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Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Map Based Campaign Rules!

Below is a copy of the rules I have created for my Gaming Group's Kill Team Map Based Campaign. If you want to use these rules for your own campaign, please feel free to do so.  

Disclaimer:  I do not own the Intellectual Property Rights to Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team or any of its derivatives.  This is made purely for fun!

Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team Map Based Campaign Rules
By: Commander Cheapskate

1. THE CAMPAIGN MAP

TheCAMPAIGN MAP consists of a series of Hexes which can be represented by using Gaming Tiles or a graphic map. Depending upon how many players are participating in the campaign, the size of the map and the selected turn limit with vary. For example: in a small campaign with four players and lasting ten turns, there could be a map consisting of 40 Hexes. In the end, the Campaign Map will be determined by the Campaign's GAME MASTER(GM). 

2. HEXES

HEXES represent one type of terrain: MAJOR or MINOR

The first time a hex is explored during the campaign, the GM rolls to determine the contents of the Hex, using the table:EXPLORATION. Minor hexes, or hexes containing no Major Terrain are undefended. Major Hexes, which contain Major Terrain features, will usually be defended by a Neutral Kill Team. The size and composition of the Neutral Kill Team will be announced by the GM at the same time as the information about the Major Terrain feature. 

3. AREA OF OPERATIONS 

Players start with a small amount of territory on the Campaign Map, usually 3 or 4 Hexes, and expand from there to other parts of the Campaign Map. This is called the Player's AREA OF OPERATIONS (AO). Normally, you should be able to trace a path of currently held territory to each Hex within your AO, and back to your FORWARD OPERATING BASE (FOB). Any Hex in your AO that can not trace such a path is considered CUT-OFFand suffer from disadvantages. 

4. CUT-OFF HEXES

Over the course of the campaign, one or more hexes of your AO is no longer connected to your FOB by a line of unbroken friendly hexes. Should this occur, the Cut-off Hex can't use any Major Terrain features contained within, be defended unless specifically patrolled by a friendly Kill Team, or used to launch an Assault to an adjacent hex. (See 6. ORDERS). 

Cut-off Hexes provide Victory Points as normal.

5. THE TURN SEQUENCE

The campaign is played in turns, each turn taking one real time week in order to resolve. Players take their turns simultaneously, all players will submit their Orders to the GM by a specific deadline determined by the GM. All resulting Battles (Player versus Player or against Neutral Kill Teams) during the course of the Week.

6. ORDERS

During the campaign, the locations of your Kill Teams is usually abstract, conducting various operations within your AO. Each turn, your Kill Teams can defend part of your AO, or attack outwards from anywhere along the border of your AO.

Each turn, you must order each of your Kill Teams to either PATROL orATTACK. 

ORDERS
ORDER
EFFECT
Patrol
Defend your AO, can fight any invading Kill Team that enters any hex in the Kill Team's PATROL RADIUS
Attack
Enter a hex you do not already control that is adjacent to any hex in your AO. If you encounter defenders, you can choose to either fight them or retreat.

The orders you issue to one Kill Team, doesn't affect the other. For example, if you control two Kill Teams you could order both of them to Patrol, or both to Attack, or issue a different Order to each. Multiple Attacks will allow you to expand the Borders of your AO quickly. But if you have no Kill Teams on patrol, then anyone invading your AO will claim a Hex without a fight.

Patrol
A Kill Team ordered to Patrol is considered moving throughout the territory surrounding a specific Hex, deploying scouts and moving to wherever they sense at threat at your borders. A defending Kill Team can fight any enemy entering the target hex and all friendly hexes bordering it. These hexes are that army's PATROL RADIUS. A single defending Kill Team can even fight against several attackers in different Hexes in the same turn. 

If you have more than one Kill Team whose Patrol Radii overlap at a hex or hexes where your AO is under attack, you can choose which patrolling Kill Team fights each attacker.

All Kill Teams must follow the BATTLE-FORGED KILL TEAM RULES

In order to defend a Cut-Off Hex, a Kill Team must be specifically assigned to Patrol the Cut-Off Hex in order to defend it from attack.

Attack
A Kill Team ordered to Attack can enter any enemy or neutral hex on the map that is adjacent to a hex within your AOthat is not Cut-Off. Each Kill Team ordered to Invade may only enter one enemy or neutral hex in a campaign turn. 

As with patrolling Kill Teams, two Kill Teams may be ordered to Attack the same hex. If this occurs, you may choose which Kill Team will fight first, and then followed by a second if the initial attack fails.

