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 Grey Templar wrote:
Venerable Battlebarges can be ANY Chaos or Imperial cruiser, grand cruiser, or battleship. The chaos ships represent ships that have been in the chapter since the Heresy(Chaos ships are just what the Imperial fleet had back then)

Don't write any of the chaos ships out. They have some really nice ships, although they tend to lack in the armor department.


Heck, you could take the Planet Killer as a VBB

I guess it would be fun. I am building the Blood Ravens fleet, after all...

Also, sweet mother of lizards! The armament on that thing? I can have a Planet Killer VBB? Holy crap!

Further Edit: I waffled on the model, but I now think that the Planet Killer can be slightly altered to make it extremely cool.

Is this a dumb idea, or will I enjoy a Planet Killer VBB? What do you think?

Ahh yes, the kleptos of the 40k universe.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Ahh yes, the kleptos of the 40k universe.

"You're welcome for stopping that Planet-Killer from destroying your world. No, really, there's no need for gifts or any other expression of gratitude. Just doing our job as Astartes... By the way, you won't mind if we take it, do you? The Planet-Killer? Our company techmarine has been almost drooling at the chance to take it apart and see how it works. Don't worry - there's almost no chance of him getting it running again."

ive played a few games of BFG and i have a small Ork fleet ( love the brute ram ships)

although finding an opponent has been difficult until recently when i learned that one of my clubs newest members has a fleet

 Grey Templar wrote:
Venerable Battlebarges can be ANY Chaos or Imperial cruiser, grand cruiser, or battleship. The chaos ships represent ships that have been in the chapter since the Heresy(Chaos ships are just what the Imperial fleet had back then)

Don't write any of the chaos ships out. They have some really nice ships, although they tend to lack in the armor department.

I never understood that. Both the imperial and chaos battleships were built before the heresy yet they look different.

On some level, I realize, my decision isn't up to me. Shortly before I realized I could field Chaos battleships, I put in a bid for an Emperor-Class Battleship on eBay. Well, if I lose the bidding, I'll buy a World-Killer. If I win, then the World-Killer will be my second battleship.

Just collect ALL the spaceships!

 Blacksails wrote:
Just collect ALL the spaceships!

Well, yes. Eventually.

 Exergy wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Venerable Battlebarges can be ANY Chaos or Imperial cruiser, grand cruiser, or battleship. The chaos ships represent ships that have been in the chapter since the Heresy(Chaos ships are just what the Imperial fleet had back then)

Don't write any of the chaos ships out. They have some really nice ships, although they tend to lack in the armor department.

I never understood that. Both the imperial and chaos battleships were built before the heresy yet they look different.

Actually, the armored prow was a later improvement added to the Imperial fleet. Some ships had it pre-heresy and later it was applied to other ships, but not all of them.

 Exergy wrote:

I never understood that. Both the imperial and chaos battleships were built before the heresy yet they look different.

Actually this is because GW decided to pull the plug on BFG fairly quickly. In fluff there are several battleship classes that have never even gotten art, let alone minis (such as fleet carriers). The only thing we have is the designs used in the Gothic and Armageddon sectors, and it should be pointed out that Emperor class battleships from Voss have the 'Voss' prow, while ships from the Gothic sector such as Divine Right do not. The Oberon class, for example, is, supposedly an Emperor variant. However, the mini's only resemble each other from about midship and aft, as one is as built at Voss and the other is as refitted at Cypra Mundi.

Chaos battleships also did not all leave the Imperium at the same time. The Despoiler class was a more recent design that left Imperial service under highly questionable circumstances.


So, for fluff, even ships that are members of the same class might not look much like one another.

So, I've been noodling around with Space Marine lists for a while now, and I have some observations:

1) Space Marines really need those Imperial allies and Venerable Battle Barges in order to be interesting. I don't know much about being competitive, but without mixing it up a little, the only list you can concoct is a Battlebarge, a bunch of Strike Cruisers, and then you have your pick of small escorts. I don't think that would be a weak list, but it would certainly be a boring list.

2) I'm unimpressed by most of the Chaos options for VBBs, other than the Planet Killer, which I'm undecided on. Chaos doesn't have a lot of fighter bays, which limits your ability to take thunderhawks. Thunderhawks - with their hit-and-run attacks and ability to survive annihilating enemy ordnance, seem to be part of the real strength of the Space Marine fleet.

