THE PROFESSIONALS ARE ALREADY ON IT !

ZAMBIAN RENTOKIL have already thought about extraterrestrial pest control....... Am I too late ?

HERE

OFFICIAL GALAXY CHART ISSUED BY DF

DF just released a public version of the latest company chart over The Galaxy.

The detailed star catalogue and planetary gazeteer wil be issued later this year.

Hats off to Harry Beck.

The Galaxy can be crossed using  JET planing in 10 years if the planned route works and no anomalous behaviour in the black holes used as key nodes occurs. Node anomalies can cause deviation in the destination and in the time taken. The travellers experience just 0.1% of the time elapsed on their starting point if they travel 30,000 LY using medium sized JET units. Accurate plotting of the most effective node combination combined with the largest JET units can halve this.

Most DF activity is still in the 'Sol Quadrant' - the 90 degree arc of the galactic plane centred on the galactic centre and having the Sol System on its medial radius.

There are sooo many galaxies but we will never be able to visit another beyond the local dwarf galaxies  incorporated within our own. So ours is THE Galaxy.

Data WIKIpedia. FURTHER GALAXIES HERE

RULES

So far the rules are called '--DUCK!' and stem from the following premises -

When a Duck says " Duck!", You duck!!!

1. 54mm  1/35  1/32  Army Men scale
2. The Universe is a 'hard' sci fi one : no super-dooper mental powers, no magic, no 'rays' or 'beams' . Technology must have an Achilles heel. Only the JET drive is presently unthinkable.
3. The game is in the confined space of a spaceship. Spaceships have not become million tonne behemoths. They cost money. They are compact.
4. No life forms with human-level intelligence have been found. The most advanced eemy can only use simple weapons. The most deadly adversary is...other humans.
5. Weapons are developed to allow combat on a spaceship without destroying the ship ! No highly penetrating weapons. 
6. Fire is dealt with by the ship's systems. It will automatically reduce oxygen in an area with fire. Sprinklers and deluge systems activate if temperature get too hot. Fire can thus be used as a weapon.
7. This is point 7 of 9 . Time enough to pause...
8. There is combat but there is also problem-solving and non-combat action along with characterisation of the figures - blend D&D, Squad Leader without excessive detail or overwrought technicalities.
9. Teams can be progressed, their career followed but no 'levels' or power enhancement.

The main books I have in mind are Starship Troopers,  Forever War, Bill the Galactic Hero and The Tunnels of Cu Chi. Games are Sorcerer's Cave, Sniper and the 'Aliens' boardgame.

Figure scale is large to allow easy and rapid painting. It also allows scenic elements to be made without being too fiddly. On the other hand if you WANT to go mad with detail you can and it is repaid more than in 15mm or 25 or 28(what is that scale !?).

Cheapnis is important. All must be possible without a big outlay and construction, scratch-building and conversion encouraged.

Developments are to allow other environments such as tunnels and jungle.

Ship Modifications : Doors and Cryochamber !!

The doors onmy ships are gettin gsome renovations. I have tried various materials.

First doors are very thick card - work well. Extremely cheap - they cost nothing by using the backing boards from old pictures thrown away from a jumble-sale.

Second type I tried with a plastic material used instead of glass panes. It is formed of a lot of tubes fused onto each other a bitlike corrugated cardboard but transparent. Very cheap .

Needs care when cutting - just use a new blade in your knife and many light cuts for a good smooth cut. Trim any floppy ends.
 Totallly smooth surface which takes spray paint very well.

Old style door by a slick new plastic one-

And, lastly, a peek at the Cryo-chamber. Secret to the longest trips across the galaxy which take years. More detail to follow.

Not finished but looking good! Wake up in one of these and see an alien looking down at you !!!

New Furniture : Drums/vats

Simple drums of stuff and vats for liquid or gas can b emade from tubular foam insulation.
No instructions necessary but I recommend you add A LID of some sort,  signs, labels, stowage cables or a pallet to make them look even better.

Several coats of pain thides the join well. (Newly-constructed Neutron power converter in background)

New Furniture : Power Plants

'Furniture' in my game is anything inside the spaceship other than doors and walls.

I made some nice generators or 'energy cells' or 'power units' the other day.

Get a stout plastic bottle and split it lengthways.

Glue it to a base which has dimensions equal to the squares of your board.

The 'stopper' end must be camouflaged, changed, to look like something and be closed.

Add some pipes, cables knobs, levers, control screens on the outside.

Paint the whole thing et voila!

Two perfectly servicable neutron power converters from one bottle !

New Pests

First we have the Carnivorous Lichen of Jekyl 37. From the region at the junction of the Persean and Sagittarian Arms it was ironic that a planetary system named after a famous gardener should expose mankind to a pernicious and deadly weed.

Luckily my guest hut had some growing on the roof and I just had to dry, varnish and paint it for it to reveal its true nature.

Lurking in my own back yard !!!!!

They seem harmless enough.....

True nature revealed. A lichen which needs hæmoglobin to live !!!!!

Next we have the Ceratopian mutineers. From the Carina-Sagittarius Arm these lizard-like creatures showed themselves to be semi-intelligent and could be used as porters and labourers. Unfortunately they are smart enough to know a captive human gives them access to space...... Mutinous Ceratopians took to space and as they are hermaphrodite,,well the rest is an annoying history.

Crappy guns but they are hard to kill witht their head-shields!

