G'day guys,

The following is a new, very simple, scenario I thought up a few days ago when being picky about choosing a mission, and is partly inspired by CoD 4. I'm not sure if its particularly original or inovative, but might just be a nice break from the cleanse or victory points missions. It could also be used in a campaign or a series of games, and would be a cool story driven ending to a Kill Team Campaign.
Please try it out and let me know what you think.

Extraction

Defender's Overview
A spec-ops team that was sent deep behind enemy lines have finally completed their mission, and are now in need of immediate extraction. They may have been sent to assassinate an important enemy figure, recover important data on a new enemy weapon, locate an capture an informer or hostage, or scout a clear path to strike at a vulnerable enemy location. Whatever their mission, they have now been compromised and the infromation they hold must be recovered before the enemy closes in on them.

Attacker's Overview
You have suddenly become aware of an enemy spec-ops team attempting to escape your territory after completing a mission, which could be potentialy very dangerous for your side. You must quickly close the net around them and destroy them, before they can take what they have learned back to their HQ.

Scenario Special Rules
Escalation, Concealment, Random Game Length, Spec-Ops Team

Spec-Ops Team: Before deployment the defender must label every non-vehicle infantry unit with a number. The numbered units cannot be from a HQ, Fast Attack, or Heavy Support organisation slot. They cannot have jump packs, or be mounted on bikes or cavalry (including models counted as cavalry), or non-scoring units (such as Scarabs or Nurglings). After each of the eligible units has been numbered, role a dice to randomly determin which one shall be the spec-ops team. This unit becomes objective of the game, and is deployed seperately from the rest of the army.
The chosen unit gains the "They Shall know no Fear" special rule, automatically re-grouping after fleeing. In such a desperate situation, these commandos do not have time to be afraid or flee. The sheer instinct to survive, and knowledge that what they posses is a great threat to the enemy if turned over to their side, holds them together.
(For a story driven game in a campaign or series of games, the Spec-Ops team may be pre-determined. A player may even use their actual Kill Team as the Spec-Ops team. To do this however both players must consent, and the cost of the Spec-Ops team must be worked into the defender's army total.)

Set Up
- After the terrain has been set up in an agreeable fashion, both players role a dice. The winner gets to choose which long table edge to choose as their deployment zone, while the other player automatically takes the other board edge. The deployment zones are 6" onto the table.
- Once deployment zones have been determined, the Defender draws up a small map of the battlefield and marks where the Spec-Ops team is going to be deployed. The attacker may not see this map, as the Spec-Ops team is essentially utilising hidden set-up. The Spec-Ops team cannot be deployed closer than 12" to either deployment zone.
- Once the Spec-Ops team's position has been determined, both players role a dice, the loser deploying his first available unit. The players then take turns in deploying all available units into their deployment zones in the following order - Heavy Support first, then Troops, followed by Elites, HQ, and Fast Attack.
- The Spec Ops team's location is revealed.
- The attacker takes first turn.


Mission Objective
While the defender is trying to extract the Spec-Ops team to discover what vital information they may hold, the attacker is desperately trying to destroy the unit before they can spill the beans. The attacker's objective is to destroy every member of the Spec-Ops team before the final turn, while the defender must keep them safe. If there is a single surviving member of the Spec-Ops team on the board (or in a transport vehicle) that is not fleeing by the end of the game, then the defender is victorious. If not, then the attacker is victorious.
Remember that unlike similar scenarios, the objective is not to get the Spec-Ops team [i]off[/b] the board. They must remain on the board the entire game, and may participate like any other unit apart of the defender's army.

Reserves
When available, reserves move on from the players deployment zone board edge.

Line of Retreat
If caused to flee for any reason, units will flee using the shortest rout possible towards their friendly deployment zone board edge. The exception is the Spec-Ops team itself, which will flee towards the closest short table edge.

Game Length
The game lasts for a 6 turns, or until the Spec-Ops team is entirely annihilated.



So that's the scenario to try. Like I said, please do try it an give me some feedback. I'm wondering about two things to improve the scenario. Firstly, should the Spec-Ops team transport (if applicable) deploy with them immobalized, or should it come on as reserves from the defenders table edge? Secondly, should the game last for a variable amount of turns, or is this too long, and the game should only go for 6 turns if the Spec-Ops team has survived?
Feed back is appreciated, and I hope you guys have fun playing this scenario.

Cheers, Cal

6 turns is definately long enough, any longer than that and only armies with nice high stats & saves have a chance.

also the measurements for putting the terrain piece in the centre of board and deploying the spec op team seemed a bit large ( being 24" from the attackers deployment zone) we found 18" to be acceptable though.

having the spec ops teams transport in reserve seems like a good choice. (im biased there though.) but it seems right that the transport drops them off then comes back later to pick them up when the mission is complete.

i found it to difficult to keep my spec ops team alive because of my lowT & AS. but thats just a DE thing.
Maybe a special rule for the spec ops team " these are highly trainded individuals and automaticlally pass any moral checks they are required to make"

Good to hear somebody gave this a go. :D

I forgot, on another site I amended the rules for deploying the Spec-Ops team, for the same reason that you raised. Now, 1 member of the Spec-Ops team must be placed at the exact centre of the board (inside the shelter piece of terrain), and the other members of the unit set up around him in any fashion they like, but obviously still within unit coherency. Not member of the Spec-Ops team may come within 12" of the edge of either friendly or unfriendly deployment zones.

