My *other* Imperial Fleet

Introduction

I've been trying to tidy up my work area recently; it's such a mess that I've not been able to do any painting for 6 weeks or more now.  Rather than just push everything loose into yet more piles, I'm attempting a "deep clean", where I reorganise quite a lot of the storage of my finished models as well as deciding how to arrange all the tools, paints, part-finished figures and materials.  Of course, this is going very slowly...

Whilst I was opening some of the tattier cardboard boxes on my shelves to discover what was in them, I came across the following spaceships.  I thought that maybe you'd like to see them too, before they go back into a more suitable box.  They are my Imperial starships, though I'm not really sure to which Empire they belong.

I have a different Full Thrust "Imperial" fleet, based loosely on the bad guys from Star Wars, but I actually had this fleet painted up first and so technically it's my first set of  such ships.  Ah, I guess that I just like huge, star-spanning civilisations with grand, hereditary heads of state!

All of these starships are from Games Workshop's Battlefleet Gothic range.  They come from the Imperial and Space Marine ranges, though I don't necessarily regard my versions as belonging to the Warhammer 40K Universe.

The superdreadnought "Honourable"

 The "Honourable" is a huge ship.  Officially, it's a Space Marine "Battle Barge" (whatever one of those might be!), but I regard it as simply a very large battleship.  She's clearly armed with multiple heavy beams on the prow and with missile launchers or possibly guns on each broadside, plus a significant, turreted array of lighter point defence weapons.

To put a bit of distance between my models and the Warhammer 40K universe, I've painted a Warzone Imperial insignia on the tail fins.  That should confuse both sets of fanboys, I think!

The light cruiser "Obedient"

 Obedient clearly shares some of the same design principles as the Honourable, but is a lot smaller.  It's not immediately obvious just what a size difference there is until you see the two models side-by-side.

This light cruiser also has a Warzone Imperial insignia on her sides, forward-facing beam weapons and broadsides of missile or gun tubes.

52nd Destroyer Flotilla

Destroyers: Bonfire, Blaze, Pyrotechnic, Arsonist, Torch, Ember

Next up are the 6 destroyers of the 52nd flotilla.  They're all Firestorm-class vessels, though there are minor variations between each.  This is partly due to being built at different yards and partly due to varying levels of refit and upgrade.

The Firestorm-class destroyers have a heavy battery of forward-facing beam weapons.  These aren't powerful enough to take on an enemy battleship, but rather their task is to screen their own capital ships from hostile light units.

114th Frigate Squadron

Frigates: Fer-de-Lance, Asp, Diamondback, Constrictor, Cottonmouth

Finally, here are the 5 frigates of the 114th squadron.  They're all Viper-class torpedo boats, whose task is to assault enemy heavy units.  Since the Vipers are lightly built and don't have much in the way of weaponry other than their torpedoes, they have short life expectancies!  Still, every frigate's captain dreams of glory: if he, she or it could just be the one to sink an enemy flagship then they'd be a hero!

The Whole Fleet

This is quite an unbalanced fleet, with plenty of small and large ships but not much in between.  I could use a few more cruisers and I might even have 1 unbuilt Space Marine cruiser lying about somewhere.

Will I ever use these models in a game?  I hope so, though at the moment I don't have any Full Thrust SSDs for them.  I suppose they could also be used in Battlefleet Gothic, or 5150: Star Navy, though, if only I had the time...

Full Thrust: How to blow up a planet

Introduction

The Emperor has discovered the location of a secret Rebel base; it's on a jungle planet in the Draconis system.  At the same time, his latest terror weapon, the starship "Planetary Stabiliser", has just been completed.  He could test the new mega-ship and crush the rebellion mercilessly at the same time.  All his admiral has to do is sail up to Draconis IV and vaporise the planet!

Scenario

There are limited local defences available on or near the planet.  In addition to that, the defenders are racing reinforcements to the Draconis system - but they will arrive piecemeal.

