Topic: Rules for a Necromunda Campaign

[silverspindle]

Underhand, I want to thank you for this thread. Entertaining, informative and inspiring.

The comprehensive introduction and numerous insights into the way the Necromunda rules work are priceless for someone like me who has fond childhood memories of both Necromunda and 2nd edition but was too young to properly participate in the hobby at the time.

The campaign you have detailed here has galvanised me to start hassling my friends to play this forgotten gem and it's proving the perfect panacea for the blandness, lack of balance and unsightly competitiveness that has crept into our games of 5th edition 40k.

Your current situation is looking grim but I must say you are taking it like a boss. With my interpretation of your house-rules it seems it has allowed your foes not only to team up against you at the same time but both these cowards get just as much bonus experience as you do for having to fight outnumbered 3-1.

It's a real shame you haven't had a little bit more luck at cruicial times, your plans to cause friction within the gorlock alliance were sound but a couple of narrow game results denied you the chance to pull it off effectively. It is a different matter now of course as both players start to plan for the end game and realise that conflict between them is inevitable. You may get left alone more in the coming turns due to the misleading picture your remaining territories paint.

Regularly fighting while substantially outnumbered has seen you picking up more injuries lately but your gang is still highly skilled and by the sounds of it so are you at playing the game so here's hoping for some fortune next game.

Thanks again for taking the time to write all this, I hope to do something similar once I have more than three people motivated to play a campaign.

[crew4man]

I apologize for not reading this for some time, but when I stopped painting my IG I've ignored this bookmark.

Interactions are as hilarious as ever.

I understand the campaign could realistically be over by this point, but nonetheless I wish you the best. From your theory crafting, you do have something of a chance to win-I've seen some strange, strange things happen when the chips are down.

[Underhand]

Thank you gentleman, and no apologies necessary.  Rest assured, the campaign is still underway.  It takes a lot more than an unfair exploitation of a hastily drawn together set of campaign rules by a few unscrupulous gen Y punks to get rid of me.

Anyway:

Joffrey's Sister:

After losing the first game of round 6, I went to get a coffee, I returned to the store and was confronted by Jonah:

Jonah:  Under, there's a black girl inside looking for you. [The only non caucasian I have ever met at my local GWS is Joffrey's mum, but although she isn't old, someone as blunt as Jonah would never describe her as a girl].
Underhand:   A girl or a woman? How old?
J:  My age? Probably younger. [Jonah is in his early 20's]
UH:  Huh.

So I went inside, and around the back towards the game tables.   There was indeed a girl of dark skinned appearance standing at one of the Necromunda tables chatting with the Orlock player and being scowled at by Joffrey. 

UH:   Gentlemen.
Joffrey:   [Just glares at me.]
Orlock:  Hi.
UH:  And you must be Joffey's sister?
J:  Stepsister.
Myrcella:  Stepsister.  And you must be Underhand!
UH:  Good guess!
M:  It was easy, my mother said you looked like Alan Shore.
J:  No he doesn't!
O:  He looks like [some character, from some obscure tv show or movie (probably anime) that I (and probably no one else) have ever heard of.  For all I know it might have been a supremely cutting insult that I should be very upset about.].
UH:  Haha! Did she?

I could tell this conversation was going to go well.  Whenever a junior practitioner in the industry wants to get on my good side, they always say I remind them of Alan Shore (a character from Boston Legal played by James Spader who was highly skilled, was a loose cannon who played by his own rules. And got to sleep with Rhona Mitra).  As opposed to my boss, who most recently compared me to Gil from the Simpsons.  Anyway, I was pretty sure I knew where this was heading.

UH:   So what do you do?
M:  I'm actually studying law.
UH:  Really?  How far through are you?
M:   Fourth year.
UH:  What are your research skills like?
M:  Pretty damn good, actually!
UH:  I'm getting a coffee - do you want one?
M:  I love coffee.

It was pretty obvious what was going on here.   There are always a lot more law gradates with good grades than there are good jobs with good law firms.  The way to get a good job after uni is to have experience and references.  The only way to get references and experience is to get part time work experience with a firm, or government department etc by way of a summer clerkship or part time research or clerking work.  The only way to get that is to have contacts in the industry, and those aren't easy to make for someone who doesn't already have them to begin with.  Without contacts, you are starting a looong way behind in your career.  Obviously, Cersei told her one of Joffrey's 'friends' was a lawyer, and to get out to the LGS and start impressing.

I have sympathy for students in her position, because it was the same for me when I was a student, so I was than happy to help her out, if she had any talent.  Also our team was looking for a research clerk anyway.  Also, it would drive Joffrey absolutely bat-amphetamine parrot insane with rage.  Also, she's pretty.

Anyway, she seems pretty smart and congenial, so I'm going to see about lining up a research clerk or summer clerk position for her.  Joffrey will beslubbering hate it.

[crew4man]

You're crafty, brilliant, and don't take crap from a guy named Joffery.\

And slightly evil.

I love these posts.

[Underhand]

Campaign Turn  7

I went after Octavian to take my vents back.
Gannicus led a rescue mission to rescue flaming Moe.
Joffrey went after Gannicus's Friendly Doc.
Jonah went after the Orlock Settlement.
Octavian and the Orlock player attacked my Slag.

GAme 1, Turn 7

I went first.

As you know, I have been talking about having a few extra tricks that I've been wanting to pull out of my sleeve for a few turns now, but I haven't really had the chance.  Those tricks are the alternate scenarios.   So far, Octavian and the Orlock player have only played the Gang Fight  scenario, which is basically a straight up fight with no special rules.  So although they have their tactics pretty down pat for a straight up fight, they haven't had to deal with any of the other scenarios, like Scavengers, where you have to capture and carry off objectives from the table, or Ambush, with its special deployment rules etc.

