Planetary Onslaught -- W40k

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**reds8n**

was mentioned a wee while ago now, but probably deserves its own thread :

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/planetary-onslaught-tablet..html

ll Products

Planetary Onslaught

A Warhammer 40,000 Expansion

When invasion comes to a world, the battle is all-consuming. From the initial orbital strikes, to massive sieges spanning continental defence lines, to the close quarters urban combat of a cityfight, entire planets are devastated by total war. Planetary Onsluaght gives you the tools you need to fight any or all the stages of such an assault.

CONTENTS
– Full rules for planetstrikes, assaulting fortifications and fighting in cities
– Six Planetstrike missions
– Six Stronghold Assault missions
– Six Cities of Death missions
– Rules and campaign trees for a Planetary Onslaught campaign – play through the conquest of an occupied world from invasion to destruction!
– Updated datasheets for 21 Fortifications, all of which can be used by any Warhammer 40,000 army

ESCRIPTION
Across the vast galactic expanses of the Imperium of Man, a desperate war of survival has raged for more than ten thousand years. Countless savage battles are being fought at any given moment – and none rage more fiercely than those fought between an invading army and a desperate defending force.

Planetary Onslaught brings together and updates the rules for three Warhammer 40,000 expansions – Planetstrike, Stronghold Assault and Cities of Death – and presents them as stages of planetary conquest. Play them individually, or string the three different sets of rules together to create an epic campaign that tells the story of the fate of an entire world! One player assumes the role of aggressor, and the other defender, playing through the three phases with additional rules tying the whole campaign together into a single, brutal Planetary Onslaught.

There’s also a huge array of updated datasheets for Fortifications and Fortification Networks, new Siege War missions, and full campaign trees for Planetstrike, Stronghold Assault and Cities of Death games.

**BrookM**

€32,50 for a hardback book is not bad, especially not with all the content listed.

**H.B.M.C.**

Just in time for it to be invalidated by 8th Ed, so we can start the whole dance again.

**lord_blackfang**

In fact, the way GW does things, a supplement anthology is a pretty solid hint that a new edition is just around the corner.

**Moopy**

No interest in this.

I think I played 1 Cities of Death mission.

Nobody wanted to do Planetstrike or Stronghold Assault.

Wasted money.

**casvalremdeikun**

Maybe there will be a Fortification Network with a Haemotrope Reactor, a set of Promethium Relay Pipes, and either/both of a Void Shield Generator or Plasma Obliterator. That would be pretty cool. Unfortunately, as others have stated, this book will likely be invalidated by 8th edition next year.

**Nevelon**

I’m a bit torn on this.

Considering the amount of content in there, $40 does not seem an unreasonable price. How much of it will be valid next edition is a huge question though. If like the old Stronghold Assault book, this turns out to be Codex: Fortifications, it will still be valid in a new edition. Probably. Unless we get a 3rd style reboot, or more likely a change to the vehicle/building rules which are both poor and intertwined. The campaign and missions would probably be fine, with only minor tweaking. Again, barring a massive AoS style reboot.

I like the fact that there are a ton of scenarios and stuff for campaigns in there. Some people will get a bit of use out of that. I’m not one of them. I play pick up games and random book missions, and have done for the last couple decades. For me, this would be getting the most recent rules for fielding my ADL (and to a lesser extent the skyshield I built for my Eldar). So probably not worth the cash for one or two pages of relevant content.

At any time other then the cusp of an edition change, this would be a great book. Maybe not for everyone, but supplements are like that.

**Kid_Kyoto**

Yeah marginal armies and weird supplements are sure signs as new edition is coming.

If the Legion of the Damned get a release then we know it's all over.

**GoatboyBeta**

If there were not so many rumours about 8th next year I'd get this just for the cites of death section. But for now its getting bumped to wait and see.

**Slayer-Fan123**

Moopy wrote:
No interest in this.

I think I played 1 Cities of Death mission.

Nobody wanted to do Planetstrike or Stronghold Assault.

Wasted money.

Why not Stronghold Assault? The fortification options are always a solid addition.

