Lothar Von Bismarck's page

I've been kind of avoiding this for a while, I knew about a week or so back I really should get around to it but kept finding excuses to push it off one more day. For the last half a year or so I've just been floundering and then playing catch up every month or so. I hate abandoning groups but continuing as is isn't fair on people either. I'm going to be dropping out of all of the games I'm playing in (bar the one I've been playing in the longest) and most I am GMing except two which are near the end.

The last year has thrown me out of routine with the games, the pandemic is bad enough but there's some personal stuff that looks like it's coming up that'll be making things more awkward. I've enjoyed GMing and playing but it's just not something I can do right now.

Thank you for all the great times and I'm sorry I can't see it through to the end.

Sorry for the delay, after Christmas I was just dreading the big backlog of posts.

Lothar had to admit the vile things were quick but each blow that his home would prove the superiority of the Imperium of Man. "You should have stuck to the darkness of the void xenos. Step onto a world with a human and you will be purged!"

Parry on December 13ths Post: 1d100 ⇒ 39
Attacks for previous round... which change nothing
First Strike 51: 1d100 ⇒ 90
Damage if not avoided. Rending Pen 2: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 8
Swift Attack 51: 1d100 ⇒ 90
This round
First Strike 61: 1d100 ⇒ 38
Damage if not avoided. Rending Pen 2: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 9
Swift Attack 61: 1d100 ⇒ 88

Only with the Emperor's favour did Lothar manage to deflect the blow. The other blow from the second xenos struck him but thanks to trusty guardsman flak meant he'd only get some fresh bruises.

He swung the sword in a swift arc by the xeno's neck before curving the strike towards it's thigh.

Parry 51: 1d100 ⇒ 59
Fate Point to Reroll: 1d100 ⇒ 40
First Strike 51: 1d100 ⇒ 30
Damage if not avoided. Rending Pen 2: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 8
Swift Attack 51: 1d100 ⇒ 9
Damage if not avoided. Rending Pen 2: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 14

Lothar parried the strike for his head easily but the second struke his right arm. He might have lost the limb but honest guardsmans flak armour slow the blade enough to leave it as a mere deep cut.

The xenos was quick and his first counter attack missed it's mark but a strike to its arm was more of a threat.

Parry 51 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 23
Attack 51 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 90
Swift Attack 51 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 42
Damage if not avoided. Rending Pen 2: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 10

Might be an idea to focus fire on the one in melee with Lothar if it's reasonable. It's standing beside Lothar with his lamp pack and the sooner we whittle their numbers down the safer we are.

"Die quickly xenos, there is a small infestation of your kind I must see to!" Lothar drew his sword and perhaps added a little too much flourish before his swing.

BQ Monosword: 1d100 ⇒ 98

I forgot I had quick draw! He'll fire off a shot before drawing the sword.
Deathlight Lasgun 51: 1d100 ⇒ 4
Energy Damage Penetration 2 if not avoided: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Substituting DOS. 9 energy pen 2.

Lothar turns his lamp pack on allowing the rays to wash over the vile xenos as he finishes his prayer. "By Thy Agony and Bloody sweat; by thy Golden Throne and Thy Death, By thy Destruction and re-emergence as the God of Men, Keep and Strengthen us, We who fight for Thee."

He keeps his rifle in one hand as he draws his sword.

I assume turning on the lamp pack is a half action at least.

"Three of the shadow bound ones!" Lothar calls out as he levels his deathlight lasgun.

"We are your Warriors and we are servants of Thee, We stand free from Blindness of heart, Free from Hypocrisy, Vainglory and deceits, But captive to hatred, Malice and Anger, To the filth, the alien, the heretic." Bolts of light shoot towards one of the shadow creatures but it was already moving, still one shot struck home.

Deathlight Lasgun Semi Auto: 1d100 ⇒ 90
Energy Damage Penetration 2 if not avoided: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Lothar lands the grenade where he wants it. "O Immortal Emperor: have mercy on us, miserable unworthies that we are. O Master of the Galaxy: Protect your flock from the Alien. O Keeper of Light: Guide our Darkened Path with your Radiance" Lothar moves as best he can towards a piece of cover where he could better view the area he saw movement.

Photon Grenade: 1d100 ⇒ 24

Lothar sticks with the path pointed out by Doranis after he gathers himself back up again. The darkness causes him no problems thanks to his photo contacts.

He keeps his voice low. "There's something up ahead, can't be sure on numbers get ready for a fight. Actually you know what lets illuminate the scum."

