The Tablet of Taunsir IV

What is The Tablet of Taunsir IV Campaign?
The whole point of the campaign is to create a fun campaign that is still very narrative with an emphasis on having a special War Band. The rules of the campaign are based around Relic's RTS Dawn of War: Soulstorm's campaign mode.

Where does the campaign take place?
The campaign takes place on and around the world Taunsir IV. The planet was the site of a massive battle between the forces of Chaos and the Angels of Vengeance long ago. The battle had swung both ways, but near the end it was clear it would be won by the Successors of the Dark Angels. After months of slowly hunting down the remaining pockets of Chaos forces the Chapter Master gained word that Cypher himself may be nearby and all forces pulled out immediately. The planet has many scars left across its surface as well as abandoned fortresses, defense lines, and other places that are perfect for ambushes. The planet still has serious storms and other meteorological troubles that causes lots of trouble navigating around the planet save for a few landing spots.
As centuries have passed the planet had become partially converted to an Agri-world of the Imperium, transporting it's products out of the northern hemisphere through one of the safe corridors that has few storms. Most of the planet itself is still unexplored and stories of small roving squads of Angels of Vengeance thought lost still hunt Space Marines and daemons on the planet. On the planet you can find thriving jungles, deserts and craters formed from orbital bombardment, and ruins of earlier attempts to colonize the planet.
The most notable part of the planet is a site near the equator, where archeologists have uncovered a sentient obelisk. The obelisk (??The Sage's Block??) actually is a container holding the slumbering soul and sentient mind of an Old One. While it is not anywhere near it's original intellect or awareness, it still has found it's way to pass on it's ideas onto whoever is nearby. This leads to the owner's forces to be not only more efficient but more perceptive, aware, and energized while near the stone. While it's powers might be localized, it has been sending out signals to anything it can reach trying to bring a civilization to uncover it and release it from it's slumber.

The local Guard regiments have found their commanders insisting on driving closer to the equator of the planet at this point, inexplicably. They have seen a rise in Xeno space activity nearby and have sent a distress call out to all receiving forces to help them protect their sacred planet (though they cannot explain WHY the planet is suddenly so crucial).
The Tau have realized how imperative it is that they bring this planet to the greater good.
The forces of Chaos have revealed to a lesser known War band the power held by the planet and have tasked them with recovering it.
The Farseers of Alaitoc have directed nearby fleet of both Craftworld and Corsairs to help prevent the obelisk from falling into the hands of the lesser races.
The Orks Weirdboyz have sworn endlessly that the planet will be the sight of horrible battles and have urged warbosses across the sector to drive them closer.
The Dark Eldar have heard that one of their old hunting worlds has resupplied itself and is ripe for the picking.
The Necrons have returned to revivify the Tomb World that has decayed so far to the point that it hasn't awoken at all.
Tyranids are hungry... and stuff.

RULES

So how is the board set up?
Each player starts with a 4 tile home planet/rok/Fleet/craftworld which includes the HQ tile, a “transport” slot (Telly-Porta, Web way Portal, Star port) between the base and the central planet, and 2 connecting tiles.
Each transport slot then connects to the main planet onto two tiles. Each tile on the central planet has a different random effect (randomly rolled by the Assaulter) that can bring about either a bonus to the defender, random in battle effects, or (rarely) a benefit to the attacker. The Central tile is unholy ground, conferring a boon to the owner and a blight on all adjacent tiles.

What is your “War Band” and how do you use it?
Your War Band is where your commander is moving with his select section of troops to strike either the enemys' territories or clear out an uninhabited area. The War Band is led by the HQ choice you declare to be your Warlord at the beginning of the campaign and CAN NOT be changed. His/her equipment and/or retinue may be changed but you must include the original HQ you have declared as your Warlord. The War Band follows the standard Force organization chart with the exception that it only needs a SINGLE troops choice. You may not use any named special characters (IE: anything with the Unique special rule EXCLUDING squad sergeants). The War Band starts with 500 points and may reach a Maximum size of 1500. A Warband may NOT include a Fortification.

