Hello, All.
I've been running a DH campaign for quite some time now and thought I'd share just a bit of insight from the successes (and failures) encountered along the way...
After many weeks of using the combat rules as they are presented in Black Crusade in my DH campaign I have decided to leave each game system as they stand, without any crossover. There is something wonky with the Black Crusade combat mechanic upon which I cannot quite place my finger. Something doesn't quite add up, and I consider the endeavor a failure when used in conjunction with DH (and Deathwatch).
In any case, I run a free form game. I dismantled the railroad and stopped writing things down, other than a few stat lines/Skills/Talents for mooks and their ring leaders or other villains, a general summary of the scene the PCs are navigating (whether investigative and/or martial), a few NPC names to have ready, and the current plot devices. I describe the places, their dressings and population(s) and ask the players where they want to start and what course of actions they want to initiate. The players feed me more ideas than I bring to the table. I add their imagined conspiracies and suspected accomplices to my summary-notes, and the intrigue deepens by leaps and bounds as I take the best of my ideas and their ideas and blend them into a compelling story. The players have a direct hand in creating their own enjoyment, rather than reacting and interacting with an external scenario. A definite success.
My players enjoy the investigations; the more they piece together (or produce through their own paranoia) the more they chomp at the bit to get at the "bad guys". To aid the build to climax the "bad guys" are always one or two steps ahead of the protagonists (PCs). This helps keep the story timeline coherent, and gives the players the sense they are closing in on their foes, pushing their enemies to their breaking point, forcing a villain's mistake, and shaking the scum from the shadows. Tension builds, the atmosphere around the table vibrates with anticipatory excitement. When the bullets finally start flying the players (and by extension their PCs) know they are really putting the screws to some serious evildoers. Success.
If the conspiracy is orchestrated and led by evil masterminds, it's protected by utterly murderous bastards. There will be the occasional dead end lead, but I quickly bring the players back to the point they strayed...and there, lying in wait, are bureaucratic red tape, disapproving handlers...and the real dangers. Assassination attempts. Rivals issuing dire warnings to cease and desist investigations because someone behind the scenes is hefting their influence about. Panicking cult minders, worried they'll fail their highers ups, bringing their gang of thugs along to brutishly put down those meddling Acolytes and earn for themselves the favors bought with brown-stained noses. And I don't pull punches. Death can be cheated through the use of Fate Points. If an Acolyte evades Death (this time) he or she knows, without a doubt, the stakes are all too dire. If an Acolyte dies...well, you can't say he or she didn't see it coming. But, as the saying goes: How we live our lives is not as important as how we give them.
Free-form and adaptive presentation. Investigations that reveal complex plans moving inexorably toward a dire purpose. The revelation that the enemy is just ahead of the Acolytes, somewhere behind that next shadow. A clear indication of threat, both immediate and far-reaching. A truly cunning and capable mastermind and his co-conspirators.
Sprinkle occasionally with a dash of this: http://www.darkreign40k.com/drjoomla/index.php/background/general-background/315-hive-random-encounter-tables
The Emperor Protects