I've been hoping to get to choose the scenario for a while now, so that I could take advantage of my their lack of experience with the special rules for the other scenarios, but it just hasn't panned out like that.  This time we rolled, and Octavian got to pick the scenario.  I assumed that he would go for a Gang Fight, but he surprised me and went with Shoot Out. 

I hate the Shoot Out scenario.  It's just badly designed.  It minimises the part that skill and tactics play, can grant large advantages randomly to one side or the other. 

It works like this:  D3 x 2 fighters from each gang turn up and walk slowly towards each other.  Both players roll a dice each turn, the first side to total up to 15 loses their nerve and the shooting starts.  All gangers react at the same time, and the actual order of shooting is determined on an individual model by model basis with a roll of Initiative + D6 determining the order.  Pistols get a +1, Heavy weapons get a -1.  Which gang members turn up is randomly determined.

Although the scenario has a really nice tense, cinematic feel to it, it just relies too much on dice rolls.  What happens on the table is really out of the players hands, and in my opinion, that lessens the fun, since the tactical aspect of the game is what I like the most about the hobby.   You can't even pick which of your fighters will turn up.

I could tell, that this wasn't the result of Octavian just randomly picking the scenario.  He's not the type to do something on a whim, and the body language of Joffrey and the Orlock player suggested that it was something they had planned.

And it was a good plan.   A very good plan.

For starters, on a one to one basis, it's still a pretty even fight between me and Octavian.  With Abraham's Iron Will, my gang is hard to beat, and not easy at all to deal a 3/1 casualty ratio which is necessary to take a territory - it's still totally realistic that I could take a territory off him.  But that all changes with a Shoot Out.  For starters, Abraham probably won't turn up, so his Iron Will is probably not going to be a factor.  Secondly, and this is the big factor - Octavian has enough cash to hire Scum.

Hiring Scum means two things - firstly, it gives a much larger numbers advantage than usual.  The average number of gangers who turn up to a Shootout from either side is 3.  By hiring 2 Scum, Octavian can greatly swing the numbers in his advantage.  Secondly, Scum are ideally suited to Shoot outs.  They are pistol shooting specialists, it's not uncommon for them to have Gunfighter, which allows them to shoot twice, which is a big deal when numbers are short.  Pistols are very accurate at short range too - autopistols, laspistols and boltpistols all hit on 2s at targets in the open at short range.  It's also not uncommon for them to have the Quick Draw skill.

beslubbering Quick Draw.  The most useless skill in the game.  Everyone prays that they never roll it when they take a shooting upgrade.   It gives the user double Initiative, but is only useable in the first round of a Shoot Out scenario.  It is therefore absolutely useless in 95% of games.  And in the Shoot Out scenario, you randomly determine which fighters turn up, so you don't even get to pick which gang members turn up, so even if you roll a Shoot Out, and you have a model with Quick Draw, 75% of the time, he won't even turn up to be able to use it.  Talk about bad play testing.

But in a  Shoot Out, the ganger with Quick Draw is king.  None of my guys have Quick Draw, and none of Octavian's guys have Quick Draw, but out of the 6 Scummers which have been used in this campaign, 3 of them have Quick Draw, and  1 of them (Gallow)  has Gunfighter as well.  Octavian hired two of them (Gallow & Magrav). Hiring those two would mean that Octavian would probably get three shots (which would probably be hitting on 2's) at my guys before I got a chance to shoot back.  Given that I would only get to take 2-4 guys, those 3 shots represented an immense tactical advantage.

We rolled to see how many guys turned up, and we both got 3 each.  My guys who turned up were Ram, Boaz and Ephraim.  Not a bad selection.  Ram has good initiative and balistic skill, Ephraim has BS3 and is armed with pistols and Boaz has a flamer.  That gave me a reason to be optimistic.

Flamers can be murderous in a shootout.  Although they give an initiative penalty for the quickdraw, they can usually take down about 2 enemies with their one hit, which is a lot of casualties in a shootout scenario.  So if I rolled lucky with Boaz, then I might be in with a chance.  Ephraim also had a hand flamer, so that could potentially come in handy.

Octavian rolled for his guys and ended up with Bloodaxe, a couple of Gangers called Rockfist and Thuggar armed with a lasgun and an autopistol & flail respectively.  He also had Magrav with an autopistol and plasmapistol and Gallow with twin boltpistols.

Anyway, we set up across the table from each other, and our gangs inched towards each other.  The nerve roll went as follows:

1st turn:   Goliath: 3    Cawdor: 3
2nd  turn: Goliath: 8    Cawdor: 4
3rd turn:   Goliath: 12  Cawdor: 6
4th turn:   Goliath: 13  Cawdor: 10
5th turn:   Goliath: 13  Cawdor: 11
6th turn:   Goliath: 14  Cawdor: 13
7th turn:   Both teams lost their nerve and went for their guns. 

The Quick Draw roll went as follows:

Magrav:     11
Gallow:      10
Ram:          9
Bloodaxe:  9
Thuggar:    7
Ephraim:    7
Rockfist:     6
Boaz:         5

Magrav went first and gave Ram a face full of plasma, taking him down.  Gallow had two shots and spread them between Ephraim and Boaz, taking down Ephraim and pinning Boaz.  Octavian rolled all the rest of his shooting at Boaz in one go, just because he could.  Rockfist and Thuggar both missed, but it didn't matter because Bloodaxe took him down with his boltpistol.

I didn't get to shoot because all of my guys were down.   This is why I hate Shoot Outs.

