40k campaign project - The Defence of Sador

[mirjeki]

I'm planning on running a narrative campaign with my partner which is loosely set in the 40k universe (set within a custom star system which is mostly isolated from the Imperium).

I've been looking for a set of rules which can handle small skirmishes and occasionally the odd vehicle or two, but haven't found anything perfect yet. For this game we tried using a modified set of Frostgrave rules (to allow for squads) , but found it wasn't ideal for a number of reasons, so I think I'll try Gates of Antares next time and see if that fits.

Here's some pics of the board setup. A Planetary Defence Force base had been taken over by Renegades calling themselves the Echeni. The surviving PDF troopers retreated and later mounted a counter-attack, their objective was to steal a shuttlecraft and use it to warn other PDF forces about the Echeni threat.

[voltan]

Looks a good set up you've got, are you just planning to keep to fairly basic troopers for the campaign?

[mirjeki]

Yeah that's the plan. I don't think I'll be using any space marines (maybe a Chaos Terminator as a boss). I always liked the idea of a progressive campaign, such as in the computer games XCom or Dark Omen. I'm running it as a games master and controlling the bad guys, while my partner Kashi is playing the disparate group of good guys.

Missions will revolve around gaining troops and equipment, rescuing civilians suffering under the oppression of the seditionist regime and occasionally performing hit and run strikes against the Echeni. So I want it to be firefights and skirmishes between weaker units rather than all-out war. If there's anything powerful it will probably be on the side of the bad guys to emphasise the need for careful strategy.

[Ewart]

Have a look at 'Ambush Alley - Force on Force' or even 'Tomorrow's War' for small scale skirmish games.

Would allow a single Chaos Terminator to be a very dominating force on the battlefield. Probably in keeping with the fluff.

There were a few AAR's that I read using this ruleset but set in a 40K world. Meaning that one or two Space Marines can turn the tide of battle. However I can't seem to find the AAR's at the moment.

[Pictors Studio]

Another option for rules is Infinity.  They are free and you can probably find analogous troop types for most things in 40K among the stats for their figures. 

[mirjeki]

Have a look at 'Ambush Alley - Force on Force' or even 'Tomorrow's War' for small scale skirmish games.

Would allow a single Chaos Terminator to be a very dominating force on the battlefield. Probably in keeping with the fluff.

There were a few AAR's that I read using this ruleset but set in a 40K world. Meaning that one or two Space Marines can turn the tide of battle. However I can't seem to find the AAR's at the moment.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll see if I can find some reasonably priced copies online somewhere.

Another option for rules is Infinity.  They are free and you can probably find analogous troop types for most things in 40K among the stats for their figures. 

Yeah I've tried Infinity and I really love the rules, but I don't feel like they'd scale well to squad-based combat. If I do any base infiltration missions I reckon Infinity would be perfect though.

I'm gonna do a quick test run of Gates of Antares tonight and see if that fits the bill.