The Last Stand - a Pulp Alley Game

Sinastras IV, hive city. Hosting the 714 Infantry Regiment as it rests and refits after a triumphant campaign against Chaos. 

A livid explosion of twisted humanity. A vast but undetected chaos cult rises in revolt, seeking vengeance on the 714th. The shock assault results in slaughter. Everywhere soldiers are cut down before they can begin to regroup and resist.

Our three heroes find themselves among the very last remnants of resistance. Farov Payne, Lamenters scout, returned from the same campaign. Romulus Decima, mechanicus operative, working with elements of the 714th. And Trooper Burns, part of the internal security detail in Sinastras IV. (Note, all three characters are sidekicks in game terms).)

They are joined by a handful of 714th troopers and an Earthshaker fire support robot. Their mission, to hold out until they can be evacuated.

Objectives: the banner of the 714th must not fall into enemy hands.

A beacon to call in air support. Pass a challenge and the air arrives the next turn.

A radio to call in a transport for evacuation (players have to grab the radio and pass a number of challenges to call in the transport).

The starting positions for the three groups.

Each moves towards the objectives.

Scattered cultists begin to move forwards across the table.

Our heroes approach the beacon and the radio.

More cultists and the first hits against the soldiers.

Decima takes over the radio. For a mechanicus chappie, he was spectacularly inept at getting it working. Probably put the batteries in the wrong way round!

Large steel robot versus small, squishy cultists.

The first scare for the heroes: the cultist flamer lights up Burns. A lot of the heroes' firepower suddenly turned on the flamethrower!

Payne, standard bearer in tow, pulls back.

Reinforcements for the cultists. Complete with napoleonic tactics!

But, right place at the right time, here comes the air support!

The next turn saw a distinct threat upgrade. More reinforcements, higher quality (Allies rather than Followers), and scarily close!

However, Decima is much better with a gun than a radio and, covered by the gunship, he pulls back, leaving casualties in his wake.

The cultists follow up, and there is carnage in the graveyard.

Favourable recovery rolls for the heroes, consolidating on the high ground.

The flamer is back in action, but Payne survives.

The cultists press, taking down the remaining soldiers. However, strong shooting by the heroes leaves them decimated.

As darkness falls, the cultists lack the numbers to press home their assault. But the evacuation shuttle still hasn't been called in.

The heroes slip off into the gathering gloom, but how long will they be able to maintain their freedom?

A memorable game! It was nice to get all the new stuff on the table: it was the first game for everything except the Necromunda figures. Plenty of toys on the table: the robot and the gunship were especially fun to play with too.

The heroes did exceedingly well. They had a couple of anxious moments as they faced wave after wave of cultists, but they dealt out enormous amounts of damage. What they couldn't do, was pass checks to bring in their evacuation shuttle.

For the cultists, it was a case of almost but not quite. There were a couple of moments where they really looked dangerous: when the flamer got going and then when they knocked down Decima and the soldier in the graveyard. However, they were unable to maintain the pressure and let the heroes back into the game. They also had a psyker who spent the entire game trying (unsuccessfully) to destroy or takeover the robot. Had they managed to do that, things would have looked very different.

Ultimately, no one was going to win in a hurry, and so the fade to black. A slightly unsatisfying end, but it does set things up nicely for the next stage of the campaign.

Continued...