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Hi Dakka, my gaming group were thinking of trying out BFG and I was looking for a starter list for the ships I should buy as I want to keep costs to a minimum to start off with. I was hoping for advice on both an Imperial and Chaos [Slaanesh] allcomers list [not sure on which one I want to run yet], fairly small [1000-1500 points maybe? Not even sure what size battles BFG comes in].

Thanks in advance.

I can comment on the Imperial side of the question.

If you want an all comers type list then a solid line of cruisers is really important. I'd recommend 2 (for 1000pts) or 3 (for 1500pts) Lunars. These are the real work horses of the fleet. Then you will want a ship or two with carrier capacity. A Dictator is one that fits the bill or you may want to take a Mars Class Battlecruiser and a Dictator.

A lot of players make the Mars BC the flagship with the admiral, but it's a lot of points if it goes down. Then if points allow, a Gothic and then some escorts of your choice.

If you really wanted too, taking a Battleship at 1500pts is workable, but it's really a hit and miss situation. The BS might be the game-winner for you or it might be the game-breaker for you.

It's also good to see some more people getting into BFG. It's an awesome game.

The Chaos fleetlist is pretty similar in it's basic build - if you want to save money, start with an all cruiser force, and then add battleships, grand cruisers and escorts later. Chaos differs in having three heavy cruisers and only four basic ones, compared to the 2/5 of the imperial list, however all of those are viable choices.

Your basic line cruiser is usually the Murder class - a couple of these provide decent firepower levels at a good range in all arcs. You can back it up with the Hades, which is basically a Murder with a couple of extra lances, so the two have perfect synergy.

One Carnage is a good idea - the long range weapon batteries are incredible against Eldar, and OK against many other opponents, although you'll feel under-gunned against armour 6. The Acheron is it's opposite - great against heavy armour, but lacking firepower in weapon batteries against other opponents (this is a common problem with lance-boats).

The Slaughter is a bit more specialised - many people are drawn in by the incredible firepower and high speed, without considering what role it will play in their fleet. Its short range means it doesn't synergise well, and it doesn't have the manoeuvrability of an escort to flank the enemy. Therefore use with caution - they are very prone to charging ahead and opening you to a defeat in detail. Consider instead using them as your fire-brigade - at the back of your fleet, ready to add significant firepower to whichever part of your line is under close-attack from the enemy. Note the exception to the above is a fleet composed of nothing but Slaughters and carriers - this is entirely viably but is a bit of a one-trick pony, and wastes Chaos's real advantage in range.

You have a choice of two carriers - the Devastation is easily the better, with four launch bays and long-range lances at a great price (the only standard sub-200 point carrier in the game). The Styx is probably the weakest of the Chaos cruisers - more bays than anything short of a battleship, but you pay for it, and can almost buy 3 Devastations for the price of 2 Styxes. Locally we've fiddled the points costs between the two, so the Devastation is 220 and the Styx 260 - this seems to have addressed the balance and made both decent but not overpowered choices.

For a starter 1k force I'd suggest:

Ld 8 Warlord with MoS
Hades or Acheron (either will work)
Murder x 2
Carnage
Devastation

This will put you on 975 or 985 depending on your choice of heavy cruiser.

At 1.5k you've got the choice of adding some metal models, or to keep things cheap add in extra cruisers or heavy cruisers, including another carrier.

 tyrannosaurus wrote:
Hi Dakka, my gaming group were thinking of trying out BFG and I was looking for a starter list for the ships I should buy as I want to keep costs to a minimum to start off with. I was hoping for advice on both an Imperial and Chaos [Slaanesh] allcomers list [not sure on which one I want to run yet], fairly small [1000-1500 points maybe? Not even sure what size battles BFG comes in].

Thanks in advance.

I'm starting Imperials myself, and for starters I plan following:

-Vengeance Grand Cruiser
-two other Imperial cruisers
-Dauntless Light Cruiser
-three Cobras, three Swords.
~1000 points

For cruisers, I'm going to have Dictator and maybe Dominator or Lunar, depending. Lots of people would probably have a battlecruiser as a flagship instead, but I just like the Vengeance.

This is brilliant, really helpful, thanks for the responses guys, will let you know how I get on!

Chaos:
Desolator
2x Acheron
2x Devestation
2x Carnage
= allround & very good