No one can see the wicked grin on Lothars face but they do see him draw out a somewhat unusual grenade from one of his pouches. "Photon grenade, should blind them for a few seconds, which should be the rest of their lives. Don't get ahead of me though til after I throw it."

Photon flash grenades detonate like a small star, blinding anyone nearby and bright enough to overload cheap or primitive vision protection systems. Anyone within 15 metres of a photo flash grenade when it detonates must succeed on a Toughness Test or be blinded for 1d5 Rounds. -With GQ Photo Contacts Lothar is immune to this. If he moves forward this round he's 17m away. Next round hurl it well into that room.

If we go after the boss first we can fight him without babysitting a prisoner... I assume we'd be taking a traitorous noble for interrogation. But if most want to get him I can live with it.

Lothar almost manages to maintain his footing until a lump of debris hits him in the chest.

Agility 34 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 48

Lothar is confident he is moving in the right direction... but he might not be taking the best route.

Navigation Surfance 42: 1d100 ⇒ 52
Initiative: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Lothar kept his lamp pack off for now mounted off his shoulder... but had brought it in case one of the shadow bound ones was here. "Remember concentrate fire when we spot a target." He moved towards the bridge.

Lothar had his photo contacts in and his rebreather in place. With the deathlight lasgun in hand he strode into the airlock with grim determination and recited the Warrior's Prayer of Battle clearly and with confidence.

"I offer my life to the Emperor, I pray that He accepts it.

I pray for His protection, as I offer all that I am."

Sure, it means the combat we'll be rolling dice for wont have loads of people running around.

"Thin their numbers before they rally then. This Imperial could be a prisoner or a traitor. Best to capture them alive in that case. Near the bridge sounds suitable."

"Throwing them off balance could be of benefit. I'm not familiar with this vessels weapons load out but given the size of the xenos vessel it should not be underestimated."

"Don't let the size fool you, Eldar vessels are sparsely populated compared to an Imperial ship. Unless anyone else has a clearer location to go for the breached section would be best both for speed and it's at one end of the vessel which should mean it will take longer for some of the crew to muster some kind of defence against us."

"They are xenos, cowards by nature they fear the wrath of the righteous. I've never fought this design but their vessels are frail in comparison to our own using foul technology to evade attacks rather than relying on armour to protect them. The damage to the rear might make it harder for them to use it normally."

"The damaged area might be an easier point of entry, I can widen any gaps with a krak grenade or two."

FL Xenos 32 or less: 1d100 ⇒ 88

Whats the scale on this thing. I'm guessing its big enough to be a smaller void ship like a raider but it could be of a different size.

It's solid.

Nothing to do with the Theomancy Discipline in Rogue Trader... which is extremely powerful against daemons to the point of making them not really an option for encounters that are in any way challenging.

"No. They're Eldar, not as fast as genestealer but still quite fast. They're nowhere near as a resilient as an ork but their weapons are more advanced. Some of their ranged weapons shoot thin spikes of crystal, they pack quite a punch." Lothar reveals some of the armour to reveal the wound at his shoulder.

"I didn't have my full combat gear at the time. They're nimble but focusing fire tends to put an end to them. Easier to put down than an ork if you can get a good hit. Like all xenos they are cowards by nature and will do their best to avoid your wrath."

"There might be some traitors working with them, show them no mercy."

Any chance we can get some medicae attention before entering the fray once more.

Crushing Blow 200xp
Sound Constitution x2 200xp

If he gets out of this alive Lothar is going to splurge on a nice bolt pistol.

It was good to be back in his flak armour with a clear target to assault. He knew the situation would become complicated before too long. He expected to use his deathlight most often but the longlas might have moments to bring it to bear. His trusted sword at his hip would doubtless be drawn before it was done.

"Do you have access to an astropath. The scale and depth of the corruption is significantly greater than anticipated. Bringing one with us would have drawn undue attention."

"The xenos are likely in highest concentration far from prying eyes. The location out at sea is the one we will directly attend to. The reason we had considered reaching out to you was your coming to blows with another noble house could attract little suspicion if a suitable cover story was concocted. Any forces moving towards the ocean target should not bear your heraldry to avoid the connection."

"We have identified where we expect the highest concentration of xenos amongst the sites we've identified. We will be going there personally as is our duty."

"In short, there were occult overtones which required further scrutiny and that is what our master directed us to investigate. That is enough for me."

