Beyond the Mortavus Rift: A Recap

 

Participants of the Beyond the Mortavus Rift narrative event
gather for a group photo.
 

On February 16th, 2025, players gathered at the Union Gang clubhouse for Beyond the Mortavus Rift, an Inq28 event co-hosted by the District of the Damned Wargaming Club and Union Gang. Originally planned for December, the event was rescheduled to February. If you missed it, you can read more about the setting here.

This post showcases warband shots, in-game photos, and highlights from the finale.

The event featured three rounds and a climactic finale, each played on unique scenario-driven boards. The finale unfolded aboard the Eden Gate terraforming station, a warp-corrupted void station adrift between two dying stars. There, the Archmagos had moved the Astral Conduit to exploit the veil’s thinning between the immaterium and materium, furthering his research into the artifact’s secrets.

If you’d like to run these scenarios yourself, you can find all materials and a PDF of the event handbook here. Below are just some photos, but a better selection please feel free to check out the album.

All participants received a handbook for the event, which summarized aspects of the rounds, 
lore, and tables to roll on.

The Empyreal Talons of House Harkonides, a
corrupted Navigator house by Benet (holyfirethem).

The Doomed Retinue of Aris du Khrat, a Rogue Trader gone rogue 
by Landlines aka Chris.

The Purificators of the Divine Flesh, of Ordo Hereticus
by JerZ aka Chris.

Prosecution Squad of Lexwright Doltan Vey, a retinue of Squats
executing their "legal claim" to areas of the Mortavus subsector by Nate.

The Retinue of Inquisitor Ducat of the Ordo Malleus Novo, by 
Eric (bone.spoon).

The Mutant Host, by Kassie.

The Retinue of Inquisitor Iago van Ghyldr, by
Mike (cosmic.kraken).

The Gilded Saint Flotilla, a Rogue Trader retinue, by
Doug (sleepykamistudios).

The Gabagools, a space scummers warband, by
Gabby.

The Church of the Third Specimen, a religious cult seeking to bring
the growth virus to the Imperium, by Martin (martin.mccoy.art).

Martin's WIP transport for the Church of the Third Specimen.

Archmagos Passen Xingh, Leader of the Omnissiah's Promise expeditionary fleet, 
kitbashed by Adam (doom and apathy)

After witnessing his Inquisitor and retinue slaughtered by the Church of the Third Specimen, hired gun Ratfrid scrambled onto the crumbling Administratum rooftop, hoping to intercept the Captain on his way to the transport vessel. However, a missed shot sealed his fate—he was swiftly devoured by Ingrid the Blessed.

Members of the Gilded Saint and the Persecution Squad clash for control of the enigmatic archeovault, hidden deep within the slums of Hive Vortem.

Eden Gate Terraforming station. Warp-tinged flora has sprouted throughout the station, as well as

fractures in the materium. Players had the ability to interact with these fractures, rolling 1d6

to determine which one they'd emerge from. On a 1 they'd be vaporized within the warp.

Dharmat Harkonides emerges from a warp tear unscathed, and embolden to press on in search of the Astral Conduit.

Deep within the Eden Gate, the Archmagos presides over the Astral Conduit, relentless in the pursuit of its deepest mysteries.

After attempting to Mind Spike the Astral Conduit, Dharmat Harkonides left his mind exposed to the relic’s corruptive power, unwittingly opening the gateway for Daemon Prince Gorvulax the Gorged Tyrant to manifest through his very soul. 

The warp energies within the Eden Gate accelerated the growth virus of the Church of the Third Specimen, further empowering the Captain. Martin's Captain fought off all assailants and attempted to seize the Astral Conduit. As the Conduit's volatility increased, the warp clouds closed in on the central chamber, consuming the Conduit, the Captain, and Gorvulax the Gorged before triggering the void station’s catastrophic implosion.

It was a privilege to run this event, and I hope everyone who took part had a blast. I’ll miss rolling dice with these freaks, but I’m glad I got to make this happen for them. Huge thanks to everyone who showed up and to those who helped in the months leading up to it—couldn’t have done it without you.

Be sure to check out the other pictures in the album.

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments or feel free to reach out to me on Instagram.

CK // Mike

Beyond the Mortvaus Rift: An Emergent Narrative Campaign

Ever since I first read the Eisenhorn trilogy and pored over the pages of the 3rd edition 40k rulebook, I knew exactly which corner of the 41st millennium I wanted to explore. I was drawn to a world far removed from the legions of power-armored demigods wielding the finest arsenals of war. Instead, I wanted to focus on the micro rather than the macro—on individuals rather than the endless ranks of nameless bodies marching toward the meat grinder (which is still pretty cool).

Discovering the 28 community was a breath of fresh air. As I mentioned in my first post, the grind and large-scale play of mainstream Warhammer never truly resonated with me. But here was a community that thrived on storytelling—the trials of a handful of souls facing impossible odds. It was exactly what I had been searching for.

