Run, Walter, Run

Alexander Schmiveworld was probably not a great-man. Failed actor, pretty bloody awful poet and sometime importer/exporter of used shoes. His biggest 
contribution to the known universe was undoubtedly the founding of a world. Originally nothing more than a storage depot for green converse trainers, then it 
became a small stop-over point: services on several intergalactic trade routes. By the time Alexander died it was already much more than a conveyor of over-priced sausages, it was a thriving community. 

In the years that passed it went from strength to strength becoming a thriving hive world, the lynch pin of the Coleis Asinus V system. Hiveworld Schmiveworld 
was a powerhouse not only economically but militarily. Ever year thousands of Schmiveworlders were sent to join the local imperial guard regiment.

But such a paragon of human civilisation would not go unnoticed for long. Those that stood against the imperium watched from a far, and plotted its downfall.

A genestealer cult infected some of the key figures in Schmiveworld politics, then waited with malevolent patience for their plot to unfold; a group of traitor 
marines, deep in the pockets of the chaos gods, infiltrated the government whispering promises of worldly rewards; meanwhile other servants of the dark gods 
sowed dissent on the shop floor, turning servant against master.

All it took was a temporary shortage of food, imports delayed by the vagaries of the warp, for Hiveworld Schiveworld to go up like a powder keg. Riots raged for 
weeks, the death toll rose into the tens of thousands, but some how the powers that be gained controlled, draconian counter measures brought more and more 
of the planet under control.

Frustrated, the cults who had instigated the uprising decided to take more direct action, while the aliens and traitors who had longer term plans stepped in to 
protect their investment. 

In his palace Governor Walter Wilcox summoned his most trusted guards and hurriedly packed a suitcase...

Having been playing a few games of Killteam recently with 6th/7th edition I thought it might be fun to play a scenario decided by the plot generator found in Rogue Trader. I rolled the ‘Governor of Hiveworld is trapped in palace following riots’ result, with ‘Animals roaming the battle field’ as a sub-plot.
I set up the table with Governor Wilcox and four guards, in his palace complex in the centre of the board. Two groups of five rioters (Imperial Guard conscripts) were roaming round and d6 spiders entered the table per turn and made their way across to an exit point on the other side of the board. There were four of us playing and each player had a randomised mission, either to kill, capture of save Walter Wilcox. Players did not reveal their objectives until the end of the game.The NPCs were controlled by cads I drew up before the game, either determining which way they would move, or giving control to one player for that turn.
The four combatants were:
Jordan; who had a Genestealer team consisting of genestealers and one broodlord . His objective was to save Walter, obviously he was currently gestating a genestealer hybrid.
Mark; who had a chaos marine team consisting of chaos marines. His objective was to capture Walter, probably to interrogate him at a later date.
Leggy; who had a chaos team consisting of three spawns and bloody hundreds of cultists. He was charged with killing Walter.
Me; who had a traitor guard team consisting of two veterans squads with autocannons.

'You might want to hurry, sir,’ said Barack Carruthers as Governor Wilcox repacked his case for the fifteenth time.
‘I am hurrying,’ sanpped Wilcox, ‘Where’s my tooth brush, WHERE’S MY TOOTH BRUSH!’
‘You’ve already packed it, sir, in your wash bag…’
‘What about pants?’
‘…?’ The guard made a confused noise.
‘How many pairs of pants do you think I’ll need?! Will five be enough?’
‘Sir,’ Carruthers tried a different tack, ‘Do you hear the screaming out-side?’
Wilcox listened. ‘The blood-splitting wailing of lost souls being ripped apart by unimaginable creatures twisted and corrupted by the power of the warp?’
‘Yes, sir, those screams.’
‘What about them?’
‘Well on the plus side, I don’t think we’ll be hearing much from the rioters anymore.’
‘And on the down side..?’
‘Hiveworld Schmiveworld is under attack, sir. By creatures you haven’t even dreamt of in your worst nightmares.’
Governor Wilcox was silent for a minute. Outside the palace there came the clatter of bolter fire, a roar of bestial fury was swiftly followed by a squelching crunch. ‘So you think I’ll need more pants?

We rolled to see if Walter and the guards would leave the palace complex each turn, 5+ on the first, 4+ on the second and so on. In the event he managed to fail every single roll, and so just waited for the onslaught. Leggy’s choice of three spawn, backed up by loads of cultists proved to be quite wise. The spawn could take pretty much anything in combat and the model count meant he never had to take a break test. 
The battle ended up being a pretty straight forward rumble in the middle of the table, the rioters and spiders added a little bit of complexity, but didn’t really effect the result in any way. By the time the palace was breached only Leggy had any real number of models left, and quick blast of his flamer killed Walter and secured victory.

All in all I think it made for a good battle, we decided to fight out another chapter in the history of Hiveworld Schmiveworld at a later date.

‘Given the choice I’d eat an orange,
I like it so much more than porridge.’
from ‘Things I Like to Eat' by Alexander Schmiveworld.