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So my friends and I were trying to come up with a replacement mission for the relic this week, and by now of course some quality missions were proposed to fill it, but also it trailed off into its own minigame category as well. That is what I have here, a proposed minigame that need a little fine tuning but I think has great potential. Comments, criticisms, and suggestions are all welcome as long as they stay civil.

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Mission Type: Hunger Games 40k

Background: Welcome to the greatest blood sport of the grimdarkness of the 41st Millennium. You have each been selected to participate in the slave arena of Supreme Overlord of Commorragh, Asdrubael Vect, in the most glorious games the Dark city has to offer, the Hunger Games 40k! Your goal is simple, survive. But be weary, though many of you may enter only one can leave…. Will your name ring out among the Dark City as a great champion of the pits or fade away into ignominy?

The Armies: 1 HQ per player. That’s it. No vehicles, no bikes, no retinues. Named characters ARE allowed.

The Battlefield: The map is a 4’ x4’ table with dense terrain. Forests, rivers, hills, and ’objectives’ all count as mysterious. Reference the table below for rules on mysterious terrain (not the same as the BRB). One objective per player is to be distributed around the map wherever that player desires, placed in order of turn.

Deployment: All models begin touching the center terrain piece (5” Blast Marker) equidistant around the perimeter.

First Turn: There is no point limit to your HQ, however, after creating your HQ you must declare how many points it is worth. Those that are more expensive will go later than those who cost less. Choose your gear wisely. Too much and you may find yourself weighed down, too little and the consequences could be fatal. In the event of equal points for two HQs the owners roll off and the higher roll will go first of the two.

Game Length: The game lasts until only one model is left alive.

Victory Conditions: Be the one model left standing at the end of the game.

Primary Objectives:
Kill!
Secondary Objectives:
None
Mission Special Rules:
Mysterious Everything!, Living off the Land, Allies, Run Away!

Mysterious Everything!:
Each full turn the mysterious terrain changes according to the table below. Additionally, each objective is also mysterious and will grant the user one effect from following table upon reaching the terrain/objective marker. Standing atop a hill allows the player an additional 3” range to all ranged attacks but conversely gives enemy models a +1 to Ballistic Skill (to a maximum of 5) when targeting him. Objective bonuses cannot be claimed twice, but remain with the character once they have been gained. Should an objective be claimed it becomes inert and the only way to gain the objective’s bonus is to kill the current claimant to the bonus (ignore for objective bonus 1).

Objectives
1: Your objective contains a nest of violent creatures! Resolve D6 S4 AP-- hits against your model.
2: You are offered a chance to trade out or purchase wargear from your codex for free if able
3: Your location is empty… seems someone is playing a trick on you
4: Lower the AP of your CC attacks by 1 (ie: AP3 becomes AP2, AP-- becomes AP6), AP2 weapons gain shred
5: Armor saves are 1 better, 2+ saves can re-roll fails as a 6+ (applies only to armor saves)
6: Ranged attacks gain +1 Strength, Poisoned attacks wound on one lower to a minimum of 2+

Forests
1: Nalwood forests move around you and you are lost, halve your difficult terrain results (rounding up)
2: Iron bark forests can stop much higher caliber shots than average, add +2 to cover saves
3: Hallucinogenic pollen overtakes your senses as your BS, WS and I are set to 1, but gain USR Feel no Pain(4+)
4: There are vicious insects trying to kill you! Resolve 2D6 S4 AP-- hits against your model
5: Normal, non-carnivorous, trees… that’s actually kind of odd
6: Carnivorous plants swipe at you as you run by, resolve D6 S6 AP-- Rending hits against your model


River
1: Bubbling blood flows at your feet, -2 Ld
2: Toxic sludge burns you as you run across, resolve D6 S3 AP-- hits against your model
3: Cool, pure water… so clear you could almost drink from it… but maybe that’s not such a great idea…
4: You don’t know what it is… but you don’t want to leave… roll a pinning test and gain +1T
5: Psychotropic fumes invigorate you in while in the chem water, gain USR Rage when assaulting from the river
6: There is something in the water… and it’s hungry! Resolve D6 S4 AP-- hits against your model, roll pinning for unsaved wounds

Living off the Land:
In the high stakes environment of the Hunger Games 40k running out of ammo or a simple wound is can be very dangerous. A methodical warrior, who can live off the land, can use it to his advantage to mitigate these dangers. During his turn the player may elect to try to heal a wound, fix a piece of wargear that has is prone to malfunctions (ie: gets hot) or has run dry (ie: secondary weapons on a combi weapon). This act replaces the players entire turn or may choose to take a -1 modifier (to a minimum of 1) if they wish to use their movement phase. Reference the chart below for results. When rolling for the results under the wounds category, restored wounds cannot exceed the model’s starting total.

