The Strategy Phase
After our first round of battle, we gathered our forces together around the table and played out the ‘Strategy Phase’ of the campaign. Here, the city map comes back into play as our armies jostle for positioning. You determine which force racked up the most initiative (in our case it was Jake with his dauntless tin men) and then purchase cards which can affect either this strategy phase or the subsequent round of battle.
Point totals after Battle Round 1:
Jake (Marines) – 8
Chris (GSC) – 6
Jim (Guard) – 3
Whilst Jake’s sweeping performance had guaranteed him the initiative, Jim’s IG force had taken a bit of a shelling (don’t worry, he gets revenge) and he would be last. As for myself, as the GSC, I would be positioned nicely in the middle.
Spending Strategy Points
Jake took advantage of his first turn to spend all of his accrued points on a card that let him expand into a third territory (you are ordinarily permitted only two). This would prove critical in his taking of the North-Western quarter of the map.
I opted to reinforce my standing on one of the most valuable of the standard spaces in the middle of the map by building a fortification, and in the bottom corner of the map – a relatively unimportant space strategically – I built a communication array, boosting the value of the space. I spent my remaining points on a card which allowed me to decide what battle zone rules one of my upcoming battles will be fought under.
Jim’s key cards allowed him to switch his battle keyword, and he also took a card which grants him bonus points for killing an enemy warlord.
Seize Territory
It’s at this stage you go about grabbing territory from your enemies. Whilst this doesn’t specifically relate to the battles you’ve fought (you don’t necessarily get territory from an enemy you’ve beaten) there is the stipulation that you can’t take the territory of an enemy you haven’t beaten. So, with two clear wins, Jake’s red skulls wiped all opposing forces from the North West of the map, taking the Aegis-City Shield Generator too.
Jim was stuck with fewer options but managed to take hold of the shuttle port, meaning he can launch attacks across the board on future turns. He also took a small controlling portion of the North-Eastern part of the board, as shown by the thin line of blue skulls.
My Genestealer Cult force managed to spread across the South of the map, but if I want to get hold of that IG controlled shuttle port I’m going to have to engage the enemy during one of the special missions. The tide of green shall fight to rise.
Battle Round Two!
For the Random Event card, each army is granted three bonus CP at the start of every battle during the next round, to be used exclusively on Cities of Death Stratagems. We hadn’t been using them before, but we’ve decided to include them from now on – get ready for some proper urban assaulting.
We’ll also be taking a week or two off before the next round of updates, but fret not! We’ve got some extra special stuff to show you in the meantime.
Thanks for reading this week’s Warhammer: 40k breakdown. If you enjoyed this week’s piece, let us know in the comments below!
Have you ever felt the lure of the dark gods?
