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Central Oregon Warhammer 40,000 Tournament Series – October 30, 2010

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Cities of Death Games in Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
Written by: biztheclown and yakface
Pictures by: Glaive Company CO and AgeOfEgos

I. Introduction 6.5th Edition Secure the

1.The ‘RAW’ Boxes Objective

II. Playing a Cityfight V. Design Notes

1.Choose Forces
2.Agree Mission Level and VI. Cities of Death FAQ
Place Terrain 1.STRATAGEMS (Pages 33-
3.Choose a Mission and 40)
Deployment style
4.Roll For Deployment
5.Choose and Declare
Stratagems
6.Deploy Forces
7.Let Battle Commence

III. Cities of Death Rule

Changes
1.Using City Ruins
i. Defining Terrain
ii. Vertical Movement
iii. Line of Sight
2.Occupying a City Ruin
3.Scoring Units
4.Dangerous City Ruins
5.Destroying City Ruins
6.Deployment Zones
7.Random Game Length
8.Mission Special Rules
9.Cityfighting Stratagems
i. Command Center
Stratagem
ii. Preliminary
Bombardment
Stratagem
iii. Combat Engineer
Stratagem
iv. Tanks Traps Stratagem
v. Deep Strike & Infiltrate
Stratagems
vi. Sewer Rats Stratagem

IV. 5th Edition Cities of Death

Mission Objectives
1.5th Edition Firesweep
2.5th Edition High Ground
3.5th Edition Domination
4.5th Edition Maximum Attrition
5.5th Edition Urban Assault

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I. Introduction
Cities of Death is a great expansion for Warhammer
40,000. It was released during the 4th edition of the game,
and as such, it contains several references to rules that
don't seem quite right when compared to the current 5th
edition rulebook.
Games Workshop's policy on expansions (like
Apocalypse or Cities of Death), is that they modify the
core rules of the game as laid out in the expansion
rulebook. That means "officially" you are expected to play
Cities of Death games using the rules as written in the
expansion even though in many cases changes or
improvements have been made to the core rules since the
expansion was released (via the introduction of the 5th
edition rules).
Games Workshop has published an article on their
website on converting the Cities of Death rules into 5th
edition.
(http://www.gamesworkshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?
community=&catId=cat210004&categoryId=600005&aId=
6900001&_requestid=661596)
Even so, there are many players out there who really like
to utilize the changes that were made to the game with 5th
edition and are interested in bringing all of those
changes into their Cities of Death games (even more than
GW's article suggests). Therefore, the purpose of this
article is two-fold:
• To point out the places in the Cities of Death
expansion where the rules contradict those found in the
5th edition core rulebook.
• To give you guidance on how to handle those
inconsistencies, both if you're interested in playing the
'Rules as Written' as found in the Cities of Death
expansion, and also if you want to convert the Cities of
Death rules over to a full 5th edition style of game.
This article is divided into five main sections:
1. The Playing a Cityfight section replaces page 3 and
the chart on page 14 of the Cities of Death rulebook,
and gives you the steps to putting together a 5th edition
Cities of Death Game.
2. The Cities of Death Rule Changes section
revises or replaces some of the Cities of Death rules
and stratagems to work with 5th edition.
3. The 5th Edition Cities of Death Mission Objectives
section defines the victory conditions of the new, 5th
edition Cities of Death missions.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
4. The Design Notes section has information on the
rules changes, and the thinking behind them.
5. The Cities of Death FAQ section is a completely
unofficial take on few commonly asked questions about
Cities of Death.
1. The 'RAW' Boxes
The main part of this article is written as a guide to give
you examples of how you can fully convert the Cities of
Death rules into 5th edition. However, ultimately these are
just 'house rules' that we have tried and thoroughly
suggest if you enjoy the changes made to the game via
the 5th edition rules. However, if you are playing a Cities
of Death game against someone you don't know (such as
a pick-up game) then unless your opponent feels the
same way you do about converting the rules, you're going
to need to play the 'rules as written' (or 'RAW' for short).
Throughout this article you will find these little
commentary boxes sprinkled about. Their purpose is to let
you know what the official 'RAW' version is following the
Cities of Death rules as closely to the printed word as
possible and/or commentary of what the GW conversion
article suggests in that situation. Please note that in many
cases this means you will be essentially playing with older
4th edition style rules or dealing with situations where the
RAW in the Cities of Death book contain references to
rules that simply no longer exist in 5th edition (such as
'target priority'). Ultimately it is going to be up to you and
your opponent to decide what kind of game you want to
play.
II. Playing a Cityfight
Note: This section effectively replaces page 3 and the
chart on page 14 of the Cities of Death rulebook.
1. Choose Forces
Choose a 5th edition force as normal from your codex.
Use standard armies, or allow the players to tailor their
forces for the cityfighting setting. Scoring units will work
like 5th edition, so don't skimp on the troops selections.
Scoring Units
When playing by the RAW, the rules for scoring units are
found on page 46 of the Cities of Death rulebook and
replace the rules found in the 5th edition rulebook.
As such, RAW Cities of Death games can indeed have
scoring units that are vehicles, monstrous creatures, etc.
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As suggested in the GW conversion article, this means
players should decide before the game which style of
scoring unit they want to use.
2. Agree Mission Level and Place
Terrain
Choose the mission level based on terrain available and
army sizes.
Alpha: Played on a 4'x4' table with 2-3 city ruins.
Players receive 1 cityfighting stratagem. Suitable for
games up to about 1250 points.
Gamma: Played on a 4'x4' table with 4-6 city ruins.
Players receive 2 cityfighting stratagems. Suitable for
games from about 750-1500 points.
Omega: Played on a 6'x4' table with as many city ruins
as possible. The more the better – as shown on p28 of
Cities of Death. Players receive 3 cityfighting
stratagems. Suitable for games 1500 points and up.
Players place the terrain as indicated on Cities of Death
page 15.
using the mission rules exactly as presented on pages 42-
44 of the Cities of Death book.
Note that this means, very similar to 4th edition, whoever
wins the roll for deployment will not necessarily be player
who takes the first turn in the game.
5. Choose and Declare Stratagems
Decide what Cityfighting Stratagems to use and declare
them as stated on page 33 of the Cities of Death book.
Revise stratagems as listed below under Cities of Death
Rule Changes.
6. Deploy Forces
Deploy according to pages 92-93 of the Warhammer 40K
rulebook, revised below under Cities of Death Rule
Changes.
Then refer to the “Seize the Initiative!” rule as described
on page 92 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Cities of Death Deployment
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game you will be
using the mission rules exactly as presented on pages 42-
44 of the Cities of Death book.

