Hybrid Mission #2...

 

THE SCARLET HIVE

Hello all. Here is the next exciting installment of my Hybrid campaign!

A few things to mention first however.

After a re read of the rulebook and mission parameters from the last game it seems I selected my forces in error! Along with a 'rank total' system to govern the type of troops used in the game, Hybrid also has a 'total warriors' limit! As I was well over this limit for the last game I must hand victory over to my opponent (who surely deserved it!) 

For this game we scoured the rules so as not to fall foul of another 'technicality' =)

Here we go then...

Set in Lab SO4 'The Scarlet Hive' details the escape of a group of survivors investigating the ancient Scorpion ruins who inadvertently trigger the gestation of a large number of the Heresiarch's genetic abominations. Who will survive - and what will be left of them?!

The forces -

Olgier the Magnificent

- VAmbro (of course!) Rank2

- A Seneschal Rank2

- A Reaper of Alahan Rank1

- Two Executioners Rank1 each

Ace Jagger - the Despotic

- A Biopsist of Dirz Rank1

- A Keratis Warrior Rank2

- Two Skorize Warriors Rank1 each

- Two Hybrids Rank1 each

- Two Pests of Flesh Rank0 each

This would be an ESCAPE scenario for Olgier. His mission (whether he chose to accept it or not...) was to evacuate 4 ranks worth of his warriors from the board from any of the exit points detailed below; (look I did a map thing!)

To complicate matters a generous helping of EVENT counters were spread across the board, aaaand the central room in which the Griffs start is surrounded by PIT TRAPS that would randomly open and close each turn (not that randomly, as it turned out...)

My Dirz warriors could activate and enter through any of the exit doors I chose. 

Cards were drawn - I got an 'adrenaline injector' and a 'Biomechanical Shell'  - and the Griffs were deployed in the centre of the board.

It begins...

 'Maybe they don't show up on infra red at all?' - 'We don't have infra red...'

The dice rolled and Olgier won the first turn - rolling for the PITS revealed a possible exit to the right both above and below his team - the left side PITS stayed open and I cackled evilly.

 Going south the Executioner reveals the first EVENT counter - Olgier smiles. That's usually a bad thing...

A ferret like missile of death (PEST) races onto the left side of the board in anticipation of a double-back by the Griffs...

Executioner #2 sneaks around a corner and lays in wait to... er, execute someone.

At this point Olgier started to concentrate the bulk of his troops for a push towards the top right exit - I was really wishing I had listened to my inner Daemons and brought along a big ugly monster to block the double doors...

 "haha...and then I said... oh FUCK!  BOOM!"

Success! Olgier forgot how fast the Pests can move and VAmbro ended up with an explosive handshake! First wound inflicted =)

 "This way guys... I can smell fresh air... and BACON!"

Next to attempt to run for it was the Reaper of Alahan (here represented by the ever usable Griffin Mine Layer...) Rushing over the closed PIT and setting for OW to guard the double doors at the extreme right of the tile.

This was fun - free fighters are always a helpful surprise. For me!
I used it to replace a Pest - since the rules were not clear (!) We decided that the new warrior should enter into the same door as the last activated Dirz troop of the turn.

 'I can sense a presence...'

Next up - Purple Skorize used his ungodly Mvt allowance to get behind Executioner #1 in the lower room. This was probably a mistake on my part as I forgot that there is a Mvt 'mode' that allows characters skilled enough to evade being trapped by their enemies. Sigh...

 The Biopsist farts and out pops EVENT #2!

 Unimpressed, the Seneschal lets out a ripper and EVENT 3# is drawn - this time Olgier looks puzzled...

Reading EVENT 3# aloud, Olgier describes what must be the strangest card I have ever heard of in a board game. "FICKLE CHANCE" - for the rest of this turn Olgier will roll my dice and I will roll his... WTF?

Here is the map at the middle of turn 1. The Griffs are making a dash for the exits at the top and bottom right of the map - most are setting for OW and VAmbro is smoking slightly... At the bottom - the Seneschal and Executioner #2 are having dance with my Skorize warrior.

 The Keratis Warrior appears at the exit and immediately comes under fire from the Griffs OW! Thanks to his 'Adrenaline Injectors' he will survive to bash the Reaper for a wound.

