Looks like my Crusade group will be starting the campaign in a couple of weeks, so my brain has been working and stewing and instead of just keeping it inside I decided to share my ramblings. 

 

Now, it looks like Votann have a decent two-part system for their Crusade implementation. Not as easy as Necrons (my last crusade army), which are I think the most simple due to them just requiring a few successful Agendas to max out options, or CSM, which focuses on your Characters getting buffed with weapons and powers to eventually Ascend to Daemon-Prince level, but Votann look ok. Not nearly as complicated as GSC, which looked terribly complicated when I glanced at it.

 

Anyway, the first part of the Votann system is Resources/Assets. Resources, of which there are four (plus a Rare version of each), are acquired by rolling after the battle. You can then spend the resources to buy Kindred Assets, which give an effect for your army, from additional resources, to rerolls for OoA tests, to reduced RP cost for certain Requisitions. Each Asset can also be further upgraded, for more resource cost, to get a further benefit that generally aligns with the starter benefit (i.e.- starter benefit give an additional XP for a Marked for Greatness unit, upgrade allows for a second unit to be Marked). Its a fairly intuitive system that just requires a little bookkeeping. The downside is that if you lose a battle and have 4+ Assets, you could possibly have one go offline on a d6 roll and then need to spend half the original amount of resources to reactivate it- it doesn't seem crippling, but could make a longer campaign go a bit sideways by requiring you to focus on repairs rather than acquisition. 

 

The second part of their Crusade layout is Expeditions. This seems very similar to the SM's Oathed Campaigns, in that you are tracking a goal over a certain number of battles. In the Votann case, you can pick a level of funding (which just gives you more games to complete the goal if you spend Resources- starting off at 5 battles) and then pick one of three goals- Win 3 battles, Use the Red-Handed Harvest Requisition 3 times (spend 1RP to gain resources dependent on number of enemy units killed/what enemy it was), or Complete the Prospecting Agenda 3 times (have a unit within 9" of a battlefield edge not your own at the end of a battle). All of these are fairly simple, it just depends on what you want to go for, and there is no actual penalty for not completing an Expedition as you just don't gain the reward. The rewards vary, but in general are XP for units and either Resources or Assets or upgrading an Asset. You can also add on one of three Guild Contracts to the Expedition, which requires you to have certain amounts of Resources and/or hit certain XP goals/get a Rare Resource at the end of the Expedition. There are penalties for not completing the Guild Contracts, so these seem iffier to me, especially since the reward for doing the Contracts is only Resources/Rare Resources. It might be ok if we wind up doing a looong campaign, but right now I think no Guild Contract for the Gardhird. 

 

Anyway, right now I'm looking at the following for Expedition/Asset acquisition:

Expedition - Farstryde Exploration

   Need to get a minimum of 1 unit to complete the Prospecting Agenda in 3 battles. Seems fairly easy with having both a Hernkyn Pioneer squad and my Hearthguard teleporters, so I'm not super worried about failing. Gives a Character unit 3XP (decent, but not something I really think I'll need) and a Mining Outpost Asset (which is useful, as it conditionally gives extra resources).

 

Assets to get - Pioneer Fleet and Implant Refinery (needing a total of 50 Raw Minerals, 150 Biomatter, 100 Energy Sources, and 50 Galactic Intel Resources)

    Don't like that the Resources required are so spread out, but it is what it is. The Pioneer Fleet is crucial, as it gives me 10 additional random Resources for each Yield Point I have at the end of a game and in my playtesting with my Votann I have consistently wound up with 10+ YP even in games I lost. So that really, really helps me gain the resources needed for something like the Implant Refinery, which allows me to re-roll any Out of Action tests for my Votann units (excluding Vehicles), which is a massive boost due to potentially not having to remove Battle Scars via RP. 

 

My starting goals/acquisitions are all set. Now onto the army itself. 

 

I've tested this army in a small, start-up league that was 1k-1.5k points and it did pretty dang good, and also moved it up to 2k and played a few games there with more decent results. So I think I'm fairly set for the list so far. What I will have to do is have my Warlord be my Einhyr Champion (as my special character Uthar can't gain any XP), and spend 2RP off the bat to give the Enhancements to the Champion and Memnyr Strategist. 

 

2K list

 

Uthar the Destined

Einhyr Champion w/Mass Hammer, Weavefield Crest, Ancestral Crest Enhancement

Memnyr Strategist w/Oathbound Speculator Enhancement

Memnyr Strategist

Kahl w/Bolter, Mass gauntlet, Teleport crest

Brokhyr Iron-master

 

2x 10man Hearthkyn Warrior w/Theyn (pistol/melee), 2 plasma knives, HLas autorifle, HLas rotary cannon

5man Einhyr Hearthguard w/mass hammer

6man Steeljacks w/Volkite

6man Steeljacks w/Melee

3man Brokhyr Thunderkin w/Conversion beamers

3man Hernkyn Pioneers

 

2x 1man Kapricus Defender w/Magna-rail

1x 2man Kapricus Defender w/Magna-rail

2x Sagitaur w/HLas beam cannon

1x Land Fortress w/Conversion beamer and heavy bolters

 

For 1750 points, remove the Land Fortress

For 1500 points, remove the above, Khal, Iron-master, and 1 Hearthkyn squad

For 1250 points, remove the above, 1 Memnyr Strategist (without the Enhancement), the Brohkyr Thunderkin, and the 2man Kapricus Defenders

For 1000 points, remove the above, the Melee Steeljacks, and 1 Kapricus Defender

 

So the Starting list looks like this- 

 

Uthar the Destined

Einhyr Champion w/Mass Hammer, Weavefield Crest, Ancestoral Crest Enhancement

Memnyr Strategist w/Oathbound Speculator Enhancement

 

1x 10man Hearthkyn Warrior w/Theyn (pistol/melee), 2 plasma knives, HLas autorifle, HLas rotary cannon

5man Einhyr Hearthguard w/mass hammer

6man Steeljacks w/Volkite

3man Hernkyn Pioneers

 

1x 1man Kapricus Defender w/Magna-rail

Total- 990 points, 2RP cost

 

It's a fairly fast, compact force. Splitting up the Hearthkyn, first the single squad and then both squads at 1.5k, to make two bare-bones ion blaster squads and two decked out squads that have Uthar and the teleporting Kahl give me a lot of utility for Agendas/actions and holding objectivess, while the pressure from the Kapricus Defenders has proven to be quite useful in racking up primary points/Yield Points early on, even though the Defenders rarely last long because of their low W/T/Sv characteristics. The Steeljacks, of both variety but more so the shooty ones, are extremely durable and irritating to remove especially when the army moves into the Fortified position (usually by turn 2), and then Wounding Steeljacks on anything other than a 4+ requires a S12 weapon. While they last the Kapricus can help out with anti-tank, but I've found the Sagitaur, Thunderkyn, and Land Fortress do a decent job against any list I've come against other than Knights, which won't happen in this Crusade. So overall I'm pretty happy and confident that I can put up a good fight against any army I need to.

 

That's pretty much it, now I just need to get to painting the army. All of my characters are currently done, so just the bulk of the rank and file. My first goal is to get the 30 Hearthkyn Warriors I have done by the end of this month and then I can work on the more elite infantry/vehicles. Anyway, thanks for looking, see you later!