After 20 years of whispering dissention into the ears of the planetary governor of Basus 12, the Tau Water Caste contingent on the planet had finally accomplished their goal. The governor, fed up with giving more and more of his planet’s promethium resources to an ever-hungrier Imperial war-machine, finally declared independence from the Imperium of man, naively believing that a democratic system will being more prosperity to his world than the necessarily harsh rule of the Adeptus Terra.

The Tau negotiators did not, however, count on the rigid loyalty and discipline of the regiment of Mordian Iron Guard stationed on Basus 12. Deployed on training maneuvers in the mountainous region northwest of the capital city, the Mordians quickly realized that their communications blackout with their garrison was not a training element and reverted back to their training: they stormed the Perseus spaceport (lightly defended by the now-traitorous PDF forces), made contact with the local Adeptus Arbites contingent and then used their dedicated astropath to send a distress signal. Now that reinforcements have come, the war can be fought in earnest, though politics always rears its head at the last moment, and those who were supposed to be allies have issues of their own with each other.

Who will ultimately take control of Basus 12?

Tau Briefing: Your forces will start in the spaceport in the southwest of the map, being most familiar and comfortable with the desert conditions surrounding the drop area. Your goal is no less than to bring the wisdom of the Greater Good to this resource-rich world. You begin the campaign in possession of Spaceport Hercales

Mordian Briefing: Beleaguered and constantly harassed, your men have not shown even a single trace of weariness or resignation during the siege of spaceport Perseus. Now that allies have arrived and taken pressure from you by engaging the filthy xenos on other fronts, you have the opportunity to break free and take back the world you swore to protect. It matters not that the Space marines hold you responsible for the invasion, or that the Cadian commander sees himself as the next planetary governor; your discipline will hold, and the day will be yours. You begin the campaign in possession of spaceport Perseus.

Crimson Fists Briefing: When you responded to a distress call from the Basus 12 Mordian regiment, you expected to find a world united against invasion, not a planet that had been lost to perfidy and treacherous bargains. You will cleanse the holy ground of the Emperor’s realm of the xenos, and then deal with the self-serving guardsmen who not only failed to execute the xenos “diplomats,” but also the preening commander of the Cadian battalion who thinks he can use this travesty as a means of self-promotion. You begin the campaign in a city ruin north of the capital hive, in possession of a command bastion.

Cadian Briefing: The world of Basus 12 is in need of new leadership, that much is obvious. With the previous planetary governor dead at the hands of the Crimson Fists, your forces should have been given leave to prosecute this war with impunity, but the lapdogs of the Inquisition seem to forget that they only exist to serve mankind, not dictate terms to it. Once your people have pacified this world and established a proper government, you will make this clear to all. You bein the game in possession of spaceport Icarus.

Dark Eldar Briefing: The scent of betrayal and pain is a sweet, sweet aroma, but this planet has more to offer than just that. The primitive monkeys that fight over this planet obviously have no idea what those large, bone-white formations in the jungle are for, nor why there is so much of the liquid they crudely use as an inflammatory compound. When their petty world is dragged into the webway, and their planet used as an arena of paralleled size, however, their sudden, horrified understanding will be even sweeter than what they have managed so far…. You begin play in Commorragh (counts as a hive city).

Victory Conditions: The campaign ends when one player controls 7 tiles at the end of the build and conquest phase, and has played at least one game against every other player in the game.

Campaign Turn:

Each time we meet for a campaign turn, we will complete it in the following steps:

Events Phase: During the events phase, each player picks an option from the following list, starting with the player with the smallest empire. You may not pick an event that has been chosen by another player.

- Infrastructure Sabotage: Pick a player. That player may not gather any promethium this turn.- Building Boom: You may place a building or promethium mine on any of your tiles that does not

already have one.- All Out Assault: You receive an extra 2 Empire Points in step 5 of this round, as long as you don’t

lose or draw any of your games. If you do lose or draw, you receive NO Empire Points this round.- Scouts: This round only, your opponent must deploy first, and you must take the first turn.- Diplomacy: Pick one player. That player may not issue a challenge against you this round.- Land Grab: The first tile you claim this turn only costs 1 Empire point instead of 2.- Elite Army: This turn only, you may exchange an elites, fast-attack or heavy-support “slot” for an

additional slot from this list. So, for example, you can exchange an elites choice for an additional fast attack or heavy-support choice, a heavy-support choice for another elites or fast-attack choice, etc.

Revenue Phase: During the Revenue Phase, each player collects energy points from their mines. A player gets 2d6x10 energy points from each mine they own.

