Warhammer 40K Narrative: The Reticulae Ordax Anomaly

WELCOME

The Ghoul Stars….few travel to this forgotten region of space. Even fewer return.

On the edge of a sparse system dotted with long dead worlds, stalked by ghastly flayed ones and other even more deadly xenos threats, and nearly unnavigable by the light of the Astronomicon, the Sentinel World of Orask. A faint signal pierces the silence….broken….pleading. An astropath with dead eyes stares off into the void. Her lips part as she tries to interpret what she sees, the images fragmented. The words come out incomplete and soft at first, but the panic builds to a crescendo.

“This is the ……. Last vessel of explora……theta phi three nine sev…..we have found the Reticul….ax anomaly….more powerful than….dangerous….if you hear this do not….for…… find us…. destroy us, destroy us, destroy us.”

As the chorus settles, so too does the astropath in her cradle. Her breathing calms to something almost imperceptible, just as before the signal jostled her to awareness.

“They were dying as they sent this. They are dead.” She added in a detached tone, speaking to no one in particular, an unusual additional commentary from a psychic communicator.

With similar detached efficiency, this time of a purely mechanical nature, a transcription servitor readied the message for delivery to the Death Spectre contingent. Before the message could be delivered, the full choir of atropaths began to stir, “Destroy us, destroy us, destroy us….”

Warning klaxons spring to life, the dim aura of candles replaced by pulsing red lights. A disembodied voice explodes from the vox. "Multiple contacts translocating into system. All hands to battle stations!”

Schedule.. Friday 1300 - 1700 Battle 1 1800 - 2200 Battle 2

Saturday 0900 - 1300 Battle 3 1500 - 1900 Battle 4

Sunday 0900 - 1300 Battle 5 1400 - 1800 Battle 6 What to Bring Make sure you have your army. Battles will be fought at 1000 pts for 2v2 and 2000 for 1v1. You may have up to three lists for each point level, but they must all be drawn from the same faction. Models should be WYSIWYG. Dice, tape, any tokens you need, objective markers, rules (including crusade supplements), crusade rosters, most importantly…a narrative mindset!

Painting, Proxies, Legends, and Non-official models Every player’s army must be painted to a “Battle Ready” standard. A Battle Ready miniature has their main areas colored and has a simple finish on their base. We’re asking players to arrive with a good-faith effort to make an attractive and cohesive army, to the best of their ability as to not distract from the narrative immersion of their battles.

Thoughtful proxies will be allowed on a case by case basis. Please email photos of proxied units to gamesbond.dublo7@gmail.com for a determination of whether or not it will be allowed. To avoid upsets or wasted effort, please keep in mind base and model sizes, confusing equipment, or potential image issues (offensive, IP issue etc.) before submitting.

As this is a narrative event, Legends are included. Please do not abuse obviously broken mechanics with these units as the intent of narrative play is FUN! The GM also reserves the right to increase your level of difficulty (in a narrative way) if there are obvious abuses occurring.

Maelstrom. We are excited to see what Maelstrom has in store. Certain elements of Maelstrom may be available for use during this campaign such as Crucible of Champions. As this supplement is fairly new, we will review it and make a decision on what we can and cannot include no less than two weeks before the event

How to Play RECEIVE BATTLEZONE ASSIGNMENT: Players will be assigned to zones for each round of war by splitting their faction into attackers and defenders. Attackers will then go to one of three battlezone while defenders will stay in their own battlezone.

RECEIVE TABLE ASSIGNMENT: Defenders will choose which mission and table they will defend before attackers arrive. If fighting in neutral territory, agree on a table and attacker and defender will be determined later.

DISCUSS PRIORITIES: After all players have been assigned to tables, players may secretly discuss Planetary, Battlefield, or Players choice as priority so faction members understand what results are most desired this round. It is advised to have a group chat since you may not be physically located together.

READ MISSION BRIEFING: After getting to your table and greeting your opponent, go over the mission briefings for both the Planetary and Battlefield Missions, each should detail objectives, special conditions, and rewards.

SELECT CAMPAIGN MISSION: Secretly select your Campaign Missions based on guidance from your Warlord if applicable. Keep hidden until the first time it is scored.

DISCUSS TERRAIN: Each battlefield is filled with bespoke and often different looking terrain. Discuss terrain rules with your opponent, and ask for clarification from your Warlords or the Organizer before proceeding if anything is confusing.

