The Marauding Duo Aftermath

Captain Grognard wiped the sweat from his brow. He was surrounded by Space Orcs. The objective was just past the hill but an Orc tank was right on the spot. It looked bleak.

“Make a move already,” Notwe said. The burly merchant couldn’t shut up for a moment. “You’re drekked no matter what you do.”

Grognard shook his head. Arris Station was a haven for pirates and smugglers but it was terrible for finding gamers to play against. Normally Grognard made due with what he could find but the repairs on the Reroll were going to take a while. He didn’t like the idea of playing Grimhammer 50K against rude bastards like Notwe for that long.

He touched a button on the holodisplay. A handful of unengaged Space Elves activated their jump packs and skipped over most of the Space Orc army. They landed on the tank and engaged in hand to hand.

Grognard and Newte were silent as the holographic models attacked each other. Numbers streamed on the side as combat calculations were being performed. Finally the tank exploded and the Space Elves stood victorious on the objective point. 

“Space Elf victory!” the game announced.

“You lucky piece of drek!” Newte yelled.

Grognard stood up. “Thanks for the game,” he said. Then he pulled out a hand needler and shot Newte. The foul mouthed merchant fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth as a dozen toxins killed him.

“That’s for being a bad sport,” Grognard said.

His communicator beeped. It was Quartermistress Danica with the report from the ships they took.

***
Welcome to the Aftermath section of the latest pirate Patrol mission. There was one PEF left on the board before the pirates had to retreat but they did get a crapload of loot before then.

Firt though, we should check the Campaign Morale. We didn’t complete our Patrol Mission so we only roll 1d6 against the Campaign Morale of 4. I roll a 4 and get one success. The GP Ring rolls against their morale of 3, and get a 5 and a 6. Lucky break for me! My Campaign Morale stays where it is. I guess the pirates liked the loot they got.

Next we have possible Rep adjustments. First The Reroll. We had a Rep of 5, which went down to 4 after a bad boarding action but we roll against the original 5. I roll a 5 and my Rep stays where it is at 4. Oh well, some butt whoopings leave a mark.

The Slapstick rolls. They had a Rep of 4 and it stayed there. I roll a 4 so no change.

Even though I came up with rules for Contraband back in January, I didn’t get a chance to try them until now. Let’s see what I rolled.

Grand Freighter:
CB 1 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 2 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 3 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 4 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 5 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 6 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 7 – Rarities for CV of 25
CB 8 – Goods for CV of 15
CB 9 – Commodities for CV of 5
CB 10 – Destroyed.
Total – 75

Tanker:
CB 1 – Commodities for CV of 4
CB 2 – Commodities for CV of 4
CB 3 – Commodities for CV of 4
CB 4 – Commodities for CV of 4
CB 5 – Commodities for CV of 4
CB 6 – Goods for a CV of 12
CB 7 – Goods for a CV of 12
CB 8 – Goods for a CV of 12
Total – 56

Freighter:
CB 1 – Goods for CV of 9
CB 2- Contraband for CV of 30 Weapons, I made the controlled contraband roll for full value.
CB 3- Contraband for CV of 30. Slaves! Pirates free them for CV 0 but +1 die for recruitment roll.
CB 4 – Commodities for CV of 3
CB 5 – Goods for CV of 9
CB 6 – destroyed
Total - 51

Runner:
CB 1 – Rarities for CV of 15
CB 2 – Contraband for CV of 30. Weapons, I only made one controlled looting success, for CV 15
CB 3 – Goods for CV of 9.
Total – 39

Grand Total = 221 CV

I am also using some ship salvage rules where you get 1 CV for every class of a ship that has been captured. The Freighter was destroyed, the Grand Freighter was allowed to leave with the crew but the other two remained for a total of 7 CV.

You know, single digit CV’s might not be worth tracking in the future. I may drop my ship salvage rules as unnecessary bookkeeping.

Anyhoo, the previous CV of the pirates’ haul was 76 so now we have a total of 297. We’ll spend 200 CV to roll on the Recruitment Table. Because we freed some slaves, I’ll roll 3d6 against the campaign morale of 4 and count success. I roll a 2,2 and 4. We get a recruit! Go me!

We roll and get a Class 4 Ravager with a Rep of 4. Nice. I’m going to need some time think about this new Captain.

***

Grognard looked at Newte’s twitchy body. It was the first time he killed someone for being a rude player and he was surprised at how good it felt. The only downside was that the few other gamers in Arris Station might decline to play against Grognard now.

He activated his communicator. “Jarella, didn’t you tell me that there was a civilized planet nearby?”

Jarella snorted. “I wouldn’t call New Hope civilized but yeah, it’s there.”

“Repairs are going to take a week,” Grognard said. “Get me a shuttle to New Hope. I need to find a gaming store.”