Laboratory SO19
The time the laboratory doors have been barricaded on the inside. When they enter the laboratory, the Templars of Hod discover a sickening spectacle; numerous dead creatures frozen in grotesque positions, the terror etched on their faces like an echo of the agony of their demise.
An invisible death prowls these corridors. It must not escape.
So in this mission the objective for the Dirz forces is for a secretly assigned rank 1 warrior to escape through one of the 4 exits. Objective 1, if activated, will releases the rank 0 clones from their tanks. But in doing so, the Griffin player selects one of the exits and it is removed from the game.
Griffin Force;
Venerable Ambrosius
Seneschal
2 Purifiers
Phidias
Dirz Force;
The Aberration
2 Hybrid Clones (rank 1 warriors)
Neuromancer (rank 1 warrior)
4 Pests of Flesh (rank 0 warriors)
The Pests of Flesh were place in the cloning tanks in the most Westerly chamber, while the Aberration and clones started in the North East chamber.
The Seneschal led Phidias and one of the Purifiers into the central chamber, ready to stop whatever clone my pass through hoping to escape. Ambrosius and the other Purifier headed West, and towards the cloning vats, seeking to destroy their occupants while also defending the other exits.
The Aberration charged through the corridors, smelling fresh meat in the air, and tore away the doors, as the Neuromancer followed. One of the clones also followed and took the corridor parallel to the Aberration, and stood waiting at the next door, hearing the enemy beyond.
Near to Ambrosius an explosion shook the lab. A mine had been detonated, and the Purifier called out, reassuring the old man that he was fine.
The Seneschal opened the door and fought the clone, and the flurry of blows, and well timed firing of the gun blades, were thwarted by the parries of the Hybrid clone. More attacks were traded and the Seneschal was seriously injured.
In the cloning chamber, Phidias and Ambrosius began to fire at the tanks. The bullets punctured some of the tanks, but others could spill out the vile creatures at any time.
The Neuromancer reached out with his psionic abilities and burrowed his thoughts into that of the Seneschal. The Griffin warrior was overcome with revulsion, and quaked in terror before the clone, which also landed a further blow. Hideous epidermal blade erupted from the being's back and lashed out at the Griffin soldier. The Seneschal however held on, pressed on by his faith. His pendant glowed, and reinvigorated the warrior, who stepped back and fired at the clone, finally killing it. But the clone's death took both the Seneschal and the Purifier's combined fire to kill it. And in response the Aberration charged forward, and lashed out with the sickle like claws that adorned its hand. The steel talons cut into the Purifier and sent the man tumbling backwards.
The gun fire continued in the cloning tank chamber, as more of the creatures were destroyed before they could be birthed. But then there was a loud simultaneous clank, and the amniotic fluids within the tanks spilt out, releasing the frenzied creatures. One promptly ran at Ambrosius and exploded, and was soon followed by another. The trap had been sprung.
The Seneschal held on, but the Aberration charged him, and head butted the man with it's steel cranium. The Seneschal hurtled backwards, choking up blood. He should have been dead, but his faith gave him one last ounce of strength, with which he charged the Aberration and dealt it a deep wound, before finally giving his last breath and meeting his lord Merin in the afterlife.
With the trap sprung, and the Hod warriors in disarray, the Neuromancer and remaining Hybrid clone made their escape, leaving the Aberration to finish the survivors.
It took the combined might of Phidias and the Purifiers to cripple the beast. Or so they thought. The Aberration fought on, as strong as ever, even having been dealt many wounds. Purple ichor dripped from bullet holes and cut sinew. But glimpsing the clones fleeing, far beyond, Phidias and one of the Purifiers broke off their engagement with the Aberration. Hopefully they could stood the plague carrier from escaping.
Phidias reached the exit, and taking up position before it, fired on the clone before him. The shot missed, and the Neuromancer moved to block any of the Griffin fighters from entering the chamber. It was now just Phidias and them.
The Aberration charged the remaining Purifer before him, and in like a rag-doll the human was slammed against a wall, pulverising numerous bones and organs.
The Hybrid charged forward, preternaturally quickly, and with it's cleaver like sword it dealt Phidias a mortal wound. With no other Griffin warriors close enough to stop the infected clone, it walked out into the wider world, ready to spread the virulent plague.
So another mission down, and two left to play in the core game.
This time, the player of the Griffin was another friend who was new to the game, but he soon picked up how it worked, and even for a person new to the game, it led to a final confrontation which could easily have gone either way. Again, it was clear that splitting up the Griffin is ill advised. The bonus of Conviction is just too important.
The placement of the Pest of Flesh is also important. As it can definitely force the Griffin to fight in a particular way, and make an assumption of which exit you will be using.
Critical this time round to the Dirz win was the use of Defensive combat modes. The parry early in the game prevented the Seneschal getting the upper hand, and eliminating quickly the Hybrid (it stop a critical hit!). Also the Neuromancer is incredibly useful. The same Hybrid was also lucky to get an event card to heal it. One Hybrid essentially bogged down the best fighter in the Griffin camp, doing more than even the Aberration.
The final battle perhaps would have been best for Phidias to have gone into Defensive mode, giving him more of a chance to survive and block the exit until support would arrive.
