Here is a rules question -

Now, in Deathwatch the rules of being in melee and firing a weapon are clear: if in melee, the PCs may fire a single shot with a pistol type weapon. Is that rule duplicated in Only War or has it been amended?

I am inclined to let them fire a single shot from any weapon if involved in melee as long as it has a single fire option with the caveat that if the weapon is anything other than a pistol it comes with a -10 penalty. But, I can't seem to find a reference to this in the OW CRB. Can someone help me out or point me to the correct page number?

One of my players seems to think that the absence of the rule implies weapons can be fired on any setting within the melee, which may be accurate. Clarification needed, arigatou and gracias.

If there's no official ruling then naturally, it's an in-house ruling by the DM in question.

Personally I would allow them to fire on any setting in melee, other side sidearm is a whole lot of XP expenditure and snuff all in the way of return.

Ah, OK. I didn't think about that talent. Thanks.

So, the twenty Lootas mentioned in the mission - I am on the fence about running them as individuals or two formations. In this case it would be one formation of 9 and one formation of 11. There is no Overseer unit.

My concerns are that their weapons will be super powerful as a formation. Granted, given their location on the map currently only a few have LoS on the PCs.

How would you, or have you, run these guys?

I would include a couple of Loota Boyz in formation with Shoota Boyz. This gives the Lootaz a little more durability unless the PCs have snipers. If they do have Snipers, perfect for validating their class choice.

Less Looty more Shooty. Do two squads of Shootas with a Lootaboy with the Overseer trait acting in place of a Nob

The mission calls for twenty Lootas to assail the group. They've already made too many move actions closing on the group in the initiative to change the entire make up.

In that case, split them into groups of Five led by Lootas with Overseer. The bigger the magnitude of the squad, the more dangerous it is. Naturally. But smaller squads retain squad squishiness without forcing it through the roof.

All right ladies and gents,

During the ambush in the canyon, the book states the forces of the Sevs lying in wait. It includes "a lieutenant" for the Sevs.

Now, in my game, Fitzsimmons escaped the initial encounter. I would imagine he would be with this group (pretty obviously) but the book doesn't specify that this lieutenant is him. Does he show up later?

If not, I want to have him in this ambush as well.

Here is a rules question -

Now, in Deathwatch the rules of being in melee and firing a weapon are clear: if in melee, the PCs may fire a single shot with a pistol type weapon. Is that rule duplicated in Only War or has it been amended?

I am inclined to let them fire a single shot from any weapon if involved in melee as long as it has a single fire option with the caveat that if the weapon is anything other than a pistol it comes with a -10 penalty. But, I can't seem to find a reference to this in the OW CRB. Can someone help me out or point me to the correct page number?

One of my players seems to think that the absence of the rule implies weapons can be fired on any setting within the melee, which may be accurate. Clarification needed, arigatou and gracias.

the rule for fireing in melee is a a hard -20 attack pg 253 of the core rule book

All right ladies and gents,

During the ambush in the canyon, the book states the forces of the Sevs lying in wait. It includes "a lieutenant" for the Sevs.

Now, in my game, Fitzsimmons escaped the initial encounter. I would imagine he would be with this group (pretty obviously) but the book doesn't specify that this lieutenant is him. Does he show up later?

If not, I want to have him in this ambush as well.

Lt Fitxsimmons and any surviving guardsmen that where with him will be with the Ambush. pg41 Since the ambush is set by the platoon that dropped him and his men off. Since they escaped they are now with the Platoon that is setting the ambush.

****. Well, I didn't place him in there. Oh well, I will bring him into the game later and ambush the hell out of them.

Cheers!

Well if he was not at the ambush or survived the ambush he has a turn to show up leading the sev forces in the last battle of the adventure.

That was what I was kind of asking when I first posted about him. Good to know. Cheers.

Keep in mind NPCs with "touched by the fates" can actually burn Fate points just like PCs. That means Fitzimmons or Cpl. Kousenk could take what looks like a deadly wound, and still come back to haunt the players! Don't overdo it though.

