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My group wants a 40k campaign (so do I,) but I have a few issues.

First, I don't want to include any way to get more units. I don't want the campaign puttering out because we all give up when player 3 has more forces than the table combined. I want losses to be felt permanently. So we're starting with a double FOC 5k list each, with one warlord. Random powers, warlord traits and the like are rolled up once at the start of the campaign.

Now, let's get the things we ARE doing out of the way, so that I can get to the issues.

-A force may split off from another. Individual squads cannot be split amongst forces, but given the nature of the game, you may only have one man in a squad left.

-6" movers may move 1 hex per round. 12" ers can move 2, which includes vehicles and FMC's. Flying vehicles may move 4. A force must move at the speed of their slowest unit, or split into separate forces. Transports can, of course, carry slower infantry as long as they can fit. The one-squad-per-transport rule is ignored out of battle. If you have the space, you can carry them all.

-Map movement is done simultaneously. Players turn in their move plans, and all the moves are attempted at once. Any forces that run into each other stop right next to each other.

-1 round on the hex map is equivalent to 4 battle turns.

-If two opposed forces occupy adjacent hexes, a battle starts. If 3 or more forces converge, they are deployed in such a way to represent how they were positioned on the large map. (IE it's possible to be pincer attacked.)

-If a force retreats, it falls back directly away from the enemy 1 space on the hex map. If this is impossible, the force is destroyed. In the case of a pincer attack, the retreat edge is BEHIND your enemies, and units that escape end up on whichever side they left from. Also note, that during a pincer attack, the unfortunate defender's army is all on the board turn 1. Any flyers must either be hovering, or "landed" in the case of those that can't.

-autowithdraw. When a player knows his force is outmatched and wants to withdraw asap, he may claim this. The attacker will get to take 1 shot from each 36" or longer weapon, as well as any infiltrators and/or scouts, at the enemy unit/s of their choice. No cover saves, unless the unit would normally get them in the open. Ld tests apply just as if a normal game was going on, and the unit does not benefit from any area-based effect for Ld, saves, and the like. No powers can be activated to mitigate the damage either. Failing morale counts as unwillingly fleeing, and may cause additional losses to the unit. Vehicles are hit on rear armor.

-If an allied force is adjacent to your hex, but not to your enemy's, you may declare at the start of the battle that they are coming into the battle as reserves.

-The normal reserves rules (half your units) is ignored. If your force contains ONLY units that arrive by reserve, you begin rolling for them on turn 1. If none are available, one is selected at random to come in.

-Tabling with reserves still coming in is not an instant win.

-Units may willingly flee the battle off their own table edge during the battle. If they do so UNwillingly, they must take a LD test after. Each point of failure erases one squad member from existence. (he deserts.)

-All characters, vehicles, and monstrous creatures must be given a name.

-A nameless (non-character) non-vehicle non-monstrous creature model that goes down to NON-instant death can take a T test at -2 after the battle, to return to life with 1 wound. Models that fail the test die for good. As hinted before, instant death is instant death.

-A character attempts this same test at -1, and returns with a permanently lost wound. Should the model not have a spare wound to lose, he is injured (-1 to all stats) until spending a round at a medical facility or in a force with an apothecary-type model. An injured model, or model that has recovered from an injury, that goes down in battle is dead.

-An independent character takes the T test at no penalty, but otherwise acts as a character.

-A model that has taken wounds, but still has wounds remaining, regains them after 1 round of being outside battle.

-An apothecary unit that is alive (not busy taking the test himself,) in the force improves rolls on the toughness test by 1.

-Being within two hexes of a medical facility that you control improves the roll by 1, as long as the facility has supplies left. These stack.

-Most armies have an apothecary-type model. Painboy for orks, Apothecaries for the Imperial armies, (or their equivalent, such as priests in blood angels.) Pretty much any model that grants FNP to a unit. Tyranids need a model with the catalyst power present. Dark Eldar may use haemonculi.

-Necrons don't benefit from either of the above, but treat a maintenance facility nearby as a medical facility.

-All of the above about recovering from death is a moot point, however, if you can't at least claim the ground that the soldiers went down on. If you are forced away or eliminated, any dead soldiers are dead. Additionally, if a battle lasts multiple map rounds, soldiers that were casualties from any set of 4 turns before the last set are lost.

