The storyline for The War of Seven Fronts first began with a Kill Team narrative event called The Battle for Planet Blackstone. Over the course of this event, a planet rich in Blackstone returned to realspace, after having been enveloped by warp storms since the time of the Horus Heresy. Following various motives, factions from across the galaxy sent vanguard contingents to secure this world from their enemies. Shortly after the opening salvos of the war, the planet and all those upon it were plunged into a fold between the warp and realspace. As the survivors fought for a means of escape.
The events of The War of Seven Fronts (1st Edition) picks up one year later. Tenebris was relocated to the Absconrio System. Much like the Vigilus System, this planetary nexus offered one of the very few safe routes in and out of The Imperium Nihilus. Over the course of a year, the Imperium of Mankind established bases on Tenebris and its neighboring six worlds within the Absconrio System. As they spread out over the system, they soon learned that Tenebris wasn’t the only world with secrets. The entire system soon launched into war as competing factions fought for control of Absconrio’s seven worlds and their buried secrets.
One day a massive ship the size of a small moon simply appeared over Tenebris: a Blackstone Fortress. The Absconrio System was surrounded by roaming patrols of Blackstone Warships. These ships were acting as prison guards, keeping all those within the Absconrio System trapped, while all supplies, reinforcements and communications were kept out. The War of Seven Fronts (3rd Edition) picks up 3 years into this imprisonment by the Blackstone Guards.
The War of Seven Fronts 3rd Edition (W7F3) is a massive an ongoing global WH40k Campaign played out on Tabletop Simulator. To get involved go checkout the W7FE Quick Reference or chat with them on the War of 7 Fronts – Campaign section of the TTS Warhammer 40k Discord.
Rules at a Glance
- The Absconrio System is made up of 7 planets, their accompanying moons, and various side quest celestial bodies (space hulks, Blackstone Fortresses and more).
- Everything within the Absconrio System is represented on a Galactic Hex Tile Map found on Tabletop Simulator.
- Faction Teams battle for control of each world on the Galactic Hex Tile Map by playing games, earning points, and purchasing fortifications and structures on hex tiles representing the territory that belongs to a planet (including any orbiting moons it may have).
- Each campaign event is called a Narrative Story Arc. A Narrative Story Arc spans three seasons (a season equals a calendar month), and each of these seasons has two designated dates for progressing the Galactic Hex Tile Map. This date is called Narrative Update Day or NUD.
- The 15th and last day of a Campaign Season is Narrative Update Day. Note: For rules purposes, the day before the start of Narrative Story Arc is considered a Narrative Update Day, even though nothing was actually updated on that day.
- Among other things, on Narrative Update Day each Faction’s Team Captain spends the Fortification Points (FP) that their team has earned since the previous Narrative Update Day, and purchases Fortifications and Structures on the planets from which the points were awarded.
- Faction Teams control a hex tile by holding any number of Fortifications on that tile.
- The top three Faction Teams that control the most Territory (hex tiles) on a planet, control that planet.
- The Faction Teams that control a planet gain access to that world’s Planetary Resource, and the Team with the most Territory chooses the direction that the narrative of that world takes (in a classic “choose your own adventure” styled system called Critical Narrative Questions).
- Meanwhile, individual players earn upgrades through Crusade and other systems unique to each game type by using Battle Points (BP).
- Each Narrative Story Arc is followed by two Exhibition Seasons.
- During an Exhibition Season there is no story progression, no earning of Fortification Points, and no upgrading models through Crusade or other systems. It is structured to act as an off-season in which players can test out armies, and various W7F tools without committing to any one Faction Team. It also gives the W7F Staff a chance to plot out the next Narrative Story Arc.
You’ll want to checkout the W7F3 Quick Reference to access all of the latest files and information pertaining to the ongoing War of Seven Fronts campaign. The download hosted here is an snapshot (as of 2020-09-23) designed to archive this amazing material and make a download available for those who want to start their own, local, War of Seven Fronts campaign or use it as a springboard for a spin-off event.
by Zackary “Mothman Zack” Daggy, Aladaris, Pigzy, Freddiegibbs, Targhost, & Leky