The Monty
Blind Box Looting (2-4 Gangs)
Objectives
Rumor has it that a cache of archeotech has been discovered by local hivers and
is being hidden amongst cargo containers with the intent of smuggling it uphive
to be sold for vast profit.
If true, a gang getting its hands on such a trove would gain a powerful advantage.
Allowing a rival gang to acquire this cache is unthinkable!
Tense gang violence transpires as fighters of each gang converge on the area.
There are various armored containers on the battlefield and one of them -- the Monty -- might contain precious archeotech or other rich stuff.
Which armored container is the Monty (if any) is randomly determined after the battle ends, so gangs want to control them all.
It is possible for control over an armored container to change multiple times during the course of the battle as gangs bitterly vie for dominance!
Attackers
In this scenario, all of the gangs are considered to be attackers.
Armored Containers
Large armored containers feature prominently in this scenario. Anything from an extra big box all the way up to Munitorum Armoured Containers can be used for this purpose, but ideally all of the containers should use models that are approximately the same size.
These armored containers cannot be moved or carried, but can be destroyed.
Destroyed armored containers remain in play but their destroyed status should be indicated with smoke clouds or markers.
For the purposes of this scenario, armored containers have Toughness 5, 3 Wounds, and a 4+ save. They are unaffected by Weapon Traits other than Melta and Demolition, and do not suffer Flesh Wounds.
When an armored container loses its last Wound it is destroyed along with its contents.
Example Armored Containers
Type of Battlefield
The players should agree whether they will fight this battle using the Zone Mortalis or Sector Mechanicus rules or optionally fight on a hybrid battlefield.
If the players cannot come to an agreement, roll a D6. If the result is a 4+ it will be a Sector Mechanicus battle, otherwise it is a Zone Mortalis battle.
Set up Battlefield
A Zone Mortalis battlefield should have at least 2 tiles plus 1 tile per gang, and a Sector Mechanicus battlefield should be at least 9" per side multiplied by the number of gangs (for instance a 4 player game should be played on a battlefield that is at least 36'' x 36'').
Players should use the
Player Agreement
method to set up the battlefield. If they cannot agree, the
Standard
method is used instead.
Set up Armored Containers
After the battlefield is set up, one armored container per player will be set up onto the battlefield.
Continuing in priority order, each player must place an armored container so that it is no less than 6'' and no more than 9'' from a corner of the battlefield, and also at least 9'' from the other armored containers. These armored containers cannot be placed in such a way that they are unreachable.
Number the Armored Containers
In this scenario, the armored containers are referred to by their number.
The first armored container placed is armored container #1, the second armored container placed is armored container #2, and so on.
To avoid argument or confusion, a dice turned the appropriate face or a piece of paper with the correct number written on it should be placed on each armored container so that the identity of each armored container is never in doubt.
Choose Crews
In this scenario all gangs use the
All Eligible Fighters
method to choose their gang's Crew.
Determine Crew Rating & Underdog Status
Crew Rating and Underdog Status are calculated considering all eligible fighters. Underdog Status is calculated by comparing the Crew Rating of each gang. In the case of a 3 or 4 player battle, each gang should compare their Crew Rating for the battle to the average of the Crew Ratings of the opposing gangs to determine Underdog Status, and subsequently there can be more than one Underdog (up to all of the gangs).
Underdog Bonus
If there are Underdog gangs, this scenario allows
each Underdog gang's player to choose any one of the
Underdog Options
of the Underdog player's choice.
Fighters Recover
For each fighter that was excluded from Crew selection because they are in Recovery, clear their Recovering box on their gang's roster now.
Those fighters are able to take part in their gang's next battle, and are also able to take part in Post-Battle Actions after this battle.
Tactics Cards
Each player selects one Tactics Card from their Tactics Cards decks for each armored container on the battlefield.
These Tactics Cards are placed separately face down on the table (not stacked in a deck).
Each player should place a dice showing the number 1 on their first face down card, a dice showing the number 2 on their second face down card, and so on for each card. These numbers correspond with the armored containers that are in play.
Players cannot look at or use any of these face down cards during the battle.
When a gang takes control of an armored container, their player draws the corresponding Tactics Card for that armored container if they have not previously done so.
Discard Other Tactics Cards
If a player is gaining additional Tactics Cards due to an Underdog Bonus, skill, Hangers-on, or other means they form their hand from their remaining Tactics Cards.
Then all of their unselected Tactics Cards are set aside. They won't be used during this battle.
Fighter Decks
Each player now gathers the fighter cards of their Crew. Each player can privately select the fighter card of up to one fighter from their Crew that can infiltrate and set it aside face down. Other players cannot look at this card.
Then the players thoroughly shuffle their remaining fighter cards together to form their Fighters deck for this battle and sets it face down near the battlefield.
Players that set aside a fighter card for an infiltrating fighter now place that card on top of their Fighters deck.
Cards in these Fighter decks cannot be looked at until they are drawn and played to set up the corresponding fighter onto the battlefield, after which the fighter card is public information.
Deployment
In the case of a two player battle the player with priority selects one of the board edges as their deployment zone; the opposite board edge is their opponent's deployment zone.
