New 40k Narrative Campaign

Announcing our Second Narrative Campaign

This is the first release for the second of our Warhammer 40K Narrative campaigns. We’ll provide more details later about the campaign but for now, here’s some initial details, dates as well as the backstory.

Background

The Certus System, situated in the Segmentum Obscurus, is home to the Cemetery World of Certus Minor. It gained popularity as a burial site for the Imperium’s most distinguished figures following the construction of the Umberto II Memorial Mausoleum. This mausoleum is dedicated to the renowned and devout Ecclesiarch of the Ministorum and former High Lord of Terra, Umberto II

This world of the dead was the site of a great battle between the 5th Company of the Excoriators Chapter of Space Marines and the Cholercaust Blood Crusade. This vast legion of Traitors, Heretics, and daemons, dedicated to the Blood God Khorne, emerged from the Eye of Terror. They followed the path of the crimson Keeler Comet, which appears every 10,000 Terran years. The Cholercaust was on a direct route to the sacred soil of Terra until it was halted by the Excoriators, with the unexpected and nearly miraculous aid of the revenant Astartes from the Legion of the Damned.

Certus-Minor’s surface was a vision of towers, steeples, and spires. Stained glass and rockcrete, darkened with age, thrust toward the heavens with reverent majesty. With nearly every square meter of dirt on Certus-Minor devoted to the dead, even the capital city was considered an extravagance. Resembling a tiny, ecclesiastical hive city, Obsequa City consisted of basilicas and cathedrals built tall and tight.

The narrow, steep, and cobbled alleys led up to the crowning monument—the heart of the city in both a physical and spiritual sense—the Umberto II Memorial Mausoleum. At the center of the devotional architecture, which adorned the metropolis like a crown, was the enormous roof-dome of the sacred vault, dominating the city skyline as the largest and tallest building in Obsequa City. A colossal archway-barbican decorated the entrance to the memorial mausoleum. The pillars of the stately sepulchre were thick and tall, and the darkness of the threshold beckoned to Imperial pilgrims and clerics alike.

The funereal beauty of the Mausoleum was astounding: intricate scrollwork adorned the wall internments; silver lettering on the floor slabs recorded the names of past pontiffs and cardinals of the Ecclesiarchy; loggia supports and robust sculpted pillars reached up to the exquisite detail of the Mausoleum’s domed ceiling—each hand-painted illustration depicted Umberto II’s long and spiritually productive life. Candles and incense burned from a thousand suspended sconces, while stern statues of Ecclesiarchs, already elevated to sainthood by the Imperial Cult, adorned the sepulchre space, encircling a simple block-crypt made of obsidian brick.

However, Certus Minor buries more than just bodies. Within the heart of the Mausoleum, artifacts of rare value are hidden, whose names, concealed for generations, have recently been uncovered. A new chaos pact has been formed to seize this system and reclaim these artifacts for the dark powers. Although the comet has not returned, the chaos powers, having unearthed tales of the artifacts within the Mausoleum, will not wait any longer. They are calling for a bloody crusade to reclaim these powers before they are lost to time.

Meanwhile, the powers within this system, running Certus Prime, have been ignored for eons by the rulers of the Imperium, who lavish gifts on the cemetery world of Certus Minor. Seeking to control the entire system and forge a new empire, the planetary government has swayed a number of forces to their control, aiming to wrest this system from the Imperium and claim their own fiefdom.

Below the sands of Certus Moon, a long-dormant enemy awakens. A minor tomb world has begun to stir, drawn to the surface by a mix of Drukhari forces intent on laying waste to the system and stealing fodder for their mortal games while the defenders are occupied elsewhere. These invaders are indifferent to the suffering of the inhabitants; they seek only bodies to transport back to Commorragh to replenish their arenas. Their attempts to awaken the tomb take time, and the forces of Commorragh, known for their impatience, have inadvertently released Ork spores onto the moon. Unaware of their actions, they have triggered the awakening of a Fringeworld.

