Additional Rules
Battlelfleet Gothic - General
Frequently Asked Questions
Fleet Selection
Special Orders
Movement
Firing and Weapons
Blast Markers
Ordnance
Boarding Actions
Celestial Phenomena
Ships and Models
The Rule Book
|
Notes
Every so often, half way through a game, you will find an item or situation which doesn't seem to be covered by
the rules, or where the rules are ambiguous. This page exists to clarify these points. If you have any clarifications
or ammendments that you think would be interesting or useful then feel free to send them in to me at:
cybershadow@epic40k.co.uk.
This page is also compiled with the questions and comments that have been raised on the BFG Mailing list, and so while
they are not official, they are generally regarded as a good solution. My thanks go to the members of the list for allowing
me to reprint details here.
|
Fleet Selection
|
How many of the ship upgrades from the blue book can I take for my fleet?
This depends a lot on who you are playing. Generally, taking upgrades for named ships is acceptable, if they are
taken for the specific ship, or for a ship which is 'unknown' - ie the same upgrade being applied to another vessel.
Unnamed upgradeas can be taken by pretty much any ship (although, again, I would not recommend this if you are using a
specific, named ship). The number of upgrades allowed is unrestricted, but if more than
half of your vessels have upgrades then you need to look again at your fleet and why you need to take them in
the first place.
|
Are there any restirctions for Chaos Fleet Commanders taking Marks of Chaos?
This is not as simple as it sounds. Technically, there are no restrictions at all, and in theory a commander may
take all four Marks of Chaos, if you want to pay the points for them. Also, it is possible to have a Khorne fleet
(however you want to determine that) and take the Mark of Slaanesh. However, opposite powers tend not to get on
at all (at least in early versions of 40K) and so I would recommend that you dont to take both Nurgle and
Tzeentch in the same fleet, and that you also dont take both Khorne and Slaanesh in the same fleet - although taking
Nurgle and Khorne is fine, especially if they are for different Commanders. It is most usual to have a single Mark
of Chaos for each Warmaster or Lord.
|
Top of Page
|
Special Orders
|
Given that Ork Roks are classified as defences (which may only use the Reload order), and that
the rules sections for them does not mention all of the special orders in the game, can Roks (and for
that matter Hulks) use Brace For Impact and Lock On orders? Would they be regarded as a defence
or a ship for these orders?
It seems reasonable to treat Ork Roks as ships for these orders, as they are not static. You should therefore
also ignore the defence rule stating that D6 blast markers are removed from the base, and instead use the
rules for blast markers affecting other ships.
|
If my ship fails a command check, for example to Lock On, can it then attempt to disengage? For that
matter, even if it had passed and was on a special order, could it attempt to disengage?
Yes, after failing a command check, a ship may still attempt to disengage from combat, and it may also
disengage if it is already on a special order.
|
If a ship fails its command check, can it still be placed on special orders which are automatic? For example,
if my Ork Kroozer fails its Come To New Heading command check, can it still go on All Ahead Full, which is
allowed without a command check for Orks?
The simple solution to this is to declare all the automatic special orders before any actual command checks
are declared and other special orders are rolled for. In the above example, all Ork ships going on All Ahead Full
orders are declared first. A side step? Probably.
|
What is the difference between a command check and a leadership test? Are they the same thing?
No. A command check is used whenever a ship attempts a special order. If a command check is failed by any
ship in a fleet, no other command checks may be made for the fleet. In contrast, a leadershp test, while performed
exactly the same way, deals with events affecting a single ship (while a special order can be said to affect the
fleet as a whole and is due to orders from the fleet commander), such as targeting a ship which is not the closest.
A failed leadership test does not affect any further command checks or leadership tests. Also, note that the
test for Brace For Impact is a leadership test, not a command check.
|
One of my cruisers was a victim of being too close to an exploding vessel. The ship suffered a catastrophic
explosion and my ship was caught in the blast. Can I Brace For Impact to limit the damage from this kind of
thing?
Yes. The power overload levels would be very obvious to everyone, and the ships would have a short time
to prepare - at least as long as they would if they were being fired upon by a lance battery from an enemy
ship.
|
Top of Page
|
Movement
|
A crippled cruiser moves 15cm, but must move through a blast marker, further reducing its movement by
5cm. Can it still turn, and can it use the Come To New Heading special order?
Since the cruiser is still able to move its minimum distance of 10cm, it may make this move and turn at
the end. It cannot get the benefit of Come To New Heading as the second turn must be taken after the second
10cm move, which the cruiser cannot make.
|
At certain times in the game, ships will collide, for example if another ship is within the minimum move
distance of my cruiser and I have already failed a command check and so cannot give it Burn Retros. What
happens?
