Alex Stanford
10-16-2013, 10:48 AM
And Books Too and the Lafayette 40k Group Present
An Apocalypse Event
“The Siege of Hydra Cordatus”
Date: December 7, 2013
Time: 9:00 AM-10:00 pm
Place: And Books Too, 3315 Johnston Street, Lafayette LA, Terra, Sol System
Phone: (337) 984-3405
Never before has such a force been assembled for one battle in this area. 100,000+ points have come together to create a level of destruction on an unprecedented scale. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see the best models of apocalypse and Forge World that you only normally see online. This game will feature over 30 apocalypse models including titans, stompas, greater daemons, a thunderhawk, primarchs, and more! And while you are here take a chance to peruse one of the biggest 40k selections in the state. This game is so incredible that a custom mission was written just for it along with a custom table layout. So get some friends together and head out to And Books Too to see the combined might of the Tau, Eldar, Orks, Necrons, and Chaos ally together to do battle with the Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Salamanders, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Minotaurs, and Imperial Fists over the fate of Hydra Cordatus, the home of the famous citadel built by Rogal Dorn himself, Tor Christo.
The Fortress: Tor Christo is a marvel of defensive engineering. Built by Rogal Dorn to house the entire geneseed stores of the Imperial Fists, it also contains a reliquary that stores some of the most treasured relics of the Imperium. The fortress itself consists of three sections. The outermost section is a trenchline. The middle section is the outer wall of the fortress, and it is protected by void shields and emplaced Destroyer Laser batteries. The innermost section is the reliquary itself. This sanctum is housed within an Aquila Strongpoint, and the strongpoint itself is protected by a shield generator. This generator is powered by two generator substations, each of which is located off-world in a secret base. As long as only one of the substations is operational the shield generator will be functional.
The Layout: Hydra Cordatus is an 8’x6’ table, with table edges being the 8 ft edge. The two secret off-world bases are each 4’x6’ tables.
The Plot: Abaddon has learned not only the location of the reliquary, but also the generator substations and has reported the information to Angron. Angron cares not for the relics, but upon learning that 4 other loyalist chapters would all be present at the same time at Tor Christo has agreed to unleash the full might of Khorne in order to cripple so many of his hated foes. Fulgrim has joined the alliance in order to plunder the exotic xenos tech, and has used the fact that so many races have suffered losses over these artifacts to enlist the aid of every xenos race aggrieved by the loss of their sacred relics. He knows the bloodlust of Khorne alone will not be enough to take such a heavily defended objective. He sends word to Ulthwe to try his luck with the Eldar.
Always looking to manipulate events to his own end, Ahriman sees an opportunity. If the Eldar join in the campaign he could use this fragile alliance to glean information about the location of the Black Library. He already saw from the skeins of fate just what will be waiting for them on Hydra Cordatus, and he knows that their chances of success are slim. They are laying siege to one of the most secure locations in the galaxy. He must ensure that the assault survive long enough for him to steal the information he needs from the Eldar. Fortunately for him, he knew of this campaign long before Abaddon conceived it, and so he has been taking steps to groom a suitable ally...the Orks! With his subtle influences a Waaagh! has been building on an asteroid not all that far from Hydra Cordatus, and he has guided the ork psykers in order to place the asteroid breaching real space close enough to the planet that the orks will not be able to resist. For years he has worked behind the scenes to navigate the planetoid, driving it to Hydra Cordatus, using raids from the Night Lords to distract the forces of the Imperium, and now the time has come to spring his plan upon the loyalists. With clockwork precision the ork invasion will hit the planet simultaneously as the vanguard of the assault. The defenders will be drowned in the Green Tide, buying precious time for him to complete his plan. The only thing left for Ahriman and his rubrics to do is...wait.
Rotgrob Snotfang could hardly contain his aggression. For weeks, his Rokk had been hurtling through both real space and the warp with only minimal incident. Much to his dismay.
