r/5Parsecs

Hello everyone!! I’m running for myself (or trying to at least) a solo Battletech 5parsecs game that isn’t just using the models but still feels like Battletech to me. I’d like some guidance on optional rules and homebrew stuff people can think of that can achieve the effect of being mercs/government soldiers working giant mechs. Below is a list of things I have done:
- House rules: I play with base human stat lines and abilities, but add some things from bot as well. I combined them into one to make things a little simpler. 1. Mech warriors can roll on background/morivation/career tables 2. We use the bot injury table 3. We get the armor saving throw of 6+ 4. Mech warriors can earn experience AND get bot upgrades, but a switch of mechs doesn’t allow both to remain together. 5. No implants and consumables 6. Character events happen.

Im also using the following rules with Bug Hunt and Core
- crew size 4 (typical inner sphere lance size)
- expanded factions
- normal challenge
- fringe world strife (cause no one is having a peaceful time in Battletech)
- expanded missions
- slaves to the star grind
- progressive difficulty
- casualty tables (for everyone)
- expanded connections
- terrain gen.
- All enemies are humans/bots. Except Clans, which will be covered soon

For Battletech rules:
- era: 3063 (Civil War)
- military type enemies: Inner Sphere Houses
- gang type enemies: Pirates
- Alien type enemies: The Clans
- will follow the Inner Sphere map, but supplement canon world details with a mix of 5Parsecs and an independent supplement book called Perlious Void that has tables for worlds

Is there anything else I should try/think of before I begin playing? Besides the rules above, it’ll play like any other game of 5parsecs

Hear me out -- Halfling Commandos.

I bought FR on a whim, not knowing I needed to witness hobbits waging a brutal guerilla war, but here we are. These dudes are in the mail and I haven't been this pumped to get to the table in a long while.

I wanted to make a visual representation of my crew sheets, that can then be filled in, rather than just a number that has to be changed. I finished my first 2 sessions with them recently (stories coming soon!) and wanted to share! I have them as SVG files created in inkscape as well, but I am not sure how to share those here.

Each is a PNG, and I printed them on cardstock in Microsoft Word, 4 to a page. This worked great for keeping them a good size, and readable from across the table. Oh and I added a JPG so you can read them on a black background, but I wouldn't use that file because I don't think it will scale as well.

I tried to design them so the defaults were filled in, but forgot that Engineers start with 2 toughness, so they get a special sheet! Haha. Plus this makes their squishiness stand out. Each track *should* only allow for the default maximum of each stat.

The stats are in order, but in case the symbols don't make sense: Reaction, Speed, Combat, Toughness, Savvy. The right side is an XP track and a Luck box.

Let me know what you think! They worked well for me, but I am open to constructive criticism and may iterate the designs.

Operation 003 - Vengeful Stiletto

"Commander, we're headed to the southeastern United States for our next mission. The aliens have targeted Atlanta for a strange experiment. They aren't deploying normal troops, but we've heard reports of dead men walking. Seems they've gotten ideas from some of our TV programs. Get down there and take these zombies out! All civilians have already evacuated the area, so any contacts are strictly kill-on-sight. Good luck."

[This is my final writeup for the XCOM Miniatures Game playtest! I'll be back with more if they send me more things to test, or maybe when the game launches! Until then, I'm starting my first campaign of *Five Parsecs from Home* and will be posting similar writeups of the adventures of John "Central" Bradford as he is sucked into an alternate universe. Look for them on r/5Parsecs ]

Leaving Ilium behind the crew set off for the ragged edge of known space. PX-41 a rocky planet that's been mined and stripped of everything that could be sold or used for centuries. Now little more than a reminder of the cost of civilization and a way station for those traveling beyond known space. While aboard the planet's sole space station Oblivion, the crew repaired their damaged equipment and recruited Lt Gus Armando the last surviving member of the Arquilian light horses. A contact from the Axiom Enterprises corporation offered a simple job. To visit their derelict mining camp on PX-41s surface and eliminate anything or anything that was triggering their proximity alarms. Any equipment left behind in the camp was offered as payment since it was worth the expense of bringing the equipment off world for Axiom but they didn't want proprietary secrets being found either.