Who can be a Warlord?
Your warlord must be a non-unique HQ choice for your army and can even be customized beyond their standard powers! A character may have special rules but must be OK'ed by ALL other players and must be priced out to meet it's actual cost. For example: Calinius Torne (a standard Space Marine Chapter Master) might come into the the campaign with the benefits of +1 Strength at the cost of +10 points. However, Challurg (a Chaos Daemons Bloodthirster) would probably need to spend +15 points to gain one extra toughness as his toughness of 6 is already very high. This can be supplied by a special rule, such as a BleepBleepBloop (a Necron Overlord) who makes Flayed Ones Troops instead of Elites for a cost of +25 points to character's points total. This can also be seen as a special piece of wargear, such as a Dark Eldar Archon gaining a Skyboard or Reaver Jetbike for reasonable prices (perhaps 20 and 30 respectively).
However, frequently this should only be supplied as a result of your Warlord's fluff and either over priced or have detrimental effects. A good example is an Imperial Guard Company Commander who has his own Lascannon at the standard cost of +20 points, though he may only fire the Lascannon OR issue orders, not both! Or an Ork Big Mek who can take a Deff Kopta that could be costed +50 Or perhaps +40 but must take a Dangerous terrain test on EVERY move (Movement phase, Assault, consolidate, etc) to represent his horribly built transport!
Every Special Warlord has a SET amount of gear and special abilities at the beginning of the campaign and may add on or subtract standard book options per battle.
The whole point of a Special Warlord isn't to make someone overly powerful, but to match his story. Any overpowered Special Warlord presented should be immediately shot down.
Dalaroth, Bane of The Innocent is the leader of the Defilers of Eternity War Band. His life and warriors have been dedicated to Khorne and have armed themselves with the most brutal gear available. Dalaroth himself wields a particularly gruesome weapon known as The Dick Renderer known for spraying his victims' blood as far and as wide as possible, while amplifying his victims' screams. Dalaroth is a Chaos Lord (90 Points) with Mark of Khorne (+10 points), Melta Bombs (+5 points), The Dick Renderer (A Daemon Weapon (+25 points) that causes all enemies within 12” to reduce their Leadership by 1 and is Rending(+10 points)), and +1 Strength (+10 points) for a total of 150 Points. Now perhaps during a certain battle you want to give him a Jump Pack (+20 Points) and a Plasma Pistol (+15) meaning you'd simply add that onto his 185 point cost, per usual. You could also field him as he is, but subtract the Melta Bombs fielding him at 145 points. However, you cannot replace his Mark of Khorne, as he has dedicated his life to the Blood God.

How does a campaign turn go?
At the beginning of each campaign turn you randomize which player will go first to ensure that a single player does not benefit throughout the campaign by either going first or last and to show that sometimes an army either gains speed and quickly assaults a second time (going last on Campaign turn 2 and then going FIRST on Campaign turn 3) or sometimes stumbles and will fall behind (Going first campaign turn 2 and then LAST campaign turn 3). This is done by assigning each player a number (going clockwise from 12 o'clock) and then rolling a die to see who goes first, then second, etc and simply rerolling a player who's number has already been rolled.
Imperial Guard have been set in the galactic North East, Orks in the South East, and Eldar in the west. IG would be 1, Orks would be 2, and Eldar would be 3. The first turn die roll is a 2 meaning Orks will go 1st, the second turn roll is also a 2 meaning that it is rerolled, the redone second turn roll is a 3 meaning Eldar go 2nd, leaving IG with the 3rd turn.
At the beginning of each player's campaign turn the player's War Band may move a single tile and then assault an adjacent tile or move across another tile, in that order. If the War Band is over 1250 points the War Band may either move a single tile or assault an adjacent tile to show it becoming bloated and logistically being harder to move such a large force.
Once a every player has gone you take the total number of territories owned by them and add 50 to their requisition pool per territory. These points are then distributed in secret all by all players at once. After all players have decided their points total the territories and War Band points totals are updated. Then the next turn begins by rolling for the player sequence and continuing.

