Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I already posted this in the General section, but after getting a whole one comment, I figured I'd post it here as well. Basically, I wrote up a custom mission for the league that I'm in, and I wanted to get some feedback before I submit it to the organizer.

---

Exterminatus Run
“In fealty to the God-Emperor (our undying lord) and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion.”

The Imperium of Man has many tools at its disposal, but none is more terrible and more terrifying than the Exterminatus. This final resort is carried out only in the gravest of circumstances, for the only goal is the total destruction of an entire world to prevent it from becoming a threat to mankind…

On occasion, the Imperium will falter in its ability to hold a world against its foes, and be forced to leave that planet behind. Such a retreat is often only temporary, a delaying tactic before the Imperium’s military forces can reclaim it, but there are times when reclamation is too costly, or the threat is too great to risk a long campaign. In times such as this, the Imperium calls upon its final weapon: Exterminatus.

The declaration of Exterminatus is not one to be taken lightly, as it involves the destruction of an entire world to prevent it from falling into the hands of mankind’s enemies. Though the methods vary depending on the circumstances, the most common means of carrying out Exterminatus is through orbital bombardments fired over the entire surface of the doomed planet, turning it to rubble.

For one reason or another, your forces have been caught on the ground as the world is being destroyed. Perhaps you are the intended target of the Imperial bombardment, or maybe you have simply been caught in the crossfire. Regardless, you and your army are now trapped on a planet crumbling to dust before your very eyes. The only way out is through an ancient warp gate located at the far end of a ruined city, but countless enemies lie between it and you, and they have no intention of allowing you to escape.

Deployment
Split the table into halves along the width of the board, then roll off to determine who is the defender and who is the attacker. Then, divide the board into six equal sections and place a marker in the center of each one. Number them from 1 to 6 using a die or a scrap of paper; these will be used for The Sky is Falling (detailed below). Finally, the defender chooses a table half and deploys his forces first, up to the center line. The attacker then deploys his army in his deployment zone, 18” away from the defender’s.

Objectives
Place a marker (or a suitable piece of terrain) in the center of the defender’s deployment zone, representing a warp gate.

Reserves
Neither player may place any units in reserve; there is simply too much chaos to rely on reinforcements showing up at a critical moment.

First Turn
The attacker has the first turn.

Victory Conditions
The attacker may move his units through the warp gate during the movement phase; in order to do so, the entire unit must be within 2” of the marker or piece of terrain, as if they were embarking onto a vehicle. Note that a unit may enter the gate even if it disembarked from a vehicle on the same turn, and there is no restriction on what units may enter—even units that normally cannot embark on vehicles are allowed to pass through. Any models that enter the gate in this way are removed from the table and placed aside. At the end of the game, the attacker receives 1 point for every 50 points in the cost of each unit that moved into the warp gate (rounded up). Divide the cost of each unit by 2 if it entered the gate with fewer than half of its initial number of models, or half of its initial hull points.

Example: A Space Marine Tactical Squad consisting of four models manages to exit through the warp gate. The attacker totals the squad’s original cost of 175 points, then divides it by 2 because the unit is below half strength for a total of 87.5. He rounds up to the nearest hundred and thus receives 2 points towards victory.

The defender scores points in the same manner for each enemy unit that has been completely eliminated from the board; at the end of the game, he scores 1 point for every 50 points, rounded up, that each destroyed unit is worth. Note that the defender cannot score partial points—it’s all or nothing for him!

Special Rules
The Sky is Falling: At the end of each game turn, one player rolls a die and places the Apocalyptic Mega-Blast template over the corresponding marker. The blast scatters 3d6” and must scatter, even if a hit is rolled (in which case use the small arrow on the scatter die). The blast is then resolved with a Strength of 10/7/5 and an AP of 1/4/6.

No-Fly Zone: Due to the turbulent, roiling atmosphere, players may not use zooming flyers nor flying monstrous creatures in swooping mode.

---

My biggest concern right now is the scoring, because it seems that the defender has kind of an easy time of things - the attacker has to get up the field and through the gate while the defender can sit back and just kill anything that gets up to it. The simplest solution I thought of was having the attacker get double or triple points for getting things off (say, 2 points for every 50, or 3) while the defender only gets 1, but I'm worried that that will tilt things too far towards the attacker. Anyone have any thoughts, just reading over this? I'm planning to test this out when I get a chance, but I'd like to have a version that's reasonably well-balanced before I start playing games.

Also, would it be too much to limit players from making turbo-boost moves? I had thought about limiting all movement to 12" per turn, but thought that might be unnecessarily restrictive. It should be apparent that the problem with not limiting movement at all is things like Eldar or biker armies that can cross the field in one turn, enjoy a turn of having a 4+ cover save (possibly even better for Eldar), and then stroll the entire army through the gate.

Why would the defenders happily abide to their fate if there is a way out of the hello hole they are in?

Make the gate in the dead centre of the board. Both forces are vying for control of it.

Any unit wishing to pass through the gate has to have spent a whole game turn within 6" of it first. Any opposing forces also within 6" must be cleared off the objective before the unit(s) can safely pass through.

3 victory points per fully intact/undamaged unit that makes it through the gate, 1 victory point for any unit that has sustained wounds or hull points. Also, 2 victory points per turn that you are in control of the gate (uncontested)

That will sway armies to plough for the objective too early, or too late.