In the case of more than two players, in priority order each player chooses an unselected board edge as their deployment zone.
Still in priority order, each player draws one card from their Fighters deck and plays it to set up the corresponding fighter onto the battlefield..
If such a fighter is able to infiltrate, the player sets that fighter up anywhere on the battlefield where they are at least 6'' away from and not in the line of sight of opposing fighters.
Otherwise, the player sets that fighter up such that the fighter's base is no further than 3'' away from their deployment zone's edge.
Fighters can be set up on any level of a vertical battlefield within this area.
After each player has set up one fighter onto the battlefield, the battle starts.
Starting the Battle
The battle starts and is fought normally using the Battle Sequence. A new priority is rolled for, Ready markers are distributed, and so on.
Fleeing The Battlefield
If a Broken fighter rolls enough inches of movement to leave the battle by moving off a battlefield edge (observing all the rules for how
Broken fighters move), the Broken fighter leaves the battlefield and is Out of Action. They will be available for their gang's next battle.
Retreat
Any Active or Pinned fighter can move off an edge of the battlefield.
That fighter's fighter card is placed on the bottom of the controlling player's Fighters deck.
If a retreated fighter is subsequently drawn from the Fighters deck, they return to the battle with the same Wounds, Flesh Wounds, status markers, and weapon profiles (such as Out of Ammo or Scarce) they had when they left.
End Phase
During this scenario, several things happen each End Phase, in a particular order.
Reinforcements
At the very start of the End Phase, reinforcements might be set up onto the battlefield (the 1'' rule applies).
In priority order each player with cards remaining in their Fighters deck can choose to draw 1, 2, or 3 fighter cards (but not more than they have remaining).
Players commit to this choice before drawing any cards.
Draw 1
If a player chooses to draw 1 card, they draw a card from their Fighters deck and play it to set that fighter up
onto the battlefield such that their base is touching any edge of the battlefield.
Draw 2
If a player chooses to draw 2 cards, they draw both cards from their Fighters deck and play them to set those fighters up
onto the battlefield such that their bases are each touching the player's deployment edge of the battlefield.
Draw 3
If a player chooses to draw 3 cards, they roll a D3 to randomly determine the edge of the battlefield their fighters will enter from.
Clockwise from the player's own deployment edge, a 1 is the edge to their left, 2 is the opposing edge, and 3 is the edge to their right.
The player then draws three cards from their Fighters deck and plays them to set those fighters up
onto the battlefield such that their bases are each touching the randomly determined edge of the battlefield.
Bottle Tests
Bottle Tests are made during this battle, but not by gangs that have cards remaining in their Fighters deck.
Recovery and Rally
Recovery and Rally are resolved normally.
Determine Control Of Each Armored Container
After the Rally step, control over intact armored containers is checked.
For each armored container that is not destroyed, if an Active fighter of a gang is adjacent to an armored container and no opposing Active fighters are within 1'' of them or the armored container, that fighter controls that armored container for their gang (for now).
Tactics Cards Reward
If a gang takes control of an armored container and has not yet drawn their Tactics Card that corresponds with that armored container, they draw it now and add it to their hand.
Lots
Starting at the end of the third round, all players that have at least one fighter upon the battlefield in any status must cast lots.
Each participating player takes 1 dice into one or the other hand behind their backs or under the table, and then extend one closed hand that secretly either holds a dice or is empty.
On a count of three all players open their outstretched hand. If two or more players are holding dice the battle continues, otherwise the battle goes one more round and then ends.
The battle continues if two or more players reveal a dice.
Ending the Battle
If at the end of a round all of the armored containers are destroyed, the battle ends immediately.
If it was determined the battle would end when Lots were cast in the previous round, the battle ends immediately.
Determine The Monty
Random determination is used now to determine which of the armored containers is the Monty.
The player with priority rolls a scatter die near the center of the battlefield. Whichever armored container is in the direction the scatter die indicates will be rolled for first. If there is any confusion, the player with priority rolls the scatter die again until the players all agree on which armored container is being pointed at.
A D6 is then rolled for the selected armored container, and if a 6 is rolled that armored container is the Monty.
Otherwise, this process is repeated for each other armored container going around the battlefield clockwise until the Monty is revealed or there are no more armored containers.
But, for each additional armored container rolled for, the roll improves by 1.
Thus, the second armored container is the Monty on a 5+.
For 3 and 4 player battles, the third armored container is the Monty on a 4+ and a fourth armored container is the Monty on a 3+.
Victory
If all of the armored containers are destroyed, the battle ends in a draw for all gangs.
If none of the armored containers are under the control of a gang, the battle ends in a draw for all gangs.
Gangs get 1 Victory Point for each armored container they control.
If a gang controls the Monty they get 1 additional Victory Point.
The gang with the most Victory Points is the winner.
If two gangs are tied for most Victory Points, the battle ends in a draw for the tied gangs and a loss for any other gangs.
Rewards (Campaign Only)
Special
The player of the gang that controlled the armored container containing the Monty at the end of the game (if any) may choose
one or more Rare Items of any rarity from the Trading Post with a combined credit value of D6 x 50 credits
or less to be the treasure hidden within the Monty; these item(s) are added to the gang's
Stash immediately. Credits not spent on rare items are lost.