How are things going on your part? I am in the middle part myself now, doing one-off missions on behest of Captain Fordham. I have read the end though, and I'm worried about the final combat for these reasons:

1. Even if the PCs escapes or talk themselves out of their situation with the whole "does the Emperor look like a *****?" conversation, they are still almost blocked off by the ork attack, and it is said they can't really expect to get a chimera out, My players are Mech infantry, and not letting them use their Chimera in such a huge fight is a bit dull but also sounds weird,

2, Once the PCs reach the Ordinatus, there is a major fight outside. Even if they let the Dominate and gretchin wipe eachother out (how does that happen exactly?), they still have to access the Ordinatus control chamber. This requires a challenging +0 Security test, but Im not sure if anyone of them have the skill, as it is hardly needed in the campaign beforehand. If they can't do that they'd need to use melta bombs or some such, which means they could easily be attacked through the same place by orks afterwards.

3. The fight inside is extremely tough - bigmek noshdakka himself, and 10 gretching plus 5 lootas, and the squad only has 3 veteran guardsmen with 3 comrades - 1 heavy with heavy stubber (or heavy bolter), 1 weapons specialist with grenade launcher and 2 chainswords or lasgun, and 1 Operator with whatever he can bring. During the campaign they have managed to get issued random equipment from the Inquisition consisting of Assassin gear (Exitus rifle, Eversor Executor Pistol, and A Callius suit with Digital Laser and 3 vials of Polymorhpine drugs), They can't use these very well and have limited uses/ammunition, but it could help.

The question is however, is it assumed a regular guardsman squad is supposed to win this combat?

if it wasn't for the psker in the unit with his power of domination they would have come out second best in the fight inside the ordinatus. He managed to dominate three lootas and they turned their weapons onto the rest of the Orks. The group consisted of an Operator, Heavy Gunner/Sentry, Psker and npc Medic.

if it wasn't for the psker in the unit with his power of domination they would have come out second best in the fight inside the ordinatus. He managed to dominate three lootas and they turned their weapons onto the rest of the Orks. The group consisted of an Operator, Heavy Gunner/Sentry, Psker and npc Medic.

Hmm, I should perhaps try to arrange from them to have an NPC or two on board with them. They could find their old Sergeant or even 2Lt. who was captured after the ork landing, and then left behind when the PCs and company escaped from a Dominate base (yes they were tricked by the false Inquisitor and captured).

After playing with them tonight though I realise they can pull off some amazing combats sometimes. We played the Killswitch scenario where the squad is sent to recover Ordinatus intel and take out an enemy tech priest. They managed to sneak up to the place, pick the lock on the bunker, take out the first Servitor, then took out 10 servitors at once before they even had a chance to act except for the last one, whom they managed to dodge the self-destruct blast.

When they opened the door to the library Mech-Deakon Klax let lose an overwatch with bolt pistol and a shot from the plasma mechandrite, wounding the Heavy and suppressing him and the Operator. However, the Weapon Specialist charged the Klax with a Hunting Lance (yes the explosive one that Roughriders use), knocking him down and stunning him for several rounds due to the Concussive effect. Then the Weapon Operator used his Plasma Gun on maximal and completely annhiliated the "renegade" tech priest. To cut the combat short I assumed that the default setting for his servitors was to self-destruct if he died, so they did (while in melee with said Weapon Specialist, but he managed to dodge away instead of dying.

The combat against the Stormtroopers started with a dialogue, but when the players refused to let them into the bunker to check up on the Mech-Deakon, they decided to try to take the bunker by force. Bad move. The Stormtroopers had no chance and got gunned down by the Heavy and his Heavy Stubber, or taken out in melee by the Weapon specialist and his twin chainswords. The Operator stayed in the bunker below and checked up on comms etc and was not even needed.

So the PCs had the great defensive advantage of the bunker, but they were still able to take down 5 Stormtroopers at an alarming speed, taking no damage.

So yeah... maybe they will pull it off without too much trouble, but I assume they will do some collateral damage to the control panels inside the Ordinatus first.

I am also very exited about the Commisar Salieri meeting (I'm still gonna pull off the Samuel L. Jackson routine), but I assume the group will claim that they were working for the Inquisition and show off the three cases they got (from random rolls on random gear table) and the Assassin gear they got. Saleri might even believe them if they roll well enough, I think the Inquisition stuff should give a +20 bonus at least in their argument that they were driven by the will of the Emperor. Although they probably suspect something is fishy, and have noticed Fordham's weird behavior and the fact that they were shooting at Imperal units.

I have a GREAT story regarding the very first Fordham mission. I believe I mentioned it earlier, but I am running this PbP, so it takes a bit longer than normal. So far we are on our fourth solid mission/big encounter and I have killed 1 trooper and moved out another.