Landing a few klicks away from the camp and approaching on foot the crew discovered a feral element of the Black Dragons mercenaries unit using the camp as a raiding base. Carefully moving through the camp the crew attempted stealth as even without proper logistics the mercenaries were a threat to be respected.

Squiggly unfortunately hid behind a piece of partial cover and was spotted by one of the power armor clad mercs. Sounding the alarm the mercs approached in pairs with their captain bringing a powerful weapon and jump pack to bear.

Staying in cover and throwing everything they had into concentrated firing lanes it was a slow and grueling fight. One merc managed to knock Felicia into a cargo container and leave her unconscious. Cressinda and Ashton pinned one merc until Ashton could slide his glare sword in-between his armor plates and kill him. The mercenary captain used his jump pack to knock Gus out of the fight with a flanking attack. And as Norm and Squiggly forced another mercenary out of cover and killed him with a lucky headshot, the mercenary that had taken out Felicia dropped Ashton.

Another brutal exchange of gunfire in the camp's central arena saw the first Merc killed by Cressinda's blast pistol and Squiggly dropped by the captain using his massive gun as a bludgeon. Norm did little more than scratch the paint on the mercenary leader.

With no time left to play it safe Norm and Cressinda both rushed to point blank ranges and unloaded with everything they had left. It knocked back the mercenary but failed to kill him. His response was to knock Norm out of the fight with a volley of withering firepower. Cressinda pulled out her lucky charm and forced herself to aim before pulling the trigger. By a miracle the last shot in her pistol flew true and found a small gap in the armor of the captain. The explosive bullet blasting apart the captain as the round got inside the armor and turned meat into soup.

In the aftermath of the carnage, Gus was whisked into surgery with all his equipment broken, Felicia narrowly escaped worse injuries than her pride, Squiggly lost his deflecting screen but only a vestigial limb went with it. Sadly Ashton and Norm were both killed and buried with respect amongst the stars after the crew returned to Oblivion. Despite the large payday and amount of salvaged equipment from the camp, Felicia overcome by the series of losses and narrow escapes leaves the crew behind to return to the safety of her homeworld.

Despite the remoteness of PX-41 it's location near several trade routes and it's status as being uncolonized and unclaimed makes it a haven for pirates, slavers, and worse. With the Black Dragon renegades dead there's a slew of criminals and unsavory types arriving by the day. Most just want to disappear aboard oblivion or eek out a living scrapping what the corporations left behind. But some realize the potential of the planet as a base of operations and the crew of the Fury as the only thing that stands in their way of taking over.

CREW ROSTER

Captain Éric Von Middlesworth:  Born on Cadia before the planet was lost, Captain Éric Von Middlesworth grew up in an aristocratic family.  Instead of following his older siblings into the upper echelons of the Guard, Éric leveraged his family name and wealth into acquiring a Writ of Trade.  He has since acquired a loyal-enough crew on his travels, who have been invaluable in his quest to spread the glory of the Von Middlesworth name across the Imperium.

Captain Éric Von Middlesworth is a baseline human male, more than half a century old.  Despite his age, he remains fit and in fighting shape.  His white hair is cropped short and severe, in a high-and-tight buzz cut.  His face is marked with scars, and a lho stick often hangs from his scowling lips.  His eyes are purple, a mark of his Cadian ancestry.

Sister Syuri Suzuki:  Born into the Death Korps of Krieg, Syuri Suzuki (formerly CS-7567-S) aspired to greater service to the Emperor than dying in a bayonet charge.  By chance or fate, she managed to claw her way out of her deathworld home by escaping into the Ecclesiarchy, crushing any who stood between her and her aspirations for advancement and dominance.  She was assigned to The Eagle of Malcador to serve as a living embodiment of the Emperor’s light, tasked with spreading it through the lost sector.

Sister Syuri Suzuki is a baseline human female, roughly three decades old.  She keeps her raven-colored hair at shoulder length, often kept beneath a boonie hat while outside the ship.  She dresses in the attire of the Ecclesiarchy, complete with a red cape.  The only vestige of her first life is the Lucius pattern lasgun that she keeps slung over her shoulder at all times.

Taa:  Born into a lower hive hellscape, Taa managed to survive as a thief by using her psyker abilities to mask her presence while staying aware of others.  She encountered Captain Éric Von Middlesworth while trying to steal from his ship; the Captain saw her utility and procured falsified sanctioning paperwork on her behalf.