For the better part of the last decade, Rotgrob’s gathering Waaagh! had spread through Segmentum Obscurus nearly unchecked. And what a gloriously violent decade it had been. With a large group of Weirdboyz to guide his Rokk, Rotgrob had been able to translate around the segmentum with relative ease. Coupled with the fact that “da smooth beakies was in a big scrap with da spikey ones”, planets in outlying sectors had little defense against his relentless assault. So this continued, sector to sector, planet to planet. Materials were plundered, ‘umies were krumped and any Ork clans on these planets were beaten into submission or otherwise enveloped into the Waaagh! As the Warhost grew, so too did the Weirdboyz’ ability to hurl the Rokk from planet to planet with increasing speed and accuracy. Great towers were built to feed the Weirdboyz’ madness and amplify their powers. With the Rokk filled to capacity with both bodies and war supplies, Rotgrob ordered the weirdboyz to find them a suitable fight.
Upon translation into the warp, however, something went wrong. The psyching energy that had built to such a maddening level finally proved to be too much for the weirdboyz. Every single one of them suffered a sudden and catastrophic, yet equally entertaining death as they treated all the other lads to a cinematic display of gore as heads exploded, eyeballs liquefied and bodies twisted so violently that bones snapped. The lucky ones were just turned inside out and ran around for a bit until their guts dried up and they finally died. Upon the death of every weirdboy, the Rokk was expelled from the warp.
It had been nearly three weeks since that ill-fated warp translation and the boyz were getting restless. With no focus, the ragtag band of various clans was already starting to devolve to warring amongst themselves. Rotgrob used brute force to stifle these at first, but could not hope to contain the aggression much longer. The thirst for violence was just too strong. In a last ditch effort to buy time, Rotgrob ordered the Weirdboy towers razed. He instructed the Big Meks to use the scraps to build two great Gargants in the image of Mork and Gork. This seemed to calm the lads down for a bit but they would need a propa fight. Soon. Whether they were going to tear apart beakies, umies or each other, Rotgrob knew there was going to be a fight.
Kaalengresh’s cloak billowed about him as he approached the throne. The small necron overload made a sign of respect before speaking to the giant hulk of an overlord sitting before him. “The sector has been subdued, my brother.” A sickly green luminescence flared from the throne. The overlord stood up revealing his gargantuan height. Kaalengresh’s vision flashed back to a time before his skin was encased in necrodermis. The giant before him had been a towering colossus then as well.
“Have the crypteks informed you of what your scouts have discovered?” the Giant’s electronic voice rumbled from the throne like an ocean wave. “Yes,” Kaalengresh’s eye flashed red, “the device has been found. To think after all these millennia of rest it has survived. To see it in the hands of such low-born filth, it is...unsettling.” His grip clenched his humming warscythe tighter.
“We created it! I shall not have it in the hands of thieves!” the Giant boomed.
“If only our sleep had not been so deep, then those thieves would pay dearly for trespassing on the world of their betters.” A mass of scarabs crawled across the throne room floor up Kaalengresh’s leg stopping at his shoulders. Barely audible screeching fed new data to Kaalengresh. “Brother, it seems our envoy’s have contacted the mongrel Fulgrim. The foolish human seeks to make a pact with us to destroy the fortress containing our relic.”
“This is obviously a ploy to use our forces up and take the device for himself.”
“Yes the lesser races are so...transparent. We should join their alliance and take back the relic at the most opportune time.”
“Agreed, call back our strike forces and set our coordinates for Hydra Cordatus. We will make the younger races tremble beneath our might.”
“The life fluids of our enemies shall saturate the ground. Their foolish pride will melt and burn leaving them hollow and empty.” As Kaalengresh left the throne room, take off sirens filled the air. BEEEEEEP! BOP! BOOOOOOOOP! BEEEEEEP! BOP! BOOOOOOP!