DETERMINE ATTACKER AND DEFENDER: If the mission or faction control does not specify, set 6 dice aside. Bid from your pool of 6 dice to determine who is attacker and who is defender. Simultaneously reveal. The player with the higher bid determines who is attacker and defender, The player with the lower bid receives a number of command points equal to the winning bid (only one command point from any bidding can be spent per player turn). Remove any dice used to bid from your available bidding pool. In the event of a tie, roll off the bid dice. The player with the highest total is the winner.

PLACE OBJECTIVE MARKERS: The players now set their objective markers in accordance with the Planetary and Battlefield missions if applicable.

CHOOSE DEPLOYMENT ZONE: If deployment zones are not prescribed by the mission, bid as outlined above in step 7, Players bid for choosing deployment zones with their remaining bidding dice. I.e. - If one player bid 3 and the other bid 2 for step 7, then they only have 3 and 4 respectively remaining for this round of bidding.

DECLARE BATTLE FORMATIONS: Follow the rules for this step as outlined in the most current core rules.

DEPLOY ARMIES: Unless noted otherwise in your Planetary and Battlefield Mission Briefings, follow the instructions outlined in the core rulebook.

REDEPLOYS: Unless noted otherwise, redeploy in accordance with the core rulebook

DETERMINE FIRST TURN: As outlined above in steps 7 and 9, players bid for choosing the turn order unless the mission prescribes which player has first turn.

RESOLVE PRE-BATTLE ABILITIES: Follow the rules for this step as outlined in the core rulebook.

BEGIN THE BATTLE: The first battle round begins. Players continue resolving battle rounds until the battle ends.

ENDING THE BATTLE: Unless the mission instructs otherwise, the battle ends after five battle rounds have been completed.

DETERMINE PLANETARY VICTOR: Score final Planetary Mission

DETERMINE BATTLEFIELD VICTOR: Score final Battlefield mission

TALLY FINAL CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE SCORE: Record your total points scored for your Campaign Objective

GRANT UPGRADES: Upgrade units in accordance with Battlefield Mission rewards or upgrades achieved and record them on your units..

TURN IN SCORES: After resolving the post battle sequence and making all roster changes, turn in your scores to the DMs with both players present.

Narrative Structure Rules Each Narrative Structure Game will have 3 components, a Planetary Mission, a Battlefield Mission, and a Campaign Mission. The winner of at least 2 of these missions will be considered the overall engagement winner; however, keep in mind, individual mission rewards are still granted to the mission winner regardless of the overall engagement winner.

Planetary Missions Planetary Missions reward Planetary Victory Points (PVP) which will determine overall planetary control. In missions with attackers and defenders, the faction with planetary control will always be the defender unless stated otherwise in the mission brief. Planetary Mission Objectives are scored at the beginning of your player turn starting Turn 2. The player going second scores Battle Round 5 at the end of the turn instead.

Planetary mission for Battlefields with 5 objectives -5 PVP: Hold 1 Objective -5 PVP: Hold 2 Objectives -5 PVP: Hold more objectives than your opponent

Planetary mission for Battlefields with 6+ objectives -5 PVP: Hold 2 Objectives -5 PVP: Hold 3 Objectives -5 PVP: Hold more objectives than your opponent

If a Battlefield Mission uses objectives, then those objectives are also your Planetary Mission Objectives unless stated otherwise. If your Battlefield Mission does not include objectives, or does not indicate objectives are “Pre-placed” each player will place 1 objective in their deployment zone then alternate placing the remaining objectives on the battlefield in no-man’s-land starting with the defender. Objectives may not be placed within 9” of another objective or within 6” of a table edge or deployment zone.

Battlefield Missions Battlefield Missions award Battlefield Victory Points (BVP) and have the largest variety of effects. They can award wargear, upgrades, remove scars, or many other benefits. They are also the source of attaining vital intelligence that may shape your decisions and strategy.

Battlefield Mission Actions: Certain Battlefield Missions require one or more units to perform actions instead of acting as normal. Unless stated otherwise, these actions will always occur at the end of the movement phase and complete at the beginning of your next command phase. Additionally, halve the OC value of each model in the unit rounding down to a minimum of 0 until the end of your next command phase.

Campaign Missions Campaign Missions award Campaign Victoy Points (CVP) and are the representation of Warlords’ will and methodology for prosecuting their engagements. The completion of these missions are representative of how well each battle group is waging war and preparing for the final decisive battle. These missions will generally be secret until the first time they are scored and may be different for each player. Narrative Structure Play: Stratagems Narrative Structure Play Stratagems MAY NOT be used if playing standard matched play. No rules may be used to ignore or modify the cost of these stratagems.

[Perimeter Secured - 1CP] After selecting a friendly unit to perform a Battlefield Mission Action, that unit can shoot as normal and does not halve OC due to performing a Battlefield Mission Action.