"The local arbites are paying close attention to some of the related crime scenes. It's highly likely they are either co opted into the conspiracy or to some degree alerted to it as well. I'd rather wait for more information than find out the hard way."

"Let us begin with the ledgers of their conspirators turned victims..." Lothar goes over the ledgers and the crime scene they were connected to.

"Our investigations have uncovered a conspiracy with traitors at it's heart who debase themselves for the baubles of xenos corruptors. Xenos pirates, some of the most vile of the species known as Eldar, are providing narcotics to gain sway an influence over various factions on this planet. Their ships are in system."

"I have faced them before on the field of battle, deception and speed are in their nature. We have encountered and slain members of these xenos on this world. Locals have already died to cover their tracks. Its challenging to discern exactly who is on their side, for that we need to uncover more information but we're going to go over the details of their communication and network we have been able to identify so far."

"Once inside the meeting room the details will be relayed I assure you. I believe you will find the matter worthy of attention and discretion."

Glad to hear you are doing better.

My posting will be near non existent from the 29th til the 3rd, just a heads up.

"So they lack morale fibre and are desperate." Lothar shakes his head.

"However if we go after all three I actually think we should be in the team deep in the ocean, so isolated as they are that would be the most likely place for the most xenos presence in place. As we have seen before as xenos they natural inclinations are those of the cowards. Relying on speed and perfidy, taking any underhanded advantage to compete with us." He laughs "They'll never see us coming."

It's always tough to know when you have enough to call in the cavalry... maybe we can send a preliminary report so they can start mustering?

"The manse can work within our cover story. The PDF base could be problematic but the one in the ocean would hopefully be far enough away not to have prying eyes... but launching an assault there could be problematic."

Lothar tries to add some further insight but although he has some experience with xenos it is hard earned and does not involve diplomacy. "Are there any of the locations in areas under the control of the noble house we are targeting? Attacks on those locations might yield more information."

"These locations cross referenced with who controls them gives us an idea of some of the locals at least partially corrupted if not fully under their sway... or targets they are going to strike at soon. With a little more detail I suspect we should make an update."

FL Xenos: 1d100 ⇒ 42

"I have no experience at placating machine spirits but I have unfortunately encountered these foes and their tools to some degree prior to this."

Maybe I can aid with FL Xenos but even so I think only two can aid

"I wont be of much aid with regards to that but once we know their locations we can start rooting them out."

"Rest assured we will be held accountable for our actions and I pray to the God Emperor that our part in this unseemly work will be that of loyal servants acting with rectitude. Your concern is noted." Lothar began to move forward. "We put our lives on the line and trust our souls to the Emperor. What more can any follow him on Holy Terra ask for than that."

Cards on the table forming a plan would involve us having details I don't think we'll be able to easily get on short notice. We'd need to know the lay out of the estate... to do that we'd need to know where the estate is... it would be very easy for us to tip our hand if we tried to rush it.

"That will have to do. Thank you for your aid." Lothar considers the matter. They have no idea of the enemies holdings yet but he suspected this Valcani would be informed or could get the information. Being involved in a battle, even a small one would be a welcome respite from all of this sleuthing.

Lothar smiled enigmatically at the man "Discretion primarily. Best not to tip our hand, we'll need a meeting quietly set up with someone high in the family. Certain concessions can be made to put them at ease, I'd be willing to be unarmed as a show of good faith."

Lothars mind goes back to not all that long ago when this location was one they were prepared to set on fire as a diversion if needed.

"Well we say favour to lure them to the meeting... I think it would be in actuality more along the lines of this world is about to come under a lot of scrutiny so it wouldn't hurt to start proving your loyalty and faith."

"It would be a bad indication if they did. I say we tell truth of a sort, an opportunity to elevate their standing at the expense of a rival. Details will only be discussed with a senior figure in the house. The patriarch or matriarch would be best but as unknowns we'd likely be doing well to get someone in their inner circle."

"To clarify house Mandre are a house we might be eliciting for aid in a strike since we are unsure which pdf or enforcer forces are untainted."

"You did the majority of interaction with him, I feel like I was appropriately aloof. We need a cover story to entice them into a meeting but it can't be something easily verified. We'll probably have to make some concessions, the easiest is having it be inside their holdings. Make them more comfortable."

Lothar looked up for a few moments "A business opportunity would be possible but we could claim that we have information on one of their rivals we'd like to trade. We can discretely use the artificer to make clandestine contact to arrange the meeting."

"My cover is that of a nobleman on a layover, we should use that to arrange the meeting, or at least make the attempt."