The Blood Deserts of Auros IX: Two Player Rules
This campaign is based around two players, one using Space Marines, one using Orks. Feel free to use your own characters or armies or to change around the names. When my friend Pat and I played the campaign, it was his Blood Axe Orks (led by the mighty Sho-T BigHed) against my Fighting Tigers, but that doesn't mean you can't tweak the campaign so that it's your friend's Chaos Marines against your Eldar, for example. 

Background
Auros is a large red star on the eastern side of the Maelstrom, close to the Galactic Core. It has eleven worlds, only two of which (the ninth and tenth planets from Auros) are habitable by humans. Neither have ever been part of the Imperium. Auros X has few natural resources of any value, but Auros IX (below) has huge deserts of reddish sand that are rich in mineral deposits. Unfortunately, Auros IX also has massive numbers of native and non-native Orks, including the notorious Sho-T BigHed, who has recently arrived and conquered the others.

The Adeptus Terra have reviewed the recent Fighting Tigers' victory over the Saracens and have granted them the honor of  undertaking a Crusade. The Fighting Tigers are to exterminate the Orks that infest Auros IX and secure the space lanes to the planet to allow Imperial miners, colonists, and administrators to begin settlement.

Campaign Suggestion: You could expand this campaign to include "securing the space lanes" by using the Battlefleet Gothic rules. As the Auros system lies near the Maelstrom, Fighting Tiger fleets might have to contend not only with Orks but also with Chaos Space Marines (Saracens looking for revenge?) or Dark Eldar (Ozone Scorpions spoiling for a fight?).

At the same time, Sho-T BigHed is busy consolidating his recently-won position of SupreemArchBigShot of Da Hol Wurld. It wouldn't do for the new ruler to get promptly thrown out of office by "dem stripeypants Marines," so Sho-T is gathering up his Boyz (what's left of them) and preparing for war. In addition to his loyal Blood Axe Boyz (with their looted vehicles brought to Auros IX from previous campaigns), he is accompanied by a great many (expendable) Goff Boyz, some zoomy Speed Freeks, and the ferocious Dreadnought R2Ork2. 

Campaign Suggestion: If you have more than two players you could expand this campaign to include other armies fighting over Auros IX. Perhaps a rival Ork Warboss uses this opportunity to strike at Sho-T (and any Tigers that get in his way). Perhaps the Saracens ally with Sho-T to battle the Tigers. Perhaps an Ork or Marine scouting force uncovers a stasis chamber and accidentally releases a Necron army who attack all organic lifeforms! Take a look at the rules for multiple players.

We strongly suggest that both players make different armies for each game to reflect the large scale of the conflict. The premise is that this is an all-out invasion by an entire Chapter against a whole planet of Orks, not just a handful of Marines and greenskins having a scrap. You will be playing at least five games and will want some variety. 

Space Marine victory conditions
The Space Marines must secure the following five objectives. If you're playing a shorter version of the campaign, they must secure three out of the following five objectives:
 

Objective	Mission	Notes
Destroy Ork communications	Sabotage	Space Marines attack main Ork communications center
Destroy Ork munitions	Take and Hold	Space Marines attack largest Ork ammunition factory on Auros IX
Assassinate Ork leader	Assassins (White Dwarf 232)	If the Marines succeed, the Ork leader is not killed (then what would the Ork player use for an HQ unit in other games?) but is so debilitated that his forces cannot operate effectively for several weeks, during which time (it is assumed) the Marines inflict further damage on the Ork military infrastructure
Inflict massive casualties	Frontal Assault (White Dwarf 228 or  Codex: Blood Angels)	Use regular Space Marines and Orks instead of Blood Angels and Eldar; Orks DO NOT count as having achieved their objective of "Inflicting massive casualties" if they win this game
Cut off Ork main force from reinforcements	Ambush	Orks DO NOT count as having achieved their objective of "Cutting Space Marine army in two" if they win this game

The Space Marine player DOES NOT have to secure these objectives in any specific order. If the Space Marine player fails to complete a mission he will eventually have to replay the game: remember, you must attain all five objectives to win!

Ork victory conditions
To retain Auros IX, the Orks must secure the following five objectives. In a shorter campaign, they must secure three out of the following five objectives:
 

Objective	Mission	Notes
Cut Space Marine army in two	Ambush	Use Night Fighting rules for this game--"uz Orkz is sneaky gits!"; Space Marines DO NOT count as having achieved their objective of  "Cutting off Ork main force from reinforcements" if they win this game
Disrupt Space Marine operations	Strongpoint	Orks attack Space Marine base of operations on Auros IX
Inflict massive casualties	Meatgrinder	Space Marines DO NOT count as having achieved their objective of "Inflicting massive casualties" if they win this game
Surround main Space Marine force	Recon
"Get 'em!"	Cleanse	"Get off our planet!"

The Ork player DOES NOT have to secure these objectives in any specific order. If the Ork player fails to complete a mission he will eventually have to replay the game: remember, you must attain all 5 objectives to win!

Campaign suggestion: We suggest you allow the Ork player to use a Big Mek or a Painboss instead of a Warboss in at least some of the battles. Why? Just because it's a little unrealistic that EVERY major battle would involve the Warboss (in this case, Sho-T BigHed). Alternatively, the Ork player could use a different Warboss character (a "Bigboss"), imagining that it is a trusted (for Orks anyway) underling. Lastly, some of the missions allow the option of not taking an HQ unit; in these scenarios, we suggest you allow the Ork player that option. 

Experience: If both players agree, use the rules on pages 159-163 of the main rulebook. Pat and I were going to at first but we forgot about recording results for each unit after the first battle and decided to just skip it. 

Note: Unless one player pulls off a 5-game sweep, this campaign will probably run quite awhile and you may have to replay several games: conquering an entire planet is not easy or quick! Be prepared for the long haul and view replays as an opportunity to avenge defeats* or prove that your previous victory was no fluke. Alternatively, you can run a shorter version where each player need only secure 3 out of 5 objectives.

*If you're like me, there have been many games you lost because you committed a tactical error, or someone forget an important rule, or your opponent made a lucky dice roll: now's your chance to "get it right this time!" 

If you find that re-fighting battles is getting stale, try an alternate scenario such as "Midnight at the Oasis."

That's it! Those are the rules for the campaign: simple, huh? Don't let that simplicity fool you into thinking this campaign will be "easy": if you and your opponent are well-matched then you can anticipate the campaign being a long, drawn-out slugfest. See how my friend Pat and I did and read brief summaries of each battle.

Related Pages
Fighting Tigers Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
 

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© Copyright Patrick Eibel and Kenton Kilgore, January 2000
 

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