40K Missions WIP

I know October is a bit out, especially since it is the middle of summer, hot and humid here in New York, but yours truly has been humbly working on a set of twelve missions for the upcoming Battle For Salvation RTT tournament in October. Did I mention that I will be running a mini-tournament event either on Friday or Sunday in addition to the main event being run by the club?

This will definitely be a HOBBY tournament in both scale of points and mission objectives. My hope is to provide a venue for some fun games and allow all armies to compete evenly as much as possible despite the overall lag in codex releases from GW. Necrons should be able to fare as well as Space Wolves, in theory anyway…

First up is the points level- going to be around 1000-1200 points so you HAVE to make choices in building your army. Sure, spam can still exist, but losing that terminator squad WILL hurt big time since you don’t have two more plus all you tanks, etc.

In writing the missions I’m trying to do two things- have a tactical objective for a clear winner, along with a random seed or event in the mission which you will have to deal with. Can this bite you in the ass- it sure can so you have to have tactics down as best you can to make up for it, and you can be sure it will be biting your opponent also. Below is the first mission that I have been working on, and it, along with the others is still very much a WIP- which is good that it is July- plenty of time to refine them. Thought, comments, and flames welcomed and encouraged.

When the twelve missions are done, the entire mission pack will be released so guys and gals entering the tournament know what they are getting involved with as a hobby event- for each round a random mission will be picked so during the day of the event only 3-4 will be played in total...

Mission: Machine Curse

Longinus and his squad of initiates slowly approached the hulking dreadnought, picking their way quietly through the ruins and broken rubble.

The tech adepts of Mars had divined that the war machine had powered down and was now safe approach for recovery, but Longinus still wasn’t taking any chances.

“Lionus, take point!” voxed Longinus making sure his melta-gun had a point blank shot

Even tech-adepts have been known to be wrong from time to time…

Command has assigned your task force with the recovery of wargear salvage from a destroyed dreadnought class war machine. Scanners indicate enemy presence and be prepared in case the machine powers back up.

Table Setup

Place a piece of area terrain in the center of the table, as players then take turns placing terrain and scattering it 3D6. Once terrain has been set up place a dreadnought or other appropriate "machine" model in the center and take turns scattering six objective markers 2D6 using the center of the dreadnought as the center point. If a “hit” is scored place the objective marker in base contact with the dreadnought.

Deployment

After the terrain has been scattered and the dreadnought/objectives set up, players roll for table sides and deploy 8” for their chosen table side.

Mission Objectives & Special Rules

Players must try and recover as many tech objects (represented by the markers) as possible by the end of the game. The player that controls the most at the end wins. Objective markers may be picked up by a unit if they are “infantry” by moving into base contact with the objective in the movement phase. As soon as this happens the objective marker is now part of the unit and the unit may continue moving, shooting, and assaulting as normal. If the unit is destroyed or removed from play then the objective marker is placed back on the table in base contact to the last model removed. Units with an objective marker may also embark/disembark to/from vehicles.

In addition to fighting the opposing side and trying to recover as many objective markers as possible there is a chance each turn that the dreadnought will power back up and start going berserk using the rules below:

At the start of every turn if no models are within 18” of the dreadnought roll 1D6 and on a “1-5” the dreadnought stays powered down, and on a “6” it activates. In addition, once any models approach within 18” or less the dreadnought automatically activates. Each turn the dreadnought is active roll 1d6 and consult the chart below:

1: Fire Smart: Pivot the dreadnought on the spot and fire all its weapons at the closest unit. Range, cover, etc. apply.

2: Fire Insane: Pivot the dreadnought on the spot and fire all its weapons at the farthest unit. Range, cover, etc. apply.

3: Shamble Around: Roll 2D6 + a scatter die and move the dreadnought in that direction. If a “hit” is scored continue to move the full 2D6 using the arrow direction on the scatter die.

4: Insane Assault: The dreadnought moves 6” in its movement phase, runs D6 in the shooting phase and then assaults D6 all heading towards the closest unit. Terrain tests apply and may prevent the dreadnought from assaulting.

5: Power Down: The dreadnought powers back down following the above D6 or 18” rule.

6: Malfunction: Belching smoke and machine fluids the dreadnought takes no turn this action.

The Dreadnought has the following profile: WS 4, BS 4, S10, I4, A2, Twin-Linked Las Cannon, Dreadnought Close Combat Arm With Built In Storm Bolter.

Note that the dreadnought has no armor value and for the duration of the scenario cannot be shaken, stunned, weapon destroyed, immobilized or destroyed for the game.

Ending The Game

The game lasts seven turns and at the end of the game the player with the most tech-objectives in their possession is the winner. If there is a tie on objectives then the side with the most kill points wins, tie on kill points, then it goes to victory point.