Five Parsecs: Delivery game report

The crew don't really trust teach other yet, but Gallius says he has an easy mission to gain them some cash so they can get off-world. He'll need to ex-load some data from the Merchant Guild cogitator. He knows there is an access point in a cargo cavern which will be lightly guarded, and anyway they'll be hidden by steam from the vents. Easy.

I did my crew actions, then rolled a 'Deliver' mission against 'Corporate Security' with 'Limited Visibility'. I managed to roll seven enemies... Visibility is D6+8" each turn, so maybe I can get to the cogitator without even being seen...

Scanner view of the cargo cavern

"I can't see a thing in this fething fog!"

The cogitator access point, in the centre of the table

Guild Security suspiciously nose forwards

Long range support is no good in these conditions!

Julio gets a glimpse as the fog shifts, but misses

Gallius ex-loads the data, but he and Julio are struck down

The rest of the crew beat a hasty retreat through the steam.

A technical victory! Gallius was able to access the cogitator, but he and Julio were wounded. It was my first game, and I forgot a lot of rules in the heat of the moment- like Luck (to keep you alive), and Dash (to get you forwards faster). Then I rolled 'Dead' for Gallius, and spent a Story Point to reroll it, and got the same outcome! However, there's a rule that you can permanently lose your Luck point to stay alive- so I did that. My team is now Luckless, and I'm not sure they're confident in their employer...

But was it worth it? They gained only three credits, and the data hacking reduced their Ship Debt by three as well.

Gallius lies and tells his crew it was a great success, and they have struck a great blow against the corrupt guilders. But privately he is worried that he won't be able to get enough cash to start realising his ambition of becoming a Rogue Trader...

To be continued!

Five Parsecs from Home- starting crew

I'm excited to commence a Five Parsecs from Home campaign. I actually have the first edition, but the very nicely presented new third edition has inspired me to really get into this science fiction game. FPfH is a solo campaign game from Nordic Weasel. You have a small crew who undergo skirmishes and get experience, credits, and gear. The game is as much about the firefights as it is about the events that happen between games. You can gain recurring opponents or have to flee invasions. The combat system is simple, and the campaign possibilities are vast, driven by D100s and dozens of tables.

The vibe is Firefly with alien cultures, Star Wars without The Force, Rogue Trader rather than Kill Team. It is in this 40K setting that I have rolled up my starting crew. I rolled the dice for six characters, getting a scent of their background and motivations. I used a name generator as well. I cast my gaze over my toy collection and let the ideas coalesce...

We find ourselves on Necromunda. The captain is Gallius Marbic, a disaffected merchant who wants to make it big and feels he is being held back by the power of the Guilds. He wants to build up some cash reserves before taking his crew out into more dangerous territories and becoming an accredited Rogue Trader. He has acquired a small battered freighter, The Innominate, that he will have to pay off.

Gallius Marbic, aspiring Rogue Trader

3D print from HeresyLab.

He is accompanied by Lady Heldycryn de Quenaal, a diplomat's daughter who is keen to get offworld and experience adventure.

Lady Heldycryn

Lightly converted 3D print from Cast n Play

Somehow, EF-733 has become attached to the crew. This strange acolyte wants to become famous within the Mechanicus, either by cataloguing xenos species or discovering lost artefacts. His bizarre affectations are tolerated by his companions because of his mechanical abilities and connections.

EF-733

They have hired Konrad Rathgir, a street-smart outrunner. If he's as useful as he claims to be, then he will indeed be an asset. But is he as good as he thinks he is?

Konrad Rathgir

3D print from Imitation of Life. I really like the aesthetics of this sculptor's growing range.

For protection, they have also taken onboard Julio Rybeck and Roma Jyan as muscle. These star-cross'd gangers have upset their clans and also want to get offworld. Their original gangs are after them...

