We're In It For A @!$#ton Of Money: The Reboot Of The Rogue Trader Campaign

Since I have not been able to play 40K as much as I have wanted as of late, I have been doing some other stuff. I have restarted the Rogue Trader campaign. Since I moved from Lansing to Ypsilanti the game has been on hiatus. We left off with with the group Salvaging a battleship and eliminating an enemy who has come back from the dead at least once. They have discovered treasures unknown and seen the death of a craftworld. They discovered a lost primarch and have conquered worlds.

I like my RPG campaigns to be kind of epic in scope. Rouge Trader is really all about how baller you are both in wealth and influence. So in this reboot we have the group moving coreward searching for the remaining talismans of Vaul. They have discovered one along with its bearer, a Eldar Astartes Hybrid named Pandora. I know what you are saying. An Eldar who is half Astartes? Not only is she an Astartes she is also the daughter of a lost Primarch, Chronos father of the Grey Wardens. A Primarch who turned his back on the crusade and the heresy because he is a pacifist. He and his legion were living in harmony with a rouge group or Eldar who worshiped Vaul exclusively. They also abhorred war and violence except in their own defense. The Cathedral Terra, my groups first ship, and its sister ship the Forge of Vaul, now known as the Spear of Omnissiah since Magos Gabriel claimed it as his ship, were both products of the shipyard in orbit of Vaulisma, the planet and Craftworld inhabited by the legion and the Vaulite Eldar.

The group inadvertently brought the demise of Vaulisma with them in the form of A Farseer from Ulthwe seeking the Talismans of Vaul. The sword Anaris was on this world and its webway gates had been sealed. The Farseer opened them and allowed a Multi Craftworld force to raid the craftworld to try and take it. This lead to all out war as an entire Astartes legion began to defend their home from a huge Eldar invasion force spearheaded by Ulthwe and Eldrad Ulthran.

The group escaped as a third force entered the system. A force they had not seen before. They escaped with many refugees both human and Eldar. They had a few more adventures which included salvaging the Light of Terra, an emperor class battleship. They also discovered that they were the target of a C'tan called The Outsider. He was seeking the Talismans of Vaul as they were one of the only weapons that could end his existence.

The group ended up on the world of Pavonis to regroup and lick their wounds. The began the long task of repairing and refitting their ships and their newly acquired battleship. This is when they learned that there are more Talismans of Vaul. They decided to seek fame and fortune finding them. This is also when an Inquisitor, on Emma Stone, caught up to them and revealed herself as an agent of the C'Tan. She was promptly spaced and shot with a lance form the prow of the ship.

I know I have missed a bunch, but needless to say we had our first session of the reboot and it went well. My players requested I start writing about the sessions again on the blog so here we are. Our cast of Characters for the reboot are;

Admiral Quintus Fabius Tarsus the 27^th, Rogue Trader, fan of Zap Branagan, played by best friend Chris aka “The Stormlord”

Magos Gabriel, Explorator, played by my buddy Steve aka “Mr.O”

Joker, Arch Militant, played by my buddy John. Sadly no handle yet as I have to get him on the blog possibly as a writer.

Dante, a daemon hunter from dark heresy, played by my buddy Joe

Micah Troko, Senechal and black market specialist and Face man, played by my buddy Eric aka “Rabbit”

Telarion, Astropath and hunter of rogue psykers, played by my buddy Larry aka “Farseer Re-Rolls”

I will have another player once she get her character made. A missionary will be joining the group which should prove to be a good foil to the group as they are kinda tongue in cheek with their worship of the God Emperor.

After being held up on the edge of Segmentum Solar the group is divided, mostly because the Stormlord and Farseer Re-Rolls could not make it, and fleet command would only allow one ship to proceed to Alpha Centauri a mere 50 light years from Holy Terra. The group had gained intel that a very powerful noble who is next in line, or at least a major favorite, to be the next High Lord of Terra may be in possession of the Talisman of Vaul the seek. He also may be in possession of Jokers long lost love he believed to be dead. They have an in as there is another minor lord who has his hands in everything and he knows the whos who. They set up a meeting after doing some research. They find out that they can supply him with higher quality materials for his weapons manufacturing concerns, from one of the worlds they “Liberated” in the name of the Emperor.

