The Mirrored Road into the Interior

So, I spent much of last week making six Imperial Guard Sentinel models out of sheet plastic. My fingers still hurt a couple of days after I have finished cutting that damned plastic. In other news, I have the sequel to a story I haven't written infesting my head. I really wish it would wait its turn. (I think it is getting impatient seeing how I haven't actually made any progress on the parent story in, well a very long time. But it is just going to have to realize that the events of the first story are essential to proper setting development and that going out of order is how you get idiocy like "A Stainless Steel Rat is Born" from authors much more skilled than I.

I'm one box of Sisters of Battle away from being able to field a 500 point Warhammer 40K army. My ToC has changed a bit.

500 Point Army
(120) Felicity Argent Sororitas Heroine (Canoness)
Canoness 45, Inferno Pistol (15), Bionics (10), Cloak of St. Aspira (20), Litanies of Faith (25), Purity Seals (5)

(190) Argent’s First Flamers
Krak Grenades (20)
7 Battle Sisters (77)
2 Battle Sister with flamer (34)
Veteran Sister Superior (71), (24), Mastercrafted Bolt Pistol (15), Power Chainsword (10), Purity Seals (5)

(190) Holy Noise
Krak Grenades (20)
7 Battle Sisters (77)
2 Battle Sister with Storm Bolter (32)
Veteran Sister Superior (71), (24), Mastercrafted Bolt Pistol (15), Power Chainsword (10), Auspex (2), Purity Seals (5)

Yes, I could field a larger force of Sisters for the same points if I stripped the vets down to minimal gear, but I am fond of quality over quantity. That trade off will plague my army building throughout the series.
Here's my 3000 point List

3000 Point Army
1910 Point Sisters Army
(152) Felicity Argent Sororitas Heroine (Canoness)
Canoness 45, Mastercrafted Inferno Pistol (30), Mastercrafted Power Sword (25(10)), Bionics (10), Cloak of St. Aspira (20), Purity Seals (5), Litanies of Faith (25), Melta Bombs (5), Krak Grenades (2)

Argent’s Own (350)
Krak Grenades (20)
Celestine Veteran Superior (43) (23), Mastercrafted Bolter (15), Purity Seals (5)
Celestine With Multi Melta (28)
Celestine With Storm Bolter (18)
4 Celestines (52)
Celestine Imigifer (33)
Celestine Banner Bearer Ordo Militant Sacred Standard (63)
Rhino (93): (50), Extra Armour (5), Holy Icon (10), Hunter-killer Missile (15), Pintle-Mounted Storm Bolter (10), Smoke Launchers (3)

(300) Argent’s First Flamers
16 Battle Sisters (77)
Imigifer (31)
2 Battle Sister with flamer (34)
Veteran Sister Superior (71), (24), Mastercrafted Bolt Pistol (15), Power Chainsword (10), Purity Seals (5)

(338) Holy Noise
Krak Grenades (40)
17 Battle Sisters (77)
Imigifer (31)
2 Battle Sister with Storm Bolter (32)
Veteran Sister Superior (71), (24), Mastercrafted Bolt Pistol (15), Power Chainsword (10), Purity Seals (5)

Retributor Squad (375)
Krak Grenades (12)
4 Multi Melta Retributers (144)
Veteran Superior Retributot (70) (25), Mastercrafted Eviscerator (40), Purity Seals (5)
Retributor Imafiger (31)
Immolator(118) (65), Extra Armour (5), Holy Icon (10), Hunter-Killer Missile (15), Laud Hailer (10), Smoke Launchers (3), Holy Promethium (10)

Exorcist (185) (135), Extra Armour (5), Hunter-Killer Missile (15), Laud Hailer (10), Pintle-mounted storm bolter (10), Holy Icon (10)

Living Saint (210)

1090 Point IG Auxiliaries
First Candian Fire Support Platoon (413)
100th Command Squad (225)
Junior Officer (75): (40), Honorifica Imperialis (25), Bionics (5), Laspistol, Power Sword (5)
Lascannon Team (25)
Veteran Medic (11)
Vox Caster Guard (5)
Chimera Transport (150) (70), Multi-laser (10), Heavy Flamer (5), Extra Armour (5), Hunter-Killer Missile (10), Pintle Mounted Stubber (12), Smoke Launcher (3), Track Guards (10), Rough Terrain Modification (5), Improved Coms (20)

101st Fire Team (98)
Team (60)
Grenade Launcher (8)
Lascannon (25)
Vox Caster (5)

102nd Fire Team (90)
Team (60)
Lascannon (25)
Vox Caster (5)

Second Candian Fire Support Platoon (289)
200th Command Squad (91)
Junior Officer (50): (40), Bionics (5), Laspistol, Power Sword (5)
Lascannon Team (25)
Veteran Medic (11)
Vox Caster Guard (5)

201st Fire Team (100)
Team (60)
Meltagun (10)
Lascannon (25)
Vox Caster (5)

202nd Fire Team (90)
Team (60)
Lascannon (25)
Vox Caster (5)