 Skorize #2 rushes into the fray gibbering like a 14 year old boy at a dirty movie. His flail swats VAmbro in the head for a wound and leaves the old man thinking he must have a bullseye painted on him somewhere...

The first Hybrid takes careful aim - but misses! No bonus for you!

At the end of the turn the majority of my lads had piled through the top entrance to stop VAmbro, the reaper and the Executioner from escaping. The Reaper was wounded and VAmbro was down to his last wound when suddenly...

                                                          MUHAHAHAHAAA! 

VAmbro, dazed and disoriented by both the explosive Pest and the morningstar to the head trips a wire on the floor and (to my glee!) disappears in a fetid cloud of gore and flatulence! First blood to me!

 'Pay your taxes, or die!' Hybrid #2 blocks the way for the South bound Executioner.

 Fearing the IRS above all else, the Executioner (activating first in turn 2) - flees toward the left. The PITS remain unchanged for this round.

Activating my 2nd Hybrid to chase down the Executioner - I had an idea! Playing my 'biomechanical shell' mutation on said Hybrid (making him invulnerable and impassable) I moved him to the (only) doorway leading to the EXIT on that tile - effectively blocking the way! What a genius!

 Using a fiendish blend of skill and cowardice - the Executioner evades my pretties and legs it for the EXIT!

The Skorize warrior positions himself to ambush anybody coming though the lower double door - it was at this time that I REAAAAALY wanted the PITS to open...

The first Griff to smell the fresh air of freedom - the cur!
The Reaper of Alahan, bleeding and broken manages to avoid death in the left corridor and just makes it to the outside!

 "so long suckers!" Executioner #2 dives after the Reaper of Alahan.

Pay cuts all round.

Skorize 1&2 position to cut off the escaping Seneschal and Executioner. 

Okay. So two ranks have made it out -but VAmbro is a smoking pile of twigs and I've cut off the Seneschal and his buddy. The Skorize are ready to pounce when they come through the door at the north of the room they are occupying and the Biopsist and his Pest friend are waiting behind the only door to the lefthand lower EXIT. 

No worries...

 See. This is what HYBRID is like. Its all going swimmingly, then your opponent opens up a Secret passageway undermining your careful plan and making you cry...

Leaping through the newly formed (cheating) passage, the Seneschal chuckles to himself and legs it off to the lower right EXIT. Git.

Have fucking at you!

Try as he might, the sole defending Hybrid is not a match for the smug Seneschal!

 Just to add insult to injury the Biopsist trips up and and falls head first into the (now) open PIT. Much to the amusement of the Pest.

'This is the day, you will always remember, as the day you almost caught...'

Laughing like a dick, the Seneschal pulls the fingers and runs for it - winning the game and leaving my lads shuffling around looking a bit stupid. Crap.

So there it is. If Darth Vader was my boss I'd be choking to death right now...

We had a brief discussion about the battle afterwards and concurred that it would have been nigh-on impossible for the Griffs to win had it not been for that fucking Secret passageway card! Not that I'm gutted or anything, to be honest, I was feeling bad for Olgier at the end of turn one with the demise of VAmbro and the blocking of the EXIT point. At that point it all seemed to be going my way - talk about a turnaround! 

But, that's Hybrid for you =)

Ace

Hybrid Game #1...

Hello peeps! For your viewing pleasure I present;

"RETURN TO GLASINHAR"

This is the first of (hopefully all of) the HYBRID missions I will be playing with my friend.

'Return to Glasinar' kicks off the campaign that comes with the original boxed set.

As far as rules for this campaign and available characters go we are using the amended rules from the box (thanks to Universal Head!) and the character cards from the Griffin and Dirz factions only. 

Also, the rules supplied in HYBRID's add on box 'NEMESIS' wont be used until we start playing that campaign.

 (Although we will be using the printed errata from the NEMESIS box cause... damn, there are a few errata...)

I wasn't sure how to go about setting this up as a proper battle rep - so I wont! 

