A Prison for Gods: Finale.

So after 7 months of gaming the Prison for Gods campaign is finally over. Last saturday the players were invited to one last narrative driven game as the forces of the Faustian Schism attempted to reach the ultimate prize: The gateway to the Duat, resting place of the Necrons sealed away technologies, and the most dangerous of Ctan.

As is typical of such events, not everyone could make it, but we did have a nice complement:

• Rory "Rottimus" with his undefeated Black Scorpions Space Marines.
• William "Wimaro" with his new and beautifully painted Ibraesil Craftworld Eldar.
• Chris "Soundslave" with his perverted and insane Dark Eldar with their famous leader Ozzy.
• Thomas "Lucky" with his determined and plasma shy Krieg Imperial Guard.
• Magnus "Sneaky bastard" with his Black Watch Imperial Guard.
• And me.  With my Necrons.  You know, the freaking antagonists of this adventure.  

Remember that last bit.  Because it matters.  It really does.

The Finale. (Lotsa pics!)

Around the orbit of the rogue world of Solemnum fleets of all the forces engaged with each other and the heavy automated defences of that mysterious planet. Burning black on red as its very core reignited with the heat from the local star, Solemnum was awakening. Having since long been in the cold, it was said that the kiss of a red star would open the gates. There had been truth to this. Energised by the boiling core of the planet, the ancient technologies that lay under the surface like bones took in that hyper-geothermal energy and powered itself.  

The only point on the planet which was not simply deadly Pylon networks, was a simple ziggurat, located north of the equatorial belt.  

Only a few of the forces in orbit above managed to send down forces, and of them, little would ever make it.  Between the violent magma storms and the Necron defences, it had been clearly stated as a suicide mission.  But then, promises had been made and there had been truth to them.  Threats old and dark, power unimaginable.  Many would risk death.

The Objectives.

The strategic objectives for the game were simple enough, the Ziggurat would yield a massive 6pts at the end of the game, while the Pylon and the Power Conduit would give 3.  Each player, took a secret Agenda card, depicting their personal intent.  Though on two sides, each player would have their own objectives, which would affect the game, and their allies.  As we found out, to horrendous levels!

They could either choose:

• Duty - Selfless Glory
• Ascendancy - Selfish Glory
• Destruction - Wanton Anarchy

Each one gave bonuses to one of the tables, and hinted at things that could happen on the board.  

Turn One.

The game started with the Dark Eldar revealing their allegiance to the last force anyone could exp- nah, who am I kidding. Chaos had allied with ozzy it seemed, as a Hellbrute took up office at the Pylon structure, instantly giving the Dark Eldar the reserves bonuses. 

Meanwhile, Lucius the Eternal deployed on the Ziggurat itself, already prepared to breach the Prison proper.  With the Shard Keys in their possession, most of the Necron defences and security would open to them. 

The Necrons had deployed two squads of ten warriors around the ziggurat, poised to take the fight as soon as possible. 

Though the Necron side had won deployment, after a reminder from Wimaro, the Dark Eldar side attempted to Seize the Initiative, and won!  Which was bad for them. As reserves would be coming on in turn one on a 4+.

The following is sadly a brutally simple report of what happened...

Reserve rolls prove to be highly unreliable, the majority of Black Scorpions are delayed while the majority of Iybraesil Craftworld Eldar turn up with devastating effect,.

The Necron Warriors make a move to seize the Pylon from the Helbrute as their strongest allies are refused a landing space.

And promptly fail to do anything worthy of note.

A typical sight, especially in 7th Edition...

After failing to Breach the gate on turn one, Lucius charges into the arms of the waiting Lych Guard, whose 3++ saves prove to be a pain.  Locked in combat, the two groups would get to know each other quite well...

The skies fill with fliers as the Dark Eldar's only air support delivers its Necrotoxin payload on the Necron Immortals, with disapointing results.  Imperial gunships deliver punishing lascannon support.

On the left, Dark Eldar Haemonculus and his body guard deep strike with perfection and no scatter to bring 3 "poop" guns.  Necron endurance is the only thing which saves them from total annihilation.

The Black Scoprions finally arrive, at the foot of the Ziggurat with an impressive display.  And then Rottimus fails his charge roll (3"!), meaning assured pain in the next enemy shooting phase.  A key point in the battle.  Tears may or may not have been shed, cups of tea required.

