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If you like Necromunda, Gorka Morka, Space Hulk and or Mordheim then you should enjoy Death Squads.

We picked up where those games left off at. The races will involve all 40K.

Check out our forum.

http://www.deathsquadsgame.com/

The rules are available for download under News and Announcements.

Wazzup

40k skirmish: hell yes! Where can I download a rules list?

Probably worth noting: you have to have an account to get to the download.

Wazzup

Downloaded the rules thanx! Reading them now - sheer genius so far. I actually think this may a viable alternative to GW rules... OK if I'm reading this correctly I'm allowed to hire an Ork assassin! That is beyond frikkin kool. Can I arm him with a sniper rifle?

An Ork with a sniper rifle? Huh?

Keeps saying file is corrupt for me.

The ruleset looks pretty deep. I was expecting something a lot more amateur, but his is actually pretty well written. I'm pleasantly surprised.

the guys doing it know their stuff. that and they don't seem to sleep or stop playing games of death squads so it will be properly sorted

Thanks for the comments as it is appreciated.

Mordheimer and myself *Da Bank* emabarked on this crusade over a year and a half ago.

I am the Answer MOD for Mordheim from SG Games and Mordheimer is an obsessive compulsive writer so it worked pretty good. With that, after about six months into the project we branched out to include a few gamers from our store then in the next year we have had many collaboraters from around the world who have helped out along the way.

Yes, you can get an Ork Assassin would be a glorified "Kommando".

Sniper rifle for an Ork? Not that I know of. If we missed something please let me know but the Assassin can use "any" weapon on that races depot and there is no sniper rifle available to the Orks. There has been talk to get one for a Grot as there is 40K Novel fluff on Grot snipers who can not hit the broad side of a Titan and usually get killed after firing once.

torgoch...PM me with an email address and I can send you a copy of get you another link if needed. The linked worked for me but maybe it is due to different versions of Word.

Go to the forum, and yes, sign up and it is there.


http://www.deathsquadsgame.com/


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Please check out the battle reports.

Keep in mind we have fun with battle reports and have "creative" stories and involve other players in our group.

http://www.deathsquadsgame.com/campaigns-battle-reports-f7/

Howdy guys! First... THANKS for the kind comments!

As RustyKnight noted, to download the FREE rules (PDF) you need to register on the forum. Nothing major, it just let us send a mass email when the rules get updated... fyi, it took us 5 months to send the 1st email, so don't expect any spam-o-rama!

Our goal is to share with everyone the wonders of 40k; while you could evolve a 40k game to a larger scale (Apocalypse), currently there is no way to 'down-scale' 40k. Kill-Team, IMHO, lacked many elements that allowed all players to have a good time (brutes seemed to ALWAYS have the short end of the stick!) We always read about Commander such-and-such or Warboss whatchamacallit doing things before there were the big . To me, that is VERY cool, but unplayable... until now! Last summer we played a Campaign in which I played Orks... the White Waaagh! MY version of the Campaign was the story about this upcoming Warboss; I was the 'hero' of MY version of the Campaign. DaBank and the other players were the 'heroes' of their own versions! The full (LONG!) story is on the Death Squads Forum.

Death Squads is designed to ENHANCE your 40k Experience. You could try new armies/models, make cool conversions and create the past your commanders are missing. The rules are free... from fans for fans!

To answer Orky-Kowboy questions about the Ork Assassin and Sniper Rifle.

If you get the Assassin Hired Gun (think of them as Mercenaries), then he would be an Ork Assassin. The stats remain the same as a 'human' Hired Gun Assassin, but is an Ork model... 100% dress-up! To be honest... not worth the hassle. Orks have T 4 and you could get similar Skills for one of your Officers (probably an 'Ard Boy). Save your teefs to hire a Demolition Expert! He make Gretchins go BOOM!

