Information - 2020 Campaign Part I
Louisville Necromunda League’s 2020 Narrative Campaign
Part I: Helmawr’s Gambit (Dominion Campaign)
Lord Pyrial Andarkis has fallen.
His children squabble in a war of succession, unaware (or perhaps uncaring) about the larger peril threatening the galaxy. The Adeptus Administratum, concerned only with the Tithe owed to the Imperium, has begun to doubt that Tairos will be able to fulfill its commitments while this petty sibling feud rages.
Lord Gerontius Helmawr of Necromunda sees an opportunity to help the Imperium from beyond his borders. Dispatching a sizable fleet towards Tairos, Helmawr has offered up the personnel necessary to keeping the industry of the planet running at all costs, drawn from the ranks of every hive city from his own world, in cooperation with Mamoneth Andarkis, fifth child of Pyrial.
In anticipation of the influx of off-worlders, Tairos has opened space within its Hive Tairos to accept these workers and their families. Officially designated as “Helmawr’s Hold” in honor of the lord’s beneficence, the massive area is quickly settled by the newcomers. Unofficially, the bitter locals, some displaced from their own homes, have come to call the place “Helmawr’s Hole” as the original honorific has belied the truth: this place is an absolute slag town, an insult to the House of Helmawr and those he has sent in his stead.
Lord Helmawr sees an opportunity to help…himself. For the holds of his ships contain not merely personnel from the many factories of Necromunda, but several of his own Enforcer Cadres. Once embedded, his loyal soldiers will help secure the industries of Tairos for his own gain. Lord Helmawr has even anticipated the overtures that the lesser Houses of Necromunda may have made towards certain members of the Andarkis family. With any luck, the Andarkis siblings will be weakened to a point where Helmawr can control them from afar.
What Lord Helmawr failed to account for from his palace in the Spire of Hive Primus, though, was the desperation of his own people. When word reached the ears of mass transports heading off-world, members of the Underhive stowed away upon the star-bound vessels, unaware that they were trading one dismal hive city for another. Gangs from all of the principal manufacturing Houses have embedded with their clans, seeking opportunities on this new world. Though perhaps not as well-equipped and trained as any Enforcer, the miscreants of Necromunda may upset the delicate balance of Helmawr’s master plan.
Among the workers and Gang members, though, more sinister forces are travelling towards Tairos…
Structure
The first season of the 2020 Narrative Campaign will run from March 1st to May 23rd, using the following structure:
March 1st – March 21st: Occupation Phase (3 weeks)
March 22nd – March 28th: Downtime (1 week)
March 29th – April 18th: Takeover Phase (3 weeks)
April 19th – April 25th: Downtime (1 week)
April 26th – May 16th: Takeover Phase (3 weeks)
May 17th – May 23rd: Wrap-Up/Triumphs awarded for next season
This campaign will use the Core Rulebook and Gangs of the Underhive for content; the Core Rulebook will be needed for campaign structure (rules on Founding Gangs, Pre/Post Battle Steps, etc), while the Gangs of the Underhive supplement will be needed primarily for the Trading Post and Hired Guns. Having a copy of The Book of Ruin will be needed for any gang wanting to make use of House Favors, but is not necessary to have a successful campaign. The Book of Peril, likewise, contains Dramatis Personae and weather conditions that may be utilized during campaign play, but is not a necessary purchase. Any gang not covered in Gangs of the Underhive will need to purchase the appropriate book for their House List.
Gangs will be created using their respective House Lists, with a starting budget of 1000 credits. Any credits not spent during gang creation will go into the gang’s stash for later purchases.
Special Modifiers, Rules, and Other Notices
There will be no access to the Black Market during this portion of the campaign. All weapons and Wargear purchases will come from either the Trading Post or respective House Lists.
