This is going to be an ongoing look into the background of a Campaign I'm running for Tobias Caine (see links in my signature). Hopefully this inspires a couple people to run the Aldanis Campaign or something similar.

Player Introduction:

The pocket empire of Aldanis has been a thorn in Winterscale’s side for more than a century: sending out raiding forces and acting as a safe haven for anti-Imperial forces. Until now, Aldanis has been too strong for the Rogue Traders of the expanse to really challenge, merely something they must contain.

Aldanis Prime is a Hive World of fifteen billion souls, working and living in oppressive conditions under a False Emperor that cares only for himself.

Now, Demni Winterscale (Niece to the great Calligos Winterscale) has gathered together a fleet and army to invade Aldanis and eliminate it as a threat once and for all. The fleet consists of Rogue Trader ships, elements of Battlefleet Koronus, and even her Uncle’s flagship: The Emperor’s Vow

Troops have come in from all over the Expanse and the Calixis Sector: including a large host from a powerful Mercenary group based on Scintilla.

But the war against Aldanis has not gone according to plan, and Demni Winterscale is sending out feelers to other Rogue Traders looking for assistance on her expedition. An invitation to the expedition has just landed in your lap: an invitation to a massive horde of wealth from a powerful pocket empire through its churning manufactorums and mines. If done especially well, you may even gain valuable void docks in a strategic part of the Expanse, as well as the gratefulness of the Winterscale Dynasty.

GM Intro:

Demni Winterscale is a powerful Rogue Trader in her own right, and has gathered two forceful personalities (Agrippa Strith and Lord-Marshal Gustavius) to help her complete her goal. Aldanis is a potent foe, and has a huge army behind it (countered by an equally large Imperial Force). Players will get a chance to see large pieces of equipment in action (Gustavius brought along a Leviathan Command vehicle, and Demni brought along super-heavy tanks).

Players will also need to navigate politics of the Expedition, and figure out who their friends actually are. Solid play will get the players assets, new locations, contacts at the highest levels of the Expanse, and maybe a voidship or two.

Demni Winterscale is willing to ally with the players, while Agrippa wants to sap Demni and the players of their strength while appearing to be a friend to gain a better negotiating position at the end of the campaign. Gustavius simply wants to get paid, and Agrippa is currently paying him the most (though Demni doesn’t know that).

Beware though: this is an expensive expedition, and if the players make mistakes or have really bad rolls for any length of time, they could lose money on the endeavor.

There is no doubt that Aldanis will fall now that Winterscale’s gaze is on it, but its up to the players whether it falls in a way that’s profitable.

On a tactics level, this expedition is very large (millions of soldiers on each side, carried by hundreds of transports and protected by almost a dozen warships), worthy of a planetary invasion of a highly populated Hive World. If your players don’t have that kind of force, don’t worry: they can still play a major part in the fight.

If the players don’t have the retainers or soldiers to fight at a macro scale, they can still make a big difference during the major battles. Pitch them into the worst of the fighting, in the middle of the counter-attacks, and at the base of the battlements. Have them be the torchlight that the millions of soldiers on the ground learn to follow, and they’ll have as much political pull as any of the three main players.

Table of Contents:

Major Players:

Demni Winterscale

Agrippa Strith

Lord-Marshall Gustavius

Brother Sergeant Cywinder

GM Tools:

What's Really at Aldanis

Overall Timeline

Outline of Mass Combat Rules I'm Using

What the Space Marines are up to

Encounters:

Introduction to War (Negotiation)

Starfort Bantam (Space Combat)

Assassination Attempt (Individual Combat)

The Landings (Ground Combat)

Assaulting the Northern Hives (Ground Combat)

Internal Imperial Politics - aka Assassination (Investigation and Personal Combat)

Attack on Imperial Supplies (Space Combat)

Enemy Counterattack (Ground Combat)

The Ice Deserts (Ground Combat)

Assaulting the Capitol Hive (Ground Combat)

The Aldanis High Council (Personal Combat and Negotiations)

Edit 1: started the table of contents (continued updates expected here)

Major Player: Demni Winterscale

A Niece of the Winterscale Dynasty, Demni is leading the trade and war delegations of the house into battle. She is tall, fit, has access to the best rejuve technology the Adeptus Mechanicus offers, and used to having her way. She also has the best advisers money can buy, and a solid core of soldiers and ships at her command. Her retinue is made up of sages, lithe and dangerous bodyguards in religious garb, and military officers in Imperial-esque uniforms. (access gives +10 to any interaction check she makes)

She is polite to a fault, but will not make a deal that isn’t in her best interest. More likely, if backed into a corner, she’ll smile and agree in the private meeting, then immediately begin a plot to undermine the person she just ‘agreed’ with.

Retainers:

• Sage Consternantius (Transcendent Astropath)

  • expert in psyinscience, foresight

  • long robes in gold trim

  • a seven-foot tall platinum-steel staff, acts as a force-maul

  • has two astropath retainers with him at all times

• Senior Magos Illuviatum (Magos Biologis)

  • allied with Demni, travelling the expanse to find new lifeform types

  • bulky robes, and a pulled back hood

  • multitude of small fluid tubes going into the back of his neck, and a green eye that closes sideways (acts as a best-craftsmanship augur array)

Main Goal: Bring the Empire into the fold of the Imperium, and connect it to the Koronus Expanse’s Trade Networks

Outlook: Willing to bring on partners, but wants to maintain profit

Void Strength:

• Grand Cruiser Emperor’s Vow

• 2x Gothic-class Cruisers ( Multum Void, and Laissez Fair )

• 3x mixed Frigate Squadrons ( Cold Burn , Trade Margin , and Forward Flag )

Ground Strength: 1000 (mostly heavy infantry, ¼ armor)

Special units:

• Skitarii Cohort Allies (12 divisions, str 25 each)

• Superheavy Tanks (1 Detachment, Str 25 + 10 on attack, +20 against strongpoints)

Side Note: I'm using a modified version of the Frozen Reaches mass combat rules, since I liked them better than the BFK book. You're welcome to use these numbers or not, but I'll try to explain the system better when I get to the ground combat section of the campaign.

Major Player: Agrippa Haephestus Strith

(Lord-Admiral Haephestus) A wide man, with exception girth and a bombastic, friendly attitude, Agrippa is the Eldest Cousin to the Strith Dynasty Warrant Holder. His outgoing personality hides hides his brutal and cut-throat nature. He tends to dress in clothes with integrated anti-grav plates to add an air of weightlessness around him. He has a large core of mostly expendable troops gathered from around the Expanse and from cheap mercenary regiments in the Calixis Sector. He has managed to gain a small contingent of Battlefleet Koronus to assist his efforts.