I will give all the details tomorrow. Crashing out now.

if it wasn't for the psker in the unit with his power of domination they would have come out second best in the fight inside the ordinatus. He managed to dominate three lootas and they turned their weapons onto the rest of the Orks. The group consisted of an Operator, Heavy Gunner/Sentry, Psker and npc Medic.

Hmm, I should perhaps try to arrange from them to have an NPC or two on board with them. They could find their old Sergeant or even 2Lt. who was captured after the ork landing, and then left behind when the PCs and company escaped from a Dominate base (yes they were tricked by the false Inquisitor and captured).

After playing with them tonight though I realise they can pull off some amazing combats sometimes. We played the Killswitch scenario where the squad is sent to recover Ordinatus intel and take out an enemy tech priest. They managed to sneak up to the place, pick the lock on the bunker, take out the first Servitor, then took out 10 servitors at once before they even had a chance to act except for the last one, whom they managed to dodge the self-destruct blast.

When they opened the door to the library Mech-Deakon Klax let lose an overwatch with bolt pistol and a shot from the plasma mechandrite, wounding the Heavy and suppressing him and the Operator. However, the Weapon Specialist charged the Klax with a Hunting Lance (yes the explosive one that Roughriders use), knocking him down and stunning him for several rounds due to the Concussive effect. Then the Weapon Operator used his Plasma Gun on maximal and completely annhiliated the "renegade" tech priest. To cut the combat short I assumed that the default setting for his servitors was to self-destruct if he died, so they did (while in melee with said Weapon Specialist, but he managed to dodge away instead of dying.

The combat against the Stormtroopers started with a dialogue, but when the players refused to let them into the bunker to check up on the Mech-Deakon, they decided to try to take the bunker by force. Bad move. The Stormtroopers had no chance and got gunned down by the Heavy and his Heavy Stubber, or taken out in melee by the Weapon specialist and his twin chainswords. The Operator stayed in the bunker below and checked up on comms etc and was not even needed.

So the PCs had the great defensive advantage of the bunker, but they were still able to take down 5 Stormtroopers at an alarming speed, taking no damage.

So yeah... maybe they will pull it off without too much trouble, but I assume they will do some collateral damage to the control panels inside the Ordinatus first.

I am also very exited about the Commisar Salieri meeting (I'm still gonna pull off the Samuel L. Jackson routine), but I assume the group will claim that they were working for the Inquisition and show off the three cases they got (from random rolls on random gear table) and the Assassin gear they got. Saleri might even believe them if they roll well enough, I think the Inquisition stuff should give a +20 bonus at least in their argument that they were driven by the will of the Emperor. Although they probably suspect something is fishy, and have noticed Fordham's weird behavior and the fact that they were shooting at Imperal units.

well don't forget the commissar's pet pysker and her mind scan power, she can tell they weren't working for the inquisition so that argument can be shot down in flames (and get a comrade or two executed for lying to him)

if it wasn't for the psker in the unit with his power of domination they would have come out second best in the fight inside the ordinatus. He managed to dominate three lootas and they turned their weapons onto the rest of the Orks. The group consisted of an Operator, Heavy Gunner/Sentry, Psker and npc Medic.

Hmm, I should perhaps try to arrange from them to have an NPC or two on board with them. They could find their old Sergeant or even 2Lt. who was captured after the ork landing, and then left behind when the PCs and company escaped from a Dominate base (yes they were tricked by the false Inquisitor and captured).

After playing with them tonight though I realise they can pull off some amazing combats sometimes. We played the Killswitch scenario where the squad is sent to recover Ordinatus intel and take out an enemy tech priest. They managed to sneak up to the place, pick the lock on the bunker, take out the first Servitor, then took out 10 servitors at once before they even had a chance to act except for the last one, whom they managed to dodge the self-destruct blast.

When they opened the door to the library Mech-Deakon Klax let lose an overwatch with bolt pistol and a shot from the plasma mechandrite, wounding the Heavy and suppressing him and the Operator. However, the Weapon Specialist charged the Klax with a Hunting Lance (yes the explosive one that Roughriders use), knocking him down and stunning him for several rounds due to the Concussive effect. Then the Weapon Operator used his Plasma Gun on maximal and completely annhiliated the "renegade" tech priest. To cut the combat short I assumed that the default setting for his servitors was to self-destruct if he died, so they did (while in melee with said Weapon Specialist, but he managed to dodge away instead of dying.