Konrad Curze paced the bridge of The Covenant of Blood. His series of lightning raids had been hugely successful in looting forgeworlds of both munitions and slaves. All across the system the trail of havoc he left could be observed. He knew he was being used in Ahriman’s plan. He knew far more than his allies did. For the price Ahriman had to pay to retain the services of the Night Haunter was one piece of information, and that was the location of his brother, Vulkan. For centuries, Curze had been content to let the Imperium think him dead, but there was always one thing that could stir up the hatred that motivated him for years, and that was the chance to settle the score. The chimes of translation as the Geller Field deactivated snapped him out of his reverie. Before him, in the pictscreen, lay Hydra Cordatus. To no one he muttered, “Once again I have been forced to endure the mantle of the Night Haunter, brother, and you will feel tonight the depths of my rancor for it.”
Meanwhile, on Hydra Cordatus the Salamanders have just arrived with the Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, and Minotaurs. The reason for this mass congregation is walking down the Thunderhawk ramp, Vulkan! After the last relic was found, the sire of the Salamanders has returned, and his return is greeted by every chapter of Astartes in the system. In addition to these chapters the fortress is occupied by countless guardsmen and an entire company of Imperial Fists. It is a glorious day for the Imperium as the companies march in front of Tor Christo in Vulkan’s honor. The plan was for Vulkan to have his reception and then depart for Prometheos and Nocturne, but plans have a way of not working out. While the fortress is preoccupied with its festivities, an unknown armada is picked up on the planetary sensor array. This unannounced fleet on so grand a scale can only have a sinister purpose. The imperials race to battle readiness as the scanners return multiple signatures of barges, battle cruisers, and destroyers all of various origin. There is no time to bolster the defenses on the satellite worlds where the shield substations are. The defenders pray to the emperor that their location has remained secret. With no hesitation Captain Lysander sends word to Chief Astropath Tarquin to send out a message for reinforcements. He knows time is of the essence.
The void shields are up, assault ships are coming down, and they only have one chance to intercept the foe before they face an invasion the likes of which has never been seen since the siege of Terra. May the Emperor protect!
The Mission: Plunder the reliquary. Steal the geneseed. Kill the loyalists. (the relic with a twist)
The Objective: The assaulting team must capture the xeno tech (the relic).
The Twist: The relic is held in an ultra-secure citadel, and the citadel has a power shield over it that must be deactivated before the enemy can enter the citadel. The power shield is controlled by two shield generator substations, one per smaller table. The assaulting force must control BOTH generators at the end of a round to deactivate the shield, but the defending team can reactivate the shield by retaking ONE of the generators.
Victory Conditions: The game ends in victory for the assaulting team if one of two things happens. 1. An assaulting unit possesses the relic at the end of the time limit OR 2. An enemy unit with deepstrike ability teleports off the planet while holding the relic. The defenders win if they prevent these from happening. The relic is considered possessed if an enemy infantry, bike, or jet bike unit makes contact with the inner citadel door.
The Deployment: Defenders deploy first, as they have home field advantage. Deployment follows the rules for the final assault apoc mission. The twist is that they must decide how many forces to deploy to protect their generators, but with the following provisions. The defenders must deploy at least half of their units to start the game, and for every unit placed on a smaller table they must also place a unit on the main table. Assaulting team can deploy their units on whichever planet they choose, but the restriction is that there can be NO super-heavy or gargantuan creatures deployed by either team on the smaller planets. Their lust for glory will see them vie for the relic.
First Turn: The assaulting team goes first.
The Time Limit: 12 hours.
Scheduled Breaks: Every 2 rounds.
Unnatural Disaster Tables: Each table can have its own disaster table. This mission will see one from Pandorax, Damnos, and the main apoc book.
Special Rules:
Beam me up, Scotty!: Due to the value of the target, both sides have an interest in having their key units supremely mobile. All deepstriking units that deepstrike by teleportation or warp travel can deepstrike every turn at the beginning of movement phase. Normal mishap rules apply.