7. EXPLORATION AND MAJOR TERRAIN FEATURES

When you Attack a neutral hex on the campaign map, the GM will roll on the EXPLORATION TABLEto determine whether there are any Major Terrain Features present. In most cases, if a Major Terrain Feature is present, Neutral Defenders must be defeated before you can claim the hex you have Attacked. 

All Major Terrain Features are defended. The size and composition of the Neutral Kill Team varies, but increases as time passes in the campaign. In order to claim the hex, you must defeat the defenders in battle.

EXPLORATION TABLE
2d6 Result
Feature
Victory Points (VPs)
Effect
2
Mission Critical
+2
Kill Team's Commander levels up to a maximum of Level 4.
3-4
Minor Hex
+1
None. 
5
Auspex Array
+1
+1 Intelligence
6
Communications Tower
+1
+1 Intelligence. If taken by a Kill Team with a Communications Specialist, +2 Intelligence. 
7
Barracks
+1
+1 Material. If taken by a Kill Team with a Veteran Specialist, +2 Material. 
8
Temple
+1
+1 Morale. If taken by a Kill Team with a Zealot Specialist, +2 Morale. 
9
Monument
+1
+1 Morale. 
10
Habitation Block
+1
+1 Material 
11
Teleportarium
+1
Allows a Kill Team to attack any Hex on the battlefield, including an enemy's FOB. There can only be one Teleportarium on the campaign map. If this result is rolled in the future, roll again for another Major Terrain Feature. 
12
Star Port
+3
May have a 2ndCommander in your Kill Team, starting at Level 1. There can only be one Teleportarium on the campaign map. If this result is rolled in the future, roll again for another Major Terrain Feature. 


8. RESOURCES

The missions that your Kill Teams are fight are part of a larger war effort, and the mission your Kill Team undertakes has an impact on this war. The impact of this are represented by four RESOURCES: INTELLIGENCE, MATERIEL, MORALE, AND TERRITORY.

  • INTELLIGENCE:A faction's spy networks and information gathering assets. 
  • MATERIAL:A faction's military resources, whether it be weaponry, armor, transport, or more esoteric items. 
  • MORALE:A faction's will to keep fighting, whether through nobility, determination, hatred, or spite.
  • TERRITORY:A measure of the locations and facilities currently controlled by the faction. 

Each resources affects a player's Kill Teams differently, with each Resources having a different effect. Some of these effects with affect a player's entire composition of their Kill Teams, while others affect individual battles. Below are the effects that each Resource has upon a player's Kill Teams. 

RESOURCES
RESOURCE
EFFECT
INTELLIGENCE
The Intelligence resource affects a player's ability to use the Scouting Phase and determines who has Initiative in each Mission. If a battle, the player with the highest Intelligence score will be able to use the Scouting Phase for the Mission. In addition, the player with the highest Intelligence Score will have the Initiative in the first Battle Round of the Mission. The player with the lower Intelligence will not be able to use the Scouting Phase and will not have the Initiative for the First Battle Round. In a Mission where there are 3+ players involved, these rules still stand. In a situation where there is a tie in Intelligence between the different players, no one can use the Scouting Phase and players roll off as normal of Initiative. 
MATERIEL
1 Point of Material equals to 10 Points added to your Command Roster. These points can be used to upgrade individual fighters in your Kill Teams or recruit new members to join up. Each point of Material may take your starting Command Rosters past their initial 200 Points. 
MORALE
Your Morale determines the amount of Tactics you can use in a Mission. 1 Morale Point equals 5 Command Points in Tactics Cards. In a Map Based Campaign, you can only bring enough Tactic Cards in Command Points as your Morale. For example, if your Command Roster has 3 Morale, you can bring 15 Command Points worth of Tactics. This is covered further in the TACTIC CARDSsection of the rules. 
TERRITORY
Your Territory is determined by the number of Victory Points your Hexes provide. Each Hex within your Territory is worth a number of Victory Points. Add all Victory Points for your controlled Hexes to determine your Overall Territory. Whoever has the most Territory by the end of the Campaign, wins. This is covered further in the VICTORY CONDITIONSsection of the rules. 
9. COMMAND ROSTER BUILDING

Players will begin the Campaign by building a COMMAND ROSTER. This roster is created in the same way as for a MATCHED PLAY COMMAND ROSTER, with the following differences: 
  • You have 200 Points to Build your Command Roster
    • You must able to field 2 Kill Teams using the BATTLE-FORGED KILL TEAMrules with the 200 Points you start with. 
    • You may be able to field a 3rdKill Team in your Command Roster, provided you the Points to do this. 
  • You may start the Campaign with 1 COMMANDER. If you decide to do this, your Commander must start at Level 1. The only way your Commander can level up is by taking Mission Critical Major Terrain Features on the Campaign Map. 
  • Each Player starts with the following Resources:
    • 0 Intelligence
    • 0 Materiel
    • 1 Morale: You can never drop below 1 Morale during the course of the Campaign. 
    • 3 Territory: 1 Hex containing your Forward Operating Base (FOB), and 2 Minor Hexes.
If a Player has already played a mission in the campaign, they can choose their Kill Team from any of the models on their Command Roster. You may add new Models to your Command Roster by spending Material Points to do this. 

