Turn 3 - The storm returns

Here is your turn 3 post. Please remember to post reports on the Turn 3 thread. Warp Storm The warp storm that was concealing this sector for so long has reared its ugly head and sent the crusade into disarray. Long range communications are impossible and even short range coms are hit or miss. Alliances are merely a suggestion this turn. The lack of communications has caused mishaps with battles within the alliances. This means that all games will count this turn regardless of alliance. That also means there is no dominance this turn. One other side effect is the following rule during play.

At the start of the game roll a d6 to determine if the warp storm is raging in this area. On a roll of 5+ the battle will be affected. If the battle is affected roll at the start of each game turn and on a 6 that turn is played using the Night Fight special rules.

Turn Information

Category	Information
Turn	3
Points	1250
Max Strategic Objectives	8
Dominance	None
Defiance	None
Special Rules	Warp Storm

Turn 2

Here is your turn 2 post. Once again please use the turn 2 google group thread for reporting your games.

Turn Information

Category	Information
Turn	2
Points	1250
Max Strategic Objectives	6
Dominance	Raiders
Definace	None
Special Rules	None

Modification to Dominance and Defiance

I have given some thought to how lopsided teams and Crusade Rating affect Dominance and Defiance. To make things a bit more even, I will be using an average rating to determine who has Dominance. So I will add all the Crusade ratings for each team and divide by the number of players. I am not sure this is completely even, but it is closer. At least it will mitigate the 6 point advantage the Raiders had because of the extra army. I am still weighing whether I will use the change in the average or the total change in points to determine if one side is in Defiance or not. At this point it does not matter as no one can be in Defiance in turn 2. Just as a reminder, if a player is in dominance they may choose to use the battle bonus from the random rolled territory instead of their own staked territory for an upcoming battle. The team in Dominance and Defiance will be listed on the Turn post at the start of each turn so you will not have to worry about figuring it out or keeping up with it. Just check the post to see who is effected.

Turn 1

Here we go. Lets get this thing started. Players start showing up about 6:30pm.

Tier List

Category	Information
Turn	1
Points	1000
Max Strategic Objectives	4
Dominance	None
Definace	None
Special Rules	None

Prelude to 8th - The Story and the players

For over a thousand years a massive warp storm has raged over and area of space occupied by Imperial Sector 549.25. A recent probe of the area has revealed the storm has receded and now the Administratum wants to bring that sector back under Imperial control. A message went out to Imperial installations throughout the galaxy with a simple directive. Dispatch whatever assets you can spare to sector 549.25, assess the current situation and do whatever is needed to bring the area back into compliance.

Unfortunately for the Imperium, they are not the only ones who discovered this wavering warp storms. Enemies from the far reaches of the galaxy are also sending fleets to investigate the sector to acquire anything off value from the area. Clashes ensue almost immediately.

Enemy and allies alike have converged on this small area of space. After the initial dust settles two themes have arose, destroy the external threat and eliminate the Imperium. The forces arrived have splintered into the following factions:

Crusade of the Imperium

• Shannon - Dark Angels
• Tim S. - Salamanders
• Sam - Grey Knights
• Jon - Adeptus Militarum
• Brent - Adeptus Soritas
• Carlos - Imperial Fists

Raiders of Ruin

• Lewis - Emperor's Children
• Mike - Dark Eldar
• Jeff - Harlequins
• James - World Eaters
• Tim F. - Genestealer Cult

Prelude to 8th - Crusade Abilities

Crusade Ability 

     In the same manner that your Warlord gains a trait each battle, you entire Crusade will gain a trait for the duration of the campaign. These abilities apply every game regardless of which character is leading your army in a certain battle. Roll on the relevant chart to find your Crusade Ability

