40k Supplement: Combat Patrol, 5th edition.

I've put the following together based on the previous combat patrol rules in conjunction some 4th edition missions and the warbands secret objective idea to make each battle different and add another level of strategy to the game. Several games have been playtested and goes fairly quick and very strategic.

Looking for comments & criticism on the balance and structure! Also some thoughts & feedback on the victory conditions. Thanks!!

Combat Patrol Basics
Armies of no more than 500 points
You must have at least one Troops choice
You may include a single HQ choice, but no more than one
You may spend remaining points on anything else in the codex
No model can have more than 2 wounds
No special or unique characters
No model can have a better save than a 3+ or 4++
Vehicles cannot have a total Armor Value greater than 33 (Front + Side + Rear)
No Ordnance weapons
Victory points are used to determine the winner
Victor points are determined by the cost of the unit and is counted on a per model basis
+100 VPs are awarded for achieving your secret mission.
The side with the most VPs at the end of the game is the victor but VP differences of +/- 50 points is a draw

Secret missions are assigned to each patrol. Do not reveal your mission to your opponent until the end of the game. Each player will secretly roll a die (or draw with the mission names on it)and record their result without showing their opponent until the end of the game. Consult the following table for the mission:

Roll of 1 - Assassinate: Your Patrol must slay the enemy Commander (or cause him to flee off the table or be fleeing) by game’s end.

Roll of 2 - Invade: Get as many of your units into the enemy's deployment zone by the end of the battle.

Roll of 3 - Capture & Control: Your Patrol must capture two objectives and control it at the end of the game.

Roll of 4 Annihilate: Your Patrol must reduce the enemy by reducing the enemy army to 75% of its starting Unit Strength by the end of the battle. Units or models that are fleeing at the end of the game or that have fled off the board count as destroyed.

Roll of 5 - Hold Territory: Your Patrol must attempt to control the battlefield. At the end of the game, divide the table into four quarters. You must control more table quarters than the enemy. To control a table quarter, you must have a unit in the table quarter with no enemy in the quarter. Fleeing units don’t count.

Roll of 6 - Choose: Inform your opponent that you may choose your Unknown Objective. Secretly choose any objective from those listed above for your Patrol and only reveal it at game’s end.

Mission Specific Rules
Assassinate - The commander must be the HQ selection taken. If the HQ choice is a unit or includes a retinue, only the main general must be slain. If no HQ choice is taken, a unit leader or model must be nominated as the commander of the patrol. This nomination must be done at the start of the game regardless if any player has rolled Assassinate (as it is a secret mission you will not know!)

Invade - All units in the enemy deployment zone count as double VP for the controlling player. The task player must have at least 200 points worth of their patrol in the enemy to acheive primary task points.

Capture & Control - Any model can capture objectives. Any enemy model can contest objectives. 3 objectives are placed on the board at the beginning of the game regardless of which mission each player rolled. If neither player has the Capture & Control task, these objectives are worth 40 VPs each at the end of the game.

Annihilate - The strength of the enemy patrol is measured by victory points, therefore in order to acheive this task the enemy must be reduced to below 125 points (75% of the enemy must be eliminated). Immobilized AND a weapon destroyed vehicle or walker counts for half VPs.

Hold Territory - Any model can capture a quarter. Any enemy model can contest a table quarter. Units with an armor value can control or contest a quarter as long as it is not destroyed.

Design Notes:
Basically this game will give you a wide range of missions which affects how you will play, but none of which you will know what you will do until the game starts! As well, you will not know the desired playstyle of the opponent until further in the game based on what you think they rolled for their secret mission. This means lists cannot be tailored for certain mission as when it was previously straight up kill the other patrol and generates several layers of strategy to carry out your mission while denying the opponent theirs.

As well, a balanced list will perform the best to perform well for all the missions available. Currently each mission rewards a certain armybuild:
Assassinate - precision strikes
Invade - speed
Capture - high staying power
Assassinate - high damage output
Hold territory - high model count

Annihilate and invade offset with one going for pure destruction and the other rewarding survival. Capture & control and quarters will reward table supremacy. Speed will be a massive asset in most of the tasks, but if reserves are used then you will not have much on the table to start so choose wisely!

Hold territory would be beneficial to try to take the middle of the table so your units can straddle the corner of all 4 quarters, but invade & objective missions will take action away from the middle. With all the possibilities every section of the table can potentially be important!

All models have been chosen to be scoring so non troop selections will not be penalized. They will already at a disadvantage with fewer models as non troop selections cost more than troops.

VPs have been chosen since KPs will not work as some armies will only have 2-3 units while others can take 5+. As well, in small scale engagements every model will be worth something and I needed a scoring system from tasks which would work with the damage done to the opponent.

