Adeptus Mechanicus

Mini-Campaign Rules

by Ian McDowall

 

These rules are intended to provide a set of inter-connected battles without the book-keeping overheads of map campaigns.


Map Setup

The mini-campaign takes place over a set of linked battlefields. Theses are in a diamond layout with one battlefield as each players 'home' location, two battlefields in the next rows in, then three and so on as illustrated in this diagram:

campaign map

Each of the battlefields should be mapped out in advance with a range of terrain types.


Force Selection

Each player should select a total force up to an agreed total (typically three times the normal level with three battlefields in the central row). The total force must be legal in terms of support and special cards and limits on numbers of troop types.


Initial Deployment

Each player must record which battlefield each unit is on. Troops may be deployed on the central row of battlefields or on the battlefields back towards each sides 'home'. On the first turn only those forces on the central row of battlefields will take part in action - the rest are effectively reserves.

The troops on each battlefield may be of any strength from no units or only one up to the whole force. The force on each battlefield may break normal rules for the combination of forces (some balance has been enforced by the selection of the overall force) as any force which is unbalanced in one direction will have a counter-balancing force elsewhere.


Campaign Turns

Always consider the big pictureIn each campaign turn the following actions take place in this order:

  1. Battles take place on any battlefield with forces from both sides. These battles take place simultaneously and can be gamed in any order but all games from one turn must be completed before the next stage can take place. Battles use the normal rules and finish on VP targets (see below for conceded battles). The VP targets should be based on the average force size for the battle.
  2. After each battle some compulsory moves take place. A losing force must fall back towards its home. If the force has two possible battlefields to fall back to then it can choose which. If there is only one linked battlefield than there is no choice. Units may not fall back to a battlefield under the control of the opposing player. Units may not fall back from the home battlefield. Any units that cannot fall back are destroyed but no extra VPs are lost.
  3. After compulsory moves optional moves take place. Roll for which player has the initiative for this phase (roll a D6 with the player with more VP adding +1, re-roll draws) and the players take turns to move units from any one battlefield to any adjacent battlefield with the winning player moving first. Units that have retreated as a result of losing a battle may not move. A player is allowed to move all or part of the units on any battlefield, they do not have to move together. If a player moves units to a battlefield occupied by enemy units then that battlefield is considered 'engaged' and neither player may move units out of that battlefield. Either player can move more units into an 'engaged' battlefield if they desire - so reinforcing the conflict. The optional moves phase ends when all units have moved or when neither player wants to move any more units.
  4. After all movement, repair and recover takes place. Units on an 'engaged' battlefield do not repair or recover any bases. Units not on an 'engaged' battlefield may recover bases which were lost in the previous round of battles (not in previous rounds) as follows:

Conceded Battles

There may be some battles that are extremely uneven when a small force encounters a much larger one. In these cases, the smaller force can concede the game immediately. The winner receives the appropriate VP (based on the average force size) but no casualties are inflicted. The losing forces will have to retreat as a compulsory move.

In this way, small forces can be used to 'pin' larger forces but VPs will be lost in the process.


Winners and Losers

At the end of each round of battles, total the VP that each player has. The campaign is over when one player has reached a pre-set target (for example equal to the VP for a battle that would involve the total initial forces). If both players exceed the total in the same turn (after all battles have been played) then the player with the higher total wins.


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