Doing a 'nids v AM campaign

[ilovethenids]

So, I shelled out a bunch of money on some painted AM models (I bought everything i need for my 750 point AM list except for one last heavy weapons squad, two special weapons squads, and a command squad), so now I want to focus on coming up with special rules that will represent the scenario presented by the first mission of the campaign.

The story behind this campaign is that my Hive Fleet (Hive Fleet Laelaps) is consuming its first prey world: a world on the outskirts of the Imperium. The Astra Militarum don't know about the approaching flleet, because it has not been encountered until now. For the first mission, the a small set of vanguard organisms have landed on the planet near a small outpost. Their goal is to destroy the communications tower so that they can kill the local garrison without warning the main base of their arrival on the planet. The Astra Militarum's goal is to send a distress call via the communications tower to warn the base of the incoming Tyranids.

Since the enemy doesn't know the Tyranids are present, there need to be some rules representing that. I need help figuring out what those rules should be though I'm thinking something penalizing shooting on my part (I only have one ranged weapon discounting the flesh hooks on my lictors/deathleaper) since that would be far more likely to alert the prey to my presence. I just think that if the AM don't know the Tyranids are even there, they're going to be acting differently than if they know there's an enemy in the vicinity (they'd obviously be far more alert in the latter case).

I need ideas

[Davor]

For some reason, I think only Lictors should be allowed in this scenario. If you don't have any, then I would use Genestealers and use them as "counts as" Lictors and maybe the Broodlord be a "counts as" Death Leaper.

It should be the Lictors objective to scout ahead, see that there is some AM out there, and they need to be eliminated so that no more reinforcements come in once the gaunts start to come in.

I say AM starts on one side of the board doing their patrol or what ever they are doing. The communication tower is on the opposed side of the board where the Lictors will come in. Since the AM don't know about them that is why nobody is in the Comm Tower. AM can not head toward the Comm Tower until a Lictor is spotted or attacks. Once a Lictor, Death Leaper is spotted or attacks then the AM needs head towards the Comm Tower and needs to be inside the Comm Tower for one turn and not be able to move/shoot/attack for one full turn. If this is accomplished then the AM was won the Objective of warning the rest of AM and warn them.

Then the game continues to see for funnsies to see if the Lictors and DL can eliminate the rest of the AM present. If the AM survive then they can be used in the next scenario.

[tylertt]

There used to be the rule for Sentries back in 3rd edition. You should try and find a copy of the rules, it could be extremely fun to use. I've tried it out before with a few modified rules and it was a blast.

[damnos]

I'm so jealous, I would love a Imp Guard battle just because of the similarities to Starship Troopers!

Cliché aside, perhaps you could use some of the Tyranid fluff to your advantage here.

As Hive Fleet Laelaps gets ever closer to the planet, the shadow in the warp begins to grow ever stronger on the planet below. Beginning with awakening a group (or few) of genestealers, along with The Horror....a Broodlord.

You could use the shadow in the warp clawing at the minds of the Imp Guard to limit shooting on their part by making each group take a leadership check to see if they succumb to the crushing power of the psykers above the planet, should the test be failed then they must reduce their BS to the result of a d3 and their WS to the result of a d3 for the remainder of the game turn.

To add an extra twist, why not start the genestealers (or other units that you want) at the communications device, to panic the IG as they approach it

[ilovethenids]

I actually did make sure the lists are fluff-oriented, because obviously a fluff-based campaign is not the place to put non-fluff lists

My list for Tyranids is as follows:

HQ: 1 Tyranid Prime with BS/LW + deathspitter (although I may get rid of the deathspitter for this scenario)
Elites: 3x lictors + deathleaper (using a homebrew, deathleaper can join a lictor unit without taking up a slot)
Troops: 1 unit 5x genestealers, 1 unit 10x genestealers with broodlord

The AM list is mostly infantry with three heavy weapons teams, 3 sentinels, and a chimera - a lot of the units have flamers/grenade launchers.

I do agree that there shouldn't be any AM at the comms tower itself because then that basically guarantees their victory. I'm thinking that so long as any of the Tyranid units except for the Prime are in area terrain they count as being out of LOS until the AM have been alerted to the Tyranids' presence. I kinda like the idea of the AM units being on a routine patrol away from the actual fortifications and whatnot - then it's a race against the creatures pursuing them. I think if they survive more than one full Fight Sub-phase in Assault, all units within 12" of the assaulted unit should be alerted to the Tyranids' presence and may fire at anything within their LOS.

