Looking for some inspiration for your next Crusade campaign? Get top tips and ideas from dedicated hobbyist Tim Wingrove!
Tim: I am Kaelo Rylanus, but my real name is Tim Wingrove. I am an author and founder of Age of Warhammer – a blog dedicated to all things Warhammer related. I have been in the hobby for 28 years, and I love forging a narrative as well as telling my own tales within the Warhammer settings…
As a predominantly narrative gamer, the most exciting aspect of the latest edition of Warhammer 40,000 for me was always going to be the addition of the Crusade system. I was lucky enough to be sent a preview copy of Indomitus, and when it arrived I immediately read through this section.
Within our blog/gaming group, we’ve always wanted to create our own tales and adventures, linking the skirmishes and titanic clashes, giving extra incentive and flavour to the next battle. Using the Crusade rules makes this a lot easier, and we are really looking forward to using it in upcoming campaigns – the first of which will be engulfing the planet Catharn in the coming weeks. The Warhammer Community team have been kind enough to let me discuss it here.
The T’au of the Tae’Ru Sept have been thrown out of the warp in a distant and forgotten region of space called the Cassalain Sector. The events of our narrative happen parallel to the Black Library novel War of Secrets. Commander Kai T’Suka, known as Dawnlight, tasks various recon forces to investigate habitable worlds that have been identified via short range scans while he deals with the troubles on board his own ship. I won’t spoil anything here, but check out the aforementioned novel for a general idea of his moral dilemma.
Following this narrative, I have created a relatively fast-paced Order of Battle for the coming battle on the planet Catharn, which has been identified as a central prospective base for the Tae’Ru fleet’s foothold in the sector. As such, I have opted to use more nimble and stealthy units such as the Pathfinders, Stealth Battlesuits, and some Piranhas or Devilfish for speed and easy redeployment. Of course, there are the obligatory Fire Warriors as my Troops choice, and I have opted for the Cadre Fireblade as my HQ. I will also send down an Ethereal, as they can head up one of the war zones on the planet. He’s not particularly powerful, but it could be a lot of fun trying to keep him alive!
My opponent is fielding Bad Moon Orks, which have proven time and time again that they are very useful in a firefight. I know he has a very varied army and, as such, I need to ensure that I have a wide selection of tools available so my T’au can cause him trouble. He loves to use his Weirdboy to throw units at me, so I must be prepared for that!
As the campaign grinds on, I am hoping that Commander Dawnlight will see fit to send me a second Ghostkeel Battlesuit, Firesight Marksmen, and some drones. If I am really lucky, maybe he will turn up himself – he will be a kitbash based upon the awesome new Commander Shadowsun model when I get the time.
The aspect of the Crusade campaign I am looking forward to the most is actually the period between battles. I really can’t wait to see the rewards my army gains, but I’m also excited to see what Battle Scars my units pick up and what rivalries will form. I will be regularly updating a planet map so that we can visualise the conquests, as I feel this really helps create the narrative and develops the immersion too.
This will only be our first campaign in the Cassalain Sector and we look forward to telling various stories using Crusade as a base template. We’ll probably ‘house rule’ other resources or variations as we get used to the core rules. We’ll undoubtedly introduce further factions and players to our sector too!
Thanks, Tim! If you’re looking to shake up your Crusade campaign even more, make sure to pre-order yourself the Beyond the Veil Mission Pack, available online this weekend!