Shadow War: Armageddon
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Openly labeled as the spiritual successor to Necromunda, Shadow War: Armageddon is a standalone boxed game pitting kill teams against each other in skirmish combat in the depths of a hive city. The stock scenario is set in Hive Acheron on Armageddon between Space Marine Scouts and Orks, but there's also extended rules for kill teams from virtually every other faction: Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, Genestealer Cults, Imperial Guard, Eldar, Skitarii, Grey Knights, Necrons, Tau, SLY MARBO!, pretty much the whole shebang.
The Game
The game is almost an exact port of Necromunda with the use of many of the currently supported factions in Warhammer 40k (although frustratingly, not all of them, not even the Talons of the Emperor which were released the same month). Each fighter is bought separately and games are typically fought at 1,000 points.
A kill team is made up of 1000 points; for scale, a single Grey Knight Justicar with no hand-to-hand weapon or upgrade is 250 points.
Unless otherwise stated, a kill team will have a minimum of 3 models and a maximum of 10.
Hits and wounds work differently here compared to Warhammer 40,000 7th edition. Just because you're wounded doesn't mean you're dead. If a model is shot at and hit, then it is deemed as pinned for the next turn (even if the shot ultimately fails a wound roll, or is blocked by armor); this means that it can only move 2 inches, can't shoot, and can't charge. To get a guy up from pinned you must have another model that isn't a new recruit within 2 inches (unless you are the kill-team leader), then pass an initiative test, unless the rules state otherwise. Even if you fail the initiative test, your guy will generally get up automatically at the end of the turn anyway.
If you get wounded and fail your invulnerable/armour save then your model is wounded/injured. Instead of just getting up at the end of your next turn, or with the help of a friend, your opponent who inflicted the last wound immediately rolls a die; on a 1 your guy survives the wound, but remains pinned, and is lightly wounded, meaning he loses 1 point in both his WS and BS. On a 2-5 he is "downed" and can only crawl two inches of movement, and you (not your opponent) roll again for injuries during your recovery phase (potentially getting this result again, and thus continuing the cycle). On a 6 your guy is removed from play *but is not necessarily dead* (see Campaign). In hand to hand combat, there is no pinning, and if you get injured, any of the results on the injury table other than a 1 will have your guy removed as his opponent curb stomps his downed and vulnerable body.
If 25% of your guys are downed or removed you must take a bottle test (which is just a bizarre renaming of a Leadership test) to see if the game ends unless rules state otherwise (some missions it forces you to wait to 50%). If you're playing something like Space Marines (Everyone can do this.) You can choose to bottle out so you don't have to watch as your guys get mercilessly get mowed down (still have to meet the 25% condition before you can voluntarily rout). One exception is the Astra Militarum Special Operative "Offico Prefectus Commissar", which prevents units from bottling out (even voluntarily). Each model has a different movement stat; running and charging is double your movement allowance.
Shooting must target the closest enemy (otherwise you might engage in tactics, or even worse, strategy) unless he's fighting in melee or downed or is in such position it's easier to hit a more distant visible foe - such as cover. Yep, cover affects your to-hit chance instead of granting a save, so it's not overlapping with armor (realistic!). There can be light cover and heavy cover - depending on the percentage of target's body covered. And models can even attempt to hide themselves. And you can shoot in melee but have a chance of hitting your own dude.
Another significant change is the replacement of the AP system with Rends. A bolter is no longer AP5, but rather Rend -1, meaning it substracts 1 from the target's armor save (and hence no longer ignores 5+ armor). All weapons have a chance to run out of ammo/jam.
Hand-to-hand is quite complicated (if you can't do basic addition); essentially, someone charges, both of you roll a number of dice corresponding to your attack value, pick the highest of those rolls, and then add your weapon skill and any modifiers. This is your Combat Score. The difference between the two scores is the number of times that the fighter with the higher combat score gets to hit the other fighter, with ties being broken by initiative scores, or the headbutt skill. Parries complicate the matter, as if you have a guy with a weapon capable of parrying, and your opponent rolls a dice higher than yours, you can force him to reroll it with your parry, unless he has a weapon with parry as well, in which case you cancel each other out. Note that if you have two weapons with parry (i.e. two swords), you can parry his dice twice (just not the same die if he only has one single attack die, as you still can't reroll a reroll). Note that not only can you use pistols in close combat like regular 40k, but you actually use the pistol's damage profile, which makes some of them quite nasty.
