Elvensword Ambassadorial Test Mission

[Lord Hanaur]

Below is the tested version we have come up with so far on this mission.  We will change this original post as we find things we need to do tio make it better and we have made several already.  Just want it to be easy to cut and paste and print.

 

We are looking for people to test this mission and give me reports back on what happened.  So if you have a little time with your friends and wouldn't mind helping us out, we'd like to get as much real game constructive information as we can.

 

The tests games so far have gone swimmingly. Test armies were a War Convocation, Deathwatch, Dark Angels , Eldar, Sisters of Battle, Tau Empire, Wulfen, Chaos Space Marines.  Looking for more hands to help us find the holes and the questions we need to answer.

 

Here is the updated mission description for testing.  

 

I am looking for battle Reports and such.  Already the Mission has evolved three times thanks to the input I am getting.  Keep it coming.

 

Setup

1.  Speak to your opponent about the Terrain and then determine Warlord Traits.  Then Determine Psychic Powers/other abilities.  Finally, Roll for Night Fighting.

 

2.  Roll off. Winner chooses whether he will Attack or Defend.  The Attacker will choose one long board edge he will attack from/Fall Back to before deployment begins.  The Opposite Long board edge will be the Defenders board edge for purposes of the Mission Special Rules below.

 

3.  Defender units must be entirely within 12" of the center of the board (The Shrine point).  The Attacker may deploy all of his forces anywhere on his half of the board that is not within 24" of the center of the board (the Shrine Point).

Player will alternate deploying their units, starting with the Defender.  Defenders may only Deploy up to 1/2 (rounded up) of their total starting  number of Kill Points.  Reserves are declared last when deploying.  Drop pods and their occupants rolling or automatically coming in turn one are included in this number, which may limit how many you can deploy in total turn one.  Any that would have come in on turn one, that exceed this number, enter ongoing reserve.

 

4.  Roll off to begin alternating placement of your infiltrators, if any.  Then roll off again to alternate moving any scouts, as normal.

 

5.  The Defender has the first turn.  The Attacker may attempt to Seize initiative.

 

Mission Special Rules:

A.  The player who goes first may not charge in turn one.

B.  Attackers and Defenders within 12" of the Shrine point gains a +1 to their Leadership for all purposes, unless Desecrated.

C.  Units the Defender placed into normal reserve must roll on the following chart and be deployed accordingly when they do arrive from normal reserve:  

1-2: The Defenders long board edge

3-4:  The Attackers long table edge

5-6:  Any table edge.

D.  Defenders fall back to the nearest board edge.

E.  The Shrine Point is considered to be on ground level, reaching upwards to infinity, meaning that any scoring model within 3", regardless of elevation, can contest or control it as normal.  

 

Primary Objective:

Control the Shrine Point.  Doing so is a Primary Objective (9 points)

 

Secondary Objective (6 points for Attacker, Variable points for Defender, see below):

Attacker objective (only):  Desecration:  Any of the Attackers non-vehicle units may choose to Desecrate the Shrine point (instead of shooting) when it controls the  Shrine point.  If the Shrine point is desecrated at the end of the game, you have achieved the Secondary Objective.  When the Shrine is considered Desecrated, both attacker and Defender lose the benefit of the Shrine.  Also, the Defender (specifically) receives a -1 to Leadership (for all purposes) when within 12" of it.

A Defending non-vehicle unit may choose to re-consecrate the Shrine point (instead of shooting) if it controls the Shrine Point.  If this happens, the Shrine Point is no longer Desecrated, and the effects of Desecration cease, and the effects of the Shrine point return to normal!

 

Defender Objective(only):  The One: Beginning in round 2, a Defending Independent Character who controls the Shrine Point and is attached to a unit that originally cost 75 points or more may sacrifice the unit he is attached to instead of shooting, removing it from play with only him remaining in place.  The character gains the Objective Secured and Zealot Special Rules for the rest of the game.  The Defender will receive Secondary Objective points based on when he makes this sacrifice.  Round 2: 3 points, Round 3:  5 points and Round 4+: 6 points.

 

Tertiaries (3 points):  

1.  Line in the Sand:  Control at least two Table quarters by the end of the game by having more Scoring unit in them than your opponent.  A scoring unit can only claim to be in one Table Quarter for this purpose.  You can score this objective once.

