One of the aspects I love about roleplay games is how a spark of inspiration for a campaign can rise from almost anything, in this case after a small session of playing as the Lord General in the Last Stand mode of Dawn Of War 2 with friends several of use were suddenly nostalgic for a game of Only War.
For those of you unfamiliar with Only War The last first edition entry in Fantasy Flight Games's Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay product line, in which players take the role of Imperial Guardsmen in the setting. While a characteristic of both the Warhammer 40,000 and the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay systems is the very like chance of a characters demise and long term survivors often later succumbing to debilitating injuries or corruption Only War pushes this even further as it is expected that you will die and if not you than your NPC companions will.
With that said Only War is not entirely consumed with the Grimdark setting and there is something glorious in defeating or holding off a foe who is superior to you either physically or technologically and having the opportunity as a Imperial Guardsmen to call in artillery or ram a tank through your foes.
In this mindset I found myself brain storming a possible short campaign and came across this topic over at the
Fantasy Flight Games community so I would like to thank Lightbringer and those who contributed to the list which I have taken and organised below:
100 Missions Concepts
1. Hearts and
Minds: The players are ordered to engage in a “hearts and
minds” meeting with the leader of a local community on a war world.
The community is not expressly hostile to the Imperium, but is
ignorant of its ways, and the players are expected to meet with its
leader and secure his community’s agreement to assist in the war
effort. How will the players react to the weird and/or
sinister/heretical local customs they observe?
2. Special
Duties: The players are seconded to a Commissariat special duties
unit, and tasked with the observation and capture of a regimental
officer suspected of treason. To complicate matters, the officer is a
decorated hero, and the Commissar they are working under is a known
paranoiac…
3. Never meet your Heroes…: The players
are assigned to act as equerries to an Astartes officer. They rapidly
discover that he is a cruel and vicious individual, with total
disdain for their “human” martial abilities. Worse, he cares
nothing for their personal safety and expects them to keep up with
him in the execution of his duties. How often will the players allow
themselves to be placed in harm’s way for their superhuman
master?
4. Parlay: The players are selected to
communicate terms to their foes during a brief parley. Naturally, the
Imperium’s terms are unconditional surrender. However, the player’s
enemy offers honourable and beneficial alternative terms that would
allow both parties to recover their wounded and dead. How do the
player’s react when faced with evidence that not all of the
Imperium’s foes are monsters?
5. Decimation: After
being separated from their regiment to conduct other duties, the
players are ordered to act as a firing squad. To their horror, they
discover that they are expected to participate in a literal
decimation of their own Regiment, which is being punished for
cowardice. They are expected to shoot every tenth man in the entire
regiment, an act which will take all day and involve the death of
hundreds at their hands. How do the players react?
6.
Bodyguards: The players are required to act as drivers and
bodyguards to a senior Guard officer of the General Staff. After a
dull night escorting him from social event to social event hundreds
of miles safely behind Imperial lines, the players find him sobbing
over the corpse of a local joygirl, clearly dead by his hand. How do
they deal with this situation if he orders them to cover it up?
7.
The Vanished: After working directly under the command of the
Ordo Malleus as part of an indentured Inquisitorial detachment, and
having successfully repelled a daemonic incursion, the players
discover that the members of their regiment are disappearing one by
one. What is going on? Have the daemons returned, or is the
Inquisition covering up its tracks?
8. The Prisoner: The
players are tasked with transporting a xenos prisoner through enemy
lines to meet with an Ordo Xenos interrogations squad. The xenos is
fiendishly cunning, and resorts to every kind of devious ruse to
ensure its escape.
9. The Runners: Comms are down.
Someone has to get this message back to HQ, at the double! We need
runners! And an escort for the runners, naturally.
10.
Medic!: The players must assist a medic in the execution of his
duties. However, they discover that the medic is in fact in thrall to
a warp cult, and is secretly killing all those in his charge.
11.
Forgers: Another one of HQ’s crazy schemes… Flood the enemy
lines with counterfeit currency, crippling their economy. The players
must infiltrate the enemy lines and give away the equivalent of
billions of thrones to criminal elements. Will they resist the
temptation to spend on their own behalf on the way?
12. IPD: During a particularly vicious
campaign, the players encounter a captured Imperial Guard sanctioned
psyker who has been abandoned by the retreating enemy. He has been
tortured and left by the roadside attached to an explosive device
that will go off if he is moved. His misery, focused through his
psychic abilities, is causing waves of disorientation and sickness
among the advancing troops. He has in effect been turned into an
improvised psychic device. How do the players deal with the
situation?
13. Foragers: The players are ordered to
forage for supplies by their commanding officer. The only place where
they might be found is on a nearby farmstead: however, this means
stealing the last grain supplies from starving local civilians. How
do the players deal with this dilemma?
14. Sniper Duel:
The players are ordered to reconnoitre a nearby human village. During
the course of doing so, NPC members of their platoon are killed by
sniper fire. The players must engage in a sniper duel with a skilled
and ruthless opponent.
15. Guard Duty: The players,
recovering from a vicious military campaign, are given some peaceful
guard duty by their superiors. Sadly, they happen to be on duty when
the enemy decides to send a special forces group to attack their
position by night.
16. Beachhead I: The players are the
first off their Tetrarch Heavy Lander, and must push through miles of
fortifications and barbed wire to capture the first of many command
bunkers.