Campaign
The game takes place on Armageddon during the Third War of Armageddon, which, as you may recall was fought between Orks and 'umies exclusively. Nevertheless. Main setting is a place called "The Promethium Sprawl"--a series of maintenance areas and promethium refineries that runs throughout the hive world.
If you're playing a campaign, at the end of the game roll a D6 on the injury table to see if your wounded fighters get back up, advance, suffer serious injury, or die outright. You can then choose one fighter to advance, each unit has certain skill trees he can go down, pick one of these lob a D6 and boom new skill.
You then get 100 points to upgrade living models or recruit new ones. You either spend these points now or lose them. If you win you get D3 "promethium cache" if you lose you get 1. The cache's can be spent to bring a Special Operative to your next game (this is the only way to actually field non-scout Astartes) OR can be traded in for another 100 points. Also, you need them to win the campaign.
Some special operatives offer "Bounty" or "Premium Bounty" these are usually stuff like Terminators. A normal bounty offers 1 promethium cache for killing the unit, a premium bounty offers D3 promethium cache's on top of your whatever you got at the end. Considering that ALL special operatives only cost 1 cache it's worth buying the best SO you can get and running it at whatever your opponent is bringing since you'll probably make a profit and then you can just rinse and repeat. As a final note, this game thrives upon large amounts of terrain, so if you don't have any then you might want to get some if you want to play.
Expect most games to be over in 2-3 turns between the SM scouts and the Orks. This is not necessarily true as it heavily depends on how much terrain you have, how each player plays (do you run at them or move around cover - tip: use cover) and of course, how quickly does stuff die since you might hit, wound, and he fails his armour save but he can then just get straight back up next turn. As a rule of thumb however don't expect any single game to last more than 45 minutes to an hour at absolute most.
Kill Teams
Rules for Space Marine Scouts, Astra Militarium Veterans, and Ork Boyz kill teams are found in the Shadow War: Armageddon rule book, currently only available in the starter box. Updated book is now up for preorder, and contains all the online profiles listed below. The starter box was a limited release; any components will all be sold separately.
Rules for Adepta Sororitas, Chaos Space Marines, Dark Eldar Wych Cult, Craftworld Eldar, Genestealer Cult Hybrid, Grey Knights, Harlequin Troupe, Inquisition, Necron, Skitarii Ranger, Tau Pathfinder, and Tyranid Warrior kill teams are currently available in pdf format through the Games Workshop website.
Space Marines
Currently, Space Marine kill teams can only include scouts as their primary members. Space Marines can be added as Special Operatives.
- Special Rules
- And They Shall Know No Fear: Models don't take fear/terror tests; models can recover from pinning early without needing a friendly model within 2".
- Kill Team Leader
- Scout Sergeant: 200 pts. Combat blade and Scout armour (4+). +1 A and Ld than Scout.
- Trooper
- Scout: 100 pts. Combat blade and Scout armour (4+). +1 WS and BS than Novitiate Scout.
- New Recruit
- Novitiate Scout: 75 pts. Combat blade and Scout armour (4+). WS/BS of 3; S/T/I of 4; Ld of 8.
- Specialist
- Scout Gunner: 110 pts. Combat blade and Scout armor (4+). Same stats as Scout, but access to Heavy Weapons instead of Basic Weapons and no Hand-to-Hand Weapons.
- Special Operatives
- Apothecary: Chainsword, bolt pistol, frag/krak grenades, power armour (3+). Friendlies within 3" -2 to Injury rolls during Recovery Phase. Can reroll Serious Injury rolls after the battle.
- Veteran: Boltgun w/ telescopic sight or red-dot laser sight, bolt pistol, frag/krak grenades, power armour (3+). Can change weapons (more variety than Deathwatch Veteran).
- Terminator: Power sword, storm bolter, Terminator armour (3+ on two dice; 5+ invuln; can't be pinned by shooting unless S7). Can change weapons. Causes Fear. If down or out-of-action at end of mission, gives opponent 1 extra promethium cache.
- Deathwatch Veteran: Boltgun w/ hellfire bolts and telescopic sights or red-dot laser sight, frag/krak grenades, power armour (3+). Can change weapons. Scores critical hits in hand-to-hand combat with 5 or 6, instead of just 6, vs Ork models.
