Special Operations Killzone Codex Operatives incoming!

Hey guys I am happy to announce that by late March Spec Ops Killzone will be fully updated to 6th ed. The Codex Operatives has been woefully out of date, but fear not I have two very good friends that will be sitting down with me to make sure that this update happens so going forward updates won't be such a daunting task!

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

Help Save S.O. Killzone

Special Operations Killzone needs your help. I am not currently playing much in the way of 40k at all; I have been more involved in 30k for a while now. Couple this with the fact that I have been heavily involved working on stuff for Warzone Resurrection and the cost of the rapidly releasing 40k codices and you might understand why Codex Operatives is woefully out of date. On top of that I am getting constantly emailed telling me that the Codex Ops is out of date.

Basically it boils down to the fact that I do not have the time or am willing to spend the money to keep the Codex Operatives updated or any idea of when I might be able to tackle such a project on my own.

If SO Killzone has any hope of getting properly updated it will only be through the help of the community. The main rules are set and good to go as is, but the codex operatives needs a 6^th ed update for everything after Dark Angels.

I have asked for help in the past and even had a few people say that they were gonna help, which is great, but this time around if you volunteer you need to have the initiative to get these things rolling without me assigning a task; I am very busy currently and do not have the time to micromanage the project.

What needs doing and what are you looking for? Codex: Daemons, Tau, Eldar, Space Marine, Sisters of Battle and Tyranids need doing. You need to look for special rules and Wargear that will mess with the one man unit dynamic of SO Killzone.

If you are willing to help out email me at galaxynflames @ gmail dot com

With your help Special Operations Killzone can thrive in 2014!

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

30k S.O. Killzone and a request for help

By the end of the year I will release a 30k version of Special Operations Killzone. This version will be grander in scale than standard SO KZ. Teams will start off at 400pts and scale up to 750; it is 30k after all and should be Legion scaled Killzone!

30k Killzone will also add land speeders and dreadnoughts into the lists; which is something that standard Killzone will never do. It will also focus more on the Elite and Specialist units from the Legions.

In other Killzone news, I need some help out with keeping Codex Operatives up to date. The reality of the situation is that GW is updating to fast for me and my freelance game design work has me slammed to the max. This leaves very little time for updating KZ at a reasonable rate.

I need at least two volunteers dedicated to working with me on Codex Operatives. With help I can keep standard SO KZ alive and up to date. Otherwise it will remain lacking and only 30k Killzone will remain fully up to date going forward.

So if you can please consider lending a hand, cause I would hate for standard SO Killzone to remain so out of date in the Codex dept.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and bullets flying!

-Jim

New Year GiF Big Jim Updates

Hey guys, I am back from my holiday’s hiatus. For those that don’t know me personally part of the reason I have taken the time off was because I have been dealing with some health issues. I am recovering well and just this morning got released to a more or less normal living schedule.

During my time laid up I have not been totally out of the hobby. I spent quite a bit of time updating the Soul Reapers Codex for 6^th edition and getting the Chaos Marine update for Killzone sorted out, which I will release after the DA drop cause I will just update both armies simultaneously.  

Here is a little more info on the upcoming Soul Reapers update; I have decided to completely abandon all the infantry entries from the Chaos Space marine codex. I know this is similar to what I have done in the past but now it will be everything. I will however still draw the standard Vehicles and Daemon Engines from the CSM codex when I have not altered them significantly.  Like the Land Raider will be drawn from the Reaper list as I have added a new weapons load out and gave it back its Infernal Device.

I have decided to not go the Helbrute route and stick with actual Dreadnoughts. However I will be using the Helbrute’s version of the “Crazed” special rule.

I have also expanded the Universal Rules that apply to the Soul Reapers. I incorporated the Legion rules for the World Eaters from Betrayal FW book. It makes sense since the majority of the Warband is drawn from the 12^th Legion. The new rules are listed below:

Legacy of the Twelfth

Of all the Space Marine Legions the Twelfth were amongst the most feared, the mere whisper of their coming was enough to quell rebellion and send armies to flight in terror. Tales of their predations and massacres were numberless; their reputation as beasts, butchers and madmen whose fury is fueled by bloodshed is well deserved.

The Soul Reapers have continued this legacy for ten millennia, maintaining the martial prowess of the Twelfth, harkening to the days when they were at the height of their power.

All Soul Reapers units with the Legacy of the Twelfth rule are subject to the following special rules:

Fear is for the Weak: All units with the Legacy of the Twelfth special rule are Stubborn and may always attempt to regroup regardless of casualties.

