Wednesday 8 May 2013

40k Rogue Trader Mission: 'Contact Lost' - Part 1

This is the second Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader mission I've ran, and it was by all accounts, fun for all involved. My unwitting test subjects were Stu (of Montyhaul's Models) and TJ, Stu commanded the xenos and TJ took control of the Imperials.

The Mission:
"Contact with Imperial Research Outpost P5-GLB, on the forest moon of Bunndor has been lost for reasons unknown. Forces from two factions have detected their distress signal and have been dispatched to investigate. Each has been instructed to retrieve anything worth studying and report back. It is unknown what went wrong, whether the outpost’s staff are still alive, or if hostile forces are involved. The planet is known to harbour a few dangerous life forms, but the outpost’s defences were thought to be sufficient..."
The mission is a retrieval and extraction operation for both sides. There are five objectives ("experimental tech") and both the Imperials and Aliens need to find them and get them off the table. Then they have to withdraw their forces off the table, all the while sustaining as few casualties as possible. That's the idea anyway...

The forces are as follows:
Imperials: 
Brief – Imperial Retrieval Team
"You have been dispatched to Research Outpost P5-GLB to investigate why contact has been lost, whether any experimental technology can be salvaged, check for possible survivors and if possible, discover who (or what) was responsible. You have been provided with a detailed list of items to be recovered, but it is unknown where anything was stored, so you’ll have to search all the buildings. Report back with as many of the experimental devices as you can find, and if possible, clues as to what happened to the base and its staff.
Finally, look after your team and protect your dropship. It’s your only way off the moon!"


Imperial Army – Necromundan 41st Regiment
• 8 Troopers with Lasguns, Knives and Flak Armour (6+ save)
• 1 Trooper with Plasma Gun, Knife and Flak Armour (6+ save)
• Sergeant Tapley (Human Champion) with Chainsword, Laspistol and Mesh Armour (5+ save)
Space Marines – Crimson Fists Chapter
• 6 Marines with Bolters, Bolt Pistols, Knives and Power Armour (4+ save)
• 1 Marine with Flamer, Bolt Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)
• 1 Marine with Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)
• Sergeant Thorson (Marine Sergeant) with Chainsword, Plasma Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)

Aliens:
Brief – Aliens
"Now that the intolerable noises made by those hairy interlopers have been silenced, the conclave has decided to send your cohort back to their camp to see what they were up to. The conclave has provided a list of their primitive devices that they want you to bring back for analysis, but be careful. If they’ve sent more of their kind to investigate, you may run into some resistance. Don’t get your warriors killed needlessly, and don’t allow any other life forms near your teleport sphere, or they could de-stabilise it, trapping you here."

12 Aliens with Bio-plasma Casters and Repulsor Fields (4+ unmodifiable save).
1 Alien Leader with Nano-Scythe and Bio-plasma Caster (built into the scythe).

I should mention what the alien equipment is, as it is created especially for this scenario:
Alien Weapons:
Repulsor Fields are a type of energy field armour. They grant the user a 4+ save against wounds caused by shooting attacks. However, the user receives no save against close combat attacks (including attacks with pistols) or effects from psionic powers. This save is never reduced by saving throw modifiers, so the user always gets a 4+ chance to save against shooting attacks.

Location
The Imperial research outpost consists of a fenced compound surrounding several small buildings, unusable or burned out vehicles, stacks of fuel drums/crates, plus a watchtower. The rest of the terrain consists of hilly woodland.

Moving with Objectives
Models can pick up objective markers simply by moving over them (so you can move 2”, pick up a marker and move your remaining 2”, all in the same turn). Models may also run while carrying markers, but cannot shoot. If a model is engaged in close combat while carrying a marker, it automatically drops it (place it in base contact with the former carrier). Whoever is still alive after the combat can then pick up the marker. Once a model carries a marker into the transport or sphere, they cannot return to the battlefield.

Deployment
The Imperial transport lands in the south-eastern table corner. The Imperial player may deploy his troops within 5” of the boarding ramp.
The alien teleport sphere is located in the north-western table corner. The alien player may deploy his troops within 5” of it.

Win Conditions
The side with the most VPs at the end of the game is the winner (regardless of whether one side is wiped out). Equal VPs obviously results in a draw.

Game Length
The game lasts until one player gets all of his remaining troops (and their prizes) to his transport/teleport sphere (or one side is wiped out). Or until you run out of time.


 The Imperial Research Outpost:

The Aliens emerge onto the battlefield from their teleport sphere:

The Imperial forces disembark from their dropship and form a perimeter:

Next time...'Contact Lost' - Part 2!

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