In the Emperor's Name-News in the Pipeline

Craig Cartmell has published his excellent free ruleset In the Emperor's Name on his website, so you can hop over and download them here.

A new addition to the core rules that differs from the beta version is the inclusion of a nifty little rule called Knock Down. Essentially, any model that survives an attack by rolling its Grit value exactly survives the attack, but his close call stuns, pins, or otherwise incapacitates him briefly. The figure is laid down and cannot stand up again until it later passes a further successful Grit roll in its next activation. Failure means it stays down longer, but success means it can stand up and begin taking actions normally again. It's a cool little addition that looks to add more texture and variability to the already fast, fun bloodiness of ItEN.

In the cards for future releases of ItEN are retinue lists for Necrons, the Eldar and Dark Eldar, and more space orks. I have never been a fan of any of the 40K "fantasy" races, but it seems I can deal with them much better in this setting than I ever could in official 40K game products. So I am actually excited about their inclusion in ItEN. Part of my excitement lies in the fact that you are really free to make what you will these factions what you will.

Even better, Craig is currently working on a VSF version of ItEN called In the Queen's Name. Now anyone who wishes for a fast and furious game of Victorian derring do with a sci fi bent need look no further. This is not my favorite genre, but I would still love to try it out. It would at least give my Zulu War Brits some new adversaries....

Last, I am currently working on a variation of ItEN of my own that I hope to be posting on the Yahoo group soon. Being stuck 12-14 hours a day in my office at work tends to leave me with some minutes to fill during days when "on the clock" doesn't really seem to apply any more. I will leave the content a surprise, but I think it will do justice to Craig's terrific core ruleset. It will also use a variation of my campaign system, so all you solo gamers out there will have one more option. :)

I have been unable to get back to the game table to play the second game in my ItEN campaign. A combination of an ever-expanding list of responsibilities at work and health issues at home have conspired to pretty much knock out all my personal time for now. When I do finally get around to my game, I will post a full account here.

Until then, here is a little musical interlude that to my mind seems most fitting for setting the mood for a  Dark Future game setting, and if any musical account of familial corruption could spell out "Genestealer Brood infestation" for me, it would have to be this one. And if you are not familiar with Bruce Dickenson's solo works, well, get to it-you're missing out! Enjoy!

A Pleasant Little Chat - In the Emperor's Name AAR

The following is a detailed after-action summary of my first campaign-linked game of In the Emperor's Name (or ItEN for short). The scenario in question is entitled "A Pleasant Little Chat" and was generated using the ItEN campaign system. Please see my earlier blog post for more information on the awesomenes that is ItEN.

SETUP

I deviated slightly from the rulebook's direction in creating my retinue. I wanted it to be personalized and characterful, but with some surprises. So rather than just creating a retinue using the instructions in the rulebook (which is terribly easy, anyway) I selected my favorite 40K character models and selected appropriate stats and point values from the retinue lists,  wrote them on 3x5 cards, gave them names, and identified the retinue list they were drawn from. I then simply drew cards until I had reached the 120-point limit for a new retinue. This gave me a surprisingly colorful and balanced Retinue.

The retinue's composition includes Jodocus, a Space Marine librarian (as I did not draw a card for an inquisitor, I am taking it for granted that this is one heresy-snuffing librarian who has been seconded to the Inquisition for unknown reasons), the veteran Imperial Guard Stormtrooper Osbrecht, two Interrogators, Luc Lesueur and Arakana, a priest called Gracchus, an Arbites Judge known as Dimartus, and a pistol-toting bounty hunter called Kruger.

The second step in ItEN campaign creation (after creating your retinue) is to select a campaign with a die roll. The campaign type gives you a brief storyline and lets you know what enemies you will be facing: both your primary foe and his or her supporting retinues. I randomly selected a campaign involving an Imperial planetary governor who has been acting strangely in recent times. A xenos influence is suspected (possibly a genestealer cult), so the player's retinue is dispatched to investigate.

