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.

Wrong time, Wrong place

This is somewhat out of place, we decided against our normal routine to play a game of Doom the board game this week instead of Battlestar Galactica or Risk... or just getting incredibly drunk.

This came about due to a lack of social interaction, probably caused by 'mothers day' So. Aside from the normal schedule we ran a one off game, Denz took the role of invader (just so he could have a go and see what it was like)

Myself (Rich) took a marine players role along with Ace (Amber) and codename:"That other guy we know" (Craig)

 Denz decided to run the 1st scenario and to help create a fun one off we chose to all start with three marine skill cards each;

Rich had:
Big Guy (tougher in melee combat)
Efficient Killer (better effect & use of certain guns)
Lean & Mean (capable of looking out for incoming attack)

Amber [Ace] had:
Killer Instinct (a literal killing machine)
Sniper (easier to get sight of targets)
Danger Sense (able to avoid being overwhelmed)

"that other guy we know" Craig had:
Prepared (able to interfere with negative game effects)
Front Guard (able to take on multiple targets at once)
Special Ops (able to deal massive amounts of damage)

 Being that I personally know the game quite well, and have been through level 1 many times as a player and as the invaders I tried to take a back-role, not wanting to spoil the game for Craig who had never played before.

 The game started well with a good rush through the main 'start route' [start room > corridor area 1 > area 2] and into what some would say is the pivotal corridor of the 1st level [Area 3]

We were working well as a group, dispatching the invaders that Denz was throwing at us and avoiding most problems. The the 1st frag then occured, followed VERY quickly by a 2nd and Denz found good use for two cards effectively locking doors and separating the team into different areas. (see the picture to the right -> )

From that point the marine players found that they were pushed trying to get any advance into the northern connecting corridor [Area 5]




Perhaps foolishly I decided to use a game mechanic I call 'spawn jumping' to overcome our stalled advance, essentially using the opportunity when spawning to spawn well ahead of where the character died. This led us to get into the final room, but in doing so, we sacrificed safety in numbers having spawned well away from our team mates and at the same time caused the invaders to have a huge number superiority over us, simply, we were drowning in demons!

We could see the red security door, we even briefly had the red key-card holder (which happened to be myself) in the same room as the red security door... but then several Daemons and Hellknights decided to introduce several of the marine team to what is known as 'a right royal ass whupping' It was a brave attempt at a late game rush, but Denz ... the all-mighty DM (Doom Meister) didn't hold back and once more defeated the marines of the UAC.

 Game Map: (click to enlarge)


[key]
black line = team progress
red line = red marine (Rich)
blue line = blue marine (Craig)
green line = green marine (Amber)











Approximately 14 bottles of beer and 3 bottles of cider were consumed in the making of this game session

Level 2 - Game 2 - Session 3

The Marine players began this round eager to get experience, the previous round having seen the most overpowered character gain a card, Marty's 'Killer Instinct' providing much anguish as he kill-steals, the addition of spec ops left the other marines feeling truly underwhelmed.

The game began with the invaders siding with this team animosity and heading straight for Marty, couple with an early Archvile spawn and 2 darkness cards before they'd even managed to open the door leading out of the starting area, when they did get this far a cacodemon was brought in behind the group to get another kill before they actually began moving.

The viciousness of the invaders coupled with the good spawn cards AND the darkness cards meant that the marines entered area 2 with 1 life remaining on their count.

The natural darkness of the area didn't even come to have any effect as yet another good spawn (Zombie+Imp+Trite) provided a simply overwhelming number of demons, even armed with chainsaws, grenades and Marty being able to effectively take out upward of 6 demons in his turn. The marines succumbed to the odds.

After the level experience was awarded Ace pulled the Assassin card as a new skill, Denz pulled Alert.

Level 2 - Game 1 - Session 2

So begines level 2: The shores of Hell

The opening of this game was one of anticipation on the marines part, and the start area provided a top up of weapons and plenty of demonic targets, the Marines had little trouble in the start and 1st area, only after fighting through area 2 (which the rules stipulate is subject to 'darkness') was it possible for the invader player to score 2 frags. the marines chose to enter area 4 to their effective left as they exited area 2. This area, coupled with several large enemy spawning and several well used imps to provide harassment sniper attacks meant that the marine players quickly suffered the 4 remaining frags ending the game.

Marty accrued enough experience to purchase an extra marine skill card, this was randomly chosen and it turned out to be 'spec ops' further increasing what is possibly the most overpowered marine players ability to cause damage.

The beginning... Session 1

Once we settled on how to actually play the game, we opened some beers and started level 1.

The 1st game, was quite introductory to the new-comers and I went moderately easy, offering more than just a few hints and pointers, the group consists of the following...

Captain Colonel Commandant Denz.
Skills:- Officer and Big Guy.

Lieutenant Leftenant Rightenant Marti(a)n base Marty
Skills:- Sniper and Killer Instinct

Very petty Officer Ace
Skills:- Careful and Perfect Aim

A nasty mix of skills and as the 'Invader' this team could be a high threat to my poor demonic minions.

The 1st game saw the team move through area 1,2,3 and get stuck and killed while maneuvering to/from area 4
(first game denoted on the map by a blue line)

The 2nd game (which involved a lot more alcohol than previously consumed...) was a lot quicker we fineshed a good hour earlier than the 1st game, and I lacked any really impressive spawn or effect cards which gave the players a fairly easy ride. they followed the original path again, passing area's 1, 2, 3, 4 and poking their noses into area 5 before a swift and hopefully painful re-adjustment of the marines internal organs as I got a triple kill in quick succession.
(2nd game shown on the map with an orange line)

The 3rd and final game on this level took the marines the same route they'd tried previously, this time ignoring the route through area 3 and ignoring area 4 completely, although I had some good card pulls, the players (which rotate each week to allow for different styles combo of skills to be used) were able to counter very effectively. 'Ace' having the skill 'careful' was 1st to play for each marine round in this game which eliminated a lot of my ability to create traps or negative effects.

There was a little 'house ruling' to complete the level as one marine escaped the exit the others played rear-guard, dying in the process... Officially the marines had 1 life left at the point when the green marine made a burst through the exit and by the letter of the rules ALL the marines have to escape to complete, in light of a little competitive shenanigans I've allowed this 1 marine wins so that we can continue the game onward.

The final scene saw the marines sandwiched between advancing Mancubus and Cacodemon from their rear, and the last room full of Hellknights and Mancubus. My eagerness to corner and kill the marines I advanced the door guarding Hellknight and the green marine (whom I cannot affect due to 'carefull') made a mad dash for the door.