**mjl7atlas**

Is there a real reason to buy this with the rumours of all the codexes being AoS'd? The Dark Angel Codex is no longer available at all on the U.S. site.

**swcorwyn**

The hardback is not available but the Paperback is listed on the next page.

**H.B.M.C.**

I bought the Stronghold Assault and Escalation books. Guess what came out a picosecond later?

7th Ed.

So no.

**Moopy**

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Moopy wrote:
No interest in this.

I think I played 1 Cities of Death mission.

Nobody wanted to do Planetstrike or Stronghold Assault.

Wasted money.

Why not Stronghold Assault? The fortification options are always a solid addition.

I LOVE fortifications/buildings. Love them.

But I couldn't get anyone to play. Everyone just wanted to play vanilla 40k.

**Lance845**

I will consider purchasing this book after 8th comes out depending on how valid it's rules are. Otherwise, il stick with ruins, difficult terrain, and dangerous terrain.

**Lockark**

Moopy wrote:
Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Moopy wrote:
No interest in this.

I think I played 1 Cities of Death mission.

Nobody wanted to do Planetstrike or Stronghold Assault.

Wasted money.

Why not Stronghold Assault? The fortification options are always a solid addition.

I LOVE fortifications/buildings. Love them.

But I couldn't get anyone to play. Everyone just wanted to play vanilla 40k.

I think he means the rules for taking fortifications as part of your army. The unit entries generally were the reason people picked up strong hold assault.

**Ian Sturrock**

I hope this means my lovely GS Cult codex isn't going to be invalid. I guess not, as it will presumably be last in the queue for an update.

**MajorWesJanson**

I'm hoping that in addition to the datasheets, we get a preview of some decent terrain rules to replace the ones they simply deleted from 6th edition. The building and fortification rules from Stronghold assault were included in 7th with a few tweaks,

I never bothered with Escalation. It was a completely unbalanced collection of datasheets simply copy pasted from the Apoc book, keeping the stupid simplifications from Apoc II that make superheavies and destroyer somewhat overpowered (in most cases) in 40K.

**GoatboyBeta**

Ian Sturrock wrote:
I hope this means my lovely GS Cult codex isn't going to be invalid. I guess not, as it will presumably be last in the queue for an update.

I think that "honour" may fall to the 1k sons or possibly the SoB. The sheer number of army books that would be invalidated by a major shake up of 40ks core rules makes me doubt we will see any big changes to the core mechanics and unit stat lines. So at the least I'd expect the content of current and soon to be released books to be usable. If that content is going to be useful is the question.

**tneva82**

GoatboyBeta wrote:
I think that "honour" may fall to the 1k sons or possibly the SoB. The sheer number of army books that would be invalidated by a major shake up of 40ks core rules makes me doubt we will see any big changes to the core mechanics and unit stat lines. So at the least I'd expect the content of current and soon to be released books to be usable. If that content is going to be useful is the question.

GW has decades long history of invalidating army books within year of releasing. Albeit not constantly but does show that just being released within year of new edition is no quarantee of book being usable...

**GoatboyBeta**

tneva82 wrote:

GW has decades long history of invalidating army books within year of releasing. Albeit not constantly but does show that just being released within year of new edition is no quarantee of book being usable...

I suppose it depends on what you mean by invalidating. Going from decent to poop but still usable within the framework of the rules? Yep totally do that all the time. WHF to AoS or 40k 1st to 2nd and 3rd edition where all the army books need re writing or throwing out due to changes in the core rules? Not so much.

**beast_gts**

I emailed GW asking if this contained the Haemotrope Reactor, and their response was "Unfortunately, we do not have any information on this." :-(

**BrookM**

From the GW site:

The Contents

- 6 Planetstrike missions
- 6 Stronghold Assault missions
- 6 Cities of Death missions

- Rules and campaign trees for a Planetary Onslaught campaign – play through the conquest of an occupied world from invasion to destruction!

