The Warhammer-community team brings us more info on how Crusade will work in 9th ed 40k!
One of the most exciting elements of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is the immersive, narrative-driven Crusade system. To show you just how awesome they are, we’re taking you on a virtual Crusade, and over the course of the series, we’ll be introducing you to each element of a campaign. In part two, our Adepta Sororitas Crusade force, the Paragons of Piety, face their first opponents in battle – the dreaded Necrons…
Preparing for Battle
For our first battle, we thought we’d start off with a game against a rival Crusade force that had yet to play its first game. That way, both armies would have the same number of Crusade points (the combined total of each unit’s Power Rating and the cost applied to any experience upgrades they have), so we wouldn’t need to worry about using Crusade Blessings to balance the two sides.* We decided to go with a Combat Patrol mission, meaning that we needed to create a Battle-forged army using a Patrol Detachment with a maximum Power Level of 25, drawn from the units in our Order of Battle. The Necron player did the same – here are the army lists used.
With a balanced, well-rounded force of Adepta Sororitas arrayed against a melee-heavy Necron host, the choice of Crusade mission would prove crucial. A roll of 2 on the Combat Patrol Missions table gave us the mission Sweep and Clear – good news for the Sisters, provided they could withstand the inevitable Necron assault…
In Combat Patrol battles, each player also gets to choose one Agenda. These serve as a form of secondary objective but reward units with campaign experience points rather than victory points in the battle itself. What’s more, your choice(s) are then revealed to your opponent, so they can attempt to thwart you! With the numerical advantage, we chose the Battlefield Supremacy Agenda, Sentinel, intent on holding off the Necrons while the Retributors secured it.
With everything ready, it was time for battle…
Death on Martyr’s Ridge
The Necron Scarabs and Destroyers swept towards the Adepta Sororitas with frightening speed, while the Warriors of Harvest Phalanx Oberdon marched inexorably behind them. Three Battle Sisters fell before the murderous volley of gauss fire, but they held their nerve. The Adepta Sororitas responded swiftly, moving into position to make their superior numbers count. The Emperor was with his daughters, for their disciplined bolter fire cut down no fewer than seven Necron Warriors and a Skorphekh Destroyer in their opening salvo.
Yet, incredibly, five of the ancient machine warriors – including the fell, blade-wielding Destroyer – rose to their feet once more, and the slaughter began in earnest. The Skorpekhs swept into the Celestians, tearing through fully half their number in a whirlwind of destruction, even as the Necron Warriors continued to scythe down Battle Sister Squad Rolinda with eldritch gauss beams.
Canoness Avia Pureheart and Seraphim Squad Amisara valiantly charged into the melee and succeeded in turning the tide against the rampant Skorpekhs, felling two of the berserk constructs, but it proved to only be a temporary reprieve for the embattled Celestians. Moments later, Ulthakar the Dismemberer entered the fray and soon lived up to his name, leaving the broken bodies of the remaining Celestians and even the Canoness herself in his bloody wake.
By the battle’s end, only a pair of Seraphim and the stoic Retributors remained, leaving the Necrons battered, but the undisputed masters of the battlefield.
Ouch! That turned out to be a tough opening battle, but at least the Retributors were able to achieve the Sentinel Agenda, albeit at a steep cost in their sisters’ lives. Hopefully, the Paragons of Piety will recover and do better next time, though they certainly gave a good account of themselves against the slaughterous Destroyers under the circumstances! Check back with us tomorrow when we’ll be going through the campaign aftermath of this battle in preparation for our next game, to see whether or not our brave Canoness and the others who fell in battle recover from their wounds.
If you’re looking to start your own Crusade, make sure you pre-order the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book and Warhammer 40,000 Crusade Journal today!
* We’ll have more on this later in the week, as we’ve bravely lined up our second game to be against a much more battle-hardened force…
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