Sunday, August 31, 2014

Intermission - Silence

++++++++ EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION - GRADE MXXIV

++++++++ From: Dietrick Armengarde, Rogue Trader, Captain of the Dies Suberbia
++++++++ Via astropath - beacon: ERROR
++++++++ Countersignal: ERROR



Everything is silent, and by the Emperor it harrows my mind beyond anything the visions ever did. After the disastrous collision and it's aftermath, everything has been calm. The visions abruptly stopped, and left behind them a nothingness that were even more maddening than it's predecessor since it leaves me so aware of our current situation, and the fact that nothing has been heard from the blasted Imperium.

Down at the planet surface, a kind of calm has settled in the ruins. The vermin down there still fight constantly, in skirmishes, ambushes or pure slaughter. Since stealing as much of my personal belongings that they could carry, they seem to merely fight for suppliers and survival at the moment while probably squandering away the artifacts now lost to me. The imbeciles will never realize their true value. One of them is probably using the Chalice of Mythandor as a mere drinking cup. The atrocity!

I cannot fathom why I even bother to send these messages anymore. No one has answered me yet, or probably even heard them. It has become a ritual in it's own way, to give me a reason to lift my voice in this eternal silence. And it is with silence I will end this message.

...


No special mission is available this week. However, any player may still use their remaining tries to fight for legendary weapons.

Use this week to catch up and simply try out your teams in the regular missions provided, without special circumstances to hinder you.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Chapter IV - The Rains of Promise

++++++++ EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION - GRADE MXXIV

++++++++ From: Dietrick Armengarde, Rogue Trader, Captain of the Dies Suberbia
++++++++ Via astropath - beacon: ERROR
++++++++ Countersignal: ERROR




The emergency contigency has been increased to grade MXXIV now, due to several recent breaches in the hull. Emperor curse these warp phenomena! When we are not being plagued by horrific visions and nightmares we are instead being bombarded with debris launched from nowhere. Recently, another inactive imperial vessel suddenly arrived on a collision course. It was merely a smaller cargo ship which grazed us, but the impact tore away my personal quarters and armory. I cannot fathom the worth of relics that where now lost and scattered into the void or fell to the planet below. To add further insult to injury, the cargo ship where locked in orbit too far from us to be reached in a void suit, and none of our shuttles are operational. A possible salvation taunts us now, lingering so close that it feels like I could simply reach out and grasp it.

On Maelstrom Congeris the fight for survival rages on amongst all the traitors, xenos and heretics. These small, insignificant fools seems to have been able to escape the confines of the Hive. I will not waste my breath on the injustice that they enjoy freedom yet again while someone as noble as myself still are confined to his prison. Me and what remains of my personal advisors have taken to the habit of betting on the next actions of the small, insignificant creatures below. That, at least, gives us the taste of the power we deserve; betting trinkets on the lives of lesser beings.

The scattered pieces of my ship that rained down upon the planet does not seem to have gone unnoticed by them. Like vultures and vermin they now move towards the now flooded areas in hope of searching through the refuse of a much greater man than they will ever meet. New bets will be placed, although I personally hope that they will stumble upon the stasis field containing the Plague of Dynmeos so that I can laugh while their flesh melts from their bones.

Don't you dare meet me with more silence. I know that someone out there is recieving this, and if you know what is good for you, you will relay this to imperial officials this instant. I am an important member of the imperial society, a devout man who has always served the Emperor with fervor and I will not be ignored!



New special mission - What lies beneath...
Debris rains down upon the new coastline of Maelstrom Congeris, scattering down amongst the flooded ruins of the vast former city. The forces must brave to crimson shallows to see if anything recoverable has rained down. They will be surprised what the arsenal of a wealthy Rogue Trader may contain...

The mission uses the horizontal deployment  from the original missions 1,2 and 6 in the Kill Team rules.

The terrain of the board shall mainly be built out of ruins, with at least five larger open areas containing lesser cover (e.g chest-high walls). Place an objective in each of these open areas (preferably in a creater for the proper cinematic approach). Also, place makeshift walkways between ruins close to each other.

All open terrain on the ground level of the board are classed as Difficult Terrain, due to the waist-high crimson waters that covers the streets of the city. However, any unit that goes to ground in the waters recieves an additional +1 to their cover saves.

To win the mission, a player must hold more objectives than his/her opponent at the end of the game.

