m670022a_CitiesShallFall_Pt1.pdf

An Apocalypse/Cities of Death Campaign

In the first part of our brand new Warhammer 40,000

campaign, the Imperium’s beleaguered cityfighters must hold

the line against the dread forces of Chaos.

t the close of the third century of the

fortieth millennium, the Eye of Terror

opened and the defenders of a

thousand planets trembled. Like a

streaking comet foretelling the doom of an

entire world, the forces of Chaos lanced

through the tumultuous void, their target:

the world of Malin’s Reach. The entire

region held its breath, fearing a full-scale

crusade through the Cadian Gate. Yet no

more fleets came; it appeared that Malin’s

Reach would bear the brunt of the

Ruinous Powers’ attentions.

As the skies of Malin’s Reach burned

with the contrails of a thousand Chaos

drop ships, the Planetary Defence Force

mustered in the world’s largest city, Cor

Hydrae. Imperial Commander Sahak

d’Ludis transmitted a plea for aid, for he

saw that his forces would be hard-pressed

to stand before the sheer numbers of

attackers bearing down upon his world.

The 74th Cadian answered his call, for

they were traversing the reach en route for

duty in the Cadian Gate. Against all of

d’Ludis’ hopes, the Space Marines, too,

answered his plea, with detachments from

the Blood Angels, Salamanders, Mentor

Legion and a dozen more chapters

diverting for Malin’s Reach.

Daring to hope his world might be

spared the worst, d’Ludis ordered his forces

to dig in around his major cities and await

the inbound reinforcements. Even as the

approaching Chaos armies razed the

outlying regions, the first Imperial vessel

arrived at Cor Hydrae. D’Ludis himself

stood upon the landing apron and watched

as the jet-black lander touched down. He

watched as the vessel’s ramp lowered, and

a tall figure strode through the vented

gases. It was at that point that d’Ludis

realised that his hopes for a short war were

to be dashed. For the visitor was not some

high commander of the Imperial Guard, or

a Chapter Master of the Adeptus Astartes. It

was an Inquisitor, a sinister agent of the

Ordo Malleus.

The Inquisitor was the feared Lord

Ilthaman, a man known, even in the ranks

of the Inquisition, for his ruthlessness.

Ilthaman’s first words were to dismiss

D’ludis as commander-in-chief of the

Malin’s Reach Perimeter Defence Force,

and order him to be placed under house

arrest pending trial for cowardice in the

face of the enemy. Within hours, Inquisitor

Ilthaman had complete control of all the

forces on Malin’s Reach. Over the next few

days the Cadian 74th and the Space

Marines arrived, and even as the Chaos

forces closed on their targets, Ilthaman

stood ready to repel the invaders, no

matter the cost.

The story of this campaign

centres around the battle

of wills between two old

adversaries – Inquisitor

Ilthaman and the Chaos

Warlord Ptar. These

mighty lords will take to

the field in the final battle

of the campaign, and we

used the two models

shown above to represent

them in our battles.

74 WHITE DWARF CITIES SHALL FALL

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“He is here?” Ilthaman asked

of his astropath.

“He is here, my lord.

He walks upon Malin’s

Reach.”

“And his target?”

“The tarot reads as you

yourself said it would, my

lord.” The astropath’s skeletal

hands spread wide to indicate

the cards arrayed before him.

Though the astropath, like

all of his kind, was blind,

he saw far more than most

men ever would.

“Good.” Ilthaman turned

from the astropath to address

a group of officers waiting

patiently behind him. One

was a grizzled veteran

commander of the Cadian

Defence Forces, while the

other three, towering above

the first, were veteran

Space Marines.

“Gentlemen,” Ilthaman

addressed the group. “It falls

to you to take battle to our

foe. Your orders are simple.

Your forces are to be used

to draw the enemy towards

the city centre. They must

bleed the enemy dry,

regardless of casualties to

themselves. When Ptar’s

forces reach the Chapel,

we’ll surround them and

destroy Ptar once and for

all. Is that understood?”

The Space Marines

simply nodded grimly, while

the Cadian officer cleared

his throat.

“What is it, Colonel

Kaze?” Ilthaman said. “Speak

your mind.”

“My men, sir,” The

Colonel said. “Am I to

understand that in this

matter, the Cadian 74th are

to be considered

expendable?”

Ilthaman regarded the

man through narrowed eyes

before replying. “Your orders

are clear. Do you object?”

“Object, my lord?” Kaze

replied, a glint in his eye.

