Absolution Campaign - Strike Cruiser Info.

Absolution Campaign

Fleets/Ships/Strike Cruisers

Introduction –

Your Fleet/Strike Cruiser/Ship is a unique element to the Absolution Campaign. It is essentially a game play device that is designed to bring key elements of strategy and decision making that will take the campaign to another level.

It is strongly encouraged that you name your ship or fleet to help you and other players immerse themselves in the campaign. Plus, it’s just good fun!

Your cruiser does not play a roll in the actual battles or on the campaign map, it is assumed to be in orbit around the planet of Ignatius IV, engaging in space battles with the enemy ships. But don’t worry, nobody is going to be losing their ship in this version of the campaign.

We hope that you embrace the fluff aspect of the Strike Cruiser design. It is supposed to bring fun to the campaign so if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to bring them up and perhaps we can adjust the system to function in the best way possible!

Strike Cruiser Force Organization Chart -

The Strike Cruiser will follow a unique force organization chart and serve as your pool of warriors for the coming battle. It is quite possible that you can lose all your forces, if this happens you will be unable to field troops on the ground in battles, so stock your cruiser and utilize them wisely!

Strike Cruiser Force Organization -

These are the maximum amount of points you are allowed to take in each category: **NOTE – you do not have to completely fill each category.**

Strike Cruiser Total Points = 25,000

HQ - 2,000 points
Troops – 15,000
Elites – 4,000
Fast – 4,000
Heavy – 4,000
Transports – 4,000

Allies can comprise up to 8,000 points of your 25,000 total. Allies can be selected by following the Allies matrix in the 40k Rulebook.

Allies maximums are as follows –

HQ – 1,000
Troops – 5,000
Elites – 2,000
Fast – 2,000
Heavy – 2,000
Transports – 2,000

There is no force organization chart swapping on the Strike Cruiser. For example, taking Belial will not allow Deathwing Terminators to be counted towards the Troops total. Whatever category units are listed in your codex is what category they count towards for the Strike Cruiser.

When you go to battle, if you select the required units to have a force org swap, it will count for that battle. For example, if you choose Draigo and Paladins for your battle, the Paladins will count as Troops for that battle… but they are always in the Elite slot on the Strike Cruiser.

Wargear and Upgrades -

When making choices for the composition of your Strike Cruiser only include the costs of the unit and any additional members you add to the unit.

For example, if you wanted to take a Chaos Space Marine squad you would take the standard 5 man squad with an Aspiring Champion, this is 75 points. If you wanted the squad to be a 10 man squad you would purchase 5 additional CSMs at 13 points per model as per the codex entry. 75+5(13) = 140 points for a 10 man CSM squad. This is what you put on your Strike Cruiser roster.

**DO NOT** include wargear costs into the Strike Cruiser. When a squad is selected for battle you will add wargear and upgrades to the unit for that individual battle. Wargear and upgrades are “free” points and are not included in your Strike Cruiser. However, they will count towards the total of each battle.

This means you can take a lot of units in your cruiser. For instance, a Chaos Lord is 65 points – lets say you want to take 10 of them in your strike cruiser. This would be 650 points total towards the HQ selection of your Strike Cruiser. When it comes time for battle, you select one of the Chaos Lords to lead your forces to battle. At this point you can gear him out for battle… when you field him he costs 215 points towards the 1750 point battle you are fighting. Units end up being worth a lot more in battles than they are in Strike Cruiser.

Here is an example Strike Cruiser list. **Note – Your final version should list each squad/HQ separately with a separate designation. For Example, Chaos Space Marines A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3 etc. ** We will be providing an Excel Spreadsheet to help aid in this process.

Unit Name	Quantity	Unit Points	Total Points
HQ - (Max = 2500)			2490
Abaddon The Despoiler	1	265	265
Chaos Lords	10	65	650
Sorcerers	5	60	300
Daemon Princes	5	145	725
Warp Smiths	5	110	550
Troops - (Max = 15000)			10280
10 Chaos Space Marines	42	140	5880
20 Chaos Space Marines	5	270	1350
10 Cultists	61	50	3050
Elites - (Max = 4000)			3993
10 Khorne Berzerkers	7	200	1400
7 Chaos Terminators	7	219	1533
Helbrutes	3	100	300
15 Thousand Sons	2	380	760
Fast Attack - (Max = 4000)			4000
4 Chaos Spawn	7	120	840
10 Raptors	10	180	1800
Heldrakes	8	170	1360
Heavy Support - (Max = 4000)			3915
5 Havocs	10	75	750
Maulerfiends	7	125	875
Forgefiends	6	175	1050
Land Raiders	2	230	460
Defilers	4	195	780
Dedicated Transports - (Max = 4000)			280
Rhinos	8	35	280

Force Org Customizing –

There are many armies out there in the universe of Warhammer 40k and not all of them are designed equally. Some favor different slots on the force organization chart more than others. In order to reflect this you are allowed to somewhat customize your Strike Cruiser’s force organization chart.

You may add an up to 500 additional points to the maximum in the HQ selection and an additional 1,000 points to the maximums in any other section of the Strike Cruiser Force Organization chart. However, you must subtract these points from one category in order to add them to another. For example, if you wanted to take 500 more points in your HQ selection and an additional 1,000 points in your Elites section you could subtract 1,500 points from your Heavy Support maximum. These points can come from multiple sections as well. So you could take 1,000 from Heavy and 500 from Fast Attack if you wish.

When making alterations to the Force Organization chart clearly show that you have done this when making up your Strike Cruiser Army List. Just include the maximums you are using for each category when making the list.

Fortifications –

Do not include fortifications in your Strike Cruiser. When it comes time to do a battle, the defender has the option to include fortifications following the normal rules for them in the 40k rulebook. These points will not be drawn from your strike cruiser, they will simply be part of your forces for each battle you choose to use them in (as per wargear / upgrade choices).

Forgeworld –

You may include 1 unit or squadron from Forgeworld in your Strike Cruiser. This 1 unit can be duplicated up to 3 times in your Strike Cruiser. When fielding Forgeworld in a battle, only 1 unit can be fielded at a time. All Forgeworld models must be modeled correctly using the actual Forgeworld model and you must have a copy of their rules for your opponent to see. You must disclose the rules before the battle starts, no surprises! Please only use 40k approved units, no superheavies or gargantuan creatures. If you have any questions about this please don’t hesitate to ask.