Rather than build my own solo play "engine", I borrowed heavily from the Dungeons & Dragons board games, of which I own several, which are designed for solo or cooperative against mechanics-run monsters. As I'd decided on Scavvies for the first game (they were painted and fairly easy opponents), I had to select how many I'd be fighting and how they'd react. I settled on 8 Scavvies (Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids), two Scavvie Bosses (Neophyte Alphas), two Big Mutants (Aberrants) and a Mutant Psyker (Magus). The mission, to keep things simple, would be to kill the Psyker, who could deal a bit of damage with his Psybolt power, but was rather fragile otherwise. Keeping in mind that Scavvies are a pretty superstitious and cowardly lot, I knocked up some "mechanics" cards for them like the ones in the D&D Board Games.
As to how the Scavvies would appear, I borrowed again from the D&D games, which draw a random monster from the deck, place it on a newly flipped tile and each monster acts after each hero. Pretty easy really, so long as I took some care with the set-up, see below. Given that Scavvies are pretty flimsy for the most part, I made up a "Monster Deck" of 8 Scavvies, 2 Bosses, 2 Big Mutants and 1 Magus. For those interested, this worked out to around 112 points
With the antagonists sorted, I wanted to pick out some "good guys" that would be fun to play. I settled on Astra Militarum Tempestus Scions, because I have a nice set of metal Karskins that don't get enough play, and they have a nice balance of power and durability. I threw in a Hot-Shot Volley Gun and a Flamer for a little more punch. To add a bit of character, I included Inquisitor Kang of the Ordo Chronos (Grey Knight Justicar), who's 3+ Save and Psybolt would help provide some durability to the team. This totaled around 65 points, meaning I'd be up against it, but, as I'd be unlikely to be taking on more than one or two antagonists at a time, it should work out.
To get the "monster deck" ready, I took out the Mutant Psyker, 1 Scavvie, 1 Scavvie Boss and 1 Big Mutant; I shuffled this "mini-deck", then shuffled the other cards and placed them on top. This was done to ensure that the Psyker would appear at the end of the game, but I wouldn't know exactly when, but also made the possibility of running into too many tough opponents at the beginning of the game unlikely.
Next, I sorted out a stack of my D&D Dungeon tiles, perhaps a quarter of what I have in total, making sure there wasn't anything that would clash with the 40k miniatures, like some of the monster-specific tiles that come with some of the games, or extra mechanics like doors and exits. I made sure to keep a couple that would have fun effects, like placing an extra tile, just to keep the game unpredictable wherever possible. I shuffled the tiles as well and everything was ready to go.
Deep in the catacombs of Bakunin XII, an infestation of mutants had made a discovery; a device from the Dark Age of Technology that amplified psychic powers. Due to the sparse and isolated nature of the Sectorum Ludus Bellorum, Inquisitor Kang of the Ordo Chronos was the first to hear of the dangerous mutant psyker. With no choice but to end the threat himself, Kang gathered some elite Stormtroopers and departed for Bakunin XII.
For the first turn, I'll give a blow-by-blow summary of what's happening, in case you want to do something similar yourself, then I'll be doing more of a typical AAR. I started by drawing two cards from the deck, and I immediatly noticed that many of my cards wouldn't work for this altered version of the game. I decided to continue as I was, but I think normal Command Points would have worked better, even with the altered turn order.
Private Kubert, armed with Hot-Shot Lasgun, moves up to the edge of the Start Tile, he then "explores" the next tile. I draw a tile from the stack and place it so that the arrow is pointing towards my character.
Now that I have a new tile, there are a couple of things to note. First, the corridors have a habit of winding off the edge of the table, so the game can need to be shuffled around occasionally. The pile of skulls (alternatively a scorched patch on other tiles) is where the "monster" will be placed.
I flipped the first monster card and got a Scavvie. I placed a Scavvie from my collection (an old Judge Dredd mini with a shotgun) and put the Kill Team Stat Card I had nearby for reference. Technically, it was still Private Kubert's turn, so I decided to take a shot at the Scavvie before it blasted away with its shotgun.
