Announcing casual-friendly Maelstrom/Schemes of War format games

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Schemes Of War was a very popular way to play 40k in 8th which was separate from the GT/ITC format and I'm looking for folks who'd like to try it out in 9th edition. So what is it and what makes it better than 9th Matched Play Missions?

1. The mission objectives are better tailored to each player's army and reward dynamic strategy on a turn by turn basis. Opposite to the current focus on choosing secondaries in advance that require the least interaction.
2. Far more fun! Most of the big names in 8th battle reports were running Schemes Of War in their content much more often than ITC competitive missions because they were more entertaining to play and watch.
3. Every turn of every game is unique because you're pursuing a different combination of objectives than any previous game. And those objectives are changing each turn for both players.
4. Did I mention the competitive scene hated them because the unpredictability meant there were no "correctly optimized" lists? When no one knows in advance the exact placement of all objectives and how the scoring will play out in every turn they can't game the system as much.
5. Victory points are scored by going out and doing things rather than sitting in place holding things.
6. Much more flexibility for listbuilding and much more forgiving for newer players or weaker codexes.
7. I know you're curious and I already have cards printed for both players!

So below is an in-depth rundown of the format detailing the beta Maelstrom Of War released for 9th, what's different from Matched Play, and what veteran playtesters and streamers suggested should be retained from the 8th edition Schemes Of War. No need to read it if you just want to show up and try the game out. The army building is exactly the same as Matched Play and it's probably easier to see in action than read in detail.

Please feel free to add your thoughts or if you're interested in a game. I'll link back to this post in my game night announcements. My intention is that we use this as a living document for the updated format when I'm not available to lead the games as well.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

HISTORY

Schemes Of War was the revised version of Maelstrom Of War released halfway through 8th. Derided by the competitive scene in the US as being too unpredictable, (definitely a good sign!) Schemes Of War was much more dynamic and replayable than the GT format because the objective placement and scoring is based on variables players effectively set for their own army - after seeing their opponent's army - via a deck of cards which are drawn randomly each turn.

In Feb '21 White Dwarf issue 461 reintroduced the Maelstrom Of War to 9th in beta form. Because it was a beta form without the support of playtesting, printed cards, etc (and competitive-meta-panic still dominating the screeds online) it didn't reach the popularity of the 8th Schemes Of War. Fortunately several notable battle report streamers and long-time 40k playtesters published their recommended changes to capture the best of both 8th Schemes Of War and 9th Maelstrom Of War. I've summarized them below with the text in green reflecting revisions to the White Dwarf beta ruleset suggested by these 40k veterans. You can see the rest of the game setup and army rules are basically the same as Crusade/Matched Play.

I was hoping GW would return to this within the last year but their recent preview of which new books are releasing in the next six months made it pretty clear they haven't revisited it. But who says we have to wait for them anyhow - let's make the game more fun for ourselves now!

 

1. SELECT BATTLE SIZE & MUSTER ARMIES

Players select battle size: Incursion, Strike Force, Onslaught. Army points limit, starting command points, traits & relics, etc are all the same as matched play. Standard battle-forged army composition and detachment rules apply.

 

2. DETERMINE MISSION

Players determine the mission either agreeing between themselves or rolling D6 and selecting the mission type as follows. I have updated the Mission Rules in the post below this one to avoid confusion referring to the beta mission text as the original text doesn't fit with the Schemes Of War-style deck of cards etc.

1) Territorial Control
2) Ambitious Surge
3) Complex Front
4) Subterfuge and Interference Consider removing entirely or Option B I've suggested in the mission description below as it's just a 'screw you' mechanic that functionally favors the player in the lead.
5) Chaotic Engagement
6) Never Surrender

 

3. DETERMINE DEPLOYMENT MAP

Players determine the deployment (WD 461 pg 90) either agreeing between themselves or rolling D3 and selecting the following:

1) Dawn of War (long table edges)
2) Hammer and Anvil (short table edges)
3) Search and Destroy (corners)

Mark the player territories which will be used in objectives, basically splitting the table in two halves following the deployment style.

 

4. READ MISSION RULES

tldr: See the MISSION RULES in the post below this one.