Technically you could get a Sniper Rifle! Hold on... don't roll your eyes! It is NOT easy... and honestly, not worth the hassle. Here is how it could be done. One of the Officers is the Sneaky Boss. Think of him as an 'intelligent' Kommando... at least for Orks! While Kommandos tend to be naturally all quiet and sneaky to get close to da' fight'ng, the Sneaky Boss has come to realize that humies are better at sneaking (but never at fight'ng!) because they have special stuff. He becomes a natural leader among Kommandoz. Inside his twisted mind, he is always pending to get such gear. Just like Mekboyz are naturally inclined to make tech (Ork style!), the Sneaky Boss can use (but not build or modify) Imperium wargear (although it is harder to find and 20% more expensive.)
In game terms, to use a Sniper Rifle an Officer must learn the Weapons Training: Sniper Rifle skill, find the Sniper Rifle (10 on 2D6) and pay its price (I believe 50 credits.) That is hard to do. For a Sneaky Boss is MUCH harder; he needs to get the Skill, then find the weapon (he needs a 12!), then buy it at +20% the cost (60 credits)... an Ork player would be best served by recruiting TWO Ork Boyz. Much faster, cheaper, deadlier and efficient! With so many cool Ork skills to choose, it seems a waste to choose a skill that will do NOTHING for you until you get the Sniper Rifle. Getting a Sniper Rifle (for Orks) is one of those things that is SO HARD, that we left it in place... if you want to go through all the hassle, be my guest. It may take you at LEAST 5 games... assuming you win at least 1, then that you roll an 'New Skill' advancement (I believe is a 45% chance) and you select the required Skill (while your enemies get skills that can be used immediately!) ... and then on the next game your roll a 12 to find the thing! Good luck chum!

Well... get the manual, stop to say hello and have fun!

Makes sense... an Ork wouldn't know what to d0 with a sniper rifle anyway, probably be followed by ! Anyway, I'm totally going to introduce this to my local gaming club (as soon as they get up and
running) and I'll keep you guys informed about the response

Kommandoes might see a use, but otherwise, they wouldn't appeal to ork-kind. Although, the sound an unmuzzled sniper rifle makes might give one or two orkz a kick...

Thanks guys. Keep us posted.

Wow... this is awesome. Vey high quality product and a lot of potential for excellent fun. I am already planning to run a summer campaign. *goes back to detailed reading of the rulebook*

@Mellon

Thanks as that means a lot. Can't wait to hear back from your games.

I'm incredibly impressed. I'm printing a copy now and gonna bring it by my LFGS.

Me and a few others were looking into starting a Kill-Team Campaign (using rules from the new Battlemissions book with modified rules) but this is so much better.

I'm glad yall are starting more "squads" soon and I hope eventually it involves at least one from every 40k race.

@BD1085

Great New! We also play at a local LFGS store.

Yes, more races are coming. We are working on Kroot, Chaos Cultist, IG Variants (Death Korp, Catachan, Mordians and City Fighterss) and Space Marine Scouts.

We will keep rolling the rest as we finish these.

You can be involved in posting your battle reports from the new battlemissions if you want.

Dark Eldar, Inquisition, and Genestealers would be great races to expand on, considering that their fluff lends them to smaller scale conflict much better then most.

An inquisitor's retinue alone would be enough to make a squad, and a Daemonhost would be a very cool unit to centre list around.
A unique premise would actually being able to kill your own men to be used as a body for a daemonhost, with the abilities of the slain member being reflected in the Daemonhost, for example.

Oh, by the by, my only complaint with the actual writing of the rules is that everything is... everywhere. The armouries for each race should be seperate. Even if it means having weapon repeats in each section, having a quick way to reference various wargear without having to go back and forth 20 pages would be nice.

I'm definitely going to write up and playtest rules for the genestealer cult. Will probably be a while before I can get to actual playtesting, all my regular opponents tends to prioritize university over all night gaming :-/

@Fafnir. I see what you are saying we have switched it back and forth many times. LOL. We have not fully decided which way will be the finall. I believe the many reason we put it one place is to save on printable pages. We are at over 200 already. I like the weapon lists with each squad also. Thanks for th feedback.

I had started Dark Eldar about six months ago but between working on 4 new IG squads, Space marine Scouts, Chaos Cultist and Kroot they have taken a back set. With that Tau have been started also but are on a back burner.

@Mellon...Yes, Genestealer Cult and Nids will be coming. We had started on them also from material out there but like noted above pushed them to the side as we had too many projects going on and we were not moving forward. Post your thoughts as they may be used.

