BFG FAQ 2010 Fleet Specific Questions

[Vaaish]

I think we've gone on enough about this but if following the rules is unreasonable, so be it. Regardless if the bit is universal, the rules that allows access to the upgrade are not. They are very specifically placed in the gothic list itself as a note on the list and no other list mentions the upgrade. It's invalid to base an argument on the availability of a piece in a kit as a reason to allow the upgrade in lists where it is not found. By the rules we have we cannot assume that the access to the power ram is universal. It may well be that the particular forges which supply the gothic fleet favor the power ram while those in other sectors do not. Whatever the reason, we don't have the option listed elsewhere and by what we have, we can't take them unless we make a house rule or the HA rules to allow the rams in all fleets.

[russ_c]

Imperial Power Ram: The Power Ram may be taken by any Imperial capital ship with a 6+ prow unless it has a Nova Cannon.

Thanks for this inclusion Ray, but can you please also rule on the legality of Power Rams outside of the Gothic fleet?  For the very least it will settle Zelnik and Vaaish!

Russ

[trynerror]

Why don´t Orks have a power ram ?

[Zelnik]

trynerror: 'Cause Ork's don' need no stinky shiny spikey fing on da front to ram a git!

russ_c

That ruling just solved the issue actually.  It says clearly "any imperial capital ship"

Can we move on to the Endeavor and it's variants now?

[RayB HA]

I’m not feeling in top shape at the moment, one of my house mates gave me an illness so if my answers sound fevered or more crazy than usual, that will probably be why.

My enthusiasm got the better of me. I’m not going to push the following:
Changes to points in the Nid evolutions table.
Changes to the CWE Shadow Hunter (any change is too radical for an FAQ).

Power Ram: This should be available for all IN fleets, it was just forgotten. I thought it was clear but I’ve added another sentence to be super clear.
Orks do have a power Ram: imagine their +2 hits over the 8 norm as Ork shields (that have to be ‘repaired’) and a boarding/ramming bonus.
 

Zelnik,

The Endeavour and its variants don’t and shouldn’t have a 6+ prow.


Commx,

I realise my answer to your Ramilies question is slightly different, I’ll highlight this one for the HA.

Transport variants were only intended for use with the convoy scenario but I’ll bring this up.

Special torps are fine as they are. Most will only take them if they have a few spare points but that’s alright.

Orbital mines can be monsters! Once you get within 10cm you can choose targets if you can place your ship correctly. I’ve seen a Dictator Dauntless combi kill a chaos cruiser outright with this! (granted, the BFI saves were lacking). 

AM questions, nice! Damn, I was sure that refit sentence got sorted out!!! The ‘meaning’ should have been deleted!

AM escorts don’t get the extra turret, it is stated that their profiles are unmodified, but that is quite hidden though.


Don Gusto,

Thanks for the proof reading!

Warp Cannons don’t ignore BFI.

[Commx]

Hey there,

I just had another look at the Fighta-Bommerz example, and it is still conflicting one of your own rulings - this time the one directly beneath it. The latter states that Fighta-Bommerz needs to choose between providing Turret Suppression and making actual Attack Runs, whilst the example clearly shows them doing both at the same time. Which of these is the correct one?

[RayB HA]

Commx,

This is in addition to the +3, So, only handy against ships with 4 or more turrets.

Cheers,

RayB

[horizon]

Hi Ray,

at Port Maw I've written that special torps are plain useless. (check the special torpedo threads).

Why no 6+ prow on the Voss Light Cruisers? As it stands they are quite poor. Only the Endeavour being somewhat of an effect and the Defiant utter and pure crap (from experience).

[Caine-HoA]

I find it strange that the Voss light cruisers are slower than a chaos standard cruiser. Thats what disturbs me most on their profile even though i think horizon is correct that at the moment at least the Endurance and Defiant are not worth their points.


And a Question:

Is it possible to use a venerable Battlebarge in the Amageddon Fleet List? As all other space marine vessels can be used and the VBB was introduced after creating the Armageddon List i wondered if that is possible. And it would be very cool to be able to use my custom made VBB in my list.

[Vaaish]

I think special torpedoes would be fun if the random mechanic were removed. It would give you something to take for those times when you have a few free points and no ships to fit into them.

[Caine-HoA]

@special torpedoes

Maybe there could be a rule that cancels the random but only one ship per 500 or 1000 points can have special torpedos that would recude the "all vortex" danger.

[Zelnik]

I need to make a point.

I have currently 12 ships as part of my Segmentum Solar Fleet.

6 are Endeavors, 3 are Endurances, 3 are Defiants.
They even have the fancy custom made Voss prows attached (made from resin, done by an awesome guy in the UK, who was nice enough to sell them to me for cheap)

To say that i have used them extensively would be a drastic understatement, and I use 2 endeavors and 1 endurance in my 1500 Seg Solar tournament fleet.


So when I say that these ships are woefully underpowered, I mean it.

Compared to the Dauntless, these ships are over-priced.  While I do not agree fully with Horizon (I rather like the Defiant), I do agree that these ships would do well to justify their increased cost with a 6+ prow.  YES this means that they would be able to use a ram spike, but if you look at the ORIGINAL models, AND the artwork in the book, they actually are BUILT with ram spikes.

I would like to know why you think they are not deserving of a relatively small change. It's not like we are making their weapons or torpedo's stronger, nor making them any faster.  Really all it does is increase their longevity on the table.

If anything, we can make the 6+ prow an upgrade for +5 points or so.

[Don Gusto]

at Port Maw I've written that special torps are plain useless. (check the special torpedo threads).

I disagree.
Short Burn, Melta and Vortex Torpedoes are well worth their points (especially with the ruling on fire criticals), Barrage Bombs are not. The other two are nice but just gimmicks.
With the random generation you have a 50% chance of getting something useful for you points, I think that's ok.

Maybe there could be a rule that cancels the random but only one ship per 500 or 1000 points can have special torpedos that would recude the "all vortex" danger.

But the torpedoes used would probably still all be vortex. If you could choose the type, they would need separate points costs.

[Zelnik]

On the note of spec. torps.

They really are not meant to be "mainstream" weapons, just things to use to fill in points if you have them.  You run the risk of getting something rather useless, but if you roll that 5 or 6, your enemy suddenly has hell to pay for underestimating them.

Leave em as they are.

[RayB HA]

Special torps are only really there to add a little character and burn extra points. They won't change.

The Endeavour and its variants are supposed to be worse than the Dauntless and as such cheaper (about 100pts each). It's ram spike is purely cosmetic.

***The Defiant got those damn lances! Something which I hate! It should have stayed as 2wb's and 2 torps. All of them at 100pts. The fear of it being too ordy heavy spawned those... lances. Either way they won't change in this FAQ.

5pts is way too cheap for a 6+ prow. 20pts maybe, but it should be a percential upgrade.

Cheers,

RayB