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.

A Prison for Gods: Phase 1 Resolution

For the end of Phase 1 we ran a huge game of 4 vs 4.  Or so THEY THOUGHT!!!!

Just as the forces of the Faustian conflict were losing sight, beginning to question the wisdom of the war, commands came down the line.  Intellegence, which told of a long a abandoned Holopict station on Warrens End was picking up a signal.  A signal, which was crucial the aims of the Necron Overlord and thus essential to his enemies.  Though, thanks to the Cathartic Denier, Warrens End was dying.  Her atmosphere was becoming irradiated, inhospitable thanks to the mysterious planet killing weapon fired by the Tyranids on Nolan.
Once again, the Bringers of Silence and the Sentinels of Fire raced to the crisis point, the latter aided it seemed once again by the Tyranid Hive Mind.  But many were blind to the shatter points in the fragile alliance.  Something had to give.
And give, it would.  

The game would centre on the seize and control of 4 points on a 8' by 4' board.  Each point would represent a tall augur array sprouting from the ground like giant spear tips.  Using Space Hulk room and corridor cards, they would be shown on the board as small Zone Mortalis sections, blocking Line of Sight and the contents being untouchable bar from direct fire through the door or inside. Teleportation or burrowing deep strike was possible, but risky.

Each turn, each objective would give the holding side 1 point.  Though First Blood and Linebreaker would be ignored, the plethora of Warlords on the field would make Slay the Warlord a tie breaker.

The Defenders, this time the Sentinels of Fire, would hold the centre against two pronged attack by the Bringers of Silence.  Lords of War were unrestricted for this game and wrecks would be removed instantly.  Space was a premium and any excuse to throw points into the big un's was a bonus.

The game was simple and set.  But there would be a surprise in store.  A betrayal.

The Cryptek noted the array of Bone coloured warrior constructs as they shambled towards the defenders lines.  It had calculated the reduction of incoming fire perfectly. Though the gigantic narcissistic warmachine of the humans was irritating.  How he longed for a phalanx of Heavy Destroyers...  Still.  What was most troubling was the Druchii.  Sensors from microscopic scarabs detected a change in their scent.  Focusing in on the lithe and serrated figures to his right, he leaned forward redundantly as something shining caught his attention.  They seemed to be smearing themselves and spraying themselves.  Combat drugs were administered via ocular nerves or via artificial organs.  This was, crude, especially for their standards.
Readings filtered into his mind like music and a conclusion echoed like a timpani.
No!
His gaze snapped across to the defending lines.  The bizarre behaviour of the Tyranids, which recently had caused major distress to their tender alliance with the Post Human Black Scorpions, took a shift.  They, ignored the Druchii.  He could not believe his sensor augers and watched in complete awe as a pair of Dark Eldar combatants danced around a Tyranid fighter organism like baby herbivores around a disinterested apex predator.  The Cryptek ran calculations, and turned to give the order to shift fronts.
"Hi!!" came a voice.  Turning slowly, he became keenly aware of his vulnerability, alone and lacking his LychGuard.  A serrated shadow stood before him, the silhouette flickering with a void flame.  Some sort of dark matter shield?
"Bitchsezwhat?"
"WHAT?"  The cryptek replied.
"Exxxactly!"  Said the figure, firing a purple tinted line of dark-light into his face.
Lucky for the Cryptek he returned to the Tomb Resurrection halls, and didnt see what came next.  The Dark Eldar turning on their allies with abandon and the Tyranids doing the same.
The war had took a great turn...

The Great Turn...

So at the end of the deployment.  I explained to the teams that the Tyranid and Dark Eldar players, Eivind and Chris, had teamed up.  They got to redeploy with arguably harsh restrictions, and would get the edges of the no-mans land as reinforce points.

Ahh, I can still here the curses and promises of retribution!!

So there we have it.  The game turned into a 3 side fustercluck of a game, with 3 sides taking their turns.  The rules were modified simply to take it into account.  Any rules problems being decided by rote, vote or the riktocracy! (Me!).