That means you'll be deploying in a style very similar to

3. Choose a Mission and 4th edition where each player takes a turn placing a unit
until both players have finished deploying their entire
Deployment style armies and then players roll off to see who gets the choice
You can both agree with your opponent which mission to to go first or second.
play or roll D6 and consult the chart below:
7. Let Battle Commence
1 - 5th Edition Firesweep Begin with the first turn and fight amidst the ruins of the
2 - 5th Edition High Ground Cities of Death!
3 - 5th Edition Domination
4 - 5th Edition Maximum Attrition
5 - 5th Edition Urban Assault III. Cities of Death Rule Changes
6 - 5th Edition Secure the Objective

After selecting the mission, select Deployment style:

1-2 - Pitched Battle

3-4 - Spearhead
5-6 - Dawn of War

Cities of Death Missions

When playing by the RAW, use the Cities of Death
missions exactly as presented on pages 42-44 of the
Cities of Death book, including all of the rules found there
for deployment zones, etc.

This also means players roll for missions from the chart
found on page 16 of the Cities of Death book.

1. Using City Ruins

4. Roll for Deployment
Roll off for first deployment as indicated on pages 92-93 of
the Warhammer 40K rulebook.
Cities of Death Rolling for Deployment
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game you will be
Ignore any rules on pages 8-13 of the Cities of Death
book that contradict the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook
rules, except where noted below.
i. Defining Terrain