Islands of death: There can be no travel between the planets. The distance is too great, and the war effort cannot afford to waste precious seconds travelling. This restriction does not apply to units that can cross the distance via teleportation or warp travel.
Endless War: Due to the protracted nature of this war, attrition will be huge. Naturally, the assaulting unit will want to advance their line to allow for reinforcements to drop from space. Every round each player of the assaulting team will get D6 units as reinforcements. These reinforcements cannot be previously destroyed unique characters/models, nor can these units be apoc units. Dedicated transports will not count towards the total of units brought back, but IC's will. These reinforcements do not affect the assaulting team’s ability to bring in special reserves. Every break each team will be able to bring back D6 apoc units in addition to the D6 non apoc units the assaulting team gets to bring in. For each apoc unit brought in during the break the corresponding team will have to pay one strategic victory point.
Steel Resolve: all defending units within 12" of a friendly super heavy vehicle are fearless.
Tactical Superiority: The Imperium's best minds are at work in planning the defense of such an important relic. As such, despite the fact that they face overwhelming opposition they manage to use their brilliance to stay a step ahead and keep the attackers off balance. Each round every player on the defending team gets a strategic asset card.
Might of Dorn: The outer walls of the fortress are all AV14.
It takes a beating...: The fortress outer wall will have as many void shields as it takes to give both teams the same number of apocalypse unit HP (with each void shield counting as 1 HP). The void shields are AV12 and will collapse on a glance or penetrating hit. Shields will have the ability to come back once collapsed on a roll of 5+ for each collapsed shield. The outer wall will also have as many emplaced D weapons such that both sides will have the same number of shooting D weapons. These emplacements can be operated manually or automatically.
Alpha Strike: Before the game starts, the defending team must roll on the following table to determine the profile of the emplaced D weapons. Roll once to determine for all weapons for the duration of the game.
First Roll Second Roll
1-2 Heavy 1, AP2 1-2 3” Blast
3-4 Heavy 2, AP2 3-4 Large Blast
5-6 Heavy 3, AP2 5-6 Massive Blast
The emplaced weapons are the first line weapon against any invading force. Every emplaced D weapon (not including the inner citadel’s Aquila Strongpoint) will have the interceptor rule that will allow it to target units as they make planetfall in an alpha strike. To perform an alpha strike, after the assaulting team has deployed, but before the first turn starts, each emplaced D weapon can fire at a target. Any weapon attempting an alpha strike may not fire in the subsequent defender’s turn.
Prayer of the astropath: Once the siege begins the defenders will be desperate for aid. Their chief astropath, Tarquin, is the only one with the power to transmit a distress call to the nearest Astartes fleet. Due to the massive warp activity around Hydra Cordatus from the emergence of the invasion force Tarquin will have to help the fleet’s own navigator proceed through it in order to arrive at the nearest translation point. Without Tarquin the fleet could get lost in the storm or emerge from the warp too far away to make it in time. If Tarquin is still alive by the 6 hour mark the fleet will arrive close enough to lend aid. The fleet will consist of ALL destroyed non-unique imperial units. These units will all have the outflank rule. The attacking team cannot let Tarquin survive. During the defender’s deployment, the defenders will nominate one building inside the fortress secretly by writing the location on a piece of paper. If the building containing Tarquin is collapsed, he will be killed. Of course, Tarquin could leave the building, but that would be unwise. He could, however, move from one building to an adjacent one as long as his current location is always kept written down. This means that any building within the fortress can be targeted by shooting attack, regardless of whether or not the attackers know if it is occupied.
S.N.A.F.U.: Due to the nature of the objective, the relic is key. If the inner citadel were to be destroyed at any time while containing the relic, it would instantly be crushed. The attackers must not let this happen. In the event that the inner citadel be destroyed (this would require the shield generator being inoperative) along with the relic inside it the battle would then degenerate into total bedlam. Angron cares not for any relic. He lives for skulls! The team with the most strategic victory points would claim a minor victory.