Specifically, disregard the SELECTING TACTICAL CATEGORIES and GENERATING TACTICAL OBJECTIVES listed in the beta rules for that mission. Instead default to each player drawing three Tactical Objective cards in their command phase unless the MISSION RULES section modifies the number of Tactical Objectives generated.

This change to use cards rather than the roll 1D3 + 1D6 method listed in the beta rules eliminates the bookkeeping aspect of the beta rules and allows for the benefits of deck building - more on this in step #9 & 15.

 

5. CREATE THE BATTLEFIELD

Exactly the same as matched play.

 

6. DETERMINE ATTACKER AND DEFENDER

Roll off and the winner decides who will be the Attacker and who will be the Defender. Defender will be first to alternate placing objectives, first to select their deployment zone, and first to begin alternating deployment.

 

7. PLACE OBJECTIVE MARKERS

Starting with the Defender, players alternate placing objective markers on the battlefield one at a time, until each player has placed 3 objectives (2 each for Incursion). Each time a player places an objective marker, that objective marker must satisfy the following: 

- Be wholly within a player’s territory (ie not straddling the centerline).
- Not be within 3" of any battlefield edge.
- Not be within 12" of any other objective marker.
- No more than half the objective markers can be set up within either player’s territory.
- Exactly one objective must be placed within each player’s deployment zone (recommended to spread the game out and avoid a center ClusterFrack).

 

8. CHOOSE DEPLOYMENT ZONE

Defender selects their deployment zone, attacker gets the other one. Each player then numbers the objective markers in their territory 1-3 (1& 2 for Incursion).

 

9. BUILD TACTICAL OBJECTIVE DECKS

Each player then secretly selects 4 Tactical Objective cards from each of the 6 categories for a total deck of 24 unique Tactical Objective cards to score in that game. Each player builds their own deck from the 36 possible - neither player is removing options from their opponent - and players should take into consideration the composition of the opponent's army. Have a conversation! Make the game fun!

This is the most significant change from the beta rules and avoids a pantload of tracking on paper and time saved rolling dice every turn. More importantly, this avoids objectives your army cannot achieve vs this opponent and prevents double-scoring one objective. Each player shuffles their deck after selecting 24 Tactical Objective cards and discards any unselected ones.

 

10. DECLARE RESERVES AND TRANSPORTS

Exactly the same as matched play.

 

11. DEPLOY ARMIES

Alternating deployment beginning with the defender, exactly the same as matched play.

 

12. DETERMINE FIRST TURN

The players roll off. The winner declares whether they will take the first or second turn. Potentially require the winner to take 1st turn as in matched play. Probably not significant but some recommended this.

 

13. RESOLVE PRE-BATTLE ABILITIES

Exactly the same as matched play.

 

14. BEGIN THE BATTLE

Each battle round proceeds nearly the same as matched play with the following changes. At the beginning of each player's command phase - just after gaining CP - that player generates their Tactical Objectives for that turn. Only Tactical Objectives cards in play that turn can be scored - there are no Primary nor Secondary Objectives scored. If the player would like to retain up to one card from the previous turn they can spend 1 CP to do so. Any remaining Tactical Objective cards that player holds are discarded and that player draws a number of Tactical Objective cards as prescribed by that mission's Mission Rules - drawing one fewer if they retained a Tactical Objective card from the previous turn.

That player then places those cards face up on the table - with the option of keeping one face down as a mystery card. The face-down Tactical Objective card can still be scored this turn as usual but keeping one hidden from the opponent adds an additional layer of tactics to the game. The rest of the command phase and turn progresses as normal.

This change to drawing from a pre-selected deck allows for a happier medium of randomness - making each game far more unique than GT/Matched Play, while avoiding the feels-bad moments created by a bad roll in the beta rules. Each turn only a few objectives are available to score so the strategy shifts toward being dynamic than sitting in corners doing secondaries.

The other major change here is that the beta rules generated objectives for both players at the start of the battle round. Switching to the start of each player's turn mitigates much of the 1st turn advantage to block the 2nd player's objectives ,and gives the second player a chance to retain a Tactical Objective card if they are out of CP.