Despite the sudden change in the game, the Defenders used their full weight of fire power, taking chunks out of Rottimus's Black Scorpions.  The man's reputation ensured he would be targeted with respectfully overkill levels of fire.  Meanwhile, Thomas's Shadow Sword duelled with Magnus' Bane Blade.

It was clear that the heavily Imperialised Defenders of the Sentinels of Fire had not made plans with Eivind, their deployment went largely unchanged.  But on the other side, the Bringers of Silence suddenly felt the full betrayal of one of their number.

"Damn your inevitable and sudden betrayal!" - Anon

During the game, the turns went swifter than expected, though reserve restrictions needed to be loosened to keep the campaigns principles.  Fun first, fair second.  At first, it seemed the points would remain level, despite biased and fearful fire obliterating Rottimus' artillery.  That said, I've seen that boom train in motion.  KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

An interesting and undisclosed point, was the sudden addition of some Slaaneshi Chaos in Chris' Dark Eldar.  Not though of as usual bed fellows, and though this is probably to do with Chris beginning a new army later this year...

I wonder if Archon Ozzy has fallen foul of the great enemy?

At the end of the game, a spectacularly desperate attack from the Warhounds anti everything weapon (Turbo Lasers?) firing INTO one of the objective spire control rooms saw the GM, me, make an executive decision.  If Kaia rolled a 6, the whole thing would come crashing down ala Battlefield 3.

She rolled a 4.  Then, noticing the grumbles.  I asked for a democratic veto.  The decision was virtually unanimous.  And hey presto, the gigantic spine collapsed, crushing two transports, several guardsmen and a Dark Eldar air craft whose last words were "JINKING IS FOR PU#####!"

After the game, the teams in order of victory were:

1. Bringers of Silence
2. Sentinels of Fire
3. Bearers of Change.

In this order, the teams were then invited to place new flags in the new worlds:  The hive world of Nest, the borderland of Tresium, the mysterious Wake, the lost Sordid and the extra space hulk.

The points were then tallied up, from before this expansion, taking note of things like Manufactorums held and Grand Warlord Traits et al.

The final score for Phase 1?

• 1st - Bearers of Silence with 44 Faction Points
• 2nd - Sentinels of Fire with 22 Faction Points
• 3rd - The Bearers of Change with 12 Faction Points

An interesting development was the shift of Points at the last minute from Chris and Ozzy's Dark Eldar.  Rottiums and Magnus have vowed revenge!  However when asked if players would have their points as Faction of Personal, both Eivind and Chris said Personal?!!

Highest on Personal Points so far?

• 1st - Chris (Bearers of Change) with 21 Personal Conquest Points
• 2nd - Eivind (Bearers of Change) with 19 Personal Conquest Points
• 3rd - William and Thomas (Both Sentinels of Fire) with 4 Conquest Points each

Meanwhile, though the remaining Bringers of Silence pushed for Faction points, the larger surviving team of the Sentinels William began asking for Personal Points!  Has the betrayal opened up old wounds?  Are the players now looking to split off on their own agenda?

As the GM, this opens up two horrible possibilities which are both awesome and terrifying:

1. I'm really going to have to come up with something for using those Personal Points.  Making it more interesting.
2. The original factions may need to be either enforced (IE no more betrayals!!) or, more tempting, allowing for more freedom to back stab, reducing the evolving game into a game of negotiation and traitors! (You should have heard Thomas grumble about xenos!)

Either way, this was but the first Phase.  1/3rd of the way.  As players pound out new and more deadly figures and combinations we may yet see a vicious change in fortunes.  

Next?

On Warrens End, the Black Scorpions are working every element to rescue who they can before the planet goes radioactive.  The Tyranids meanwhile, see the grouping of biomass as an opportunity. 

The Craftworld Eldar of Imbraesil continue their investigation into the truth about Agatha, now Rust, though their Nemesis the Dark Eldar of Archon Ozzy still rule there.  A reckoning is destined.  

Thanks for reading, more soon!
R