+++ 112.M42 +++
+ One year after the official end of the Indomitus Crusade +
+ Praise the Emperor for his divine protection.
+ Praise the Imperial Regent Roboute Guilliman for bringing hope to the forsaken.
+ Praise the Adeptus Astartes for their superhuman strength, endurance and their utter loyalty unto death.
+ Praise the Adeptus Mechanicus for their unstopping stream of supplies and their mighty Titan warmachines.
+ Praise the Imperial Navy for eradicating the skies above our worlds from foes and guarding the troops bringing salvation and hope to the planets of the God-Emperor.
+ Praise the noble soldiers of the Imperial Guard for fighting for mankind's survival on a thousand thousand worlds.
+ Praise them all, for without them, the alien will eat your brains and enslave your children, the heretic would bring ruin to the planet you treat on and sacrifice you to demons lurking in the beyond.
+++ +++ +++
The short:
+ Warhammer 40k, newest lore (8th edition, M42)
+ Round-based, large-scale 4X sandbox strategy game, pbp-style
What you will play:
+ Players take on roles of powerful leaders of different important branches of the Imperium
++ Chapter Master(s) [Space Marines]
++ Lord General(s) [Imperial Army]
++ Archmagos [Adeptus Mechanicus]
++ Lord Admiral [Imperial Navy]
++ Other potential candidates include: (only if all primary roles are already chosen)
++++ The Ecclisiarchy
++++ Rogue Traders (?)
++++ Inquisition (?)
Your task:
+ Explore the Grimdark Galaxy of M42, especially the Great Rift bisecting the Imperium and secure one of the two known passages through this newest and most volatile of warp storms - the only ways linking the Imperium Sanctus with the Imperium Nihilus
+ Expand your influence, earn battle honours, (re-)discover lost planets and archeotech
+ Exploit enemy weaknesses and other factions' (Imperial and Alien) agendas for your own gain
+ Exterminate all enemies of the Imperium, be they from beyond, within or without!
What I offer:
+ Sandbox for a Warhammer 40k, 4X-inspired game where players take command of one of the powerful sub-factions of the Imperium of man struggling for survival against attacks from all sides
+ Slow but steady progress of the campaign using a time-box of once/week progression
++ faster if all players have acted and I find the time to do so but I‘ll try my best to advance once/week
++ Missing player action within one ‚round‘ will be considered a stall, having his/her units continue their last orders
What I expect:
+ Enthusiasm for the game concept and a decent knowledge of the 40k lore (the latter is not a full KO criteria, but I think you will have to do a lot of wiki reading to catch up to fully engage in the game)
+ Sandbox game with exceptional player freedom means willingness to burden a lot of work by yourself!
++ The story will be player-driven. I will throw events at you. More than you can handle at times. Nothing at other times, leaving you to your own devices, allowing you to restock troops or allow for player initiatives like attacking known enemy strongholds or starting expeditions into the unknown
++ This will be a micromanagement heavy game, with lots of stuff to track from round-to-round. It will be your task to keep track of everything related to your own faction. This is a simple necessity of the game concept. If I would even attempt to do that, I would be grinned to a halt within a few rounds. We will work together to find a good end-of-turn summary format together.
++ You are master of your faction. So you are pretty much free to come up with any names, lore and appearance of your faction completely on your own as long as it fits the general theme
++++ E.g. you are free to name your faction leader (and pretty much any underling) as you see fit, as well as the banners and icons of your troops, the name of your flagship and so forth
+ Open-mindedness for a game without a real rulebook as I am unaware of any system intended for what I am intend to achieve with this game
++ Units* will not (unless for starters) have real stats, but rather a short list of attributes describing strengths and weaknesses in general terms, which are subject to change during gameplay (e.g. an Imperial Guard regiment fighting a jungle war for several rounds will eventually receive the jungle expert trait)
++ Unit type/size vary greatly between player factions, ranging from infantry regiments to Titans and capital ships
++ For resolving combat, I will consider the opposing forces, their attributes and the scenario, resolving it with what might be called 'educated guess' enriched by a simple opposed dice roll for the necessary element of fate
++++ If you know the total war game series: think of me as a (hopefully less crappy) version of their auto-resolve feature :-)
+ Readiness for some Cloak&Backdoor Diplomacy with fellow players
++ You are all on the same side … technically. Colliding agendas&motives are (very) likely and it will be your task to see them addressed
++ I expect that a major part of the game (beside managing your faction) will be the RP between the players (in the role of their respective faction leaders) trying to find ways to cooperate and achieve Imperial victory
++ I will be the final arbitrator of course and I am not a fan of outright unfair play or player grudges. If we find ourselves at the doorsteps of an IC-conflict, I will have everyone in the discussion section for an open talk about how everyone feels about it. Player-clashes will only happen if all affected parties are fine with it. If one (or more) parties are not comfortable with the conflict I will resolve the issue by some GM means as I see fit.
