The year is roughly 42000, but nobody is really keeping count so it's hard to tell. The Emperor of Mankind, probably a demigod, definitely a vegetable sits on a big chair and makes the traffic flow, which is great because it's responsible for the entire running of an empire whose FTL-travel is based on popping into the hellish immaterium where good souls go to be eaten by daemons, which apparently has great mileage.
None of that really matters to you, because whilst grand fleets clash and troops by the millions get funnelled into blistering war-zones to die, that's somewhere else.
The war hasn't yet crept to the planet "Forenium III" and Hive City Armoska still operates in civil bliss, its billions of residents dedicated to churning out more weapons, equipment and conscripts to send off to the various wars happening elsewhere.
However, deep below the city where those citizens undesirable to imperial sensibilities dwell, some new threats have emerged. Silently they have crept into the underbelly of the city, converting the civilians and forming cults. They take resources and interrupt the flow of the city, to prepare the way for the coming of their grand invasion, which will overrun the city and claim it for their masters.
Which would be great- if there was only one.
Somehow, through the Emperor's divine humour, both the Alien infiltrators of the Genestealers, and the Cthlonian contingent of the Chaos Cultists have begun their work in the same hive city simultaneously. The city isn't big enough for the both of them, and whichever cult is responsible for gaining ownership of the city will soon enough be the ones ruling the planet!
Or so they've been promised.
This is a standard Arms Race game (If you haven't seen one yet, well done).
Each faction will have a thread to itself, and it is encouraged not to peek into the threads of the opposing team (which would just ruin the fun).
The game is divided into turns, and the turns are divided into phases. Each team each turn will be given 5 dice to spend on designs or revisions.
In the Design phase, new designs can be put forward and voted on. Each design will cost three dice, which will be allocated towards Effectiveness, Cost, and Bugs, effectively.
After everyone has voted on a design (or not to design anything), I'll roll up the results and the new design will be free to be rolled out.
In the Revision phase, single dice can be spent for minor changes or improvements to completed designs. They won't have the same impact as a full design, but will be better suited to ironing out flaws in a project.
In the Strategy phase, you choose to recruit and outfit soldiers, move to and capture territory, and assign tactics to your groups.
Grand Designs
Teams can choose to make a 'Grand Design', usually a large project or undertaking. The notable aspect of this is that one of the three categories will be replaced with 'Time', which will indicate how many additional dice will need to be put into the project before it is completed. Particularly Ambitious 'Grand designs' will also have a 'preliminary research' component, which will show what designs need to happen before it is able to be completed (I.E. Lascannons won't happen until Laser weaponry is researched)
Revisions will also have an increased effectiveness on Grand Designs in production, because it's easier to tinker with something in development than make changes to a finished model.
Alert levels
This battle isn't only against eachother, but against the powers of the greater hive.
Each turn, the 'Imperial' faction will either raise or lower their specific alert levels based on things like bugs in infiltration, loud battles close to the surface, the deployment of monstrous or notably inhuman troops, and large amounts of resources going missing.
The alerts are divided into three different branches of the Imperial Inquisition
Ordo Xenos: Alien hunters
This is the department directly responsible for identifying alien species and neutralizing threats to the imperium.
Their Ordos Militant, the Deathwatch, are a group of veteran supersoldiers expert at assassination and elite tactics.
Gaining too much Alert will be bad news for the Genestealer faction.
Ordo Malleus: Daemonhunters
This is the department responsible for curbing the chaos threat, and banishing daemons back to the warp.
Their Ordos Militant, the Grey Knights, are a chapter of Space Marines who are as blunt an instrument as their name implies, bludgeoning through any resistance.
Gaining too much Alert would likewise be bad news for the Chaos faction.
Ordo Hereticus: Corruption and Sedition
This is the department responsible for assessing and digging up internal threats to the imperium.
Their Ordos Militant, the Adeptus Sororitas, are evangelical battle-nuns who excel at flamer warfare, and thusly, purges.
This Ordo is less militarily capable than the other two, but much better at investigation.
Gaining too much Alert will result in the Alert levels of the other two Ordos rising accordingly.
Each faction will start with these technologies:
Units:
Cultist squad (Troop): Manpower 5, Civilian Equipment 5.
The generic soldier, breeder and worker, ready to die for your cause.
Chaos Space Marine (Elite): Manpower 20, Civilian Equipment 20, Military Equipment 25.
Bringing their own weapons and armour, these walking tanks appear from the warp when summoned (usually exploding out through the body of a worshipping cultist)
They are heavily armoured and powerful combatants.
Gear
Autogun: Military Equipment: 5 or Civilian Equipment 10
The basic weapon of the cults, able to be cobbled together from practically anything and only slightly less reliable than a sharp stick.
