THE “DIRTY DOZEN”-

THE RATS STRIKE PLATOON

The Rats have their own strike platoon, used in the same way as some Penal Legions within the Imperium- Col. Schaeffer’s Last Chancers, for example.. These are the known details of the so-called “Dirty Dozen”- and special rules for using them.

 

The Dirty Dozen must be used ALONE. In missions where set points values are used, the Rats player may NOT take extra forces (or reduce his or her forces accordingly- it’s just the Dirty Dozen, and no-one else)- and his opponent is NOT obliged to reduce his force to match.

 

1

General Bazil Tiberius Rat.

 

General Bazil Tiberius Rat is the best military commander ever to have been raised on Sk’aar. And therefore, it seemed only natural that he would lead the Strike Platoon on missions where a full company or regiment would be unable to do the job for whatever reasons. It is he who personally picked all twelve members of the platoon, choosing them not because of their rank or Tribe, but because the skills they had were the ones he needed.

 

Unit Name	Cost	WS	BS	T	S	A	I	W	LD	SV
General Baz	--	5	5	4	5	4	8	3	10	3+

Wargear: Master-crafted Storm Bolter, shotgun, plasma pistol, chainsword and trademark item (cigar)

Special Rules:

Get the job done: While Baz is alive, the Platoon does NOT need to take any morale or pinning tests.

“Ya think you killed ME, ya pansy [insert species] bastard?”: Baz is a stubborn little creature at the best of times; when he loses his last wound, lay him on his side instead of removing him (even if it was an Instant Kill attack). On the Rats’ next turn, roll a D6. On a roll of 5 or 6, Baz stands back up, bloodied but defiant (and angry!), at one wound. On any other roll, remove him as a casualty.

 2

[Mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Major “Silent but Deadly” Kimiko

 

Major Kimiko is the Master of Nezumejitsu, the Rat martial art- and an expert in being unseen.  Therefore, it seemed only natural that General Baz chose her in the strike platoon.

 

Unit Name	Cost	WS	BS	T	S	A	I	W	LD	SV
Major Kimiko	--	5	2	5	6	5	8	2	9	5+

Wargear: Power Sword, plasma pistol, Power Claw. She has DOUBLE attacks with both Lightning Claw and Power Sword, and they can be concentrated against one enemy or spread across many.

Special Rules:

She may, at the cost of the power effects of her Power Sword and Power Claw for one whole turn (the turn after the strike), use her special “Cutting the Air” ability. By siphoning off  the energy from the power weapons and concentrating it into the tip of the Power Sword and slashing it through the air using an ancient technique she found in a pre-Imperial text, she may strike an opponent up to 9” away from her with the power-sword. The strike follows the same rules to hit and wound as a power-sword strike in close combat. As mentioned before, however, it drains the energy of the power weapons for one turn. If she then enters close combat, the Power Claw and Power Sword follow the same rules as standard close-combat weapons- though she keeps her double attacks.

 

She also has an “Agility” save of 4+, to be taken after cover saves but BEFORE armour saves.

 

When used with the Strike Platoon, she may only conceal herself if there are no other Rats within 6”, and when she kills a sentry in close combat, he will only raise the alarm on a D6 roll of 6.

 

3

[Mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Major Nigel “Dat Bastard Rat” Ratterton.

Nigel Ratterton is a biological Dreadnought; he has eight legs and four arms. Twelve feet from nose to tail base, and nine feet tall, he’s an imposing sight no matter what species you are –even Orks are put off by his presence on the battlefield. Though he has little knowledge of stealth, the fact that Nigel carries two assault cannons and scares the hell out of most living things was enough to sway the General’s decision.

Unit Name	Cost	WS	BS	T	S	A	I	W	LD	SV
Major Ratterton	--	4	5	9	8	4-16	7	4	10	4+

Wargear: Two assault cannons and ammunition, two chainswords (one in each left hand), two laspistols (one in each right hand), Holy Bible of the Imperium, (trademark item).

Special Rules:

Easy to see: Due to his sheer size, Nigel finds it hard to hide, and has almost no knowledge of stealth. Therefore, all rolls for cover-saves are reduced by 1 –including being spotted by sentries!

Dat Bastard Rat: Nigel is an imposing figure, scaring the bejesus out of almost anything the Rats face- whether it’s Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Eldar, Tau or Orks. Therefore, he counts as a Fear-causing model. Units immune to Fear ignore this effect. The Imperial Guard know him as “The Widowmaker”, the Orks know him as “Dat Bastard Rat” and it is unknown what the other races call him

Thick hide: Nigel wears no armour- he doesn’t need it. His skin is so thick and leathery it does the same job as armour. This is represented by a 4+ invulnerable save.

