Heralds of Ruin - Kill Teams

[The Supreme Emissary]

heralds-of-ruin.blogspot.co.uk

HoR has put together a compelling set of alternative kill team rules, including rules for kill team campaigns.
Its a relatively light read to supplement the Kill Team game type and goes along with your core book and choice codex.

If we can i'd like to get such a campaign going at Chronocade.

HoRs Kill Team campaign uses a lot of well crafted collections from the current codices to build up infantry centric teams.
Players spend points they earn from playing in missions to build up their 'Force'. They then choose models from their force to make their 'Team' for the game. 
As they play games they kill some, lose some, gain experience points and levels. they then spend those points on new models, upgrades and improving their 'Base'.

They've set up lists of units taken and adapted from all the codexes as well as some fan made factions and added some new tweaks and gear options of their own. 

The campaign rules have some real risk reward features and is designed for a long term game with a regular group of frequent players. Games range from 200-400 points.

[The Supreme Emissary]

Thoughts on adapting for Chronocade.

All the base rules an unit entries HoR has outlined remain in play, with a few additions and modifications. The lists HoR has outlined cherry picks a lot of the more difficult units like HQs as leaders and fast attack as Core. And while their lists are reasonably up to date, some of their cherry picking removes access to some models for their own games. We should get the opportunity to decide that ourselves. They also don't cover forge world which is full of lovely wonderful models. And since this is an unofficial fan made game format, there is no reason they cannot be included.

I think some of these adjustments will allow for a richer team build that more closely represents our players interests and can speed up a campaign to a much more reasonable progression.

Universal Force List - All players have a universal list from which they can collect their models. Their Teams will be pulled from this list for each game.
Leaders - 1 only. If a leader model dies, a specialist can take their place for the rest of that game. after the game, a replacement leader can be purchased or the specialist can remain in charge.
Special - up to 5. for every other 5 infantry models, a force can include 1 specialist.
Core - up to 5 Groups. You always need to be able to field at least one group, otherwise your force is disbanded.
Groups - a group is a selection of up to 5 Core models taken from the same unit that share upgrades and honors.
Squads - A squad is like a group of models taken from the same unit that must move and act together. They take up one of your group slots but can consist of a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 models.
Vehicles and Artillery - The only vehicles that are allowed are transports and walkers, no flyers. And then only if they have a combined armor value of no more than 34. For every ten infantry models in a force, a walker, transport or artillery unit can be added. The practical maximum is 3 in any combination.
Base Equipment - The kill team is a mobile force so they can't bring the usual fortifications, but they can heft some light gear into the field.

Artillery includes the normal gunners
Transports reduce their point cost by 50p.
All transports, walkers, artillery and base equipment have maintenance costs that must be paid after each game. If they cannot be paid, that model is not available for the next game.
No monstrous creatures are allowed, but since Drop Pods are given exception then Tyranid Tyrannocytes can be an exception in the same vain, even though they are monstrous creatures

Allied Teams - HoR features a rule for Inquisition models being taken by other imperium forces, but lets take it a step further.
Any team can add models from another faction they are battle Brothers with.
Up to 1 Special, 1 Core Group and/or 1 transport/walker/artillery
All Imperium factions are battle brothers
All Eldar factions are battle brothers
Chaos marines and daemons are battle brothers

The Legendary Hero needs to be expanded, so i'd like to see people coming up with their own unique characters and figuring out how to keep them appropriate to the format.

Base Upgrades - in HoR the base upgrades are set up to gradually increase the team sizes and add other field benefits. but i think this can be made much easier.
RN 0 RP0 Tanglewire - up to 3 6" barricades/fences can be placed anywhere on the table. they cannot be destroyed and have no maintenance costs.

RN 5 RP 5 Comms Relay - improves your reserve rolls, adds a comms relay to the field, acts as cover and can be destroyed.
+ RP 5 Target Designator - At the beginning of a game, mark a single enemy model. All of your models get a +1 to hit that model.

RN 10 RP 5 (not including upgrade points) Defense Turret - An automated sentry (BS2 fires at closest enemy) featuring a heavy weapon from that factions codex (cheapest option). The turret can be upgraded to a different weapon by spending the listed points difference. it can also be upgraded to Twin-Linked by paying for a second identical weapon (only needs to be done once, but upgrades need to cover both weapons). The weapon can be fired manually like most other weapon emplacements. it acts as cover and can be destroyed.
* A Force can include up to 2 Turrets, each is paid for and upgraded separately

RN 15 RP 5 Shield Projector - Place a 25mm base anywhere in your deployment zone. any model fully within 3" (7"diameter circle) gains a 5++ invul save. doesn't act as cover, can be destroyed.
+ RP 2 Psi-shield - upgrade to shield generator. models covered by the shield get +1 to deny the witch.
* A Force can have up to 2 Shield Projectors. each is purchased separately

RN 20 RP 10 Medical Facilities - You can re-roll results on the Injury Chart.

