Disgustingly Resilient | Conviction Battle Report II
Faith vs Rot in This Five Parsecs from Home Solo Skirmish set in the 40k Universe
The hallowed ground of the misused cathedral made the prefect headquarters for the Missionaries of the Burning Wrath, even if Bishop Feverous was disgusted that this holy ground was disused.
Still, there was no taint of chaos here. The Emperor protects!
The Bishop ponders the last mission. The Missionaires were supposed to meet with an ally, a contact who could help them uncover the taint of chaos on Tamelius VI. Instead, it was an ambush and no word of the contact. Bishop Feverous thinks they murdered or worse.
There is little time to consider this. There is more for the Missionaries to accomplish here.
Welcome back to Conviction! My Five Parsecs from Home campaign set in the 40k Universe.
We are getting into Campaign turn 2, and I realise some of you may have some questions.
Why am I using Five Parsecs for a game set in the 40k universe? I think Five Parsecs is a great skirmish system that allows me to set up some cool games quickly. For why the 40k Universe? Well, it’s got a ton of flavour and I have the minis for it.
To match the minis I have, there will need to be some alterations to the enemies I’ll be fighting, and I may introduce new enemy groups as I paint up more minis, and there may be some surprises in the future…
Locked deep in prayer, Bishop Feverous is interrupted by Brother Scarus. “My holiness. Forgive me, but there is someone here to see you.”
The Bishop sits up from his kneeling position. He is not as young as he used to be. The hard years of rooting out the taint of chaos have left their mark. Still, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Entering Bishop Feverous’s chamber is a being that is not quite human, at least not completely. A tech priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus is standing there, all metal and robes. No skin to speak of.
The Bishop initially recoils. These Martian cultists are officially recognised by the Emperor, but their beliefs in their machine spirit flirt with heresy. The tech priest vox box crackles to life.
“Introduction. Bishop Feverous, word of your survival has reached us. We pray to the Omnissiah for your long life. We have a mission for you. Its success is critical, and we are willing to transfer significant assets to your missionary troop for attempting it.”
“Priest, we are busy with our own battles,” the Bishop spits back, nearly disrespectfully.
“Calculating... Response. We understand your mission on this planet, Bishop. We have detected the taint of chaos in one of our deep refineries. We have sent several patrols and technicians, but none have returned. We request that you escort an adept to repair an essential piece of equipment.”
The Bishop considers. “We will do it, but only because we are here to take the battle to chaos in all its forms. The Emperor will guide us.”
At the start of Campaign turn 2, I sent Bishop Feverous and Sin to find a Patron. They were successful, and for the job, I rolled up a corporation offering a job. I am interpreting that as the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The battle is a Protection battle, where I need to move a specific new character to the middle of the board and have them stay there safe for a turn. Seems easy, right?
Well, in battlefield conditions, I got fog, which significantly reduced visibility. I interpret this as the choking smog of deep in the refinery mazes of the planet.
For enemies, I’ve built a table for all the minis I have and rolled… Plague Marines. I home-brewed some slow-moving, hard-hitting, disgusting boys, and well, you can see their stats below.
The Battle
The Missionaries descend deep into the bowls of the planet. Monstrous machinery belches thick, toxic smog, making visual identification difficult. They are joined by an adept of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Brother Scarus attempts to speak with the adept but receives only silence in return.
“Not much of a talker,” Scarus says to nobody in particular.
Suddenly, their silent companion commands their attention and points to a refinery deep in the smog. The Missionaries know their target.
Cumulous, the servitor cherub, beeps an alarm. Then they spot them, hulking shapes just on the edge of the fog. The Missionaries react with sudden speed.
At the start of any skirmish, your crew can attempt to seize the initiative and either move or shoot first. Seeing as the fog reduces visibility, all the Missionaries choose to make a move.
Tactically, my goal here is to get enough Missionaries on both sides of the objective and distract the enemy for the one turn I need to have the adept in the centre.