Retainers:

• Kroot Mercenary Shaper (Adwallah) (Caine doesn’t know who or what Adwallah is)

  • leader of Agrippa’s Kroot Mercenary Band

  • female

  • Tattered rags for a robe

  • long kroot rifle with power field, mono-edged blades on the end

  • small tau medallion providing a (s45) force-field (disguised as a skull trophy)

• Dark Eldar Raider Surkesh (to an untrained eye, Surkesh looks like an Eldar with a several primitive trophies)

  • Leader of a cabal of DE warriors ‘allied’ with Agrippa

  • Female

  • tokens and trinkets from throughout the expanse

  • doesn’t wear a helmet

  • lots of spiky blades and light armor

Main Goal: Bring the Aldanis Empire into the fold of the Strith Dynasty (technically allied with the Imperium/Chorda), and control its major exports and resources.

Outlook: Insular, but willing to use others to fulfil its goal.

Strength: 3000 (light infantry, penal divisions, mechanized brigades)

Special Units:

• 331st Scintilla Heavy Penal Army (str 15 + 15 on defense)

  • commissars in large numbers, close range weapons

  • Grey uniforms, black piping

  • Imperial Guard equipment

• Kroot Shaperate of the Swift Claws (Str 5 + 15 when used in infiltration missions)

  • battalion-strength group of kroot (special forces)

  • green skin
  • sprinkling of advanced energy weaponry

Major Player:

Old, withered, but with a powerful augmented mind that comes from having a lot of money and contacts in the Adeptus Mechanicus. He trusts few other people, and is tacturn in his speech. He will cut people off if he has something to say, but otherwise is content to remain in his lifter-throne and communicate with his sub-generals on the ground.

Retainers:

• Lieutenant Stone (Stormtrooper)

  • head of bodyguard operations, and with an inside track to many of the “higher ranking” officials in Gustavius’ army

  • Silvered stormtrooper armor, and a blue cameleoline cloak

  • hellgun

  • best-craftsmanship power sword (beautiful pattern-welded steel blade, with swirls worked into an allegory of the Great Crusade)

• Luetuvius (Seneschal with Assassin specialty)

  • Head of logistics and overall operations, also in charge of Gustavius’ personal assassins. She is cold, calculating, and efficient.

  • Black robes, with a thick hood pulled back

  • black, short-cropped hair

  • heavy, brown-leather boots with bright gold buckles

Main Goal: fight easy battles in the most profitable locations, and make money

Outlook: Will happily dump difficult missions and dangerous assignments onto other forces given the chance (they have good intelligence to assist them). They’ll make it sound like they’re giving prime spots and fronts to other forces since they ‘just want to make money on this venture’

Strength: 6000 (mix of troop types, in standard Imperial Guard formation (minus superheavies)

Special Units:

• Leviathan Command Vehicle (Str ??, stop one retreat per strategic turn)

• XXI Strategic Artillery Brigade (Str 20 + 10 on defense)

  • Bombards

  • Manticores

  • 3x Deathstrike Launchers (3x atomic warheads)

Major Player:

Brother Sergeant Cywinder is an ancient marine of almost 6 centuries in service to the Emperor. He wears a custom suit of Artificier Armor whose ancestry can be traced back to the forges on Voss during the First Founding. Serpents are carved into the various cables and power ductings, and his helmet bears green eyes set inside a sculpted cobra head faceplate.

His deep voice complements the giant scar under his left eye, and the left part of his jaw has been reconstructed with augmentations. He has other bionic replacements, but since he only leaves his cruiser in full battle armor, players will never see them.

Cywinder is acting Chapter Master of the Serpents of Coiled Wrath (or what little is left of it). None of the Captains have survived, and he is the most senior Sergeant left standing. His small cadre of veterans are all that remains of the Chapter’s culture and lore. Public ceremonies center around metaphors of sneaking through the shadows and poisoning foes of the Emperor. No one alive outside the chapter claims to have seen their private ceremonies.

Green and white battle armor, with black serpents coiled and striking on their shoulder pads. They mostly adhere to the Codex Astartes, with extra emphasis on special operations and subterfuge.

Their tactics almost always include deep strike or infiltration.

Goal: Find the ancient Fortress Monastery on Aldanis, and secure its sacred vault.

Strength: XX (100 in an open fight)

Available Assets:

• 45 Battle-Brothers of the Serpents of Coiled Wrath (all equipped with cameoline cloaks)

  • 5 Veterans with Terminator Armor

  • 28 Tactical Marines

  • 5 Heavy Weapon Specialists

  • 1 Techmarine

  • 1 Apothecary

  • 1 Chaplain

  • 2 Pilots

  • 2 Vehicle Specialists

• 1x Land Raider

• 3x Thunderhawk Gunships

• 5 Drop Pods (reusable)

Why Is Aldanis So Special?

The Capital of Aldanis sits on an ancient fortress monastery showing distinct signs of Space Marine construction during the age of the Legions (though no known legion claimed this portion of the void according to legends). It is a dark, adamantine bunker that has a similar complex vault system to the Deathwatch Fortress in the Jericho Reach.

The structures and bunkers around the Capital are even older than that, and pre-date Humanity.

Brother Sergeant Cywinder is attempting to locate this fortress (he has some information about it thanks to the Inquisition and Deathwatch).

A strike cruiser of ancient provenance that has suffered greatly over the last fifty years. While on crusade it has taken severe damage to some of its systems (only one of its launch bays still works; and the armory is essentially unusable, leaving only basic equipment available for the Serpents). Brother Sergeant Cywinder is acting as both Captain of his greatly diminished Chapter, and Captain of the ship.

While still a Strike Cruiser, and still technically able to launch drop pod assaults against surface targets, the Will ’s machine spirit is not the violent beast it once was (instead acting more as a wary and wounded hunter)

Burrowed a kilometer and a half into the bedrock of the planet, it doesn’t have any augur signature besides a huge black mass under the surface of the planet. It’s complex lock system still functions, and there are large, obscure structures that continue to tick away. Huge towers of cogitator banks clatter and chirp, while filling the air with the smell of dank oil. When both Caine and Cywinder enter the vault, a central chamber will unseal and reveal an STC fragment. GM Note: I'm making this a fragment for a very advanced cogitator array that the Emperor and the then current High Fabricator planned to build. They never got around to it, and it faded into obscurity.

• The fragment is incredibly detailed, covered in circuits, and utterly bare of any religious iconography.

