King of the Giant, Very Large Hive Pile ,

      Iazra is an orphan.  She doesn’t even have a last name.   Iazra is also a Bottle Wyrd. This is a rare class of Wyrd who uses something like Warp energy to create potions that can act as psychic abilities. Iazra has the rare gift of innate potion making and was trained for a while by a Master Chemist until that Bottle Wyrd was killed by outlanders.  Now Iazra doesn’t know what to do.  She has set up a small camp atop an isolated tower within the lower reaches of Emperor’s Getaway, where she works on her potion making undisturbed and alone; just how she likes it.  That is about to change as six rowdy bands of Juves are about to brawl at her doorstep.

Game Notes-Two things that drive scenario creation are scenery and random miniatures that the Hive Master (dungeon master?) likes to shoehorn into campaigns because they are interesting to paint (see-duck with grenade in mouth.)

This scenario has both!  As mentioned previously the scenery fanatic showed up with a beast of a terrain piece, and the Hive Master picked up a random model who looks like they brew portions.  Voila! A new class.

The scenario is simple.  Take the tower and be the last to survive.  Bottling for gangs stands at 50% losses for this scenario. -End of Game Note.

   The six gangs; the Wastoids,  Waste-Side Bears, the Shrouded Path, the Pale Veil, the Mischievous Misbehaviors, and the Slag Ratz, with a z for maximum douchyness (that’s only the second longest name in campaign history-or maybe the second half of the sentence isn’t part of the name. oh well) always 

seem to always show up at the same time in the same place. 

The tower loomed tall over the small gunners, who approached from different sides, and who implemented different strategies

.

The Mischievous Misbehaviors used speed, figuring it was better to gain a foothold and hang on to any gains they might make.   

The Shrouded Path were more cautious after their recent drubbing and hung back. 

This didn’t stop them from dropping a Misbehavior with a lucky auto pistol shot. 

The Wastoids and Slag Ratz With a Z for…oh never mind, seemed awfully chummy as they advanced for the same stairs that the Misbehaviors were trying to climb.   Whispering and plotting, always prevalent in Hive Decastus, was on full display as the Wastoids shot over the heads of the Ratz and knocked down, but didn’t injure a little green Misbehavior.

The Pale Vail were cautious after losing three dead in the last go around. They slowly crawled forward while hiding and covering with overwatch. 

  The Wastoids did what they always do.  They advanced quickly shooting as they went.  They knocked down a Kroot and shot at, but missed a Wastoid.

Slow and cautious or speedy assault.   Both! Neither!  How about betrayal and brawling?

The Slag Ratz, who tested both the Misbehaviors and Shrouded Path with minimal success, suddenly piled into the Wastoids. Axes and clubs smacked the Wastoids, who after initially being surprised, struck back with knives and pistols. 

The Wastoids had an ace up their sleeve (well, two if you count the dice rolls of the Ratz.). Mr Blue was emerging as a force with which to be reckoned.  His two advancements were both in Weapon Skill.  The Wastoids also outnumbered the less experienced muscle boys. 

The fight was brutal.  The Misbehaviors, who were starting to lose numbers from pistol fire by the former team up, could only watch in relief.  The Shrouded Path, who were advancing towards the Ratz stopped and watched in amusement.

Two heavyweights, Mr Blue from the Wastoids, and Brizzle Grubmok of  the Slag Ratz waded into the melee.  The stabbing Wastoids were getting inside the wild swings of the Ratz’ clubs.  Ratz fell under the weight of numbers and were nearly wiped out.  One Ratz was piled on by four Wastoids and clubbed down three before finally falling injured from a shanking by the fourth.

Just like that, the Slag Ratz were out of the fight.  Their betrayal had gained them nothing, and left them battered.   The Wastoids were also weakened and voluntarily bottled before the lurking Kroot could pounce on them. 

Meanwhile, the Misbehaviors gained advantage from this pile up and climbed high into the tower. The Waste-side Bears gave chase from the opposite side of the large structure.

The cautious Veil and even more cautious Path eyed each other with suspicion, and one attempt by the Kroot to sic their hound on the rear guard of the Vail, resulted in the Pale lad flaming the barky beast.  