17. Beachhead II: The players are minding
their own business, manning their part of the trench line, when the
enemy lands a massive invasion force within 200 yards of their
position, using heavy landers. Can the players repel the
invasion?
18. The Magnificent Seven: The players are
part of a scouting force sent to reconnoitre a nearby civilian
settlement. During the course of their mission, the enemy attack. The
players must inspire the civilians to rise up and defend their homes
against the enemy force, using whatever weapons are to hand.
19.
Commando I: The enemy occupy a position guarded by a powerful
void shield generator. The players must travel to the position in
civilian garb, evade enemy patrols and sabotage the generator, timing
their attack precisely with a major offensive.
20.
Commando II: The enemy orbit the planet in a vast spacecraft. The
Imperium cannot defeat this vessel through main force with the meagre
assets available locally. So they opt to send in a suicide mission,
consisting of the players, to infiltrate the ship and destroy it from
the inside.
21. Mincemeat: The players are ordered to
carry a dead body, which wears the uniform of a Guard colonel of
intelligence, and which carries forged papers, to within a safe
distance of the enemy lines and then leave it at the manufactured
site of a speeder accident.
22. The Resistance: The players are part of
a defeated army, on a world captured by the enemy. They must go into
hiding, following Imperial Guard Standard Operating Procedure: cause
as much damage to the enemy as possible, even if it means their own
deaths. They must live a life of treachery and deceit, moving from
safe house to safe house, never trusting anyone, while sabotaging the
occupying army’s materiel and personnel.
23. The Ace of Traitors: During the course
of a successful ongoing planetary invasion that is being prosecuted
by a Guard force that includes their regiment, the players become
aware that one of the leading figures in the opposing regime has fled
into hiding in a major metropolitan area. The players are tasked with
capturing him alive and delivering him for interrogation.
24. WPD: The players are tasked with
searching the blasted ruins of a civilisation for evidence that it
once possessed weapons of planetary destruction, as this will prove
crucial in rebutting claims that the Lord Militant who ordered an
orbital bombardment of its cities was justified in his actions. The
players must travel through the pitiful remnants of a once great
empire, and face the enmity and hatred of its crushed and embittered
people.
25. Ratling: The players are tasked with
assassinating an important enemy officer. They are advised that
Imperial Guard Intelligence has become aware that he will be present
at a certain location at a certain time, though the players will not
be able to approach within a mile of his position, and he will be in
a staff car travelling at speed. They are told that only one person
can make the shot: legendary Ratling sniper “Plum” McDuff. The
players must escort McDuff – an irritating alcoholic loud-mouth with kleptomaniac tendencies – to the appointed place at the appointed
time, protecting him from the enemy and resisting the urge to
strangle him.
26. Odd Jobs: A ranking officer sends the
players on a series of random tasks. Leaving cans of fuel on the side
of the road, a bag of rations and some ammo left by a stream, a demo
charge placed in a large tree. No explanation is given why, only that
it is to be done.
27. Dumb Luck: You have been separated
from your company and are on your own. Under supplied and possibly
wounded, you must find your way back to base to warn your command of
an approaching enemy force. Lady luck has seemingly smiled upon you
as along your route, just when you need them the most, you stumble
upon small caches of food, ammo and other supplies that make all the
difference to your survival.
28. Abandoned: Upon returning to your
base of operations you find it abandoned. There are no signs of
fighting, no bodies, no equipment of any use. Atmospheric phenomena
are jamming vox transmissions and your supplies are low.
29. Extraction I: You mission is to
recover a valuable imperial asset by any means necessary. The enemy
cannot get their hands on this asset or all operations on this front
will be compromised and countless lives lost.
30. Extraction II: You have vital
information about the enemy. Your transport has be destroyed. You
must survive until the extraction team arrives to pull you out.
31. Ghost Town: The players are caught in
a terrible firefight while assaulting a small town. During the night
a dense fog moves in reducing line of sight to a few meters. The
fighting continues on through the night making the fight miserable
and near pointless as the enemy cannot be seen, only their shots
heard and felt. As dawn comes and after the enemy has given up
shooting, the commander orders you in to the town. With the fog
slowly burning off in the morning light the town proves to be empty.
There is no sign of the enemy or any other inhabitants. The town has
been abandoned for decades.
32.We don't need
your civil war: The IG unit is deployed to a world that is in the
early stages of being invaded by the forces of Chaos. The PCs are
instructed to coordinate with the local defence forces to repel the
Chaos invaders. Problem is, the world is currently in the midst of a
brutal civil war, precipitated by a seemingly inconsequential
disagreement on the nature of the God-Emperor. Can the PCs ignore
genocide and other atrocities committed by their "allies"
and work with them to accomplish the mission? Or will the PCs follow
their conscience and battle both enemies and allies?
33. Whole lotta
nothing: The joys of the company resupply are short lived as the
crates are opened and contain all matter of sundry items which are
completely useless to fighting a war, blocks of printer paper, Leman Russ engine parts with a red-tag to be repaired, bags of fish food
and assorted light bulbs. There is no food, las-packs, grenades,
clean water... but you know nearby there's other company's who
have some. Bluff, bull, trade or steal what you need and don't get
caught!
