For next week i plan on doing the later part of final sanction, where my group will be driving through a hostile city.

The basic idea here is blackhawk down + tyranids

My plan thus far is to extend rounds to 30 seconds of in game time each, and have the chase go for 10 minutes in game time (20 rounds)

I'll have the players riding in a converted vehicle of some sort, with an autocannon on the front and a heavy bolter on the back, both pintle mounted.

There will also be room for the others to ride along on top, as i will have 3 or 4 players for this session.

As for bad guys, the basic idea so far is termagaunts shooting from buildings, hormagaunts trying to jump on board, and tyranid warriors of the flying and non flying types (mostly shooting to make things easier i think)

Bad guys attacking will probably be done after all the players have acted, with whatever is alive shooting at them.

Anyways, thats the tentative planning for this event, any suggestions or tips would be dandy

You know what's helpful? *cough* vehicle character sheets *cough*

Ah. Flem in my throat. Now, after that embarrassing self advertisement.

What I might suggest,d pending on the amount you have in your group is to let them be in more than one vehicle. I know it seems great to have everyone in one vehicle shooting out, but it slolwy becomes "I'm stuck here just shooting" Does it for some, doesn't do it for others. People on top trying to keep of the bugs might be cool, but I wouldn't modify a vehicle too much, as imperials generally like STC on just about everything, and something with too many modifications can become rather orky.

But, alternate vehicles. Getting one part of the group driving in a razorback might be a good start, and then letting the other half of the group operate a land speeder with some damage so it can't hover up over buildings as well, or some bikes might do good. This allows your kill team to be paired up in groups, thinking through strats and things they can do. Also, some Gargoyles or Warriors with wings swooping from the sky might be cool, or modifying up some resistance vehicles that they actually have to fight against.

That's best I can do after my bed time. Sorry if I rambled. sorry that I coughed an advertisement.

Give the players a Technical, so they're all exposed to small-arms.

I'd keep turn length vague. No need to pin it down.

Encourage assault marines to clear the roof-tops and move along ahead or alongside, using jetpacks.

Put in a roadblock for them to get around/through, and other driving hazards. Try to keep the fight interesting, rather than repetitious. Have stuff try to jump on board, some big critter that tries to catch them (giving them a car-chase). Have someone frantically trying to plan a route given patchy information.

Instead of a fixed duration, I'd be tempted to somehow make it dependant on the driver. In addition to dealing with intermittant hazards every so often, have the driver make a drive check each turn, and when a sufficient number of DoS are accumulated (30? Do the maths based on average rolls and how long you want the chase to be), the party reach their destination. Failure on these rolls doesn't indicate a crash or problem, but rather a slowing of pace and poor progress.

Make that 20-25 accumulated successes, if you want about 20 rounds.

Siranui said:

I'm not sure that jump packs would be able to keep up with a vehicle chase. The Rhino has a base speed of 15m/turn and a jump pack only matches this if the user has an Agility of 60+ (roughly). Terrain might be an issue, especially off-road, but the suggested vehicle is likely faster than a Rhino. I'd suggest bikes.

In fact, I'd suggest bikes for all of the Marines. Let them all do some shooting and some driving too.

That forces *everyone* to make tons of drive checks. Which most people are going to fail most of the time. Kinda annoying for the players.

Plus: We're talking urban terrain, here. Jet-packs have the luxury of as-the-crow-flies paths. And you can race around streets as much as you like: If you don't have any recon elements, you could be driving straight into anything.

Not really failures. All space marines have Drive(Ground Vehicles). As long as they weren't too much over the top.

Excellent suggestions so far, thanks to everyone for responding

Thanks for pimping out your vehicle character sheet Frostfire, i'm not sure if i'll need it for this, but someday i will be sure to whip it out

Siranui, good idea with the technical and the assault marines, i was figuring that the guns would be mounted on a pintle mount (possibly with a gun shield for 6ish extra armour points) and i'm hoping that the groups assault marine will be jumping around like a maniac, although i fear for the amount of collateral damage he will cause (the player has become a bit obsessed with demolitions, already having destroyed the planetary governers palace and severly damaged a few buildings). Also i rather like the idea of having something large chasing them, any idea if there is a source aboot for carnifex stats?

I would do the bikes HappyDaze, but the players don't have access to astartes bikes around, will be transporting at least 3 people (but probably more, they like making friends...), and i dont trust them with bikes yet either (the players have managed to make the bad company equivalent of a kill team, not that i mind, but i try to limit their options for rediculousness sometimes)

After of day of schooling today, i've had some more time to work on this idea, and i was considering doing it as something of a rail shooter scenario, with an NPC driving the vehicle, and the kill team just in charge of keeping it functional while not dying from enemy fire, although i will definately consider asking them if somebody wants to drive, since that could be quite fun as well.

As for the vehicle, i was thinking of a modified grain hauler or an oversized PDF APC, as the team does have access to a techpriest who is willing to perform unothedox modifications to equipment. Also, there is a lack of astartes vehicles on the planet, and the kill team presently doesnt have access to them, otherwise the two vehicle convoy idea would've been one i'll go for (maybe i'll give them some tanks to play with someday...)

The basic plot for this sequence is the group will be trying to get someone (i'm thinking the head astropath) to the spaceport for a last minute extraction to a waiting cruiser, so the whole chase will be taking place in an urban area during the beginning of a tyranid orbital assault.

ideas/suggestions on this idea, or a good reason why the nids would be so focused on the kill team?

Again, thanks for the help with this, should be a fun session to run

Personally, I don't like the on a rail senario when it comes to RPGs. Iv'e done it once or twice, and like I said, it seems cool, but unless you can get your characters into it, it becomes "Ok, it's my turn? I guess I'll shoot my gun, cause I can't do anything else". However, it could be made more interesting if everyone in the group has a specific role that they can participate in. For instance, the vehicle is being chased by a small horde of gaunts, which are trying to catch up with the slowing vehicle. Flying Tyranids from the sky. Things jumping onto them, and some rebels in front of them shooting. And then the hive tyrant pops out and gives chase. But avoid things like every roll "Tech marine, repair the vehicle so it keeps working", "Driver, make a driver check".

I still think multiple vehicles is the way to go. Bikes or otherwise. Astartes bikes aren't always acessable, but there are civilian versions of them that are basically scout bikes. Maybe your tech marine could modify them for space marine use.

A jump pack can replicate the flyer 12 trait which means they can half move 12, or do a flying run action up to 48 meters in a round. This will easily keep up with most vehicles on the ground. Just make sure they move in short hops and then spend 30 seconds or so clearing a rooftop so that their turbines have a chance to cool down before they move again.

I'm less keen on 'railroading' players in a literal fashion. Because it screams out 'why don't the bad guys block the path?'

If the party are driving and come to an unbreachable roadblock, it's more interesting to make them do a J-turn and dive down and navigate a few side-streets, driving through big piles of cardboard boxes and garbage bins.