Thoughts on the State of Gaming, Part 3

I think GW has a workable business model with The Lord of the Rings line, provided they marketed it right.  The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game is a perfectly workable skirmish game--easy enough for a new player to get into with a relative minimum of effort.  Once they become a veteran and want to play games with huge armies, then they can "graduate" into playing War of the Ring, and purchase the additional loads of miniatures.  If The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game was marketed as the "entry-level" game, it might attract new players.  As it is now, it seems to be presented as a sub-game to War of the Ring.


It seems to me that there are three levels of games that could be tapped in a logical progression for each genre.  

1. A fast paced "board" game.  This could consist of interlocking board pieces like Space Hulk or Warhammer Quest, and a few miniatures that act as game pieces.  The game should have simple enough rules to appeal to players who are not gamers (the genre itself should keep the veterans interested).  The game should be something that you could play with your children or disinterested SO.  An example is the Settlers of Catan, which is arguably has some fantasy elements and yet is popular outside of traditional gaming circles.
2. An intermediate level "skirmish" wargame.  This should contain more miniatures than the previous level, while not being huge battles, either.
3. A wargame.  This is the level of the current games of Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, and War of the Ring.

The key to a marketing strategy like this is to ensure that the games should be as compatible as with each other as possible, at least in terms of the miniatures.  That ensures that a new player will "add on" to his army as he progresses up the chain, rather than feel like he has to "start over" each time.  

For each of the three main lines that GW has, I can envision the following tiers:

Warhammer:
    Tier One: Warhammer Quest.  A handful of characters doing a dungeon crawl to accomplish a quest.  
    Tier Two:  Mordheim, or something similar.  Basically warbands fighting each other for whatever reason.
    Tier Three:  Warhammer itself.

Warhammer 40k:
    Tier One:  A Warhammer Quest analogue, perhaps a Rogue Trader or Inquisitorial Retinue on a mission on board a space hulk to accomplish a quest, like retrieve an artifact and then escape.
    Tier Two:  A skirmish game, perhaps more like Necromunda, the original Rogue Trader version of the game, or something along the lines of the Kill Team rules from 6th edition 40k.  A disadvantage of Necromunda itself was that you couldn’t use the miniatures in Warhammer 40k, and, as far as I know, the vice versa.  Suffice it to say, it should a be a squad level game where each player has maybe a dozen miniatures.
    Tier Three:  Warhammer 40k.

The Lord of the Rings
    Tier One:  A game called something like “Escape from Moria”, where the Fellowship (or a small band of other heros), has to escape the mines of Moria before they are captured or killed by its evil denizens.  This is a different concept from the boxed set The Mines of Moria, which is the starter set to The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.  Rather, this game would have the interlocking game pieces like Warhammer Quest or Space Hulk, which creates Moria as the players explore it, searching for an exit.  
    Tier Two:  The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, albeit marketed at the skirmish level like it was originally envisioned.
    Tier Three:  War of the Ring.  

Having a tiered structure like this I think would attract more gamers.  As it is, many new players jump in and get hooked for life, while others start to get involved, build an army, get frustrated at the escalating costs or codex creep or whatever, and then and sell everything on ebay and leave permanently.  Those that are lost are going to tell others about their experiences, and potentially drive others away.  However, with more gaming options available, someone who gets frustrated might instead take a break from the Tier Three game and slide back down to Tier Two or One, and still have fun.  Even if their never go back up to Tier Three, they’re still playing games within the company, and even if they spend way less money than they used to, less is better than none at all.

Thoughts on the State of Gaming, Part 2

Another point of the Specialist Game Rant the I mentioned in Part 1 is that the purpose of the "side games" was to draw in new blood with the side games, in the hopes of hooking them into playing the more expensive flagship games.  What GW supposedly found was that the veteran players were being pulled away by the specialist games rather than new players being hooked into the hobby by them.


On the other hand, I know several people who are gamers but not miniatures gamers, who stay away from GW stuff simply because they don't want to invest the time and money required to buy and paint an army (this is also a primary reason I don't play MMORPGs).  In such a situation, a smaller game like Battlefleet Gothic would be much more palatable to them, as spending less than $100 can get you a decent fleet that won't even take very long to paint--even though many of the miniatures are still expensive metal. 


But it's a maxim of the business industry that it costs ten times more to attract a new customer than to keep a current one.  Every veteran of Warhammer or Warhammer 40k is going to get burned out eventually, and want to play something else, if only for a while.  If the specialist games exist, the veteran will likely go to those.  Even if the veteran never comes back--they're still playing within the company.  If the specialist games aren't available, then the veteran might just leave the company and play another company's game, like Warmachine.  And then they might like that game better...and never come back.


