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.

Hey guys!

So I've just won a couple BFG Imperial Navy ships off Ebay for a good price and have started to think about what else I might need to buy to get up to a 1500 list.
Keep in mind I'm completely new but I've done a little research and I think this list will be decent, the only thing it seems to be lacking is a lot of long ranged fire power.

Emperor w/ Shark Assault Boats (because I had 5 points)
Dictator
Dictator
Lunar
Gothic
Dominator
Dauntless
Fleet Admiral

Comes to 1500 on the nose.
Has 16 Launch Bays, 24 Torpedoes, 15 Lances, and a Nova Cannon.

Tactics wise I have no idea what I'm doing haha I know Lances shoot after Batteries to get through the blast markers and having Ordinance flying around is never a bad thing.
Like I said Emperor has 60cm range and the Nova Cannon can hit pretty much anything, otherwise I'm relying on Torps and closing with the rest of my 30cm armaments.

Any advice on the list? All comments are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!

From my limited experience with imperials this seems decent it covers most bases but I do like to run escorts with my fleets

Yeah I've reworked it a bit to have some faster elements and really tone down the Launch Bays, 16 was too many for sure.

This keeps me at 12 Launch Bays, 24 Torpedoes, 15 Lances, and a single Nova Cannon in addition to the Weapons Batteries.

Emperor w/ Shark Assault Boats
Dictator
Lunar
Gothic
Dominator
Dauntless
x3 Swords
x3 Cobras
Fleet-Admiral

1485

Not sure what to do with the last 15 points though

Magnetize! so you can chance your ships t will, keep your prow at the enemy close quickly and pepper them with torpedoes!

So I have a huge Imperial fleet and I will tell you Torps and Ordnance in general is the Imperial bread and butter! if you can place tiny flyers do it! bombers are controllable torps and it works amazing to throw 10 at something
kill the escorts (they provide A to bigger ships they are pared with) and throw bombers and torps into things and watch them die

Thanks for the replies guys, I think this is the list I have settled on let me know what you think

Emperor
Dictator
Lunar
Gothic
Tyrant (+10 pts for 45cm range)
Dauntless
x3 Swords
x3 Cobras
Fleet Admiral
1 Re-Roll

Comes to 1500 on the nose.
Has 12 Launch Bays, 30 Torpedoes, and 15 Lances

 Thedecay wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys, I think this is the list I have settled on let me know what you think

Emperor
Dictator
Lunar
Gothic
Tyrant (+10 pts for 45cm range)
Dauntless
x3 Swords
x3 Cobras
Fleet Admiral
1 Re-Roll

Comes to 1500 on the nose.
Has 12 Launch Bays, 30 Torpedoes, and 15 Lances

Emperor -- good Battleship
Dictator -- good little second line ship
Lunar -- great all rounder I always run 2. Run her with the gothic or dictator
Gothic -- the biggest thing I always run into with this ship is she need a wing man to be able to effectively do anything in battle due to her low dice count
Tyrant (+10 pts for 45cm range)
Dauntless -- great little ship that is a good support I would look into a Endurance though (almost same thing just lances and torps for +5 points) Run her with gothic/dictator
x3 Swords -- worth there weight in gold
x3 Cobras -- these can be sneaky little buggers just make sure you continue to reload torps (I would also look into Vipers they lose the battery but gain an extra torp)

so in all not a bad list better than my first time! lol

Fleet Admiral
1 Re-Roll

I never use only weapon battery or lance only ships unless i know what enemy i play before hand, i usually have a one squad of 3 lunar classes when they combine firepower it can be devastating, a dictator should hang back near the emperor class battle ship giving long range support and launching planes to protect your ships or attack the enemy.

Always shoot weapon batteries before shooting lances because of blastmarkers, for the rest just experiment, your fleet list depends on your play style and different enemies require different fleets and strategies.

Yeah I guess I was thinking that the Lunar+Gothic or even the Tyrant+Gothic could put the hurt on something with the Gothic hitting after shields are down with "lock on".

I was trying to go for an all comers list with this because I wont be buying too many more ships but I'm sure once I actually play there will need to be some little tweaks haha!

I'll be doing my first intro game with a much smaller list next week so I'll let you guys know how it goes!

And again, thanks for the help and advice!

Just got my Emperor Battle Barge in the mail yesterday! Was so stoked that I had to build and paint it right away lol

"Sol Ignem" Flag Ship Battle Barge of The Ash Bringers armada

Looks great!!!

Emperor
Dictator
Lunar
Gothic
Tyrant (+10 pts for 45cm range)
Dauntless
x3 Swords
x3 Cobras
Fleet Admiral
1 Re-Roll

Hmmm..

Okay, you've got several fighting units here.

You have three 'fighting cruisers' - the Tyrant, Lunar and Gothic, which want to form your main battle line; advance, laying down torpedos, then turn and present broadsides. The Lunar and Gothic work best together because they have similar weapon ranges and arcs of fire.