We then rolled to see who got the first turn.  I was hoping it was me so that I could bottle out voluntarily.  Unfortunately, Octavian won.  I was sure there is a rule that if all of your gang is down, out of action or broken, then you automatically lose, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  Anyway, that would have come in handy, because Octavian wouldn't accept my concession (which would have automatically ceded my Slag to him), instead insisting on playing through the next turn  because it would allow him to move into base to base contact with my guys, to take them out of action and force them to all roll on the Serious Injury chart at the end of the game.  And because he's a merciless little prick.

So, basically I lost without getting a shot off. 

Aftermath:

There was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to get in a second round of games this week due to the store scheduling a tournament on the weekend, so we rolled for advancements and injuries after each game.  I rolled on the serious injury chart.  Ram got away unscathed.  Ram and Ephraim died.  Luckily, I have two Medics in my gang and I get 2 injury rerolls per turn.  Isaac managed to heal up Boaz without a scratch (thank god), but Jacob couldn't do anything for Ephraim, who stayed dead.

Analysis:

There really wasn't anything I could have done to avoid losing this one.  I was reduced to being a passive observer throughout the entire fight.  I didn't get the chance to employ any tactics at all.  Everything that happened was a result of dice rolling.  The only tactical decisions which were made, were which scenario to play, and whether or not to hire Scum, both of which were out of my hands (since I can't afford hired guns at this stage).

The worrying thing is, that there really isn't much I can do to stop this from happening again.  I simply don't have the income to hire extra muscle at the moment, so there is nothing to stop my neighbours from electing for a Shootout every time they get a chance, and then hiring scum to gain an advantage.  In  a normal campaign, that wouldn't matter much, since the standard rules don't allow territory to be lost following a Shootout.  Obviously, the rules of this mapped campaign do.

Regardless, Octavian has found the template for beating me, and the Orlock player and Joffrey will follow his example.  They can't pick a Shoot Out every turn, but if they do get the choice of scenario, then they will pick a Shoot Out, and they will hire Scummers with Quick Draw, and every game will go like the this one.

I'm down to two territories, only 11 gang members, zero net income and my enemies are rampant. 

The loss of that Workshop in Turn 5 was the tipping point.  Losing that territory killed my income. I needed to hold that territory, or at least win it, or another high income territory back.  But I didn't, and I've slid too far now.  I've been pushed back so far, that the only territories that are adjacent to mine are low income territories.  Even if I should win a territory back, any losses I suffer won't be replaced for several games.


The Map:




Cawdor:  The Hand of Redemption
Escher:  Gothika
Delaque:  Black Coats
Van Saar:  The Second Stringers
Orlock:  The Mortlock Cartel
Goliath:  House Bloodaxe

My next game is against both the Orlock and Goliath together, again, and I'm another man down.  The fat lady is singing.

[Killing Time]

To be honest that just sucks.
I know you all agreed on the rules of the campaign before the start, but this should be a lesson to you.
The rules need to be changed for the next campaign.
I don't see how anyone can agree that this is fair or fun.

[Underhand]

Yeah, there are a few changes that I would make to the rules for the next campaign regarding alliances and voluntarily bottling out.  I'm not sure about how to fix the Shoot Out scenario (it's just fundamentally flawed at its core)- maybe make Hired Guns only turn up on a dice roll or something.  Not sure.  Anyway, I can't change the rules now without looking like (or in fact being) a massive crybaby, so the current rules are going to stick for the duration of the campaign.

I must admit, I did not take that last loss particularly well.  It wasn't so much that I lost, or even how I lost, it's the fact that it's going to happen again, and there just isn't any way for me to stop it.

Also, I'm even being given amphetamine parrot about it from people who aren't part of the campaign:

Store Manager:  Campaign not going that well?
Underhand:  Not especially well.  No.
SM:   It's actually generated a bit of interest. If you'd like to step back from running things, I can get one of the guys to take over as the campaign manager, and maybe mix things up a bit. 
UH:  What do you mean?
SM:  Maybe add a few players - drop in some Outlaw gangs here and there.  It might help get the Goliaths and Orlocks off your back for a while.
UH:  That won't be necessary.
SM:  Maybe wedge an extra couple of House Gangs in between you and them?
UH:  Thanks, that's okay.
SM:  Give you some breathing space?
UH:  No thanks.
SM:  Maybe if the new guys are bad enough, you might actually win a game or two?
[This is where it became clear that he was just giving me amphetamine parrot.]
UH:  beslubber off.
SM:  Seriously mate - how the beslubber is it that you are getting your ass kicked so hard by these idiots.  They've only played like 10 games or something -
UH:  They're double teaming - look just get the beslubber out of my face.
SM:  Maybe a zombie uprising or something?
UH:  Go beslubber yourself.


So I went home.  My mood didn't improve over the next couple of days.

Girlfriend:  Is something  wrong.
Underhand:  No.
GF:  I can tell something is wrong.  You've been listening to Viva la Vida for two days straight.
UH:  People are Boy Snide's Outrageously Shiny Leather and PVC clad Soul Trains.
GF:  Who are?  The people you play those games with? did you lose again?
UH:  It's this little amphetamine parrot kid, and his stupid mate . . . where is your Adele CD?
GF:  Kid?  How old is he?  Why do you want my Adele CD?
UH:  16 I think.  Maybe 17.  Because I'm about to lose the campaign, and she's fat.
GF:  16? That's half your age!  Have you been drinking?
UH:  Yes.
GF:  Are you going to be like this at my parents' place tonight?
UH:  Oh amphetamine parrot. [I had forgotten we were having dinner with her parents.  I don't get on with her mother.  She has this delusional hippy socialist view of the world that completely conflicts with any mainstream take on reality.  She hates capitalism.  She loathes Americans.  And she definitely can't stand the fact that her daughter is dating a lawyer who works in the corporate-commercial sphere (not that she has any understanding of what my practice actually involves).]
GF:  Are you going to be ready by 7pm?
UH:  I don't think I'll go.
GF:  Are you serious?  Is this because you are upset over a game with the plastic models?
UH:  These ones are metal.   Partly.  I also just don't feel like putting up with your mother's amphetamine parrot again tonight.
GF:  Fine.
UH:  Good.
GF:  When I get back, we're going to talk about this.
UH:  Yay.

