Unbalanced Raid Scenario - Breakout

Breakout

Having barely escaped the jaws of a deadly trap, your forces must break free from the battle zone and get to a safe extraction point.

Your forces barely survived an ambush by enemy forces. You must get out of range of their jamming equipment to request planetary extraction and deliver vital information regarding your attackers. This is raid mission with an attacking force and a defending force. This is an unbalanced scenario designed for a story or narrative campaign setting. The defender should expect a win or draw.

Setup - Pitched Battle; Terrain should include lots of "rural" features (trees, hills, rivers, etc...).

Forces - Standard force organization chart.

Scenario Special Rules

Defender will deploy first and take the first turn (Attacker may attempt to steal the initiative). Defender forces will fall back away from their deployment zone, towards the opposite board edge.

Mission Objective

The Defender must escape off the table edge opposite their deployment zone. If any defender forces escape off battlefield the defender will achieve a win. If the number of units who successfully escaped is more than half then the defender will achieve a draw. If zero units escape, the attacker will achieve a win. Any Defender units still on the table at the end of the game count as destroyed by the Attacker.

Reserves

Attacker units held in reserve gain the Outflank USR if desired. Defender may not Deep Strike any reserves (Does not affect attacker). Defender may not infi ltrate, but may make any Scout moves available (or outflank them if reserved).

Game Length - Standard game length or until all Defender units are wiped out or escaped (which ever comes first).

Design Notes - This mission was designed to follow the Ambushed and Betrayed mission in a narrative campaign setting. It is designed to represent the fleeing forces of the ambushed player as they attempt to make for a clear landing zone for planetary extraction. The balance is brought into play in that the Defender may easily flee the table early in the game with faster units, but that may leave more valuable units left alone to face the Attacker's forces. This makes little impact in a single game, but in a campaign with attrition and realized losses from casualties it can be a serious consideration (do I keep those land speeders on the table to help my HQ and troops get off for the win, or boost off first or second turn for the easy draw).

Creator - Sunflame

Back to Scenarios appendix

Did you like this scenario? anything you'd suggest or change? let us know what you think, add it in the comments.

Resource markers

Here's a collection of resource markers for your computer generated campaign maps. They're photoshop psd's, you'll find command bastion, hive city, starport, manufactorum, power station and a shield generator.

Download the resources zip

Contributed by Broadsword (Freebootaz)

Back to Player aids appendix

Unbalanced Raid Scenario - Ambushed and Betrayed

Ambushed and Betrayed

Several detachments of your forces have been sent to this sector in response to a request for aid from friendly forces under attack from unknown enemies.

Your forces have been lured into an ambush. Can you hold your ground until reinforcements arrive, or will your forces be trapped and destroyed. This is a raid mission with an attacking force and a defending force. This is an unbalanced scenario designed for a story or narrative campaign setting. The defender should expect at best a draw or loss.

Setup -  Dawn of War deployment, Seize Ground, 2 objectives

Forces -  Standard force organization chart.

Scenario Special Rules

Each force must deploy at least one HQ unit within 6" of their objective marker. Attacker sets up the terrain, Defender selects deployment zones and places objectives. Attacker will take the first turn. Defender may not Seize the Initiative.

Mission Objective -  Standard objectives.

Reserves - All attacker forces gain Outflank if held in reserve.

Game Length - Game lasts the standard amount of turns.

Design Notes - This mission was originally designed for use by space marine forces during a customized Badab War campaign. It is designed to lead into Fighting Withdrawal or Breakout. During campaigns that make use of rewards systems based on battle outcomes, the Defend er should gain 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss, while the Attacker should gain 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. Adjust to reflect the relative balance of your campaigns.

Creator - Sunflame

Back to Scenarios appendix

Did you like this scenario? anything you'd suggest or change? let us know what you think, add it in the comments.

Hex maps

Looking for a hex layout to drop on top of your digital campaign map, then look no further. You'll find four photoshop psd's in the zip file below. You'll find both large and small hexes in black and white inside the zip.

Download the hexes zip

Contributed by Broadsword (Freebootaz)

Back to Player aids appendix

Campaign map showcase

This is a showcase of the various campaign maps submitted by the community.