• any techpriests will immediately recognize it from their sacred texts, and break down in reverence

• it is worth enough to barter for the basic materials and supply chains to rebuild a space marine chapter

  • this includes a stocked Battlebarge, serfs, retainers, and supplies

  • also includes genetechs with the ability to create new space marines

  • includes armorers, and access to Techmarine training

  • DOES NOT include more space marines: the chapter will have to build itself back up on its own.

The rest of the vault is a mystery, and refuses to open under any circumstance. Investigation reveals that its cogitator arrays are tied into the planet’s augur/communication systems, and has a large link to a satellite array with direct connection to the void station in orbit.

GM Note: I am considering this the “Alpha Vault” to the corresponding “Omega Vault” in Deathwatch: The vault is actually a giant AI who was created by an unknown species to commit genocide against any species it came across. The Emperor sealed it away in its impenetrable vault, and put the Bastion station above it to destroy it in case it awoke without his orders. The Omega Vault was an even more elaborate backup plan, in case things went South further. He was hoping to rebuild it into a tool to help Humanity (which is why it wasn’t outright destroyed), but never got around to it.

Overall Timeline

• Day 1: Caine Fights his way into the system, and makes initial contact with the Imperial Forces

• Week 2: political pressure mounts to start an invasion of the Capitol Planet/Initial Negotiations

• Week 4: Imperial Fleet moves into position and attacks Orbital Defenses/Grand Strategy Meeting

• Week 5: Imperial Fleet begins its landings

• Week 6: Enemy Counterattack on landing zones

• Week 7: Enemy Reinforcements move in

• Week 8: Imperial Forces Push for the Northern Hives

  -or-

  Week 8: Enemy Forces point strategic artillery at the heart of Imperial Landing Zones

• Week 10: Imperial Forces besiege Northern Hives

  -or-

  Week 10: Imperial Forces stabilize their landing pocket (if so, then return to Week 8)

• Week 14: Imperial Forces enter the Northern Hives and begin street-fighting/accept the enemy’s surrender

• Week 16: Enemy push on Imperial lines with armored spearhead from the Capitol Hive

• Week 18: Imperial Forces move south and besiege the Capital Hive

• Week 20: Imperial Forces enter the Hive, and begin street-fighting

GM Note: I’m having a major Negotiation Session/Strategy Meeting before every major event, but that’s because Caine is in his element when jockeying for position. For a group less interested in the negotiations, they can be hand-waved with each participant giving a roughly equal share of their forces to each attack.

• Gustavius manages to whittle down Caine’s soldiers:

  • Caine can continue to provide orbital superiority, but loses political clout in the final negotiations for the planet’s profits (max PF gain: 4)

• Agrippa Strith is sidelined/killed/humiliated:

  • Battlefleet Koronus withdraws, and the enemy fleet counterattacks in orbit, harassing from areas of orbit where ground-based defenses can assist them

• Demni Winterscale is killed/humiliated:

  • The Winterscale calls in their loans to Caine, demanding payment

  • Caine loses political clout in the final negotiations (Max PF gain: 6)

  • Her troops and ships withdraw, leading to an immediate enemy counterattack

• Enemy Forces collapse the Imperial Landing fields:

  • massive casualties to soldiers, morale, and supplies

  • political spinning as various people blame each other, try to save face, and retreat to dug-in positions in the outer star system

  • Caine won’t be able to request military or political support from his counterparts

  • Max PF gain: 0

“Lord-Captain, we are receiving greetings and honors from the Rogue Trader delegations in charge of Imperial Forces. They are being rather free with their praise at your thoughtfulness for bringing additional forces. The Rogue Trader Demni Winterscale has extended an invitation to join her delegation as a Junior Partner. Agrippa Strith is countering with a proposal to grant you rights as a Full Partner in the expedition. The general vox-links among Imperial Forces across the system are relieved and grateful that reinforcements have arrived.”

-Seneschal Holt

The war council is planning a major assault on the Aldonis Empire’s capitol planet (iffy before, but made easier now by Caine’s reinforcements), to isolate it from the heavy manufacturing and mining facilities around the gas giant.

Gustavius wants to push Caine’s fresh ships to the fore, and have him assault the fortifications over the capital Hive, while the rest of the force pulls the enemy fleet away from anchor and harasses the lunar defenses,

Agrippa and Demni agree, but Agrippa will be willing to offer some of his own forces to support Caine if Caine pushes back on the plan (Agrippa knows that he can get the glory and praise for a successful assault, and is willing to use Caine as a screening force).

Agrippa’s forces will elect to be first on the ground once orbit is secured if no negotiations happen, though Gustavius will push Caine to offer most of his troops in the landing party. Gustavius will point Caine towards the most dangerous of the identified landing fields, while Agrippa’s forces are pure cannon fodder (and easily expandable).

The three other participants in the expedition are looking to integrate Caine into the partnership. Demni’s Grand Cruiser (the Emperor’s Vow ) is the host of the negotiations, and in particular she is using her Winter Hall.

The Winter Hall is a massive vaulted space under an observation dome, built on many tiers and covered in marble cladding and statues. There is a giant holo-table in the center of the hall that can retract into the floor to free up floor space, and a host of servitors built into the upper balconies that acts like a room-wide stummer (typically used to quiet the entire hall, and reserve a small bubble of speaking space for the main participants in the center). She also has a series of gilded servo-skulls with small parchment tubes that are used to negotiate between ‘equal partners’ in lieu of flimsy words (she turns the stummer up to full, and requires all negotiations to be privately written down between the two participants… no other parties can read the parchment pieces)

Players here might consider killing the Rogue Traders here, and attempting to take the Emperor’s Vow for themselves. Demni is well protected, and has a large number of personal guards standing by, plus murder servitors. This would also have massive implications for the expedition itself, and morale might collapse, causing the campaign to collapse and everyone to lose money.

Not to say it’s impossible, but the retreat of confused forces and suspicious partners once killing starts will send Imperial forces reeling and prevent another joint campaign against Aldanis for decades. (plus, pirate activity will increase throughout the Expanse)

Demni is willing to stake Caine’s position in the share of initial costs (-2 PF), but wants to be the final arbiter of decisions between the two of them (enforceable by payment and an extensive contract). Caine would be able to fly the Winterscale flag during the expedition, and have an appeals process to the Winterscale Dynasty if harm comes to him during the fighting from another partner.

Demni benefits by having a loyal partner in the expedition (though one she will watch closely with spies, admech dataviruses, and psyker readings).

If forced to, she will allow Caine to pay his way into the expedition, and have a more informal alliance with Caine, but will step up her spying efforts/

Agrippa wants to force Caine to buy into the expedition (by claiming that he would be a ‘full partner’ and stroking his ego very effectively), and suggest that he would have his pick of targets (prodding him towards the Starfort, which his spies have shown to be a very tough cookie).