-Vehicles retain permanent damage. The crews can repair hull points after a map round, but destroyed weapons or immobilization results do not get fixed unless the vehicle, or another model present, is capable of fixing it. (ie rhino's can fix their own immobilization, techmarines may also repair it.) Leaving a vehicle at a maintenance facility for a map round will make it brand new. A force may claim the necessary tools from a facility and travel to a vehicle instead, but the supplies are used up, and they must know what they need while at the facility. An immobilized vehicle may be left as its own force on the map waiting for this miracle to happen, but the crew will self-destruct the vehicle if enemies approach. If other forces are present to protect them, the vehicle is not deployed on the table (its right off the edge,) and is lost if the force protecting it dies or flees.

-Destroyed vehicles are scrap, period.

-Flyers may land and spend a full map round on the ground to get hull points back, or benefit from repair facilities/models. Locked velocity flyers take a s9 ap2 hit on front armor to land.

-One shot weapons: Returning to a repair facility or to base camp will reload any one-shot weapons.

-One use abilities: May be used again after a map-round of not being in battle.

-Drop pods "travel" with the force you choose, matching any speed. (more like a ship in orbit just keeps orbit over that force.) They may not be sent out as a force on their own. When you use them, if the pod survives the battle, and you wait a round at the site, the squad and its pod can be retrieved and returned to the originating ship, with the pod fully repaired. If you lose the battle and the pod is left behind, it is destroyed, and the squad is left to their own devices.

-As mentioned above, there are some advantageous locations scattered around the map. Repair and health facilities are explained above, and are AV 14 large buildings in battle. They are also capable of giving out up to 5 VP to scoring units holding them at the rate of 1 per turn. After the 5th VP is claimed from a facility, it becomes an empty large building.

-AA emplacements: quad icarus lascannon on a bastion. It may fire at a flyer that is present anywhere in the nearby 6 hexes at the start of every map round, using the BS of any occupying model, and allows the flyer any normal saves, as if it moved in a normal battle. Use front armor values.

-fortifications. Could be any of: ADL with or without upgrades, minefields, tank traps, barbed wire.

-Bastions. Could come with upgrade gun.

-cannon emplacements: Earthshaker cannon on a AV 12 building. Occupying squad may fire at a force within 3 hexes. For each non-flying unit in the force that is not otherwise shielded (in a transport or building) roll a d6. on a 6, the unit takes d6 s8 ap3 ordnance barrage hits. The player taking the wounds/damage may choose who gets hit in a unit. He may also choose the order to roll the d6's against his units to see who is hit. The cannons cannot hit more than 3 units per round firing. discard any excess.

(map-firing gun emplacements may only be used if a non-vehicle unit has remained in the hex since before the start of the turn, and combat is not occurring in any adjacent hex. All map-firing weapons occur before movement for a round.)

-random buildings, ranging from AV 9-12, smalls and mediums.

-base camp. Choose 3: ADL with one upgrade, Bastion with one upgrade, large AV 14 building, set of 4 tank traps, set of 4 barbed wire, set of 4 minefields. (using the 3rd edition minefield rules.) Acts as both a medic facility and repair facility. (thanks to the noncombat staff.) If an enemy force claims this hex, they are awarded 1 VP instantly, and the base camp is immediately destroyed.

-A force needs one map round after arrival to claim any buildings. If two forces arrive simultaneously, the buildings are neutral terrain.

-A force may spend one round undisturbed in an occupied weapon emplacement/fortification/building/facility to destroy it. It is also destroyed if it is, in fact, destroyed in battle.

------WINNING:
There are 5 medical stations and factories each on the map. you get a VP each round you hold one by siphoning out supplies and the like. They stop awarding VP after 5 such turns. (all the supplies are gone.) They also stop being anything other than a building. These VP's can only be siphoned out if a scoring unit is present.

This means there are a total of 50 VP to be acquired from those.

The emperor titan in the center space of the map takes 5 turns to activate (by a scoring unit,) and has another 3 of being active but not moving before the winning army gets backup to claim it, ending the game, and winning 1st place automatically. It only takes 3 turns to destroy if it's not active. If it IS active, then you'll have to drop it in combat.
Should it be destroyed, a scoring unit that holds the area with its remains for 3 turns is granted 10 VP. (for titan scraps!)

Having to fight in a battle delays the efforts of anyone working on it, or gathering scraps. They make no progress that turn.

destroying an enemy base camp is worth 1 VP, as is killing a warlord.

If an army goes 10 turns without gaining a VP, it must withdraw from the campaign with its current total of VP, OR take the shortest possible route to the titan's location at top speed. Their commanders will accept no further delays when the payoff stops flowing.

