Tell Me About... Battlefleet Gothic

[ElectricPaladin]

Man, I am such a game whore. My wife makes fun of me. And this time I'm not even waiting for someone else to pitch it to me - I'm bringing it on myself. It's sad, really. The thing about Battlefleet Gothic is that I can download all the rules and various game aids - everything I need except the models - for free. As I like to say, free is the new awesome.

So, tell me about Battlefleet Gothic. What's the good, the bad, and the ugly? Will I enjoy making fleets to correspond to my Blood Angels and/or Blood Ravens and/or Tau? Or will it be an expensive and lame waste of time?

[Hunter]

Man, I am such a game whore. My wife makes fun of me. And this time I'm not even waiting for someone else to pitch it to me - I'm bringing it on myself. It's sad, really. The thing about Battlefleet Gothic is that I can download all the rules and various game aids - everything I need except the models - for free. As I like to say, free is the new awesome.

So, tell me about Battlefleet Gothic. What's the good, the bad, and the ugly? Will I enjoy making fleets to correspond to my Blood Angels and/or Blood Ravens and/or Tau? Or will it be an expensive and lame waste of time?
with the box opp for a long time now , your best luck is Ebay , if not GW derect order .

unless your truly a strategic ship to ship sci-fi buff and already have someone to play with .
it going to cost an arm and a leg.

[evilamericorp]

Battlefleet Gothic is fun, but I recommend Full Thrust from Ground Zero Games (http://www.groundzerogames.net/mambo/) instead. Its rules are free to download as well, I think it the combat rules are more fun, it has rules for fully customizing your ships, and the models are a heck of a lot cheaper than BFG. Of course either game is only fun if you can find people nearby to play it with you.

[ElectricPaladin]

Thanks for the alternate recommendation, and I'll totally check it out. However, I have to admit that a lot of my interest is based on the way that BFG fits into 40k. I like the idea of planning out sweeping campaigns that could involve space battles and land battles, a la the Forgeworld Imperial Armor campaigns.

That said, what does the expense of BFG really look like? With the rulebook, codices, and game aids all free, all you need to buy are the models. Capital ships are between $20 and $60, small ships are about $15, and really small ships are $15 for a blister of three... and that's assuming I'm buying new, not beat up used models that will require stripping and repairing off eBay.

So, what's the actual cost of BFG?

[sangrail777]

I like Battlefleet Gothic. As far as building a fleet it's really not bad you can get one put together for around 100 -200 bucks. Ebay has good deals. Forge World has a really nice range if you don't mind spending the money. The ships have lots of small details on them to pick out.

[ElectricPaladin]

I like Battlefleet Gothic. As far as building a fleet it's really not bad you can get one put together for around 100 -200 bucks. Ebay has good deals. Forge World has a really nice range if you don't mind spending the money. The ships have lots of small details on them to pick out.

The ships seem so detailed that I think painting them would be a breeze... Just pick a base coat, do a little wash-and-drybrush, and then pick out the details in a secondary color or two. Easy as pie.

So, if a fleet costs $100 to $200, then the average fleet is... one or two big ships, one or two medium ships, and a blister or two of little ships? That's not bad at all...

[TheStarkLord]

bfg is a great game and good luck finding other players and the like. for the most part the ships are cheap so as some one else said 100-200 US$ is about all you will spend for one whole fleet. also the forge world stuff ends up being the same or cheaper as a lot of gw stuff for BFG so dont feel bad about going forge world for this one.
i personally have spent about 150 on my tau fleet and i havelike 2000 points which is like having 4000 points of 40k models.
i hope you enjoy the game =)

[Mr.Pickelz]

The biggest thing about BFG, from 40k, is the focus on Imperial vs Chaos. Not Space Marines vs Chaos, but Imperium. the Space marines were added in as an expensive (point cost) ally for imperial players. If you do a pure Space Marine fleet, load up on Strike Crusiers as they are good for their cost, the battlebarge may look cool, but for the points it's a waste. the Marine Escorts are good, a couple of Gladius with a hunter or two can offer some good firepower output, along with a Strike Cruiser of course. Space Marines really shine when getting into close combat, as the Bombard cannons act as short range lance batteries, also as expected Space Marines are good at bording parties and planetary attacks.

stuff to look for on Ebay are "Warp Storm" and the BFG Magazines that GW printed for a while, but are now OOP. :(


Edit: If you do Tau, look to Forge World as they not only have a completely superior range (imo) but also have the rules for such in their Tau IA book. Tau Missiles/Torpedoes are hilarious in that they can actually rotate mid-flight

[Cursed13]

Battlefleet Gothic is exactly as the name sounds, it centers around the Gothic War, during which Abaddon launched one of his many Black Crusades against the Imperium. But that's already been covered.