- Updated datasheets for the following Fortifications, which can be used by any Warhammer 40,000 army:

Aegis Defence Line
Imperial Bastion
Imperial Strongpoint
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Line
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Emplacement
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker
Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt
Wall of Martyrs Vengeance Weapon Battery
Macro-cannon Aquila Strongpoint
Vortex Missile Aquila Strongpoint
Fortress of Redemption
Void Shield Generator
Basilica Administratum
Manufactorum
Sanctum Imperialis
Shrine of the Aquila
Manufactorum Armoured Containers
Twisted Copse
Skyshield Landing Pad
Honoured Imperium
Promethium Relay Pipes

- Rules for the following Fortification Networks, usable by any Warhammer 40,000 army:

Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Network
Void Relay Network

- Rules for the following Fortifications and Fortification Networks usable by the Tau Empire:

Tidewall Shieldline
Tidewall Droneport
Tidewall Gunrig
Tidewall Rampart
Tidewall Gunfort
Tidewall Defence Network

**beast_gts**

BrookM wrote:
From the GW site:

Spoiler:

The Contents

- 6 Planetstrike missions
- 6 Stronghold Assault missions
- 6 Cities of Death missions

- Rules and campaign trees for a Planetary Onslaught campaign – play through the conquest of an occupied world from invasion to destruction!

- Updated datasheets for the following Fortifications, which can be used by any Warhammer 40,000 army:

Aegis Defence Line
Imperial Bastion
Imperial Strongpoint
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Line
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Emplacement
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker
Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt
Wall of Martyrs Vengeance Weapon Battery
Macro-cannon Aquila Strongpoint
Vortex Missile Aquila Strongpoint
Fortress of Redemption
Void Shield Generator
Basilica Administratum
Manufactorum
Sanctum Imperialis
Shrine of the Aquila
Manufactorum Armoured Containers
Twisted Copse
Skyshield Landing Pad
Honoured Imperium
Promethium Relay Pipes

- Rules for the following Fortification Networks, usable by any Warhammer 40,000 army:

Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Network
Void Relay Network

- Rules for the following Fortifications and Fortification Networks usable by the Tau Empire:

Tidewall Shieldline
Tidewall Droneport
Tidewall Gunrig
Tidewall Rampart
Tidewall Gunfort
Tidewall Defence Network

Yep, that's why I emailed them. It's odd that the rules for the Reactor talk about them interacting with other Fortifications, but with no way to legally do that... (then again, this is GW)

**casvalremdeikun**

Why did they include all of the stuff that is in the main rulebook?

**Matt.Kingsley**

Probably the same reason they did it for Stronghold Assault: the next edition won't include them.

That's my guess anyway.

**Fenrir Kitsune**

casvalremdeikun wrote:
Why did they include all of the stuff that is in the main rulebook?

Why miss a sales opportunity? Makes sense to me.

**tneva82**

GoatboyBeta wrote:
tneva82 wrote:

GW has decades long history of invalidating army books within year of releasing. Albeit not constantly but does show that just being released within year of new edition is no quarantee of book being usable...

I suppose it depends on what you mean by invalidating. Going from decent to poop but still usable within the framework of the rules? Yep totally do that all the time. WHF to AoS or 40k 1st to 2nd and 3rd edition where all the army books need re writing or throwing out due to changes in the core rules? Not so much.

You just listed several examples and forgot to mention others.

Here's funny fact: One of the first army books for FB I bought was freshly printed out and on sales 1999. Year later: Useless except for fluff and images of models.

I said they don't do it all the time but they have DECADES of history of doing just that. So you can't claim they won't do it based on history because history shows being released within year of new edition is no quarantee that it will be usable in the new edition.

**Kanluwen**

casvalremdeikun wrote:
Why did they include all of the stuff that is in the main rulebook?

Probably so that they're classified as Fortifications now rather than being left as Ruins like they are now.

Also because maaaybe they're going to do a much lighter setup for the revised BRB?

That's all just my speculation in regards to this. That's why I put that stuff into the speculation list back when we first got this book announced.

**Wayniac**

I want to like this, because ways to link together campaigns and add cool stuff is great, but I've never once heard anyone even remotely mention any of these; I rarely see anyone even bother with fortifications in general, so I get the feeling this will be like Death from the Skies, and quickly forgotten/ignored in 99% of gamers' minds.