Tag: warhammer

500 Worlds at Drawbridge – Spring Store Campaign

500 Worlds at Drawbridge – Spring Store Campaign

The 500 Worlds Campaign is upon us and Drawbridge Games is going to be a site of battle for control of the Vespator Front. These are the tentative campaign rules for our store campaign. I’ll be serving as the “Warmaster” for the campaign, as well as being a pinch-hitter for all teams to help fill any gaps when games need to be played. Note that this is a campaign, not a crusade–so we’re not using any crusade rules but will be playing with the rules from the 500 Worlds: Titus set, including the map of the Vespator Front. Players are encouraged to pick up a copy of the set for themselves, as the information on the missions, infrastructure, and theaters of battle that will be affecting games will be in those rules.

NOTE: These rules are tentative, and based around the in-depth rules review from Goonhammer. The Warmaster may change things when we actually get the rules and can read them for ourselves. If players note any changes that would help make it a better play experience, absolutely let me know!

We’ll be having three Alliances that form the teams for the campaign. They are as follows:

Reclaimers are a some-what tense collaboration of forces that are supportive of Roboute Guilliman’s vision of a re-united 500 Worlds of Ultramar. While the Imperial forces are under command to do so, it serves Aeldari, Votann, and T’au interests to let the Imperials bring order to the segmentum in the short term.

Despoilers already lay claim to many of the 500 Worlds, and seek to simply despoil and extract from them. Whether stealing resources or enslaving populations, their goals range from actively warring against Imperial forces to simply spreading destruction to suit the goals of their own personal warlords. These include all Chaos forces, Orks, and Drukhari.

Terraformers represent the grand designs of the Necrons in particular, who have plans for a vast network of energy spanning the 500 Worlds. They’ve developed a new form of beacon/shroud device that allows them to direct splinter hive fleets of Tyranids toward various planets and away from others, as an entirely consumed planet isn’t a particular problem for them as long as it’s not a Necron tomb world. It’s not so much an alliance as the Necrons schemes relying upon a certain amount of sheer natural destruction as Leviathan carves its way through the 500 Worlds.

Each of these Alliances will be given their own Discord channel to conduct their secret planning for the campaign (only the Warmaster will be able to see all three channels). They each will elect (or endorse a volunteer) who will be the Alliance Leader for that Alliance. All members of each alliance will be given a role in Discord that changes the color of their name to show their allegiance as a fun perk on the server.

Each alliance will begin with four Fleets plus two reserve (spare) fleets. Our numbers are a bit higher than what the campaign envisions, so we’ll be flexing this part just a bit–allowing each fleet to represent multiple games. The results of all the games for any given Fleet action will be combined to determine the outcome of that action.

Reclaimers will start with two Imperial Fleets, an Aeldari Fleet, and a T’au Fleet. Despoilers will start with three Chaos Fleets, and a Pirates Fleet (shared Orks and Drukhari). Terraformers will start with two Necron Fleets and two Tyranids Fleets (the latter also including Genestealer Cult uprisings).

In their discord channels (and conveyed to me by each Alliance Leader) each Alliance will determine which planet will be their Stronghold (Power Level 4 and fills an Infrastructure), and then the relative Power Level of all the other planets in the system (three planets at Power Level 3, four more planets at Power Level 2, and the remaining two planets that are Power Level 1). They then will then decide to build three additional pieces of non-stronghold Infrastructure–spots that get attached to planets to provide minor bonuses. From the Goonhammer article: “Strongholds increase your power level when you fight on your home planet. Staging Grounds give you a higher power level as well when you fight on that planet or a connected one. Support Facilities let you count further planets as connected, and Fortifications increase a planet’s minimum Power Level.”