This scenario may be attempted up to three times per player. The winner of this scenario may generate a Legendary Weapon. Also, if the player already have a legendary weapon and rolls one of the same type (melee of ranged) then the player may choose to re-roll that result. The re-roll must be made immediately, before rolling any other stats for the weapon.  A player may only gain one legendary weapon during this week. 

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Chapter III - Strange world, stranger bedfellows...

++++++++ EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION - GRADE MXVIII

++++++++ From: Dietrick Armengarde, Rogue Trader, Captain of the Dies Suberbia
++++++++ Via astropath - beacon: ERROR
++++++++ Countersignal: ERROR


Why has nothing been heard? Why has no answer been given? Surely the Emperor's might is enough to deliver his faithful servant from the silent jaws of oblivion? For two Terran months I have waited and, Emperor forgive my impudence, I am starting to lose faith. Most of the crew are dead, either by rioting or suicide. The halls of the mighty Dies Superbia has been given an eerie and haunted feeling , and neither of the surviving key personnel has escaped the nightmares which followed. Something is here with us and, Emperor protect me, I do not know if it is real or not. Two terran days ago, Arch-Militant Gascaard was found dead in his chamber. He had taken his own life. I have named a replacement, but I fear that the darkness we are dwindling down into will claim her as well as we slowly spiral towards some terrible fate.

Down on the mad planet below, the situation seems even more dire. The whole continent has recently been shaken by great tremors as a great ocean materialized above a part of the great landmass. The unimaginable amount of red-tinted water crashed down upon parts of the land, shaking the rest with a great earthquake. The remains of Hive Infelix was spared a watery doom, but my sensors indicate that the tremors caused a great number of Hive-quakes, causing great parts of the gigantic structure to collapse. The auspex can still pick up activity from it's depths, giving me reason to think that some of the forces in the depths of it's vaults have managed to survive. It gives me a strange sense of justice to see them trapped, just like me.

The communication has become more garbled and filled with static since the tremors, but what I am able to pick up fills me with loathing. It seems like some parts of the forces has forged temporary alliances, and all seems to be hell bent on finding a way out. What desperation that would drive and imperial citizen to willingly side with the vile xenos or vicious heretics is beyond my understanding, although a person of my own stature and integrity could never fathom the mind of traitors. May they all slowly wither away in the depths, deserving of a much worse death than this loyal servant.

You must come. I have always been loyal. I deserve this salvation, this reward for my faith. You must come!




Special Mission - The Tunnels

The forces find themselves trapped in the dark, dwindling tunnels beneath the Hive. Supplies are short, and enemies could lurk behind every corner. The situation leads to desperation, desperation leads to doubt, doubt leads to compromising and compromising leads to makeshift alliances. The allure of one less enemy to fight gives way to temporary alliances between enemies, until they are clear of these infernal tunnels. After that, no pardon will be shown. This might lead to their salvation, but alas, others have gotten the same idea.

This mission is played with 4 players divided into two teams. The model's of the team uses the rules for Allies of convenience.

The mission uses the horizontal deployment  from the original missions 1,2 and 6 in the Kill Team rules.

When setting up terrain, use buildings an walls to form tunnels of varying width and length, along with smaller open spaces like rooms. 

The space between these tunnels are considered impassable terrain, even for jump infantry and jet pack infantry. Only models that moves via means of teleportation may pass in between the walls, but this is riskier than usual. When moving such a model, state that the model will try to move between the tunnel walls. If the move of the model is not enough to to completely pass the wall, the model is moved through but immediately takes a S5 AP2 hit as parts of it materializes in the solid walls. Once stated that such a jump will be attempted, the owner of the model cannot elect to move another way if the distance isn't enough.

Due to the close quarters and cramped nature of the tunnels, it is easier to fire upon charging enemies. Any model firing overwatch may do it on it's full BS if it can succeed on an initiative test. 

The objective of the game is to kill as much points worth of models from the opposing team as possible. A slain model awards it's point cost as victory points to the opposing team. A team wins if they have killed 100+ more points worth of models than the opposing team. 

In the case of rout, remove all the models from the routing team. That player is still considered to have won if his/her ally manages to win, but all of the routing players models are counted as casualties at the end of the game for the purpose of calculating victory points. 

Make note of which team that you play this scenario with during the week. This may vary from game to game. At the end of the week, all players may choose a single free item from one of the armories belonging  to a team that the player won a game/played a draw with . This item may cost up to 15 pts, and can be given to any Team leader or special model which normally have access to the armory. Armours may not be chosen, and the campaign moderator must approve of each player's choice, to prevent any of greater imbalance. This item ignores any restrictions such as <model x> only. How they procured the item is up to the players. Whether it was given as a gift, stolen or something else, the effect is the same. The item, like a legendary weapon, does not increase the point value of a model.

