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I've updated the scenarios (see the bottom of the thread) and would *greatly* appreciate any feedback before we get to the actual tournament this weekend - I don't want to be surprised by something that's broken.

My advice is to stick to the main scenarios for the most part with minor twists added. If you start getting too creative without play-testing, you run the risk of hosing certain armies.

Examples of some of the minor twists I have seen include:

Objectives are the targets of orbital bombardments. Roll a die to see which objective is targeted at the start of each player turn.

Each player nominates one of their opponent's units that is worth extra KPs if it is killed.

The disappearing objectives from 'Ard Boyz Semis was interesting, but might be too random for some people.

Things to avoid include:

Abusing Night-fight
Requiring certain units to do specific things. E.g. Highest point HQ from each side MUST charge at each other and kill each other
Abusing Reserve Rules
Forcing armies to kill units in specific ways (H2H or Shooting... neuters half of the armies out there)

Big thing is to think through every army and say "If I was playing as this army, would the scenario piss me off?"

I didn't plan on making anything abusive, I'd like some specific ideas though.

You know I keep thinking about it now, would a game with Night Fight turn 4 and on piss people off?

Having people pick out units as 'real' kill-points is a neat game type I keep seeing in battle reports. Also, never do fewer than 2 objectives you have to hold onto, no mater what that one objective is, it'll be too easy to contest at the last minute.

I run the tournaments at the game store I work at, and I recently came up with a Thanksgiving theme.
Game 1
Deployment: DOW
Mission: Seize and control
Tweaks: This one was pretty standard, but I arranged the boards unfair. For example, I made one side have a crap load of difficult terrain, and the other more open. Also, to make things more interesting I arranged the objectives in a triangle with 2 on the side that had the disadvantage.

Game 2
Deployment: Annihilation
Mission: Spearhead
Tweaks:On this one I made it real fun. I had the game set up so that at the beginning of each game turn the players would roll a d6 to see if the crashing Aquila came in. On turn 1 6, turn 2 5+, etc. The real tough part was that the Aquila was a 10" apoc blast, S10 AP1 ignore cover. To top it off it scatters 3d6 from the center of the table, and on a hit it still scatters 2d6 towards the arrow. After the blast an objective is placed in the center and whoever claims it gains a bonus point.

Game 3
Deployment: Pitched Battle
Mission: Capture the lone objective
Tweaks: On this mission the goal is to catch the objective in the center, but it isn't that easy. The objective scatters 3d6 every player turn, ignores difficult terrain, and can only be grabbed by infantry models. Also, once a unit/model has it, they can only move 6" per turn, can't run, embark, pass the objective, but still may assault and consolidate. If the unit falls back for any reason, is wiped out, or decides to drop it, the objective will run the next turn. In the end only scoring units (no bikes or vehicles can score the objective. Then there is the complicated part of the game, to get the massacre you need to have the objective and more KP at game's end. To get the solid victory you just need the objective, ANYTHING else is a draw. To make it more fun there was random day length in effect. Each game turn a player rolls a d6 to see when the sun goes down. On turn 1 6, turn 2 5+ etc, and after sunset night fight is in effect the rest of the game.

I ran these missions, and everybody genuinely had fun, the only complaints were from people who had their dice decide that a win was not meant to be. If you have any questions or want a copy PM me.

At the So Cal Slaughter they had a pretty fun version of killpoints:

Every unit was worth it's points cost in killpoints divided by 100, rounding down (min 1) for troops and rounding up for everything else so for example:

Full tac Squad (170 points): 1 killpoints
Vulkan (190 points): 2 killpoints
Land Raider (250 points): 3 killpoints

I really liked it.

@Redneck Gunner: While the 2nd and third missions (except the Night Fight part) sound interesting, I'm not fan of the first one. Imbalanced terrain puts too much emphasis on a single die roll IMO.

@Asugradinwa: That's not a bad way of doing KPs. I may have to steal that idea.

Do dedicated transports (less than 100 points), less than even 50 points still count as 1, or as none? What about other units who cost less than 100 points? A headquarter unit costing 35 points? 85 points? 105 points? Does 105 round up to 200?

How it worked at the SoCal Slaughter was transports were rounded down (min of 1).

So for me I had two land raiders, however one was bought as a Dedicated transport to Assault terminators, the both cost the same number of points (265), but the assault terminator transport was only worth 2 killpoints while the Heavy Support one was worth 3.

And yes, a 35 point land raider was worth the same # of killpoints (1) as a kitted out Wave Serpant.

If you had an elite unit that cost 105 points it would round up to 2 killpoints, however, ifg you had a troops choice at 199 it would round down to 1 killpoint.

I liked it, but I can see some who won't.