Healing Wounds:
1: More Harm than Good, take one more wound with no saves
2,3: How does this work? You fail to do any real good, no effect
4,5: Minor first aid, restore 1 wound
6: Battlefield surgery, restore 2 wounds

Repairing Wargear
1: Butterfingers, your device is now permanently inoperable - drop it and move on
2,3: Could be worse, you didn't break it but you didn’t fix it either… no effect
4,5: Device restored, your wargear is operable again use it wisely…
6: Mechanical Genius, your device now has one re-roll the next time it malfunctions

Reloading
1: Duck and Cover! The whole weapon system jams. Better fix that...
2,3: Blasted Blaster! Secondary weapon is out of ammo but primary still works fine
4,5: Back in Action! Secondary weapon is reloaded for one shot
6: Dakka Dakka! Repairs went so well the secondary weapon counts as twin linked for one shot

Allies:
In the Hunger Games 40k, every moment can mean life or death. As a result some find it necessary to form alliances with those in the arena to watch their back. Alliances can be made between two players in a turn in which both are within 6” of one another. Any player in the alliance can choose to dissolve their part in the alliance during their turn, but must pass a leadership test in order to do so. If the test is failed the character has determined that he needs to keep his ally by his side for a while longer. All alliances are automatically dissolved when there are only two models are left on the table. While alliances are in effect, multiple players may enter into a single combat against another player without remaining locked in combat after.

Run Away!!:
After fighting an assault phase, it is possible neither model has died in which case if the losing model fails its leadership test roll 3D6 and discard the lowest. If the distance is high enough to reach a forest, the model must run into the forest applying any bonuses or penalties instantly and the other model cannot attempt to cut down the fleeing model. If the model does not reach a forest, resolve the assault as normal.

Sounds fun, but I played something similar. Necrons are incredibly annoying. Not only can they come back to life 50% of the time, they also force you to take LD tests or get you start punching yourself in the face. Or he Tachyon Arrows you from across the damn board.

Some suggestions: Generic HQs only and everyone gets Eternal Warrior.
Generic HQs, because there are quite a few named sledgehammer HQs out there. I know Tigurius can be an issue with his PM level 3 and knowing all Codex Marine powers.
Eternal Warrior, because taking a Tachyon Arrow turn 1 and getting blown apart makes you sad.

Sounds fun, but I think daemons and tyranid's would have a field day xD

So your say no Retinues , does that mean an IG CCS would be out of the question ? Only decent stand alone HQ we have is Yarrack who will get squished by folks like Lysander , Typhus ,And Dante

Thanks for the heads up, I wasn't sure about Eternal Warrior myself because high toughness, multi-wound HQs such as the tyranids mentioned above would simply have a field day with few capable of meting out enough damage to be a serious threat. If you know of another way to get these kind of models more on par with the rest of the group, let me know.

As far as the named characters, I was thinking mostly of guard who had a limited selection of individual beatstick HQs, but I suppose a commissar or primaris psyker would actually be pretty good for this kind of mission.

Thanks for the comments, please keep it up.

You try and take a Pysker against Lysander and cry as you pick his teeth out of the dirt , only decent stand alone HQ's we have Are Yarrack and maybe. Priest

 Kasrkin229 wrote:
So your say no Retinues , does that mean an IG CCS would be out of the question ? Only decent stand alone HQ we have is Yarrack who will get squished by folks like Lysander , Typhus ,And Dante

While I don't deny guard have a serious lacking in this department, I feel like in the context of this someone like Marbo or Straken would be a pretty good choice. Also a primaris psyker or lord commissar would have a pretty decent go in something like this, especially if bigger and badder HQs go after each other and leave them alone for a turn.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Especially in the context of this mission where marbo could hypothetically get another demo charge.

And Stracken Isn't a stand alone be is required to be in a CCS. , he's a special character not an independent one , and the Primaris ( maybe with bio or pyromancy ) will get bitch smacked by anything with a 3+ and the commissar will get squished because of his shoddy 5+

If I bring a bloodthirster to the game that's pretty much the game there for everybody else.
Or maybe even Skarbrand, or GUO.

If my Fateweaver succesfully takes off the game is pretty much done for too.

abbadon would rape face too. Nobody could take that guy out. maybe if they all form an alliance and have plasmapistols to barrage him with

 Kasrkin229 wrote:
And Stracken Isn't a stand alone be is required to be in a CCS. , he's a special character not an independent one , and the Primaris ( maybe with bio or pyromancy ) will get bitch smacked by anything with a 3+ and the commissar will get squished because of his shoddy 5+

Fair point, I didn't realize Straken couldn't be taken independently. With regards to the psyker, I wouldn't expect a DE Haemonculus to go one on one with a SM Captain with power sword, but give him a hex rifle and try to run him out of harms way for a turn and his chances of surviving become much greater. The same could be said for running a Tau Commander at a Phoenix Lord. The IG are definitely at a disadvantage but that just means they need to react more tactically.