Forces

 Choose a points value for the battle (we used about 1300 NPV).  Then:

• The attackers must use at least half their points to purchase a really big planet-busting ship (the "Planetary Stabiliser" or equivalent), plus any fighters or parasite ships desired.  The RBPBS must be fitted with a spinal-mount Nova Cannon, but it may use its remaining space for any systems desired - apart from a cloaking device!
  Any remaining points may be spent freely on ships to escort the RBPBS.
• The defenders may use their fleet points freely to purchase any desired mixture of ships.  These will arrive piecemeal; some of them may not arrive at all.  Choosing a few large ships may result in not having much on the table at all (if the die rolls go badly), while taking a lot of small ships may leave the fleet open to defeat piecemeal.
• As well as their fleet, the defenders may spend another 1/2 of the agreed points value on local, planetary defences.  This could be any mixture desired of star bases, ground bases, minefields and similar fixed assets, but no ships.  Note that bases may have hangars and therefore be able to launch fighters; this would be very traditional!

Deployment

• Place a planet towards one end of the board, near but not quite touching the edge.  The defender then positions all his/her planetary defences.
• The attackers are placed at the opposite end of the table, ideally about 48" away from the planet.  Their initial speed is 10.
• At the end of every turn, roll a separate d6 for each defending ship which has not yet arrived.  On a 5 or 6, place it immediately on a random part of a random table edge.  Speed is 12 initially, heading is at the owner's discretion.

Victory

• To blow up the planet, the Planetary Stabiliser must fire its Nova Cannon.  However, there are some additional restrictions over the usual rules for this weapon because planets are more massive targets than usual.  For success:
  
  • The Planetary Stabiliser must be no closer to the planet than 6", else it would be destroyed itself in the explosion.
  • It must also be no further than 12" from the planet, because the cannon loses power with range.  Planet-busting needs a lot of power.
  • Also, the Planetary Stabiliser must be travelling at a speed of 4 or less at the time of firing, to give the weapon's technicians time to fine-tune it and to select the best aiming point.
• If the planet is destroyed then the attackers win.
• If the Planetary Stabiliser is destroyed, captured, driven off or rendered incapable of destroying the planet (for example, its Nova Cannon, manoeuvring engines or all fire controls are damaged beyond repair) then the defenders win.

Our Game

So, how did it play out for us?  Well, before the game even started properly, the Federation played a Traitor event card.  This enabled them to filch a potentially useful Reinforced Shields card from the Empire's set of cards.  Oddly, the Imperial admiral didn't seem too bothered by this.  Perhaps he simply expected treachery and was relieved that it wasn't worse!

In the first turn, both the Imperial fleet (the "Planetary Stabiliser" and her consort, the battleship "Goliath") launched TIE fighters.  A large group of X- and Y-wing fighters took off from their planetary bases in response.
Reinforcements started to arrive from the Federation fleet.  On the right, a lone destroyer appeared, whilst the unluckiest corvette in the galaxy (USS Zhukov) warped in on the left.  The TIE fighter group immediately pounced on her and attacked.  They were so confident of success that one squadron saved its ammunition and didn't even bother to make a firing pass.  The Zhukov managed to shoot down a single attacking fighter before being torn to shreds.

On the turn after this, vengeful X-wing heavy fighters pounced on the TIEs (the Y-wing bombers wisely stayed out of this fight!).  In an incredibly bloody melee, both sides rolled high and almost all the squadrons on both sides were destroyed.  Only 3 TIEs out of 23 and 4 X-wings out of 24 survived a single round.  One TIE managed to take out 4 X-wings all on its own with a succession of '6's (hmm, I wonder who was piloting that craft?)

While the exhausted remnants of the fighter squadrons continued to dogfight and the Imperial flotilla plodded on doggedly towards the planet, more Federation ships arrived.  A destroyer and a frigate were placed to either side of the Imperial ships, but more significantly the light cruiser Los Angeles and the battlecruiser Invincible manoeuvred behind the Planetary Stabiliser.

The Y-wing bombers made an attack run on the larger enemy ship...

...but they were all shot down without causing any significant damage.  The smaller Federation ships were hammered mercilessly and even the Los Angeles misjudged its approach and ended up as target practice for the port batteries of the Stabiliser.  However, Invincible sat in a blind spot to the rear and began firing torpedo after torpedo into the bigger ship.