34. What we've got
here is failure to communicate: See scenario #32 above. The IG
and planetary defenders are getting pasted by the forces of Chaos, in
large part because the two sides in the civil war expend as much
effort fighting each other as the real enemy. While the IG commanders
try to broker a truce amongst the leaders, word comes down to the
troops that they are to make every effort to get forces of the two
sides in the field to temporarily ally against Chaos. It's time for
some diplomacy, soldier-to-soldier. But can the PCs succeed in
getting hated enemies to work together, even in the face of
annihilation?
35. The Warrant of Retrieval: Your Recon squad has just survived one of the
Bloodiest assault landings anyone in recent memory has seen. Upon
reaching your rally point you are informed that against all odds a
young Noble has just inherited a warrant of trade! Unfortunately,
This lucky young soul's unit got separated from the main assault and
is trapped behind enemy lines. Your unit must pass through enemy
territory, Find the aforementioned young Noble and Bring him to a
point where he can be taken off-world to find his destiny. Is he
worth it? How many of your squad are willing to die for his
inheritence? Will he even realise or care about the sacrifices you
have made to get him home?
36. A Fragging: The Lieutenant has been fragged. Problem is he
was a good officer (as they go) and was murdered because he had discovered of corruption in the unit. You know he was killed by
those troublemakers in C-Squad. They know you know. You know they
know you know...
Ideas include: They are stealing IG gear and selling on the
black market,They are running a slave operation with prisoners /
prostitution ring with civvies, they are Khorne worshippers.
37. Dinner is on the Ogryns: Your battalion is out of rations. Everything that
can be has been foraged. Naturally the toughest ended up with
the last of the food, and it is rumoured that the Ogryn platoon on the
other side of the hill has plenty of food (they NEED plenty) but
they're not parting with any and are being mean SOBs about it. You're
already at -5 to all stats or soon will be, you need food, so go get
some.
38. What We've Got Here is a Failure to
Communicate II: The Colonel has an objective that is of critical
importance to the campaign. You knew from the start that your
battalion didn't really have enough resources, men, gear or time to
achieve the mission and after a few engagements that situation is
even worse. But the COL can't see it. On paper he still has all the
units he started with and has deluded himself, and informed command
that he can get it done. The Major knows it can't be one but it's a
courts martial if he doesn't tow the line.
To make things worse, the
Colonel is now micro-managing the effort totally destroying what is
left of morale in the process, but still fails to see the reality of
burnt-out and under resourced units and an increasingly ambitious
view of what can be achieved in the time available. To add insult to
injury, he has somehow come to the conclusion that your unit is to
blame for any setbacks. The campaign objective must be met, and you're
the suckers that are expected to meet it. Do you keep on slogging or
go behind his back risking the wrath of the Colonel and the
Commissars.
39. The Decoys: In a plan to relieve pressure from the front,
command decided to move small numbers of troops, concealed as a much
larger force, to another location in the hopes to have the enemy
attack them in order to open up the main front for a spearhead
assault. Your company is now a "Regiment" and must keep the
enemy occupied enough to allow Command to strike.
40. The Decoys II: With the regimental supply train getting raided
numerous time and hindering the war effort, Command decided to move
your company to the defence of said convoys. Of course, during the
movement, you get attacked, pushed them back, but you realize what
you thought was fuel, ammo and such is just mud and rocks (or
anything else worthless) OR your company gets ordered to act as a
fake convoy to get the heat while the real goods are being moved by
other (secret) means.
41. Paperwork: The Munitorium send your Regiment a new Quastor.
Unfortunately, he is stricter than your average stereotype: filling a
form for a lamp pack means you only get the lamp body, and need to
fill another form for the light, and another for the charge pack. Of
course this is coming in conflict with the officers, who find that
their men are more busy filling paperwork for mundane objects they
should have rapidly than actually standing guard and doing their
duty. Sadly, Commissar X is also roaming around, making a move against the Adept rather..risky.
42. Blunte's Falcon: Shame! Dishonour! The regiment's colours have been
lost to the enemy. Can our heroes restore their prestige by capturing
the banner of a high profile foe?
43. For the Company!: Command green lighted the assault at dawn. Your
company is ready, but your officer made a little gentleman's bet with
the Lt from company D: First one at the top with the Company Standard
wins the honours of battle and the company's name into the annals of
the campaign's history. your officer whips up the company with pride,
speeches and rewards for those who can win the day. Of course during
the assault your squad see a few of D company's boys being
pinned/wounded/in a tight spot in which you can assist them, or
simply keep driving forward up the hill.
44. Location,
Location: The players and their regiment is send to hold the
line against the enemy. They are severely under strengthened and under
equipped for the task. To make matters worse HQ haven't been able to
properly re-supply their soldiers and a huge amount of supplies have
been dropped in enemy territory. The players leaders want these
supplies and task the players with getting them back from the enemy
across Dead Mans Land.
45. The Arceotech: Command has learned the location of an ancient and powerful arceotech weapon and has sent you to retrieve it. problem is
that the relic is currently in enemy hands, they know what it is, and
they plan to use it , can the players survive to retrieve the relic or
will they have to destroy it and risk the wrath of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
46. Wrong Train Boys: After a night of drunken celebration the players
board what they thought was the train back to HQ, the train however
turns out to be transport for those who have "enlisted" for
naval duty the players must now escape with
no weapons and no real evidence they are already guardsmen ( or the
guards don't care) and all this before muster.