If Caine chooses an alliance with Demni, or if he suspects such an alliance, Agrippa will try and slip “military advisors/observers” into Caine’s army to “Improve communications between our forces” (spies, basically, and assassins hired from Gustavius).

He’ll also make a private call to his Dark Eldar ally to try and assassinate Caine during the coming fight (plausible deniability, and the chance to take a whole lot of Caine’s forces)

Gustavius is willing to go with either side (though he’s been paid to support Agrippa during the negotiations). Whatever the outcome, he’ll approach Caine quietly and let him know that he has “many services” available for hire (i.e.: assassins, spies, AdMech specialists in techno-spycraft, and Stormtroopers with various entry capabilities like Valkyries, drop ships)

oh, and feel free to ask questions, comment on points I make, or tell me to stop. I have an organizational scheme in the works, so the thread doesn't need to be just me.

Starfort Bantam is the codename given to the Ramilies-class starfort floating at geo-anchor over the capitol hive of Aldonis. Imperial augur readings show only one difference between Starfort Bantam and a Ramilies-class starfort in service to the Imperium: the lack of a warp core at the fort’s center. Major questions await answering: How did Imperial equipment end up all the way out here in the Expanse? Was it built in orbit, or how did it get here without a warp core? Is it actually a Ramilies, or is it just a bizzare coincidence in a galaxy full of them?

120,000 crew

80,000 security garrison soldiers

3,000 officers

50,000 murder servitors

• Heavy Gun Batteries

  • each side of the fort is armed with heavy macro-cannons capable of keeping warships at distance. These are huge bays, of the kind typically seen on a battleship.

  • Work crews crawl through these tight spaces and vast gun vaults. It is a labyrinthine area, and only the native workers really know their way around (treated as a Tenebro Maze)

• Command and Control

  • In the top tower, protected by secondary void shielding network

  • Defended by heavy bunkers connecting it to the lower working levels

• Hangers/Dry Docks/Docking Ports

  • great entry point, but protected by heavy turret arrays

  • big open spaces and warehousing floors

  • dock workers can be quickly armed with makeshift weapons and pressed into the fight

• Bombardment Cannon

  • A few very heavy guns strung around the perimeter

  • any ships caught in a vulnerable position (stunned, moving slow, on a predictable course) are going to be punished

• The Core

  • In the place where the warp core is placed in STC versions of the Ramilies, the Bantam instead has a giant metal shard of incredibly lightweight metal, that is invisible to augur scans but clearly visible to the eye.

  • It is related to, but an inactive form, of the super-dense metal in the forts protecting the capitol hive

Destroying or hulking the Ramilies is going to be extraordinarily difficult (100+ hp, heavy guns, overlapping void-shield arrays), but will be possible thanks to the rest of the fleet pulling the Aldanis ships away.

Threats that Tobias Caine is going to face:

• lots and lots of guns

  • his fleet will be smashed against the starfort unless he does something besides a bull-rush

  • 4 battleships worth of main armament alone, plus secondary armament and small void craft

• Meritech Clan garrison soldiers

  • First Clansman Sparax (treated as an elite threat, and essentially an augmented Skitarii leader)

  • potent weapons (plasma, power blades, and multi-auspex)

  • efficient tactics

  • admech-quality augmentations

• If he penetrates to the core of the fort: he’ll find warded cells holding psykers

  • they’re dangerous, Gamma to Beta level, and should have been killed

  • Only the station commandant knows that they’re being held to trade with a chaos warband (in exchange for Karrad Val not attacking Aldanis)

“It is a small device, of Xenos origin that bears striking resemblance to the heretical craftsmanship of the Eldar. It’s runic markings do not appear to be the same language that the Corsair Captain used with us during our last meeting, but all is merely speculation with the Eldar and their ways.”

-Librarium Archivist and Senior Data Priest upon examining a plate-sized object

With Caine’s ship and soldiers in position, there’s no reason not to strike immediately. Enemy forces have decided that Caine needs to be eliminated, and have dispatched a xenos kill team.

When Caine is resting on his ship, he is going to be ambushed by a techno-assassin (very powerful augmented assassin of non-Adeptus Mechanicus design). The assassin is from the Aldanis Meretek Clan, and his job is to eliminate the Rogue Trader and cause a leadership vacuum in Caine’s fleet. (note: if there is more than one PC present, there can be more than one assassin sent to even the odds. This should be a very difficult fight.)

At the same time, Dark Eldar raiders will strike throughout the ship, killing and sabotaging as they go. After defeating the assassins (or falling victim to the treachery), it will be difficult to stop the Dark Eldar, since it is unlikely that the shipboard personnel have been trained for this event.

If the situation is stabilized, the next goal should be to figure out how the assassins and Dark Eldar made it onto the ship. A thorough search of the area around Caine’s private fortress estate aboard the Righteous Fury will turn up a small, disk-shaped device about the size of a plate.

The disk has a shallow dome, a hollow point in the center, and four barbs around the edge that were holding it into the wall when it was found.

A (-20) Forbidden Lore (Xenos) check will reveal:

• it is Dark Eldar in design

• it has runes similar to webway portals found throughout the expanse

• it would have needed to be brought onboard by someone/thing

A failure indicates that:

• It is Eldar in design

• It is unreactive

  • a second check by someone who knows Eldar lore/archeology well will recognize it as part of the Eldar portal network

It was brought onboard by someone, and is a webway portal for the Dark Eldar. If the players don’t immediately get rid of it, have the portal reactivate briefly, let out a slew of monsters, chimeras, and slaves, then have a slave blow it up (the Dark Eldar won’t risk a suicide mission themselves, and don’t want a portal in the hands of Caine).

Combat is a lightly modified setup pulled from The Frozen Reaches. In short, the enemy defends along several vectors, and the allied forces must supply troops to each front. The force with a higher strength number wins. (in this case, strength is not just power, but also an abstraction of morale, leadership, tactics, intelligence, ect).

Character intervention on a front can increase the strength of that front:

Each white box is a separate “sector” of battle with 3 Fronts: North, Center, and South.

It is unlikely, but possible, for the Imperial forces to be engaged in every sector, on every front. In that case, players would be managing 18 fronts, and having to make sure all 18 fronts had appropriate forces manning the defense.

Each strategic turn, Aldanis will be able to adequately supply 1 sector, and push hard in 1 sector. The other sectors represent Imperial opportunities to advance.

