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Wow it has been a while since I've been on B&C - about as long as I've been out of 40k, as a matter of fact! I didn't expect to be returning any time soon but I found a way to have matches with friends despite the distance between us and everything going on, and there have been some interesting developments since the last time I've been around. Like, for example, 9th edition and some Crusade (i.e. unit experience) rules. Now, I've always been intrigued by the idea of connecting battles through a campaign, and with units earning new abilities as they fought and performed admirably. I remember finding rules for it in an older edition and modifying them for use in 5th edition, so I was excited to see something like it brought back for a new edition. Of course, it was for 9th edition and I know next to nothing about it, but I didn't let that stop me. Long story short, I found the leaks and rendered it down to the basics (experience levels, the various battle honors), and incorporated it into a friendly campaign that we mixed with old but refurbished rules for Planetary Empires. All bolted onto the basic 8th edition rules, except replacing the 8th edition command point rules for the 9th edition one, and ran using power level games. And it has been a roaring success! It has been ages since I've had this much fun with the game, at least partially because now even in defeat I gain something. Sure, I may have lost the last match, but I got experience out of the deal and the grip on the planet shifts ever so slightly... Which brings me to the reason I'm posting - to share the best stories of the campaign so far, about six games in! All of these are played against Blood Angels. So far, my stand out units have been the following: 1. A Crusader unit - "The Order of the Blue Rose." Turns out, eight of them makes for a fantastic tarpit unit and counter to deep striking. So long as the unit lives, they can regain a model per turn. Combine that with a command squad medic and despite almost being wiped at the start of the last game, they returned in full force to kill off three enemy characters and claim the winning objective. The Emperor Wills it! 2. Ogryn Bodyguard - "Lieutenant Blargh". Having come from running Space Wolves as my usual army, there is something familiar about the smash-y qualities of a well-equipped Ogryn. Like how he tanked four turns of sniping for my General and Primaris Psyker. Or how he has now killed the enemy warlord twice in back-to-back games. Now that I've given him a crusade relic that gives bonus strength (letting him wound marines on a 2+) and FNP, I expect he'll do even better at both smashing and saving. 3. Infantry - "Bravo Squad". Ever have a Space Marine player dread and hate a basic infantry squad before? That's Bravo Squad's experience! They were the first unit of mine to get a battle honor, the one which grants them +1 to hit and wound against characters. Ever since then, they have been the honor guard for the General and act as her makeshift firing squad. They've formed quite the vendetta with the Blood Angels Captain, with whom they always manage to get locked in close combat. 4. Hellhound - "Soot". Primaris getting you down? They sure were for me! Which is why when I got a free weapon upgrade, I made sure to turn Soot's Inferno Cannon into a Master-Crafted Inferno cannon, taking its damage from 1 to 2. Even Angels fear to go wherever Soot's treads have been spotted. Who needs close combat ability? Anyway, I might add more stories as they unfold. If any of you have gotten some particularly thrilling stories, or some experience with the Crusade system, I'd be more than happy to read them! The Emperor Protects!