We willen graag nog eens een grote campaign doen in de Hermelijn. Dit soort campaigns duurt héél lang, en deze gaat waarschijnlijk jaren duren. De bedoeling is deze rustig op de achtergrond te laten doordraaien, aan een heel traag tempo. Deze post dient om te kijken wie er eventueel geïnteresseerd is om mee te doen. Dus als je eens een kwartier hebt, lees dan de regels en denk er eens over na. Wie zich graag wil inschrijven, stuur me daarvoor een PM, (want gewoon een reactie hier riskeert verloren te gaan tussen andere posts) Ik zal dat dan hier aanpassen.
Ingeschreven (herbevestiging november):
-Jeroen
-Arno
-Pieter
-Bart VM
-Peter
-Bolle
-Phillippe
Master of Hermelinus PrimeOf all dark corners in the galaxy, the Erminea sector is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most volatile. It has always been a warzone where every known (and unknown) race and faction in the galaxy was fighting at least 1 of the others, yet none of them was ever able to claim the sector as its own. Now, this is about to change. The main obstacle in establishing a lasting foothold in the sector has always been the unruly nature of the warp in that area. Stable warp paths were never found in the sector, and even the light of the astronomican is barely able to pierce the unreal storms. But legends tell of a lonely planet, orphaned from its star a long time ago, cut off from the rest of the universe by the warpstorm named ‘Singularity’. This planet would be a nexus for the elusive stable warp routes through the Erminea sector. The name of this mythical planet, is Hermelinus Prime.
The singularity is not a natural phenomenon (putting aside the question in how far a warp storm can be ‘natural’), but is caused by some unknown guardians, who use ancient, unknown and forbidden technology to sustain the singularity. The ones causing the singularity created a hidden path through it for their own use, a secret closely guarded. But like all secrets, it eventually leaked. Not as a whole, but bits and pieces became scattered across the sector, pieces of a map to navigate the storms and make the journey towards this mythical planet. Should one be able to reach it and deactivate the device causing the singularity, he will be able to call in reinforcements nigh momentarily from all over the galaxy, and have them anywhere within the sector in a heartbeat. The sector is certain to be his.
There is no telling how many pieces of the map one would need to find Hermelinus prime, but what is certain right now, is that one of the pieces has been located. It is in possession of the necron Overlord Dyvanakh, who resides on his crownworld Trakonn. The race is on.
Before you begin you should know a few things:
-Know what you are getting into. The scope of this campaign is damn big, it is slow-paced and likely to span years, every turn might take several months (but it will mostly depend on how many battles will need to be played that turn). While there will be systems in place to accommodate new players joining in and minimize the impact of players leaving, we’d rather not have to use them every other turn.
-New content can always be used the campaign turn after GW releases it. Because the forces will have fixed army lists a sudden change of them might be an advantage for a player. Therefore an army list will only be updated to the new content at a time it is entitled to change anyway. This means that there will be a transition period where that player will have a mix of armies where some use the old codex (or supplement, campaign book,…) and some use the new. Armies are eligible for change quite often, so this should not be a long period.
-The campaign leader is not a player, to ensure neutrality (and because actions are simultaneous and hidden from other players). The campaign leader will participate however, by controlling neutral armies on the map and orchestrating random events. Finally, the campaign leader is the final authority and while one may give argument and suggestions, his decisions are final and should not be questioned once they are made. This set of campaign rules was not written by a lawyer, and it is always possible some parts can be interpreted different as intended by the writer. Should this happen, the interpretation of the campaign leader is always the correct one. If you are not sure, ask him beforehand. The interpretation of the campaign leader supersedes RAW, because he will not be bogged down in endless discussions about it. The campaign leader reserves the right to make changes to the campaign rules if he perceives this is necessary for balance, or this would make the game more interesting. Such changes will ALWAYS be communicated well in advance (several campaign turns), and will usually be suggested to the players first, to see if there is enthusiasm for them.
-All actions you wish to do must be sent as PM on the forum. If the campaign leader did not receive it, it will not happen and you may waste your turn.
Declare your factionA player must declare a single codex/supplement that will be his faction (space marines must also declare which chapter tactics they will use). While you can go nuts with different detachments from different codexes and supplements, the warlord and primary detachment of all your forces must always be from the sourcebook that is your faction.
