Your Own Horus Heresy – A campaign for crazy people

Your Own Horus Heresy 

So a bit of a forward –

This was written up in a depression-induced haze of procrastination years ago. It’s raw and flawed as shit. For years it sat unloved on a google drive.

The main reason why I unshared it from there was I fucked up with one of the example names, turns out it was a pretty big deal in the US, and while I had heard the name in passing thanks to cultural osmosis, I didn’t know it’s meaning. Needless to say the second I found out what it meant, I shutdown the doc.

Anyway, if you are insane and have far too much time, you may want to attempt to simulate the entire god damn heresy. Good luck and god speed you brave soul.

1. Intro 
   1. What are we trying to do here

This is a GM-ed Horus Heresy narrative campaign that is driven by a map and player results. 

It plays out as an escalation campaign with a few large set piece battles that bring all the players together. It attempts to encourage and invoke the rivalry  between Legions and key events of the Heresy. 

Ideally players will take two turns a month, with 3 months making a ‘phase’.The campaign is built around 6 to 18 players, with half the players turning ‘traitor’ by the halfway point of the campaign. 

The players gain a public and secret score throughout the campaign, these scores will affect the final battle for Terra at the end of the campaign. 

The campaign also attempts to bridge the gaming-hobby-lore gap by providing something for power gamers, lore enthusiasts and painters alike.

2. Note before use

Gaming groups: Feel free to modify and use the ruleset, just please remember to give some credit to the original author! Also please let me know how it runs or any homebrew patches/events you come up with in the Bolter and Chainsword thread.

Here’s a link to that thread:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/342893-your-own-horus-heresy-a-gm-ed-narrative-map-based-campaign/

Large Companies: Don’t publish this or large chunks of this as your own without asking for my permission first. 

2. Roles
   1. Players
      1. What is a player

The Players are everyone in the campaign but the GM. They can take on the roles of ‘Loyalist’, ‘Traitor’ ‘Favoured Son’, ‘Warmaster’, ‘Architect’, ‘Archtraitor’ and ‘Praetorian’. Players can have more than one role at a time.

2. What do they need

Players will require:

Two armies, their Legion and for Phase 1 ~ 2 their non legionary force OPFOR force 

The ability to play at least 2 games a month.

Access to the internet and a google account. 

The ability to breathe oxygen and have fun.

2. Loyalist

A Loyalist owes his allegiance to the Emperor of Mankind.

All players in the campaign start with the Loyalist role.

Loyalists have access to the Talons Of The Emperor in phase 3-4 and inquisitorial forces (excluding grey knights) in phase 4. 

Note that Word Bearer’s that do not end up on the Traitor role may take Grey Knights instead of Gal Vorbak in Phase 3 and 4.  

3. Traitor 

A Traitor owes his allegiance to the Archtraitor and has access to Chaos daemons in phase 3-4 and marks of Chaos in phase 4. 

4. The GM

The GM oversees the campaign, publishes the public results, uses minor and major crises to balance the campaign, organises battles if required and hands out roles. The GM operates as the ‘Emperor’ for Phase 1 of the campaign and can have the loyalist or a traitor roles if they are playing a force in the campaign. 

The GM’s goal, even if they are playing, is to have the campaign go down the to the wire. He can do this by enacting events and crises. 

The GM also gives out secret objectives on behalf of the Emperor, Your Primach’s Ego and The Powers Of Chaos. 

In phase 1, the favoured son moves the GM’s Legion Counter. In phase 2, the Warmaster and in phase 3 and 4, the Praetorian or Archtraitor moves the Legion Counter for the player depending on which side he is on. 

To sum it up, the GM takes the logistical and admin backend pressure off the player as much as they can.

5. The Favoured Son

The Favoured Son is the first primarch/homeworld found by the Emperor. This is randomly rolled for at the start of the campaign by the GM. The Favoured Son gains some bonuses to their score for Phase 1 of the campaign. This is a publically known role. In the canon GW lore this role is played by Horus. 