Incarnate Violence: All units with the Legacy of the Twelfth special rule gain Furious Charge special rule once they have destroyed an enemy unit in close combat or forced one to fall back after a victorious assault phase. Place a marker next to the unit to mark that the unit has gained this bonus.

Bloodlust: After winning an assault all units with the Legacy of the Twelfth special rule must consolidate toward the nearest enemy unit that they can hurt. Should a unit with this special rule fail a moral test after being defeated in close combat, before rolling Fall Back, roll a D6. If the roll of a 1 the unit does not flee (counting as passing their moral test instead), but now become subject to the Rage special rule for the remainder of the battle. Place a marker next to the unit to mark that the unit has gained this bonus.

Until next time, may the dice gods be on your side!

-Jim

2013 Bay Area Open Narrative event: Raid on Persiet V

Hey guys, it's time to announce the info for the next BAO narrative event. Tickets go on sale soon, I believe Friday, but could be wrong.

2013 Bay Area Open Narrative event: Raid on Persiet V

Participants will help decided the fate of an Imperial Hive world and a secret Adeptus Mechaicus base in the Persiet system on the eastern fringe of the galaxy. Will the forces of the Imperium and the allies save the system or will it be subjugated or worse destroyed by the forces of Chaos and their nefarious allies.

Keep your eyes peeled here on GiF and on the Frontline gaming blog for more background as we drive the Narrative right up to the actual event.

The Forces of Order:

Anything Imperial

Eldar

Tau

Forces of Destruction:

Anything Chaos, including traitor IG should the need arise

Dark Eldar

Necrons

Tyranids (although not present during this fight per the fluff, they will count as warp creatures from the Daemonic incursion.)

Orks are a Neutral force that will be used to balance sides if need be.

Day One: Enter the Killzone

12 Players: 6 Order/6 Disorder

This will be a day of multiple Skirmish games utilizing the Special Operations Killzone set of fan made rules. These missions could be anything like probe the enemy lines for weakness or destroy an enemy communications station.

Missions

There will be 6 missions being run simultaneously; each will have a one hour “time limit” that way every player gets to play all on the opposing team. These missions are vital and the outcome of Day one will have bonuses or consequences on Day two.

Special Operations Groups

These will be full two team special operations groups with a max of 500 points, built out of the Killzone Codex Operatives in tandem with the codex for your army of Choice. (Codex Operatives will have the 6th ed list for the Chaos Space Marines updated by 12/15.)

Killzone Downloads

Rules

Codex Operatives

Cards

Day Two: Armies Clash

24 Players: 12 Order/12 Disorder

This will be a large team run event (teams determined on the day of the event) fought over three different battle zones. Each table will be able to effect the others through the use of special mission objectives.

Allowed Armies:
Armies can be built from all current 40k codices including the White Dwarf codex for the Sisters of Battle, and may also include or be built to include units or completely using the army lists in the Imperial Armor books. Units and list may only be draw for Imperial Armor books 5-11, IA Areonautica and the IA Apoc books.

With that said all IA units and lists must use the most current listing for the unit, which includes the Errata listed on the Forgeworld site. So for example the Renegades and Heretics list from the Siege of Vraks uses the update on the forgeworld site.  

All armies are built using the following requirements:
2000 points all armies must adhere to the standard Force Organization chart, you may use the double force organization choice if you wish; You may include allies and may include one super heavy vehicle with no more than 3 structure points. You may not purchase Fortifications; some will already be present on each table. I would also appreciate if all players bring a 500 point sideboard list incase the sides end up being lopsided.

 At the beginning of the game each player will draw a strategy card from the decks that I will provide.

At the beginning of the game each player will draw a Fate card from from decks that will be provided. The Fate cards will add to the narrative of the game allowing each commander some special bonus during the game.

Each table will have a special character for each side created and provided by me. They will represent the army commanders of that theater for narrative purposes.  

Both Events are subject to the following:

WYSIWYG:
 All models are expected to be WYSIWYG as much as is reasonable. Proxies are not permitted. However, counts as armies are acceptable and encouraged. What’s the difference? That can be a tough call to make in some cases. Judges will determine what is acceptable or not and all judgments are final. If you feel your army is questionable, contact a TO in advance to clear any confusion.

Proxies: Using Necron Warriors as Lootas in an Ork army, etc.

Counts As: Using Ultra Marines colored models with Blood Angels rules. Using custom Adeptus Mechanicus converted models with Daemon rules. The key is that everything is easily identifiable and appropriately equipped.  