I'll spare you the details of that second conversation.  But the upshot is that she'll be moving back to her place until the campaign is over, which will give me time to work out a comeback strategy with one less distraction.

[Swamp Rat]

I'd suggest using a hammer to help with most stress. Lets see Joffrey roll his dice with a broken hand eh?

Although the Manager's offer might be an idea actually, get a few other gangs in the middle of it all.

The shoot out could be changed so that hired guns just count as gangers, and you have to roll for them as you said.

[crew4man]

Underhand, I feel for you. Idiots are annoying. People giving you crap is annoying. An aside- How can you deal with her mother? And Viva la Vida is the king of songs for this kind of situation. Seriously, look.

"I used to roll the dice, see the fear in the people's eyes..."

That's poetry. (Its a good song for other, non 40k situations as well).


But your conversations are so hilarious...

I second the hammer idea, but I suggest that perhaps having his sister slip something into his drink at dinner or something like that might be a tad more effective. Just something that makes him think all his models are trying to kill him or something. A hallucinogen, I think, it what the doctor ordered!   

My suggestion is to mention, casually and often, how incredibly  juicy that spore cave is to Orlock. Or that Orlock spore cave to Esther.

It looks bad, but finish strong Underhand. Go out fighting and take as many of the bastards with you as you can.

[Underhand]

...
Although the Manager's offer might be an idea actually, get a few other gangs in the middle of it all.
...

Totally out of the question.  There is no way I'm accepting that kind of help.


The rest of the games went as follows: 

Gannicus, back from his one week ban, took his Gang on a rescue mission and succeeded in getting Flaming Moe back.  Joffrey then counterattacked and went after Gannicus's Friendly Doc.  That backfired totally, and it was only due to Gannicus's stubber heavy getting unlucky and dealing a couple of flesh wounds on the last turn, that Joffrey didn't end up losing a territory.

Gannicus also comfortably won with the sledging as well, taking a coffee order for everyone, and then pretending to call Joffrey's mum on his mobile phone to come and deliver it.

Jonah went after the Orlock settlement again, and went down in a heap.  Jonah's inability to beat the Orlock is of concern.  Unless he learns how to play with some skill, sooner or later the Orlock player will turn his sights on him, and his four relatively decent territories will fall to the Orlock and Gannicus will be surrounded and the campaign will end up being won by either Joffrey, the Orlock player or Octavian. 

I'm not sure what would be worse to be honest.  Joffrey's a amphetamine parrot, but at least I can respect his skill as a player - he's a worthy opponent, if not a human being.   

Octavian bugs me too, but probably mainly because he is he's 16/17 and that's just what these little punks are like these days.  I probably wasn't that much better when I was his age.  I just don't like losing to a kid.  It makes me feel like my best days are behind me, that my skills are deteriorating and I'm being surpassed by a new generation.  The Bieber-Twilight generation.  And I don't want that to happen.

The Orlock player might be the most obnoxious though.  He's managed to convince himself that he's some sort of incredibly skilled general just because he's currently got the most territories.  The only reason that has happened is because his starting position was against 2 newbie players, his alliance with Octavian and a amphetamine parrotload of advice from Joffrey.  If he had been playing games one on one against me, Joffrey or Gannicus, he'd be lucky to still be in the game.  In fact, if Jonah had had someone holding his hand like Joffrey has been doing for the Orlock player, it would have been a completely different story.  He also seems to have a bit of an rather unsavoury chap, what-ho old bean? streak in him too, which started to come through in the last couple of turns, and was particularly evident in his game against Jonah.  If you have seen the episodes of Entourage where Seth Green plays himself as a total rather unsavoury chap, what-ho old bean?, then he's kind of like that.

Jonah has the smallest, weakest gang in the campaign.   That's mainly due to him having only played about 6 games (compared to more than a dozen for most other people).  The reason that he's played so few games is because no one is really attacking him - Gannicus goes after Joffrey every turn, and the Orlock player has been attacking me.  As a result, the only games he's been getting are when he attacks the Orlock, who has come to significantly outmatch him, and keeps pulling further ahead each turn due to the massive experience bonuses and territorial acquisitions he has made by double teaming me with Octavian.  Also, as his gang has gained in power, he's become more of a dick towards Jonah, in terms of his table talk.  The rest of us engage in abusing each other as standard, but Jonah doesn't.  Jonah is an easy target in that regard, because he is South African and has no sense of humour with which to be able to defend himself or attack back with. 

Educating Jonah:

I didn't like watching that, and I've kind of felt sorry for Jonah ever since the Store Manager (or whoever) repainted his Gang Leader to have dark skin.  Since then he's sort of been made to be the store butt monkey, and what with his lack of success in the campaign so far, I don't think he's been having much fun, and there's a chance he might leave the campaign.  So I decided to do something about it.  When everyone broke for lunch, I approached Jonah:

Underhand:  Mate, stick around, I want to have a word.
Jonah:   What is it?
UH:  I want to show you a couple of things that will stop you making a fool out of yourself each week.
J:     I think I can handle things myself.  But thank you for offering.
UH:  No you can't.  Give me your gang roster.
J:   ...
UH:  Give it to me.
J:   ...
UH:  Give it to me.
Gannicus:  Just give it to him, fatass.

