The Ichorax Campaign: Part 1
Recently, my friends and I decided to partake in a Warhammer 40k campaign. I've run campaigns and leagues for my local FLGS before and for the most part they have always been well received, but those were actually fairly large events with at times well over 15 participants. In my experience, campaigns are best played out from a narrative perspective with a group of 4-8 individuals.
I decided to get together with a few of my closest 40k mates and start a 6 month campaign event: Assault on Ichorax.
In official 40k canon not much is known about the Hive World of Ichorax. In 999.M41 the Emperor's Children assaulted the Hive World and all but wiped it out. It is officially classed as a Dead World according to Imperial records.
The Assault on Ichorax campaign is set prior to that around 870.M41. Ichorax is a fringe Hive World on the edge of the galaxy. It boasts millions of Imperial citizens and hosts a very large regiment of Astra Militarum who serve as the planet's primary defense force. Although much of the planet's environment beyond the massive hive cities is largely toxic and poisonous to most humans, the citizens within the hive cities manage to thrive through mass air filtration systems.
As the campaign begins, astropaths serving the Imperium noticed an anomaly in their system. A massive warp storm which caused a tear in the fabric of space. Spilling forth from the tear came the forces of Chaos to assault the planet. While their motivations at the start are unclear, the government has called for the aid of the Astartes.
I decided to make this a map based campaign simply because it is easier to visualize as the campaign continues and we track the progress as factions move across to either take over the planet, or protect its defenses. I used the free map making tool from hexographer.com to create the map for the campaign measuring off numbered hexes and populating them with dead forests, mountains, flats and hive cities representing the major cities on the planet.
Each player picked their primary army to play in the campaign and joined one of the 3 factions available: The Imperium of Man, Servants of Ruin, or the Arbiters of Fate. From there each player will pick up to three territories on the map (represented as hexes). They can then challenge other players for their territories or other territories on the planet. The idea here was to keep the campaign simple yet interesting enough to prevent it from getting stagnant.
I decided to use Resource Points to represent cool things players could "purchase" to get interesting in-game effects. These Resources have a cost to purchase, an upkeep cost, and then an in-game benefit. The Resources are placed in one of their territories and other players can battle them and potentially gain their Resources by taking over their territory. Players were given 30 Resource Points to spend upon starting the campaign. Here is a summary of the things they can purchase:
The turn is broken down into two phases. The Resource Phase, in which the players buy new Resources if they have earned the points, and pay upkeep on existing resources. Failing to pay the upkeep cost of a Resource would result in loss of the Resource for the campaign until a new one is purchased.
The second phase is simply The Battle Phase. In this phase, players can play up to 2 games. By challenging other territories they can play against opponents to gain territories and thus earn resource points. If a territory is attacked and hasn't been claimed by anyone then the attacker can choose the player to defend it. If a territory is occupied then the controlling player defends it. If the attacker wins he gains control of the territory and any resources on it if they were controlled by the defender. In addition, players earn Resource Points for fighting battles as follows:
This gives defenders a little more incentive for playing and defending territories they might not already own. The chance to get 10 free Resource Points by simply showing up to the game.
The campaign would be played out over the course of 6 months with each Turn taking a month. That gives people plenty of time to squeeze in a couple of campaign games a month. The faction holding the most territories in the end of the campaign is declared the winning faction. From the winning faction, the player with the most territories is deemed the overall campaign winner.
Again, the idea here was simple and easy with not too much book keeping. I have presented the campaign idea to my club and they are in the process of deciding on factions, and then placing markers on the map. I will continue to update the progress on the campaign as it gets into gear.
As for myself, the Flesh Tearers will be answering the call to aid from Ichorax. For the Emperor!
I decided to get together with a few of my closest 40k mates and start a 6 month campaign event: Assault on Ichorax.
 |
| Ichorax Prime capital Hive City on Ichorax |
In official 40k canon not much is known about the Hive World of Ichorax. In 999.M41 the Emperor's Children assaulted the Hive World and all but wiped it out. It is officially classed as a Dead World according to Imperial records.
The Assault on Ichorax campaign is set prior to that around 870.M41. Ichorax is a fringe Hive World on the edge of the galaxy. It boasts millions of Imperial citizens and hosts a very large regiment of Astra Militarum who serve as the planet's primary defense force. Although much of the planet's environment beyond the massive hive cities is largely toxic and poisonous to most humans, the citizens within the hive cities manage to thrive through mass air filtration systems.