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Note that Skimmers may now only "normally" end their
move over a ruin if they can physically be placed there.
Defining Buildings and Ruins in Cities of Death
When playing a Cities of Death game by the RAW note
that intact buildings are impassable terrain (and therefore
cannot be entered) and that ruins without a base still
count as having a 'footprint' on the ground floor as shown
on page 9 of the Cities of Death book.
Of course, players are also told to define their terrain
before the game, so even in a 'RAW' game this gives
players a perfect opportunity to nominate enclosed
buildings they wish to use the rules for enclosed buildings
in the rulebook, for example.
Note that GW's conversion article does suggest that you
should use the 5th edition rules for enclosed buildings.
ii. Vertical Movement
The one exception to ignoring the Cities of Death Ruins
rules (as discussed in Using City Ruins), is that of vertical
movement.
Because so much vertical movement is used in Cities of
Death games, ignore the vertical movement rules on page
83 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook and instead follow
those presented on page 10 of the Cities of Death book
(which allows a model to move the same distance
vertically as well as moving that distance horizontally).
Also, you may want to remove the limitation on "Beasts"
from moving vertically into ruins (although it still feels right
for Cavalry and Bikes to be penalized this way), otherwise
there are several units (such as Tyranid Hormagaunts)
that will have little use in your Cities of Death games.
Of course, if you like how difficult it is to reach models up
in tall ruins in 5th edition, then by all means follow the full
rules for vertical movement in the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook!
Moving Vertically in Cities of Death
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, models are
allowed to make their movement distance both vertically
and horizontally at the same time (so if a model rolls a '6'
on their difficult terrain test, they are allowed to move both
6" vertically and 6" horizontally in the same turn). This
makes it much quicker easier for units in Cities of Death
games to move up and down ruins.
Note that Beasts, Cavalry, and Bikes are not able to move
vertically into ruins as described on page 83 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
iii. Line of Sight
Ignore references to terrain category sizes and the
“determining line of sight” section on page 11 of the Cities
of Death book and instead use both the "Line of sight"
(LOS) and "Building & Ruins" rules found on pages 16
and 77-85 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook,
respectively.
Cities of Death Line of Sight
The Cities of Death book does not present full rules for
line of sight but instead refers back to the Warhammer
40,000 rulebook.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
As such, even when playing a RAW Cities of Death game
you will have to follow the line of sight rules presented in
the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
2. Occupying a City Ruin
Ignore the rules for "Occupying a City Ruin" on page 42 of
the Cities of Death book. Instead, a city ruin is considered
occupied if one ore more Scoring Units have at least one
model within the city ruin, and no enemy units can claim
likewise.
Occupying a City Ruin
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, follow the
rules for occupying a ruin as found on page 42 of the
Cities of Death book.
This means that, unlike in the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook, units have to have the majority of their models in
a ruin in order to occupy it.
3. Scoring Units
Ignore the section on “Scoring Units” presented on page
42 of Cities of Death book (as well as the "CityFighting
Victory Points Table" on page 46). Instead use the
definition of Scoring Units contained on page 90 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Scoring Units in Cities of Death
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, refer to page
46 of the Cities of Death book for a list of what units are
considered Scoring Units.
Note that in many cases, unlike in the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook, units have to maintain certain criteria (such as
not losing more than 75% of their starting strength) in
order to remain "Scoring".
Also note that in GW's covnersion article they suggest that
players decide ahead of time whether to use the scoring
rules as written in the Cities of Death expansion or those
from the 5th edition rulebook.
4. Dangerous City Ruins
Vehicles roll an additional Dangerous Terrain dice when
passing through a Dangerous City Ruin as explained on
page 36 of the Cities of Death book. If either die is a '1',
then the vehicle is immobilized. If both dice are a '1', then
the vehicle suffers a "Destroyed - Wrecked" result with no
saves possible.
5. Destroying City Ruins
Use the rules for "Destroying City Ruins" on page 37 of
the Cities of Death book, with the following changes:
1. Ignore the reference to "Size 3" area terrain for the
rubble left from a building being destroyed.
2. Instead, any model firing across or into that pile of
rubble for the rest of the game counts its target as in
cover and any vehicle target as obscured.
3. Models inside that rubble can fire through up to 2" of
the terrain without it conferring cover to their target.
Alternatively, for players who like the idea of a rubble
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cloud blocking line of sight completely, use the following
changes instead:
1. This rubble area terrain blocks line of sight
completely for the rest of the game, with the exception
that models within 2” of the edge of the dust cloud may
see out and be seen normally.
2. Models within this rubble can see other models
within the same rubble, but cannot see out unless they
are within 2” of the edge.
Destroying City Ruins
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, ignore the
reference to "Size 3" area terrain on page 37 of the Cities
of Death Book. Which means a Destroyed City Ruin is
simply a rubble pile that blocks line of sight exactly like
any other rubble pile in the game.
Note that models in a ruin that are destroyed become
pinned (go to ground) whether or not they are normally
immune to being pinned.
6. Deployment Zones
Use the deployment rules on pages 93-93 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Since many Cities of Death games are played on a square
table, make sure to read the rules on page 88 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook for instructions on how to
define the "long" and "short" table edges.
Essentially, the player who picks his deployment zone
nominates which edge is considered his "long" table edge
if it cannot be easily ascertained.
Cities of Death Deployment Zones