So Jonah gave me his gang roster.  It was a clusterbeslubber of newbie errors.  All shooting and a few combat skills.  No techno skills.  No swords.  Only 9 gang members.  The wrong weapons given to the wrong gang members. And most inexplicably of all:

UH:  Why the hell do you have 277 unspent credits in your stash?
J:     I'm saving up for a Needler Sniper Rifle.  If I roll one on the rare trade chart, I want to be able to buy it, and they cost a lot of creds.  I've got a model converted up and ready to go and everything!
[That figured - Jonah is obsessed with sniper rifles like you would not believe.  In fact the whole reason he got into the campaign was because I told him you could have snipers.  Unfortunately, Needle Sniper Rifles are very difficult to find, and ridiculously over priced, so they are rarely seen.]
UH:  How did you even get that many creds?
J:     I got one of those Mung vases a few weeks back, and I ransomed one of the Orlock player's gang members to him.
G:    That's right, he did.
UH:  Dude - getting your gang up to speed is going to be a amphetamine parrotload easier than I thought.

And it was.  277 creds is a lot of cash in the Underhive.  I got him to recruit 4 juves and buy them all autopistols.  Then I got him to buy 4 swords from the trading post.  Then I had him shift around some of his weapons to different models, to give the best ranged weapons to the best shooters and the best CC weapons to the best CC fighters.  He now has a guy with a bolter with BS5 and marksman.

I then imparted some advice to him about the value of techno skills, and how they make the Van Saar arguably the most dangerous gang in the game.  He was sceptical, but at my insistence he took an techno skill upgrade for every cGanger that rolled a skill upgrade.  At the end of it, he ended up with 2 armourers, a specialist, a medic and a weaponsmith.  The specialist was given a flamer and the weaponsmith was given a hotshot lasgun.  Jonah had previously left his bolters and hot shot lasguns in his stash because they kept on running out of ammo on him, but that's no longer the case with 2 armourers.  Now he has 2 S4 shooters with extended range, who aren't restricted by the target priority rules.

I also got him to sell off a few laspistols, since the 2 armourers made autopistols and stubguns just as reliable.  I reckon his gang is about 100% more effective now.  His ranged firepower is a lot more reliable, and powerful, he has an extra four bodies, who are decent at close range shooting.  He also only has to start bottle checking after losing 4 guys now.

Gannicus and I also ran him through Necromunda tactics 101.  He now understands the value of keeping his guys together in small groups, how to use his leader's leadership bubble to shore up his forward teams, and how to position his guys to protect his more valuable fighters from being targeted by the enemy.

He absorbed the lessons.  He understands what he has to do now.  The Orlock player is in for a nasty surprise the next time they play each other.  If he can snatch a territory, then that will probably divert the Orlock away from me, and allow me to concentrate on Octavian.  Even if that doesn't happen, if he can at least kill a couple of Orlock gangers, that will at least diminish the threat a bit.  If the Orlock player is weakened, then Octavian might be tempted to go after the richer Orlock territories rather than to continue to pursue my cheaper ones.  Time will tell.  But I still had a game to play before the turn was over.

[silverspindle]

I'm glad to hear that the news isn't all bad, in that you've at least managed to organise an informal alliance to drive back the dicky waac players in your group.
Unfortunately your team has only 8 territories to the 27 under goliath-orlock-escher control
The good part is that none of you are totally out for the count yet
Gannicus proved himself still able to see off the Escher despite being far outnumbered in income
Jonas has been schooled and will start to see the benefits of Van Saar with those new juves
You may indeed be in an income death spiral but your temerity and knowledge of the game will make you very hard to stamp out without double-teaming
Since the imbalanced alliance rules will be in effect for the rest of the current campaign I suggest that Gannicus and Jonas next team up to beat on the Escher/Orlock for a couple of rounds. Since they're both in danger of extinction right now why not take any advantage they can get?
This could be enough to avert the Orlock players attention from you. The Goliaths have been a tough fight every time since the first but one on one you may be able to luck out and steal your vents back in order to start carving territories back from the bottom where you can't be ganged up upon.

Also your mind games and smack talk are going to have to be impecable :p

Eagerly looking forward to the next installment!

[crew4man]

I'm not going to lie- I think you helping out Jonah was probably one of the most interesting moves you made- and one that potentially could pay some real dividends.

Please don't call us the Bieber-Twilight generation. That hurts me, right here *pounds chest.*  We're the New Silent Generation. (http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/qt/generations.htm)


I like this informal alliance stuff. Its so...underhanded. Can't wait for more.

[Underhand]

Thank you gentlemen.

Turn 7 Game 2:   The Hand of Redemption versus The Mortlock Cartel & House Bloodaxe

Octavian and the Orlock player had originally targeted my Slag.  Since I had lost the Slag following the Shootout with Octavian, they were allowed to move their target to my Old Ruins, as was only fair.

This was a lose/lose scenario for the Orlock player.  They had arranged between them that Octavian would get the territory, so if I lost, he wouldn't get the territory.  But even if Octavian bottled out, and he was forced to take the territory, that would effectively seal Octavian off from the rest of the board, forcing them into a conflict with each other in the next turn or two.  He could be spending that time going after Jonah, who he normally beats - the only reason he doesn't keep taking territory off Jonah every turn is because he doesn't normally send the creds to hire Scum, which he does when he fights me.  So it's like a wasted turn for him.

We rolled for the scenario.  Losing Ephraim in the last game actually worked to my benefit, because it lowered my Gang rating to be lower than either the Orlock or Goliath.  That meant my chances of being able to pick the scenario were much greater than they have previously been.  So we rolled and I finally got to pick the scenario.  I picked Scavengers.

