Campaign Ideas: Induction Crusade

[ThePenitentOne]

Another post in the Sisters forum about sisters in the Imperium Nihilus got me thinking of a campaign idea where an Order would take their Novitiates across the Rift for formal induction into the Order at Terra or Ophelia VII.

 

I start all Crusades by establishing a home system for the Crusading Force using the rules from the Tau Codex. This will generate 4-8 planets (2d3 +2). These can be determined randomly using the d33 table; if you roll a Shrine World, this becomes the HQ planet for your Order- reroll any subsequent results of Shrine World. If you have not already rolled a Shrine World, your last planet in the system should automatically be chosen as a Shrine World to ensure that your Order has a home world.

 

Phase 1: Gathering Tributes from the Missions

 

Each planet in the system will have a Mission, and each must tribute two units of Novitiates to the Commandery HQ on your Shrine World. In game terms, this would be represented by a 25 PL force fighting its way to the transport to journey to the shrine world. These patrols must include two units of novitiates, and at this stage, neither would be equipped with upgrades. The rest of the force would be made up by Mentors and Instructors.

 

A typical force might include a Palatine with her 5 Sacressant Bodyguards leading a unit of Novitiates while a Dogmata leads another unit of Novitiates with support from a unit of 5 Retributors- this comes in at exactly 25 PL. 

 

In this battle, whichever Novitiate unit earns the most XP will become an Elite unit for subsequent games- adding specialist so that they can choose to fight Kill Team missions as the campaign progresses.

 

You'l need to fight one of these battles for every Mission in the system which is sending a tribute, but you can reuse the models to represent a different group of Sisters.

 

Phase 2: Journey to the Crossing

 

All the tribute forces have been gathered at your Shrine World. At this point, you can launch your Crusade for a point to cross the Rift; this is a good way to incorporate Vigilus Alone Campaign material into your Crusade if you wish to do so, as Vigilus is one possible corridor through the Rift. After your rendezvous with the Commandery, you can bulk out your roster with more conventional staple units, but you shouldn't include any named characters, and every battle should include at least two units of Novitiates. You can have fun deciding whether to send in two units of elites (ie. Upgraded Novitiates), two units of basic Novitiates or one of each. You can also have your Novitiates act as Kill Teams at any point. 

 

If you are doing a lot of Kill Team integration, running your Novitiates as Gestalt units is probably the best way to play, though it is a bit of book keeping. Gestalt units would receive  battle honours from both games each time they level, but they only ever use the battle honours which are appropriate to the game they are playing.

 

Phase 3: Battles at the Crossing

 

The crossing should be contentious- if it's at Vigilus, it might be fun to have your Crusade join a War of Faith for a few games. This is also a good place to add to your roster with other units from elsewhere in the Preceptory- stable crossings are rare enough that there is likely a bottleneck of forces from the Order.

 

Phase 4: Journey to the Convent

 

For the final phase of the Campaign, your force must journey to the Convent for the Induction Ceremony. At this phase, the Cannoness(es) may be qualifying for Blessings, and in the final battle which represents the Induction, a named character may even be present as a guest to preside over the induction.

 

Notes:

 

- Novitiates can earn 40k Battle Honours as if they were full Sisters

 

- Any Novitiate unit can be replaced by a Battle Sister unit of the same size and experience level, but this should be reserved for key battles and recognition of particularly noteworthy performance in battle

 

- While Novitiates can be replaced with Battle Sister units, they aren't officially consecrated in the new role until the Induction at the final battle; as such, none of these units should be able to claim Heroic or Legendary Battle Honours until that point, even if they have earned the XP

 

- Any upgraded Novitiates that appear on the field should have appropriate Mentors in the battle- so if you field the Novitiate with the neural whip, you should also field Repentia and a Repntia Superior, etc.

 

- Novitiate upgrades do function in Kill Team, but not in 40k... though it is still appropriate to put them on the table as "counts-as" variants

 

- while you will start with many units of Novitiates on your Roster, you aren't taking ALL of those units into battle at the same time- this will allow you to avoid buying a ton of Novitiate boxes... although you probably need 3- one with upgrades and two without.

Edited March 21, 2022 by ThePenitentOne