40k Grand Crusade Campaigns Up

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**auticus**

This was actually on the Independent Character's podcast this week which I thought was pretty cool, but the 2nd edition of the Grand Crusade system was finished and uploaded this week.

We ran this in 2015 using Badab (first edition). It is a complex map campaign using multiple theaters of war and Battle Fleet Gothic with 40k.

The 2nd edition of the system is much smaller and streamlined and has no real map but uses territories and open war cards.

http://narrativewargaming.com under Grand Crusade link.

**Gunzhard**

Dead link.

**auticus**

http://narrativewargaming.com

My bad.

**Marmatag**

This looks awesome. I can't wait to try it.

At a deeper look this looks super fun. I'm amped to do this. I'll probaby tweak the army sizes though so it's based on points.

Any thoughts on how to keep it balanced?

**Ratius**

Looks pretty cool!

**Marmatag**

Update:

can you think about redefining this:

• If the army has more than 3 units/models that can cast Smite
• If the army has more than 5 units/models that can cast Smite

Grey Knights all have smite but it's baby smite. As written Grey Knights would be suffering big time in command points department just for bringing troops.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, how do you handle vehicles with the battlefield role of transport?

They aren't mentioned in your base org.

Flyers counting as fast attack - got it - do they still count as flyers for all rules intents and purposes? I assume the intent was just to limit fast attack and flyer to be in the same force org role, but you'd still want flyers to be their own thing rules wise.

**Niiru**

Query -

"Dark Eldar – every battle that the dark eldar player wins allows them to gain +2 power
level to their army as they take in slaves. Additionally, the dark eldar player may access
the webway as the eldar can."

So.. the Dark Eldar get the same bonus as the Eldar do, as well as +2 Power every time they win a battle?

Seems a bit unfair on the Eldar!

**Marmatag**

Niiru wrote:
Query -

"Dark Eldar – every battle that the dark eldar player wins allows them to gain +2 power
level to their army as they take in slaves. Additionally, the dark eldar player may access
the webway as the eldar can."

So.. the Dark Eldar get the same bonus as the Eldar do, as well as +2 Power every time they win a battle?

Seems a bit unfair on the Eldar!

So, i'm going to run this with my group. One of the changes i'll make. Access to the webway is enough. I feel like this ruleset was written with DE being underpowered in mind, but they're actually not bad especially in casual games.

**Niiru**

Marmatag wrote:
Niiru wrote:
Query -

"Dark Eldar – every battle that the dark eldar player wins allows them to gain +2 power
level to their army as they take in slaves. Additionally, the dark eldar player may access
the webway as the eldar can."

So.. the Dark Eldar get the same bonus as the Eldar do, as well as +2 Power every time they win a battle?

Seems a bit unfair on the Eldar!

So, i'm going to run this with my group. One of the changes i'll make. Access to the webway is enough. I feel like this ruleset was written with DE being underpowered in mind, but they're actually not bad especially in casual games.

If they're assuming a pure army, then I believe DE is way more powerful than Craftworld Eldar is right now. Eldar only gets vaguely competitive if they use Ynnari (which isn't an option in this, and would probably confuse matters).

Going from a brief read through of the rules, Eldar seem to get a pretty weak "bonus", I assume it's from some false assumption that they're still good. Other than that though, this seems like a fun idea, might see if I can get my game group to look into it.

**Marmatag**

I've got about 5 people signed up for my campaign so far. I will also be playing in it, because why not.

I will make my edits and tweaks and post them here. Give me a few days though, I'm out of town all weekend without internets.

**auticus**

Marmatag wrote:
This looks awesome. I can't wait to try it.

At a deeper look this looks super fun. I'm amped to do this. I'll probaby tweak the army sizes though so it's based on points.

Any thoughts on how to keep it balanced?

Points should work just like power level. The only thing is you're going to probably cut out equipment upgrade limitations. In terms of balance... the campaign usually will not be totally balanced, which is why I'm trying the open war cards for when things get skewed.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

oing from a brief read through of the rules, Eldar seem to get a pretty weak "bonus", I assume it's from some false assumption that they're still good. Other than that though, this seems like a fun idea, might see if I can get my game group to look into it.