Scavengers scenario:

The Scavengers scenario is the opposite of Shoot Out - it's a really well designed, evenly balanced scenario where tactical thinking rules supreme.  It's my favourite scenario in the game.

The rules work like this:

The table is set up as normal.  Then you set up the table and place d6 Loot counters.  Those counters are objectives which a ganger can pick up and move by getting into base to base contact with them.  The counters are set up 8" away from the table edge and 4" away from each other.  Then you roll to see which side of the table you set up on and who goes first.  Obviously, since you don't know which side of the table you get to set up on, it usually makes sense to place the counters somewhat in the middle of the table.  You win by either driving the other side off the table as usual, or by capturing all of the Loot and running off the table with it.

We rolled 2 pieces of Loot, and that suited me just fine.   My plan was to win the game by capturing all the Loot.  There were a couple of places where I definitely didn't want the Loot placed, so I placed my Loot counter, near one of those.  Octavian and the Orlock player, having been confronted with a new tactical aspect of the game, just when they were becoming comfortable with straight up Gang Fights held a quick discussion to decide where Octavian should place the Second Loot counter. 

Not having played the scenario before, they decided to approach it the same way most people approach a 5th ed 40k objective game.   They would place the objectives, then set up their Gangs  to swarm across one and then the other, picking up the Loot along the way.  Those tactics make sense in 5th ed 40k, but they don't work in Necromunda.  This would be a lesson for them. 

Eventually, Octavian placed the objective marker nine inches across from the other one at ground level, and in the open.   And that was fine with me.  Joffrey might have told them to place it somewhere else if he'd been there, but he wasn't, and they weren't willing to wait - at least not after Gannicus and I started questioning their ability to execute the simplest of actions without Joffrey telling them how to do it (Gannicus used an analogy that involved holding certain body parts whilst performing certain bodily functions).

So we set up, and I got the first turn.  My Gang moved forwards to the objectives, except for Jacob and Ram who went into overwatch.   I then deployed Asa and Josiah separately,  in cover, close to the Loot, ready to dart out and seize it in the next movement phase.  Zohar set up with Josiah to act as a meat shield. 

My setting up my vent team close to the Loot put an 8" bubble around the Loot counters which prevented the Orlock player and Octavian doing the same (not that the Orlock player ever uses his Tunnels or (now) Vents - he prefers to have everyone available to shoot on the first turn).   Octavian and the Orlock player moved their Gangs forward, the Orlock player not being able to resist taking a shot with his heavy stubber at Jacob and Ram, who were both in heavy cover, and missing. 

That heavy stubber was the one thing I'd been worried about .  The game was mine from that point onwards.  Asa and Josiah are my runners.  Asa has Leap which allows him to move an extra d6 inches per turn and bypass man high obstacles without penalty, Josiah has Sprint which allows him to run or charge 12" (in Necromunda, base movement is only 4"). 

Asa's Loot counter was the one I had placed, and was on the 2nd level.  I ran him out , snatched the Loot and onto cover, 19" away from my table edge.  I next ran Zohar out to the second loot counter to soak up any overwatch fire to allow Asa a clear run to pick it up and dash back into cover.  As it was, it proved unnecessary, with all of the Overwatch missing, so Zohar simply ran the loot back to cover with Asa and transfered it during the shooting phase.

Jacob fired back at the Orlock heavy, taking him and a Lasgun Marksman down.  The rest of my gang moved further up the table, ready to offer covering fire to Josiah and Asa as they ran back towards my lines.

It was at this stage that they realised they were going to lose.  I'm not sure if they came to that conclusion themselves, or if it was Gannicus laughing at them, and then explaining in detail to Jonah and a few other people exactly how I was going to win inside the next 2 turns that tipped them off, but they had definitely worked it out.

Anyway, They both desperately ran their guys forward to try to open up a line of fire for overwatch in the next couple of turns, and that was even stupider of them, because it meant that they had to leave some of their guys in the open.

In the next turn,  I ran Josiah and Asa back towards my lines, and left Zohar in a spot which would obscure Asa from the Goliath heavy stubber in the next turn.  Jacob and Ram opened up on a couple of Goliath chasers, taking one out of action and pinning another one.

On their turn, the Orlocks were simply out of the fight.  Asa and Zohar were out of range for them, and Josiah had a free run to the table edge outside of their line of sight.  The Orlocks had a couple of small chances on their side, but they didn't amount to much.  The Goliath Stubber managed to line up Zohar, but he wasn't able to track fire onto Asa, because I had placed them too far apart. 

In my next turn, Asa and Josiah broke through my lines, the rest of my gang closing ranks behind them to shield them from any enemy fire.  My gangers which didn't have to move went into overwatch, and those who were in overwatch, went into hiding.

On the last Orlock/Goliath turn, Octavian realised that he couldn't avoid losing the game, and that moving any of his guys into range to shoot at my guys with their pistols would (a) not be very effective, because my guys were in cover, and (b) would just expose him to some nasty overwatch fire.  So he basically had no choice but to do nothing but move his guys into cover and let Asa and Josiah run off the table in the next turn.

Since the game was due to end in my movement phase, I took the opportunity to destroy the Gorlock  alliance.  I did this by explaining in excruciating detail every single error Octavian had made starting from Gang selection, through to set up, and during the game itself.  I then expanded on all of those points to set out how every single one of those errors had cost them victory.  I laid the reasons for the defeat squarely at Octavian's feet, the Orlock player being blameless, his victory denied only by the incompetence of his ally (which obviously wasn't true, but I made it sound convincing).  I also reminded the Orlock player that he had also wasted 30 creds on hiring Scum for no benefit, and that was due to Octavian's lack of skill.  This all took nearly 30 minutes, so I'm pretty sure everyone got the point.