Up the tower climbed the four gangs.  Iazra thr Bottle Mage was shocked to see half her height pointy eared, smelly green dudes stumble up the stairs and into her encampment.  They were not hostile, but she hesitated. 

The tussle for the tower would climax in a two gang fight.  The Vail and Path stalemated each other.   The Misbehaviors waited on the roof, guns aimed at the two access points.  A Bear rushed the ladder while three others rushed the stairs.  The Bottle Wyrd hid, as auto pistol and stub hun fire traced across the roof. 

A stub gun round knocked down one charging Bear, while another green battler clubbed another.   The Mischievous Misbehaviors fought with ferocity not previously seen.  They beat back the Bears and secured the tower.   As the last five standing fighters cheered, Iazra decided it was time to make her way, so she offered her services to the strange little ankle-biters and they accepted 

The New Addition To the Hive

 We Irregular(s) love our scenery, and we are lucky to have an inspired hand in the group.  He works in the shadows and pops up with a new piece for the table every so often that we had no idea was being created.  This one is a doozy and we love it. 

Sitting at five stories high, it has nooks! It has crannies!

Lots of layers of rust, some real fire 

Enjoy!

The Hunt At Nourishing Moor

 Relationships in Emperor’s Getaway can be a complicated, ever changing dynamic.  In one encounter, two gangs could be blasting away at each other, and in the next they could be side by side clubbing little bugs and other beasts over the head.  

After a brutal bash fest between six new gangs that resulted in one gang, the Wastoids being knocked senseless, those same six gangs now were presented with a tempting offer while looking for deals at the local trading post.  

Beasts are common in the lower hive.   Flooding, hive quakes or emerging predators can rile them up and send them stampeding.  When too many congregate in one area it can be a hazard.   So it’s time for a bug hunt. 

Nourishing Moor is neither nourishing nor really a moor.   It is a bit dark and has many places for little critters to hide.   It’s up to our newly armed young lads to get to work and collect those hides. 

Game Notes-Nourishing Moor is a six foot by four foot board with four entry points represented by the four doors on one of the short table edges. As usual, individual gang members will enter the board as their die is pulled from the cup.  There is no rule against entering the table and immediately shooting another gang member in the face.  But then who is left to kill the beasts?

The beasts are represented by chits located across the board. No beast is revealed until a gang member comes within 6” of a chit. When this happens, the ganger stops immediately and then the chit is flipped.  If it is blank, no beast.  If it is marked, a D20 is rolled to see what kind of beastie is revealed.  The revealing ganger then makes an immediate initiative roll. If the ganger passes, then the beast does not immediately act but instead has a die thrown in the cup for later activation. The ganger then finishes his action. If the initiative roll is failed, the beast immediately acts and likely charges, or if endowed with a ranged attack, launches that attack. 

It is possible to trigger more than one chit per action. -End of Game Notes-

Much like the ancient ritual on Terra of old known as the Blackest Friday, members of six gangs lined up at the doors to rush in to grab beasts. This event would likely be only slightly less violent than the ancient shopping rush. 

Festivities kicked off in an ominous manner.   A little green boyo from a still secretly named gang skipped forward and revealed the first beast.   The Bounce Vine is a gnarly piece of shrubbery that has a tendency to lob a stinky, smokey bomb from its innards that targets the closest group of clustered threats.  

The little green dude failed his initiative test and watched as a stinky bomb sailed over his head and landed amongst his comrades behind him.  While smokey, the Bounce Vine’s bomb is kind of weak.   Three green dudes were knocked  over by the blast, but it was a member of the Mid-Waste Bears who happened to be standing in the area, who was wounded by the blast   A giant smoke plume spread through the group, causing disorientation.  

The gang known as the Pale Veil entered a building far away from the boom, and creeped up a ladder only to run into another Bounce Vine. Fortunately, the veiled fellow passed an initiative test and charged rhe plant. Unfortunately, the attack was so clumsy, that the club wielding juve fumbled his attack and was choked by the vines of the plant.  He would crawl around injured for some time before going out of action as the first loss of the hunt.

The Wastoids were gunning for redemption and marched into the moor on a mission.  One masked fellow downed a giant rat, and three others downed a Bloat Fly, a Millisaur , and another Bounce Vine respectively.