Challenge Phase: During this phase, each player must issue a challenge to another player, starting with the player with the smallest empire. A player who has already been challenged by another player may not issue any challenge this round, nor may a challenge be issued to a player who has already been challenged. Players engaged in a challenge will fight a Warhammer 40k battle in the Battles Phase.

Battle Phase: The first round, all players will play 500 point games. This basic value will increase by 250 points each round until it reaches 1500 points, at which point players are free to decide with their opponent what size battle will be played. Battles must be played and completed by the next campaign meeting date, or neither player earns any points for that round.

- Army bonuses

o The player who has the largest empire receives a bonus to his available points that round. This bonus is equal to 10% of the base points value for that round (so, NOT including any points gained from expending energy points).

o Any player may spend up to 250 energy points from their stockpiles to quickly maneuver their forces into position for the upcoming battle. 1 Energy Point = 1 army point.

Conquest and Build Phase: When you play a game of 40k, you will earn empire points as shown on the list below. Empire points are used to take territory (tiles), and to build structures upon that territory. Players take it in turn to spend their empire points, starting with the player with the smallest empire and working up. Note: because games will take place the week following each challenge, the Conquest and Build Phase will always take place at the beginning of the next group meeting, followed then by the Event phase of the next campaign turn.

- Earning Empire pointso Lose – 1 Empire Pointo Draw – 2 Empire Points for each playero Victory – 3 Empire Pointso Massacre – +1 additional Empire pointo Note: a massacre result is one in which a player tables their opponent.

- Spending Empire Pointso Claim Tiles (2 Empire Points): Place one of your tiles on a tile without a banner that is

adjacent to one of your own tiles.o Conquer Tile (3 Empire Points): Remove another player’s banner from a tile that is adjacent

to one of your own tiles, and replace it with your own. You must have fought and won a battle against that player in the preceding battle phase.

o Build (1 Empire Point): Add a Power Station, Command Bastion, Shield Generator or Manufactorum to any tile you possess that does not already have a structure on it. You may also use the build action to place a promethium mine on a tile you possess, provided that that tile is a river or swamp tile.

o Raid (1 empire Point): add 2d6x10 Energy Points to your stockpile- Buildings The effects of buildings are calculated as below, at the beginning of each battle phase,

after a base point value has been agreed upon.o Power Station: Power Stations use promethium to provide the power needed to maneuver

your troops into position before the battle. Both players add up the points from the chart below for the power stations they control. If one player’s total is higher, then they add +1 to their dice when picking deployment areas, rolling for reserves, and seeing who goes first. If their total is double or more that of their opponent’s, this bonus is increased to +2.

o Spaceport: Spaceports are vast complexes of runways and control towers that allow a force controlling one to contest the airspace above their battlefields. A force in possession of one or more spaceports gets +1 to their roll to seize the initiative, and subtracts 1 from their opponent’s reserve rolls.

o Shield Generator: A shield generator is used to protect key areas of a tile’s space, forcing attackers to get in closer and work harder to capture it. Any tile with a shield generator costs an additional D3 empire points to capture (roll at the beginning of each Conquer and Build Phase). You may not have more shield generators than you have power stations.

o Manufactorum: Manufactorums produce arms and materiel needed to prosecute a war. Both players add up their points from the cart below for the manufactorums they control. If one player’s total is higher, they get an additional 50 points to add to their army (note that this happens after a base points value has been agreed upon). If the total is two times as much or higher than the opponent’s point value, the bonus increases to 100 points.

o Command Bastion: Command Bastions allow a commander to be better prepared for a battle, and to organize special training for their soldiers. Both players add up the points they get from the chart below for the command bastions they control. If one players total is higher, they roll 1d6, and if their total is double or more of their opponent’s, they get 2d6 to roll. For each 4+ rolled, that player gets to pick one of the universal special rules from the rulebook, and applies it to one unit in their army. This effect only applies for the duration of one battle. Additionally, no unit may ever be given more than one special rule, and no rule may be chose more than once.

o Hive City: At the beginning of the Battle Phase, the player in control of a hive city determines one of the above building types; this city will count in all respects as that building type for the rest of the campaign turn. Note that to count the hive city as a shield generator, the player must have at least one power station elsewhere on the board.

Army Power Station Command Bastion ManufactorumSpace Marines 10 10 6Imperial Guard 6 8 11Orks 9 6 9Tyranids 8 7 10Eldar 10 11 6Tau 8 9 8Necrons 7 8 9Dark Eldar 11 9 7Chaos Marines 10 10 6Daemons D6+5 D6+5 D6+5Any Other 9 9 8