Also, if there are ever no VP on the map available other than enemy warlords/base camps. (ie the titan is destroyed, and all the facilities are emptied) the game ends.

Ok, there's what's hammered out already. Now for the issues that I have.

And my biggest issue of contention with the system is:
Battles. They're pretty much all just "table enemy" missions. I DO have a 3rd edition rulebook handy, and I love those old "breakout, rear guard, ambush etc." missions. So I'm thinking some kind of strategy (leadership) roll off when two forces meet to see who's defending and who's attacking. Possibly +1 for having scouts, and another for an HQ present. A last +1 bonus if its the warlord.
I just can't think of any reason why we'd ever have a big guns never tire, or scouring, or relic etc. And if we did, what happens when you're getting rocked by the enemy, but you "win" by victory points? Do they pack up and go home? Seems silly.

So one of the main things that I'd like is if someone has a good table for figuring out missions in battles in a campaign, and a different one where one side has buildings, or other fortifications.

Welp, have fun reading. Let's see if there's someone here who's brain I can pick for some fine-tuning.

Looks way complicated man, and way complicated is a bad thing. And your ability to lose units but not gain them will lead to just as much imbalance as gaining them would

What you should ask yourself is "if 3000pts of marines engage 1000pts of Orks, is it really worth spending a day playing that gak out?" (hint the answer is no)

Here's how I would do it

~Divide map into territories or hexes, each player gets an HQ and a number of "armies" of xxxx points
~Each turn, players alternate moving one army until all armies have been moved/engaged. 2+ armies in one space is a battle
~Two armies will automatically defeat one army, three will beat two etc, only even matches are actually played.
~Multiple players all converging on one zone may opt to team up with a combined force. IE, two players may each send one army to face one players two armies.
~No such agreements are binding in any way, betrayal is encouraged... if the combined force defeated the double force, one players remnants may then turn on the other to finish them off.
~Defeated armies are pushed back one space, chosen by the winner if a major loss, by the loser if a minor loss
~Certain spaces on the map grant force-wide upgrades, ie, a repair facility grants all vehicles IWND

Still not certain on win conditions, but its a start

 Dakkamite wrote:
Looks way complicated man, and way complicated is a bad thing. And your ability to lose units but not gain them will lead to just as much imbalance as gaining them would

What you should ask yourself is "if 3000pts of marines engage 1000pts of Orks, is it really worth spending a day playing that gak out?" (hint the answer is no)

I'm aware there is some level of complication, but when you're stacking a minigame on top of 40k, that's gonna happen. In all honesty, I think I have most everything from the battles represented in some way on the grand scale, and it's only like a 5 minute read. I think I can be reasonably happy with this level of complication. So don't worry about that.

As for 3k vs. 1k. We don't have to play out games if one side says he's going to withdraw asap. Then there's just some free shots and we move on.
And those points values are very heavy values considering the army sizes. If it was some kind of last stand, I'd certainly like to see it played out. That's 60% of one army's entire starting force.

I honestly don't expect more than 4ish battles for each player. The rest I expect to be one or the other fleeing. And because of the nature of the dead models are dead design, I expect players will be somewhat cautious. The "no new models" is another non-negotiable for our situation, sorry.

I'm pretty adamant on the upper set of rules that we already have ironed out the way we want them, so unless you have a REALLY REALLY good alternative, those are being stuck with.

I don't know why you'd apologise, its your campaign play it how you like.

For not making it clear.

My two cents, if you will. I also believe it is incredibly complex "mini game" on top of the real game. How many players will be involved in the said campaign and are they all like me and really dig campaigns?

I see a massive issue when two players really give each other a touch up and they will effectively be out of the hunt as they could lose huge parts of their army with no way of reinforcing. It is the same concern you have with one player becoming unstoppable with too many units but in reverse.

As to win conditions look to board games and how they do it. Maybe have key/strategic regions worth X number of points if held and set a goal for holding the most points after so many turns?

I may have some more thoughts, but see what you think of my initial feelings.

It will only be 6 people max.

My goal is not to make a really long running campaign, but more of a multi-week series of games. So the situation in which a couple players get knocked out is perfectly ok. I actually want that to happen.

I have set up a 20x25 hex map on my pc so we can move around little icons for the forces and easily save it and come back. I'm now in the process of placing things like the fortifications and other map-effect locations. The map is pretty small because I, as I may have indicated, want people to be in the cage match, not watching from outside. Probably still a little large for that, but meh.