This psychic turmoil has caught the attention of the great devourer. Hive Fleet Ouroboros, already invading the Segmentum Obscurus, has sent a tendril towards the Certus system. Genestealer Cultists, hidden on all the system’s planets, have begun enacting their plans to overthrow the system’s leadership and welcome the Hive Mind. They can feel the psychic pull of the Hive Mind as they start to commandeer planetary defense systems. Meanwhile, the loyalist forces of the Imperium, including the Adeptus Arbites, have noticed the precarious situation of the Planetary Government of Certus Prime. They have alerted the Imperium’s forces, and a collective of Space Marines, originally deployed to combat Ouroboros, has been tasked with bringing the system back under Imperial control.

Amidst these tumultuous events, the Eldar Farseers have discerned a way to improve their chances of survival. Far to the galactic south, the Craftworld of Lugganlath has secured the support of Tau and Votann allies with promises of advanced technology. Having heard whispers of the artifacts, they cannot allow them to fall into the hands of the great enemy. They are mobilizing their combined forces for a surgical strike to recover the artifacts and escape before becoming entangled in the impending conflagration.

The Campaign

The Certus Campaign is our second Crusade. Unlike the first campaign we are aiming to ally factions where possible and each faction will have an overarching goal for the campaign. We will be fighting over the five planets of the Certus system, control of each of these planets will provide further support for your armies. The aim of the campaign is to grow your forces over time and have fun – there will be a handicap system in place to try and mitigate the strength of the strongest players and support some of the weaker players.

Once you have selected your faction you will be tied into that faction for the rest of the Crusade but each game you will be able to select whatever units you wish to use from your roster. For further details on Crusade rules please see p216-330 of the Warhammer 40K rulebook. Each of the Codexes also have further information and rules for your factions. We will also have a bespoke progression tree for Striding Behemoths rather than the one on page 305.

Important Dates

• Register Interest: 22nd Aug
• Upload Army List to Goonhammer: 27th Aug
• Campaign Kick Off: 5th September

The campaign will be kicking off on the 5th of September. You will need to register to enter by the 22nd of August and have your army uploaded to Goonhammer by the 27th of August – during that time we will let you know which teams you are in and create discord channels so you can discuss your plans to crush your opponents.

Army Construction

In a crusade, you will have a roster, effectively a pool of units that you can choose from between games. Each of these will gain experience, skills and battle scars over the course of the crusade, you will also be able to expand your roster.

• Starting roster of 1000 points
• Normal army construction rules apply
• When picking your Crusade army you can select any units in your index with a couple of caveats:
• No Named Characters – epic heroes are still acceptable as long as they are generic – we want to see your characters develop over time
• No Allied Units – This is a focused force – you have limited time and supplies image
• Legends are Allowed – As long as your faction can use them/they fit the narrative. If in doubt, ask Simon!
• One Starting Enhancement – You pick one enhancement for your starting crusade force. To unlock additional enhancements you must spend additional points and RP once the campaign begins.
• NO RELICS – you can ONLY obtain relics through completing the Boarding Actions missions which will be taking place in the Mausoleum under the Certus Minor.

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

Unit Progression

After playing your crusade missions:

You will be expected to roll all of your out of action tests in front of your opponent.

Please do roll for any battle scars on your units after you have rolled for the out of action tests.

When choosing your upgrades please choose the most narratively appropriate upgrades for all your units.

We WILL NOT be using the Striding Behemoths progression system – We will be writing a bespoke development system to use instead.

Battle Ready Armies

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

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

Playing Games

Each month there will be at least 3 missions to play. You will be able to play and score the first 2 of these, gaining experience, territory etc.

You can of course play more but any additional games will not be counted and you will not earn any XP, progress etc.

Campaign Map

The campaign will take place over the Certus System as represented above.

Boarding Actions missions will take place in the vaults under Certus Minor where many of the artifacts of power are located

Winning games or performing admirably in games will allow you to start claiming territory for your alliance and start taking control of more of the planets within the system.

The campaign map will be updated weekly to show players how their control across the system has varied and provide them with the details of the boons available.

Prizes

Once again there will be prizes for Best Individual Player, Best Team and Best Narrative Story arc.

Next Steps

Details of the missions as well as the handicap system will be published before the crusade in due course, we will arrange a sign up area in Discord for the campaign and will have all the details you require ahead of time. If you need any further information you can contact the committee who will be delighted to help.