Contributed by Jay Biga (Bols)

 

Contributed by Tokkan (Freebootaz)

Contributed by Quantem Fear (Freebootaz)

Contributed by Broadsword (Freebootaz)

and the online version ....

Contributed by Regnir (Freebootaz)

Contributed by John (Plastic legions)

Contributed by Alessio (BlackRed Studio)

Contributed by Paolo Bertoncini (Grande Maestro)

 Contributed by Sovietspace (Astronomicon)
Check out the full campaign in the Campaigns section.

  Contributed by Gewaltatron

 Contributed by SK (Citizen Nick Hobby Center)

Contributed by SK (Citizen Nick Hobby Center)

If you've got a campaign map you'd like to share with the community, drop me a line at colcorbane@gmail.com.

True map campaigns

True map campaigns are the pinnacle of all the different sorts of campaign. They offer the players a whole new game in itself, allowing them to command their armies over the entire theater of war but conversly, they are the most demanding of all the different campaigns.

The basis of a true map campaign is that the players move armies across a map, battling other players as their armies meet. The campaigns are made more interesting by adding rules like orders, settlements, supplies, terrain to name just a few. True map campaigns can be as complicated as you like, just as long as all the players involved are committed to keep a complicated going with all that it entails.

Much like node campaigns, true map campaigns can be quite restricting in regard to who plays who in the campaign as it's completely based on their position on the map. It's quite possible to play the entire campaign and never battle against a player who's forces are on the far side of the map from you. Now it might seem boring to be playing the same few players who border your region but the map allows the games to take on a narrative and so grudges are remembered, alliances are formed and broken as you play through the campaign writing history with every dice roll.

The map that's used for the campaign can coming in various forms from a basic sketch that armies can move freely across, to grid maps where forces move from segment to segment, to the glorious plastic planetary empires maps. It doesn't matter what sort you use, just as long as the rules are clear on how you move your forces across it, whether it's measured in inches or from hex to hex.

Types of maps

Have you played a map campaign? add your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Node campaigns

Node campaigns offer players a simple way to play a map campaign that gives a flow of the forces across the theatre of war. Whereas in a territorial campaign, the map is split into sections, node campaigns have a web of interconnected nodes superimposed over the map. Players then battle over the control of the various nodes going from node to node depending on their connections. Unlike territorial campaigns, the node setup gives a more realistic movement of the forces and the front line.

You can have armies actually moving from node to node, tracking their casualties and giving them reinforcements depending on your campaign rules. For simplicity, most node campaigns work on the basis that you have forces in each of the nodes you control and so don't have to track specific armies.

Node campaigns can be for any number of players and have any number of nodes, but it's important to remember with node campaigns, players can only battle other players with nodes adjacent to their own. With this in mind, it's best to run the campaign with players that you know get together regularly and give plenty of time between turns to make sure the players can get their battles played.

Much like territorial campaigns, node campaigns can have special scenarios and ongoing effects for specific nodes. It's also fine to have some of the interconnecting links harder to use than other ones, representing some routes such as mountain passes and swamps. Simply assign these routes a roll much like a save, so that you need a 4+ to use a mountainous path or a 6+ for crossing a swamp. It's also fine to give every route at least a 2+ requirement to all the links to represent some armies not been able move for a multitude of reasons.

Here's an example of a large node based campaign that covers an entire section, with the players battling over the systems that make up the section. You'll notice for ease, they've numbered all the nodes.

Contributed by Quantem Fear (Freebootaz)

Although node campaigns are good at representing the control of the map and the flow of forces, they don't really give you free reign to command your forces, for that you need a true map campaign.

True map campaigns

Have you played a node campaign? add your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Territorial campaigns

Territorial campaigns are the simplest of all the different map campaigns with the map being used to simply gauge how well players are doing in the campaign. With territorial campaigns, the map is split into sections or 'territories' much like Britain is split into counties and the US is split into states. Players then battle over the various territories, each time they win a battle, they get to claim one of their opponents territories with the total amount showing how well they're doing in the campaign.

This is the basis for the GW world wide campaigns, the difference being that instead of winning territories, players effect the percentage hold their faction has on a region, planet, system, or sector.