Although the Battlebarge may not be the greatest, I'd still use it anyway. BFG is all about the fun, and having a bunch of Bombardment Cannons is a lot of fun. Just also have a bunch of Strike Cruisers as well. The most fun fleets tend to have at least 1 Cruiser and 4 to 6 Frigates/Escorts in two squadrons. Scale up following that, for example,1 battleship, 2 cruisers, 8 to 12 frigates. That size fleet will give you a near Apocalypse size fight.

General escort tips for BFG, max out squadron sizes for gun frigates. This is necessary to get out as many shots so you'll actually get some damage with them. Lance frigates don't need this so much, even the lone lance frigate is a threat. Torpedo frigates are a lot harder to use, but way better at causing damage than the previous two. The best use for them is hiding them behind stronger ships, then risking a near suicidal run to make sure those torps hit.

I wouldn't say BFG is a great game though, its mechanics are old and clunky, but for a naval game that's also to be expected. It's entertaining enough for what it is, but it does desperately need an update which will probably never happen.

Though the Tau do have a BFG update from GW, the Forge World Tau Merchant Fleet both looks better and plays better than the GW Tau Fleet. Although for the most part, Forge World has taken over the remnants of BFG.

The Necrons also have their own small fleet, but with the new crummy Necron codex, these ships basically don't exist anymore according to Matt Ward. I really liked him too. I'm just gonna pretend the new Necron codex never happened...

The Eldar fleet is interested, I haven't played it so I don't know how they run. My fleets consist of Necrons, Space Marines and Tau Merchant Fleet. All three of these fleets are extremely fun to play and completely individual in how they operate. That's probably the best part of BFG.

The Chaos, Imperial, Tyranid and Dark Eldar fleets I've never tried either, so I can't really talk about them with any knowledge. I started BFG and no one else started playing until four years later, and at that time my fleets were buried somewhere and the fad died as quickly as it started. I never got to play more than 10 games total. So keep that in mind when considering my input.

[JMichael]

I loved playing Battlefleet Gothic and still have my Imperial, Chaos, and Eldar fleets.

Very simplified rules (as opposed to some other Space combat games), but again just plain fun!

If GW ever came out with another box set or more models, I'd buy them up in a heartbeat.

[ElectricPaladin]

So, I'm all but sold here. All I need to do is read the rules and - hopefully, though this isn't a prerequisite - find some local players. If there isn't already a scene, I can damn well make one!

Can anyone give me some tips on building Space Marine and Tau fleets?

[ElectricPaladin]

I've got a preliminary list - what do you think?

Since this game isn't very customizable, I'd like to have a firm idea of my first list before I start buying the figures.

• Emperor-Class Venerable Battlebarge w/Torpedo Tubes, Master of the Fleet (3 Re-Rolls), Terminator Boarding Party
• 2 Strike Cruisers
• 2 Defiant Class Light Cruisers w/Space Marine Captains, Honor Guard
• 6 Nova Class Frigates

To give you an idea of the armament, I've got 60cm, strength 6 port and starboard weapons batteries on the battlebarge, as well as a strength 5 dorsal battery, 6 prow torpedo tubes (optional space marine upgrade), and port and starboard launch bays capable of launching 2 thunderhawk squadrons each. The strike cruiser, of course, has a 30cm range on its port and starboard strength 4 weapons batteries and a strength 3 prow bombardment cannon, as well as launch bays for two more squadrons of thunderhawks.

Then, the kind people on DakkaDakka told me that I didn't have enough lances, so I also took the two defiant-class light cruisers. They also have port and starboard launch bays - presumably for more thunderhawks! - as well as strength 2 prow lances. The six novas also have strength 1 lances and strength 2 weapons batteries. The captains/honor guards on the defiants lets them roll on the space marine leadership table and gives them a bonus to boarding actions, which counteracts the slightly lower hull points they have for being Imperial ships.

I think the strategy with this fleet would be to fly in a wedge formation with the light cruisers and novas on the outside and the strike cruisers and battlebarge on the inside. This puts my opponent in the unfortunate position of having to chose between sparing my space marine ships - keeping them in good shape for boarding actions later - or instead, ignoring the ships with better firepower and firing on the ships who won't come into play until later. And, of course, I'll fire boarding torpedos and thunderhawks every chance I get. That said, I don't know a lot of this game, and I need to learn strategy before I really know what I'm talking about.

My biggest concern is that this list seems to favor big ships, so it probably has a low model count. I don't know if 11 is too few at 1500 points, though.