Kubert has a Ballistic Skill of 3+, so this roll is a bad miss. With nothing else to do, my turn passes to the Scavvie.
Also with a BS of 3+, the Scavvie delivers a much better hit. At such close range, the Shotgun gets +1 Strength, meaning the Scavvie now only needs a roll of 3+ to wound Kubert.
With another great roll, the Scavvie wounds with both shots. As there is no AP on the Shotgun, Kubert gets his full save of 4+.
I save one wound, but I'm not keen on taking the risk on losing one of my five heroes on the first turn, so I play a card from my hand.
The Lucky Card gives me another 5+ save, which I make, ending the Attack Sequence and the Scavvie's turn. Given that the Scavvie will get another turn after my next one, and he almost took out Kubert the first time, I decide to bring up Lance Corporal Cloud, armed with a Flamer, to clear out the enemy. Flamers get to automatically hit and get D6 shots per turn, so I was hoping for a big number.
A roll of 2 isn't great, but at least I get two wound rolls against the unharmed Scavvie.
Only one successful wound (I needed a 3+) doesn't seem great, but I would only get one injury roll anyway, so not really a loss. The Savvie gets to make a saving throw, needing a 5+ to ignore the results of the wound.
Thankfully, the Scavvie fails the save, meaning I get to make my injury roll.
With a roll of 4+, the Scavvie is Out of Action, leaving me to take my next turn. I choose to bring up Private Kanigher, another Stormtrooper armed with a Hot-Shot Lasgun.
Once again, the monster card flipped reveals a Scavvie. Kanigher fires with his Lasgun, hoping for better luck than Kubert.
As the Stormtroopers have a 3+ BS, that's a hit, but my run of luck with the heroes' rolls stays steady.
Kanigher makes the Wound roll as well. As the Hot-Shot Lasguns have a -2 AP, the Scavvie doesn't get his save of 5+, so I move straight on to the injury roll.
The Scavvie takes a Flesh Wound, which reduces both its BS and WS by -1, this means the return fire misses and Kanigher is safe.
Inquisitor Kang is next to move, opening up another section and revealing a Big Mutant, a much tougher opponent.
This is all going to plan, however, as Kang is a Psyker, so gets to use his power and his weapon in the same turn. The Psybolt power requires a roll of 5+ on 2D6 to use, but I roll a total of 10, meaning the power does D3 Mortal Wounds rather than the regular 1 Mortal Wound.
With a D3 roll of 3, the Mutant is reduced to 0 Wounds instantly, and the Injury Roll turns up an Out Of Action result, meaning the threat is ended before it began. Lucky.
With his Shooting Phase still to happen, Kang uses his Storm Bolter to fire at the remaining Scavvie, hitting twice thanks to his excellent BS.
Despite the power of the Inquisitor's weapons, however, only 1 Wound is successful.
Needing a 5+, the Scavvie makes it's save, surviving another turn. As Kanigher is still the closest target, the Scavvie fires its shotgun at him again.
With a Flesh Wound, the Scavvie needs a 5+ to hit, which it manages on one die.
The Shotgun gets +1 Strength at close range, meaning the Scavvie needs only a 3+ to Wound Kanigher, which it gets. Thankfully, Kanigher has a 4+ save, so his armour protects him.
At this point, I'm sick of this one Scavvie, so I decide to move up my last character, Lance Corporal Mackey with the devastating Hot-Shot Volley Gun. The Volley Gun has 4 shots, but is a Heavy Weapon, so suffers a -1 to hit after moving (Mackey is a Heavy Specialist). Two shots hit, which should be enough at Strength 4.
With a roll of snake eyes however, the Scavvie lives to vex me another turn. Now that Mackey is the closest model to the hero, he will be the target of the Scavvie's next attack.