Imperial Sentinel X 2 (176)
Armegeddon Pattern Sentinel (88): (55), Covered Cockpit (15), Extra Armour (5), Hunter Killer Missile (10), Smoke Launchers (3)

Vengence Leman Russ Battle Tank (220)
Leman Russ Tank (220): (140), Lascannon (15), Pair of Heavy Flamers(10), Extra Armour (5), Hunter-Killer Missile (10), Pintle Heavy Stubber (12), Rough Terrain Modification (5), Smoke Launchers (3), Track Guards (10)


Ugh, I don't even have the Inquisitor and the Assassin that I wanted. Also, you'll notice that it has 2 Sentinels and I've made six. On the other hand, those 90 point Lascannon fire teams are nice long range support for the Sisters' medium and short range excellence. For the living saint, I'm going to skip the Saint Celestine model (I'll still use her stats though) and grab a 72mm scale Inquisition model. More expensive, but very pretty. Or possibly one of the Reaper Minis models. Apparently to fill out the units I had initially wanted for the Sisters Army, I'd have to field a much larger force than I'd thought. (And to use the Land Raider that I want, I'll have to pull celestine since the only sororitas unit that can use one is the Inquisitor Lord and he is an HQ unit too. Notice the IG Chimara. Much nastier than the Sororitas version (it has six internally controlled lasguns for the guard. That means fully loaded, it gets 11 or 12 shots a round. Of course I have it loaded at 5 units not six...)



The game Friday went well. Lost another PC. 2 deaths in seven sessions isn't too bad though. Party's 3rd level, but they have some serious healing resources. 2 permanent healing wands mean that they can keep going where other groups would have to say "this adventure is not cost effective." My Ogre Golem (like a flesh golem but weaker, though hellish damage from that size large greatsword it was wielding) put the fear of the reaper in the group. CRs for traps are, by the way, not as accurate as crs for creatures (and if you run a game you know how bad that makes the trap crs.) I used an Insanity Mist trap with a dc 25 disable and a 15 foot area of effect and it was almost nothing (CR 6 by the book) to a mixed party of 2nd and 3rd level characters. Only one character who was in the area missed the first save, and he made the second. On the other hand, the "CR 2" improved Iron Guardians ended up rather tougher individually than theiy should have been. Not as bad as the second level wererat rogue that might well have taken the members of the party out. His henchmen didn't last 2 rounds of combat. He went quite a bit further. (I had someone lose 6 hp to bleeding during that fight.)

As a fortuitous side effect of the PC deaths, the current inter-party conflicts have all ended. Well, there's a potential one between Derek and Lloyd, and Derek's character is a bit tougher than Lloyd's Ranger... at least if Lloyd doesn't play smart. Especially since the warforged fighter may well side with the priest (bad call. Priest of the void. He'll turn on him eventually) but the Silver Flame Fighter who specializes in Trips and Disarms will probably back the ranger, and Lloyd, having seen the utility of the Priest's wand, has ordered himself one. The priest has been leading the party a lot, but we'll see how that lasts with the other players getting their feet under them more and more. I don't know which way the warlock will go, and the new fighter (yeah, I've got a party of six with 3 fighters and a ranger. Ask about alignments some day. I don't know what all of them are, but there are/were at least 2 chaotic neutrals. A True Neutral, A Neutral Good (I think) who wants to be all demonic, a Lawful Neutral, a Lawful Good, and one I'm not sure of (one Chaotic Neutral died already.) By the way, a warlock does not make up for the lack of a wizard. And yes, summon spider swarm is nice, but not that nice. His ranged touch attack ability should be his focus until it doesn't work. This next adventure promises to be all talky, which in a group with a warlock, 4 fighter types and a priest is not completely optimal. Yes RP chances are great, but the more RP time there is, the more likely the party is to self-destruct, and I'm not quite ready to ensure my prefered sequence of events occurs in the case of major infighting. A little more setup and I can have it strengthen the group if it ever happens. Ooh, I just realized that they are high enough level (but heading the wrong way) for an encounter I've been imagining since the start. Well, not the wrtong way, but they are going to the Eldeen Reaches and I want to use the next couple of adventures there to advance a plot that is unrelated to the encounter I really want to run. Oh well, the forests and fey need their turn too. Heh, 6-7 players. 3rd Level Characters. That means I need a potential 21000 exp in the next session to hit 4th. Sadly, we are leaving the region where poison gas traps are reasonable for a bit. (Yes, yes, 4th level in 8 adventures is a little fast, but I want to get them to 6th to 8th fast. Nice pitched battles at those levels. I'd love to see 8th level in 12-14 adventures, but that would be pushing things a bit.) We'll see what happens. Having 6 players actually makes quick leveling easier. Sure they need half again as many xp to level the party, but they are tactically much more flexible than a party of 4. That ogre getting a critical on KC's character (and comming out near maximum damage on the rolls too) was a fluke sort of. Also, more character interactions means more story hooks shoving themselves at me means more RP rewards.