The combat against the Stormtroopers started with a dialogue, but when the players refused to let them into the bunker to check up on the Mech-Deakon, they decided to try to take the bunker by force. Bad move. The Stormtroopers had no chance and got gunned down by the Heavy and his Heavy Stubber, or taken out in melee by the Weapon specialist and his twin chainswords. The Operator stayed in the bunker below and checked up on comms etc and was not even needed.

So the PCs had the great defensive advantage of the bunker, but they were still able to take down 5 Stormtroopers at an alarming speed, taking no damage.

So yeah... maybe they will pull it off without too much trouble, but I assume they will do some collateral damage to the control panels inside the Ordinatus first.

I am also very exited about the Commisar Salieri meeting (I'm still gonna pull off the Samuel L. Jackson routine), but I assume the group will claim that they were working for the Inquisition and show off the three cases they got (from random rolls on random gear table) and the Assassin gear they got. Saleri might even believe them if they roll well enough, I think the Inquisition stuff should give a +20 bonus at least in their argument that they were driven by the will of the Emperor. Although they probably suspect something is fishy, and have noticed Fordham's weird behavior and the fact that they were shooting at Imperal units.

well don't forget the commissar's pet pysker and her mind scan power, she can tell they weren't working for the inquisition so that argument can be shot down in flames (and get a comrade or two executed for lying to him)

Actually, she can verify that they genuinely believe they are working for the Inquisition! And that will factor heavily into making Salieri a lot less hostile. She also wants him to be wrong, and them to be innocent.

While it was complete random chance, them finding the Inquisition boxes 3 times in a row, figuring out how to open them, and then believing that they have all been chosen by the Inquisition, will actually make this part of the adventure a lot easier than expected.

Still gonna execute one of their comrades if they start to bore Salieri though, or don't impress him fast enough.

Actually, she can verify that they genuinely believe they are working for the Inquisition! And that will factor heavily into making Salieri a lot less hostile. She also wants him to be wrong, and them to be innocent.

While it was complete random chance, them finding the Inquisition boxes 3 times in a row, figuring out how to open them, and then believing that they have all been chosen by the Inquisition, will actually make this part of the adventure a lot easier than expected.

Still gonna execute one of their comrades if they start to bore Salieri though, or don't impress him fast enough.

Dang, I forgot to write up my story. I will get to it, I swear!

So any time soon pearldrum1? In any case, I wonder if you or anyone else here did the small "deliver fake map to orkish hands" mission in part 2. I'm not 100% sure how to run this, but in essence I want it to be player driver rather than the PCs getting told "go to place x, kill orks, drop map". For example having to find an ork cunning enough to see the map as something useful, yet not so smart as to see through the deception. Main point is that the players discuss how to pull it off and have enough intel on the orks to make a plan.

I probably also need to draw up some actual maps with ork encampments and get an idea of the forces being present and on call. Ideally both some speed freaks the PCs can fight in their chimera as well as some tunnel/infantry fighting.

Potential "cunnin'" orks:

-BigMek

-MadDoc

-Nob (maybe)

-Weirdboy

Opposing forces:

-buggies w/rockit launchas

-warbikes attacking from the rear

-fightabommers in case the PCs get too confident

-scores of shoota or slugga orks

-1-2 trukks with lootas

Other potential mixes: Have the PCs discover an escaped human prisoner who can tell them about a large prison camp not too far away (triggering next mission).

Sorry, all. My work laptop cannot support this website anymore since it updated, so I have to write when I get home. But I always wanna relax or work out when I get home. Thus... I make you wait. Apologies.

So anyways, on the first mission in the second act the squad follows Kousenk to steal the promethium and destroy the "rebels."

We have a big group: Sergeant/Commander, Scout, Ratling, Heavy Gunner, Breacher, Tech Priest, Medic, Weapon Spec, and an Operator. It is PbP, so it is much more easy to manage than if all these personalities were smashed around a table all screaming at once.

So, I plan ahead as much as possible, keep to the philosophy that a good GM adapts to any situations and does not push players one way or another. It is always in their hands. So, I draw my own maps on graph paper and give the tunnels three exits to the compound. They decide to split up, synching their chronos so that the scouting team will open fire on tower guards at the exact same time the second team breaches into the warehouse from an underground entrance.