The fight for the Ziggurat heats up as Ozzy gambles everything by teleporting in on the hotspot.  As the rules for the portal borrow from the rules for Embarkation, he would have to endure a whole turn before being able to try and enter!

The Dark Eldar Scourges would provide more than a little help in this game, sniping with Dark Lances from afar, they proved yet again to be more reliable then the Ravager.

"Spare me from the destructive stupidity of Mon Keigh 'bravery'"
- Heard from an Iybraesil Dire Avenger.

Taking aim on the Power Conduit, the Shadow Sword "Last Duty" fired its Volcano Cannon.  The Power Conduit, a control node keeping the planets geothermal discharge in balance shook from the hit that overloaded its many ancient defences.  The Shadow Sword would fire two more times during the game, every attempt to stop it defeated by luck or by the Super Heavies sheer raw toughness.

The 3rd shot, saw it kill its prey. The entire freaking planet.

Managing to roll on the Cataclysm table, Thomas gleefully revealed his Agenda was Duty, gaining him a +1 on the chart in his mission to destroy the gate by any means necessary.  He rolled a 6.  Meaning the planet would die, quickly and violently.  A clock had been started and each turn from now on, everything there would take a strength 10 ap 2 hit.  In hindsight, this was waaaay too much.  But damn did it feel like the world was ending.

Half the boards figures disappeared as the crust opened and poured lava death across the battlefield.  Grand Warlords and tanks were taken out scorched and blackened and entire unites were vaporised by sudden gusts of superheated air.

Despite the chaos, the fighting continued. More Necrons deployed, though what was a populated board quickly got reduced to desperate heroics by survivors and new reinforcements. 

The fighting between Lucius the Eternal and his opponents would come to an end as his "girlfriend" turned up to help.

Hey.  Can you hear something?

Another rules quandry.  There would be sadly... several.  Seriously, screw 7th.

Obligatory butt shot.

 In the end, Ozzy of the Dark Eldar was locked in combat, to be taken out by falling chunks of burning rock.  Even Lucious the Eternal, as he ran for the crystal at the top, was knocked away by the storm. The Daemonic entity of the Keeper of Secrets though, charged in, removed form sight by an incandescent snap of green lightning.

Within the Duat, the Deamon Queen tapped into the secrets there within, corrupting some of the ancient Prison for her master.  Filling herself with the secrets of Necrodermis and Ctan solar energies.
However, before she could re-emerge as an angel of death, another angel of death ran in behind her.

No-one knows what happened within the Prison, as Brother Cyrus took on the one way trip, closing the Portal behind him.  Trapped within with a dimension of danger and a raging Slanneshi daemon as his only partner, his fate would be another story...

Meanwhile, the planet breathed its last as entire continental tectonic plates split and ruptured.  The surviving forces fled, many having their promised treasure denied, some wondering if the losses were worth it...

In the end, the Ziggurat was held by the Necron side, as was the other two objectives, winning an otherwise losing battle.  Though the prison had been breached, the planet itself had been slain, and the Daemon which had managed to become something even worse, denied escape.  For now.

Of the Overlord of the Necrons, his delayed trip and late arrival would need review...


An over-larged skeletal hand wrapped around the Cryptek's extended skull, gripping tightly, drawing the servent high.  Overlord Hautsi regarded the squirming Cryptek as he forcibly scanned his  coding. Lines of Necrontyr, calculations and script screamed across his vision, stopping as he found what he had expected.  

"SO. YOU ARE ALLIED TO ANOTHER." He stated.  Slamming the Cryptek against the sheer black wall.  The wall cracked, but not as much as the Cryptek's skull.  The mewling static informed him that he had broken his vocal emitter. 
"ThE OtHErs, We, wE feaRed YouR IntEnTions."

The Overlord dropped the Cryptek, who clumped up like a toy mannequin. 

"THE TRAZIAN DYNASTY HAS ALWAYS BEEN SLAVES TO GODS. GODS OF OLD LEAD US TO BETRAYAL.  THE FAKE GODS LED US TO DAMNATION.  THE NEW GODS I WILL FORGE WILL NOT.  WE WILL WORSHIP THEM, AND THEY WILL DO OUR BIDDING."

