuss-polearm with grapeshot and purgation rounds) and Mr Bow (heavy crossbow with frag and krak, club). They're resplendent in flak armour. 

Each has been given a pair of tactics cards, to be revealed as or if used, and we aren't using Bottle Tests because there's nowhere left for anyone to bottle off to.

Make Your Way to the Departure Lounge

There are three lanes into the departure lounge, and the gangs roll off to pick which one they start in. Jhnlk takes the right side, closest to the flight deck via stairs and a bridge. Pootle takes the left, lurking along a corridor of heavy cover but with furthest to go. 

Stylus gets left with the middle aisle - nearest to the central control tower, but with a good chance of being flanked by the other two. 

Initiative shifts each turn, with each team getting to use one ganger before passing play to the next. As it happens, Pootle wins the first flip, so off we go!

Last Call

Turn 1

The first turn at least is quiet. The Delaque race up the stairs towards the jet, led by Trench, whilst the Orlocks stick to the side corridor (although they've got sightlines towards the middle there too. 

The Cawdor bunch up in a doorway in the middle, something which cannot ever fail to be a fine defensive plan. 

Immediately after this, excrement commences impact with rotary ventilators. 

When the Cawdor win the next toss, Mr Bow punts a massive frag bolt up the stairs towards the Delaque, and knocks Trench flat. Injured, he recovers to a flesh wound at the end of the turn. The other Delaque advance into cover, but as Mr Guns sprints up into the control tower, Great manages to pink him with a well-aimed lasgun shot. 

Turn 2

Mr Rats retaliates by releasing a bomb rat, luckily in the right direction for now. These explodents can be pointed in the right direction by a handler, but aren't what you'd call super reliable. It's his last incendiary, though, he fails his ammo check. 

The Orlocks are delighted by all this argy-bargy, and happily continue moving from cover to cover. 

Present Boarding Passes

And they keep on doing this into turn three! They've got further to go, so staying focussed on getting to the goal is probably wise. 

Even more so as the Cawdor and Delaque are going at it hammer and tongs. 

Mr Rats' rat takes fright at all the noise and scuttles off under the stairs. This happens before the gangers move, and it means that the Delaque can't keep running forward or they'll detonate it. But that's okay, there's plenty of Cawdor to shoot at from cover. Fur starts by webbing Mr Rats, using up all his web-goo in the process, and Mr Rats breaks free with a heroic effort in the end phase. 

Turn 3

Mr Bow has run out of frag rounds, and starts a long streak of firing krak bolts into the ceiling, walls and floor. Anything he's not aiming for, basically. As do the Delaque on the gantry - they don't have time to aim, so their fire is utterly ineffectual. 

In the tower, Mr Guns logs into the system and accesses the main menu. 

From this, he chooses to retract the access bridge, and the Delaque are suddenly left with a long jump to reach the jet. 

"Oi! Put that back!"

Turn four, and the Orlocks finally run out of cover. One of their number keeps running along the back corridors to reach the tall gantry at the top of the map, the rest reluctantly break into the open under covering fire from Waxed Handlebar, who manages to stick another flesh wound on Trench, the already-wounded Delaque. 

Turn 4

Throwing a vital piece of cheese, Mr Rats coaxes his charge to explode violently over Fur, who is set on fire. More alarmed than hurt, he runs, burning, up the stairs, falls over and rolls back down to put the flames out. It's a net gain of a few feet, but he's flesh wounded. 

Better off than his pal Great, at any rate - Mr Rats manages to charge him across the cover he's lurking behind. He's stabbed and then coup-de-grace'd, and the Delaque are now two men down. They do manage to get the access bridge back up, though, using the consoles by the jet. 

Mr Bow moves up to cover the mid-board (his bow is move or fire, so he needs to ensure good sight lines), and Mr Guns fiddles with console again, deciding on option 6 - report a crime. 

Nothing immediate happens, so that's probably fine. 

With his men blowing in the wind, Pootle is very glad to seize initiative next turn, running Vinyl in with pistols blazing to take Trench out for good. 

Mr Guns takes this in poor sport (it was his grudge!), so he moves off the tower and lets fly a purgation round from his blunderbuss, setting Vinyl on fire for a flesh wound. Craft Beer immediately retaliates by discharging a shotgun slug into the Cawdor, settling his hash permanently

. 