If both armies in a Front are within 10% strength of each other, the Front is a stalemate. If one army has more than 33% strength than the other, that army pushes forward, destroying 10% of the losing side’s strength (and causing a retreat).

GM Note: I wish I could give you hard numbers to play with here. My suggestion would be to give Aldanis the same starting strength as the Imperials, and tweak throughout the campaign for more/less of a challenge .

Alternatively, if you want to handwave the massive armies, I would suggest showcasing three or four important open field battles: The Landings, the Battle for the Northern Plains, the Battle for the Capitol Outskirts, and the Battle of the Southern Reaches’ Ice Desert.

“Landings will begin in One Hour! First regiments down will be assault formations to secure the landing fields after a heavy bombardment. Second wave down will begin pushing out and securing the initial lines of communication. I want regimental commanders with their units: they’re in charge until higher authority is in place on the ground.”

-Solomon Wolfe, to Generals of the Damaris Expeditionary Force

The Damaris Expeditionary Force will be tasked with landing North of the capitol hive on Aldonis and cutting its major land connections to the Northern Hives (identified as supply centers and component manufacturers). Resistance will be based on how effective Caine was at negotiating proper position in the assault and whether Gustavius was able to send him into a trap.

1. The Aldanis 224th squadron, 6th Heavy Armored

   1. These brutes are a front-line spearhead of tanks that are surprisingly similar to Macharius tanks from older Imperial armies

   2. There are 4 tanks in the squadron, led by Ridhus - a nasty tank commander with a bald head, artificial left eye, artificial left arm (related). He personally mans the custom twin-autocannon rig on his cupola (tank-quality armor all around), but will get out and fight on the ground with a power sword and bodyguards (Oathsworn from the Core Book, all dressed in Aldanis military uniforms and with a fanatical loyalty to Ridhus)

2. Colonel Kaeso, 43rd Grenadiers

   1. Mottled camouflage carapace armor, multi-auspex array on his helmet, and a knack for witty dialog in the middle of battle. He cares about his men, which is why all of his bodyguards carry missile launchers and meltas (leaving the basic lasguns to the grunts).

   2. Expect to be drawn into a trap in the middle of a fight, surrounded, and pelted with armor-melting weaponry.

   3. Kaeso is smart, and unless the players hunt him down specifically and make sure he’s dead, he’ll come back to haunt them later.

Caine lands in a pre-targeted landing region, spotted by strategic artillery and bracketed by aeronautica squadrons. Heavy Armored forces will sally from the Hive as soon as Caine’s force begins to land, and partisan infantry will pin the first landers in place.

The Damaris Infantry will need to fight their way through the partisans and send coordinates of the heaviest defense installations to Orbit (where the Fury can paste them).

Outcome will be determined by whether Caine can land enough forces and maintain enough strength/morale to withstand the heavy Armored assault when it lands.

Success: <10% casualty rate of the total army force, and a solid/fortified position on the supply lines leading towards the capital hive.

Failure: 25% casualty rate of the total army force. Defensive positions drilled into the hills nearby the main supply routes, but with heavy defender resistance between the landing fields and cutting of the rail lines

Caine lands outside of range of strategic artillery positions, with time to put up air defenses and land his own aeronautica before enemy forces hit. Armored formations still strike out from the Hive, but are going to be spotted in enough time to properly target from orbit.

Outcome will be determined by how well Caine lands forces and mantains morale in the landing site.

Success: <5% casualties, and a well fortified position on their supply lines

Failure: 10% casualties, and a position on their supply lines, but one that will need to be shorn up or expanded quickly to maintain its structure.

“Tobias, my mercenaries would gladly assist you in assaulting the Northern Hives. We will push North-West from our landing zones and link up with your forces 100km North of their current front-line. From there, we can capture the strategic rail links that will let us turn this plain into a secure bridge-head for supplies from Orbit.”

-Lord-Marshall Gustavius

Gustavius sees an opportunity to use Caine’s forces to push through to the North and capture enemy manufactorums before they are leveled from Orbit or destroyed by internal strife. He will use his forces to punch through the enemy front line (which he has a solid plan for), then deceptively pull back to allow Caine’s forces to bear the brunt of the counterattack that is inevitable from the military bases in the North.

Caine will be caught fighting retreating forces into prepared ground, just as reinforcements hit him.

The four main parties (Caine included), need to negotiate which position they will play in the assault on the Northern Hives. Demni Winterscale has the troops available for rapid strikes and recon along the line of advance, and is willing to add in a light armored division.

Lord-Marshall Gustavius wants to act as the assault’s reinforcements and will agree to form the Left Flank of the attack (he has a solid mix of soldiers capable of the task). His intelligence says that the left flank of the attack will be the lightest of the fighting.

Agrippa Strith will negotiate to try and fill the position of the right flank, where his expendable troops can overwhelm emplaced lines (he doesn’t mind losing a few soldiers, and there are valuable mines and outer-lying manufactorums in that direction).

If he doesn’t negotiate, Caine will be sent straight up the middle with his forces (and what help Demni can provide). He will face emplacements along the best lines of attack, and have to match enemy strength on par with his own.

For an unfavorable outcome to the negotiations, raise the required strength of forces needed to capture objectives

• Heavy Emplacements along the valley entrances, river crossings, and main thoroughfares

• dug-in enemy trenches with plentiful conscript forces protecting the emplacements

• Counter-attack force of lumbering mega-tanks (heavy armor, but slow and with less damaging weapons than Imperial Superheavies)

  • protected by Leman Russ equivalents

lots of inhibiting terrain:

• Rolling valleys

• wide, deep rivers

• dense, old-growth forests

• Demni Winterscale is personally leading her phalanx of Baneblades in the spearhead attack. Enemy mechanized soldiers, sappers, and scouts will do anything to fight their way aboard these behemoths and attempt to disable them. Caine can gain appreciation by stopping the enemy forces.

• Aldanis Special Forces are using the dense and twisting roads between ground-level manufacturing hubs to pick at Imperial Forces as they advance. Caine will need to navigate the dark facilities (or get lost) while chasing the SpecOps soldiers. Eliminating their leader will greatly reduce their ability to harass the advance.

“Brother Sergeant Cywinder has agreed to send a squad of his Marines to help in the assault, but his focus still seems to be the Capitol. We’ve detected several raids on outlying areas of the Capitol, and at least one on the Citadel itself...but our Augurs can’t track the Space Marines well enough to tell what’s really going on.”

- A clearly frustrated Luetuvius, during a report to the Haephestus Expedition High Council

Space Marines (and, in particular, the Serpents of Coiled Wrath) do not take orders from anyone; even powerful Rogue Traders. Even if Caine does his best to request aid, Brother Sergeant Cywinder will send very little aid. Cywinder has his own goals, and needs all of his forces for it.