The Overlord was pacing fists clenching, he was panting, more as an ancient habit then born of any need.  The repair protocols on his face plate were malfunctioning, his death mask shifting from a skull to something more organic but at the same time infernal: Snarling and bestial.

"BuT WHy?  Said the Cryptek, the blood red Anhk of the Dynasty now changed to that of his true allegiance, that of Sautek.  "wE Don'T NeEd TheM!"

Hautsi crooned over the Cryptek, face inches away. 
"BECAUSE THE NEW GODS WILL HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO UNDO.  THE POWER TO BRING BACK WHAT WE LOST. WHAT WE TRULY SACRIFICED FOR THIS."

"OuR SOuls?" The Cryptek chuckled, green discharge like liquid lightning erupting from the cracks on his skull.

The Overlord came closer, eyes of balefire burning, the Cryptek, despite all of his immense knowledge of the technoarcana, could feel the rage, the insanity.

"NO. OUR CHILDREN."

And that was that.  Next up, the boring bit, the results.

Terrain for the Necrons, from ttcombat. A Review.

Now as a little aside, I've gone and spent a surprisingly low sum on acquiring some MDF laser cut terrain from a not too well known company called ttcombat.com.

Originally this was discussed on the Facebook Necrons page (hi guys!) I decided to share my findings and experience dealing with this UK based company.  Because lets be honest, there are sadly a few companies out there which waste our time or worse, steal our money.  Not many by far, but enough to check before buying.

So.  I ordered the following:

• The Cyber Bunker.
• The Cyber Tower.
• The Cyber Defence Platform.

This ironically, with international posting came to under 40 GBP.  As you can expect, I was damn happy with that price.  Especially for what I got!

What and where are these things then?

Ttcombat first came to my attention on their evilbay store, and then on their website, which appeared on the afore mentioned Facebook page.  They are a small company and began selling their products to further their primary goal of being a base for "news and reviews."

Obviously, they were a victim of their own success and having discovered a demand, went nuts. Seriously, they have some amazing ideas.

The products arrived with signed tracked deliveries within the expected 2 weeks.  Everything was well protected and even the torn cellophane on one had been packed in a box with plastic wotsits.  Someone had gone to lengths to make sure I got my stuff safely.

Their products are made in 3mm MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and come in the form of plates which have had key segments laser cut to a point where you can punch out components.  These components are often detailed with laser burns that cut through half way, creating a variety of patterns.

Now I've acquired these for the last battle for our local narrative campaign "A Prison For Gods" as it reaches its climax at the end of this May. How these scenery elements work for that game?  I am not telling you.  Like the players, you gonna have to wait, son!

Assembly.

Firstly, I want to talk about the little extras.  Like the old action figures of the 80's these sets come with these interesting little wall sections.  Much sturdier than card, they make for an interesting incentive to get more terrain just to have enough for an Aegis line.  They certainly arn't intricate in their design though, and the back is completely bare.

This made me sad...

The construction is robust, as mentioned before, layering up the core of the build to double thickness while using the opportunity to create depth on the figure.  The sides slot on like jigsaw pieces and the whole construciton can be glued together with PVA (Woodglue, recommended adhesive) in a matter of minutes.  Note these things do not come with bases.  Not that they would need them, I'm just a bit OCD about my bases is all...

Now I didn't do these walls first, something I should have done in hindsight as to get use to the process of handling MDF, luckily this isn't my first rodeo, but for anyone unused to assembling laser cut MDF, mess around with things like these first and work out those oversights and mistakes. 

The Cyber Bunker.

Straight in with the big one.  This central piece was based around a standard criss crossed structure which slots together without need for trimming.  Intrestingly enough I was expecting to need to cut out the bits from the sprue with a scalpal but they just popped out and required next to no cutting bar a tiny 1mm connecting point here and there.  Which to be fair, didnt need to be tidied up.  You can really be lazy with this kit.  And I can be damn lazy. 

Now I began to worry at this point that the main roof section might be a bit, fiddly to place correctly, but huzzaa!  the ttcombat team thought ahead.  The criss crossing bits came with a lip, designed to help the roof settle in place and creating a very solid structure to work from.  Such a simple design addition allowed me to thankfully avoid the danse of drying PVA glue while I tried to make sure everything was flush and perfect!