(That's enough aliens. Ed)

PEST DISTRIBUTION

Tentative map showing reported infestations.

BASIC GALACTOGRAPHY

As you surf round the DF galaxy it's good to get your bearings.

Don't end up like the boys on Dark Star did ... Of course, DF would look after you ...

National Geographic Zoomable Galaxy Map HERE

 

Galaxy Map . lots of stuff but main map out of function  HERE

PROPULSION SOLVED FOR THE DF UNIVERSE

MORE BACKGROUND STORY TO DF UNIVERSE

The spaceships of the DF universe travel great distances in a short time of space. Or space of time. The two are interchangeable. We can swap time for space or vice versa. Einstein said so. The key is that distorting space-time using intense gravitational forces allows shortcuts in galactic travel.

It still takes some time to accelerate and decelerate to and from the black hole nodes used to navigate by– more time than it takes to make the main planing phase of any transgalactic journey.

The ships’ propulsion is based on an effect discovered by a modification of the Joint European Torus supermagnetism experiments with confining fusion reactors. Essentially the supermagnetic field in the shape of a doughnut, or torus, confined the reacting material. A tendency was discovered for the confining supermagnetic fields to cause a directional drift of the confined plasma. Initially this was viewed as a problem because a fusion reactor was not intended to move off anywhere neither to remain stationary and send a stream of fusioning plasma out into the wider surroundings.

INSIDE J.E.T. (Cherche le jam)

However, a bright spark eventually realised that this effect was the possible fundamental mechanism for a new type of propulsion. Let the jam squirt out of the doughnut and the doughnut must, according to Newton, accelerate away. A small amount of matter creates a lot of plasma and a lot of energy to be squirted in a safe direction into space. The tricky engineering surrounded the capturing of enough of that energy to maintain the torus and the ship. But enough boffins in a room with enough coffee soon solved that one. Their poor knowledge of bakery products did not get in the way of a good analogy, even though some ring doughnuts do have an injected filling.

St Kilda JET experiment which failed but discovered the jam-squeezing principle                                                 (photographer did not survive, nor St Kilda)

The speed possible with this new form of propulsion – which retained its acronym, giving us the interstellar JET engine – also allowed the space-time wrinkling effects inherent in Falconer’s ‘Space-time in a Serviette’ theorem. It had been well established that distortions in space-time would, in principle allow the fabric of the universe to fold, like a serviette at the fateful dinner when Falconer and Smith discussed the matter, and, a connection be made between two otherwise widely separated points, or drips of soup in the original – not over the original surface but as if the surface folded the two points against each other to make contact. Falconer established that passing close to a black hole at the speeds possible with a JET engine allowed a spaceship to make a whole series of small skips between small folds.

Falconer and his serviette. Smith behind Aspidistra to right. RUBE GOLDBERG

 The big jump across the universe was not yet possible but small folds, like the pleats in a serviette could be skipped over like crossing the leaves in a book. Astronomers using the first JET excursions to map the remarkably even distribution of lesser black holes within the galaxy had already discovered a system of nodes which were now useable as the dots in a giant join-the -dots puzzle which was the galaxy just waiting to be explored.

The beauty of the galaxy. Waiting to be explored. Part of Black Hole Node Map of Milky Way.  FULL VIEW HERE

 The small scale of the relativistic effects and limited distances achieved by using small to medium -sized black holes allows personnel to avoid embarking on assignments which will see their relatives dead before they return. Likewise, DF Administration, Life-Form Resources and Management, can ensure all their staff will return to have their performance assessed before their supervisors are pushing up daisies. The universe of DF thus became possible. The galaxy was open for business. The vast reaches of intergalactic space have yet to be conquered but the Milky Way is in the process of being explored by humankind. The new style of long distance special relativistic travel became known as ‘leafing’ as with the pages of a book after Falconer’s initial analogy with the pleats of a serviette never lent itself to deft demonstration at public lectures. Over dinner with a friend, ok. In an auditorium the whizzing of the pages of a book was much more easy to appreciate. The width of each double page passed representing the planing across vast reaches of space whilst only expending time enough to traverse the thickness of the paper.

 Like a hydroplane lifting off the surface of the water to skip over the wave crests, a JET propelled spaceship planes over each small fold in space-time to enormously increase the distance travelled in a given time. The galaxy can be crossed in 10 years. Crossing a spiral arm and returning is possible in a year. The challenge of colonising the universe has now the scale once faced by Europeans charting the globe of Earth. But these days the ships are all owned and run by Deep Freight.

Wynne and Bago with the first portable torus propulsion unit.

The evergreen favourite song played on the bridge of ships starting to plane their way across the galaxy on another galactic excursion is still John Denver the 75ths old hit I’m Leafing on a JET plane, I know exactly when I’ll be back again.’

also 'Black Hole Node, Take me Home', 'Harpies Song' and many more..

The first spaceship to prove the principle - the first JET-planer was the REVELATION. A Joint Earth project. Its ownership has always since been in dispute. The first private JET equipped planer was put into commission by M'Tangu Corp which later became Deep Freight.

Joint Earth Space Ship REVELATION

New Chink Dino-monsters

Reinforcements from China in the postbox today.

What should they be?  More or more dangerous Harpies ? A new type - Skellings - as they are or modified ? Lots of possibilities. Each one costs about 33Eurocent /pence/cents/3DKr.

DECONTAMINATION OPERATIONAL REPORT - DFMS DALLAS MERCURY : LIVE !!!!