I then moved Asa and Josiah off the board.

The Orlock player wouldn't even talk to Octavian as he left the store.

Aftermath:

we will see how things go next turn, but I'm pretty sure that's the end of the Gorlock alliance.  The Orlock will go after Jonah, and Octavian will come after me.  If he does, then I'll pick another Scavengers scenario if I get the chance.

The other good thing about Scavengers is that every Loot counter is worth 1d6x5 creds, so I actually managed to make some money out of this turn too.  If I can play a few more Scavengers games, I might be able to start building my gang back up.

The alternative is to save the creds to hire Scum in the event that my opponent wins a scenario roll and picks Shoot Out.  Decisions, decisions . . .


Here's the map:




Cawdor:  The Hand of Redemption
Escher:  Gothika
Delaque:  Black Coats
Van Saar:  The Second Stringers
Orlock:  The Mortlock Cartel
Goliath:  House Bloodaxe

A lot can happen in a short time.  There's no change to the map as a result of that game, and I'm still vulnerable to a Shoot Out, but with Gannicus thumping Joffrey twice in a row and Jonah hopefully out of his rut, there is just the slightest chance that the momentum might have shifted slightly in my favour.

[crew4man]

It was at this stage that they realised they were going to lose.  I'm not sure if they came to that conclusion themselves, or if it was Gannicus laughing at them, and then explaining in detail to Jonah and a few other people exactly how I was going to win inside the next 2 turns that tipped them off, but they had definitely worked it out.

I find that hilarious for some reason, and it was vital that you included it.

Moreover, I think this highlights an important point very well- you're smarter than your enemies tactically. And with the end of the alliance, you'll start fighting one on one. I expect a fair amount of heads to roll, which you can then use to buff up the throne of skulls you lounge on, and use your enemies as footstools ala Justianian II. All the pieces are falling into their places perfectly... Grats on the win, too.

[silverspindle]

Nice work! Very glad to see you get a deserved win. Your description of the scavengers mission was spot on. I tried to play it like objectives 40k myself on my first couple of games and got shut out by long ranged fire as I tried to advance.
Have you done post-game yet? An annoying injury would have been just the thing to drive the wedge between them even further. Also, the more you play the faster your gang gets as it accrues agility, this will be of much benefit against Octavian as imo agility is far more useful than muscle.

I don't know what to tell you regarding the 15 creds or so you may have managed to wash through the income table this week. Don't know if getting a scummer for a shootout is going to help much because they're usually going to be able to afford more hired guns than yourself. Maybe a Ratskin to try an stop them being able to choose shootout in the first place? Other than that I guess you keep saving towards an autopistol juve to help with numbers.

Your attempt to directly sever the Gorlock alliance appears to have been quite fruitful. I hope you compounded it by informing the Orlock about the rejuvinated Van Saar gang. He does sound like a bit of a sheep, doing what Octavius and Joffery tell him. In one on one fights he will probably make more errors and the way the territories are laid out the alliance still has to end unless he does another team fight where he lets Octavian take your territory. And as you proved this week, doing a team fight against you does not necessarily guarantee them a territory or even winners xp (are both their gang leaders taking the +10 for winning in these team fights? Even more bulltwang if so).

[Perigrine]

love the updates as always. seems to be your luck might actually be turning for the better now that its not you vs 3 all the time.

Also love the non game related stuff, one of you should start dating Joffrey's step sister to really piss him off. would be absolutely great.

"hey Joffrey guess what?"

"what"

" i just boffed your step sister"

now that would be funny.

[Swamp Rat]

WHOOP WHOOP! GO U-H, USE YO SKILLZ YO! Seriously, i'm so happy right now.

Good win, i love how it was "so after his stubber missed in the first turn, i won the game". And Joff is getting stoved too, also love it. You might be back on your feet, it's ridiculous how gl
ad this is making me.


Yeah, my minds made up, i'm starting a campaign. Looks good on my Sandhurst Application, and i get to play a fun game. I'll be grabbing a 2 boxes of Orlocks on Friday (or maybe cashing out for the $60 Delaque gang thans non-GW...)

[SnipingSnowman]

This, this is fabulous! I must take a look at Necromunda, although I don't think I know anyone else who's ever played it. I love how you haven't just given up and are determined to keep fighting. I keep imagining a gang in some hideout with no money (possibly no food) and surrounded by enemies who are closing in fast, but still holding fast and will kill as many of the beslubberers as they can before they go down! Most dramatic! 

Also love the non game related stuff, one of you should start dating Joffrey's step sister to really piss him off. would be absolutely great.

"hey Joffrey guess what?"

"what"

" i just boffed your step sister"

now that would be funny.

I think Underhand is facing enough woman trouble as it is, considering his beur already moved out. Just hire the sister for the research you mentioned, I think that would do the trick well enough! 

[Perigrine]

Lol I want suggesting UH himself do it from the sounds of it Grannicus would be more then willing.

But agaon anxiously awaitning more updates. This thread is be far and away the most interesting topic on these boards anymore.

[Underhand]

Thank you all for the kind words.

love the updates as always. seems to be your luck might actually be turning for the better now that its not you vs 3 all the time.

Also love the non game related stuff, one of you should start dating Joffrey's step sister to really piss him off. would be absolutely great.

"hey Joffrey guess what?"

"what"

" i just boffed your step sister"

now that would be funny.

Nah, wouldn't be cool.  While I'm happy to trade as many insults with Joffrey as necessary to gain some sort of psychological advantage, that would just be disrespecting Myrcella, whom I quite like.

It's also just not on the cards for several reasons:

For starters, it wouldn't necessarily be my call to make.