Seriously.  Yes!

Consulting the instructions, I ploughed ahead (total assembly time so far: 20 mins), assembling the sides, which come in to doubles, one pair possessing a couple of mm extra to overlap on the corners.  They essentially sit on the slopping struts without much ceremony. Thanks to the stable base, went on near completely flush. 

Now the base was complete, with all that burned in detail it really was taking shape, but it seriously lacked detail that popped. Thankfully, and apologies for the lack of photo at this stage, each level has a number of "fins" that slot straight into the hole pictured above, really echoing the older Necron Monolith design.

The second level had the same construction as the first, criss crossing struts and the detailed fins along the sides. This time however the roof contained slots for the addition of four hooked details that again was very reminiscent of the Monolith and the more recent Ghost Arks prow. These details were doubled up to 6mm in width and I doubt could easily be snapped! Though it did sacrifice the more angled finish of the plastic.  

It was at this point I dove into doing the steps.  You get four sets in total, although the website only shows two.  This gives some interesting options.  For me, I planned on two on either end, allowing for some excellent king of the hill like opportunities. The steps were simple affairs, four steps slotting in without room for confusion.  Sadly, the pieces are without decoration, but are very tough. 

Both levels, have one of these details, constructed from a circle and four "petals" forming a slot which, you will never guess, fits the Monolith Crystal almost perfectly. This indicates to me though that the designers wanted to allow us to vary the construciton somewhat, having the first level and the second level seperate buildings whenever we felt like.  For me though, I wanted a tough piece of terrain, so I would be gluing on the second level.

Adding the steps and them slapping the lot onto a base, voila.  Total construction time, 30 minutes, mostly waiting for the glue to dry.  This set is perfect for emergency builds. Not too sure on the painting yet, but I plan on building up the sides with wood or wall filler to show it being partly emerging from the earth, old school necron style!

The Cyber Tower

The next kit was much smaller, and I was interested to find out how ttcombat would go about a detailed box build. Usually, attaching the top layers can be a nightmare of symmatry and basically getting stuff in the right place.  

As before, the sprue was well cut, pieces could be popped out with no risk of damage.  I neatened the little tab that remained just in case with a sharp scalpel.  Actually managed to NOT cut the crap out of my thumb this time... 

The initial box was a jigsaw build, as you can tell it was very sturdy and everything slotted on during the dry build without errors or issues.

Now the interesting part.  The outer layers were attached on the edges: two matching jigsaw parths that when aligned against the corner ensured correct and symmetrical placement. I had a bit of an accident with one piece that was troublesome, but nothing worth going into.

Total build time: 15 minutes. 

Though the final touch was the centre circle component, which had to be set in by eye.  I thought I'd done a good job but the next morning I noted that one had drooped during the night.  Damn.  Still, lesson learned.  Patience and letting it dry on its side would have helped there.

A really simple kit which on thinking about it, would have looked nice ontop of the Cyber Bunker!  Very reminicient of the Dawn of War Necron buildings.

The Cyber Defence Platform.

Then came the one which everyone seemed interested in.  The Cyber Defence Platform.  This one promised to be more complecated then the other two by virtue of being more detailed.  

As usual, I popped out the bits, which were mainly repeating braces for the feet sections and the big cresent arm making up the gun.

The instructions for this degraded in clarity as I went along, sadly by the end I was comparing before and after pics to figure out what had gone where in each picture. At this point though, it was hitting midnight and my light was getting worse.  Sadly my Samsung Core didnt really have the pull to do the figure justice.



The model was made up mostly of the layered up feet and carriage which thanks to interweaving braces proved to be very tough.  The carriage itself was one layer 3mm thick and does bend when pressed on.

The carriage had an interesting circle swivel join which in the instructions said "don't glue", however I couldn't figure out how this benefited the model at that time.  In hindsight, I think the plate which sits on top of the carriage wasn't meant to me glued with, so the weapon could feasibly turn in place.  Again, the instructions could do with a slight go over to make this clearer.

Despite this, the kit was easily to assemble and I had it up in around 30 minutes.  The weapon comes with two forms of vanes but to be honest the alternative set just couldn't compete.