An example: An Astra Militarum team fights alongside a host of Necrons and are victorious. In accordance of the ancient codes of battle, the Necron Lord commands his Cryptek  to give the Commanding officer a Gloom Crystal as a gift, to honour their temporary collaboration and their return to being honourable opponents. 

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Chapter II - Here be treasure...

++++++++ EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION - GRADE MXVIII

++++++++ From: Dietrick Armengarde, Rogue Trader, Captain of the Dies Suberbia
++++++++ Via astropath - beacon: ERROR
++++++++ Countersignal: ERROR


By the Light of the most Hallowed God Emperor of Mankind, Aegis of Terra, Infinite in Wisdom, Unwavering in Resolve and Purifier of all that is Vile.

As I reach out in hope of reaching your divine gaze yet again, we are entering our seventh month of being on the other side of the looking glass. Emperor forgive my weakness, but I feel that the metaphor quite accurately describes our current situation. My tech priests have restored more of the different Auspexes and sensors to function, enabling me to more accurately bear witness to the world below and even intercepting parts of communications between the forces below. Alas, I still do not have any way to communicate back to them and therefore seems to still be forced into the role of the silent and unseen observer. Hopefully my earlier astropathic messages have reach thee and hopefully my fellow servants in thy name are well in their way to ensure our salvation. In the meanwhile, all I can do is watch.

So far, I have been able to observe a number of factions below. One of the forces seems to be human and imperial, although their somewhat archaic attire and speech gives me reason to think that they trace their origin to some of the more distant and uncivilized parts of the Great Imperium of Man. More of the Emperor's finest have been observed, a detachment of imperial guardsmen which seems like good and Emperor-fearing men, although somewhat... plebeian... of speech and manners. When I gazed into the shadows I could also discern the vile xeno-species of the Eldar, always in the periphery of the fighting and only moving when their enemies where weakend from battling each other. As a loyal servant of thee I abhor such treachery, but my archivist has informed me that such is to be expected from their vile kind. Even more vile is the forces of the corrupted Astartes moving about down below. No communications has been registered from them; they seem to move about only to spread their corruption and unleash their vile balefire upon human and xeno alike. From what I have witnessed, I concur that their corruption are one of the greatest threats to our great Imperium, one that must be purged with utmost impunity. Lastly, I have picked up chatter on the comms from crude voices which can below to no other than the foul orks, although the brutes have yet to enter the fighting in our line of vision.

The activity still seems to be centered around the remains of hive Infelix, and the traces of battle picked up by our scanners now emanate from it's core. While my situation is both lonely and frustrating, it still seems preferable to what I imagine takes place so deep within the dark halls of the Hive. Emperor protect thy loyal servants inside.

Emperor, thy servant can only remain here to report the tidings to thee while waiting for thy servants to come to my aid. By the most holy light of the Astronomican we look for guidance. Lead our saviors to us, and let the Aegis of Mankind allow us to survive until this time is nigh.

The Emperor protects.



Special Mission - The Archeotech Vaults
As the desperate survivors advances further into the Hive, they come upon vaults of ancient technology hidden away near it's core. These caches are few, scattered and most of all coveted by all. Any force wanting to plunder it's riches will always have to compete against others. The survivors might return with ancient weaponry, as unstable as it is destructive.

This mission uses a special kind of deployment, as in the picture below:


When wetting up terrain, focus the terrain around the Relic and have a lighter amount of cover around the deployment zones. The players roll for deployment and deploys their forces as usual.

The objective in this scenario is to secure the relic, and therefore gaining access to the cache of Archeotech weaponry. This is done by either having one of your models carrying the relic at the end of the game, or bringing the relic within 6" of the corner in the players deployment zone. If this is achieved, the game ends immediately. The Relic follows the normal rules for relics as in the ordinary scenarios of the warhammer 40k rulebook with the following clarification; if carrying the relic, the only moves the model is allowed to make in the assault phase is a charge. This means that a model carrying the relic can not make other moves in the assault phase, such as jet bike infantry or the eldar jet bikes.

In addition to the normal amount of requisition points, the winning player shall immediately generate a legendary weapon at the end of the game.

A player may attempt this mission three times, but may only gain one legendary weapon total. If the player already has one, no roll is made.

Moderator's note: It is encouraged to play more games even if a player has already gotten a weapon, to allow other players that chance as well.