47. Transport Woes: Your troop transport is being attacked and you are
cut off from the rest of the ship, can your players adapt to the
riggers of space combat to fight off the xenos? Or will a badly place
grenade space you all?
48. Deathworld Survival Training: Simple survive the trek to the rondevu point before the deadline to pass however the various dangers of the terrain and its inhabitants may cause problems.
49. Rogue Trading: Your squad has just been assigned to guard a
rogue trader, and your first task is to act as bodyguards while he conducts
trade with some Eldar pirates, who happen to be the same ones your
unit is fighting on the ground, what do you do?
50. Grannys Got A Gun: There is a huge riot in the civilian baggage train
over some small issue, instead of investigating matters your commissar
orders your squad to eliminate the problem. The whole baggage train
is to be executed, can your players stomach it or will they turn on
their commissar and go rogue?
51. The Relic I: Orks/Chaos have taken a major
holy site and the Priesthood wants it taken back. The problem is
that they are demanding any liberating units avoid damaging the city seriously crippling the effectiveness of armoured units and putting artillery support out of the question. The
PCs now have to face an urban combat scenario where even
simple explosives would make the COs pitch a fit. Unfortunately
your enemy is not bound by these artificial restrictions.
52. The Relic II: Something iconic to the Guard
(like the Fortress of Arrogance) was lost on some desolate planet
overrun by Orks and your squad is part of the expeditionary force
sent to get it back. The environment is hostile, the general in
charge is more or less consumed by megalomania, and the Orks are
uncharacteristically dug-in. As a matter of fact, they're so
well dug-in they might as well be called Da Empiral Fists clan.
Plus it becomes clear that someone somewhere in the regiment has
their own agenda and is manipulating the general for one reason or
another. As a final kicker, the Ork Warboss is holding the artefact in question, knows what it is, and will use it at every opportunity.
53. The Trench I: Your Squad has been taken off the firing trench
and assigned to a tunnelling unit, charged with digging underneath the
enemy lines in order to conduct recon and trench raids before
defending the tunnel long enough to escape for the raiding party to
escape, and then destroying it. Will the squad be able to keep
their project a secret from the enemy, prevent it from being
destroyed by shellfire or cave ins, and finally escape with enough
vital intelligence or prisoners in order to gain the edge and break
the trench deadlock?
54. The Trench II: Ordered to break the deadlock, your squad is just
one of thousands assigned to charge the enemy lines head on in order
to break the deadlock. However, as soon as the attack goes over the
top, a combination of poor planning, heavy enemy fire, and terrible
weather and luck result in your squad finding itself cut off and
alone in the middle of No-Man's land. The squad has little actual
intelligence about weather the wider attack was successful or a
colossal failure. Will your Guardsman attempt to push on in hopes of
joining an ongoing attack, or fall back, potentially regrouping (and
being attacked by their own side or viewed as cowards...)
55. River Crossing: The enemy in their desperate attempts to regroup
and consolidate have retreated past this river in order to
reorganize, in order buy some time they destroyed all the major bridges along
the river and has set up strong anti aircraft assets covering their front line units as they regroup. The Player's squad is
tasked with finding the best way to launch an attack over the
river, will they attempt to ford it and risk an ambush, try to set up
a mobile bridge to bring heavy armour across but risk artillery, or
try a direct crossing in exposed small boats?
56. Last Stand: Facing a foe who is technologically,
organizationally, or physically inferior but incredibly numerous, the
players squad find themselves part of small rearguard unit,
incredibly outnumbered yet still expected to survive and hold the
line by establish a defence around an important piece of terrain.
Will the players be able to hold their position, outnumbered but not
outgunned, until reinforcement arrives?
57. Search and Rescue: Several Imperial Navy pilots have been shot down
in the AO of the squad. Your small unit needs to sneak behind enemy
lines, find and secure the downed aircrews, and finally escape with
as many members of the crew as possible. This mission could be
further complicated by adding in enemy patrols searching for the
crews, having the crews flee from the players (thinking they are
foes) or even forcing the players to save already captured crews from
the vile clutches of the enemy.
58. Long Distance Raid: A specially commissioned group of Guardsmen are
sent on a mission to infiltrate Ork territory and blow a major oil
refinery. The question is if the team can make it back alive as well?
59. Same Colours: The team is sent to infiltrate separatist ranks,
gather intel, assassinate their local command and then make it back.
But can they avoid detection and how will they handle being drafted
into an enemy combat group that's making a counter-attack on an
Imperial breakthrough?
60. Easy Position: The team is signed to guard duty on a POW camp
which they expect to be easy work far away from the war. But a lot of
the prisoners aren't ready to put down their arms and there is a enemy
commando group getting ready to break a high profile prisoner free.
When their comrades starts to disappear and radio communications
shuts down, can they survive the night?
61. Shipboard Riot: During transit from one battle ground to another
in the depths of the void, or worse the warp, a riot has broken out
on the transport vessel. Either by the crew, Imperial/Penal
regiments, or warp infestation the majority of the ship is in a state
of havoc. The ships leading officers have locked down much of the
lower decks in hopes of slowing the spread of destruction. Will the
player's experience and skill be enough to bring the ship back under
Imperial control?
