Level 4 - Game 2 - Session 13

Being that this game is a pick up from the 'pause' that we put in place last time round It may be worth catching up on the previous post just to remind yourselves of what went down...

It's not just 'invaders' in the game: Bearded dragon invasion!

We join the marines in what is Area 3 as they see off a Hellknight and sally toward the teleporters, due to the Marines having successfully gained both 'parts' of the pass code in Area 1 they are allowed to (unbeknown to the players) skip ahead and forgo several back and forth excursions to the correct path.

Instead they leap straight into Area 6, and promptly dispatch the hoard of Zomies and Trites that await them the team of three marines now easily overpowering any and all demons that dare get in their way, Mancubus explode in ribbons of gooey ichor at a single well placed grenade from Ace, Marty fells opponent after opponent his sharpened reactions allowing him to deftly bring death to even the mighty Hellnights that spawn before him.

Denz, the commander of the group happy that his deadly pistol seems time and time again to be more powerful than even the shotguns. Soon however, the wear and tear begins to show as the guns the marines are using begin to catastrophically fail, two of the teams shotguns fall apart in the midst of a heated fight-fight.

Map showing the progression of the Marines through the level.

Unperturbed by the malfunctioning weapons Ace grits her teeth and swings round the BFG that she'd been carrying, some convenient Plasma Ammo (Plammo) is slamming into the firing mechanism of the almighty weapon and the blinding blast that she unleashed vaporises several large demons as well as a cadre of lesser more fleshy targets...

The blast so awesome that the force of it plants ace on her ass as she is hit by the backblast suffering heavy wounding and a singed fringe.

Marty, not wanting to be outdone in the high stakes high explosive shenanigans runs into a storeroom (Area 7) and smashes hi fists through the metal casing of a highly explosive barrel, the result is a cartoon like Marty stood with wisps of smoke rising from his armour and dead Zombies splattered in a neat circle around him.

As the team thrust their way into the depths of the level they use up a couple of their respawns, even these mightly fighters are defeated by a constant barrage of demons tearing at them and assailing them with weapons both mundane and supernatural... but with all three marines at full health, the future doesnt look good for the deamons which lay in wait for them ahead.

That's the smile of someone with a BFG!

The team gathers itself before the final section is opened, Ace wielding a now glowing BFG, Marty head to toe covered with blood, gore and smouldering armour and Denz now with his SMG shouldered ready to pick off targets at range.

The final assaault is bloody but brief, the BFG quickly and easily outmatching the last Hellnights of this sector, and the Cyberdemon roars in humiliation as it's final wound is taken by Denz who calmly stands in front of the towering monster and punches is square in the face.

Onward to the final Sector! and the escape from Mars base!

Level 2 - Game 4 - Session 5

Sadly no pictures of the game, and more importantly, very bad recollection of the game but that's my fault (sorry)

The players were more aggressive in this round, Marty being exceptionally brave ... (foolish?) and spawn jumping from recent deaths into a no-hope situation which then led to another death, Interestingly however at every stage the players have become harder to kill, their skill cards now causing more interrupts and failed Invader attacks than I care to deal with.

The first couple of rooms were dealt with by shotgun and chainsaw seeing off everything, then area 2, the room which is considered permanently dark was slowly bunted into and a couple of cheeky kills taken on easy target players.

They entered into the largest room, (Area 4) with gusto even though I as invader played an entire stack of cards to bully them away. The Hellknight and Mancubi that dwell in the room were demolished by some eager Marine player moves, Marty getting stuck in with chainsaw and shotgun, Ace taking an incredibly powerful shot from distance and the well armoured Denz seeing off the smaller more Trite like invaders ... there were lots of Trites...

Having deftly dealt with one of the areas which until now had always been their demise the players moved onward, running through the last sets of corridor using the BFG to mow a path through all that stood in front of them and the 'teleportation station' which led them to the final room with the exit red security door... they didn't have the key, but the room did have a big and rather angry Cyberdemon and while the players made an excellent effort at making it 'less there' It had other idea's and decided to evaporate one of the marines, taking the last frag and ending the round.