Naturally, I roll boxcars for the Scavvie, and Mackey has been hit twice by the shotgun blast.
Again needing a 3+ to wound, the Scavvie succeeds once. When rolling my save, however, Mackey fails and the wound goes through.
The injury roll is a 4+, meaning Mackey is removed from play. Thus my turn ends with a Scavvie still menacing me and one man down. For the rest of the report, I'll be moving away from covering every roll and move and only discussing major events of the game.
As a new turn starts, I draw two more cards, Jump Pack is pretty useless in this scenario, as I won't be likely to fall anywhere, but Slam and Auspex may be handy down the track.
Sick of the, incredibly lucky, Scavvie menacing me, I start by activating Kanigher and blasting it for the third time. Thankfully, this time the mutant menace doesn't survive.
Exploring a little more, Private Kubert finds another Scavvie but is unable to stop it. Thankfully, the return fire is also ineffective. Inquisitor Kang also finds a Scavvie, though with his Psybolt power and Storm Bolter, the mighty member of the Ordo Chronos clears the field for his team.
Not wanting to leave a Scavvie around to finish off another Stormtrooper, Kang charges in, playing the Slam card. Sadly, both the Slam and Kang's attack with his Nemesis Warding Stave fail and the Scavvie is left alive to retaliate.
Kanigher explores to reveal the "Long Corridor" tile, finding a Scavvie Boss and a Scavvie down the passageway he's revealed. A quick blast from Kanigher's Hot-Shot Lasgun takes down the Boss, and the return Autogun fire from the remaining Scavvie pings off the corner Kanigher is sheltering behind.
With another shockingly good role, the Scavvie with two flesh wounds and no close combat weapons manages to bypass the Power Armour of the Inquisitor and Kang is taken out of the game.
Knowing that the mission is still achievable, Lance Corporal Cloud pushes forward, letting Kubert and Kanigher take care of the badly wounded Scavvie behind him, Cloud scorches another Scavvie away with his flamer.
Making use of the Auspex card to ignore the Scavvie's Cover Bonus, Kanigher blasts the mutant away before it can become trouble.
Cloud and Kubert push down the winding corridor, leapfrogging fire to keep the Scavvies at bay.
When Kanigher explores forward, the second massive Big Mutant is revealed. Kanigher's Lasgun fire bounces off the beast's thick hide and the retaliating charge results in Kanigher being crushed by smashing blows.
Now making Will to Fight checks each turn to stay in the game, the remaining two Stormtroopers are up against a tough fight. I play the Battle Brothers card to have both remaining Troopers shoot at the same time and the Corroded Armour card so that the shots automatically wound. As Cloud's Flamer automatically hits, this means I get D6 free injury rolls on the Big Mutant.
The free rolls are not enough to bring the monster down however, dealing only a Flesh Wound. Kubert is the next to fall as the Mutant charges. With it's Consolidate, the Big Mutant is now only 2" from Cloud; things are looking grim.
Although a retreat seems like a great idea right now, Cloud makes his Leadership roll and I'm sticking around for at least one more turn. With the card Difficult Terrain in my hand, I know I can prevent the Big Mutant from reaching with a Charge (the card shortens an enemy model's movement), so Cloud withdraws far enough to still get a shot in with his Flamer. Sadly, the weapon again fails to take down the massive Mutant beast.
Thankfully, with the Big Mutant attempting a charge, and failing due to the Difficult Terrain card, Cloud can make an Overwatch shot, which finally burns the enemy away.
With only two Monster Cards left to draw, I'm thinking maybe Cloud can claim a solo victory, but my Will to Fight Check fails and the game ends with the last surviving member of my team fleeing for his life. Probably for the best, as the Mutant Psyker card was the last in the deck and it would have taken some pretty lucky rolling to pull out a win.
All-in, I felt the game ran pretty well, coming pretty close at the end, and that was with much better rolling for the Scavvies than the heroes. With some minor tweaks, I'm looking at play a second game soon, following on from the events of this one.