Strategic reserves and points both work as usual.
An Apocalypse Event
“The Siege of Hydra Cordatus”
Date: December 7, 2013
Time: 9:00 AM-10:00 pm
Place: And Books Too, 3315 Johnston Street, Lafayette LA, Terra, Sol System
Phone: (337) 984-3405
Never before has such a force been assembled for one battle in this area. 100,000+ points have come together to create a level of destruction on an unprecedented scale. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see the best models of apocalypse and Forge World that you only normally see online. This game will feature over 30 apocalypse models including titans, stompas, greater daemons, a thunderhawk, primarchs, and more! And while you are here take a chance to peruse one of the biggest 40k selections in the state. This game is so incredible that a custom mission was written just for it along with a custom table layout. So get some friends together and head out to And Books Too to see the combined might of the Tau, Eldar, Orks, Necrons, and Chaos ally together to do battle with the Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Salamanders, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Minotaurs, and Imperial Fists over the fate of Hydra Cordatus, the home of the famous citadel built by Rogal Dorn himself, Tor Christo.
The Fortress: Tor Christo is a marvel of defensive engineering. Built by Rogal Dorn to house the entire geneseed stores of the Imperial Fists, it also contains a reliquary that stores some of the most treasured relics of the Imperium. The fortress itself consists of three sections. The outermost section is a trenchline. The middle section is the outer wall of the fortress, and it is protected by void shields and emplaced Destroyer Laser batteries. The innermost section is the reliquary itself. This sanctum is housed within an Aquila Strongpoint, and the strongpoint itself is protected by a shield generator. This generator is powered by two generator substations, each of which is located off-world in a secret base. As long as only one of the substations is operational the shield generator will be functional.
The Layout: Hydra Cordatus is an 8’x6’ table, with table edges being the 8 ft edge. The two secret off-world bases are each 4’x6’ tables.
The Plot: Abaddon has learned not only the location of the reliquary, but also the generator substations and has reported the information to Angron. Angron cares not for the relics, but upon learning that 4 other loyalist chapters would all be present at the same time at Tor Christo has agreed to unleash the full might of Khorne in order to cripple so many of his hated foes. Fulgrim has joined the alliance in order to plunder the exotic xenos tech, and has used the fact that so many races have suffered losses over these artifacts to enlist the aid of every xenos race aggrieved by the loss of their sacred relics. He knows the bloodlust of Khorne alone will not be enough to take such a heavily defended objective. He sends word to Ulthwe to try his luck with the Eldar.
Always looking to manipulate events to his own end, Ahriman sees an opportunity. If the Eldar join in the campaign he could use this fragile alliance to glean information about the location of the Black Library. He already saw from the skeins of fate just what will be waiting for them on Hydra Cordatus, and he knows that their chances of success are slim. They are laying siege to one of the most secure locations in the galaxy. He must ensure that the assault survive long enough for him to steal the information he needs from the Eldar. Fortunately for him, he knew of this campaign long before Abaddon conceived it, and so he has been taking steps to groom a suitable ally...the Orks! With his subtle influences a Waaagh! has been building on an asteroid not all that far from Hydra Cordatus, and he has guided the ork psykers in order to place the asteroid breaching real space close enough to the planet that the orks will not be able to resist. For years he has worked behind the scenes to navigate the planetoid, driving it to Hydra Cordatus, using raids from the Night Lords to distract the forces of the Imperium, and now the time has come to spring his plan upon the loyalists. With clockwork precision the ork invasion will hit the planet simultaneously as the vanguard of the assault. The defenders will be drowned in the Green Tide, buying precious time for him to complete his plan. The only thing left for Ahriman and his rubrics to do is...wait.
Rotgrob Snotfang could hardly contain his aggression. For weeks, his Rokk had been hurtling through both real space and the warp with only minimal incident. Much to his dismay.
