Campaigning in 40K Part 4- The Progress So Far

Hey there Chaos followers one and all! Old Man Chaos is back from a trip to the seventh circle of the Eye of Terror, so to speak. I recently moved, which was a "slight" ordeal. It has been a couple of weeks since I put paintbrush to model (nor have I been able to post), which is disappointing; but life goes on! I should be back to painting in no time at all, once I get my new digs set up.

Using the old charge plastic counters to show attacks on the map

So, for this article I'm going to summarize my Trovana Prime campaign as it went these past few months. If you have been following my series, you know that I have longed to do a big campaign. I have only ever done one (which was a lot of fun but collapsed under its own weight- the rules were a bit too much). After years of fiddling and streamlining, I came up with a new campaign ruleset- the Judgement of Trovana Prime.

My zombie list wrecked havoc- but the Imperials still won!

So, we began the campaign in earnest this summer- I kept it small- it was my brother, my friend (and newly converted 40K fanatic) Brian and myself. I set up the campaign narrative as such that all three factions- Space Marines, Imperial Guard, and Chaos could reasonably all fight each other. I was excited- it would be time to see if my new rules panned out as well as I hoped.

Brian learned to fear Defilers and Soul Grinders

Thankfully, I can report that the campaign rules have functioned much better than our last iteration. The map phase is cleaner, the environmental tables work well, and the "Plot Threads" have added some spice to the proceedings so far (more on that in a second).  The game has been fast paced with lots of battles happening.

However, it was not without hiccups. After a few battles, my brother said he was done with the campaign- he just didn't want to commit the time needed for such a lengthy game. That was quite frustrating- but I wrote it into the plot, saying law and order has almost broken down, and while some guard are active, the Adeptus Astartes are in charge now. It made narrative sense, thankfully.

The campaign has been a ride, that is for sure. Ironically, I have only won a few games, while newcomer Brian has used his Ultramarines/Grey Knights to wipe the floor with my Chaos forces. I am in no way sore about it- I just can't believe that after all this time of wanting a campaign I am performing so poorly! I suppose that war has its fortunes, good and bad. It has certainly pushed me to experiment with other lists/ideas...

If I'm using Noise Marines the situation MUST be desperate

Yet, all is not lost. At our most recent game, Brian decided to bring forth his Imperial Knight for the second time. If you recall from my "Plot Threads" posting, the Imperial Knight, Baneblade, and Lord of Skulls all count as Lords of War for their faction. If they are destroyed, they cannot be used for the rest of the campaign. Brian had previously used the Imperial Knight in one of our earlier games; the Knight was brutal; the Knight was simply vicious.I barely scratched him.

Veritas of House Dilabor marches against the forces of Chaos

So, Brian boasted that he was bringing the Knight in for our most recent battle. I decided, rather than go for victory, I would instead go for his Knight. I created a list of Traitor Guardsmen, using the Astra Millitarum book. Thus I had a ton of lascannons, tanks, and more. I took tons of shots at him in the first turn doing significant damage in the process (his ion shields blocked some, sadly). However, he was still alive and kicking.

This tank crew was assigned the task of destroying the Imperial Knight

 In his first turn, he retaliated, blowing up scores of guardsmen and stomping two tanks as if they were paper- I really thought my gambit was going to fail. But, at the start of the second turn, my remaining Traitor Guard lascannon teams whittled away the remaining  hull points, and the Knight was destroyed (and what a roll!). This is exactly the result I wanted- now he cannot use the damnable thing any more, giving me an opening in future games to use the Lord of Skulls with a bit more safety.

The Lascannon crew that destroyed Veritas

The game did go as expected afterwards- once I killed the Knight the Space Marines and Grey Knights sought revenge, and it was ugly. They just cut through my remaining guardsmen like a scythe, and there was little I could do to stop them. The Imperial Knight had done so much damage in a single turn that I could not regroup enough. I conceded the game, but Brian knew victory had cost him dearly. The loss of Veritas of House Dilabor could alter the entire campaign. I have never been so happy about losing a game!

The die roll that spelled the doom of Veritas, Knight of House Dilabor

We have not been able to play the campaign for the past few weeks due to my moving. Now that I am (kind of) settled, I intend to strike back ever harder at my worthy opponent. I will let you know the progress of the campaign, as well as the modelling I will be able to accomplish once I set up my new hobby area- did I hear someone say Voidraven Bomber? Lol

Until next time...