2.  Line Breaker:  If you end the game with one model fully within 12" of the enemy long board edge, you have achieved this objective.  You can only score this once.

3.  Slay the Warlord:  If the enemy has no Warlord on the board at the end of the game, you have achieved this objective.  Obviously, you can achieve this objective only once.

 

Please play this mission and report back your findings.

[WestRider]

If the Shrine is Consecrated at the end of the Game, is that a Secondary for the Defender, or do they only get that if it was Desecrated at some point and they Reconsecrated it?

 

The One says that any Character can do it, but the description implies that should actually be Independent Characters. Can Unit Upgrade Characters score that Objective?

[Lord Hanaur]

If the Shrine is Consecrated at the end of the Game, is that a Secondary for the Defender, or do they only get that if it was Desecrated at some point and they Reconsecrated it?

 

The One says that any Character can do it, but the description implies that should actually be Independent Characters. Can Unit Upgrade Characters score that Objective?

No, consecration is never a Secondary, as an enemy could simply deny you the secondary by never Desecrating it.  But If it is Consecrated, it is no longer desecrated...i.e the Attacker does not get the Secondary.

 

As the Defender goes first, the Attacker will always have the chance to Desecrate, unless he chooses to Seize (and succeeds).

 

This came up in my last test when the War Conclave attempted to Desecrate after seizing on me (that hurt).  Had they been able to, the Sisters of Battle might actually have been able to counter it (though in order to do so, they must control it).  Fortunately the only unit he had that could try were Imperial Knights and obviously they are a Vehicle and so were ineligible to try.

 

As for The One:  We are still debating that one.  I think playing it a few times and trying it would be worthwhile.  I at first made it IC's but then thought "you know, why does it need to be?".  Giving up a (usually) expensive and important IC seems a steep requirement.  I'm on the fence on that one.  Just don't know what to do about it and am hoping battle reports will tell me more about how it impacts the game.  

 

EDIT:  also we are asking ourselves this question:  "Should there be a requirement that the sacrificed unit be full strength?" Someone asked me that and gave me some solid reasonings for it, so we are mulling that also.  

[WestRider]

No, consecration is never a Secondary, as an enemy could simply deny you the secondary by never Desecrating it.  But If it is Consecrated, it is no longer desecrated...i.e the Attacker does not get the Secondary.

 

As the Defender goes first, the Attacker will always have the chance to Desecrate, unless he chooses to Seize (and succeeds).

 

This came up in my last test when the War Conclave attempted to Desecrate after seizing on me (that hurt).  Had they been able to, the Sisters of Battle might actually have been able to counter it (though in order to do so, they must control it).  Fortunately the only unit he had that could try were Imperial Knights and obviously they are a Vehicle and so were ineligible to try.

 OK, I missed that The One was only for the Defender, and got confused because it seemed like the Attacker had more potential points available. That makes more sense now, that they've each got their own Secondary.

 

 

As for The One:  We are still debating that one.  I think playing it a few times and trying it would be worthwhile.  I at first made it IC's but then thought "you know, why does it need to be?".  Giving up a (usually) expensive and important IC seems a steep requirement.  I'm on the fence on that one.  Just don't know what to do about it and am hoping battle reports will tell me more about how it impacts the game.  

 

EDIT:  also we are asking ourselves this question:  "Should there be a requirement that the sacrificed unit be full strength?" Someone asked me that and gave me some solid reasonings for it, so we are mulling that also.

The way I read it, you're giving up the rest of the Unit, and keeping the Character, so you're never giving up an expensive and important IC, you're just buffing him.

 

I can see arguments both ways on the full strength vs. damaged thing.

 

Won't have time to play it this weekend obviously, but I'll try to get Lars and/or Nathaniel to give it a go with me soon.

[Lord Hanaur]

Oh man, that would be really cool of you if you would. Need all the reps I can get

[Lord Hanaur]

I have heard from a couple people on how the mission went.  

 

Anyne here tried it yet?  i know that OFCC just happened so there might not be yet but just checking in.

[WestRider]

This week, it looks like the local gaming is all Silver Tower and/or Apoc-type stuff. I'll try to rope someone into it next week.

