And so.. from hazy recollection... the first half..
As I recall the pushing was done by a reckless Marty with many shotgun rounds being expended, due to the turn order for this game (we cycle the order of players in each game..) Denz would open the round usually thwarted by several cards from (me) the invader, or softening up targets then Ace would go, uninterrupted due to the carefull skill card she'd pick up a couple of kills or further soften large targets and then Marty would do a mad rush into the frey using killer instinct to wreck havoc among the invaders that are in play.
This procedure basically got the players pretty safely through the first 3 area's even exploring the mysterious and as yet undiscovered vault room... the vault, still closed. The players smashed their way through what I can only say was a paltry effort by the invaders to stall them, seemingly via the tactic 'we'll stop them with our mounting corpses'
And so, with an Archville recently spawned into play, the players had reached area 4 and only two deaths to account for the game was called to a pause.
I took some pic's of the pause so if the board were disturbed we could set it back up.
Right: the point at which the players reached as we decided to pause the game. with blue marine (Marty) about to get locked in and devoured
Left: this is what happens when Ace gets bored waiting for her turn... one of our pet bearded dragons becomes integral to a 'dice stacking game'
So to part two of this shenanigans.
With the aid of some beer and the promise of food after the game, the players launched into this round of play, through some trickery the invader quickly came up with a third kill almost straight away, using the lock-in card along with a few other bits to nail down a separated Marty and then separate Marty's body parts form each other.
This allowed a spawn which Marty (ab)used to spawn across the room sweeping up tokens as he went and getting the 2nd part of the unlock for the vault. With this new occurrence Denz went back via area 3 running for the vault room eagre to find what was inside, meanwhile Marty and Ace dispatched a wandering Mancubus and Hellknight, Ace taking great pride in nearly outright killing the HK in one shot... With Denz completing his mad rush back through the level only to be caught short by the Archvile and a lone Imp on his return taking substantial damage.
Ace and Marty were doing all the could to make entry into area 6 both of them very low on health this struggle ends badly as Denz comes running into Area 4 only to see the blood and viscera of his team-mates being liberally applied to the walls, the multiple Trites of area 6 weakened Ace to a critical level and Marty had once more re-spawned into action ever eager to be right at the front ready for his killer instinct ability to overpower whatever he chooses to get angry at.
However, in the furor of getting the red key, and trying to regroup the team It's all a bit too much the Invaders, mostly Archvile and Hellhights at this stage; proving too strong to simply run past and ignore, and too tough to take down easily. The players enter into the corridor leading to area 5 with only a few points of health each and 4 kills stacked against them. In the battle of what has come to be known as 'the café of wooden benches' Denz decides that his SMG needs a break... and so, promptly breaks it while attempting to see of a Z-Sec Zombie which frustraitingly just refuses to die (even to the point that when he does kill the damn thing, I spawned another one in the spot where it had just died!!)
The card deck was perilously low at this point... and if the deck runs out its an immediate frag against the players, so they were all tooo aware that just 1 more death would be too much.
With Zombies chasing them and the corridor of area 5 stacked with even more ferocious Hellknights the marines put their game faces on... BFG time... a slight oversight of range meaning that in the flash of instatanious death that see's off a Hellknight and 2 archville, the blast is enough to remove half of the already damaged Marty.
This assault coupled with chain-guns all-round means that nothing can withstand the onslaught the marines now present. The amount of ammo being expended enough to reforge into a small monument to the marines, chain-guns wielded by Marty and Ace buzzing and spewing out death before them.
So the players jauntily wade through the sludge and gore that was once a corridor full of hell-spawned deamons and then...
Klaxxons sound, lights flash... The last card is drawn from the invader deck, and the 'timer' frag is added to the pile, that's now 5 frags stacked up, not a single one of the marines has more than 4 hit points remaining and they know all too well that the next room has a Cyberdemon waiting.
So, with BFG's drawn, the remaining chain-gun whirring a buzz of anticipation and a small discussion on how best to get through the teleporter, the marines make entry into Area 7.
Ace goes through, and shreds the Zombies that confront her upon materialisation followed swiftly by Marty who in swift and direct action rushes the remains of the mob and dispatches them with good old fashioned buckshot to the face at point blank range.
The team Commander then injects himself with the experimental concoction of steroids and adrenaline resulting in him entering a berserker mode.. and jumps through the teleport.