Taa is an abhuman psyker, about three decades old.  She keeps her wavy brown hair at shoulder length, often hanging loose.  Taa prefers wearing a dark red boiler suit, claiming that it makes her look like a laborer and helps her blend in.  Growing up in a lower-Hive hellscape has damaged her lungs, requiring her to often use supplemental oxygen.  Taa’s abilities as a psyker augment her abilities as a thief, allowing her to detect the presence of others while concealing her own.

Jodoc-401:  The Captain claims to have won Jodoc-401 in a card game with a particularly unlucky techpriest.  The servitor has faithfully served at the Captain’s side for at least two decades, and ranks as his closest companion.

Jodoc-401 is a Kataphron Battle Servitor, a hulking metal death machine of indeterminate age, controlled by bits of what at one point was a person.  Jodoc-401 stands head-and-shoulders above the rest of the crew, and the ground shakes with each step it takes.  Its right arm had been augmented to mount heavy weaponry, and its left arm has a specialized manipulator hand.  Originally painted Mars red, Jodoc has long since been painted blue and silver to reflect its “freedom” from the Cult of Mars.

Mugcleavah:  Abandoned by his tribe for his supposedly un-orky beliefs, Mugcleavah yearns to search the stars for what he calls romance.  Nobody is quite sure what exactly he’s searching for, but based on his description, it sounds like a fight with extra steps.  At the very least, he’s enthusiastic about dispensing pain on behalf of the Captain.

Mugcleavah is a Freebooter Ork of unknown age.  Like most Orks, he is muscular and taller than most of the human crew, despite a slouched posture.  Mugcleavah prefers wearing a red vest and blue pants, favoring a metal chestplate and a horned metal helmet.  His favorite color is green.

Cpl. Hans Tash:  Born into a Militarum regiment cycling out of a combat zone, Hans spent the first two decades of his life on voidships and combat zones, fighting for the Guard.  After being stranded by a botched retreat maneuver, Hans survived on a feral world until the Emperor repaid his faith with a chance encounter with The Eagle of Malcador, which had been forced to land nearby after incurring damage from a Warp storm.  Hans considers serving under Captain Éric Von Middlesworth a small price to pay for his rescue, and appreciates living with a slightly lower chance of death by firing squad.

Cpl. Hans Tash is a baseline human male, roughly two and a half decades old.  Even after leaving the guard, he remains fit and routinely drills as if he were still active.  His dark skin is marked with scars from his time in the Guard, but he usually covers them up with a set of insignia-less fatigues.

Toro Tash'var:  Toro is a veteran of several T'au campaigns of expansion.  After a particularly brutal police action on a subordinate world, Toro became disillusioned with the Greater Good.  He drifted around border worlds for a few years before meeting the Captain on Glosemar's Glint; local Arbites were threatening to purge the xenos, and the Captain saw the utility in being owed a debt.  Any remains belonging to those Arbites have yet to be located or identified.

Toro Tash’var is a Fire Caste Warrior of unknown age.  After deserting, Toro began maintaining his armor on his own, modifying it to suit his own purpose, rather than that of the Greater Good.  He tends to keep to himself, as human social gatherings make him uncomfortable.  When operating outside of the ship, he often keeps his helmet on to avoid trouble.

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40kPFH: ROGUE TRADER [EP01]

"Why is there a T'au in our cargo bay?"

The question cut through the awkward silence like a chainsword.  The senior crew of The Eagle of Malcador had assembled when the Captain signaled his return, and he had brought the blue-skinned stranger along with him.  At the front of the group was Sister Suzuki, seneschal to the Captain and representative of the Ecclesiarchy.  Her shoulder-length black hair hung loose beneath her olive boonie hat, framing her face as she waited for the Captain's response.

"This, my stalwart crew, is Toro Tash'var, our newest recruit."  Captain Éric Von Middlesworth surveyed his senior crew, noting their reactions to his newest acquisition.  "He had a spot of trouble with the local Arbites, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to resolve the situation.  Isn't that right, Toro?"  This was, of course, an oversimplification, but it was enough explanation as far as the Captain was concerned.  Nobody would find the bodies, at any rate.

