40K in Legions of Steel Imperial Briefing

To: Captain Troch, Commander Training Cadre elements, Talons of the Emperor (Imperial Talons) Chapter, Adeptus Astartes, Herculis VI Imperial Outpost. Imperial Fleet Lord Krietes, Imperial Warship Lash of Vengeance, 3rd orbit, Herculis System Mission Briefing

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I am happy to report that this Imperial Squadron, lead by the Lash of Vengeance, has intercepted a scouting vessel that had been operating on the fringes of this system for the last few weeks. We have enfolded the ship in a tractor field, but require your Marines to board the vessel, so that we may identify the origin of the ship, and determine its true mission. We believe the ship may belong to a rebel faction among the Squat homeworlds, since the ships drives show a very odd lack of warp distortion when in operation. Also, the ships weaponry was surprisingly accurate beyond our normal engagement ranges. Three squads of Marines, preferably in Tactical Dreadnought armor, should be sufficient. We have identified five principal boarding points for your marines: 1&2-the port and starboard lascannon bays, which were burned off in the initial battle. 3&4-the port and starboard ?small craft bays?, which appear to be presently unoccupied. (We have destroyed the exterior blast doors) 5-what appears to be a small personnel airlock which we have blown open near the front of the ship. Your mission is to identify and neutralize the crew of the ship. We have located five critical areas on the ship which must be cleared of crew, which should disable the ship and allow us to tow it to the nearest Imperial Shipyard (Larin III). They are: 2 large drive compartments, the central engine room, and two small forward compartments which contain power relays and sophisticated equipment (bridge and aux. bridge?). All of these areas appear to be protected by heavy self-sealing blast doors. Scans of the ships interior have identified a heavy reliance on robots for shipboard operations. Although some may be armed, the limited initiative and intelligence of robots should cause them to be easily dealt with. Destroy all robots and secure the sentient (squat?) crew for interrogation, trial and execution. In the Emperors name, Lex Arinias, Fleet Lord Krietes

Tactical Briefing: The ranged weapons of your marines are not very accurate. Closing to a range of one and using your bolt pistol is a very useful technique. (In the Legions of Steel rules, you can RUN into hth combat, and use your hth weapon-bolt pistol, sword-with no movement penalties.) Do not fire your missile launchers at any targets 7 squares away or closer, unless you are certain you will hit your target (youll blow yourself up). Flamers are area denial weapons, but not great killers. Frag Grenades are GREAT for throwing around corners at the enemy. This is called a displaced throw, and is one of the best ways to attack a well-defended position. Your knives are useless in this game. Smoke grenades are good for throwing on a friendly figure after he has fired and missed. It may be the thing that will keep him alive. You have the advantage of concentrated group of troops. You need to decide where you are going and not dawdle. The machines will strengthen their defensive positions as time goes by. This is a case where trying to linkup with other marine groups will hurt more than help (at least initiallywhen your squad is down to 2 figures, edging your way toward a friend is not a terribly bad idea.)

40K in Legions of Steel Machine Briefing

-ISD342F log exerpts. -engaging empire of man warships -eom squadron outmasses ISD342F by factor of 27.567. -destroyed three eom vessels with aft beam arrays.

-mass ratio now 18.981. -aft beam arrays disabled. -FTL drives disabled. -analysis of eom drive destabilizer priority to 93.5% CPU. -damage to exterior access points. -threat level V5. -ltd activation----deploy G1 contingent. -place MkI AF on stdby. -drop eom drive destabilizer analysis priority to 34% CPU. -solution to eom drive destabilizer determined. -reprogram 6 K3f Geist Astros in drive compartments. -estimate 93.67 <minutes> to enact drive countermeasures. -drive countermeasures estimate-82% effective. -12.622 <minutes> to complete drive countermeasures. -carbon-based <eom> life forms (eom marines) entering vessel. -threat level A2. -activate 20 G1 Internal Security Units-engagement subroutine A2. -A2=destroy enemy, bolster crew defense -activate 14 K3f Geist Astro Crew Units-engagement subroutine D4. -D4=remain in duty areas. reposition to defend duty areas. engage enemy when visible. -activate 1 MkI AF-engagement subroutine A1. -A1=attack enemy. concentrate effort on enemy with highest threat assessment. Tactical Briefing: Except for the Archfiend, your strength is in your ranged weapons. Avoid close ranged fights when possible. Use nachtmacher grenades to conceal your exposed Nightmares after they have fired, and especially to delay the destruction of your crew. Although the Archfiend is heavily armoured, quick, and takes two hits to kill, do not commit suicide by charging through heavy fire. The crew machines have bad ranged weapons and good hth weapons, but they have very light armour. Dont charge into hth combat with them if it means coming under fire. Backing up at a walk may be a more prudent tactic.