The Cleansing of Priestus Hive

A few months back, we played some Necromunda and had some spare time in the evening. We decided to throw a bunch of Genestealers into the hive (the results can be found here).

We had a great time and decided we should follow up the game with another scenario where Space Marine Terminators are sent in to flush out the hive. Unfortunately, not everyone could make our last games day so instead we send in some poor Imperial Guard and a handful of Marines to deal with the Genestealer Cult that had caused the infestation.

They met heavy resistance from cultists and purestrain genestealers

However, a single Guardsman and a Marine Captain were able to make it to a beleaguered Adeptus Arbites fort in the centre of the hive.

In our most recent game, the Terminators finally arrived to fend off the Genestealers and escort the Arbites, that surviving soldier and a Colonel out of the city. A secondary objective was to investigate a cryo-pod which had been left in the hive when the infestation escalated.

The Arbites, Colonel, soldier and Ultramarines Captain.

A squad of Ultramarines Terminators teleport in, locking onto their Captain's homer. They start taking out the purestrains attacking the fort.

They are quickly overwhelmed as aliens ascend to higher platforms. 

With his back up depleted, the Captain orders the Colonel and other humans to jump to a nearby platform rather than leaving the fort at ground level. Two Arbites slip and fall their deaths.

Fortunately, Termniators from two more Chapters (the Blood Angels and Dark Angels) arrive.

The Blood Angels appear right by a comms bunker allowing future squads to teleport in wherever they want.

This allows the Hawk Lords to lock on to the bridge next to the fort which was lost to the aliens. They succeed in taking back the bridge. 

Even so, stealers have hopped onto the fort from another walkway and leap again to catch up with the fleeing Colonel. He fights them off with help from the Hawk Lords and Judges.

At ground level, Angels Dark and Bloody team up to to clear the way for the POI to descend. Leaving at the higher level was probably a good idea as genestealers are still active around the fort... 

...including a brood lord.

While the Angels are busy dying on the ground, the Space Wolves make a surprise appearance. They find a Squat engineer in the cryo-pod and (slowly) help him to the exit. 

Elsewhere, purestrains mass up near the exit. One of the last Dark Angels unleashes a salvo from his cyclone and takes many of them out. This thins down the escape route at the base level.

Meanwhile, stealers have over run the fort and look to follow on the heals of the Colonel. The Hawk Lords, who have supplied much needed covering fire from above, bar their way.

The Colonel has now made it to the ground and his cyclone ally (the last of the Angels) fight through the much thinned ranks of stealers and cultists. Unfortunately, at this point, the Space Wolves and Squat are eliminated after a valiant fight. The Hawk Lords above are now gone.

But the fighting prowess of the Colonel and Ultramarines Captain ensures that the Colonel makes it to safety. The hive is still overrun and Exterminatus is ordered a while later to destroy all life on the hive world.

We used 40k 2nd Edition rules to play this out. The quirks of that edition's close combat rules meant that the Colonel was able to hold his own even against genestealers. We joked at one point that he could probably have walked out on his own without having 25 Terminators killed.

Even so, it's a good set of rules where different races seem distinct without special rules for each and overwatch mitigates the old-fashioned Igo Ugo turn sequence.

Oh...and there was a fleeting bromance between a Dark Angel and a Blood Angel.

Stealers in the Hive

I've not posted in while but our game last week has re-motivated me. We revisited Necromunda of which we had a handful of games at the start of last year. There were four us playing a mini campaign. But that isn't what this post is focussed on.

After our campaign finished, we still had a couple of hours spare so decided to hook out the rules for 40k second edition Genestealers and have them invade the hive world (Necromunda rules are based on 2nd ed so they work well together)! Our gangs were left as they were at the end of the campaign and had to get from one end of the table to the other...presumably out the hive and in to the wastes...a marginally better fate than being torn up or impregnated by the stealers.

The gangs started just ahead of the cranes and had to get to the gaps in the elevated walkway in the distance.

It's difficult to write a battle report in any meaningful way. We ran headlong forward as a random number of aliens entered from random table edges each turn. They had to enter at ground level so the only tactic was to get off the floor as soon as possible!

Dave's Chaos Cult join the central walkway from the right flank. Ross's gang do so from the other side.

My poor gang, the Rusty O's, took a route down the left flank (mainly because I was stood that side).

Dave's zombies held up the Genestealers for a short while but didn't put up much resistance.

The central gangway became the main stage for the massacre fight. With both gangs crammed in, the aliens headed for this area and were able to cut through man after man (after mutant!).

My own team survived longer than expected with my heavy stub gun maintaining overwatch and a lot of luck.

I knew the writing was on the wall as these stealers approached...my heavy stubber (top right) and shotgun jammed. My leader's plasma pistol was recharging :(

A stealer looks down from from its entry point, ready to join the feast. But, in the distance, some of the Chaos cult are making a getaway.

Dave wins as one of his Chaos mutants gets to an exit (top right) with the Genestealers nipping at all three of his heels.

I just love it when we say "hang the rules and any hope of balance" and get on with it. This was such a fun, tense and cinematic game. It finished off a great day.

Next time, we are going to send 2nd ed Teminators in to the hive to see if they can clear out the bugs. If not then there's always exterminatus (Digamma, Decimatio, Duodecies).

Other pics: