Obolis Invasion: The Charadon Campaign

[Jye Nicolson]

I'm thinking to take my Orks out for a bit on TTS when I get some time, so that should be a very easy win for your Nurgle boys.

You keep talking them down but I believe in the Orks! Though I suppose the Great Unclean One should make hay while the sun shines before that new Mad Dok comes for him

[Mattb]

I'm thinking to take my Orks out for a bit on TTS when I get some time, so that should be a very easy win for your Nurgle boys.

You keep talking them down but I believe in the Orks! Though I suppose the Great Unclean One should make hay while the sun shines before that new Mad Dok comes for him

Oh Orks can be decent, just not the way I play them. I figure Nurgle struggles with movement and getting to the enemy quick enough - my Evil Sunz will solve your army's problem for them.

We'll have a game sometime and find out!

[Jye Nicolson]

Round 1 Standings May 23rd

Defenders: 23
Invaders: 16
Raiders: 20


The clash of the Evil Sunz and the Juvenal Conspiracy resulted in a strategic draw between the Invader and Raider teams, to the benefit of both their causes (though an awful lot of green blood - of various kinds - was spilled all over the battlefield to secure it).

This has tightened up the race considerably!

[Jye Nicolson]

Final Standings for Round 1 - the Razing of Chromyd

Defenders: 38
Invaders: 27
Raiders: 23


The Defenders win Phase 1, and gain 1 Strategic Value point for their trouble. The Raiders had a solid chance to catch up today, the Invaders were a bit further behind but still doable, but the Tarsonian Ashwalkers absolutely smashed it (with some support from the Black Templars and the Sisters of Battle*) and put it out of contention.

Narratively this means the Imperium has withdrawn in good order from the Obolis subsector and in particular the world of Okharium where the desperate final battle took place. They have lost the subsector but have preserved most of their forces to defend the Metalican Gates, and prevented the Raiders from getting too much loot/biomass.

The next phase will be worth 2 Strategic Value points (and spoiler alert, the third phase will be worth 3), so this early victory by no means guarantees a Defenders/Imperial win for the campaign. Time for the enemies of the Imperium to strike back!

Remember to add the phase rewards to your Crusade forces:

- 5XP distributed among your units as you please if you are in Defenders (ie the Imperium Crusades)
- 2 RP if you are in Invaders (ie Chaos)
- 2 RP if you are in Raiders (ie Xenos)

Note this is a change to the original plan of only 1 RP to the second place getters, but in this case I don't think the Invaders actually won enough games for there to be a meaningful amount of victor bonuses to offset; with the scores as close as they were the noise introduced by my points going to whoever was running 3rd (Invaders right up to the last game today) obscured any signal.


Also remember to check the phase 1 post above to see if you qualified for any of the achievements (eg lost every game, started your Crusade, taught someone to play).

I will get a post up with the Phase 2 details sometime in the next week - it'll look pretty similar but this time the theater of war rules will reflect fighting over Mechanicus redoubts filled with the glorious technology of the Omnissiah.


War Diary of Master Inquisitor Tara - Late of the Chromyd System, presently at the Metalican Gates

Fabricator General Khleng has played into the enemy's hands by withdrawing the Adeptus Mechanic and unleashing the Eradication Hulks on our own worlds. I myself saw Okharium burned to cinders not even an hour after our last transport escaped the surface. Obolis is lost, and far earlier than I had planned.

Yet despite Khleng's betrayal of our cause, we have seized hope from the very jaws of despair. Our fighting retreats were victories, and the looming slaughter never occurred. The holds of our fleets are filled with the Emperor's servants, extracted alive and safe through heroic effort.

We owe this to my colleague, Lucian Thule, whose Tarsonian Ashwalkers fought the Tyranids to a standstill at every turn, then retreated with discipline through the hell of Okharium.

We owe this to the Black Cherubs, who scourged that same alien menace, and the Black Templars, whose bitter struggle against the Druhkari prevented them from outflanking us in the final withdrawal. I must note the Daughters of Russ drove off a Necron incursion but only grudgingly, as they are currently sulking that there was a Thousand Sons warband in the field that nobody told them about.

And in further grudging acknowledgement, the High Lord Morvenn Vahl graced us with her presence, commandeered my Sisters, and then proceeded to completely misunderstand the concept of retreat. But in doing so she saved many lives, lives we will need at the Metalican Gates.

Neither I, Lord Thule, nor Lord Vahl have any intention of following the Fabricator General's orders, but with Obolis lost his strategy is the only course remaining to us. We will guard Rhodior, Brezantius and Ferior, though all the forces of hell pursue us there.











* I played Drukhari and Sisters on the final game day but all my points went to the Invaders due to me always awarding my points to whoever was losing at the time. This still wasn't enough but is part of the reason why they were able to pass the Raiders.

[Jye Nicolson]

Phase Two - The Gates Besieged

Despite the heroic efforts of the Imperial defenders, Chromyd fell to the invading armies of Chaos when Fabricator General Khleng betrayed his allies by withdrawing all Mechanicus forces back to the Metalican Gates - Rhodior, Brezantius and Feiror. While desperate pockets of resistance remain throughout Chromyd and Obolis subsector, the main body of the defenders had no choice but to fall back in disgust to hold the line where Khleng had drawn it. The opportunistic and inscrutable xenos warbands swarming at the edges of the conflict gleefully exploited the shifting of the front to pillage the now defenceless worlds left in its wake.

Yet even they were soon forced to move, as Typhus made horrifying use of the spoils he had reaped. Beckoned by uncountable sacrifices, Rotigus Rainfather emerged from the warp with a virulent tide of his children and servants. His coming heralded hordes of daemons of all the ruinous powers tearing through the weakened veil, and suddenly nowhere was safe - least of all the Gates. Rotigus himself descended to the ocean world of Fathom in Feiror to infect the seas whole.

The escalating conflict draws yet more reinforcements for all sides...and has it finally reached the scale of being a "proper scrap" to the discerning greenskins?


Period:

Until the end of the August game day

As with Phase One we may postpone the end if Covid disruptions make it hard to get enough games in over the two game days.


War Zone Points earned per game:

Play any game: 1

Draw/Win Combat Patrol: 1/2

Draw/Win Incursion: 2/3

Draw/Win Strike Force: 3/4

Draw/Win Onslaught: 4/5


A maximum of 20 points towards any Alliance can be earned per player during the phase, plus any for Heroic Achievements.



Theatre of War: Metalican Redoubt

Both players get a bonus War Zone point if they agree to use the following Theatre of War rules during their game to represent the array of ancient technologies littering Forgeworld Metalica's outer ring of defensive planets:

Battle Assets

After choosing deployment zones, the Defender selects one of the following assets. After they have chosen, the Attacker selects one of the remaining assets.

1. Repulson-Shield Dome

-1 Strength to ranged attacks targeting any of your units wholly within your deployment zone.

2. Grav-wave Shock Mines

Enemy units treat all obstacle and area terrain features that are not wholly within their deployment zone as Difficult Ground.

3. Noospheric Data Uplink

Add 3 to Aura ranges for your army (to a maximum of 12"). Each time you spend a command point, roll 1D6. On a 6 that command point is refunded.

4. Rapid Engagement

You may reroll charge rolls, and add 1 to all charge rolls.

5. Aggression Enhancers

You may reroll hit rolls for models in your army that made a charge move in the same turn. Add 1" to pile in and consolidate distances for your army.

6. Transonic Emitters

Add +1 to hit rolls for ranged attacks your army makes against units within 9"






Special Mission: Flood Tide on Fathom

It is not enough for Rotigus Rainfather to infect the oceans of Fathom and poison the breadbasket of Obolis; he will see every last defender drowned beneath the putrid waves.
His forces swarm towards the great pumps of the vast aqua-extraction rigs, while their defenders struggle desperately to stay above the rising waters.

You gain a bonus War Zone point the first time you play this mission in this phase.

This is a narrative mission recreating the Rotigus' attempts to literally drown the defenders of Fathom, and revolves around pumps that can raise and lower the water level.

Rather than try to reproduce the mission whole here, please grab me at a game day for access to the Book of Rust if you don't have it already to play the mission. Briefly though game revolves around completing actions on objectives to raise or lower the flood level. Having enough units to conduct actions (or better yet complete actions while still shooting etc) will be vital.




Strategic Value Points

The winning Alliance for the phase gains 2 Strategic Value points



Crusade Rewards

Note: XP rewards can be distributed as you please between units on your Order of Battle

Winning Alliance: 5 XP

Second Place Alliance: 2RP

Losing Alliance: 2 RP




Achievements

If we die we die fighting so it don't count: 1 RP or 5 XP (your choice) if you lose every game for the phase

Vengeance for Nagoya: If you beat an opponent who defeated you earlier in the phase, you may choose an extra unit to be Marked for Greatness for that game

You Won't Escape Again: If you beat an opponent who is using an Imperium army, you may choose an extra unit to be Marked for Greatness for that game

Master of the 10th Company: 1 RP or 5 XP (your choice) for teaching someone to play 9th Edition 40K

Khorne Welcomes You: 1 RP and 5 XP for playing your first Crusade game of 9th Edition






Note: With Kill Team 2.0 releasing during this phase, it's quite likely we'll want to play some games of that too. I'll update with any houserules that make sense for integrating KT play more closely into the campaign, though as usual KT games will count towards the result either way.

[Jye Nicolson]

Remember how in Phase 1 we had Secret Missions to earn extra points for your Alliance?

Yeah, I pretty much forgot about those too. They turn out to be not that interesting, especially when in Crusade nobody *wants* to stop you achieving your Agendas so there's not a lot of tension in it.

The Book of Fire introduces a more interesting system, Heroic Achievements, so I'd like to bring those forward for this campaign arc rather than wait another six months or so to get at the goods.


Heroic Achievements

At the end of a battle, you may select one of the following achievements whose conditions you have fulfilled.

If this is the first time in a phase you have selected that achievement, you gain the listed reward.

On each subsequent time, you gain 2 bonus War Zone points for your Alliance (the CM is not eligible for this bonus).

A character unit that has been part of an army that achieved a Heroic Achievement four or more times may be eligible for a special reward at the end of the campaign (see Legendary Titles in the Book of Fire pg 118).

Reaper
Condition: One unit destroys four or more units during the battle
Reward: That unit gains 4XP

Psychic Domination
Condition: One unit destroys two or more units using psychic powers during the battle
Reward: That unit gains a Psychic Fortitude

Fortune Favours the Brave
Condition: An enemy unit is destroyed by an attack with a strength of half or less the enemy's toughness
Reward: The attacking unit gains 5XP

Tactical Masterclass
Condition: You score 90 VP from objectives
Reward: You may select three units for Marked For Greatness instead of one

Overrun
Condition: Every surviving friendly unit (must be at least four units) ends the game in your opponent's deployment zone
Reward: Each of those units gains 1XP, you gain 1RP

Secure at All Costs
Condition: There are at least four objective markers on the battlefield and you control every objective marker at the end of the game
Reward: For each objective marker you control, select one unit within range of an objective marker to receive 1XP. You gain 1RP.

Bloodied but Unbroken
Condition: One character unit that destroyed one or more enemy units has 1 wound remaining at the end of the game
Reward: That unit gains 4XP. You may use the Warlord Trait requisition on them for free, even if they have not gained a rank

Mighty Duel
Condition: Your Warlord destroys an enemy Warlord with a melee attack
Reward: Your Warlord gains one battle trait

Assassination
Condition: Your Warlord destroys an enemy Warlord by any means other than a melee attack
Reward: Your Warlord gains 4XP

Death Before Defeat
Condition: All of your units are destroyed but you win the game
Reward: Pick 1D3 units to automatically pass their Out of Action tests. Each unit gains 2XP for participating in the battle rather than 1

All But One
Condition: A unit that started with 10 or more models has only one model left at the end of the battle, and is in the opponent's deployment zone, in range of an objective marker that is not in your deployment zone, or in engagement range of any enemy units
Reward: That unit gains a Battle Honour

Bitter Struggle
Condition: At the end of the game, neither side has been completely destroyed, but both sides have 10% or less of their starting Power Level/Points on the table, and the VP difference is 10 or less.
Reward: You may select 3 units to be Marked for Greatness rather than 1. Gain 1 RP.

[Jye Nicolson]

Phase 2 Standings - July Game Day
(plus some TTS)

Defenders: 17
Raiders: 10
Invaders: 7 + Bonus 5 = 12


Defender Points Contributed:

Jye: 5
Balloonacorn: 6
Dekana: 6

Raider Points Contributed:

Mattb: 8
Karantu: 2

Invader Points Contributed:

Jye: 7


Achievements Claimed:

The Taran Heresy (Jye): Secure at All Costs, Overrun
Hit Squad (Dekana): Tactical Masterclass


Notes:

- We didn't roll out the last couple of turns of the big Orks vs Imperium clash, but there were four points and I held the field unopposed (since the Orks and Blood Angels decided to have a big scrap without me ) so I'll take the opportunity to claim Secure at All Costs as an example.