This is the Operational report for Decontamination of Deep freight Mail Shuttle 'Dallas Mercury'.

Updated live as mission progresses....

SUNDAY EVENING
TURN 1
Team TROTSKY, TEQUILA - HAR, CHANG - FLECHETTE CANNON, KONGO - HEMG, YOU - BLASTER, BIOSENSOR, FIRE-BOMB, HIGGINS-FLAMER

Enter forward cargo bay from starboard side.
Lots of Harpies in a full cargo bay which includes both explosive and flammable loads. In addition we must not damage any cargo because the reputation of the DF Physical Communications Division is at stake.

DFMS Dallas Mercury : 2 drive units, 2 cargo bay, s plus Harpies

 Due to proximity of hazardous cargo the team leads over the boarding bridge with the Gunners, Tequila and Trotsky. They com eeyeball-to-eyeball with a Harpy and shots from both only knock it away without killing it. They make space for the next two to board.
Chang deftly moves right and takes up position to cover the right flank with the shotgun.
Higgins backs him up with the flamer but doesn't get so far because of the heavy gear. Both have a shot in hand, which is just as well.

Welcoming committee is rather grisly,, Gunners do your best !

The Harpies react violently at first. One rushes Chang but falls short and gets blasted to ribbons in the hail of flechettes from the shotgun. The next Harpy tries something spectacular and tries to leap a pile of post packets to attack Tequila from above. Luckily Higgins can turn in time to flame the acrobatic alien and sends him up in smoke along with a lot of. no doubt, important stuff such as sentimental gifts, packages of Earth soil on its way to a colony, vouchers for cheaper thermal underwear, that kind of thing. So right from  the start any thought of bonuses has to be adjusted.

Tequila gets warmed but the Harpy gets roasted..Good show Higgins!.

More worryingly, the fire Higgins created is warming the adjacent gasflasks. The clock starts to tick as they warm up. The ship's extinguisher system wil not register the fire as dangerous foranother turn or two.

The other Harpies ar in a dangerous pack but they decide to lie low out of sight this turn - maybe the smell of their Hive-mate roasting put them off! Still 5 Harpies to deal with ....

Harpies scatter Trotsky and Chang are still under threat . though !

MONDAY
TURN 2

HIGGINS burns-off CHANG's assailant. It was not wise to trust in CHANG's ability to reload in time.TEQUILA moves to back-up CHANG covering the main Harpy attack route. TROTSKY attempts to blast his target at point blank but a lousy shot just sends the Harpy reeling away.
YOU and KONGO enter the ship but do not quite get into position...laggards!

The Harpies are not triggered by human activity yet. They stay hidden and waiting.

TURN 3

TROTSKY raised his HAR with deliberation and this time made no mistake in blasting the Harpy before him to bits. He then paused rather than risking getting jumped by the other waiting round the corner and rummaged in the locker near him, being rewarded with a pack of grenades.
 HIGGINS could not be bothered to wade through fire or clamber over crates so he was content to wait, weapon poised.
Penned into his corner CHANG also waited.
YOU moved to be able to scramble over crates ones they stopped burning.
TEQUILA waited, beads of sweat accumulating in his beard.
KONGO moved the heavy artillery out to where he can now shoot all the way down the left flank.

MEANWHILE, ON THE HARPY SIDE, NOTHING HAPPENED .



TURN 4

The burning crates futtered out into a few coals allowing the Verms on the right to clearly see the Harpy hiding behind the gas flasks.

HIGGINS did not spend too much time calculating, lobbed fire over the package crates which descended accurately onto the crocuching alien and gave it no chance. HIGGINS then led off down the right flank. Followed by CHANG after he shoved another canister up his barrel.
KONGO advanced cautiously down his flank.Along with Trotsky and backed by YOU.
TEQUILA moved up alongside HIGGINS.

 Now it is apparent that the veteran team of Verminators have made an elementary mistake. They have advanced too far to allow the use of grenades without blowing themselves up.......
Rather than shuffle about they diecide to hold their ground and see what the monsters do.

The Harpies smell flesh and burst out of cover to attack the nearest humans.

The one that rushes HIGGINS cannot be shot at by CHANG with the wide dispersal of his shotgun so more flame has to be used to down him. However, all goes to pot when HIGGINS uses only a double burst to try and conserve fuel. It is not enough - the Harpy makes it through to grapple with the flamer operative.



On the other flank KONGO lets the other emerging Harpy have it with relish. But it is a bum shot and he fails to kill the Harpy. It is flung wounded against the bulkhead.

HIGGINS fights heroically but is slashed severely in the first seconds.


TURN 5

Tragedy strikes! The consequences of the team's miscalculation become serious. HIGGINS is ripped to bits and goes down dead as a doornail.

HIGGINS being deceased, CHANG fires off a canister at his murderer and a thousand flechettes perforate the alien's exoskeleton. It sinks to the deck, twitching.

KONGO gives it rice and spreads Harpy pate over the bulkhead. It is now all quiet on the western flank.

The forward cargo bay is secure. 5 Carnifex are chalked-up. But a Verminator is dead and we have singed some imporant cargo. Luckily, the fire near the gas flasks goes out before they got too warm.

PLAY DELAYED ... BEST LET SLEEPING Felis annoyingus LIE

The problem is my Billiard Table light. The damn cat can feel it is nice and warm under it.
Maybe I should switch over to LED ?