So, that was my initial write-up of the campaign idea.
There were already a lot of feedback and discussion going on in the original announcement and I will try to copy over and expand bit by bit.
Feel free to start that by yourselves, come up with further questions, ideas, etc
First question:
Are we truly in-universe large scale commanders or are we strategy game style commanders?
Or to clarify: Are we allowed to micro manage every asset we have in one round or are we role playing as our commander - having to micro manage via astropathic messages which, while the fastest communication available, are still painfully slow and sometimes get messed up because of warp currents, time, distance or even just interpretation of the receiving astropath.
For the most part, we'll be assuming real command by proxy.
So, you have complete control via your generals/captains/sargeants in-system even if your faction leader is several systems away with spotty telepatic contact.
An interesting side effect of this is, that you can just shoot/degrade/lobotomize your then-chief-in-command if he (you) f~$+ed up and (somewhat) keep your face towards the other factions, even if a decision proofed sub-optiomal in hindsight.
Problem with telepathic messages will still be rich source for events I can throw at you, e.g. a enemy troop movement you reacted on actually was a report about dispatched troops rather than an enemy attack, so you just sent troops to a fully compliant system ... ooops.
EDIT for clarity:
Yes you can micro-manage every deployed unit. The assumption is that you have somewhat capable subordinates able to execute their orders quite well without needing to ask for every step on the road.
Nice.
as stated in the other thread I'm interested in space marine chapter master, a fleet based successor to the Raven Guard called the Migrating Ravens.
I'm a bit concerned about the space marine recruitment rates thought.
Space Marines encountere in the books have service records somewhere between 60 to 300 years, yet in every single battle at least one marine dies(of course, curb stomping enemies is bad for dramatic effect) usually a lot more because the brilliant enemy commander decided to use an ambush and some bombs, because 120 year veterans never heard about that tactic before.
Of course that could be explained by saying the more veteran a space marine becomes the less likely he is to die. On the other hand while I don't think it is stated clearly for planet based chapters fleet based ones like the imperial fists, soul drinkers and eagle... somethings hold recruitment events every few years.
And from what I remember 99.9% of those inducted die on the way.
Sons of Dorn has the trainees train 4 years _before_ they become scout, then they get sent against a force and loose everyone except 3. I think including their sergeant? Been a while.
Helion Rain has a Raven Guard scout squad blow up some Tyranid infested factory. Survivors: Sergeant + 1 scout, who will now become marine.
Soooo with a recruitment rate of like 1 marine every 7-10 years and a death toll of several per battle I don't think warp travel between wars is enough of an explanation between the rate of attrition and rate of replenishment.
Personally I favor the explanation: Space Marines don't die as easily as Black Library Authors want them to. If the battle doesn't go horribly wrong they don't die in battle.
Not going horribly wrong probably being their commander doesn't mistake tictacs for tactics and lets them do their space marine stuff instead of rushing them head long into enemy fire.
Other way of course would be to have faster recruitment than whats described in the books.
Slow recruitment / almost no deathes would feel pretty OP but on the other hand getting cought in a cluster frakk would hurt so much more(which is, I think, why canocically chapters operate in small groups rather than full chapters)
Yeah, I always thought the recruitment processes are a bit tuned down for effect, at least for the Codex-true chapters.
I think the Black Templars have a hold on EACH planet they war-ed on, with one or two Templars left behind to supervise the stronghold and start recruitment and training of potential candidates.
Whenever the Templars need more brothers, they simply have to visit one of their holds and take in the latest batch of fully trained aspirants, implant them with geneseed and voila, a new squad of scouts, or whatever they are named for them.
