Void War

Wars in the 31st Millennium are fought in all manner of unbearable conditions.  Possibly the worst of which are those battles in space, on battlefields with little to no atmosphere or gravity, where event the most minor of attacks can spell certain doom.  Whether on the hull of a space craft, through a breach in its hull, on an orbital platform or a small asteroid base void battles are by far the most dangerous theaters a battle can take place in.

Void War is a minor set of adjustments to regular games fought in the Secession to help mix games up a bit and to provide an extra dimension into the game.  The core rules should always be used for Void War games, with players agreeing to use any Additional rules they like.

Core rules
All weapons in a void war have the Rending special rule.  Any weapon that already has the Rending special rule will instead Rend on a 5+.  Models with hardened armour or a 2+ save are unaffected by this rule.

All blast weapons also gain the Pinning special rule.  Any weapon that already has the pinning special rule gives a -1 to the pinning check.

All Difficult terrain will also count as Dangerous terrain as well.

Additional rules
Exploding Terrain
Any cover saves taken that result in a '1' cause an extra D3 AP- auto wounds.  Representing the added danger of shrapnel in space.

Airless Void
Any model without a helmet has its Sv reduced by 1.

Faster Run
All models may run an extra D6" (so roll 2d6 and add them together), if any dice on a run comes up as a '1' then all the models in the squad must make an armour save, vehicles take a glancing hit.

Open to the Void
Have areas of the table be Impassible terrain to reflect that there is no ground there.  Skimmers, Flyers, Jetbikes, Jump troops and Jetpack troops may traverse it as normal (no dangerous terrain test needed).

Passages of Death
Due to how little of a table Space Hulk corridors cover treat all of them as open ground, with the gaps being Impassible (ignore penalties for Jump, Jetpack, Jetbikes or Skimmers) and all LoS is unblocked.  However each room or corridor section that a shooting attack, or witchfire psychic power, passes through gives +2 to a models cover save.

Extermination also has some nifty Void Battle rules for Zone Mortalis games.

 Horus Heresy: Shadows of Treachery cover.

Legions, Allies and Players (Betrayal Era)

This post is to get all the information together in the one spot, so we will have which Legions are what, where, who is playing them and who they will ally with.
Please note that "Player" refers to the player who has declared for that Legion, people are free to play any Legion they like.  
*An asterisk denotes the primary player of a Legion

A name in brackets is a player who may or may not still be in the campaign

 

Legion		Loyalty	Player	Warzone	Other
I	Dark Angels	Imperialist	Shadowolf		Paladin
III	Emperor's Children	Secessionist	J4ck	Isstvan III
IV	Iron Warriors	Secessionist	Onyx	Battle for Mars
V	White Scars	Imperialist	Snowman	Deliverance Lost	Khorne
VI	Space Wolves	Secessionist
VII	Imperial Fists	Imperialist Secessionist	Brother Syth* Lord Pants	Inwit Inwit
VIII	Night Lords	Imperialist	Scotsman		Nurgle
IX	Blood Angels	Secessionist	(Callum)	Isstvan III	Unfavoured
X	Iron Hands	Imperialist	Frosthammer* Ironknight		Tzeentch Tzeentch
XII	World Eaters	Secessionist	Teddles22	Isstvan III	Slaanesh
XIII	Scions of Guilliman	Secessionist	Steelesamurai	Isstvan III Battle for Mars
XIV	Death Guard	Secessionist
XV	Thousand Sons	Imperialist	Sanguis	Battle for Mars
XVI	Luna Wolves	Secessionist	(Daexcitedginganinja)	Isstvan III
XVII	Word Bearers	Imperialist
XVIII	Salamanders	Imperialist	Tiges		Paladin
XIX	Raven Guard	Secessionist	Lastakodo	Deliverance Lost	Unfavoured
XX	Alpha Legion	Imperialist	Ratt	Battle for Mars	Paladin

 

Warzones of the Betrayal (Deliverance Lost)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Shortly before the events of Isstvan III the White Scars were sent to destroy the Raven Guard Legion.  Having taken it upon themselves to censure the ever erratic actions of the White Scars, the Raven Guard found themselves cast adrift, no longer a part of the mighty Imperium.  Whilst determining what course of action to take now Corax withdrew the majority of the Raven Guard back to Deliverance, this one of the Raven Guard's most tragic mistakes during the Secession.  Unbeknownst to Corax the White Scars had been sent to attack his Legion, to punish them further and to rid the Imperium of their newest enemy.  The White Scars attack was sudden and brutal. The White Scars came out of warp mid system, a freakishly dangerous action at the best of times and one that caused considerable damage to the White Scars fleet, they unleashed a terrible devastation on the Raven Guard forces which scrambled to counter attack.
 
Deliverance Lost Rules
The Legions fighting over Deliverance are:
Imperialists
White Scars
Secessionists
Raven Guard

Being one of the longer lasting fights during the Secession, Deliverance Lost will occur over several eras.