TUESDAY EVENING
ON THE ROAD AGAIN..

HIGGINS bodybag is taken back to the Verminator's ship. The team reorganises with Tequila shouldering the flamer. Needing to locate the Hive entrance quickly, the team prepares to visit the Bridge. Positions are taken and the door opened.

Good plan, lousy execution

Six Harpies are shown on the Biosensor.. All hiding. This will be tough...

TROSTSKY led through the door and faced left, CHANG followed and faced right.
The heavy weapons did not make it through the door and suddenly everyone had a bad feeling about all this.

The biggest Harpy pack suddenly became aggressive and diced maximum...ooeerrr.
A grinning Harpy lunged round the corner at CHANG and he let go a cannister in its face.
As the smoke cleared and the remains of the alien dripped down the walls CHANG saw to his horror another one leering at him and before he could think of anything it leapt on him.
Standing behind, YOU let loose with his hand blaster. The conjunction of bad luck and bad planning was now enough for religious Verms to suspect they had been sinning too much on their last leave.
YOU made the worst shot possible. It glanced off the Harpy's glossy skull without effect. The Harpy's claws reached for CHANG's throat as even more of them formed a queue to join in.

On the other flank Trotsky now faced his test. A Harpy broke cover and rushed for him. He levelled his Heavy Assault Rifle and let it get a full burst in the throat. The dice throw was so good that the Harpy's head left the building.

CHANG swung the heavy tube of his cannon against his gibbering assailant and smashed some of its teeth. It was enough to give the monster pause for thought. CHANG held on.

Queueing to have a go at CHANG

Next Turn

Again, the team had to work out how to drag their chesnuts out of the fire. CHANG had to be saved.
The heavy weapons had to be brought to bear. But how?

Either YOU or TROTSKY should try to shoot the Harpy off CHANG, but fate would have it that both had poor dexterity. Something had to be done. Getting a good angle, YOU let fly fiirst.
The blast temporarily hid CHANG. 'Took your time, you bastard!',yelled CHANG as Harpy blood squirted behind his visor and he began to faint. The allien's remains slumped to the floor, still reaching out to CHANG with its long pointed talons.

TROTSKY dashed for the corner in order to forestall the team being penned for longer in the confined corridor. Hardly pausing, he fired-off a grenade at the shape of a Harpy which came into sight in the far corner of the Bridge. It was bang-on and the bang wounded the Harpy badly.

KONGO had not managed to manoeuvre the unwieldy HEMG through the doolock when TEQUILA shoved his way past and stood over CHANG's prone body. He let rip with a full burst of flame to engulf the nearest alien ready to leap onto CHANG or himself.

Revenge for CHANG

As the creature shrivelled a barrier of heat and flame rose between the team and any more enemies coming from that direction. They all allowed themselves to relax a notch as the flank was now secure..for a while...

KONGO lumbered into position to back TROTSKY up.

FRIDAY
NEXT TURN
CHANG crawls to safety while  KONGO blasts the harpy in his sights to bits. TROTSKY nips round the corner to sight along the next gap. The last Harpy tried to dash to cover but TROTSKY took his chance and splatted it against the wall. It was not dead but just needed finsihing off.

The Bridge-Control Room was now in the Verminator's hands.

The locker contained some HEMG ammo gladly taken by KONGO.

YOU glances over the sensors and camera footage available from the ship's console.

The hair began to curl on the back of his neck as he realised where the Hive was. The temperature and humity data clearly showed maximums right next door, in the Mess !

SATURDAY

VERMS
The team lines up to take on the Hive. Flamer and Shotgun to the fore, backed-up by the HEMG.
YOU opens the door... and 8 Harpies ranged around the Mess module.

CHANG lets fly with the Flechette Cannon but it is an abyssmal shot. The 4 nearest Harpies are wounded, no kills. That was his last shell...

To try and take an attritional approach, TEQUILA flames the door entrance to block any rushes from Harpies. Grenades may be the way to reduce the aliens before entering.

HARPIES
The Harpies milled around unable to attack through the flames, only 1 recovered from his wound.

NEXT TURN

VERMS
TEQUILA sets up the flame barrier again. CHANG ducks out of the way with his large useless tube. KONGO steps into place and nails the nearest Harpy. He lets fly at the next but just drives it into cover.

HARPIES
The flame barrier works two ways - now most of the Harpies have taken cover to wait in ambush.

NEXT TURN

VERMS
Having herded the Harpies back in the module, the time is now for a rush to bomb the Hive.
Getting in a bit of a tangle, KONGO takes position in the Mess to cover. on the right. TEQUILA steps in to cover the left. YOU rushes over to the Hive entrance with the firebomb., but takes both actions to get there. The Verminators take a deep breath, waiting to see how the Harpies react.

HARPIES
TEQUILA is jumped but grills his attacker to a coal.
The rest of Harpies miraculously  stay put.

NEXT TURN

VERMS
YOU dumps the fire-bomb into the disgusting Hive Entrance.
Th eonly dircet shot possible is a long grenade lob by TROTSKY. It is worth a try. He shoots. He hits without scatter even though he had to miss YOU's head and lob it over the furniture. The results are not brilliant, though.  One Harpy wounded, one dead out of a possible four affected. But they will be stirred-up by that !!
Seeing as the bomb is in, YOU ducks out the door and mans the doorlock controls.
KONGO and TEQUILA follow. Both wait ready in the doorway, but on the safe side...

