The Certus Crusade: Fires of Treachery. The Basics

Background

The cemetery World of Certus Minor was once a quiet place of dignified splendour where the Imperium of Man buried its greatest heroes. A great Mausoleum was constructed to house the remains & honour Umberto II, Ecclesiarch of the Ministorum & former Highlord of Terra after his crusade to purge the traitors from around the Eye of Terror. The great Necroplex was built underneath the planet’s capital, Obsequa City, to hold the Imperium’s finest and for nearly 2 thousand years there was peace in the Certus system. Then came the arrival of the Keeler Comet.

Following in the wake of the Keeler comet the Cholercaust Blood Crusade burst forth from the Eye of Terror. The crusade was said to embody the very will of Khorne themself as nothing had united so many of their followers under one banner since the first war of Armageddon. World after world fell to the goremonger’s rage, drowned in the blood of entire populations, until it reached Certus Minor. The survivors of the 5^th company of the Excoriators Chapter, of Adeptus Astartes, formed up on the steps of the Umberto II Mausoleum. Fighting to the last man Corpus-Captain Zachariah Kersh stood against the Khornate forces and prayed to his Emperor for a miracle. His prayers were answered.

From the mists of legend came The Legion of the Damned. Cloaked in flame & bone these warriors appeared without warning, speaking no words, and routed the Khornate crusade. Where the Legion passed, the servants of Khorne fell, until at last silence fell on the world of Certus Minor. Then for a time peace returned to the Certus system.

As the 41^st millennium drew to its close the galaxy began a period of great turmoil. The warp began to shift violently causing storms to erupt into realspace. Xenos forces spread throughout the galaxy gaining strength and The Imperium of Man was besieged on all sides. Corruption, incompetence and Hersey where rife with no sector of the galaxy safe from these foul influences. Not even the sleepy cemetery system of Certus.

Drawn in by the heretical rebellion the Imperium of Man was forced to dispatch a task force of Adeptus Astartes to regain control of such a sacred system. On arrival the Marines discovered that the rebellion had fortified their planets and were ready for their coming. In the early stages of the conflict the rebellion stood firm, even inflicting some loses on the Marine task force, but as the conflict intensified other factions began to take an interest in the system. The Aeldari, seeing the opportunity to re-acquire relics, long lost, formed an alliance with the Votan & T’au. Attempts to achieve their designs were soon thwarted by the dawn of a new alliance on the moon of Certus Prime. Archon Mysaria, seeking to sow disharmony, unleashed Ork spores onto the surface and used these creatures as a blunt object to do her bidding but like so many before her she underestimated the “Kunnin’” of the Orks. The forces of Chaos watched on from the shadows completing rituals and striking with subtlety as not to give away their true intentions but all of this was threatened by a shadow disrupting the very warp itself. Drawn to the system by a psychic pull of a Genestealer Cult the Hive Mind redirected a tendril toward the system consuming all in their path.

With carnage spreading across all the worlds of the Certus system heroes rose and villains plundered. The Necroplex was raided and many powerful relics where stolen and brought to bear on the battlefields of the system. An ancient ritual called forth by the Drukhari miss fired and destroyed the Certus Moon and under the cover of this destruction Abaddon the Despoiler stepped from the shadows. The Warmaster of Chaos strove forth into the Certus system with a dark agenda that prove to be key to fulfilling his true plans…. The fall of Cadia. With the destruction of the Cadian Pylons the Cicatrix Maledictum began to tear the galaxy in two with those who trapped in its path unable to anything but pray for salvation.

Now you know the story so far it’s time to start writing the next chapter…

The Fires of Treachery Crusade

This crusade will feature a much stronger emphasis on the narrative aspects of Warhammer and will provide players with a truly unique experience. To that end there will be several changes made from the normal crusade experience.

The first of which is that the crusade will be starting big with battles decreasing in size as the months pass. This is a narrative decision intended to help create the sense of struggle as players attempt to overcome different challenges with increasing scarce resources. To this end players will have a starting Order of Battle of 2,000 points. Another big change from standard crusade setup is that once this initial Order of Battle has been submitted it will not be allowed to be changed or added too. The way Requisition Points (RP) are handled will also change with players starting with less and the Increased Supply Limit & Fresh Recruits Requisitions being made unavailable. Players will be earning RP in a unique way throughout the crusade but there will be more information made available about this soon.

During the Fires of Treachery Crusade player will be encouraged, and possibly even rewarded, for engaging with the narrative. We would love to see you, the players, writing your own lore, maybe even some memes, and guide the Certus system to whatever its fate may be…

Army Construction

In a crusade, you will create a roster, a pool of units that you can choose from for each game. Each of these units will gain experience, skills and battle scars over the course of the crusade. Unique to The Crossfire Fires of Treachery, Crusade Players will start with a full roster of 2,000 points and not be able to change or add to that once it has been submitted. This has been a narrative choice to aid in storytelling.

• Starting roster of 2,000 points
• Normal army construction rules apply.
• Once a player has selected a detachment they must stick with it for the duration of the crusade.

When picking your Crusade army you can select any units in your index with a couple of caveats:

• No Named Characters: some epic heroes are acceptable as long as they are generic – the whole point of a narrative crusade is to develop your own characters. Please ask The Crusade Team for confirmation on any Epic Heroes before submitting your lists.
• No Allied Units: Armies are meant to be dedicated forces, there will be opportunities to fight alongside allies in future missions. One exclusion to this rule will be the inclusion of Inquisitors to lead your army, where narratively appropriate.
• Legends Allowed: As long as your faction can use them and they fit the narrative you are telling. If in doubt, ask The Crusade Team.
• One Starting Enhancement: You may pick one enhancement for your starting crusade force, you must add the relevant points cost to the unit that receives the enhancement. To unlock additional enhancements you must spend RP and add the additional points costs once the campaign begins.
• No Relics: A relic can be obtained through competing in Boarding Actions missions which will be taking place in a new undisclosed location. There will also be another new way to obtain these powerful items but no spoilers on that right now.

We will be using Goonhammer’s Administratum application, which you can upload your Battlescribe/Warhammer App Rosters to and keep track of unit progression. https://administratum.goonhammer.com/

Army list should be submitted by midnight on Sunday the 31^st of August.

Unit Progression

Player will be expected to roll for ALL randomised choices throughout this crusade, this includes Out of Actions tests, Weapon Modifications & Battle Traits.

After playing your crusade missions:

You will be expected to roll all of your out of action tests on the clubs discord.

Please roll for any battle scars on your units after you have failed an out of action test.

When choosing your upgrades you will be expected to roll, on discord, on the appropriate tables for each of your units.

We WILL NOT be using the Striding Behemoths progression system – We will be using the bespoke system created for last years crusade instead.

Battle Ready Armies

To be able to claim points for being ‘Battle Ready’ within a game the following rules will apply:

• Phase 1 – Every model on the battlefield must be at least undercoated.
• Phase 2 – Every model on the battlefield must have at least one additional colour.
• Phase 3 & Beyond – Every model on the battlefield must have at least 3 colours & be based.

Playing Games

Each Phase there will be at least 3 missions to play. You will be able to play and score in each of these the first time you play them, gaining experience etc. In Phases with additional missions you will only gain experience etc in the first 3 missions you play.

You can, of course, replay any missions you enjoyed but additional games will not be counted and you will not earn any XP on them.

The team are working hard behind the scenes to make this crusade a truly unique experience and we will have more information available for you soon.