If, by some chance, Caine offers to help Cywinder, he will ask for Caine to divert more forces towards encircling the Capitol.

Excellent negotiating, and forging a bond of warrior kinship with the Space Marine will convince him to support Caine’s efforts with a single squad of Tactical Marines.

The Serpents have started striking at major infrastructure and defense points around the Capitol. They’re slowly taking out major anti-air defenses and anti-near-space defenses, and leaving Marines behind to harass and sabotage military structures and supply facilities.

Aldanis is trying hard to counter the guerrilla attacks, but doesn’t have anything that can easily counter Space Marines.

This is preventing full political focus on the Imperial invasion, and is making Emperor Minsgrove very, very paranoid.

Nice.

To be honest, Frozen Reaches is my favourite version of 'mass combat' rules I've seen to date, and I'd love to see more pre-written support along that line. Basing any mass combat of any future RT2 off this system would be my vote.

Look forward to seeing more; I did like your write-ups of the Damaris campaign.

Thanks! Let me know if I can flesh anything out that would help. I play pretty fast and loose with some rules, but I have a decent idea of where everything falls in the power spectrum.

“How did Xenos get into the High Command Hab?! We had every entrance guarded by trusted sentries, and none of them report seeing a thing. It’s like they appeared out of nowhere…”

-Consternantius, upon starting his investigation

Gustavius is cunning, careful, has a potent assassin network behind him, and is being paid well by Agrippa Strith to help the Strith Dynasty come out on top in this conflict.

Agrippa is going to order the assassination of Demni Winterscale (doing damage to both the Winterscale Dynasty in the expedition, and to the Winterscale Dynasty as a whole). This will allow him to pull some of her soldiers/ships over to his side, and gain huge maneuvering room in negotiations.

He is plotting to eliminate Demni while she is out inspecting troops at a major HQ Hub in the Northern Hives. He will have Luetuvius sneak two assassins into the local garrison force, with the intention to strike whenever feasible. The extraction plan is to have them lie low after the assassination and disorganization that will follow, then hop a transport flight back to the main landing fields/spaceport and up to the fleet (Gustavius will have an Arvus waiting for them)

• rumors among the high command that someone wants to assassinate Demni

• Two new soldiers suddenly appear on Demni’s army roster (tech check)

• A Strith supply transport is suddenly moved to the top of the logistics list

• Demni decides to go ahead with the site visit anyways

• An Arvus lighter drops agents down on Aldanis Prime (Very Hard sensors check)

• Demni shot with a gene-targeted poison in her command bunker (no witnesses)

• She Deteriorates over the course of two days

• Lackeys sneak out of the HQ Hub

• Arvus with the lackeys on board escapes to orbit

• Convince Agrippa that Demni isn’t a threat to him (very hard)

• Overhear Luetuvius sending out orders to the assassins (very hard)

• Decode deep-encryption messages meant for the assassins (very hard)

• Catch lackeys (after learning their identities) on the way to the HQ Hub (Standard)

• Find Dark Eldar webway portal placed by the lackeys (hard)

• Identify the lackeys as part of the garrison (very hard)

• Stop the Dark Eldar assassins mid-assassination (combat)

• create a cure for the gene poison (its a standard Imperial-type, and an advanced facility could manufacture the cure with a talented person in the lab) (hard)

If Caine helps Agrippa:

• gains a portion of Demni’s army and profit from Agrippa

• loses his one solid ally in the war

• paints a giant target on his own back

If Caine stops Agrippa:

• gains political points with Demni (better negotiations/trade contracts)

• no difference in his relationship with Agrippa (already planning to betray Caine)

• The assassins are good, but will eventually talk and give up info on the Strith

Demni Winterscale is the money behind the fleet (though Agrippa is keeping his portion of Gustavius’ funds well hidden). If she isn’t around to pay people, the army can keep going for a while but will eventually start rioting due to lack of pay. Agrippa will have some reserve funds to keep his core of elite soldiers happy, but Demni’s former troops and his conscript-grade soldiers will suffer.

Caine has enough money to pay his people, but bad rolls in the preparation for the campaign is going to leave him with a sore lack of supplies. Agrippa will, ‘sadly’, not be able to help with that issue due to ‘his own lack of supplies’.

Unless Caine can figure something out, his forces will starve as Agrippa takes more and more territory and profit.

Outwardly, she will blame it on foul Xenos and the desperate Aldanis political establishment. Privately, she realizes that there is probably a traitor in the Imperial Campaign force. She will begin ferreting out leads, and will interrogate Caine on his role in the attempt.

Unless Caine did have something to do with it, Demni will come to him during the final siege of the Capitol and ask for his help on revenge against Agrippa. This will set up a showdown that is actually a trap: Demni will prepare well, but Gustavius’ spies are better and will have set up protection around Agrippa.

If confronted by Caine and convinced (a combination of money, honor, and promising some concessions to him) Gustavius will quietly ‘step aside’ during the ambush and allow Caine/Demni to attack.

If Gustavius is protecting Agrippa during the attack, the ambush will cause widespread strife through the Imperial forces, and give Aldanis an opening to counterattack and knock out or capture some big toys like the Deathstrike missiles or Baneblades.

Aldanis is in a tight spot now, and sees the strife in the Imperial lines as an opportunity to strike their void presence. They lack the power to really destroy the Imperial fleet, but they might be able to draw enough forces away for ground stations near the Capitol to fire on the fleet in low orbit without risking a counter-attack.

A convoy of 10 Imperial supply ships is leaving the dockyards around Aldanis III, loaded with food, ammunition, and other supplies procured from the locals and their manufactorums. Three warships are guarding the convoy: the Enduring Profit (a Dominator Class cruiser flying Caine’s flag), and two Sword-class frigates from Battlefleet Koronus.

A battlegroup of three Aldanis frigates, and the Heavy Cruiser are going to challenge that convoy and attempt to destroy as much of the supplies as possible.

The battle takes place in Aldanis III’s large ring system (it is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, but with a ring system larger even than Saturn’s). Chunks of ice are obstacles, and the Aldanis hunters have used the ice to get close without being seen.

Only a Very Hard check against their silent running (Crew rating: 60) will alert Caine that there’s an ambush waiting.

The Aldanis Heavy Cruiser will stay at harassment range for the Imperial combat ships, attempting to draw fire. The Frigates will use their speed to make jabbing attacks at cargo ships under the Heavy Cruiser’s protection.