The Wolves are noted for keeping one training facility PER great company, so they seem to recruit like 12 times faster than normal. Although, they are maybe 12 times greater in number than they should be, so that probably is about even...
Anyway for the current problem.
While I do vision fleet-based chapters to recruit a bit slower than planet-based, I still think that you will have several holds or similar establishments on various planets, screening the locals for potential candidates and have them transferred to the fleet whenever possible, where they are implanted and trained during voyages.
No idea how else you would get new aspirants.
Maybe you could press-gang-like TAKE candidates from worlds you war on and implant'n'brainwash them but ... I don't think that you want to do that.
That seems more something for the excomunicae traitoris chapters out there - some of which still hold true to the Emperor if not the Imperium per se.
So... I imagine you will have a special 'strategic resource' popping up on some of your holds from time to time, with a fresh batch of recruit candidates.
And yes, I do think that ordinary engagements ought to be 0-loss fights for most chapters.
But then again, ordinary engagements are indeed not the matter for novels, eh?
Amendum:
And, don't forget Primaris Marines are a thing for roughly 94% of all chapters these days according to the lore - so probably for the Migrating Ravens too.
And their creation process is said to be somewhat more streamlined and 'safer' - likely simply a matter of better understanding of the process rather than a real advancement.
Especially since their gene-seed is much more stable than those of the original space marines (at least the one in current use) which will come as a great relief for the Ravens, as they are quite troubled with bad side effects and the loss of three organs in the millennia since the heresy...
This should remove (or at least severely limit) the troublesome quirk-of-fate moments, killing your carefully selected aspirants in the implant process...
Amendum [for Choon]:
If you did not read it yet, give this one a go.
d4chan tends to be rather direct and with volatile language, but it gets across the message incredible well.
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I have started brainstorming an Archmagos Dominus leading a mostly spaceborn portion of the Adeptus Mechanicus upon flagship, the Ark Mechanicus Omnisaiah's Will, and its glorious escort fleet of the Basilicon Astra. Of course I'll have planetside capability because I need a way to secure planetside Shineys, but I'm not going to be a Lord Commander by any stretch. Maybe a dozen or so titans, a few score Knights and the Scitarii to support them is all. I'm not planning on taking planets. I'm planning on making sure any especially exciting tech the Eye of Terror belched in my direction does not stay with Chaos. And maybe supporting the Guard/Navy if they happen to be protecting any said Tech.
Works for me!
Maybe you could press-gang-like TAKE candidates from worlds you war on and implant'n'brainwash them but ... I don't think that you want to do that.
That seems more something for the excomunicae traitoris chapters out there - some of which still hold true to the Emperor if not the Imperium per se.
Interesting bit of trivia:
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Imperial_Fists#RecruitmentOr read "Sons of Dorn". Not the chapter, the novel. They just drop into an ongoing war on some more-or-less backwater world. With 3 factions: Samurai, French-ish cloak and dagger guys and some.. not sure, primitive caveman lookalikes?
@Keen: feel free to write-up a few bullet-points for your chapters recruitment process and candidate-preferences, so I can give you fitting holds on planets.
@Resources:
Here are some of my thoughts for comment.
System Like (Newer) Civilizations games:
>> Systems generates 'general goods' (GGs) which are necessary to recruit and supply all units
>> Advanced systems need specific ressources to be available wherever they are recruited/repaired
>>>> Some may need strategic ressources to keep them supplied at regular intervals (e.g. promethium for vehicles, used up during combat deployment)
>>>> If a system does not have the required ressources, they need to be shipped in via cargo haulers from whichever system has access to them
Types I am currently considering:
- Promethium (keep your tanks running)
- food (keep your men marching, keep hives/forge worlds from falling into anarchy)
- ore (for all non-basic stuff)
- rare elements (for high-end stuff)
- men (speed up recruitment/reinforcement)
- neophytes (recruit/reinforce space marines)
This depends on distance between source and destination as well as the situation in between.
If the route has to go through contested or even enemy held territory, you will have to assemble a navy-protected convoy.
Obviously delay between stated intent and availability depends on distance. Neighboring systems within a few hexes can supply each other instantaneous, anything beyond will insure a delay.