HARPIES
The monsters react and rush the door. None quite get there.

NEXT TURN

KONGO takes out the closest Harpy. YOU whacks the pad to shut the doorlock.And then would like to leg it but is blocked by the heavy weapons. so he sets off the bomb instead. - and fumbles it.. well there is always next turn !!! TEQUILA starts off for the exit.he reaches the door to the Forward Cargo Bay and opens it. CHANG limps homeward. TROTSKY legs it. KONGO turns  and lugs his HEMG towards safety.

NEXT TURN

CSV RONALDO - DECONTAMINATION REPORT - CONCLUSION

HARPY ACTIVATION

The Verms get some respite. No wounded Harpy manages to recover and the nearest healthy specimens roll badly. The hordes from the rest of the ship continue to close in.

No one mentions the possibility of rummaging through the locker near the Hive Entrance….

TURN X+5

HIGGINS – moves to cover the hole in engineering bulkhead

KONGO – waits in place to cover in any direction

PETTYBONE – backs up holding his weapon ready

YOU – leads SNITMEISTER’s walking corpse away to safety then tries to operate the RC for the firebomb. Anxiety, fatigue and the clinging wounded comrade mean he fumbles it…….aarrgh!

TEQUILA decides to lob a grenade where it will block the advance of fresh Harpies, then backs away with the others.

HARPIES

Wounded harpies recover and approach from behind the gas flasks.

More Harpies approach from the forward port cargo bay. One rushes towards PETTYBONE who lets fly and explodes it. The useless cases of precious cartridges litter the floor at his feet. KONGO keeps his cool as a Harpy gets closer.

TURN X+6

KONGO – saves fuel, he sprays a barrier in front of him and falls back.

PETTYBONE – backs into the starboard cargo bay and holds ready to shoot.

TEQUILA – throws well enough to get out of the port cargo bay and jab the door control.

The best sound in the world is a door-lock sliding into place between you and a horde of harpies!

DOORLOCK FINALLY CLOSED. PEACE, FOR A MICROSECOND...

HIGGINS – squirts off his final HAR burst into a Harpy wriggling out of the access plate from starboard engineering. The monster is blasted against the hole but not even wounded. Gulp…

He uses his second action to make for the doorlock to the starboard forard cargo bay- and safety.

YOU – Still supporting the hysterically babbling SNITMEISTER, tries to set off the firebomb again. Maybe it has those annnoying squishy rubber buttons like on the Spectrum ZX but nothing happens! He presses again, hard as he can. You could not make this up….the silence is still deafening. Maybe the signal is weakened through the doorlock? PETTYBONE helpfully suggests that TEQUILA should opened the door for a second so this theory can be tested. TEQUILA’s useless drone RC pad flies through the air and hits the centre of PETTYBONE’s visor. The subject is dropped.

HARPIES

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a horde of vengeful Harpies is difficult to shake off when they are after something tasty. Maybe that is a despicable way to speak of the Bennet family but it does apply here with respect to alien space monsters. 

Which is more scary ? Difficult call...

HIGGINS watches in terror as his opponent starts to recover from its blasting. But it remains in place gasping for breath and blocking the hole to any more entrants.

The hordes move up to besiege the starboard aft cargo bay and its meaty contents.

TURN X+7 THE ONE WHERE EVERYBODY RUNS FOR IT!

Ammo is now in such short supply that if they were at home on the sofa the team would be buying shares in Deep Freight’s Explosive Materials Division on their teletext monitors.

PETTYBONE tries to the doorlock controls for the forard starboard cargo bay and the boarding bridge! But his fatigue and wounds tell so much he fails to move off the spot!

TEQUILA is the only one with a reasonable ammo load and turns to pop a grenade at the team’s local Harpy. His expertise tells and the grenade smashes the creature in what passes for a mouth in their universe before smearing its component parts over the bulkhead walls with a dull explosion.

KONGO – has basically had enough of this trip. He dashes over to the doorlock control past the staggering PETTYBONE and jabs his palm on the plate. It glides upward to reveal the welcome sight of the boarding bridge airlock.

HIGGINS – without so much as a by your leave, legs it.

YOU – decides the combat gloves or the combat stress or a lax operative at Deep Freight’s Pyrotechnical Cybertronics Division must be at fault. He decides to jab the button on the RC onto the only accessible pointy bit of human skin – SNITMEISTER’s nose ! A tremor ripples through the dechk plates beneath their feet and the distant sound of screaming Harpies confirms that the bomb has gone off at last !!!!!!

"WHEN THE BOMB GOES BABY YOU WILL BE THE LAST TO KNOW!' c. Del Amitri

THE END OF THE MISSION IS NIGH!

HARPIES

The mob continues to assemble. The firebomb  takes a couple but more are coming!

Two decide to find alternate ways into the starboard cargo bay but fail to find a way.

TURN X+8

This turn can best be described as an unseemly scramble to escape alive.

TEQUILA drops all pretence of covering the team and uses both actions to try and catch up with HIGGINS.

PETTYBONE cannot find any reserves of strength and even using all his might cannot move off the spot. Maybe he should ditch his weapon next turn ? But the cost of a new one... and this one has been so faithful, never a jam and many notches on the blast shield showing his high kill rate.

KONGO is hot on HIGGINS heels too.

HIGGINS leaps into the boarding bridge airlock before he regains composure and turns to nurse his empty HAR menacingly to make a show of covering the slower members of the team’s flight retreat.