Territorial campaigns work well with gaming clubs because they're don't restrict who plays who. You can either battle of territories that don't need to be adjacent to your own territory or simply work on the basis that the winner of a battle can claim one of the losers territories. This way, any player in the campaign can play any other player without needing to worry about their positions on the map.

It's fine to add special rules to cover specific territories or ongoing effects to spice the campaign up a little or just keep it simple as a way of tracking how well the players are doing over the course of the campaign.

When setting up a territorial campaign, it's best if each player has a few territories to start with. Ideally, this should be at least equal to the number of players plus one, so if there's 4 players, each player should start with 5 territories. This will make sure than even if everyone attacks one player in the first turn (which is very unfair), then they're not going to get wiped out of the campaign. Alternatively, you could say that players can never lose their capitals or starting territory, so that players who don't do so well in their battles aren't excluded from the campaign by losing all their territories.

Here's a map that could easily be used for either territorial or a true map campaign. Notice how they've included special locations that could have ongoing effects in the campaign.

Contributed by Tokkan (Freebootaz)

As you can see, territorial campaigns offer a simple way to a group of players to track their games over a period of time although they don't offer much in the way of strategical way. If you're looking to add a little strategy to your campaign, then consider a node based campaign.

Node campaigns

Have I missed anything? have you got something add? add it in the comment below.

Map campaigns

Campaigns often conjure up an image of players gathered around a map moving their armies into battle. This actually sums it up quite well. Whereas in a narrative campaign, the story drives the scenarios, with map campaigns, it's the choices a player makes on the map and the subsequent battles they play that drives the story. They can also offer players a whole new strategical level of play from grand battle plans to micromanaging your supply lines and everything in between.

Map campaigns can come in a few different forms. The simplest is the territorial campaign, where the map is split into segments and then the players battle over various segments with the map being used to show how well the individual players are doing in the campaign. Another form is the node campaign, which is similar to the territorial with the exception that the map has interconnected nodes superimposed over it to battle over. Player can only attack nodes adjacent to the ones they already control and so the battle fronts flow over the map putting the battles in context.

Finally, there's what most players refer to as a true map campaign, where they actually control their forces movements and actions on a map. These can be the most complicated of all the different types of campaigns, but they're also the most rewarding. With a map campaigns, 40k opens up to a whole new level of play with you having to make strategic decisions that can have some serious effects on the tabletop.

Don't be daunted by the complexities of map campaigning, they're actually quite simple to run as long as all the rules are in place. If you want to try to dipping your toe first, then try a territorial or a node campaign, they're easy to run and a great way to introduce map campaigns to players who've never played in a campaign before.

Territorial campaigns

News from the front

Story telling is a key element in running a campaign, especially with map campaigns with a quite a few players. What happens on the map and on the tabletop decides the path the story will follow but it's down to the players and the campaign master to pad out the details filling out the story. This is easily done through players diaries and campaign newsletters, both of which add a great fun aspect to the campaign.

Campaign newsletters are usual used in large map campaigns to add a bit of humour and keep all the players up to date with what's going on in the campaign. They're normally produced by the campaign master who has access to all the results, positions on the map etc. Most take the form of a simple one page newsletter with pieces about recent victories and loses, anything interesting that's come up like new alliances or fallen generals. Alternatively they can take the form of dispatches, with information on troop movements, battle results etc. Either way, they give campaign masters an excellent way to help keep all the players involved.

Campaign diaries are slightly different to the newsletters with them being written by the individual players specifically for their force rather than the campaign master writing something for the whole group. Like the newsletters, they can be news sheets or dispatches or even personal diaries of those generals playing in the campaign. It's completely down to the players how or if they want to do a campaign diary, although it's great fun reading everyone else's at the end of the campaign.

The idea of campaign newsletters, dispatches and dairies are quite common in the real military. Dispatches are a standard method of sending information along the command chain. Most Generals keep war diaries, often publishing them when they retire as part of an autobiography or a specific military textbook. Even the idea of newsletters are common in the forces with most units publishing an unofficial unit newsletter to give the lads a laugh.