Bloat Flies can provide a nasty surprise as rhe luckless pointy greens found out. When killed, there is a chance the Bloat Fly will explode sending sticky shrapnel into the immediate area. Two greens were uninjured but knocked down by the blast from one of these bugs  

The Kroot of The Shrouded Path and their human interpreter split into two groups. One went high and one went low. The “high” group crossed a long covered bridge and encountered a Prowler Bird but shot it down before it could spew flame into their tightly packed group  

Progress in hunting down the wild beasts was uneven for the six gangs as they swept forward through the moor.  The Pale Veil was initial swamped by a giant swarm of rats but beat them back and collected their tiny pelts.  The sneaks also bagged a giant spider, a spikey bug and a mini-Nigel (more on that later.). One poor juve was taken down by the rats, but the pelt count was rising for the Veil.  

The Mid-Waste Bears were bogged down. A millisaur poisoned one of the group while two others decapitated a giant hound. The Bears were falling behind in the pelt race. 

The Wastoids were awash in pelts.  Beast after beast was flushed from dark holes and under rocks to be stabbed by the ashers, who eschewed the more popular club for a stabbier knives. 

The Shrouded Path fared the worst as Kroot after Kroot was chomped on by giant rats, strangled by vines from bounce vines and pierced by the teeth of sump worms. Half the Pathers were down, including their human interpreter who was bit by a giant worm, crawled around wounded and went out of action. 

The shirtless muscle bound boys, who continue to secretly guard their name also joined in the hunt and immediately had their hands full when they entered an old hab and were beset upon by a a giant spider, a hopping mad, and a toothy tiny worm.  The boys beat the beasts with clubs to claim their share of the bounty. 

 Overall, the hunt was a smashing success….until it was realized that there was a problem.  

Timple and Egus Grand founded the Society To Aid Beautiful Beasts as a way to protect and nourish the often overlooked and misunderstood little guys of the hive.  They established the Nourishment Knoll Beastie Sanctuary as a place where their flock could exist in peace.  Sometimes those beasts would migrate to the adjacent Nourishment Moor.  

Unfortunately, the Grands never bothered to tell anyone, and if they did, it probably wouldn’t matter as not everyone sees the cuddly side of a giant rat.

So it was that our six gangs met the founders of the Society To Aid Beautiful Beasts. Timple and her power broom…

Egus and his spiffy sandals…

And Bonnie the Sump Bear…

These three guardians of Nourishment Moor and all its living things were not going to allow some young punks come into their sanctuary and cause any more havoc.  They arrived to the moor and they meant business. 

Did we mention Nigel?

While the gangs all but ignored the three newly arrived protectors, and one muscle bound  juve even shot at Bonnie, momma Grand put her fingers to her lips and whistled for Nigel.  And Nigel came a runnin.  

Meet Nigel 

Nigel doesn’t bave much of an attention span or much intelligence, but he moves quick and smells bad.  Nigel came loping onto the moor and immediately sniffed the little green dudes.  Sounding a bit like a very loud cat spitting up a hairball, Nigel spewed psychedelic sump juice all over a pair of the greens causing one to become paranoid and start shooting his auto pistol in random directions while another rolled around on the ground while hallucinating that bugs and other creepy crawlers where climbing all over him (given Nigel’s diet, this might not have been a hallucination.) Nigel’s attention span was reached so he wandered away toward the Waste-Side Bears. 

The gangs now decided it was time to go.  It was at this time that the realization hit the Juves that sometimes small vermin hide so that you walk right by them. The gangs turned to run, but they now had to deal with more beasts that sprung up between them and salvation.  

These included…ducks with human hands around their necks…

Ducks with knives…

Ducks with heat…

And even ducks with grenades…

The gangs began to bleed (literally) members as they fled from Nigel and his family.  The bare chested muscle boys tried to pile in on Bonnie the Sunp Bear, but were torn to pieces.  The few remaining Kroot ran into worm trouble and only a single avian fled uninjured. 

A brave Waste Bear held off Nigel to save his friends only to be taken down by a duck. 

Pandemonium was the way, as each gang tried to flee the nightmare moor.   A happy hunt had turned to horror.