TBH, so much happens in even a tiny game of HYBRID that recording every last detail would take all the fun out of playing the game for me and my opponent, so instead of reporting EVERYTHING that transpired, I will (try) to note down the important stuff, and where possible give explanations for what we were doing (this game is very complex!)

So, to summarize; 

Hybrid is a squad-level, tactical boardgame for two players. The game pits the Griffins of Akkylannie and their allies against the Scorpions of Dirz and other Meanders of Darkness. Both sides fight within the depths of the Heresiarch’s hidden network of laboratories to discover the lost secrets of the Alchemical Empire.

The Age of the Ragnarok has begun.

The machines and gestation tanks that have housed the silent, apocalyptic army of the former Heresiarch for centuries have awoken!

In the quiet town of Glasinhar, forgotten horror erupts from the ground to claim the first bloody sacrifice for Dirz.

A group of shadowy figures, devotees to Mira and protectors of Akkylannie, are sent to investigate...

Cool =) So that's all the heavy 'setting the scene' shit out of the way, here's how the game went!

Above is a terrible photo of the game map for this scenario - there are a few errata to account for, but they are pretty minor for this one. 

This game was an 'Extermination' mission for both sides and was pretty brutal and quick - I'm sure that my opponent would agree - though, there are always options for a different strategy in Hybrid!

Speaking of sides, here is my opponent for this campaign and his crew for the mission.

"Olgier (the Magnificent)"

Translator extraordinaire and human calculatory device.

The crew - 

-The Venerable Ambrosious

-A Templar of the Lodge of Hod

-A Purifier of the Lodge of Hod

-A Griffin Fusilier

Their opponents for this match; (led by yours truly!)

"Ace Jagger" 

Despot of no fixed agenda and procrastinatory idolatrobe.

The beasts - 

- A Vicar of Dirz (yes, seriously, a Vicar)

- A Skorize Warrior

- Two Hybrid Warriors

- Two Clones of Dirz

- Two Pests of Flesh

(Yes I used a HQ Chaos Sorcerer for the Vicar and Zombies as Clones - beggars can't be choosers!)

After placing the event (and possible trap) counters down we drew our action cards, army cards and Aura/Mutations.

Olgier ended up with the Venerable Ambrosious (henceforth referred to as Vambro...) getting the Auras of the Penitent and Blessing (The Blessing is a curse for my troops as it buffs his figures near Vambro)

I'm not really going to do this turn for turn but I'll give you an idea of how the game turn breaks down.

You start by each rolling a die, lowest chooses who will go first, then both of you (secretly) decide on what order your troops will activate during that turn. (we use playing cards assigned to figures to remember) Then play commences with each of you activating a model in turn until all models are activated (or dead!)

Special cards that fuck all your plans in the arse are randomly selected at specific points during the game (opening EVENT counters or killing enemies etc) and ACTION cards, which are numbered, can be used to buff rolls or hinder the rolls of your opponent. 

Basically, every turn sees a shit ton of crap going down - I'll try to relate it in as least a boring way as poss.

 

 Heres how my mob started out - I won the roll and opted to go first - my Skorize Warrior found himself endowed with "Epidermal Blades" (and a 10" cock!) and moved out - leading the rabble toward the buffet.

(Vambro looked down the shadowy recess of the hallway, and prayed somebody else would go first...)

The Griffins set up at the entrance to Lab SO11 (not that they know that) and begin their subteranean struggle...

Vambro used his Aura of Blessing (buffing +2 to nearby friend's rolls) and stepped into the lab corridor, moving about halfway in and setting for overwatch. 

The Templar, Purifier and Fusilier would do likewise.

Roadworks, inside a laboratory?

The Skorize zoomed through a door and into the central section of the board (thanks to his 'infiltrator' ability giving extra movement) and opened the first EVENT counter - garnering me a filthy little card to use against Olgier later, Muhahahaaa! =)

 Vambro waits in the gloom, listening to the scary noises...

Door to door salesmen from hell

"Avon calling!"

 All of my remaining beasts moved towards the Skorize, the Clones were place to shield the Vicar and Hybrids and three options presented themselves - Straight on, into the waiting overwatch fire of the Griffs, to the left, safe for a turn but then trapped at the end of the Griffs corridor, or to the right and secreted behind a large closed door ready to pounce (or be pounced upon!!) next turn.