“Of course not, sir. We

Cadians always fight better

when we’re all expected to

die. We take it as a

challenge, if you catch my

drift, my lord.”

Ilthaman remained silent

as the group filed out of his

office. “I hope you are right,

Colonel Kaze,” Ilthaman

muttered. “For all of our

sakes…”

The Campaign

“Cities Shall Fall!” is a series of three

linked games. That may not seem like a lot

of games to play in a campaign, but that’s

because this campaign is special. All three

of these games use the rules from both the

Cities of Death and the Apocalypse

expansions. This article presents the first

scenario of the campaign, in which the

Imperial side is ordered to hold the “13th

Parallel”, across which not a single servant

of the Ruinous Powers must cross. Next

month, we’ll present the remaining two

battles. Simply play through the three

battles using the rules provided. The

winner of each scenario will gain some

bonus in the next battle.

The Imperium

Ilthaman’s orders to his commanders are

simple. They must draw the Chaos horde

into the dense urban terrain of Cor Hydrae,

and there destroy them utterly. But

Ilthaman himself knows his foe well, and is

well aware of his enemy’s intentions in

coming to Malin’s Reach. He knows that

the Chaos hordes will seek not territory or

plunder, but the desecration of the most

potent symbol of Imperial faith in the entire

system: the Chapel of the Pious Heart in

the very centre of the city. Ilthaman has

briefed only his most senior commanders,

for he knows that the rank and file would

fail in their resolve were they to know the

truth. And that truth is brutal: every warrior

is expendable in the fight for the city, for

the hordes of Chaos must be bled unto

death so that as they close upon their

objective they may be destroyed utterly, by

Ilthaman in person.

Chaos

At the head of the Chaos invasion stalks

the vile warlord Ptar, known to some as the

“Execrator of Dolonis VII”. Ilthaman and

Ptar have faced one another before, and

each holds both an abiding hatred and a

grudging respect for the other. Ptar seeks

upon Malin’s Reach the consummation of a

diabolical pact with the fiendish denizens

of the Warp. At the Chapel of the Pious

Heart, he plans to enact a blasphemous

ritual and bring about the summoning of a

legion of Daemons. With his side of his

bargain with the Ruinous Powers

completed, Ptar will condemn Malin’s

Reach to a cruel and savage death.

The campaign has a few rules regarding

the order in which the scenarios should be

played and what Cityfighting Stratagems

and Apocalypse strategic assets can be

used. These guidelines help you to tell the

campaign’s story.

the forces

The first point to make about these three

scenarios is that, although they are

presented as a series of battles fought

between the Imperium and Chaos Space

Marines, you should feel free to use them

with any forces you have available.

Although in Warhammer 40,000 the

distinction between the “good” and “bad”

guys is intentionally blurred, you shouldn’t

have any particular trouble using different

armies. The part of Chaos could easily be

filled by Orks, Tyranids, Necrons, Dark

Eldar and the like, while the Imperium

could easily be replaced with Eldar or Tau.

Having decided on your army, you’ll

need both the Cities of Death and the

Apocalypse expansions. This is because all

three of the scenarios are big, big battles,

and they’re being fought in the ruined

streets of Cor Hydrae.

Scenarios

There are three scenarios in this campaign,

and each game you play furthers the story.

The scenarios are played in this order:

1. The 13th Parallel

2. The Battle of Martyrs’ Square

3. The Battle of the Pious Heart

Winning the Campaign

The winner of the final battle wins

the campaign. However, your chances

of winning that scenario will be greatly

enhanced or reduced depending on how

well you perform in the preceding games.

Finally, each scenario contains a “Victory

or Defeat” section, which details the effects

that winning or losing a battle have on the

campaign.

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Campaign rules

Imperial Deployment Zone

Colonel Kaze gritted

his teeth against the

shuddering force of

a super heavy shell

exploding somewhere

nearby. Fragments of

masonry pattered all

around as he rose, dusting

himself off.

“Vox!” Kaze yelled,

looking around for his

orderly.

A violent coughing

told Kaze his vox-officer

was nearby, and still alive.

A moment later, the man

heaved himself to his feet

from amidst a pile of

rubble. ‘Sir.’

“Get on the regimental

net,” Kaze growled. “Tell

Maken to be ready for an

assault as soon as this

bombardment lifts”.