Kousenk takes the Ratling sniper and Scout to this exit, but on a random encounter roll run into some local fauna I created called Tunnel-Fiends. Without using anything too loud, they end up taking them out. However, I had the other group roll awareness and only the Medic passed. He knew he heard a long las and without waiting for orders runs off in the direction of the long las. The Operator sighs and runs after him. Of course, they become lost. Well, in their confusion they are set upon by two tunnel fiends that they end up killing. OK? Easy peazy... Well, then they hear movement coming towards them. The Operator is like "screw this, let's go," and the medic decides that isn't the best idea.

So what does he do on this silent infiltration surprise mission? He throws a krak grenade. And it is such a beautiful throw, it lands right in its targets lap - which happened to be Kousenk. Kousenk spent fate to dodge - failed. Kousenk got REKT. He lived, but just got messed up. I rolled to see if the tunnel would collapse, but it held. Then I rolled a really difficult awareness for the five troopers in the warehouse at the time.

One of them hears it. So, the Lt. on base decides to send a team of four to investigate the tunnels.

Skip ahead - the lost boys and an angry kousenk link up with the larger group and head towards the underground entrance. I was able to prevent the bigger group from knowing anything about what was going on with the scout team by using a LINE (texting app) private convo to document their movement while using a forum with the bigger group. So, they had no idea the cluster-**** the medic/operator had just gotten into. They decide to go forward double time to make the rendezvous time not being especially quiet or anything. Of course, the HEW sent to investigate hear them and set up a vicious ambush.

The HEW all end up dying in the fight, but not after wounding a few of our team pretty badly with grenades and autogun fire. All the noise then allows the remaining HEW at the base to go into lockdown mode, shutting the gates and setting up a VICIOUS ambush in the warehouse. I'm talking overlapping fields of fire, heavy cover, readied actions, grenades. Well, they kick it off by dropping the grenades down a manhole with the only ladder leading up into the warehouse.

The entry team makes a servitor hold smoke grenades, pulls the pins and sends him climbing up the ladder to cover their entry. He fails his climb test HORRIBLY. So, he falls to the ground, smoking up all of them. They can't see anything so have to blindly climb this ladder into a hail of gunfire. The ensuing battle was just brutal. So, so, brutal. The team ended up victorious, but not before losing the Breacher (I allowed the player to then assume control of his comrade) in an epic "jump on grenade to save the team" moment.

Meanwhile, laying prone and having been targetting the tower guards, the Ratling and Scout begin picking them off from a distance, getting the best rolls in the universe while the other tower guards fail all their awareness miserably. When one finally succeeds and notices the other two towers are silent, he messes up his shot so badly he blows one of the gates off the walls, then is promptly shot in the head.

After that they all rallied and salvaged a ton of fuel and destroyed the rest. Meanwhile, the Operator ingeniously attached one of the twin linked soundstrikes to the top of the fuel transport and had his comrade man it. It ended up saving the day during the ork ambush after.

The Sergeant only recently learned that the ambush and death of the Breacher was the Medic's fault for throwing the grenade and the ensuing RPing was amazing. Doc might get fragged. Who knows.

Anyways, I am currently running Killswitch and they just alerted the servitor manned heavy bolter to their presence. Gave them the chance to identify themselves and the scout decides to... you guessed it... follow in Doc's footsteps and throw a krak grenade.

*sigh*

Probably going to lose one of them on this mission again.

But hey, if they were smart they wouldn't be part of the 666th Emperor's Bastards penal regiment.

Wonder if it's worth me maybe trying to get involved. =P

Awesome story pearldrum1. 9 players, that's quite a party, pretty much two squads if they all have comrades. I guess PbP gives an advantage in holding stuff secret for players or splitting the party, that stuff don't work well on the table.

Good idea to draw a proper map, I'm not that good at it myself, although I did sketch up the base in the form it was described. The entrance from the tunnels were not detailed, so I just assumed one was in the base and some guards.

Tunnel fiends? We're thinking the same, mine were called Tunnel Stalkers and were heavily inspired by metro 2033 Nosalises.

Here are mine, please show me yours

Tunnel Stalker

Description: Humanoid mutated creature, arched back, gaping maw with sharp teeth, large mole-like nose, elongated clawed arms, and legs/cloves like a horse. 

Danger/combat: Can move very quickly with excellent coordination, good jumpers, strong with dangerous claws and bite. Uses simple tactics to flank and overwhelm prey, 
but sometimes underestimates firearms. Not reliant on sight to fight. Can live in areas with high radiation and/or pollutants.  