6. Warmaster

The Warmaster is the player with the highest overall score at the end of Phase 1. They gain additional bonus to their score, can distribute resources to the various legions of the crusade and declare crusade objectives for Phase 2. This is a publicly known role. In the canon GW lore this role is played by Horus.

7. The Architect Of Chaos

The Architect Of Chaos is the first Primarch to fall to Chaos. This will be a player in the bottom 25% of the overall score and an admonished legion. This player also normally will have a high secret score. In other words, pick someone that is putting the effort in, even if they aren’t winning games.  

This role is picked by the GM at the start of Phase 2.

The Architect of Chaos can Sow Discord by deploying demons or additional points to OPFOR in phase 2, gains access to Gal Vorbak and Chaos Demons in Phase 3 and 4. This is a secret role in Phase 2 and a publically known role in Phase 3 Month 2 and Phase 4.  This player also knows where the Eye of Terror is. In canon GW lore this role is played by Logar. 

8. The Archtraitor

The Archtraitor is the highest or second highest scoring player at the end of Phase 2’s 2nd month and is selected out of these two choices by the Architect. During Phase 2 Month 3 if the Archtraitor is not the Warmaster he gains the ability to corrupt half the number of the Warmaster’s orders during this turn.

The Archtraitor knows where the Eye Of Terror is.

The Archtraitor functions as the warmaster for the traitor legions for Phases 3 and 4 by distributing resources to the various traitor legions and declaring traitor objectives for Phase 3 and 4. 

 This is a secret role in Phase 2 and a publicly known role from Phase 3 onwards. In the canon GW lore this role is played by Horus.

9. The Praetorian

The Praetorian is the highest or second highest scoring player at the end of Phase 2’s 2nd month and is player NOT selected out of these two choices by the Architect. 

The Praetorian functions as the warmaster for the loyalist legions for Phases 3 and 4 by distributing resources to the various loyalist legions and declares loyalist objectives for Phase 3 and 4. 

This is a secret role in Phase 2, even for the player that is the Praetorian! At the start of Phase 3, before the Istvaan 5 event, the GM secretly lets the Praetorian know about his role, informs the player where The Eye of Terror is and asks him for his table edge choices for Istvaan. The player must keep this role secret, if this secrecy is broken the GM may impose penalties such as the Praetorian’s homeworld turning traitor.  

It becomes a publicly known role from Phase 3 Month 2 onwards. In the canon GW lore this role is played by Rogal Dorn. 

10. The Emperor

The Emperor is played by the GM in phase 1. They declare objectives for Phase 1. They also praise/admonish legions the top/bottom 25% of legions at the start of phase 2. 

Praised Legions are buoyed by their early success, gaining 1 extra pt per victory in Phase 2.

Admonished Legions are sent ‘advisors’ from the place. They gain 1 unit of Custodes or Sisters of Silence for free in Phase 2. 

3. The Campaign 
   1. Picking Your Legion

Before the campaign the players should pick a legion each for them to collect and play. This could be a new force for the player or built off an existing collection. In addition, players will have to have a non legionary OPFOR force for use in phase 1 and 2. 

GM Note:

It is likely that you’re going to have double ups of popular legions. If this is the case simply have the player pick a leftover primarch and run the doubled up legion under that primach’s legion name. 

Ie. Bobby Ray and Jim Bob both want to play as Ultramarines as they both already have a Hersey force painted up in Ultramar colours. Because they are adults, they discuss with each other and agree that Bobby Ray will play the role of the unpicked Death Guard Legion with Bobby Ray flying the flag for Ultramar. 

2. Campaign Turn Structure.
   1. Phases

The campaign has 4 Phases, it’s recommended to run each phase over 3 months.  

2. Months

Each Phase has 3 months. Months are used to divide up the Phases for the sake of events. 