How does an assault happen?
When a player declares an assault on a territory that is adjacent to where his War Band is multiple things happen. If it is an uninhabited tile, the assaulter rolls on the Possibly Uninhabited table (last page) and then simply gains control of the territory, moving his War Band to that slot and gaining 500 points of defenders on the tile.
When assaulting a territory owned by another player it becomes much more intricate. First, the assaulting player must declare his action to the defending player and explain why and how. Perhaps the player is simply moving through, or maybe he has found out there is a special ammo train moving through, or the assaulter may have received false intelligence that the enemy has fled the area, etc. After the declaration has been made, both players write the list they will be bringing to the battle. The War Band MUST use the full cost of his current War Band in his assaulting list (other than the obvious 5 point discrepancy). The defender has four options, either he may Fight the Battle, Flee, Call in Reinforcements, or Call the Boss!
1) If he chooses to fight the battle he simply makes an army with his points list and then moves on.
2) If the defender decides to flee, both players roll a die and the defender adds one. If the defender looses, the assault goes out as normal, but the assaulter adds 2 to his roll on the Attack! Table. If the defender Flees successfully, he may redistribute 50% of his forces between any Defending forces of adjacent tiles, but not a Warband (If he had 500 points when assaulted and successfully fled, you may redistribute 250 points between any nearby territories. This means you can add 125 to two territories or 250 to a single place or 83 points to three territories).
3) If the defender decides to Call in Reinforcements the player may bring in a points total up to 25% of any adjacent tile to help defend this territory. However, these forces will not return to either tile and are considered lost after the battle, whether you win or not. This points increase must still fit into a single force organization chart. If you win the defense these additional forces can not increase the defenders left, however if are not reduced below the starting cost you will stay at it's beginning total.
Chaos Space Marines are assaulting a Sisters of Battle tile. The SB decide to Call in Reinforcements from two tiles that are in contact with the defending tile. The defending tile, as well as all adjacent tiles, has 500 points. This means that the defending territory gains 125 points from each area it calls upon for support, but each of those areas are permanently left with 375. While this will boost the defending tile's points total to 750, the tile will not gain that extra 250 points when considering how many points remain if the player is successful in defending. If he pulls off a flawless defense and wins with all 750 points of troops, the territory ends the player turn with 500 points. If the player looses 150 points in the battle, he is still left with 500, not 600. However, if he looses more forces than were added it will not help the total forces returned. So if the Sisters of Battle start with 500, gain 250, and then loose 400. This means the player will end the assault with 425 (750 – 400 = 350 points left: 500 points started – 350 points left = 150 points change: 150 x .5 = 75 points: 350 points left + 75 points gained = 425 points return to the defending territory)
4) To call in a nearby Warband the defending tile must not only contact the commander, but convince him to divert all forces he has and sacrifice the ability to assault another territory in exchange for defending the poor, helpless tile. The defending player rolls a die and on a 1 or 2 fails to contact or convince his War Band and continues the fight as normal, but the assaulter gets +2 on the Attack table. On a 3-6 the Warlord receives the message and leaps to action and the assaulter is ambushed, lowering his roll on the Attack! table by 2 (to a minimum of 1). The defending player must forgo assaulting the next turn but may make an immediate move onto the tile being assaulted (the player may make a single move though, so long as he is under 1250 points in his War Band). However, the defending War Band will directly go to intercept the enemy's rather than simply reinforcing the defending tile.
Jim Bob's 500 point Eldar War Band are assaulting Timmy John's 500 point Ork territory. Timmy John calls in his Warboss Blurrrggg's War Band to defend his fuel dump on the tile. He rolls a 5 and Blurrrggg moves to defend the fuel dump meaning the Eldar War Band will go directly into battle with the Ork's. The assaulting player still rolls on the Attack table but at a -2 modifier and the battle continues as normal.
Once the defender has decided his action, the assaulter rolls on the Attack! table (last page) with any modifiers applied. Roll on the Game Mission table, set up the terrain of the battle, apply the result of the Attack! Table, then roll to see who goes first (unless pre-decided from the Attack! Table), and then deploy your own forces.

What happens when a territory is assaulted that has a Warband on it?
The territory fights using the Warband's forces, in addition to using 50% of the Defending territory's forces. This is so that the defending territory isn't COMPLETELY invincible, but has a significant benefit.

What happens when an Assault is repelled?
If an assault is repelled the warband stays on the territory he assaulted from and it's points total is reduced to 50% of it's total points before assaulting.

What happens when an Assault is successful?
The attacking warband moves onto the territory and immediately gains control of the territory. The territory immediately gains 500 points in defenders. The assaulting forces are replenished to their original amount.

What does it mean to hold a territory?
Each territory gains you Req at the end of the campaign turn and represents your owned territory (See: “What is your Requisition Pool?” section). Perhaps more importantly, you can only move your war band across your own tiles. Each territory starts out with a 500 point total and may be added to at the end of the campaign turn. A captured territory starts with 500 at the end of your turn as well.