YOU leads SNITMEISTER to safety. This will cost him a lot of Xylarian Weedsmokes !

CONGESTION IN THE AIRLOCK: HIGGINS WAVES HIS EMPTY HAR

With no dead but 2 wounded and the Hive burnt but Harpies still loose on the ship this was not the best possible outcome. But in a few months the remaining Harpies will be dead and the ship salvageable. Moderate bounty money would be due.

And here we end our adventure. PETTYBONE managed to hobble off the RONALDO still clutching his favourite HEMG. He got the Last man Out bonus to help with his medical bills. SNITMEISTER lived but declined to renew his contract with DF Pest Control. YOU was mentioned in DF Galactic Despatches, promoted and got a fat bonus.

HIGGINS, TEQUILA and KONGO all spent a good month in the fleshpots of Eridanus 56 where they blew their bounty money on 7 -breasted houris and betting on Mutonian Worm racing.

All were still relaxing 6 weeks later when the red and yellow phone chips embedded in their earlobes began to vibrate and a pleasant female voice intoned, “ As a valued member of Deep Freight Pest Control we wish to inform you that the department has received a new Contamination Report...”

JUST A WORD IN YOUR SHELL-LIKE MY SON!

LESSONS LEARNT

The AI for the Harpies works well enough. The game aims to be a cross between D&D and Squad Leader (don’t panic..I do NOT mean a COMBINATION of the two..). It seems to play well for solitaire as intended. Some props and markers need adding and more Harpies should be completed.

The Skinflint-inspired walker drones look good and allowed me to avoid using my own wheeled versions which look a bit like armed baby’s prams in comparison. Status charts and the game turn sequence seem to function well. I was chuffed with the whole mission !

The final cat. Cute enough for you guys ?

CLEARANCE OF COLONY SUPPLY VESSEL CSV RONALDO

CONTAMINATION REPORT #34-23/K
CSV RONALDO drifting near Aldebaran System 34(Sector 9993-45Y)
Two crew escaped citing reptilian(?) attackers who dragged-off other crew members.
PEST I.D. Xenocarnifex sp.
CONTAMINATION LEVEL : MODERATE

ASSIGNED TEAM : ALPHA ROMEO SIERRA ECHO  7

SHIP LAYOUT FOR CSV RONALDO : ALL THIS COST LESS THAN 30 £/$/e

The pursuit ship reached Sector 9993-45Y two weeks later. The Team leader decided to set the boarding bridge onto the foreward starboard cargo bay.

DISINFECTION REPORT EXCERPT

TEAM : LEADER - YOU, FLAMER - KONGO, HEMG - PETTYBONE, HAR - SNITMEISTER, TEQUILA, HIGGINS
 (Original team was 9 but 1 went sick and  1 was eaten while vacationing on Tharg 95.
This left 7 of 9 , who would have been fantastic, but additional member was apprehended for irregular levels of blood in his narcotic stream and team fell to 6. All good eggs, though.)

THE BOYS STOOD ON THE SOON-TO-BE-BURNING DECK

Having entered CSV RONALDO first encounter was group 5 individuals identified as  Xenocarnifex sauroviatorensis. The human-composting lizard-rats of the van Demon system.
Engagement was  problematic and before team achieved Bridge control room both PETTYBONE and SNITMEISTER had received injury. Control room allowed location of Hive Entrance in Port Cargo Bay. Luckily TEQUILA found RC unit for a walker drone standing as cargo in Foreward Starboard cargo bay.

THE HORRIBLE FIGHT IN STARBOARD FORWARD CARGO BAY: SNITMEISTER NARROWLY SAVED

MASTER OF ALL YOU SURVEYS - CHECKING MAIN CONSOLE FOR HIVE LOCATION

Retracing their steps, the team deployed to enter Starboard cargo bay.

Biosensor reading for the area was relatively high, The walker drone - HEMG equipped - was deployed to the fore. Heavy weapons covered each flank. Team leader opened door.

HARPIES READY TO ATTACK

BUT A FLAME WALL AND AN HEMG DRONE SPOIL THINGS

DRONE MOPS UP AS AREA IS CLEARED

TEAM READY FOR ENTERING HIVE AREA - DRONE HAS DIED

Five Harpies revealed. KONGO flamed a barrier against attack while TEQUILA piloted the drone to hammer the nearest targets. Two rapidly eliminated. The drone was piloted further in and although it expended a lot of ammunition the last three Harpies were minced.

Team entered Starboard Cargo Bay and deployed to enter Port Cargo Bay where Hive Entrance was located. Deployed for door opening with heavy weapons forward but team holds away from door a little on the grounds that the Biosensor Ping for Hive area was high. The drone unfortunately ran out of power by now and stood silent.

Door opening revealed no less than 10 specimens ready for a fight.

OH THE HORROR, THE HORROR - TEN SPECIMENS

ANOTHER SPECIES ATTACKS BUT IS REPULSED WITHOUT LOSS

KONGO squirted a flame barrier to protect the right while Higgins lobbed grenades into the Harpies on that side. SNITMEISTER lobbed grenades down the centre with his unerring aim and caused damage. On the left a ferocious Harpy rolled well and dashed down to try and rip KONGO up.
This occurred just as everyone of the team had expended their actions hosing down the most dangerous groups of Harpies.