Imperial Guard
Currently, Astra Militarum kill teams consist primarily of veterans, while also able to recruit regular guardsmen. Unlike the average kill team, Guard kill teams can recruit 3 Specialists instead of just 2.
- Special Rules
- Voice of Command: Instead of shooting, the kill team leader lets all members of his kill team within 6" of him to reroll 1s to hit during shooting.
- Kill Team Leader
- Veteran Sergeant: 120 pts. Combat blade and flak armour (6+, 5+ vs template). +1 Ld than Veteran Guardsman.
- Trooper
- Veteran Guardsman: 60 pts. Combat blade and flak armour (6+, 5+ vs template). +1 BS than Guardsman.
- New Recruit
- Guardsman: 50 pts. Combat blade and flak armour (6+, 5+ vs template). WS/BS/S/T/I of 3; Ld of 7.
- Specialist
- Special Weapons Operative: 70 pts. Combat blade and flak armour (6+, 5+ vs template). Same stats as Veteran Guardsman, but access to Special Weapons instead of Basic Weapons.
- Special Operatives
- Officio Prefectus Commissar: Bolt pistol, chainsword, frag/krak grenades, flak armour (6+, 5+ vs template). Can change weapons. While not down, broken, or out-of-action, friendlies within 6" can use his Ld of 9 during break and regroup tests; I of 3 for escaping pinning early; kill team automatically passes bottle tests.
- Tech-Priest Engineseer: Laspistol, power axe, servo-arm, frag/krak grenades, power armour (3+). Friendlies within 6" can reroll Ammo checks.
- Ogryn: Ripper gun, frag grenades, flak armour (6+, 5+ vs templates). Can change weapons/armour. Gains 1 Muscle skill. If down or out-of-action at end of mission, enemy gets 1 extra promethium cache.
- Militarum Tempestus Scion: Lasgun w/ hotshot laser pack and red-dot laser sight, photo-visor, frag/krak grenades, carapace armour (4+, -1 I). Can change weapons. Can reroll Injury roll when shooting at an enemy.
Orks
Orks are as they always are. A big boss leading a bunch of boyz into combat. Unlike the average kill team, orks can field 3-20 models per kill team, instead of the usual 3-10.
- Special Rules
- Ere We Go!: +1 to attack roll to orks who charge in same turn.
- Mob Rule: If an ork kill team has more models than the enemy kill team (not including down and out-of-action), +1 L to all friendly ork models. Bonus is +2 if ork kill team has at least twice as many. Expect it to be in effect pretty much all the time.
- Kill Team Leader
- Boss Nob: 160 pts. Shank and squig-hide armour (6+). +1 S,W,I,A than Boy.
- Boy: 60 pts. Shank and squig-hide armour (6+). +1 WS and A than Yoof.
- New Recruit
- Yoof: 30 pts. Shank and squig-hide armour (6+). WS of 3; BS of 2; S of 3; T of 4; I of 2; A of 1; Ld of 7
- Specialist
- Spanner Boy: 70 pts. Shank and squig-hide armour (6+). Same stats as Boy but access to Special Weapons instead of Hand-to-Hand Weapons and Basic Weapons.
- Special Operatives
- Painboy: 'urty Siringe, squig-hide armour (6+). Friendlies within 3" -2 to Injury rolls during Recovery phase. Friendlies within 6" can use I of 3 to test escaping pinning early if Painboy isn't down or broken. If not out-of-action, can reroll 1 Serious Injury roll after mission.
- Mek: Slugga, wrench, stikkbombs, squig-hide armour (6+). Can change weapons. Can reroll first failed Ammo roll, regardless of model. Friendlies within 3" can re-roll Ammo rolls.
- Runtherd/D6 Gretchin: Runtherd: grabba stikk, slugga, stikkbombs, squig-hide whip, squig-hide armour (6+). Can change weapons. Gretchin: grot blasta, shank. If Runtherd doesn't go out-of-action, +50 pts for after mission Recruit or Rearm. Gretchin count as New Recruits. If starting with only 1 Gretchin, +1 A to Gretchin.
