Summer Apocalypse The Doomsday Device

Setting
War has ravaged this world for years on end. Some even speculated that the war would never truly be over. That was, until the Device was found. It was little more than a cube the size of a human torso, a smooth black colour that looked to be polished stone but several times more dense. It was psychically active, too; a careful manipulation by a skilled psyker could control the Device, if he did not destroy his mind in the process. The Inquisition found the Device first. No one was told what it was or where it was going, but treachery still struck the shuttle carrying the item crashed mysteriously, under suspicious circumstances. And that is not the worst: the crash site now lies directly between two significant armies bent on its recovery. Be warned: the Device has become unstable after the crash, and it seems to be pulling the whole world apart.

The Armies
Each team selects an army of about 15,000pts. There are no Force Organisation Charts, and units can be taken from any Codex. Units in the same army but chosen from different Codexes treat each other as Allies of Convenience (even if they'd normally hate each other), unless they are already Battle Brothers. Players may take any number of Fortifications, and can take any Legendary Units available in Apocalypse (use the updated rules for Apocalypse by Forgeworld). Each team also selects a single Character model to be its Grand Warlord. Unlike regular Warlords, the Grand Warlord may choose which Warlord Trait he wants, but this is done when the army lists are created.

The Battlefield
The table will be approximately 12'x6'. In the centre of the table will be a crashed shuttle. One player rolls a scatter die and moves it (without changing its direction) to the centre of the table. Draw a straight line through the arrow (use the small arrow on a 'Hit') this is the centre of No Man's Land. Deployment Zones lie on either side of the line, more than 6 from it. Teams roll off, the winning team choosing a side to deploy in. Terrain is placed as per the Rulebook p120, except zones are 4'x3' (to create six zones of equal area). The Terrain Density Limit is also increased to D6 for each zone.

Place Objective Markers

One Relic objective (see the Relic mission in the Rulebook, p131) is placed in the centre of the table. Six more primary objectives are placed, starting with the team that chose their table side and alternating between the two teams. The first objective each team places must be in their own deployment zone, the second must be in No Man's Land and the third must be in the enemy's deployment zone. Objectives may not be placed within 12 of a table edge, but otherwise use the normal rules for objective markers.

Deployment
Each team secretly notes how many minutes they wish to take to deploy this is known as their Time Limit. This value must be whole minutes only, and must be inclusively between 1 and 30 minutes. Once both teams have made their decisions, they must reveal the value they chose. The team with the shorter Time Limit deploys first and gets first turn. When a team's turn to deploy starts, they get five minutes of preparation time. No unit may be deployed in this time, but the players may discuss tactics and get their armies ready to deploy. When this time is up (or if the team chooses to cut it short), they start their actual deployment. They can take as long as they want to deploy, but any units placed after the Time Limit are Pinned (vehicles are Crew Stunned instead) on their first turn. Note that the normal limitations apply to the number of units a team may place in Reserves.

First Turn
The team that deployed first automatically gets first turn. There is no chance for the player going second to Seize the Initiative.

Game Length
The battle lasts for 5 game turns. At the end of game turn 5, the teams roll off. The winner gets to choose if another game turn is played.

Victory Conditions
The Relic is worth 3VPs. The other primary objectives are worth 1VP each. In addition, if a team's Grand Warlord is killed (or removed as a casualty, removed from play, etc.), the opposing team gains an additional VP.

Special Rules
Unstable Earth The planet itself is shifting under the damage caused by the Device's instability. The battle uses the Volcanic Eruption special rule (see the Rulebook p367), but the team in control of the Relic objective may place an additional piece of Fireblood every game turn. In addition, units gain the Stealth special rule when targeted by any Shooting attacks from a unit that is more than 36 away. Lightning Strikes Volcanic ash clouds high in the sky are generating electrical storms, but something about the Device is attracting the lightning strikes to its general location. At the start of every game turn, the exact location of the Relic objective is attacked with a weapon with the following characteristics. If the Relic is inside a transport, the attack is made at the centre of the vehicle. S8 AP5 Heavy 1, Barrage, Pinning, Inaccurate* *Inaccurate: the attack is very imprecise. If a Hit is rolled on the scatter die, it still scatters but use the small arrow to determine the direction of the scatter. Strategic Reserves Unlike regular games, your Grand Warlord has far greater control over the timing of his reserves. The normal rules for Reserves apply, but instead of rolling to see when individual units come in, a team may automatically bring in up to half of its units on turn 2. On a team's turn 3, any unit remaining in Reserves must come in automatically.