Massive requirement of a good, e.g. if one is repairing a Titan or stuff like that will either need a full convoy or several rounds of back'n'forth.
I think we can do the basic supply line with an anno-like trade-line system, where you simply define a long-term trade route between systems and until further notice, steady exchange of the goods will happen.
Of course, such regular trade is always prone to attract all kind of enemy attention.
Example:
Metal-for-food: Agri-7 -> Metallica: food(5), Metallica -> Agri-7: ore(2)
That should be easy enough to set up and track and deep enough to allow all kind of supply problem shenanigans
So for long going wars, you need to set-up food'n'promethium supply lines to the front for the guardsmen... Which need to be guarded by the navy because it goes into contested space ... Which makes the navy unhappy because they would rather hunt some pirates or alien vessels...
@all, units:
Since I am not all-knowing in the lore, I think a shared approach will be the best. You guys look into your faction and look for the units you'd like to have in you army and present me with the following:
- Name of the unit (or class)
- Type {Infantry, Vehicle, Knight, ...}
- Typical Role {Anti-infantry, tank-hunter, siege-breaker, reconnaissance, almighty God-machine (^^), ...}
- Short description: armament, specials, ...
OR:
Link to a wiki page about the unit
I'll read-through and come up with a unit profile (type, attributes, costs, ressource-requirements).
Seems like a plausible approach?
For sharing rules, notes, etc, I am going to set up a shared onenote like in the other campaign with a separate section for each of you and a common one for rules and ... stuff.
Does this work for everyone?
I've started writing an overall chapter charta including with recruitment among (a lot) of other things. Probably gonna be a few days until I have it presentable thought. Probably going to change the name again thought. It seems space marin-ish at first glance but on the other hand it sounds way too peaceful.
I'm not a huge fan of onenote because it does not work with my favorite browser but I'm down with it until I find a better suggestion(or write one. Let's see if it anoys me enough to do that)
@onenote: if your on mobile, I highly recommend the native app for Android/iOS. It is way better and works with shares too.
I know your a Linux guy, so no native app there, which is meh I agree. It may seem strange, but how about an Android emulator and run the native app in there ...?
@Chapter: Perfect!
@Choon, fleet size:
- one flagship (battleship, barge, arc)
- 6-12 cruisers (less if you take only heavy ones, more if you take a couple of light ones)
- one pack of escort for each cruiser/flagship consisting of 5 escorts (each escort pack is one unit)
Similar setup for ground-based troops. A super-heavy tank as top-tier, 6-8 motorized or special regiments (drop-troops, tanks, rough-riders, heavy artillery) and another dozen-or-so basic infantry units
How about .. in the new ages of the imperium, a chapter-sized element of the Emperor's praetorians, the Adeptus Custodes?
Super interested in the concept. Any thought on a very rough map of the sub sector of the galaxy that we'll be operating in?
As I said in the other thread. I'm down for a Lord General as that seems like a fun and necessary part of a game like this. Tf someone else wants that then I'll be glad to move on over to the Ecclesiarchy.
The Ecclesiarchy would need a bit of thought (tribute from Shrine Worlds?) but the IG is pretty damn standard in how it works.
I like onenote and discord is a tool that's used a lot nowadays as well.
Acommon shared wiki site might be a onenote alternative but I don't know any good ones.
I am working on a map.
Will take a couple of days though I guess.
@Castotodes: I never had much interest in them to tell the truth and not sure about their reason to stay in the region long-term. If your super interested in them I will do some read up on them and see if I can be convinced.
@Castotodes: I never had much interest in them to tell the truth and not sure about their reason to stay in the region long-term. If your super interested in them I will do some read up on them and see if I can be convinced.
I will re-read some of the latest fluff in the Custodes codex when I get home. If there is not enough to justify a force operating in the area long term, then I will go with the Blood Ravens.
As for blood ravens...
The Blood Ravens' home sector is Sub-Sector Aurelia in the Segmentum Ultima, or more succinctly, where we are playing. They have in recent history suffered a loss of 5 companies (50% of their total force) in a single battle. So they have been out of the spotlight, so to speak, as they have been working furiously to restore their numbers and secure more recruiting worlds after the losses of Calderis, Typhon, Aurelia, Cyrene, and Rahe's Paradise.