I created rules for them that was nicely balanced with the necromunda ruleset once. I do probably have some notes in a box... But yeah, I'l do some thinking and share some ideas. I'm guessing you would prefer the posting and discussions on your dedicated forum, rahter than here on dakka. More opportunity for a more dedicated and larger group of players to contribute then.

@Mellon...yea post them on the DS forum. That would be great.

http://www.deathsquadsgame.com/campaigns-battle-reports-f7/campaign-intro-for-hexos-rumble-in-the-skies-t349.htm


Hexos
With abundant agricultural and mineral resources, Hexos has been a hospitable planet and major commerce center for the Imperium of Man. Large agri-farms on one half of the planet and hundreds of mines on the other half both areas are divided by great oceans. There are great cities that dot the continents that have commerce around that involves storing and shippin inbound and outbound trade goods.

+++ PLANETARY DATA +++

SECTOR: Ultima

SUBSECTOR: Antimar

CLASS: Industrial-Agricultural

EQUATORIAL CIRCUMFERENCE: 41,265 km

GRAVITY: 1.09G

SATELLITES: Two moons, Soldurii and Utto
The moon Soldurii orbits at a distance of 408352 kilometers and consists primarily of jagged regolith. Its density is sufficient to cause only mild tidal forces on Hexos. Utto, an asteroid captured sometime in the distant past, has an irregular tricorne shape that features prominently in local iconography.

CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION: Continental Temperate

MEAN SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 7.21¡C

TROPOSPHERIC COMPOSITION: Nitrogen 75.1%, Oxygen 22.3%, Argon 0.8%, H2O 0.7%, Other 1.1%

RELIGION: Unclassified
Despite the best efforts of the Ecclesiarchy, the Imperial Creed has never taken seed on Hexos. As devout pragmatists, the people embrace no religious tenants at all. Since the population holds no belief over that of the Emperor, the Ministorum has been unable to classify them as either noncompliant or heretical. There are many theories to this; one is Hexos has been forgotten in time of need, constant influx of miners and farm workers or transients, the increasing number of trade and cargo ships coming and going. The people of Hexos are neither for or against the Imperium but rather indifferent. Even thought the general populace may fill that way the Imperium does not and makes sure through the PDF units, Priests and etc that Hexos is a planet that belongs to Terra.

SOCIETY: Modern
The agricultural and mining clans (AKA companies) form a large group of men that control what happens on the planet.

Three concepts hold primacy in Hexos society to the exclusion of nearly all else: property, currency, and then the Imperium.
Hexos has experience great gains for the last millennium and in fact the Imperium has not figured out why. Unbeknownst to the Imperium the Tau have sent Water Caste Tau to set up trade with the business leaders of both the agricultural and mining companies. The Tau have seen that going to these people first are more apt to listen as the Tau can provide “limited’ technologies that seem great to the humans but are not current with Tau technology. These “trinkets” of technology have helped the humans but have never given then a technological edge that could be used against them.

Other the years the company leaders are reaped the benefits of this technology and have lined their pockets with credits that could almost purchase another planet. The Governor who was elected, by the Imperium, has the duty to protect the Imperium’s interest but being so far from Terra and the constant temptations of money, power and etc the Governor’s have “looked” the other way. Such an attitude has permeated the civilian life itself thus giving way to cultists, renegades, Xeno lovers and etc to freely live on the planet.
It is only a matter of time before the wheels begin to fall off and something drastic happens………….


Rumble in the Skies


The planet had been a peaceful planet that was go agricultural and mineral. Unbeknownst to most there was a chaos presence, a small radical group that was gaining a foothold or stranglehold on important aspects of the planets economical and military departments of the planet. The Chaos forces had been summoned and arrived with no advance notice. The Chaos fleet dropped from the Warp and instantly appeared hovering above the planet. Alarm bells began to sound in the PDF’s orbital station. The commander on duty began to say “What is going……….” when he was shot in the head by PDF captain that had already sided with Chaos.
The Chaos forces began to shuttle forces down planet side unopposed. The general population was unaware of the horrors that were about to be done. The PDF did what they could must the Chaos cultist had done some much damage by sabotage and infiltrating the PDF that the PDF was unable to prevent the Chaos advance upon the planet. The PDF forces that were loyal to the Emperor fought to the death.