In light of that, here are two lists.

First, this is the list I will probably build towards if I win the eBay bid and take home the Emperor-Class Battleship to field as a VBB: ...

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, I just reread the Allies rules and those lists are illegal. Here's what they'll actually look like (both 1500 Points):

With Emperor-Class Battlebarge

• Emperor-Class Venerable Battlebarge w/Prow Torpedoes, Master of the Fleet, Terminator Boarding Party

• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser

• Mars Class Battlecruiser w/Space Marine Captain

• Hunter-Class Destroyer
• Hunter-Class Destroyer
• Hunter-Class Destroyer

With Planet Killer Battlebarge

• Planet Killer Venerable Battlebarge w/Master of the Fleet (3 Re-Rolls, Terminator Assault Squad

• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser
• Space Marine Strike Cruiser

• Dominator Class Cruiser w/Space Marine Captain

• Gladius-Class Frigate
• Gladius-Class Frigate
• Gladius-Class Frigate

Generally with VBB's you arn't looking for hanger bays from a competitive standpoint. SM fleets have plenty of hanger space in their normal ships(especially since VBB's cut it in half)

With VBBs you want lances, as many as possable. Along with a good amount of gun batteries. This is primary weakness of the SM fleet, lack of lances.


The Despoiler or Desolator class is a good option for a VBB because they both have quite a few lances.

Please don't lynch me for briefly hijacking this thread...

I'm more or less in the same boat as the OP, but I've been a bit confused about something:

As someone who missed out on BFG when it was originally out, I've found it really hard to figure out where to find all the possible lists/ships that are spread around (some on GW's website, some in the rulebook, some that were published but aren't available? etc, etc). From what I gather, there are two official documents, and several unofficial but "approved" documents.

e.g. If I get the BFG Rulebok, BFG: Armada, and the (Unofficial) BFG Compendium, will I be covered on all the "approved" (no unregulated fan-material) content for the game?

...Now back to your scheduled programming.

Pretty much, although don't forget the 2010 FAQ.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Pretty much, although don't forget the 2010 FAQ.

Yeah FAQ 2010, despite being 'disavowed' even though it was written by the BFG rules committee, is still used at tournaments.

There's also Imperial Armour 10, which has lists in the back which are currently forbidden in tournament play, but are still 'official'. The ships in it though are allowed, usually, as Reserves.

There's also BFG Magazine, but it's Approved/Unapproved status was vague. A lot of the stuff in it later went on to be included in some way in either Armada or FAQ 2010, but some things were not, such as the Nemesis fleet carrier. 12 lbs was just too much for some people.

The Jovian class BC however squeaked in for fluff reasons in FAQ 2010, but has some rather silly rules about being a reserve ship to keep it out of other BFG fleets, except the ones in the back of IA X, as they allow 'any' IN cruiser or battlecruiser. FAQ 2010 also renames the Long Serpent the Mercury and reduces it's explosion rules.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Generally with VBB's you arn't looking for hanger bays from a competitive standpoint. SM fleets have plenty of hanger space in their normal ships(especially since VBB's cut it in half)

With VBBs you want lances, as many as possable. Along with a good amount of gun batteries. This is primary weakness of the SM fleet, lack of lances.


The Despoiler or Desolator class is a good option for a VBB because they both have quite a few lances.

I've been seeing that, as I explore further. Because a Space Marine fleet must include three times as many Strike Cruisers as any allies they take, you're never going to have any dearth of thunderhawks. Lances and other heavy direct weaponry, though, the marines struggle to field.

I'm currently intrigued by the Chaos VBB option. We'll see what happens with my eBay bid, but I'm currently hoping against it :-/.

Well half your Strike Cruisers can swap their hangers for Bombardment Cannons(which I do reccomend, along with the additional shield) so you won't have as many as you think, but strike craft arn't going to do all the heavy lifting.

With the bombardment cannons it gives you 8 of them to the front arc, pretty powerful if you get a decent amount of hits.

I dunno, I tend to maximize SC in my SM fleet due to the rules for thawks making SM SC pretty good. But I also have gak luck with BC, so...