Blackstone Fortress: Get to the Mag-Lev!
If you missed my Unboxing of Blackstone Fortress, or part one of our adventure Into the Blackstone Fortress, why not head there first?
When last we left our intrepid explorers they had cleared the combat area of hostiles and just *had* to search the discovery points before piling into the waiting Mag-Lev to escape.
Simple, right?
Turn Two
Lee took over the leadership and rolled very well on the destiny dice, rolling no duplicates. All five would be available to use. We didnât use any gambits as everything was totally safe and clear. Or so we thought...
The two Spindle Drones came back!
Worse, their threat level had increased, making them deadlier than before. Only the cover saved Locarno from harm. The Navigator then blasted one with a mid-range Third Eye blast, using a destiny die to destroy the other. He then used a four+ to search Discovery Point Two and found a piece of Archeteotech which he could trade for resources back at Precipice, he couldn't quite reach the escape chamber this turn though.
With no enemies on the board, Taddeus searched at Discovery Point One and found a clue. We were suddenly one-quarter of the way towards discovering the first stronghold! He then stepped onto the Mag-Lev escape chamber, content in his service to his God Emperor.
The Ur-Ghul failed to come back as reinforcements which pleased all concerned.
Janus and Almaryn Shadowguide also both made it to the Mag-Lev, the Eldar being particularly fleet of foot with a movement value of three.
Locarno gained an inspiration point for destroying both the drones. The rolled event allows for another point to be given out at the leaderâs discretion which Lee assigns to his Eldar... even though she didn't actually do anything this turn apart from run really fast.
Turn Three
Christopher becomes the leader and, really, it's just a case of getting Espern Locarno on to the Mag-Lev escape chamber. Sadly, Locarno's gambit fails to move him forward in the initiative track and none of the explorers had line-of-sight on him to offer covering fire.
With no enemy on the board, the explorers keep their dice for overwatch. Sadly, Lee's action roll is so bad that the Ranger is left with no viable dice to shoot with (for Overwatch, 1âs are removed and all other dice are reduced by one). Taddeus fared little better, managing to hang onto two dice.
So, naturally, four Ur-Ghul spawn and leap upon Espern Locarno - ouch!
Taddeus manages to wound one with his overwatch fire but doesn't kill any. Three are adjacent to Locarno (small based models can fit three to a hex) and they nearly bring him down inflicting three grievous wounds upon him! It is fortunate that the last cannot get close enough to strike him.
Janus jumps out, and with a flurry despatches two of the Ur-Ghul before retreating to the safety of the Mag-Lev again. He has at least given Locarno a chance, it just remains to be seen if the Navigator can take it.
Espern Locarno finds himself trapped by an Ur-Ghul, prevented from the sanctuary of the Mag-Lev chamber just a couple of hexes away. He only has one action die, a six. Wound counters have replaced the other three dice he had rolled. There is also a destiny dice that he can use, a three. He will need it. If he doesn't escape this turn it is likely that he will not survive another turn.
Anyone else, other than the navigator, would likely be doomed and reliant upon a desperate and likely futile attack to try to save themselves. Thankfully the mutants psychic power allows him to move an enemy model one hex with a six+ die. So it was that I moved the Ur-Ghul one hex away allowing Locarno to limp onto the Mag-Lev and escape with the rest of the explorers.
With Locarno very nearly dead (three grievous wounds) and Taddeus grievously wounded once, it was decided that we should return to Precipice. Our first expedition had been cut short but the only way that we could heal our wounds was to retreat... so, we retreated to the refuge of our ships docked at the impromptu outpost.
First, though we had to add a Legacy card to the game. This card would potentially make the game much harder. There are only twelve in the game and you have to draw one EVERY TIME you go back to Precipice and, once they are all gone, itâs game-over. You cannot just keep heading back to safety after every encounter (itâs like they planned itâĶ). These legacy cards can add new enemies, new dangers, or change the very rules themselves! This time it was just a countdown card, we were lucky there was no additional effect. It was the first thing to go right on this entire expeditionâĶ
To read on about the continuation of his quest, Allen will be continuing his tale of adventure HERE.
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