Scoring Example 1:
Team 1 kills 240 points of the enemy, has 230 points of their forces in the enemy territory with the invade mission. Requirements to acheive the objective is 200+ pts, thus they gain another bonus 100 VPs for completing the mission. Total = 240 + (230x2) + 100 = 800 VPs

Team 2 kills 260 points of the enemy, has 2 objectives and has drawn the annihilation objective. As 260 VPs is not greater than 75% of enemy forces, they have failed the mission. Neither side has the capture objective mission, thus each is worth a bonus 40 VPs. Total = 260 + 40x2 = 340 VPs.

Team 1 wins

Scoring Example 2:
Team 1 kills 330 points of the enemy, has 2 objectives, contests 2 quarters and has drawn the capture & control mission. Total = 330 + 100 = 430 VPs

Team 2 kills 370 points of the enemy, has 1 objective, contests 2 quarter and holds another. They have the hold territory mission. Thus they have completed the mission to hold more than the enemy.
Total = 370 + 100 = 370 VPs. The 1 objective they hold is worth nothing in this case as one side does have the capture & control mission.

Result = draw as the VP difference is 40 (less than 50).

Another addition to implement campaign play. Victories and VP cost for rewards to be scaled based on the number of participants. It is designed to be played in 4-5 instalments or as time permits based on the players. Currently the numbers are designed for 4 players.

More victories will allow your patrol to develop more powerful skills but the cost to purchase them will increase as well. VPs earned during games can be spent and used to purchase abilities. Unused VPs can be saved up. All abilities are to be one time use per game only unless specified. Abilities carryover to subsequent games until the unit is destroyed or flees off the table.


Campaign Reward Table
Victories VP Cost Ability
1 150 Well Conditioned - Roll an extra die for one unit for the run move
1 200 Hidden Agenda - Reroll secret objective at the start of the game
2 200 Enhanced Stamina - One unit gains fleet for 1 turn
2 250 Trained Scouts - One unit gains a scout move at the beginning of the game
3 300 Strong Willed - One unit can reroll a failed leadership, pinning or morale test
3 350 Preferred Enemy - One unit rerolls to hit in close combat for 1 turn
3 350 Sharpshooter - One unit can reroll to hit shooting for one turn
4 300 Unbreakable - The unit is stubborn for one turn
4 400 Vanguard - One unit can be held in reserves and is allowed to outflank
4 400 Master Strategist - After deployment and infiltrators have been placed, one unit can be redeployed before the game starts
5 600 Destroyer - Furious charge with +1 attack per model in the unit for one turn
5 600 Annihilator - +1 shot per weapon from one unit for one turn
7 1000 Massacre Honors - +100 points allowed to be taken in the armylist (Can only be taken once and permanent upgrade to the army)

Destroyer and annihilator are rewarded to those with more than 50% wins in round robin play. Massacre honors to those who can acheive even greater victory. A fitting reward to reduce bad luck in the playoffs and increase chances they will go through to the finals.

Meeting 1 - Round robin match #1. Each player plays the other opponent once = 3 games each. Armylist must be the same against each opponent and cannot be changed between games. Lists can be changed between meetings but bonuses allocated to the unit stays on the unit and cannot be reassigned.

Meeting 2 - Round robin match #2. Each player plays the other opponent once = 3 games each. Same rules as meeting 1.

Meeting 3 - Round robin match #3. Each player plays the other opponent once = 3 games each. Armylist cannot change after this meeting. Total of 9 games at this point.

Meeting 4
Bonus Points Match - Annihilation
Rank 1 + Rank 4 vs Rank 2 + Rank 3
Game is used to score Victory Points only for the purchase of abilities in the playoffs. Victory here does not unlock rewards.

Playoff 1 - Rank 1 vs Rank 3
A small base is put in the middle of the field for which Rank 3 must defend to prevent extermination from the most dominant force in the game thus far. Rank 1 must assault the objective in the base to win. Random turns, Rank 3 deploys first and has the first turn

Playoff 2 - Rank 2 vs Rank 4
A small base is put in the middle of the field for which Rank 4 must defend to in order to receive supplies to continue on. Rank 2 must assault the objective in the base to win. Random turns, Rank 4 deploys first and has the first turn

Winner of each playoff game goes to the finals.

Finals
Last Man Standing . Roll off for deployment, sides and turn as per normal. The side with the last model alive wins. Vehicles and walkers which are immobilized and weaponless are considered destroyed as they pose no threat to surviving models.

We'll be running a few more test games to see how this goes. Let me know what you think or have any other ideas! :)