Multi-armed: As Nigel has multiple arms, he can attack many times in close combat. For each successful strike against an opponent, Nigel gains 1 attack in that round of close combat, up to a maximum of 16, either on the same opponent or spread across many.

“I’ll save you, sir!”: Nigel is fiercely loyal to General Baz. So long as he is within 4” of General Baz, they may swap places in close combat, with Nigel fighting the General’s opponent, and vice versa. Also, you may choose to take any shooting hit on General Baz on Nigel instead- so long as they’re together!

4

[Mug shot coming soon]

Major Michael “Blat ‘em one!” Ratterson.

When the strike platoon was formed, Baz new he’d need someone capable of handling a rocket-launcher. Watching his troops work, he saw one Rat put almost every rocket on target. His name was Michael Ratterson, a Major in 2^nd Platoon, and he was soon asked to join the Strike Platoon. Naturally, he accepted straight away…!

Wargear: Missile Launcher, lasgun.

Special Rules:

Dead-shot: He may re-roll any failed “to hit” roll with his rocket-launcher, but MUST take the second result.

5

[Mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Major James “Nick-it” Ratterby

When Major Michael Ratterson was chosen, the natural choice for his loader was his inseparable companion,  Major James Ratterby. The two had grown up together, and knew each other well. As a heavy-weapons team, Baz could find no pair finer in the whole of the Sk’aaran Guard…

Wargear: Frag and Krak Missiles, lasgun.

Special Rules: Major Trevellyan is good friends with Sergeant Rattus, and as a consequence can often get her to “fiddle” with a missile or two before they go into action. As a consequence, while  Major Ratterby is still alive, Major Ratterson may re-roll ONE failed armour-piercing roll with his missile launcher.

6

[Mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Sergeant Jane “Gadget” Rattus

Next, Baz needed someone capable of hot-wiring vehicles, using a comlink and stealing data from Imperial or alien computers. This choice was really no choice at all- Jane Rattus had been helping the unit get supplies and things by hacking into the Cogitator network since before they left the Imperium…

 

Wargear: Lasgun, comlink.

Special Rules:

If the Rats have a Chimera, Rattus will drive it. In addition she may attempt to hot-wire ANY vehicle, Imperial or otherwise, and succeeds on a D6 roll of 2+. If any vehicle she’s driving is destroyed, roll for her surviving as if she were a passenger.

Air Strikes: The Rats arrive on-planet in their stolen Lunar class cruiser. It carries attack craft, and Sergeant Rattus may attempt to call an air-strike in, if the opponent agrees or the mission (be inventive here) calls for it. She succeeds on a 4+, and, if that roll succeeds, she must keep the target in line-of-sight for one whole turn and do nothing else- she’s using a laser to “paint” the target. If she manages this, place three large Blast templates over the target area and treat like artillery fire- rolling for scatter, etc, to represent the missiles/bombs of the air strike. Treat each template like a frag or krak missile, rolling to see which type it is- roll a D6. On an even roll, it’s a frag, on an odd roll it’s a krak.

Hacker: Sergeant Rattus may, if the mission requires, attempt to get data from a computer terminal. It takes one turn to hack into a computer. Roll a D6. If it’s an Imperial computer, she succeeds on a 3+. If the computer belongs to any other race (including Chaos), she succeeds on a 4+

If she dies, her boyfriend, Major Nigel Ratterton will enter a berserk rage. He gains +1 toughness and +1 strength, at the cost of –2 ballistic skill.

7

[mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Sergeant Larry “Hero” Rat

Baz needed someone who would be with him and Nigel when everyone else had died, or was capable of taking command if the higher-ranking officers had been killed. He decided on Sergeant Larry Rat, a Rat superior even to himself in the stubbornness stakes. And in addition to that, they shared the same surname, so… Baz had to take him.

Wargear: Lasgun, laspistol and close-combat weapon

Special Rules:

Stubborn: Sergeant Rat just doesn’t know when to quit. Therefore, whenever he’s killed, do not remove him immediately. He continues for one more turn after his death, keeping himself on his feet through sheer effort of willpower and bloody-mindedness! During this turn, he’s immune to morale or pinning checks, and may not receive any more wounds. At the end of the turn, he expires- his wounds prove too much and he dies.