HARPY ABOUT TO DRAG KONGO DOWN TO HELL

However ! YOU had an action left and snapped a shot off with his hand blaster which proved enough to blow the attacker sideways into the bulkhead. He could not recover to complete his attack and stood jabbering in frustration nose-to-nose with HIGGINS.

YOU MAKES HIS LEGENDARY SHOT TO SAVE KONGO

KONGO cremated his would-be assassin and the team used the chance to advance into the Port cargo Bay. Perhaps a little too optimistically.

KONGO ERADICATES HIS RECENT UNPLEASANTNESS

Acting in packs the Harpies threw well and made rapid rushes to grapple with SNITMEISTER, KONGO and PETTYBONE. The team stood now to lose all their heavy weapons, not to mention much valued comrades and drinking companions. No, we won't mention that, they're a load of bastards, actually. We do'nt meet outside work and never share our drugs. It's all about the heavy weapons.

THE NARRATIVE SWITCHES NOW TO..
DECONTAMINATION REPORT CSV ROLANDO - DR 2

Turn X

Three Harpies remain of the original 10. Two stay hiding. The nearest throws a scary 6 and rushes KONGO – if the Flamer is out of action the Verms will have a tough fight ahead. Miraculously YOU has kept an action in hand and as the enraged Harpy crosses the door threshold in anticipation of ripping KONGO to pieces the feeble hand blaster shoots. This is enough to knock the Harpy sideways against the bulkhead and it has no remaining move points to continue the attack.

But the Harpies are now detecting the pheromonal alarm signals the Queen is sending out from her beleagured Hive. All pings are now revealed and diced for. It is a horrible sight to see just how many Harpies are scatted over the whole ship. They begin to batter the doors to get back to the Hive and to seek ways around them. In the first attempt a reinforcement is provided when 4 Harpies break through the adjacent cargo door.

X+1

VERM ACTIVATION

The Harpy knocked into the bulkhead by YOUR deft use of the hand blaster is flame-grilled by KONGO. SNITMEISTER makes a cool grenade shot to take out the Harpy hiding behind the gas flasks without causing a conflagration by setting them off too!

The Verms begin to advance towards the Hive Entrance but with lousy movement dice throws, maybe they are SCARED ?

TEQUILA moves out enough to then shoot a grenade into the mass of Harpies seething into the cargo bay. One Harpy takes all the blast and is shattered in a blast of green blood.

HIGGINS is blessed with a good grenade bonus so instead of moving he uses his direct line of sight to lob another two grenades into the Harpy mob. One is spectacularly on target and engulfs no less than 5 Harpies in its blast. But when the smoke clears only 1 was taken out! The second bounces away by a fluke and does not further damage. Now Higgins has only a single grenade left and a single burst of HAR fire. Eeeek!

GETTING LOW ON FUEL ..KONGO CHANGES HIS TANK

 Things are getting warm. The guys have not got near the Hive entrance yet.. MOVE IT!

 

HARPY ACTIVATION

Various large groups of Harpies begin to find ways around doors. Especially worrying is the one who bursts out of a wiring conduit behind the team!

Now the really scary stuff starts. The Harpies get good movement rolls and they rush the team. SNITMEISTER is the first grappled, then KONGO gets unwelcome attention followed by PETTYBONE. Both the heavy weapons are under threat and both PETTYBONE and SNITMEISTER are hampered by wounds already received. UUUUrrrghghg.

MAD RUSH OF HARPIES - MOST GET DOWNED IN THE NICK OF TIME

Luckily PETTYBONE has kept an action available and he squirts his assailant with a burst from the HEMG which does’nt kill it but flings it against the bulkhead and wounds it.

TEQUILA also has a shot in hand and he snaps off a burst to try and save the Flamer from the repulsive clutches of the Harpy assaulting KONGO. The monster is flung off-course but is unwounded and still presents a threat.

But nobody is looking out for SNITMEISTER and he flails with his HAR trying to get the ravenous attacker off him. In his weakened state it is no good – he is slashed and bludgeoned down but manages to avoid being dragged away...yet.

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE - SNITMEISTER GOING DOOWWWNN

 TURN X+2

The cargo bay door towards the boarding bridge automatically slams shut…

SNITMEISTER continues his unequal struggle but his single dice is not enough to prevent the inevitable and he collapses, covered in blood, to be snatched by the Harpy.

(x)KNOCK-DOWN DRAG-OUT FIGHT IS LOST AT LAST - SNITMEISTER IN PERIL

HIGGINS must now act as backstop and turns to lob a grenade at the Harpies coming in from the starboard engineering section scoring a deadly hit with his usual dexterity . But…only 1 grenade left!

LIKE SHOOTING DUCKS IN A DUCK SHOOTING SITUATION - HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES

KONGO is next to act but is in a quandary. He cannot use a Flamer to help SNITMEISTER without frying his friend along with the Harpy. He decides to block the enemy and conserve fuel so he sidesteps before flaming the deck in front of a Harpy otherwise obstructed from his line of fire.
 (see pic. x above)Fuel is anyway draining from his tank.

Time for heroics from YOU. The Hive must be bombed and we must get out of here. On the grounds that ‘someone’ will provide covering fire, YOU rushes bravely across to stand over the HIVE ENTRANCE from where YOU can deliver the Firebomb home next turn, if YOU survive that long.