There are no codex-specific benefits in this rulespack. While they are fluffy, such kind of rules often lead to game imbalances and always lead to discussions over perceived game imbalances.
It is true the fluff does not entirely fit for all races. It is assumed they have their own reasons/ways. Even if only keeping it from the others.
ForcesAt any given time, a player will always have at least one army on the map, usually more. From now on, we will refer to these armies as ‘forces’. A force has a fixed army list, although there are plenty of opportunities to change this army list. Army lists must be submitted to the campaign leader every time a force is created or changes. A FORCE AUTOMATICALLY LOSES EVERY BATTLE AS LONG AS THE CAMPAIGN LEADER DOES NOT HAVE THIS LIST, OR AN INCORRECT LIST. When 2 armies clash, both players will be sent a copy of their opponent’s army in advance (this copy will not include bonus units from support and fortifications).
Forces are defined by their warlord. All warlords should be given a name by the player, and all bonuses a force acquires live and die by this warlord. Should a warlord be killed or changed, these bonuses will be lost. On the map, forces are identified by the name of this warlord. To avoid confusion, if your warlord is a named character (like Tigerius for example) You will need to rename it as well, mostly to not have battles like red Tigerius VS blue Tigerius, which would sound rather dumb.
The number of forces a player has on the map is 1, plus 1 for every 3 areas he controls. New forces are placed on a mustering grounds controlled by the player, or can arrive anywhere by warp travel. Arriving by warp travel will mean they will not arrive immediately however (see warp travel table). Should a player lose areas and a force needs to be removed from the map, he must specify which one is removed. If he fails to do this in time, the campaign leader will remove one at random. forces removed by lack of territory are not entirely lost. The next time a player would be entitled to add a new force, he may bring one of those back instead, including all bonuses (and injuries) the warlord had collected.
Army lists must be battleforged, but that is the only restriction. Forge world units and army lists are allowed. Keep in mind however, if this turns out to be going too wild, the campaign leader might change this.
Named characters and relics are, as per the narrative, unique. Across all of a player’s forces, named characters and relics can only be included once. (By relics we mean everything that passes for those in any given codex/supplement or even campaign book, like for eldar: remnants of glory, or chaos marines: chaos artefacts and so on. A good rule of thumb here is: If it can only be included once in an army, in this campaign, it can only be included once in all your armies combined.) 'Named characters' includes named unit upgrades (like Longstrike and Pask).
At first, the base value of forces will be 1000 points. At an unspecified point in the campaign, this will increase to 1500 and later to 2000. This will be communicated several turns in advance.
PlanetfallAt the start of the campaign, all players will secretly note down the area where their first force will begin. Should this be the same area or adjacent to one of another player, they will be warned by the campaign leader, and they get one last opportunity to change this, but this is not mandatory. The area where players start will automatically hold a mustering grounds.
Elimination, players joining and leavingIn the spirit of inclusion, no player can ever be truly eliminated. Should a player lose his last area, his last force may reenter the map as if it were a new force arriving by warp travel. This is the only point where a player may change his faction. New players will enter like this as well. When a player (re)enters like this, it is likely a new planet will be discovered for them, to prevent them being beset on all sides immediately and to accommodate more areas for more players. Planets of players leaving may be cut off by warpstorms if it seems their territory left behind would be too easy pickings for a single player.
VictoryVictory can be achieved in 2 ways:
-Controlling and holding over half of all areas for 3 consecutive turns.
-Controlling and holding the nexus on Hermelinus Prime for 3 consecutive turns.
The campaign starts with the location of the first map piece known. More map pieces and opportunities to grab them will be revealed as the campaign goes on. Once one of a player’s forces claims a map piece, that force will hold it. The map piece can be passed on to another force that is adjacent to the one holding it by saying so in your orders. A piece can only be passed on once per turn. Forces belonging to other players may claim the piece by defeating the force that is holding it. However, once one of a player’s forces has held the piece, it is assumed he can never lose that knowledge. Defending a map piece is not about holding on to the knowledge but preventing your opponents from getting it.
How much pieces a player needs to find the way to Hermelinus Prime is not specified at this point, but will be when it seems time to make the campaign draw to a close. Once a player has found the way to Hermelinus Prime he will get a head start, but others will be able to follow his warp trail in later turns. Everyone will be in the race until the end.
