The Unification Wars have started!

Artwork by Diamondaectann

 Hi guys, 

After several weeks of secretive development which involved a lot of research, rumination, and several long meetings, our secret A-team of 7 Race for Terra community members (Andrés, Jan, Lukas, Nick, Rick, Tapio, and yours truly) is ready to present to you our open beta Forces of Unity Army List, which will allow 30k players to field a unique army of Thunder Warriors (alongside allied Imperialis Militia and/or Talons of the Emperor detachments if they wish). 

Rather than create rules in a vacuum, or just based on vague "lore", we have scoured every line of Chris Wraight's excellent novel Valdor: Birth of the Imperium for all references to the Unification Wars, and more specifically, to the Thunder Warriors, which as those familiar with VBotI will know, were actually known at the time as Legiones Cataegis. 

This initial, open beta release is meant to be used alongside the existing Age of Darkness ruleset; we have only created some Special Rules and Wargear, but you will need a copy of the Age of Darkness rulebook in order to play. 

In terms of the opponents of the Forces of Unity, i.e. the Terran Warlords or Technobarbarians, we will be releasing a single army list covering its various, idiosyncratic forces in coming months. Until then, we suggest that you use the excellent Age of Darkness Imperialis Militia rules, with its flexible Provenances of War rule, in order to recreate armies like those of Ursh or the Maulland Sen Confederacy. 

At this point you may be wondering if we're gone completely mad...play with what? There are no minis for this! Well, it turns out that there are...so long as you're open to 3D-printed models, and you have access to them, of course. For almost every single unit in our army list we have at least one recommended model, the majority of which are from the amazing Tempest Lords range by The Makers Cult. 

Since we mention recommended models, it is important to note at this stage that this is a completely non-profit project made by fans, for the fans. We will not be selling either this beta release or any future ones, nor will we sell physical books at any point. Our releases will be strictly digital, and completely free. 

The only thing we will ask for in return is that you give these rules a try with an open mind. If you like them, playtest them with a friend, and give us feedback at raceforterra@gmail.com. If you want to get involved in the project, do let us know!

To conclude, what are some of the next steps we have in mind? Well, let me see: 

• Terran Warlords Army List
• PDF releases for both Forces of Unity and Terran Warlords
• Battlescribe files
• Battle reports on The Race for Terra youtube channel
• A narrative Unification Wars 30k event (location TBC, but somewhere in Germany)

If you're still with us at this stage, thank you for reading, and have fun with the listhammering! 

-Enrique @TRFT

P.D.: the rules are all up and running - check the left-hand margin, under "Table of contents". Have fun!