Saving Bone'ead Brogan

Xalleus, a data trader that Espern Locarno had had dealings with, approached Locarno as he was preparing for another run at the Fortress. It seems Dorg Brogan, one of the Ogryn brothers in his employ, had escorted another expedition and was long overdue. His brother, Gren, was beside himself and unable to focus on his job - protecting Xalleus - and starting to wreck things as his rage grew out of control. Xalleus asked if Locarno and his crew would mind doing a little detour to look for the waylaid Ogryn, he would make it worth their while... 

Having finished up the Brogan Brothers (I just realized, in the book, it's Broggan... But I've already painted "Brogan" on the back of Dorg's armour... so it's BROGAN with ONE "G" in my game!) I thought it might be time to do the run to save Dorg and add some potential Retinue Characters to the options for the party. 

I have changed the scenario from what was presented in the Blackstone Fortress Annual. The scenario Cultists and a Cultist Firebrand - which I don't have painted just yet. Well... I don't have the Cultists of the Abyss painted yet - the ones that come with Blackstone Fortress: Escalation (or the Cultists of the Abyss - extras box) - I DO have some other Chaos Cultists, so I thought I'd just use those. Instead of the Cultist Firebrand, I thought I'd throw in a pair of Rogue Psykers. 

I had considered adding a short access route - as the scenario called for none - but it was getting late in the day, so I just set up the single combat to save Dorg Brogan.



Starting off we were facing two Rogue Psykers, eight Traitor Guard, three Beastmen, two Chaos Space Marines, and eight Chaos Cultists! It was a large group of Hostiles, with some pretty heavy hitters!

Amanda took Amallyn Shadowguide, Asuryani Ranger and Pious Vorne, Missionary Zealot - as always. I took Espern Locarno, Imperial Navigator, as I usually do. In our Last Expedition, we lost Janus Draik and needed a new fourth member for our expedition. I had been considering UR-025, but when I point out how slow he is, Amanda suggested I pick someone else. I settled on Dahyak Grekh, the Kroot Tracker, which made sense fluff-wise. We were hired to track down a lost Ogryn in the Blackstone Fortress, it would make sense to have brought along a TRACKER!

As there were a LOT of hostiles and a convenient bottleneck right in front of the arrival location, we decided to sit tight and let them come to use - though Vorne's wall of fire and take them all down with overwatch fire! Or at least thin them out enough. Brogan looked pretty tough, we figured he could hold out at least for a little bit...



This is the furthest any got on the first turn - Beastman got right up to us... and then exploded when he stepped on Grekh's mine...



A few others burned in the fire or were taken out by overwatch fire - including one of the Chaos Space Marines - Shadowguide one-shotted him!



So many of them, though! Yikes!



Next closest was one brought back by an end-of-turn event "Not Dead Yet!" - Traitor guard we thought burned to death in the fire popped up right in front of us! 

Brogan seemed like he was holding his own. Even bashed one of those Ur-Ghuls over with his shield one turn... 

Eventually (I think it was the third turn? Maybe fourth?) we started pushing out. Vorne led the charge and roasted both the Empowered rogue Psykers!

Others finished off the rest of the hostiles. Looked like it was going to be smooth sailing...



Grekh sprinted through the empty corridors to try and aid the overwhelmed Ogryn... it was hard to get a clear shot post the bulk of the large beast and his larger shield (this is just a fluffy description - in actuality Grekh just couldn't roll dice to save his - or Brogan's life - there was no penalty for shooting past the Ogryn!)

 

And then the reinforcements started showing up... first some more Rogue Psykers - they took shots at Vorne - as she was closest - but she remained relatively unscathed. 

 After roasting the Rogue Psykers, Vorne pressed forward - setting up some fire at the nearest entrance where reinforcements could show up... just in case... doesn't hurt to be careful, right...?

 

Because show up they did! First, both the Chaos Space Marines arrived... both received Grievous Wounds as they entered... and then blasted away at Vorne with their bolters.



Then the Traitor Guard showed up. There was supposed to be eight... but because the marines were already there, there wasn't space and the extras were just discarded... These also fired on Vorne and her luck started running out - she took TWO Grievous Wounds from their fire!

The next turn the Chaos Cultists ALSO has reinforcements show up, but there was only space for one, at that point... so one it was!
 

Shadowguide took the longer way around and Vorne backed off and laid down more fire... but, unfortunately, because of the timing of things, Locarno kind of got trapped on the wrong side of the fire... so he parked far enough away and out of sight - with his forcefield on - so that none of the hostiles on the table would come after him - and any MORE reinforcements that showed up, would be shooting at him in cover with a d12 defence!

 

And show up they did! ANOTHER Chaos Space Marine! Cover and forcefield saved the day (for Locarno, at least!)

 

Eventually he was able to make it out of his hiding spot and join the others - hotly pursued by Traitor Guard!



And then MORE reinforcements showed up... because... we can't roll a d20 without rolling 1, 2, or 3, apparently!? Luckily they were two hexes away and Shadowguide had her cloak up and Locarno had his forcefield up... They are quite the defensive duo!



Vorne roasted a few more Guard...

 

And then we all skedaddled down the hall with our new friend Dorg "the Wall" Brogan - with more Traitor Guard hot on our heels!

Gadzooks! It's a good thing I didn't add in a an access route as it took over TWO HOURS to play through this - with all the reinforcements that just kept showing up.

I'm excited to try out an Expedition with an Ogryn Retinue Character!

Now to try and track down a single Flash Git and Arco-flagellant - two of the other options for Retinue Characters.

I also finished off an Eversor Assassin earlier in the evening (pics tomorrow!). So I could also try a solo game with him, sometime. There were rules in White Dwarf 451 for taking Eversor Assassins on Solo rampages through the Blackstone Fortress. I thought it might be fun to send him in on a Stronghold Assault to try and take out Obsidius Mallex, the Chaos Lord seeking to take over the Blackstone Fortress for himself!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Tomorrow I'll post pics of the new Eversor Assassin - along with another that's been touched up and rebased. I might also have a few more traitor guard I could include in the post.

On Wednesday I should be posting April Games - Part Two.

Later in the week...? More Painting..? More Blackstone Fortress game reports?