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Apocalypse

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Cover of Apocalypse
Apocalypse is a Warhammer 40,000 expansion, which adds rules for playing very large-scale games for the game. It covers the new rules for games of enormous scale, as well as covering many of the logistics of playing one of these games.

The General Structure

Apocalypse is an expansion book for the Games Workshop Table Top game Warhammer 40,000. This book was published for the first time in 2007, and is for the 4th Edition of Warhammer 40,000.

The book has 200 pages, with the cover and the first 88 pages of the book printed in colour and the remainder in black and white.

Contents

Fighting Apocalyptic Battles

This section of the book gives a introduction to the concept of Apocalypse and the changes it makes to the standard Warhammer 40,000 rules. The main changes it lists are:

  • Army Selection

Unlike standard games, Apocalypse does not make use of the Force Organisation Chart and armies are entitled to be composed of units from any number of Codexes. In addition to this armies are allowed to choose from a range of Datasheets which are only available in Apocalypse games and either introduce new units or modify existing units.

  • Strategic Assets

Apocalypse introduces a new feature to the game in the form of Strategic Assets. Similar in nature to Stratagems as used in Cities of Death battles, Strategic Assets do not constitute part of the army, but as they can confer a wide variety of bonuses and tactical advantages it is important to bear in mind which ones will work best with your army.

Standard practice gives a force the option of one Strategic Asset for each player on the largest side (as multi-player games are quite likely given the scale of Apocalypse games), plus, if there is a significant discrepancy between the points of the opposing armies, further Assets may be given to the smaller side to even the balance. Also, certain Datasheets give bonus Strategic Assets, in keeping with their background, to their armies.

  • The Scenario

Whilst a wide variety of scenarios based on narrative themes are encouraged by the rule book, there is only standard scenario. Deployment areas are created by rolling a scatter dice to create a randomised line of division between the two forces, and then players or teams must 'bid' a time within which they feel they can set up their army. The team that bids the shortest amount of time is then entitled to deploy first and take the first turn.

The objective of the mission is to capture Objective Markers, of which there should be 6 (3 place by each team. 1 in their own deployment zone, 1 in their opponents deployment zone and 1 in no-man's land).

The final significant change in comparison to a standard game is that of Strategic Reserves. Apocalypse does not utilise the standard Reserves rules and instead models that cannot be placed at the start of the game (or are deliberately held back) are placed into Strategic Reserve, and will enter the game on either the 2nd or 3rd turn.

Battle of Cold Steel Ridge

This section contains a double page fold out, featuring a brief battle report about the historic climax of the First Tyrannic War, in which the Battle Brothers of the Ultramarines were forced to defend the polar region of their home planet, Ultramar, against the invasive forces of Hive Fleet Behemoth.

Organising a Battle

In this section of the book we are provided with a number of hints and tips on how to organise and run a large scale battle.

Armies and Battlefields

The Armies and Battlefields section consists of large amounts of material advising gamers on how to expand their armies and terrain collects to be suitable for Apocalypse games. This includes such things as; example armies, playing tables and conversions of currently model-less Legendary Units, sample vehicle squad marking schemes, advice on themed games and examples of terrain specific mission ideas.

Exterminatus

The second fold-out mini-battle report, Exterminatus gives an example of a more complex Apocalypse game. The game features the fell Legions of Chaos led by Abaddon the Despoiler and a range of other chaotic special characters against the might of the Imperial Guard and Grey Knights led by Brother-Captain Stern, Comissar Yarrick and Ursarkar E. Creed. The battle also features a number of special objectives and unique pieces of scenery.

Apocalyptic Forces

Apocalypse introduces new rules for a selection of unit types that have either been on the periphery of the game or were deemed too complex for games of such a scale. These include rules for Gargantuan Creatures, Super-Heavy Vehicles and Flyers.

Datasheets

In addition to various background material, specific to each race, this section of the book contains Datasheets for the following:

Imperial Guard

Space Marines

The Imperium

Orks

Eldar

Tyranids

Tau Empire

  • Baracuda Air Superiority Fighter
  • Great Karloc Pack
  • Armoured Interdiction Cadre
  • Rapid Insertion Force

Necrons

Dark Eldar

Forces of Chaos

Battle for the Kan Factory

The final fold-out mini-battle report in the book, the Battle for the Kan Factory is the most complex in terms of the playing area and additional rules for the terrain. It covers a battle between a combined Saim-Hann and Ulthwé Eldar army against a massive Orkish horde. The battlefield itself is was series of islands (or Orkipelago) with various Orkish construction equipment including a Killer Kan factory that would spawn Killer Kans, Ork Dreadnoughts and even Stompas onto the table, a series of 'tellyportas' that would randomly move models between the various locations and the Minepig which later received its own Datasheet online.

Strategic Assets

In this section of the book, players are given details of the following Strategic Assests, which are available to armies composed of any race:

Tactical Assets

  • Ambush
  • Careful Planning
  • Camouflage
  • Flank March
  • Hold at all Costs
  • Recon
  • Strategic Redeployment
  • Vital Objective
  • Vortex Grenade!

Battlefield Assets

  • Bunkers
  • Minefields
  • Obstacles
  • Tunnels

Front Line Assets

Support Assets

Appendices

Authors, Artists and Coworkers

During the production of this book, the following persons were involved considerably.

  • Authors

Alessio Cavatore, Graham Davey, Andy Hoare, Jervis Johnson, Phil Kelly, Gav Thorpe, Adam Troke, Jeremy Vetock, Mat Ward

  • Cover Art

Dave Gallagher

  • Illustration

Alex Boyd, Roberto Cirillo, Paul Dainton, Dave Gallagher, Nuala Kinrade, Adrian Smith

  • Graphic Design

Pete Borlace, Alun Davies

Additional information

Other

  • ISBN 1-84154-838-3