 Makutsu wrote:
If I bring a bloodthirster to the game that's pretty much the game there for everybody else.
Or maybe even Skarbrand, or GUO.

If my Fateweaver succesfully takes off the game is pretty much done for too.

Also fair, and again I'm not overly familiar with demons, but someone with a "automatically wounds on a..." rule or a null zone type rule that forces rerolls on passed invul saves (or Kaine forbid an alliance of the two) might actually give it a run for its money though it's by no means a certainty.

 xSPYXEx wrote:
Sounds fun, but I played something similar. Necrons are incredibly annoying. Not only can they come back to life 50% of the time, they also force you to take LD tests or get you start punching yourself in the face. Or he Tachyon Arrows you from across the damn board.

Some suggestions: Generic HQs only and everyone gets Eternal Warrior.
Generic HQs, because there are quite a few named sledgehammer HQs out there. I know Tigurius can be an issue with his PM level 3 and knowing all Codex Marine powers.
Eternal Warrior, because taking a Tachyon Arrow turn 1 and getting blown apart makes you sad.

This. Imagine trying to face down Abaddon. Without hard restrictions, he'll just walk right up to you, murder you, win, then leave with a smug grin on his face...

Only competitive guard option would be Commisar Yarrack , I guess I'm saying allow compulsory retinue

I like the generics deal, but give them access to the full armoury (AKA if its listed as takable from any other infantry unit they can take it)

Awesome idea though, despite the HQ awkwardness that will ensue.

I call the ability to ally with all the 200+ point characters...

Thatguyhsagun wrote:
I call the ability to ally with all the 200+ point characters...

Well, by the looks of you, you're a guard player.
Let's say you ally with a beefed-up daemon prince from my codex (Trust me, these guys can get real nasty when there's no points limit). Everyone else gets killed.

You're probably either Yarrick, or a generic-type guardsman HQ.

1v1 with a prince of the warp.

You're f****d. Sorry 'bout that...

Actually Yarrack might be able to put some whip ass on you

yeah but I got to #2. That's what counts

Best thing Yarrack is his grumpy old ass is almost certain to stand back up

Also: maybe run naked HQ's (un upgraded with no weapons) and place a few dozen markers between the start point. Each marker let you to have 1 piece of wargear from the codex. Still lower point HQ's going first and giving them he advantage of having a weapon before any other HQ's can, potentally denying them a weapon for a turn. And it should be any Character not just IC not HQ. If I want marbo the first thing I do is move my butt to the center, grab a demo pack and blow the hell out of us all.

 Kasrkin229 wrote:
Actually Yarrack might be able to put some whip ass on you

Could, but most times I've had that matchup (me + my friend love setting it up in battles, it's awesomesauce), the first attempt, Yarrick scores a wound. Then he gets killed. Then he stands back up. Gets killed.

And so on. Funniest part is, Yarrick charges in his turn, gets knocked down, my DP kills a unit, he gets up on his next turn and starts again


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Thatguyhsagun wrote:
Also: maybe run naked HQ's (un upgraded with no weapons) and place a few dozen markers between the start point. Each marker let you to have 1 piece of wargear from the codex. Still lower point HQ's going first and giving them he advantage of having a weapon before any other HQ's can, potentally denying them a weapon for a turn. And it should be any Character not just IC not HQ. If I want marbo the first thing I do is move my butt to the center, grab a demo pack and blow the hell out of us all.

It's cheese, but balanced cheese.

Wait, what?

Thanks for the advice. I still don't know how to reconcile the guard, but the named characters option has been removed and the objective markers can no longer be placed within 12" of the starting ring.

Since the game is supposed to be a minigame and not a full blown mission I think keeping instant death is still a decent option, just because it is meant to be relatively quick.

I like the idea of the naked HQ, but again for the sake of a quick game it may be worth taking the risk of a heavily armed model. That will come out in play testing.

Is there anything else you can see that could stand some improvement?

 Farseer14 wrote:
Thanks for the advice. I still don't know how to reconcile the guard, but the named characters option has been removed and the objective markers can no longer be placed within 12" of the starting ring.

Since the game is supposed to be a minigame and not a full blown mission I think keeping instant death is still a decent option, just because it is meant to be relatively quick.

I like the idea of the naked HQ, but again for the sake of a quick game it may be worth taking the risk of a heavily armed model. That will come out in play testing.

Is there anything else you can see that could stand some improvement?

If guard HQ's were to be allowed a retinue (as a captured kill-squad), then that would add some balance, and can fit the fluff (as the DE watch the humans deperately trying to keep eachother alive).

But, now that I think about it, that may not work...

Like I said-any character not just HQ's. If I want to bring a techmarine, Marbo, Sangunary Priest, Lemartes, marbo, a temple assassin, marbo, C'tan shard, marbo, or doom, why shouldn't I be allowed to?
Oh and did I say marbo?

Well in the hunger games technically they had 2 members from the same division so maybe 0-2 HQ with a cap on total points for both guys.