Gornall wrote:@Redneck Gunner: While the 2nd and third missions (except the Night Fight part) sound interesting, I'm not fan of the first one. Imbalanced terrain puts too much emphasis on a single die roll IMO.

Look at it this way, if we are playing an objective game and you win the die roll. In most cases it is advantageous to go 2nd, because you can make a last minute grab of objectives. This is why I like the terrain to be not symmetrical. The first player gets to choose if they want to have the better side or more objectives. I will also add that there were no complaints at all. That and as we all know war is never fair.

I disagree with the 3rd one... so if your playing a biker army, you cannot win? lame.

Horst wrote:I disagree with the 3rd one... so if your playing a biker army, you cannot win? lame.

Hmmm...

It should be infantry and bikers/jetbikers.

More ideas!

If you really want to randomize things, put a vortex grenade on the table.... hehehe.

Gornall wrote:If you really want to randomize things, put a vortex grenade on the table.... hehehe.

or three.

I've written three scenarios (heavily influenced by what I read here), please critique. I even tried keeping it on a theme.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario 1: Targeted Destruction
“Without the possibility of reinforcements due to a localized warp storm in the solar system, each commander looks to strategically weaken his enemy…”

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the annihilation mission (page 91) with the following amendments:
Kill Points in this mission are determined in the following way:
-Every unit is worth its own points divided by 100 in killpoints.
-Troops and dedicated transports round down to a minimum of 1.
-All others round up.
Example: 190 point troop choice = 1 point. 210 point Heavy Support vehicle = 3 points.

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.

Deployment: Spearhead (Table Quarters)

Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).


Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player has 6 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a Massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player has 4 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a major victory.

Minor Victory(13) – If a player has 2 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a minor victory.

Tie(10) – If both players have the same number of killpoints, the game is a tie.

Minor Loss(7)
Major Loss(5)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if your opponent has no HQs alive at the end of the game.
+1 if you destroy all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if you have a scoring unit in at least three table quarters at game end.
+1 if you have at least one HQ alive at the end of the game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario 2: Into the Breach!
“After an endless day of fighting, a gap in the warp storm lets orbiting ships fire off a salvo of supply pods in a desperate attempt to reinforce their troops…”

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the capture and control mission (page 91) with the following amendments:
-There is only one objective, which starts the game plummeting towards the planet. Each player turn, roll a D6 to see if the objective lands on the battlefield. Turn1(6+), Turn2(5+), Turn3(4+), Turn4(3+), Turn5(2+), Turn6(Auto)
-When the objective hits the field, it scatters 3D6 and causes a STR10 AP1 Orbital Bombardment. After resolving the strike, place the objective centered on the hole of the bombardment.

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.

Deployment: Pitched Battle (Long Table Edges)

Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).


Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player controls the objective and has more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player controls the objective but has less killpoints than their opponent, they have scored a major victory.

Tie(10) – If neither player controls the objective, the game is a tie.

Minor Loss(7)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if you have more troop choices left alive at the end of the game than your opponent.
+1 if you have destroyed all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if all your HQ choices are alive and not in reserve at the end of the game.
+1 if all your opponent’s HQ choices are dead or fleeing at the end of the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario 3: Dawn Approaches
“Despite a grueling night of fighting, neither commander is willing to wait for the dawn to try seizing an advantage…”

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the seize ground (page 91) with the following amendments:
-There are automatically five objective markers. One goes in the very center, and each player positions two more.
-The game starts in Nightfight. Each player turn, roll a D6 to see if dawn breaks. Turn1(6+), Turn2(5+), Turn3(4+), Turn4(3+), Turn5(2+), Turn6(Auto).

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.

Deployment: Dawn of War (Table Halves)

Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).


Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player controls more objectives than their opponent and has more killpoints, then they score a massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player controls more objectives than their opponent and does not have more killpoints, then they score a major victory.

Minor Victory(13) – If both players control the same number of objectives, than the player with the most killpoints has scored a minor victory.

Tie(10) – If neither player controls more objectives or has more killpoints, the game is a tie.

Minor Loss(7)
Major Loss(5)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if you control all five objectives.
+1 if you have destroyed all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if all your HQ choices are alive and not in reserve at the end of the game.
+1 if you have more scoring units in your opponent’s deployment zone than they have in yours.

First two look solid IMO. On the second one, I might throw in a objective for each deployment zone (like Capture and Control with a bonus objective). The third I might tweak a little. Maybe make the check at the start of each game turn after Turn 1 (but start it with a 5+). Otherwise, I think it gives the second player a fairly large advantage. That and I just always hear a lot of complaints when scenarios mess with nightfight as it gives assaulty armies such a huge advantage if it goes on too long.

Looks like a good set of scenarios. Well Done.

