It's been too long since I’ve kept up my blog, but this is kinda the perfect opportunity to jump back in. With the current state of the world and the lockdowns many of us are experiencing, it's been impossible to wargame with friends for a lot of people lately. Additionally, a lot of my good pals are now spread across the US and it's been super difficult to game together even before the terrible sci fi movie that 2020 has become. But it has given me the chance to try combine something that I’ve wanted to do for a while - play virtually with friends and try to get back to the RPG nature of wargaming.
In the early days of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 the games and scenarios were designed to be run with a Games Master. This individual would design the scenario, assign forces and make rulings during the game to keep it exciting and fun. Modern trends have gravitated towards a more competitive one on one game, with army lists and scenario generators replacing the third player. This is fine, but I’ve been feeling like something was missing.
To that end, I suggested to a pair of friends (Rob, who ended up playing the Imperial Fists and Ron, who commanded the Death Guard) the idea of playing a game of 40k via Messenger. I would provide all the models, design the scenario and take care of executing their orders and rolls each turn. They would be making command decisions, and I’d take care of the micro-management. I encouraged them to get into character as much as possible and treat the game as more of an unfolding story than a pure competition. I think it went pretty well. In this post, I’ll cover the background and starting info each player had. For simplicity’s sake, we left out things like Stratagems or Command Points that would interrupt turns and make things more complex. Each player would also be working on limited information which would be revealed as squads made contact with one another.
The Battle of Kyvex River
“The bitter fighting of the Horus Heresy was only the beginning of a new age for Mankind founded in blood, battle and the living enshrinement of the Emperor as a God. After the death of their leader,
Horus, the Traitors splintered and dispersed, but many hard battles remained.
Horus' death had not ended the fighting, but it had renewed the resolve of the Loyalists to destroy the Traitors. Many Imperial worlds during the Heresy had refused to commit their forces to either side, or seceded entirely from the Imperium to regain their independence. Such indecision was punished by Loyalist and Traitor forces alike. These forces were often bled white attacking the rebel strongholds of worlds that only wanted to be free of the Imperium entirely, whether it swore allegiance to the Emperor or to the Dark Gods.
Deep in the shrouded Ort clouds of the Sarpadon Cluster, the planet of Proxima Xarash was one such world. Remnants of the shattered Imperial Fists Legion were quickly deployed to impose Imperial Compliance upon a planet that had seen relatively little damage from the monumental carnage of the Heresy. The intact industry and populace of Proxima Xarash would be needed to fuel the furnace of the new Imperium of Man, and the Imperial Fists set about establishing order quickly.
However, there lay a rot deep in the soul of the inhabitants of Proxima Xarash that went far beyond mere treacherous yearning for independence. A foul cancer, which spread and called across the void to those that would nurture it. Care for it. And allow it to spread to other worlds. This disease of the soul called out to the foulest of the Traitor Legions, the Death Guard, and they answered it quickly.”
Death Guard Briefing
Background - Fragmented and bitter, the remnants of the Death Guard Legion fled Terra after the death of the fool, Horus. They roam the galaxy spreading disease and pestilence amongst the Corpse Emperor’s weakling servants. They have been called to Proxima Xarash by those foolish enough to believe that Grandfather Nurgle’s blessings could free them from beneath the Imperium’s iron heel.
In the opening phases of the campaign, a small group of Death Guard troops supported by ignorant indigenous cultists launched a guerrilla raid on the water processing plant along the Kyvex River. The Death Guard planned to infect the filtration system and allow Nurgle’s favors to be granted to the citizens of the nearby megapolis of Cartush. Unfortunately, they have timed their attack with the arrival of the Corpse Emperor’s lap-dogs, The Imperial Fists. If they are foolish enough to stand in the way of Mortarion’s sons, so much the better. All will rot and decay!
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Primary Objective - One member of Squad Corrosis OR the Foul Blightspawn Feculus Spew must get in contact with the processing plant’s main controls, denoted in red on the map, by the end of turn 5.
Secondary Objective - Breaking the will of the Loyalist forces is always an objective. Destroy 50% or more of the Imperial Fists models on the board.
Map Notes: The river is impassable except at the bridge.
Forces -
Tox Troopers - 10 Cultists armed with autoguns
Tox Troopers - 10 Cultists armed with autoguns
Squad Corrosis - 5 Plague Marines armed with boltguns. One member carries a Blight Launcher.
The Sgt has a power fist.
Feculus Spew - Foul Blight Spawn
Plagueburst Crawler - Armed with Mortar, 2 Entropy Cannons and Rothail Volley gun
Imperial Fists Briefing
Background - Shattered and exhausted by the events of the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Fists Legion is a shadow of its former self. Resisting calls to break up the legion, its Primarch Rogal Dorn has scattered his sons across the galaxy in a relentless hunt to bring justice to the Traitor Legions and those who would defy the Emperor’s divine guidance. A chapter of the Imperial Fist’s 5th Company has arrived on Proxima Xarash to bring enlightenment and vengeance to the cowards that dwell here.
What began as a small rebellion that should have been quelled easily has festered into a nearly planet wide revolt. This has spoken to an influence more insidious than the local demagogues can muster, and it was quickly revealed that the hand of the Death Guard was behind it. You have tracked a force of them along the banks of the Kyvex River, near the megalopolis of Cartush. Whatever their intentions are here, they deserve only a swift death as demanded by the edict of Traitoris En Extremis.
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Primary Objective - The Traitors MUST be eradicated! All Death Guard units must be eliminated from the board by the end of the 5th turn. Non-Death Guard units do not count towards this total.
Secondary Objective - At the very least, enemy positions must be reconnoitered. To do this, you must have at least 1 Imperial Fist unit within 12” of the Southern table edge by the end of turn 5.
Map Notes: The river is impassable except at the bridge.
Forces -
Squad Arcturus - 10 Marines armed with boltguns. Their Sergeant has a power fist.
Squad Garrus - 10 Marines armed with boltguns. Their Sergeant has a power fist.
Brutus Stahl - Consul armed with a power fist, chainsword and bolt pistol.
Brother Priam - Contemptor Dreadnought armed with twin-linked lascannons, combi-bolter, and close combat weapon.
Forces were kept small, as this could get super confusing and we wanted to try it out at a slow speed first. I'll update my blog with turn by turn entries.
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