The Eldborg Spheres

Warhammer 40,000

Narrative Campaign Rules

Use the official Crusade Rules,
unless otherwise stated (see below).

Captain - Quartermaster

At the start of the Crusade, every Team must elect a Captain and a Quartermaster. This can be the same person for both roles, but we discourage this unless they are chronically online with too much time.

The Captain is responsible for group and strategic tasks, such as:

  • Encouraging and arranging 2v2, 3v3, and Battle Royale games

  • Choosing Team bonuses

  • Representing their Team in the Discord chat

  • Giving tactical advice to their Team

  • Commanding Team in Apocalypse games

While the Quartermaster is focused more in the finer details of Crusade and scorekeeping, with specific tasks like:

  • Confirming that all games entered by their teammates are accurate and complete

  • Helping their Teammates with Administratum

  • Tracking Team Resources and bonuses

Crusade Hex Map

Each Crusade will have a unique map made of conquerable, and fortifiable, Hexes. Every battle will take place on one of theses Hexes, with strategic locations having additional challenges and rewards.

[VISIAL REPRESENTATION COMING SOON]

Overcharged Battles

It’s far too easy to fall into the pattern of playing against the same opponent again and again (not that we discourage fun rivalries), so we have added incentives to fighting the whole of the Galaxy:

  • Every-other Saturday, there will be a unique mission available to play at Sword & Board with special rewards, exclusive to those missions.

  • Each month will have additional rewards for participating in a 2v2, 3v3, or Battle Royale.

Codex-less Army Rules

Factions that have not yet received official Crusade Rules (sorry Votann) may use the Eldborg Authority rules—a set of house-rules available until they receive their official rules. These rules include additional Battle Honours, Agendas, Requisitions, and at least two Faction-specific Crusade Relics.

If your official Crusade Rules are released during a Crusade, you must stop using the Eldborg Authority rules, however you may keep any Battle Honours that you gained while using them.

Supported Rules

In addition to all 10th Edition Crusade rules for any Factions, the following Crusade Campaign rules can be used:

Tyrannic War

  • Crusade Relics

  • Battle Traits

  • Monsters And Those Who Hunt Them*

  • Crusade Blessings & Agendas

  • NOT: Missions

Pariah Nexus (

  • Crusade Relics

  • Battle Traits

  • Crusade Blessings & Agendas

  • Missions*

  • NOT: Alliance Upgrades, Blackstone Discovery

  • NOT: Pariah Nexus Mission Deck Crusade Rules

*minor rules changes or errata

Upgrade Anything

When choosing to give a Weapon Modification to a unit that contains more than one model, you can pick a weapon on any model. You can ignore the rules that says, “if the unit includes a CHARACTER model or Unit Champion, you must select that model” and instead give the Weapon Modification to the unit where it makes sense.

Use Administratum

There are a lot of excellent tools out there for Warhammer rosters and tracking, but for our Crusades we use Administratum, an online tracker made by Goonhammer.

While you are welcome to use additional software for tracking various information, Administratum must be the primary location where this is kept and tracked. This also means that it is vitally important that game results are entered in accurately and correctly, from the mission’s name to the result of an out-of-action test, everything should be included.

That said, we’re all human (except for the xenos, daemons, transhumans, geists, and automatons), so we understand that mistakes will happen, and that corrections will need to be made.

Crusade Trilogy

As opposed to a year-long Crusade, The Eldborg Spheres is comprised of three separate 4-month long Crusades. There is no requirement to participate in all three, and players will not be mechanically benefited for participating in more than one*.
At the end of the third Crusade, the campaign will conclude with a final Apocalypse game, with a few callbacks to the previous Crusades.

For the narrative-junkies, each Crusade will have a satisfying conclusion, with longer side-narratives running through the year.

*see “Character Continuity” section below

Descent (Jan-Apr)

Endurance (May-Aug)

Ascendancy (Sept-Dec)

Character Continuity

At the beginning of each Crusade, players may use the following requisition once, on the first unit they add to their Crusade Roster:

Perpetual Being 2-5RP

The first time you add a unit to your Crusade force, you may select one CHARACTER unit from a previous in-cannon* Crusade Roster and add it to this Crusade force, paying 1RP per Crusade Point that unit has (you may remove any number of Battle Honours from that unit, so long as it joins your Crusade force with 2-5 Crusade Points). You must have enough points available in your Supply Limit to add the chosen unit. This Requisition can only be used once per Crusade.

*Only Crusades that have either been run or endorsed by Sword & Board:

  • Gladio Tablua (May-Dec, 2024)

  • Descent (Jan-Apr, 2025)

  • Endurance (May-Aug, 2025)

  • Ascendancy (Sept-Dec, 2025)

Roll Everything

If it has an option to roll, you must roll. Even if the rules say that you can/may choose, if there is an option to roll, you must take it, and all rolls should be witnessed by an opponent or admin.

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Battle Traits

  • Battle Scars

  • Weapon Modifications

  • Map/Mission

One “Pre-Veto” Choice

Whenever you roll for Battle Traits, Weapon Modifications, or to choose the Map/Mission (not for Battle Scars), you may pick one option to “pre-veto” and should you roll that option, you may re-roll until you get a different option.

No Named Characters

Because the nature of Crusade is about telling your story, no named characters are allowed in your Crusade force. This means that most units with the EPIC HERO keyword cannot be used. If you are unsure if an EPIC HERO is considered a named character or not, ask your Quartermaster or an Admin.

Additionally, you are only allowed a maximum of 1 EPIC HERO, per Crusade.

Eldborg Spheres Crusade Codex

Warhammer 40,000 is a massive, sprawling game with constant balance tweaks and errata, and Crusade only adds to the complication, so we have compiled a Google Doc with:

Eldborg Spheres Crusade Rules

Errata to Tyrannic War and Pariah Nexus Crusade Rules

Links to Crusade Rules

Eldborg Authority Codex-less Faction Rules

Narrative Introduction:
The Tremulous Transmission

Near the dawning of the 42nd Millenium, a transmission was received, emanating from the far edge of the Ultima Segmentum, near the Ghoul Stars. This transmission was both heavily encrypted and distorted, but what could be deciphered by the greatest minds of this time was of such importance that teams from across both realspace and warpspace have been activated and sent to learn more about this mysterious transmission.

You have been sent by those in power, with little more than a sector of space and a vague set of instructions:

- Find the physical origin of the transmission.
- Identify those responsible for sending it.
- Eliminate any resistance.

This section of space is not particularly well inhabited, but there is an Imperial Cemetery World, Kortinavris IIX, likely with little to no defenses and thousands of miles of catacombs, memorials, and necropolises. It is there amongst the dead that you will begin your search, and hopefully find the answers your superiors seek.