Need Suggestions: Narrative campaign for Fall

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Hey guys,

I'm wanting to do an escalation league for my local player base. My goal is to be as inclusive as I can be where just about anyone can join with their legion/army.

What's the best avenue to take, use the crusade rules from 40k? Use the old campaign suggestions from 5th edition, or run an urban conquest style of thing? It's been a long time since I've done a narrative for more than 2-3 people. 

Here are my wants:

League starts at 1,000 points Endgame 3,000 points. Increase by 500 points each week (subject to change). No named characters, LoW or primarchs etc. until 3,000 points. Can only bring 1 of a named character or primarch etc.

Biggest barrier I forsee is requiring a 3 color minum for every army. But this being an escalation league, the point is to have built and painted models.

I'll look at including some kind of small incentives via Trophies or plaque in an attempt to keep individuals interested...Thoughts?

[Trokair]

Unless all the players taking part have a lot of hobby time/hobby stockpile or already have the majority of the final 3000p then 500p a week might be tough to achieve. I would suggest extending the time period a fortnight or even a month between each level.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I am leaning more on the 2-week mark, for sure.

[Noserenda]

Ideally this kind of thing should run for about 6 weeks/sessions and go out on a bit of a high rather than dribble off but Tokair is right that 500pts a week is a bit much for most people, last time i did something similar even 500pts a month was too much for half the players. I would probably aim for 2000pts over 6 weeks with some flexibility to let players do more some weeks, less others and then pair them up with a roughly even force.

You can always reward players who are super motivated and get loads done but carrots are always better than sticks!

I wouldnt ban special characters, Primarchs are automatically limited by the LoW rules but it baffles me why the story of an army built with a special character is somehow less valid? Like half my army ideas come out of the novels and that often means special characters.

Campaign suggestions from previous editions are almost certainly still valid, Crusade would be cool but would need work to fit the system, id personally do a map and pop stickers/pins/digital markers over it for wins, nice , visual and simple and no way to death spiral. :) 

 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I think 2,000 over 5-6weeks would be fine. It just depends. A Kratos or spartan are both almost 500 points a couple of dreads for a talon or a blob of cataphractii special boys the same. 

We have time to implement everything. Also, I appreciate the feedback.

Edit: I like your idea about gold stars etc. I think Urban Conquest offers a lot in this regard, with a combination of crusade rules or the campaign tree in the 5th edition codex. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Dont-Be-Haten

[Slips]

you could always send out a survey to prospective participants about what the end-state of their army is likely to look like so that you can get a semi-accurate view at overall model count for the armies involved.

Not everyone is going to run 10+ Cataphractii Terminators, a Spartan or 3+ Contemptor Dreads, after all.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

3 hours ago, Slips said:

you could always send out a survey to prospective participants about what the end-state of their army is likely to look like so that you can get a semi-accurate view at overall model count for the armies involved.

Not everyone is going to run 10+ Cataphractii Terminators, a Spartan or 3+ Contemptor Dreads, after all.

True, there are a couple of the people who are having their models commissioned also. So There is that as well. Something good to digest.

[bushman101]

I would avoid using the current 40k Crusade rules. A lot of the things you would spend Requisition Points on doesn't exist in HH (Relics, re-rolls, traits that don't line up with HH). 

I'm not sure what I would do instead. I'd probably do something that would reward wins without punishing losses. That way an army that lost 1ST round would still have momentum to continue. 

[Marshal Mittens]

Consider points at each portion for:

Winning

Sportsmanship 

Army Appearance 

 

So that there is more to "victory" than just winning games, and motivation to get a good army done on time. 

[sarovian]

4 hours ago, Marshall Mittens said:

Consider points at each portion for:

Winning

Sportsmanship 

Army Appearance 

 

So that there is more to "victory" than just winning games, and motivation to get a good army done on time. 

I'd have bonus points for "Most Cinematic Moment" each round as well, voted for by the players.

On the original question, I'd run something simple - a kind of basic branching narrative based on the results of each round. Find a reason for all the forces to be kicking around in this area, play some games, bring it all together for a massive multiplayer finale. 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Good points made here. A lot to think on and digest. Appreciate the information.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

On 8/17/2022 at 12:42 PM, Slips said:

you could always send out a survey to prospective participants about what the end-state of their army is likely to look like so that you can get a semi-accurate view at overall model count for the armies involved.

Not everyone is going to run 10+ Cataphractii Terminators, a Spartan or 3+ Contemptor Dreads, after all.

I just put out a survey on our local social media group. Thanks for the suggestion Sips!

I'll get back to you all with the results.

As far as Crusade goes, it wouldn't be cut and paste from the crusade rules of 9th edition but rather use the crusade rules as a set of guidelines. 5th edition campaign books have some great insight that can be used as inspiration rather than the special rules handed down by the crusade options, but I like the more in depth guide 9th offers.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Looks like 3,000 points is the point 90% of people want to shoot for. I will easily make accommodations for the individuals who want fewer points. I've got my prologue battle typed out and ready to go. Looks like starting point will be 1,000 points so that everyone can have a praetor and their right of war from the jump. The campaign is set to last almost 9 weeks. From 28 August to 30th of October.

It's going to be a lot of fun, and every couple weeks I'll add more battles and events to the document. First mission will be a combination of Age of Darkness and Seize Ground from 5th edition. Mission two will pull from Age of Darkness's Onslaught, Next will be Snipers alley from Urban Conquest, followed by Capture and Control from 5th edition with a twist.

[Laughingman]

It might be worth looking at HH9 Thrammas campaign for some ideas... It had some interesting mechanics, that could be dynamic and interesting.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Laughingman

[Dont-Be-Haten]

9 hours ago, Laughingman said:

It might be worth looking at HH9 Thrammas campaign for some ideas... It had some interesting mechanics, that could be dynamic and interesting.

I don't have any of the 1st edition heresy books. I'll have to look for a .pdf as the red books are rather expensive in the secondary market. I have a few older campaign books I can pull from however.

I'll definitely keep everyone up to date ok Success vs. Failures. And what people like/don't like about this campaign.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Here's my loyalist Oath of  Moment.

 

Spoiler

"I, Aethon Solaq, first of his name, Praetor to the Raven Guard Legion, with this oath vow to support the Emperor and his loyalists from this day to the last. At this moment I swear to build and paint 3,000 points of Raven Guard by October 30th, 2022. Success will bring honor to my Primarch and to the Emperor, whilst failure shall make me an oath breaker. For Corax! For the Emperor!"