It's important to realise that these things are supposed to keep players informed, help add to the narrative, but most importantly, to add a bit of fun to the campaign. On this, they don't have to be strictly true, history is often written by the winner. It's perfectly fine to say a narrow victory was a glorious one and rub the losers nose in it a bit, just as long as you don't take it too far - fun remember.



Have you ever used campaign newsletters or diaries, what sort of things have you put in yours?

Player aids

In the section you'll find links to various player aids produced by the community.

Army Roster (offsite) - The latest interactive army roster by the Pit of the Oni
Hex maps - Hex images for superimposing over computer designed campaign maps.
Resource markers - Resource markers for use with computer designed campaign maps.

Have you created a campaign aid and want to add it to the ones here, then have a look at the submission guidelines.

Project Diary - Launch Day

Well, welcome to my latest mad creation - Going on Campaign.

If it's your first time here, which it probably is, then read the preface first and use the table of contents on the right hand side to get around. I welcome your input, your suggestions, ideas, scenarios, maps and pics, so please feel free to add your comments.

I'm also after links, so if you'd like to add me in your blogroll, I'll make sure you get listed by return. I'll add the blogroll as soon as I get my first requests. If you do add me, give me your blog address in the comments on this page. I'm just trying to get as much of the community involved as possible, so if you can help in anyway, please let me know.

I've put in place the basics and the narrative campaigns section. I'll be adding the map campaigns section next.

Hope you enjoy the project.

ColCorbane
Corbania Prime

Ongoing effects in narrative campaigns

Campaigns offer players a chance to apply ongoing effects to the games and their forces. This is just a way for players to develop their forces and let previous victories have an effect on the games they play.

We've already covered how success in a previous battle can lead to benefits when we covered the basics of narrative campaigning. What form the benefits take can vary hugely, from general improvements in leadership, to special kit and veteran upgrades. These can be permanent or temporary force changes - it's down to how you want to run the campaign. These benefits can take the form of battle improvements such as choice of terrain, table edge, first turn, control over reinforcements etc. They can also take the form of force changes.

Some players like to use one master roster with just enough points to play all the battles and then as the soldiers fall in battle, they're removed from the roster and not available for future battles. Over long and multiple ladder and tree campaigns, this can be combined with reinforcement and veteran rules to allow your force to grow following the narrative and your success on the battlefield. Rules like these can be as complicated as you like, even down to ongoing injuries: just because you're wounded on the battlefield, doesn't mean you're dead - a sprained angle can take you out of a battle just as surely as a bullet.

Ongoing effects don't just have to be about the rules, either: some gamers like to model trophies or totems on their models, to remind their opponent of a previous defeat. These are perfectly fine and very much in the spirit of a campaign. One gamer I know likes to convert a big standard bearer and detail his victories and defeats through a campaign on the standard. He's built up quite an impressive collection of banner bearers over the years.

Narrative suggestions

Have you used an ongoing effect in a campaign? Please add your experiences and ideas in the comments below.

Scoring narrative campaigns

Narrative campaigns don't just have to be about the narrative: you can use a few different methods for scoring the players’ results to work out an overall campaign winner. The most common methods are simple, weighted and climatic.

Simple

Simple scoring is – unsurprisingly – simple. Each game is worth 1 campaign point for the victor (a draw is 0), and the player at the end of the campaign with the most campaign points wins the campaign. A variation on this is using victory points as described in the 40k rulebook, with a running total across the entire campaign. This encourages players to look after their forces, much like real world generals. Sometimes, the amount of troops you lose winning a battle can cost you the war.


Weighted

In a weighted campaign, missions are worth different amounts of campaign points depending on how important the players feel that mission are. In our example, the actual sabotage scenario could easily count for more campaign points than the scout or evacuation scenarios as it's the main goal of the campaign. This can also be done with victory points, with the victory points been doubled or tripled for the sabotage scenario. It's perfectly fine to have different weightings for scenarios on the same level of a tree campaign if you're letting the winner choose which scenario to play next. This just adds that extra strategic level to the campaign with players have to decide whether to go for the easy points or try a harder scenario for the big win.

