Hi All,
I have been providing copies of the missions I run for my local 40k club. Some of these missions have worked great, some of the others….. Well, anyway, for our last game of the campaign I created my most ambitious mission yet. Check it out!
The Fluff:
The Black Saint is preparing to leave Crenelation and return in triumph to the Cardinal World of Asylus. Knowing that it is now or never his enemies have cornered his escort in the narrow valleys of the main route to the evacuation site. While some of his foes may seek to slay him in the flesh others seek to harm his reputation and cast a pall over the fervency sweeping the sector. Even among “friends” some see the Saint as a liability to their own grip on power.
However, there is no unified consensus. For every bodyguard wielding a hidden knife, there is an ally that is an enemy ready to take the blow. Some of the attacking forces wish to keep the Saint alive to cause dissension in the imperial ranks. Whatever their purpose, the two deeply divided armies careen towards an inevitable confrontation.
Inspiration:
What I wanted from this mission was something mainly narrative. The players will be fighting over narrative devices that impact how the campaign resolves. I also wanted a mission that might pit players against their own side, not in a cruel way, but captures how uneasy these alliances are, and how little you know about other people’s motivations.
Deployment:
These are all 6×4 boards and you may notice how far apart the armies begin. Well that is because of a little mini-game that occurs before the battle begins. These rules are a little complicated, and you could ignore them and just put each army 18″ away from each other if you like.
The Perfect Ambush:
To start deployment the attackers will set up half of their forces and all units that deploy outside of their deployment zone. All aircraft start in reserve. The defenders then deploy their armies. Following this the saint and all defender units must move at least 3/4 of their movement towards the closest enemy deployment zone. After each unit has moved, the attackers may spring the ambush or roll a die, if the result is a 6+ the ambush is sprung.
If the result is anything less, or the attackers choose not to act, the defenders must make another move following the same rules. After each move add +1 to the die roll to see if the trap is sprung.
The attackers then deploy the rest of their forces and take the first turn. if at any moment a defender units get within 12″ of an enemy unit the trap is automatically sprung
Victory Conditions:
Each player will be given two objectives randomly:
1. Kill/Preserve the Saint
2. Proclaim/Defame the Saint
The margin of victory and the fate of the Saint will impact the final narrative. I stressed to the players that, narratively, you really don’t want your warlord to die as this also impacts the story. Additionally, should the saint die in an anti-climactic fashion, players will focus on their proclamation/defamation roles/killing warlords as a way to claw out some type of win.
Killing the Saint:
In order to kill the Saint (who will use the profile of Inquisitor Coteaz except with a 3++ Inv.) You will need to cut through his coterie including the following bodyguards:
· Space Marine Primaris Captain
o While this model is alive the saint and all bodyguard models re-roll failed to hit and wound rolls
· Adepta Sororitas Cannoness
o While this model is alive the saint and all bodyguard models are unaffected by any psychic powers. Models with 6” also do not benefit from any psychic buffs or are affected by debuffs
· Astra Millitarum Commandeer
o While this model is alive the Defenders may re-roll the distance the saint moves.
The Saint is not worried about death and will throw himself into the face of danger. At the start of each defender movement phase, the saint will move 3D6 toward the closest enemy model. The unit will move through other units and if it ends its move on top of another unit, redeploy the other unit the minimum distance needed to make room. If this unit ends its move within 12” of any enemy unit it must charge.
When the unit is targeted by any enemy attacks the players on the defender side and the attacker will each secretly vote on how the wounds are allocated with the model getting the most attacks being assigned first. Ties are broken randomly. The Saint cannot be targeted until all bodyguards are dead.
If the Saint is slain players on the defender’s team will take a vote. The player(s) with the most votes will be deemed a “Traitor” and their units will be considered to be targetable by all other players on their side and vice versa. Any player may choose to abstain or vote for no player to be selected.
Proclaim/Defame the Saint:
At the end of each player’s movement phase, the player who controls each objective may choose to either broadcast praises or defamations of the saint. This is considered to be an action that resolves at the end of the player’s turn. Tally the result after each phase and the final winner will determine the saint’s reputation at the end of the game.
However, any unit that does this action may be targeted by shooting and close combat attacks units of players on the same team with the opposite goal. All attacks that occur in the same phase are assumed to happen simultaneously.
Conclusion:
So this is an ambitious mission and it could go wrong in a number of ways. The distance between the armies is pretty bit but can be gamed by clever players, the Saint could move really slowly or be guarded too well, lots of issues. However, I think it will be fun. I am working on balancing the teams beforehand which should resolve some past issues. By focusing on narrative outcomes I am hoping people will get into the spirit of the game rather than focusing too heavily on winning. I will have a full report up after the mission launches this Saturday!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
