Planet 28 Additions!

  Hi!

I've been slowly working my way through some of the assorted gubbins that I've had sat for some time now and have finally got round to taking a couple of quick pics of progress thus far!

Assorted Characters

Viktor Ironhand

Viktor is a mercenary working on the fringes of Imperial space and has been known to team up with Rosario from time to time. He has undergone extensive cybernetic augmentation during his career, having had subdermal armour, muscle enhancement and numerous other, not quite legal upgrades which has resulted in him being almost impossible to kill but rather unhinged. 

Armed with a combat rifle for ranged work and the eponymous cybernetic fist, Viktor has skirted Imperial law for over a decade and will work for anyone who can provide him with the creds to keep his self appointed task of perfecting his cybernetic addiction funded.

Viktor is originally a Syntha Marine available from Seb Games.

Venerable Jorge

The Venerable Jorge is a tech cult cogitator of some renown in the Farpoint sector, both for his zeal for collecting long forgotten technical readouts and manuscripts and having absolutely no sense of humour. 

Having much of his brain replaced with a computer has resulted in the Venerable Jorge having a dull and monotonous voice which drones on in a near constant monologue, reciting long forgotten creeds and exultations. He is however invaluable to his employers due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things tech who are willing to put up with his mildly senile ramblings if it means gleaning useful technical data.

 

The Venerable Jorge is not above peeping through windows...

I sculpted Jorge as a bit of an experiment to see if I could use Fimo to create a miniature quickly and easily and while he's ok, the medium doesn't really lend itself to making the sort of figure I was hoping for but he's done and despite his massive, misshapen head and somewhat wonky details, I quite like him and I can imagine the Vernerable Jorge turning up in quite a few games in the future!

 

Lance Corporal Braithwaite of the Praetorian XV

Lance Corporal Braithwaite is currently retained in Inquisitor Fisher's retinue after she discovered he was a decent sort who could be trusted in a scrape and could brew a miraculous cup of refreshing tea. Originally a member of the Praetorian XV light infantry, Braithwaite is a perfect example of a proper Imperial Guardsman, full of Moral Fibre and tea.

Braithwaite is from an issue of Wargames Illustrated where they gave away a free sprue of British troops from I believe the Warlord Games Zulu range and I still have another three to paint at some point. I added a tiny bit of greenstuff to give him proper armoured shoulderpads and rather like him. Game wise, he comes equipped with a flask of refreshing tea which, when consumed, revives the drinker and restores D6 wounds.

Ramirez the Hive Ganger

Ramirez is a member of one of Freeport Cities many hive gangs, the Yellow Kings whose home turf is the Heights, a slum area to the north of the city and notorious for both its high crime and poor building regulations.

Ramirez is typical of the hive gangs, prepared to meet out violence to those who oppose his fellow gangers and fiercely loyal to his kin. Unsurprisingly the Yellow Kings are currently under Imperial scrutiny as their illegal activities have come to the attention of the newly bolstered Frontier Marshals office and security patrols of the Governor General have begun the thankless task of clearing the Heights of its more unseemly elements.

Ramirez is a classic Orlock Ganger from the original Necromunda set and I really enjoyed painting him up, despite his lack of a neck and massive feet!

Hub Jub the Gretchin

Hub Jub is a lowly Grot who survives at the edge of Imperial and Orkish society. He is both sneaky and underhanded but is rather adept with his autogun so sometimes desperate employers will hire his dubious services. 

Hub Jub is a classic Gretchin from the 40k 2nd edition box that I had cut the helmet spike off. Despite the simplicity of the sculpt, I do rather enjoy painting these little guys from time to time and will eventually finish all of them!

Hopefully I'll have a few more characters painted up for the next update and we shall see what exciting things happen with the Warzone Eternal kickstarter which has already reached its funding goal after less than 24 hours but in the meantime,

All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 108: Sewer Skirmish!

 Hi!

I managed to play another game of Planet 28 yesterday evening featuring Vash and an ad hoc team exploring the sewers under Freeport City in search of a nameless horror.