Collisions actually dont happen unless they are intended, and it is impossible for two ships to accidently
collide. In the example above, the two ships may actually be far apart, with one much 'higher' (whatever this
means in space) than the other.
|
Top of Page
|
Firing and Weapons
|
How does the Eldar Holofield save against the Nova Cannon?
Ah, a classic! The Holofield disrupts targetting. Therefore the Eldar player gets a single roll to avoid the shot. If
this fails then the shot hits as normal and D6 damage is scored.
|
If an Imperial Cruiser is on a Special Order which halves firepower, can it fire its Nova Cannon?
Umm, no. Next question please.
|
I have a squadron of Hemlocks on the same Special Order, halving their firepower. Rounding down gives them zero
firepower, rounding up gives them no disadvantages, now what?
Add the total, normal firepower of the squadron and then half it for the effects of the Special Order.
|
My cruiser is reduced to a drifting hulk when it is fired upon again and the result of the catastrophic
damage is again a drifting hulk. Does this stand, or do I now apply the next highest result on the damage
table as this one is not applicable?
Firstly, I should clarify that if a hulk is fired upon then you roll again for each set of further attacks that are
made against it. So, a weapon battery attack means roll again, no matter what the actual strength of the
battery. The only extra result of attacking a hulk in this way is that you might get a different result on the
catastrophic damage table, so the new result stands. So, to answer your question, the hulk would stay
drifting. Additionally, it is possible for a drifting hulk to get hit, become a burning hulk, get hit again, become
a drifting hulk (the fires go out), and then get hit once again and explode.
|
Top of Page
|
Blast Markers
|
When a ship takes a blast marker, where is that marker placed on the base?
In most cases, it does not affect the game where the markers are placed. However, by convention, the first marker
is placed on the targets base in the firing line, and subsequent markers are placed around the base to either side,
eeach one touching an existing marker as well as the targets base.
|
An Eldar ship is hit in the shooting phase, leaving a blast marker. Does it now have to roll for damage as it
moves, even if the marker is not in its front arc?
Yes. Blast markers represent expanding clouds of super-heated gases, and are not as local as they appear. The Eldar
ship is still enveloped in the blast marker, whatever way it moves off. However, each ship need only make one test per
turn when it enters or leaves any number of blast markers (and so speed is also only reduced once).
|
OK, what about other ships? My Cruiser has full shields and takes two hits, knocking down both shields and leaving
blast markers. It now moves off, and through the blast markers. Does it take damage?
Ah, no. Since the ship had shields initially it does not roll for damage as it leaves. Ships with conventional shields
only roll for blast marker damage if they have their shields destroyed. Eldar ships, having no physical shields, roll
for damage as if they had their shields destroyed.
|
What needs to pass through the blast marker to count for damage rolls, the base stem, or the base foot?
While the base stem more accurately represents the location of the ship, markers cannot really be placed touching the
stem. Since the blast marker is also a representation of a gas cloud, the foot of the base is treated as the ship for
contact purposes.
|
My Carrier takes hits, resulting in blast markers, and then launches attack craft. Do they roll for damage from
the blast markers?
Attack craft launched from a ship with blast markers in contact manage to avoid the effects of the blasts. If they pass
through a blast marker in the turn that they launch that is not in contact with the carrier, they roll for blast
marker damage as normal. Also, many players add the rule that if the carriers base is completely surrounded by
blast markers then the newly launched attack craft are not able to avoid their effects. In theory, the entire ship
is enveloped by the blasts allowing no safe passage for the craft.
|
A cruiser takes two hits, resulting in two blast markers and two shields down. The same attacking
vessel then shoots a second time, does it count as shooting through the blast markers that it just created?
Yes, it must shoot through the blast markers, which is a good reason to fire your weapons batteries before
your lances!
|
Top of Page
|
Ordnance
|
A torpedoe salvo strikes a squadron of Escorts, is this resolved against the squadron as a unit, or against each
ship in turn?
This is one of the few times when a squadron of Escorts are hit individually. Resolve the torpedo attack against the
Escorts one at a time, with the torpedoes passing through each ship to hit the next in the squadron.
|
Resolving bomber attacks against ships, how exactly is this done?
There seems to be some confusion about this, so here is the procedure:
- As the bombers hit the ships base, the defending ship gets its turret attacks.
- Roll a dice for each surviving bomber wing and take the number of turrets off each dice. So rolls of 1, 3 and 6 against
a ship with 2 turrets means results of 0, 1 and 4, making a total of 5.
