The Hidden Vault

It's been a long and harrowing journey, but our intrepid heroes of the 41st millennium at last reached the inner sanctum of the mysterious Blackstone Fortress, a place called the Hidden Vault. Although our luck hasn't always been great -- due to an inauspicious draw from the Legacy deck, for instance, we'd been hounded by the leader of the villains since very early in the campaign -- the Emperor was truly with us when we entered the Vault, because out of four possible enemy groups, only two of them actually spawned. 

We knew that enemy reinforcements would arrive soon enough, so we spent our first turn hustling across the map to take up a defensive position around our objective, an ancient computer terminal that must be accessed three times on three different rounds; at that point, we would earn the right to open the game's sealed envelope and learn what happens next. 

It was incredibly fortunate that we were able to get to the computer and access it on the very first turn of the game. Below is a snapshot of the board at the end of that turn. The long pinkish line represents the deadly beam of a rotating laser turret that destroys anything it hits.

The second round was largely uneventful; we dealt with a handful of foes and waited for more to show up. We then accessed the computer a second time, leaving just one more activation to go.

Next round, we continued to hold our position as negavolt cultists and traitor guardsmen rushed in toward us. We cut down our enemies in droves, and only one lasgun-wielding trooper remained standing when the round came to a close. We accessed the computer for a third and final time, with Nathaniel's character Pious Vorne -- the flamer-wielding acolyte -- pressing the final button.

We were now allowed to open the sealed envelope that was included in the box and has been tantalizing us since we began our journey. Nathaniel, as the biggest 40k fan in our family, was given the honor of tearing into it.

And what was in the envelope? Sorry, no spoilers! I won't reveal anything specific, just that a double-sided card provided the game's concluding narrative as well as our reward for conquering the Hidden Vault.

And what about Pious Vorne, the hero who accessed the computer on the third turn? Well, she was sucked into the...oh, right, spoilers!

Anyway, we all agreed that the game's ending was a bit abrupt and anticlimactic from a narrative standpoint, but we thoroughly enjoyed the game and look forward to jumping into its spiritual successor, Cursed City.