Gunfire Night

November - a good month to finish things!

Bubonicus and I have been slowly playing towards the end of our Necromunda campaign. After a relatively even start, the Cawdor have made a convincing lead, and I'm pretty sure I've had my chips. 

But this is Necromunda, where a fall from grace is only ever a heartbeat away. The game isn't over until the Fat Lady has fallen backwards off a high ledge whilst insane and on fire, so I'm not giving up!

Our last two matches - first, the Cawdor came in for a Sneak Attack. Surrounded by an ever-tightening noose of flame, I was pretty sure I was going to struggle. And sure enough, my sentries got fried pretty quickly, and the reinforcements (all my Nachtguls) turned up uselessly far away. 

Alas, the Cawdor got caught up in trying to beat down all of my gang, including one newbie with a plasma pistol who just refused to hit the deck. By the time they'd got him, the Guls caught up. With one well-placed flash grenade, the Cawdor priest was left alone with one of them. 

It was a good time for me to roll a triple one, obviously, so the Cawdor got away scot free and kidnapped one of my better gangers, a specialist with a long rifle. Bubonicus decided he would make an example of this one, and the stage was set for our penultimate game - Public Execution!

High Stakes Match

My pal is being tied to a steel brazier, doused in oil and slowly cooked. All in the Emperor's name, of course, it's for his own good. Almost the entire Cawdor gang has turned up to watch and grill marshmallows, bar Deacon Frost (drunk again, no doubt) and one of the initiates. I've got eight of my finest to go rescue him, and a pretty tight time limit to do it in. 

Six turns, but they only count down if there are Cawdor within 3" of the middle or if I take out anybody from his gang. I can freeze the timer by staying out of sight, I learned after running directly towards the middle en masse. Should have thought of that. 

Luckily, I've got some new toys. Before each game, the underdog (always me) can opt to ask their house for aid, and over a few games I've racked up several extra gangers, although they're usually lightly equipped. Tonight, House Delaque has sent me precisely enough to buy one of my veteran trench-coat-wearers a web pistol. Let's see how Cawdor like the taste of template weapons...

Shoot to Grill

I get a bit of early luck with the priority rolls, and make a fairly convincing surprise attack. Kicking in a door, I unleash a flood of shotgun pellets, web juice and angry Nachtguls, and between them, pin or injure several of the Cawdor team. Including their leader!

Who turns out to have a skill that means I can't coupe de grace him when he's down, and he can still fight when seriously injured. My Nachtgul is rather surprised by this, and although I nearly take him out over two rounds, he still kills his attacker from the floor, before activating one of the Cawdor miracles and getting up, revving his chainaxe and looking angry...

At the same time my plasma gunner, who is supposed to be covering the advance on another flank, fires a single useless shot before running out of ammo, and his wing gets held up by a wall of bomb rats and flamers. 

But Bubonicus is also having a poor night - his missile crossbow lands a perfect shot on no less than four Delaque and fails to wound any of them. 

And then one of his own bomb rats runs amok, crosses the field and blows up right in the middle of the Cawdor defence, including on the unkillable Priest. As bits of his pals rain down on him, he staggers to his feet just in time to see a second wave of Delaque burst through the doors. His heart gives out at this point, the miracle that brought him back from near death having expired. 

End of the Pyre Entertainment

Deacon Frost takes this moment to turn up late and out of position. However, I make heavy weather of advancing on the middle of the table - I do it with a certain amount of poise and menace, taking out every Cawdor ganger on the way, but it's not very quick. 

By the time I've got someone in position to free my buddy, several things have happened:

1. He's nearly dead (I have to roll an injury dice every turn, only flesh wounds will keep him in play and he's already got one)
2. Deacon Frost has run, screaming, all the way to the middle
3. I've failed a Bottle Test, in fact we both have, and it's all looking very precarious indeed. 

Frost immediately grills the man I've got in position, causing my Leader to panic and run off for a bit. That's my lot, I think, there's a cooked goose to rescue and nothing more. 

Frost fails his own Bottle check instead. Having torched someone, he clearly feels he's done his bit, and saunters off into the underhive, leaving me in charge of the battlefield and a badly scalded but somehow still alive ganger!

House On Fire

The aftermath is nasty. Almost the entire Cawdor gang have bitten various bullets, and there's quite a few who will be missing the next game. Special shout out to Johnny Flail-Hands, who's picked up the skills Berserker and Iron Will (extra attacks on the charge, unlikely to stay pinned when shot) at the cost of two sucking chest wounds. That makes him Toughness 1, so he's an unstoppable death machine unless anyone looks at him too hard. 

Bubonicus is actually slightly disappointed that none of his chaps actually die. One of his territories is a Corpse Starch Farm, and if anyone (mine or his) carks it, he gets money for the meat. He's already capitalized on this in our last match, converting one of his battered initiates into burgers for the creds. 

My guys take a bit of scuffing, missing ears mostly, but only one who's in recovery. Instead, I get a decent bit of cash, a slight boost to my rep and a free Juve from my one remaining settlement. Template weapons did some solid work in that game, so I spend all the cash on a hand flamer, a poisoned knife and some mesh armour, and brace for the final Cawdor attack...