Secondly, she'll be starting at my firm in a few weeks, and I wouldn't want the partnership to get the impression that I had got got them to hire a research clerk in order to increase my chances of getting into her pants.  They would not be impressed.

She's also way too young.  There's about a ten year age gap.

And as SnipingSnowman pointed out - I also have a girlfriend.  I think.

In any event, it's not something I have to worry about - none of the above points matter to Gannicus in the slightest, and he  is already pursuing the suggested line of attack with great enthusiasm, except he also makes reference to Joffrey's stepmother too. 

Have you done post-game yet? An annoying injury would have been just the thing to drive the wedge between them even further.
...
(are both their gang leaders taking the +10 for winning in these team fights? Even more bulltwang if so).

The Orlock Heavy received a Chest Wound, which drops his toughness down to 2, but then rolled a +1T on his advance, so he effectively lost the benefit of 20xp.  I hate it when my gangers receive chest wounds.  It makes them fall down in a stiff breeze.

They have both been getting the +10 for winning, except when one of them bottles out.

Campaign Turn 8:

During the post game sequence, the Van Saar picked up an Isotropic Fuel Rod at the trading post and used it to turn his Slag into a Settlement.  That was good news for me because it made it a much more tempting target for the Orlock player than did my Old Ruins.



Cawdor:  The Hand of Redemption - Underhand
Escher:  Gothika - Joffrey
Delaque:  Black Coats - Gannicus
Van Saar:  The Second Stringers - Jonah
Orlock:  The Mortlock Cartel - uh, the Orlock player
Goliath:  House Bloodaxe - Octavian

Gannicus was in charge of drawing the campaign moves out of the hat this week.

Joffrey went after the Delaque Friendly Doc.

Gannicus went after the Escher Vents.

Jonah attacked the Orlock Settlement.

Which just left Octavian, the Orlock player and me.

Now, I wasn't there, but one of the Battlefleet Gothic nerds, who play on one of the tables next to ours, told me that earlier that morning, Octavian asked the Orlock player to confirm that he would be helping him attack my Old Ruins.  The Orlock player apparently told Octavian that he was getting tired of playing against me and that he thought Octavian could handle me on his own from here on out. 

Octavian countered that by pointing out that as a result of his help, the Orlock player had gained a Gambling Den, a Workshop  and some Vents, which are all good territories compared to Octavian only picking up a Spore Cave and a Slag (he earned the Vents on his own).  In his view, it only seemed fair that the Orlock player should stick around to let him pick up my last two (crappy) territories and see me out of the campaign.  The Orlock player said he would think about it.

And then he went after Jonah's Settlement. 

Gorlock Alliance: beslubbering broken.

Octavian has a pretty good poker face, but I could tell he was (understandably) furious.  I feigned indifference, but inside it was like I was punching the air in victory with the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony playing in the background.  Joffrey raised his eyebrows a bit.   Jonah maintained his stoic Boerish reserve.  Gannicus though went all out.

Over the course of the previous week, Gannicus and I had spoken a couple of times to each other about the need to coordinate our efforts so that we can both get back into the campaign, or at least take down as many of these other little pricks as possible.  We discussed a number of possible courses of action, but the most important one was to break the Gorlock alliance before it killed me.  Gannicus had played his part to perfection by undermining the alliance by keeping up a running commentary of the game to everyone watching just how badly they were getting their asses kicked.  Coupled with my speech at the end sheeting home all of the blame for their loss to Octavian, it seems that it worked pretty well.  But there was more to do yet:

Gannicus:  Whoa.  One defeat and he cuts and runs . . .
Orlock Player:   Shut up Gannicus!
G:    All the way from there [points to my Old Ruins] to all the way over here! [points at Jonah's Settlement]
OP:  You're an idiot.
G:    Meanwhile, here's Octavian, staying the course like a champion, taking it up to Underhand, man to man, guarding your back -
OP:  You don't know what you're talking about.
G:    Well, I guess you got that Workshop, that Gambling Den and those Vents out of it before you bailed!  Hey Octavian - hope that Slag was worth it! 

Octavian said nothing, but he obviously felt betrayed by the Orlock player, and he wouldn't be human if he didn't enjoy hearing Gannicus question the Orlock player's honour in front of the whole store.

So that left Octavian going after my Old Ruins on his own.

Which just left me.  Gannicus reached into the hat:

Gannicus:  Well, then, Octavian and Underhand, round 20.  What's it going to be Under?  Are you going to take that Slag back?
Underhand:  No.  I'm going after the Vents.
G:  Fair enough.  Looks like you and Octavian are going to have to break out the Space Hulk terrain again.
Orlock Player:  [still trying to maintain some sort of friendly relationship with Octavian, despite having just stabbed him in the back only minutes before]  Don't worry mate, you can take him.  It'll be a piece of piss.
U:  Not those Vents.  Those Vents [I pointed to the Vents I lost to the Orlock player in turn 6].
This came as a bit of a surprise to everyone, except Gannicus, whom I'd discussed it with beforehand, but he acted like it was the most shocking and audacious military manouver since the bombing of Pearl Harbour.
G:  The Orlock Vents?
U:  My Vents.
G:  [taking out my slip of paper from the hat] Whoa!  A shift in strategy!  Hey Orlock Boy!  Underhand's coming after ya! Hahahah!
Octavian:  Don't worry mate, you can take him.  It'll be a piece of piss.

"Don't worry mate, you can take him.  It'll be a piece of piss." might have been the actual words Octavian used, but by the way he said it, it was clear that what he was really saying was "beslubber you, Boy Snide's Outrageously Shiny Leather and PVC clad Soul Train.  You betrayed me, and now you are going to get what you deserve."