Territories will be generated and posted online, both on Facebook and the Louisville Necromunda League’s Blogspot page. During the Occupation Phase, players can issue challenges to other players for any unclaimed territory (that has not been publicly listed as a stake in someone else’s challenge); during the Takeover Phase, both unclaimed and claimed territories are valid targets for challenges. Notify the Arbitrator as soon as a challenge/game has been completed so that the available territories list can be updated.
Though there is no limit to the number of battles players can fight during the Occupation and Takeover Phases, if any obvious attempts to game this system for rapid territory gain are spotted, the Arbitrator reserves the right to consider appropriate action against this behavior, up to and including dismissal from the campaign. Normally, if a player refuses a challenge for a staked territory, they automatically forfeit that territory to the challenger. Since our group is diverse and may encounter difficulties in scheduling games with challengers/challenged, this rule will be suspended. However, if players attempt to “fortress” or “castle” by refusing all challenges on their held territory, the Arbitrator reserves the right to consider appropriate action against this type of ploy, up to and including dismissal from the campaign. For this reason, challenges need to be made in public, preferably online within our Facebook group.
If you are having trouble getting games scheduled, please contact the Arbitrator. I will not have any active Gangs present within the campaign (as far as play is concerned), but can fill in as an opponent around my schedule. Please note, though, that unlike in friendly demo/learning games, the Arbitrator will not make for an easy or forgiving opponent!
Players are free to trade Territories as they see fit, provided these trades are announced and the Arbitrator is informed. These trades are done at a player’s own risk, as the benefits in gaining a new territory may not outweigh the benefits given to an opponent…
Once per non-Downtime Phase, Gangs may seek help from their Houses by utilizing their respective chart, located in The Book of Ruin. As these charts are lengthy and currently in production, they cannot be reprinted here.
Downtime
During Downtime, the following applies:
-Any fighters in Recovery return to active duty on their gang’s roster.
-Any Captive fighters held by another gang are returned to their own gang, with the capturing gang receiving half the credits value (round up to the nearest 5) added to their stash.
-Any Juves with 5 or more Advancements may be promoted to a Champion. Their characteristics and credits value are unaffected, but they change their type from Juve to Champion, and are treated in all other respects as a Champion.
-Gangs receive 250 credits to recruit new fighters and Hangers-on. These credits must be spent now and cannot be added to the gang’s stash; any unspent credits are lost. Gangs may supplement these bonus credits with credits from their stash.
During Downtime, players can either retire their Gang (if they are dissatisfied with their situation) and hire on a new starting gang. This is also a time when a new player can join in the campaign with a new starting gang.
After the above has been applied, players are encouraged to participate in a narrative scenario during the Downtime week. These scenarios will be hosted at Louisville Game Shop (925 Baxter Ave, Louisville, KY). Fighters can possibly receive Experience and Injuries during these narrative battles, but will not earn credits or Reputation for their participation; instead, participating gangs will receive some other benefit…
Participation in these narrative scenarios is encouraged and appreciated, but not mandatory. Specific dates and times will be made available, but will typically be on a Saturday or Sunday, depending on other events in the community.
Wrap-Up
During the final week of a campaign season, a number of Triumphs will be awarded. Due to the semi-perpetual nature of the narrative campaign, these accolades will have lasting effects into the next season of the campaign. In the event of a tie, a particular Triumph will go unawarded for that season. Triumphs will reset from season to season.
Scenario Chart
Below is the amended Scenario Chart used for this campaign (replacing the one found in the Core Rulebook), as suggested by the team at Goonhammer:
2d6 Roll
2-5: “That’s MY Turf!”
Choose 1: Takeover, Border Dispute, or Sneak Attack
6-7: Territory
Choose 1: Toll Bridge, Escape the Pit, or Escape the Badzone
8-9: DEATHMATCH
Choose 1: Stand-Off, Tunnel Skirmish, The Trap, or Ambush
10-12: Underdog
Lower-Ranked player picks the Scenario and determines Attacker/Defender
Players can agree to play a type of game based on the type of terrain they have available: Zone Mortalis (2D) or Sector Mechanicus (3D), so long as any and all rules for Setting Up The Battlefield are adhered to.