62. Space Hulk: An ancient but forsaken vessel has been
encountered with a distress beacon still activated. The
characters are selected as a part of an search crew sent to the space
hulk to investigate what happened and possibly save any possible
survivors. Will the squad hesitate as they weave from narrow
passageway to narrow passageway? What caused this behemoth with a
crew of thousands to come to the state it is now in, and what if
whatever caused it is still here?!
63. Chaos Reavers: Fanatical Heretics, Dark Eldar Reavers, Ork
Kaptain, or Ruthless Pirates have chosen the vessel your on as it's
latest prize! The ships Armsmen won't be enough to drive back these
invaders alone and the Captain has requested the regiments
assistance. Now all to do is actually defend against anyone that
would step foot on such a sacred Imperial battleship.
64. Price of Glory: The Regiment has made good progress and pushed the
enemy back but the regiment on the left have sense a chance for glory
by capturing an enemy command center and so left their designated
positions, and left the flank wide open for an enemy armoured unite
to counter-attack into the gap. Spread dangerously thin the regiment
which the characters are part of must hold the line until
reinforcements can be brought forward or ten Imperial regiments must
retreat to their original positions.
65. Heretics Among Us: Enemy activities from irregular fighters are
causing a mess for the Imperial forces and regiments are withdrawn
from the front to conduct anti-guerillas operations. How will the
soldiers handle a nightmarish fight where anyone among thousands of
civilians can be an enemy and the enemy uses every dirty trick
in and out of the book? Can they root out the guerillas, or will the
notorious 7th Penal Legion be sent in for a Cleanse and Purify
operation in the area, which will leave the entire region a scorched
desert.
66. The Hounds: After the regiment has suffered a number of unexplainable set-backs the colonel has come to the conclusion that
there is a traitor among the ranks. As trusted soldiers a group is
designated to hunt down the traitor and stop him. In the work the
soldiers may need to be able to confront or even persecute their own
brothers-in-arms and so how far are they willing to go, and is there
even a traitor or is it just an excuse to cover up the officers' own
failures?
67. The Emperor Protects... but bring your
lasgun: A world has been recently conquered by Chaos forces loyal
to Slaanesh, and an Ecclesiarchy priestess has remained behind to
attempt to keep worship of the God-Emperor alive (in secret) and to
form an underground resistance to the blasphemy of the Ruinous
Powers. The Ecclesiarchy petitions the Imperial Guard for assistance
in rescuing their priestess, and the Guard taps a squad of
specialists (the PCs) for the task.
The mission involves a stealthy
insertion and an infiltration mission. The PCs must make contact with
the resistance, avoid direct battle with the occupying Chaos forces,
and extract the priestess. However, the resistance hasn't been
briefed on the squad's mission, and mistakenly believes that they are
the vanguard of a liberation force, and the priestess has no wish to
abandon her flock. The PCs know that if she is captured, a brutal
future of torture await her. Also, the PCs know that if the
resistance fighters realize that the PCs are not there to liberate
them, they may turn mutinous or even murderous. How much will the PCs
reveal to the resistance about their purpose? And how will they
proceed to extract the resistance's leader?
68. Military advisor's: The players have
gained a reputation as tough and dangerous individuals capable of
handling themselves and as such are given a suicidally dangerous
mission by the Ordo Xenos: to masquerade as human mercenaries and
in this guise to infiltrate the entourage of a notorious Ork
Warlord of the Blood Axe clan. The Warlord has been known to
hire such mercenaries in the past, as he has an interest in "
'uman" military strategy - though he has a bad reputation
for shooting his allies when he gets bored. The Ordo Xenos
want the players to gently steer the warlord towards attacking the
Regiment/Crusade's real enemies in the region, saving thousands
of Guard lives in the process.
69. Where Aquilas Dare: A senior Guard
officer has been captured, and is being held by the enemy in the
notorious Castle Drang, which perches on a high mountain on an ice
world, connected to the spaceport below by a cable car. The
players form the heart of a small kill-squad (mixed PCs and
NPCs) sent to infiltrate the castle and capture the
officer. Or at least that's what MOST of the squad think. In
fact, one of the players (the most senior) is secretly advised
that the senior officer is in fact an actor, and that the true
purpose of the mission is to flush out a spy within the guard
itself as all of the potential spies have been placed within the kill
squad. (the NPCs.) The players must infiltrate the castle whilst
secretly observing their colleagues to see which one is
acting suspiciously.
70. Sealed Orders: The players are sent to assassinate an enemy officer. However, the most senior officer
from among the PCs is given sealed orders which reveal that
in fact the enemy target is a valued Imperial spy,
and that his job is to make sure that the assassination is NOT
successful. The spy has fallen under enemy suspicion, so to increase
his credibility, the Imperium plans to send kill squads after
him and other high priority enemy targets.
Only the one player
is told that they must not under any circumstances actually
assassinate the spy,the whole point of the exercise is to
make the spy seem like he is just another military target to the
Imperium. The player must prevent his colleagues from killing
the spy under any circumstances, and must not tell his colleagues of
the plan case they are captured. Plus, the Imperium kindly fits him
with a cranial bomb so he can kill himself instantly if necessary to
prevent the secret getting out if he is captured.