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game use the
mission rules exactly as presented on pages 42-44 of the
Cities of Death book.
That means (for all the standard Cityfighting missions)
players will always set-up in alternate table quarters.
7. Random Game Length
All missions last a random number of game turns, as
described on page 90 of the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook.
Cities of Death Game Length
By the RAW, Cities of Death games last six turns unless
playing an "Omega" level mission, in which case follow
the rules for random game length as found on page 45 of
the Cities of Death book.
8. Mission Special Rules
Deep Strike, Scouts, Reserves, Infiltrate and Outflank
work normally as per the standard mission rules as found
on pages 94-95 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Cities of Death Mission Special Rules
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, players must
select the "Deep Strike" or "Infiltrate" stratagems in order
to utilize those special rules (unless their army contains a
unit whose special rules state that their ability is always
used regardless of the mission).
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
Units may not be placed into Reserve unless they have a
special rule that forces them to be placed into Reserve or
the player has selected the "Deep Strike" or "Sewer Rats"
stratagems.
The "Outflank" special rule can only be used in missions
that allow Reserves to enter from a board edge (which is
only found in some of the Cityfighting "Special" missions).
The "Dusk and Dawn" special rule is utilized in "Gamma"
and "Omega" level games as described on page 45 of the
Cities of Death book.
9. Cityfighting Stratagems
All missions use cityfighting stratagems as presented on
pages 33-40 of the Cities of Death book. Revise the
following stratagems:
i. Command Center Stratagem
Ignore reference to "Target Priority". Instead, the
command center may either grant "Counter-Attack" as
written, or allow one unit within 6” of the command center
to split its shooting between two different enemy units.
Declare the target for each model in the unit before rolling
any dice to hit. If the unit is able to assault in the
subsequent Assault phase, it may do so against either (or
both) of the enemy units it fired at.
Command Center Stratagem
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, a "Command
Center" may only grant the "Counter-Attack" ability as
written. The second option is no longer relevant (as is
suggested by GW's conversion article).
ii. Preliminary Bombardment
Stratagem
Roll a D6 for each enemy unit (including embarked units)
and each section of razor wire, barricades, or tank traps
on the tabletop. On a roll of 6 the unit or obstacle is hit.
A squad takes D6 wounds from the shelling. (Take
Armour Saves as Normal, units within city ruins may take
cover saves, and troops may go to ground) and must roll a
Leadership test or be pinned in their first turn—see the
barrage section of the rules for details. Place a suitable
piece of scenery under the squad if you have one
available. A vehicle hit by a preliminary bombardment
starts the game stunned (roll for each vehicle in a
squadron independently, if half or more are hit, the whole
squadron must remain stationary in their first turn).
Units that start the game in reserve cannot be hit by a
preliminary bombardment. A section of razor wire, tank
traps, or barricades is automatically destroyed by being
hit, remove it from play. If a unit is struck whilst sheltering
in a city ruin, roll a D6. On a result of 4+ the ruin becomes
a dangerous city ruin.
Preliminary Bombardment Stratagem
As explained in GW's conversion article, the Preliminary
Bombardment special rule can still be found in the 5th
edition rulebook on page 258.
iii. Combat Engineer Stratagem
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Replace the first bullet point with: "When assaulting
enemy defending a Fortified city ruin (see the
Fortifications stratagem), models equipped with breaching
charges strike at their normal Initiative value. The
fortifications are then lost for the remainder of the game."
Combat Engineers Stratagem
There is no way to play the first bullet point of the
"Combat Engineers" completely RAW, but the closest
seems to be to allow Combat Engineers who assault a
unit defending a Fortification to strike at I10 for that round
of combat (meaning they'll almost certainly get to strike
first).
iv. Tanks Traps Stratagem
Tank Traps provide 4+ cover save instead of a 5+.
Tank Traps Stratagem
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, tank traps
provide a 5+ cover save, and only ever to non-vehicle
models.
v. Deep Strike & Infiltrate
Stratagems
Remove these stratagems, as the missions all allow these
rules.
Deep Strike & Infiltrate Stratagem
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, these
stratagems must be selected in order for a player's units
to utilize these special rules (unless the unit always gets
to use their ability regardless of mission special rules.
vi. Sewer Rats Stratagem
When placing a unit in Reserve, the player must declare
whether it will use the Sewer Rats stratagem to arrive on
the table. Any units declared this way may not then
choose to arrive via a table edge.
Sewer Rats Stratagem
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, units placed
into Reserves via the "Sewer Rat" stratagem will only be
able to arrive to the table via a sewer marker unless the
mission allows units to move on from a table edge (which
only some of the Cityfighting "Special" missions allow), in
which case the player may choose which when the unit
arrives.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
V. 5th Edition Cities of Death Mission
Objectives
1. 5th Edition Firesweep
Objective: Plant the Flag
Both forces are seeking to clear the enemy from this
sector. This is achieved through occupying city ruins.
When a city ruin is occupied, the unit doing so 'plants the
flag' in that city ruin, and may move off to do so in more
city ruins. The 'flag' remains until an enemy Scoring Unit
occupies the ruin, at which point it plants its own 'flag'
instead.
The player with the most flags planted at the end of the
game wins.
2. 5th Edition High Ground
Objective: Capture Vital Building
Both players are seeking to capture the strategically vital
building. This is the first building placed during terrain set
up. The player with a unit occupying the building at the
end of the game is the winner. If neither side has units
occupying the building at the end of the game, then the
winner is the player who has earned the most Kill Points
per the "Annihilation" standard mission on page 90 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
High Ground Mission
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, use the
"Victory Points" rules as described on page 46 of the
Cities of Death book instead of Kill Points.