Another series that deeply influenced me is The Expanse. I love how its chapters shift between perspectives—from ice haulers to corporate security contractors—offering a grounded, human-scale view of its universe. Both Eisenhorn and The Expanse share a common strength: they confine their narratives to a limited scope. Rather than zipping across a galaxy, they unfold within a defined region of space, weaving stories through bustling metropolises, research stations, hydroponic farms, and abandoned mining outposts.

When I first learned about the Warhammer universe, there wasn’t really an advancing storyline that moved the setting. It was explained to me that the universe was a sandbox—my battles were simply blips in this grimdark future. I had no real grasp of the meta-story, but I loved the idea that my battles were part of something vast and open-ended. So when it came time to hash out a narrative for my own group of friends, I knew I wanted to follow a similar path. The result? Beyond the Mortavus Rift.

+++

This event is designed to be a one-day narrative campaign where warbands/retinues compete to trace the recent broadcast of the Omnissah’s Promise, an expeditionary ship registered to Magos Dominus Passen Xingh. The mission centers on investigating the enigmatic relic known as the Astral Conduit. Xingh ventured into the Mortavus sub-sector over two centuries ago, only for the Rift to trap him within its grip. With the Rift now subsiding, his final broadcast has reverberated across the void, reaching the signal arrays of both Imperial and... unintended listeners. Chaos cults, xenos warbands, and scavenger fleets alike have intercepted this desperate warning, setting the stage for a deadly race toward the relic. As each faction pursues their own interests, the true cost of the Astral Conduit may be far darker than anyone realizes.

The Mortavus sub-sector is a shadowed and isolated portion of space in the Segmentum Pacificus, shrouded in mystery and rife with intrigue. Its worlds are scarred by centuries of war, neglect, and the ceaseless influence of the warp. Mortavus is dominated by the enigmatic Rift, a persistent warp storm that intermittently cuts off the entire subsector from the wider Imperium. When the storm abates, ancient relics and forgotten ships emerge from the void, carrying with them secrets from lost eras that could reshape the balance of power. The region's hive cities, dead worlds, and orbital stations are infested with cults, xenos infiltrators, and heretical factions, each vying for control in the shadows. Inquisitors of the Imperium find Mortavus sub-sector to be a treacherous hunting ground where truth is elusive and alliances are fragile.

When deciding which ruleset to use, I decided to go with Garske Games's Space Weirdos. In my experience, the ruleset is light, engaging, and allows just the right amount of customization without becoming cumbersome; and if I ever wanted to add on to the ruleset, it's a solid foundation. Each warband will have a 125 point Space Weirdos list. However, for each scenario a faction can only field 75 points from their roster. Factions may lose agents throughout the campaign making roster choice an important part of the game. The campaign comprises three rounds of small 1v1 games followed by a grand finale.

With the overarching story in place, my goal is to encourage an emergent narrative—one shaped by the players' actions, alliances, and betrayals. The idea is that the story will develop organically through their decisions. I've added some additional flavor rules which I've been organizing into a player handbook. I plan on sharing this with the wider community once completed.

To get my players more involved and make things easier for me to organize, I asked them to take a look at their terrain collections and put together a custom board. These boards will represent different locations within the sub-sector, and since it’s a sandbox setup, pretty much anything is possible with a bit of imagination. For example, fantasy terrain can easily stand in for an Imperial colony that's fallen into a feudal state. Add some sci-fi scatter pieces, and you've got a medieval world tied to the 41st millennium.

I’ve been working on this project since October'24 and had planned to originally write this up then. Ever since, I’ve played several games with my friends from the community, testing different rules and developing stories that lead up to the event. Over the next few weeks, I hope to find the time to write everything up, along with some photos.

The Beyond the Mortavus Rift narrative is slated for February 16th 2025.

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for reading!

A Narrative Campaign in 10mm: Session 0 and 0.5

I'm back from my summer hiatus! I started this blog at the beginning of the summer, and quickly got sidetracked. A majority of my time was taken up with traveling for work, and then starting a new job and getting acclimated to my new responsibilities. 

One project I was excited to start at the beginning of the summer was my Warmaster Dwarf army. I was able to get my hands on a large lot of original, 10mm, metal dwarves and the Union Gang, my local crew of wargaming buddies, were eagerly planning a narrative campaign.

I made it a goal to get to at least 750pts of dwarves ready for our kick off. I decided that the foundation of my dwarf army would be:

• A General
• 1x Hero - Armed with a Sword of Fate
• 2x Clan Warriors - Super tough brick of frontline troops. Great at absorbing hits, dishing out wounds, and bogging down enemies
• 1x Troll Slayers - Crazed naked dwarves that pack a punch. I would attached the hero to them in the first game to buff up their attacks. They have a thematic rule that if they survive a battle, your opponent gains points. So its important to kill them off!
• 1x Rangers - Great ranged skirmish unit that can pursue foes.
• 1x Thunderers - Ranged unit with some armor penetration

At first 10mm seemed intimidating, but the new challenge was really enjoyable. It took me a little longer than I liked to finish 750 pts. I wanted to mix in different colors for each unit, and make sure their beards varied, but in the end I was really happy with how they turned out.