- Flash Git: Snazzgun w/ gitfinda, shank, stikkbombs, squig-hide armour (6+). Can change weapon. Can reroll Injury roll when shooting an enemy.
Chaos Space Marines
- Special Rules
- Marks of Chaos: Aspiring Champions and Chaos Marines can take one of five marks (yes, Chaos Undivided is back!). You can't change Marks, though.
- Khorne: Gain +1 attack.
- Tzeentch: Gain a 5+ invuln save.
- Nurgle: Gain +1 Toughness.
- Slaanesh: Gain +1 Initiative.
- Chaos Undivided: Gain +1 Leadership.
- Champion of Chaos: Aspiring Champion only. If you take an enemy leader out of action in melee, you immediately roll on the Advance table.
- Marks of Chaos: Aspiring Champions and Chaos Marines can take one of five marks (yes, Chaos Undivided is back!). You can't change Marks, though.
- Kill Team Leader
- Aspiring Champion:
- Trooper
- Chaos Space Marine:
- New Recruit
- Chaos Cultist:
- Specialist
- Chaos Gunner:
- Special Operatives
- Raptor:
- Chaos Terminator:
- Chaos Spawn:
Dark Eldar Wych Cult
These dudes are just as squishy as you'd expect them to be +some, so you better pray to the dice gods that you get both good cover and first turn. Similar to their vanilla counterparts, these dudes are also speedy fast and their weapons hit hard, but if you want Eldar that perform, just choose Harlequins. However, there are some gems. All of their elite choices, especially the scourge, are decent. Their melee weapons can and will perform, if you make it to combat, and they have some of the highest initiatives in the game. It cannot be re-iterated enough, however, that this game's meta works against your strippers. Good luck.
- Kill Team Leader
- Syren:
- Trooper
- Wych:
- New Recruit
- Debutante:
- Specialist
- Bloodbride:
- Special Operatives
- Succubus:
- Haemonculus:
- Scourge:
Craftworld Eldar
- Kill Team Leader
- Dire Avenger Exarch:
- Trooper
- Dire Avenger:
- New Recruit
- Guardian Defender:
- Specialist
- Guardian Defender Gunner:
- Special Operatives
- Autarch:
- Wraithblade:
- Wraithguard:
Genestealer Cult Hybrids
- Kill Team Leader
- Neophyte Leader:
- Trooper
- Neophyte Hybrid:
- New Recruit
- Neophyte Initiate:
- Specialist
- Neophyte Heavy:
- Special Operatives
- Acolyte Hybrid:
- Hybrid Metamorph:
- Purestrain Genestealer:
Grey Knights
- Kill Team Leader
- Justicar:
- Trooper
- Grey Knight:
- Specialist
- Grey Knight Gunner:
- Special Operatives
- Purifier:
- Interceptor:
- Grey Knight Terminator:
- Paladin:
Harlequin Troupe
- Kill Team Leader
- Troupe Master:
- Trooper
- Player:
- New Recruit
- Mime:
- Specialist
- Virtuoso:
- Special Operatives
- Death Jester:
- Shadowseer:
- Solitaire:
Necrons
Tough as nails, Overwatch every turn, Robo-Zombie Egyptians now in SW:A!
- Special Rules
- Reanimation Protocols: All Necrons have modified injury roll table: 1-3 Flesh Wound, 4-5 Down, 6 Out of Action. In addition Necron fighters can always test to recover early from pinning, no matter if a friendly fighter is within 2" or not (anyway 'crons Init kinda sucks, but still you get 33% chance to recover)
- Kill Team Leader
- Appointed Immortal: 200pts. Combat blade and Immortal exoskeleton (3+).
- Trooper
- Immortal: 110pts. Combat blade and Immortal exoskeleton (3+). Basically, he is no different from the Appointed Immortal.
- New Recruit
- Warrior: 80pts. Combat blade, Warrior exoskeleton (4+)
- Specialist
- Deathmark: 120pts. Combat blade and Immortal exoskeleton (3+). Choose one enemy fighter before deployment. During the movement phase of your second turn, you can deploy Deathmark anywhere on the board within 8" of 'marked' enemy (but not in base-to-base contact with any enemy fighter!). This counts as Deathmark's movement for this turn.