[Lord Hanaur]

Okay so we got more testing in and made a couple changes and clarifications.  I put them in the Original post to make them easy to find and print out.  

[fluger]

Anyone up for testing this out at my house some evening?  

[Lord Hanaur]

also post on Warsound.com because there are people up in Tacoma that frequent that site and might take you up on it as well.

[fluger]

also post on Warsound.com because there are people up in Tacoma that frequent that site and might take you up on it as well.

[Lord Hanaur]

I wanted to thank everyone so much for the continued support for testing this mission.

 

Today we got FIVE test games recorded and I am waiting on input from some of the players but we talked about it at length and it was kind of funny how differently people could see the same thing.  Five people with five perspectives and none of them exactly the same.  All valuable input though.  

 

I have a couple small things I will accentuate that came up.  Also will update the original post once I decide on a couple suggestions that were made.

 

Thanks again and keep it coming.  It's been a great help.

[Lord Hanaur]

EDIT:  Original Post containing the mission details has been changed.  please test this newer version.

 

So in 15 test games so far, the Defender has won 8 and the Attackers has won 7.

 

The armies were miriad including Daemonkin, Dark Angels, Tau Empire, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Grey Knights, Dark Eldar, Chaos Marines, Imperial Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Wulfen.  I have to allow for the fact that different Generals will deal with it differently and that in many cases these were the very first times they were seeing the mission, so they have not refined their sense of timing and priorities as they would more familiar missions.  But in actual games, the battles have been exceedingly bloody and interesting. I would encourage everyone who has played it one way to play it the other.  I probably should have made that part of the testing protocol and i didn't.  I mean when the time comes you will need to be able to do both.  May as well test it that way.  I will next time and moving forward.

 

The scores were, in order of magnitude and as they have been Reported:

9-3

9-6

12-3

12-3

12-6

12-6

15-6

15-6

18-6

18-9 (First Strike was in effect when this was fought)

21-6

21-3

21-0

24-6

24-0

 

It's an interesting spread. The thing I'm looking for here is how often was the difference greater than 9, because 9 is the Primary and someones gotta' win right?  Any result that is 9 or less apart is an exceedingly tight game, given Secondaries and so on.  

 

Of the 15, we saw 9 exceedingly close outcomes,  In six games we saw wider spreads and you expect to see that to an extent since the Primary and Secondary are somewhat closely related.  So in games that were 15 points or less apart we know that one of the players successfully took and held the middle, probably against great opposition.  That was 2 of the games.  Also I would point out that two of the higher disparity games were mine, wherein I won as Attacker with Dark Eldar and Grey Knights respectively.

 

So out of 15, we got 4 that were not probably close, and 11 that were likely in doubt to the ending round, possibly more.  Again Generalship and knowing the mission play into that in a big way.

 

Just some numbers for perspective.  Since there really isn't any kind of pattern that alarms me, I am willing to try the 18" deployment thing forthe attacker and see if it tilts things.  My sense having played it is that the role of Defender has suited me best but then that is my style of play to begin with and probably why I'm attracted to the mission.  But that's also why i wanted test games.

 

This mission is originally from the Sisters of Battle Codex, albeit modified.  One thing I should float here:  What do you think of falling back to the NEAREST table edge on this mission?  Someone pointed out that falling back 47 inches to escape the enemy never made sense to them.  i suppose the thought is that the direction the enemy came from is probably filled with more enemies.  But with a circular deployment zone?  I am wondering if that would be a good rule.

[generalripphook]

Question, will the missions be available before hand to the players?

 

Because then it's easy to tailor a list with a chump unit to sacrifice to get "the one"

[Lord Hanaur]

Play the mission and let me know.

 

You have to compete in 5 missions. This is one of five. The others are at www.40kambassadors.com. This one is being tested to join them. Such a chump unit is of course possible. But defenders go first and have a hard choice. The changes I made may make it easier for the intelligent attacker to thwart such plans.

[fluger]

I played it and it was fun.  I think the change to 18" instead of 24" is going to make this mission better.  Now I just need to test it out again.  

 

Also, LH, you got my mission creation juices flowing.  I have long wanted to modify and update some of the 3rd edition special missions and this has me thinking of those.  