Turn 1
In the advance, Brother Ignus literally stumbles upon a probe of some sort. Old Imperial technology, it looks to be. With his Emperor-given foresight, he plucks it from the ground and continues his advance.
This was a quest rumour placed randomly in the battle. Luckily, it landed close to my deployment zone, so I was able to snatch it. Rumours help with quests, but I may use them in a different way this campaign because I’m already using the modified story track.
Filled with the Emperor’s wrath and a deep-seated desire to come to blows with this unknown hulking foe, Sin races forward. And then they see it. Corruption, rot, decay. What steps out of the smog are not human, if they ever were. They are Plague Marines. Once loyal servants of the Emperor, now disgusting adherents to the chaos god Nurgle.
Emperor protect us…
A brute levels a large bolter, an unholy alagamation of flesh and metal, at Sin and unleashes a barrage of sickly rotten bolter rounds. The assassin moves and dodges, but is not quick enough and falls under a hail of rounds.
Sin is out of the fight, but we don’t know how injured they are just yet. At the end of the battle, we will roll up their injury.
Turn 2
The fog lifts slightly, and mechanical gears whirl as Cumulus spots a hulking bruke. Levelling their bolter, they pump round after round into one of the disgusting monsters. Despite the solid hits, the champion of chaos continued to stomp forward. Slowly, but unstoppable.
Cumulus did achieve one thing: the servitor has drawn the attention of the Plague Marines. A Chaos Marine draws a bead on the flying servitor and blasts it with bolt after bolt. Seeing this, Bishop Feverous sends out a prayer to the Emperor asking for a miracle, but the Emperor does not answer. The servitor falls to the rusted floor.
Five Parsecs has a meta currency called Story Points, which I’ve rebranded Miracle Points. It allows for rerolls, but Miracle points are hard to come by. In this case, I spent a Miracle Point to try to keep Cumulus alive, but it wasn’t enough, sadly.
Sensing the battle turning against the Missionaries and sensing the taint of chaos encroaching, Bishop Feverous jumps onto a manufactorum and challenges the Plague Marine champion to mortal combat.
The Bishop shouts a prayer to the God Emperor while the Plague Marine Champion gurgles foul pledges to Father Nurgle.
Bishop Feverous swings with the fury of his Faith and lands a crushing blow on the disgusting warrior. But when he retracts his mace, the rotted flesh reconstructs itself. The Chaos Champion wields its cursed blade and casts down Bishop Feverous.
Seeing their leader cast down, Brother Scarus calls a retreat. The Emperor will not shame those who retreat to fight another day. The remaining survivors of the Missionaires retreat to safer locations, leaving the field to the Plague Marines.
After Battle
Back in their cathedral, the remaining Missionaries take stock. The Emperor is with them, and Bishop Feverous was cast down but not injured. The same cannot be said for Sin, who is facing weeks in the medicus care. Cumulus will equally require extensive repairs and will need to spend much time with the Mechanicus.
Word reaches the Missionaries from deep in the refineries that the Plague Marines seek to finish the job and the Missionaries.
The Missionaries lick their wounds and pray to the God Emperor. Victory was not theirs today, but their faith and their strength will not falter.
Random injury rolls lead to Bishop Feverous with no long-term injuries, Sin with 3 turns injured and Cumulus out of 6 turns! A random campaign event has also led to a new rival: the Plague Marines.
Wow, that was a bad battle for the Missionaries. Reviewing, I made the enemy way too strong, and the smog meant they had to get close to even shoot at the Plague Marines. Still, it gives the Missionaries something to aspire to and a long-standing enemy to attempt to defeat.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to subscribe to get more battles. I’ve already fought through the next skirmish and am working on the fourth battle already!
I loved this (the vibes, more than what happened to your crew haha) The board looks fantastic, and I always love when Plague Marines get to show up! Really enjoying this mash up of 40k and 5 parsecs, it's got me itching to get my minis out of storage! Although I don't know if I could do an all genestealer crew haha
This was really good! To read, if not good for your crew!