Universe at warOther players are not the only danger a player faces. A whole lot of random stuff may occur (especially to players who are not in combat with any other player), ranging from daemonic incursions over rumors of powerful relics in a certain location to full blown warpstorms making warp travel to certain planets impossible for a short time.
WarlordsA force lives and dies by its warlord. All bonuses a force accumulates are tied to this warlord. Every time a force wins a battle, its warlord will go up in rank and bestow new bonuses on his force. However every time a warlord is slain (this includes being chased off the table) a warlord will accumulate injuries, which bestows penalties. Both tables are cumulative.
| rank | bonus |
| 0 | None: every new warlord starts here |
| 1 | Tactical insight: Warlord may add or subtract 1 when rolling for his/her/its warlord trait. At this point warlords with a fixed warlord trait may choose to roll for one instead. |
| 2 | Prestige 1: Increase the warlord’s force by 5% points. Force may change army list at this point. |
| 3 | Logistical genius: The warlord’s force may take a special detachment that consists of a single elite, fast attack or heavy support slot. This detachment cannot be the primary detachment and must use the same codex/supplement as one of the other detachments in the force. |
| 4 | Prestige 2: Increase the warlords force by another 5% points (so total 10%), force may change army list at this point. |
| 5 | Experienced leader: Warlord gains an extra warlord trait (which must be rolled last), but this one does not benefit from rerolls or the rank 1 bonus. Exception: a player may reroll this warlord trait if he rolls one he already has. |
| injuries | penalty |
| 0 | None: every new warlord starts here |
| 1 | Painful scars: -1 initiative |
| 2 | Losing his edge: once per battle the opponent may force this warlord to reroll a single to hit roll or saving throw. |
| 3 | Tainted wounds: -1 to both WS and BS |
| 4 | Loss of mental capacity: the warlord loses his basic warlord trait (but still can gain one from the rank 5 bonus). |
| 5 | Near death: the warlord halves his toughness (rounded up). |
| 6 | Death: the force must change its army list and gain a new rank 0 warlord. |
Every time the army list of a force is changed, the warlord can be changed as well. Changing just his wargear has no effect, but changing to another type of model (like captain to librarian) will cause both rank and injuries to reset to 0. A player may state he is changing his warlord anyway (like captain to captain) to get rid of injuries. An exception here is a promotion which makes narrative sense. Even though they are technically different codex entries, a warlordwill not lose his bonuses when for example a necron lord becomes an overlord, or a chaos lord ascends to daemon prince.
Of all your warlords, one will be appointed warmaster. A warmaster uses a different rank table which has a much more profound impact on the map. The warmaster uses the same injury table as a warlord, but always is treated as if he has 3 less injuries (meaning he will only start gaining penalties when he has 4 injuries and only dies at 9 injuries). The first force a player begins with automatically holds a warmaster. A new warmaster can be appointed, but it is not mandatory to have one.
| Warmaster rank | bonus |
| 0 | A warmaster is treated as a rank 5 warlord to begin with. |
| 1 | Protagonist: history is woven around the warmaster, his story will not end easily. The warmaster gains the eternal warrior rule. If he already had it, he gains an extra wound. |
| 2 | Prestige 3: Increase the warmaster’s force by another 5% points (so total 15%), force may change army list at this point. |
| 3 | Tactical expediency: the player can issue 2 orders for the warmaster’s force every turn, the second will be executed after all others, if the force is not in combat by then. If one of those orders is a draft order, it must be declared as the second order. |
| 4 | Prestige 4: Increase the warmaster’s force by another 5% points (so total 20%), force may change army list at this point. |
| 5 | Icon of war: a player can always treat the area the warmaster is on as if it contained a mustering grounds. |
OrdersAt the start of every campaign turn, all players will issue orders for their forces. These orders are unknown to other players and will be executed simultaneously. A player issues a single order for each of his forces. The orders a player can give are:
-Hold: the force does nothing. If no orders are received in time, all forces will do this by default.
-Move: The force moves to an adjacent area. If there is no enemy force there, the force claims this area for his player. If there is an enemy force there, there will be battle. Unless there is a battle going on, an area can only contain 1 force at any given time. If you make a mistake in your orders and send 2 or more forces to the same area, one randomly selected force will move there, the others will hold instead. The same will happen with 2 allied forces so coordinate well with your allies.