- Special Operatives
- Lychguard: Warscythe and Immortal exoskeleton (3+); may exchange his warscythe for a hyperphase sword and dispersion shield (3++). If Lynchguard is within 2" of your Leader when he is the target of shooting attack, you may try to roll 3+ to itercept the shot and resolve it against Lynchguard instead. You may not do this against the weapons with teardrop-shape flamer template.
- Triarch Praetorian: Rod of covenant, gravity displacement pack and Immortal exoskeleton (3+); may exchange his rod of covenant for particle caster and voidblade.
Skitarii Rangers
- Special Rules
- Artificer Weaponry: A Skitarii fighter may ignore the first failed Ammo roll in each game.
- Kill Team Leader
- Skitarii Ranger Alpha: 150pts. combat blade and Skitarii war plate (4+). +1 Bs, I, W, A, Ld than Fresh-forged.
- Trooper
- Skitarii Ranger: 80pts. combat blade and Skitarii war plate (4+). +1 Bs than Fresh-forged.
- New Recruit
- Skitarii Fresh-forged: 65pts. combat blade and Skitarii war plate (4+). WS 3; BS 3; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 3; A 1; Ld 8.
- Specialist
- Skitarii Specialist: 90pts. combat blade and Skitarii war plate (4+). same stats as Ranger but access to Skitarii Pistols, Special Weapons, Grenades and Miscellaneous Equipment lists.
- Special Operatives
- Tech-Priest Enginseer:
- Sicarian Ruststalker:
- Sicarian Infiltrators:
Tau Pathfinders
- Kill Team Leader
- Pathfinder Shas’ui:
- Trooper
- Pathfinder:
- New Recruit
- Pathfinder Cadet:
- Specialist
- Pathfinder Specialist:
- Special Operatives
- Stealth Team Shas’ui:
- Cadre Fireblade
- Ethereal:
Tyranid Warriors
- Kill Team Leader
- Alpha:
- Trooper
- Warrior:
- New Recruit
- New-spawn:
- Specialist
- Gun-beast:
- Special Operatives
- Ravener:
- Zoanthrope
- Tyranid Prime:
Sisters of Battle
- Special Rules
- Shield of Faith: 6++ to all sisters; directly from 40k. Other than for a few rare weapons, I don't see this used that often, as most commonly used weapons won't completely negate power armor, and it doesn't stack with the save from red dot sight. Better than not having it though.
- Light of the Emperor: Again, pretty much the regular sister Act of Faith from 40k. For 1 turn, your sisters get to reroll all 1s either shooting OR hand-to-hand to hit. So like the guard one except it only works once per mission (or 2 if you have a Simulacrum) and usable in close combat.
- Kill Team Leader
- Sister Superior: 175 pts. Combat blade and power armour (3+). +1 WS, I, A, Ld than Battle Sister. The only one who gets access to passable close combat weapons, and can eventually take a plasma pistol.
- Trooper
- Battle Sister: 90 pts. Combat blade and power armour (3+). +1 BS than Novitiate. Only gets boltgun, knife, grenades, and/or bolt pistol as weapon choices.
- New Recruit
- Novitiate: 80 pts. Combat blade and power armour (3+). WS 3; BS 3; S 3; T 3; W 1; I 3; A 1; Ld 8. Pretty much a guardsman with +1 Ld and power armour. Also, underwhelming name...
- Specialist
- Gunner: 100 pts. Combat blade and power armour (3+). Same stats as Battle Sister, but with additional access to Special and Heavy weapons. Not as great of options as other teams, and is rather rigid, as Sisters don't have access to plasma guns, or even photovisors for some reason (which limits the effectiveness of heavy bolters. GW forgot that the Sabbat helmet is a thing). Even MORE underwhelming name... (friggin Imperial Guard specialist is called a "Special Weapons Operative" but the badass sister with a multi-melta is just called GUNNER. Can we change this to something that isn't boring and generic, please?)
- Special Operatives
- Sister Repentia: A close combat model that is mediocre at close combat, and uses up your LotE on CC phase versus shooting phase. Doesn't seem good, since most of the list can't gear up for CC.
- Celestian: Basically an expensive gunner that uses your LotE for a boost to...close combat for itself...when it should be shooting instead? Kinda schizo.
- Seraphim: Probably the only decent one, as the others are meh. Inferno pistols seem decent for this one.