I find myself in that position right now--after not playing Warhammer 40k for a while, I'm looking at Warhammer a little bit, but it'll be a long time before I can build up a workable army, so my motivation is low.  In such a situation, I'd be interested in checking out some of the other games, for example Warhammer Quest, Man O'War, Mordheim, Necromunda, who knows?  But none of them are readily available. 


The main one that is right now, Battlefleet Gothic, is great, and in fact that's the last game I played.  Many of the people who have read my battle reports have said that they've enjoyed that I've incorporated Battlefleet Gothic games into my 40k mini-campaigns.  With GW support of other games, I could potentially do the same thing with them... (for example, a Mordheim or Man O’ War game incorporated with Warhammer.  How can that not be cool?).  GW would do well to have more cross over campaigns and battle reports.  The intermingling of fans of both games can only serve to increase the popularity of both.

Thoughts on the State of Gaming, Part 1

It's been almost three months since I bought anything GW-related. The reasons are many--but boil down to distractions and discipline, pretty much in that order. As can happen with many hobbies, it's become a situation where I want to get back into it, and even feel a little guilty about not being more into it, but I'm not motivated enough to dive in it yet. Possibly this is related to the fact that I haven't even played a game since early June.



My White Dwarf subscription is nearing expiration, and for a while I was seriously considering not renewing (eventually I think I'll crack).  The battle reports in White Dwarf were the original reason I got into doing up my own battle reports, and were by far the most interesting articles to me. Nowadays, even though their battle reports are little more than showcases for their army of the month, I still find them interesting reads, if only to read about the new armies and what has changed.  Sure, I can probably get more news and battle reports than I know what to do with on the internet, but there's still something about having the magazine in hand that is appealing (much in the same way that holding an actual miniature can in ways be more appealing than just looking at a video game character).


Despite the fact that I haven’t played the games all that much recently, nor have a I painted very diligently recently, I’ve spent plenty of time thinking about it, both the games and the hobby.  What I like about it, what I don’t like, and what I think is missing.  The benefit of being out of the loop is...perspective.


I found an interesting link while surfing recently: It's some generic rants about the state of GW games and the company's marketing practices, and even though they are 5-6 years old, much of it still rings true.


One of the rants in particular talks about the demise of the Specialist Games, which I think is a real tragedy. The short of the story is this: Back in the old days GW had its two flagship games, Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, but also released rules and miniatures for many other games. These other games, while popular with dedicated fanbases, didn't attract quite the same audience as the two main ones. As such, GW has essentially discontinued the specialist games in favor of their "primary" games.


This seems antithetical to the original purpose of Games Workshop. I don't purport to know what GW's original "mission statement" was, if it even had one, but a company that has a name like "Games Workshop" seems to have an implied purpose. Namely, creating games. Creating two games and then sticking with them (albeit with new editions) doesn't fit that title very well. Back in the 90s when there were a dozen games running around, many with their own dedicated miniatures lines, with new games being developed all the time...that when was Games Workshop actually lived up to its name. Even though I'm not interested in playing all of the games available then, I still wish some of them were still around.


One of the major problems I think is maintaining the multiple miniatures lines. With the move to mostly plastic miniatures, I would think that separate miniatures lines would be easier to maintain. I think the market still exists for Epic 40k and Battlefleet Gothic, and probably a smaller market exists on the fantasy side (Warmaster and Man O'War (the latter despite being discontinued)).  The online communities that remain for these games are a testament to this.


The example set by Gorkamorka was a bad move in my opinion.  while the miniatures themselves were cool and usable in 40k, why the switch to different bases? The only reason I can think of to do it is to provide some distance from 40k and emphasize the game’s differences.  But why would you want to do that?  Perhaps the fear was that people would think the game was essentially the same as 40k, and so there was no reason to get it.  But it’s well known that many players buy the various boxed games because they just want the miniatures.  By having a different basing style, it’s an immediate turn off.


The current method of revitalizing The Lord of the Rings line by making The War of the Ring game is a better approach. Yes, The War of the Ring uses additional bases, but you don't have to re-base the existing models you have--you just plop them into the new, large bases. 