And I'm leaning towards the map-effect locations being worth 1 VP each, every round. After I've gotten them on the map, I'll count em up, and figure out how long the game can go before someone wins by "terrain ownership" rather than by managing to get the titan in the center.

It is fully intentional for me to want the last battles of the game to not be massive, but rather be about a black-and-blue sergeant, the last of his company, fighting an injured nob in a battlefield of bodies, with no one else around. Winner gets on a titan's bridge and calls for a pickup, and gets showered in medals.

If someone goes home with a full squad or a pristine vehicle or something, I will be distraught. :(

Do you mean 20x25 hex's? As in 500 possible territory locations? If that is what you mean how would 6 players ever managed to bring each other to battle?

I feel that a narrative campaign would better fill your needs than a map based one.

First turn of the campaign is the planetfall/storming the beaches/battering down the walls, so every army is big and throws itself at each other all guns blazing. (5000 points)

Second turn, the dust has settled and the opposing armies are now trying to branch out, set up supply lines, sabotage each other so the battles are still large, but not the meat grinder of before. (3000 points)

Third turn, some armies have achieved ascendancy and they are pursuing the enemy in an attempt to stomp them out of existence while the desperate enemy forces are ambushing and sabotaging as they run. (2000 points and maybe FOC restrictions)

Fourth turn is small pockets of resistance trying to hold out as long as they can. But the enemy has over extended in their attempts and can only justify small 'kill teams' to hunt the remaining troops as they need to still defend key areas. (1250 points)

Optional fifth turn, last stand. have a big army take on a little army and see how long they can hold out for prides sake. (3000 vs 1500)

It limits the campaign dragging on, it keeps everyone involved (no risk of a first day wipe out) and you can base whose armies are doing what based off tabletop performance?

That sounds interesting, and I'd play in it, but its not doing what I want this one to do. I'm wanting a knock-out style game. Seems other campaigners want everyone to be playing to the end. This is not what I desire. (At least not for this game.)

Also, I plan to have the group get together and keep taking map round turns until we have a battle break out. That should fast-forward us to some action fairly quick.

I think I've got the points figured out.

There are 5 medical stations and factories each on the map. you get a VP each round you hold one by siphoning out supplies and the like. They stop awarding VP after 5 such turns. (all the supplies are gone.) They also stop being anything other than a building.

This means there are a total of 50 VP to be acquired from those.

The titan in the center space of the map takes 5 turns to activate, and has another 3 of being active but not moving before the winning army gets backup to claim it, gaining 50 VP AND ending the game. It only takes 3 turns to destroy if it's not active. If it IS active, then you'll have to drop it in combat.
Should it be destroyed, the army that holds the area with its remains after 3 turns is granted 10 VP.

Having to fight in a battle delays the efforts of anyone working on it. They make no progress that turn. (screen them with other forces in the nearby hexes.)

Also, destroying an enemy base camp is worth 1 VP, as is killing a warlord.

If an army goes 10 turns without gaining a VP, it must withdraw from the campaign with its current total of VP, OR take the shortest possible route to the titan's location at top speed. Their commanders will accept no further delays when the payoff stops flowing.

Also, if there are ever no VP on the map available other than enemy warlords/base camps. (ie the titan is destroyed, and all the facilities are emptied) the game ends.

I updated the main post to put some additional thoughts like these in. Despite no one coming up with it, the banter made me think it up, which is why I bother posting.

The ONLY issue I'm concerned with is battles not having objectives other than killing. Scoring units are important on the map due to gaining the VP's from the facilities, but...still. I suppose I'm gonna have to write up a little table like I was thinking about and use 3rd ed missions.

Despite no one coming up with it, the banter made me think it up, which is why I bother posting.

Careful with your comments, more sensitive posters might take that as their input isn't appreciated.

You never answered about how many hex's your campaign will actually end up being, I see this as a bigger issue than anything else you have put up so far. If it is a big area (like I previously asked when you said 20x25) you could get players tailoring fast armies to specifically target the Titan from turn one. Or more simply, if it is a huge map with the VP providing buildings spread far out, the foot slogging choices people make are going to be effectively useless.

Do you have some rules thought out for an active Titan? If the controlling player gets to use it in a battle you can kiss goodbye to the enemy, even a Scout titan will dominate a standard game of 40k and its unlikely that a player will be able to bring their full 5000 points to bear against it. Or are you planning on only having it contribute the odd shot to the battle?