One distress call went out. It was by Private Ryan, PDF, Communciations. Private Ryan in his dying breath got out a short message, “Chaos Invasion uggg”. There happened to be an Imperial Guard Catachan brigade being shipped back to their Deathworld when the ship’s captain received the message from the Adjunct. The captain ready the message “Chaos Invasion Ugg.” The captain turned to his Adjunct and asked “What is ugg?” Is that a new type of Chaos troops or ship? The Adjunct pursed his lips to not laugh and replied, “I believe the man died after he sent out “Chaos Invasion” “. The Captain nodded and said , “Alright then full stern to port and head toward this planet.” The Adjunt clicked his heels , hoping the captain would die, and gave the orders to full stern to port and to head to the planet.

Catachans
The Catachans were about to get caught up in an urban battle with Chaos minions. Overall, most Catachans could care less where they would fight but preferred jungle or Deathworld type environments. While this planet had some jungles they were very few as the planet set up for half agricultural and half for mining.

Mordians

Aboard the same troop transport as the Catachans was the Mordians. The Mordians did not fear Chaos and the only thing they hated more than Chaos was Catachans. The Mordians felt military was an honor and that all soldiers must look and dress the part. The Mordians looked down on the Catachans as they dressed in sloppy fatigues and torn shirts. It was rumoured that the Catachans did not wear Imperial Guard Article 14589 or underwear. It was said that the Catachans would go "commando".


Tau
The Tau where now caught in a middle of a war that they did not intend. The Tau had been trading with the humans for almost 80 years. With that, they remained largely unseen to the general population but would have direct talks with prominent business men and politicians. The Tau would trade for resources that they needed and would give the humans what they felt they needed. One technology the Tau have the humans was called “SAL” Sound Activated Lighting. This will allow anyone to walk into a dark room and to “smack their hands together” to activate the lights in the room. Some humans began to call this the “clapper” as you had to clap your hands together. Either name, it was a big hit.
There happened to be a delegation of Water Caste Tau on the planet in secret talks with the Governor when the war broke out. Now the delegation was trapped and could not afford to reveal themselves and went into hiding.

Orks

While the Chaos forces were doing battle there was an Ork contingent on an old Space Hulk traveling through the Warp. The Weirdboy began to convulse and he told the Ork Nob there is a great battle close by as he can feel the Psyker powers being used from both sides. The Weirdboy got so worked up that the Nob had to hit him to calm him down or he would have blown up the ship.

Turning, stopping, or maneuvering a Space Hulk is no easy task as the most rudimentary control mechanisms are not working. The Orks began working right away and retro some missiles they found as engines. In doing so, the Orks used the only defense or offensive missiles left on the ship. The Mekboys went to the Nob and told him they were ready and with the Weirdboys power they steered the Space Hulk out of the Warp. It was one of the most unnatural and unholy acts ever commited. The Warp seemed to “spit out” the Space Hulk. The Space Hulk came out in the area of the battle. Chaos and Imperium battleships and fighters were engaged in battle. Everyone stopped for a minute to see a gigantic Space Hulk float haplessly across the space.
The Orks were hooping and howling to go into battle but it soon dawned on them that something was wrong. How where they going to get into battle with no missiles, no fighters, and no offensive or defensive capabilities? The Orks could only watch the ongoing battles by pressing their faces up to the windows to view outside.

The Nob was made and had executed three other Orks for suggesting this was a mistake. Then a group of Grots appeared before the Nob. One of them began to speak and the Nob shot him, the group of Grots shuffled backwards in fear but then pressed forward again. Another Grot began to speak to the Nob only to be dropped kicked to the 2nd level. Finally, a third Grot came forward and stammered he knew how they could get into the battle. The Nob, pulled out his gun and pointed at the Grot and said, “How?”. The Grot said “follow me”. The Nob and his retinue followed the grots to a hallway that had many doors in it.

The Grot opened the door and told the Nob to “get in” the Nob was furious. Was this a joke? The Nob kicked the Grot into the small room and pushed the RED button “to make the door shut faster” and when he did there was a loud explosion. The Nob looked through the window in the door and saw the Grot floating out into space in the “small room”.
The Nob told his men to get everyone down here and they would take the “small rooms” to go find the enemy. Anyone else would have known they were escape pods but the Orks are not that bright.

