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Announcing Casual 40k Crusade Escalation League!


Tao Tsê-Mung

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Casual 40k Escalation League

1st Thanatosis Crusade Campaign:

Call of the Wraith

 

Thanatosis /thanəˈtōsə̇s-/ noun - colloquially known as playing dead or feigning death, a deception behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead as a defense mechanism.

@Salty Monkey & @Tao Tsê-Mung are excited to present our first hyper-casual, optimum funhammered beer & pretzel & mustard & whiskey crusade escalation league! (don't actually bring alcohol! 🙂 )

The Fluff:

Kizmiaz 7 is a small single planet system on the wrong side of the Segmentum Pacificus. Imperial mining colony MC-85021K has received little support as the raw materials have almost been depleted. This is not to say it is empty. Something calls from deep dark of the planets core. What it is unknown but the locals call it the “Call of the Wraith.

 This “Call of the Wraith” is a vibration that can be heard with by ear on the three days around the full moon. This vibration messes with electronics, scares animals and seems to catch the attention of anyone who comes close to the system.

 A small band of orks have already heard the call and have landed in the badlands of the south continent, causing typical Ork troubles. And this is just the beginning. Locals have already begun to evacuate, it seems they can see the writing on the wall on this one.

 What is this “Call of the Wraith” who knows…a better question is will you hear the call and see what adventure this brings?

The Crunch:

Standard Crusade rules for matched play with a HEAVY emphasis on casual fun lists. Think of it as your chance to dust off the “poorly-optimized” models you love and run that experimental list. Or start a new army with cheap ebay rescue units the competitive players are dumping this codex. It’s so casual we’re giving a bonus to the LOSER of each game!

Haven’t tried Crusade yet? As @Salty Monkey says “It’s just 40k with homework Value Added”. Essentially crusade adds a narrative based advancement which is independent of winning or losing - everyone gets to add something cool after every game. And even the winner might walk away with battle scars!

For balance purposes we’ll use points rather than power level throughout the campaign. (1pl = 20pts) Everyone starts at a 1000pt Order of Battle. Our first few weeks we’ll be playing the Combat Patrol missions with 500pt armies. Like an escalation league we’ll advance the story and up games by 250pts a couple weeks later when the participants feel like it! Keeping the points lower longer will allow us to play a couple games a night and earn more Exp/Rp than rushing up to 2k games.

All the standard rewards for experience,  requisitions, agendas, etc will be available - we’ll be periodically advancing the games sizes escalation-style but feel free to use requisition points to increase your Supply Limit as well. The crusade rules track your army’s progress from one battle to the next but not win/loss rate, no league points, nada! Here's the sheets you'll need either printed or on your phone/tablet:

Order of Battle Sheets pdf

Automated Order of Battle doc

There’s no cost to enter the league, normal Ordo membership costs for game nights at the clubhouse. @Salty Monkey & @Tao Tsê-Mung will be playing game nights at the clubhouse Thursdays and some weekends. Feel free to join even if you can’t attend every week and play as many games as you like!

Highly recommend Warlord membership level as it more than pays for itself in just 8 nights playing at the WoW clubhouse.

Again the focus of this event is a fun narrative game. Please bring a list that you and your opponent will enjoy win or lose. If your current list is winning most games against the latest codex releases - or is spamming the new hotness on reddit/discord - it’s probably going to curbstomp those factions still waiting for their codices to drop and is too competitive for this casual league. It's almost always a few specific units and combos - not an entire faction - which is over-ther-top. So take this as an opportunity to run the models which the internet says is bad, the ones you have painted from two editions ago because they just look cool but have just been gathering dust.

As mentioned earlier there's a bonus for losing your games. Well, that's not the only house rules we have planned for each phase of the league as the narrative unfolds. Here's the one that applies when you lose a match. And below that check out the house rules for the first round of battles - Scouting Kizmiaz 7.

Lose the Battle, Win the War: If you lost your last crusade game add 1 to your roles for choosing deployment and first turn on your next game!

Here's a breakdown of the first few chapters and battle points:

 

Priority Intelligence Communiqué:

Eta: Aug 19th - Recon Forces Arrive on Kizmiaz 7

Multiple forces arrive on Kizmiaz 7 unfamiliar with the terrain but begin vying for control of the hinterlands.

Missions: 500pt Combat Patrol + optional scouting rules to be posted on the Game Night post.

 

Eta: Sept 9th - Urban Warfare Battle for Mining Town Designation MC-85021K 

Which faction will take control of the derelict mining town in advance of orbital reinforcements arrival?

Missions: 750pt Incursion + optional urban warfare rules to be posted on the Game Night post.

 

Eta: Sept 23rd- Incursion into Kizmiaz 7 Interior - What Lies Beneath?