@Castotodes: I never had much interest in them to tell the truth and not sure about their reason to stay in the region long-term. If your super interested in them I will do some read up on them and see if I can be convinced.as they have been working furiously to restore their numbers and secure more recruiting worlds after the losses of Calderis, Typhon, Aurelia, Cyrene, and Rahe's Paradise.
And acquire more relics to make all those lost on the fighting. Knowledge is Power. Specifically the knowledge that you should bolt down any and all relics while not currently in use. Or better bolt them down even while in use. You should ask the Black Templars about that. Nifty weapon chains that.
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Flagship: Ark Mechanicus Omnissaiah's Will
Archmagos Dominus Inveniet Fulcrum found the Ark Mechanicum that would become the Omnissiah's Will in 333 M40 in a debris field orbiting dangerously close to a highly unstable and active red dwarf star. The ship was the only thing he could salvage as the rest of the material was either completely destroyed by the ancient battle or rendered unusable by the nearby star. It took over a hundred years of careful work, but the ship was eventually de-radiated and restored to full working order.
The Omnissiah's will is a unique ship in many ways. It is built for self sufficiency and autonomy in operations. It has slightly reduced manufacturing and scientific capabilities compared to its kin in exchange for the capacity to not only repair and rearm ships up to a light cruiser, but also manufacture just about anything up to and including void fighters and bombers. Where it does not differ from it's brethren, however, is in the sheer world-ending firepower it can bring to bear and the near impenetrable bulwark that is its void shields.
The crew of the Omnissaiah's Will, comprises a very high number of Techsorcists, Tech priests who specialize in chaos-exposed tech and chaos-brand tech heresy. It also contains a significant majority of Classiarii, a brand of Skitarii who specialize is shipboard operations.
Battle Line:
--- Ark Escort: two Mechanicus pattern cruisers
--- Battle Line: two Lunar Class cruisers, two Dictator Class cruisers, two Defiant Light Cruisers, and two Endurance Light Cruisers
--- Escorts (5 per cruiser): two Falchion and thee Sword class escort destroyers
Ground Forces
One squad of Imperial knights, four in total. They are led by the Honor Bound, a Knight Baron armed with twin rapid fire battle cannons and a force lance . The other three, the Glory, Duty, and Sacrifice are a Knight Warden, Kight Castellan, and a Knight Crusader, respectively.
Special Regiment 1: 26th Heavy Artillery Support -- Basilisk Earthshaker Artillery
Special Regiment 2: 52nd Mortar Artillery Support -- Griffon Heavy Mortar Artillery
Special Regiment 3: 22nd AAA Support -- Hydra quad Autocannon Anti air.
Special Regiment 4: 16th Battle Tank -- Leman russ
Special Regiment 5: 17th Battle Tank -- Leman russ
Special Regiment 6: 76th Atmospheric Superiority -- Various atmospheric assets
Special Regiment 7: 103rd Support -- Various support and supply vehicles.
12 Skitarii Regiments including: Ballistarii Ironstriders, Sydonian Dragoons, Skitarii Vanguard (rad-troopers), and 9 standard skitarii regiments.
So, there's my first draft. Comments welcome.
@Custodes: Beside motivation and fluff, the simple fact that their recruitment rate is even worse than for space marines (to the point where each soldier is practically hand-crafted rather than subject of an 'standardized' creation process with only a few genewrights on Terra able to even attempt it ...
Does seem a bit troublesome in my eyes.
I'd rather prefer if you go with the blood ravens.
Always interesting to have a 'loyal' chapter of Thousand Sons origin around ;-)
They are especially highlighted to having received Primaris reinforcements to counter their losses - which troubles the higher eccelons of the chapter quite a bit, as this indicates that at the very least, Belisarius knows who their progenitor is ...
@Choon:
Nice work. I love the story for the arc. Production capabilities seem to be within the realm of possibilities. Also note that such a vast production ability, will likely encompasses Knights as well, as they are smaller than void fighters after all.
I think the list is a bit much ground-based and short on Titans, eh?
Note that you will likely need a special landing ship for the titans
Also, my bad for answering not directly but more in general.
