Additional Rules
Battlefleet Gothic - General
Special Order - Drift
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Notes
In certain situations, a ships commander may need to simply disappear from the enemies sights completely. In void
warfare, practically no location is performed by simple sight due to the huge distances involved and tracking of emissions
and power usage is utilised to locate vessels. For a ship to disappear, it must use almost no power and should become a
drifting hulk. This is a particularly dangerous move, as the systems aboard these ships are complex and cannot be restarted
instantly, and so this action is only taken in extreme situations, when the ship needs to slip away from the enemy due to
it being extremely damaged, or when it must infiltrate a large force. It is extremely risky and very unorthodox, but it is
widely known about and occasionally used. The ships shuts down all non-essential systems, drifting almost helplessly through
space on only life support. It is able to slow itself down by utilising primitive and 'invisible' braking systems but other
functions are off-line and if discovered the ship is extremely vulnerable.
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Description
The Drift order works in the same way as other Special Order and is placed in the Special Order phase, before any
movement, and requires a Command Check as normal. From that point on, the model then represents the last known and
recorded position of the ship. The model is not permitted to move or fire in any way and the actual ship is only
able to move forward by a certain amount each turn. It is not able to turn, fire in any way or launch any ordinance.
Each turn, the controlling player secretly writes the distance moved forward. The first time this may be any value up
to the maximum speed, each turn after this may be any value up to the speed moved in the previous turn (acceleration
is not allowed) and the move is always directly forward. While drifting, the ship may not fire in any way,
nor may it be fired upon.
The controlling player may reveal the ship in his own Special Orders phase, before movement. A command check is not
required but no other Special Orders may be given. No other penalties apply.
The enemy may attempt to spot the ship with a ship or squardon (including attack craft but not torpodoes) within
15cm of the model (last known position) and making a Leadership test. This is not a Command check and so failure
does not mean that further Command checks cannot be taken, only that the search has failed for this turn. Other
ships or squadrons may attempt to search. However, the Leadership test suffers a minus one for every full
turn Drifting (if one movement is noted then no penalty, if two then a minus one, etc).
If an enemy ship successfully spots the drifting ship, then it must be placed on the board, exactly the number
of centimeters noted by the controlling player in front of the model. The ship has no shields until the next end
phase and cannot do anything until its own next turn (including Brace for Impact).
When the ship is re-placed on the board - volunterily or spotted - place it at its distance from the original position.
If it has passed through terrain then work this out immediately, before any other actions occur. Any tests
(for example asteroids) are made with no shields of any kind. Torpedos and any other type of weapons fire are assumed
to automatically miss, due to the distances involved and the fact that the ship may be drifting in three dimensions.
Note that I realise that it is possible that an enemy may be able to spot a drifting ship from its new location, and not
have to travel to the previous known location, but this method is simply more straight-forward. If you have any ideas how
to improve the rules for spotting then I would be pleased to hear them.
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Using These Rules
This order is used in the same way as the official Special Orders. To show that this order has been given,
place the Order Dice with any side showing next to the ship or squadron, and place a regular dice with the
number two showing on top.
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Date: 09/06/2001
Feedback on these rules: cybershadow@epic40k.co.uk
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