The T'au nodded, but remained silent.  The rest of the crew surveyed him with a mix of cold disdain, predatory instinct, and measured indifference.  The Captain had a knack for avoiding trouble with the Inquisition, but if he kept adding unsanctioned xenos to the crew, no amount of skullduggery could protect them.  The Captain continued, "Our friend here has spent the last few years in this sector, and his knowledge and skillset will be quite valuable to our mission."  This much was true; after a century-long warp storm subsided, the High Lords of Terra had tasked Captain Von Middlesworth and others with reconnecting the lost territory to the Imperium.  If he were to claim the greatest share of the profit, the Captain needed every advantage he could muster.

A green, muscular arm shot into the air.  "But, Cap'n, you sed I woz yer fave'rit xeno!"

The Captain did not need to look to know the source of the voice - Mugcleavah, the crew's resident Ork.  He had found the greenskin at the center of a spaceport bar brawl about a year prior, and had gained the Ork's respect by jumping into the melee and taking out a trio of local gangers.  "You are still my favorite xeno, Mugcleavah, fret not!"  The Captain spoke, trying to placate the greenskin, "You'll still get to do all of my close-up krumpin', as you say.  Besides, Toro isn't even a shade of green, and we all know the official favorite color of The Eagle of Malcador."

"GREEN IZ BEST!" The Ork bellowed; while Toro flinched, the rest of the senior crew was already accustomed to Mugcleavah's outbursts.  This had been a point of contention early on in the Ork's tenure aboard the ship, but the Captain quickly settled the matter by liberally applying green paint to many of the ship's bulkheads.

The Captain cleared his throat.  "Now, that's enough about our newest crewmate.  Sister Suzuki, see to assigning him quarters when we're done here.  In the meantime, report - what did you lot accomplish while I was out?"

Sister Suzuki spoke up first, "Your will be done, Captain.  Taa and I were able to offload some of the ship's cargo for a minor profit.  The locals seemed amenable to the Imperium's return, or at least the return of its trade.  I cannot be sure of their faith without deeper investigation, but there are no obvious signs of Chaos taint."

The Captain nodded in approval.  "That the sector hasn't been fully lost to heresy bodes well.  If only we could say the same about our rivals.  Corporal Tash, report."

Corporal Hans Tash, a veteran of the Astra Militarum, snapped to attention.  "Captain, our efforts to elude our rivals appear to be successful; based on the intel Mugcleavah and I gathered, The Eagle of Malcador appears to have entered the system and landed without drawing untoward attention.  It is my recommendation that we break atmosphere before that changes."

The Captain scowled slightly, "Your recommendation is noted, Corporal, but we won't be leaving this rock until the credits stop flowing.  What about Jodoc-401?  How far along is his protocol upgrade?"

"Slow but steady, sir," the Corporal started, "His systems are entirely unlike those used by the Guard, but I've been making headway after figuring out the Machine Spirit's preferred incense and lubricant combination."

"Good work, Corporal.  Make sure to keep the Machine Spirit happy; Jodoc is a dear friend."  

The Corporal shot a quick glance over to the hulking metal death machine, focused on its Astartes pattern bolter, then back to the Captain, "Yes sir, of course sir."

"Captain," Sister Suzuki started, "There is one more thing.  While we were planetside, Taa found a locked personal cogitator..."

"That I assume was completely abandoned and that nobody will miss," the Captain interjected.  He knew Taa had a talent for larceny; after all, it was half of the reason she was on the crew.  Her psyker abilities composed the other half.  After a few short months, the profit she brought in more than matched the cost of forging her sanctioning paperwork.  For now, plausible deniability was in everyone's best interest.

Hesitantly, Sister Suzuki continued, "Yes Captain… Of course.  At any rate, we've been able to break the encryption on the device and have been able to glean some… Interesting information regarding an old Militarum cache.  The cogitator's data was incomplete, but it did contain the coordinates for a location that I believe will provide us with further information."

The Captain considered the Sister's words for a moment before speaking, "The planetary government has offered us a contract, but this new development smells like profit.  The government can wait.  Prepare the crew, we're going on a quest."