The campaign will begin on Wednesday, January 28th (presuming the 500 Worlds: Titus campaign books are released on schedule on Saturday the 24th, and adjusting if not). Each Alliance will Select Operations to be ready for games to start during the Monday/Tuesday before every Wednesday (or every other Wednesday, we’ll work out the right pace as we go). Each Alliance will get four selections each round (one per fleet). I’ll reveal each on the Wednesday and note which games can be played. If your fleet isn’t attacking on a given selection step don’t fret, anyone from the Alliance regardless of fleet can be a defender. We’ll keep these somewhat loose, so people can arrange games with players who fit their schedules. And players can play multiple games if they wish, it just has to be against different opponents from the opposing Alliance (tho we’ll try and coordinate to ensure everyone who wants a game can have at least one if timings allow). I do ask that each campaign round each Alliance do at least one Battle Operation so we can ensure that everyone who wants to play a game that round has a window to do so. Given that we’ll be doing Select Operations each week it is expected that players may not play every week just from scheduling alone–that’s okay and you’re still a part of the campaign and the alliance whether you get in one battle or multiple battles across all twelve weeks!

Note that there are a variety of missions players can choose when they’re part of a Battle Operation launched by a Fleet–in effect the attacking player gets to decide what sort of mission they’re doing as part of that battle. Alliances can of course discuss what benefits them most on given planets, and players can agree to follow that discussion or not. That gives some control to each player to affect events, and makes it feel like these campaigns are multiple forces that may not always fight in the way the leaders of the alliance wish. Players may want to seek different benefits, or just vary the missions!

Battles can be of any agreed-upon points value between the two players who decide to play. Games of 2,000 points are generally encouraged, but people should have in mind smaller forces and larger forces (if they have them and wish to) to accommodate other players. Even people just starting up a brand new army can still get games in this way. Aim for increments of 500 points, with 500 points being the smallest force for a conventional game of 40k. I say “conventional” because one of the missions is a Boarding Action, and there are likely to be special rules and even smaller number of points for those games when they’re played.

Drawbridge has lots of great terrain, so do your best to follow the rules for the Theatres for the planets being attacked. These determine the sorts of battlefields that are possible, and all have their own fun special rules that affect the games.

Once each game is finished, we’ll have a shared Google Sheet for recording results. In my Warmaster role I’ll go through and record the results and track them on my poster and provide routine updates for all (I think Sean indicated that he would mirror it with an electronic version we can have updated and share, thanks Sean!).

The plan will be to run the campaign for roughly three months at first (12 Select Operations phases), so we’ll have a target date for the Campaign Finale* of sometime around the week of April 15th. If there is continued energy for the campaign at that point, the Finale* will earn its asterisk and become a midpoint mega-battle instead (and we’ll have the fun of plotting another mega-battle to conclude things at the extended time). We’ll conclude the campaign with a Saturday event on April 25th. This will be a mega-battle, where the three Alliances will be deployed across all of the tables at Drawbridge in one final showdown clash representing the campaign’s culmination. Each Alliance’s Campaign Points will be used to determine deployment and missions for this event.

The Finale* (or midpoint) will also be the moment when we’ll do our grand door prize drawing extravaganza for the campaign. Given the scale, we’ll have multiple prizes and entries to the drawing for it will be earned throughout the campaign. Depending on the number of people who participate in the 500 Points for 500 Worlds painting challenge (see here: https://red-ones-go-faster.com/2026/01/08/500-points-for-500-worlds/ ) we’ll either do the drawing for that on that day, or have participants from that be given extra draws in the campaign drawing. But that means April 25th will be the deadline for completing your 500 Points for 500 Worlds entry pledge.

Draws in the drawing will be publicly tracked in the google sheet as well (I’ll lock that page to admin only). They will be one draw for each campaign round the player plays at least one game. One draw for participation in the final mega battle. One draw for fielding a fully painted Boarding Action force the first time it’s fielded. One draw for each newly-painted 500 points of models for the campaign army played, the first time they’re fielded (yes this can overlap with the 500 Points for 500 Worlds challenge, but is also a way to reward people who are tackling their piles of grey plastic as part of this campaign). One draw for painting up a table’s worth of thematic terrain for a particular Theatre and using it in at least one game. A variable number of draws during the Finale* for some player-voted competitions: best sport in each Alliance and best painted army (a scale of draws for first, second, and third most votes in each category). Finally one draw for being on the side of the Alliance with the highest number of Campaign Points calculated for the Finale*. Note that none of these are about winning any one particular game you’re playing, so remember that the spirit of this is fun games and collaborative encouragement of hobbying.

This is a lot of info, and again note that we can adjust it to fit what works best–so if you have any suggestions either now or when the 500 Worlds: Titus materials release, contact me to discuss.