As the campaign begins, astropaths serving the Imperium noticed an anomaly in their system. A massive warp storm which caused a tear in the fabric of space. Spilling forth from the tear came the forces of Chaos to assault the planet. While their motivations at the start are unclear, the government has called for the aid of the Astartes.
 |
| Ichorax campaign map |
Each player picked their primary army to play in the campaign and joined one of the 3 factions available: The Imperium of Man, Servants of Ruin, or the Arbiters of Fate. From there each player will pick up to three territories on the map (represented as hexes). They can then challenge other players for their territories or other territories on the planet. The idea here was to keep the campaign simple yet interesting enough to prevent it from getting stagnant.
I decided to use Resource Points to represent cool things players could "purchase" to get interesting in-game effects. These Resources have a cost to purchase, an upkeep cost, and then an in-game benefit. The Resources are placed in one of their territories and other players can battle them and potentially gain their Resources by taking over their territory. Players were given 30 Resource Points to spend upon starting the campaign. Here is a summary of the things they can purchase:
Resource Type
|
Cost
|
Upkeep
|
Benefit
|
Power Station
|
20
|
2
|
Player may re-roll the dice when determining table sides and deployment on a territory with a Power Generator
|
Shield Generator
|
15
|
1
|
Player may re-roll the dice when attempting to seize the initiative on a territory with a Shield Generator
|
Manufactorum
|
50
|
10
|
Player may add one super heavy or gargantuan monstrous creature to his army
|
Command Bastion
|
30
|
5
|
Player may roll on the Strategic Warlord Traits table for one additional warlord trait when fighting a battle which can be re-rolled only if the Warlord already has the trait. In addition you may include up to 2 named characters in your army.
|
Spaceport
|
30
|
5
|
Player may take a skyshield landing pad for free and may re-roll reserve rolls for flyers on a territory with a spaceport
|
Armoury
|
25
|
5
|
Player may take a single Dedicated Transport, Fast Attack or Heavy Support choice with a points value up to 200 points for free. There must be an available slot in the player’s detachment for the unit.
|
Hive City
|
50
|
10
|
Player controlling a Hive City may include a single unit with the Infantry type that is either a Troops, Elites, Fast Attack, or Heavy Support choice in his army with a point cost of up to 200 points for free. There must be an available slot in the player’s detachment for the unit.
|
The turn is broken down into two phases. The Resource Phase, in which the players buy new Resources if they have earned the points, and pay upkeep on existing resources. Failing to pay the upkeep cost of a Resource would result in loss of the Resource for the campaign until a new one is purchased.
The second phase is simply The Battle Phase. In this phase, players can play up to 2 games. By challenging other territories they can play against opponents to gain territories and thus earn resource points. If a territory is attacked and hasn't been claimed by anyone then the attacker can choose the player to defend it. If a territory is occupied then the controlling player defends it. If the attacker wins he gains control of the territory and any resources on it if they were controlled by the defender. In addition, players earn Resource Points for fighting battles as follows:
Won the game by 1-5 victory points: 10 Resource Points
Won the game by 6-10 victory points: 15 Resource Points
Won the game by 11+ victory points: 20 Resource Points
Lost the game: 5 Resource Points
Players that successfully defend a territory gain an additional 10 Resource Points on top of those listed above.This gives defenders a little more incentive for playing and defending territories they might not already own. The chance to get 10 free Resource Points by simply showing up to the game.
The campaign would be played out over the course of 6 months with each Turn taking a month. That gives people plenty of time to squeeze in a couple of campaign games a month. The faction holding the most territories in the end of the campaign is declared the winning faction. From the winning faction, the player with the most territories is deemed the overall campaign winner.
Again, the idea here was simple and easy with not too much book keeping. I have presented the campaign idea to my club and they are in the process of deciding on factions, and then placing markers on the map. I will continue to update the progress on the campaign as it gets into gear.
As for myself, the Flesh Tearers will be answering the call to aid from Ichorax. For the Emperor!
The Ichorax Campaign: Part 1
Reviewed by RobChandler
on
9:42:00 PM
Rating:
Reviewed by RobChandler
on
9:42:00 PM
Rating:
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