3. Turns

Each month has 2 turns. Turns are when counters move on the map, triggering battles to be fought by the players. 

4. GM Note

Note that a year long campaign is a big one. You may wish to shorten the campaign to 12 weeks with just one turn per month. Talk it over with your group and use common sense.

3. The Map
   1. An example of the map

2. Nodes

The circles on the map are Nodes, these are collections of planets, systems and other strategic points. Legion Homeworlds are represented by colouring the homeworld that legion colour and placing the legion’s symbol in the middle of the node.

3. Warp Lanes

The black lines are Warp Lanes. These connect nodes together.

4. Legion Counter

Each player has a legion counter, this represents the focus of their legion. These move from Node to Node via Warp Lanes 

5. Movement
   1. Each turn you move your legion generates 4 movement points.
   2. Moving a counter into an unclaimed/unfriendly Node costs 2 movement points.
   3. Moving onto a friendly node costs 1 point.  
   4. Friendly legion counters can co-exist on a Node and fight together. 
   5. Unfriendly legion counters block movement. Stop the counter and leave it next to the unfriendly counter. 
   6. Ruinstorm affected warplanes can only be traversed by players with Traitor roles in Phase 3. Players with loyalist roles may spend an extra movement point to traverse them in Phase 4. 
   7. The lowest scoring player moves first, then the second lowest and so on. During Phase 3 after the Istvaan 5 game is played, the lowest scoring player marker moves first, then the lowest scoring player on the other side and so on. 

6. Battles

After the players have moved their counters, they fight a battle. This could be a game of 30/40k using their legion, a game of Dawn of War, Battlefleet Gothic or whatever else you like. 

On an unclaimed planet, another player uses an OPFOR force. If two players have counters on the planet, they may fight together. If the legionary player wins or draws they conquer the planet. 

During Phase 3 and 4 this changes due to the eruption of the Hersey.

Unclaimed planet’s still use OPFOR forces, with loyalists playing a traitor’s defending OPFOR force and traitors playing a loyalist’s defending OPFOR force. If the legionary player wins or draws,, they conquer the planet. 

Claimed planets are legion on legion battles. The winning player conquers the planet. 

If two counters meet, these players must play each other. If the planet is claimed, then the claimed side is the defender.

If there is more than one friendly counter then play a team game by splitting the available points between the players evenly. To represent the titanic might of multiple legions increase the total points available by 10% per friendly counter after all other bonuses have been applied.

IE. Two loyalist and one traitor counters are on the same node. The players elect to fight at 2000pts. The traitor player will have 2000pts. The loyalists will have 1100pts each. If 

If the attacking player wins, they conquer the planet and claim it for their side. In addition they push the losing players back two Nodes (losers choice) and advance one Node (their choice).

If a draw, the attacking player conquers the planet and pushes the loser back one Node. The attacking counter remains in place. 

If the attacker loses, the defender pushes the attacker’s Legion Counter back in the direction of his choice.

After the battle is fought send the results to the GM

At the end of every second turn in Phase 2, vote if you believe the Warmaster is doing what you consider ‘Best’ for the imperium. In Phase 3 and 4 vote for your Predatorian or Archtriator for Loyalists/Traitors respectively 

7. How Many Points?
   

There are two ways of doing this, escalation or playing whatever your group likes. Suggested figures for an escalation campaign are as follows.

Phase 1

Month 1 – 400pts

Month 2 – 750pts

Month 3 – 1000pts

Phase 2

Month 1 – 1250pts

Month 2 – 1500pts

Month 3 – 2000pts

Phase 3 

Istvaan V – 2000pts per player

Month 2 – 2000pts

Month 3 – 2500pts

Phase 4

Month 1 – 2500pts

Month 2 – 2500pts

Siege of Terra – 3000pts per player

8. Additional Objectives
   1. Secret Objectives
      1. Powers of Chaos/Your Primarch’s Ego Orders
         

At the start of each monthly turn the GM will issue out orders to each player. These might be as simple as Conquer a Node or paint a unit for the table top. Completing these objectives gains you bonus points.   