I still need to find someone to play with in the first place, so I don't really need to think out the entire campaign just yet. However, I think if the Tyranids destroy the comms tower, the fates of any guardsmen near that outpost are pretty much sealed. If the AM won and got the distress signal out, the next mission they'd have some sort of advantage representing the fact that they've had some time to prepare a defense against the Tyranids. If the Tyranids won, it'd be the other way around.

[Yautja]

My suggestion:
Or have AM already in control of the tower and state that a unit has to be in the control room sending their emergency message, which takes (for example) 5 turns to complete. Said unit is too focused on their task to take part in ANY combat except for firing Overwatch if assaulted. They are the only unit that can send the message and need to be wiped out for the message to be stopped.

Make the tower give this unit a +3 cover save and have a special rule that it provides this cover even against attacks that ignore cover.

The AM have to protect the unit of messengers at all costs before the game ends while the Tyranids, not able to use Biovores from afar, must assassinate the messengers before their warning is sent.

Size of messenger unit should be dictated by how many points are on the table.

[ilovethenids]

Cool idea. Like I said this would be a very small mission due to the fact that it represents the vanguard of a Hive Fleet versus a small outpost on a backwater Imperial World, so there wouldn't be any Biovores on the Tyranid side to begin with.

While I think them having control of the comms tower doesn't really fit for this scenario, that may be something to do towards the end of the campaign if the Tyranids have basically won - the idea being that they're trying to alert the Imperium to another Hive Fleet, kinda like what happened on Tyran.

Once I've come up with the overall scenario for the mission, feel free to try it yourself and tell me how it goes.

Also, the campaign wouldn't stop at the consumption of this world - this would just be a "mini campaign" in a perpetual series. I've decided that this backwater would should be covered in dense, lush forests because the additional biomass granted by the plants and local wildlife will be a perfect appetizer for the growing fleet. The results of this campaign would affect the next campaign - if the AM on this planet were able to send out a distress signal before being overrun, in the next campaign the AM would have the advantage of preparing in advance.

I'd also be adding a space element to it, but that's for later. It'll be very expansive, I can say that

[Squire]

I like the warning message idea

How about for the first battle when IG units are unaware of the threat or slow to react, they start with a slightly larger army but starting from the first time the nids shoot (or move into 12" of any IG unit) each unit has to take an initiative test to do anything. So the first time maybe an infantry squad rolls a 5 so they fail the test and haven't reacted yet. On the following turn they roll a 3 and from then until the end of the game they are active and function normally. It'll be a bit like reserves but units with an I4 character react faster and units that haven't reacted yet can still stand there being picked off as they mill around/panic etc.

I came into this thread to suggest a battle type representing underground caves, inside a building or on a ship, where the guard aren't allowed any vehicles and the nids can't take any monstrous creatures. It would be a big change in dynamic but I'd be careful about adding too much cover (though thematically it would make sense) because it might stack things too much in the tyranids' favour. You could even try a variant of this where footrants, fexes and sentinels are okay but I'd stick with the original no vehicles no MC idea

[Shadowwolf]

Sounds like you need Kill team? Should have the rules for sentries and all that.

Shadowwolf

[ilovethenids]

Shadowwolf, do you know where I could find those rules online? I know they were included in the rulebook way back when, but i haven't seen them in the current editions.

Right now I've bought everything for my 750 guard army except for the two special weapons teams and a single heavy weapons platform. I can't seem to find any painted special weapons teams for sale though, and heavy weapons teams for sale are always in threes and I don't need three

After I've bought all those all I'll need to get will be a broodlord, two lictors, and a deathleaper. I've got a whole bunch of 3rd ed genestealers so I don't need to buy any more I'm gonna paint all of the vanguard organisms for my fleet in Space Hulk coloration rather than my normal blue skin red carapace scheme just because I think it'll be cool to have a distinction between "vanguard organisms" and "main invasion organisms."

EDIT: Found the rules for sentries. If anyone would be interested, I may end up making a formal "booklet" type document that details parameters for each mission in the campaign with the same style that you find in the main rulebook and whatnot, or possibly in the same style as the Imperial Armour books. Let me know if that would be of interest.