In late September I headed to my buddy Tory's clubhouse with my freshly painted dwarves to kick off our narrative campaign. 

We decided to use the Mighty Empires ruleset to assemble our campaign map. To do this, we had a pile of terrain tiles and took turns placing down tiles starting with a center mountain. Each of us placed a new tile adjacent to two or more place tiles. One of the edges of the newly placed tile had to match the terrain type of one of the tiles it is aligned with. This led to a really fun, collaborative, world building session. As a group we built rivers, mountain ranges, coastlines and even placed down points of interest like an abandoned necropolis, bridges, and a wizard's tower which added flavor to the world and provide our factions with bonuses for seizing them.

The before and after assembling our campaign map

Once completed, we laid down our capitol cities which would control the immediate 6 hexes surrounding it. 

Glückspilz - Empire (Tim)

Tittypit - Chaos (Jerz)

The Iron Dwells - Dwarves (Mike)

Axegrind Pass - Dwarves (Beard)

Baltimorath - Dark Elves (Tory)

The Pit of Buboes - Chaos (Erik)

We also included 2 capital cities, Britannica and Vermouth's Rest, that would be reduced to single tile City-States for any players who wanted to jump in for a casual game.

A Baptism of Blood

Once our map was built, we decided to play a 2v2 game. An expeditionary force of Dwarves from the Iron Dwells had met with the forces Glückspilz at Emory Outpost to entertain the idea of a trade pact. It was at that point did a raiding host of Dark Elves and Chaos descended on the backwater settlement to raze it to the ground.

The forces of dwarves and men form on a rocky hill as the attacker approach.

The Chaos warband gathers on the edge of Emory Outpost, eager to lay waste in the name of foul Gods.

The bloodthirsty dark elves of Baltimorath arrive in support, ready to slaughter and enslave.

The two forces clash in the streets of Emory Outpost. Buildings burn in the twilight while blades clash and shields splinter.

The defender's left flank was held valiantly by the dwarf Troll Slayers and Rangers.

Though they ultimately perished, the Troll Slayers cut down a unit of mounted dark elves and spearmen.

The battle ended in a stalemate. The attackers razed 3 buildings and the defenders managed to cut them down until they retreated. 

The process of building our campaign map and kicking it off with a little 2 vs 2 battle was a lot of fun. The battle allowed for a lot of emergent narratives. Do I bring the fight to the forces of Chaos? Do I write the name of Glückspilz in my book of grudges for using my dwarven warriors as a meat shield? And the Troll Slayers and their last stand against the elves; do I seek vengeance? 

 I'm definitely looking forward to the next games in this campaign!

Many Projects, Little Time: Managing Burnout and Choice Paralysis

I suffer from choice paralysis. It's probably why I prefer shopping at Trader Joe's, where options are limited (unless I'm looking for something specific like De Cecco pasta). When I go to a diner, 9 times out of 10 I skip the tome they call a menu and order a bacon cheeseburger with fries. This extends to my miniature hobby, often leading to what many call hobby burnout.

Golden Reef Diner, my go-to diner on Long Island.

The thought for this post came to me while on a hobby hangout call with my buddy from Australia, Jackson (Hollowbodies_13). Jackson mentioned he'd been lacking motivation for his hobby lately. I could relate—I often find myself procrastinating until the last couple of weeks (or even the night) before a big event like Under the Dice Fest or Adepticon, pushing hard to finish projects. While this can be satisfying, it also leaves me feeling drained and sometimes reluctant to return to my hobby desk.  

The '28' community has some of the most creative and passionate hobbyists that I've met. Community events frequently pop up with prompts that encourage hobbyists to kitbash, paint, and submit their creations by a deadline. In my experience, the community is relatively tight-knit, and it doesn't take long before your feed is filled with work-in-progress shots and completed projects. This is one of my favorite aspects of the community. I get to see amazing pieces of art and everyone's unique take on the prompt. The enthusiasm is contagious, and soon, I have a pile of bits in front of me, ready to bash up my own take.

However, often, as I'm midway through a project, another community event comes up, then another. Meanwhile, I still have that bag of Battlefleet Gothic ships I wanted to start on, and that Troll from my Mordheim warband has been sitting half-painted for a month now. Before I know it, I'm second-guessing what I should be working on and feeling overwhelmed. At that point I feel like trashing it all.

The reality is, this is all voluntary. No one is forcing me to grab my bits and bash them together. But with so many great ideas floating around, I can't help but feel an unseen hobby pressure—let's call it FOMO—pulling me to get involved. During my discussion with Jackson about hobby burnout, I had shared with him how I navigated out of my slump and motivate myself. I thought it would be helpful to write down some of those reflections to better collect my thoughts and maybe help others who might feel the same way.