-Raze: destroys a building in the area.
-Ambush: A force using this order prepares to receive the enemy with a nasty surprise. If the force needs to battle this turn, it is assumed they have plans in place. They gain a +2 bonus on the roll to seize the initiative, and may reroll both failed and successful reserve rolls. Up to 3 units in the force, who don’t already have infiltrate or scout, gain the infiltrate or scout special rule (you can choose a different one for each but only 1 per unit). This order cannot be issued on an area that holds a fortification or fortress.
-Draft: A draft order can only be issued on a mustering grounds. The force may change its army list. A new warlord can be appointed at this time, but bear in mind he will start at both rank and injury 0. If the force’s current warlord is highest in rank or tied for highest amongst all your warlords, he may be elevated to rank 0 warmaster at this time. If you already have a warmaster when you do so, it is assumed the old one retires (or maybe executed for incompetence). The old warmaster is replaced by a rank 0 warlord, bear in mind you will need to change the army list of that force as well then, as it will lose points. Note that this is the only order that will be executed in the consolidation phase and not in the action phase. If the force needs to do battle, they will do so with their old army list. The draft order will still be executed if the force loses a battle and is pushed off the mustering grounds.
-Warp travel: This can bring a force anywhere, but involves risk. It is the only way to travel between planets. When issuing the warp travel order, specify a mode and the area where the force needs to go. The destination cannot be on the same planet you depart from. Once the force is in the warp, everything might happen. You will only know if they suffered perils of the warp when they appear (or do not appear). The roll is made in secret by the campaign leader.
| mode | Appear in … turns | Roll on perils of the warp table with |
| Rush job | 1 | D6 |
| regular | 2 | D12 |
| Meticulously planned | 3 | D20 |
Perils of the warp
| roll | effect |
| 1 | Lost!: the force is forever gone… |
| 2 | Delayed: the force arrives a turn later as planned, it may also go off course (scatter die roll). |
| 3 | Wildly off course: the force arrives on a random area on the destination planet (excluding the one you wanted, and areas with a null-field generator). |
| 4 | Off course: the force arrives on a random area adjacent to the destination. (excluding areas with a null-field generator) |
| 5+ | All goes as planned. |
| 12+ | Through favorable warp currents, the force arrives a turn earlier as planned. |
Too legendary to get lost: Warmasters treat a result of 1 as 2 instead. Warmasters make the story, they do not get lost in it.
-Build: The force constructs a building that might aid in the war effort. Every area can only hold 2 buildings. Buildings are neutral and enemies may use them if they take over the area. Unless otherwise specified, all buildings require 1 turn to complete. An area can never hold the same building twice. Buildings are visible on the map to all players.
Options:
• Mustering grounds: Requires to use the build order 2 consecutive turns to complete. New or shattered forces may appear here, or adjacent areas you control if there is already a force on it.
• Fortification: forces defending this area gain an additional 5% points. A portion of these points must be used to buy a fortification. A force does not need a detachment with a fortification slot to buy this fortification. This bonus can only be claimed by forces who did not use the move order that turn and did not arrive by warp travel that turn.
• Fortress (requires fortification): Requires to use the build order 2 consecutive turns to complete. Upgrades an existing fortification. Increase the fortification bonus to 10%. The same restrictions still apply.
• Manifactorum: an area with a manifactorum counts double when determining the player’s forces.
• Null-field generator: Nobody can warp travel to or from an area with a null-field generator. Should 2 null-field generators ever be adjacent to each other, they will stop working because of the interference. (This could be exploited tactically to shut down an enemy one).
• Academy: Requires to use the build order 2 consecutive turns to complete. A warlord who uses a ‘hold’ order on an area with an academy increases his rank by 1, to maximum of 3, at the end of the consolidation phase. (if the hold order was issued because the campaign master received no orders, this bonus is NOT granted). Cannot be built on an area that already holds a field hospital.
• Field hospital: A warlord/warmaster who issues a ‘hold’ order on an area with a field hospital decreases his injury value by 1 at the end of the consolidation phase. (if the hold order was issued because the campaign master received no orders, this bonus is NOT granted). Cannot be built on an area that already holds an academy.