Turn 5

The Delaque have a man by the jet now, and it's Long, with his monosight-fitted lasgun. He's in excellent position to provide covering fire, and starts a long reign of sniper shots, starting by fleshing Waxed Handlebar. 

The Orlocks are suddenly rather short on cover, and at risk from two sides - especially when it turns out the Cawdor have summoned the law to their side! A Palanite Patrolman with riot shield and club turns up from the entry point, and starts jogging towards all the fun. 

"Wot's all this then?"

Turn six, and the Cawdor play the first tactic card of the game. 

Singing triumphant hymns, the two remaining scavengers charge forwards. Mr Bow leans over the fence to smack Craft Beer over the head with a stick, toppling him. 

Mr Rats goes screaming into Vinyl, who is still on fire. This doesn't stop him - he stops flailing and rolling long enough to whip out his pistols and fill Ratty full of lead. Then, still on fire, he rushes screaming off under the access bridge, where Delaque Fur pumps him full of autogun bullets. Out he goes too!

Turn 6

Waxed Handlebar is looking decidedly pressed for options. He can't stay put, because the Delaque can snipe him, and there's a copper heading right for him. He chooses valour, charging out and trying to avenge his pal by shooting up Mr Bow, but achieves nothing. 

Now we're getting close - the Delaque keep sniping from next to the shuttle , Long pumping out lasfire that keeps the centre of the board locked down whilst Fur starts hitting the control panel. He brings the autopilot on line, so the shuttle's jets start whining. For now, however, it's still locked to the docking clamps, and going nowhere.

Turn 7

At this point, DT from the Orlocks reaches the gantry console and starts hitting buttons. Performing a security scan, he gets this troubling message:

Back on the floor, his pal Waxed is trying to deal with the armoured copper plodding towards him. His autogun can land the hits, but not get through the patrolman's shield. He's faster than John Law, though, and keeps a safe distance. Which, as the PC tries to close, opens him up to getting shot in the back by the Delaque in the tower. 

Mr Bow takes the breathing opportunity this affords him to scrabble about on the floor, luckily find some frag rounds for his crossbow and reload. 

Turn eight, and the Delaque manage to get the shuttle's entry ramp open. 

Oh no! It's full of cannibals. 

Departure Time

Now, setting this scenario up, I felt I'd be alright sticking a boss baddie in the pack, because obviously the players would team up against a clear opponent. DT in the tower, for example, has a frag grenade, a clear line of sight and a fat pack of goons to blow up. 

Of course he shoots the policeman in the back instead. Forget it, Jake, it's Necromunda. 

Come here and let me read you your rights!

It doesn't do more than knock him down again, so Palanite and Orlock keep cat and mousing each other round the crates, Mr Bow rains utterly inaccurate krak missiles round the hangar, and Long takes the opportunity to sneak in behind all the snarling maniacs and board the actual jet. Yes, there's a snake on the plane. 

Turn 8

Spurred on by their bannerman, the maneaters scatter in all directions (I randomise it). They're fast! Not so fast that they catch anyone except the nearby Delaque, Fur, who is desperately trying to operate the console and get the jet in the air. 

Amazingly, he fends off the attacking killer with no more than a flesh wound, while everyone one else scrabbles about on the floor, shooting and missing policemen and butchers all over the place. It's proper Punch and Judy stuff. 

Turn 9

You can't expect a sneaky Delaque to stand still and get shanked, though, and so it proves. Jhnlk pulls one of his tactics, Shifting Shadows. This lets him move a ganger 4" before activating him, and it's the perfect time. Throwing down a flash bomb (or something), Fur nips over to the far side of the console and hits a final switch. 

The docking clamps are off, the autopilot's already engaged - off goes the jet, taking a cargo of a single Delaque Sweetwaterian off world!

Ta-ta, suckers

Everyone else is eaten by cannibals, arrested or a combination of the two. 

Welcome on Board

I told you the new man would be the one to watch! Nice one Jhnlk, a very Delaque victory achieved with sniping and sneaking aplenty. 

Commiserations to the long pigs left behind - but a hugely entertaining match. Small scale Necromunda with several gangs like this is always a hoot. Seeing someone win a round of melee whilst on fire was icing on the cake for me, but equally good fun seeing Corpse Cultists and bomb rats finally on the table, years after I painted them. 

Just one game left in the Campaign - tune in later this week!