Fall of Helmawr - Week 2

The Setup

Week 2 paired the Drongos against Kat's Van Saar, who have sided with the Imperial House in the Succession. With the Drongos backing Aranthus, that put us on opposite sides of the campaign.

We headed out into the Ash Wastes for a Wasteland Ambush, and drew a 9 of Hearts from the deck.

9 of Hearts — territory draw

That meant we were fighting over the Plorbus' Plug Hole waypoint. In a battle where this Waypoint is the stake, the precarious footing and ramshackle structures means that no weapon with the Blast (X") trait may be used.

The scenario gave Kat her win condition: take out my Leader and the Wastes were hers. Sounds simple enough, but my leader Dakk is a hulking genesmithed freak with True Grit and a heavy bolter. Kat had more fighters than me, but she was on a turn clock, and the Plug Hole rule meant she couldn't use her grav gun.

The Game

The Drongos came on with the Trukk out in front, Dakk on the back with the heavy bolter and the rest of the gang following on foot. Kat's Van Saar were already set up across the table, backed up by a war rig.

Goliath Trukk in motion

Kat needed to come out into the open to get shots on Dakk, and whenever one of her fighters did, there was something waiting for them. Hamm with his boltgun, or Krorter Scrapstubber with the heavy stubber.

Eventually ammo started to run low on both sides, which led to a desperate ramming manoeuvre.

Trukk meets the Van Saar line

Kat had a Heretek-modded fighter carrying a lasgun with Blaze. That's one way to get around high toughness, as it only needs to hit. It caught Dakk on the back of the Trukk and set him on fire, and he went running off the Trukk in a panic. For a turn the heavy bolter wasn't pointed at anything useful.

By the time Dakk had put himself out and the rest of the gang had closed back in around him, the Van Saar had taken too many casualties to keep pushing. Kat did eventually get the last wound off Dakk and force an injury roll, but it didn't take him out, and she had no turns left to try again.

How It Played

This one was hard on Kat from the start. Her only way to win was to take out my leader, and Dakk is the hardest thing in the gang to kill: genesmithed, True Grit, riding a vehicle and pointing a heavy bolter at anyone he can see. The plug hole taking out the grav gun didn't help either.

The Blaze lasgun was the right call and it very nearly worked. With a bit more luck on the dice, having Dakk on fire while she had more fighters to activate could have given her the opening she needed.

Quad on the flank

Post-Game

  • No casualties on the Drongo side this week.
  • +220 credits. I started the week with 20 in the stash and finished on 50 after spending.
  • +5 reputation, taking the gang to 10.

Advancements

Hamm spent 6 XP on +1 Ballistic Skill (+20 credits). That boltgun means business.

Hiring and Trading Post

Two new fighters joined the gang:

  • Varn, a juve (35c), kitted out with a maul (10c), furnace plates (5c), Overdeveloped Musculature (5c) and frag grenades (30c). Ready to play fast ball with some frags.
  • Sanitation Steve, our reward for the Plug Hole waypoint.

I also picked up some gear for the existing fighters:

  • Dakk: armoured undersuit (25c) and blasting charges (35c), as a plan B for when the heavy bolter runs dry.
  • Hamm: armoured undersuit (25c).
  • Juic3: stimm-slug stash (25c).
  • Ludgo: stub gun (5c).

That leaves 50 credits in the stash, and the Gang Rating is up to 1760 from 1485.