The number of ships I stated was more for whoever goes with the Imperial Navy than every player with a fleet.
Half the number of ships (should be very straight forward for you if I see that right).
Have to read up on knights, but I guess we'll be merging fourish into one unit representing one knight household.
For air forces, we'll go with simplification of fighter/bomber squadrons (which are part of Carrier-class ships) will be our only tracked air force units.
@Choon:
Straight from tabletop, Knights have special rules only usable in what they call a 'detachment' of at least three knights.
So yeah, we be going to merge 4 Knights into one unit.
Warhound 'Scout' Titans operate in packs of 2.
Reaver and Warlord are solo-units.
Imperator is not available for fleet-based Ad-mech.
I had originally imagined something like this for an AdMech setup detachment:
- 1 Warlord
- 2 Reavers
- 2 packs of Warhounds
- 4 Knight detachments
- Warlord and Reavers have a skitarii regiment each, for mob-up and boarding-repellent purposes
- Your Arc will have 4 skitarii regiments (fewer than would be stationed on a forge world, but still a force to recon with, half of them may be a special regiment)
@All:
I somewhat struggle with the time definition of 'one round'.
My guts tell me a month would be a decent time slot for fighting and warp travel.
On the other hand, recruitment and repair of the more advanced unit types as well as your average IG war-of-attrition is measured in years or even decades, so that would much rather vote for one year per round.
Thoughts on that?
Fleet size is a bit of a problem for me.
My basic idea of a space marine chapter is that each company has at least 1
strike cruiser plus escorts, probably more because even companies tend to split
up at times and they can't really take a vacation just because their ship got
damaged.
And also each chapter seems to have at least one battle barge. I think the soul
drinkers, also a fleet based chapter, had at least 2 barges among their fleet.
Those numbers seem very much in excess of what you're envisioning for fleet
size. Any ideas how to make that work?
Round time.. is hard to plan with what we know so far.
I think it'll depend mostly on how broad or detailed our influence on a conflict
should be.
If it's going to be: X amounts of troops go to conflict Y then sure a year is
fine.
If we're going to have an influence on the actual tactics then I'd go with 3
months or a quarter for broad tactics.
Year Round:
I send 2 companies to assist RandomHiveworld with their Tyranid problem
3 Months;
I send 2 companies to assist RandomHiveWorld. They are to contact local
authority, scan them for gene stealer infestation then seal the hive into
district and have the apotecari support the scanning of the populace for stealer
taint. Meanwhile the main fighting force deals with the overt tyranid thread.
1 Month:
I send 2 companies towards RandomHiveWorld. They probably won't make it there
this month unless the eldar sacrifice a bunch of virgins to calm the warp but
if they do they are to make sure the authorities are not yet tyranided
@Choon: Yeah, I look at the same problem as my fleet numbers clearly show. CmdKeen is right of course. I tried to get a grasp on the size of a subsector fleet and that was where my numbers came frome - although admittedly towards the lower end of things. There need to be more Cruiser-Escort groups.
But, given the size of the area and the many, many problems you guys have in there, we will probably want to have the better part of a segmentum fleet available for the Navy. Which should easily allow the number of ships for AdMech & Astartes fleet-based chapters that are appropriate.
@Time:
I quite like the 3-month variant. 4 rounds / year.
I think that might work.
@All:
I will try to come up with a basic structure for each faction.
As I find the time to do so.
In the meantime ... if you want to help me a great deal ...
It would be awesome if you could dump all system & planet names (+ planet types if possible) as well as mentions of subsectors etc you come across to our new oneNote under "The Galaxy" -> Known Planets&Systems and Known Subsectors.
The notebook also contains one blank section for each major faction (and CmdKeens Astartes Chapter). Go wild in there.
I threw in Catachan in there as it's pretty iconic and well known and highlighted a suggestion of what resources it should generate foe the IG.
Is the IG dependant on the IN for space defense and transport or does it have its own fleet?
You will have 'some' transport capabilities of your own, but not nearly enough to move all regiments at once.
And for defence ... ask the navy guy to defend you, that's what they are here for.
So, you may want to invite the admiral over to your regular poker events and give him your best amasec :-)
@Keen: Do you have an idea how to break down a Chapter to a manageable amount of Units?
