Sumnal: A Warhammer 40,000 Narrative Campaign

This post and battle report marks the first few steps in the beginning of a narrative campaign/gaming experiment that my gaming group is starting.

We won't be tracking wins or losses. We won't be fielding competitive net-lists. We won't be min-maxing, or any of that nonsense.

What we will be doing is fielding beautiful, fully painted armies on some great terrain. We will be forging a strong narrative between our games and watching an epic story unfold. We will be starting small, relearning Warhammer 40,000 properly, and building/rebuilding/renovating our respective armies.

Here begins the last days of Sumnal.

For the last three weeks, soulless machines have risen from the wastes and decimated the population.

The citizens of the outlands now take refuge in the capital city. Their homes and lands are the scene of a brutal struggle at the edge of Imperial space.

As nothing more than a small imperial backwater planet, Sumnal holds little-to-no strategic value. It's industry largely consists of ore mines. A large number of moisture farms help support the migrant workforce. Sumnal's slow rotation dictates constantly shifting work sites. Month-long days and endless black nights force constant relocations of mining operations.

It's only notable settlement, the capital space port of Elsmere boasts a population of a few million. The city is mostly inhabited by administratum and space port workers, tasked with shipping ore off-world. Now harboring hundreds of thousands of migrant workers sheltering from the newly-risen Necron menace, Elsmere's infrastructure is collapsing.

In the beginning, the refugees slowly trickled in. Many refused to believe the superstitious outlanders. Day after day passed and more and more refugees streamed in. Adeptus Arbites struggled to keep order - using many of their men to form pockets of resistance in the wastes - a desperate attempt to buy time for imperial reinforcements to arrive.

Three days ago, a small imperial fleet translated into the system. With only a small contigent of Imperial Navy marines, the imperium is scrambling to mount a defense against the growing threat.

Now, Adeptus Astartes of two chapters have joined the fray. Small strike forces have taken to the wastes, holding back the tide of machines. Slowly, imperial officials and upper-class citizens are being evacuated off-world.

Sumnal is burning.

+++Transmission begins.+++

There's no glory to be found here. Surely with such a small contingent, Grimaldus expects me to fail. 

Penance for my transgressions perhaps?

The Reclusiarch was unsure.

Regardless, through his thick ceramite armour, he could hear - even feel the Thunderhawk gunship scream over the wastes.

His skull-helm already affixed, Luther spoke from the cockpit doorway. He preferred the booming sound of his voice through the helm's amplified external speakers rather than the tinny, impersonal vox.

"Brothers, what's out target?", he bellowed over the din of the engines.

"A maintenance yard, Reclusiarch," the pilot responded.

"A maintenance yard?" Luther inquired, annoyed that he had been tasked with such an insignificant mission.

"Aye, brother. The fleet is unsure if the machines believe it valuable, but it lies on a clear path between the canyons and the Emperor's Highway. Ether way, it must be denied to the enemy."

Luther didn't bother to reply. He made his way back to the assault ramp. The vox in his helm crackled to life. It was the pilot, who continued with his briefing.

"Two squads of our brothers are already on the ground, I fear they may not be fairing well - thirty seconds to touchdown. Good luck, Reclusiarch. No pity, no remorse, - "

"No fear." Luther finished the pilot's words.

Fear? These machines? These machines were nothing to fear. Luther knew that they moved with cold, calculated logic. They were not the mindless menace of the Tyranids.

Now surrounded by his squad, Luther looked back - the door gunner was already applying sacred unguents to his heavy bolter. They must be close to the target.

He thumbed a small control glyph, his jump pack roared to life. His brothers followed his lead.

Seconds later, the assault ramp opened. The harsh light and blowing sand ripped around him. Even with poor visibility, he could see the battle raging below. His brothers were in need.

"To the skies!" Luther roared, and pushed himself from the ramp. The ground flew towards him.

Luther's battle had begun.

+++Transmission ends.+++

For this game, I broke out both my Necrons and Black Templar in order to introduce my friend to the rules of Warhammer 40k. He's currently building a Tau army and has dabbled in the universe before, but this is his first real game of regular 40k.

It's a cinematic match-up that ended up inspiring the development of Sumnal, this new narrative campaign.

We started with simple 450 pt lists in order to explore the basic mechanics of the games.

Black Templar Spearhead:

Chapter Tactics
Black Templar

Reclusiarch Luther
Bolt Pistol, Crozius, Rosarius, Jump Pack

Assault Squad x 5
Powerfist

Crusader Squad x 6
Bolters, Missile Launcher

Crusader Squad x 8
Bolt Pistols, Close Combat Weapons, Power Axe

441 pts.

Necron Vanguard:

Necron Overlord
Resurrection Orb, Warscythe

Necron Warriors x 8

Necron Warriors x 8

Canoptek Wraiths x 3

443 pts.