The Background

Following a spate of disappearances in the slums of Freeport City, Governor General Laars van Dorn has requested Inquisitor Fishers aid in discovering what became of the missing citizens. Fishers team set to work scouring the rundown area and interviewing those who claimed to have seen a shadowy creature carrying bodies down into the sewer. 

Despite initially being sceptical of this supposed creature, Fishers team discovers a vid of the said being and set out to destroy the beast. 

Inquisitor Fisher, still being rather cross with Vash for having first allowed his shuttle to be stolen and then requiring her to cut short her recuperation spa to go and rescue him has decided to send him into the sewer to try and locate the beasts layer. His usual companions, Glitterberry the Eldar and Master Lee are unavailable to help (Lee having to sit out several missions with a shattered hand following a duel with Grizelda Giggle and Glitterberry claiming he cannot go due to reasons unfathomable to mere humans) so he's brought along a ships crewman called Gunter Fung and has hired Geode the rock as some backup and has descended into the sewers under the city in search of a monster.

The Forces

Vash is armed with a power maul, las pistol and wears heavy armour. He has the Blessed ability meaning he can re-roll a failed dice every turn and is also slow due to his tendency to wander off. Geode is armed with a shotgun and light armour as well as having the Iron Skin ability and Slow to represent the strange stonelike xenos' rocky body. Fung is armed with a las pistol and has light armour.

The Sump Horror has the Brawler, Sure Footed and Climb abilities as well as causing fear, being a brawler and having poisonous attacks so is quite a beast. There are also many giant spiders in the sewers which while a nuisance are poisonous too.

The Setup

The game takes place on the first level of the sewer at a partially flooded pump station. Vash and co deploy at the southern edge of the table whilst the Sump Horror begins the game hiding somewhere on the board. 

There are six objectives that need to be searched by Vash's party which requires and action to be spent in base contact with them. On a D6 roll of 1 it uncovers a giant spider, a 2-5 reveals nothing and a 6 has the Sump Horror's position being revealed.

To make matters worse, at the end of each turn a D6 is rolled with a 1 bringing a giant spider onto a random board edge and a 6 having the Sump Horror arrive on a random board edge. The giant spiders will move D10cm in a random direction until they can make line of sight at a character when they will move to attack. Once the Sump Horror arrives, it will take control of any spiders on the board.

The pump station is also partially submerged in foul smelling water and other, less pleasant things and all black areas count as difficult terrain.

The Game

As Planet 28 uses an Agility system, Fong will activate first followed by Vash and Geode. Once the Sump Horror is revealed, it will move first followed by Fong, then the spiders then everybody else.

Turn one starts with Fung gingerly moving off the walkway and wading through the vile water towards the first objective, ending his activation in contact with some strangely glowing fungal growths.

Vash moves forward towards the corridor that is blocked by a door but notices a second objective east of his position in the form of a large pipe with interesting graffiti and a flickering control panel.

Geode racks the slide of his pump action shotgun and rumbles forward towards the doorway as fast as his rocklike body can move. Turn one ends with no spiders appearing.

Turn two begins with Fung searching gingerly through the glowing fungi but finding nothing before wading back towards the walkway. Vash wades out towards the second objective but his heavy armour slows him down considerably. Geode continues his slow progress towards the doorway, intent on earning his pay for the mission. A spider appears from the depths of the northern edge of the pump station and scurries forward, it's beady eyes glowing in the gloom.

Fung wades back out of the water and climbs onto the walkway preparing to head further into the station and is joined by Vash who has discovered that his objective, while fascinating isn't the hiding place of the Sump Horror.

Geode reaches the door but finds it locked and is unable to open the portal (possibly because he has no hands!) and finally a giant spider appears behind the party.

Hearing the scuttling, Fung turns and repeatedly fires at the vile creature, las bolts lighting the station and succeeds in bringing the beast down but worryingly it takes two direct hits from a las pistol to kill it.

Seeing the creature killed, Vash moves towards the doorway that Geode is attempting to open and geode once again fails to open the doorway and resorts to smashing into it with his face which finally works and the doorway grinds open. Finally a second giant spider appears at the northern end of the station and joins its companion scuttling around in the dark.

Annoyingly, Geode is now blocking the doorway and the rest of the party can only move forward to peer over his rocky head towards the northern end of the station, aware of increased scuttling noises emerging from the gloom.

