Post by dragonlord on Jan 3, 2010 13:03:14 GMT -5
I've drawn up a rough map and some rules for the campaign/league next term. The map can be seen here, I will draw up a big prettier A3 version of the map once I've taken any suggestions people have into account.
The campaign is going to be fought on, and in orbit around, the world of Arbela. The ground section of the campaign is focused on the region around the planetary capital of Ravensburg, an area roughly the size of Western Europe.
Currently there are 9 regions, these being Westfaln, Ravensham-Minscholt, Kentralen, Batkas, West Ravensburg, East Ravensburg, Nordhein and Orbit. This could be reduced to 8 or 7 if desired by getting rid of the Nordhein region (something I'm considering anyway) and/or combining East and West Ravensburg into one. Each region has different characteristics and provides the faction that holds it with a bonus specific to that region, I will detail these a bit later.
There will be 2 factions for the campaign, Order and Disorder, and it will run a bit like the Medusa V and Eye of Terror summer campaigns. Which faction controls a region will be determined by the number of 'battle-points' each faction has accrued in the region. At the beginning of any battle you would like to contribute to the campaign you should agree with your opponent beforehand which region you would like the battle to be fought in, this can also affect the type of terrain you would like to use for the battle since the different regions contain a number of different terrain types. At the end of the battle you then work out the number of battle-points you have accrued for your faction as follows: the base number of points is 0 points for a loss, 1 point for a draw and 3 points for a win, then multiply this number by the size of the battle in pts/1000. So if you win a 1500 point battle you will accrue 4.5 (3*1500/1000) battle-points for your faction, while if you draw a 750 point battle you will accrue 0.75 battle-points. When you've done this let me know how many battle-points have been accrued for each faction and which region you fought in and I will record it, you can also if you would like give me a short battle report describing the battle and each week I will send out an e-mail with an little account of the effect of the weeks battles on the course of the campaign.
A faction holds a region if they have at least 3 battle-points more than the opposing faction, for example if Order has 12 battle-points in the Kentralen region and Disorder has 9 then Kentralen is held by Order, but if Order only had 11 then Kentralen would be held by no-one.
Now I'll go into each of the regions and the bonuses provided in a bit more detail:
Batkas: This region contains narrow bands of fertile land at its northern and southern edges along the Tanel and Raven rivers. The fertile land along the rivers rapidly fades away into arid marginal land before finally giving way to the great Eastern Desert. As such it may initially seem that the Batkas is of little value, however the region has two great assets. The first is Johann Einback Starport, the primary starport of the entire capital territory, named for Johann Einback, Arbela's first governor. The second is the extensive Rausbeck promethium fields, one of the largest promethium producing areas on Arbela. These two features mean that a faction that holds the Batkas can get reserves into battle more quickly and as such can re-roll all reserves rolls.
Kentralen: The Kentralen region contains many cities and towns patch-worked with farmland and small woodland areas, this is the most populous of the regions in the capital territory with a population of over 100 million. This can be both a problem and an asset as it means a large workforce and sizable industry, but at the same time controlling this large population, spread over a large area as it is, can be difficult. The greatest asset of Kentralen though is Fort Jaresholm, this is the main PDF base in the capital territory and one of the largest on the whole of Arbela, the huge munitions stores and weapons factories in Fort Jaresholm and the surrounding settlements are a huge boon to any faction holding the Kentralen region. A faction holding Kentralen will be able to ensure their troops are always very well supplied with ammunition and as such may nominate one unit per turn who for the duration of that turn benefit from a re-roll to hit.
(Is once per turn too much? Should I reduce it to once per game?)
Ravensham-Minscholt: This region is dominated by huge swathes of fertile farmland with scattered settlements. A substantial portion of the regional population is concentrated in the city of Luxor. Luxor is also notable as an entertainment centre, with something of a reputation for decadence and debauchery where all manner of illicit items might be obtained, in peace time the rich upper classes of Ravensburg flock to Luxor in droves to attend the endless exclusive parties and restock their narcotics supplies. Another major feature of Ravensham-Minscholt is the great expanses of the Hinvast swamplands. A morass of bogs, quagmires and swamps, the Hinvast is nigh impassable and almost certain death to vehicles, however cover abounds and for infantry fighting a guerilla campaign the Hinvast is the perfect hide-out. The armies of a faction that holds Ravensham-Minscholt will be well fed and possibly spurred on by narcotics and as such may re-roll all run and fleet rolls.
Westfaln: Westfaln is dominated by rocky landscapes and the foothills of the Thunderhead Mountains. The most significant feature of Westfaln is the huge Amenes mines in the north of the region. The rare ores extracted from the mines have a great many uses, one being to strengthen armour plates used in infantry armour. The faction controlling Westfaln may choose one non-vehicle unit at the beginning of each game that have had their armour augmented with ores from the Amenes mines, that unit increases its armour save by +1 to a maximum of 2+.