How will the Campaign handle Drop Pods? Will they be a one use item or can a marine player have them skylifted for use next battle? Will they be able to use them to capture distant objectives ahead of the main battle lines?

I have probably said enough on the topic, but I will leave with one last piece of advice for future posts relating to this sort of thing.

I'm pretty adamant on the upper set of rules that we already have ironed out the way we want them, so unless you have a REALLY REALLY good alternative, those are being stuck with.

If you are going to put this sort of disclaimer about what you are writing I wouldn't bother posting that stuff up. As a forum people will comment on the stuff that they are most interested/troubled with and it detracts from what you are actually seeking advice on, you can see that I have posted three times in relation to your original post and none of them have really directly related to your real query. However, because of all the gritty details you posted I chose to give opinion on what I wanted to, rather than help you with what you wanted. Keep your posts to the point and hopefully you will get some more "constructive" critique in the future.

Anyway, enjoy your campaign (I really like campaigns and thinking outside of the standard) and hopefully you will keep us informed as to how it plays out. [Please note that the previous edition (4th or 5th) Battles book or whatever it is called transfers really easily to 6th edition, I have used it a few times with some club mates and it helps to change things up a little]

So you have spent a period of time discussing and drafting how YOUR campaign is to run.

Than you ask Dakka community to read all the dibs and drabs and expect us to re write a whole campaign system variant within our free time..

Good luck.. Lengthy discussions work best face to face.

If the discussion for the Campaign was to include the whole community that is another story, but this is strictly for your own.


Best to answer questions and take notes where people are trying to point out Loop holes.

On the topic of Loop holes.

1) Is the WHOLE army still restricted to a FOC? Do you have to have a HQ leading a division?
2) How are Alliance systems worked out? Can they be broken or fixed at the beginning?
3) The idea of running away from a larger force and getting shot at is not going to Balance it any further. Better to give the smaller force some benefits, like all Terrain is booby trapped or some initial bombardment.
4) If the intention of the Campaign is to wipe out other Players than I cannot imagine it being much fun.. Player X is wiped out in on week 2 out of 5.. what will he do during that time? Not see you guys for 1 month because he cannot play?


-Dert

 Archer wrote:

Careful with your comments, more sensitive posters might take that as their input isn't appreciated.

Quite the opposite. I wanted to reaffirm that the input has helped, even if it wasn't apparent. I believe it was you, specifically, that sparked me to settle on a VP system.

You never answered about how many hex's your campaign will actually end up being, I see this as a bigger issue than anything else you have put up so far. If it is a big area (like I previously asked when you said 20x25) you could get players tailoring fast armies to specifically target the Titan from turn one. Or more simply, if it is a huge map with the VP providing buildings spread far out, the foot slogging choices people make are going to be effectively useless.

Going with the 20x25 for now. Did up the map, and even that seems kind of claustrophobic, but that's probably a good thing. Randomly placed the map locations already, and the other players have seen them, so its no mystery to any of the players prior to making their list. Some of the VP objectives are quite far out from the center, so it wouldn't be all that odd to have some foot troops to siphon the VP's out near the beginning. Transports are also a thing, and I specifically made the rule about transporting things out of battle (If you've got the room, you're good, unit coherency be damned) to help alleviate this. This also makes targeting enemy transports and then fleeing without killing the troops a viable strategy if they aren't already somewhere important.
Also did some quick pre-game counting to see if an army could rush to the titan and go 5 turns undisturbed just by getting there fast. The answer is...well, I'm certainly not going to be trying that strategy. The 5 turns is enough of a delay for vehicle and transport based forces to realize what you're doing when you get there, and then get to you from all directions. Also, making the attempt would probably make you a hate-magnet target for a while.

Do you have some rules thought out for an active Titan? If the controlling player gets to use it in a battle you can kiss goodbye to the enemy, even a Scout titan will dominate a standard game of 40k and its unlikely that a player will be able to bring their full 5000 points to bear against it. Or are you planning on only having it contribute the odd shot to the battle?

The 4k point Emperor titan. Yeah, if you have the titan, you've pretty much won. The 3 turns where its active and waiting to be picked up are just to be fun and silly. If enough of the enemy armies don't want you to win, they COULD in fact make an allied attack in those 3 turns and, considering the thing can't move, they MIGHT do something if they have enough forces. (Which would certainly be followed by a swath of bloody mid-battle betrayals, I'm sure. )
It's essentially a "last chance" for a crazy upset. Definitely not something that will happen everyday.

