Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

1-5 battlebarges per chapter is a bit much. BFG states that the average chapter has two or three battlebarges.
Some will of course have more ( Black Templars, Ultramarines ) while others ( Flesh Tearers, Scythes of the Emperor ) will have less.
The number of strike cruisers is unknown but i would guess that your average chapter has at least enough to assign one capital ship to every battle company.

Hazardous Harry wrote:As I play BFG, I can tell you that you will never get the full S12 battery, unless you are shooting at stations. At most it will get 8 shots, if the IN is closing, in which case it's targeting the area with the strongest possible armour. The Apocalypse on the other hand will always get those lance shots, and they'll be completely unpenalised. Even without looking at the massive advantage of a Nova Cannon, almost any BFG player will tell you that (against anything but Eldar) lances are what really kill ships.

Also, good to see you aren't humourless.

I play BFG also, and in my experience it's buckets of weapons batteries with a lock-on order that kill ships Especially weapons batteries that hit on a 4+

Lock on is always better with lances. Would you rather re-roll when you need a 4+ or a 6+? How is that not clear?

KingDeath wrote:1-5 battlebarges per chapter is a bit much. BFG states that the average chapter has two or three battlebarges.
Some will of course have more ( Black Templars, Ultramarines ) while others ( Flesh Tearers, Scythes of the Emperor ) will have less.
The number of strike cruisers is unknown but i would guess that your average chapter has at least enough to assign one capital ship to every battle company.

The thing is, BB and SC are "transports" that is the duty they have. No Chapter has a need to have more then 3 BB ever, they carry 3 companies each, your chapter has a max of 10 companies. SC carry 1 company each. So in all honestly a Chapter is unlikely to have more then 3/6 and that is pushing it. Sc are rare, a chapter would not have 10 of them, it would be lucky to have 5 or 6. They are more likely to have 2 B and maybe 3- 4 Sc with the smaller gladuis filling the real work of squad transport.. Because you have to ask, how often do they really work at company level? Thats what it comes down to really, how many SM they chapter normally sends at one time.

Hazardous Harry wrote:
Look at the Apocalypse Class Battleship, now at your Battlebarge, now back to the Apocalypse. Sadly, your Battlebarge isn't the Apocalypse, but it could dish out a jaw-dropping amount of firepower like the Apocalypse if it stopped using its meagre batteries and bombardments and started using ship-killing lances like the Apocalypse.

I'm firing a Nova Cannon.

Man this made me chuckle. I agree whole heartily

Thanks for the charts, that's awesome!

One thing I was thinking about ; in space warfare, there is virtually no effective limit for solid-shell weaponry. The 50 million kilometers seemed to me a horribly large figure, but in fact, as long as you have the computing power necessary to figure out the angle, you can bombard the Earth from behind the Solar system frontiers (maybe less depending on gravity wells). The speed of light is 18 millions of kilometers/minutes. Assuming solid shells do not travel faster than light in the 40K (we never know, Matt Ward might feel like it), than from maximum range a ship will have over 3-4 minutes to plan an evasion maneuver.

What this might mean is that unless you have a very large amount of ships capable of firing as a barrage over a VERY large amount of space, than it might be prohibitive to attack the enemy unless he is well within the effective range of your weaponry.

What this also means is that the only ship design that really would make sense, would be one where all armor and (energy) guns are on the prow, and the engines are capable of achieving the same reverse speed as the forward speed of your enemies. Once they get within their solid-shell maximum range, you start going into reverse, maintaining the max distance between you. Then it's just a question of focusing on (faster) energy attacks while constantly planning evasions solutions.

Any thought?

Well 40k space warfare is..rule of cool-space opera space warfare. The best way to think of 40k space warfare is age of sail type warfare.

You want to broadside, the prow of your ship can not mount many weapons, you use it to soften up a foe or when in "chase" The big cap ships all have massive broadsides, they want to be on the side with you running at that side, that want to form a "Line" and nail you with those broadsides as you close.

Now the kicker is as you said, effective range. Nominally the bigger ship mounts the bigger weapons with better range. Most 40k ships do have armored prows with massive prow weapons, normally lances or in the case of the Armageddon a Nova canon.

By the way, what exactly is a lance weapon?

From what i've figured.

An Imperial Navy ship has a giant armored prow with multiple gun barrels or torpedo tubes sticking out of it.

Frontally an attack would have the dorsal mounted Lance turrets firing at your ship while the torpedoes or cannons or whatever mounted in the prow open up to soften up resistance. When range is made (in hundread of Kilometers) they ether turn broadside or fly past your ship. either way you are exposed to the broadside of the Imperial ship.

They all onboard weapons (on the side of the ship facing you and anything in a turret or can turn in space like a missile or something) will open up, smashing you to peices.

Its a strange combo of WW2 battleships and age of Sail combat.

another chart i found (Yay google!)



and the specs for a retrobution class battleship (sort of). like i said all those turrets on the top will fire as it fly towards you as well as the gigantic (as in Saturn 5 sized missiles) torpedos fly out of the prow and any other forward facing weapons open fire. as it gets within range it goes broadside and its whole flank lights up with its weapon batteries beating the targets into oblivion!!!

heres a battle barge opening up on a target (i think its a chaos cruiser but i cannot tell the tracers obscure it)


While thats impressive a Retrobution or other Navy Battleship can do alot more then a Battle barge firepower wise.




Edit: answering K.O.s question on Lance Weapon
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Lance

a Lance weapon is a giant laser weapon that produces a long and extreamly powerful energy beam that can cut through armor like a hot knife through butter.




Closest thing i can find to Navy battle. its a mod to a space ship/empire game with the Navy in it. the long beams from ship to ship is akin to the lance weapons. only it would be more violent, that and its missing the torpedoes and other things that would be fired (or i can't tell at least)

Cool line up man, I think some of those scales are a bit off however, a cobra is way smaller then that. Also those turrets on top are point defense weapons.


Fleet


You see the little ships on the right, those are cobra class destroyers Thay are about half the size or a firestorm/sword frigate.


SM fleet with 2 cruisers


You can also see three SC in that pic, Divine Hatred in front and the two to the right of the BB.The rest of the ships are escort types (frigates/destroyers)

Do shields cover a large area of space, or just the immediate surroundings of the ship's hull? Is it possible to cover a SC with it's Escort's shield?

Just the area around the ship, maybe a hundred or so meters at very most from the hull and that may be pushing it. You do not ever want to get anywhere that close to another ship in combat you do not plane to ram/board,"close" is just a few Km you really do not want to get closer to another ship moving then .5 Km and that is damned close.You can't really use your own shields to "shield" someone else. What you can do is shield them with the bulk of your own ship, taking a hit meant for them.

Engine of War wrote:




Closest thing i can find to Navy battle. its a mod to a space ship/empire game with the Navy in it. the long beams from ship to ship is akin to the lance weapons. only it would be more violent, that and its missing the torpedoes and other things that would be fired (or i can't tell at least)

I would definitely start playing SoaSE again with this mod.