For the better part of the last decade, Rotgrob’s gathering Waaagh! had spread through Segmentum Obscurus nearly unchecked. And what a gloriously violent decade it had been. With a large group of Weirdboyz to guide his Rokk, Rotgrob had been able to translate around the segmentum with relative ease. Coupled with the fact that “da smooth beakies was in a big scrap with da spikey ones”, planets in outlying sectors had little defense against his relentless assault. So this continued, sector to sector, planet to planet. Materials were plundered, ‘umies were krumped and any Ork clans on these planets were beaten into submission or otherwise enveloped into the Waaagh! As the Warhost grew, so too did the Weirdboyz’ ability to hurl the Rokk from planet to planet with increasing speed and accuracy. Great towers were built to feed the Weirdboyz’ madness and amplify their powers. With the Rokk filled to capacity with both bodies and war supplies, Rotgrob ordered the weirdboyz to find them a suitable fight.
Upon translation into the warp, however, something went wrong. The psyching energy that had built to such a maddening level finally proved to be too much for the weirdboyz. Every single one of them suffered a sudden and catastrophic, yet equally entertaining death as they treated all the other lads to a cinematic display of gore as heads exploded, eyeballs liquefied and bodies twisted so violently that bones snapped. The lucky ones were just turned inside out and ran around for a bit until their guts dried up and they finally died. Upon the death of every weirdboy, the Rokk was expelled from the warp.
It had been nearly three weeks since that ill-fated warp translation and the boyz were getting restless. With no focus, the ragtag band of various clans was already starting to devolve to warring amongst themselves. Rotgrob used brute force to stifle these at first, but could not hope to contain the aggression much longer. The thirst for violence was just too strong. In a last ditch effort to buy time, Rotgrob ordered the Weirdboy towers razed. He instructed the Big Meks to use the scraps to build two great Gargants in the image of Mork and Gork. This seemed to calm the lads down for a bit but they would need a propa fight. Soon. Whether they were going to tear apart beakies, umies or each other, Rotgrob knew there was going to be a fight.
Kaalengresh’s cloak billowed about him as he approached the throne. The small necron overload made a sign of respect before speaking to the giant hulk of an overlord sitting before him. “The sector has been subdued, my brother.” A sickly green luminescence flared from the throne. The overlord stood up revealing his gargantuan height. Kaalengresh’s vision flashed back to a time before his skin was encased in necrodermis. The giant before him had been a towering colossus then as well.
“Have the crypteks informed you of what your scouts have discovered?” the Giant’s electronic voice rumbled from the throne like an ocean wave. “Yes,” Kaalengresh’s eye flashed red, “the device has been found. To think after all these millennia of rest it has survived. To see it in the hands of such low-born filth, it is...unsettling.” His grip clenched his humming warscythe tighter.
“We created it! I shall not have it in the hands of thieves!” the Giant boomed.
“If only our sleep had not been so deep, then those thieves would pay dearly for trespassing on the world of their betters.” A mass of scarabs crawled across the throne room floor up Kaalengresh’s leg stopping at his shoulders. Barely audible screeching fed new data to Kaalengresh. “Brother, it seems our envoy’s have contacted the mongrel Fulgrim. The foolish human seeks to make a pact with us to destroy the fortress containing our relic.”
“This is obviously a ploy to use our forces up and take the device for himself.”
“Yes the lesser races are so...transparent. We should join their alliance and take back the relic at the most opportune time.”
“Agreed, call back our strike forces and set our coordinates for Hydra Cordatus. We will make the younger races tremble beneath our might.”
“The life fluids of our enemies shall saturate the ground. Their foolish pride will melt and burn leaving them hollow and empty.” As Kaalengresh left the throne room, take off sirens filled the air. BEEEEEEP! BOP! BOOOOOOOOP! BEEEEEEP! BOP! BOOOOOOP!