And the scuttling increases as the Sump Horror lurches out from the depths of the northern end of the station. Pausing it cocks its head and listens before writhing forward the noise of the interlopers, it's poisoned maw chittering at the spiders surrounding it.

Stuck behind the bulk of Geode, Fung and Vash hold their positions, pistols aimed towards the distant chittering. Geode finally shifts himself grinding forwards and clearing the way allowing the other members of the party to enter the northern section of the station.

The wily Sump Horror scurries forward, ensuing it will not be spotted by the adventurers and gestures the two spiders accompanying it to move forward. Any attempt to deal with the creature by the adventurers will require them to put down the spiders first. 

Fung moves forward, is pistol raised and nervously holds his position while Vash moves in behind him, hefting his maul. Geode moves to the corner of a structure and spots the approaching spiders. Taking aim with his shotgun he blasts the closer creature, sending it flying backwards dripping ichor but the creature pulls itself upright. Finally, and somewhat foolishly, Fung moves up the stairway and sees what is hiding behind it.

Uttering a shriek, he tries to aim his pistol but the Sump Horror is quicker, launching itself from the water it rushes the terrified security trooper and sinks it's poisoned maw into Fung's arm, mauled and now reeling from the poison from the creatures bite, Fung bats at the creature's malformed face with the butt of his pistol but the creatures rubbery skin is undamaged and the melee continues.

The two spiders rush Geode and scurry over his rocky body trying to bite the mercenary but his hard body is unaffected by such trivial scratches. Lifting his maul, Vash charges up the stairs and brings it down on the Sump Monsters head. The impact squashes the creature's head and sends it reeling, badly wounded and spraying ichor from its terrible wound.

The creature isn't dead though and it lunges towards Vash and scrabbles at his armour, desperate to bite and claw the being that has hurt it but his armour holds true. Fung, now badly injured and envenomed, takes a couple of feeble swings at the beast but his vision is blurring and his attacks fail to connect with the Horror.

The remaining spiders still attempt in vain to injure Geode but the rock is made of sterner stuff and is again unwounded.

With a mighty swing, Vash's maul once more impacts on the Sump Horror, caving it its ribs and it collapses to the ground dead. Shaking goo off his hammer, Vash glances over towards his companion, Fung is looking decidedly unwell, swaying and mumbling incoherently and looking a bit wan. Maybe it's time to get out of here as the creature is very dead and the security trooper needs medical attention.

Geode attempts to strike one of the giant spiders attacking him and after an initial failure, succeeds in crushing the vile creature.

Suddenly Fung issues a terrified wail and breaks back towards the entryway, the venom coursing through his veins making him delirious. Ignoring the combat still raging, the trooper lurches towards the door, his only thought to escape the stinking sewer.

The remaining spider is still swarming Geode ineffectually and Vash, moving to restrain his security trooper splats the creature as it perches atop Geode. Geode for his part is glad the mission is complete and begins to move towards the door and the receding back of Fung.

Unfortunately for Fung, two giant spiders appear at the entryway and he lurches around, bursting past his companions and flees into the sewers, his cries fading into the gloom.

Vash moves forward and pops off a shot from his las pistol killing the first creature as it approaches while Geode fires on the second but misses it. The spider launches itself at Geode driving the rocklike being back with it's ferocity but failing to damage him.

Vash swings his trusty maul at the creature but only succeeds in grazing it and it is up to Geode to finish it off with a stomp, reducing the filthy creature to jelly.

Things are looking grim for the adventurers as more spiders begin appearing from the entryway and combined las pistol and shotgun fire roars echos throughout the narrow confines of the corridor as the two remaining adventurers slowly move forward blasting the scuttling creatures off the floor, walls and ceiling as they attempt to escape the pump station.

 

Eventually, Geode makes it off the board but just as he leaves, a fresh wave of spiders descends on Vash. In the ensuing melee, Vash repeatedly fends off the venomous beasts and carves an ichor soaked ruin through their bodies before battling his way to freedom.

