A game to celebrate your 81st birthday. -- Part III Saving private Galthar, advanced vehicle tactics and a crop dusters last flight.

 This is the third and hopefully last part of my two part story. In rounding this story off i will demonstrate the second worst use for a transport vehicle and why karma is a thing but it only apply-es to dice.

A difficult position was a bit of an understatement to describe the mess I was in. My elite shock troops had been massacred and now the trap I had created had been turned against me, Galthar was surrounded by Bonnie's forces, too far away for his fellows to help him. and with the Skorpekh lord turning its gaze towards him I knew i needed to make something happen quick to turn the battle around. So i did the only thing i could think of, I rammed the Necron leader with my rhino.

the second worst way to use a rhino,
colorised

Now you may be thinking, "David, did you lose some of your brain cells along with your terminators?" and no i didn't, i lost them when i drank two cans of monster energy before the game started, but trust me, there is a method to my madness. By engaging the Necron leader in close quarters combat he could not escape to join the rapidly dwindling mob trying to club Galthar to death without wasting his turn, after which i would just charge the lord again, and while Bonnie's leader could and eventually would destroy my rhino it bought me just enough time for the leader of my war band to free himself from the horde of Necrons, having finally felled them for good.

Seeing as both of our leaders were the only major forces left on the battlefield, Bonnie challenged me to an honor duel between our leaders. As i was playing the alpha legion i of course accepted the challenge, and then promptly shot her leader in the back with my remaining tactical marines. Bonnie was shocked by this betrayal but before she could bring her ghost ark's guns to bear i charged the Skorpekh lord with my leader.

The duel was quick and bloody, thanks to the efforts of my rhino and tactical marines the Skorpekh lord was already weakened meaning despite poor rolling on my part i was still able to defeat the injured Necron leader. had Bonnie had the chance to strike back, thanks to Galthar's previous injuries from the flayed ones and immortals i am certain he would have been felled by her voidreaper.

a betrayal at the most
critical moment

With only a ghost ark left to her name Bonnie drove her crop duster close to my leader forcing him to take the full brunt of its firepower which he survived with only three health left to his name. He rushed into combat with the flying menace, easily destroying it with a few lucky rolls with his powerfist, but with its destruction Bonnie smiled and i realised my mistake. When vehicles are destroyed in Warhammer 40,000 they have a small chance of exploding and dealing one to three damage to everything near it, Galthar was most certainly in that area and with the six Bonnie had just rolled, he would be taking the full brunt of the explosion. As Bonnie rolled the die that would determine the fate of the hero of this game I held my breath.

The men of Chronus squad cheered as Galthar slammed his power fist through the alien vehicle, the devices that held it midair failing as it crashed into the ground. Their cheers turned into gasps of horror as the failing craft was consumed by a raging inferno, taking Galthar with it. Their green and blue helmets hiding the looks of horror on their faces, they stood in silence as they watched the man who had led them through hundreds of battles vanished underneath a blanket of orange and red. As the fire died out they could barely bring themselves to look, but as they did relief washed over their faces. Where the inferno had consumed him Galthar stood standing, badly burnt but still alive. Seeing this, the remaining men of Chronus squad turned to the damaged ship that had brought them to this accursed world. They worked like madmen, constantly looking over their shoulders as they repaired the ship, fearing a Necron reprisal that never came. As the ship turned itself skyward and rocketed towards the atmosphere Galthar meditated on what had happened. Twelve men had been trapped on that planet, and only five of them had escaped with their lives, but five would be enough. They would rebuild their ranks with new soldiers to replace the fallen. Then they would continue their path across the stars, wreaking havoc in the dark god's name.

Overall, pretty fun game. Cant wait for the next time we play