Traits: Bestial, Brutal Charge (3), Dark Sight (smell), Heightened Senses (smell), Unnatural Senses (5) Natural Armor (2), Fear 1(Disturbing), Natural Weapons (Claws, Bite), 
Unnatural Strength(3), Unnatural Agility(3). 

Talents: Berserk Charge (+10 charge), Hard Target, Lightning Reflexes, Resistance(Poisons), Sprint, Swift Attack. 

Skills: Awareness (Per) + 10, Dodge (Ag) +10, Stealth (Ag) + 20.

WS 42  BS 10 S 35(6) T 32 Ag 45(6)  Int 16  Per 38  WP 30 Fel 14  
Wounds: 12
Armor: Natural Armor 2(all)
Move: 6, 12, 18, 24

Weapons: Maw and Claws 1d10+6R

In my game they were easily dispatched by the PCs using flamers they got as mission assignment gear, and advice from Cpl. Kousenk. They also encountered a squad of HEW en route, and rolled past

entrenched Krieg soldiers on the way. The journey in the tunnels took pretty much a whole session. Once they got there they were able to sneak up on the HEW guards underground and take them out stealthily using melee weapons without alerting the topside HEW. Once they got up they first silenced the towers using snipers, and once they got discovered used heavy weapons on the HEW coming from barracks, warehouses and HQ.

They took damage, but no one got killed (except the HEW who died in droves.), despite the fact that I gave some HEWs good quality autoguns with Manstopper rounds and laser sights. Mind you they were only 3 PCs at this ponts vs your nine .

They also wanted to put the missile launchers on the fuel trucks, but I didn't let them use them like that, so instead they salvaged them and what rockets they could find to get back to the base.

Once the orks attacked they kind of panicked, not knowing how tough the fuel truck armor was. It was a combat taken out of Mad Max, except for the heavy gunner repeatedly jamming and wasting ammo with a heavy bolter.

In the end they used ramming tactics and only lost a single fuel truck that had been perforated with RF and then set ablaze with Flamer buggies.

So how did you do with the bunker in Elimination? I used a ww2 inspired one myself, which meant the servitor can only shoot in about 90 degree direction, did you make yours 360? If they move in from the front thats kind of dum, but the heavy bolter can't really do much against a chimera if they want to.

Also, my last adventure was Turn the Tides. The new PC (ratling) had intel about another BigMek and his camp, and the PCs decide to drop the map there. However a random encounter en route against 4 bikes and 2 buggies almost crippled their chimera (0 hull integrity). Appearently, ramming is insanely dangerous in this game, and this was before i discovered that ramming can't be done by warbikes. They left one map there, but decided to move on.

At the entrance to the ork lair they simply move in and see 4 orks standing guard. Those are lured out into the open plain (about 200 meters sight due to ash rain), and hunted down by snipers with long las or silenced weapons. The last two are however cut down by the heavy stubber, which is heard inside the base. 12 boyz come a few rounds later, while the PCs have set up overwatch inside the entrance tunnel. The orks are impossible to Pin, but lose a couple moving up. Then it's melee, almost killing the heavy gunner and letting the weapon specialist with 2 chainswords shine. The orks (6 shootas) use suppressive fire against the group who realize how much pinning sucks, and become very ineffectual. Next session they are able to recover from pinning and drive off the remaining boyz. They move away towards the chimera, but the boyz have gotten reinforcements in a trukk. Using Long Las against the driver (not sure if that's really allowed, but open topped vehicle?), and the heavy gunner shooting at its rear and shoots off armor (needed a fury to damage it at all). The same later hits the motive systems and destroys the wheels on the trukk, dumping 10 orks and a nob. I try out the formations rule (see thread), find out they really do suck, and the combat is over.

Next one up: Liberation. I use their old Sergeant who was left behind at the HEW camp the PCs were originally tricked to by the fake Inquisitor as a straggler and survivor, so they are the ones who find him rather than Fordham's contacts. This is also an excuse to reintroduce a NPC I didn't really want to be lost or killed, and the chance of recovering more of the Cadian 29th company leadership. Not sure how this will go down with Fordham, but no one there will outrank him anyway.

Hope to hear more!

Keep in mind NPCs with "touched by the fates" can actually burn Fate points just like PCs. That means Fitzimmons or Cpl. Kousenk could take what looks like a deadly wound, and still come back to haunt the players! Don't overdo it though.