Konrad Curze paced the bridge of The Covenant of Blood. His series of lightning raids had been hugely successful in looting forgeworlds of both munitions and slaves. All across the system the trail of havoc he left could be observed. He knew he was being used in Ahriman’s plan. He knew far more than his allies did. For the price Ahriman had to pay to retain the services of the Night Haunter was one piece of information, and that was the location of his brother, Vulkan. For centuries, Curze had been content to let the Imperium think him dead, but there was always one thing that could stir up the hatred that motivated him for years, and that was the chance to settle the score. The chimes of translation as the Geller Field deactivated snapped him out of his reverie. Before him, in the pictscreen, lay Hydra Cordatus. To no one he muttered, “Once again I have been forced to endure the mantle of the Night Haunter, brother, and you will feel tonight the depths of my rancor for it.”
Meanwhile, on Hydra Cordatus the Salamanders have just arrived with the Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Ultramarines, and Minotaurs. The reason for this mass congregation is walking down the Thunderhawk ramp, Vulkan! After the last relic was found, the sire of the Salamanders has returned, and his return is greeted by every chapter of Astartes in the system. In addition to these chapters the fortress is occupied by countless guardsmen and an entire company of Imperial Fists. It is a glorious day for the Imperium as the companies march in front of Tor Christo in Vulkan’s honor. The plan was for Vulkan to have his reception and then depart for Prometheos and Nocturne, but plans have a way of not working out. While the fortress is preoccupied with its festivities, an unknown armada is picked up on the planetary sensor array. This unannounced fleet on so grand a scale can only have a sinister purpose. The imperials race to battle readiness as the scanners return multiple signatures of barges, battle cruisers, and destroyers all of various origin. There is no time to bolster the defenses on the satellite worlds where the shield substations are. The defenders pray to the emperor that their location has remained secret. With no hesitation Captain Lysander sends word to Chief Astropath Tarquin to send out a message for reinforcements. He knows time is of the essence.
The void shields are up, assault ships are coming down, and they only have one chance to intercept the foe before they face an invasion the likes of which has never been seen since the siege of Terra. May the Emperor protect!
The Mission: Plunder the reliquary. Steal the geneseed. Kill the loyalists. (the relic with a twist)
The Objective: The assaulting team must capture the xeno tech (the relic).
The Twist: The relic is held in an ultra-secure citadel, and the citadel has a power shield over it that must be deactivated before the enemy can enter the citadel. The power shield is controlled by two shield generator substations, one per smaller table. The assaulting force must control BOTH generators at the end of a round to deactivate the shield, but the defending team can reactivate the shield by retaking ONE of the generators.
Victory Conditions: The game ends in victory for the assaulting team if one of two things happens. 1. An assaulting unit possesses the relic at the end of the time limit OR 2. An enemy unit with deepstrike ability teleports off the planet while holding the relic. The defenders win if they prevent these from happening. The relic is considered possessed if an enemy infantry, bike, or jet bike unit makes contact with the inner citadel door.
The Deployment: Defenders deploy first, as they have home field advantage. Deployment follows the rules for the final assault apoc mission. The twist is that they must decide how many forces to deploy to protect their generators, but with the following provisions. The defenders must deploy at least half of their units to start the game, and for every unit placed on a smaller table they must also place a unit on the main table. Assaulting team can deploy their units on whichever planet they choose, but the restriction is that there can be NO super-heavy or gargantuan creatures deployed by either team on the smaller planets. Their lust for glory will see them vie for the relic.
First Turn: The assaulting team goes first.
The Time Limit: 12 hours.
Scheduled Breaks: Every 2 rounds.
Unnatural Disaster Tables: Each table can have its own disaster table. This mission will see one from Pandorax, Damnos, and the main apoc book.
Special Rules:
Beam me up, Scotty!: Due to the value of the target, both sides have an interest in having their key units supremely mobile. All deepstriking units that deepstrike by teleportation or warp travel can deepstrike every turn at the beginning of movement phase. Normal mishap rules apply.