8

[mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Private Andy “Boomer” Ratterson

Baz knew he’d need someone capable of dealing with explosives. After searching through the whole of the Sk’aaran Guard he found the perfect Rat- Private Andrew Ratterson. Private Ratterson could lob a grenade down the exhaust-pipe of a Leman Russ moving at full speed if he wanted to, and had followed the Catachan example of using demolition charges. He’d also managed to turn a plasma grenade into a pressure-sensitive mine.

Wargear: Lasgun, plasma pistol, close-combat weapon, demolition charge and plasma mine.

Special Rules:

Demolition Charge: See the Codex: Catachans. Range of 6”.

Plasma mine: This is a booby trap, of sorts, though it MUST be set in a place where Private Ratterson has been. Divide the table into 6”x6” squares, and make a note of one which Private Ratterson has visited- ONCE per battle. If an enemy model rolls a 5+ to move into, through or out of the square, the enemy player must the roll 2D6. On an even roll, the sets off the plasma mine. Treat the model as if a plasma grenade had just detonated underneath it. Once it’s gone off, the plasma mine is useless. If a Rat model moves through the square, he or she will have to take the test to see if the mine blows too, but only if a 6 is rolled. The mine affects the REAR armour of vehicles.

9&10

[Mug shots when Steve’s drawn them]

Privates  Joe and Jake Rattenburg (“Mötorhead” and “Hawkwind” respectively)

Baz decided he’d need more than one rapid-fire heavy weapon- and he’d probably need something with more punch than Major Ratterton’s assault cannons. After much thought, he decided to use the heavy-bolter team from his own command squad- the Rattenburg twins. They were the fastest at re-loading their heavy weapon- and Joe wasn’t a bad shot, either!

Wargear: Heavy Bolter

Joe (gunner): lasgun.

Jake(loader): Ammunition, lasgun.

Special Rules: None.

11

[Mug shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Private Mike “Immolator” Race

“Plasma gunner…” Baz muttered to himself, pacing around his office “I need a plasma-gunner… but who?” Then it hit him. The one his troops called Immolator- Private Race. His men knew of not one battle where he hadn’t hit the enemy with every shot he’d fired…

Wargear: Plasma gun, laspistol, close-combat weapon

Special Rules: None. Has the Veteran Skill “Dead shot”

12

[Mug Shot when Steve’s drawn it]

Private David “8-Ball” Hunter.

There was only one choice when it came to sniper- 8-Ball. His aim was rumoured to be legendary- and the source of his nickname. It is said that he once hit the 8 on a black pool-ball at a range of four kilometres- and hit it dead-centre.

Wargear: Needle sniper rifle.

Special Rules:

Dead-eye: He may re-roll any failed to hit roll TWICE, but must take the result of the second re-roll.

 

All the Dirty Dozen are armed with Frag and Krak grenades. Commissars still hate and intimidate the Rats in the strike platoon, and the Rats still hate the World Eaters. Therefore, the same rules (with the exception of “Ya ought ta be more careful, mate”) apply to the Strike Platoon that apply to the main army.

“Right then, lads and ladies!” said Baz as the strike platoon approached an Imperial firebase that’d been captured by the World Eaters Chaos Space Marines. “The Chaos gits that nicked that firebase are the same bastards that attacked Sk’aar. They’ve got a big plasma warhead in there, a type AA-22, and if they send it down the mineshaft… well. We’re gonna lose some mates, ‘cause there are Space Wolves defending one of the cities that’ll be levelled by the earthquakes that thing causes when she blows in the fault. So ‘ere’s what we’re gonna do. 8-ball, set yerself up in cover and pick off as many sentries as we can. Boomer, get yerself as close to the largest group of ‘em you can find and lob your demolition charge. Lay your surprise somewhere on the pad, too. Rattenburgs, you go with him to help deal with whatever isn’t killed by the mine or the charge. Kimiko, you take down as many sentries as ya can, and go invisible they must not see you.” “But General.” Kimiko interrupted with a slight bow. “I cannot go invisible- that is impossible. The enemy just ignore my presence. “Bah!” snapped Baz, not having the time or patience for a discussion with Kimiko on what, exactly, it is that she could and could not do. “Do whatever it is you do, then! Immolator, Hero, and Gadget, you’re with me. Nick-it, Blat ‘em, there are some ruins just inside the forest that surrounds the firebase. Use ‘em to get yourself a good firing position. Nige, you’re with me as usual. Whoever gets in contact with the warhead must attach charges to it, with the timer for three minutes. Once you’ve done this, the keyword is ‘ONLINE’- shout it. If you hear  one of us say this, RUN LIKE HELL- the charges are set and the warhead’s going to go. Everyone clear?” All the Rats nodded and set to work, 8-ball and Kimiko vanishing into the greenery…

 

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