In the end, the Pale Veil pulled the most hides, but also paid the biggest price.  Three Veils were amongst seven total juves killed during the day’s hunt.  Many others came out with chest wounds, leg wounds, arm wounds and old battle wounds.  It was a costly lesson, to not anger the lady with a broom and her very large family.

The Next Beginning

 Hive Decastus chews through gangs.  It is rare that gangs last very long, and this brings opportunities for fresh blood to battle it out for (temporary) supremacy.   Six news gangs exploded onto the scene when word was heard that a freshly discovered spore cave was unearthed below an old hab-center.  

Real World Notes-Six gangs would fight it out with the last gang standing gaining possession of the Spore Cave territory.  five loot counters were also placed on the board.   The six gangs would enter from the four corners and centers of the two long table edges. End of Note

The territorial smash up popped off with an Orlock gang in a corner, next to a ash waste gang, next to a Goliath gang next to a gang of small pointy eared green folks, next to a dark and mysterious gang, next to a gang of lanky giant avian gang in clockwise order.  Not a long gun was to be found amongst the entirely juve event. 

There is often a soft entry into the ruins, and the gangs advance with a live and let live attitude as they push for the loot and strategic positions in the middle of the….oops never mind.  The ash wasters, known as the Wastoids pivoted right and immediately blasted the House Orlock Mid-Waste Bears.

Laspistols popped off and one of the Bears dropped with a hole burned in his body.  While the sad lad crawled to safety, the rest of the club wielding tuffs bolted across a bridge under fire and climbed a ladder under the room where the ashers were holed up.  

One, then two then three then four wrench, pipe and axe wielding boys swung and chopped at the Wastoids who were only armed with knives.   A hand to hand bout for the ages (or at least for the rest of the night) ensued as both gangs ignored all else to beat each other senseless.  One Wastoid and one Waster would perish, and the Wastoids would be routed from the fight. 

This is how it began

This is how it ended 

Across the hab-center, another duel played out, but with more nuance and less blood (but only barely less blood.) Boy Goliaths rolled forward from one corner towards a box of loot that sat on the ground level of the hab, while oddly green, little pointy eared creatures with loud guns and sharp teeth advanced from the other corner.  They met in the middle.    

The Red crate is the loot 

The slow crawl towards the precious gear transitioned into a fist fight when neither gang could effectively shoot each other. Juves have bad aim.  The little green gangsters leapt the barriers separating them from the muscle boys and soon the two gangs were exchanging blows.  Again, clubs beat knives and the humans made off with the loot, leaving one dead from each gang. 

It is not uncommon for one gang in particular to casually sneak into the ruins and pluck out loot without anyone noticing.   Almost nobody noticed.   A gang known as the Pale Veil split into two groups; one went high and one went low.  They creeped along while four other gangs bashed in each other’s heads just yards away.   One gang did notice; the avians. 

No description of the Pale Veil was given.   They barely engaged in any combat but did manage to wound a bird and two House Goliath lads who caught on to their scheme too late.  They received no casualties and hauled off two of the five crates of goodies 

Not Burp Chickens 

In the end no one could declare that they held the hab-center.   The Wastoids carried off a crate of loot but were battered.  The muscles carried off another, but were also beat up.   The birds snuck one off, and the Veil grabbed two.   Four lads-each from a different gang died.   It was, overall a smashing start to the story of this new batch of go-getters. 

Two More Gangs

 Things are ramping up in Emperor’s Getaway as more new gangs join the fray. 

Fur, Feathers and Fowl

Hive Decastus is a many varied place that has seen and experienced many things.  It is not surprising, therefore, that gangs in Emperor’s Getaway have mascots and furry friends   It’s also not surprising that not all gangs are traditional as will be discovered thanks to diligent reporting from the local daily  

Real World Notes: As we close in on the start of the campaign, Hive Decastus enjoys some new additions to the community.  Several of us noticed that we had some extra four legged friends siting around that were serving no purpose.   Boxes of miniatures sometimes come with mascots with no other use in the games we play, so it was suggested we add beasts to the gangoshpere.    One player said it best when it was suggested to add animal companions.  “I want a monkey.” 