This was probably the Federation's finest moment.  Enough damage was caused on the Planetary Stabiliser to trigger a threshold check.  Even though each system would only be knocked out on a '6', the Nova Cannon was hit!  The Federation players were jubilant and immediately played a Plasma Fire event card on the big red craft as well, just to complicate things.

Sadly for the good guys, plentiful damage control parties on the Planetary Stabiliser managed to bring the Nova Cannon back on line and put out the fire immediately.

Now it was the Empire's turn to retaliate.  Although the Planetary Stabiliser couldn't fire on the pesky Federation battlecruiser (and had to console herself by swatting all the little Federation ships instead), her consort could!  The Goliath couldn't bring her full fire-power to bear to her flank, but she still did enough damage on Invincible to cause a threshold check on the Federation vessel.  To add insult to injury, the Empire also played a Design Flaw event card on Invincible: rolling a '6' would have resulted in her instant destruction.  The Federation breathed a collective sigh of relief when they rolled low on this test!

This wasn't the end of the Empire's nefarious plans, however.  At the start of the very next turn they played a Continuity Error event and rolled high (again!) for its effect.

Suddenly the Invincible found itself not behind, but right in front of the Imperial battleship!  The last 2 X-wing fighters attempted to distract Goliath, but didn't achieve any real damage.

 In desperation, the Federation revealed that they had smuggled some Tribbles onto the Planetary Stabiliser.

By now, more Federation cruisers were arriving.  Even as the crew of the pulverised Los Angeles abandoned ship, the Endeavour also approached from the rear, fast.  Sadly, before we could resolve any more attacks (or the Tribbles card), time ran out and we had to pack up.

Conclusion

Who won?  Both sides claimed a victory, of course!  I think that all the players enjoyed the game thoroughly (which is a victory in itself, of sorts!).  However, the Planetary Stabiliser had veered off course in a vain attempt to shake off Invincible.  She'd also taken damage to the Nova Cannon and although it was now repaired, I wouldn't wish to be the weapons technician who certified it as fit for heavy duty use!  On both counts, I think I'd give the Federation a marginal, if somewhat Pyrrhic, win.

Bonus points to any reader who knows the origin of the name Planetary Stabiliser, without Googling it first!

Full Thrust: Destroy the Planetary Stabiliser!

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away...

Federation spies have learned that the Empire has nearly finished construction of a gigantic battlestation, capable of destroying an entire planet!  If this is completed then it will be a massive setback to the Federation's plans.  So, a makeshift force of starships has been gathered together; they hope to catch the Empire napping and destroy the unfinished Planetary Stabiliser!

Special Rules

1. Fully Operational!  The Stabiliser is much more complete than the Federation imagines; apart from undergoing last-minute systems checks it is complete.  At the end of each turn, the Empire player rolls 2 dice to attempt  powering up the battlestation; these can be assigned to any of 4 different areas.  For example, he/she might decide to roll 1d6 on WEAPONS and 1d6 on SHIELDS.  If desired then both dice could be rolled for the same area.  The number of pips rolled is scored off the track for that area; when the total passed one of the given thresholds then the benefits listed for that area are gained.
2. It's a trap!  The Empire isn't quite so foolish as to leave their newest project defenseless.  There are Empire ships (to the value of 50% of the attacking forces) lying in wait.  These are "running silent" and cannot be detected over 12".  The Empire player places 10 numbered "blips" anywhere he/she desires around the board and secretly writes on each ship record with which blip it is associated.  When revealed (either by a Federation ship within 12" or at the Empire's wish at the start of any turn), the ship is placed on the board at the blip's location, initially at speed 0 and with any desired heading.

The Game

 The Planetary Stabiliser is in orbit around the class-M planet Paxis.  There are some localised asteroid/debris fields nearby and a number of (triangular) sensor blips can be seen in the middle distance.