YOU MAKES HIS EXEMPLARY DASH FOR GLORY OR AN EARLY BATH

 And PETTYBONE suddenly stands in a quandary – help SNITMEISTER or help YOU deliver the bomb so we can all get out of here!? The decision is made to step forward and blast the Harpy threatening YOU. PETTYBONE’s wounded body says otherwise, though, and it takes both actions for him to merely move into position. YOU is still in serious danger.
(Note to self..make a better handblaster...this one looks like a hair-dryer)

So, TEQUILA becomes the great Hispanic Hope. Can he move to a position where he can shoot the Harpy threatening YOU ? He throws the MINIMUM necessary. Sweat rools down YOU’s forehead as TEQUILA fires from the hip….BRRRR.. it is not a great shot but enough to send the Harpy reeling away from YOU. TEQUILA is down to 1 burst left in his magazine.

And that was the boys’ attempts...note now there is no one to keep the door between Port and Starboard cargo bays closing and dividing the team next go !

HARPY ACTIVATION

The closest, wounded Harpy tries to attack YOU. But is still bleeding profusely and unable to move. The Harpy TEQUILA blasted tries to recover and rush YOU but rolls badly and only manages to stumble forward. Hooray ! SNITMEISTER’s nemesis continues to try and drag him down into the Hive….Luckily, it cannot quite get there. There is still hope for SNITMEISTER.

From throughout the ship comes the sound of scrabbling and screaming and scraping of metal as the other Harpies seek to get back to help the Queen. Luckily the grenade explosion stops another coming in behind the team until next turn.

Then, with a smooth but decisive whirr, the door between port and starboard cargo bays slides shut. The team is now split and far away from the boarding bridge. HIGGINS decides he will never again answer the phone when on authorised leave.

We must recite the Verminators’ age old motto… KEEP BUGGERING ON!

TURN X+3

‘Now cometh the hour now cometh the man’… hopefully…

We have to firebomb the Hive and save SNITMEISTER and hold off the hordes and get out of this hell-hole ship. HIGGINS and TEQUILA are almost out of ammo.

VERM ACTIVATION

HIGGINS waits, with his gun trained on the hole in the bulkhead, quietly singing’oh sole mio’.

PETTYBONE cannot splurge the Harpy near the Hive for fear of splashing YOU and SNITMEISTER with caustic Harpy juice. He opts to take out some of the oncoming enemies, sending a burst into one and waiting to use his next shot as necessary. His target is not killed , but wounded.

KONGO elects to keep a Harpy blocked in the corner. Saving a shot for eventualities.

TEQUILA decides to reload grenades now so he has something in reserve when the rush comes. He does this without fumbling and so decides to reload his HAR mag also without problems. He is ready again to ROCK AND ROLL!

YOU has the difficult choice of seeing SNITMEISTER’s unconscious form dragged down the Hive entrance or getting long leave with bonuses. He takes the humane option. Lobbing the Firebomb successfully down the hole he lets the Harpy dragging his comrade have it in the neck. BLAM! A crappy shot but enough to make the Harpy drop his prize and cringe away.

MORE HARPIES ARRIVING - SNITMEISTER NEEDS SAVING

SNITMEISTER FREED FROM CLUTCHES OF DOOM

The Verms have managed to keep their hopes of success alive. Let’s see what the Harpies do now!

HARPY ACTIVATION

A Harpy comes through the wall from Starboard Engineering only to be shredded by HIGGINS last grenade. He stops singing ‘O Sole mio’ and starts whistling ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’.

SNITMEISTER’s tormenter tries to grab him again but KONGO enjoys sending a tongue of flame across the deck to make sure it never succeeds.

But now the other wounded Harpy recovers and leaps onto SNITMEISTER - not his day. PETTYBONE cannot see to react before it has grabbed the body. Maybe we should take some chances if we are to get out of here...so he fires anyway. The shot is so poor even the Harpy is embarassed but it is blasted away from the prone human.

A glimmer of hope remains!

TURN X+4

Picture now, if you will, YOU’s dilemma. In one hand he has the remote control for a firebomb which will destroy the Harpy Hive. He has just posted this bomb through the hole in the deck at his feet. To his left lies his bleeding comrade, To the right are approaching a pack of Harpies out for revenge. What to do first ?

TEQUILA acts first. Having reloaded he is able to pump a grenades into the Harpy pack.

A few 'Santa Maria!'s helps them to scatter the right way and one creature explodes. Caustic blood flies all around but YOU escapes injury. TEQUILA saves a shot for later.

Out on his lonesome, HIGGINS has no choice but to scuttle over to the door panel and open it. The team is reunited.

KONGO is sick of being held in check by the Harpies near the gas bottles and he flames them liberally but his aim is off and he only drives them back.

Rather than waste another burst he moves to support YOU.

Being in a safe spot beside the door, PETTYBONE uses a burst on a visible Harpy and waits with his second to support YOU. He inflicts a wound. TEQUILA goes partially deaf as the rounds fly over his head.

Finally, YOU must act. The Harpy threat is removed so YOU moves to grab SNITMEISTER and starts to drag him towards the door and safety. SNITMEISTER bleeds all over him in gratitude.

COVERED BY ADMIRING VERMS, YOU DANCES TO SAFETY WITH SNITMEISTER

Assuming we can set the Firebomb off successfully next turn it is time to look to Getting the Hell Out of Here!

HARPY ACTIVATION

The little buggers have not given up yet! There are 32 on this ship! All moving towards the team!

You get the picture..... to be concluded...