71. Bolter Betty: You and your party are
the crew of a Marauder Bomber. You are tasked with Destroying an
enemy strategic asset in a recently conquered enemy city. You and
your flight and escorts (Hopefully!) must fight your way through to
the target and blast it straight to hell! A High-level carpet bombing
will will likely destroy the target but also the surrounding
friendly civilians! It also will expose your Aircraft to greater risk
from Aerial Interceptors.
Additionally, If Morality is not your
greatest concern; There is a group of friendly resistance
fighters in the area whose destruction could complicate the overall
war effort. A Low-level bombing run (If it penetrates the
area!) will guarantee destruction of the enemy asset with
minimal collateral damage! Unfortunately; due to very heavy AA
emplacements and Air defences your odds of surviving a low level run
aren't great either!
72. First wave: "We are going
in with the first wave! Means more 'Nids ta kill! You hit Dirt you
shoot anything with more than two legs! You get me?...."
Command has decided that this particular area of this particular
planet WILL be retaken from the Tyranids! What is so damned important
to justify a ground assault against Tyranids? Is it a vital Strategic
asset or some self-important General's favourite desk?
73: Danger Close: The PC squad has recently been
attached to an artillery unit to serve as Forward spotters for the
big guns in the rear. After being dropped of by Valkyries as part of
an air insertion, the players and their unit find themselves in an
ambush. Surrounded by the enemy on all sides and in an isolated
position far from the main lines, their only hope for survival is to
keep calling in the firepower to protect the edges of the dropzone.
This of course makes them priority targets of enemy snipers, who want
to see the artillery stopped. When rounds start landing astray and
happen to knock out a friendly commander (May or may not actually be
the PC's fault) things start to get complicated. But while this loss
of life is regretable, further loss of valuable artillery ammunition
is unacceptable...but can the players keep doing their duty?
74. Quartermaster Duty: The PC Squad has been
assigned to a quartermaster of a siege regiment, tasked with
recovering valuable equipment from No Man's land as often as
possible. Will the players be able to negotiate their way through the
mud, mines, and even enemy patrols to recover equipment, even in the
dead of night? Is it really worth it to risk their lives for a couple
lasguns? How will they deal with vehicles-sabotage them to deny them
to the enemy but potentially face the wrath of the quartermaster? Or
will they try to extract them, giving themselves away and making the
assignment incredibly more dangerous. Finally, are they prepared
handle the death and gloom they encounter (or worse...prying
equipment from wounded comrades who are still clinging to life in the
field).
75: The Press Gang: Operations in this sector have continued long past
what the administratum initially suspected. The enemy has resorted to
a strategy of attrition, and Imperial forces are being spread few and
far between as men continue to be thrown away in the assault.
The
player''s squad, having recently survived one such attack, has been
ordered to the rear to rest but a commissar has hatched a plan to
increase the strength of the guard. The players are to intimidate,
force, capture, liberate, or volunteer civilians to be conscripted
into the Imperial Armies on the planet. How will they go about their
task? Will they look for fiery volunteers, or conscript penal
units, or even the old, young, or sick? How far will they go to
meet their quotas and protect themselves, and just who will they
sacrifice so that they may survive the commissar''s fiery wrath.
76: Pathfinders: High in orbit, the Imperial Navy has broken into
orbit and is engaged in fierce combat with the enemy naval units. A
planet strike is coming, but before it can come, Vox transmitters and
laser guiders must be laid, drop zones must be marked, and the
enemy''s defences must be reconnoitred.
The PC squad has been tasked
to ride a valkyrie down to the surface (using the chaos above as
cover) and serve as the pathfinders for the first attack wave which
will follow behind after a designated amount of time. Will the PC''s
be able to scout the drop zones and risk their own lives, alone and
without support, in order to give their comrades in the first wave
more of a fighting chance at survival.
77. Court Martial: The players are
dismayed to learn that a beloved officer they have served under for
years is facing a court martial, which could lead to his
execution. Normally the Commissariat wouldn't trouble themselves
with the effort of a court martial, but the officer is the son
of a senior Lord Militant serving in a nearby crusade.
The
officer is accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy. The
players are assigned to assist the officer defending him in
investigating the allegations. They rapidly learn that the accused
refused to obey a tactically insane order to assault a fixed
position, knowing it would lead to the outright destruction of his
unit. They also learn that the order came from a senior officer who
has a grudge against his father. How will the players assist in
defending the accused?
78. You can't HANDLE the Truth!: The players
are assigned to an officer prosecuting a senior regimental colonel
for brutality. The colonel is influential, ruthless and powerful. The
players must protect the prosecutor from intimidation
and assassination attempts from Guardsmen loyal to the colonel.
79. Toy soldiers: The players are assigned
as a liaison unit to a squad of stormtroopers. Their role is to update
the stormtroopers on local conditions and warn them of enemy tactics.
The stormtroopers are arrogant, brutal and cocky. They refuse to take
polite advice from the players, and insist on doing things their
own way, even though warned that it will be dangerous. Then the
players are assigned a dangerous, behind the lines mission alongside
the stormtroopers. How will the players conduct themselves?
80. Terra is for Heroes: Stretched thin on an ever expanding front, your
squad have been put on guard duty rather close form the enemy lines, fortunately commissar X arrives with a few soldiers, remnants of
another company to bolster your numbers by a few heads. One of
them is a grizzled trooper which judging form the half warning half praise chatter the
commissar is giving him, the man is a
recently demoted sergeant.
