In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only event planning.
It’s late July as I write this, and somehow that means the summer is roughly half over. Only six weeks lie between now and the start of our Armageddon campaign weekend. Six weeks is one of those measures of time that can lull you into a false sense of security if you let it. The reality is, six weeks is going to slip away fast and there’s much to do as I get not just my own army ready but the entire event! Don’t panic, though. I know how to break things down.
Okay, first things first. Let’s break down exactly what there is to accomplish. The general format is set. It’s going to be a long weekend of 2,000-point, fully painted 40k games using the new Dominatus campaign system. I’ve got a list of which members of my club are generally interested in participating, and a venue confirmed in our dedicated club space in downtown Seattle.
So, what does that leave to accomplish? Plenty! I’m going to break down a list of things that need to get done. Some of these items go hand-in-hand. A final player count will inform table needs and so on, but I’ve gotta start somewhere, so here’s my to-do list.
- Obtain firm commitments from players
- Sort players into 2-3 Alliances
- Determine how many tables will be needed.
- Make a plan for terrain
That’s the big stuff that needs to be addressed. I’m sure more minor items will appear as I start organizing in earnest, but this is enough to get started. With the top line stuff figured out, I’m going to start planning each item in turn.
Are You In or Out?
This is probably the most important thing to do here and also the most difficult. Everybody’s gangsta for a campaign until it’s time to actually make a hard commitment. Fortunately, I know my fellow club members pretty well. I figured most of the people who had expressed interest would go the distance. But being adults (at least from a legal standpoint), people will have had other commitments arise and such, so it’s necessary to ask everyone to make a full commitment to play.
This is crucial for two reasons. First, it will inform how many tables will be needed and how much terrain will be necessary. Second, it will let me know who’s bringing what armies and start planning the necessary alliances for the campaign. So, with that in mind, I made a custom event in our club’s private Discord and sent the following message to everyone.
Hello @everyone! I’ve created an event for the Labor Day Armageddon campaign. The 4th Armageddon War is upon us! Liberate or Oppress the Imperial defenders of Armageddon with 2,000 fully painted point armies. This campaign will use the new Dominatus campaign system with 5 games over Labor Day weekend (2 games Saturday, 2 games Sunday, 1 game Monday), Please RSVP here and post your army of choice. Please RSVP ASAP in the event itself, linked below If you’d like to participate I do need a firm commitment as I need to plan terrain, tables, and Alliance splits well in advance and my time is very precious this summer. Depending on participant numbers I may be able to accomodate a non-club member or two, especially if they’re playing Orks (preferably, but other Xenos or Chaos armies are very welcome). I’m pretty excited to run a campaign weekend and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. Exact times TBD but I am planning on roughly 3 hour slots each day, with a generous lunchbreak between the Sat/Sun games. As well, if you’d like to contribute to table and terrain planning/building please let me know. I could definitely use the help!
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Leaving no ambiguity about how important this is means the players understand they need to respond honestly. I’d much rather have a few people bow out now than spend all the time and energy on furnishing terrain for a whole table that won’t be used. It also clearly sets expectations on the nature of the event, lunch breaks, and the like. If you’re running a bigger event that sells tickets and such, you’ll need to write something up like this, though the fact that people are plunking down their hard-earned dollars on an event ticket means people are less likely to flake and no-show the day of than at a casual event.
On the flipside, my club is comprised of people who are all good friends, so I know I can count on them to be respectful of the time and energy I’m putting into this whole thing.
With all that done, I now have eight confirmed players and can start sorting out alliances. Dominatus supports up to three alliances: Liberators, Oppressors, and Raiders. Fortunately for me, my eight players and their armies of choice split reasonably well between the two main alliances. As it stands, here are my participants:
- Liberators
- Simon (Blood Angels)
- Matt (Blood Angels
- Rick (Crimson Fists)
- Marky (Steel Legion)
- Oppressors
- Randi (Orks)
- Jefferson (Orks)
- Buford (Aeldari)
- Lane (Sororitas)
I don’t really think the Aeldari and Sororitas are working directly with the Orks so much as they’re conducting their own raids in support of an Imperial defeat.