I think of a demi-company as the baseline. Going down to single squads seem excessive and would make the comparison with other forces, e.g. a complete IG regiment a bit difficult...
Hmmm,
pretty sure the basic organizational unit is a company as there is technically
no officer bellow the rank of captain who has the authority to command an
expedition. You could argue that Chaplains can technically lead but that's like
a Commissar taking over - it happens when necessary but its not intended to be
that way.
On the other hand the grand oratory of `1 million space marines for 1 million
worlds mean 1 space marine per world - and somehow that is enough` and all those
stories about '1 space marine is enough to change the course of a war' suggest
that much smaller units are deployed at times.
I'm currently imagening it like this:
The basic unit is a company, simply because that's the level that ships are
attached to the forces.
So a company travels to a warzone and makes war - hopefully breaking the enemies
back in short order. The captain then designates the amount of forces he deems
necessary to make sure the mop up of the rest of the enemies will happen without
accident. The rest of the company then moves on.
When done the battle brothers are either retrieved or request a ride on one
vessel or another going their way - in return for fighting of pirates if
necessary or monetary compensation
So while companies are the basic organizational unit I expect my forces to
'spread' over the available conflict zones, being the tip of the spear for other
forces to finish their wars in time, rather than waging war on their own.
I also expect 2 companies to be 'recruitment' companies which pretty much ferry around new initiates from the recruitment worlds to the other companies as I'll attach scouts to each company instead of a special scout company. I'll have more detail on that in my write up about the chapter thought.
@CmdKeen:
"New additions include the addition of Primaris Space Marine formations such as Intercessor, Aggressor, Inceptor, and Reiver Squads, as well as the inclusion of two Space Marine Lieutenants below the Company Captain, each commanding a demi-Company. Furthermore, Squads in the Codex Astartes are now defined as Battleline Squads (Tactical or Intercessor), Close Support (Assault, Reiver, and Inceptor), or Fire Support (Devastator, Aggressor, or Hellblaster).[15]This means the number of squads in a perfectly compliant chapter are now 44 Battleline, 18 Close Support, and 18 Fire Support, in addition to 10 squads of veterans and 10 squads of scouts, spread across the chapter's companies as detailed below. "
So you can now legally have demi companies with an adequate command structure.
Splitting units can be achieved by temporarily creating two units with different 'combat strength' values - this is usually used to track combat losses.... I think.We should try to keep troops in a units as consistent as possible, or it will be hard to come up with an abstract profile for them ...
Alright, demi-company sounds reasonable enough. Still got to read up on
girlymans updates to his highschool yearbook that's been floating around
EVERYwhere.
I don't expect to be exactly codex compliant thought, but that change seems to make it easier on the overall gameplay so I'll just keep that in.
Just means the guard doesn't get their propaganda marines hanging out after the
hard work is done to drink recaff and murder enemy officers and leftover
supplylines.
Overall they make incredible sense.
Probably has to do with the fact that it all was a guideline all along, rather than a DO_IT_THAT_WAY_OR_BURN_ON_STAKES!1!!
I pretty much like the new Rowboat.
Especially all those times he internally rip'n'tears priests and other 'God-Emperor' botherers apart *rofl*
He is actually writing an revised Adeptus Astartes book AND a similar one on civil government ...
Obviously using good'ol'Ultramar as an example.
Which is probably an incredible good idea, seeing the clusterf+$$ that is the imperium ^^
@Custodes: Beside motivation and fluff, the simple fact that their recruitment rate is even worse than for space marines (to the point where each soldier is practically hand-crafted rather than subject of an 'standardized' creation process with only a few genewrights on Terra able to even attempt it ...
Does seem a bit troublesome in my eyes.
I'd rather prefer if you go with the blood ravens.
Always interesting to have a 'loyal' chapter of Thousand Sons origin around ;-)
They are especially highlighted to having received Primaris reinforcements to counter their losses - which troubles the higher eccelons of the chapter quite a bit, as this indicates that at the very least, Belisarius knows who their progenitor is ...
Wilco. To be honest, I was having trouble coming up with justification for why Custodes would stay in a given area in that kind of strength for a long term.
