+ inload: Alien Wars Mission: Battle for Geostation Erpes +

+ The Battle for Geostation Erpes +

Orks assault the sorry remnants of Jadeberry Meadows Farm, defended by battered members of Crimson Fists 4th Company.

+ As covered in Bob Hunk's guestinload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], we're playing a version of Rogue Trader's Battle for the Farm, reimagined in the Alien Wars setting. I've drafted up the following mission that you're more than welcome to try out. +

You should be able to click on this to embiggen it; but if it doesn't work, let me know in the comments.

+ Designer's notes +

+ What edition is this for? +

+ This an 8th edition update. GW made rules available for a 6th/7th edition updated of the original scenario, and the original one works fine for 1st/2nd ed.; I thought we'd try the latest version. +


+ Competitive or friendly? + 
+ This is very much a playtest mission, so if you find it hilariously unbalanced and unenjoyable one way or the other, I've added some suggestions for variation. However, I would encourage you to try it out, imbalances and all, as a different sort of gaming experience. You might try the historical gaming approach of taking it in turns to command the different forces, to see if you can improve on your gaming partner's approach. +

+ Given the simplicity of the forces, you might try it out as an introductory mission. It's very firmly in the narrative gaming camp. The original version is fairly infamous for being very one-sided – check out Realm of Zhu's article on this [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – and later editions of the game have made marines tougher and ork shooting worse. +

+ I've stuck with the original forces (twenty-one orks taking on sixteen marines), but I've tried to give the Marines more of a reason to hoof it across the board fairly early on, while making the loss of each one a really serious problem for the marines – both -1VP for their side, and +1VP for the orks. I hope this adds a sense of how precious the individual Marines are in the modern background, and helps to give the Crimson Fist player a few more strategic choices than 'hunker down and murder everything at range.' +


+ Forces are a bit vague +
+ No, you're a bit vague! +

+ Silliness aside, yes; they are. I've deliberately left the marines' exact equipment (and numbers) unstated, so feel free to mix and match weapons, or use whatever models you have. While we're trying it with Intercessors, you might find Tactical Marines give a closer game, if that's what you're after. +

+ For added balance (and to give the orks some teeth), you might try Thrugg as a Warboss. I've left him as a Nob, as I think that better fits the original background – he's very much just a platoon-level boss. +

+ Similarly, the exact numbers of Marines is vague. You might try using minimum (or even understrength) squads to provide more of a challenge. +

+ Let me know what you think – and if you've got a mission of your own, why not share it? +