Painting:
Every army must be painted to a three color minimum and be based. (basing can be as simple as painting your models bases an appropriate color.) We want a great looking event filled with painted models fighting over nice looking terrain.  

Killzone new rule ideas

Here are a few rules that we have been testing, but have not added to the update yet. They may or may not make it in. I figured I would give you a glimpse at what we are cooking up behind the scenes. 

Auto-fire: Any time a stationary model with a heavy weapon that has 3 or more shots fires, the shooting player may choose to initiate an Auto-fire attack; the player lays down a 3 x 5 inch Auto-fire template down with the long edge facing the shooting model. All models under the template generate one extra to hit dice in addition to the weapons usual rate of fire. These shooting attacks are all made at -1 BS. Wounds are allocated one at a time starting with the closest model, you may not place a second hit on any model until every model under the template has been allocated a hit.

Strength in Numbers: If you out number your opponent in the assault phase your models gain +1 to hit with all close combat attacks. However if you lose combat while outnumbering your opponent you have -1 to your leadership test.

Chain Blades: 2 points

Any model armed with a close combat weapon may upgrade it to a Chain Blade. These are vicious flesh rending, armor shredding weapons. Chain Blades are AP 4. (You may not upgrade combat accessories to Chain Blades)

Changes to 6th ed Killzone

I have been asked a few times since last night to list the major changes in the 6th ed update. To be totally honest there are no major changes, mostly minor tweaks.

Killzone Overwatch became Opportunity Fire

Grenades are thrown following the rules from the 6th ed MRB.

Assault distance is 4inches plus a D6, this was done to make sure that models with the new versions of fleet and equipped with Jump packs function properly.

I upped the limit of Jump Infantry and Bikes/Cav from 2 to 3 models in a standard list.

Some of the Killzone Wargear got tweaks as well; they are the Auspex, Medi-pack, Suspensors, Targeters and Thermal Imaging.

In missions with Reserves deployment 3 models may deploy via Deepstrike.

That is about the extent of the changes, although there has been some rewording of some rules/wargear for clarity. 

I am working on a team leader traits chart that I will hopefully be incorporating into the official update.

6th Ed Killzone Beta Released

It's final here, the S.O. Killzone 6th edition beta is available for download! This is not the finished update, it has no pics and most of the flavor text has not be added in; this is to get you guys back on the table. Let me know of any hiccups you find during play.



I have also uploaded the printer friendly versions of the Mission and Fate cards. You can print them out and paste them to regular playing cards.

Killzone 6th edition Download

Mission and Fate Cards Download

S.O. Killzone 6th ed update info

I appologize for the silence about the 6th ed update, I have been busy with commissions, dealing with tendonitis and learning the proper way to play 6th.

I have been asked many times in the past week about the release date for the update and to be honest I don't have a date set in stone. The plan is by mid to late September, cause I'd like to make it a solid update. I still need to format the changes and re-write some of the rules to fit with 6th.

The initial release will probably be very basic as I need to shoot a bunch of photos for the new book and my time is extremely limited right now.

If anyone is good with photoshop and wants to lend a hand with some of the pics would be welcomed. If you are interested in helping out with that just shoot me an email. Credit will be given as always.

Cheers,
Jim

Killzone and the Future

First off I would like to thank everyone that has been involved in S.O. Killzone and supported the game from the get go. I also want to say a heartfelt fond farewell to Brian and good luck in all of your future game design endeavors. I appreciate the help you gave and all the work you have done for S.O. Killzone more than words can convey.

I hate for it to end but end it has.

 S.O. Killzone will go on as S.O. Killzone: Events once its 6th edition update is done and dusted. After that is completed I will finally be able to focus on the more narrative version that I had planned to do from the very beginning of this long two year road. 

This will be Killzone: Evolution,  the next logical step in skirmish gaming for the Warhammer 40k universe.

Where Special Operations Killzone bent over backward to allow existing 40k players an easy transition into skirmish gaming; Killzone Evolution might have a bit of a learning curve for many of those same gamers.

Like its predecessor it will still draw most of its rules from 40k, but unlike its predecessor it will change the way the game turn works. 

Killzone Evolution will use an action based alternation activation turn sequence. Each model will have a set number of actions that they can perform when “activated.” More to come on this in a future post.

Then finally we will have Killzone: Forlorn Hope that will pit players verses hoards of aliens or zombies. This will be a supplement that works for both the Events and Evolution systems.

So as one chapter ends a brand new one begins for Killzone.

Cheers,
Jim