On the edge of town looms a large factory surrounded by a high fence. The factory produces crates and containers. Or does it?
Wild rumours about what is contained in the crates are rampant, because no one believes they are empty. The factory is usually guarded by security that seems just a bit too specialised. However, on September the 16th the security is less than usual. Two interested parties, a local syndicate and nearby scavengers got wind of this and move in to score a hit.
This game is designed to be played by two to four players: an umpire, a scavenger player, a syndicate player and a security player. If there are only three players the umpire gains control of the security forces, if there are two players there are no security forces and both players are aware of all the details of the scenario.
The table:
The game is played on a suitably large table. In the middle of the table stands a factory and in the factory are three robots next to three man-sized deep-freeze crates. Surrounding the factory is a high chain-link fence following the rules for chain-link fences on p. 28 of the Battle Book. Any syndicate and scavenger models may be equipped with wire cutters. There is no opening in the fence anywhere and the gate is closed and remains closed for the duration of the game. Outside of the factory is an urban/industrial area filled in as the players see fit. The security player sets up anywhere within the fence while the scavenger and syndicate players set up within 15cm of either long table edge.
Briefings:
Following are four briefings for the security, scavengers, syndicates and umpire. A player may only read his own briefing (except for the umpire).
Security briefing:
You are the security force of the factory. This night the security is not as dense as usual, and unfortunately word got out. Your men have been hired by the owner of the factory to guard it and not ask any questions, so you have no clue of what's really going on in there. You have 120 points of troops which may be placed anywhere inside the fence and factory. Your goal is to protect the factory but you may not start shooting until any model has attacked the factory. Attacking includes shooting at your men, shooting at the other opponent through the fence or factory, climbing the fence or cutting a hole in the fence. Once an attack you may engage any foes, syndicates or scavengers, no matter who made the attack Security may not go outside of the fence.
Scavenger Briefing:
Your scavengers have heard that the factory is in fact a meat factory from where the meat is exported in man-high freezer crates. Because the meat is of dubious origin the factory keeps it a secret. You don't really care about the meat. You happen to know the factory moves all those heavy crates around with a couple of very nice robots. These robots, with a few alterations and new weapons, could serve well in your force, or be sold for a profit. They are of the Sentinel Type 37, they are turned on and have no weapons (they can only fight in close combat with no additional modifiers for close combat weapons). They are not hostile. If you get a tech in base contact with one you can reprogram it by making an 11+ tech roll. If you make the roll you can control them as if they were yours. You have 250 points of troops and win the game if you get one robot off the table first.
Syndicate Briefing:
Your intelligence has told you that the biggest export from the crate factory are man-high freezer crates. Of course you don't believe the crates are empty. Word on the street is the crates contain biological weapons in a test stadium. To you this means the weapons are as good as finished, and by obtaining them you can catch up on years of research in one masterstroke. It is likely that every case contains a different weapon so the more you can obtain the better. The downside is that the crates are very heavy, so it takes two figures one action each to pick up a crate, and two actions each to move a crate 5cm in any direction. A model cannot move a crate on it's own unless it has a hand-truck in which case it costs one action to pick up the crate and two actions to move the crate 5cm in any direction.
Models carrying a crate may not shoot. If a model carrying a crate is attacked in close combat or gets hit and panics/is killed by gunfire the crate drops on the floor and has to be picked up again. You have 250 points of troops and win the game if you get a crate out of the fence perimeter first .
Umpire Briefing:
There are three crates and three robots, as soon as a crate is dropped (see Syndicate briefing) or is covered by a frag grenade/HE missile template the crate opens and the contents come out.
Roll a D6: |
|
1-2 |
Grey alien |
3 |
Cockroach alien |
4 |
Feeder alien |
5 |
Hunter alien |
6 |
Ghost alien |
The aliens follow the rules as laid out in Doug Cowie's " Aliens in Combat Zone". The alien is still frozen and therefore a little slow. In the turn it is revealed it may activate at the end of the turn, but may only spend 1/3 of its action points (round down). The next turn it rolls initiative as normal but may only spend 2/3 of it's action points (round down). The turns thereafter the alien gets its full amount of action points. There is only one of each alien available so if you roll a duplicate then reroll. The aliens are controlled by the security player, they combine initiative and do not attack each other. Any surviving security models are carried over to the control of the umpire. The player that first achieves it's goal wins, however, an empty crate is worthless to the syndicate player. In a two player game roll a dice for each alien model each turn to see who controls the model that turn.
The Factory Robots
I made the robots from unaltered Sentinel bodies. Two of them received scratchbuilt arms from plastic rod and bits of plastic scenery, the last simply got two recoilless rifles with the barrels cut off to carry around his sheet of metal mesh. I painted them green, followed by a brown wash and two green drybrushes. I added some black and yellow stripes for that industrial look and painted on some details but otherwise didn't spend too much time on them. I still like their look and scheme: simple but functional. The freezer boxes are card models (link available in the "The Running Man" article) assembled for the occasion, embellished with some icicles made with Vallejo Modelling Putty. Only one of the robots can actually hold the boxes.
Painting the Techs
The techs are an EM4 exotic, a rebel and a bodyguard. I wanted a bit of a cyber look to them so I painted them black with bright colours. Painting them was pretty straightforward and I like the end result.
Painting The Aliens:
The aliens I used in this scenario are basic EM4 aliens, available pre-painted for only 5 quid a set (cheaper than unpainted metal models). I wanted something different, so I stripped them and undercoated them black.
The Grey
Although I wouldn't have thought it at first, the grey became one of my favourite aliens after repainting. I painted his suit red and added bone-coloured stripes. I painted his skin grey (of course) and his equipment silver with some blue and black details. After a matt varnish I touched up his eyes and equipment with gloss. It was only after I painted it that I realised it's blaster was in fact a giant probe and should have been painted pink.
The Roach
I wanted a high contrast between the belly and the back of this creature so I left the outer shell dark with a brown drybrush and some dark red spots. I painted the belly and face bone colour with some pink added, with some extra pink spots on top. To make the claws stand out more I painted these bone as well, and to smoothen the transition between the limbs and belly I painted the inside of the limbs a bit lighter. I finished it off with a gloss coat for a more buggy look.
The Hunter
I gave this model a drybrush with grey, painted all his skin (including the netted parts) in khaki, gave the skin a wash of khaki with black and green mixed in, and highlighted the skin with khaki with white and green mixed in. I painted the details in grey, metal and buttons and lights with red and yellow. He looks quite impressive now.
The Feeder
This was by far the easiest model to paint. A drybrush of black with a bit of brown added, the 'ribbed' parts got a thin grey highlight. , I painted the second jaw in skin and the claws and teeth silver. A gloss varnish completed this model.
The Ghost
To me this was the least interesting alien model, probably because he looks just like a human in a suit. I drybrushed it dark blue and painted the inner parts white for a somewhat skeletal look. I painted the blob on it's leg to resemble a skull, with the tubes around it's suit pumping the life-force out and into the alien. Finally I painted the eyes and details pink and the gloves black so they wouldn't interfere too much with the existing colours. I found the end result still a bit dull so I gave it a gloss varnish to make it look well, more alien. The 'skull' and gloves were touched up with matte varnish.
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