- This is the total number of attacks, 5 in the above example. Roll this number of dice as attacks against the lowest
armour value of the attacked ship.
|
Can you combine launched attack wings from different ships into a single wave, to minimise a ships
defences?
You are able to do this if the carrier ships in question are in base contact. In other situations the waves must
attack seperately. However, remember that if a single wing is hit by a ships weapons, the entire wave is
destroyed, no matter how many wings it contains.
|
Does the Space Marine Bombardment Cannon need to roll a 4+ to hit ordnance as with other targets, or
does it need a six as indicated in the Blue Book and as normal for ordnance?
Warp Storm states that the Bombardment Cannon hits anything on a 4+, and this would include ordnance.
|
Top of Page
|
Boarding Actions
|
How do the klaws of the Ork ship the Gouga (from Armageddon) function, does it count as a boarding
actions and does the enemy ship get turret defences against it? And for that matter, if it does not count
as a boarding action, can the Ork vessel make a second boarding action in the same phase?
This caused a bit of confusion, and we ended up with two versions for this. So, I will put both out here. If you
have any opinions on which seems most logical, feel free to let me know.
Version One:
- Stage one is closing with the klaws. The Gouga moves into base contact and inflicts one damage point
(roll for critical damage as normal). This is instead of a standard ram attack and so the usual ram rules do not
apply, as the klaws grab hold and pull the vessles closer.
- The ship now cannot fire in the shooting phase, and a standard boarding action then occurs (turret defences,
etc), with a +1 for the Orks as their ship is able to deliver them directly into the enemy ship. This is the only
boarding action that can be performed by the vessel this turn.
Version Two:
- The Gouga has a spike drill on the front. The Ork ship can enter base contact and conduct a normal boarding
action. Alternatively, the Gouga can make a ram attack, with normal restrictions (All Ahead Full, enemy directly in
front of the Ork ship, etc). If this is successful, the enemy ship suffers a point of damage.
- If the ram was successful then the subsequent boarding action gains a +1.
Other points have been raised about this ship, such as if the both ships survive, should the enemy vessel be allowed
to move off as normal and break the Gouga's grip, and what if one ship is the target of weapons fire?
Additionally, I am not trying to push any version, but the first version is also my interpretation of the rules
(go version one, go version one...).
|
Top of Page
|
Celestial Phenomena
|
What happens when a ship comes into contact with a planet?
Ships can move across planets without penalty as they are thought to be travelling above or below them (whatever
that means in space!).
|
Do planets block line of sight or have any real affect on weapons targetting?
If the entire planet template (or model) lies between the firing ship and the target, then line of sight is
obscurred and the two ships may not target each other. If one of the models is actually on/over/under the planet
then it can be targetted as normal.
|
My torpedoes move into the gravity well of a planet, do they have to make a 45 degree turn, and if so
is this at the begining of their move (potentially before they enter the gravitry well), or at the end of their
move (after they have potentially moved out of the gravity well)?
This should never come up, as if the torpedoes are launched from within the gravity well of a planet then they
are thought of as outside of its influence and not affected. If torpedoes enter the gravity well of a planet
they are detroyed as they are dragged down to the planet surface.
|
OK then, so when does a ship get to make its turn as an affect of being in the gravity well of the
planet?
The ship can turn at the start or the end of its move, and if it turns at the end of its move it does not need to make
a minimum move distance for this turn.
|
Top of Page
|
Ships and Models
|
I am building my own ship right now, and I want it to be bigger than the standard size. Is this a problem?
In general, the size of the ship does not affect the game much. All ranges and so on are measured from the stem of
the ships base, and the actual ship sitting on this is less of a factor. However, you do need to remember two
points. Firstly, larger ships should have the big bases. This will affect any area effects which target the foot of the
base, as well as torpedoes, etc. Also, larger ships make it more difficult to physically line the ships up together.
|
Top of Page
|
The Rule Book
|
I heard that there are actually two rule books? Is this true and what are the differences?
It is true, there are two versions of the rule book (although at this point there are only two versions of the original
book. We are not sure what will happen in the future and this is being written before Summer 2002). The 'new'
version of the Blue Book has the following updates:
- The Fleet Engagement scenario on p.80-81 uses three colors on the graphs instead of two for greater clarity.
- On p.128, Chaos Battleships are allowed for every three cruisers and heavy cruisers.
- The pictures for Eldar cruisers on p.131 are swapped to their correct positions.
- The system ship on p.144 is correctly typified as an escort instead of a defense.
|
Top of Page
|
Last Updated: 04/04/2002
|