This terrible shot gives you an idea of where we were at, this was about turn two I think. Olgier commands the corridor but needs to guard the large door at his left.

Carefully the Griffs crowd to the edge of the main corridor and set OW (overwatch from now on - I'm tired of typing it!) 

"Hello, we've come to tell you the good news..."

The (cowardly) Griff Fusilier rounds the corner and spots movement ahead - shooting before thinking he pops the brainless head from the shoulders of an unfortunate Clone, and wounds the Hybrid behind him! Wank! 

This death gave me a chance to play my first of two army cards however - 'Pestilent Secretions' which I secretly gave to my Skorize, should he die all enemies within his radius would have to check for debilitating worms in their lungs or succumb!

"I regret nothing!!"

With the Griffs all cowering around the corner and most of my lads too far away to throw poo at them I devised a cunning scheme to end the game early (one way or the other) Rolling the initiative, I activated my time bomb Skorize first and used his huge movement abilities (he gets 4+ move until seen by an enemy) to charge headlong through the two intervening doors and into the heart of the Griff defences!

The Purifier and Vambro blasted the crap out of him reducing him to his last wound (hehee) but he survived to be a thorn!

The next bit all happened exceedingly quickly - Olgier moved his Templar to protect Vambro but my intervening activations saw my master plan unfold. The Two Pests of Flesh - using their ungodly movement, ripped past the (now) spent defensive fire and sacrificed themselves in two enormous toxic explosions that wounded Vambo and the Templar twice each!

 The Templar of Hod deals a savage blow to the Skorize Warrior - only to be covered in flesh tearing maggots!

Meanwhile I closed the trap, the second hybrid attacked the Fusilier from a blind spot and the Clone, Vicar and wounded Hybrid edged closer!

The end was a meat grinder of a battle with Olgier buffing the Griffs with Vambro, while blocking all access to him using the Purifier and the Templar.

The fusilier was laid low by waves of Hybrid and Clone attacks but the other Griffs, using guns, swords and some inspired card play from my opponent (including stealing my action cards to use as his own!) held out for another two activations each before the Dirz Vicar himself had to step in and administer a sermon.

"Give us a hug big boy!"

In the last two turns of play the only remaining Griffin, the Purifier and the Vicar traded blows. All cards were spent and no more dirty tricks could be played. 

At the end, the Vicar stood over the body of the Purifier and breathed with difficulty, heavily wounded. Only one wound seperated him from his now deceased opponent. 

They don't come any closer than that!

We had a great time playing this out, both of us agreeing that it could have gone both ways at numerous points. If it seems from this report that I had it all my own way, please believe me that I did not! I took an early gamble with an all or nothing plan, and it payed off - this time! 

Olgier was a slippery adversary all the way through and really did his best to ensure my troops fought at a disadvantage that allowed him space to counter their attacks and wipe my force out to a, er, Man?

Great stuff! See you for the next mission =)

Ace

As promised, more Hybrid!

Had a quick bash at Hybrid again the other day (finally!)

This was the last practice game before we actually start trying to destroy each other for real, so no specific objectives were given to the factions (other than to kill each other)

New rules to learn for this encounter were;

- Tiny and Titan sized troops
- Auras and Mutations
- Army cards
- Event cards
- New troop types and aptitudes
- Event counters to activate

Yeah so apparently I'm supposed to know what I'm doing from now on... oh dear.

Anyway - here are a few shots of the practice for your amusement.

 'Thank you, Thing...'

I simulated being a remote-drone equipped with a camera for this shot. We will be replacing the light fitting later...

Some of the nasties involved in this scrap. "muscular hypertrophy" sounds like what happens when you spend too long playing Halo...

 Sneaking around like a pack of sneaky sneaks wearing sneakers... Nice Blade Runner shot that.

 This is where I screwed my opponents plan up by opening a pit trap right in front of the only access door to the event counters! Oh how we laughed and laughed!

 This is where my glorious attack was halted by a cowardly Executioner and some (very) lucky shooting. There was no laughing. Laughing time is over.

 The, er. Doors?

"Don't fart"

Aaaand on that note;
Cheerio =)

Ace