War Zone Octarius is rapidly spiralling out of control, and with the Imperium fully committed to preserving their border worlds, the Tyranids and Orks run rampant.
War Zone Octarius – Book 1: Rising Tide saw the first incursions through the Cordon Impenetra surrounding the sector, and now in Book 2: Critical Mass, the war focuses onto the critical forge world of Sigma-Ulstari.
You can join the war for Octarius when Critical Mass pre-orders arrive this Saturday. In the meantime, we’ve prepared a quick look at all the Warhammer 40,000 goodness you can find inside.
The book’s lore sections cover the defence of Sigma-Ulstari and the apocalyptic end to the Octarian War, with dire consequences for the galaxy. Alongside them you’ll find a Codex Supplement for the Blood Axes Orks, Crusade rules with branching missions, Warhammer 40,000 rules for Rogue Trader crews, and more.
We rejoin the conflict as the Pankallis Sub-sector teeters on the brink of collapse and all efforts to halt the sudden invasion of Orks and Tyranids have failed. Inquisitor Van Roth and the Deathwatch have disappeared into the depths of an Aeldari maiden world in the hopes of replicating critical Ork technology, and all the while more xenos hordes pour into the sector with every passing day.
To say things are looking bleak is an understatement.
Factions from across the galaxy converge on the sector’s core worlds to help or hinder the warring xenos forces in the Octarius System Campaign, a system of branching Narrative Play missions that lets your Crusade army shape the future of the entire sector.
Join a side and score points for your team as you progress through a series of missions in the run-up to one of the major battles for the Octarius system’s planets, with six new Legendary Missions to tackle.
As the Tyranid swarm reaches the dense tunnels of the supa-rok Gork’s Bonce, Orks from the stealthy Blood Axes clan come into their own as vicious Kommandos launch daring assaults through hidden passages.
Significantly more concerned with strategy and planning than their fellow Orks, Blood Axes present a far greater challenge to the Swarmlord’s fleets, and have a host of new Relics, Stratagems, and Warlord Traits to choose from in a new Codex Supplement.
If high-speed brutality is more your thing, the Speed Freeks Speed Mob is an Army of Renown with your name (in red, of course) all over it. Slow Orks are last to the fightin’, after all, and by replacing footslogging Boyz with objective-securing Warbikers, you’ll be able to get your choppa into someone’s face before they know what’s hit them.
We’ll be taking a deeper look at the Codex Supplement and Speed Mob later this week.
The abundance of ruined Imperial worlds around Octarius has given Mekboyz a junkyard of epic proportions to work their magic in, and brutish converted tanks have begun to roll out of the workshops en masse. Your Crusade armies will be able to field Looted Vehicles of their own once they’ve gathered enough Scrap Points,* with three variants on offer to give your converting chops a real workout.
Such is the danger the Imperium finds itself in that even Rogue Traders, normally content to watch from the sidelines for a quick profit, are committing their own forces to the Cordon’s defence. With two datasheets and a cargo hold of exotic Crusade rules of their own, this is the perfect opportunity to field your Rogue Trader models in games of Warhammer 40,000, or to convert your own personalised crew.
Witness the climactic battles of the Octarian War in War Zone Octarius – Book 2: Critical Mass, available for pre-order this Saturday. In the meantime, catch up with the conflict’s opening salvos in Book 1: Rising Tide, complete with a Codex Supplement for Cadian armies and brand new Tyranid rules to bolster your bioforms.
* Check out the Crusade rules in Codex: Orks for more on Scrap Points.