First up, the scenario and general rules:
Thunderhawk Down
The planet of Gorkadeeshu has been under Ork sway for hundreds of years, even though it is deep in Imperial space. For decades it has been a hotbed of strife and warfare, Chaos Space Marines, Traitor Guard, Daemons, and the so-called Dark Eldar all vying for power with the Orks. Meanwhile a Tyranid infestation is underway, though stalled due to the heavy opposition of current inhabitants. The Imperial Inquisition has long long let this planet be. Though Exterminatus would be preferred, the resources required to enact the sentence has always been considered far too great; No single faction has been able to gather enough power to threaten the planet's moon, much less any neighboring systems.
Recently however Imperial spies have been able to infiltrate the planet and discover just what all the fighting is about. There is a relic there, rumored to be of the Old Ones themselves. Whoever wields this relic will gain great advantage in the galaxy.
A strikeforce has been sent to the planet: Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Inquisitorial Forces are all now invading the planet. The Eldar and Tau have come as well, both Man and Xenos agreeing that the artifact is too important to let fall to any of the forces inhabiting the planet. There are even rumors that the ancient Necrons are there, aiding the Human/Xenos alliance, though for how long is anybody's guess.
This is where the scenario starts. The Forces of order though horribly outnumbered, have managed to pinpoint the location of the artifact and have sent in a force to retrieve it. The raid has gone well up to this point; the artifact is in hand. However, two of the skimmer escorts have been shot down by lucky weapons fire and now there are two missions: get the artifact to the extrication zone, and rescue the crews of the downed vehicles.
Set Up: The arbitrator sets up the board and demarcates where each side may deploy, and places the initial skimmer wrecks with two crew member models each. The Forces of Order will deploy approximately 25% of their units in the zone indicated; another 25% will move onto the board on their first turn (the rescue force for the skimmer crews). The Forces of Disorder will simultaneously deploy half of their units where indicated. Remaining units will deploy as detailed in the Strategic Reserves rule in the Apocalypse rule book.
First turn: The Forces of Order will receive the first turn.
Victory Conditions:
Each Side will get a certain number of victory points for accomplishing certain goals during the game. The side with the most VP's at the end of the game wins.
Forces of Order will score in the following manner:
Possessing the artifact at the end of the game: 4 VP's.
Getting the artifact to the extrication point by the end of the game will instead award 8 VP's.
Getting downed skimmer crew models to the extrication point: 1 VP per model.
Controlling downed Skimmer wrecks: 1 VP per wreck controlled at the end of the game.
Forces of Disorder will score in the following manner:
Possessing the artifact at the end of the game: 6 VP's
Shooting down a skimmer: 2 VP's
Controlling downed skimmer wrecks: 1 VP per wreck controlled at the end of the game.
Tips: When setting up the board, it's not necessary to exactly mimic the layout of Mogadishu, though you want two areas where The Forces of order can reinforce from: Their starting zone and the stadium (also the extrication point for the artifact). Ideally these two points should be on opposite sides of the board, firstly to make the Forces of Order (hereafter F.O.) fight their way through the city with the artifact, and secondly, the ability to reinforce from either side should represent the F.O.'s superior troop mobility. A densely packed urban area with several blocked roads and several passable roads is ideal.
The Forces of Disorder (hereafter F.D.) should be allowed to set up in the middle of the board as far from the enemy deployment zones as feasible while still allowing their initial deployment plenty of room (ideally 24" away though I found our table to be too small to do this; I think I got 18").
Notes on the
VP's: I've tried to balance them so that the artifact should decide the game. I noticed that the players had a hard time realizing how the skimmers and crew balanced out, so take the time to explain it to them: The F.O. focuses on getting the crew out and holding the wrecks, while the F.D. focuses on shooting them down and salvaging the wrecks. If the F.O. Gets both crew to safety, then that negates the
VP that the F.D. got for downing the vehicle in the first place. After that, the advantage goes to whomever controls the wreck. For some reason the players in my group just couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that the F.D. didn't get points for the crew, but still needed to stop the F.O. from absconding with them.