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The shuttle touched down on a rocky outcropping, overlooking an abandoned Militarum base.  From a distance, it looked like any of the ubiquitous Militarum firebases scattered across the galaxy - squat, unwelcoming grey concrete walls surrounding a number of similarly squat and unwelcoming concrete buildings, accented by a watchtower, a chimney, and the remnants of old vox equipment.  The surrounding orange sand had nearly scoured away the Imperial Aquila etched into the fortification’s front gate; only the top elements of the insignia remained as faded white paint.  The compound was in remarkably good shape for having been abandoned so long; its location was remote enough that it had not been significantly vandalized or looted.  What stood out most was the silence - Militarum bases were never this quiet, and that silence troubled Corporal Hans Tash.  He lowered his binoculars and turned to the Captain, “Captain, the base appears to be intact.  No movement or signs of life.  I’d advise caution, sir - the lack of squatters at the base signals something worse may have moved in.”

Captain Éric Von Middlesworth looked out towards the base, not bothering to break his gaze to address his subordinate, “Your advice is noted, Corporal.  However, if nothing is ventured, nothing is gained, and there is still much to be gained.”  His iridescent blue-green coat shimmered in the sunlight as he turned to his crew, unslinging his lasgun from his shoulder.  “Everybody, form up.  Our objective is at the far end of that firebase.  Once we get inside, we’ll split into teams.  Taa, take Toro and the Corporal, circle around the perimeter.  Jodoc and Mugcleavah, you are with me - we’ll move through the center of the base.  If anything more dangerous than a rat pops up, obliterate it.  Questions?”

The Captain scanned his subordinates, analyzing their demeanors.  They seemed confident, and ready for action.  This pleased him; he had spent no small amount of time and money to ensure he had a capable crew at his disposal.  He had been through fights with nearly all of them before, and knew how they handled themselves; the only variable in the operation was the T’au, Toro.  The Captain had a good feeling about the former Fire Warrior, but he was not a human.  The Captain knew how Guardsmen, gangers, and Imperial goons handled themselves; no matter how well you thought you knew a xeno, they were always an unknown quantity.  You could never fully trust a being that did not submit to the Imperial Faith.  The crew assembled their gear and formed up behind the Captain as he led the way down the hillside, towards the fortification.

As they formed up on the large reinforced gate, it was clear that it would not budge; the hinges had long since rusted shut, and windswept sand piled up at its base.  “Jodoc, dear friend,” the Captain began, “be a dear and open the gate, will you?”

“Parameters defined.  Executing task.”  The servitor bellowed, its voice metallic and unfeeling.  Its right arm snapped to a right angle, and its torso pivoted towards the gate.  The servitor’s Astares-pattern bolter let loose a barrage that punched holes through the abandoned gate; the trademark double-rumble of the bolter echoed through the valley as the rounds exploded on their target, shredding the obstruction.  After several seconds, a hole of sufficient size for the crew to push through had been torn through the gate.  “Task completed.  Awaiting further directives.”  

If he didn’t know better, the Captain could have sworn the servitor had a trace of pride in its voice.  “Alright, everyone, let’s advance.  Keep your eyes open; no telling what might be living here.”  The Captain pushed through the gap, followed by the rest of the crew.  As planned, they split into two teams, advancing into the abandoned firebase.  Taa led her team clockwise, tracing the wall; Corporal Hans Tash and Toro Tash’var followed behind, in tactical spacing.  As they approached the firebase’s watchtower, the sound of lasgun bolts split the silence.

Mugcleavah had taken point ahead of Jodoc-401 and the Captain, swinging his tankhammer in wide flourishes as he went, humming to himself.  The mask of calm quickly vanished as the Ork stopped mid-stride; he lowered his stance and started sniffing the air.  “Cap’n,” the Ork started, “We’z not alone.”  The Ork showed incredible restraint by keeping his voice low, and that unsettled the Captain.  The Captain peered ahead, a hand on his brow shielding his eyes from the glare of the planet’s yellow sun.  There it was - movement ahead, at the back of the compound.  It wasn’t humanoid - far too large and irregular; it had to be some sort of local fauna.  Whatever it was, fighting a beast at range was always preferable to fighting one in melee.  The Captain lined up a shot with his lasgun, and let a bolt loose.  The red bolt veered wide and missed its mark, but there was no going back - a fight was on, and everyone knew it.

