40K: Vigilus Defiant Threads Together The Last Several Releases, Sets The Stage For The Future
In case you missed it: Vigilus Defiant is an expansive book that weaves together the big releases of the last few months, while setting the stage for the next chapter of life, war, and perhaps even love in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium. Let us take you through its pages and show you how.
Vigilus Defiant is a return to form for GW. With this release, they call to mind shadows of the past (both near and far), books like Codex: Armageddon and War Zone: Damocles come to mind–with lore and narrative coming together to set the stage for some massive rules changes. It seems Vigilus has ties to nearly every release in the last several months–with ties to Forgebane, Kill Team, Speed Freaks, Tooth and Claw, Wake the Dead, even Rogue Trader with its new mini-dexes feels the call of Vigilus. All of this to say there’s a lot happening on this beleaguered world which stands at the head of the Nachmund Gauntlet, and we’re here to show you what’s been happening on the planet while all these releases have been hitting shelves.
Come take a ride through the Lore of Vigilus. This section takes you through the buildup to the “present day” on Vigilus, giving an expanded look at events that were only paragraphs in other supplements. Here they have the full writeup treatment. So you’ll know exactly how conniving the Genestealer Cultists have been, see how the Aeldari saved the world from being overrun by Chaos, why there are so many Space Marines on the surface of the world, and how the Orks are the true saviours of Vigilus.
After all, if they hadn’t landed on the planet, it would have been overrun with Genestealer Cultists when they were good and ready to pull off their grand rebellion, which had been years in the making. They would’ve seized the planet before the Astartes could arrive to reinforce the beleaguered position–but now there are Chapters from throughout the Imperium on world. White Scars, Ravenwings, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists, Black Templars and gee there sure are a lot of Sons of Dorn around right now. Hmm. Hmmm.
But as fulfilling as those ten-piece Lore Nuggets are, they’re not the only reason you’re here for this book. After all, you want the rules too–we’ll get to the ones you really want in a second, but let’s take a second to mention the Campaign Rules. Because Vigilus Defiant has an elegant toolset for building your own campaigns, sandwiched between all the lore and the new Specialist Detachment rules. They show how to handle a multi-phase campaign so sbeautifully–the War of Beasts is such a grand example of a Tree Campaign but full of complexity and multi-round fights.
Plus the Warzone Rules look like they could be a lot of fun to play around with. Okay on to the Faction rules.
This is the real good stuff. This is where 8th Edition starts getting tempered. We’ve seen Codex after Codex after Chapter Approved, after Big FAQ, after Codex. And now we’re getting to the first book that does something different. Which is the same because we’ve seen books like these before, but we haven’t seen them do something quite like this.
Faction Rules are a sizable change to 8th Edition. I don’t think we can fully appreciate what exactly they bring to the table yet. Like many of the rules tested out in the Big FAQ, I think it’s going to take time before we realize just what this has done to the game. For now though, you get access to a rolling set of Stratagems, Warlord Traits, and Relics that can help fine-tune your units taking them from regular old boring genetic super-supersoldiers who shoot explosion guns at aliens to special elite units who are capable of some surprisingly tactical feats.
All of this in Vigilus Defiant, which you can pre-order now, or grab in stores later this week. For more on the rules within, check out our writeups of the Cybernetica Cohort and the Deliverance Broodsurge, which take you inside two of Vigilus Defiant’s specialist detachments.
Vigilus Defiant – $50
War ravages the sentinel world of Vigilus. Though beset by an Ork Speedwaagh! and a Genestealer Cult uprising, its crucial location at the mouth of the Nachmund Gauntlet makes it an invaluable asset to the Imperium – one that its people will fight to the last to defend. Yet this defiance may cost the Imperium dearly, for on top of all the planet’s woes, a Chaos invasion has begun, led by a warlord claiming to be the herald of Abaddon himself!
Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant is packed with exciting background and new rules that enable you to refight the exciting events described in the book. Here’s what you will find inside:
Subscribe to our newsletter!Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.– Background of the period leading up to the War for Vigilus where the planet became a nexus of war between Imperial, xenos and Chaos forces alike
– A star map of the Vigilus system
– Descriptions of the planet of Vigilus and its military disposition
– Detailed accounts of the major events in the War for Vigilus, from the opening of the Great Rift to the arrival of none other than Marneus Calgar at the head of a Space Marine strike force to combat the invasion of Haarken Worldclaimer – Herald of the Apocalypse and the commander of the Heretic Astartes invasion
– Campaign deployment maps, descriptions of the battles that were fought in each war zone, and details of key environmental features and the forces that fought
– Details of the various armies that fought in this campaign, including descriptions of key actions, illustrations of major figures, regimental breakdown of battlegroups, heraldries, and deployment maps
– Campaign rules allowing you to bring the narrative of this book to life on your tabletop
– Guidance on organising and running a Vigilus campaign, includes an extra layer of rules specific to the narrative: a Nihilus Events table and 12 narrative play missions (6 Crucible of War, 6 Echoes of War), as well as additional special rules and Stratagems based on the events of the War for Vigilus
– Six exciting battlezones to use in your games of Warhammer 40,000, each offering new tactical challenges and rules to represent varied battlefield environments
– Guidance on how to populate a battlefield with terrain features so as to best represent the different war zones of Vigilus
– Specific rules for using the various factions that fought on Vigilus, including: datasheets for Marneus Calgar, his Victrix Guard and Haarken Worldclaimer; 22 Specialist Detachments, each portraying the many unique fighting styles of the factions that fought on Vigilus as well as new Warlord Traits, Relics, and Stratagems unique to each Detachment.
Good luck, and remember if Vigilus Falls, so too does the Imperium.
