MacGuffin - 3rd Space Hulk scenario

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

Foreword:

MacGuffin is the second scenario of a mini campaign comprising three games in total: Two 2nd 40K battle and a single Space Hulk scenario. In the first game The Fallen have gained access to a buried space ship. Now they need to recover the MacGuffin and place explosives upon the wreck. In the third game the Fallen have to reach the space port and retreat from Pandora. The overarching story has been inspired by a Gav Thorpe novel in which Dark Angels hunt for the Fallen though my story is focussed on the actual actions of the Fallen.

 

Title: Mac Guffin

 

System: 3rd Space Hulk (2009)

 

Game Mode: Solo

 

Game Length: There is no turn limit. The game ends automatically, if a marine holding the MacGuffin leaves the Space Hulk via the marine entry corridor or the entire marine squad is wiped out.

 

Mission Special Rules:

The marines will be able to seal genestealer reinforcement entry hatches. Doing this will cost a marine 1 AP. This rule has been taken from the Space Hulk Bible floating free in the Interwebz.

 

 

Winning Conditions (Marines):

The marines must reach the centre square of the uppermost Northern room in which the MacGuffin is to be found. Picking up the MacGuffin takes 0 AP. Then the marine carrying it must safely disembark from the ruined space ship. In addition to that the marines must place either a booby trap in the Western or Eastern room in order to score a victory. To place a booby trap a marine has to enter the room (any of it´s nine squares) and spend four AP to place the booby trap. If the marines are only able to retrieve the MacGuffin then the game will be a Draw.

 

Winning Conditions (Genestealers):

The genestealers win, if the marines are unable to retrieve the MacGuffin. Should the marine carrying the MacGuffin be slain then he drops it. The MacGuffin itself can´t be destroyed by any means.

 

 

Background:

Somewhere at the fringes of Imperial space lies the nearly forgotten system with the name of Borderlands. This story takes place on one of it´s habitable planets: Pandora. Cypher is leading a small group of Fallen to a remote region on Pandora which is the Dust Bowl, a valley which has never been explored by any Vault Hunter. Here in the Sandhills sector north of the central space port lies an ancient space ship buried under the sands. It harbours an important MacGuffin which use and power is only known to Cypher. The only access to said space ship is the entrance to the Blazing Tower which has been built on top of it.
Furthermore Cypher is being hunted by the Dark Angels and our villain made sure to provide evidence of his whereabouts to lure the Loyalists into a trap by planning to place explosives across the buried ship which will detonate as soon as his pursuers interact with it´s dormant machine spirit. Unknown to Cypher a GSC cell has found refuge in the buried space ship a few months ago. Their forces are way to small to take over a planet but should still prove to be a challenge for a small band of renegades.

 

 

 

Battle Report in pics:

The battle report has been uploaded to imgbb. Due to the nature of imgbb the first pics shown are the last recorded so a viewer needs to scroll down to reach the beginning. The beginning of a turn is visualized by a dice tray holding a single dice which depicts the game turn. Usually only two pics are shown during a turn: The state of the game after the marine turn and after the genestealer turn. In case something crucial happens like a marine casualty then this will be shown as well. Pics have been uploaded in numerical order this time as it is a small battle report.

 

Pics link:

https://ibb.co/album/0sFft5

 

Forces:

Hamiel (Sgt. with Storm Bolter & Power Sword).

Camael (Assault Cannon with one ammo refill & Power Fist).

Jegudiel (Storm Bolter & Chainfist).

Barachiel (Storm Bolter & Power Fist).

Hashmal ((Storm Bolter & Power Fist).

 

The genestealers will receive two blip tokens at the start of their turn. They may place up to two blips at a single entry point during a turn.

 

 

Action Report:

Here is a brief summary of what transpired in the Space Hulk. In addition to the turn count the number of the issued command points (1-6 CP) are given to represent better what the marines were able to achieve during their turn.