The Conclusion

Inquisitor Fisher impatiently waits next to an open manhole, tapping her foot as she awaits the return of Vash who was only supposed to be five minutes, Geralt the Wolfbane who is peering down the hole announces that he sees something as the rocky form of Geode rumbles up the ladder followed by a somewhat bedraggled Vash. The Mechanicus is covered in sewer water, ichor and cobwebs and both Geralt and Fisher draw weapons, half convinced that the Sump Horror has made an appearance before relaxing when they recognise their companion.

After a brief explanation, Vash is sent off to be hosed down by a grinning Geralt and Fisher departs to report the creature's death to the Governor General. Yes the creature is dead but according to Vash's account, the sewers need a more thorough investigation and Fisher is going to have to get dirty doing it.

And another fun game was had! I rolled lots of spider reinforcements during the game and giving them five points of damage really slowed the adventurers down whilst the appearance of the Sump Horror relatively early made for an unexpected occurrence but it was rather fitting to have it leap from the shadows to maul a hapless goon and what became of Gunter Fung? Did he succumb to his wounds, dying alone in the depths of the sewers or did he survive, slowly mutating into the very thing he sought to destroy?

Only time will tell as my next game will feature Inquisitor Fisher and co moving into the sewers to delve into level two. What fresh horrors will they discover?

I've really enjoyed playing these super small, scenario driven games and will continue with the campaign over the coming weeks so until then, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 97: Mercenary and Combat Cyborg!

 Hi!

I've finished painting a new figure for my collection and have a revamped one done too!

First up theres Rosario Ramirez, Mercenary:

Rosario is a native of Farpoint but having no interest in mining, joined one of the many mercenary guilds that make their home on the frontier in search of a more lucrative and exciting profession. 

She's both competent and highly motivated and has been much sought after, working mostly short term contracts. Her latest employer is a bit of a mystery but pays well and has dispatched her along with a small team to the seedier parts of Freeport City, Farpoint's capitol. She has spent the last week surveilling a compound near the Starport and suspects she's' going be getting some action soon.

Rosario is originally one of the Syntha marines from Void 1.1 but she's generic and interesting enough to make for a good freelance gun. I'm painting a few more similar figures at present to give me a decent little Merc team to work for unknown employers doing shady deeds.

Next up there's Cassius the Combat Cyborg:

Unlike the clunky Servitors of Maximo, Vash has developed cutting edge cybernetic bodies for his own followers and his latest construct is Cassius. Once a lowly security trooper that was badly shot up in one of Inquisitor Fishers skirmishes with the Orks, Cassius now finds himself encased in Ceramite and armed with a Lightning Claw and rapid fire Bolter to bring the Empress' Justice to the uncouth.

Cassius is another old Syntha model from Void 1.1, this time an Assault Androsynth and was painted by me about 8 years ago and has been sat in storage ever since. I've reworked him quite a bit with a fresh coat of paint to jazz up the red and black and he now sports Non Metallic Metallic gear and I plan on using him in an upcoming game as Master Lee is out of action for the next four games!

Speaking of games, I managed to play out a bit of a playtest of a scenario idea I had for Planet 28 using the experimental D100 method that was posted over on Facebook a while back. It was brilliant fun to play and resulted in some nail biting moments. I didn't get any photos as some of the figures weren't completed and the scenery still needs working on but I'll play it again this weekend and will post a full battle report.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 94: Skirmish in Space!

 Hi!

I managed to play another game of Planet 28 last night so without further ado, on with the battle report:

The Background

Following the encounter at WAREHOUSE EPSILON, Vulcan and Grizelda have returned to their master with the mysterious artifact that they recovered. Maximo has deduced that further clues to the item he is looking for can be found aboard the long abandoned space hulk classified Venga B9 that floats far out on the periphery of the Farpoint System.

Knowing that Vash has been interfering with his plans, he has dispatched his right hand woman, Mistress Vex with a small party to recover the clues to the Phalantir, an ancient item of Lostech that is vital to his research.

Vash has tracked his opponent's shuttle to the forgotten hulk and has followed with his own craft. Landing in one of the ancient ships landing bays and discovering the vessel still has something of an atmosphere, he determines to intercept the mystery force and glean details of the artifact for himself.