2. Public Objectives
   1. Oathing

Every month you may elect to oath  a number of models for your legion  to paint. To do this post a picture of the unpainted/undercoated models to the GM. Before the end of the month, paint the models and send a photo to the GM before the end of the month.

2. Boasting

At the end of turn as part of your results you may “Boast” about your achievements this turn as your Primarch. This could be about a unit you painted for your oath, a lucky dice roll or a great victory. The GM will award you bonus points for this. 

3. Rivals 

Each turn you may declare another legion your rival. If you outscore that legion you gain bonus points. If you have a Rivalry declared on you automatically gain points. 

4. Warmaster/Archtraitor/Praetorian/Emperor’s Objective

At the start of each month in phase 1, the Emperor will declare a number of Nodes that he wishes to be brought to compliance. The Legion(s) that conquers these nodes gains bonus points. Legions attacking these Nodes gain 25% more points to use in the battle. 

In phase 2, Every month the Warmaster designates one node per player to be conquered and also assigns a Legion. The Legion(s) that conquers these nodes gains bonus points. Note he may assign more than one Legion to conquer a Node. Forces attacking their assigned Node gain 20% more Pts to use during the battle for the node. 

In phase 3, Every month the Archtraitor/Praetorian  designates one node per player on their side to and also assigns a Legion. The Legion(s) that have their token on a assigned node that battles on these nodes gains bonus points. Note he may assign more than one Legion to a Node. Forces attacking their assigned Node gain 10% more Pts to use during the battle for the node. 

9. Results
   1. Determining

Battle Score: 

Winning a battle: against OPFOR – 6pts

Winning a battle: legion on legion battle – 8pts.

Winning a battle as OPFOR – 3pts 

Draw Legion on Legion draws – 4pt each

Draw Legion on OPFOR draws – 2pt each
Having a fully painted force – 1pts

Conquer a Node – 2pt

Co-Conquer a Node – 1pt each. 

Phase 1 – Find Primarch/Homeworld – 10pts Note Favoured Son can not claim this! 

Phase 1 – Is the Favoured Son – 15pts (this is only awarded once) 

Phase 2 – Is the Warmaster – 1pts

Phase 2 – Praised Legion Victory – 1pts

Phase 2 – Warmaster has at least a 50% vote of confidence from his brothers. – 1pts

Phase 3/4 – Archtraitor/Praetorian has at least a 50% vote of confidence from his comrades. – 1pts per month

Phase 3/4 – Conquer a Legion Homeworld Node not of your faction – 10pts

Secret Score:

Powers of Chaos/Your Primarch’s Ego Goals – 1pts each 

Completed Oath – 2pts

Included Boast In Results – 2pts

Beat Declared Rival’s Battle Score  – 2pts

Was declared a rival by another legion -1pts

Uploaded results before deadline – 2pts

Phase 2 Homeworld secured by your faction – 4pts per month

Phase 2 Architect secures the Eye of Terror node – 7pts -Awarded once

Phase 2 Architect’s Legion Counter is on Eye Of Terror Node – 2pts per movement ‘expended’

2. Uploading

Results should be sent to the GM by secure means. This could be email, a google form or via facebook. 

10. How you see the results

The GM publishes public results as they come in and updates the Battle Score leader table. This could be a google doc, facebook post or forum post. They keep the secret score, well, secret! 

11. Phase 1 (Month 1 ~ 3)

Phase one is the early crusade. Terra is freshly conquered and the Emperor has found the first lost Primarch known as The Favoured Son. 

Map wise the Loyalists control terra, 1 to 2 Nodes away from Terra, The Favoured Son’s world is conquered by that player (he receives no pts for this!)

The favoured son’s counter starts on his homeworld, with the remaining counters starting on Terra. 