During the night an enemy patrol hits
your position killing a few guards before returning back, You ready
yourself for the obvious attack on your weak position when the
grizzled trooper puts forth an idea. If you launch a patrol
as a larger force you may well halt the attack if they realise
they are facing greater numbers than first predicted. Of course, that would mean leaving your posts to save the front.
81 The Bunker: The battle isn't going well on this world, the
PC's find themselves the sole occupants of a bunker that is now on
the front line. Their only contact with the outside is during brief interuptions
in the jamming when vox contact can be made with command.
Enemy patrols are already in the area, how long is it going to be
before main force arrives. Reinforcements are being brought up
by but will they hold long enough and will they need to withdraw to
survive.
82. The Patrol: Positions are widely spaced, indistinct battle lines, the close terrain means the enemy could be 20 meters away
and you wouldn't know. The only way to gain intelligence is send
patrols and the only way to stop it is ambush patrols.
83. Dads Army: This planet has long been at war on it's own with
proud tradition of soldiery. But the war is in a new phase now, The IG have been called up to shore up the defences. That puts the
players in control of a strip of defences with a large company of
PDF. The only ones that aren't twice as old as you are young enough
to be your own. Is there more to these old guys than meets the eye.
84 The Termite: The war is at a complete stalemate. The Imperial
forces are mustering for one last attack with the last of their
resources and as they are fighting a well entrenched enemy with out
vastly superior numbers this doesn't look good. But while moving
through the area surveying for the big assault a long lost
bunker has been found, long forgotten by the adepts of the
Departmento Munitorium, and it contains an ancient burrowing
transport. It can only carry a squad but if inserted in the right
place, say the enemy command bunker at the height of the battle then
they might gain the advantage to carry the day.
85. The link up: A formation has been cut off by the enemy advance.
No one seems sure what unit it is or their strength but the top brass
are risking a costly counter attack to rescue them. But it will only
buy a matter of minutes, then need to be ready to push from the other
side. However, there is a complete communications black out. The
players need to weave through the enemie lines before they settle in
to static defences and contact the formation, or use optical code to
call off the attack if they already dead. Rumors are that it's an
entire Battallion of Mechanised Infantry, Ogryns, Tanks or even
a platoon of Adeptus Astartes, but that would be
ridiculous.
86. The Great Escape: After unsuccessful planetary invasion PC Squad made
of survivors from several decimated regiments is taken prisoner by
Tau occupation forces. Interned in a camp made from former Imperial
Bastion, they have to survive harsh regime, suspicious "medical"
tests performed by Tau Earth Caste, abuse from hated human
collaborators and mysterious disappearances from both prisoners and
Gue' vesa. What for? Second landing is imminent and there is dark
secret Imperial Command must get if it don't want to lead their forces
to a disaster… it is time for escape.
87. …you are so much frakked: Being on leave from Crusade is rare, but rather
pleasant. You get drunk with your comrades. Nobody tries to eat you.
You gamble and fight with guardsmen from other regiments. You avoid
your commissar who is drunk as well. You shag joy girls and joy boys.
Rough up some locals who think they can ask unreasonable prices for
obscura. You get hight with guys from other regiments. Until you
sober up, find most people killing each other (including your
commissar who suddenly has a chainaxe) and everything bathes in ominous red light. But only when one of the other guardsmen shows you
little =I= shaped pedant you know that…
88. Counter-attack: During a battle the enemies forces have
crashed against the Imperial lines. In this sector all of the
reserves have already been deployed when a vital position on a hill
was been attacked out of no where by 5 Raptors. The PC's are the only
unit close enough to make difference, they are to gather what merge
forces they can and counter attack the hill. Primary objectives is to
drive off the Traitor Space Marines and hold the hill until more
substantial reinforcements arrive, the secondary objective is to
engage the traitors until they are reinforced to prevent them from
continuing on into the vulnerable communication and command positions.
89. The Long March: A vital manufactorium is held by the enemy in a
vast, utterly inhospitable wasteland. Nearby anti-aircraft defences
are substantial, it is far behind the front line and
the mountainous terrain mean that a large force cannot be landed together. However, the number of defenders at the manufactorium itself
are relatively small, an elite unit could be landed over the
mountains in the wilderness march on the and if they can
survive the dreaded environment and enemy patrols they could
breach the defences and put it out of operation.
90. Not So Quiet: Caught in a debilitating gas attack, the
characters are sent to a military hospital in a massive and ancient
converted mansion to recuperate. But something stalks the wards,
sacrificing the wounded and dying to its dark masters. Can the PCs,
bedridden and practically disabled by their encounter with the gas,
survive and end its reign of terror?
91. What Makes a Man Turn Neutral?: A Chaos
invasion fleet is en route to an Imperial Shrine World to massacre
its population and desecrate its holy sites. Though there is an
Imperial Guard regiment on site, the world has no PDF due to a
curious pacifist cult that has taken over as the main religion on the
planet. The cult teaches that everything that happens is the
God-Emperor's will, so there is no need to fight or struggle. The
Emperor protects, after all, and what will be, will be. The PCs are
sent to the shrine world with orders to get the local population
riled up and ready to fight, and to train a militia to resist the
forces of Chaos until an Imperial relief fleet can arrive.