The Forces

Vash has brought his usual companions, Master Lee and Glitterberry. Vash is armed with a Power Maul, Las Pistol and Heavy Armour and has the abilities of Luck and Slow. Master Lee, following his previous games has been given a Powerfist to represent his awesome combat skills as well as Bulwark, Brawler and Throw. Glitterberry has a Heavy Rifle and Medium Armour and his skill is Coward (he's none too keen on getting up close and personal with enemies having taken a club to the face in a previous game)

Mistress Vex has brought Grizelda and Vulcan, both who have been patched up following the skirmish at Warehouse Epislon. Vex is armed with a Great Blade, Las Pistol and Medium Armour and has the skills Foul Aura and Heal (representing the smokestacks on her backpack that constantly belch smoke and her tech abilities to repair her minions), Grizelda is armed with a Power Fist and has the skills of Fast, Berserk and Unshakable as she's hopped up on combat drugs. Vulcan has a Flamer and Medium Armour and the skill Iron Skin.

The Layout 

The labyrinthine and rusting corridors and cargo bays of the space hulk Venga B9. There are four items of salvage to be found, one in each quarter of the board. The doorways to these require a 5+ on a D10 to open apart from the two accessing the central vault which require an 8+. 

The four salvage items require an action spent rummaging to find anything with a roll of a 5+ resulting in a success. 

The two warbands enter the board at opposite corners with Vex appearing on the North West and Vash in the South East edges. 

The Game

Both Grizelda and Lee make a break towards the doors to the eastern sector with Grizelda's greater speed allowing her to reach her door first but not having any actions left to try and open the rusting portal.

Glitterberry makes a run towards the nearby scrap pile, nervously glancing around the shadowy hulk as he’s concerned that his warning of multi limbed monstrosities has been ignored by Vash.

Meanwhile Vulcan strides towards the nearest salvage and starts rummaging and Mistress Vex moves forward towards the Southern doorway.

Finally Vash ambles toward the central doorway, pausing occasionally to note down some fascinating architectural element, positive that with a bit of work and enough servitors he could put the hulk back together and possibly use it as a base or research laboratory.

Turn two sees Grizelda fail to get the door open on her first try but manages on the second. Meanwhile, Lee has no similar problems, reaching his own door and opening it with ease, preparing to slip through into the next chamber.

Glitterberry reaches the nearby salvage and his keen eyes pick out an interesting shiny piece of tech which he pockets for later. (To simplify things, I decided that instead of having to lug said salvage around, it was enough for either party to have discovered it. In future games it may be fun to have them beating each other up over it but I'm still familiarising myself with the rules so kept it as easy as I could!).

Vex, her sensors detecting movement nearby realises that she must get a move on and rushes the southern door, intent on finding out who the unwanted company is.

Vulcan also discovers his own salvage among the junk and then moves towards the central doorway.

Vash’s sensor array picks up that his party is being scanned and moves as quickly as possible toward the central doorway.

Turn 3 sees Grizelda rush the third scrap pile and discovers the tech. With Mistress Vex's party having secured two of the salvage items to Vash's one, its going to come down to who can break into the central vault first to decide the outcome of the game!

Lee rushes into the cargo hold, and prepares to charge the insane cyborg next round as he wants to introduce to Grizelda to his new technique, Powerfist to Face.

Vex opens the southern doorway and peers through and realises that the salvage in this quarter has already been claimed but decides to continue into her opponents zone to attack them from the rear as her minions attack from the front.

Vulcan moves toward the central door but fails to open it, not realising it is a push door, instead pulling with all his might...

Vash moves towards the central door and prepares to open it next turn, hefting his power maul in preparation for whatever he may find within. Could it be untold riches, priceless archeotech or ancient bottles of booze?

Turn three starts with Lee catching Grizelda as she rushes back to her own deployment zone and delivers a flurry of kicks and punches, taking her down to 10 points of damage. In return, she wounds him with one successful attack but misses her second roll and the swirling melee will continue until the next turn, neither warrior able to land a decisive blow or willing to give way to their opponent.

Glitterberry moves back toward the central doorway, preparing to give covering fire to whoever needs it but unsure who to follow. Does he go to Lee whose distant combat he can hear echoing through the chamber or stick with Vash who is intent on discovering the contents of the central vault!

