Warhammer-Empire.com

Between the Battles & the Art ... => The Count's Tavern => Topic started by: Mogsam on June 30, 2010, 08:57:08 PM

Title: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Mogsam on June 30, 2010, 08:57:08 PM
Does anyone play? We are picking this up for the occasional game because we liked the models and are going to have some ackward "no one knows how to play" games. I picked up a Tau Fleet (also, FW sent them too me 1st class, ordered them yesterday and got them today. They must be soooo busy.)

Here's my Tau fleet.

Tau Commander. 50.

Protector. 190

Protector. 190

3 Castillians 150

3 Castillians 150

2 Nacassaran D-Hows 50

780.

It's a bit short since we are playing naratively so one of the ships in the fleet will be a Imperial Cruiser. It's part of the storyline.

Anyone have any advice about BFG? We haven't really gotten far yet in understanding or tacticalness. I assume Tau are a shoot from long range sort of fleet and avoid broadsides.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: BAWTRM on July 01, 2010, 05:50:19 AM
I've got an Imperial fleet, 8 Cruisers, a Battleship, 2 Light Cruisers and a host of Escorts. I had one (1) opponent whom I swapped Cruisers with but he decided to move to England a while ago so I haven't played in years!

Once I finally get my gaming table setup though I plan on introducing another friend to the game. That, or maybe A Call to Arms (Babylon 5).

I'm planning on scratchbuilding and 'counts as' fleets a lot though. I can't really afford to buy complete new fleets.

So scratchbuild Orks, Tyrranids and also Tau. I find Chaos and the Eldar races a bit trickier. Necrons should be doable though.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 01, 2010, 06:56:55 AM
I have a Space Marine Fleet.

Battle Barge

4 Strike Cruisers

2 Squadrons of 4 Novas


Tau are much more of an Ordnance fleet, since they can put out a huge number of guided missiles, which are deadly. You don't want to get up close and slug it out if you're Tau. You will be crushed.

Avoid boarding actions. Avoid being rammed. Avoid being shot. Tau are really quite squishy, but they can put out so many Mantas and missiles that it shouldn't be much of a problem. Also, download the newest FAQ and errata, as it is definitely a better game with those revisions.

Tactics wise, don't get split. Tau are better in groups. As an example, if I were playing you I would screen ahead with my Nova squadrons, and then dive my cruisers and battle barge straight for your center. If they got in among your ships then it would be pretty much over. Space Marines are a hammer. Use your speed to avoid, but don't let your escorts run off chasing other escorts. Control the movement of the game, and you will do well with Tau. Don't let Orcs or 'Nids get anywhere near you.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: BAWTRM on July 01, 2010, 10:11:29 AM
So Tau are the gunline of BFG? :icon_mrgreen:
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 01, 2010, 10:37:10 AM
No, that's Imperials. Nobody spits out more Ordnance than the imperial fleet.

Do you know how many torpedoes I've seen an Imperial player lay down? Over 50. Ridiculous.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: patsy02 on July 01, 2010, 11:35:27 AM
I lurves my torpedoes. Watch out for enemy bombing runs though. If your friend is competitive he will probably stock up on a few of them, and you'll need the fighter squadrons to compensate.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Robert Klemic on July 01, 2010, 11:51:05 AM
Actually Cannonofdoom,  Tau normally DO spit out more ordinance tokens, or at least fighters and bombers than an IN fleet.  Depending on what flavor of Tau (SG vs Forgeworld) they may very well spit out more torpedos as well. 

Remember,  the base battleship for SG tau costs 220 points and either spits out 8 F/B tokens or 4 F/B tokens and a S8 Torpedo a load and the Cruiser for 180 points spits out 2 F/B tokens and a s6 torpedo. The torpedo escort spits out a S2 a load.  Also remember that those torpedos TURN and move at a non standard rate.  I've run Adepticon's BFG tournament for the last couple years and 2 of the last 3 years were won by the same tau fleet (Armada rules using FW models as counts as).
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: BAWTRM on July 02, 2010, 06:17:49 AM
I really like those FW Tau models, far better than those SG ones!
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 02, 2010, 07:10:38 AM
I'm just going by my own experiences, as every imperial player I have played has laid down about 30-40 ordnance tokens a turn. Their B-ships with S12 loads and at least 4 cruisers with S6 loads, as well as anywhere from 6 to 12 cobras spitting out their S2's.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Feanor Fire Heart on July 02, 2010, 09:16:11 AM
I've always wanted to try this game, and would more than likley play Tau or imperials. but alas n one in my area plays and I havnt the funds.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Mogsam on July 02, 2010, 01:01:35 PM
It's dirt cheap in comparison to other GW games. I have a 1,000 points and it's cost me around £50. However, that includes:

- 2 Tau Cruisers (forge world)
- 6 Escorts (forge world)
- 1 Imperial Cruiser. (GW)
- 80cm - 80cm board. Black paint.
- New brush to paint it.
- 20p toothbrushes for flicking.
- 3 big planets and 5 little plannets.