Re: Blood Ravens
With most of their recruiting worlds either destroyed, lost to the warp, depopulated, or Exterminatus-ed and 50% of their strength eliminated, I am guessing that something like 80% of their replacements are Primaris.
Blood Ravens Fleet Elements:
Omnis Arcanum — Battle Barge, Chapter Monastery and site of the Librarium Sanctorum
Litany of Fury — Battle Barge assigned to the 3rd Company
The Observer — Battle Barge
Scientia Est Potentia — Battle Barge
Armageddon — Strike Cruiser
Rage of Erudition — Strike Cruiser
Ravenous Spirit — Strike Cruiser
Retribution — Strike Cruiser
As a (mostly) codex chapter, they will be organized into the customary 10 companies with approximately 40% of the strength of each company being the newer Primaris Marines.
Huh, four battle barges, eh?
That's 'a bit' excessive, given that even the Ultramarines only own five and most chapters only have one or two at most.
Given their notorious cleptomancy, they probably 'recovered' half of them 'somewhere'.
I'd rule that two of them will in fact only be extensively modified Cruisers (battle barge is only a title rather than a ship class after all) rather than battleship-sized.
Or we can go with the Blood Ravens heavily fighting has robbed them of pretty much any escorts, leaving only the very hardest ships behind.
Meaning you would be not as mobile and have to concentrate your forces more than CmdKeen and your fleet would lack the ability to chase down fleeing, fast vessels (usually the task of those fast frigates).
Heads-up:
I realized that I totally screwed up the scale of these maps and have to retcon our (initial) active area or I'll never get a map, let alone an economy together.
We will be in a much smaller region around the passage than on the current map.
That will also mean that I am going to pretty much create the map all new rather than from existing material ... because there basically is like zero material for that region yet...
Sure, it is a title, but it is a title of a modified battleship-class hull.
On the other hand, the Blood Ravens do have a fairly well established and very positive relationship with the Mechanicus. It is reasonable that they have a comparable navy to the Ultramarines.
Lastly, they are fleet based and the smurfs are not. The Ultramarines have the entire Ultramar region of approximately five hundred habitable planets.
The entire Blood Ravens chapter has to be comfortably housed in the chapter's fleet. Four companies can be housed one each in the strike cruisers. The remaining six companies must be distributed between three of the four battle barges. A barge can normally accommodate three companies, but that does not take into account that the Blood Ravens have no fortresses, training areas, or other holdings aside from this fleet. It also does not account for the fact that the Blood Ravens have no fortress monastery to house all the mundane operations of the chapter; administration, logistics, etc. Or rather, that the Omnis Arcanum IS the fortress monastery of the Blood Ravens.
Sure, it is a title, but it is a title of a modified battleship-class hull.
On the other hand, the Blood Ravens do have a fairly well established and very positive relationship with the Mechanicus. It is reasonable that they have a comparable navy to the Ultramarines.
Lastly, they are fleet based and the smurfs are not. The Ultramarines have the entire Ultramar region of approximately five hundred habitable planets.
The entire Blood Ravens chapter has to be comfortably housed in the chapter's fleet. Four companies can be housed one each in the strike cruisers. The remaining six companies must be distributed between three of the four battle barges. A barge can normally accommodate three companies, but that does not take into account that the Blood Ravens have no fortresses, training areas, or other holdings aside from this fleet. It also does not account for the fact that the Blood Ravens have no fortress monastery to house all the mundane operations of the chapter; administration, logistics, etc. Or rather, that the Omnis Arcanum IS the fortress monastery of the Blood Ravens.
HAH! I forgot about the Smurf effect...
So, how much stuff should I come up with for the Lord General?
I like this "positive relationship" thing I'm hearing about. :)
Yup...
Because of the many facets of their investigations, the Blood Ravens have often worked closely with members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Through the millennia, these Space Marines have uncovered many examples of archeotech, which they have almost always provided to the followers of the Omnissiah without question. At times, the Machine Cult has repaid them for their generosity with gifts of additional wargear, which is well suited to advancing their cause.
There is no formal relationship, as such could be viewed as an insult to more needy Chapters. However, this appears to represent an understanding based upon enlightened self-interest. The Blood Ravens are likely to take full advantage of these additional resources as they continue to rebuild after the losses they suffered during their recent internal strife.