Space Hulk is an anomaly--which makes me think it was an experiment to test the waters.  From the beginning GW said it was a one-shot deal-- (although this has generated no end of skepticism by the cynical, who assumed that it was just a marketing ploy, and that it would remain in production indefinitely).  As a one-shot, the fact that most of the miniatures can’t be used in 40k without modification to their bases isn’t as much of a problem.  But still...I’m hoping that Space Hulk was just a “one shot” in that it they won’t support it beyond the initial release, and not that it was the only “old school” game that they ever intend to re-release.

Miniatures Queue Update

Since I've added the Abandon All Hope blog, I've made some changes to the Miniatures Queue, to reflect the addition of fantasy miniatures that I've added to my task list.

I've split up the Miniatures Queue into subdivisions: 40k, Warhammer, LotR, Battlefleet Gothic, and Space Hulk.  I've left out Epic (for now), because that would truly make things scary.

The queue will probably spike several times in the near future as I get more organized and identify more miniatures I want to paint (and possibly make some ill-advised impulse purchases).

I've removed projects such as terrain projects and other scratchbuilt ideas from the queue.  I do have lots of ideas, but they frequently change.  As the queue is supposed to be a measure of mountain of miniatures I'm trying to reduce, scratchbuilt/terrain projects don't really apply here.

So here's the new queue, as of today:

Warhammer 40k:	185
Lord of the Rings:	147
Warhammer:	80
Space Hulk:	38
Battlefleet Gothic:	3
Total:	453

Battle Report: The Necropolis Campaign, Part Three

The Necropolis Campaign, Part Three
The Battle of Favonia, Part TwoThe Necropolis, a massive Necron vessel, had begun a rampage throughout the Arcadia Sector. The Imperial Navy amassed all the ships they could and moved to intercept the Necropolis and its accompanying fleet. They would make their stand on the edge of the Favonia system. The battle was too early to call, with the Imperials doing some damage to the Necron fleet, but the Imperials were suffering substantial losses as well.

Click here to see part one of the battle report.

Turn 4
The Dauntless Light Cruiser Constellation, set ablaze by the Necron Tombship, got some revenge, as after drifting closer to the Tombship, her plasma drives overloaded and she suddenly exploded. The Tombship was rocked by the nearby explosion, damaging its inertialess drive.

The fires aboard the Dominator Class Cruiser Warrior went out, but the vessel drifted onward, dead in space.

The Elnath failed its command check to Lock On to the Tombship.

The Apocalypse Class Battleship Repulse fired one broadside on the Silver Scythe, damaging it and disrupting its Power Flow. It fired the other broadside on the Jackals, which lost one ship despite Bracing for Impact.

The Mars Class Battlecruiser Aetolia, in the thick of it, fired all of its weapons systems at varied targets, but failed to damage any, except for the nova cannon shot against the Necropolis, which scored a single hit. The last Firestorm, the Gemini, damaged the Necropolis with its lance, and then combined its fire with the Swords and Cobra Squadron 1, and between them they delivered another point of damage to the Necropolis.

The capital ships Arcadia, Capella, Adhara, Procyon, and Elnath fired a 21-lance salvo against the Tombship, two shots of which got through to damage the ship, also rendering its port weapons unable to fire. Their combined weapons batteries inflicted a further point of damage.

In the ordnance phase, bombers from the carrier Prometheus killed one Khopesh and a Dirge.

The Vulture and the Shroud continued their wide maneuver, and had now moved behind the Imperial fleet, almost in position to strike. This flanking manuever had so far kept the two vessels out of the fight, but their imminent arrival might make the difference.

The Necropolis again fired its Soul Harvester, hitting the Repulse and delivering two points of hull damage. It then lay about with its multiple weapons systems, striking all within range. The Lightning Arc destroyed two Cobras, the Aglaja and the Pales, a pair of Swords, the Sinope and Triton, and the Firestorm Gemini. The Gauss Particle Whip lashed out and damaged the Repulse, crippling her. Finally, it teleported hundreds of Necron Warriors onto the decks of the destroyer Nemesis via its portal. Such was the fury of the onslaught that the Nemesis simply...vanished.

The Tombship and Silver Scythe combined their fire on the Repulse, hitting it three more times. Finally the Tombship repaired its port weapons systems.

Turn 5
The Prometheus attempted to Reload Ordnance but failed its command check.

The Repulse fired its lances on the Silver Scythe, disrupting its power flow and preventing it from firing. The Aetolia and two surviving Cobras fired on the Tombship to no effect.

The Elnath fired its broadside lances on the nearby Jackals, destroying one, while the Arcadia destroyed another.