Taa and her team sprung into action, hearing the lasgun shot.  Taa sprinted up the watchtower’s staircase as Toro climbed up its ladder, both searching for a better vantage point.  Corporal Tash took up the rear, making sure the rest of his team didn’t get flanked; he scrambled atop a cargo container, and began checking his sightlines.  

Meanwhile, the Captain, Jodoc-401, and Mugcleavah braced themselves as the ground began shaking - from the depths of the compound emerged a quartet of duneskuttlers, fearsome beasts with a reputation for violence, known to even pose a serious threat to armored vehicles.  As the chitinous beasts charged forward, the Captain began sending lasgun bolts down range; a split second later, Jodoc-401’s bolter roared to life.  Between them, half of the duneskuttlers were eliminated before entering close combat range.  Mugcleavah roared a war cry holding his tankhammer above his head as he charged forward, ready to crash it down on one of the approaching insects.  As he advanced to meet its charge, he was blindsided and knocked through the wall of one of the firebase’s buildings by the lead duneskuttler’s tail.  Any concern the Captain may have had for his Ork lackey was cut short, as a loud insectoid chittering alerted the crew to two more duneskuttlers emerging from their nest.

Across the firebase, Taa and Toro moved into position atop the watchtower, and began opening fire on the remaining threats.  Taa got into position first and let loose several shots from her hot-shot laspistol, but her target was partially obscured by a rock formation at the base’s center and was spared from her wrath.  Toro was a step behind her; he slapped down his autogun’s bipod and fired a long burst into the crowd of insects, shredding one.  Corporal Tash dropped down from his perch atop the cargo container, and began sprinting along the wall to find a flanking position.

The duneskuttlers continued their advance, and the insects that had just emerged from their nest surged forward to join them.  Jodoc continued blazing away with its bolter, landing hits on a duneskuttler that the Captain proceeded to finish off.  Their combined weight of fire was enough to drop the lead duneskuttler and one other, but not enough to kill the last remaining insect.  That final duneskuttler lept at Jodoc-401, who stiffarmed the insect’s carapace with its manipulator arm and temporarily stunned it before blasting its carapace apart with bolter fire.

Silence fell over the battlefield, interrupted only by the stomping feet of Jodoc-401 as it advanced forward, scanning for additional threats.  “No targets detected.  Awaiting further directives.”

“Everyone, report!”  The Captain shouted, scanning his sightlines for movement.

“All quiet here, Captain.  I can’t sense any presence other than our own,” Taa shouted down from the watchtower.

“Care to explain why you didn’t see that coming, Taa?” The Captain asked, frustrated.  He moved towards Mugcleavah, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the xeno stirring.

Taa frowned behind her oxygen mask, “Sorry Captain, bugs like that barely have any presence in the Warp.  They’re like a whisper in a chorus.”

The Captain sighed. “Stay alert, everyone.  If the Militarum abandoned a base that’s still in this condition, they probably trapped it on their way out.  Be careful, and let’s find what we came here for.  Mugcleavah, can you continue?”  The Captain held his lasgun at low-ready and advanced, hardly waiting for an answer.

The greenskin grumbled and made some guttural noises before replying, “Yeh Cap’n, dat bug boy had hands.  And tails.  Dat git won’t hit me wit’ dat again.”  He spat on the ground in disgust, his saliva mixed with blood.  The crew advanced, searching the abandoned firebase.

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“Did you find what you were looking for, Captain?” Sister Syuri Suzuki inspected the Captain and the rest of the senior crew as they made their way up The Eagle of Malcador’s cargo ramp.  The crew was covered in orange dust, Jodoc-401 had some sizable dents in its durasteel carapace, and Mugcleavah was sporting some new, dark green contusions.  Corporal Hans Tash took up the rear, straining against the weight of a laden grav-cart.

The Captain strode up the ramp, brushing the dust off of his iridescent jacket, “Our quest came to a dead end, but we didn’t leave empty handed.  Duneskuttlers destroyed most of the base’s cogitators and supply cache, but it wasn’t entirely beyond salvage.  Corporal, show Sister our haul.”

Hans nodded, bringing the crew’s cargo dolly to a stop before pausing to catch his breath.  He slid some of the containers off and opened them, revealing some valuable voidship components, a strange-looking chainaxe, a Long-Las Rifle, and a cache of assorted vox equipment that might fetch a small profit.