A Player may add a second COMMANDER model in their Command Roster if they capture a Star Port Territory in their AO. 

10. CHOOSING YOUR KILL TEAMS

Once you have chosen a mission, the players will choose Kill Teams using the rules for choosing a BATTLE-FORGED KILL TEAM subject to the mission you are playing. You must create your Kill Teams from the models on your Command Roster. Players choose their Kill Teams in secret – they will be revealed together once the battlefield has been set up. 

11. CONSEQUENCES OF BATTLE 

After each mission, each player who took part in the mission should play through the following steps:
  1. Resources
  2. Casualties
  3. Experience
Resources
Each player should update the Resources listed on their Command Roster based on whatever Major Terrain Feature they have gained or loss. On Missions, ignore the effect they have upon resources. The only way to gain/lose resources is by gaining/losing hexes on the Campaign Map.

Casualties
Follow the rules for this as in the Kill Team Core Manual

Experience
Follow the rules for this as in the Kill Team Core Manual

12. CHOOSING A MISSION

Players can arrange to fight missions as and when during the Campaign Turn as they wish, and can play any Kill Team Mission that is available to them. Either choose a Mission that you and your opponent(s) want to play or roll of on whatever Mission Table you wish. 

Tables for Choosing Missions will be left to GM discretion. 

Attacker and Defender
  • Attacker: A Kill Team acting on an ATTACK order this turn is normally the Attacking Kill Team in a Mission.
  • Defender: A Kill Team acting on a PATROL order this turn is normally the Defending Kill Team in a Mission. 
13. TACTICS CARDS

In a Mission, a player can only bring as many TACTICS CARDS for their Kill Team as their Morale Resource. For each point of Morale, a player can bring 5 Command Points worth of TACTICS CARDS.

For example, if a player has 2 points in their Morale Resource, that player can bring 10 Command Points worth of Tactics Cards. Each Tactic Card is worth a number of Command Points. Take the amount of Tactic Cards a player is going to use and add all the Command Point totals together. The sum of these cards can not exceed the pool of Command Points generated from their Morale Resource.

In order to make the campaign more challenging, in Missions, players can only play a TACTIC CARD only ONCEper Mission. 

For example, if a Player wished to use the DECISIVE MOVE tactic worth 1 Command Point, the player uses the Tactic and then discards it. They can't use that Tactic for the rest of the Mission.

Players, choose your Tactics wisely!

14. VICTORY CONDITIONS

There are two ways to win the campaign:
  • Be the player with the most Victory Points (Territory) by the end of the campaign
  • Eliminate all other players (see LOSING)
15. LOSING

If your Forward Operating Base (FOB) is conquered, you are eliminated from the campaign.

16. NEUTRAL FORCES

The Basic Starting Size of a defending Neutral Kill Team is determined by which ACT of the campaign is currently being played. An ACT consists of the first third, second third, and final third of a campaign's number of turns. For example if a Campaign was to last 12 turns, the 1stACT would consist of Turns 1-4. The 2ndACT would consist of Turns 5-8. And the 3rdACT would consist of Turns 9-12. 

NEUTRAL FORCES
Act #
Starting Points for Kill Teams
1st
100 Points
2nd
125 Points
3rd
150 Points

In addition, any effects that a Major Terrain Feature has on a Kill Team will also impact the Neutral Kill Team defending it. All Neutral Kill Teams must be created using BATTLE-FORGED KILL TEAMrules. 

17. AUTHOR'S NOTES

So, this is the Map Based Campaign Rules that I have created for my gaming group's Map Based Kill Team Campaign: Pandora Fronteris. Nothing in this document is official, and it is free to download from by Blogger.com Site for you to use with your own gaming group.

DISCLAIMER:I have not play tested this campaign rule set yet, so if there are any strange or extreme situations that might arise from this campaign, I do apologize. If you disagree with any of the rules or want to change them, please feel free to do so. 

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