40K: Alternative mission setup

One of the things I have not been thrilled about with 6th edition 40K is the game setup.  One of my favorite parts of 5th was setting up the table and in the case of Seize Ground the objectives before you knew where you would start.  With the 6th setup process (for non-narrative games) it's easier to set things up for your advantage instead of having to react to the battlefield.  Below are my initial thoughts on ways to shake the process up a bit while still keeping the 6th ed Eternal War missions and other concepts intact.

Alternative Mission setup for 6^th edition Warhammer 40,000 Eternal War missions

1.      TERRAIN

1.1.   Roll D3 for each 2’x2’ square section for # of terrain pieces

1.2.   Players roll off

1.2.1.Winner places first terrain piece, then alternate

2.      MISSION

2.1.   Determine mission type

2.2.   If roll Crusade, Big Guns Never Tire or The Scouring skip to MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES

2.3.   If roll Purge the Alien, The Emperor’s Will or The Relic skip to DETERMINE DEPLOYMENT TYPE

3.      MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES

3.1.   If mission has more than two objectives (Crusade, Big Guns Never Tire or The Scouring), players alternate placing objectives, starting with the player who lost the roll off for terrain placement

3.1.1.No objective within 6” of any table edge or within 12” of another objective

4.      DETERMINE DEPLOYMENT TYPE

4.1.   Roll for Deployment Map

4.1.1.Players roll off; winner chooses table side

4.1.2.If playing The Emperor’s Will, place objectives starting with the player who chose table side

4.1.3.If playing The Relic, place the relic in the center of the table.  Move impassible terrain, buildings or fortifications if necessary to allow placement.  Relic should be on the ground level unless both players agree otherwise

5.      FORTIFICATIONS

5.1.   Place fortifications, starting with the player who chose table side. 

5.1.1.Once determine which section of the table fortification will be in, remove one piece of terrain from that 2’x2’ section and then place fortification

5.1.2.Fortification does not have to be in the same place as the removed terrain, but should be mostly in the same 2’x2’ table section and within the owning player’s table half

6.      PRE-DEPLOYMENT

6.1.   Determine Warlord Traits

6.2.   Determine Psychic Powers

6.3.   Roll for Night Fight

7.      DEPLOYMENT

7.1.   Players roll off; winner chooses whether to deploy first or second

7.1.1.Deploy forces

7.1.2.Deploy Infiltrators

7.1.3.Make Scout moves

8.      START TURN ONE

8.1.   Player who deployed first will have first turn unless other player succeeds in rolling to Seize the Initiative

 

 Let me know what you think!