At an Arc40k weekend you won’t play the latest centrally designed and approved missions, that’s just not the Arc40k way!
This event has a rich tradition of missions being outside the box, quirky and embracing the most enjoyable aspects of the hobby and lore within Warhammer 40,000.
Across the years Arc40k has created a legacy of challenging missions, many achieving legendary status among participants as they have created unique and exciting gaming memories.
So, just how do you prepare for the great unknown and the fun challenging twists that come with playing Arc40k missions?
The secret is…... not so secret.
If you've signed up to the site and click on the results pages you can find some bonus content!
All the missions from Arc40k 2022 are available to download - as well as a host from across years past.
All of these missions were created specifically for the event in 2022, designed using the latest rules set and most up to date FAQs. Still relevant and playable with the most current rules and will remain so through to the next Arc40k.
Will practice make perfect? Far from it as missions are announced only moments before each round starts, with all special rules read aloud to the competitors, also allowing to carefully read the missions and ask any questions that may arise.
The arc40k missions strive to make you think and play every game in a unique way, not relying on one playstyle or meta trick to win games, but utilising a strategic brain or in most cases, following the rule of cool and saying what the…, move your toys and hope the dice gods are in your favour.
So a great way to prepare for Arc40k is to play some or all of the last event's missions - which you now have access to as you've signed up to the site.
Playing through all six missions you will certainly have a closer understanding of what it needed to achieve a maximised any potential Battle points at last year’s Arc40k…
And you might even be able to fine tune the composition of your army list to help achieve most of the objectives.
Mission #1 - Pillars of Power
The Pillars of Power mission is a simple take and hold mission right… far from it.
This is a mission with a big Arc40k twist. So you score points if your Pillars survive. You don’t have to hold them. But the aim of this mission is to keep your pillars intact so you can earn 5-10 Vps per turn after the second turn. And then try to destroy all of your opponents pillars to maximise both your Primary and start banking mission specific Secondary Objective points.
Yes that's right - not only are the Primary Objectives unique to Arc40k missions but you'll find a compulsory Secondary Objective that both you and your opponent will both be striving to achieve. In the case of Pillars of Power as you work to destroy your opponent's Pillars to achieve your secondary objective then you will also be denying them from scoring points towards their Primary Objective.
So what's the key to wining? Protect all your Pillars and destroy all of your opponent's! Simple right...
So the most important tactic you need to fulfil is to attempt to be the first to fight, contest and then destroy one of your opponent's objectives. It's destruction will immediately block them from earning 5 VPs per turn. If you are able to then destroy a second or if luck is on your side a third - then you're well on your way to victory as you'll deny them 15Vps per turn and stop them from achieving the maximum 45 Vps available for achieving the Primary Objective.
Each of your Opponent's Pillars that you can destroy will give you 5 VPS adding up to a maximum of 15 VPs for this Secondary Objective. But more importantly as you gain 5VPs for having more Pillars Standing than your Opponent and 10 Vps per turn for having 2 Pillars Standing - the quicker you can destroy their first and then second Pillar the more you can withstand any counter offensive - as you don't need all 3 Pillars standing to secure the maximum 45 Vps for the game.
The two Secondary Objectives you choose should be icing on the cake.
If you are confident then you'll just choose Behind Enemy Lines (as forces should be surging across the board and trying to contest and destroy those pillars in your opponent's deployment zone). And if you're pushing forward then Engage on All Fronts is probably the easiest other Secondary as it will be all about being in your opponents face and trying to destroy those pillars.
But, there may also be faction specific secondary objectives that will be easier to start earning Vps from turn two... so choosing those or any secondary that will better suit your army is up to you to decide. This will be the sorts of thing you can test as you practice by playing the missions and the secondary objectives that you are best able to achieve with your army.
So getting across the table quickly and decisively so you can start destroying pillars, all the while protecting your deployment zone and your pillars from counter strikes is all you need to do!
Hopefully with this article, the advice on what to focus on, and the chance to play them for yourself will give you more confidence and a better experience at Arc40k.
You should be prepared for the fact that similar missions and mission types with objectives and outcomes designed to be challenging is what you'll find on the gaming table at Arc40k in 2023.
If you'd like to read more about my thoughts on the fun experience of playing Arc40k missions over the years has been for me then there's a whole article talking about that: https://www.arc40k.com/post/challenging-fun