What is your Requisition Pool?
At the end of every campaign turn every player gains 50 Requisition (Req.) to their pool. The player may at that point distribute the Req across their War Band and his territories in the form of points used for your forces. That means that if you have 150 Req (6 territories) you can increase the size of your War Band by 150 Req, OR you can distribute 150 Req to a single important territory. OR you can distribute the Req to increase the defensive points value of each territory by 25. OR you could increase your War Band by 100 and a single territory by 50 points. ETC.
The Obelisk tile gains +100 for the controlling player instead of the standard +50 and prevents any adjacent tiles controlled by opponents from adding Req to their pool for that turn.

May I use allies?
Yes, though they are not fielded as normally in 6th Edition. All players must declare a single army they can call on to supply as Allies at the beginning of the campaign. Once you have declared your main army and allied army you may field a defending force using EITHER army as your primary detachment; however, a War Band may only take 25% of it's total cost in Allies and must use your primary army as it's primary detachment.

How and when does the Campaign end?
After 7 Campaign Turns the campaign draws to an end as one force draws ahead of the other armies trying to gain a foothold on Taunsir IV. For each territory owned at the end of the campaign, a player gains 1 Campaign Point. Each time a player wins a battle the player gains 1 Campaign Point. For each turn a player has held the Obelisk territory in the center of the Taunsir IV map they gain 1 Campaign Point (accounted for at the END of a campaign turn). If you have captured a “transport” (Telly-Porta, Spaceport, Webway Gate, etc) territory from another player at any point during the campaign you gain 2 Campaign points.

TABLES
Attack!
Roll (2d6)
Result
Effect
1
IT'S A TRAP!
The assaulting player has stumbled into an ambush! The defending player automatically gains the first turn, with no chance for the initiative to be seized and sets up his forces with the Infiltrate rule with the exception that they must always be 24” away from an enemy unit.
2 or 3
Forseen Assault
The defenders have seen the assaulting War Band from afar and have had time to prepare the field in their favor. D3 units gain a 6” move made before the roll to seize the initiative is made and the player places D3 minefields (rules under Extra Rules section) in neither player's deployment zone during his deployment phase(Rolled secretly before his own deployment).
4 or 5
Extra Emplacement
The defending player may add a single Imperial Bastion (with no upgrades) to his deployment zone
6
Unforseen Overgrowth
The assaulting War Band finds itself running into heavier terrain than originally expected, all models moving in the assaulting player's first turn are considered to be in Difficult terrain when moving.
6 to 8
Lost Warriors
A single squad of warriors have stumbled into the middle of the oncoming conflict. Find a third player to field a single 100 point troop choice from any codex of their choice (so long as they are able to supply rules, costing, and models). These models follow the Lost Warriors rules found in the Extra Rules section
9
An Easy Victory Ahead!
The Warlord releases a massive battle cry and charges his forces forward or into better ordered ranks. Before either player deploys their troops the assaulter may choose to either increase his deployment zone by 3inches as his troops gain speed or give all units Relentless for the first turn as they charge into positions.
10 or 11
Bombing Run
The assaulting player successfully calls in aerial support before the charging the enemy's forces. Before the movement phase in the first turn, the assaulting player launches D3 Artillery Strikes.
12
Fear No Foe!
The Assaulting War Band realizes how invincible they are and that the enemies before them are nothing but targets waiting to be destroyed. After the assaulting player deploys he may choose to either make all units in his army Fearless, make all ranged Weapons reroll To Hit rolls of 1 (does not effect Blast or Template weapons), or makes all forces gain +2” to their assault distance. The Assaulter also gains the “An Easy Victory Ahead!” result.
13 and higher
They Shall Not Stand Before Me!
Apply “An Easy Victory Ahead!”, “Bombing Run”, and “Fear No Foe!” results.