RN 25 RP 10 Vehicle Hangar - You can re-roll results on vehicle and walker damage charts

Base Equipment require RP to purchase and upgrade. The Turrets are upgraded using regular points. Base equipment does not take up any points on your Team List. Any destroyed equipment is replaced for the next game if you pay its maintenance cost. The maintenance costs of base equipment is its RP cost divided by 5 (1 or 2, tangle wire is free)

Legendary Weapons - HoR developed a generation system to create melee or ranged weapons that are potentially garbage or potentially devastating. In the normal rules players compete during missions for the rare chance to produce such gear. With how wild the quality can vary between results, these can be very frustrating quests compared to even the best possible results.
So instead, all players will get one chance during each narrative mission step to roll for a legendary weapon if/when they win a game in that step. The bigger the campaign, the more chances players get and the better the chance for a worthwhile result.

Renown - After each game, everyone gains experience that unlocks access to battle honors and base equipment.
After a win, gain 2 renown. If you lose, you only gain 1.

Bigger rewards - the Requisition Point rewards are used to buy new models and upgrades. The rate of acquisition in HoRs rules makes collecting them a long and arduous process for a casual group like the one at Chronocade. So lets speed things up a bit.
Everyone starts their Force with 250 points. That's more than they can field in their first game but it gives them a backup core to keep them in the game if they lose.
For showing up for their first game, they get a 'just for showing up' reward of 10 points. this is good to cover any miscalculations they may have made if they've never played a game in this format.
After every game, players receive 5 points to help cover maintenance costs.
The winner gets an additional 5 points to advance their force.

Game and Board size - Kill Team games are played on a smaller 4'x4' table. saves space considering their vastly smaller points. The table can be effectively shrunk further to make better use of limited terrain pieces, which are meant to be relatively densely packed.
Games start at 200 points and increase by 50 points for each narrative step up to 500 points (meaning 7 event missions)
Tables are built on 2-4 boards depending on the point size of the game.
200-250 2 boards
300-350 3 boards long ways
400-500 4 board square

I can add special Zone Mortalis games with 9 ZM FW boards. equivalent coverage to 2 boards. I wouldn't make these an event mission, but it could be a cool bonus mission.

Perhaps more a point of clarification. Injured models must be rolled for on their respective charts to see if they are dead, alive or wounded

[The Supreme Emissary]

Chronocade Campaign Concepts

Tyranid incursion, Chaos Assault, Purge the Heretic, Warp Storm, Hive Dive, Haunted Hulk, Dark Mechanicus, Mining Wars

Missions
Elimination 2 board, 3 board, 4 board
Mysterious Objectives 2 board, 3 board, 4 board
Attack & Defend 2 board, 3 board, 4 board


Planetfall 2 board 200 points
All models able to Deep Strike do so on turn 1. Models with scout, infiltrate and outflank start on the table. All other models start in reserve and arrive as normal on turn 2.
Objective: rout or eliminate your enemy, claiming the landing zone.

King of the Hill 2 board
Place a 5" blast marker on the center of the table.
Objective: at the end of game, the player with the most models in the marked area wins.

Point Defense 3 board
place a token in the center of each board. Players receive 2RP for each token they control at end of game. each token is a mysterious objective
Objective: control the most objectives at games end

Tactical Objectives 4 board
Place 6 numbered objective markers according to tactical objective rules. Players draw and keep a hand of 5 tac cards
Objective: The player that completes the most tactical objectives wins.

Capture the Flag 4 board
Players place a token in the center of the board. Any model that starts its turn in base contact with the token can give up its shooting attack and charge attack. It can move and run normally while carrying the token. If the model can carry the token to the owning players deployment zone and keep it there at games end, even if that player is routed, they gain 2RP for each other opposing player.