Escalation campaigns are a special form of weighted campaigns, where the forces start small and build up over the games played. Often these simulate the real world where conflicts start with border skirmishes and escalate to small force actions before going to total war. These can be scored with campaign points with each scenario being worth more campaign points than the previous one. Victory points also work very well in escalation campaigns: as the forces grow from scenario to scenario, so do the available victory points.

Climatic

In climatic campaigns, the only game that counts is the final one, the biggy! That doesn't mean the games that come before the climatic battle don't count. Often they can give the winners an advantage and the loser a disadvantage in the next game, the final game or both. There's no need for campaign or victory points with climatic campaigns as it's all decided on that last game. The previous example of the small sabotage raids against AA, radar facilities and airfields preparing for an AI bomber raid scenario would make an excellent climatic campaign. With each successful sabotage game, the defender could lose ground AA units or fighter squadrons in the final battle. With a tree campaign, you can use the tree to decide what type of game is played in the final battle, whether it’s a glorious assault or a pitiful defence. It's down to how you do in the tree to find out how you'll test your skills in the final battle.

These are just a few ways to score a narrative campaign; the other key element to an ongoing narrative is the idea of ongoing effects: how your forces develop through the campaign and how their victories and losses have affected them.

Ongoing effects

Do you use any of these scoring methods in your campaigns? Have you got a suggestion for another way of scoring a narrative campaign? Please dd your comments below.

Tree campaigns

In ladder campaigns, the scenarios are driven by the narrative; with tree campaigns, it's the other way around. What scenario you play next depends of the results of the previous scenario, and so the battles form a natural narrative as the campaign runs its course.

In the example below, an infiltrating force of veterans are scouting a potential target for a later raid. If the scouting goes well, they can then attempt to sabotage the target. If it doesn't go well, then the enemy has prepared an ambush for the veterans:

The results of the scout scenario determine what's happening in the narrative and over a few lines, you can develop quite a varied outcome to a campaign. With the second example, we've expanded the levels to a 3 game campaign. It starts with the original two levels of the previous example, with a scout scenario leading to either a sabotage or an ambush scenario:

With the third game, there are four possibilities depending on the results of the previous scenario. Doing well in the sabotage scenario leads on to an assassination mission as a secondary objective; failure means trying to evacuate. From the ambush scenario, a rearguard action follows a successful breakout from the ambush whereas it comes down to a final stand if you fail in the ambush. This simple 3 level tree campaign gives you a great variety in games and has a narrative. The narrative goes from a glorious mission where things were sabotaged and generals killed to a complete nightmare when the forces are spotted scouting, ambushed, and then slaughtered in a final stand.

One final thing about our last example: if you notice, a win for the initial attackers means taking the left hand path down the tree whereas a loss means taking the right hand path. Where you reach from left to right at the bottom of the tree gives you an idea of how well (narratively speaking) the attackers did overall in the campaign. This is a simple way of scoring the campaign using the narrative. Alternatively, you can let the winner of the scenario decide which one to play next. This adds a small amount of strategy to the campaign with players picking scenarios that best suit their forces.

Tree campaigns are a little more demanding in their planning than ladder campaigns, with you needing to devise scenarios that you might not play but they offer so much more in the way of the campaign’s narrative. It’s also worth noting that whilst tree and ladder campaigns may be about the narrative, that doesn't mean they don't have to be competitive as well: there's a number of different ways to score a narrative campaign.

Scoring narrative campaigns

I hope I explained that clearly enough, if you've got anything to say or ask, use the comments below.

Narrative campaigns

Want to follow your armies’ fortunes as the battle rages through raids and ambushes? Narrative campaigning is a way of linking the battles you play by using a storyline; it gives the games you play a context, a meaning. Narrative campaigns are normally played between two friends as a way of charting the ongoing adventures of their armies. Either the narrative is used to decide what scenario to play next in the campaign or the results of the scenario can be used to drive the narrative.

Narrative campaigns are best suited to two players who are friends and play regularly. They are simple to set up and run especially compared to map campaigns, and being run by friends, the time between games isn't an issue. Being the simplest of campaigns, they're also the most flexible and can offer lots to regular players that one-off games don't.