Now fully supported from orbit, competing forces interior via abandoned mine shafts unaware of what they will encounter.

Missions: 1000pt Incursion + optional subterranean warfare rules to be posted on the Game Night post.

 

Eta: Oct 7th - Incursion into Kizmiaz 7 Interior - What Lies Beneath?

 . . .

 

Edited by Tao Tsê-Mung
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First week's Game Night is up with the optional rules for the Scouting of Kizmiaz 7 here!

Here's the optional rules we're encouraging folks to use reflecting the narrative for this week as forces are scouting Kizmiaz 7. Select any Combat Patrol mission and add these rules on top. Feel free to play multiple games - we'll keep these optional rules for the first two weeks of 500pt games.

Lose the Battle, Win the War: If you lost your last crusade game add 1 to your roles for choosing deployment and first turn on your next game!

Fog of War: If a unit arrives on the battlefield after the battle has begun (e.g. as the result of an ability on its datasheet or the Reserves rules), roll a dice the first time it does so. On a 1 or 2, it is delayed and cannot arrive this turn – it arrives in the following turn instead. Units arriving after turn 3 are not slain.

Mysterious Objectives: The first time any unit moves within 3" of an objective marker, or is within 3" of an objective marker at the start of the first turn, that unit must identify it. (happens automatically, no action needed) To do so, roll a dice and consult the following table. Each objective marker is only identified once.

D6 RESULT
1 Sabotaged!: The unit that identified this objective marker takes D3 mortal wounds.
2 Right On Time: Gain 3 VPs this turn only.
3 Grav-wave Generator: If you control this objective marker, any unit attempting to charge a friendly unit within 3" of this objective subtracts 2 from its charge move.
4 Targeting Relay: If you control this objective marker, friendly units within 3" of this objective re-roll hit rolls of 1 when shooting.
5 Scatterfield: If you control this objective marker, friendly units within 3" of this objective re-roll saving throw rolls of 1.
6 Fire Support: If you control this objective marker, roll a dice at the end of your Shooting phase. On a roll of 5+, choose an enemy unit within 18". That unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
Edited by Tao Tsê-Mung
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Question. What size board will the games be played on? In my experience, small sized games on the new GW recommended board size skew so heavily towards melee infantry that it's pretty much not fun for anything else to play on. I'd like an excuse to dust off my 40k and give another go, but while I like the idea of small games, I feel like in the current state of the game, they're hopelessly imbalanced.

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42 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

Question. What size board will the games be played on? In my experience, small sized games on the new GW recommended board size skew so heavily towards melee infantry that it's pretty much not fun for anything else to play on. I'd like an excuse to dust off my 40k and give another go, but while I like the idea of small games, I feel like in the current state of the game, they're hopelessly imbalanced.

Sure, if you and your opponent want to adjust the board size that’s fine. Personally I tend to like the larger boards too. There’s also new missions in the supplemental faction crusade books that might be skewed less toward blobs. 

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1 hour ago, Sgt. Rock said:

Question. What size board will the games be played on? In my experience, small sized games on the new GW recommended board size skew so heavily towards melee infantry that it's pretty much not fun for anything else to play on. I'd like an excuse to dust off my 40k and give another go, but while I like the idea of small games, I feel like in the current state of the game, they're hopelessly imbalanced.

I personally recommend combat patrol games (500pts or less) on the 44x30 while everything larger is on the 60x44. 1000pts is too tight on the smaller board and it makes it just a game of who charges first.

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Hmmmm should I post my crusade roster here for people to see and critique. I really don't want to be accused of being competitive. Especially since my codex has only 24 data sheets to pull from (2 are special characters, most I don't own yet.... I will have you some day 5++ rhinos.... some day)

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5 minutes ago, Lyraeus said:

Hmmmm should I post my crusade roster here for people to see and critique. I really don't want to be accused of being competitive. Especially since my codex has only 24 data sheets to pull from (2 are special characters, most I don't own yet.... I will have you some day 5++ rhinos.... some day)

Feel free to post it if you’d like to, but you’re definitely not required to either.

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3 minutes ago, Lyraeus said:

I personally recommend combat patrol games (500pts or less) on the 44x30 while everything larger is on the 60x44. 1000pts is too tight on the smaller board and it makes it just a game of who charges first.

See, that's exactly the problem. The 44x30 is too small. I like anything 1k and under on a 4x4 table, and anything over that on a 6x4. With 40k's wonky deployment these days, if you roll the short side deployment, all you have to do is cross that 30" and you're in melee turn one, which is easy to do and exactly what happened to me. If they're going to be screwy with the deployment, then they need to have even board sizes that prevent that kind of BS. 

