Behind Enemy Lines - WH:40k using Covert Operations rules (sign up/OOC thread)

[Mabbz]

Sorry for the wait, I've been out swimming for a large part of the day. Your scan results are in, and the baby is healthy enemy troops are closing. What will you do. What will you do?

[Mabbz]

Is now a good time to mention I have Imperial Armour 3? Yeah, drone sentry turret. Be glad you rolled a 6 on the repair roll, or you wouldn't have known it was there and probably would have been spotted if you'd ran north. Now that you know it's there, you can avoid it or try and disable/destroy it. I should warn you though, attacking it will be risky. It's AV10 and 2 hull points, but if you don't destroy it in one turn it will immediately raise the alarm and those Tau will rush you.

Other options include sneaking north or south (east takes you too close to the tower, and west takes you past the pathfinders), or using the element of surprise to attack the Tau. I'm just making the Tau's deployment and terrain on Vassal now, I'll post it when I'm done so you'll have a better idea of the positions.

EDIT: The map[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

[Mabbz]

First of all, friendly reminder: there are rules in Covert Operations for hijacking vehicles.

Secondly, when the battle starts, here's how it will work:
- Three Rounds Rapid! Yay!
- Well, technically Four Rounds Rapid. What I will need is a description of what you will do in each of your phases for a single turn (movement, psychic, shooting and assault) so it should be four. Of course, since none of you are psykers and you're facing tau, one of those rounds is obsolete
- Conditional statements are allowed and encouraged (for example, if enough of them died in the shooting phase, then assault, otherwise no action)

Thirdly, a special rule for this game:
- Combat Situation: these Tau aren't tired and bored sentries patrolling a base; they are on a mission and as such they are much more aware. They will start the game with 1 klaxon counter. Also, all vehicles count as inconpicuous for this mission, not just those with a total armour of less than 34

[Narric]

So I'm flanking for the Devilfish for a can o' Tau?

Hey Mabbz. Is it possible to show our current position on the map, or are we essentially walking onto the table (so from where?)? Whichever it is, I'd like to know :3
Also, what sponsons does the Skyray and Devilfish have? Drones, Burst cannons, or SMS?

[Mabbz]

You are walking on the table, and each of you can arrive anywhere from any board edge. So currently the plan appears to be that Hertius will come on directly behind the devilfish, McTavish will arrive directly behind the sky ray, Maria and Adam will come on as close as possible to the southeast hill to provide fire support, and I don't really know what Steve is doing (McTavish mentioned him shooting from the hill, but he only has a 12" range weapon so I don't know how sensible that is).

Both vehicles have drones. All I could afford with the 300 point limit

[Wargamer]

Of course, my plan assumes the Tau are not clairvoyant and that we can move about without being automatically spotted.

[Mabbz]

Naturally. Out of curiosity, who here has actually had a look at the Covert Operations rules? Would it be a good idea for me to summarise them here?

[Wargamer]

Not a clue about them. Didn't know they exist.

[Mabbz]

We will be using standard 40k rules, with the Covert Operations expansion I wrote (forum thread here, full document is on deviantart here).

Well, for your viewing pleasure, here is a quote from the first post of this thread

I don't have time right now, but at I will summarise them at some point soon (I'll probably edit them into the first post)

[Mabbz]

Apologies for the delays, I've been busy with important stuff that may or may not include minecraft. Anyways, here's a brief summary of the rules, although I may miss some details so you are better off reading the full version.

[spoiler=Deployment]

• Attackers (i.e. you) get first turn, and may move your models on from any board edge. you do not have to stay together.
• Defenders get 300 points (I may go a little above or below this limit in this campaign)
• Defenders split their models into sentry squads of five models or less. Vehicles cannot be squadroned.
• Defenders deploy all their models, and no unit may deploy within 6" of another unit.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Sentries]

• Klaxon counters are used to measure how aware the defenders are. Usually they start with 0 counters, and they might gain them when you make an action that would tip off the guard to your presence (shooting, assaulting, being spotted, stuff exploding etc.)
• Sentries have a spotting distance of their initiative + the number of klaxon counters.
• Sentries that spot you, or are shot/assaulted by you become aware. They may act as normal for 40k rules.
• Sentries that are not aware may not shoot or assault. Also, before a sentry unit moves a control roll is made. Both sides roll d6, defender adds any klaxon counters, attacker wins ties. The winner may move the unit as many inches as they got on their control roll.
• Sentries may be activated or deactivated by the defending player. Deactivated sentries cannot move (this is done before control rolls are made)
• The Defenders have a model designated the Base Leader. If he becomes aware, the alarm is raised.
• If the alarm is raised, every unaware sentry unit takes a morale check at the start of their next move. If they pass, they become aware. If the fail, they fall back toward the objective, rallying and becoming aware if they reach it.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Narrative points]