Narrative campaigns come in two basic types: ladder campaigns and tree campaigns. Ladder campaigns are a set of scenarios that are linked sequentially as a simple ongoing storyline, where one scenario follows the other based on a narrative that's been decided in advance. Tree campaigns are a slight variation on the ladder system, where the next scenario is decided by the outcome of the previous scenario, then the results of the scenarios drive the narrative. It doesn't matter which type you choose; with narrative campaigns, it's all about the story. 

Ladder campaigns

Campaigns

To get you started, here is a collection of prewritten campaigns for you to have a play with.

Preparing to strike - A simple ladder campaign where an invading force attempts to take out targets and ambush defending forces in preparation for the big invasion. How they fare in the first two scenarios heavily effects the reserve rolls in the final battle.

Tainted rebellion - A long and varied ladder campaign where the forces of the imperium have to seek out a tainted planetary governor as the planet turns to chaos.

Kentack VII -  A three player territorial campaign where Eldar, Guard and Black Templars battle for control on a planet.

Have you created a campaign and want to add it to the ones here, then have a look at the submission guidelines.

Maps

In this appendix, you'll find various maps for use in or as inspiration for your campaigns.

Ta'Lar mountains - Node based campaign map for 2 players set in a mountainous region.
Ice world - Grid campaign map for 2 players set on an ice world
Faaris IV - Territorial campaign map for 2-3 players covering a planet wide conflict.

Map - Ta'Lar mountains (Node map)

This is a node based campaign map designed for two players. It's based on a terrain map that I pulled from google images. I then added the nodes, network and place names. Once the map was planned out, I applied a texture filter and then a filter that converts a image into a 1920's image.

Created by ColCorbane

Did you like this map? can suggestions? add them in the comments.

Campaign aids

If you want to play a game of 40k, you're going to need a few things, like dice, a table, your models etc. The same goes for campaigns, there's all sorts of bits you need t o run a campaign. Some are essential like a map in a map campaign, some just help the campaign run smoothly and some just make the map look pretty. It doesn't matter what purpose these aids serve, they all go into improving the campaign for those playing it.

Even the simplest ladder or tree campaigns need the scenarios written or printed out, so that the players know what games they're going to be playing through the course of the campaign. With more complicated map campaigns, it's quite common to have specific scenarios for certain places on the map. Having these scenarios printed out along with maps and other player handouts makes its a lot easier to play the campaign, especially if you don't have an independent campaign master to create campaigns on the fly.

If you're running a campaign which follows the actual progress of an army from on battle to another charting their victories and their losses, then roster sheets become essential. Roster sheets are simply army lists that get updated with casualty loses and experience improvements. They make it easy to track how big a force is or what it contains. It can be as detailed as you need it to be, from a list of the armies in a players force and their point totals to a full army listing for each of the armies on separate rosters. The same goes for orders sheets which are just to track what armies are doing what in a campaign turn.

If you're running any sort of map campaign, you're going to need a map. Whilst that may be obvious, people often miss out the markers. These can be used to show who controls territories in a node game, show where on the map special events are occurring or special locations such as star ports, mines, cities etc. You'll also need army markers to track the movements of your forces is full blown map campaigns. These can be anything from card counters, pins, flags, models, epic models etc, I've even seen sweets used at an impromptu campaign turn meeting in the pub.

These are just a few of the things that help a campaign run smoothly, some are essential, some are just handy but all of them improve the campaign for the guy who running it and the players enjoying it.

Newsletters and diaries

Can you think of any other sort of campaign aids I've missed? Have you got any sample rosters or order sheets? Have you any pics of your campaign and army markers? Add your thoughts to the comments and feel free to send your sample rosters etc and pics to me by email. 

Practical campaigning

Campaigns can offer so much to players, but unlike pickup games, you can't just decide your going to play one and then start playing games. Even the simplest of ladder campaigns needs some planning and the more complicated the campaign, the move work has to go into planning it and running it. Then you've got all the organising of games and making sure players get everything they need to get done for that campaign turn. These are just a few of the practicalities of planning, running and playing in a campaign, but this is the trade off we accept as gamers in return for all the joys campaigns give us.