Cease

Gornall wrote:First two look solid IMO. On the second one, I might throw in a objective for each deployment zone (like Capture and Control with a bonus objective). The third I might tweak a little. Maybe make the check at the start of each game turn after Turn 1 (but start it with a 5+). Otherwise, I think it gives the second player a fairly large advantage. That and I just always hear a lot of complaints when scenarios mess with nightfight as it gives assaulty armies such a huge advantage if it goes on too long.

Nightfight has the potential to end twice per turn. I think I like the idea of turn1 automatically being nightfight; is the unfair advantage that it might end with player two having a lot to shoot at that player 1 didn't? I didn't even think of it, I'll change it so that turn1 is full nightfight. I'm not worried about complaints about the length of it; its random, which is as fair as I can make it.

For the second one...I *want* everyone fighting over a single objective, not fighting for a tie. I think Capture and Control (with two objectives) makes it too easy to fight for a tie. If there were going to be three objectives instead, I might switch it to seize ground where the central objective is worth two and the other two are worth one each. Or maybe for the seize ground missions making the central objective worth two.

The second scenario seems far too random.

Dashofpepper wrote:

Gornall wrote:First two look solid IMO. On the second one, I might throw in a objective for each deployment zone (like Capture and Control with a bonus objective). The third I might tweak a little. Maybe make the check at the start of each game turn after Turn 1 (but start it with a 5+). Otherwise, I think it gives the second player a fairly large advantage. That and I just always hear a lot of complaints when scenarios mess with nightfight as it gives assaulty armies such a huge advantage if it goes on too long.

Nightfight has the potential to end twice per turn. I think I like the idea of turn1 automatically being nightfight; is the unfair advantage that it might end with player two having a lot to shoot at that player 1 didn't? I didn't even think of it, I'll change it so that turn1 is full nightfight. I'm not worried about complaints about the length of it; its random, which is as fair as I can make it.

For the second one...I *want* everyone fighting over a single objective, not fighting for a tie. I think Capture and Control (with two objectives) makes it too easy to fight for a tie. If there were going to be three objectives instead, I might switch it to seize ground where the central objective is worth two and the other two are worth one each. Or maybe for the seize ground missions making the central objective worth two.

In Scenario 2, while I agree that only 2 objectives can lead to a lot of ties, you also have to remember only one objective can do the same thing, as it forces a big pile-up on the random objective, probably making it contested (that and it gives an advantage to a large horde army versus a smaller, elite force). Also, with it's ability to scatter towards one side, I think it puts too much emphasis on one scatter roll. By having 2 other "backup" objectives, you allow for more options for the players. Once again, I would recommend making the check once per game turn so both players get the same amount of time to respond. Further, I wound make sure it comes in before Turn 5. As it stands now, if the rolls are crazy, it can come in on Player 2's Turn 5, land right next to an isolated troop choice, the game ends, and he wins without Player 1 being able to do anything.

While I understand that yeah, the length of the night fight is random, you will want both sides to have the same number of non-night turns. If the first player doesn't end the night, but the second one does, not only does he get last grab at objectives (and the ability to roll on after seeing his opponent set up in DoW), but he also gets an extra shooting phase. The fact that it "can" go all of the game (and on average it'll go several turns), gives assaulty armies an advantage. Imagine what happens to shooty armies if they lose 2-3 shooting phases to night fight. If you want to mess with nightfight, I would keep it to 2 turns or less, and might even bookend it. Have Turn 1 and Turn 6+ as night fights. Like I said before, think long and hard about nightfight missions as they can really hose a subset of armies.

Make sure you think about the scenarios from all army perspectives. Scenario 2 would be great as horde Orks, as they will likely be close to wherever it lands, that or they just keep throwing units onto the one central objective until they overwhelm it. Same with mission 3. They can advance under cover of darkness for multiple turns before they crunk whatever poor shooty army they're against.

There is one huge, huge flaw in scenario 2: it's possible for the game to end before the objective even lands on the table.

Thank God I posted these scenarios on here for critique....lemme go make some changes and repost; I didn't even see the potential game-breaking flaws.

In the interest of balancing things so that one army is not favored over another and to fix some potentially game breaking problems (like an objective potentially not coming onto the table by game end), I've made some changes. Nightfight is now only rolled once per turn in scenario3 to balance between players, I added objectives to scenario 2 to make it more "fair," and turned it into seize ground; scenario 3 is now straight capture and control. Here's the new scenarios.


Scenario 1: Targeted Destruction
“Without the possibility of reinforcements due to a localized warp storm in the solar system, each commander looks to strategically weaken his enemy…”

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the annihilation mission (page 91) with the following amendments:
Kill Points in this mission are determined in the following way:
-Every unit is worth its own points divided by 100 in killpoints.
-Troop choices round down to a minimum of 1.
-Dedicated transports have no killpoint value; their points are added to their troop choice.
-All others round up.
Example: 190 point troop choice = 1 point. 210 point Heavy Support vehicle = 3 points.