500 Points for 500 Worlds

500 Points for 500 Worlds

You’ve heard of “new year, new me”? Well this is our Warhammer 40k version of that, a hype event that we’re hosting as part of the upcoming 500 Worlds campaign that we’ll run at Drawbridge Games. More details on the campaign itself will happen the rules drop and we can review them and plan store events involving them.

As part of that campaign (occurring at the same time as the culminating campaign event), we’ll be doing a special prize drawing for anyone who commits to purchasing 500+ new points of models for an army at Drawbridge and getting them painted in full by the end of the campaign. Ideally these will be a “new” force, but using it to expand a current force is fine as well. The point is to make the purchase from Enrico, record the painting goal (we’ll have forms you can complete at Drawbridge upon purchase–see below), and have fun.

If under 10 people commit to the 500 Points for 500 Worlds the completion will give bonus draws in the end-of-event raffle we’ll hold for the 500 Worlds campaign. If 10 or more people buy in to 500 Points for 500 Worlds then we’ll have a special drawing for just that set of participants (and the prize will be able to be chosen by the winner from certain types of kits, to fit their faction or start a brand new one!).

When you make your purchase you can fill out a small form and leave it with the staff at Drawbridge. They’ll stamp it with the official Drawbridge stamp to mark that you’ve paid and purchased the models you’ll be painting, and hang onto it for pledge recording purposes.

If what you want to field isn’t on the shelf, you can place a special order for models right now via this link https://bit.ly/DrawbridgeSO , by visiting Drawbridge, or by calling Drawbridge at 412-254-6151. Do keep flexible in your planning as sometimes some GW product is out of stock.

Participants can make their purchases and commit to 500 Points as early as January 15th (the night of our Knight Night Fight Night 5 event), but can also do so at any point amidst the 500 Worlds campaign. We expect the campaign rules to be released in about one week after Knight Night given release timings, and about a week for us to get a campaign idea sorted from it. Then we’ll probably have a 6 week campaign window after that, flexing up and down a bit depending on the rules–but 6 weeks tends to keep interest and excitement but not be too much. That would mean time to paint the 500 Points for 500 Worlds entry models by middle March at the very earliest. I’ll update the final exact deadline when we set that campaign’s rules.

We hope that this becomes a fun event for everyone to participate in, and a motivation to not just make some purchases to support Drawbridge Games, but to get a new painted force ready and onto the tables for battles together!

Knight Night Fight Night 5: Tag Teams Minis

Knight Night Fight Night 5: Tag Teams Minis

A new year, and once again we’re cooking up one of the best events at Drawbridge Games: Knight Night Fight Night! The game where people bring some of the big baddies of the game to slug it out for glory and to be added to the Knight Night Fight Night Trophy! This is the 5th incarnation, and we’re having some fun with the format. We’ve gone big, now time to go mini–in the great tradition of Mascarida Sagrada and Sky Low Low. Instead of big Knights we’ll be doing the smaller classes of stuff just like “Minis” wrestling promotions. It will be taking place on Thursday, January 15th, 2025 with setup at 6:30pm and first dice thrown at 7:00pm sharp. As always, we’ll have a door prize drawing, so just participating gives you a chance to win! Given they’re small we’re doing this one in Tag Team mode again. Players can either field two models themselves, or two players can team up as a Tag Team.

Event Rules

Teams of two models (can be a single player who brings two, or pairs of players who each have one) will be placed in a central, circular Royal Rumble arena–this one will have some notable terrain features to keep it interesting. The goal is to be the last model standing–knocking all of other competitors “out of the ring”–and that last standing model wins the event for their team. See the list at the bottom of this post, but can be summarized as “roughly dreadnaught-sized and walks on two legs.”

To start the event, all teams will have the points of the two models in their team calculated. The highest two points total teams will have their models start in the ring. After each round, the next two teams in points are added to the ring (making their grand entrances, with entrance music if so desired).

Every round of combat all participant models in the ring are dealt a playing card, and play turns will run in that order: lowest numbers first, with suit order high-to-low in reverse-alpha to break numerical ties, so Spades > Hearts > Diamonds > Clubs, with Aces low. The active Knight will move, shoot, can charge and fight. Note that models attacked won’t swing back (there’s no ordinary combat phase). The goal is to incapacitate opposing models by taking all of their wounds, which represents knocking them out of the ring (over the top rope). There are a few different special rules we’ll be using that will both help this happen, and give models a chance to keep fighting in the ring.