The Procyon, Capella, and Thunder Child fired their broadsides all at the Tombship, which weathered all of the fire without any shots penetrating its armor.

The Thunder Child fired its lances ahead at the Necropolis, but failed to damage it. The Mimosa and the last surviving Sword Class Frigate, the Nereid, fired their weapons batteries on the Necropolis, delivering one hit.The last Khopesh (lower right) prepares to ram the Elnath, (red-trimmed black cruiser, second from lower right)The last Khopesh rammed into the stern of the Elnath, destroying itself and inflicting two hits to the Gothic Cruiser.

The Shroud and the Vulture had finally moved into attack position, and attack they did, concentrating their fire on the Repulse. Between them they knocked the Repulse's shields down and inflicted two hits. The Tombship's lightning arc inflicted two more. Still, the Repulse held on.

The Necropolis now had a plethora of targets to fire upon. The Gauss Particle Whip lashed the Elnath, but the ship emerged unscathed. One lightning arc downed a shield on the Aetolia, while another hit the Thunder Child, downing its shields and delivering two hits to its hull.

The Silver Scythe spent the turn repairing its damaged weapons systems.The Repulse and the Aetolia pass by the Tombship, making for the NecropolisTurn 6
The Prometheus reloaded its ordnance and prepared for another strike.

The Repulse fired its starboard lances on the Tombship, damaging it once. The Cobras fired on the Jackal, which Braced For Impact. This protected it from the Cobras' fire, but not from the starboard broadside of the Elnath, which destroyed it.

The Necropolis, detecting that it was about to sustain a massive lance barrage, Braced for Impact. The Elnath, Arcadia, Capella, Thunder Child, Aetolia, and Procyon unleashed a total of 24 lance shots at the Necropolis, hitting with fourteen and causing four more damage points to it. The shots damaged its Inertialess Drive, and the hits sustained crippled the vessel. Weapons batteries from the Aetolia, Mimosa, Procyon, and Capella delivered a further two damaging hits.The Necropolis receives a torrent of fire from the Imperial capital shipsThe Vulture, finally in firing position closed up behind the Aetolia and fired. The Aetolia Braced, but despite this her shields were downed and she suffered two hits, including one that damaged her prow armament. Fire from the Necropolis inflicted a further damage point, but the Necropolis, crippled and braced, could not offer much firepower to the fight.

The Silver Scythe moved towards the Scutum and the Prometheus, firing on the Scutum, downing its shields and inflicting two damage points.

Turn 7
The Capella locked its weapon systems on the Necropolis, but the rest of the fleet failed their command checks and no other special orders were given.

Preparing for another massive barrage, the Necropolis attempted to Brace for Impact, but with its leadership decreased due to critical hits, it failed the check. The Repulse fired a broadside and its dorsal batteries, but the Necropolis' armor held. The Thunder Child damaged it once with its prow lances, damaging the ship's inertialess drive again. The Aetolia and Procyon each delivered a hit with their weapon batteries. The Capella then fired and damaged the ship's Command Core, and finally the Arcadia inflicted one more hit. The Necropolis had taken a massive pounding, and only had two hits left.

The Repulse fired its port lances at the Shroud, which was already crippled from damage sustained in a previous battle, and the ship quickly exploded under the weight of fire. The Tombship was caught in the explosion and suffered a hit.

The Silver Scythe focused all of its fire on the Scutum, which was defending the Prometheus. The Scythe smashed the ship hard, downing its shields and delivering five hits, destroying its shield generators. As the crew desperately tried to get the damage under control, the Necropolis fired and finished the ship off, rendering the Scutum a drifting hulk.

The Vulture concentrated its fire on the Aetolia, damaging it three times. The Vulture's attack was followed up by the Tombship, which slammed the Mars Class Battlecruiser, hitting it twice more. The damage overloaded the ship's plasma drive, causing the Aetolia to explode in a fireball. The Necropolis barely escaped the blast.
The Aetolia (just under the Necropolis) explodes
Finally, some bomber waves from the Prometheus reached the Tombship, but they were all driven off or shot down by the Tombship's formidable turret defenses.
The Imperial fleet swarms the Necropolis, pouring all of their fire into itTurn 8
The Necropolis failed to Brace for Impact again, and with all the Imperial ships surrounding it, it seemed clear that its end was near. The Repulse delivered a single hit with its lances, and then the Thunder Child and the Arcadia fired their lances simultaneously, pushing the Necropolis over the edge into destruction. The ship continued to drift, but then the rest of the Imperial fleet continued to pour fire into the ship, causing it to explode in a ball of light.