Turn order for Month 1 is figured out at random, with the Favoured Son going last. 

At this point the Eye of Terror is hidden from all players.  

1. Expansion

The legions race away from Terra.

Once a legion counter reaches a unclaimed world, roll a dice, on a 5+ the legion discover’s it’s Homeworld/Primarch, the world is instantly conquered.

2. Discovery 

Early glory is won and lost as the Imperium rapidly expands.

Once a legion counter reaches an unclaimed world, roll a dice, on a 4+ the legion discover’s it’s Homeworld/Primarch, the world is instantly conquered.

3. Conquest
   

More and more Legions find their Primarch. Compliances per week reach untold levels.

Once a legion counter reaches a unclaimed world, roll a dice, on a 3+ the legion discover’s it’s Homeworld/Primarch, the world is instantly conquered.

12. Phase 2 (Month 4 ~ 6)

Phase 2 is the midpoint of the Crusade, the Emperor retired to Terra to try and complete the key part of his great work, leaving the newly crowned Warmaster in charge of the Crusade. 

At this point the highest scoring player with a Primach becomes the Warmaster and the GM selects the Architect . At the start of the 3rd Month of Phase 2, the Architect selects the Archtraitor by choosing between the top two players. The player not selected to  be the Archtraitor becomes the Praetorian. 

The Architect will be informed which node contains the Eye of Terror by the GM. It should be accessible for the player to reach on an unconquered Node. 

If a player has yet to find their Primarch/Homeworld then automatically discover it at the next unclaimed planet their Legion Counter lands on.

At this point the Warmaster starts issuing orders instead of the Emperor. If the warmaster is NOT the Archtratior in Month 3 of this phase, the Archtraitor may see the Warmaster’s orders before they are sent out to the players and change 2/3rds of them. 

The Architect may Sow Discord by picking a number nodes as listed on each month below:

Month 1:

Number of Nodes: 1/4 of the number of players,

Strength: 

Nikiea Votes To Ban Psykers – 5% more OPFOR pts.

Nikiea Votes To Allow Psykers- 10% more OPFOR pts.

Month 2:

Number of Nodes: 1/2 of the number of players,

Strength: 

Nikiea Votes To Ban Psykers – 15% more OPFOR pts.

Nikiea Votes To Allow Psykers- 20% more OPFOR pts.

Month 3:

Number of Nodes: 1/2 of the number of players,

Strength: 

Nikiea Votes To Ban Psykers – 20% more OPFOR pts OR 25% of Chaos Demons.

Nikiea Votes To Allow Psykers- 25% more OPFOR pts OR 30% of Chaos Demons.

Event: Council of Nikea

Players with a discovered Primarch must vote on Psykers being used by the Legions at the start of phase 2. Emperor tie breaks and votes to ban if required.

If psykers are outlawed, the loyalists knowledge of the warp is dulled but the warp remains unstirred. Any player using a psychic abilities during in Phase 2 games loses 4pts on their score for that month, any force containing Custodes and Sisters of Silence can not use Psychic powers outside of their Primarch. In addition, the Architect will be able to shut down more Warp Lanes during Phase 3. Note that Space Wolves and white scars may continue to use Rune Priests as normal with no Pts loss.

If psykers are allowed to exist in the legions, the warp grows restless with increased psychic activity. The Architect gains additional, stronger deployments of Sow Discord during Phase 2, in addition, players will publically know who the Architect is before the Istvaan 5 game.

1. The Warmaster

The crusade continues under a new direction. For some this is a welcome change, for others this spurs them to prove that they should have been picked as the first amongst equals. 

2. The Architect’s Ploy

Foul winds begin to rise. Whispers of strange forces, bad intel and unnatural resistance are encountered in increasing numbers.

From this point on, if the Architect controls the Eye Of Terror he may use Gal Vorkbak in Phase 2. Note that this will most definitely blow his cover!  