The Orks began to jettison themselves out from the Space Hulk. Many of the escape pods fly harmlessly across the battle. The Imperium forces and most of Chaos forces largely ignored the Orks in the escape pods as they offered no real threat. The Orks soon realized they did not know how to pilot the escape pods and some “humi” kept talking to them to fasten their seat belts but they could not find any “humies” in the escape pod. Very perplexing.
A few of the Ork escape pods landed into the battleships that had gaping holes from battle and the Orks managed to do some battle once they got out of the PODs. A few of the Escape Pods would slam into a battleship or frigate and then bounce harmlessly out into space but some of the pods would bounce into the planet’s atmosphere and were beginning to descend upon the planet.

The Ork Nob’s pod came in hard and fast. The pod was heating up and then it crashed into something and keep crashing until it stopped. The door was opened and the Orks jumped out. They looked around and soon realized they were in a building that was over 3000 feet in the air and they had came down through the top of the building and crashed straight through 500 floors before the pod stopped.

http://www.deathsquadsgame.com/campaigns-battle-reports-f7/campaign-intro-for-hexos-rumble-in-the-skies-t349.htm

The Nob looked out the closet window and could see the battle in the skies raging on, he could see gunfire out to the West of his position in a largely deserted city and then he saw something and then more. He saw more Ork escape pods shreaking across the sky and begin to impact around the city and planet. The Nob knew they would do battle soon.



Kroot
Foghorn Leghorn the a Shaper for a squad of Kroot. He had his clan work for the Tau, humans, Chaos, and Eldar. He was a business man first and then get things that would gain him resources. A messenger came to him and “chirped” out some tones. Foghorn’s quills raised up on his head. The Tau where in need of his help as they didn’t want to send Tau warriors in if they didn’t have to rescue the Water Caste Tau. Foghorn looked at Kiwi (Vulture Kroot) and said, “This is a good day, the Tau need us badly and I can exact revenge upon the Tau.” Kiwi chirped back “How is that”. Foghorn explained that the Water Caste Tau that are stuck are from the same family and let his mother’s clan die out as it was for “The Greater Good.” Road Island Red was ordered to get the squad ready and to secure transportation by any means necessary to this planet. Foghorn Leghorn took his last drink from the bar. The Bartender asked him if he want to pay up or put it on his Bill?

I wonder if anyone back in Calgary would be willing to get into a DS campaign when I get back for the Summer. I'll be working downtown over the weekdays, so a skirmish game would be cool to do after work or during lunch breaks.

@Fafnir

That would be great. Keep us posted and put up some battle reports when you get some games in.

If you got time, review the rules and stay up on the latest news.

wow this seems awesome!! I'm am just starting to go thru the expansive but well written and all incompassing rulebook. Can't wait to start a campaign

We started ours last night-- Orks, Cadians, and Eldar. Great fun so far.

We're big fans of Mordheim- so very interested in how this develops.

acastonguay wrote:wow this seems awesome!! I'm am just starting to go thru the expansive but well written and all incompassing rulebook. Can't wait to start a campaign

@Acastonguay....Thanks for the feedback. It has been a labor of love with many different people helping it out. The latester version has four new types of Imperial Guard types. The Kroot and Chaos Cultist and being rounded out and after those two Tau, Nids, and Space Marine Scouts will be coming.

I love your signature banner!!!


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kartofelkopf wrote:We started ours last night-- Orks, Cadians, and Eldar. Great fun so far.

We're big fans of Mordheim- so very interested in how this develops.

This is great! Post how it went here and if you can post a battle report and some pics on the Death Squad forum under "Battle Reports".

We love pics!!!

Da Bank wrote:The latester version has four new types of Imperial Guard types. The Kroot and Chaos Cultist and being rounded out and after those two Tau, Nids, and Space Marine Scouts will be coming.

Any timeline on the next update?

jp400 wrote:

Da Bank wrote:The latester version has four new types of Imperial Guard types. The Kroot and Chaos Cultist and being rounded out and after those two Tau, Nids, and Space Marine Scouts will be coming.

Any timeline on the next update?

@jp400

Hey! Next update should be around April 15th. Though the Nids and SM Scouts won't be there but they will be in playtesting mode. Most of the updates involves grammatical errors and adjusting a few smaller things.

Check out the forum and keep us posted on your thoughts.