It was used to add flavor. When I write campaign rules I don't come at it from a matched play balance-at-all-costs perspective. It is the first draft so of course there is room for improvement.

The Dark Eldar getting both was because a few players were annoyed that the dark eldar bonus was "too weak" and being pirate eldar should also have the same bonus as normal eldar in regards to the webway.

Eldar players also get the ability to at times choose what their opponents stake for a game. Having played this style of campaign for years... thats huge. I feel that the dark eldar and eldar therefore are not that much in disparity in bonuses.

I've got about 5 people signed up for my campaign so far. I will also be playing in it, because why not.

Cool! I'll read any feedback for sure. We're starting this one after our AOS path to glory ... probably around february.

**Marmatag**

So, we don't have any Dark Eldar signed up in the campaign. So, i'm not going to change that rule.

One change: you can't lose your throne world, and you can't be knocked out of the campaign.

We've also decided to run with PL over points, with the upgrades. While PL really misses the mark on a few units, overall the system should work well. i like the idea of restricted upgrades. A couple changes there, though: 0 point "upgrades" do not cost an upgrade point. For instance, you can take a bolt pistol, or a chainsword. This does not cost an upgrade point. However, if you switch from something that costs points like a dreadnought close combat weapon, to an autocannon, that *does* cost an upgrade point, because you're buying a piece of gear, albeit something that costs less. If they both cost 0 points, though, I would allow the switch at no upgrade point cost.

In regards to the narrative piece, I'm not going to police people's wordcount. I'll read them and just award 1 or 2 points depending on effort.

When calculating dice / smites, I would recommend going with the expected value. For instance, if the smite can deal D6 mortal wounds potentially, it should count as 3.5 mortal wounds. Armies pay a CP penalty based on this number. Also, for calculating number of shots per turn, go with the expected value. Something that shoots D6, or 2d6 shots, for instance, would have 3.5 shots, or 7 shots, respectively.

Due to the nature of imperial guard, I would also add a cost to orders. If your army is capable of issuing more than 2 orders a turn, you lose a CP. More than 4, lose 2.

**auticus**

The intent is definitely for upgrades that cost points to only be upgrades. "0 pt upgrades" shouldn't be "upgrades", just alternate equipment options.

Can make an faq at the bottom to clarify that.

On word count - I have a lot of folks that demand structure and don't like me just judging their work (especially since I am also playing) so thats why the hard value is there. Feel free to adjust to your group accordingly.

The smite change is already there, i just need to update it on the server.
Its basically smite = -1... or mini smite (1 mortal wound) requires 3 of those to equal one smite. The goal being to not reward mortal-wound spam, which I don't believe belongs in a narrative casual for fun event.

Also on orders... not all armies have orders. So that would require policing each individual codex for mechanics such as this.

I'm not super up on the new IG codex but... the limit to HQ and elites should also indirectly help this. They can't just spam those to their hearts content if they don't have the resources.

**Marmatag**

Sounds good - I'll try and track down the FAQ on the FB page. I think that is a pretty smart change. And i'm fine not policing the codices. It's smart to keep balance high level.

**auticus**

When I get home I'll upload the latest to the narrativewargaming site.

The azyr empires site does not have it. Its minor changes so nothing super drastic.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
In reading the document when I got home, the point of contention with 0 point wargear costing upgrade slots was not a worry as on the first page in underlined font it states it only applies to wargear that you pay points for.

**auticus**

http://narrativewargaming.com

Grand Crusade file updated to version 1.04. This is the 40k campaign I will be hosting next year. We have three playtest groups running it right now providing feedback.

Changes:
* you don't roll for starting worlds, you choose from a template. This prevents bad starting rolls from causing people to quit off the bat.

* Smite was removed as a command point negater, and replaced with mortal wounds in general since there are ways to generate mortal wounds that are not smite. If you can reliably generate 9 or more mortal wounds, you lose a point and every 3 mortal wounds you can reliably generate from there you lose a point.

* Racial traits are no longer tied to a race. You can pick one to suit your narrative.

File can be downloaded from the linked site. 2nd edition Grand Crusade.