CAMPAIGN: Thoughts on using Battle Missions, Part 2

 So how can we use these categorizations in a campaign? This, of course, depends on which kind of campaign we are playing.

For a map campaign, there is generally an attacker and a defender, which certainly simplifies matters. Battle missions can be used here to add a bit more flavorful spice to the proceedings. To decide whether you use the Attacker's or Defender's mission there could be a strategy roll, determined either by a simple roll off or even going back to the old Strategy Ratings. Sufficient success on the roll (say, 3 or 4 more than the opponent's roll) could allow an army to use its Envelopment mission. If they win, it results in greater gains for them, as in an extra territory conquered, and of course greater losses if they lose the mission as well. Even if the attacker ties it would still count as a (normal) loss. Think of it as a double-down move where you win big or go home. Standard (or nearly standard, such as Dice Like Thunder missions) could also be incorporated into this schema in the case that there is a tie for the Strategy roll.

You could also have access to different Missions be tied to different hexes or nodes. Control a territory that has a large defense installation on it? Congratulations, you may now use the Prepared Assault mission when you are attacking. Is the terrain on a certain hex very dense, or has been prepared to hold off invasion for some time? You can use the Trench Warfare or Close Quarters Action to defend this area.

They may also allow you to perform special maneuvers. Take the Daemon's Invasion mission for example. They could use this as a defensive mission (such as the defense of their "capital", or the first entry point) or they could use it to launch an assault anywhere on the board and have a new rallying point for their forces. This could be coopted by another army to represent a massive teleporter/tellyporta/wraith gate that the enemy forces can use.

A narrative campaign could also use the missions in a very straightforward manner, as shown by the tree below:

The great thing about this format is that if you are bored playing a certain set of missions you can always either switch armies or simply reorganize your selection of missions from the others in the Battle Missions book. Play a Guard army that relies on speed and reserve tactics instead of the old gunline? Switch out Trench Warfare for a more fluid defense mission like Feigned Retreat or Cut & Run instead. And if you wanted to stick with the Missions aspect of the campaign, you can always switch out the Apocalypse at the end for Clash of Heroes, which is often just as epic.

So those are my thoughts. This isn't intended to be the end all be all of Battle Missions campaign usage, but more of a jumping off point for your own adventures. The great thing about the book is that it adds a lot of flavor to your campaigns with very little effort on your part, making campaigns easier to plan and more enjoyable to run. It's a great resource, and a lot of fun too.

So let's hear it. What ideas do YOU have for using the book in campaigns?

CAMPAIGN: Thoughts on Using Battle Missions, part 1

 As a bit of a follow up to my initial thoughts on using Kill Team in campaigns I thought I'd post a bit about using the other parts of the Battle Missions book... namely, the Battle Missions.

For those of you not in the know, each race in 40k gets 3 specialized Battle Missions, each with unique deployment options, objectives and special rules. Each race's Missions are intended to be very true to the central tenets of that faction- Space Marines strike with careful planning and plenty of orbital drops, Dark Eldar raid opposing militaries for slaves and lead them into ambushes, and the Imperial Guard march to war with the backing of heavy artillery and well constructed defenses.

After paging through the book a few times, I noticed a pattern emerging. Almost all of the races' missions can be categorized as one of three options: Attack, Defend, and Envelopment. Attack and Defend don't need further explanation, but Envelopment probably does. I see this as a risky gambit used by an army that could either turn out amazingly well or turn into a crushing defeat. Examples might be all or nothing Alpha strikes, desperate counter attacks and any tactic that tries to use the enemy's momentum against them.

For example, let's take a look at the Imperial Guard missions. Prepared Assault is the Imperial Guard's Attack mission, as they bravely surge against the enemy's lines with the thunderous boom of their cannons (mostly) aiding their approach. War of Attrition is a good example of an Envelopment mission, as the Guard decide to use the enemy's momentum against them by using their superior disposability to force the enemy to commit ever more troops to the conflict. It's a risky strategy, but one that can pay off big if they win. Finally, Trench Warfare has the Guard in a supremely Defensive position, as units that don't move are considered to have dug in and therefore receive area terrain cover saves and there are plenty of prepared obstacles available.

Here are my thoughts on which races' missions are Attack, Defense and Envelopment.

Chaos Space Marines: Pillage, Black Crusade, Scorched Earth
Chaos Daemons *: Night Fight, Invasion, Fight to the Death
Dark Eldar: Dawn Raid, Slave Raid, Feigned Retreat
Eldar: Pre-Emptive Strike, Flank Attack, Mobile Defense
Imperial Guard: Prepared Assault, War of Attrition, Trench Warfare
Necrons *: Ambush, Reconnaissance in Force, Implacable Advance
Orks: Blitzkrieg, Waaaagh!, Cut & Run
Space Marines: Vanguard, Surprise Attack, All-Around Defense
Tau: Vertical Envelopment, Counter Attack, Fighting Withdrawal
Tyranids *: First Contact, Wave Assault, Infestation

This is just my personal view on things- you can of course make your own designations. You may also notice that several entries have an * next to their name. These are the ones that I believe don't necessarily hold to the archetype.

Chaos Daemons are no surprise as they tend to be format warpers, ha ha. And yes, you can feel free to hit me for that one. Their missions are thematically based on either location or time of the attack rather any kind of strategy. I chose Invasion as an inappropriately named Defense mission because often other forces will try to close the portal, thus making the Daemons defend it, but it could just as easily be used in an assault (I hear those things can just pop up wherever they damn well please!).