If two frigates are destroyed, or if the Heavy Cruiser is taken below half health, the Aldanis attackers will withdraw at full speed.

These are supplies meant for the front lines. If a significant number of transports are destroyed or captured, morale will drop on the front line and the lack of supplies will make it more difficult to launch attacks in the next strategic turn.

Second implication:

Engaging a convoy maneuvering under power requires an accurate intercept vector - which if you're under silent running with no active auspex, means you must have known the convoy's course in advance (especially for an ambush where your ships have gotten into position and are lying doggo). Which in turn implies some pretty highly placed leaks somewhere in the fleet or the Aldanis III dockyards.

Funny story about the Dark Eldar in this campaign: they may not be exactly the allies Agrippa thinks they are...

Are you suggesting that Kabalite Eldar might be less than totally trustworthy?

Encounter: Enemy Counterattack

“Recon reports are showing a large enemy army group moving towards us from the mountains. Forward elements are already pinning our lead units in place. I want reserves mobilized and ready to move! ...This should be interesting.”

-Solomon Wolfe

Caine’s main threat is coming from an armored division of Leman Russ analogs, supported by linebreaker cannons (essentially demolishers), and an artillery division. Armored fist squads are rolling with them, but a large number of ground soldiers are moving forward in light trucks well behind the main lines.

The enemy have identified a weak point in Imperial lines where things have not been fortified as heavily as elsewhere.

The enemy’s goal is to punch a hole in Imperial lines and cut supply lines to a significant portion of the forward lines (or force an Imperial retreat)

General Surkesh is leading the Aldonis forces, and has a small core of highly trained Stormtroopers at his command. He leads from behind, using a small platoon of HQ tanks on the second-line force. His tanks are well trained, and will push up to act as reinforcements against a weak spot in Caine’s lines.

Leman Russ tanks, Demolishers, and armored fist squads in multiple division-level strength will attack a weak point in the Imperial Defenses. The Leman Russes are focused on smashing enough of a small portion of the line to allow armored fist squads to rush into the gap. Once the Armored Fist squads are in place, reinforcements in light trucks will rush in and attempt to secure the breach.

The armored fist squads will then begin pushing towards identified Imperial command posts with Armored support.

Caine will need to stop the armored thrust first before anything else can be done (or he’ll have to pull his forces back)

Success: Casualties limited to front line units, morale lifted due to quick block of aggressive enemy attack.

Failure: Heavy casualties to front line units in that sector, and lowered morale as command posts are hit and soldiers begin retreating.

If the attack was a success, Aldanis Stormtrooper squads will begin infiltrating the supply lines of Imperial forces and fight from hidden positions well past the front line. Supplies will be destroyed, and morale will be damaged as Aldonis special forces win skirmishes and delay redeployment of Imperial forces

(limited amount of redeployment possible, Caine will need to squash the Stormtroopers before the damage gets out of hand)

If the attack was a failure, Stormtrooper squads will harass positions along the front lines to allow Aldonis forces time to withdraw to defensive positions. Unless Caine is able to pin down and destroy the enemy command unit, the Stormtroopers will prevent front-line forces from redeploying.

• The Aldanis Spearhead is tipped by heavy Macharius-equivalent tanks (twin heavy battlecannon, heavy bolters everywhere, and thick armor). The lead tank is commanded by Colonel Holonade, a stubble-jawed brute with a low-tech bionic arm and a dead-eye shot. Five of the heavy tanks are going to roll over a fortified hard point in the Damaris PDF section of the line.

  Caine will need to either find powerful tank hunters, or go at them with infantry weapons. If he’s lucky, the vox channels will be clear enough to get close air support.

• Stormtrooper Lieutenant Kestrel is leading a squad of infiltrators past Damaris lines. Her squad is armed with plasma, melta bombs, stummers, and noise makers. She’s going to set Damaris PDF against themselves, destroy ammo caches, and otherwise cause as much havok as possible. Caine will need to confront her personally.

“Yesss...Much cold, more than expected. My troops...not so capable here. But we steal cloaks and hats; now much better. These hardy enemies be only snack to Shaperate.”

-Swift Claw, Xenos retainer to Agrippa Strith

Conquring the Southern Reaches isn’t required to pacify the planet and is a hotbed of resistance fighters. Taking control here and bringing it under the Caine Dynasty banner will provide a steady stream of raw recruits, low-tech manufacturing, and divisions of hard-core (but unruly) soldiers.

Ironically, Agrippa’s forces are pushing hard into this region, with the local commanders being very tight-lipped about what their boss wants in the frozen plain. Agrippa himself is dismissive of any line of questioning here, and acts as if he doesn’t care about the soldiers being churned in the cold meat grinder. Agrippa’s forces wouldn’t lightly expend this much effort.

GM Note: a heavy amount of needling and effective rolls will eventually reveal that Agrippa actually has no idea why his forces are fighting there. His lower Generals in charge of those armies convinced him that it was worthwhile, and he’s trusting them.

Particularly astute observation on the front lines in the Southern Reaches will see a larger number of Dark Eldar fighters here than anywhere else on the planet. They are the ones behind the heavy attack. Their plan is to destabilize the region to act as prime slaving grounds. Not that they’d tell anyone else that.

• Ice Troopers (protected against the conditions and trained in them)

• big artillery emplacements

• lots of small hives to act as strongpoints

bitterly cold, driving snow:

• giant snow dunes in places (hiding enemy ambushes)

• open wastes

• Micro-hive 616: An underground strongpoint of almost a million souls, Agrippa’s forces have designated it 616. It is holding off an advance with dug-in artillery, and a complex field of trenches. Caine will need to sneak past enemy lines in the night and infiltrate a power bunker providing warmth and power to enemy defenses. Destroying the bunker with heavy melta charges will allow the advance to continue.

• Aldanis Ice Mites: A surprising number of soldiers have complained to the medicae corps about a mysterious rash that slowly spreads up from the legs, until it starts eating away at the skin. For most, it’s just uncomfortable; but for forward units in combat it can become fatal. Caine will need to investigate the units that are struggling, find the mites, and convince the Magos Biologis in Demni’s retinue to create a countermeasure.

Encounter: Assaulting the Capitol Hive of Aldonis

“You’ve taken me from one dark end of this Expanse to the other. We’ve smashed demons, xenos, warp-worshippers, and unnamed horrors that haunt the void between stars. Leave it to selfish heretics to build something we actually need to save...