The Federation fleet came hurtling in between the asteroid fields, trying to close the distance as quickly as possible.  The light cruiser Los Angeles and the destroyer Antelope broke right, hoping to turn back later and end up directly behind the Stabiliser.  The rest of the fleet headed straight for the target, inflicting very minor damage at long range as they came.

At this point, the Federation were dismayed by a couple of things happening.  Firstly, the Planetary Stabiliser showed energy readings and its shields came partly up.  Obviously it wasn't quite as unready as they had been led to believe!  Secondly, a trio of Imperial ships (the cruiser Goliath and the destroyers Despot and Monarch) fired up their active sensors, right in the path of the Federation flanking move.

The Imperial ships barely moved as the Federation fleet charged forward.  Goliath launched a squadron of TIE fighters; these attacked Antelope but were almost completely ineffective and lost 3 of their number to lucky PDS fire!  Federation ships concentrated their weapons on the small destroyer Despot which blew up before it could fire a shot.  However, this did save the bigger Imperial ships from much damage.

The fast-moving Federation ships scattered in all directions as they (mostly) overshot their target.  The depleted TIE squadron switched its attack to the Ibex, but was still no more than a minor nuisance.  Ibex reduced the Imperial destroyer Monarch to a drifting hulk with a lucky first strike at point blank range.  Both heavy cruisers exchanged fire as the Danube swept past at high speed, though with both ships' heavy weapons unable to fire at those arcs, damage was limited.  By this time, the Planetary Stabiliser had all shields up and was starting to bring weapons and engines online.

The Toronto and the Sable headed off into the distance, having turned away from the planet (but not slowed down much).  On the other hand, the Los Angeles and the Antelope turned towards it; at the speed they were traveling it would be touch and go whether they could make it!  Ibex was the only Federation ship that was in a good position to target the Planetary Stabiliser, having been neatly positioned right behind her.  Unfortunately for the Ibex, the Empire had the heavy cruiser Goliath right behind her!

The Beast Roars!

Up till now, the Federation ships had been only lightly damaged.  But now the main batteries of the Planetary Stabiliser came on line.  Even with her fire split between the Sable (at long range) and the Los Angeles, this came to a terrifying number of dice in each salvo.  Although neither ship was destroyed immediately, both started to take some significant hits.

The Los Angeles scraped the top of the planet's atmosphere as she barely managed to turn in time.  However, this put her at point blank range for the Planetary Stabiliser's broadside; with massive damage taken she was unable to make any effective reply.  The Planetary Stabiliser's frontal armament was now targeting the Toronto; again significant damage was done even though the firing was at a considerable range.

Now things really started to go downhill for the Federation.  The Antelope failed to make her high-speed turn.  Her captain ordered "abandon ship!" just before she smacked into the planet's Southern Ocean (no doubt causing a considerable tsunami).  A few escape pods managed to pull free.

Even as the Danube came round to try to rescue the stranded Ibex, the Goliath hit the crippled Federation destroyer with a massive salvo (20 points of damage!).

The already-battered Los Angeles took further critical hits from the Planetary Stabiliser as she overshot.  Out of spite, the Federation cruiser used her last remaining weapon to destroy the ravaged Imperial destroyer Monarch, which had been creeping away slowly for some time.  At the same time, the Planetary Stabilier's other batteries continued to rack up serious damage to the Toronto and the Sable as they tried to turn at high speed.

A vengeful Danube got a lucky warp core hit on the Goliath; she blew up almost immediately.  Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles couldn't take the close-range pummeling from the Planetary Stabiliser; she was also destroyed.

Aftermath

Unluckily for the Federation, the 2 ships that had flown across the front of the Planetary Stabiliser had both taken warp core hits (as well as much other damage); neither of them survived.  Which left just the Federation heavy cruiser Danube on one side, versus the fully operational Planetary Stabiliser on the other.  Even though neither ship was heavily damaged, the odds would have been heavily in the Empire's favour, so the Danube beat a hasty retreat while the ponderous battlestation tried to turn round.
The Empire may have lost a few smaller ships, but they didn't matter.  The Planetary Stabiliser had all but obliterated a surprise Federation attack on its own.  This was obviously a massive Imperial victory and and immense propaganda coup!