(I am aware this might be a little overpowered for marines, particularly if applied to a unit of 20 CSMs, but I'm sure how to help that or what other bonus I could use that would be appropriate).
West Ravensburg: The western part of the planetary capital, this half of the city is mostly residential, commercial and administrative with most of the city's industry being located in the eastern district. The central areas are dominated by towering skyscrapers and huge monolithic administrative buildings, while in the outer areas this gives way to lower buildings with more parks and green spaces between them. Control of the administrative centre of the world is a huge boost to the morale of the faction holding it, meaning all units will be at +1 leadership for the purposes of morale tests. The extensive communication arrays of the capital also make it easier to direct deep striking reinforcements, allowing the scatter to be re-rolled.
East Ravensburg: The eastern district of the capital is dominated by heavy industry, from huge refineries for the promethium extracted from the fields to the south to massive factories producing goods from tanks to logic engines. Interspersed between these structures are large loading yards and storage areas and some scattered poor residential districts for those working in the factories. The industrial might of East Ravensburg is a great benefit to a faction that can hold it since it means access to facilities to improve and repair existing vehicles and other large constructs and manufacture new machines. All vehicles belonging to the faction that holds East Ravensburg gain the extra armour upgrade, while all monstrous creatures gain +1 wound (due to additional ablative armour being strapped onto them).
Orbit: The space above Arbela is dominated by the world's gas ring and two small moons, as well as scattered debris fields (counts as asteroids) from the fighting above the world. The faction that controls orbital space above Arbela is free to rein down destruction at will upon their enemies, as such the commander of any army of that faction (who must be, or be part of, an HQ choice) gains the orbital bombardment ability, as per the space marine codex, a space marine chapter master may thus use the ability twice per game rather than once.
Dunkeln Forest: Dunkeln Forest can be a dark and forbiding place, nestled between the Thunderhead Mountains and the White Mountains, in places though the dense forest gives way to thinner woodland and large clearings, where small settlements can often be found. The forest is also home to a number of creatures with amazing cameleonic abilities and the faction that controls the Dunkeln Forest controls the tannerys that work their hides and may upgrade one unit with cameleoline cloaks giving them a +2 to their cover save (meaning their benefit from a 5+ cover save when in the open).
Nordhein: The Nordhein region lies to the north of Ravensburg and is dominated by a large steppe covered plateau with scattered settlements.
I haven't yet thought of a bonus for Nordhein (hence why I'm considering getting rid of it, if you can think of one, please let me know).
The campaign is going to be fought on, and in orbit around, the world of Arbela. The ground section of the campaign is focused on the region around the planetary capital of Ravensburg, an area roughly the size of Western Europe.
Currently there are 9 regions, these being Westfaln, Ravensham-Minscholt, Kentralen, Batkas, West Ravensburg, East Ravensburg, Nordhein and Orbit. This could be reduced to 8 or 7 if desired by getting rid of the Nordhein region (something I'm considering anyway) and/or combining East and West Ravensburg into one. Each region has different characteristics and provides the faction that holds it with a bonus specific to that region, I will detail these a bit later.
There will be 2 factions for the campaign, Order and Disorder, and it will run a bit like the Medusa V and Eye of Terror summer campaigns. Which faction controls a region will be determined by the number of 'battle-points' each faction has accrued in the region. At the beginning of any battle you would like to contribute to the campaign you should agree with your opponent beforehand which region you would like the battle to be fought in, this can also affect the type of terrain you would like to use for the battle since the different regions contain a number of different terrain types. At the end of the battle you then work out the number of battle-points you have accrued for your faction as follows: the base number of points is 0 points for a loss, 1 point for a draw and 3 points for a win, then multiply this number by the size of the battle in pts/1000. So if you win a 1500 point battle you will accrue 4.5 (3*1500/1000) battle-points for your faction, while if you draw a 750 point battle you will accrue 0.75 battle-points. When you've done this let me know how many battle-points have been accrued for each faction and which region you fought in and I will record it, you can also if you would like give me a short battle report describing the battle and each week I will send out an e-mail with an little account of the effect of the weeks battles on the course of the campaign.
A faction holds a region if they have at least 3 battle-points more than the opposing faction, for example if Order has 12 battle-points in the Kentralen region and Disorder has 9 then Kentralen is held by Order, but if Order only had 11 then Kentralen would be held by no-one.
Now I'll go into each of the regions and the bonuses provided in a bit more detail:
Batkas: This region contains narrow bands of fertile land at its northern and southern edges along the Tanel and Raven rivers. The fertile land along the rivers rapidly fades away into arid marginal land before finally giving way to the great Eastern Desert. As such it may initially seem that the Batkas is of little value, however the region has two great assets. The first is Johann Einback Starport, the primary starport of the entire capital territory, named for Johann Einback, Arbela's first governor. The second is the extensive Rausbeck promethium fields, one of the largest promethium producing areas on Arbela. These two features mean that a faction that holds the Batkas can get reserves into battle more quickly and as such can re-roll all reserves rolls.