The "Gang Raids" supplement from White Dwarf (December 2019) is also completely open if players agree upon it, since the games are smaller and more thematic --- and great for Gangs with lots of Fighters in Recovery...
All Scenarios can be found in the Core Rulebook, with these exceptions:
Takeover: Book of Ruin, pg 70
Escape the Badzone: Book of Peril, pg 78
If players do not have access to a certain book for a Scenario, simply select another Scenario from the same 2d6 roll.
House Patronage
The scenario being played will specify if Gang Rating or starting crew value is used to determine which side is the Underdog. If one player’s Gang Rating or the credits value of their starting crew (whichever the scenario uses) is less than their opponent’s, then they receive House Patronage as follows. House Patronage is represented by a number of credits that the player has to spend on benefits, including Hired Guns, temporary fighters, or chosen Gang Tactics cards. Each benefit has a credit cost associated with it as shown in the table below. House Patronage benefits replace any additional random Tactics cards a player may receive during the Pre-Battle Sequence as described in the scenario rules.
The number of credits generated by House Patronage is calculated during the Pre-Battle Sequence after Step 5 (Choose Crews) and before Step 6 (Announce Territory Boons). A gang receiving House Patronage receives 100 credits that can be spend on House Patronage Benefits for each full 100 credits of difference between the Gang Rating of their starting crew and their opponent’s starting crew.
The list of possible House Patronage benefits is shown in the table below. A player may select any combination of these patronages, adhering to the restrictions outlined in each line of the table (so they may randomly draw up to five Gang Tactics cards, for example):
0-5: Draw a random gang Tactics card (100 credits each)
0-2: Choose a Gang Tactics card (200 credits each)
Unlimited: Hire a temporary Hanger-on (price varies)
0-3: Temporarily hire a Ganger (price varies)
Unlimited: Recruit one or more Juves* (price varies)
0-1: Hire a Dramatis Personae (price varies)
0-1: Hire a Bounty Hunter (price varies)
0-5: Hire a Hive Scum (price varies)
*Note: Juves are still restricted to their normal starting equipment restrictions, but do not count towards normal Gang composition that normally limits the number of non-Gangers allowed.
Any fighters hired as part of a House Patronage benefit are not added to the gang’s roster, as their services are secured for one battle only. Costs for a fighter can be found in the corresponding section (House Lists, Hired Guns, etc). Bounty Hunters hired as part of a House Patronage benefit are not subject to the “We’ll Get Our Bit…” special rule. Weapons and Wargear can be purchased for fighters hired in this way using credits generated by House Patronage. Any credits not spent are lost. Additional weapons can only be purchased for fighters hired as a House Patronage benefit and are lost at the end of the battle.
Any fighters, including Hired Guns and Hangers-on, hired as a House Patronage benefit are automatically added to a player’s crew regardless of the crew selection method. Such fighters are taken in addition to the usual restrictions (i.e. a gang may include two Ambots as normal and may include additional Ambots as a House Patronage benefit). Any fighter hired as a House Patronage benefit cannot be activated as part of a group activation and does not count as present at the start of the battle for the purpose of Bottle Tests.
A gang participating in the 2020 Narrative Campaign needs to be more than 100 credits below the opposing Gang (as described above) in order to qualify for House Patronage.
Available Hangers-on
For this season, the following Hangers-on are available:
-All Brutes (as outlined in the Louisville Necromunda League 2020 FAQ)
-Ammo-Jack
-Dome Runner
-Gang Look-Out
-‘Narker
-Rogue Docs
-Slopper
FAQs
Please read and be familiar with the following FAQs (having an accessible copy, either digitally or in print, will help with any table disputes), as these documents may supersede any previously printed publication:
-any official FAQ from the Necromunda/GW team
-the Louisville Necromunda League 2020 FAQ
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