There are 3 main theaters involved in the battles of Deliverance Lost.  Players should use these theaters to help them theme mission selection, game size and terrain types.  The three theaters are:
The Desolate Moon

The moon Deliverance is a desolate and blasted wasteland punctuated by the moons defence systems and the few habdomes needed above the surface of Deliverance.  This theater would be good for larger battles and is the only theater where large numbers of tanks and larger vehicles could easily be used.  Rocky outcrops, craters, defensive weapon emplacements and limited buildings would be perfect terrain for the moon.  Planet Strike would be perfect to represent the initial landings on the moon.
The Labyrinths of Deliverance
Beneath the surface of Deliverance lies the vast network of cavernous tunnels of the old Lycaen mines.  Those mines with richer seams or further from the Raven Spire are still used as mines.  The tunnels closer in serve as armouries, storage, training and housing areas for the Legion and its serfs.  Extremely close in fighting, with limited long ranged or aerospace support would make this theater ideal for City Fights or Zone Mortalis battles.  Although larger, more open areas abound Deepstriking, Fliers, and Barrage weapons should be very heavily restricted.
Naval Battles and Kiavahr's Hives
This theater is a mix of battles fought in and amongst the Hives of Kiavahr and the various battles that took place in space between the White Scar and Raven Guard fleets.  Broadly speaking similar terrain and rules could be used for each.  Zone Mortalis and City Fights would be ideal, as would a densely clustered terrain set.  Planet Strike would work for the initial boarding actions in the space battles and the Void War rules (coming soon to a Secession blog near you!) could also be used.

Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).

Warzones of the Betrayal (The Battle for Mars)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Mars is without a doubt the most important forgeworld in the galaxy.  Supplying the vast majority of the Crusade fleets' materiel.  When the Emperor lifted the bans on forbidden technology, the hiccup in supplies was barely noticed.  As what would later be called the Martian Rebellions rolled on disruptions became more common.  Many Legions sent small teams to investigate and secure materiel for their respective Legions.  Before long full blown war broke out on Mars, with the Imperialists backing the Dark Mechanicum and Secessionists backing the Sundered Mechanicum.  The Iron Warriors and Scions of Guilliman knew the loss of Mars would cut the Secession off from vital supplies and an major strategic position.  The Thousand Sons and Alpha Legion sought to preserve the vast knowledge of the Mechanicum and hold the powerful forgeworld. The Thousand Sons were also desperate to prove the worth of the Librarius and over turn the Edict of Nikaea.  The Battle for Mars would prove to be one of the longest running and most vital warzones in the entire Secession.
 
Battle for Mars Rules
The Legions that are fighting on Mars are:
Imperialists
Thousand Sons
Alpha Legion
Secessionists
Iron Warriors
Scions of Guilliman

Being one of the longer lasting fights during the Secession, the Battle for Mars will occur over several eras.

There are 3 main theaters involved in the battle for mars.  Players should use these theaters to help them theme mission selection, game size and terrain types.  The three theaters are:
The Great Forges
 Dotted all over the landscape of Mars are the vast Forges and Manufactorum.  Within these Labyrinthine complexes the tech priests labour to supply the Imperium with their war material.  Cities of death battles would be perfect to represent battles fought withing the vast forges of Mars.  otherwise dense urban terrain would be most suitable.
The Plains of Mars
The vast surface of mars is dotted with ruins and wreckage of wars long past. Smaller supply stations, launching platforms, vast roadways and the few smaller forges that are on the surface of Mars litter this rocky wasteland.  This theater would be ideally suited to larger games especially ones involving lots of vehicles.  Roads, craters, rocky out crops and smaller clusters of buildings to represent supply depos or small installations are ideas for terrain.
The Orbital Platforms 
Space dockyards and supply stations this theater gives some great opportunities for odd battles.  From using the rules for Void battles (which I'll add in an upcoming post) to using corridor sets (like Space Hulk or the many available from various online sellers) to city fights or planet strikes.



Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).

Warzones of the Betrayal (Isstvan III)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Guilliman gathers his closest allies above the blighted world of Isstvan III.  It is here Guilliman, Horus, Fulgrim, Sanguinius and Angron openly plot against the rule of the Emperor.  Their first move to cleanse their Legions of those who show greater loyalty to the throne than to their Warmaster and Primarchs.  It is Guilliman's intention to simply strand their Legionnaires upon the world on which they now fight.  Sanguinius and Fulgrim are quick to point out that leaving an army of that size at their backs is too great a threat.  Guilliman does not hear the plans of his brothers, nor their bickering, his heart is heavy with the knowledge of what he must do.  The orders to begin the bombardment are given, soon the Imperialists in their ranks will be purged in the most ignominious way possible.  Guilliman wears a wry smile as the order spreads from his brothers to their Legions, as he alone hears Angron give the order that the Imperialists be warned of their fate.  Perhaps the Legionnaires will get an honourable death after all, a chance to stand against this Betrayal.

Isstvan III Rules
The Legions that are battling on Isstvan III are:
Scions of Guilliman
Emperor's Children
Luna Wolves
World Eaters
Blood Angels

Isstvan III will follow all the rules found in Betrayal and players are strongly recommended to use the scenarios found therein.  I will be running 3 of the Legendary battles as multiplayer events in the 3rd week, middle of the campaign and as a finale game, more details will be provided closer to the events.

When any of the above Legions fight a battle on Isstvan III their player should decide if they are playing as Secessionists or Imperialists.  It does not matter which side their opponents choose.  When players post their game results (to be detailed in a future post) they will need to add which side they played as. 

Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).