Inside the virtual space, the framework for the new campaign "Death Hive" gradually took shape.
Medici examined the two distinctly different factions, realizing that traditional symmetrical combat wouldn't work here.
He needed gameplay that better captured each side's characteristics and narrative tension.
"Since both factions are defined by sheer numbers," Medici analyzed, "this time the core gameplay will build on siege warfare with asymmetric design."
He began sketching out the campaign's overall structure:
"Attacking side: the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus."
"Their objective is clear: breach the hive's upper ruins, conducting what's essentially a deadly archaeological military operation, breaking through layer by layer downward until they reach the core area at the hive's lowest depths occupied by the Genestealer Cult, and successfully secure the STC fragment.
The entire process is a targeted elimination and advance with a clear goal, yet fraught with unknown dangers."
"Defending side: the Genestealer Cult."
"Their objective carries more survival and infiltration elements: leverage their familiarity with the hive's complex environment to conduct flexible guerrilla warfare across the entire map (spanning upper, middle, and lower levels).
They don't need to hold any fixed position; instead, they must stall for a full two hours. Time itself is their weapon."
This asymmetric objective design immediately filled the campaign with variables.
The Skitarii needed to comb through every corner methodically like running a fine-tooth comb through hair, preventing ambushes, while the Genestealer Cult could strike from anywhere, hit and run, constantly whittling down the attackers' forces.
But Medici didn't intend to let the campaign rest on its initial setup alone.
He planned to introduce dynamic, battle-changing phase events that would push the narrative toward its climax.
"When the Genestealer Cult successfully drags the battle out to two hours," Medici's voice took on the cold edge of cosmic scale, "it means their summoning signal has been answered."
The scene simulated the space beyond the hive, where against the pitch-black cosmic backdrop, a massive, twisted fleet composed of biomass materialized like a nightmare, its shadow engulfing the entire planet.
"At that point, the battlefield enters the 'Hive Fleet Arrival' phase."
• Massive Tyranid Deployment: Powerful Tyranid bio-units like Executioner and Tyranid Warriors will periodically drop as elite enemies into different battlefield zones, launching devastating assaults on the Skitarii lines.
• Frenzy Buff: Sensing the main fleet's approach, all Genestealer Cult units gain a powerful enhancement called 'Hive Mind's Will': increased movement and attack speed, amplified damage, and greatly heightened resistance to mind-control effects. They'll transform from lurking hunters into a frenzied tide of destruction.
This would be the Genestealer Cult's power spike, the ultimate test of the Skitarii players' command and adaptability.
However, the Adeptus Mechanicus wasn't without a trump card. Medici designed an ultimate comeback mechanism for the attacking side as well.
"When the Skitarii forces, starting at 50,000 strong, are ground down through brutal attrition to their last 10,000," Medici's tone filled with reverence for grand war machines, "this triggers the Mechanicus's final contingency protocol. They are absolutely determined to recover this STC fragment."
The scene simulated the hive's upper dome being violently torn apart by an irresistible force, dust rising like a mushroom cloud.
"Final Offensive: Arrival of the God-Machine!"
• Warhound-class Titan Joins the Battle: A war machine like a walking mountain, a Warhound-class scout Titan, will join the Skitarii ranks with earth-shaking strides. Armed with devastating Inferno Cannons and turbo-lasers, its firepower can instantly vaporize small Genestealer Cult clusters and even engage the airdropped massive Tyranid beasts head-on. The Titan's appearance will completely shift the battlefield's power balance, becoming the invincible spearhead for the Skitarii to pierce the enemy's final defenses.
"Its objective is clear: at any cost, cover the surviving Skitarii, eliminate all obstacles on the path to the STC fragment, and complete the recovery mission."
Cortana faithfully recorded every instruction, backend servers running at full capacity, massive data streams flowing without cease.
The new hive map was generated in meticulous detail, from the upper levels' shattered cityscape exposed beneath a false sky, to the middle levels' labyrinthine pipes and abandoned factories, down to the lower depths' dark, damp tunnels covered in biological creep.
All unit models, animations, and skill data for both the Genestealer Cult and Skitarii were rapidly constructed, balanced, and implemented.
Complex AI behavior trees were coded to ensure the hybrid swarm's wave attacks, the servitors' cold advance, and commander units' tactical commands would execute smoothly.
"The Warhound Titan's model and animation modules get top resource priority. Must ensure maximum impact and presence when it enters the field," Medici emphasized.
He gazed at the gradually materializing "Death Hive" scenario, several times more complex and grand than the Tival campaign, and nodded with satisfaction.
This time, players wouldn't merely be participants but commanders in this grand, dark, and utterly epic struggle for racial survival.
Through desperate defense and relentless advance, they would experience firsthand the unique, suffocating brutality and magnificence of the Warhammer 40K universe.
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