The initial scenario gives the player a chance to get his investigation underway by following up a minor lead related to the suspected heresy. The investigative scenario I rolled up involved tracking down a suspected underling of the governor who must be "interrogated" with extreme prejudice. Success would result in earning 2 Victory Points (ten are needed to attempt to win the campaign) and open up the opportunity to play a breakthrough scenario that can allow for major point gains. Failure, on the other hand,would result in a punishing round of retribution from enemy forces in a Survival mission.

Corin and his hybrid bodyguards

The cultists' safehouse compound

According to the scenario setup notes, the enemy agent (I named him Corin) is a genestealer hybrid travelling to cultist safehouse compound. Corin must be intercepted, taken down, and interrogated before he could disappear into the safehouse. To complicate matters, the safehouse is teaming with armed cultists who are on hand to cover Corin's route. Rolling up the enemy force, I learned that Corin would be accompanied by three other tough hybrid bodyguards, and that a dozen cultists would be waiting inside the safehouse.  Corin would have to make his way across the table and to the rear of the compound in order to escape.

TABLE SETUP: Corin starts in the northwest corner of the table (upper left corner-see below) and would try to reach the compound in the SE corner (bottom right corner). Brother Jodocus and his team start in the NE corner (bottom left corner). As soon as any members of the retinue engage Corin's party, the cultists in the compound will pour out and engage the Imperials.                                                        

The field of battle. For report purposes, the left edge is "north "

The Imperial team hustles after their quarry

 TURN ONE
Jodocus and his team deploy near the local fuel depot, gain initiative, and immediately begin moving at a run to attempt to cut of Corin and his xenos-tainted guards. Meanwhile, Corin's team moves directly south (along the upper right edge of the table) at a run toward the safety of the compound. Meanwhile, the compound itself remains quiet.

Tense cultists remain vigilant at the compound

The Compound interior

The hunters and hunted at the start of Turn Two

TURN TWO
The Imperial team breaks into two groups, with the faster members led by Jodocus hooking right to attempt to get ahead of the enemy agent, while the slower members plod go left to attempt to come up from behind on Corin one his group is pinned down by the first. The plan is to overwhelm them before help from the compound could arrive, interrogate Corin (those who have read Dan Abnett's excellent Eisenhorn series know exactly what type of interrogation I am talking about), and fall back as soon as the cultists arrive. Meanwhile, Corin's group continues to plod south along the table edge.

TURN THREE
The faster Imperial group surges ahead, but it looks like Corin might slip past them, as the Imperials catch sight of the two-man hybrid rearguard, with Corin safely behind the last building between him and the safety of the compound. The leftmost pincer of the Imperial retinue is  meanwhile not even close to engaging the enemy agent's team.

Corin flies for the safety of the compound

TURN FOUR
Corin leaves two of his bodyguards behind to delay the Imperials while he surges around the corner of the building providing him cover and attempts to dash across the intervening open space into the protective embrace of the waiting cultists. All he has to do is get to the building at the rear of the compound, and he can escape down an access tunnel into the protective maze of the city's Underhive. If he wins initiative on the next  turn, he is as good as gone.  The fast Imperial team moves at a run to intercept, but have no time to get off a shot.

Jodocus moves in for the kill

TURN FIVE
The Imperials finally get a break and win initiative. Brother Jodocus dashes to get into contact with Corin, hoping to lock him into close combat long enough allow the rest of the team to catch up.  He just reaches the xenos agent and engages him. Jodocus registers a hit, but Corin handily makes his Grit roll and shrugs off the attack. His one hybrid bodyguard still in tow also joins the melee, hoping to allow Corin to break away and continue his flight. The standoff takes place right outside the main entrance to the compound, so it is only a matter of time before the cultists come pouring out.

A desperate diversionary attempt....

 Meanwhile, Arakana, Luc Lesueur, and the Kruger bounty hunter hold back to provide covering fire against the inevitable onslaught of cultists. The two rearguard hybrids attempt to surprise this group but run right into the the Arbites Judge, priest Gracchus, and the stormtrooper. A tense firefight ensues that rages on for several turns.

Cultists scramble to cover their agent

TURN SIX
The cultists gain initiative. With his last bodyguard distracting the Space Marine, Corin breaks away from the melee and dashes toward the compound entrance. Simultaneously, the cultists come pouring out with autoguns blazing. Jodocus breaks away from melee with the bodyguard, shrugs off a free strike that results (as a penalty for disengaging from melee) and attempts to shoot Corin in the back. He fumbles with a 1.