• Contingency plan: When a player loses control of an area, the contingency plan and any other building in that area are destroyed.
CombatWhen 2 hostile forces meet on the same area, battle will erupt. The winner remains there and claims the area for his player, the loser must retreat to an adjacent area he controls. If there is no such area, or he loses by wipeout, the force counts as shattered. A shattered force is taken from the map and must reenter play through either a mustering grounds or warp travel. In case of a draw, neither army will retreat and they will battle again the next turn. Those forces will not be able to issue an order that next turn. If one of the forces claimed a fortification or fortress bonus in the first battle that ended in a draw, he will still gain that bonus in the second battle. The force who didn't claim the bonus will still not do so in the second battle, even though it didn't move or warp travel.
If 2 enemy forces are ordered to move in each other’s area, they will fight and not just pass each other. A roll off is made by the campaign leader, and the loser will remain in his area, while the winner is the attacker.
If a third player’s force or even a fourth and so on would meet in the same area, there will be a roll off. The lowest one will hold instead. If the lowest one arrived by warp travel he will land in an adjacent area, if there is no adjacent area it will spend an additional turn in the warp. A force that didn’t move to get in this area will always count as having rolled highest.
In some exceptional circumstances (mostly when 3 or more players are moving around each other) a force may need to play more then 1 battle.
A force that is not in combat itself may support another force on an adjacent area that is in combat if that other force belongs to the same player or an ally. This force in combat receives an additional 5% points for each other force supporting it. A force can only support 1 other force at a time, and a force can only receive support from up to 2 forces (for a 10% bonus). A player should specify when sending in his battle results which force(s) were supporting him in this battle. If this doesn't add up (probably because it turns out a single force was supporting multiple combats), the battle result may be overruled.
All bonuses are cumulative but do not multiply each other. For instance if the current basic army value is 1000 pts, a rank 4 warlord (+10%) who has support from 1 force (+5%) and is in an area with a fortification (+5%) would have an army of 1200 points (+20%). And not 1000 +(10%) = 1100 + (5%) = 1155 +(5%) = 1212
Bonus points from warlord/warmaster rank are included in the basic army list and will always be the same. Bonuses from buildings and support are variable and can be spent each time as the player sees fit (although in the case of the buildings a portion MUST be spent to purchase a fortification). These can be used to buy upgrades or expand existing units, or create new units or even detachments.
Results of a battle must be sent to the campaign leader. If he does not receive this result, both armies will retreat to a random area. Such a result should also include where the loser retreats to, and if any warlords got injured.
As for the mission to be played, both players are free to agree on whatever they want to play (could be nice to play a scenario that fits what’s happening on the campaign map). Should they not agree, a randomly selected maelstrom of war mission is the default.
Prestige of flying colours: If an army is fully painted and the opponent's army is not, and during the pre-game setup of a battle a tie is rolled in a roll off (like the one for choosing table sides, deploying first and such), the painted army may invoke the prestige of flying colours and count as having won the roll off.
AlliancesPlayers can ally with each other to gain bonuses. An alliance must be stated to the game master at the start of the campaign turn, but can be broken by one of the players at any time outside of battle. Should 2 allies face 2 other allies fighting on adjacent areas, a doubles game can be played.
-Allies can move over their ally’s areas without claiming them.
-A player’s force can be supported by their ally’s forces as if they were his own. Considering alliances can be broken at any time, a player should be prepared for the possibility the game master sends him ‘no, sorry man, you do NOT get the support bonus in that battle’.
Alliances are not restricted, any player can ally with any player, regardless of their faction.
An alliance is only game technically ended when the campaign leader is notified.
Turn structureThe turn consists of 3 phases. In order:
-Planning phase: give orders, declare alliances
-Action phase: execute orders, play battles. (note draft order is an exception)
-Consolidation phase: in order: losing armies retreat, shattered armies are placed on mustering grounds or in warp transit, new forces are placed on mustering grounds or in warp transit, forces are removed for lack of territory, army lists are changed/created. (including those of the draft order).
Note this means a player will need to send the campaign leader 2 messages per turn. One in the planning phase with orders and possibly a declaration of alliance (alliances will only be valid if both players declare it). And a second one in the Consolidation phase containing all of the relevant info as in the description of the phase.
