The Realisation
Veck glanced briefly around the remnants of his Cultists army – now dying rapidly – and wondered how it had come to this. Years of preparation and deception had ensured that Veck could safeky hide behind layer upon layer of cloaked deception and a labyrinth of covert cults, cabals and corrupt administratum and ecclesiasticy so never really needing to expose himself unnecessarily. His Cultists were willing dupes. Power-crazed Army and Navy commanders, the lost and bewildered, the disenfranchised, the under classes. the glory-seeking battalions, all caught in his web of promises and lies. But they were joined by one thing – their belief that the Lord of Change ultimately shaped and ruled the universe and were willing to believe that their sacrifice would be rewarded by eternal life among his many followers,, that Veck was His one prophet, to be obeyed without question. Veck himself dreamed to be elevated into the Pantheon of gods, his reward for devotion and the capture of the warp transfiguration device.
After years of successfully evading the worst that came his way, over the
last 10 weeks he had been hounded by resourceful Astartes battle groups from
one system to the next. They fought hard for their quarry. Veck reflected
grudgingly that the Imperium, when focused, could still be a lethal opponent.
Had he failed? He was still alive and had the device that indeed was a major
victory in itself. But forces greater than he could imagine were at work and
his fate lay in their hands, not in the hands of the approaching Astartes.
He found the irony of the Astartes victory amusing – how would they
react when the full horror of his activities was revealed?
To Veck’s left and as far as he could see, drop pods streaked down through
the lower atmosphere in a show of deadly pyrotechnics. Their cargoes determined
and loyal to their masters – how Veck had earned for such loyalty. His
time was short. The massive bulk of Adeptus Mechanicus war machines could
be seen on the skyline immediately to his front. The smell of battle and death
was everywhere. To his right a mass of struggling, heaving, clawing bodies
– cultists and his followers – fighting with anything they had
in a last desperate attempt to hold back the tide of Imperial Army units entering
the plain through the narrow defile two leagues away.
Veck turned to look at his own personal guard units, still within their trenches
and plascrete bunkers, The heavy concussions of long range artillery shells
could be felt as they streaked overhead towards the oncoming thousands of
the Imperial’s finest. A small group of generals and brigade commanders
were nearby, some completely in despair, others had already taken their own
lives. The stoutest had set up a shrine to Tzeentch, praying that a last minute
intervention would yet save the day. But Veck knew they were merely His playthings.
That’s all they ever had been – just something else to manipulate,
shape, trick and abandon.
The nearest man to him was the renegade Inquisitor Gathsamede, drawn by the
lure of Veck and his promises. Gathsamede held his inner thoughts behind the
mask of his inscrutable features. Veck had marked him out for greater things
many months before, now he would fulfill his unknown role. Very soon.
+++
The first Astartes warriors entered the remains of the command bunker structure.
Inside was a bloody mess of body parts, shattered arms and equipment and blackened
corpses. The lead sergeant brought out his Auspex to scan for further live
hostiles. Nothing. The assault had been a total success. Using his augmented
vision to cut through the gloom he carefully studied the bodies. He saw what
he was looking for.
+++
The vox-com data sheet transmission was handed to the captain of the Battle
Barge Ultimate Fury. The captain smiled grimly at the news. His Chapter had
fought well, first onto the planet from his battle group, leading the final
combined assault, and now this confirmation. He had much to be pleased with.
+++
In high orbit within a sword class frigate patrolling the fringes of the battle
group’s assembled cruisers, an augur command officer’s attention
was momentarily drawn a blip on his screen. It was travelling fast into system
space, with the footprint of a cloaked Eldar Raider ship. He made an urgent
report to the next up in the chain of command. Then the blip disappeared.
Week 8 to 10 [24/Sept/07 - 14/Oct/07]
We are now in the final week. The Battle Groups are closing in on Veck and determined once and for all to snuff out the flame of his radicalism. With Cults springing up just as quickly as others are being rooted out, the pressure on the forces of the Imperium has never been greater – nor has their resolve to succeed.
Special rule for the eighth week onwards:
As was previously hinted at, from week 8 onwards you may use elements of the
Adeptus Mechanicus in your army, while your opponent may field Veck Cultists.
Rules may be found in the +CAMPAIGN section:
Using
Ad Mech Retreiver Teams in your battles
Using Veck Cultists
in your battles
These two new additions should be quite fun for those who want to use them and may be used in conjunction with the Veck Clues rule from week four but may NOT be used with the Hunt for Veck Sympathisers rule.
[Inquisitor: model and image courtesy of Mebob;
Adeptus Mechanicus: models and image courtesy of Alexander Bews from www.witchhunter.net;
Cultists: model and image courtesy of Refuse from the Bolter & Chainsword.]
Week 5 to 7 [3/Sept/07 - 23/Sept/07]
Announcement
I am extending the length of the campaign another 4 weeks. It will
now end Sunday October 14th. This gives you plenty of time to get a few more
points in the bag for your Battle Group, as well as allowing me to include
a few more exciting units and scenarios into the narrative.
Campaign Developments
Just to give some advanced warning that from week 8 onwards (next week) your opponents will be able to field either of these two additional units/charcters:1.