But Sororitas as Oppressors? It’s more likely than you think! I’d put out a general inquiry to everyone asking if anyone didn’t mind playing against type. Lane volunteered his Sororitas to even out the Alliances. His rationale is that his Sororitas have gone mad in the never-ending crucible of war that is Armageddon and believe the end of the Universe is at hand, the Emperor’s return is nigh, and that all those who battle across Armageddon have been found morally wanting for their failures and in need of enforced penitence. They may also be developing some interesting ideas about blood and who should receive that blood, but that’s neither here nor there.
Tables and Terrain
With eight confirmed players, I’m in great shape as far as tables go. Our club space is small but can just support four full-sized gaming tables. In the event that a couple more club members opt to join, I can squeeze a fifth table out in a common area of the space we rent, but it probably won’t come to that. For now, though, I’m just going to plan on four tables to support eight players.
Four tables, that’s not so bad, right? It does mean I need a lot of terrain, though! Our club has some great terrain available, but not a lot of it is particularly thematic for Armageddon as a campaign setting. Sometime soon I’ll go inventory exactly what’s on hand, but I know I’m gonna need to get to work on furnishing at least a couple of tables worth of terrain.
Fortunately, I’m off to a good start. The kindly folks at Frontline Gaming sent me a full set of their thematic Pyrewastes MDF terrain, 11th edition terrain footprints, and matching battlemat. I had thrown a few pieces together to try out a game of Combat Patrol a few weeks ago and was impressed with it.
Last week I spent a couple of hours assembling it all properly with nothing more than a bottle of super glue. I have to say it’s really great stuff. It’s easy to assemble and has some great character for punch-out MDF terrain. I think it’s particularly useful for game shops that need a low-effort solution for modern 40k tables without sacrificing aesthetics, and similarly for event organizers putting on large tournaments or other events.
After assembling it all, I experimented and set up an official 40k terrain layout in my dining room. I was pleased to see that everything is included in the set to fully meet the needs of every official layout released to date. So, that’s one table sorted! Three to go.
The classic Armageddon setting is a dusty wasteland, studded with Imperial ruins, the wrecks of vehicles, and of course, skulls. This is all pretty accomplishable stuff, but with six weeks to go, the clock is definitely running. Fortunately, the new terrain rules for 11th edition 40k are going to help my planning quite a bit. I already have a spare set of the official terrain footprints, and I can use those to plan the rest of my terrain needs. The next step will be to go poke around in my piles of old kits and see what’s on hand. I’ll take an inventory this weekend and start bashing together what I can for at least one more “standard” Armageddon-themed table. I’ll want two sets, of course, but one thing at a time.
With a fourth table to plan, I can get a little creative. Armageddon isn’t just barren wastes, though. The equatorial jungles of Armageddon Prime are also rife with conflict. I believe there’s a good amount of jungle terrain floating around at our club. When I get there in a week or two, I’ll take an inventory of that stuff and see if I can put together a satisfying jungle-themed table. This will not just help save me time and effort on terrain building but also offer a thematic change of pace for us as we battle it out over Labor Day weekend. And what if there was a classic Ork village hidden amidst the foliage…
First Milestone On the Road to Armageddon
Things are starting to come together in earnest now, but there’s lots to do. And of course, I still have a whole Blood Angels force to finish painting! I’ve been making good progress and have just wrapped up the last model necessary to play Combat Patrol.
Behold, Blood Angels Brother-Captain Sendini, 5th Company, 4th Armageddon War, Volcanus Theater
I’m pretty much right on the mark for where I wanted to be at this point. And I’m excited to meet up with my fellow Warlord Randi to battle it out in Combat Patrol with her brutal, yet kunnin’ orks next week.
I’m giving the Warlords another week off from updating here, as almost all of us have been traveling or had other so-called “real life” obligations. With that said, I know everyone’s been making good progress, but I’ll let them update you all themselves next week. Until then, I’ve got battlefields to build!
What if an entire terrain template was just a layer of skulls?
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Simon Berman has been a wargamer since 1993 and has worked in the tabletop games industry since 2008 as a staff writer for the first three editions of WARMACHINE and HORDES. These days he’s the General President of the Brush Wielders Union, a worldwide organization of miniatures painters of all skill levels, a freelance games writer who has contributed to a number of roleplaying games like Eclipse Phase, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and The Hammer and the Stake. He runs his own small-press publishing company, Strix Publishing, and paints more miniatures than he can keep track of. Simon lives with his wife in Tacoma, Washington along with a number of cats and a pack of savage wiener dogs.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