How will the Campaign handle Drop Pods? Will they be a one use item or can a marine player have them skylifted for use next battle? Will they be able to use them to capture distant objectives ahead of the main battle lines?

I should add those to the rules. They "travel" with the force you choose, matching any speed. (more like a ship in orbit just keeps orbit over that force.) When you use them, if the pod survives the battle, and you wait a round at the site, the squad and its pod can be retrieved. If you lose the battle and the pod is left behind, it is destroyed, and the squad is left to their own devices. (maybe someone's transport has some extra room?)

I'm pretty adamant on the upper set of rules that we already have ironed out the way we want them, so unless you have a REALLY REALLY good alternative, those are being stuck with.

If you are going to put this sort of disclaimer about what you are writing I wouldn't bother posting that stuff up. As a forum people will comment on the stuff that they are most interested/troubled with and it detracts from what you are actually seeking advice on, you can see that I have posted three times in relation to your original post and none of them have really directly related to your real query. However, because of all the gritty details you posted I chose to give opinion on what I wanted to, rather than help you with what you wanted. Keep your posts to the point and hopefully you will get some more "constructive" critique in the future.

My issue with that is that the other rules already thought up are relevant to the creation of new ones. I COULD ask "I have a map-based campaign and have a few issues (list)." While it might be to the point, I don't believe I've done my part of the job in giving the potential advisor enough information to give relevant advice.
Its hard to put it into text on an internet forum, but it pretty much boils down to "here, have some tools so that you're on or near the same page as me, so I can ask you something about this page."

Anyway, enjoy your campaign (I really like campaigns and thinking outside of the standard) and hopefully you will keep us informed as to how it plays out. [Please note that the previous edition (4th or 5th) Battles book or whatever it is called transfers really easily to 6th edition, I have used it a few times with some club mates and it helps to change things up a little]

I'll be keeping a running record. Also I've never read that book. Might wanna grab it for a look.

Than you ask Dakka community to read all the dibs and drabs and expect us to re write a whole campaign system variant within our free time..

Well, it's an internet forum. I figure SOMEONE here is just rolling around in their free time instead of just sneaking peeks at work.
Also, y'know, there might be someone around here that's searching for campaign rules. That person might find mine either good, or at least a nice framework to start from. I know I'd be a lot worse off in my quest to scratch build a thunderhawk if people didn't bother posting about their own projects!

1) Is the WHOLE army still restricted to a FOC? Do you have to have a HQ leading a division?
2) How are Alliance systems worked out? Can they be broken or fixed at the beginning?
3) The idea of running away from a larger force and getting shot at is not going to Balance it any further. Better to give the smaller force some benefits, like all Terrain is booby trapped or some initial bombardment.
4) If the intention of the Campaign is to wipe out other Players than I cannot imagine it being much fun.. Player X is wiped out in on week 2 out of 5.. what will he do during that time? Not see you guys for 1 month because he cannot play?

1. the whole 5k army is made out of a double FOC with allies optional. A force, or division, during the game can be made of any units, and does not need an HQ to babysit. I'm still mulling over the battle scenarios, but a driving purpose behind them will to be to make good leaders and HQ choices beneficial when it comes to running into an enemy.
2. The racial alliance system is done just as normal. If you mean a player alliance, it is a verbal breakable agreement. Nothing said is enforcable in any way. AKA backstabber's paradise.
3. I personally think I'd rather penalize fleeing still. Maybe in the future I might consider scout units being able to plant traps for pursuers and the like, but its not on my list for this campaign.
4. We all have somewhat erratic schedules sometimes, and players being eliminated actually helps us to get together. (We have a day where everyone "probably" has a day off, but 6 "probably's" is a lot of chances for failure.) Additionally, we treat 40k as a casual evening's entertainment, and we often have more spectators than players. Just tonight we had 5 people hanging out watching a 1 on 1 game with new tyranids over some pizza and random chatter. Out of the players, no one is really the "I'm not bothering showing up until that campaign is over" type. We also have plenty to do here beyond 40k.

Ok, sounds like you have put some really considered thought into it. I wish you good luck and hope is is an enjoyable experience,

Since its your first go at this style of meatgrinder elimination (am I right with this?) maybe keep a careful eye on feedback about some of the things people like/dislike and you can modify or change things for the next time around?

I always am impressed by people wanting to do something a little out of the box so this is definitely that. Definitely look up some alternative missions though, the 6th ed. rule book is just lacking in that department.