BFG - Rule question from a noob(s).

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**HoverBoy**

Ok so this is what happened in my first game, a burning wreck crossed paths with a ship and we couldn't find rules of whether or not anything happens (both players new) so we just assumed the ship dodged it.
So i'm just curious if that was right.

**Hedgehog**

That's correct, ships don't collide unless it's a deliberate ramming action. Remember the actual models are massively out of scale - if you placed a hair on top of the flying base a ship might be as long as the hair is wide...

**Grey Templar**

Only time ships hit each other is on a Ram action. Aside from that ships to not interfer with each others movement(ruleswise anyway, modelwise they definitly can)

Ships also don't block shooting. You can shoot through one ship against another ship with no penelty. Except for torpedos, which really just attack anything along their path till they manage a hit.

**HoverBoy**

Thanks a bunch guys.

Grey Templar wrote:
Ships also don't block shooting. You can shoot through one ship against another ship with no penelty. Except for torpedos, which really just attack anything along their path till they manage a hit.

Boy did we do that wrong, thanks a bunch for helping us do better next time.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
I got some more, about ordnance this time.
Since ordnance has no ark of fire does that mean it can launch from any facing?
How does ordnance work against squadrons, does it hit only the ship it contacted only dealing with it's turret rating, or does it attack the squadron as a whole against their combined turret power?

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also can special tyranid upgrades be used in non campaign games for the points listed?

**Hedgehog**

Ordnance (except torpedoes) can be launched from anywhere - the fighters and bombers are manoeuvrable enough to turn in any direction compared to the hive-cities-in-space that are BFG ships. They can also twist and turn as much as needed during flight.

Ordnance must also attack a ship it contacts if it is able to do so, so running an expendable escort into your opponent's Swarm-of-Doom (tm) is a valid way of dealing with them.

Against squadrons you still only attack one ship. However there are optional rules for ships in base-to-base sharing turrets, in return for being more vulnerable to blast markers taking down multiple shields - I'm not sure which supplement this is in though!

I've not run into a Tyranid fleet before though, sorry!

**Grey Templar**

You can also fire torpedos and other ordinance at point blank range.

**AndrewChristlieb**

As if the rules are not confusing enough hulks do block los.

The FAQ2010 says that you must get your opponents permission to use the nids refits, i say whatevs its all good just lay off the 6 spore 14 hit super-carrier of doom (tm). See what i did there

.

**HoverBoy**

AndrewChristlieb wrote:
As if the rules are not confusing enough hulks do block los.

The FAQ2010 says that you must get your opponents permission to use the nids refits, i say whatevs its all good just lay off the 6 spore 14 hit super-carrier of doom (tm). See what i did there .

A: Can i have a link to that, i'm hoping it fixes a few typos.
B: Wouldn't that be super expencive point's wise, in my mind Nids is about cheap=more. Mostly i wanna get the speed upgrade so they can keep up with the rest of the fleet.

**horizon**

http://www.forum.specialist-arms.com/index.php?topic=3930.0

In it is the FAQ link. You'll need a google account though.

**HoverBoy**

How official is this FAQ? wrote:A Tyranid vessel with two sets of massive claws may use any two claws to perform its “grab” on an enemy vessel, rolling again to hit in every End Phase as described on p.84 of Armada.

Ok now that i have that i gotta ask:
How exactly does a ship like that resolve its claws attack, does it use just one set, roll each separately, or roll them together and grapple on any two hits?

**AndrewChristlieb**

Roll all four and grapple on any two.

**HoverBoy**

Does it work the same way in the end phase, giving you another hit for every two?

**HoverBoy**

What happens when a boarding action is a tie?

**AndrewChristlieb**

Yes, if any two attacks hit in the end phase then the ship takes an additional third.

If a boarding results in a tie then they are locked and cannot do anything till the next end phase where the boarding action continues. Its not really covered that ive seen but we dont allow firing on the ships either, but we do allow other ships to join the boarding action.

**Grey Templar**

You can shoot ships engaging in a boarding action just fine IIRC.

**AndrewChristlieb**

Well we went with the 40k ruling for close combat because we never found anything that said you could or couldnt. It really makes sense that you wouldnt be able to shoot at them anyway for fear of damaging your own ships.

**HoverBoy**

AndrewChristlieb wrote:
Roll all four and grapple on any two.

If the hits are saved by holofields/reactive hull does the grapple fail?

**AndrewChristlieb**

Well now thats an interesting question.

For Holofields i would think the grab would fail. Due to the mechanics of the Holofields any hits that are saved never hit in the first place.

For hull saves or brace saves tho i would say the grab succeeds since these only provide a save against the damage but not the hit itself.

**HoverBoy**

An in line with the nids vs eldar questions:
If a pyro-acid battery crits a ship who uses a separate table that doesn't include fire, does it set it on fire?
My thought is yes, there is a precedent for bonus off the charts critical damage in the DE leech torpedoes.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also at what point during the game is one allowed to measure distances and such.
Is there a no pre-measuring rule like in other GW games of that time.

**AndrewChristlieb**

Well I just got on the computer and this has been sitting here since last night :/.

The Pyro-acid rules automatically apply a fire crit reguardless if the enemy ship can take fires in the normal fashion. Its not actually fire anyway its acid that follows the same rules.

Well it used to be that you could not pre-measure at all due to the Nova cannon rules. Now I dont see any reason why you cant premeasure so long as everyone agrees its ok.