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.

Deployment: Spearhead (Table Quarters)

Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).


Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player has 6 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a Massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player has 4 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a major victory.

Minor Victory(13) – If a player has 2 or more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a minor victory.

Tie(10) – If both players have the same number of killpoints, the game is a tie.

Minor Loss(7)
Major Loss(5)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if your opponent has no HQs alive at the end of the game.
+1 if you destroy all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if you have a scoring unit in at least three table quarters at game end.
+1 if you have at least one HQ alive at the end of the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 2: Into the Breach!
“After an endless day of fighting, a gap in the warp storm lets orbiting ships fire off a salvo of supply pods in a desperate attempt to reinforce their troops…”

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the seize ground mission (page 91) with the following amendments:
-There is one primary objective, which starts the game plummeting towards the planet. Each player turn, roll a D6 to see if the objective lands on the battlefield. Turn1(5+), Turn2(4+), Turn3(3+), Turn4(2+), Turn5(Auto). This objective is worth two objective points.
-When the objective hits the field, it scatters 3D6 and causes a STR10 AP1 Orbital Bombardment. After resolving the strike, place the objective centered on the hole of the bombardment.
-There are two secondary objectives (supply pods) worth one objective point each. At the start of the game, each player places their objective centered in one of the four quadrants of the board determined by a D6; 1-4 for each of the quadrants, 5-6 for player choice of quadrant. Objectives may end up in the same quadrant if your D6 determines it to be so; players may not voluntarily place an objective in the same quadrant as another.

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.
Deployment: Pitched Battle (Long Table Edges)
Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).

Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player controls more objective points and has more killpoints than their opponent, then they score a massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player controls more objective point but has less killpoints than their opponent, they have scored a major victory.

Minor Victory(13) – If neither player controls more objective points, the player with more killpoints has scored a minor victory.

Tie(10) – If neither player controls more objectives or killpoints, the game ends in a tie.
Minor Loss(7)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if you have more troop choices left alive at the end of the game than your opponent.
+1 if you have destroyed all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if you control the central objective.
+1 if you control all three objectives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 3: Dawn Approaches
“Despite a grueling night of fighting, neither commander is willing to wait for the dawn to try ending the conflict by overrunning the enemy camp.

Mission: This scenario is a variation of the capture and control (page 91) with the following amendments:
-The game starts in Nightfight. At the beginning of each full turn, the player who chose to go first rolls a D6 to see if dawn breaks. Turn1(Nightfight), Turn2(5+), Turn3(4+), Turn4(3+), Turn5(2+).

Each player deploys their forces as per the deployment rules.

The Seize the Initiative Rule found on page 92 is in effect.

Deployment: Dawn of War (Table Halves)

Length of Game: Random Turn Length after Turn 5 (see page 90).


Calculate Results:

Massacre(20) – If a player controls more objectives than their opponent and has more killpoints, then they score a massacre.

Major Victory(15) – If a player controls more objectives than their opponent and does not have more killpoints, then they score a major victory.

Minor Victory(13) – If both players control the same number of objectives, than the player with the most killpoints has scored a minor victory.

Tie(10) – If neither player controls more objectives or has more killpoints, the game is a tie.

Minor Loss(7)
Major Loss(5)
Massacred(0)

Battle Point Modifiers:
+1 if you control both objectives.
+1 if you have destroyed all your opponent’s troop choices.
+1 if all your HQ choices are alive and not in reserve at the end of the game.
+1 if you have more scoring units in your opponent’s deployment zone than they have in yours.

Definately better, even though I might look at the percentages of X turns of nightfight (66% of 2+ turns, 33% of 3+ turns, 11% of 4+ turns, etc) and see if that's reasonable for you and your players.

Also, I'm not a fan of the quadrant idea. I think it's like a 22% chance of one person having both objectives on his side of the board. Couple this with the scattering objective, and you could have one player with all three objectives on his side of the board (approximately 11% of all games I think). Just something to think about.

I'd probably just use the normal reserves rolls for the night fighting mission. As it is right now, CC and close range armies will have a huge advantage, especially because of the C&C mission objectives.

Its Dawn of War anyway; even as an assault army I typically keep my forces in reserve for DoW missions.

*edit* And before that sounds dumb....the reason I keep them in reserves is because my whole army goes together; I can't really split it up and stick an HQ and two troop choices out on the field.

I often don't place anything on the table, but I simply let them move on the first turn, that way my army doesn't come on piecemeal.

Edit to clarify: what I meant by "use normal reserves rolls" was for the roll to end night fighting. That way it would end on a 4+ on turn two, 3+ turn 3, etc.

Bumping my thread - scenarios (just above) are updated, edited, hopefully fixed, and I'd like to get any last minute fixes in.