Not waiting for his

orderly to acknowledge his

order, Kaze turned to the

ruined window of the shell

of a building in which he

had established his

command post. The scene

without reminded him of

the eschatological paintings

that decorated the Basilica

Gaur back home. Black,

skeletal ruins were

silhouetted against a livid

red sky, their windows

glowing infernal orange

like the eyes of angry

daemons. And through

those ruins, Kaze knew

that the ultimate foes of

Mankind stalked towards

his regiment’s lines.

Snapping out of his

musings, Kaze realised that

something was wrong. It

took him a moment to

“The bombardment’s

lifted!” Kaze bellowed. In

a single stride, he crossed

to his orderly and grabbed

the vox handset.

“All companies,” Kaze

yelled into the vox, “To

your final fire positions!

Enemy assault imminent!”

Even as he issued his

order, the handset dropped

from his grasp to the

floor. Through the ruined

portal, Kaze saw movement

against the angry skies.

What he had at first

glance taken for a ruin,

stark against the flames,

was now moving

ponderously forward.

OBJECTIVES

Citadel Roads

We used the new Citadel

Roads to represent the

13th Parallel. By laying

two strips side-by-side,

an instant battle line was

drawn on the tabletop.

Chaos Deployment Zone

scenario 1: the 13th parallel

Cityfighting Strategems

Imperium: Every City Ruin adjacent to the

13th Parallel is Fortified. One of these

should be designated a Command Centre,

one a Medicae Centre and up to three as

Ammunition Stores. In addition, the

Imperial players may place as many

lengths of razorwire, tank traps and

barricades on their side of the parallel as

they wish.

Chaos: Deep Strike, Infiltrate, Siege Shells.

Apocalypse Strategic Assets

Imperium: Hold at all Costs, Recon,

Scheduled Bombardment.

Chaos: Tunnels, Blind Barrage, Orbital

Bombardment.

Deployment

The Imperium must set up first, in the area

indicated above. They have 30 minutes to

do so, but no units may be kept in reserve,

so any not deployed within the time limit

don’t make it to the battle!

The Chaos Space Marines also have 30

minutes to set up, and also may not keep

any units in reserve.

Objectives

Unlike a normal Apocalyptic battle, the

objectives are all set up on one side of the

table, as shown above. There are six in all,

and they are captured in the manner

described in the Apocalypse expansion.

Who Goes First?

The Chaos Space Marines have the

first turn.

Victory or Defeat

If the Imperium wins, they gain the

Ambush Apocalypse strategic asset in the

next game. If Chaos wins, they gain the

Flank March asset next game.

As the Chaos forces launch their assault

upon Cor Hydrae, the Imperial Guard dig

in at the 13th Parallel, a line on the map

denoted by a wide thoroughfare that

bisects the city. Their orders are brutally

simple: hold the line, no matter the cost.

Warlord Ptar knows that his forces will

be made to pay for every metre of the city

that they take, and that crossing the 13th

Parallel will be one of the most costly

battles of the war. However, Ptar is driven

by his daemonic pact – he must cross the

parallel if he is to capture the Chapel of the

Pious Heart.

And so, as the defenders man their

defences on their side of the wide

thoroughfare, the first shells scream down

among them. All know the importance of

the outcome, but also that that their lives

are expendable in this, the battle for the

13th Parallel.

Armies

On the Imperial side of the 13th Parallel is

a 3000-point Imperial Guard army, plus

another 2000 points of Space Marines

drawn from a variety of chapters. This

should make a great team game, with one

or two Imperial Guard players manning the

parallel while any number of Space Marine

players launch counter attacks where

needed most.

The Chaos army consists of 7000 points

of Chaos Space Marines, drawn from a

variety of warbands. The Chaos army is

intentionally larger than the defenders’

force, as it is expected to be taking

substantial casualties crossing the parallel.

The Battlefield

You will need a 6' x 8' gaming area. The

photo above provides an example of how

to set it up, though you will need to adapt

this according to your own terrain

collection. The most important feature is

the 13th Parallel itself, which takes the

form of a road, 18" wide, running from one

short table edge to the other.

Time Limit

Agree a time limit appropriate to your

group. You should be able to play this

game over the course of a single day, but

be prepared to run into the evening.

NEXT MONTH

In issue XXX, we present the last two battles of the campaign, in

which Ptar will penetrate the centre of the city, and close in upon his

ultimate target: the Chapel of the Pious Heart. Will Inquisitor

Ilthaman’s callous plan to weaken the Chaos hordes before delivering

the deathblow succeed, or will the Chaos Lord summon forth the

dread powers of the Warp and decimate Malin’s Reach for all time?

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