Comrade's Wargames

Here we go … our 2019 summer Warhammer 40,000 campaign kicked off this month! Caluphel: Eternal War returns the players to the ill-fated sector in the Easter Fringe.

When we last visited, way back in 2018, it was revealed that the planet Caluphel Prime was actually an artificial prison constructed eons ago to imprison the Chaos god Malice. A massive Chaos incursion led by the Death Guard aimed to breach the prison and release Malice into the sector. The followers of Nurgle were assisted by the arrival of a Tyranid hive fleet, which ultimately swung the campaign in favor of the bad guys and sent the Imperium reeling in defeat. And that’s where we left things in 2018.

Now, it seems that twilight has fallen across the myriad sub-sectors that make up the Caluphel Sector…

Official transcript of Sheldo Marcus
Remembrancer for the Conflict in the Caluphel Sector
017.114.M42

Despite the furious conflict for the doomed world of Caluphel Prime in the latter part of 112.M42 and the subsequent retreat of Warmaster Jedhansen, Imperial forces were able to hold what little ground they had within the sector. From the Erigaea and Occulta Manticora Sub-Sectors, they were able to fend off the unending tides of Orks, incursions from Traitor Astartes, and tendrils of Hive Fleet Tiamat.

To the north, they had allies in the from of the Sister of Battle Order of Our Lady Ascendant, and foes in the shape of the Maggot Magnates Death Guard vectorium. Throughout the rest of the Caluphel Sector, scattered Imperial forces slowly made their way back to Imperial space or were surrounded and either destroyed or locked into position. To the far east, in the Juventius Sub-Sector, Jedhansen saw no allies as bloody civil war tore apart the region, while the tendrils of Hive Fleet Tiamat drew ever closer.

Jedhansen’s war of bloody attrition was waged with numerous regiments of the Astra Militarum, forces of the Militarum Tempestus Scions and several chapters of Adeptus Astartes, along with auxiliary units from the Adeptus Sororitas. For two years he held the sector with those forces — just barely, but he held. Planets would be lost and regained in a matter of months, only to be lost once more. And then, as if by an act of the merciful God-Emperor himself, the Tyranids slowly withdrew. Not from the sector, but from the front line, freeing Jedhansen to slowly push back his other foes.

During the whole ordeal, rumors began to spread through the ranks of the Astra Militarum (punishable by death, mind you) of a new blasphemous power that had been unleashed into the sector with the destruction of the planet Caluphel Prime.

Now, the seeming withdrawal of the Tyranids gave competent officers a new worry. The Tyranids were now observed actively patrolling the inner sector around the husk of old Caluphel…as if they knew something the Imperium didn’t, as if they were searching for something. Stranger still, around the very time of the Tyranids’ withdrawal, a psychic scream was heard throughout the sector, killing half of all human astropaths in mere seconds.

Nevertheless, Warmaster Jedhanson saw an opportunity to regain momentum and free Imperial forces trapped throughout the sector. Little did he know there were now more eyes than ever watching the Caluphel sector. Even the Imperial Palace turned its gaze on the war-ravaged sector. It was time for unseen plans and unnoticed forces to enter the fray.

And here we go with our summer 2019 campaign! The Caluphel Sector was absolutely ravaged at the conclusion of last year’s campaign, so it will be interesting to see how the players shape the narrative this time around.

As before, we’ll give out points each month through the summer for doing things like playing games, painting models, developing backstories, and writing lore. Alex, our fearless GM, has also introduced the concept of custom units and characters, so we’ll be exploring that as well. Check out out his campaign flowchart below!