Necromunda, for us, is a chance to build and paint models we might otherwise not see on the table.   This week’s newspaper hints at that.

 

Meanwhile, the Grimfish Harbor Howler continues to report.   Our first gang is identified…sort of. 

Return to the Hive

 Hive Decastus is not Necromunda.  Hive Decastus is something else.  Whereas tales of Necromunda are covered in the glory of brave gangs and daring adventures, Decastus is less than that.  

Hive Decastus is a place not so glorious, but instead a bit underwhelming.  Sure enough, the Upper Hive is populated by wealthy(ish) Houses and Guilds filled with political intrigue and titular personalities.  That is not where this story takes place.  The somewhat cheekily named Emperor’s Getaway sits near the bottom of the bottom of the hive.   The EG as it is often called is divided into two areas.  The less affluent Blightwater Borough and the downright appallingly destitute Grimfish Harbor.   This is the setting for the adventures and, more often misadventures, of what could in the loosest sense be called gangs. 

This is their story.

Notes From the Real World

The Emperor’s Getaway is about 15 real years old and has been the setting of Necromunda campaigns at least six times over the years.   The game itself has been played since its original introduction, but within the confines of the Irregular(s) group, twenty two years is about right.  

The new version of the rules from a few years back was tried but not found to be to the group’s liking so the beat up original books are still in use.  Being the self destructive group we are, there are of course modifications to the rules.   It was found that once gangers hit the maximum ballistic score of six, the game became unplayable as no one could move without being sniped.  Everyone stayed hidden and everyone stayed on overwatch.   

So some rules have developed over the years and they seem to work (for us) pretty well.  

Each gang starts at 400 creds and is composed of all Juves.   Some of the Outlander gangs have some special rules due to their unique nature, but for the most part, all Juves.  

The leadership of each gang for purposes of bottling is 7 until a member of a gang obtains a higher leadership.   The first ganger to reach Leadership of 8 becomes the Leader and receives the special rules of a Leader per the main rulebook.  

Up to two Juves at a time can be designated Heavies.  This is done when they would advance from Juve to Ganger.  They gain the special rules of a Heavy at that time.  

There is a maximum of one medic and two inventors per gang at any time.  

The maximum stats are as follows:

  M.       WS.      BS.      S.      T      W.     I.      A.     LD

   4.         6.          5.       4.       4.      3.     6.      3.       9

Each gang starts with one territory.   The Outlanders start with one crappy territory.

All gangs use the Outlander scavenging chart to determine income until five territories are obtained at which time the traditional income chart is used.  Outlander gangs can hold more than one territory.  Scenarios that reward territories are a significant part of the campaign. 

Overwatch is determined by subtracting BS of the shooter from 9 to determine what is needed to hit with a roll of a six always hitting.   So a ganger with BS of four would need a five (9-4=5).  This makes stalemates between gangs less likely and was adopted after we ran out of hidden and overwatch counters because everybody on the board was using them.

The biggest change was in the actual playing of the game.   Our group games together as a social activity.  Pairing off and fighting one on one takes away from this, so we play single large games with all the gangs on the board at once.   In order to facilitate this we take a giant cup and each player has a small die for each model they are bringing to the fight.  The dice are dumped in the cup and shaken up.  Dice are pulled out one at a time.  When your die is pulled you activate one not already activated ganger until the cup is empty.   Any out of action models will result in the loss of a die.  The dice are then dumped back in and the process is repeated. 

This process has resulted in a more engaging experience.  Instead of waiting for four or five (or however many) complete gangs to take all their actions, the opportunity to activate models is more frequent.   

This method of playing Necromunda has created a certain atmosphere to fights in Hive Decastus.  To the chagrin of the primary organizer of this particular game, some gangs have a tendency to think they are playing Diplomacy and not Necromunda. “If you don’t shoot me, you can have that loot and I’ll grab this loot.”  

This has led the exasperated game master (Hive Master?) to have to come up with other ideas.  Besides the taunts in the weekly paper The Grimfish Harbor Howler there has been an uptick in the number of lethal NPCs that show up and terrorize the gangs.  Needs must and all that.   

And so it is that another campaign in Emperor’s Getaway kicks off.