Vex moves into the southern zone and strides towards the eastern door, aware that at least one of her minions have finally encountered resistance.

Vulcan opens the door and moves in, ready to check the last scrap token.

Vash opens his doorway and charges towards Vulcan but his charge is just short. (Apologies as I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of much of turn three due to the excitement!)

Turn four begins and in a brutal display of insane savagery, Grizelda puts Lee out of action and sprints towards her companions.

Glitterberry flits into the central vault behind Vash and opens fire on Vulcan over Vash’s shoulder but his burst of fire flies wide, the shuriken shrieking harmlessly past the Mechanicus and embedding themselves in the wall behind him.

Vex opens the door to the eastern sector and strides in but is becoming aware that her flanking move is taking far too long and by the time she reaches the central vault, she may be too late.

Vulcan attacks Vash but his combination of poor combat skills and Vash’s heavy armour results in no damage being done to the blonde. (This was a foolish mistake as he should have opened fire with his flamethrower which would have probably torched Vash and damaged Glitterberry!)

In return, Vash swings his power maul but misses but thanks to his lucky roll, then hits and badly damages Vulcan and a second swing takes the flamethrower wielding Mechanicus out of action.

Turn five has Grizelda charge towards the central vault but only manages to get to the doorway in time to see Vash standing over the form of Vulcan.

Glitterberry, sure that his boss will take care of the lunatic begins rifling through the scrap pile and on his second attempt finds the last item. 

Vex rushes towards the sound of combat but is cautious as Vulcans icon on her display has just gone dark so caution is required.

Vash pumped up on his last combat, cheerfully charges Grizelda and manages to take her out of combat too with a single swing of his power maul.

The final turn has Glitterberry turn and glance movement behind them and moves out of the vault and seeing Vex opens fire, damaging the begowned Mechanicus but failing to stop her.

Seeing her second minions icon blink out, Vex makes a snap decision, her force has recovered two artefacts and she’s now outnumbered and has now started taking damage. She decides discretion is the best bet and makes a break for Vash’s deployment zone, aware that he has foolishly left his shuttlecraft unattended.

Vash stumbles out of the vault behind Glitterberry in time to see Vex disappear round the corner and off towards his shuttle.

Conclusion

Vash and Glitterberry find Lee and administer first aid to the increasingly scarred martial artist and send a distress signal back to The Shrike, hopeful that Inquisitor Fisher will come to their aid, especially now there is mysterious Xenos tech, rogue Mechanicus and a space hulk to investigate.

Speaking of which, Vash is fairly sure that he’s seen something moving at the edge of his sensor array so hopefully the Shrike will arrive soon before whatever gribbly is is doesn’t decide to probe them…

So there we have it, both sides got two tech items and following the Planet 28 campaign rules, I rolled to see what happened.

Vash survived unscathed and gained 20 experience, Glitterberry earned 13 and Lee survived but has been left with a shattered hand so will be taking a break while his hand heals but still gained 3 experience. 

Vex earned 12 experience and has teleported her injured to safety (I gave her an extra five due to her theft of Vash's shuttle!). Vulcan is slowly healing so will miss the next game and earned 3 experience. Grizelda is shaken but thanks to being insane and hopped up on combat drugs is fine and earned 9 experience.

As both parties took two salvage items, I decided to give both 10 points of experience.

Looking back, I should have introduced some roaming monsters to menace the parties and Vex should have stuck with Vulcan as her abilities would have aided him and hurt Vash to boot but her stealing his shuttle seemed apt. Similarly Vulcan deciding to charge the heavily armed and armoured Vash who also outclassed him was foolish and he should have torched him with his flamer. Maybe he didn't want to destroy the last salvage item in a cataclysm of promethium or acted on instinct!

I'm really enjoying playing Planet 28 as it's simple but works really well at representing small skirmishes. I'll have to see what I can get painted for my next game and both sides have earned quite a bit of experience so will see if new companions arrive and if they advance any of their stats!

The Space Crusade board worked really well and with the addition of a few more odds and ends will be making a fairly regular appearance in my games as it has proved to be rather handy for representing combat in buildings or aboard spaceships now but in the meantime, All the best!