So that's all the scenary and all the ships for £50. Split the scenary costs between two guys and it's £40 total. Dirt cheap for GW.

On a side not I really wish i'd bought the little ships from forge world!
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: BAWTRM on July 02, 2010, 01:39:46 PM
That's a small board, I like playing on a full 6'x4'.

Edit: I've even got this black almost satin like sheet to cover the table with.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Mogsam on July 02, 2010, 01:43:27 PM
We are only just learning to play anyway. When we get better I can easily add another board onto the side. How small are the bomber models? Are they tiny?
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 02, 2010, 02:56:22 PM
They are tiny. I got thunderhawks from forgeworld, and they are bigger than the bombers, and I could put 4 of them on a 20mm base if I wanted.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Feanor Fire Heart on July 02, 2010, 10:29:40 PM
how much is the rules and models? US$ wise
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Aldaris on July 02, 2010, 10:37:51 PM
The rules are free to download on the GW site, and the models depend on the fleet you want. Chaos and Imperial Navy are pretty much the cheapest factions money-wise (because the cruisers are plastic). I got 2 1000 points fleets for less than 100 pounds.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Mogsam on July 02, 2010, 10:56:03 PM
The Tau fleet was only £32 including postage for 750 points. With another set of cruisers you could be higher than 1000 for £47. Ironically the Tau FW cruisers were cheaper than their Imperial GW counterparts.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: GamesPoet on July 03, 2010, 11:01:24 AM
Glad Mogs started this thread.  I'm now intrigued enough to eventually look into getting a fleet and giving this game a try. :icon_cool:
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 11:56:20 AM
Sadly, my Chaos fleet has only fought one action since I got them half a year ago, in which they thoroughly kicked the stuffing out of their Imperial Navy opponents. BFG is a fun game to be sure.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Michael W on July 03, 2010, 12:03:18 PM
Wow, I haven't played BFG in ages...there's a Space Marine fleet with Imperial allies rotting in a box somewhere around here though.  I do remember having a fair amount of fun with it...unless I was dealing with Eldar.  An enemy who can literally run rings around you is a difficult one to defeat.  The game rewards maneuverability just as much as armour and firepower.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Mogsam on July 03, 2010, 12:47:13 PM
I promised Whitey some pictures so here they are. Please bare in mind the only thing finished is the one terrian planet! The rest are as far as i've gotten in 2 days.

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/S8300474.jpg)

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/S8300469.jpg)

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/S8300470.jpg)

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/S8300473.jpg)

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/S8300475.jpg)
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic.
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 12:49:23 PM
That planet looks great, and I like the color scheme of your Tau. Looks like a very promising start!
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: patsy02 on July 03, 2010, 03:32:24 PM
I made a planet and a moon like that once. It looks good but they tip over easily and you can't fly across them, which is a pain sometimes.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Mogsam on July 03, 2010, 09:24:07 PM
I'm going to weigh down their bases when i'm done. The planet doesn't look too bad from a distance, I figure it'll never look good up close. Polystyrene balls are a bit shit like that.

How can I make the colour scheme more interesting? They aren't exactly thrilling looking.

Also, totally accidently bought 10 fighters and 8 bombers of FW today.  :icon_redface:  Though the fighters are Orc ones. I like the idea of a dependant race being the fighter pilots.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 09:28:32 PM
Some yellow stripes perhaps for contrast? Or a bright red?
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: rufus sparkfire on July 03, 2010, 10:21:11 PM
Hey, those look nice. Great space ships.

What small planets they have in 40K land.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 10:29:45 PM
What small planets they have in 40K land.
They do say in the rulebook that the ships are not to any scale -  their actual position in space is indicated by the bases stem.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: rufus sparkfire on July 03, 2010, 10:31:25 PM
Hey, that's a tremendous surprise.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 10:34:17 PM
I guess I had that coming.
 :blush:
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: rufus sparkfire on July 03, 2010, 10:35:24 PM
Sorry. What an unpleasant person I am.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Mogsam on July 03, 2010, 10:42:33 PM
I did consider painting a football but that'd still be way too huge. Darn.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Aldaris on July 03, 2010, 10:46:18 PM
On the other hand, in 40K it might as well be to scale...
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Merrick on July 04, 2010, 02:00:53 AM
Dude, your fleet is in the same colour scheme as my Tau 40k army.  :icon_neutral: THIEF.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 04, 2010, 07:14:13 AM
I'm going to weigh down their bases when i'm done. The planet doesn't look too bad from a distance, I figure it'll never look good up close. Polystyrene balls are a bit shit like that.

I buy plastic ornament balls from Hobby Lobby (Christmas type) They are clear plastic, and come in two pieces. so I paint them on the inside, which protects the paint. Looks better than poly foam.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Mogsam on July 04, 2010, 03:57:39 PM
That's totally going to be an American store. Ours don't rhyme so hard.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Nicholas Bies on July 04, 2010, 05:00:09 PM
That's totally going to be an American store. Ours don't rhyme so hard.

hahah

FYI I'm currently DLing steam so we can chat again, should play a game now I think of it.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Mogsam on July 08, 2010, 05:49:58 PM
I played my first BFG game today. Will post a report up later!
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures!*
Post by: Mogsam on July 08, 2010, 08:54:02 PM
Battle report! Tau vs Imperial Navy!