“Recover In the Corner” action: Declare at the start of your turn. Roll 1d6 and recover that many wounds. Can move (including advancing) but cannot fire any weapons, charge, or make any melee attacks until the start of its next turn.

“Re-roll Chip”: Every model gets one re-roll chip. Every Tag Team who put up a promo (posted on the Drawbridge Events Facebook page and/or Discord) gets a second re-roll chip per player participating in that promo. The player with the best promo (judged by Enrico) gets a third re-roll chip. Re-roll chips can be exchanged or traded as you wish during the game with other players. They can be spent to re-roll any one d6 roll (including the “Out of the Ring” table or the result of a “Recover in the Corner” action). That can be one’s own roll or an opponent’s. They can also be spent to get rid of the card you’re dealt at any point for turn order, and be dealt a new random card from the deck. Note that no one will have CP’s to keep things simple, this is a sort of replacement for that.

“Out of the Ring” chart: Whenever a model is reduced to 0 wounds, they immediately must roll on the following chart (any model rules that might trigger on “when reduced to zero wounds” such as exploding are ignored). Conceptually a Battle Royale is about throwing your opponent out of the ring and their feet hitting the ground (indicating they’re out). While we don’t have an actual ring to be thrown out of, these are the results when the participants take those devastating finishing attacks.

RollResult
1 “I’ll get you back”Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. However, they’re not quite ready to accept that. They immediately get a single turn of shooting (regular, not reduced wounds penalty) to try and take an opponent with them, and then are removed from the board.
2 “Ouch, he’ll feel that one”Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. It is removed from the board.
3 “Thats a tough break, J.R.”Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. It is removed from the board.
4 “Hanging on the ropes”The model hangs on, just barely. It is restored to 1 remaining wound, and cannot be targeted any further this round until it acts or until the start of the next round if it has already acted this round.
5 “Push thru the pain”This model grits its teeth and keeps on fighting. Immediately roll a d6 and restore that many wounds to the model. This model cannot be targeted/damaged any further during the current opponent’s activation.
6 “You just made me angry”This model channels the punishment into newfound strength. Immediately restore the model to 75% of its normal wounds characteristic (rounding up). This model cannot be targeted/damaged any further during the current opponent’s activation.

Painting Requirements: All models participating in Knight Night must be painted to a tabletop standard and based. Part of this hobby is, well, the hobby, so I want to encourage people to paint and get models finished for events. There will be additional chances at prizes for those who paint up new models for the event.

Tag Team: Players can choose to field two models from the following lists, or bring one model and team up with another player. You can choose and coordinate teams in advance, and we can also pair up likely allies on the day of the event–so don’t let having just a single model limit you. Come and have fun and game with new and old folks in the community alike. Activations are separate by model, but victory goes to the team (even if one of the team member models has been eliminated). And we’ll have an extra model with rules on hand in case we have uneven numbers to make certain all who show up can join in the fun.

Model Options and Choices

Minis Options: Players can choose any models from the following lists of roughly dreadnaught-sized, walks on two legs, models. Chosen from their codex with gear allowable from the data sheet (no relics or warlord traits). No army rules, detachment rules, or upgrades that aren’t part of the basic datasheet entry for the model will be used. These are vanilla versions of the data sheets folks. If I missed anything definitely message me and we can expand the list.

Space MarinesRedemptor, Invictor, Ballistus, Brutalis, Venerable Dreadnaught, Murderfang, Bjorn the Fell-Handed, Death Company Dreadnaught
Imperial GuardSentinels*
Adeptus MechanicusIronstrider Ballistarius*, Sydonian Dragoon*, Kastelan Robots**
Imperial KnightsArmigers
Adeptus SororitasMortifiers*, Penitent Engines*
Adeptus CustodesContemptors, Telemon
Grey KnightsGrand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight, Nemesis Dreadknight, Venerable Dreadnaught
Chaos Space MarinesHellbrute
Death GuardHellbrute
Thousand SonsHellbrute
World EatersHellbrute
Chaos KnightsWardogs
OrksDeff Dredd, Killa Kans***
T’au EmpireRiptide, Ghostkeel, Broadsides*
AeldariWar Walker*, Wraithlord
DrukhariCronos*, Talos*
TyranidsCarnifex, Screamer-Killer, Old One Eye
NecronsCanoptek Doomstalker****, Canoptek Reanimator****