We decided that the easiest game to play would be kill points, using standard deployment.

Necrons, played by Matt, won the roll-off and elected to deploy first. Templars, played by myself, failed to seize.

Top of Turn 1. The Necrons begin to move.

+++

Luther slammed into the ground. His squad came down swiftly behind him. They landed right between the two wounded groups of crusaders.

They would make their stand here.

Across the maintenance yard, the machines continued their march through the rocky terrain.

Luther knew that he wanted to close the distance as fast as he could.

He clenched his crozius, bringing the ancient device's energy fields to life.

"Forward, brothers! To glory!"

They charged.

+++

In the first turn, Matt moved up his Necrons, learning the different movement rates of his Warriors and Wraiths. He tried to seek cover the best that he could, but knew that the warriors would have to push into the open in order to maximize their firepower in later turns.

The Black Templars pushed forward as well, making sure to leave their missile launcher stationary. The jump pack troops moved and ran forward, taking cover behind the central building. The crusaders joined them, rolling well for their run. On the right side, the small squad fired at the barely-exposed Wraiths. Bolters and a krak rocket managed to find their marks, killing one Wraith and wounding another.

End of Turn 1.

From here, the Necron Warriors and Overlord on the Templar's left flank would advance, managing a handful of shots at the Crusaders and killing three. The Crusaders would fail morale and break.

The center group of Warriors would continue their advance, taking a few shots at the squad in the crater.

The Wraiths phased through the building in front of them, their sights also set on the small, isolated squad in the crater. They charged. The Crusaders managed nothing in overwatch and braced for the attack. Hammer of Wrath immediately killed one of them.

The Wraiths prove deadly as the Crusaders desperately fight back.

The Crusaders managed to make a large number of armour saves but also failed to wound the Wraiths. The Wraiths managed to slay another marine. The Crusaders fail their morale and fall back. Luckily, the Wraiths didn't manage to catch them, allowing them to shoot next turn.

In the Black Templar's turn, the Crusaders on the left flank advanced. They attempted to charge, but successful overwatch downs their closest squad member and they fail their charge by less than an inch.

The Assault Squad leaps over the central building, fires their pistols and successfully charges the group of Necron Warriors. Luther and his fellow marines inflict massive causalities without taking any in return. They manage to destroy the whole squad, preventing the Necron Reanimation Protocols from taking effect. First Blood and a kill point go to the Templars.

The broken squad on the far right flank turns around and unsuccessfully fires into the Wraiths.

Bottom of Turn 2, immediately before the assault phase.

At the top of the third turn, the Warriors and Overlord advanced again and fired into the Crusaders on the left flank. Unfortunately for Matt, his dice betray him - the majority of his shots go wild. The Crusaders also roll tremendously well for their saves and only lose two brothers.

The Wraiths moved in again on the isolated squad, hoping to stay out of the way of the deadly Assault Squad.

Again, the Wraiths prey on the isolated Space Marines.

In this combat, the Crusaders manage to inflict a wound on the Wraiths, but it is too little, too late. They're ripped apart by the Wraiths' deadly rending attacks. The Wraiths pick up a kill point.

Top of Turn 3, after the Necrons move.

Having now lost a squad, the Templars rally. Both the weakened remaining Crusaders as well as the Assault Squad gain a renewed focus on eliminating the remaining Warriors. The Assault squad walks around the side of the central building, gambling that they'll roll well enough for the charge and be able to use their jump packs for deadly Hammer of Wrath attacks.

The Templars move in for the kill.

This combat would prove to be bloody. The wounded Crusaders charge first, soaking up the overwatch and ensuring that their brothers would have a better chance of making their charge roll.

As the Space Marines and Necrons slam into each other, Reclusiarch Luther immediately issues a challenge to the Necron Overlord. The Overlord accepts.

The two leaders fight on the clifftop as the battle rages below.

Between the two squads, both sides take multiple casualties. Due to their power weapons and multitude of attacks, the Templars managed to take a small lead.

In the clifftop challenge, the Chaplain strikes first. He manages to inflict two wound with his Crozius. Unfortunately, Matt's dice fail him again. He fails to save either wound.

The Overlord strikes back with his huge warscythe. Any unsaved wound will instantly kill the chaplain. Matt manages to inflict two wounds.

Miraculously, Luther makes both of his 4+ invulnerable saves.

The two wounds inflicted by the Chaplain would help to ultimately win the combat. The Overlord and his Warriors fail their morale save (barely) and are cut down by the Templars. Another kill point and Slay the Warlord goes to the Templars.

All that is left is to clean up the two remaining Wraiths. We called the game at the end of turn 5.

All in all, it was definitely a fun game and a great introduction back into 40k. I definitely realized how many rules that I had forgotten over the last year or so.

We both finished the night with a renewed enthusiasm for the game and the upcoming narrative campaign.