They pick up Dante as a hired merc. He is hunting the rouge Inquisitor Emma Stone and knows she seeks this group. They set up a meeting with Lord Johansen, the lord that has is hands in everything, and also attempt contact at an exclusive club they gain access to after Micah wows a senior administrator doing an inspection of the Spear of Omnissiah. The Magos discovers in his research and digging Lord Johansens less then legal business concerns and that they are tied to a possible chaos cult.

After making a good impression at the club Dante spots people leaving Lord Johansens booth he did not see enter and pursues them. This leads the group into conflict with cult members of the Cult of the Ascended Mind. Dante makes quick work of them as he pursues their leader. The group finishes them off even taking on prisoner, a big step for these guys as they are a shot first, shoot second, why are we shooting again? Kind of group.

The leader is cornered and sacrifices himself to summon a Daemonette. Dante’s Daemon hunting skills come out as he makes short work of the loan Daemon before the rest of the group catches up.

So we end with a prisoner to interrogate and a meeting the next day to gain favor with Lord Johansen. We also end with a cut scene. Emma Stone being dressed down by her C'tan lord and being sent to find the group along with a babysitter in the form of a Platinum Necron Lord.

SO our 2^nd session is this Sunday. We will have the introduction of our Missionary and some epicness as we explore the Tarsus dynasties past. It would appear they are more tied to current events that the group thinks.

Next time More webway action and I present my Ork list for fun and waaaaghing.

Until then.....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes,War Calls.......................Waaaaaaaaaagghhh!!!!

Rogue Trader: Session 2

Session two of my Rouge Trader games sees our explorers take to space as they have uncovered some secrets left behind by Quintis's father. We last left out hero’s on the cusp of a trade deal moving agricultural goods to the Forge World Iconix from the Agro world of Satire 7 in the Malconis system. The deal was originally set up by Marik Tarsus with some rather unfavorable terms. It was a two way trade route as Iconix would be supplying equipment and machinery as well as new seed strains as Iconix specializes in biological items and is predominately under the auspices of the Magos Biologis. The crew was feeling rather good after their tumble with the thugs in the market place from session one . Quintis starts the talks and finds that the dynasty would be shouldering a lot of the costs involved and would actually be loosing money by doing this deal. After some hard negotiating and the Magos Gabriel finding some classified information concerning a plague that was turning crops to mulch. Whit this revelation it was clear the Cartel was more interested in the Magos's on Iconix fixing the crops than receiving machinery. The information was not public as this would weaken their bargaining position. So Despite Quintis's lack of tact and bargaining skills he made a successful deal.

With the deal concluded Forgemaster Lennox of Iconix gives the group a data crystal with a large amount of star charts and system survey data that would normally not be available to anybody outside the upper echelons of the Adeptus Mechanicus. This was the reason for the bad terms of the trade deal. After grilling Angelica for information the crew discovers that Marik Tarsus was involved in the Xenos artifact trade and that he was looking for a specific item. He had become obsessed with finding said item and this was the reason the dynasty had withered away to nothing. They also learn that Marik found the Cathedral Terra on one such expedition in the orbit of a world many months away by warp travel. By this time Gaius had identified the odd parts of the ship that were Xenos to possibly be Eldar in origin.

The group decides they need some answers, to who attacked them and why, what was the artifact that Marik was looking for and where did the Cathedral Terra come from.

Joker along with Quintis interrogates the one remaining thug that attacked them. They find out he works for another Rogue Trader named Nathaniel Allen. He is out for vengeance against Marik Tarsus for the death of his son. They also find out that another group was supposed to be hitting a second target that was an associate of Marik's on Tarlac Alpha, in the Solomon system which was about a weeks travel away.

As the are leaving the system they encounter another ship. The ship belongs to Inquisitor Simon Locke of the Ordo Xenos. He demands to board and once there questions the crew about Marik and his dealings. His tech adept is unable to pull any information from the cogitators as Magos Gabriel thwarts their attempts with his crack coding skills. The Inquisitor leaves without whatever it was he was looking for and the crew makes the transition to warp space. The ship makes the journey very very quickly and arrives after only a day.

As they transition and get oriented they pick up a distress signal form a ship near by. An older vessel Identifying itself as the Grace of Sophia is under attack by to raider vessels. The Cathedral Charges in and easily disables one of the raiders. The other runs as it does not want to take on a ship the size of a cruiser. Turns out this is the contact the crew was looking for. Lady Charlabelle Armelain boards the Cathedral Terra to thank the captain as the rest of the crew helps with repairs to her vessel. Joker boards the enemy raider with a security contingent and quells the crew quite easily.