3. The Arch Traitor Rises

The forces of chaos make their move to take down the Emperor of Mankind. The stage is set for the greatest betrayal that galaxy has ever seen.

13. Phase 3 (Month 7 ~ 9)

Phase 3 is when the Hersey begins. The goal for the traitors is to isolate and contain the loyalists while heading to Terra. The Loyalists will have to attempt position themselves to race back to Terra in Phase 4.  

At this point the Archtraitor  is revealed to players. If the council of Nikea voted to keep Psykers in the Legions, then the Architect and the location of the Eye of Terror is also revealed.

The GM then gives a list of players to the Archtraitor and the Architect of Chaos with a number of choices. The GM should use their knowledge about the players and results to give each side an even number of players chance of winning.

In the spirit of the game the Archtraitor and Architect then should submit their choices without consulting each other. If they disagree on a choice, the GM roles off, on a 3+ the Archtraitor’s choice is selected.

The Archtraitor and Architect are Chaos Undivided. The Architect will designate which chaos god favours each set of choices. Note in smaller player pools you may double up.

After both sides have been decided, the GM will the traitor players where their loyalties lie. The loyalists will stay in the dark….

After figuring out both sides and carrying out the Istvaan 5 event, the GM then rolls a d6 for each Node.

Traitor Homeplanet Nodes turn traitor on a 2+
Nodes conquered or majority conquered by traitor forces turn traitor on a 3+.
Nodes co-conquered by a traitor and a loyalist turn traitor on 4+
Nodes conquered or majority conquered by loyalists on a 5+
Loyalist Homeplanet Nodes turn traitor on a 6+ followed by another roll of 5+

Players from the winning side of the Istvaan 5 event may pick one Node each, the GM will reroll the result on the table above if that planet does not turn to that player’s side.

For example, here is a possible set up of a large 12 player campaign.

Known Traitors:
Archtraitor  – Ultramarines – Bobby Ray
Artitect – Blood Angels – Gabe Zap

Known Loyalists
Favoured Son/Praetorian – Dark Angels – Jim Targs

Choice 1 –  Archtraitor’s chaos god pick – Khorne
Word Bearers – Terry Micks
Night Lords – Angie Grisson
World Eaters – Logan Dolby

Choice 2 – Archtraitor’s chaos god pick – Nurgle
Death Guard – Jim Bob
Emperor’s Children – Emma Howard

Choice 3 – Archtraitor’s chaos god pick –  Slaanesh
White Scars – Max Runner
Sons of Horus – Kyle Moose

Choice 4 – Archtraitor’s chaos god pick – Tzeentch
Thousand Sons – Kim Micks
Alpha Legion – Barry Grey

1. Betrayal 

The Imperium is ripped asunder by traitors. Brother fights brother as the sky rains with blood. 

Instead of moving Legion Tokens or fighting normal games this month run the Istvaan 5 event. 

Event Istvaan 5 Apoc game

The GM will select a traitor planet near the Archtraitor’s Legion Token. Move the Archtraitor’s Legion Token there. This will be the site of the canon Istvaan dropsite massacre. 

Play an Apoc game with all the players and GM. The Archtraitor sets up in the middle of the board with Praetorian picking long and short table edges for each other player to deploy from.

At the end of each loyalist turn, traitors may reveal their allegiances and immediately act in the Traitor’s turn.  

If the Council of Nikea banned psykers, the Architect gains 15% more points. They must use these additional points on summoned demons or Gal Vorkbak. It is suggested that the GM and Architect work together to hide this from other loyalist players. For example on the turn the Architect turns traitor, he could start summoning demons and/or have a veteran or tactical squad swapped out for Gal Vorkabk. 

If the Council of Nikea allowed the Legions to have Psykers the Architect also sets up in the middle of the board, but has an additional 25% pts worth of Chaos demons or Gal Vorkbak to use with his force.