Julio

Roma

I'm planning for this to be a slow burn. I'm going to roll with the punches and see where the system takes the crew. I'm looking to fire up my 3D printer for various enemies and characters as I roll the encounters, and selectively delve into my backlog. The gangers and AdMech were useful as test schemes for more in the future.

Crew of The Innominate

Skull-o-meter™: 5

Stargrave bestiary 1

One of the attractive features of Stargrave is the possibility of creatures wandering into the area and attacking your crew. There is a list of many possible alien beasts to encounter. Here are my solutions to filling some of these roles, within a Rogue Trader-esque setting.

Ruffians

Pistol-armed low lives, these are Chaos Cult scum.

Ryankan

I'm really happy with these resin 3D prints. Ryankan are a sort of pterodactyl-bat creature. They're a bit of Star Wars mynock, a bit of Necromundan ripper jack. These are manta cave bats, a free 3D design from Mia Kay. The original sculpts have their tails on the bases, but mine have paperclip flight stands.

Primitives

Stone Age peoples who have no ranged weapons; Hobbit goblintown denizens.

Bounty Hunter

I am kroot.

Gaunch

Chameleonic scavengers, these are Ur-Ghuls from Blackstone Fortress. I'd like to pick up a few more.

Warp Hound

Basically a dimension hound, these are hounds of Tindalos from Mansions of Madness. I would like to find something a little more warp-y.

Sewer Dragon

Old faithful, the ambull.

I think I'm reasonably close to the mark with these and I've got many more bestiary spots to fill!

Necromunda: Goliaths

Last year I was on a fantasy roll; this year the science fiction bug has bitten. I was quite looking forward to Stargrave, but have become distracted by the very nice new third edition of Five Parsecs from Home. Which is the roundabout way I got inspired to finally slapping paint on these Goliaths.

I picked up a few cheap preassembled gangs when Necromunda got re-released a few years ago. I didn’t really love them- I’m not a huge fan of the sculpted bases, and getting them second-hand meant I wasn’t as invested as if I had built them myself. And the weapon choices aren’t the ones I would have made. So I put off painting them, which is a shame as they are lovely sculpts.

The skin is just one pass of Contrast Guilliman Flesh, then white for teeth. That’s it! I used Vallejo spray white as undercoat.

I tried a new basing technique, but I haven't quite got the effect I was going for.

I don’t even know what some of these weapons are… but I really love the ridiculous oversized revolvers.

Here's a bonus; an old photo of my 1995 plastic Goliaths. I can't remember what happened to them.

Goliaths are a pretty one-note faction, but they make great antagonists. I haven't come up with a gang name yet; suggestions welcomed.

Skull-o-meter™: 18

Nemesis: The Intruders

Here are my speed-painted Intruders for Nemesis. I undercoated them with Army Painter Gunmetal spray, then sloshed on GW Contrast Akhelian Green. I gave them a light metallic drybrush, and picked out the fleshy bits. I did add some UHU drool, but wasn't feeling it and decided not to add any blood effects.

I don't quite grok the implied lifecycle, but here are the gribblies:

Larvae

Creeper

Adult

Adult

Adult

Adult

Breeder

Queen

The Intruders are ridiculously large

Nemesis: The Crew

Nemesis passed me by when it came out on Kickstarter in 2018. But I was drawn to the theme of Alien-style survival horror, and have picked the boardgame up subsequently. I have now painted the crew, but I haven’t grown to love them. The sculpts are a little busy and unclear. They take Contrast paint reasonably well but I found it hard to give each figure a focus. Each character has a distinctive colour in the game which I have tried to capture in their paint scheme. I don’t usually go for black base rims, but here I felt I had to (and I need to do a second coat, but I wanted to post pictures...)

The Scientist

The Soldier

The Engineer

The Scout

The Pilot

The Captain

The Crew

I played this virtually during lockdown last year- I died from a chestburster thing, and then the whole ship imploded killing everyone else. Good times!

Next time: the Intruders!