- Because two Invader players that were planning on coming couldn't make it for medical reasons I'm going to grant the Invaders a few points so that they're not totally off the pace.

- At this stage still planning to have the phase end next game day but if not many folks can make it for games (or if we plan on playing too much AoS ) we'll extend it.

[Jye Nicolson]

I put Dekana's Scions into the Defenders list (and then promptly lost to him ).

While that is an advantage to the Imperium I think it will work out as:

- Dekana won't be at game day and will thus only contribute via TTS
- I expect to see more Raider activity than Defender in general with the rise of the Orks!
- I plan to beat him next time

If I keep posting losses and thereby skew the campaign horribly I'll do something to bring it back into a reasonable state



War Diary of Master Inquisitor Tara

The Emperor's Scythes were out of position again, and I elected to show Lord Mirhen the courtesy of having a personal conversation, obliging me to go into the field after them.

I found Mirhen conducting one of his chapter's secretive rights on a moon in the Rhodior system, very far indeed from their post on Fathom where they should be warding off the incursion of the Rainfather. Before I could enquire as to what in Humanity's name he was doing, we were accosted by what I assumed was yet another unit of renegade Astra Militarum, hot dropping from Valkyries and likely infected with some sort of cursed brain fungus.

Imagine my surprise when on accosting these traitors, I found myself face to face with Inquisitor Kellan. Imagine my further surprise when they apparently felt an appropriate response to my appearance was their thunder hammer.

Once again the Scythes were obliged to retreat but seemed very happy with the result; since the arrival of their Apothecary -and far worse, the Captain Lazarus - into this theatre, the reliability that had once been the bedrock of my strategy is gone. While I'm upset Kellan did not show me more professional courtesy, I can see all too easily how they may have followed perfectly good intelligence to make their attack. Our next meeting will be awkward indeed, and worse, with the distinguished guests currently accompanying the Daughters of Russ and the Orders of the Sanguine Halo I don't have enough influence with any of the forces to retaliate surgically; it's likely a response would only benefit Typhus and Rotigus.

[Jye Nicolson]

Phase 2 Standings - August Game Day
(plus some TTS)

Defenders: 23
Invaders: 17 + Bonus 5 = 22
Raiders: 18 + Bonus 5 = 23



Defender Points Contributed:

Jye: 5
Balloonacorn: 6
Dekana: 6
Jus: 3
Matt: 3

Raider Points Contributed:

Mattb: 12
Karantu: 2
Tyranii-chan: 4

Invader Points Contributed:

Jye: 7
Dave: 4
Tallgeese: 6



Achievements Claimed:

The Taran Heresy (Jye): Secure at All Costs, Overrun
Hit Squad (Dekana): Tactical Masterclass


Notes:

I rewarded bonus points to Raiders for the August game day, since absences cost us on the Ork front and the catch up mechanism of my games going to the current losers. That keeps everyone in the hunt but it's still looking good for the Defenders. Any time we let an elite force stand in front of Matt's Guard it's a winning combo


Edit: Thanks to the machinations of Tzeentch and the hunger of the Hive Mind things stand on a knife edge! The Defenders have no security going into the final month of the phase.

[Jye Nicolson]

Kill Team and the Charadon Campaign


So Kill Team 2021 is out and we've had a look at its campaign system. Unsurprisingly, while it has its own wrinkles and influences from other games, its basic structure is very much like Crusade. In particular requistion points and XP work almost identically, so for the purposes of the campaign we can probably treat them interchangeably between the two systems.

So for the Charadon Campaign:

• Kill Team games count as Combat Patrol games for the purposes of War Zone points (ie 1/2/3 points for a loss/draw/win respectively)
• If you earn a Campaign Reward of RP or XP you may allocate it to a Crusade force or a Kill Team Spec Ops force of the appropriate alliance as you wish (eg if everyone in the Defenders alliance received 2RP for placing in Phase 2, I could give those RP to the Taran Heresy (Imperium Crusade) or the Daughters of Russ (Space Marines Kill Team), or give them one each)
• "I'm happy to play whatever": After a campaign game, you may assign any RP earned during that game to an appropriate force in the other system instead of to the force you played (eg after playing a Crusade game with Space Wolves from my Taran Heresy Crusade, I could assign the RP earned for that game to the Daughters of Russ Kill Team instead).