The Narrative campaign I've been running at my local gaming group, 'The Forge of Silence', has drawn to a close - it remained very close over the previous couple of months, but it was the Necron team that edged it to a claim a minor victory.

My army's record over the campaign wasn't that great, though I did pick up a couple of wins against a friend's Leagues of Votann army (one of which I felt pretty bad about afterwards 'cause I'd forgotten the battle scars on a couple of units meant I shouldn't have targeted them for strats..! )

It's been a useful way to learn the current 40k (it'll forever be a broken gaming system and I'm at peace with that, haha! ), and how my chosen army works (by the end I finally remembered pretty much all their rules ).

But what's been gratifying is seeing how the army has progressed, xp wise, using the Crusade system. Seeing units level up, getting bonuses, or bearing their Battle Scars, is for me a far more engaging way to play 40k than the standard competitive format.

The best example of this is one of the Captains, 4th Company Master of the Fleet Ouranos. When I last posted about the campaign, he'd had a bad game (being taken out by a Skorpekh Lord after some dismal dice rolling), gained a Battle Scar, but levelled up and gained some bonuses to his Power Weapon. So this latter part of the campaign has seen him on a quest of redemption - and he's pulled that off with some aplomb, killing enemy characters, elites and monsters with his upgraded sword.

Other gratifying progressions for units included being able to 'promote' a squad of Assault Intercessors to Bladeguard Veterans (using the Marines' Crusade Honour Points system).

But Ouranos has really been my most MVP of the campaign - he's now achieved Heroic status, and has been awarded another relic Power Weapon!

All of this has played out against the campaign narrative, which has seen some twists and turns, leading to a surprise 'betrayal' by a key 'dramatis personae' on the Imperial side.

If you want to read how the campaign and narrative have progressed and played out, you can do so from these links:

Month 4

Month 5

Final month

But that's not all for the campaign - I've got a special multiplayer game planned next month for all the participants, which will tie up the story. The Forge of Silence is open - can the Imperium and the Votann & their Allies stop the plans of the Necrons? We will find out next month..!