[Lord Hanaur]

I played it and it was fun.  I think the change to 18" instead of 24" is going to make this mission better.  Now I just need to test it out again.  

 

Also, LH, you got my mission creation juices flowing.  I have long wanted to modify and update some of the 3rd edition special missions and this has me thinking of those.  

Well as you can see, exhaustive testing is time consuming but worthwhile.  We will see what final form this takes but mission designing is no joke!  It's fun though.  We used to do it ALL THE TIME when I first started playing.  We almost always had custom missions that we wrote for ourselves and we used to share our lists ahead of the game so we could kind of plan.  I only had one opponent back then and it was really fun.

 

Now that I am actually running tournaments and such, I have to care more about balance and even more about player experience.  Every player and their mother is willing to opine on a mission but actually playing it gives you actual information you can see objectively with.  How you FEEL about a mission is strongly influenced by how well you've planned your army to cope with it.  Lol.  Self interest, in other words. creeps in.  But actual games show that even though one person feels X is good and another feels X is bad, the REALITY is both can probably play with X if they adjust accordingly.  So as Generalriphook intimated, the players just need to know what the deelio is ahead of the tournament.  That way everyone has a fair shot of not screwing themselves in their army composition.

 

Still to be decided is whether we will use the ITC FAQ and such, but it seems likely that we will make it an ITC event, with a few minor changes and obviously the missions will are custom missions.  

 

Still, I have to make sure this mission is solid like the others.  We are really close though.  I think the equilibrium has been struck and now its just fine tuning.

[generalripphook]

I think personally it should be any character. Makes it more accessible to armies with little IC

 

Also do tyranids have IC?

[Gorgosaurusrex]

I think personally it should be any character. Makes it more accessible to armies with little IC

 

Also do tyranids have IC?

 

I was thinking this as well, due to Imperial Guard. The most common HQ choices (Company Command Squads and Tank Commanders) have no Independent Characters. Maybe any character (independent or not) from an HQ choice?

 

Tyranids have the Tyranid Prime, that's about it.

[Lord Hanaur]

I was thinking this as well, due to Imperial Guard. The most common HQ choices (Company Command Squads and Tank Commanders) have no Independent Characters. Maybe any character (independent or not) from an HQ choice?

 

Tyranids have the Tyranid Prime, that's about it.

So...take an IC in your army and profit?  Every codex i know of has one.  Seems like it would be wise to include one therefore.

[Talonwinter]

So tyranids are forced to take a unit that no one takes ever as it is not even close to useful?? Most army have a cheap ic, tyranids is like 125 base. No profit for taking it for sure.

[fluger]

You could always just hope you are the attacker!  

[Lord Hanaur]

So tyranids are forced to take a unit that no one takes ever as it is not even close to useful?? Most army have a cheap ic, tyranids is like 125 base. No profit for taking it for sure.

In my 3 games with Tyranids, i liked him a lot.  he can accompany Shrikes and do other cool stuff, but mosly the Shrikes thing was cool.  Thats how i used him.

[Talonwinter]

Shrike thing? He can get wings. How does he keep up?

[Lord Hanaur]

Shrike thing? He can get wings. How does he keep up?

If I recall, he could in the old codex.  dunno maybe he cant now.

 

EDIT:  checked him out.  Looks like the Prime can swing 6 attacks on the charge at WS 6, INIT 8 with Assault Grenades, He can carry the Lashwhip and Bonesword (instant Death on 6's, AP 3) and shoots 5 STR 5 shots for 155 points.  He has Dakka, he has melee and he can do some more cool things.  He makes Shrikes or Warriors have his WS 6, gives Psykers within 12" a -3 to LD so Perils are much more likely to zap them and he's Synapse of course. 

 

Even cooler:  he can up his Save to a 2+ the first turn of combat and tank wounds!  It's 40 points which is kinda insane but if he doesn't need the armor, he can switch that out for +1 STR or +1 attack instead.  So pretty adaptable to the threat he's up against.

 

I'm not a Tyranid salesman but...at 155 that's really pretty good.  Oh and ironically, he's 75 points (or more) cheaper than the Flyrants with Brainleeches.  75 points....