The Invasion of Scipio - Prologue

Planet Scipio, while not the richest or biggest planet in the Imperium, had sufficient mineral wealth to fuel its economic and industrial development. It was relatively peaceful before the invasion, tucked away in the corner of the galaxy far from any of the conflict zones. It didn’t have the same depth or breadth in planetary defences as the other worlds that were thought to be primary targets for invaders. This is probably why no one anticipated the alien invasion and how the invaders got so close before they were noticed.

Industrialised heartland of the Delta Valley on planet Scipio

No one knows why the hive fleet decided to launch a surprise invasion at this location. Presumably the hive mind saw a soft target, wanted to exploit the planet’s resources and exterminate its inhabitants. The first wave of the alien attack is focused on the Delta valley on Scipio where there are a high concentration of economically important assets. When the hive fleet Hydra (Imperial codename for the invaders) first arrived within range of the Imperium’s planetary sensors the signal was sent out to the defensive net which detects and responds to threats anywhere in their ring of colonised planets.

Hive Fleet Hydra coming out of warp ready to begin the invasion.

Luckily the Imperium’s Rapid Response Force is designed to respond to just such a threat, and while not carrying the full weight of the Imperium’s power, the response force is able to muster the limited forces on Scipio, supplemented by assets from nearby space ports. The plan is to effectively meet and stall the first spearhead of an attack while further reinforcements can be sent. The fate of the planet Scipio and its inhabitants will be determined in space, air and land.

 

Imperium's Rapid Response Force deploying to defend the Delta Valley

Chapter 1 of  the campaign for the planet Scipio will be played as a series of linked scenarios that will each affect the other to form an overall narrative. This chapter focuses on the first spearhead of the alien invasion into the Delta Valley, an area with many industrial, commercial and military assets. The lore is loosely based on the Warhammer 40K universe with some liberties taken to suite the narrative.

The campaign will be played at three different levels:

Space Combat – battles in space and orbit to destroy enemy fleets, capture territory and drop land-based troops for battles, using Dropfleet Commander.

Land Battle – military operations to destroy enemy forces and capture key territory, using Epic Armageddon in 6mm.

Skirmish – covert and special operations missions to disrupt enemy activities or capture asset, using Shadow War Armageddon rules in 28mm.

I have a long wanted to run something like this, it took a while to organise the miniatures, rules and terrain for two factions in three different game systems. Not to mention the many other gaming diversions that I have gone on. You may ask, why not stick to the 40K universe and play Battle Fleet Gothic (BFG) for the space battles? Well because the BFG ships are expensive, hard to find and I bought into the DFC Kickstarter which was designed by the same author as BFG, Andy Chambers. I’ve roughly shoehorned the DFC factions into the 40K universe: UCM will be used to play the Imperium and the Scourge will be the Tyranids.

I was originally planning on using a campaign structure and victory points system to determine who will win the campaign, however, the results of the first battle made me realise that I could create a better narrative by keeping it free flowing and play the games that I like based on what happens on the tabletop. The goal is to organically form a cohesive story that ties them all together.

If successful, I will keep it going with more chapters that expand the conflict and bring in new belligerents. The first part of the story will deal with the initial space invasion by the xenos, the battle report is coming soon. As a preview, here are some pictures of my two DFC fleets:

The Xeno spearhead invasion fleet

Close up of the Xeno heavy ships

The Imperial Rapid Response Force

 

Large Imperial Ships