Islands of death: There can be no travel between the planets. The distance is too great, and the war effort cannot afford to waste precious seconds travelling. This restriction does not apply to units that can cross the distance via teleportation or warp travel.
Endless War: Due to the protracted nature of this war, attrition will be huge. Naturally, the assaulting unit will want to advance their line to allow for reinforcements to drop from space. Every round each player of the assaulting team will get D6 units as reinforcements. These reinforcements cannot be previously destroyed unique characters/models, nor can these units be apoc units. Dedicated transports will not count towards the total of units brought back, but IC's will. These reinforcements do not affect the assaulting team’s ability to bring in special reserves. Every break each team will be able to bring back D6 apoc units in addition to the D6 non apoc units the assaulting team gets to bring in. For each apoc unit brought in during the break the corresponding team will have to pay one strategic victory point.
Steel Resolve: all defending units within 12" of a friendly super heavy vehicle are fearless.
Tactical Superiority: The Imperium's best minds are at work in planning the defense of such an important relic. As such, despite the fact that they face overwhelming opposition they manage to use their brilliance to stay a step ahead and keep the attackers off balance. Each round every player on the defending team gets a strategic asset card.
Might of Dorn: The outer walls of the fortress are all AV14.
It takes a beating...: The fortress outer wall will have as many void shields as it takes to give both teams the same number of apocalypse unit HP (with each void shield counting as 1 HP). The void shields are AV12 and will collapse on a glance or penetrating hit. Shields will have the ability to come back once collapsed on a roll of 5+ for each collapsed shield. The outer wall will also have as many emplaced D weapons such that both sides will have the same number of shooting D weapons. These emplacements can be operated manually or automatically.
Alpha Strike: Before the game starts, the defending team must roll on the following table to determine the profile of the emplaced D weapons. Roll once to determine for all weapons for the duration of the game.
First Roll Second Roll
1-2 Heavy 1, AP2 1-2 3” Blast
3-4 Heavy 2, AP2 3-4 Large Blast
5-6 Heavy 3, AP2 5-6 Massive Blast
The emplaced weapons are the first line weapon against any invading force. Every emplaced D weapon (not including the inner citadel’s Aquila Strongpoint) will have the interceptor rule that will allow it to target units as they make planetfall in an alpha strike. To perform an alpha strike, after the assaulting team has deployed, but before the first turn starts, each emplaced D weapon can fire at a target. Any weapon attempting an alpha strike may not fire in the subsequent defender’s turn.
Prayer of the astropath: Once the siege begins the defenders will be desperate for aid. Their chief astropath, Tarquin, is the only one with the power to transmit a distress call to the nearest Astartes fleet. Due to the massive warp activity around Hydra Cordatus from the emergence of the invasion force Tarquin will have to help the fleet’s own navigator proceed through it in order to arrive at the nearest translation point. Without Tarquin the fleet could get lost in the storm or emerge from the warp too far away to make it in time. If Tarquin is still alive by the 6 hour mark the fleet will arrive close enough to lend aid. The fleet will consist of ALL destroyed non-unique imperial units. These units will all have the outflank rule. The attacking team cannot let Tarquin survive. During the defender’s deployment, the defenders will nominate one building inside the fortress secretly by writing the location on a piece of paper. If the building containing Tarquin is collapsed, he will be killed. Of course, Tarquin could leave the building, but that would be unwise. He could, however, move from one building to an adjacent one as long as his current location is always kept written down. This means that any building within the fortress can be targeted by shooting attack, regardless of whether or not the attackers know if it is occupied.
S.N.A.F.U.: Due to the nature of the objective, the relic is key. If the inner citadel were to be destroyed at any time while containing the relic, it would instantly be crushed. The attackers must not let this happen. In the event that the inner citadel be destroyed (this would require the shield generator being inoperative) along with the relic inside it the battle would then degenerate into total bedlam. Angron cares not for any relic. He lives for skulls! The team with the most strategic victory points would claim a minor victory.
Strategic reserves and points both work as usual.