Likewise, Necron missions are more about time and location than anything else. They represent the formulaic strategy that the armies of the star gods use to wage war. The Necrons do not defend, as they simply materialize near the battle site, execute the mission, and then go on their merry way. Ambush is about as close to a defense mission that they have, but that's really only emblematic of people unknowingly awakening a Tomb World at the start of the hostilities.

Tyranids, like the Necrons, have a bit of an escalation feel to them. We start with first hostilities, escalate to repeated assaults on the defenders, and finally escalate to the final part of the campaign where both sides have well adapted to each other. Infestation is the closest to a defense mission as the world's counterattack would probably involve battle hardened veterans of earlier assaults, and the Nids will be on ground that they are familiar with. Still, not as clean cut as the others.

Next time, I take a look at how we can integrate these missions into the different types of campaigns. See you then.

The above image is from Games Workshop and is used without permission.

KILL TEAM: Thoughts on its use in Campaigns

I've been thinking about Kill Team a lot lately. Maybe it was the huge brawl from last Tuesday, or maybe it has intersected and mixed with my thoughts on my Changeling campaign, but most of my thoughts have been on how to best incorporate small units into campaign style missions. There are two general categories of campaigns that my thoughts incorporate, map based and narrative. BTW, thanks to Col Corbane for the handy dandy blog that he has on campaigns- it's been a great read so far!

We'll begin with my thoughts on map based. I've been thinking about 40k campaigns in general for a bit now, probably ever since the end of the last (and first) that I was involved with. It was a bit of a trial by fire as it was a massive map based game with resource allocation, veterancy stats, different types of terrain, etc... really, quite a bit TOO much going on, especially for someone who a) didn't have proper models yet (oh cardboard box Wave Serpents, you were great!) and b) had just started playing the game.

But anyway, back on topic, the particular rules set that we were using had two different kinds of battle groups- normal armies and recon forces. The normal armies were, well, normal armies, while the recon forces were limited to 500 pts of whatever you wanted. These forces had a longer LOS on the campaign map and could attempt to sneak about the map gathering intel on the enemy.

One thing that I found very distressing about this was that units with Stealth, Infiltrate and Scout were no better at, well, being stealthy, infiltrating or scouting than any other unit. Especially as a member of a force equipped with Rangers and Pathfinders this was a bit of a slap in the face.

So this has led back to more thoughts by me- how could I simulate a small, elite team of commandos attacking an enemy installation? The answer of course, being Kill Team. This is a rough draft of what the mission might look like:

++++++++++++

Kill Team Mission: Sabotage

Your squad has been charged with destroying materiele vital to the enemy's war effort- live or die, destroy the target!

The Kill Team consists of the standard mission size as found in the Battle Missions expansion. In addition, the Specialists optional rule is in use for the attacker's forces. As this mission is taking place far behind enemy lines the Kill Team may ONLY contain models that have the Stealth, Infiltrate and/or Scout USRs. This may include models that are given one of these USRs as part of their Specialist training.

Optional rule: Units with Deep Strike may also be used, including units that gain this ability from a vehicle.

In addition, one infantry model in the Attacker's kill team must be given the Demolitions Specialist ability. This model is equipped with a demolitions charge. If the model is killed it drops the charge. Any other infantry model that moves within 1" of the charge may pick it up, and is from then on considered equipped with it.

The Defender will set up the terrain for the mission and include one building that will be designated the Target. The Defender then deploys first anywhere that he or she chooses on the map. The Attacker then chooses a table quarter that his or her team is attacking from and deploys there.

Objective: Normal Kill Team objectives are in effect, in addition to the destruction of the Target. If a model equipped with a demolitions charge assaults the Target it will be rigged to explode.

The outcome of this mission might be that the enemy loses access to one of its Heavy Support or Fast Attack slots in the next mission, or any other detriment that you think is sufficiently nasty for players to wish to do this.

++++++++++++

A way to make sure that sending in a Kill Team isn't simply an automatic choice might be that every player has a limited number of Specialist points- if they are killed while on mission, you lose the Specialist points and may soon be unable to conduct your black ops missions.

Other variations on this mission exist- you could have an Assassination run to execute the enemy commander, depriving the enemy of their HQ in the coming battle (though the HQ would likely be able to participate in the Kill Team mission, making it quite a bit harder for the attacker!), just something that would affect the campaign map or the next mission.

This particular kind of mission could also be incorporated into Narrative campaigns quite easily. Many huge conflicts begin with the smallest of actions, and Kill Team is very representative of this in the 40k universe. What might begin as a squabble between the Governor's guards and the local Guard regiment might escalate into full blown heresy, or a particularly nasty orbital defense laser might have to be eliminated before the Planetstrike can begin. Of course, the normal Kill Team mission may also be used to spice up the action. Perhaps as a campaign opener both sides are fighting over an alien artifact- depending on who wins the mission their army might have to make a fighting retreat while the enemy pursues them in force?

So there are a lot of ideas out there, and I'll probably be coming back to this subject in the future as I really want to put on a cool, probably narrative campaign sometime in the future for my FLGS. I'll try include my initial thoughts on campaigns and the Battle Missions book in general sometime later this week.