Mini Cthulu for Scale purposes only.

I mentioned briefly before the issues with the instructions for this piece, this was especially true of the weapon barrel, which turned out to be far more complicated than expected.  It felt poorly explained, measured and in the end I gave up in favour of something more appealing from my bits box: A Necron Doomsday gun!!  Just needed a touch of bits to fill in holes and boom.

My penchant for bases demand I cut some up and glue it down, but I decided to keep the gun itself loose as to pack it away easiler.  Currently looking into magnets as an option but basically the whole thing is practically snap fit.

Use in games?

The Cyber Bunker is essentially a hill. Great for blocking line of sight.  In more narrative games, this could include non deep-striking rules for the top, maybe something borrowing the Monoliths Eternity Gate? Or even using the Forgeworld Tomb rules?  For me, I'm happy with it being a simple hill for objectives to be fought over.

The Cyber Tower is more of an aesthitic piece. Its height is great and it looks fantastic, but its lack of width means it really only affects so much in terms of LOS.  Would make an excellent objective or with some extras on top a very Dawn of War: Dark Crusade inspired turret.  Count as Vengeance weapons platform?

Now the Cyber Defence Platform, the big questions is: Necron Pylon?  Or Necron Sentry Pylon?

Sadly, its somewhere between the two.

To give you an idea, the MDF Cyber Defence Platform is 22cm tall. Accoring to Dinodeampostcat on Librariumonline, the FW Pylon is a wopping 29 cm from base to top.  The Sentry Pylon is 15cm high. Meaning the Cyber Platform sits almost in between.  So whats to do?

After chatting with some in the group, it can be argued to be used as a traditional Pylon.  After all, with true LOS, this means if I can see you, you can see me.  And the reduction in height also makes it easier for incoming fliers (the unit it excels at ending) to find a spot to hide behind.

But the decision is yours, and your groups.  At a little of 7 quid, what do you think?

Thanks for reading!
R

Slaanesh Greater Daemon - Project for a friend.

For my fellow Chaos new comer Soundslave, I was tasked with nailing together this bad lady for his birthday. No small task this, but damn what a learning curve.

 As usual with Forge World resin, first you check components, remove flash and wash away any residue with warm soapy water.  Also remembering to rebend stuff back into shape with hot hot water!

I was trying to escape this, knew I couldn't.  Slaanesh don't make them sturdy.  Beginning from the bottom (NO JOKES!), I worked at pinning the legs together using rubber coated paper clip.

Thankfully it required next to no GS work to smooth out.  So far, so good.

The most potentially problematic part, the sword arm.  I found if I removed the rubber sleeve from the paper clip, I could use the bare metal to have a thinner pinning rod to mount the sword to the fist!  Only took me an hour to figure that one out.

 Lower arms went on first, as to avoid the chance that I wouldnt be able to reach it later on.  Bottom up, remember?

All arms attached, pinned and green stuffed to fill any voids within the joints.  It is perfectly fine to dab in the superglue on the GS as you mount the arms as the superglue makes the stuff harden damn quick.  Dirty but effective!

After a couple of attempts to set in those blasted spikes on her leg, I noticed that the flash on the spikes was nearly identical in width and size to my pin vice's drill bit.  So, I drilled some holes...

And mounted every single damn spike except for those on her left breast, which was just silly.

Using crude GS and superglue, I mounted her to the base, using a paint mug to support her as she dried overnight.

Using the trick with the paper clips, I used boiling water to bend the hair before drilling and mounting every single one from the inside out. Took time, but it was worth the effort.

It was at this point I noticed the horn there on the left was lacking some interior bulk.  A bit late, I decided to fill it with more GS and smooth it as it dried.  Pain in the ass, but worked a treat!

Used some old Base Resin decorations to weight the base and add some flavour.  The trick is to make it so the sand reaches level to the resin plate and not make it "look" like the damn thing is sticking out of the ground!

A few layers of sand with superglue to add varying height and badaboom!

Overall, Zarakiel?  This Daemon Princess was a painful joy to make.  Almost felt bad for handing her over, but I'm sure we will meet again on the table.
*Checking rules in Forge World's Imperial Armour 13...

Oh gods I hope not!!! O_O

Now I need one!