Hi fellows,

I came up with the idea that the Deathwatch has to enter a Space Hulk because one of the many merged ships contains a information about the fate of Achilus.

As a first opponent for this mission I chose the children of Achilus which are eager to get their favoured leader back.

I came up with the situation that the Deathwatch reaches (claiming as first) the Space Hulk and encounters a space ship belonging to the Children of Achilus. As a matter of fact, they would not say, that they are of such a kind and simply present themselves as Imperials, since they consist of former high ranking officers. The Children have a keen interest in getting rid of the Deathwatch Kill-Team but by what means? They could try to force them away by saying it is an order 'from an imperial officer'. But since the Deathwatch is more away from the imperials grasp than even 'ordinary' Space Marines, I ask myself if the Children could come up with any reasonable arguments? Or do they need an Inquisitor to order the Kill Team away?

Or does this simply lead to the display of power: "We have the bigger guns. Leave for your own interest…"

Any helps are appreciated.

Cheers,

-- TechVoid.

High-ranking members of the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy are peers of the imperium, on a par socially with Space Marine chapter masters. So, they have some influence of their own. There is also the very real possibility of consequences if their wishes are ignored by the Deathwatch, who may find it more difficult to get assistance from forces controlled by the Children of Achilus later on.

There is the sneaky approach, where the Children force gives the Killteam misleading intelligence such as "There is a bigger threat over here, far from your original objective."

And of course, force is a possibility. Even if the killteam believe they would win, do they really want to kill apparently loyal soldiers of the Imperium? They may have to complete their mission stealthily or abandon it if they have ethical problems with killing the force.

Interesting.

I am still not very familiar with the ranking between Space Marines, e.g. the Deathwatch, and the rest of the Imperium. Since the Space Marines are supreme warriors I always viewed them as a bit untouchable by the ordinary imperial officer, ignoring how high his rank might be.

Furthermore a chapter master is for me something such magnificiant …

Furthermore I am not quite firm about the role of the Deathwatch. They are somehow described as a secretive force of veteran space marines. Thus I always wonder how they are supposed to react if they encounter somebody: "Thanks for your help … but now we have to kill you to keep our secret!" … or what!?!

To the common soldier, a Space Marine is a myth. What is the Deathwatch supposed to be? Do they open the vox by stating "This is a Deathwatch vessel.." and the answer might be "A what …?"

Maybe the problem is that the role the Kill Team plays depends somehow on the one who gives the order. Is it simply a high ranking imperial officer, then the Kill Team might be seen as heros on the battle field and earn applause for their help. If an inquisitor is the initiator of the mission he prefers to Kill Team to make no contact at all with anybody. If it is something of personal interest of the Deathwatch, e.g. finding an old artifact or following some clues of the Omega Vault … then what?

Cheers,

-- TechVoid.

The Deathwatch are well known by the people that matter, and they aren't the kind of secret that the Grey Knights are. Furthermore, the Imperial Guard can't directly affect any chapter of space marines in a serious way, though a commander with enough influence might have allies in the Inquisition that could.

Okay,

I thought in a similar way. It is not about rank, it is about influence.

Just a bit more: If the children of the Achilus are to enter the Space Hulk, what forces do they use? Highly trained soldiers, incredible battle servitors from the Mechanicus or even the help of another Space Marine chapter? They will probably face Tyranids, Orks, Daemons or even worse …

… and furthermore these will be the enemies of the Kill Team, when they will enter the Hulk.

I think it would be quite interesting if the Kill Team encounters another Space Marine Squad from a chapter. Or even another Kill Team from the Deathwatch? This would be a nice coincidence. What would they do? Both have different and even contradicting orders. Would they shoot on each other?

Cheers,

-- TechVoid.

Space Marines might shoot at each other initially, but I doubt it would last for very long. Even if a chapter isn't well liked, like the Space Wolves, another chapter wouldn't want to fight one that is loyal.