The Lady doe s not know why Allen wants her as well, but she does ask a favor, and a share of the profits, to Quintis if he would be willing to transport 2 passengers she is carrying. The share is 25 Eldar Dream stones. Very rare and very expensive. Through the right channels this could help rebuild the dynasty. Quintis agrees. The passengers are brought on board shrouded.

The crew meets them in private in the trophy room on board the Terra. The lady introduces Farseer Iyanna Althoran of Ulthwe and her body guard the Exarch Solvanus , a Striking Scorpion. Needless to say there is some shock.

With the Exception of Gaius I am really surprised by the acceptance of the Xenos on the ship. This proves to be very useful for me in later sessions. It would seem the group is caught up in something big after only just getting hold of the Writ of Trade. Everybody should have expected Eldar honestly. I do run a 40K Eldar blog. Things get a lot more interesting. Things get pretty epic. Whats the point of doing a Rouge Trader game is you don't go big.

So next time session 3. Before that though we will be delving into heavy support choices for the Eldar army.

Until then......................

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!

Rogue Trader Sunday: Session one

Session one of my Rogue Trader has our team of explorers, 3 of them anyway, traveling from Hydraphur to the Imperial Naval base at Baka. Baka is where our Rogue Traders father lies on his death bed after being poisoned by an unknown party. We are introduced to our first three explorers aboard the Battleship Absolution. Our Rouge trader is Quintis Fabius Tarses the first son or Rouge Trader Malek Tarses. His companions are accompanying him so that they may help him take over his fathers dynasty and inherit the families writ of trade which was given to them during the great crusade and bears the immortal Emperors signature. His loyal friend and former shipmate Joviaco Ralova aka “Joker” and another former soldier and friend Bren Altiernan McLuthos are with Quintis to become his trusted command crew.

When they arrive at Baka they are greeted by Fleet Liaison Officer Lord Captain Brixton of Battle Fleet Tempestus and Malek Tarsus's personal assistant Angelica as well as our 4^th Explorer. Magos Gabriel Hadde of the Adeptus Mechanicus is also with them and our fourth PC.

The Group checks out the Ship which is named Cathedral Terra. It is a very old cruiser which the group comes to find out has some nice archeo tech systems and a Xenos system on it , a rune caster. They meet with Marik Tarsus our Rogue traders father who is being kept alive by the arcane machines of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He bestows the writ of trade upon his son and a ceremony ensues which is over seen by the Arbitor General Maximilian Steel and the High Ecclesiarch.

After all the pomp and circumstance, which has left our group bored and ready to go they retreat back to the Terra to see what their next action is. Angelica informs them that Marik was supposed to be in the Malconis system in a week to set up a trade deal on Satire 6 an aggro world in the control of the Vexhoun cartel. The group decides to make best possible speed there and is assured by the Navigator Valex, who the group finds creepier than anything they have yet encountered, that thanks to the ships wonderful amenities they will make it in time.

They in fact make it with a day to spare thanks to good warp conditions. They make contact with the Cartel representative and set a time to begin negotiations. They take advantage of the time between and decide to do some shopping in a local bazaar. There they are jumped by 5 thugs who seemed to know they were coming, as one of the screamed “DIE TARSUS!” before opening fire on the group. Quintis took a wound to the arm in the first salvo, but his comrades rallied quick and took down a couple thugs in the opening volley of fire. Gaius, our 5^th player, came down with the party and proved his worth as he charged head long into hand to hand combat and cut down another thug. After a brief combat all the thugs were dead or dieing. The one left alive was taken back to the ship for questioning. The session ended with the beginning of the trade deal talks.

I have to say the first session went very smoothly. I had not realized how devastating combat actually was in this system. The weapons inflict lots of damaged and we all got a kick out of the descriptions on the critical charts.  The guys rolled exceptionally well for equipment on the shopping trip and they picked well from their choice of starting gear.  Needless to say my baddies need to be better armed.
 In the future I need to plan combat a little better to make the fights a little more challenging. I Find it funny that I have 2 characters that have the Arbitus as an enemy and one who has the Imperial Church. I like the attitude that is shaping up. As I said its like Firefly meets Big Trouble in little China and our Rogue Trader is Jack Burton.