2. The Ruinstorm

The galaxy is divided. Unnatural events and warp storms hinder loyalist forces and embolden the traitors. 

The game returns to ‘normal’ in Phase 3 Month 2. 

The GM will now reveal the location of the Eye of Terror. 

If the eye of terror is held by the traitor forces, the Architect may place a number of Warp Lanes to be affected by the ruinstorm.

The ruinstorm will not last forever and requires the favour the chaos gods to maintain, each month it loses strength. At the start of each month, check to see how many Warp Lanes the Architect can affect. If you have more Ruinstorms in play than allowed remove them one by one until you have the required amount. 

Note the Warp Lanes directly touching the ‘Terra’ Node may not be selected. 

The amount of Warp Lanes that the Architect can affect with the Ruinstorm is below:

If the traitors hold the eye of terror: ¾ the number of players.

If the traitors do not hold the eye of terror: ½  the number of players.

3. Traitor’s March

The traitors start the long march to Terra. The Loyalists attempt to adapt to the shock of betrayal. 

The amount of Warp Lanes that the Architect can affect with the Ruinstorm is below:

If the traitors hold the eye of terror: ½ the number of players.
If the traitors do not hold the eye of terror: ¼   the number of players.

14. Phase 4 (Month 10 ~ 12)

1. Loyalist Breakthrough

The battle starts to turn. 

The amount of Warp Lanes that the Architect can affect with the Ruinstorm is below:

If the traitors hold the eye of terror: ½ the number of players.
If the traitors do not hold the eye of terror: ¼   the number of players.

2. The Rage of Terra  

The Emperor closes the webway beneath the golden throne. Resources once given over to defending the demonic incursion flood onto the battlefield. 

The Praetorian orders have an additional 10% points for an additional 20% in total. 

The amount of Warp Lanes that the Architect can affect with the Ruinstorm is below:

If the traitors hold the eye of terror: 1/4 the number of players.
If the traitors do not hold the eye of terror: Zero. The warp storms dissipate. 

3. The Final Battle

The fate of the galaxy hinges on the outcome of the siege of terra. 

Event Siege of Terra Apoc game

The final month of the campaign is a huge Apoc game. It should be the biggest game the players can muster between themselves. Go nuts, hire a hall out for a weekend, make it a big deal. 

At this point the GM should add together the points for each player and the sum total each team has.

The side with the most points gets 20% extra points to spend before the points are divided up for the players.  

Legion Tokens at Terra gains that player 10% extra points

For example. The GM and players decided that they will each have 2000pts to spend on their forces. 

The side  with the most points would have 2400pts without a legion token at Terra, if they have the token they will have 2640pts to spend. 

The side with less points would have 2000pts without a token, or 2200pts with a token. 

The game should be played in two parts. An apoc game for the Siege and a zone mortalis game for the Archtratiors ship. Players will have to divide up their resources between the two, with the Emperor and at least one Primach taking on the Archtraitor Primarch on the ship.

If the archtraitor kills the Emperor and wins terra then the Traitors win. Death to the False Emperor! 

The heresy is a draw if: 

The loyalists win the ground battle, but the Emperor dies on the ship and the Arch traitor dies. This is roughly what happens cannon 40k. 

Or 

The traitors win terra but the Arch Traitor dies with the Emperor still alive. 

Or

The traitors kill the Emperor but lose the ground battle

If the Emperor is alive and the traitors lose the ground battle, the loyalists win. 

Example Map:

Oh God The Traitors/Loyalists Are Running Away With The Game, Save Me Jesus/Moses/Superman/Batman Section For Cool GMs That Are Totally Not Panicking

Some notes beforehand.