 

Turn 1 (2 CP):

Barachiel & Hashmal, the two brother marines equipped with storm bolter and power fist, deploy both to the left and right to the marine entry corridor and go immediately into Overwatch. These two will need to repel attackers until they are able to seal a nearby genstealer entry point. After them Camael, equipped with assault cannon and power fist) runs directly in the direction of the room where the MacGuffin is to be found. His orders are to make haste and only engage in firefights, if the safety of the mission requires it. To support him, Jegudiel, equipped with storm bolter & power fist, is dispatched to lend close fire support. And finally Sgt. Hamiel, equipped with storm bolter and power sword, will move to the first room to the North in order to cover the back of Camael and Jegudiel in case either Barachiel or Hashmal are overrun. 

 

Turn 2 (6 CP):

Camael is moving swiftly to the North thanks to the unmistakeable encouragement of Sgt. Hamiel via vox-link. Barachiel kills two genestealers during Overwatch & Hashmal dispatches one.  Then Hashmal´s gun jams and he finds himself toe-to-toe with a xenos beast in melee. Due to his fast reflexes he can fend off the creature and as such he survives the encounter.

 

Turn 3 (5 CP):

Hashmal clears under pressure the jam on his storm bolter and kills two genstealers with controlled fire bursts. Barachiel closes distance to a nearby genestealer reinforcement corridor and forces the xenos to lurk (can´t enter game next turn). Camael picks up the MacGuffin.

 

Turn 4 (4 CP):

Barachiel seals an entry corridor. Camael and Jegudiel enter Overwatch as two blips are close by. One after another two genestealers make their presence known and are blasted all over the corridor walls as efficient Overwatch from Camael and Jegudiel strike them down. Hashmal is less fortunate. His storm bolter jams when a xenos beast turns around the corner and the resulting melee proves fatal to him. The narines have suffered the first casualty. Is all in vain or will the marines be able to contain the breach in their deployment? Stay tuned!

 

Turn 5 (3 CP):

Camael turn to he left corridor leading from the room in which he found the MacGuffin and enters Overwatch with success as he dispatches a genestealer running at him with murder in it´s inhuman eyes. Jegudiel´s storm bolter tears apart another xenos with a direct hit. Sgt. Hamiel enters Overwatch to secure the back of his two bethrens guarding the MacGuffin. A genestealer runs full tilt at the Sgt. and his gun jams. The result is a dead Hamiel and now the marine squad is in deep trouble as they now no longer can reroll low command point scores at the beginning of the turn. Is this the end of the mission or will the three remaining brother marines be able to snatch victory from the jaws of deafeat? Stay tuned for more carnage on a god-forsaken planet!

 

Turn 6 (3 CP):

Camael realizing that the whole operation was now in his hands ran like hell down the left corridor and entered another hallway which was running parallel to the one who lead him to the room of the MacGuffin. Barachiel returned to the corridor leading to the marine´s entry point and went into Overwatch hoping to contain the breach Hashmal left behind. Three genestealers rounded the corner and his weapon jammed though he still had time to remove the jam before the aliens were too close to him.

 

Meanwhile Jegudiel backtracked and went into Overwatch preparing himself for an onslaught yet to come. The first genestealer dodged all his bullets and engaged him in melee but to the alien´s bewilderment it couldn´t dispatch Jegudiel on two occasions and as a result of that failure got disintegrated with a vicious haymaker smearing it´s body parts all over the corridor and Jegudiel´s armour. Enraged two nearby genstealers ran amok but only ate explosive lead as Jegudiel´s weapon barked twice in rapid succession.  A fourth genestealer rounded the corner and engaged Jegudiel who was having the fight of his life. But the brother marine was ready for it. As it jumped at him a brutal forward punch caved in it´s torso and it lay dead in a matter of moments with surprise etched on it´s ugly facial features. The fifth abomination rounded the corner only to get it´s head blown clean off it´s neck. Today a hero was born!

 

Turn 7 (5 CP):

Camael moved quickly down the corridor and was now adjacent to Barachiel who killed two genestealers with accurate fire and another while on Overwatch. Unbeknownst to Camael a single genestealer was stalking him but Jegudiel turned swiftly by 180° and spalttered in a single motion across the hulk (rolled a double six). "Are you even trying?!", Jegudiel mocked the alien filth as he brutally shut down any attempts to harm him or his brothers.