All campaigns need planning, whether it's coming up with a few scenarios for a ladder campaign or a whole world for a map campaign, it's going to take some time. Campaign are often planned in two different way, by collectively or by a campaign master. Campaigns planned collectively are put together by the players playing  in the campaign. Each having a say in the different parts of the campaign with decisions been made by the group. This may sound a boring on paper, but in real life, getting together with your mates, having a few bears and then plotting war can be a great way to spend an evening.

"Blessed are the Campaign Masters,
for they build the worlds we wage war on."

Campaign masters are wonderful people, who slave away in to the late hours planning all sorts of campaigns, scenarios, rules, maps and everything else you need to play a campaign. Quite often, they'll stay impartial through the campaign running it .Campaigns designed by one person tend to be set, ready to play with very little input from the players. It doesn't have to be like that, you can have campaigns designed by a cm and tweaked by the players before playing or a campaign that's broadly put together by the players, then formalised by a cm. Whatever way you choose to plan your campaign, it's going to take a bit of work before the dice get rolling.

The amount of work that goes into running a campaign really depends on how complicated the campaign is, who many people are playing in it and how much work went into preparing it. If you've planned it well with good maps, orders, results sheets etc, then even the most complicated campaigns are manageable with a bit of effort.

The amount of players in a campaign doesn't just effect the amount of paperwork that goes into running it. Players bring a whole load of other practical issues that have to be handled in order for the campaign to run smoothly. Real life often gets in the way of our games and hobby, peoples lives can be complicated. Also, you can't always guarantee the everyone's going to be as dedicated to the campaign as everyone else.

You have to work these things, and how you're going handle them in to the planning of your campaign. If your friends are slow at getting games done, make a campaign turn a few weeks. If you know you're going to have problems with guys missing turn deadline, then try rolling off for it. You need to be honest about what the practical problems are going to be when you're planned a campaign, only then will you been able to work in rules to handle them and keep the campaign running smoothly.

Finally, it's important to mention commitment. Been involved in a campaign takes a lot more commitment to play than a just a game. Campaigns work on everyone co-operating to have fun, and when one person doesn't get the games in or delays orders, it spoils the fun for everyone involved. The same goes for campaign masters, if they're behind in the paperwork or lose track of army movements, it very quickly spoils the campaign for everyone involved.

So, before you start on a campaign, sit down and make clear exactly what's involved in playing it, things like how many games, how often, how you're going to handle orders etc. Once everyone knows what's required, they be able to decide if they can make that sort of a commitment to play in the campaign. Once you have committed yourself to a campaign, you really should do your best to see it through to the end.

If you do run into problems that mean you're going to have to pull out, let the other players know as soon as you do, don't drag it out let them down on games etc. The sooner you let them know, the quicker and easier it'll be to take you out of the game whether permanently or just temporarily whilst making sure the campaign keeps running smoothly for everyone involved.

These are just a few of the practicalities you'll have to face and deal with when planning and running a campaign, but they're easily handled with a bit of prior thought and planning.

Campaign aids

What practical problems have you come across when planning and playing in a campaign, how did you handle them? add your comments below.

Project Diary - October 09

OK, so this is my monthly post I get to myself to rave about new additions and bitch about what not going right. I'm going to be posting once a month, on or after the 1st of each month.

So, I had an idea, in the bath actually. I thought there's nothing really for 40k campaigns on the web, only bits and bobs, so why don't I put something together on a blog. That something together, became a reference to all the stuff out there, then I thought there's no way I can find all that stuff and it'd be all messed up anyway. So, that something became this beast. Over time, I'm hoping to build up an extensive collection of campaign rules, maps, narratives, scenarios and anything else that's related. Hopefully, making this an excellent resource for 40k campaigners.

I launched a week ago, and I've done a ton of work. Not much in the way of campaign rules, but I've got more of the introductions and admin pages sorted. These needed to be done first anyway, without them, I can't add submitted campaigns and scenarios. It's a choir, but it's done now and I can get on with the good stuff. I've also added a sample ladder campaign and some sample scenarios, check out Preparing to strike and let me know what you think.