Crusade of the Imperium Crusade Ability

1. Great Hunter - Glory and Honor awaits in every battle. After a battle in which one of your characters slays an enemy character in a challenge, destroys a Monstrous Creature or vehicle, immediately gain +3 Crusade Rating.
2. Sworn Enemy - Your scouts have revealed that an ancient enemy also fights within the sector. Nominate another player at the start of the campaign to be your sworn enemy. Gain +1 Crusade Rating for any battle against your sworn enemy. That gain is increased to +3 if you win the battle.
3. Master of the Crusade - You are determined that the sector will be reclaimed and rebuilt. At the end of the campaign turn, gain +1 Crusade Rating for each Strategic Objective held, and +3 Crusade Rating for each Hive City or Space Port held.
4. Bane of Tyrants - Many are the glories of your army, innumerable their victories. Defenders of the weak and victors over tyrants, you will topple those warlords who would crown themselves with the spoils of this sector. Pick and enemy player at the start of the campaign turn - score an additional +5 Crusade Rating if you score more Crusade Rating points this campaign turn than that player. 
5. The Blood of Martyrs - You seek nothing more than a heroic end in battle, to atone for the sins of the past. If you end a battle and more than half the enemy units have been slain, immediately gain +3 Crusade Rating. If at the end of the battle you have also lost more than half your units, immediately gain +6 Crusade Rating instead.
6. Selfless Sacrifice - You would put the success put the success of the Crusade above any personal victory. At the end of the turn, if your faction is currently leading in Crusade Rating, score an additional +3 Crusade Rating.

Raiders of Ruin Crusade Ability

1. Trophy Hunter -  What sweeter taste is there than the sight of a once-mighty hero laid low? Every time one of your characters slays an enemy Character roll a D6 - on a 4+ they are captured. Gain +3 Crusade Rating every time this happens.
2. Slayer of Men - On each and every world the enemy values you will raise a spire of their skulls higher than the tallest hive. If you end a battle and more than half the enemy units have been destroyed, immediately gain +3 Crusade Rating. If at the end of the battle the entire enemy army has been destroyed, gain +6 Crusade Rating instead.
3. Ruiner of Worlds - You will despoil the triumphs of the enemy and cast down the idols of the False Emperor. At the end of the campaign turn, gain +1 Crusade Rating for each Strategic Objective held, and +3 Crusade Rating for each Hive City or Space Port held. 
4. The Tyrant's Domain - You will make the sector your domain. Pick and enemy player at the start of the campaign turn - score an additional +5 Crusade Rating if you score more Crusade Rating points this campaign turn than that player. 
5. Relentless Assault - You are the many-headed hydra, turning every defeat into a victory elsewhere. If you are defeated in battle, roll a D6 - on a 6+ roll a random Strategic Objective and add this to the list of Strategic Objectives you control.
6. Sworn Enemy - Your scouts have revealed that an ancient enemy also fights within the sector. Nominate another player at the start of the campaign to be your sworn enemy. Gain +1 Crusade Rating for any battle against your sworn enemy. That gain is increased to +3 if you win the battle.

These abilities will be rolled at random and reported to me before any games are played on the first Friday. Any that have changing variables will need to be done each Friday before you play any games for the week.

Prelude to 8th - Dominance and Strategic Objectives.

     Lets see if I can write this up with out convoluting the details. When looking at ways to add a narrative element to this event I looked at multiple ways to give the games some sort of meaning outside of just lets play. There were many ways to do this, league, map campaign, tree campaign, ranked play, ect. I really just  wanted something interesting that did not really add a competitive element. So I decided a campaign was the way to go but I wanted to do something different. In this campaign players are going to be battling for dominance with the control of Strategic Objectives.

Dominance and Defiance

     Dominance is a measure of control. Dominance will be determined by the amount of points each alliance has control of at the end of each turn. The total Crusade Rating of all the Strategic Objectives controlled by each alliance will be calculated and the side with the most points will have Dominance. All players in the alliance that has Dominance will gain a benefit when determining what Strategic Objective they will use for a battle. This will of course be explained in detail below. No alliance will have Dominance the first campaign turn.

     In the same way that Dominance is a measure of control, Defiance is a measure of momentum. Well a way for the alliance without Dominance to gain a bonus from a good turn of play. After calculating who has Dominance, if the team not in Dominance gained more Crusade Rating in the last turn than their opponent, they are said to be in Defiance. This is a measure of how much they are gaining on their opponents even though they are not in Dominance.  In the first or second campaign turn no one will have defiance.