 

Turn 8 (5 CP):

Jegudiel made haste to reach the genestealer entry point in the Northwestern region of the Space Hulk and his close presence forced the xenos to lurk. Camael opened the hatch to a room in which he planned to plant a booby trap next turn while Barchiel went into Overwatch and braced himself for the carnage to come. A single genestealers reveals itself but is spared for now as Barchiel´s bolter jams.

 

Turn 9 (5 CP):

Camael deploys the booby trap in the Western room. Jegudiel seals off the genestealer entry point in the Northwest. Barchiel removes the jam, dispatches the lone genestealer with a burst an enters Overwatch again. He kills another monster during Overwatch fire and then manages to jam his gun yet again leaving a single genstealer left in the corridor which might reach his position if left unopposed.

 

Turn 10 (3CP):

Barachiel steps backwards into the parallel corridor which runs in the same direction as the centre one leading to the room in which the MacGuffin had been found thus making room for Camael and his assault cannon. Camael turns around and enters Overwatch which will earn him two additional kills. Zegudiel was able to kill another genestealer as he made his way back from sealing the genestealer entry hatch.

 

Turn 11 (6 CP):

Camael moves towards the exit and enters Overwatch which will add another two dead xenos to his kill score. Behind him is moving Barachiel ready to cover his back once he reaches the last meters to the marine exit point. Meanwhile in the Northwestern region of the buried ship the barking of Jegudiel´s storm bolter can be heard and reports back three additional kills across the vox-link. Things are going great fort eh marines. Will they be able to turn this mission around or will destiny screw them in the end? Stay tuned to find out more.

 

Turn 12 (4 CP):

Camael has reached the marine entry corridor but has decided to cover the central corridor with his assault cannon in order to make it possible for Zegudiel to disembark from this ruined ship in one piece as three xenos beasts are on his heels. And just as it was planned all three genestealers are ripped apart by a hail of bullets streaking from the assault cannon which jams with the final burst of ammunition. Meanwhile Barchiel covers the breach Hashmal left behind by killing another alien on Overwatch.

 

Turn 13 (1 CP):

Camael reloads his gun which takes him 4 AP which means he can´t stop three genestealers barreling down the adjacent Northern room. Barachiel manages to kill another xenos brute on Overwatch and then jams his gun leaving a single alien close by. Zegudiel is making slowly progress towards the marine exit point.

 

Turn 14 (2 CP):

Camael mows down all three genestealers in the room next to him as well as the genestealer who was charging right at Barachiel who enters Overwatch. Zegudiel has caught up and is now close to Barachiel. But the aliens keep pressure up as three more genestealers round the corner and pour into the room adjacent to Camael´s position.

 

Turn 15 (1 CP):

 Camael unloads into the three genestealers and is only able to kill two until finally his gun runs dry. Barachiel intending to sacrifice himself for the good of the team blocks the way to Camael and enters Overwatch while Zegudiel is covering the corridor which had been Hashmal´s duty. In the forthcoming firefights Zegudiel kills two genestealers on Overwatch while  Barachiel´s gun jams for yet another time. The resulting melee fight proves fatal for Barachiel.

 

Turn 16 (2 CP):

Camael turns away from combat and prepares himself to leave the ship with the MacGuffin but he will only be able to do it, if Zegudiel will be able to slay the genestealer close by who killed Barachiel. So Zegudiel  takes a step forward and kills the only remaining genestealer who could stop Camael. Unfortunately the now dead genestealer threatening Camael was hiding a blip which once revealed turns out to be three more aliens. Zegudiel manages to kill the first one but the second one overwhelms him ending his hero´s journey. The remaining genstealers are out of position to stop Camael from retreating.

 

Turn 17 (not bothered to roll):

Camael leaves the buried ship as the sole survivor though hymns of praise featuring Zegudiel´s prowess will be sung for millennia.

 

 

And that´s all folks! Remember also this: All goes well in Space Hulk until it doesn´t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by Deus_Ex_Machina