The Battle For Argos Prime

In the interest of adding a little flavor to our local metagame, I’m hosting a themed Apocalypse battle at my place in a couple of weeks.  Below you’ll find a preface to the game (with several hints of things to come) and the baseline rules for building armies.  I’m hoping to have eight players attend, and five have already confirmed… there are a couple of spots open if someone wants in (though preference will be given to players who have already received an invite).

So, without further adieu…

Below is an intercepted message from Argos Prime  translated from galactic orbit:

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Begin Transmission

Distress Initiative 843-A-LCXI
To: Ultramar, Adeptus Astartes
From: Planetary Governer, Noshcot Enthral

Re: Warpstone Caused Mutations

Argos-Prime is a mineral rich mining world on the outskirts of the Ultima Segmentum.  Recent discovery of chaos warpstone in the subterranean caverns has given rise to an abnormally high population of mutants and attracted the attention of chaotic denizens. 

Local scholars have identified their appearance as that of a rat-based humanoid, reminiscent of the ancient Skaven race from the history books (reference 403034-ER-CIV).  The beings are diminuative in stature, but not lacking in the strength or cunning of the emporer’s subjects.

The mutants  seem largely harmless at the moment, but their frequent gatherings in the ruined shrine of Aquila leave little room for doubt as to their intentions.   Prior to the shut down of all mining operations, dark symbols began appearing in the caverns as well.  It is only a matter of time before they revolt, and I fear that our hardened bastions and fire support stations will not contain them.  I suspect that nothing sort of the Adeptus Astartes will be able to quell such an uprising. 

+++ Blessed is the Virtue of Blind Faith +++

I write to you to request  your aid.  Sitting in my quarters within the Imperial fortress in the heart of the capital city, Rhoam, I can see the taint that the warpstone has upon the population.  The lure of its magic has already enticed our key Astropath with the possibility of unerring space travel.  He was summarily exorcised of such thoughts and has been sent via black ship to Terra for disposal.  

Please note that the density and concentration of warpstone in the caverns is such that no drill is able to further penetrate the walls; demolition proves  likewise impassable.  Teleportation has proved unerringly accurate due to the proximity of the tainted minerals, which has made extraction relatively easy to this point.  Unfortunately, renegades have made use of this technology to evade our capture.

We urgently request the protection of the Emperor’s  finest.  Extraction of key information from our archives, along with myself and my immediate family are of the utmost importance.  I fear we do not have much time.

+++ The Emperor Protects +++

I need not remind you of the  vast resources and unswerving loyalty our planet has demonstrated in the past.  We need your help.

End Transmission

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 Just what could it all mean?…

RULES:

1. Each player has 3500 points to assemble their force, using the rest of the rules as a guideline.
2. Teams will be chosen randomly the day of the battle.
3. Please have a copy of your army list that you can leave at the game.  I intend to do a write-up of every army involved and a battle report of how things unfold.  I recognize that some people prefer to keep their lists for future use—and that’s fine, but I would like a copy of it for the purposes of the battle report.
4. This is to be a mass infantry battle.  As a result, the following rules are in effect:
   • Vehicles are allowed only if their total front/side/rear armor total is less than or equal to 33.  For instance, a Space Marine rhino (11/11/10, total 32) and an Imperial Guard Chimera (12/10/10, total 32) are both allowed, but a Space Marine Predator (13/11/10, total 34) would not be.
   •  Creatures with toughness 8 or greater are not allowed
5. Datasheets from any Imperial Armor codices well as formations from Apocalypse, Apocalypse Reload, IA: Apocalypse, White Dwarf, or the GW website are all legal.  Home-made VDR creations, old Chapter Approved data, etc. are not.
6. Strategic Assets as displayed in the Apocalypse and Apocalypse Reload rulebook are not allowed.  New custom strategic assets will be distributed randomly to each player before the game begins.  You may still purchase formations from various rulebooks that include strategic assets, but you will not receive the assets to use in the game.
7. Each force will be considered a single army, but rules from a given army will not affect allied armies.  For instance, a Space Marine Chaplain can not join an allied ork unit to give them the ability to re-roll hits.
8. WYSIWYG will not be strictly enforced, but each model should be logical and easily distinguishable.  The goal isn’t to sell more GW products, but rather to have fun.  Because of this, if you want to use a land raider as a land raider redeemer, that’s fine, but using a terminator or a shoe-box to represent a land raider is a no-no.  Whatever the case, any deviations from WYSIWYG need to be very clearly documented and communicated to everyone at the game prior to the start of the battle.
9. Instead of suffering a single wound to Strength D weapons, models with the rule “Eternal Warrior” will suffer 2 wounds per strength D hit.
10. Disputes will be decided with a roll off.
11. 60 minutes will be allotted per side for each turn.  Approximately 20 minutes for movement, 20 minutes for shooting, and 20 minutes for assault.  This is so we can get a full 5 turns in before the game ends.  We will time each phase at 20 minutes.
12. When multiple entries for a given unit exist, the latest approved version will be used.  For example, Hierophants show up in both the Imperial Armor 4 book, as well as the Apocalypse book.  Since the Apoc book was printed more recently, we’ll use those rules.
13. 50% of your units and/or points must be deployed on the table on turn 1, unless the units not deployed are in an apocalypse formation that changes their deployment.
14. Rules for Dice:
    • If any die isn’t flat, reroll it.  Even if it seems obvious what the die was supposed to be, re-roll it.  This prevents gray areas.
    • Dice only count if rolled on the table—if they fall on the floor, they must be re-rolled.

Confirmed Attendees:

1. Me
2. Kris
3. Blaine
4. Cole
5. Dan
6. Sam
7. (Simon)?
8. ?

Dawn image from http://www.watblog.com/tag/mobile/