Once the light faded, the area was filled with debris. The Necron Tombship, Silver Scythe, and Vulture had used the confusion to escape into deep space. Scanning the area, the Imperial ships found no more evidence of the Necron threat, and quickly began to reform their fleet and begin rescuing survivors from the many wrecked ships. The Necron threat had been destroyed, for now...

Imperial Navy Debriefing
Darkwing: My plan to take out the escorts first worked, but I don't think I deserve too many laurels for the victory. Badelaire played into my hands from the first turn, by keeping the Necropolis back and moving the rest of his fleet right into my guns. Also the wide flanking maneuver he performed with the Shroud and the Vulture just kept them out of most of the battle. The sheer number of capital ships at my disposal made my fleet a very tough nut to crack. I also have the dice to thank, because I rolled a lot of criticals on the Necron ships. Necrons are good at repairing damage, but I whittled down their leadership values as the battle went on. In the end, I think that my fleet had the staying power this time to simply overwhelm the Necron forces, giving me the opportunity to pound the Necropolis into submission. My fleet will need some time to recover from this fight, but I imagine I haven't seen the last of the Necrons.

Necron Debriefing
Badelaire: Well, it was a long and bloody engagement. I didn't do that well in the beginning of the fight, but whenever I could bring some heavy firepower to bear, it was telling. Not having shields, even though my armor is great and my Brace For Impact is stellar, means if I take hits, the ships start getting chewed up. Being able to do 2-3 hits to a ship and still not doing damage can be frustrating, but them's the breaks. I did notice about 2/3rds of the way through the game that I was forgetting the Particle Whip rule that allows rolls of 6 to ignore shields - I can't remember if that had any effect or not, but it just goes to show that sometimes having too many "cool rules" means you just forget them and put yourself at a disadvantage.

All in all, the battle was a blast. While the Necropolis finally died out, I was able to destroy all but one of Darkwing's escorts and a fair number of capital ships. In the end though, numbers won out, and the Necropolis died like a bear pulled down by a pack of wolves. A very fitting end to an awesome campaign.

Battle Report: The Necropolis Campaign, Part Two

The Necropolis Campaign, Part Two
The Battle of Favonia, Part One

Introduction
With the Imperial Navy's defeat at the Battle of Axis Columen, a massive Necron vessel, the Necropolis, awakened from its slumber under the planet's surface and lifted off. More Necron vessels phased in as others arrived from the depths of space. The massive fleet began to move implacably through the sector, destroying any settlement it came across and harvesting the souls of those who lived there.

While the Imperial Navy floundered desperately to amass another fleet to take on the Necrons, a third race intervened. A force of Eldar from two different craftworlds converged on the Necron fleet. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Eldar made a heroic effort to destroy the Necropolis. In the end they failed, but they did manage to weaken the Necron Fleet somewhat.

After harvesting the souls of the Eldar trapped inside the wreckage of their destroyed vessels, the Necropolis and company continued through the sector, harvesting several more worlds before setting their sights on the planet of Favonia.

Favonia was an Imperial world of little strategic importance to the sector, but it was populated by much of the sector's aristocracy, being a nexus of commerce and leisure for the upper classes of Imperial Society. As such, when the system came under threat, the calls for the Imperial Navy to respond swiftly and decisively were loud and laced with panic. Regardless, the Imperial Navy had had time to amass a task force, including several upgraded vessels, to take on the Necron threat. They would make their stand on the edge of the Favonia system.

Imperial Fleet - Task Force 43

Apocalypse Class Battleship (BB-2 Repulse)	365
Arcadia Class Battleship (BB-5 Arcadia)	375
Mars Class Battlecruiser (CB-3 Aetolia)	270
Armageddon Class Battlecruiser (CB-18 Capella)	245
Prometheus Class Carrier (CV-1 Prometheus)	340
Scutum Class Cruiser (CG-57 Scutum)	180
Lunar Class Cruiser (CA-20 Procyon)	180
Lunar Class Cruiser (CA-34 Adhara)	180
Gothic Class Cruiser (CA-21 Achernar)	180
Gothic Class Cruiser (CA-39 Elnath)	180
Tyrant Class Crusier (CA-32 Mimosa)	185
Dominator Class Cruiser (CA-62 Warrior)	190
Dauntless Class Light Cruiser (CL-52 Constellation)	110
Dauntless Class Light Cruiser (CL-53 Thunder Child)	110
1st Firestorm Squadron (3 Firestorm Class Frigates, FFL-33 Dorado, FFL-34 Draco, FFL-35 Equuleus)	120
2nd Firestorm Squadron (3 Firestorm Class Frigates, FFL-36 Eridanus, FFL-37 Fornax, FFL-38 Gemini)	120
1st Sword Squadron (3 Sword Class Frigates, FF-98 Ganymede, FF-99 Callisto, FF-100 Leda)	105
2nd Sword Squadron (3 Sword Class Frigates, FF-107 Sinope, FF-146 Triton, FF-147 Nereid)	105
1st Cobra Squadron (4 Cobra Class Destroyers, 1 Nemesis Class Destroyer, DD-46 Hestia, DD-47 Aglaja, DD-48 Doris, DD-49 Pales, DD-128 Nemesis)	150
2nd Cobra Squadron (4 Cobra Class Destroyers, DD-50 Virginia, DD-51 Nemausa, DD-52 Europa, DD-53 Kalypso)	120
Total	3810

