Annihilation crusade campaign rules

 

The iconic last stands permeates Warhammer 40,000 in both lore and images.  Have you ever wanted to run your own desperate force against overwhelming odds.  Annihilation crusade is a great way of running such a campaign.

WHY RUN SUCH A CAMPAIGN?  Narrative play is not matched play, it's about telling a story.  It is a way to play the underdog in a desperate situation.  Historical examples such as the Alamo, Rourkes Drift, Thermopylae, US Marines on Wake Island, the march of the 10,000, and the US Marines at the Chosin Reservoir and subsequent march to the sea.  Such battles make great stories.  And stories are the heart of narrative gaming.  Furthermore it can be a great confidence building campaign for a frequently unlucky opponent in your gaming group as they will grow ever stronger while your strength diminishes.  It can make for a great shared experience with you enjoying the narrative while your opponent gets a confidence boost and maybe enjoys the narrative experience.  Here follows the rules of a Annihilation crusade.

1. A player chooses his crusade army to be on a Annihilation crusade.

2. Select an army and build a 1k crusade army.  You will start with 5 requisition points.  At this stage this is your only chance to increase the size of your crusade rooster with the increase supply requisition.  NOTE- after the crusade force and roster are initially set absolutely no changes can be made.

3.  The only thing requisition points can be spent on are the renowned heroes and legendary veterans requisitions.  No healing, no repair, no fresh recruits,rearm and resupply or even increasing supply limit for the duration of the Annihilation crusade.

4.  A Annihilation crusade army vehicle automatically receives a battle scar if it suffers a vehicle explosion during a crusade game.

Typically I would run an initial 2k Annihilation crusade army vs a 2k crusade opponent.  As units are eliminated with two battle scars I would run the points I have left vs the 2k force.  This will speed up the degradation and attrition on the Annihilation crusade army.

When at last the Annihilation crusade army is badly whittled down run a final game.  A last stand game themed to a narrative you and your opponent have agreed to.  While the result of the game might be a forgone conclusion in terms of matched play.  Put in moral victory conditions into the game.  If the Annihilation crusade army destroys more units than itself possess it is a moral victory.  Or if the Annihilation crusade army slays their opponents warlord it is a moral victory.  Ultimately this is meant for narrative gaming so feel free to create whatever moral victory conditions that you wish.

And there you have it.  Optional rules for running a Annihilation crusade campaign.  Feel free to let me know in the comments what you think of it.  Or even better a brief rundown on your own experiences if you ran a Annihilation crusade campaign on your own.

Comments

Popular Posts