3. 5th Edition Domination
Objective: Hold Out
Each side is attempting to clear the enemy out of nearby
buildings and to hold them against possible counter-
attack. The player occupying the most city ruins at the end
of the game is the winner.
4. 5th Edition Maximum Attrition
Objective: Annihilation
Both players are seeking to inflict maximum damage on
the enemy, while taking minimum damage to themselves.
The player who has earned the most Kill Points per the
"Annihilation" standard mission on page 90 of the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook wins the game.
Maximum Attrition Mission
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game, use the
"Victory Points" rules as described on page 46 of the
Cities of Death book instead of Kill Points.
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If you find that Kill Points seem to be ruining your
games, try any of these alternatives:
1) Victory Points: Use Victory Points instead, as
described on page 108 of the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook.
2) Fixed Number of Kill Points: At the start of the
game, both armies get 6 Kill Points total, which must be
assigned one at a time by the player onto his Scoring
Troops units. If he doesn't have enough Scoring Troops
units to assign all the Kill Points, the player may then
assign them to other units in his army as he sees fit
(including onto transport vehicles), so long as no unit
has more than one Kill Point assigned to it. If this still
isn't enough to assign all the Kill Points, the player is
then allowed to assign his Scoring Troops units a
second Kill Point.
3) Kill Point Ratio: At the end of the game, each player
calculates the total number of Kill Points they
surrendered, and then divides that number by the total
number of Kill Points that he would have surrendered
had his entire army actually been wiped out. The result
is his "Kill Point Ratio". Both players then compare their
Kill Point ratio and whichever player has the lower ratio
wins the game.
For example, an Ork player gave up 4 Kill Points out of
a maximum 8 total (4/8=.50 Kill Point Ratio), while his
Imperial Guard opponent gave up 6 Kill Points out of a
maximum 14 total (6/15=.40 Kill Point Ratio). Therefore
the Imperial Guard player wins as his Kill Point Ratio is
lower.
5. 5th Edition Urban Assault
Objective: Enemy Positions
After rolling for deployment, the player who will deploy first
chooses a single city ruin to defend, anywhere outside the
enemy deployment zone. Their opponent then chooses a
city ruin to defend, anywhere outside the enemy
deployment zone. Both players must attempt to get units
into the enemy's defended building. At the end of the
game, the player occupying the building the enemy chose
to defend is the winner. If neither or both sides can occupy
the enemy defended building then the game is a draw.
6. 5th Edition Secure the Objective
Objective: Capture the Loot
After rolling for deployment, the player who will deploy first
chooses a single city ruin to defend, anywhere outside the
enemy deployment zone and places their loot counter
there. Their opponent then does the same.
Both players must attempt to secure an objective being
guarded in the enemy defended building. If at any point a
Scoring Unit occupies the enemy defended building, they
secure the objective and are now the objective carrying
unit. An objective carrying unit that is not locked in combat
can pass the objective to a friendly Scoring unit that is
also not locked in combat by ending their movement
phase within 2” of each other. If the objective carrying unit
is destroyed, place the counter in place of one of the
casualties of the unit. Unattended counters may be picked
up by any Scoring unit moving into contact with the
objective while not locked in combat.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Cities_of_Death_Games_in_Warhammer_40,000_5th_Edition
Units may not pick-up the objective marker belonging to
their army. Units that Fall Back immediately drop the
objective. Place the marker touching any of the models in
the unit before making its Fall Back move.
At the end of the game, the side carrying the enemy
objective is the winner. If neither or both sides are carrying
the enemy objective then the game is a draw.
Secure the Objective Mission
When playing a RAW Cities of Death game and a '6' is
rolled for Mission selection, roll again or both players can
agree to play a "Special" Mission as described on page 16
of the Cities of Death book.
V. Design Notes
It isn't necessary to read this section in order to utilize and
enjoy the rest of the article. Instead it is here to illuminate
the thinking behind the various rule changes in this article.
I played a lot of Cities of Death games in 4th Edition 40K,
and it was always one of my favorite ways to play. The
main things Cities of Death adds to a normal game of 40k
are: rules for setting up terrain, new missions, and of
course, the stratagems.
The terrain set up rules in the Cities of Death book allow
for a bit of tactics before the game starts. They're really
great as-is for use in 5th edition 40K, so they haven't been
altered at all.
I did make some pretty serious changes to the missions.
First was to adopt the “roll for deployment style” 5th
edition rule, which means no matter which mission you're
playing there are three different ways to deploy. This
creates and incredible diversity of Cities of Death
missions.
Next, I made some changes to the mission objectives,
replacing Victory Points with Kill Points and even added a
entirely new mission: "Secure the Objective". The overall
thought was to keep roughly the same ratio of two
objective missions versus multiple objective missions
versus kill point missions that are found in the standard
missions in the 40K rulebook. I felt it was important to go
with 5th edition's notion of what counts as a scoring unit
and what can stop a unit from scoring.
I know Kill Points are unpopular with many players, but by
incorporating them, those players who have built their
armies with 5th edition in mind can continue to use their
existing army builds without feeling the need to maximize
their units to take advantage of the Victory Point rules.
“Secure the Objective” is a slightly more dynamic version
of the 2 objective game, in that scoring units are allowed
to pick-up and take the objective (and even pass it to
other scoring units). This tends to create less draws than
the standard rulebook "Capture and Control" Mission. I
also added Kill Points as a tiebreaker to “High Ground” as
it frequently turned out to be a draw when I played it in 4th
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Death Fears ME! Central Oregon Warhammer 40,000 Tournament Series – October 30, 2010
RIP: REST IN PIECES BAWL!
edition. Adding them as a tiebreaker also keeps Kill Points
relevant in one third of the missions, this again matches
the mission ratio in the 40K rulebook.

