Nido de Plaga IV: Subject F

From Captain, Marauder Assault Cruiser Mandrake
To Assault Commander, Ground Forces, Nido de Plaga IV

Commander,

Our analysts have deciphered the data you managed to retrieve on your last mission have obtained several valuable pieces of intelligence.
Firstly, the artefact you observed being studied is believed by Mazon Labs to be of Asterian manufacture and to be some sort of biological weapon system.
Secondly, shortly after the discovery of the object a Subject F was also found and taken to a secure underground location to be studied. Subject F seems to have some way of controlling the biological agent released by the object which Mazon Labs was investigating.
Thirdly, some sort of catastrophic event took place in the research facility shortly before the planet went silent and the 'plague' started to spread. From the fragmented messages you where able to retrieve we believe it may have been a Veer-myn attack. As you know the Veer-myn are found on many planets in the outer spheres and tend to remain hidden deep beneath the surface. We suspect they must have realised what the Mazon Labs had discovered and tried to seize it themselves.
Our deep surface scans have pin-pointed the research lab and found an area that looks to still be securely contained. You should make your way to the lab and secure any information and samples you can find with Subject F being your top priority.

Captain T.

This weeks Deadzone campaign game saw the Marauders venture into an underground Mazon Labs facility in search of Subject F. As the area is under ground we played all the buildings as blocking terrain which could not be climbed onto. This meant the action would be confined to the corridors between the buildings and would be a more close-quarters affair than is normally the case. I setup a research area in the middle with a couple of  1 cube buildings which had doors, these could be hacked to release the occupant(s).

The Marauders went combat heavy again with a very similar line-up to the last mission:

1 * Bolts - Commander

3 * Marauder Commando

2 * Mawbeast

1 * Marauder Commando Specialist with HMG

1 * Ripper Rainmaker

1 * Ripper Mauler

1 * Gruntbot

The Veer-Myn also went melee heavy with :

1 * Crone Mother

1 * Piper with 2 Rat Swarms

2 * Volt Runner

2 * Volt Stalker

1 * Nightmare

1 * Shocker

1 * Fuser

In order to win the Marauders needed to take control of Subject F and also have at least 16 victory points.

On the first turn both sides pushed forwards without firing.

#

The second turn started badly for the Veer-Myn as a Volt Runner activated and then flipped the booby-trap object and was then blown into an exposed square only to be eaten by a Mawbeast. The Mawbeast was then attacked and killed by a couple of Veer-Myn who avenged the fallen Runner. Everyone else pushed forwards with a Commando being killed by gun fire.

On the third turn the Goblins got stuck in with their Gruntbot suits and a couple of melees that would last the rest of the game formed up, with the Veer-Myn feeding units into the Goblin mincer.

The Marauder Specialist was then committed to opening the first cell and struck lucky with Subject F being released straight away, the Marauder didn't have time to chat as the Veer-Myn also pressed forwards.

More bodies pressed forwards into the standing melees with the Ripper Rainmaker trying to help Bolt's, this however lead to it's death in the next turn.

With Subject F in tow the Commando Specialist went to investigate a containment tank only to release a Plague Victim who promptly added to the Specialists issues which got worse when a pack of rats joined the fun.

This lead to the death of the Specialist which left the Marauders on 16 VP's but without Subject F.

They then got a lucky break as Subject F frightened by the rats and Plague victim scattered in a random direction into the open arms of Bolts as the last action of the round.

This left a badly bloodied Marauder strike team licking their wounds but also victorious, they now need to get Subject F back to base and off the planet.

Hopefully we will see how that goes next week.