A general firefight ensues as Corin attempts to slip away.

 Meanwhile, the judge, stormtrooper, and priest battle to keep the main force from being outflanked by the pair of hybrids (you can just see them in the background of the pic to the right, scrabling for cover).

A Torrent of Fire...

TURN SEVEN
The cultists win initiative again, and Corin slips well into the confines of the compound, with the ill-equipped but numerous cultists fiercly resisting the Emperor's finest in close range combat. They use the Torrent of Fire rule to good effect, forcing the Librarian to make to Grit rolls in the one turn.

Sanctuary at last?

It looks as if all hope may be lost for the Imperials, as the Corin, the Agent of the Enemy, seems only one move away from safety. Arakana, Jodocus, and Luc Leseuer all manage to take down cultists in the raging firefight at the compound entrance, but there seems no way to cut through so many and reach Corin in the limited time remaining.

Osbrecht cuts down a hybrid

Elsewhere, Osbrecht's hellgun manages to bring down one of the hardy hybrid bodyguards.

Never trust a bounty hunter

TURN EIGHT
The Imperials win another initiative just in the nick! Kruger and Gracchus move swiftly from the corner of the compound where they had been engaged in the gun-battle to a point in the outer wall that affords a view inside....

Corin is gunned down at the last possible moment...

....and promptly gun down the elusive Corin just before he reaches safety. Of course, Jodocus still must reach and psychically probe his dying mind....

Jodocus cuts a bloody path

...while simultaneously, outside, Jodocus and the supporting Interrogators cut down the remaining cultists.

Two for two

...and Osbrecht puts to rest that final pesky hybrid, only after he had come close to bringing Judge Dimartus down twice in the close range gunfight.

Mopping up

TURN NINE AND ON....
The battle outside the compound winds down, and Judge Dimartus leads then Interrogators and the veteran guardsman in mopping up the remainder.

The compound is breached

While inside, Brother Librarian Jodocus finally reaches the inert body of Corin and begins his dark interrogation....

A bloody interrogation

....but not before dispatching the last of the cultists. With Corin's mind laid bare, the Imperial team can claim victory. With the secrets gleaned from the enemy agent, Jodocus learns of traitors among the local Imperial Guard regiment as well as the Administratorum. It appears the governor himself could be implicated in this web of Xenos subversion....









 That's all for today, folks.  This was a delightfully fun solo game thanks to the excellent core rules of the ItEN game system. I am also pleased to say that the campaign generator I wrote for the project managed to generate a surprisingly fun game, with enough scripting to make it interesting but enough randomness to keep you guessing. Of course, it can still bear plenty of tweaking, and I would love to hear feedback from anyone who tries it. Stayed tuned for the next scenario in my In the Emperor's Name campaign. After consulting with the dice gods (and the appropriate ItEN campaign charts) it looks to be a mission entitled "A Confluence of Corruptions." And remember.......

FINECAST IS HERESY! And what do we do with heretics?

In the Emperor's Name, Game One

"FOR THE EMPEROR AND ALL THAT. NOW, WHO WANTS SOME???"

A visit from agents of the galaxy's meanest HOA ever

I had a chance last night to chill out for a bit and play a game of In the Name of the Emperor, a new pure skirmish game offering from Craig Cartmell and the Forge of War blokes that can be played in a certain grim and dark future (wink). This is a brilliant little free ruleset that is perfect for people like me who love the 40K world as interpreted  by Black Library authors such as Dan Abnett but positively detest most GW games. Its designed to allow you take whatever GW (or even non-GW figures! Shhhh-don't tell anyone!) figures you have lying around, quickly derive stats and point costs, and get busy playing. The game works great with about 10-15 figures a side, but in testing I found it could handle more comfortably once you know the (very brief) rules well.

I plan to detail the game in a battle report that I shall file shortly. For now, let me just say that the In the Emperor's Name (ITEN) core rules were superb in action. They have very simple mechanics for movement, shooting, and melee, and only a handful of stats to describe model quality, weapons, armor,and psychic ability. The whole mechanism is based on d6 rolls for all actions. For both shooting and melee, combat ability, weapon quality,  cover, and  armor are all factored into a single die roll. Boom. Done! There are no layers of ad nauseum rolls to determine a single combat outcome.