 

15. ENDING THE BATTLE

Battle ends after five battle rounds exactly the same as matched play.

 

16. DETERMINE VICTOR

At the end of the battle, the player with the most victory points achieved via the Tactical Objective cards is the winner. And don't penalize your partner for unpainted models - we all have to start somewhere!

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

MISSIONS

 

1. TERRITORIAL CONTROL
MISSION RULES
From the second battle round onwards, in each player's command phase, if that player controls more objective markers than their opponent, that player draws a fourth Tactical Objective card that turn. This increases the scoring options for both players.

2. AMBITIOUS SURGE
MISSION RULES
In each player's command phase, after Tactical Objective cards have been generated, their opponent selects one of the objectives generated by the player. If the player scores that Tactical Objective this battle round, they score twice as many victory points for it. Since the difficult objective is usually selected this rewards players for taking risks.

3. COMPLEX FRONT
MISSION RULES
At the start of the battle, each player secretly selects one of the Tactical Objective categories and makes a note of it on their army roster. Each time they score a Tactical Objective card from that category, they score an additional 5 victory points. The first time they do so, they must reveal their selection to their opponent. This increases the points values of four cards in player's decks - but it will still be random when those cards show up.

4. SUBTERFUGE & INTERFERENCE
MISSION RULES
In each player's command phase, after Tactical Objective cards have been generated, their opponent selects one of the objectives generated by the player. The player cannot score that objective this battle round.

This ends up being a mechanic that just feels like a screw you to your opponent, and gives advantage to whomever is in the lead as it reduces potential scoring by 1/3 every turn. I'd suggest the following option to at least put some risk in removing the Tactical Objective card as they might draw a better one, and not slow down the game as much.

Option B: In each player's command phase, after Tactical Objective cards have been generated, their opponent selects one of the objectives generated by the player. The player discards that Tactical Objective card and draws a replacement.

5. CHAOTIC ENGAGEMENT
MISSION RULES
Players can retain one card from their pervious had as described in step 14 without spending a CP. This gives more flexibility to achieving Tactical Objective cards and saves more CP for both players.

6. NEVER SURRENDER
MISSION RULES
From the second battle round onwards, note which player has fewer victory points at the start of the battle round. Then in that player's command phase, that player draws a fourth Tactical Objective card that turn. This keeps the game closer as it helps the underdog each turn.

[Andrewgeddon]

Are the cards available somewhere, or were they just listed in the White Dwarf?

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

GW never produced the cards - the WD beta makes you roll 1D6 + 1D3 every turn and check some tables. The cards are the same results from the tables but allow for a better experience with the deck-bulding aspect.

I created mine in photoshop to fit the FFG 40k card sleeves but there's a few folks online who've made some smaller card templates you can print. This one looks like the best.

[Treads-n-Wings]

I like the sound of this, I'd like to try it the next time I make it to the clubhouse!

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

13 hours ago, Treads-n-Wings said:

I like the sound of this, I'd like to try it the next time I make it to the clubhouse!

I can be around this Saturday if you’d like.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Everyone seems to like the objective cards I created best so for anyone who wants them I have a printable PDF I can share which will yield cards that fit universal 2.5 x 3.5 card sleeves.Maelstrom_Cards.pdf

[Andrewgeddon]

15 minutes ago, Tao Tsê-Mung said:

Everyone seems to like the objective cards I created best so for anyone who wants them I have a printable PDF I can share which will yield cards that fit universal 2.5 x 3.5 card sleeves.

I'd love a copy if you don't mind 🙂

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Sure, I've attached the pdf to my post above.

[Ben Bach]

I would love to play this! I’m generally more available on weekends than weekday nights, but if I can get an open evening, I’m there!

[Andrewgeddon]

Looks like GW is putting out another version of Maelstrom missions. Really like what I'm reading so far!

https://www.goonhammer.com/goonhammer-reviews-tempest-of-war/

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

 

FYI the awesome wahapedia guy has again created for free what gw should have been doing all long given that it’s 2022!

Check this out, a tempest mission generator!

https://wahapedia.ru/wh40k9ed/the-rules/tempest-of-war/#Mission-Generator

You can even draw your cards and recycle them etc from any web browser ie phone!