As for the artifact and skimmer crews: I suggest your group decides what's the best way to deal with possession and movement of these objectives. Ideally they should be easy to claim and hold onto. The crew can either be 'fighting' models or just extra objectives; In either case I suggest NOT restricting their access to non-skimmer transports in ANY way. The F.O. should be vastly outnumbered by the end of the game, and struggling to make up for
VP's due to downed skimmers and crew.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Now the scenario rules and restrictions for the Forces of Order:
Forces of Order:
Imperium of Man
Eldar
Tau
Necrons
Forces of Order Army list restrictions:
1. Your army must contain no more than 15% of it's points in H.Q. selections.
2. Your army must contain at least 30% of it's points in Elites selections.
3. Your army must contain at least 30% of it's points in Troops selections.
4. Your army must contain no more than 15% of it's points in Fast Attack selections.
5. Your army must contain no more than 10% of it's points in Heavy Support selections.
6. No vehicles with an AV of greater than 12 on any facing (at any time, by any means).
7. No Superheavy vehicles (e.g. Baneblades) or Superheavy walkers (e.g. Titans)
8. If possible, every infantry unit must have a Dedicated Transport. (Abiding by A.V. and percentage restrictions).
9. Apocalyptic formations are allowed, as long as they don't break any of the above rules.
The Forces of Order will automatically recieve the following Strategic Assets:
NOTE: These strategic Assets are assigned to the team as a whole, not per each player (for example, the Scheduled Bombardment is only assigned once, not per player).
Orbital Bombardment - See page 189 of the Apocalypse rulebook.
Scheduled Bombardment - See page 189 of the Apocalypse rulebook.
Surgical Raids - See page 189 of the Apocalypse rulebook.
Precision Strike - see page 189 of the Apocalypse rulebook. Note: This asset is to illustrate that the Forces of order are a small elite force that is much better trained than their foes. This asset may be used once per turn.
Medicae Facility - At the beginning of any of their movement phases after the first, the Forces of Order team may nominate one building or ruin to be their Medicae Facility. From this point forward any friendly units inside or within 12" of the building or ruin gain the Feel No Pain USR.
Scenario specific rules for the Forces of Order:
Best of the Best.
Every man (Xenos) in the strike force is a hardened Veteran with countless battles under his belt, and has been hand picked by his commanders for his determination and grit.
All Forces of Order units are Stubborn, unless they are Fearless.
Get in, get out!
Outnumbered hundreds to one, time is of the essence for the Forces of Order.
All forces of Order infantry/ jump infantry have the Fleet USR, unless they have the Slow and Purposeful USR on their profile. If a unit has the Slow and Purposeful USR on their profile, they lose the movement restriction for the duration of the game.
Chewing gum and interrogation wire.
As veterans of countless hard-fought battles, improvisation and battlefield repairs are nothing new for the Forces of Order.
Any non-skimmer transport vehicle may attempt to self-repair instead of shooting. If this option is chosen the controlling player rolls a D6. On a roll of 6 the player may remove one immobilized result on the vehicle.
It's too cramped to land!
Tight streets and constant fire from local forces prevent skimmer transports from landing; All transported units will disembark via fast-roping (or the equivalent) while under heavy fire.
Units may not embark Skimmer Transports during the game. Any model disembarking from Skimmer Transports must take a dangerous terrain test.
Notes on wrecked skimmers and flyers: When a skimmer is wrecked or explodes an appropriate piece of terrain will be placed on the battle field and two models or tokens will be placed in the wreckage to represent the crew for objective purposes.