I would imagine the Children of Achilus would use Storm Troopers or other such elite units. Though another chapter of Astartes isn't out of the realm of possiblity, nor are the other options you listed. As for guardsmen, they would likely fire on the Kill-team if they are loyal enough and don't like going against orders.

The reality is that you have a lot of freedom as a storyteller. I would just go ahead and do what you want to.

DJSunhammer said:

Yeah, exactly. But that is my problem. In the WH40k universe everything seems to be black and white. The Imperium are the good guys and the Space Marine are the protectors of humanity and fight any xenos threat. But if you play it that simple every mission would be something like an ordinary 'dungeon crawl'. "Okay brothers … which xenos species do we shoot at today?"

But to add a little spice to the missions I want to get rid of that stereotype. Space Marines are no ordinary soldiers which follow orders blindly. If it would 'realy' be like that, playing Deathwatch ain't no fun.They have motivations, as have any other imperials, inquisitors and alike.

Furthermore I am a little afraid that a WH40k veteran will sit at my table (mastering on a convention) and simply saying at one point "That makes no sense …" Thus I want to be prepared what is consistent with the inner Wh40k logic and what not.

You know what I mean?

Cheers,

-- TechVoid

There is infighting in the Imperium all the time. Space marine chapters have gone to battle over matters of honour. Mistakes and miscommunications can have entire armies or battlegroups shooting at each other. Hell, an entire mission could be done to frantically stop a loyalist vessel sent to carry out an extermnatus order that is not necessary or ordered by an insane Inquisitor. The Imperium is rife with factionalism, misrule and tragic mistakes.

Hi there,

so I have thought a bit about this topic. I am planing now for two missions, since I am GMing once for my friends and second on a RPG convention. The main mission is supposed the the convention and has the major topic about Achilus.

The first mission is supposed to be a Prequel. I have the following idea:

The Deathwatch learned of a High Ranking officer who is a loyal member of the Children of Achilus. This officer is part of a military force which fights an uprising on [insert name of the planet here]. The Kill-Team's mission is to capture this officer to learn more about the Children of Achilus and maybe something about his disappearance.

When arriving at the planet, the Kill-Team encounters heavy military involvement. Multiple cities (Hives?) have joined the rebels and the planetary defence forces, together with called military reinforcements, are pretty busy in fighting the rebels.

Now I try to build the first decision for the players: The Kill-Team is asked to help at some heavy warzones. Maybe the Kill-Team is not interested, since they have their own agenda. But on the other hand, the Deathwatch has to protect the Jericho Reach and the Space Marines as members of the Adeptus Astartes are to protect humanity itself.

Maybe the Kill-Team ignores the pleas and ask for the location of the high ranking officer. They learn that he fights a rebel base hidden between some mountains. When they go there, they will quickly learn that the base is build upon some ruins and the high ranking officer uses the whole war as a mere distraction for his own exploration. He knows, that some secrets are hidden beneath the ruins.

Now the question: What could there be hidden which relates to the disappearance or Achilus itself?

Furthermore I want the plays to face some consequences, that they did not answered the pleas. What could happen if they finished there job in capturing the officer? Maybe the rebels got some reinforcements or ? Maybe they face some true challenges in leaving the planet?

On the other hand the Kill Team could answer the call and help the PDF in the first place. Now the Kill-Team should learn, that a Tyranid infestion has taken place and the uprising is due to the second or third generation of Genestealer infestion some years ago. Whatever they do, at some point they will notice that they have to go on with their own mission.

Now what could be the consequences of giving the high ranking officer more time in beneath the ruins? Did he dig deeper and made it all the harder to capture him? Is he even finished and the Kill Team has to follow him to the stars and even inside his space Ship? Thus they would never learn about the secrets beneath the ruins, because the simply noticed that 'he-is-back-aboard-his-ship' ?

What could increase the tension? The presence of another space marine chapter? Putting some pressure on the Kill-Team to help to defend the planet? A traitor? Another, not so high ranking officer, who passes vital information to the high ranking officer in search?

Cheers,

-- TechVoid.