[Time for Some Thrillin’ Heroics - 2CP] Once per battle. Infantry Warlord Incarnate with less than 10 starting wounds only. At the end of your fight phase, your Warlord Incarnate may move, shoot, charge, and fight an additional time. If your Warlord Incarnate is part of a bodyguard unit, it detaches as part of its movement and gains the lone operative keyword until the start of your next turn, at which point it will rejoin the unit as close as possible to where it detached. If unable to rejoin the unit for whatever reason, your Warlord Incarnate will remain a separate unit but loses the Lone Operative Keyword and will attempt to rejoin its bodyguard unit during your movement phase of each of your next turns. Confer with your Planetary Governor if your Warlord Incarnate did something exceptionally heroic for a chance to earn additional fame or infamy.

[Covering Fire - 1CP] At the beginning of your movement phase, select one unit from your army equipped with ranged weapons that is not within engagement range of any enemy models as a Covering Fire unit and one objective that requires a Battlefield Mission Action. That unit may not move, shoot or charge this turn. Until the start of your next turn, each time the unit performing a Battlefield Mission Action on the selected objective is the target of a charge, the Covering Fire unit may overwatch for free at full ballistic skill. Additionally, subtract 1” from the charge for each successful hit roll to a maximum of 3”.

Missions Players will determine the missions for the battlefields they are defending while missions will be pre-chosen for battlefield not within one of the factions control.

Missions will grant different bonuses to your faction end goals as well as to your armies themselves. If a mission has been successfully completed, it may not be chosen again until all other missions have been completed.

There will be four zones, Imperium Controlled, Chaos Controlled, Xenos Controlled, and Neutral. With the exception of the Neutral Zone, each zone will have 4 bespoke missions with varying levels of difficulty and reward for both the defender and the attacker.

WARLORD’S PERSPECTIVE

As a Warlord, you are not only playing the missions described above, but you are also determining the course of the war and posturing for a decisive blow. All three mission levels will have critical roles to play in how the war and the narrative ultimately unfold.

Planetary Missions: Planetary Missions determine control over your own sectors and will impact how well or how poorly your faction is maintaining control over their domain and hence how effectively you are accomplishing your factions objectives.

Battlefield Missions: Battlefield Missions have the largest variety of effects. They can award wargear, upgrades, repair or heal, or many other benefits. They are also the source of attaining vital intelligence that may shape your decisions and strategy.

Campaign Missions: Campaign Missions are the representation of Warlords’ will and methodology for prosecuting their engagements. The completion of these missions are representative of how well each battle group is waging war and preparing for the final decisive battle.

BOOKKEEPING

It is not necessary to track XP, RP, or agendas as upgrades will be granted as listed below UPGRADES Upgrades may be taken from the core rulebook or any valid crusade supplement or faction codex. Keep in mind certain crusade books and faction codices do require additional tracking. This is up to each player if they wish to engage in these additional gameplay mechanics; however, if you meet the criteria for these upgrades, you must still follow the restrictions below for unlocking the ability to apply those upgrades.

Upgrading your Warlord: Your Warlord gains an upgrade each day so long as they gain at least one glory point. Glory points can be earned in one of 3 ways. The player with the most glory points for each faction will be that faction’s leader for the next battle round. Winning a Core Narrative Battle as defined by achieving 2 of the 3 conditions below in at least 1 Core Narrative game (1 Glory Point per day) Won a Planetary Mission Won a Battlefield Mission Scored 10+ points or max available in Campaign Mission Battlefield or Clandestine Mission Rewards Battlefield Commendations as handed out to the factions

Upgrading Other Units: After a narrative game is played, players do the following to update their non-warlord units. If a player achieves one of the below conditions, 2 units receive 1 random upgrade other than the Warlord. If a player achieves two of the below, they receive 3 units receive 1 random upgrade OR may roll 2 dice and choose to upgrade one unit. If a player achieves all three, they can choose an upgrade for two units OR roll two dice and choose for 3 units. Won a Planetary Mission Won a Battlefield Mission Scored 10+ points or max available in Campaign Mission

Special Conditions Steel Sharpens Steel - If one player won the Planetary Mission and the other player won the Battlefield mission, roll an additional die when determining random upgrades. Emergency Requisition - If a player loses both the Planetary and Battlefield mission AND scores less than 10 points in the Campaign Mission the player receives a chosen upgrade for 4 units. Band of Brothers - No unit can gain more than 1 upgrade per game. No unit can have an additional upgrade until all units have the same number of upgrades (Excluding Warlord Incarnate). Scars: Roll for scars as normal; however, you must roll on the table and cannot choose the XP option.