Thanks to the players being clever with their turn order ... Marty makes 'sight' on the Cyberdemon and promptly takes out the Hellknight in one attack with his chain-gun ripping through it like hail stones would go through paper its demonic form splattering its innards in a cone behind it and then evaporating into ash as its demonic form burns away from our reality. In this same moment the chain-gun sputters then explodes leaving Marty holding its smouldering shell stood directly in front of a blood spattered Cyberdemon.
From behind them bellows Denz roaring out as he runs in, not even slowing down he dives through the obscuring steam barges past the bemused Marty starring at the wreck of his chain-gun and the giant daemon now towering over him. Denze pushes out his fist and charges headlong into the things gut, and straight out the other side dripping with its blood as it literally tears in two at the force of his monumental attack bellowing triumphantly as the unknown drugs start to leave his system... Ace dashes past, and they quickly make exit as a flow of zombies begins filling the room behind them coming inn via the teleporter.
Ace and Marty were doing all the could to make entry into area 6 both of them very low on health this struggle ends badly as Denz comes running into Area 4 only to see the blood and viscera of his team-mates being liberally applied to the walls, the multiple Trites of area 6 weakened Ace to a critical level and Marty had once more re-spawned into action ever eager to be right at the front ready for his killer instinct ability to overpower whatever he chooses to get angry at.
However, in the furor of getting the red key, and trying to regroup the team It's all a bit too much the Invaders, mostly Archvile and Hellhights at this stage; proving too strong to simply run past and ignore, and too tough to take down easily. The players enter into the corridor leading to area 5 with only a few points of health each and 4 kills stacked against them. In the battle of what has come to be known as 'the café of wooden benches' Denz decides that his SMG needs a break... and so, promptly breaks it while attempting to see of a Z-Sec Zombie which frustraitingly just refuses to die (even to the point that when he does kill the damn thing, I spawned another one in the spot where it had just died!!)
The card deck was perilously low at this point... and if the deck runs out its an immediate frag against the players, so they were all tooo aware that just 1 more death would be too much.
With Zombies chasing them and the corridor of area 5 stacked with even more ferocious Hellknights the marines put their game faces on... BFG time... a slight oversight of range meaning that in the flash of instatanious death that see's off a Hellknight and 2 archville, the blast is enough to remove half of the already damaged Marty.
This assault coupled with chain-guns all-round means that nothing can withstand the onslaught the marines now present. The amount of ammo being expended enough to reforge into a small monument to the marines, chain-guns wielded by Marty and Ace buzzing and spewing out death before them.
So the players jauntily wade through the sludge and gore that was once a corridor full of hell-spawned deamons and then...
Klaxxons sound, lights flash... The last card is drawn from the invader deck, and the 'timer' frag is added to the pile, that's now 5 frags stacked up, not a single one of the marines has more than 4 hit points remaining and they know all too well that the next room has a Cyberdemon waiting.
So, with BFG's drawn, the remaining chain-gun whirring a buzz of anticipation and a small discussion on how best to get through the teleporter, the marines make entry into Area 7.
Ace goes through, and shreds the Zombies that confront her upon materialisation followed swiftly by Marty who in swift and direct action rushes the remains of the mob and dispatches them with good old fashioned buckshot to the face at point blank range.
The team Commander then injects himself with the experimental concoction of steroids and adrenaline resulting in him entering a berserker mode.. and jumps through the teleport.
Thanks to the players being clever with their turn order ... Marty makes 'sight' on the Cyberdemon and promptly takes out the Hellknight in one attack with his chain-gun ripping through it like hail stones would go through paper its demonic form splattering its innards in a cone behind it and then evaporating into ash as its demonic form burns away from our reality. In this same moment the chain-gun sputters then explodes leaving Marty holding its smouldering shell stood directly in front of a blood spattered Cyberdemon.
From behind them bellows Denz roaring out as he runs in, not even slowing down he dives through the obscuring steam barges past the bemused Marty starring at the wreck of his chain-gun and the giant daemon now towering over him. Denze pushes out his fist and charges headlong into the things gut, and straight out the other side dripping with its blood as it literally tears in two at the force of his monumental attack bellowing triumphantly as the unknown drugs start to leave his system... Ace dashes past, and they quickly make exit as a flow of zombies begins filling the room behind them coming inn via the teleporter.
LEVEL 2: THE SHORES OF HELL - COMPLETED!!