EDIT 2: I'm thinking that Unaware sentries/defenders shouldn't be allowed to fire overwatch if they're assaulted while still unaware, simply because otherwise the 'nids wouldn't have a chance (20 guardsmen with 2 grenade launches and 2 flamers would probably take out quite a few 'nids before they ever got a chance to strike), mostly the flamers because they are S4 and in overwatch you get 2D3 auto hits for template weapons. What do you guys think?

[Davor]

Problem with unaware is, these guys are Fracking Imperial Troops. They have been trained for these things. It's not like in the movies that their guard (no pun intended) is down. While yes it is down, they would know how to react from training. These guys are experts unless you are saying these would be new recruits with not much training and no experience at all.

Maybe have an Ambush rule where, where a Lictor can be within 6" of an enemy but the enemy can't overwatch that turn or all firing is done on Over watch and can only hit on 6's.

[ilovethenids]

I see your point, but I also think that Lictors and Genestealers are so fast that if they popped up completely unseen from very close range, they'd be able to close the distance before a normal-human could pull the trigger of his/her gun.

Perhaps something like "If a Tyranid unit charges an Unaware enemy unit from less than 8" away, the enemy unit may not fire overwatch." That way they can only avoid overwatch if they get very close before charging.

The main reason I want to have a way for them to avoid overwatch is because a 20 man unit of AM infantry can deal an average of 4.2222 unsaved wounds in overwatch, which is 56 points of Genestealers dead before they can even do anything. Considering a 10 man unit of Genestealers with a Broodlord costs 210 points, and a 20 man AM infantry platoon with 2 grenade launchers and 2 flamers costs only 100, I don't think it's unfair to say that the genestealer unit should be able to slaughter that unit in one turn of CC.

I also need help deciding on a background for the planet itself. I want it to be covered in forests, because the plants provide extra biomass for the Hive Fleet. At first I was thinking perhaps it could be orbiting a Red Dwarf star, close enough that the star's gravity has greatly slowed down the planet's rotation, meaning they get more daylight, but upon more research I found that would definitely not lead to a heavily forested planet due to the other characteristics of Red Dwarf stars. I could just say the star is one like our sun, but I'd still need an explanation for why the planet is so heavily forested.

Also, does anyone know when surveys of the outermost systems of the Ultima Segmentum took place? That's where this planet is, because Hive Fleet Laelaps is actually the result of splinter fleets from Kraken, Behemoth, and Gorgon merging into one fleet - the idea is that being the combination of three different Hive Fleets, it is even MORE adaptable than a normal Hive Fleet. Laelaps is a hound in Greek Mythology that was always destined to catch its prey, so the name fits well with the backstory.

[Hyrrokin]

since no link has been given here are the link for the one I know besides gws own
heralds-of-ruin.blogspot.dk/p/kill-team-rules.html

an interesting concept do post the progress of it if/when you get to play it.

[Davor]

GW does sell 40K Kill Team rules now as well. Those are the Official ones, that is if you want to buy the official ones. The link provided by Hyrrokin, I believe is done really well.

[ilovethenids]

Yeah, I'm not buying any stuff from GW anymore after what they did to Tyranids and how cruddy the game balance is right now. I buy all of my models and whatnot from eBay or other third-party sellers.

I came up with an idea for why the world is so heavily forested. After looking up climactic conditions that allow rainforests to exist on Earth, I found that it has to do with what's called the "monsoon trough", where Northern and Southern winds meet and whatnot. So what I figure is by having all of the landmasses near the equator of the planet, a large percentage of the terrestrial surface would be covered in thick foliage. No landmasses will be very large, though, because larger landmasses often have rather dry interiors. It wouldn't quite be all islands, though - perhaps 1 or 2 continents the size of South America, 1-3 the size of Australia, and a few scattered smaller islands. This first mission would be taking place on one of the outlying pieces of land, far away from the main base.

Does anyone know of a computer application I could use to create a map of the planet like they have of Satys in the first Rising Leviathan dataslate? I'd like to create one of my planet and future planets for campaigns that looks nice rather than some crudely drawn sketch.

Also, I need ideas for how to make a small Imperial Outpost with a communications array.

Thanks in advance!