Imperial Navy Briefing
Darkwing: The officer corp of Battlefleet Arcadia, while still relatively inexperienced to those of other Imperial Sectors, are starting to wise up with respect to the Necron menace. Now there are surviving captains from previous battles (the Lunar Class Cruiser Elnath and the Tyrant Class Cruiser Mimosa having survived the battle of Axis Columen) and signals intelligence of the battle between the Eldar and the Necrons, the Imperial Navy has come up with a strategy to deal with the Necrons.

As the Eldar learned from their battle with the Necropolis, Necron escorts simply cannot be ignored. The Eldar had tried to focus everything on the Necropolis, and were torn apart by the rest of the fleet. A squadron of five Jackals, for example, packs the punch of a Cairn Class Tombship, and if allowed to roam unchallenged, can wreak devastation upon an Imperial Fleet.

So my strategy in this battle will be as follows: Strip away the Necropolis' defenses by destroying its escorts (that is, all the other Necron ships), then swarm it and destroy it. If I go straight for the Necropolis, I think my fleet will be torn to shreds by the rest of theirs.

Necron Fleet

Necropolis	1000
Cairn Class Tombship	550
2 Scythe Class Harvest Ships	550
Vulture Class Cruiser	300
Shroud Class Light Cruiser	155
5 Jackal Class Escorts	250
5 Jackal Class Escorts	250
4 Dirge Class Escorts	200
6 Khopesh Class Ramships	240
6 Khopesh Class Ramships	240
Total	3735

Necron Briefing
Badelaire: Playing out a "test to destruction" game can be interesting, but it's also somewhat depressing as well. I know that in the end, I will be beaten down and I'll lose the Necropolis - I don't have any illusions to the contrary. Right now it's just a matter of how many Imperial ships I can take with me before the Necropolis is wiped out that's the question.

Unlike fighting the Eldar, my Khopeshes are great for killing escorts, and if used en masse, I can severely cripple a capital ship as well if I hit i right. The question really becomes whether or not I can use a lot of my Necron special rules and my speed to their greatest advantage, or will the confusion of battle and just remembering the correct way to play out the standard BFG rules cloud the issue to the point where I'm not remembering half of what I should be paying attention to? I'm sure I'll make mistakes--but I also think that I'll give Darkwing's fleet, especially his escorts, quite the beating. Unfortunately, it's going to be the massive number of cruisers, especially his new lance-heavy battlecruiser and his "carrier", that I'm going to have to worry about.

Scenario
The Fleet Engagement Scenario will be used, with the deployment zones enlarged to accommodate the large fleets and available space.
The Imperial Line of Battle
The Necron Line of BattleThe Imperial Line of BattleThe two fleets pass each otherTurn 1
The Imperial Fleet assumed a Cross formation, so as to present its broadside to the Necron Fleet, while the Necrons tried to break through the Imperial Fleet using a wedge. As a result, both fleets passed each other's flank, just out of range of their weapons. The Imperial Capital ships, in line astern, began a simultaneous turn to port, closing the distance to the Necron Forces. Still out of range of most of their weapons, the Apocalyse Battleship Repulse, the Mars Battlecruiser Aetolia and the Dominator Cruiser Warrior all opened fire with their Nova Cannons, aiming for the bulk of the Necron Fleet, but the long range thwarted all three shots and they exploded harmlessly in space. Finally the Aetolia and the Prometheus launched massed waves of bombers.
The Imperial fleet turns to engageThe Necropolis held its course, while the rest of the Necron fleet turned to meet the Imperial fleet head on. The Vulture and the shroud, however, moved ahead of the main Necron fleet in an apparent attempt to outflank the Imperials.
The Necrons move to meet the challengeOne squadron of Khopeshes attempted to go on All Ahead Full orders to ram the Imperial ships, but failed their command check. One squadron of Jackals closed in on Firestorm Squadron 2 and unleashed their Lightning Arcs, destroying the Eridanus and Fornax. The other group of Jackals fired on Cobra Squadron 2, destroying the Virginia and Nemausa. The Silver Scythe continued to pick on the Cobras, destroying the Europa, while the Gold Scythe finished off the Cobras with its Lightning Arc, destroying the Kalypso. The Gold Scythe's particle whip was still ready to fire, however, and it blasted the Firestorm Equuleus out of the sky. The Tombship then assisted the Gold Scythe, finishing off Firestorm Squadron 2, killing the Dorado and Draco.