• The campaign is structured so the traitors get a leg up in Phase 2/3 by
  • Knowing more than the loyalists, the Architect and Archtriator have a phase/1 month to put the pieces in motion respectively. 
  • The ruinstorm, and probable victory at the Istvaan 5 event put them in the driver’s seat in Phase 3. They will need this advantage as they have to effectively fight their way back to Terra, while the Loyalists are only slowed by the ruinstorm/planets that flipped traitor. 
  • Phase 4 the ruinstorm becomes less of a problem for the Loyalists, allowing them to rush back to Terra and get some wins in. Add in the bonuses for Phase 4 Month 3 and the Loyalists have an excellent shot at balancing a ‘run away’ traitor lead.  

The GM has a number of levers they can pull to keep the campaign a close run thing. Here are some examples.

Games are two one sided due to stacked % increases pt levels.

Then reduce them. Talk it over with your players. Remember this is very much a beta homebrew document! 

The Traitors/Loyalists Are Kicking Too Much Rear End

Use events to balance things out, here are some examples:

Neutral Balance Event: Our Primach Is Broken 

Their Primarch being struck down with a flaw, for example Angron’s nails threatening to kill him. 

In the campaign this would result in Angron’s stats being lowered by 1 temporary unless the World Eater’s player conquers a Node that is pretty far off the beaten track within an allotted time. 

Once the player achieves this Angron would become a daemon prince or finds an archotech cure (if he is loyalist) removing the lowered stats. If the player fails to achieve the objective, Angron’s stats stay lowered and he loses an additional wound. 

Neutral Balance Event: The Iron Cage

Have two players with intense rivalry that ended up on the same side? 

Pick a strategically vital node that is that was conquered by the player on the side that needs help. 

This world becomes The Eternal Fortress Of <Legion Name>. The Legion Name player gets to deploy a ton of extra fortifications on this world when they defend it.

On the flip side the other player will gain double points for conquering this world if he does so unassisted. If another legion on his team conquers the world he loses 10pts. If they co-conquer the world he loses 5pts.   

Neutral Balance Event: Homeworld Rebellion

A player’s homeworld flips to the otherside, costing the player 5pts a turn until he re-conquers it. 

Neutral Balance Event: Emergency Reinforcements

Minor Problem: 

The Emperor deploys the Custodes/Demons manifest in aid of the traitors. 

Loyalists – Gain one unit of Custodes or Sisters of Silence 

Traitors – Gain 1 greater demon or 2 units of lesser demons. 

Major problem:
One side gains 10~20% extra points to use in one month’s games. Used as a last resort. 

Traitors  Are Doing Too Well Event: The Whims Of Chaos

Assign each god favoured legion with objectives that pull them away from what the Archtraitor wants them to do. In extreme examples, allow them to attack each other for glory. If a player ‘conquers’ a friendly planet, he gains victory points as normal by stealing them off the losing player!  For example, Jim’s khorne aligned Space Wolves attack a planet conquered by Kevin’s Nurgle aligned Death Guard. Jim win’s the game and takes 10pts from Jim’s total (8pts for winning a legion on legion game, 2pts from conquering a Node) and adds them to his own!  

Loyalists Are Doing Too Well Event: Imperium Secundus

Find a player with a few words cut off by the Ruinstorm. Ask them if they want to break away from the Imperium. 

If they say yes they become Warmaster Secundus may issue orders like the Praetorian to the other players in the loyalist faction. 

Should this player have more orders carried out than the Preadorian for 2 turns, he succeeds on building Imperium Secundus. The Secundus Warmaster becomes The Emperor of Imperium Secundus, taking any players willing to join him from the Loyalist faction forming his own faction. The Loyalist faction must conquer his homeworld in addition to the other victory conditions to win the campaign. 

Loyalists Are Doing Too Well Event: Crusade To The Eye! 

 Pick a high ranking player on the Loyalist side that has their Legion Token a reasonable distance from the Eye of Terror. The legion’s commanders have convinced their Primarch that they can end this silly rebellion by using exterminatus on the Eye of Terror! The player loses 3pts from their total a turn until their Legion Token enters the Eye of Terror node.