“Oh, and I’d suggest taking out that artillery base first”

-Solomon Wolfe, to Tobias Caine on the front lines

The Capitol has 3 lines of defense:

1. Outer Earthworks (trenches and earthen tank dugouts)

2. Mid-line Bases (heavily fortified airfields, with extensive bunkers, trenches, and defenses)

3. Interior Fortresses (massive, void shielded citadels that protect the main entrances to the Hive’s shield bubble)

By this point, the enemy should have suffered heavy casualties, and morale should be shaky. Retreating behind their fortifications is the last thing they are able to do that might still save them (it’s worked in the past).

Caine needs to capture at least one of each facility, which will set in motion the fall of others. Gustavius hates this kind of siege warfare (it’s expensive), but Agrippa Strith revels in it.

The Capitol

A dense hive of heavy fortifications, outlying military bases, tens of thousands of kilometers of trenches, and the best of the Aldonis’s military. This is a siege that will be difficult to win through brute force without capturing the rest of the planet first.

Main Defenses of the Aldonis Capitol

Outlying Military Bases

Each base is a self-sufficient fortification meant to act as an external refuge to nobles under threat from internal politics, and as a first line of defense against another Hive attacking (which has happened more than once). Each has a mix of trenchworks, heavy artillery positions, C&C facilities, and Aeronautica runways. At least one of these will need to be captured/destroyed before the assault on the Hive itself.

Interior Fortresses

Imposing matte-black castleworks with integrated void shields. These protect the main strategic paths towards the Hive from the out-habs, and contain the heaviest weapons the pocket empire can house on a planet’s surface. They protect anti-orbit weapons, and can project power out towards the outlying military bases through intelligence gathering equipment, super-heavy artillery, and reinforcement tunnels. In a normal crusade, the Imperium would direct Titans against these fortresses, or request the Adeptus Ordinantus.

These are ancient structures, impossible to target from orbit via some effect that the fleet’s coordinators don’t understand; and impervious even to atomics (though, if Gustavius is convinced to use one, it will do a lot of damage to the surrounding areas).

Royal Defense Army

The solid core of an otherwise inconsistently trained military on the planet, the Royal Defense Army has equipment on par with the Imperial Guard, and training to stand up to the worst fighting the Imperium can direct against them. They are overwhelmingly mounted in APCs and fight alongside Leman Russ analogs. Their officer corps is effective, and their morale officers maintain solid respect from their soldiers.

Giga-shields

Ancient void shields protect the main hive of the planet, making it nigh-impervious to orbital bombardment from everything short of a full Imperial Navy fleet. Ground forces will have to fight local forces until units can penetrate under the shield, and begin bombarding the Hive directly.

Outer Earthworks

This is a standard assault, and will test Caine’s remaining soldiers against the damage he’s managed to do against Aldonis. He can modify the outcome with solid Tactica Imperialis checks, proper negotiations with fellow RTs, and scouting to see what forces Aldonis has on the front line (proper counters win him more points).

Advantages: Caine swiftly captured the Northern Hives; Caine turned away the Aldonis Counterattack

Disadvantages: Landing Zones were collapsed; Aldonis Counterattack successfully damaged Imperial supply lines

Mid-line Bases

Capture a base: gain supply dumps and airfields just out of range of the Capitol’s inner defenses

Interior Fortresses

Giant, black monoliths of adamantium and guns. They are ancient according to the locals, and rumor says that they existed before the hive was founded. Each one has a solid block of adamantium and some unknown metal in the very center that no one has been able to enter, though humans have happily taken the rest of the fortress and turned it into a human habitation.

These fortresses block the main land approaches to the capitol against invading forces. Natural (or unnatural, given the unknown origin of the fortresses) effects block effective targeting from orbit, preventing direct bombardment.

Caine will either need to get spotters close enough for direct targeting and ranging, or slip special forces in and sabotage the fortress's defenses, or tunnel under it and rip it apart.

“Puppets, all of them! I would rather burn this hive to the ground rather than let interstellar usurpers take control of this proud Empire! We must make plans, call in our loyal generals, determine how best to stop the hemorrhaging long enough to organize the demolition parties…”

An Insane Emperor Minsgrove, just before his assassination

Caine will be sorely tempted to just level the capitol hive (not sure why, he just likes dispensing simply with his problems). The other Rogue Traders will countermand those orders if possible or, if Caine overrides them, will saddle him with the costs of destroying the hive (-5 PF, minimum).

The High Council will have retreated to their sanctuary spire. There are several entry points for an invading army that wants to confront/capture/kill them:

• Private landing field : a series of platforms and automated docking arms with hangers near the middle of the spire. Has quick access to the meeting chambers of the council, but will require someone to evade or disable the defensive turrets protecting the hangers.

• Grand Entrance : the large arch that allows access from the upper hive to the Sanctuary Spire. Protected by the last remnants of the Royal Defense Army (with shaky morale, and an understanding that they’re going to their death). The grand promenade is gilded with gold and hand-polished sandstone sculptures of ancient Aldanis heroes. Glass Mosaics on the walls display the long history of Aldanis fending off invaders.

• Sanctuary Dome : the most straightforward entrance. It is a large armored dome over the top of the central chambers. A few shots with a heavy aeronautica weapon, and a skilled descent with grav-chutes will quickly land Caine in the middle of the action.

When Caine enters, he’s going to come in on the tail end of an argument between the three heads of the Aldanis Government.

Emperor Minsgrove is going to be dead on the floor: shot at close range by a las weapon (Earl-Marshall Lindover is holding an ornate long-las pistol that looks like it could do the job). Admiral Pelagius is slumped over in an ornate chair. He is poffering vague and unconvincing threats at Lindover about the death, and has no idea what to do when Caine enters.

Earl-Marshall Lindover will put his weapon away when Caine enters (unless Caine shoots him right away, then all bets are off), and will propose a deal:

• Put Lindover on the throne, and let Pelagius keep his position; or Aldanis will descend into anarchy.

• If Caine leaves them in place through his own decision : Aldanis recovers quickly (+2 PF to Caine), but remains a hotbed of dissent. Pirate ships that attack elsewhere in the Expanse continue to operate out of hidden bases in the outer Aldanis System, blending into inbound/outbound trade traffic. Lindover will eventually start embezzling money.

• If Caine allows the RT council to decide (they’ll keep them in place) : Aldanis recovers quickly (+3 PF to Caine), but the other council members put enough spies and informants in place to keep embezzlement, piracy, and insurgency to a minimum.

• If Caine kills them : The Royal Defense army goes underground and starts a campaign of guerrilla warfare. Pirates will flee to various hidey-holes across the Expanse, making them difficult to stamp out. Doesn’t affect the immediate negotiations, but will lower the system’s productivity in the long run. Would be a good background endeavour for an up-and-coming Dynasty leader to clear out the resistance.