Inquisition
- Kill Team Leader
- Ordo Xenos Inquisitor: 225 points. Starts with carapace armour and a combat blade, but you are going to at least give him power armour, to make him almost as badass as a space marine. Power sword makes him pretty killy in melee combat, or a talon to give him toxin. Unlike 40k, he CAN be given a storm shield. Finally, a custom inquisitor with a good invuln save.
- Trooper
- Inquisitorial Acolyte: 65 points. Starts with a combat blade and flak armour. Guardsman new recruit stats, but with leadership 8, and can be given +1 weapon or ballistic skill to kit him out for melee or shooting. Upgrade appropriately.
- New Recruit
- Inquisitorial Initiate: 50 points. same as Acolyte, but with leadership 7 and cant be given +1 weapon or ballistic skill until becoming a trooper.
- Specialist
- Crusader: 85 points. Same stats as acolyte, but with +1 weapon skill instead of choosing. Starts with carapace armour and a combat blade. But lets face it- your probably going to give him a storm shield and a powersword since that's what the model looks like, and is pretty damn good at protecting your leader. That will cost 185 points.
- Special Operatives
- Arco-flagellant:
- Death Cult Assassin:
- Deathwatch Veteran:
- Deathwatch Vanguard Veteran:
What Rocks
- IT'S NECROMUNDA! (sorta)
- WITH ALL THE FACTIONS! (most of them, at any rate)
- Rules turned out to be pretty decent (thanks, Necromunda!) and provide opportunities for diverse gameplay. I mean, come on! Cover makes sense now! And there are no useless stats. It's really not that easy to pick mark for your CSM dudes as you want them all! And even undivided cause ld 10 leader from the get-go is great. Most close games are decided by a failed bottle test.
- Comes with a set of awesome modular Hive City terrain that's begging (and advertised) to be used for standard 40k, and can be built into constructions of truly epic proportions. Even better, the terrain is now separately available for purchase.
- There will be a standalone rulebook released with all the rules and factions packaged together, even expanded to include some of the factions that got left out initially.
- Unlike Kill Team you can include some HQ choices like Autarchs, Ethereals and Fireblades.
- Fully customisable wargear options for different models in your team. Want 3 Genestealer cultists with laspistols and knives, 4 with autoguns and 2 with lasguns? That's do-able.
- Actual fluffy differences between weapons that are the same in normal 40k. The humble lasgun is finally better than the crude autogun.
- Sly Marbo has new rules and
a new modelNope, the "new model" shown on his datasheet is a kitbash from various Cadian and Catachan parts.
What Sucks
- It's not Necromunda. The closest things we have to the hive gangs and mutants of old are Chaos and Genestealer cultists, and that's...just not the same. This is probably because GW, for better or worse, seems to be be on a big kick lately to have their standard model range cross-compatible with all of their specialist games, and is apparently unwilling to make a bunch of new models just for a faithful Necromunda reboot. Far easier to just bring back the Necromunda style of gameplay using the existing factions and models. With any luck, though, Inquisition warbands should provide an easy count as solution for hive gangs if they're allowed to be as varied as they are in 40k.
- The boxed set is a limited release, and initial pre-orders completely sold out within minutes, catching GW completely off-guard with a demand that they hadn't expected or prepared a supply for (some GW didn't even have one to sell) Whoops.
- Unlike Kill Team, Shadow War is much more limited in what kind of units are allowed. Rather than bringing whatever you want within a set of loose parameters, you're given a specific set of units for leaders, troopers, new recruits, specialists, and special operatives, and that's it. No vehicles.
- The unit choices for some factions don't make much sense. If Space Marines get a "scout unit" as do the Tau with Pathfinders (but no Kroot!), then surely other factions would have similar fluffy units...what's this? Eldar get Guardians and not Rangers? Eldar are sending what are basically civilians on a scouting/commando raid? (correction: Eldar unit is the Dire Avenger. Any guardians are new recruits, and they essentially become Avengers when they 'level up'. Not that this makes it any less strange, weird or unfluffy given Rangers make no appearance in any form).
- It's really, really hard to play a melee-focused army without at least 60% of the board covered in dense terrain.
- No word on demons as their own kill team yet, unless we're not counting them as a faction. Guess we'll have to be satisfied with fluffing Chaos HARD (totally, Demon Skin 3+ armor save, and only melee weapons!).