I also agree with your logic about the transport, I think it's a good idea. I'll role with that when I play my game (in a few moment actually).

The mission is designed to be extremely challenging for the defender, the Spec-Ops unit literally needing to hold out against impossible odds until help arrives. Can I ask who was the victor in your game though? And most importantly, was the mission fun to play? Did it detract from the game having a Spec-Ops team too difficult to kill? Or did it just make it all the more exciting and draw beads on both players heads until the final turns?

On a final point, of course Dark Eldar don't have the staying power of, say, Space Marines. But don't Dark Eldar always opt to be the attacker anyway? :P

Cheers, Cal

yeah they do but as i was showing the mission to a friend i decided to play as the defender.

against vanilla SM's.

I lost because my spec-ops team failed a moral check from shooting and ended up running off the board. I was trying to move them back to a better position and use the rest of my troops to defend them.

that's why i suggested a blanket "and they shall know no fear rule" for the spec ops squad. just to give low Ld armies a bit more staying power in the scenario.

Good idea. I've been taking a few suggestions about the mission on board, after playing it myself the other day with my brother. I'll post the results and possible changes to the scenerio when I get the chance.

Cal

Ok, I've had a game of this myself. I used Eldar, my opponent used Black Templars. You can find the Battle Report here

After playing the scenario myself, and hearing feedback from other players, I've decided to introduce a few rather large, but I think beneficial changes to the scenario. I want to know what you guys think.

Change 1- The Spec-Ops team should perhaps have "And they Shall Know no Fear" for this mission, meaning simply that they automatically re-group after fleeing. Their desperate situation and need to get their vital information back to their command means that they will act above and beyond the normal call of duty, determination keeping them from breaking. Some of the races with lower leaderships (such as DE and Imperial Guard) noted that they lost easily due to the fact that their unit fled off the board too easily after only a few casualties. This will make the scenario more accessible to all armies I think, and fits the fluff.
Thoughts?

Change 2- Scratching all the past rules about the Spec-Ops deployment, they now are given hidden set up. It is plausible that the Spec-Ops team went to some lengths to try and conceal themselves and be ready to face the hoards of foes, even if it is a last stand. It also gives a more CoD 4 feel, similar to the mission where ultranationalists are trying to recover the body of Al-Asad and the British hide their numbers to seem like a larger force than they really are.
In this incarnation of the rule, the defender secretly chooses a location for the spec-ops team to deploy, but this remains a secret until both sides have deployed all their available units. The Spec-Ops cannot be placed closer than 12" to either deployment zone (meaning they have only a thin strip that is the middle of the board to deploy), and are revealed after both sides have deployed. This stops attackers deploying any long ranged units in prime possitions to just hammer the Spec-Ops team from the word go, however there are two issues.
A: Infiltrators. Are the Spec-Ops team revealed before or after they are deployed, lest an infiltrator squad come within 2" of the Spec-Ops location. Or do we just not have infiltrators for this mission.
B: Does it give the defender an unfair advantage, like deploying the Spec-Ops team in a tiny corner where he can easily consolidate his entire force. Perhaps have three different markers placed on the table by the defender, each with an unknown number on the bottom. The Defender then roles randomly to determin which squad is the defender?

Change 3- And finally, just a small suggestion. Perhaps have the Spec-Ops team only selected from Elites? Give them a more specialised feel with groovier wargear and statlines? The only problem is players may deliberately field only one uber elites squad deliberately so they end up being the Spec-Ops squad. Perhaps limit the amount that is spent on the Spec-Ops squad but allow it to be chosen from elites?

Suggestions and comments welcome, and please get your feedback to me if you've played a game. I'd love to hear how it went.
Cheers, Cal

wow sounds interesting, ill give it a go. but i dont have much experience with kill teams.

If you're going to try it, do so with the amended rules for Spec-Ops deployment (ie: hidden set up), and the They shall know no fear rule. However all other rules in the scenario still apply.

cool ive already given it a run with the "No Fear" special rule and it went a lot better.
game went right throug 6 turns with my 1 DE spec-squad warrior surviving to the end. thanks to a snake eyes roll on his last chance to shoot him.

Nice, sounds like it was a nice tight game right until the very last turn, which is exactly what I was trying to create. I prefer close nail bitters over slaughters, either way.


EDIT: On other sites, I purposed this change to the scenario. What do you guys think?

Jump infantry is now eligble to be chosen as the Spec-Ops team. At the start of the game, the defender may actually choose three units to be eligible to be chosen as the Spec-Ops team. One unit must be an Elites choice in the Force Organisation chart, one unit must be a Troops choice, and one unit must be a Fast Attack choice. Still no bikes or vehicles or non-scoring units may be chosen. The player than roles a D3 to randomly determine which unit becomes the Spec-Ops team. If a player has decided not to field any units in one force organisation slot (ie: he has no fast attack options) he may choose a third unit from one of the other eligible Force Organisation slots.

This new way of selecting the Spec-Ops team A: gives the defender more power over who becomes the Spec-Ops team, but still keeps it slightly random. B: It gives a higher chance that more specialised Spec-Ops units to be chosen, such as Veterans or Eldar Rangers or Scouts or Tau Stealth Suits.

I also wanted to note that official changes have been made in the scenario write up itself in the first post.