Additional Rules
Battlefleet Gothic
The Umbra and Mistletoe
|
|
|
The mining convoy was stretched to the breaking point. Every nerve was on edge, every sense alert to the first sign of raiders. In the cometary halo of Bakka, five convoys had been lost in the last year. The Departmento Munitorium and increased convoy escorts to include three Swords and two Firestorms, but that had not been enough to save Quartermaster Keough's last convoy.
Quartermaster Richelardt had jumped as far in-system as his Navigator would permit. He had jumped in hot, the five escort ships on patrol. The twenty ore ships destined for the forges at Bakka had as direct a trajectory as physics and the Emperor's will permitted. The tension on the command deck was thick. Everyone was performing well-rehearsed duties with great dispatch, as if by discharging their responsibilities as quickly as possible they might speed the convoy through the dangerous cometary halo that much faster. Their competence as sacrifice for the Machine God's favor.
Despite Richelardt's precautions (inevitably?) the telltales lit the screens. Diving out from behind the unexpectedly dense cover of a dust cloud emerged no fewer than four squadrons of pirates. Two smaller squadrons of light, fast Cobras flew to either flank, setting in place a vicious field of crossing torpedo fire. The two larger squadrons contained three firestorms, and four Idolators. All had at one time been painted a brilliant red, with brass brightwork. Some of the cobras and one Idolator appeared to be new acquisitions, freshly reflagged. The rest of the motley flotilla showed varying levels of wear and tear. The large bore energy cannons directed at the convoy appeared to be exceptionally well maintained, however. Fully warned, fully forearmed, the escorts of Quartermaster Richelardt's ore convoy were seriously outgunned, outnumbered, and taken in a poor position.
The lead Idolator was about to accept Richelardt's surrender when the pirate vessel dissolved in a fury of light, along with the remainder of the Idolators. The convoy's already-active screens went wild with new contacts - a small flight of torpedos disrupting the Cobra formation on the left flank, a squadron of fast, sleek fighters entering the convoy formation, assuming an ordnance intercept station. And two squadrons of Eldar ships - two Aconites and a light cruiser, and Umbra. The second squadron comprised a Mistletoe light carrier, an Aconite, and two Nightshades.
Before Richelardt regained his breath, the Umbra's squadron had peeled to 4 o'clock, the Mistletoe to 8 o'clock. The pirates tried to respond - the Cobras converging to the Mistletoe and launching torpedoes. The Firestorms also attempted to concentrate fire on the Mistletoe's squadron. Unfortunately for the pirates, their radical maneuvering and lack of leadership left them unable to bring adequate weapons to bear, and left their torpedoes short. The Eldar's response was swift and merciless. The Umbra's squadron turned on a dime, and raked toward the Firestorms. The Mistletoe dropped additional fighters, clearing the air of all but Eldar torpedoes. The Nightshades and Aconite with the Mistletoe converged on the pirate Firestorms. The Firestorms simply dissolved under the concentrated fire of the Eldar squadrons.
Without missing a beat, and without additional maneuvering, the Umbra and its squadron followed their trajectory with a deceptively lazy grace directly among the Cobras, despite the Cobra commanders' best efforts to evade and disengage. With ample opportunity to lock in firing solutions, the eldar light cruiser's heavy batteries were guided with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel, dismembering the Cobra squadrons on its left and right flanks. The support of the Aconites was almost moot.
As suddenly as they arrived, the Eldar disengaged. The fighters converged back onto the Mistletoe, and both squadrons arrowed away into the cometary corona, quickly lost behind obscuring dust clouds.
Richelardt gaped for a moment. Years of training, drill, and leadership training kicked in. Richelardt began issuing a string of orders, bringing the convoy back into trim, and proceeding at all speed to the docks at Bakka.
Fortunately, the heresy at Bakka was very limited. Only certain senior members of the Departmento Munitorium had germinated the seeds of sedition.
It was true that Bakka had refitted and repaired the Segmentum Tempestus battlefleet before the Tyrranic confrontation at Macragge. It was true that with continued pirate depradations would have seriously hampered those efforts. It was true that the Administratum had not dedicated the resources required to erradicate the pirates. The conclusion that the Tyranid threat was stopped by the efforts of a small group of Eldar eliminating the pirates is not justified.
Quartermasters Keough and Richelardt have set a sound example for any of their subordinates. Their recanting and retasking as servitors for the Departmento Munitorium have quelled all seditious speculation that the Battle of Macragge was won by any means other than the heroism of the Adeptes Astertes and Segmentum Tempestus battlefleet.
These two models, dating back to Fleet Wars, are too beautiful not to find a role in BFG. The weapons fits are inspired by the models themselves. Points costing and other specific statistics balance into the current range.
The Eldar have been in space since before humanity invented fire. There have been a dizzying number of Eldar ship designs. Unfortunately, much of this design was lost in the fall of the Eldar homeworlds.
Two designs that have persisted from the earliest days of the Eldar are the Umbra light cruiser, and the Mistletoe escort carrier. Many of these ships were retained as systems monitors and escorts for Exodite systems. In addition, many of these vessels were "appropriated" as escorts for the Craftworld exodus immediately prior to the fall.
The Umbra has traditionally filled the role of a lead commercial escort, or support and squadron lead in a military capacity.
The Umbra is optimized for a weapons fit of weapons batteries. In the era during which the Umbra was deployed, the primary targets were renegade Eldar (pirates, etc.). As a lead system monitor, or a lead escort, the heavy weapons batteries and broad frontages of the Umbra are ideal for fending off escorts in general, and Eldar in particular.
The Mistletoe was originally commisioned as a system-defense vehicle, with a level of organic fighter support. When deployed in squadrons, with Nightshades, or with Aconite-class ships, these light vessels provided a very effective local defense against raiders - particularly Eldar raiders.
|
|
| Name | Type/Hits | Speed | Turns | Shields | Armour | Turrets | Points |
| Umbra | Light Cruiser/3 | 10/20/30 | Special | Holo | 4+ | 0 | 170 |
| Armament | Range/Speed | Firepower/Strength | Fire Arc |
| Prow Weapons Battery | 30 cm | 4 | Front |
| Port Weapons Battery | 30 cm | 3 | Left/Front |
| Starboard Weapons Battery | 30 cm | 3 | Right/Front |
| Keel Torpedoes | 30 cm | 2 | Front |
Special Rules:
The Umbra may be deployed in any Eldar or Dark Eldar fleet.
|
|
| Name | Type/Hits | Speed | Turns | Shields | Armour | Turrets | Points |
| Mistletoe | Escort/1 | 10/20/30 | Special | Holo | 4+ | 0 | 80 |
| Armament | Range/Speed | Firepower/Strength | Fire Arc |
| Port Weapons Battery | 30 cm | 1 | Left/Front |
| Starboard Weapons Battery | 30 cm | 1 | Right/Front |
| Keel Launch Bay |
Darkstar Fighters: 30cm Eagle Bombers: 20cm | 2 | - |
Special Rules:
Reload Ordnance orders taken at -2 leadership, reflecting limited capacity.
The Mistletoe may be deployed in any Eldar or Dark Eldar fleet.
|
Umbra: From UK Mail order - Wraithship - 077784/2, 077784/1
Mistletoe: From UK Mail order - Shadow Hunter - 077817/1, 077817/2
Date: 11/05/2002
Submitted by: Daniel Rothman