*Given these are the very lightest of walker vehicles, an additional third model in the tag team is permitted if all are marked with a single asterisk

**Kastelan Robots must be a tag team of two. They cannot be individually taken, and cannot join another tag team. However, they get the inclusion of their “manager” the Cybernetica Datasmith, who accompanies one of the two robots (and can swap to the other one as long as he doesn’t ever end a move action outside of 2” of a friendly Kastellan). The manager is just killed if killed (no roll on the “out of the ring” chart), but this team is not out of the battle until the manager is killed as well.

*** Orks don’t count so well, so players can take one unit of three Killa Kans as their tag team entry. Single Kans cannot be chosen.

****Yes these violate the two legs option, but we’re including them

Sorry Emperor’s Children, Genestealer Cults, and Leagues of Votann. You have to sit this one out as far as I can tell.

Loota Island: Orktober 2025

Loota Island: Orktober 2025

It’s time for the month of Ork-tober 2025 at Drawbridge Games. And we’ve got some fun planned with a month-long event that culminates in an all-day (and maybe much of the night) Mega-Battle on November 1st–which happens to be the Extra Life charity fundraiser day this year. We’re calling the whole thing “Loota Island” and there are going to be a lot of ways for players to participate, from painting to skirmish battles to the big event.

This Orktober we’ll be telling the tale of Loota Island, an Ork invasion of an Imperial Planet that gets supported by some Xenos races cooperating owing to the mass threat of the Orks.

(Don’t worry Chaos folks, a Daemon-cember event will happen again this year and be your change to field some forces; and Tanksgiving will be a time for any and all forces to be a part of one of our big events).

There will be two phases: the building (painting) and loota raids phase, and then the final invasion mega-battle. Participants can field any type of Orks army they like if they want to play on the Orks side, and can choose any of the following to fight on the Imperials+Helpful Xenos side: Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Custodes, Imperial Knights, Imperial Agents, Astra Militarium, Genestealer Cults, Leagues of Votann, T’au Empire, Aledari, and Drukhari.

Participation in various events gives players chances at entry for the prize draw done on the final day at Drawbridge, done in our usual door prize style.

The Loota Raids – Month of Orktober

During the month of Orktober, participants can earn draws in the final drawing in three ways: Painting Progress, playing Loota Raid skirmish missions, and converting (and painting) Looted Vehicles.

For those playing Orks, every squad of Ork infantry (between 3-12 models depending on the box set) that you newly paint during the month of Orktober earns you a draw. Post a pic of the squad assembled/primed either in the store 40k Painting Chat or the Painting section of the Discord, then a pic of the final painted squad.

For those not playing Orks, you get a draw for every vehicle you newly paint during the month of Orktober. Same rules apply: share a before and an after pic to get your draws counted (I’ll track them here on this site).

Players can also do a Loota Raid skirmish mission. This is designed to be a small number of points, and entirely infantry units except for one vehicle on the non-Ork side. Players should discuss points value and match each others’ points as well as they’re able. We recommend no more than 300 points per side of Infantry (the vehicle can be any points value). Players need not field any characters to lead the force, and any characters used cannot be more than 3 wounds.

The scenario runs 5 rounds. The deployment map is below, and uses a smaller board size (36″x36″). If the Ork player fields any Kommandos they can be placed in the advanced zone indicated upon deployment.

For the purposes of this mission each model in the unit acts as it’s own unit with separate activations. Think like Kill Team. If the unit has one-use upgrades like Bomb Squigs, those go with a specific model and can only be used by that model. This also includes deployment, so models from the same unit can be spread out all over the battle area as desired. The limitation of not deploying within 9″ of an enemy model is reduced in this mission–models cannot be deployed within 6″ of an enemy model. The defending player deploys a model first and then sides alternate placing models until all are deployed. Models may be placed in reserve as normal with any rules they have. Players then roll off for first turn.

