RETURN TO URALAN
At the end of the last Uralan campiagn, the dark forces of Black Legion commander Apollyon drove the Thousand Sons from the planet. With complete control over the warp Portals, he attempted to open a path into the webway.
But something went wrong. The tremendous release of Psychic energies was too much for him to control, and the way into the Eldar Network was fused shut. As a maelstrom of warp energy bathed Uralan, it changed. Dense jungle sprang from its barren rocks, rivers flowed through long dry valleys. But a more sinister change took place. Sections of the planet were taken over entirely by chaotic spawn, fields of lashing tentacles, writhing limbs and shambling beasts. The largest such area spread across a whole continent, yet small patches of Chaotic intrusion were to be found everywhere. The remaining Chaos forces, both Black Legion and Thousand Son, were stranded and had no option but to work together, in an attempt to re-open the portals.
But they were not the only ones with an interest in the planet. The Psychic scream of the Webway echoed through the nearby Ulthwe craftworld. The farseers and Warlocks soon realised the significance of the planet, yet had no forces to spare to send to the planet. Instead, they contacted the nearby Imperial forces on the Outpost of Arx, with a request for support. Anxious to avoid conflict with the Ulthwe Eldar, the Imperial Commander complied, and so soon a combined force of Imperial Guard and Eldar arrived on Uralan with the task of bringing down the Warp Portals. As the seriousness of the situation was realised by the Imperial forces, the Inquisition became involved, sending a cell of Inquisitors to the planet and authorising the transfer of Space Marine troops to the system.
Guided by his dark gods, Adamdom, Ork and Chaos commander, picked up on the mighty energies released by the opening of the portals. Sensing the potential for Waagah!, he quickly ordered his Kunin' Meks to prepare a Hulk to transport them there. Within months they too had arrived on the planet, and were ready to stake their claim.
All of the forces had a common goal: to acquire a sufficient number of Warp Portals to achieve their particular goal, be it world domination or the insurance of the security of the Webway. It was not long before they came into conflict, with Chaos Space Marines, Imperial Guardsmen, Eldar, Space Marines, Orks and the mysterious Ordeo Malleos clashing with each other and sometimes even against friendly forces, desperate to achieve their mission and get out of the Chaos Infested hell that Uralan had become.
The uralan Campaign for 3rd Ed.
With the release of 3rdEd, which contains full rules for campaigns and experience, I really wanted to start up one of my own. Building on the history of Uralan and the protagonists from the previous campaign seemed a good idea, but I needed a way of involving most of the various armies in the 40K universe. I came up with the storyline above, and should be able to include Dark Eldar and Tyranids should the need arise, but for now the only forces likely to be involved would be IG, SM, CSM and a few Orks.
I decided to stick with tthe experience system given in the rules, and to run a narrative campaign. This requires the least bookwork, as battles can be fought without using the experience as obviously there would be many units on Uralan. I hoped that battles and missions would suggest themselves through the course of the Campaign, but felt that the campaign needed a focus. I hit on the idea of using territories like Necromunda, with each player aiming to control a certain number of Warp Portals. The rules for territories are quite lengthly, so in the end we couldn't be bothered to use either them or the experience system, at least to begin with. To see the territory rules, click Here .
The Story so far....
February 20/21, 1999- Two large battles, Chaos and Undead against Space Marines. Very evenly matched, first battle ultimately won as chaos havocs broke Space Marine devastators, second battle drawn, with the chaos forces in a bad way, as time constraints prevented the battle from raging on. Deep Striking Terminators, Space Marine Predator tanks and massive close combats all played a crucial role as the marines attempted to seize a Chaos stronghold.