Kentralen: The Kentralen region contains many cities and towns patch-worked with farmland and small woodland areas, this is the most populous of the regions in the capital territory with a population of over 100 million. This can be both a problem and an asset as it means a large workforce and sizable industry, but at the same time controlling this large population, spread over a large area as it is, can be difficult. The greatest asset of Kentralen though is Fort Jaresholm, this is the main PDF base in the capital territory and one of the largest on the whole of Arbela, the huge munitions stores and weapons factories in Fort Jaresholm and the surrounding settlements are a huge boon to any faction holding the Kentralen region. A faction holding Kentralen will be able to ensure their troops are always very well supplied with ammunition and as such may nominate one unit per turn who for the duration of that turn benefit from a re-roll to hit.
(Is once per turn too much? Should I reduce it to once per game?)
Ravensham-Minscholt: This region is dominated by huge swathes of fertile farmland with scattered settlements. A substantial portion of the regional population is concentrated in the city of Luxor. Luxor is also notable as an entertainment centre, with something of a reputation for decadence and debauchery where all manner of illicit items might be obtained, in peace time the rich upper classes of Ravensburg flock to Luxor in droves to attend the endless exclusive parties and restock their narcotics supplies. Another major feature of Ravensham-Minscholt is the great expanses of the Hinvast swamplands. A morass of bogs, quagmires and swamps, the Hinvast is nigh impassable and almost certain death to vehicles, however cover abounds and for infantry fighting a guerilla campaign the Hinvast is the perfect hide-out. The armies of a faction that holds Ravensham-Minscholt will be well fed and possibly spurred on by narcotics and as such may re-roll all run and fleet rolls.
Westfaln: Westfaln is dominated by rocky landscapes and the foothills of the Thunderhead Mountains. The most significant feature of Westfaln is the huge Amenes mines in the north of the region. The rare ores extracted from the mines have a great many uses, one being to strengthen armour plates used in infantry armour. The faction controlling Westfaln may choose one non-vehicle unit at the beginning of each game that have had their armour augmented with ores from the Amenes mines, that unit increases its armour save by +1 to a maximum of 2+.
(I am aware this might be a little overpowered for marines, particularly if applied to a unit of 20 CSMs, but I'm sure how to help that or what other bonus I could use that would be appropriate).
West Ravensburg: The western part of the planetary capital, this half of the city is mostly residential, commercial and administrative with most of the city's industry being located in the eastern district. The central areas are dominated by towering skyscrapers and huge monolithic administrative buildings, while in the outer areas this gives way to lower buildings with more parks and green spaces between them. Control of the administrative centre of the world is a huge boost to the morale of the faction holding it, meaning all units will be at +1 leadership for the purposes of morale tests. The extensive communication arrays of the capital also make it easier to direct deep striking reinforcements, allowing the scatter to be re-rolled.
East Ravensburg: The eastern district of the capital is dominated by heavy industry, from huge refineries for the promethium extracted from the fields to the south to massive factories producing goods from tanks to logic engines. Interspersed between these structures are large loading yards and storage areas and some scattered poor residential districts for those working in the factories. The industrial might of East Ravensburg is a great benefit to a faction that can hold it since it means access to facilities to improve and repair existing vehicles and other large constructs and manufacture new machines. All vehicles belonging to the faction that holds East Ravensburg gain the extra armour upgrade, while all monstrous creatures gain +1 wound (due to additional ablative armour being strapped onto them).
Orbit: The space above Arbela is dominated by the world's gas ring and two small moons, as well as scattered debris fields (counts as asteroids) from the fighting above the world. The faction that controls orbital space above Arbela is free to rein down destruction at will upon their enemies, as such the commander of any army of that faction (who must be, or be part of, an HQ choice) gains the orbital bombardment ability, as per the space marine codex, a space marine chapter master may thus use the ability twice per game rather than once.
Dunkeln Forest: Dunkeln Forest can be a dark and forbiding place, nestled between the Thunderhead Mountains and the White Mountains, in places though the dense forest gives way to thinner woodland and large clearings, where small settlements can often be found. The forest is also home to a number of creatures with amazing cameleonic abilities and the faction that controls the Dunkeln Forest controls the tannerys that work their hides and may upgrade one unit with cameleoline cloaks giving them a +2 to their cover save (meaning their benefit from a 5+ cover save when in the open).
Nordhein: The Nordhein region lies to the north of Ravensburg and is dominated by a large steppe covered plateau with scattered settlements.
I haven't yet thought of a bonus for Nordhein (hence why I'm considering getting rid of it, if you can think of one, please let me know).