The Rules Directory only works if you help. Write a review. Get the review template here.

TITLE: Battlefleet Gothic

AUTHOR: Andy Chambers

PUBLISHER: Games wORKSHOP

PUBLICATION DATE: ?

WEB SITE/SUPPORT FORUM:

• Home Page: http://us.games-workshop.com/games/bfg/default.htm
• Support Forum: http://forum.specialist-games.com/default.asp
• Fan Site: http://www.portmaw.com/news.php

PRICE (with date): $40.00 (in 2008)

REVIEWED BY: Mark “Extra Crispy” Severin

PERIOD COVERED: Space Combat (41^st Century)

THE BOOK: Battlefleet Gothic (BG) features the usual very high production values we associate with a Games Workshop product. The book weighs in at 160 pages with a color cover, and extensive artwork throughout. There is a color section on “The Art of Ship Building” with photos and painting techniques, etc. The rules themselves run 39 pages with the remainder fo the book taken up by tutorials, army lists and scenarios.

SCOPE: This is a tactical game of space combat.

ARMY SIZE: In Battlefleet Gothic (BG) the size of your fleet is entirely up to you. Six ships per player would certainly give a good game.

BASE UNIT: In BG the base unit is the individual ship. They may be organized into squadrons or not.

GAME SCALES:

• Ground scale: Not stated, though 1cm=hundred or thousands of kilometers
• Time scale: Not stated, estimated at a few minutes
• Figure/Base Ratio: 1 figure = 1 ship
• Recommended Figure size: Official BG miniatures from Games Workshop (estimated at 1:6000 scale) but any space ship miniatures would work.
• Table Size: 4’ x 6’ recommended.
• Game Length: 1-3 hours

BASING SIZES: Ships are to be mounted on flying-stands but base sizes are unimportant – whatever size is needed to support the model will work fine.

TURN SEQUENCE:

In BG the turn sequence is a standard I-Go-You-Go :

• Initiative: Each player rolls a D6 to determine who moves first
• Movement Phase: The first player moves all his ships
• Shooting Phase: The first player fires all his weapons at his opponent
• Second Player: The second payer now performs movement and shooting
• Ordnance Phase: Both players move ordnance markers (such as torpedoes and fighters)
• End Phase: Player remove certain markers and attempt to repair damage to their ships.

GAME MECHANICS:

Dice Used: BG uses 6 sided dice and one specialty “scatter” die.

Movement: Movement in BG is relatively straightforward. Ships move in a straight line and must move at least ½ speed. During movement each ship may make one turn. Depending on the type of ship, it will be required to travel a certain minimum distance in a straight line before it can turn. A cruiser, for example, must move 10cm before it can execute a turn. In addition, each ship has a rating which determines how far it may turn (45 or 90 degrees) in one turn. There are exceptions to these if a ship executes a special order by passing a Command Check (see below).

Combat: Combat is likewise a simple and deadly affair. Target priority is simple requiring ships to fire at the closest enemy unless executing a special order (see below). Looking at one’s ship data, you add up the firepower of all weapons firing. You then consult the gunnery table. The table takes into account range, target type, firepower and target orientation. The table yields a number which is the number of dice rolled to score hits. For every die rolled that equals or exceeds the target’s armor rating a hit is scored. Each ship may take a number of hits before being destroyed. Furthermore, shields – if present – each absorb one hit per shooting phase. Cruisers typically have 8 hits and battleships 12. In addition, for every hit scored, a die is rolled. If a 6 is rolled a critical hit has been obtained and the Critical Hit table consulted. There are three exceptions to this procedure:

• Lance Weapons: Lances roll a die for each point of strength, with a 4, 5 or 6 resulting in a hit.
• Nova Cannon: Nova cannon are an area effect weapon. A simple scatter test is performed and the template’s final location determined. All ships in the template then take hits.
• Ordnance: Ordnance – including torpedoes and fighters – are launched in the shooting phase, but move and attack in the ordnance phase.

Ordnance: Ordnance are launched in the shooting phase but move and attack in the ordnance phase. They do not use the gunnery table. Instead each ordnance type has a specific attack it carries out hen it reaches a target. Attacks can be limited by both armor and certain type of defenses.

Special Orders & Leadership Tests: BG features a number of Special Orders. These allow a ship to override or modify the basic rules. In each case, to perform a special order a ship must make a Command Check. It rolls 2 dice and if the result is equal to or less than its Leadership value it may execute the special order. However, if it fails not only may it not execute the special order, but no other ships may attempt to execute one for the remainder of the turn! The six special orders are:

• All Ahead Full: The ship moves an extra 4D6 but may not turn and loses firepower.
• Come to New Heading: The ship may turn twice but fires at reduced firepower.
• Burn Retros: The ship reduces momentum allowing for tighter turns but fires at reduced strength.
• Lock On: The ship may not turn but re-rolls all To Hit dice that missed.
• Reload Ordnance
• Brace for Impact: The ship will brace for impact to gain a saving throw against hits scored by the enemy.

Advanced Rules: BG includes a few advanced rules. These cover Ramming; Disengaging from Combat; Boarding Actions; Hit-and-Run Attacks and Squadrons. The Squadron rules allow groups of smaller ships to fight as coordinated squadrons firing together, etc.

ARMY LISTS/SCENARIOS:

As is almost always the case with Games Workshop products the armies (in this case fleets) are points based. The book includes extensive fleet lists for the factions fro their Warhammer 40k game

Fleet Lists Included:

• Ships of the Gothic Sector (Segmentum Obscurus)
• Abaddon’s Warfleet (Chaos Incursion)
• Eldar Corsairs
• Ork Pirates  (Cyclops Cluster)
• Planetary Defences – Gothic Sector

There are ten scenarios included, each designed to be “generic” in the sense that each scenario gives general parameters rather than specific orders of battle. The scenario “Cruiser Clash,” for example, specifies each force is from 1-4 cruisers. No ship may be worth more than 185 points. The scenarios include set-up, victory conditions etc. There is also a scenario-generator for playing random battles.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS:

As with most Games Workshop books, Battlefleet Gothic is very well written and edited. There are plenty of illustrations and diagrams of play; rules are spelled out with a minimum of jargon or acronyms; the rules are also concise enough that the lack of an index is not an issue. Further it is filled with plenty of photos and artwork to inspire (though I admit I don’t care for a lot of the BG minis much myself).

PLAYER’S COMMENTS:

Not played.

To read comments by others or leave one yourself, please click here.

[Home] [15mm World] [Reviews Home] [How To] [Beginners Guide] [Gamer's World] [Spanner & The Yank] [Points of View] [The Annex] [Links] [Say Howdy] [Corporate Schill] [Rules Directory]