February 5, 1999- A small (500 points) clash between the Chaos Space Marine Veteran's, Dark Eldar Warriors, Haemonculi and two awesome close combat lords as they fought over a remote and abandoned Energy Grid for a nearby Watch Tower. Full report available
December 23, 1998- Big bash! 4 of us held a large battle as an introduction to the 3rdEd rules. We didn't even bother with proper armies or even equal points costs, just threw what we had on the table and organised it into two forces, Chaos and Imperium. We didn't do a full battle report either, but I can remember a few things which I have jotted down here. The best result was that everyone is happy with the new system, and also that several new armies will probably be appearing in the new year.
December 19, 1998- I tried a small battle in which my small Dark Angels force attempted to ambush an Undead convoy in order for Inquisitor Cathan to learn more of their abilities. Heavy casualties sustained on both sides but Convoy successfully escaped sector before Cathan could apprehend due to injury. Full report available
The forces
Apollyon's Chaos Army
Led by Apollyon, Exalted champion of chaos undivided and black legion lord; and Phyrexia, Mighty Champion of Khorne, black legion lord, the forces of Chaos represents the remnants of the troops from both sides of the earlier Uralan siege. As such, it contains within its number two Chaos Sorcerers, a pair of awesome Dreadnought and several squads of hardened Chaos Marines, though as yet neither of the Champions have managed to secure the support of the Daemonical inhabitants of the planet.
Inquisitor Cathan's Space Marine strike force
Supported by troops from the dark Angels Chapter, Inquisitor Cathan has been dispatched for uralan in order to help halt the engulfing tide of Chaos. A veteran of many campaigns, the Terminator-armoured Cathan is an expert daemon Hunter and has immense strength of mind, essential for psychic survival on a planet as twisted as Uralan.
I started this force as I was bored and had nothing to paint for my Chaos Army. I owned exactly 7 Space Marie models, survivors from my blood angels army which I started with. They needed re-painting, but I didn't want to do them as Blood Angels, as the colour scheme had been one thing which put me off them and meant I never got motivated to paint them. I also didn't want to have to get the 3rdEd BA codex, so I chose to paint them up as Dark Angels. My old commander, a terminator with thunder hammer and storm shield, was now illegal unless I had a full squad of termies, so I replaced his arms with a lightning claw and a sergeant powersword arm, minus the sword and with a storm bolter made from 2 spare boltguns added instead. The Librarian remained almost exactly the same- I just removed his arm, and painted a new one with a dark Green shoulder Pad, as well as giving him a Plasma Pistol. I repainted my Veteran Sergeant and 4 tactical marines DA green, and dug out an old blue-plastic Space Marine with heavy Bolter (1st Ed?) from my bits box and painted him too. The Space marines have now been sold on, but the Inquisitor remains as I want to make an IG army!
Khar'ath's Horde- Undead
This is a trial Undead force using the rules I have created. The uralan Campaign seemed an ideal way of testing their prowess and therefore allowing me to cater for or compensate for any strengths and weaknesses they might have. Details of the force I currently have can be found on the Codex:Undead pages. Khar'ath's force may link up with the undead armies of my friends or with one of the Chaos Armies, or possibly strike out on their own.
Tyranids
Following a necromunda scenario using genestealers, my m8 has reached the conclusion that they are dead hard. He already has a brilliantly painted lictor and has acquired 5 Genestealers, and plans to build up a fairly large force of the bugs. The thought of all those massive WS critters is seriously worrying some of us!
Imperial Forces
Another friend has a massive Imperial (Space Marine and Imperial Guard ) army which features pretty much every tank going, as well as numerous full squads. Supported by the DA and Imperial Agents, they represent a huge defensive force on Uralan.
Dark Eldar
Through darkened portal the DE have come to Uralan in their perpetual quest for slaves and anything else of value. The twisted, mutated surface of Uralan has in particular drawn the interest of several master Haemonculi, eager to further their 'experiments'.
This is of course my latest army, the progress of which you can read about Here. so far, they have captured three slaves from one encounter, all three claimed by the DE Lord. It would have been 4, but he cut the chaos marine's head off for his trophy rack instead!
Eldar
There is a also a chance that some Eldar will arrive on Uralan in the near future. I'll keep you posted.