The vehicle begins in the control of the non-Ork defender, but is not “active” at the start of the game. Starting round 2 onward the player can try to “activate” the vehicle by rolling a d6 at the end of the command phase. On turns 2 and 3 the vehicle starts on a 6. Turn 4 it starts on a 5. Turn 5 it starts on a 3. Once a vehicle is activated it can fight as normal in the battle. However, the Ork player can also seize the vehicle. If there is no enemy model within 1″ of the vehicle, an Ork model within 1″ of the vehicle can take an action during the shooting phase instead of shooting to try and commandeer it. They roll a d6. On a 4+ they take control and activate the vehicle (it cannot charge during that turn’s charge phase). The Ork model can commandeer an activated vehicle as well. If the Ork model inflicts 1 or more unsaved wounds on an activated vehicle in melee, then they can roll a d6. On a 6 they get inside and manage to take control. A vehicle under Ork control uses it’s normal stats but replaces all ballistic still values with a 5+, and it loses any special qualities of a vehicle that would come from the nature of the crew of the vehicle (players should agree in advance what those are), and adjust any special rules that mention buffing one’s own army to count for the Orks. If the vehicle is destroyed by either side leave it on the table–it becomes a wreck and counts as impassible terrain for the rest of the game.

The game is a victory for the Orks if they control the vehicle at the end of the game. It’s a narrow victory for the Orks if the vehicle is destroyed (by either side) but no enemy models remain within 12″ of the vehicle at the end of the game. It’s a draw if the vehicle is destroyed (by either side) and enemy models are within 12″ of the vehicle. It’s a victory for the non-Orks if they control the vehicle at the end of the game. Also, note that this mission is likely to be very random and silly, so don’t take it too seriously–and if something is funky and not working right, agree with your opponent how to handle it and focus on having fun.

Playing the mission gains each player one draw in the final drawing. Update the organizers (Andrew) when a game has been played so we can keep track.

If the Ork player gets a victory or a narrow victory they then have the option to “loot” that vehicle for the Extra Life game. The player should acquire their own kit of that vehicle, convert it to a suitably Ork-y version (I encourage thinking about what Ork model it might proxy as, and having those weapon options present too). If they field it at the Extra Life game then it can use the Looted Vehicle rule for the event, and operate with the same rules as the vehicle would normally have except with a 5+ ballistic skill, and would again lose any rules that are dependent upon the nature of the crew (confirm with the organizers). Fielding a vehicle looted in this way nets an Ork player 5 draws in the prize drawing (as winning, then converting, then painting is a big undertaking!).

The Extra Life Invashun Extravaganza

More details on the big event will follow when we get closer to it, but here are the basics. Extra Life is a 24-hour gaming marathon where players can donate money to the Extra Life charity (through the sponsor Drawbridge) for minor advantages in games like re-rolls. It’s a great charity event and Drawbridge has raised thousands of dollars for various charities in the city as a part of it in prior years.

We won’t do a full 24 hours, but we intend to do a pretty long time for the event. The games will be drop-in, drop-out, with an island defended by Imperial forces with contingents of “good” Xenos assisting them being invaded by a flotilla of Ork attackers from both sides. There will be rules for returning destroyed models to play, and players can join for as long or as little as they would like through the day and evening (and maybe early morning). Players can earn draws in the final prize drawing for participating in the event as an Ork player, for participating as an Imperial or Xenos player, and for event-specific missions: every player will get a randomly assigned mission card detailing what they need to do during the mega battle to get their extra draws.

It should be silly fun as always, and we’ll have the full list of how players join, what the possible missions are, and how donations to the Extra Life cause can be used for in-game bonuses. We’ll do the drawing at the end of the event, and participants do not need to be present to win (so even if you cannot make the big event, you can still paint to get draws or play the Loota Raid mission).

So mark November 1st on your calendars to attend during the day and/or evening, and in the meantime get those models built and ready to paint for the month of Orktober!

Ork players please do inform the organizers (Andrew) that you’re planning to play Orks for the event so we can have a good list of who is able to bring what for the event (as we’ll match the size of what forces the Imperials+Xenos side can bring based around our Ork presence). Ork collaborators will get a bonus draw in the drawing, and two draws if they do at least 300 points of Ork infantry new for Orktober (to play the Loota Raid mission!).