Warhammer 40K: Replay The Battle For Macragge
Games Workshop has written up a free scenario for you to try out. Can you survive the onslaught of the Battle For Macragge?
The Battle For Macragge is an iconic moment in the lore of Warhammer 40,000. It’s so iconic that GW had a launch box for an edition about the conflict! It’s a classic story of the Ultramarines fighting against the odds against an unending Tyranid invasion. The defenders weren’t meant to survive but in their sacrifice victory was achieved. And now you have the opportunity to give this mission a go for yourself.
“Not every battle in Warhammer lore is a symmetrical battle between even forces – in fact, few are! And we hope these Exemplary Battles will give players a taste of a very different way to play Warhammer 40,000. Some will feature outnumbered defenders battling to the last, while others will include unusual rules and new gaming challenges. “
Download The Battle For Macragge Here
The concept of this battle is pretty straight forward: The Attackers outnumber the Defenders in points but the Defenders have some bonuses it terms of the battlefield. Let’s talk about the Attacker advantage first.
More Points With A Catch
The attacking army is going to have 50% more points to play with here. That might seem like a lot — and it can be! But the catch is that the attacker can’t field all of those points at once.
So, technically, the Attacker does start the game down in points. But they get to assault the defender in waves. These waves get to come in during the game (on the second and third turns — each turn one more wave hits). Additionally, on the fourth and fifth turns the Attacker can cycle out units Below Half-strength and bring them back (with some restrictions).
Defending Against The Tide
As mentioned above the Defender does start down in points. However, they get some bonuses to play with to help even the odds. First up defender units in range of an objective get the Benefits of Cover and can re-roll Battle-shock tests for those units.
Additionally, the Defender start with all the objectives for obvious reasons. The Attacker is going to have to really push in to take those objectives and the defender is going to make them pay for each one they try to take.
The Map is also designed with these objectives in mind and honestly the Attacker has their work cut out for them:
With the Attacker starting so close and getting the first turn that outlying objective is going to be hotly contested! On the flip side the other two objectives are going to be much harder for the attacker to get to and as long as the defender holds more objectives they should have a lead…but it’s not going to last forever!
When I first looked at the points difference my money was on the Attacker. But after reviewing the rest of the rules I think this fight might be more balanced that I initially thought! One more thing to note is that while this battle is written as the Battle For Macragge there’s no reason you can’t swap out forces and try it with different armies. So mix it up and have some fun with it!
Can you hold out for victory in the Battle For Macragge?