How are things going on your part? I am in the middle part myself now, doing one-off missions on behest of Captain Fordham. I have read the end though, and I'm worried about the final combat for these reasons:

1. Even if the PCs escapes or talk themselves out of their situation with the whole "does the Emperor look like a *****?" conversation, they are still almost blocked off by the ork attack, and it is said they can't really expect to get a chimera out, My players are Mech infantry, and not letting them use their Chimera in such a huge fight is a bit dull but also sounds weird,

2, Once the PCs reach the Ordinatus, there is a major fight outside. Even if they let the Dominate and gretchin wipe eachother out (how does that happen exactly?), they still have to access the Ordinatus control chamber. This requires a challenging +0 Security test, but Im not sure if anyone of them have the skill, as it is hardly needed in the campaign beforehand. If they can't do that they'd need to use melta bombs or some such, which means they could easily be attacked through the same place by orks afterwards.

3. The fight inside is extremely tough - bigmek noshdakka himself, and 10 gretching plus 5 lootas, and the squad only has 3 veteran guardsmen with 3 comrades - 1 heavy with heavy stubber (or heavy bolter), 1 weapons specialist with grenade launcher and 2 chainswords or lasgun, and 1 Operator with whatever he can bring. During the campaign they have managed to get issued random equipment from the Inquisition consisting of Assassin gear (Exitus rifle, Eversor Executor Pistol, and A Callius suit with Digital Laser and 3 vials of Polymorhpine drugs), They can't use these very well and have limited uses/ammunition, but it could help.

The question is however, is it assumed a regular guardsman squad is supposed to win this combat?

Edit: How about some text with that quote post. lol. Seriously, work laptop sucks all the D.

1. Love the Pulp Fiction reference. I have yet to read that far ahead. I take it Chapter by Chapter. So, while I have read all of our current chapter and am going from there, I have yet to read how this ends. This would be something you should change up as the GM since you know your players better than anyone else. Maybe they can't get a Chimera out, but then again maybe they could. If you want to stick to the book, maybe the Orks have captured a Chimera and your players want to make it their mission to capture it back before continuing. That seems like it could be pretty fun in and of itself. Basically, make it work for your players so that they have an enjoyable time with it.

2. I would imagine that they left it vague so that each GM could handle that fight how they see fight. You could run it as a major battle involving the Sevs and the Orks, or you could NPC a set number of enemy squads. Roll the dice behind the scenes to see how the fight plays out. If your PCs want to sit back and let them take each other out, then quickly get it rolled out (or even have a set amount of pre-rolls before hand to speed up the process) to see who wins. You could even simply say "X wins" or "they kill each other off almost to a man" and then just don't reward your PCs with the XP they could have earned had they actively attempted to turn the tide of that battle.

As for the test, you can always substitute security for tech use. Or, if no one is qualified and you are feeling generous, perhaps a straight up challenging Intelligence test. Failing that, they need to get creative to get inside, so make sure to have other means for them to do so should they shi.t the bed and fail hard - one of those Sevs who died outside fighting the gretchin DID have a melta after all... remember? Maybe the Sevs had come prepared to breach and had a dataslate with the correct key code to open the door - the Intelligence test could be to decipher the encryption to get the code. Bam. Problem solved. Either way, I don't see using the melta and leaving themselves exposed as a problem should they screw up enough not to succeed by using their brains. This is war and actions have consequences.

3. The mission isn't supposed to be easy. With a squad as small as yours, I would seriously consider dropping the amount of enemies they have to face. If you want to have more than Noshdakka, then space out the fights so that they don't have to take them all on at once. Maybe they meet the Lootas on a lower gantry, and then the gretchin as they move through the Ordinatus, then finally they come across Noshdakka - but not without warning. Have the Gretchin drop hints as they fight like: "Da big boss gonna be so happy we killed deze stupid ummies!" Or you know, something so your players go... "Oh dang, we may have a fight ahead of us" and prepare accordingly.

Honestly, if they play smart, utilize cover and good tactics, and with a bunch of luck, they should be able to take out the Big Boss. Suppress. Krak grenade. Repeat.

The main point, I think, is for you to cater and mold the situation to YOUR group without making it too easy or hard. You know what they are capable of as you have had a bunch of encounters and combats with them in the first two chapters. Based on that knowledge, figure out what you are going to throw at them. If they play like idiots then they die and you did your job well. If they play smart they will most likely live and you did your job well.

I hope that helps some.