Stargrave - 40k - Super 64 is going down

For the third mission we played the crashed shuttle mission. Again, we decided to include a Foe from Dead or Alive. Because we are playing this two player we generated opponents for each of the five treasure markers.

Inquisitor Rathbourne's comm's team intercepts part of the conversation between Super 64 and the control tower.

...Super 64 plane captain: "I've got a blow out flaperon three"
Sector Controller: "Get your pitch to zero"
Super 64 Plane captain: "Pitch is out! I can't hold altitude!"
Sector Controller: "Correction, auto hold is off, turn selectors to emergency!"
Super 64 plane captain: "Flight com! I can't hold it she's breaking up! She's break..... zzzzzzzzz"

Inquisitor Rathbourne "decode the identity of Super 64"
"Sir Super 64 decodes as Imperial One"

So Super 64 has gone down into a swamp. The inquisitor leads his team to the hanger to find out what happened to the VIP transport and whether he would need to check out the rules for appointing a new planetary governor.

We made enough money to replace the casualties with a pathfinder, they are also joined by Brother Patrocles, of the Sons of Medusa. The Lieutenant has also upgraded her weapon to match the size of the prey they have been hunting. This included 20 foot tall warbots and other larger monsters.

Here is the initial deployment, we immediately spot several mutants or Xenos picking through the wreckage. There is a cluster right in front of the inquisition team.

Inquisitor Rathbourne moves forwards with the giant space marine, he inspires himself with a prayer to the Emperor. The new Astartes models do look much taller than the 1990s Imperial Guard. A couple of cultists react by attacking the penitent. Looking through the bushes, the Inquisitor sights a firgure gliding through the marsh. This creature has a strangely enlarged head.

Futher over on the other side of the crash Inqusitor Malus, fresh from installing the spa pool in her ship spots the cultists and plans to grab all the treasure again. Unfortunately they have deployed next to a Ryukan nest. To place a Ryukan you have to roll lower for initiative and roll an odd number. Alan rolled a 2 and I rolled a 1 so the first Ryukan gets placed in the corner behind the rocky spire.

Alan manages to unlock the first treasure and it summons some tentacled horror.

A big complicated close combat erupts. Derek the Sentry bashes one of the cultists and the space marine slashes the other with his chainsword.

The Genestealer Magus serenely walks though the melee, blasting people with her telepathic gaze and protected by her mental shields.

The inquisitor leads an assault on some of the remaining members of the Cult. Brother Patrocles tries to shoot at the Magus, but can't overcome her mental shields and then attacks her but gets defeated in combat. It's like trying to press forwards or fight in glue. The penitent is in combat with some of the cultists. Some other cultists that had been fighting Inquistor Malus, sense the Magus was in danger and came racing over to assist. 
Inquisitor Malus has some team members that have made it to the cockpit. They are bringing cutting tools on the ship to get to the cockpit recorders. A smokescreen protects them from outside interference.

While the crew concentrate on trying to reach the cockpit, more Ryukans swarm from the nest area. The tentacle monster eats one of them. The hacker is making for the edge of the combat area.

The fight in the corner of the table heats up. All the cultists are down and now its only the animals that live in the swamp that are left to harass Inquisitor Malus's team.

Unlocking the cockpit and extracting the data recorders summons more denizens of the swamp. Unfortunately they appeared near Inquisitor Rathbourne. What dark pacts has Malus made that even the beasts seek to fulfill her desires?

In a hilarious moment the sewer dragon is taken down by the primitive swamp dwellers. The tribe will eat well for weeks once the strangers have departed.

Another creature arrives and it doesn't last long enough to be identified before being roasted in hot plasma.

Alan's beastman had a relatively quiet game, he only killed a cultist or two but had run all the way over to the other side of the table. Unlocked a loot and was galloping for the edge when a bounty hunter showed up. Fortunately, the beastman activated first and got to run off the table before the hunter could react.

It looks like the rest of the action got too exciting that I forgot to take pictures, or its was redacted.

Inquisitor Rathbourne's team managed to kill the Magus. I think it was Derek the Sentry after Dr Needles had been taken out. Inquisitor Rathbourne managed to unlock the data loot. He was then attacked by a Warp hound. Another ^&*(^&()^&)( animal attacked me. The inquisitor managed to win the fight and pushed himself back and then ran off. Derek inflicted a critical hit on the Warp Hound only for it to be immune to critical hits and was less than the defence score so didn't count. The Penitent then ran over and smashed the Hound with another critical and this won the fight and killed the creature.

Dr Needles had a great game running back and forth injecting team members with "feel no pain" medicine. He did get cocky, and tried to help out in a close combat and got slapped around.

When we examined the treasure we had recovered it turned out to be a set of advanced Picks (+8 to unlock). We also got 300 credits from the bounty for the Magus. So better than last game.

There were three casualties, the space marine, a commando and Dr Needles. Fortunately the first two passed their rolls. Dr Needles failed his initial survival roll but having programmed the medbay, survived emergency resusitation and made a full recovery.