“Not bad, Captain, I’ll ensure the crew logs and stores these items properly,” Sister Suzuki began, “Though I haven’t seen that model of chainaxe before.  It looks much older than the firebase you found it in.”

“We can figure out its lineage another time.  For now, I want Mugcleavah to use it; how about it, Mugcleavah, why don’t you use this chainaxe instead of insisting on that suicidal hammer of yours?”

“I AIN’T GIVIN’ UP ME HAMMA, BOSS!” the Ork bellowed.  The greenskin had a temper set to a hairpin trigger, but the Captain gave Mugcleavah leniency so long as he used his words instead of fists to get his point across.

The Captain, taking an uncharacteristically conciliatory tone, tried to calm the xeno, “I’m not trying to take your hammer, Mugcleavah.  Nobody here is that big of a smegging git.  I’m trying to give you an extra weapon, that I’m hoping you’ll krump even MORE enemies with,” the Captain gestured with his arms to imply the size of the prospective krumping.  “The chainaxe makes an ungodly loud noise and an even bigger mess, so I just know it belongs in the hands of my best Ork.”

The greenskin frowned; he was really hoping for a fight, but the Captain had disarmed the situation.  “Aye-aye Cap’n,” Mugcleavah muttered, dejected.  The chainaxe was nice and all, but what he had really wanted was a fight.

Seeing the situation defused, Sister Suzuki spoke up, “While the crew was away, we received a personal astropath message for Corporal Tash.  I took the liberty of viewing the message, per security screening protocols.  The message was from a regimental officer claiming to be the Corporal’s mother; she confirms receiving notice of his continued life, inquired as to when he will return to face judgement for going AWOL, and passed along the most recent records the Militarum has on this planet.  I cross-referenced those records with information I was able to obtain in my own investigation, and it seems that our quest has been given a new lease on life.”

A slow, sly smile crept across the Captain’s face.  The Emperor had smiled upon him.

Following the rulebook I draw the map for five leagues from the borderlands, it's in Portuguese so I will translate the names for you, nothing out of the Galaxy name:

Hamlet: Good Faith / farmstead

Village1: eucalyptus / Monastery

Village2: Oak /Market Town

Town: Hightower/ Manor

I really enjoyed making this map. Compelled me to do a bigger version, unfortunately saw the area design after drawing everything. But I will stick with this one.

Read a lot of Tolkien so , yeah, you can see the inspiration right there. Hope you enjoy.

In need of some proper basing. But thanks to whoever posted about adding extra legs to the Harvester models in this sub years ago

So I’ve been running a Deep Below campaign which has turned into something far larger than I thought expected. It began with a classic scenario - the Khazad (dwarves) of the Grimdalr clan go back to the hold of Mazgund to reclaim it. Bralin Grimdalr, his step-brother, his cousin, and his household, went back into the dark to reclaim the hold chamber by chamber.

Half of the party were the Grimdalr Khazad, while the other half were sworn human allies - the Heartsworn company - who came in support. Though losses were heavy, they managed to fight their way to Zigildum, retake the throne, and Bralin was at last crowned the new King of Mazgund.

The second campaign began as Bera Grimdalr, the new Queen of Mazgund, started her war to retake the Matriarch’s hall and recover the records of the bloodlines. This will allow the hold to re-found its clans and rebuild the population. The chambers that she retook are marked by a bear’s paw, while Bralin’s are marked by a hammer.

The pictures are here and her shieldmaidens in battle beneath Mazgund, fighting Gnawlings in the lowest tunnels. The terrain is a mix of hand made and printed, with the walls and the mushrooms begin sculpted out of modelling putty and foam board. I’m loving the project so far!

A very improvised scenario, thrown together for my 7 year old daughter and my 5 yesr old son.

Unicorns try to rescue the hurt pony. (Daughter)

Hunters try to get the pony as well with their nets. (Me)

The dinos just want to eat everyone. (Son)

Operation 002: Total Estoc

"Commander, the aliens are invading a theme park floating off the coast of North America. They're targeting civilians and causing an all out panic! Get down there and stop them by any means necessary. Avoid civilian casualties, and be aware that these civilians are in cosplay so don't mistake them for aliens! Central out. "