If a gang controlled one of the other armored containers they receive 1D6 x 10 credits; if they controlled two of the other armored containers (in a three or four player battle) the gang instead receives 2D6 x 15 credits, and if they controlled all three of the other armored containers (in a four player battle) the gang instead receives 3D6 x 20 credits. The credits are added to the gang's Stash immediately.
Experience
Each fighter who participated in the battle gains 1 XP.
Fighters gain the standard XP awards for taking opposing fighters Out of Action.
The first fighter in the battle to take any enemy fighter Out of Action gets 1 additional XP.
Each fighter who controlled an armored container at the end of the battle gains 1 XP.
If a gang is the winner, that gang's Leader gains 1 XP if they participated in the battle.
Reputation
If the Monty is a destroyed armored container, all gangs lose 1 Reputation.
A gang gains 1 Reputation for every 2 Victory Points they gained.
If a gang bottled out, they lose 1 Reputation.
Diversity Incentive
For each of the opposing gangs that a gang has never fought before this battle, a gang
can gain either D3 Reputation or a pool of D3+1 XP to distribute amongst the gang's participating fighters.
Post-Battle Sequence
Proceed to the Post-Battle Sequence.
Variants
The following variants introduce different stakes and tactical options.
Three Door Monty
Zone Mortalis
A fun Zone Mortalis variant is to arrange a battlefield around three Vaults lined up next to each other in a row,
with some scatter terrain between them to provide some cover.
In this variant everything based upon control of an armored container in the standard scenario is re-interpreted to mean
control over a Vault. Control over a Vault is achieved by having a fighter within 1''
of the control terminal that unlocks that Vault's door.
Rather than deploying a fighter at the beginning of the battle within 6'' of an armored container,
fighters are deployed at least 6'' away from a Vault door and no closer than 9'' away from
any enemy fighter. Fighters cannot be deployed inside Vaults.
When a Vault is opened for the first time (whichever Vault happens to be opened first) roll a D6;
on a 5 or 6 that Vault contains The Monty.
If the first Vault did not contain the Monty roll a D6 when the second Vault is opened;
on a 4 or better this Vault contains The Monty.
If neither the first nor second Vaults contained The Monty, roll a D6 when the third Vault is opened;
on a 3 or better this Vault contains The Monty.
If none of the Vaults contain The Monty, the entire thing turns out to have just been a viral rumor, or
perhaps the Guilders secured the hoard elsewhere, or maybe some other gang already spirited the score
away. After all, nothing is a sure thing in the grimdark tunnels of the underhive.
Gangs continue to fight once The Monty is revealed (or if there turns out to not be any prize), with Bottle Tests,
and the battle rages on. If there is no Monty, fighters may Escape the battle from any board edge and are considered
to be Out of Action for the remainder of the battle. If only one gang remains upon the battlefield the battle ends.
To make this scenario harder, the players or an Arbitrator can decide at the start of the battle that the
Rigged Door Tactics Card or similar door-opening Tactics Cards cannot be used on the Vault Doors.
Hostile Monty
Zone Mortalis or Sector Mechanicus
In a battle run by an Arbitrator, the treasure the gangs seek is not just laying
around waiting to be collected. It is already in the possession of some other group and they
intend to keep it.
The opposition presented by the Arbitrator can take any form the Arbitrator imagines, ranging
from local hivers, to another gang, to Adeptus Arbites, agents of a Noble House, freelancers,
Guilders, Ratskins, or whatever. The Arbitrator should add up the total Gang Ratings of the
players' gangs participating in the battle; the Arbitrator's opposing forces should have no
more than 75% of that total.
The Arbitrator places the armored containers, deploys their forces first, and may keep up to half of
their fighters as Reinforcements. During the beginning of each End Phase the Arbitrator may choose
to draw up to D3+1 Reinforcements from their Reinforcements deck, and may bring them on as a group
from any battlefield edge. This is done before players resolve their Reinforcements.
Rather than selecting their starting Crew using Random Selection (1), each player selects no more than half
of their available fighters (of their choice) as their Crew, with the remainder being available as Reinforcements.
At the beginning of the battle rather than deploying 1 fighter near an armored container, in priority order each player
selects an edge of the battlefield that has not already been selected by another player; their fighters will move onto
the battlefield from this board edge as they are activated during the first round, and their Reinforcements
will also move onto the battlefield from this board edge as the battle elapses.
Players can choose to ally or not as they see fit during the course of the battle. There are no mechanics around
this; players can simply choose to not attack each other or not as they see fit action by action. Another
gang's fighters are still considered to be "enemy fighters" even if the gangs are currently cooperating with each other.
XP rewarded for taking out Arbitrator controlled opposition should be based upon the quality of each
opposing fighter. Unremarkable opposition (Ganger equivalent) is worth 1 XP each when taken Out of Action,
better quality opposition (Champion equivalent) is worth 2 XP when taken Out of Action, and elite opposition
(Leader equivalent or better) is worth 3 XP when taken Out of Action.