Tips: The Forces of Order player will naturally want to field as few skimmers and flyers as possible; Remind them that this is a scenario and that they should field them for the spirit of the game. Also, where applicable, insert Flyer for Skimmer (this scenario was written for 5th edition). You should discuss with your group on how to deal with skimmer/flyer wrecks (should they scatter or not, will the crew be actual models or markers? etc.).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Scenario rules and restrictions for the Forces of Disorder:
Forces of Disorder:
Forces of Chaos
Orks
Dark Eldar
Tyranids
Forces of Disorder Army list restrictions:
1. Your army must contain no more than 10% of it's points in H.Q. selections.
2. Your army must contain no more than 20% of it's points in Elites selections.
3. Your army must contain at least 50% of it's points in Troops selections.
4. Your army must contain no more than 5% of it's points in Fast Attack selections.
5. Your army must contain at least 15% of it's points in Heavy Support selections.
6. No vehicles with an AV of greater than 11 on any facing (at any time, by any means).
7. No Superheavy vehicles (e.g. Baneblades) or Superheavy walkers (e.g. Titans)
8. No skimmers or flyers.
9. Apocalyptic formations are allowed, as long as they don't break any of the above rules.
The Forces of Disorder will automatically recieve the following Strategic Assets:
NOTE: These strategic Assets are assigned to the team as a whole, not per each player (for example, the Obstacles asset is only assigned once, not per player).
Obstacles - See page 188 of the Apocalypse rulebook.
Tunnels - See page 188 of the Apocalypse rulebook. Note: This asset is to help illustrate that the entire city is opposed to the invading force, and enemies can and will come seemingly from nowhere.
Without Number - Any unit of Troops that is below 50% or is falling back may be removed from the battlefield by it's controlling player. Units of Troops that have been removed in this manner, or have been completely wiped out, may re-enter play at the beginning of the controlling player's following movement phase as if coming onto the board from strategic reserves (yes they may use the Tunnels Asset for this.) The new unit will be identical in every way to the original, excepting that it does NOT get a new Dedicated Transport, if the original had one assigned.
Scenario specific rules for the Forces of Disorder:
They've got crap for training but Emporer help us, there's a lot of them!
Constant attrition and inadequate time to train has taken it's toll on the 'indigent' forces of Gorkadeeshu.
Forces of Disorder units gain the Fearless USR until they're below 50% starting size. Units that are below 25% starting size automatically fail morale tests they are required to take. If a unit has theStubborn USR in it's profile it gains Fearless exactly as above, but takes Morale tests as normal under 50% starting size. If a unit has the Fearless USR in it's profile it is unaffected by this rule. Tyranids use the Synapse rules as described in their Codex.
Relax, they couldn't hit the broadside of a Landrai....%$&#^@!
Unable to obtain quality parts and materials for repairs and manufacture of ammunition, the Forces of Disorder are at a large disadvantage when shooting at fast moving targets. However, their cunning improvisational skills means that when they hit, it really hurts.
All shooting attacks targeting a Flyer or Skimmer made by the forces of Disorder receive -1 to hit, but gain the Rending USR. If a shooting attack already has the Rending USR, it will now rend on a 5 or 6, instead of just a 6.
That thing's so full of holes I don't think another one will even matter!
The Forces of Disorder's vehicles are just as run down as their weapons and ammunition: just barely patched enough to move.
All Forces of Disorder vehicles gain the Open Topped rule, unless they already have it. When a Forces of Disorder vehicle suffers a crew shaken or stunned result, roll a D6. On a result of 2-5 the following happens: If the result was a Crew Stunned, it becomes Shaken, if the result was Shaken it is ignored. On a result of 6, the Crew Stunned and Crew Shaken result is ignored. On a roll of 1, if the result was a Crew Shaken result, it is upgraded to Crew Stunned, or if the result was Crew Stunned it is upgraded to Weapon destroyed.
Tips: Discuss with your group how flyers will work in this scenario, and how the last Disorder Special rule will affect Hull Points. Remember, this scenario was written in 5th edition!
The point of the Forces of Disorder rules is to represent that they're numerically superior but poorly equipped, and yet still a very big threat to the opposition. If your group finds a way to better implement this then do it!
Automatically Appended Next Post: I forgot to mention earlier, if anybody does use this scenario I would be most interested in hearing how it went!