1. Veck Cultists
Veck "Cultists" in their army (used as adversaries). So you might
want to beg or borrow some Mutants, Renegade IG, some Possessed Chaos Space
Marines or anything else that might be suitable. Rules to follow.
2. Retriever Cohorts
An Adeptus Mechanicus "Retriever Cohort" may be used within your
own army. These will come at a later date. You might want to scout around
for some Techmarines, Servitors and a spare unit of Space Marines to use in
these roles. Again rules to follow.
I will post further details here in the +War Room as and when the details become clearer.
Special orders for the fifth week onwards:
As previously hinted, for week 5 and onwards you can use Veck as part
of your campaign battles. He is fielded in your opponents army and rules for
using him, his Henchmen and the mysteriuos Relictors, may be found in the
+CAMPAIGN section:
Using Veck in your Battles
Using Relictors
in your Battles
These two new additions should be quite fun for those who want to use them and may be used in conjunction with the Veck Clues rule from week four but may NOT be used with the Hunt for Veck Sympathisers rule.
[Inquisitor: model and image courtesy of Mark Walsh.
Relictors: image courtesy of Allerka from the Bolter & Chainsword.]
Week 4 [27/Aug/07 - 2/Sept/07]
Special orders for the fourth week onwards:
Well we are drawing ever closer to Veck, and to reflect our success
you may continue to use the Hunt for Veck
special rule as per week 2 and 3 but with slight modification. When rolling
the D6, a 4, 5 or 6 means there is a Veck Sympathiser present in the enemy
army. This gives you a greater chance of getting valuable information on Veck's
location, as well as earning some bonus points for your Battle Group.
Veck Clues
In addition – to represent the net closing, any games or scenarios you play where Loot counters or table areas are captured you may (of you want) think of these items as additional “clues” to Veck’s whereabouts. Any clues you capture will give your Battle Group additional bonus points.
So when you send in any results for Week 4, in addition to the normal information, please let me know how many table quarters, deployment areas, loot counters etc you have captured.
Campaign Developments
Giving a bit of prior warning that during weeks 5 and 6 I will be introducing various character types and units for your opponents to use under the 'Adversaries' rule. As always these are optional only (I don't want to muck up a perfectly good game for you after all) but, will add bonus points to your Battle Group.
As a hint you might want to beg/borrow an Inquisitor model, some henchmen, and squad of Space Marines from a Chapter painted differently to your own. You will also need access to a Witch Hunter or Daemonhunter and a Chaos Codex (current vesrion).
I will post further details here in the +++War Room as and when the details on Veck become clearer.
Week 3 [20/Aug/07 - 26/Aug/07]
Special orders for the third week onwards:
As we are homing in ever closer to our quarry, the chance of encountering
a Veck sympathiser increases. So, for Week 3 onwards, if you choose to use
the Hunt for Veck Sympathisers Special Rule,
there is a slight modification, when rolling the D6, a 5 or 6 means there
is a Veck Sympathiser present in the enemy army. This gives you a greater
chance of getting valuable information on Veck's location, as well as earning
some bonus points for your Battle Group.
Week 2 [13/Aug/07 - 19/Aug/07]
Special orders for the second week onwards:
As part of the ongoing camapaign various elements will be added over the coming
weeks. For week 2 onwards you may choose to use the Hunt for Veck special
rule if you want.
The Hunt for Veck Sympathisers Special Rule. {Yielding Bonus Points}
All forces engaged in the hunt for Veck will make every effort to close in on their quarry and will follow any course of action that might yield information as to the whereabouts of either Veck or his entourage. This includes the capture and interrogation of those believed to have such knowledge.
So to represent this, roll a D6 at the start of any game (except when playing against a xeno race). If the result is a 6 then one enemy character has knowledge that you desperately need to aid your search for Veck.
This enemy character can be an HQ or Elite Independent character, or an upgraded character that forms part of a unit from the start of the game, such as a unit/squad leader, standard bearer, apothecary etc.
Choose this character randomly (by dice throw or whatever means you like) at the start of the game so all participating players in the game know who he is. If he is killed in close combat then he is assumed to have been captured, to be later interrogated by his captures to reveal his information (although he counts as being ‘killed’ for game purposes).
Capturing him yields an additional D6x20 victory points in games that use victory points to determine the winner. If the enemy character isn’t killed in close combat then the enemy player gains the victory points. The victory points benefit can make a difference (up to 120 points) to the overall outcome of a game, and the charaters' capture will yield your assigned Battle Group additional campaign points – these are worth having.
You will also need to tell me in your game results if anyone in the enemy force was identified as a possible source of information, and whether he was captured or not, so can you please add the following information in addition to all the usual result details:
Veck sympathiser in enemy army [yes/no]
Veck sympathiser captured [yes/no]
+++
Thanks for all those who have sent results in. I will collate them all and post them here tomorrow (Monday) night.
+++
You may like to know that there are three Battle Groups in the campaign:
Cleansing Fire;
Scything Blade;
Unending Pursuit;
And there are also some 33 players registered so far. So don't be shy, if
you want to join in drop me an email to Registration.
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Week 1 [5/Aug/07 - 12/Aug/07]
No special orders or scenarios for this first week, so set forth in your hunt for Veck. Good luck.
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Assume nothing and keep vigilant.
Chronicler Isiah, the 4th Battle Company, Dark Angels.