Our first session was short as everybody also did character creation when we got together. Next time we get into the trade talks and we get acquainted with the various personalities on the ship.

Until then

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!

Decent of Angels

Well I have had two battles using the Same list this week. I have started testing 1850 point Adepticon rules army lists. So far I have revised it once.

I used the original list Vs Captain Obvious and his experimental blood angels cheese list, his words of discription not mine, That list was composed of 2 Furioso Librarians, 3 vindicators, 3 baal predators 2 5 man squads of marines, a squad of scouts and a librarian leading the pack

I have always been an Eldar player. I have played Eldar since the early 90's and the days of 2nd edition. I skipped the horror that was 4th edition.

The List I used against the Blood Angels was version one of the Adepticon list and it consisted of:

1 Farseer with Spirit stones, Runes of warding, Doom and Mind War
4 warlocks with the Farseer with Enhance, Embolden and 2x Destructor and 1 with spirit seer
1 Avatar
20 Guardians with a warlock with conceal and spirit seer and with a shuriken cannon platform
5 pathfinder
10 howling banshees with Exarch. Exarch has acrobatic and warshout armed with an excutioner
1 wave serpent with shuriken cannons with the banshees.
10 Fire Dragons with Exarch. Exarch has a fire pike and the tanks hunter power.
1 wave serpent with bright lances as transport for the Fire Dragons.
2 Wave serpents with scatter lasers and holo feilds
1 Wraithlord with Starcannon and Wraithsword.

we played a Capture and control mission


Although the path finders were hellstorm cannoned the first turn the list did ok. With the guardians and Avatar holding the objective, and the fire dragons and falcons wreaking havoc with all his armor i was able to hold the objective while at the same time killing off all his ability to hold his objective thanks to my banshees and the Farseer and Warlocks. His list was relying on psychic powers and he was not having much luck with the runes of warding up. Even after he managed to kill the Farseer the powers were not that effective.

The list ddid lack troops though. I was also not all that pleased with the Falcons performance. The pulsar is nice against light targets but I was having issues with the BS of 3.

So for round two against The dreaded Dark Eldar Horde of Captain Obvious i changed the list. The Dark Eldar list he runs is very strong. A lord with 4 incubi and Drazaar is nasty. 3 Ravagers and a the squad of wyches is also nasty. The real power comes from the numerous squads of warriors though. They have lots of Dark lances and Blasters. It is a bad day for anybody who does not expect the DE to have shooty potential.

I modified my above list. I took out the Falcons and put in Fire Prisms. They have a BS of 4 and with 2 modes of fire and the ability to combine gives me more flexability and killing power for armor and infantry. I took out the pathfinders and decided to try 2 squads of 3 Jetbikes both with one shuriken cannon each. I was hoping these would be able to harass the enemy and be able to take objective quickly. Lastly I swapped the Banshees for Striking Scorpions. No power weapons , but they hit harder and get more attacks plus I can outflank.

This list did much better and despite the game going back and fourth every turn, I managed to Contest the other objective for the win. The Avatar also pimped the Lord and retinue thanks to crappy rolling.

I used this list again Vs Dark Angels. A command squad in a land raider, three tactical squads, one squad of assault terminators, a land speeder with assault cannon and heavy bolter, a dreadnought deployed via drop pod. all tactical squads had lots of plasma.

After two games I am not happy with the choice of bikes. They took objectives quick and harassed but they died quick. In the end i was narrowly defeated as one tactical squad i failed to kill, 3 remaining, managed to run from cover and take the last objective in the last turn.

My deployment was not good as well. I promise i will have more pictures and details next time.

My Rogue Trader game also went well Friday night.

It is my first time playing and running this game. I really need to read more so I can actually run combat next time. Character creation took a while due to all the jumping we had to do in the books. The rules are really spread out as well. I wish they would have some nice summaries for a quick refresher when I need it.

All in all it went well. There was a lot of interaction and they managed to botch a battle drill thy wanted to run on the ship. 7 degrees of failure makes it so fun for me. This epic fail almost cost them their trade negotiation meeting as they almost hit a ship near by as the crews actually fired the guns rather than just doing a battle drill.

Should be entertaining next session


until next time.............