After the game was done, Denz took a new skill card, pulling 'Crack Shot' allowing him to really exploit ranged attacks, Marty too had enough XP to boost his character, deciding to improve his base armour level.

Level 2 - Game 3 - Session 4

As this game started it was clear exactly how it was going to play out, I was ever so slightly tipsy having been necking rum & coke all afternoon and although I could still think straight, It's fair to say the invaders were acting a little more irrationally than normal.

Coupled with the now powered up characters the invaders stood little chance, the starting area was cleared before the zombies and Daemon realized the marine players were there, the weapons that were scattered about quickly assimilated unto the players stacks of hardware.

The marines, led by a seemingly unstoppable wave of destruction; known as 'Denz' flushed the 1st area uncontested, the invaders scored a frag by focusing attacks on the weaker marine, the other two had increased armour levels, this meant I got some rather strong words and a stern look from Ace...

After having respawned, Ace then led the charge into the 2nd area, but as the door opened, an awaiting Archvile jumped around its concealing corner and got a 2nd frag on Ace. The team again headed by 'Denz the unstoppable' cleared out an impressive number of invaders via use of grenades and blow-through attacks. Even the perma-darkness of the 2nd area posed no threat and while Ace went toe to two with a Hellknight the other marines cleaned up any remnants of the smaller invaders. Denz felt the wrath of an overwhelming attack by a Zombie and a Maggot which unleashed an enraged attack rending armour from the beguiled Denz and then tearing a large and quite important section of his torso away leaving the marines remains to slump lifeless to the floor.

Even with Ace's new-found death dealing Assasin skill the Hellknight Nearly got the upper hand but failed to take enough health before it was filled with SMG ammo and reduced to a pile of smoldering demonic ash. Some tactical maneuver later and the marines made entry into the main room of the level, the 'Cafeteria'

The staggering size of this area, meant that the marines had to work together as best they could, staying together and creating a unified front, The massive invaders that dominate this room were splitting their attacks  between the marines, several smaller Trites and some Zombies managed to break open the defensive block of armour that was Marty, his extra armour shattering under repeated and constant attacks. As the marines attempted to make headway several ranged attacks took out the weakened Marty, a tirade of Imps and zombies had been pecking away at Ace's health and eventually she too succumbed to the numbers of attacks being made against her, leaving Denz the one true bane of the invaders backing away from three Cacodemons.

Ace respawned at the other end of the room, collecting a BFG, without ammo, she ran toward the seemingly doomed Denzil, he was carrying the all important plasma ammo which had been carried over from the 1st level, because of the turn order, Denz going before Ace, in the next round having avoided any significant damage from the closing Cacodemons Denz runs to Ace, hanging over the ammo, followed by Marty collecting several items around the cafeteria hall including a chain-gun which He immediately opens fire toward the Cacodemons; bullets raining out and chewing into their thick hides, Ace then slams home the plasma charge and incinerates the gaggle of Cacodemons.

The proximity to their remaining frag now weighing on there minds the marines entered Area 6 Ace holding the almighty Big Fucking Gun at the ready, Denzil ever vigilant for an extra kill with his Alert ability and Marty eager to kill everything he can get his chain-gun to point toward. All the invaders of Area 6 are met with swift and deadly greetings from the marines weapons, Ace obliterating a Hellknight and an Archvile in one blast, a crowd of Trites evaporate as a grenade from Denz lands among them, and running in after, the manic grin of Marty seen in the strobing flashes of his chain-gun tearing away the frail bodies of two other Archviles.

The marine players decide to attempt to push forward and onward their shattered and bloodied bodies nearing exhaustion and win or die state of mind keeping their feet moving, as they ran toward the locked Yellow security door, Denz calls over their communicators "run for it, I'm grabbing a health pack, I'll follow behind"

That was not a good idea, the brief spilt of the marines allowing the invaders to spawn in several Imps and Zombies... enough to ambush and defeat the very low on health Denzil.