I'm also chuffed that I managed to add a header which I'm quite proud of and I've also installed the Disqus commenting system, so it's easier for you guys to add your thoughts and discuss the various pages. Another nice one is the fact that Admiral Drax has come on board to help clean up my writing with his ubber English skills. Here's hoping he enjoys editing my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it, there's going to be plenty.

Well, that's it for October, I'm off to write some of the fun stuff.

ColCorbane

Scenarios

Are you looking for a scenario for your campaign, or inspiration for your own custom scenario. You'll find plenty in our sample scenarios. If you've written a custom scenario, feel free to add it the ones listed here, check the scenario submission guidelines page to find out how.

Paint it up - an unbalanced raid scenario where a small force has to infiltrate an enemy objective, mark it up for a future strike and then get out without been detected.

Preparing to strike - a balanced raid scenario where a column of troops has to fight it's way through an ambush.

Ambushed and Betrayed - an unbalanced raid scenario where a force gets ambushed from all sides.

Breakout - an unbalanced raid scenario that follows on from Ambushed and Betrayed.

Fighting withdrawal - an unbalanced raid scenario that follows on from Ambushed and Betrayed.

Ladder Campaign - Preparing to strike

Preparing to strike

"The stealth teams are in position and Captain M'raak's force are intercepting the armoured column heading for the drop zone, things look good for the drop sir." ........

A simple ladder campaign where an invading force attempts to take out targets and ambush defending forces in preparation for the big invasion. How they fare in the first two scenarios heavily effects the reserve rolls in the final battle.

Victory conditions - Climatic (it's all on the final battle).

Force notes - none

Scenarios

Paint it up
Appendix A - Going on Campaign site (link) In this scenario, the invader prepares to mark up a target that needs to be taken out that threatens the invasions landings. An invader major victory gives them +2 to reserve rolls in the final scenario,  A invader minor victory gives +1. A defender major victory gives them a -2 to the invaders reserve rolls in the final scenario, a defender minor victory gives -1.

Column Ambush
Appendix A - Going on Campaign site (link)
In this scenario, the invader tries to delay reinforcements heading towards the proposed landing zone just before the landings take place. A invader victory gives the defenders -1 to reserve rolls in the final scenario whereas a defenders victory give the defenders +1  to reserve rolls in the final scenario.

The Big Battle
Annihilation, Dawn of War deployment - W40K 5ED p91
This is the big one, the whole campaign rests on this final battle. On turn5 reserves do not come in automatically, you need to continue rolling for reserves on a 2+ until the battle ends. Remember to add the modifiers from both the first two scenarios, 1's are always a fail no matter what modifiers apply.

Design notes - With this campaign, how you do in the first scenarios really has an effect on the final battle, especially with reserves not automatically coming in on turn 5. If the invader fails the first two, they're going to have a hell of a time trying to win the final one.


Creator - ColCorbane


Did you like this campaign, would you add or change anything? Add your thoughts in the comments below.

Balanced Raid Scenario - Column Ambush

Column Ambush

"They're coming at us from all sides sir ..." said Sgt G'raa. "Just keep pushing though Sgt, there's no going back".

This is a balanced raid scenario is based on a column of troops being ambushed and having to fight their way through it.

Setup

The scenario is played longways from short edge to short edge. All the terrain must be setup within 18" of either long table edge. The attacker sets up within 6" of his short table edge then the defender then sets up no closer than 18" to either long table edge or the attackers troops. The attacker gets the first turn, unless the defender can seize the imitative.

Forces - No changes to forces

Scenario Special Rules - No scenario special rules

Mission Objective

The winner is decided by kill points. The defender gets an additional kill point for each of his units that leave the table via the attackers short table edge. The attacker does not get any kill points for defenders units that leave the table via the attackers short table.

Reserves

The attackers reserves can come on from their short edge or either long table edge. The defenders reserves (if any) come on from their short table edge.

Game Length - Game lasts the standard amount of turns.

Design notes - In this game the defender has to balance killing units with get their own forces through the ambush whilst the attacker does their best to counter them. It's a simple enough scenario that can easily be modified for various different ambush scenarios.

Creator - ColCorbane

Back to Scenarios appendix

Did you like this scenario? anything you'd suggest or change? let us know what you think, add it in the comments.