The training effort gets off to a bad start, as
training accidents and all manner of unseemly misfortunes plague the
PCs and the trainees. In addition, insubordination is rife due to the
pacifist teachings of the world. The typical Commissar tactic of
shooting insubordinate people won't work here, as the Guard doesn't
want to create any embarrassing incidents on such a holy world. In
addition to the problems the PCs face in training pacifists
to go to war, they must contend with the mysterious force that seems
to want their mission to fail. Are their adversaries simply a group
of misguided peaceniks, or something more sinister, like Chaos
sleeper agents?
92. GRUESOME
GARRISON: Your unit has been sent to reinforce the never ending citadel Gormenguard. Although it is under constant
attack from the enemy morale seems to be suspiciously high despite
the utterly dreary surroundings, the labyrinthine citadel, and
the inbred local nobles with overly morbid outlooks. In fact
morale is so high you are offered many invitations to dine and spend
time with other units, units that have as yet to be witnessed reputations
as unstoppable close quarters fighters and there is something about
them that just makes you all feel so welcome. Amid the
weirdness you wonder if maybe the place is cursed, or haunted, but
maybe the explanation is much simpler: like a Genestealer infestation
amongst the troops.
93. Moonbreaker:
The players' unit is earmarked for an assault on an orbital defence
platform, which must be captured intact. Normally such assaults
are carried out by Naval Armsmen or Astartes, but none are available,
as they are allocated to other parts of the massive set piece
planetary invasion. As such the players must undergo tedious and
dangerous microgravity-combat training in cheap and flimsy vacuum
suits mass manufactured by the Mechanicus, before being literally
fired at the enemy installation in Shark Assault boats.
The
enemy installation is vast and well defended: the players must cut
their way into the facility and secure a "beach head"
for the arrival of reinforcements by destroying defence turrets
across one whole flank of the platform. Can the players survive the
numerous perils of Zero-G battle (shrapnel, explosive decompression,
vacuum burns etc) while mag-booting their way across the surface of
an orbital platform, while explosions dot the surface of the planet
below and burning ships hurtle through the inky blackness above
their heads?
94. Tunnel Rats: On the defensive once again the Regiment
has been fortifying their positions and moral is high. The enemy
attacks have been making no progress, but auspex are picking up
readings from underground. There's already a vast, mostly disused
network of tunnels. Are the enemy undermining the positions, or is it
something much, much worse.
95. Smoke on the Water: The regiment has been station on some back-water
system planet as part of a staging ground for an upcoming campaign.
Whilst on shore leave down on the planet a number of your regiment
have been reported missing, seemingly disappearing from the huge
floating cities that cover the chemical oceans of this 'water world'.
This leads the player characters to go investigating the
disappearances only to stumble across cult activity worshipping some
kind of corruptive ocean god/daemon.
96. Twisted Transistor: Your regiment has been garrisoned to a planet to
help defend a series large manufactoria that produce a unique variant
of Leman Russ tank. The new batch of Leman Russ battle tanks have
developed critical faults and caused the deaths of many tank crews.
Superstitious to the extreme, further tank crews are refusing to man
the new tanks and so, after a number of summary executions that do
nothing to improve the situation and everything to increase the
workload of the scrubbing crews, your unit is sent to the
manufactoria to ascertain what the issue with the tanks is. The magos
that oversee the manufactoria turns out to be a Heretek and has
infiltrated the area with his corrupted tech priests. The players
must fight off a plethora of his cybernetic minions and corrupted
vehicles.
97. Carry on my wayward sons: The players are the sole surviving members of
their regiment disaster strikes the warzone they are station in, enemy frigates managed to breach the systems defensive perimeter
and launch bombs at the surface of the planets the Imperial Guard
had been fighting to reclaim from Chaos!
Without any command or support to rely on, armed
with only what they carry and with a single chimera half out of
promethium - can the players make their way out of the fallout zone
and to the safety of a starport on the other side of the continent
where, hopefully, a heavy lifter or shuttle may still be stationed?
98. Highway to the danger zone: In a reverse of the previous tale, the players
have been tasked with escorting a cargo-8 as part of a convoy to
deliver an atomic warhead deep into enemy territory. After the convoy
is ambushed by enemy air assets and the players manage to safely take
the cargo-8 into an underground car park, can the players navigate
the hostile controlled city-scape and deliver their precious cargo
onto enemy high command? Certainly this mission was a one way ticket
to the Embrace of the Emperor but that was why two Commisars were
attached to the unit.
99. Freebird: The players find themselves on board one of the
last heavy lifters departing their now over-run forwards operations
base. The Hive Mind has come, and tyranid swarms have descended to
devour all life on the planet. Can the group man the few defenses the
lifter has, co-ordinate with air-support wings and delay the ships in
orbit from leaving without them? Oh and one of the guardsmen on board
may have been infected with spores…
100. Plug in baby: A number of Adeptus Titanicus units have been
deployed to the colossal hive planet the players are station on,
narrowly snatching defeat from the jaws of defeat at the hands of Tau
forces that have assaulted the planet after infiltrating its citizens
and subverting them to the Greater Good. Unfortunately one of the
might titan engines has had its plasma generator core damaged in
battle and the flank it was protecting is now crumbling to the Tau.
Tasked with escorting a delegation of Ad-Mech, Adeptus Titanicus and
other specialists, can the players make it to the downed titan in
time to restore it to the true glories of war it deserves?
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