     **An important note, an alliance can never be in Dominance and Defiance in the same campaign turn. If they gain more Crusade Rating in a turn than their opponents and that puts them in Dominance, they only gain the benefit of being in Dominance.

Strategic Objectives

     Strategic Objectives are just what they sound like. Objectives of strategic value. They represent the places in the system the player controls and provide a Crusade Rating, a Battle Bonus, and are tied to Scenarios. Each one of these aspects is explained below.

Crusade Rating

     Each Strategic Objective has a Crusade Rating. This bonus is quite simply the amount of influence it provides to your alliance each game turn. At the end of each campaign turn I will add the crusade rating of all the Strategic Objectives controlled by each alliance. The totals will be compared and the alliance with the highest total will be in Dominance as explained above.

Battle Bonus

     Each Strategic Objective grants a Battle bonus that can be used in your battles. You are able to use one Strategic Objective for each battle and how that is obtained is described below under Playing Games.

Scenario

     Each Strategic Objective will have a certain scenario tied to it. This scenario limits the scenarios available to you and your opponent and is explained under Playing Games.

Starting Objectives

     Each player will start with two Strategic Objectives. They are the Landing Zone and Command Bastion. The details of those Strategic Objectives are explained in the chart below.

Playing Games

     This is the largest part about Strategic Objectives. This will explain how they are gained, lost, and used in a battle.

     Before each battle the players must establish exactly what is going on. To start off with each player will select one of their Strategic Objectives that they want to stake in the upcoming battle. After they have done so, they will roll a third Strategic Objective and make a note of it. These are the Strategic Objectives that are at stake for this battle.

     Once the Strategic Objectives have been determined you must find out the scenario . Look at the scenario for each of the three Strategic Objectives staked for the battle. If neither player is in Defiance then roll randomly to determine which scenario will be played. If one player is in Defiance, that player may choose the scenario instead of rolling randomly.

     Once the scenario has been determined, each player may can choose their forces. If you are not playing with one particular list I recommend coming to the game with several possible lists to avoid delaying the start of the game. This is also where the battle bonus of Strategic Objectives comes into play.

     Each player gains the battle bonus of the Strategic Objective they staked for the duration of the battle. The player in Dominance can elect to use the battle bonus from the randomly rolled Strategic Objective instead of their own. It could be extra points, special rules, or something similar.

To the Victor the Spoils

     Well sort of. Once the outcome of the battle has been established, it is time to choose your reward. If the battle resulted in a draw, then neither player gains a Strategic Objective. If there is a winner in the battle that player must decide if he wants the randomly rolled objective or the one staked by his opponent. His choice will have two outcomes. If he chooses the random objective he adds that to his list of Strategic Objectives and we are done. If he chooses the objective staked by his opponent, he gains that and his opponent takes the randomly rolled one.

     Two important points here. First off, the above system means that no one will ever have less objectives than when they started. I am doing this to keep the field close and prevent someone with a string of bad luck from feeling they have nothing to play for. Second, each campaign turn will have a maximum number of Strategic Objectives that any one player can have. If a player is at the maximum number and they win, and they want to select one of either the randomly rolled or opponents staked Strategic Objectives they will have forfeit their own staked territory to do so. In affect this means no player can gain more than two objectives a campaign turn and allows players to play as many games as they want while preventing any one player from outpacing the group.

Teir 1 Strategic Objectives

Strategic Objective	Crusade Rating	Battle Effect	Scenario
Landing Zone	3	+1 to Reserve rolls for the battle	Maelstrom: Cleanse and Control (rb 148)
Command Bastion	6	D3 units gain Stubborn	Maelstrom: Contact Lost (rb 149)
Power Station	6	+1 to roll to Steal the Initiative	Maelstrom: Tactical Escalation (rb 150)
Space Station	3	Deep striking units start rolling for reserves in turn 1 instead of turn 2. If they choose to do so they will arrive on a roll of 4+ instead of 3+ in turn 1.	Maelstrom: The Spoils of War(rb 151)
Manufactorum	3	+50 points	Maelstrom: Cloak and Shadows (rb 152)
Shield Generator	3	D3 units gain 6+ Invulnerable save. This provides no benefit if the unit already has an invulnerable save.	Maelstrom: Deadlock (rb 153)