Boss Fight 4 board 500 points
One player starts in the center of the board, Their Leader is "the boss". Opposing player/s deploy from any table edge.
The Boss can resurrect one of its fallen models per turn for each opposing player. During the psychic phase, roll a d6, on a roll of 6 one model is revived and can shoot/run and charge as normal. The required roll is reduced by -1 for every level of psyker mastery the Boss has. Deploy these models in base contact with the boss. For every model revived this way, 1 RP is granted to each opposing player.
Objective: Kill the Boss. The player that kills the Boss gets 3 RP

[The Supreme Emissary]

30K Legion Adaptations

Troops
Legion Tactical Squad - Starts at 10, goes to 20, has a double shot order. A tactical squad without the weapon options and can come in larger numbers
- No change

Legion Assault Squad - like the 40K type but can get in groups of 20 and have more upgrade options
- No change

Legion Breacher Siege Squad - Standard marines with Hardened armor and Boarding Shields. THe armor upgrade only effects environmental effects in
situational games. The boarding shields add invul saves
- Add another Core type that features shields. Combat Shields, Boarding Shields, Siege Mantlets but not storm shields. Limit 5 per team
[ 4 4 4 4 1 4 1 8 3+ 15p each
[Power Armour, Boltgun, Close Combat Weapon, Frag Grenade, Krak Grenade, Siege Mantlet
[ ATSKNF, Chapter Tactics
[ Every model can replace their siege mantlet with a combat shield for 3p each
[ Every model can replace their siege mantlet with a boarding shield for 5p each
[ Every fifth man can exchange their bolter for a ranged or special weapon
[ Siege Mantlets (allow you to re-roll armor saves) Combat Shields (6++), Boarding Shields (6++ against shooting, 5++ against close combat, can't use the extra attack for having multiple weapons)

Tactical Support Squad - Standard marines that can't be taken in a compulsory troop choice. They all get special weapons
- Add another Core type that can equip special weapons. It cannot be the only core group you field in battle. Limit 5 per team
[ standard marine profile 20p each
[ come with flamers and bolt pistols, every model can exchange their flamers for a different special weapon
[ special weapons include melta guns, grav-guns, plasma guns, rotor cannons and volkite calivers

Legion Reconnaisance Squad - Scouts that start with power armor
- No Change

Elites
Veteran Tactical Squad - Equivalent to a 40K tactical Squad but with your choice of special tactics rules that last a game.
- No change

Destroyer Squad - Pistoleers that can take jump packs. a fifth man can swap for better pistols or a nasty special missile launcher with suspensor.
- Add a choice to assault marines to trade their chainsword for another bolt pistol.
[ Assault marine entry remains the same, add the option to exchange their chansword for a second bolt pistol, then gaining Gunslinger.
[ Can exchange one or both pistols on every fifth man
[ Pistol upgrades include: Hand Flamers, inferno pistols, Grav pistols, Plasma Pistols, Volkite Serpenta

Terminator Squad - starts cheaper than 40k because they start with power weapons instead of power fists. HH adds a selection of different armor patterns
- No change

Techmarine Covenant - they trade their option for a servo-harness and a fifth servitor for an expanded gear list and the ability to take 3 guys in one slot. This lets you get more techs on the field than 40K FoC would allow.
- No change

Apothecarion Detachment - Gets up to 3 apothecaries in one slot. These don't count as independent characters, rather they are assigned to an infantry squad. They carry nartheciums which work the same
- No change

Heavy Support
Legion Heavy Support Squad - Like the Tactical Support squad but everyone gets heavy weapons
- Add a specialist marine that can take a heavy weapon, like a devastator. Limit 3 per team
[ a standard marine, 20p each
[ can take heavy weapons and can add Suspensors to increase their mobility in exchange for range
[ Heavy weapons include: Heavy bolter, Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta, Grav-cannon, Plasma Cannon, Lascannon, Missile Launcher, Autocannon, Volkite Culverin


Mechanicus Codex units
HQ

TROOP
Adsecularis Covenant 35p
- Infantry tech-thralls. A squad unit that can take over arching upgrades
- Best Choice for a Leader

Thallax Cohorts 135p
- Jet battle borgs with a lot of good rules and nasty weapons. Limit 3 per team

Scyllax Guardian Automata Covenant 155p
- Cyber squid borgs. add a Core choice. Limit 5 per army

ELITE
Tech-Priest Auxilla 65p
- Like the Magos, comes with Servitors. Can choose from a list of special rules.

Myrmidon Secutors 120p
- Specialists, max of 3. Heavy duty hoodies that can take twin shoulder weapons. Similar to allowing Centurions

FAST ATTACK
Ursarax Cohort 155p
- An alternat thallax. Jump infantry designed for Melee. Limit 3 per team

Tarantula Sentry Gun Battery 30p
- Artillery piece, used as the basis for the sentry turrets

HEAVY SUPPORT
Myrmidon Destructors 120
- An alternate Myrmidon that comes with a power fist and can take a heavy weapon. Add a specialist. Limit 3 per team

Paragon of Metal
Automata all count as Monstrous creatures and must be controlled by a model with a cortex controller. An Automata with Paragon of Metal is able to act on its own.