Can you guess who here DOESN'T have True Grit?

However, when a model is hit, it is still not necessarily out of the game; it may make a Grit roll to avoid being put out of action. Grit encompasses physical and mental toughness, and it is used for a variety of  other tests in the game as well.  Being somewhat vague in its nature, it seems to give characters a dimension beyond  their combat stats. So  models that are deadly in combat and have great armor and weapons may still pucker and buy it if they have a  poor Grit score. Grit is also used for using and resisting psychic abiltiy, as well as for responding to psychological effects like terror. It's refreshing to have only one number to recall for all these uses, and in game it seems to work quite well. Finally, any retinue models who are knocked out of action during a game can make a post-game Grit role to determine whether they recover and can adventure one, or whether they succumb to their wounds.

Taking on a Terminator, Torrent of Fire-style

A cool little mechanism I really enjoyed in-game that I'd like to mention is the shooting rule for Torrent of Fire, and its melee equivalent called Ganging Up. Both allow weak models like cultists or IG guardsmen to combine their attacks so that they have a fighting chance at bringing down some really hardened opponents. In game, I found that even a pack of fetid Genestealer cultists with autoguns could still worry my Terminator-armored librarian by combining their attacks with Torrent of Fire, causing him to take several tense Grit rolls.

My game was played solo and will be part of a campaign that I am creating using the campaign generator I wrote for Craig's tome. The generator is targeted at solo play and allows you play Inquisitor-style warband-sized games against a variety of foes of humanity, including identifying a campaign objective, defining what enemy forces will be faced,  and playing linked scenarios to ultimately reach the objective. The goal of each scenario is to complete certain specified victory conditions that will further your investigation and earn victory points. Once ten victory points are earned, the player unlocks an endgame scenario for the campaign and can attempt to win the campaign decisively. Along the way, the player  can also recruit reinforcements to replace losses in his warband and even partner with allies encountered in some scenarios, so the warband has a chance to grow and develop along the way.

I created stat cards for my favorite 40k models, gave them names, and randomly drew them to create a really characterful 120 point starter warband. These seven characters will serve as my Inquisitorial Retinue:

From right to left: Brother Librarian Jodocus, Stormtrooper Osbrecht (above), Interrogator Luc Lesueur (below), Interrogator Arekana, Gracchus the Priest, Judge Dimartus of the Adeptus Arbites, Kruger the Bounty Hunter.

I will post my detailed batrep for scenario one of my ITEN campaign shortly. Keep an eye on this site for further ITEN news as well. Thanks Craig and company!

Stargrunt 25mm Troopers from Ground Zero Games

I have always had a soft spot for true 25mm sci fi figures. Maybe it is because I remember the time, years ago, when the ONLY sci-fi gaming miniatures to be had were 25s from the Reversico (Starguard), Grenadier, and maybe a  few other sources.


Then came Ground Zero Games and their Stargrunt line. These figures blew me away from the first time I saw them. To me, the epitomize the look and feel of "hard" sci fi military figures. No spikes, skulls, or parchment scroll adornments here! The only other maker in the 25/28mm range for me is Pig Iron, with their excellent and expanding range.


So, as a result of another project, I wound up snapping some pics of a portion of my GZG forces, and I thought I would share them here. Most of these pics were shot hastily over my lunch break, so I apologize for the washed out effect. I will try to snap some better ones later.

This platoon is a combination of GZG New Israeli infantry and Denizen Venturan infantry. Stylistically they seemed similar enough to me that I was happy to mix them.

A close-up of some of the New Israelis and Venturans together.

NSU Armored Infantry Platoon. After several horrible starts and much Simple Green, I was ultimately pretty happy with the way these turned out.

A close-up of some NSU infantry. I like how this color scheme makes them vaguely reminiscent of Stormtroopers!

More NSU close-ups. I really have to get around to painting their heavy PA backup.

UNSC Power Armor Infantry. I painted these as Imperial Marines from Traveller, based on some of the cover art from the books.