• Each of your models has three narrative points. The base leader also has 3, plus a number of narrative points determined by the number of minor and major rules you broke when creating your characters (I just checked, and somehow you managed to only break one minor rule and the unbreakable rule stating no three wound models, so I'm calling it plus one narrative point).
• Narrative points are used either to re-roll dice (1 point = one re-roll) or to use Heroic actions.
• Only one narrative point will be replenished after each battle
• The list below is not complete. If you want to do something not covered by standard rules, let me know and I'll write it up as a heroic action.

Heroic actions include:

• Shot of a Lifetime: one shot, but it has the ability to ignore cover and snipe specific models out of a unit
• Silent Kills: No Klaxon counter for charging
• Still Not Dead: Get back up after dying. This second wind won't last more than a turn unless you have feel no pain. It also doesn't have any affect on after battle injuries.
• Distraction: Make a big noise and draw all the sentries towards you (and hopefully away from something important)
• Misdirection: bonus to control rolls for nearby sentries
• Specialist: briefly gain a universal special rule.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Vehicles]

• Vehicles are either conspicuous or inconspicuous (Normally based on armour value, but I'll make any exceptions clear before each battle)
• Inconspicuous vehicles act like sentries. Conspicuous vehicles behave like sentries with no spotting distance and an inability to move.
• Unaware vehicles can be stolen. Unaware conspicuous vehicles are simply boarded as normal for transports (capacity is increased by one).
• Unaware incospicuous vehicles may be hijacked by assaulting them. A control roll is made for the vehicle; if you win, you take the vehicle. If you lose, it becomes aware but you may still attack it as normal in that assault phase.
• Driving an inconspicuous vehicle makes you harder to spot. Sentries have to roll under their control roll to spot you, so you might be able to drive straight past them.
• All vehicles can ram and tank shock, not just tanks. Unaware sentries that are tank shocked by an inconspicuous vehicle must take an initiative test or be crushed.
• You can bail out of a moving (non walker) vehicle. Move up to 6", then disembark (counts as moving through difficult and dangerous terrain). The vehicle then continues a further 2d6", tank shocking or ramming anything in the way.

[/spoiler]

[Mabbz]

1st turn is up, please PM me your turn two actions.

Wargamer, you now have control of the Skyray. Unfortunately you've been immobilised and the Drones have detached which means that all you really have is the Markerlight (which none of your allies can benefit from) and a single seeker missile. On the plus side, you've taken it out of the fight.

Narric, sorry but you didn't manage to commandeer the Devilfish. I figured you'd probably prefer not to have it turn and blast you with a burst cannon, so I had you attack it. You can't commandeer an alert vehicle, so if you want the 'fish, you'll have to leave it alive until the end of the mission (tearing off the burst cannon is an option if you need to).

[Mabbz]

I am adding two new heroic actions, based on some of the actions people have sent me for round 2. If you think these need changing in some way, let me know and I'll improve them.

Overwatch (1 point):
This action can be used at the end of a turn that hasn't shot, ran, attempted a charge or been engaged in close combat. When using this action, specify an action that an enemy model might make during their next turn. If they make that action, the model that uses this may immediately fire at them. Example conditions could include:
- if an enemy model moves to a certain location
- if an enemy attempts to charge
- if an enemy model becomes alert

Emplaced fire (1 point):
A model that uses this action may not move, run or assault in the same turn. The model may make two shooting attacks instead of one this turn. However, both targets must be within 6" of each other. Note that this gives the enemy twice as many opportunities to gain Klaxon counters!

Taking these into account, If anyone wants to rethink their actions just drop me a PM

[Wargamer]

Can I scuttle the Skyray?

[Narric]

Do it Assuming you can run free of the blast

[Mabbz]

Let's see...

Scuttling Captured Vehicles:
Any model may scuttle a vehicle they are riding in. To do so, simply disembark as normal, declaring whether you are trying to destroy the controls (to Wreck the vehicle) or the fuel tank (to Explode the vehicle). At the end of the movement phase, roll a D6. On a 2+ the vehicle will immediately suffer whichever result you chose. On a 1, the vehicle is unharmed as the grenades fail to do the intended amount of damage.