Rogue Trader - The last hurrah - Marines v Eldar v Hellsreach Slavers

Optimus fobbed off family commitments and managed a final game before quiting the country. Some discussion and a roll on the random narrative generator meant we soon had the following:

Mutie the pig and his slaving company had ambushed some early model Imperial Walkers with their vastly superior Hellsreach model. The spoils, heretical xeno tech of Eldar design, would make Mutie rich if he could get them to safety. He called in a dropship to pick the group up.

Ultramarine Commander Gideon, flush with success after his triumph over Vlad Kirby, intercepted the slavers call. He personally led his battle brothers in the attempt to retrieve the heretical tech and at the same time bring the Emperor's justice to these slaving scum. 

Eldar exodite Che-vy Ba-io had been too late to prevent the trade of his people's technology to the mon-keighs. He would have to get the goods back the hard way. He didn't mind. Killing mon-keighs was a fun diversion.

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The walker strode across the field under the careful guidance of Lou Diamond Goldblum. Normally the slavers all rode in the walker but it was currently crammed full of xeno tech leaving only room for the pilot, a gunner and an outrider. The rest of the gang fanned out at the walkers feet.

Mutie on the left was not long for this world. Upper left, my thumb ruining a good pic.

Slivers of silver shot from the treeline raking the slavers. Mutie looked on in shock as high velocity shuriken tore apart his torso. For the boss it was over quickly. For his fellow slavers the terror was just beginning. On the slaver's flank the Ultramarines moved into the trees to prepare an ambush.

Lou Diamond Goldblum manoeuvred the walker to allow Papa Walken to fire a macro cannon round into the forest from which the shuriken burst had come. With a 3" burst template the macro cannon would deviate on a 2+. In a surprise to no one the round deviated badly missing everything.

Foot slogging slavers were in for a bad day. Those in the walker would need to keep their heads down to survive.

Che-vy Ba-io and his exodites hunkered down in the tree line. Their scatter laser tried ineffectively to damage the hellsreach walker. A second group of eldar broke off to tackle the troublesome marines. The only good mon-keigh is a dead mon-keigh.

The walker had to break the exodite line in order to get the xeno tech to safety.

The marines completed the humiliation of the slavers, gunning down the few left in the open. A krak missile streaked towards the Hellsreach Walker but failed to do any damage. It did however give away the marine heavies position and he was blown apart by the Eldar's lascannon.

The Ultramarines were left in the walker's wake. There was little their bolters could do.

Lou Diamond Goldblum pushed the walker to its limit striding away from the marines and towards Che-vy Ba-io's exodites. The sole surviving foot slogging slaver dove into the forest in the wake of the walker, trying his best not to get shot.

The maco cannon blasts huge chunks of earth into the sky killing 0 Eldar.

The earth shook as the walker strode towards the exodites. The crew of the walker kept their heads down and successfully avoided their foes las and shuriken fire.

Che-vy Ba-io and a fellow exodite prepare to spring from the woods and board the walker.

Che-vy Ba-io was not going to let the walker escape. He and a companion broke from the woods and tried to board the lumbering machine. While Che-vy's companion was crushed under foot the exodite leader scaled the walker and levelled his multi-laser. He had the mon-keighs at his mercy.

Che-vy thinks he has the drop on the mon-keighs. He's wrong.

But it was not to be. Lou Diamond Goldblum left the wheel and spun about, levelling a stub gun at his alien foe. The round tore through Che-vy's helmet and the xeno's delicate body tumbled from the walker's railing to land with an unceremonious splat on the ground below. Papa Walken, who had thus far killed no one with his inaccurate macro cannon fire, pumped his fist in the air to celebrate Che-vy's death. Unfortunately this meant his arm was above the protective railing and it was torn off by a hail of shuriken. 

Che-vy is blasted off the walker. Papa Walken loses his arm and plummets to his doom.

After his companion's death Lou Diamond Goldblum focused on keeping his head down as he piloted the walker off the board and to victory!

The Hellsreach Walker gets out of dodge.  A single slaver survived to celebrate victory!

With the walker gone the marines could do little other than work off some aggression against their Eldar foes. It was not without cost for Commander Gideon was sliced in two by a lascannon blast and two brothers were lit up by a flamer. In response the Eldar were purged with bolter fire. The handful of remaining exodites quit the field.

Pesky interfering Xenos. Steel yourselves brothers. For the Emperor!

That was probably the best game we had even though it was thrown together at the very last minute. The walker and in earlier battles the dreadnought confirmed that vehicles are very tough to damage. Sustained fire weapons like shuriken catapults seem superior to the forever deviating area effect weapons. Flamers seem the exception to the general uselessness of area effect weapons but only when lighting up foes at close range. The macro-cannon looked devastating on paper but after being fired about 10 times in various games managed to kill 0 opponents. A deviating macro cannon round might kill something in a massed battle but not in a skirmish game.

It was interesting relearning rules we haven't touched in ages. Nothing in Rogue Trader is too game breaking as long as you employ the rules to suit the scenario. It's a serviceable system that still has plenty to offer.