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1 minute ago, Ish said:

As I’ve been saying since the rules were previewed, these table sizes are suggested minimums they are not requirements. 

That's exactly it. And everyone treats them like they are the only way to play in 9th. People seem to think that the game is "balanced" around these table sizes (which is a joke in its own right, because balance and GW games don't belong in the same sentence) but as far as I'm concerned, the old ways are still best.

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23 minutes ago, Lyraeus said:

Especially since my codex has only 24 data sheets to pull from (2 are special characters, most I don't own yet.... I will have you some day 5++ rhinos.... some day)

Twenty-four datasheets!? Luxury!

My codex has thirteen. One of which is a named special character! 

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2 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

And how many of those are for Forge World models? I briefly considered Custodes before I found out just how dependent on resin they were...

Not a single one of them. 
 


[b]++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Adeptus Custodes) [24 PL, 489pts, 3CP] ++[/b]

[b]+ Configuration +[/b]

[b]Battle Size [3CP]:[/b] 1. Combat Patrol (0-50 Total PL / 0-500 Points) 

[b]Detachment Command Cost[/b]

[b]Shield Host:[/b] Solar Watch

[b]+ HQ +[/b]

[b]Shield-Captain [6 PL, 108pts]:[/b] Castellan Axe, Eagle's Eye, Impregnable Mind, Misericordia, Warlord

[b]+ Troops +[/b]

[b]Custodian Guard Squad [7 PL, 156pts][/b]
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield

[b]+ Elites +[/b]

[b]Prosecutors [3 PL, 60pts]:[/b] Sister Superior
. 4x Prosecutor: 4x Boltgun, 4x Psyk-Out Grenades

[b]Vigilators [4 PL, 85pts]:[/b] Sister Superior
. 4x Vigilator: 4x Executioner Greatblade, 4x Psyk-Out Grenades

[b]+ Dedicated Transport +[/b]

[b]Null-Maiden Rhino [4 PL, 80pts]:[/b] Hunter-killer missile

[b]++ Total: [24 PL, 489pts, 3CP] ++[/b]

Created with [url=https://battlescribe.net]BattleScribe[/url]

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10 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

Well fine, make me look silly. I guess I'll just go sit over here with my Marines codex with THIRTY GAJILLION UNITS TO CHOOSE FROM...

 . . . 

Primaris Lieutenant w Eagle

Primaris Lieutenant w Earache

Primaris Lieutenant w Earbuds

Primaris Lieutenant w Earring

Primaris Lieutenant w Earwax

Primaris Lieutenant w Economics Degree

Primaris Lieutenant w Economics Degree (Advanced)

Primaris Lieutenant w Economics Degree (Incomplete)

Primaris Lieutenant w Elephant

 . . . 

 

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My list for people wanting to know whats being brought! It will be my first ever game playing DG!!!!!


++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [28 PL, 2CP, 492pts] ++

Battle Size [3CP]: 1. Combat Patrol (0-50 Total PL / 0-500 Points) 

Plague Company: The Harbingers

Gifts of Decay [-1CP]:Additional Relics

+ HQ +

Death Guard Daemon Prince [10 PL, 175pts]:2. Gift of Contagion, 4. Arch-Contaminator, Foetid Wings, Malefic talons, Suppurating Plate, Warlord

+ Troops +

Plague Marines [12 PL, 192pts]
. Plague Champion: Daemonic plague blade, Plasma pistol
. Plague Marine w/ blight launcher: Blight launcher
. 2x Plague Marine w/ boltgun: 2x Blight grenades, 2x Boltgun, 2x Krak grenades, 2x Plague knife
. Plague Marine w/ flail: Flail of corruption
. Plague Marine w/ icon: Icon of Despair
. Plague Marine w/ plague spewer: Plague spewer

Poxwalkers [2 PL, 50pts]
. 10x Poxwalker: 10x Improvised weapon

+ Elites +

Foul Blightspawn [4 PL, 75pts]:Revolting Stench-vats

++ Total: [28 PL, 2CP, 492pts] ++

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6 minutes ago, kb10r said:

I thought in the Crusade forces section "RELICS, WARLORD TRAITS AND UPGRADES", forces could not have warlord traits or relics? Can @Tao Tsê-Mung confirm?

your force does not start with any relics or WLT. but you can purchase these at the building phase.

each force starts with 5 RP

it costs 1 RP to give a character a Relic or WLT

example:

I start Gimpy the Warboss with a Warlord trait & a relic

his starting force RP will be reduced to 3 RP (minus 1 for each )

other upgrades depend on description in the the section in the rule book that discuses spending RP. Some allow you to start with them but others can only be obtained after the unit has leveled up'd

I hope this helps

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