Finally, the Dirges converged on the cruiser Warrior, knocking down its shields and damaging its hull, nearly crippling her.
The two fleets approachTurn 2
The Imperial Fleet plunged ahead into the teeth of the Necrons, and let fly with their broadsides. The Prometheus reloaded its ordnance, preparing for the next strike. The Gothic Cruiser Achernar then failed its command check to Lock On. The Apocalypse Class Battleship Repulse fired its lances at the nearby Khopeshes, which then Braced for Impact, but even so one of the Khopeshes was destroyed. The Repulse then took aim with its nova cannon at the Gold Scythe, but the shot missed, instead blowing two Jackals to smithereens. The Warrior fired its own broadside on the Dirges to no effect, but its nova cannon shot also hit Jackals, destroying two more of them. The Aetolia fired its nova cannon, but missed its target, but was able to take out a Khopesh with its dorsal lances.The two fleets about to clashBoth squadrons of Swords combined their fire on the Khopeshes ahead of them, and accounted for two of the blade-like ships. The Achernar fired its left lance broadside against the Dirges, which responded by Bracing for Impact, but one of the Dirges was destroyed. The Dauntless Light Cruiser Constellation and the Lunar Cruiser Procyon each fired on the second group of Khopeshes, destroying one each. The Dauntless Light Cruiser Thunder Child fired its prow lances at the long Jackals in front of it, killing it.

From standoff range, the Battleship Arcadia swung its three triple-lance turrets to port and aimed at the Gold Scythe, and fired, rocking the vessel with three hits, and damaging its drive system. The Procyon then fired its torpedo salvo at it, damaging it further and crippling it. Cobra Squadron 1 then fired its torpedo salvo at the Jackals ahead, destroying one of the escorts before the salvo was expended.The Arcadia fires a broadside at the Gold ScytheThe Vulture and Shroud continued their flanking maneuver, as the rest of the Necron forces continued the merge with the Imperial Fleet. Two Khopeshes plowed right into the Prometheus' bomber waves, sacrificing themselves to eliminate the massive strike.

The Dirges and Jackals both converged on the Repulse, which, anticipating the attack, promptly Braced for Impact. The Repulse weathered the fire well, only suffering a single shield failure.Dirges and Jackals attack the RepulseThe Silver Scythe fired on the Warrior, but only managed to down one of its shields. The Gold Scythe fired on Sword Squadron 1, destroying the Callisto and the Leda.

The Necropolis turned ponderously, beginning the slow sweep which would bring the Soul Harvester to bear upon the Imperial ships. It then fired its particle whip, destroying the Sword Frigate Ganymede.

The Tombship then concentrated its fire on the Gothic Cruiser Achernar, blasting away its shields and riddling it with six hits, crippling it.

The Gold Scythe succeeded in repairing its drives.

Turn 3
The Imperial line of battle began to close on the Tombship, which, seeing it was about to take a lot of punishment, promptly Braced for Impact. The Tyrant Cruiser Mimosa locked on to the Tombship and prepared to fire, but the other Imperial cruisers failed their command checks. The Arcadia, Mimosa, Lunar Cruiser Adhara, Armageddon Battlecruiser Capella, Gothic Cruiser Elnath, and Dauntless Thunder Child all opened fire on the Tombship, and hit it 17 times, but all but three hits were saved by its armor. The ship's sepulchre was damaged as well, but as a whole the Tombship weathered the fire very well.

