Hi all,
I got a good friend of mine (Cadian Sgt. Steel) to give us a recap of his time at the narrative event at the NOVA open. I was keen to hear about how the event went, given that I wasn’t bale to play this year! Enjoy!
1. How was the event overall? What did you like the most and the least?
The event was wonderful and dare I say possible the best narrative event in the US. It’s run by Chris and this year with the help of Tyler and Spencer who were all in character and cosplay to bring us narrative briefs, cool mission outcomes, and more. The best parts of the event are the amazing, like-minded players that come to this event and the gorgeous terrain that fits within the narratives. The only downside to the event is that it eventually ends when NOVA Open does, although I do have to note I think the 40k Narrative was the final event to finish up at the convention
2. What role did your army play in the narrative? How did you decide on what units to bring?
My army for the narrative was my custom regiment the Cadian “Unbroken” 707th Infantry Regiment with some combined arms units such as artillery, tanks, and aircraft for support from the 80th, 201st, and 980th companies respectively. The event allows you to bring up to 3 lists for 1500 point games and 3 lists for 2000 point games.
As a player who loves to bring all my amazing units, I did write all 6 lists. I mostly stuck with a well-rounded list of 60 infantry, lots of Cadian officers, Scout Sentinels, a Rogal Dorn, Earthshaker Carriages, a Thunderbolt, and in the larger games my Marauder Destroyer. I think this was a good balance between the best and some average units for the Astra Militarum codex but also some of my favorite models I have built and painted.
My opponents had a great time navigating the variety of units I brought and how they worked together. No one was safe from the speed of the Thunderbolt, but they were safe sometimes thanks to the dice gods. Another cool thing I did was create a new custom Warlord model which is called your Warlord Incarnate, a representation of yourself within your army. For this, I created my first post “Fall of Cadia” Sergeant Steel using the new Cadian kits. Don’t worry, he wasn’t field promoted to an officer and still retains the rank of sergeant. He was just the most senior sergeant left alive after the brutality of last year’s narrative events. To go along with this I chose to cosplay, for the first time, as Cadian Sergeant Steel himself. It was a ton of work and took up most of my summer but was worth it in the end. I got every detail down to where my pouches and grenades were and purple contacts for some extra Cadian flare.
3. How was the event structured? How many games a day did you play?
Players were separated into two alliances, the Obitus Exitium and the Salus Praetus (my alliance). You typically get to play between 2 to 3 games per day except for the final day which is a single game to finish up the event. The 3rd game, called Spec Ops, were optional night games that players could buy tickets for even if they didn’t attend the morning or afternoon games, which allowed more players to get a taste of the awesome missions and terrain. I played a total of 9 games, only skipping one evening to relax.
4. How did the TO incorporate games and player decisions in the narrative?
There was a heavy number of decisions from the players that impacted the narrative. Every morning and afternoon, the alliances Warlords (8 per alliance, which I was 1 of those for Salus Praetus) would get briefed on the changes to the battlefield conditions of each of the four planets and the specific battlefields within. From that, we had to make choices about how to attack or defend certain planets and battlefields within in order to achieve the narrative objective we sought to achieve (ramping up blackstone pylon power, saving civilians, saving the life of the Raptor’s 4th Company Captain, diving deeper into an artificial planet or sealing it up forever, etc). It was a ton of fun for all the players to see this shifting and changing each day.
5. Any particularly great narrative moments from the event?
Two huge things to note. Obitus Exitium saved the life of the Raptors 4th Company Captain by placing him into a stasis pod in Wyvern’s Keep. However, when they opened another pod an unknown space marine within from an unknown chapter fell out and died, chaotic whispers rose across the planet bringing with it unknown consequence that we will discover next year.
Salus Praetus delved deeper into an artificial planet within the system to discover STC secrets held within. However, once we entered the depths below the surface, the Salus Praetus warlords were greeted by a very upset forge daemon swearing wrath upon us for entering his domain, but we also potentially set him free from a place that was holding him (I think we even had a clue from last year the planet was a prison… we may have made some mistakes). I’m a little worried for Sergeant Steel’s future after that reveal.
6. Do you think you will go back next year? If so is there anything you would do differently?
There is no way I am missing 2024. Chris weaves such an amazing story and runs such a smooth and fun event. The players as well were phenomenal. I made so many new friends and had some of the best games of 40k of my life. The only thing I will do differently is update my cosplay to be much more comfortable.
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