Improvised Knife: Civilian Equipment 5
It's a sharp stick. Good for attacking people who do not have sharp sticks. Bad for anything else.
Autopistol Military Equipment: 5 or Civilian Equipment 5
Shorter range and a slower rate of fire than the Autogun, but otherwise the exact same, but in handheld form. Helpful if your other hand is being used for, say for carrying a sharp stick.
Twist
Chaos gives freely... endlessly and unceasing
Rolls of "6" on effectiveness for any design featuring magic or mutation will invoke the RtD rule of 'Gone horribly right', and will feature some unintended consequences.
Units:
Cultist (Troop): Manpower 5, Civilian Equipment 5.
The generic soldier, breeder and worker, ready to die for your cause.
Genestealer (Elite): Manpower 40, Civilian Equipment 35
These purestrain aliens are blisteringly quick, and can move freely through rough terrain.
They have no need (or thought) for weapons and equipment, preferring to shred armour with their razor-sharp talons.
However, they are little more than beasts, and can't be trusted to operate as master tacticians.
Gear
Autogun: Military Equipment: 5 or Civilian Equipment 10
The basic weapon of the cults, able to be cobbled together from practically anything and only slightly less reliable than a sharp stick.
Improvised Knife: Civilian Equipment 5
It's a sharp stick. Good for attacking people who do not have sharp sticks. Bad for anything else.
Autopistol Military Equipment: 5 or Civilian Equipment 5
Shorter range and a slower rate of fire than the Autogun, but otherwise the exact same, but in handheld form. Helpful if your other hand is being used for, say for carrying a sharp stick.
Twist
Patilineal infiltration units
This cult has a slower conversion rate, hurting their manpower, whilst their cultist varieties have a higher morale to compensate.
However, Purestrain Genestealers may be assigned to either battle or 'recruitment', allowing them to bolster their influx.
The Map is as follows
Infantry armies can move one hub per turn.
The Spire
Inaccessible normally to your wretched kind, the spire houses the nobility and clergy of the Hive.
Through infiltration you might be able to gain some influence up there, and have the benefits trickle down to you.
The Promethium Sprawl
The Promethium Sprawl is how the Hive city's main fuel source is pumped to the upper spire where it can be put to use.
Promethium is the most valuable resource in the game, and the arena in which it is harvested is a maze of criss-crossing gangways, broken pipes and corrosive slicks.
The Surface
Covered in a thick, poisonous smog, it is impossible to traverse without special equipment.
The Habs
A huge boon to manpower, however its high population brings more attention from the Inquisition.
Battles in this sector will be amongst dense houses and fleeing civilians.
The Workshops
Workshop hubs can produce either Civilian or Military equipment, and will produce more or less based on the amount of mines you control.
Battles in the Workshops will be amongst wide warehouses and huge elevators, with lots of empty space.
The Mines
Hubs in the mines produce small quantities of both Civilian and Military equipment.
Battles here will be amongst deep twisting caves and yawning caverns both. It is also buried under rock and dirt, meaning fighting here will attract very little imperial attention.
The Sump
The sump is where the old cities of man stood. Crushed by the weight of the hive and filled by a lake of waste and acid, it is completely uninhabitable.
There will be two turns of development before any troops are allowed to be produced or moved, in order to start the teams down their respective tech paths.
Please post in this thread which team you'll be joining, and as usual
avoid looking at the other team's thread once the game is underway.
For the Four-Armed Emperor!For the Dark Gods! (Undermanned)
This is technically an asymmetrical arms race, however they do start out very similar and don't have much difference.
For those unfamiliar with the lore, this is a tiny peek into what each side can and cannot do.
The Chaos cult is dedicated to a daemonic being which dwells in the warp. They can ask for boons and favours, and in return will get stuff from the warp.
This can range from a sorceror casting magic, summoning daemons, or someone being
'given' a variety of mutations.
The ability to summon daemons, or into hosts, or create new unit types through mutations is a powerful tool, however, chaos certainly does give freely, and not always in the ways you'd enjoy.
The Genestealer cultists are an alien hive mind.
They don't have 'mutations' as such, but can freely blend their DNA with that of their cultists progeny - just in case you wanted some guys with three or four arms, or a hardened carapace.
Moving beyond the 'hybrid' spectrum to something which is greater than the sum of its parts, however, will require significant investment.
likewise, their magic is barely, or tangentially, warp related, however they can bring psionics and hypnosis-style powers to the table.
The closest they would come to summoning 'daemons' would be just a concentrated form of their psychic web causing bloodthirsty little mascots to appear.
Generally speaking though, a bigger family means more powerful psykery, so it's not a dead end.
Edit:
Due to popular demand, we have a
Discord now.
Author
Topic: Cult Race: Battle for the underhive (WH40k) (Read 8105 times)