Game Mission and Deployment
Roll (1d6)
Result
Mission
Story/
Deployment



1
Fuel Dump
Primary: The defender places a single objective in his deployment zone but touching the board edge, worth 3 Victory Points.
Secondary: Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker
Special Rules: Reserves
The defender has a special fuel dump that must be captured and held at all cost!
Assaulter's Choice of deployment


2
Annihilate!
Purge the Alien
All enemies must be annhilated!
Dawn of War deployment


3
Night Assault
Primary: The Scouring and Slay the Warlord (2 VPs)
Secondary: First Blood, Linebreaker
Special Rules: Automatically Night Fighting on Turns 1 and 2, Mysterious Objectives, Reserves
The area has multiple power generators that must be captured and the enemy's commander must be killed! A night assault has been launched, but the power generators have been known to have erratic effects and be useful to random degrees.
Vanguard Strike deployment


4
Bloodshed Alley
Primary: Each turn that a player has killed a unit they gain 1 Victory Point.
Secondary: Slay the Warlord, First blood.
Special Rules: Normal
The enemy has set up a choke point that you must travel through. The defender may place two 9”x9”pieces of impassible terrain anywhere on the board before player deployment, but it must be in contact with a board edge.
Hammer and Anvil deployment.


5
Stealing Sacred Technology
Primary: The Relic (2 VP) and Big Guns Never Tire (1 VP per objective)
Secondary: Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker
Special Rules: Normal


Dawn of War deployment
6
Random
Roll on the Mission table
Roll on the Deployment Maps table

Tie Breakers:
Points: The side with the highest points value remaining wins (Price per model. Vehicle damage, wounds and hull points lost do not matter)
Uninhabited Territory

Roll (1d6)
Result
1
Booby trapped! The area is filled with dangerous traps and 50 points of your Warband have died.
2
Poisoned! Your troops have been poisoned by the wildlife in this area before they were able to exterminate it. Roll a D3 and multiple the result by 10. You loose that many points from your warband.
3
Weak footing. The territory is gained but starts with 450 points of defenders rather than the normal 500.
4
Comms Relay. The area has operating communications equipment and you receive an additional 25 points to your Requisition Pool if you still hold the territory at the end of the Campaign Turn
5
Abandoned fortress. The warband sets up an abandoned fortress. The defending territory can automatically call in an additional 75 points to be allocated towards Fortification the next time it is assaulted and chooses the Call in Reinforcements option of defense.
6
Friendly Soldiers found. You have found friendly fighters how have been lost in the area. Add 50 points to your Warband.

Extra Rules

Artillery Strike: For each Artillery Strike the player may Choose from the table below:
Anti-Infantry Bombardment
S:4 AP:6 Barrage, Large Blast D3
Heavy Infantry Bombardment
S:5 AP:3 Barrage, Blast D3
Anti-Tank Bombardment
S:8 AP:3 Barrage, Blast
This shooting attack is used at any point during the player's shooting phase. Take a 1”x1” piece of thick paper and release the piece of paper from 24” above the board and place the first blast from the Artillery Strike on that location.

Lost Warriors: Playing the warriors trapped in the middle is hard to do. The best way to use it evenly is to have the player who creates the Lost Warriors unit choose one of their play styles:
Hold Your Ground!: The squad does not move and shoots at the closest unit within range and line of sight. They will not assault under any circumstance. All shots fired from the squad are Precise Shots on a roll To Hit of 6.
This Is Not Our Battle: The squad realizes this is not their time to fight and they try to flee or relocate to a better position. The assaulting player rolls a die to decide which board edge. A 1-3 will be to that player's right while a 4-6 will be on the player's left. The squad will always move as far as it can directly towards that board edge. It will always shoot at the closest unit within range and line of sight. It will only assault a unit if it stands between them and the board edge they are moving to and it is within 9”. The Squad always has the Slow and Purposeful rule.
They Are The True Foes!: The squad realizes it's death is inevitable and charges headlong towards the closest squad that it deems to be it's enemy. Randomly select any unit within 12” as the recipients of the Lost Warriors' fury. If no unit is found within range test at 24”. Continue with increments of 12” until a unit is found. Once a target has been found they will move as close to that unit in their movement phase as possible and if found to be outside 9” of the squad they will immediately Run towards the target (regardless of other rules such as being a vehicle, Jetbike, etc or having Slow and Purposeful). If they did not run then they may attempt to charge. The squad will never fire, unless including Overwatch. The squad automatically gains the Count-Attack rule.

If a Lost Warriors squad ever fails a Morale check or forced to flee it automatically is removed from play.

I'd like to add some texture and terrain to it and generally "Finish" it, obviously. And yes the central territory is a pokeball for now. Pretty cheesy as is, huh?