Fleet Lists:

Tau. - 1 Protector 190. 4 Castillian Escorts 200. Dhow 25. 415.

IN. - 1 Lunar Class Cruiser. 180 1 Gothic Class Cruiser. 185 3 Sword. 105  470

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/Deployment.png)

Deployment! My Protector is the biggest blue dot. The Dhow is the red dot and the Castillians are the smaller dots.

The two large dots are the Cruisers. Since it didn't really matter I haven't differentiated them.

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/turnone.png)

Both fleets move up, Willx moves his at full speed whilst my fleet moves the minimum distance and launches all it's ordinance. (the white lines are torpedos) Between them they launch 10 torpedoes at the Imperial scum! The turn ends relatively quickly.

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/turntwo.png)

Again Willx moves up as fast as possible to get within range of my fleet. Whilst one escort manages to destroy the torpedos of the opposing escort the Protectors torpedos strike home three times and utterly destroy the escort. The missiles continue through the escort and land a lucky hit on the cruiser following them. It gets a critical hit and wipes out the shields!

The other two escorts torpedo get 3 hits on the second cruiser nearly crippling it!

The Protector reloads its ordinance but the rest of the fleet fail their orders test.

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/turnthree.png)

A terrible second turn was promptly followed by an even worse turn three. The swords guns batter the closest Castellan and do no damage. Unfortunately the Castellan destroys it straight after. The imperial cruisers slowly work their way through all the blast markers and launch torpedos but Protector simply moves out of the way in my turn. To be more insulting it then throws destroys the remaining escort with its railguns and causes two more hits on the closest cruiser.

(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/mogsam_moogle/turnfour.png)

At this point my opponant quits. I've had obscene luck and managed to effectively ruin his fleet before he could even get close enough to take me on. I'm terrifically impressed by my fleet, they through out lots of attacks and took down the distractions in their stride! Looking foward to my next game.

Also, paint is still awesome.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: rufus sparkfire on July 08, 2010, 09:42:53 PM
Awesome report. I think I played a computer game that looked like that once.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Inarticulate on July 08, 2010, 09:49:28 PM
Wow, I heard Tau have awesome ordinance but that is madness.

Plus for unknown reasons the FW Tau fleet is cheaper than the GW one.

Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Mogsam on July 08, 2010, 09:51:24 PM
There was alot of luck involved to be fair. Rolled at least 8 sixes to damage the ships. But the whole changing course of torpedos during flight thing is awesome.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 08, 2010, 10:02:18 PM
He should have launched his torpedoes earlier to split your fleet. Also, he needs fighters. Never fight Tau without fighters.

He also should have squadroned his cruisers so that they could share turrets when those missiles hit.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Mogsam on July 08, 2010, 10:26:12 PM
They were squadroned. That's how one survived a direct hit by two torpedos. The other mostly hoped to take the brunt on behalf of the cruiser. Blew them out of the watersky.

We came to that conclusion about the fighters. At one point I launched bombers and they helped take out one of the escorts. The next cruiser he's getting is a Jayclon or something. It's basically a big carrier cruiser.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: GamesPoet on July 09, 2010, 02:52:03 AM
Good to see a report on one of these, and it was doen well. :icon_cool: :eusa_clap:
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 09, 2010, 06:48:06 AM
Ah. You must have simply rolled a lot of 6's then.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Feanor Fire Heart on July 09, 2010, 06:54:17 AM
im  confused, some of the ships on FW are not present in the pdfs at GW's site. :icon_neutral:
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Cannonofdoom on July 09, 2010, 06:58:55 AM
im  confused, some of the ships on FW are not present in the pdfs at GW's site. :icon_neutral:

That's because Forge World makes shit up as they go along!
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Mogsam on July 09, 2010, 07:58:07 AM
im  confused, some of the ships on FW are not present in the pdfs at GW's site. :icon_neutral:

The Tau proper official FW rules are in the Imperial Armour book. Which I don't have. But my friend does so it's ok.

The other non official free fleets (which you need anyway since the FW book tells you sod all about the weapons and special rules) are googleable. Or I could send them too you.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: Inarticulate on July 09, 2010, 03:07:32 PM
I have the FW Tau Fleet rules on pdf. Though I'm pretty sure you can download them from the FW website.
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: patsy02 on July 11, 2010, 11:51:20 AM
Quote
Awesome report. I think I played a computer game that looked like that once.

Galcon?

(http://www.casualexplosion.com/images/strategy/galcon/galcon1.jpg)
Title: Re: Battle Fleet Gothic. *Now with pictures! and a battle report*
Post by: rufus sparkfire on July 11, 2010, 10:07:25 PM
Could be!