The biggest change to the stratagems was removing

Deep Strike and Infiltrate and allowing them in all Cities of
Death Games. Both of these abilities (along with Reserves
and Outflanking) are present in every game of 5th edition
40K and therefore it feels wrong to force players to waste
their stratagems on them.

The other stratagem changes were much smaller.

Command Center was changed to give it a ranged ability
similar to the one it lost when Target Priority was removed
from the game. Tank Traps were changed because 4+
cover saves are nearly standard in 5th edition and
remembering that they are a 5+ save would be more
trouble than they're worth. Preliminary Bombardment is no
longer in the main rulebook, and so has been re-printed
here. Sewer Rats has a clarification added to deal with the
fact that Reserves are now a normal part of every mission.
The last change has to do with Destroyed City Ruins and
line of sight. In 4th edition the smoke from the Destroyed
Ruin was said to block line of sight completely. I've opted
for a couple of different solutions to taste your needs. One
version pretty much blocks line of sight completely for the
rest of the game (like it did in 4th edition), while the other
version plays more 5th edition in that you can shoot
through the smoke but doing so provides the target with a
cover save.

I hope this article is helpful to those who want to bring

Cities of Death out of the shadows of 4th edition and into
their 5th edition games. Thanks for reading and have fun!

VI. Cities of Death FAQ

This list of frequently asked quesitons is completely and
100% unofficial and essentially represents the "house
rules" of the authors of this article. Obviously if you feel
differently about an answer, play it that way!

1. STRATAGEMS (Pages 33-40)

Q: Are Stratagems that are placed on a City Ruin lost
if it is subsequently reduced to Rubble?
A: Yes [clarification].

Q: Do Stratagems that have rules for “Infantry” also

apply to "Jump Infantry", or any other unit type since
they all supposedly use the rules for infantry except
where noted differently?
A: Only models classified as “Infantry” may benefit from
these Strategems [clarification].

Q: What models may benefit from the “Plunging Fire”

Stratagem?
A: Any non-vehicle model in the army [clarification].

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