Anyway, advice?

[ElectricPaladin]

While I'm at it, a question: what has the Defiant got in its launch bays? It just says "1 squadron." Does that mean fighters, or can I put thunderbirds in there?

[ElectricPaladin]

So, there's been some new developments. I've learned some cool stuff about this BFG thing. My observations are:

1) Space Marines really need those Imperial allies and Venerable Battle Barges in order to be interesting. I don't know much about being competitive, but without mixing it up a little, the only list you can concoct is a Battlebarge, a bunch of Strike Cruisers, and then you have your pick of small escorts. I don't think that would be a weak list, but it would certainly be a boring list.

2) Apparently I can take Chaos battleships as a Venerable Battlebarge.

3) I'm unimpressed by most of the Chaos options for VBBs, other than the Planet Killer, which I'm undecided on. Chaos doesn't have a lot of fighter bays, which limits your ability to take thunderhawks. Thunderhawks - with their hit-and-run attacks and ability to survive annihilating enemy ordnance, seem to be part of the real strength of the Space Marine fleet.

I've also placed a bid for an Emperor-Class Battleship on eBay. This is the list I will build towards if I win it.

• Emperor Class Venerable Battlebarge w/Prow Torpedoes (6), Master of the Fleet (2 Re-Rolls), Terminator Boarding Party

• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser

• Dominator Class Battlecruiser w/Space Marine Captain

• Nova Class Frigate
• Nova Class Frigate
• Nova Class Frigate

On the other hand, if I don't win that bid, I might build this list instead:

• The Planet Killer Venerable Battle Barge w/Master of the Fleet (1 Re-Roll), Terminator Assault Squad

• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser

• Dictator Class Cruiser w/Space Marine Captain, Honor Guard

• Gladius Class Frigate
• Gladius Class Frigate
• Gladius Class Frigate


* * *

The first list seems like it's a lot more balanced. I have a good mix of firepower and ordnance. The big ships are a little heavier on the ordnance than sheer guns, so I chose novas frigates. It seems to me that they can really turn on the heat with their lances, especially squadded up.

The second list seems like it's a lot more problematic. It's smaller and has a lot less in the way of ordnance. Also, unlike the first list, there aren't as many vectors for the hit-and-run attacks that space marines excel at (that is, boarding torpedos and thunderhawks). However, the second list can unload a truly insane amount of sheer firepower, not to mention having a freaking Armageddon Gun.

So, I'm torn.

The outcome may be out of my hands, since I did place that bid on eBay before I realized I could take Chaos battleships, but if I lose the bidding war... I don't know. What do you think?

[JamesP]

Hi,

I put in a lengthy reply to this thread but it vanished when the Lounge went down and then got restored from a back-up that was a few days old so I don't know if you saw it. Basically it boiled down to saying that BFG is a fantastic game and the system, while it might not compare well to more modern starship combat games, is still easy to pick up, fun to play, allows a decent level of complexity and tactics and really fits with how 40k starships and space combat is meant to work. It's one of those systems that is good in itself but also matches the background of the game universe IMHO.

As for your list, I've only ever used mates' Marine fleets as I play mostly Orks and sometimes Imperials or Necrons. 'Pure' Marine fleets are still very potent and fun to play but you're right in that the variety of ships can make your fleets seem a bit bland over time.

Marine ships are tough, reliable (thanks to their Leadership), good at boarding (though it can be hard to get into position to pull off boarding actions in BFG so you can't rely on it) and their Bombardment Cannons are very nasty. Like most Imperial ships, they suffer from having shorter-range guns compared to some other fleets (such as Chaos) and aren't as fast as others (e.g. Chaos, Eldar, Dark Eldar).

Adding Imperial ships to the mix gives you a greater variety of weapons by taking different cruiser hulls. I notice you're thinking about taking a Dominator which is a nice Nova Cannon platform but its side guns are very short-ranged so hanging back and shooting doesn't make use of all of its weapons but that's the case for most Imperial Navy ships.

Re. the Emperor, unless I'm missing something it doesn't have the normal armoured prow and torpedo combination of Imperial ships and has less armour (5+) on the front and weapons batteries instead. It is an amazing carrier though and the strength of its guns plus the multiple fire arcs of its prow and dorsal batteries lets it do some serious damage, especially if you concentrate all the firepower into a single fire arc.

A lot of the BFG sites I used to visit are no longer active but you might want to take a look at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/bfg-list/ . Back in the day - he said sounding like an old git - it was very active indeed, including occasional visits from Andy Chambers, and you might find some useful stuff in the mailing list archives and the files and photos sections have a lot of good stuff in them.