The Silver Scythe, also preparing to receive a massive barrage, also Braced for Impact. Multiple Imperial ships prepared to fire on the Silver Scythe. The Achernar delivered a single hit with its broadside, and then Sword Squadron 2, the last Firestorm Frigate, the Dauntless Constellation, and Cobra Squadron 1 opened fire on the Scythe, but the Scythe's bracing proved effective, and no further hits were scored.

The Repulse fired its lances at the Dirges, destroying two of them.

The Warrior fired its broadside against the Gold Scythe, delivering a massive four hits, damaging the Scythe's Command Core and disrupting the ship's power flow. The Constellation then fired its prow lances, blasting through the Scythe's armor and detonating its plasma drive, causing the harvest ship to explode. The Constellation was damaged in the blast, and the Tombship was also caught in the explosion, but undamaged.The Gold Scythe (right) explodesThe Shroud and Vulture continued to move around the Imperial flank. The Silver Scythe plowed forward through the Imperial battle line, while the Necropolis swung its massive prow around, bringing the Repulse and the Warrior within its sights. Sensing the danger, both ships Braced for Impact. The Khopeshes went on All Ahead Full orders, so as to reposition themselves for an attack run on the Imperial rear.

The Soul Harvester fired, blasting at a Sword Frigate, the Warrior, and the Repulse, but miraculously failed to damage any of the ships. The Necropolis then opened fire with its other weapons, crippling the Warrior with its lightning arc and hitting the Achernar hard with its particle whip. The Achernar Braced for Impact, yet despite negating four of the hits, the ship was destroyed anyway and reduced to a drifting hulk. Then the Silver Scythe fired its weapons at the Warrior, blasting through its armor and destroying it, sending it careening through space, ablaze from stem to stern.The Dominator Class Cruiser Warrior(next to the Scythe) is set ablazeThe Dirges and Jackals swarmed towards the Gothic Cruiser Elnath, downing its shields and delivering a hit. Finally some bombers from the Prometheus made their attack runs on the Khopeshes, destroying two of the four remaining.

The Tombship focused its fire on the Constellation, overwhelming its defenses and rendering it a blazing hulk.

The sheer number of Imperial Capital ships were taking their toll upon the Necron Fleet, but the mighty firepower of the Necron vessels were beginning to make itself felt as well, as one by one the Imperial ships began to die. It would remain to be seen whether the Necropolis would blast its way through the Imperial Fleet and continue its rampage throughout the Arcadia Sector.

Stay tuned for part two of the Battle of Favonia...

Arcadia Class Battleship

The Arcadia Class Battleship is frequently described as a “fast battleship” as it is larger and more heavily armed than an Imperial Battlecruiser, but is as fast as a standard Imperial Cruiser.

The Arcadia Class was designed as a response to the frequent Necron incursions into the Arcadia Sector. Against the Necron fleet, Imperial ships were constantly finding themselves outmaneuvered by their Necron counterparts. Also, experience had shown that lance batteries were by far the most effective weapon system against Necron vessels. Thus, the Arcadia Class Battleship was designed to address both of these issues. The standard battlecruiser hull was lengthened, and much more powerful engines were installed, along with upgraded power relays to power the massive lance batteries. Two three-lance superfiring turrets were installed forward, and a third three-lance turret aft. A secondary weapons battery was installed amidships to deal with smaller threats.

I wanted to create an anti-Necron vessel. It only made sense, since the first forays I had against Necron vessels with my Imperial Fleets resulted in horrific defeats.

Hence the Arcadia Class was born. After constructing the Scutum Class Cruiser, I wanted to try to make another ship with the bridge moved forward. This, combined with a desire to make the ship's main battery an extremely powerful lance armament, I decided to make it look a lot like a World War II Battleship. Seeing as the lance battery was so powerful (it can unleash a Str9 broadside), I had to make it a battleship rather than a cruiser, in order to justify how the ship is able to generate sufficient power for them.
As such I lengthened the hull both forward and aft with plasticard and bits from another Imperial Cruiser. I used bits from a Chaos cruiser to make the triple lance turrets and the secondary battery amidships.
I'm not sure that I'm entirely happy with either the lenghthening of the engines (that is, how they look, not the added length), as well as the relatively featurelessness of the forward sides of the hull, as they look rather "blank". At some later date the ship can always undergo a cosmetic refit.
The Arcadia has yet to see action, but it will soon make the Necrons pay for the defeat at Axis Columen.
The Arcadia Class Battleship next to a Lunar Class Cruiser, showing the Arcadia's added length
Comparison shot showing the lance turrets facing to either side of the ship
As a little bit of a bonus, I magnetized the three lance turrets so I can rotate them at will.