Put the tyrant on the 'back end' of this battle line as it has the extended range.

The Emperor belongs on a flank because it has massive firepower but (unlike the cruisers) can only throw it in one direction at once - you need to concentrate prow, dorsal and broadsides to really scare people at long range. Since that's heavy carrier strength on one flank, put the Dictator on the other flank. Carriers in the Imperial Navy are mostly defensive entities - your main ordnance attack is torpedo tubes. If you can hit someone with a simultaneous bomber/torpedo strike, then wahey, but generally you're going to be out-launched by enemy carriers.

The Dauntless pairs with the cobras (if a torpedo variant) or the swords (if a lance boat). send it up the flanks on all ahead full and try to get behind the enemy, or (the most lethal option) send torpedo spreads right along their lines.

The other escort squadron needs to be nailed to your battleship. Battleships are fantastic but can get outmanouvred badly - notice that a battleship's minimum move-before-turn is 15cm....which is an Emperor-class ship's maximum move. The upshot is that I don't think your flagship can actually turn whilst under fire!

Imperials are my main fleet so let me give you some tips.

1. Keep your 6+ prow pointed at your opponent at all costs.
2. Lunar class cruisers are jack of all trades, special at nothing. Take a lot of them or none at all.
3. The Dominator is an absolute beast and your fleet should have one each game.
4. Nova cannons are your friend. They win games on turn 1. Try to always have 2.
5. Cobras are generally worthless. Swords and Firestorms however are great.
6. A Dauntless light cruiser with lances and 3 Firestorms gives you more lance shots than a Gothic.
7. The above formation is more survivable too! And cheaper!
8. Don't trust ordinance. It is likely to screw you over just as much as help you. Use it as a compliment to your guns.
9. Bracing for impact generally means you are about a turn from losing the game. Trust in point 1!
10. The Emperor class battleship with its 5+ prow is an expensive death trap. Take the Retribution or Oberon.

Hope these help.

Hey,

 Generalstoner wrote:
Imperials are my main fleet so let me give you some tips.

1. Keep your 6+ prow pointed at your opponent at all costs.
2. Lunar class cruisers are jack of all trades, special at nothing. Take a lot of them or none at all.
3. The Dominator is an absolute beast and your fleet should have one each game.
4. Nova cannons are your friend. They win games on turn 1. Try to always have 2.
5. Cobras are generally worthless. Swords and Firestorms however are great.
6. A Dauntless light cruiser with lances and 3 Firestorms gives you more lance shots than a Gothic.
7. The above formation is more survivable too! And cheaper!
8. Don't trust ordinance. It is likely to screw you over just as much as help you. Use it as a compliment to your guns.
9. Bracing for impact generally means you are about a turn from losing the game. Trust in point 1!
10. The Emperor class battleship with its 5+ prow is an expensive death trap. Take the Retribution or Oberon.

Hope these help.

Pretty neat to see the different use of tactics all around.

1. True, however lances don't care about a 6+ prow, neither does ordnance.
2. Yeah, a pair is always adviced above a single one. Squadron them.
3. Great vessel indeed.
4. Not true. Torps are better. Anywhoo, back in 1999 Nova Cannons where a guess range weapon and some players just had it always spot on (my opponent). However GW/SG quickly saw the death trap of guess range and made nova cannon a scatter weapon in the first FAQ as experimental rule. And has been added to the 1.5 rulebook which was released later. Everyone with sense knows the scatter rules are better. While it made the NC less devestating for some admirals it made better rules and overall. The NC now is good psychological weapon.
5. Cobras are excellent. Firestorms are the worst. Swords are great as well.
6. And that Gothic has more staying power then a Dauntless plus it can fire lances to both sides and has torpedoes. And 1 Gothic (180) is less points then 1 Dauntless (110) + 3 firestorms (3x40=120) --> 180 vs 230.
7. Disagree as stated. Gothic has more staying power and is cheaper.
8. That's true. IN does have benefit of synergy attacks with all the torpedoes and ordnance. That is what makes the Dictator a somewhat cool ship.
9. Bracing may save the day. Point 1 is overruled by lances and ordnance.
10. Disagree, Emperor is best battleship. Just keep it abeam... the Oberon has a 5+ prow as well, so keep it abeam as well. If you like to brawl take the Retribution accompinied by two Dictators. => steamroller IN.

Lol thanks guys, any info is always appreciated so I can chew it over. Especially you Horizon I think you've replied to every thread I've started on like 4 different forums hahaha you da real mvp!

That being said how does this list look so far?

Fleet-Admiral
Emperor
Lunar
Lunar
Dominator
Dictator
Dauntless (Lances)
Dauntless (Lances)
x3 Firestorm

OR

Fleet-Admiral
Emperor + Shark Assault Boats
Lunar
Gothic
Tyrant (45cm upgrade)
Dictator
Dauntless (Lances)
Dauntless (Lances)
x3 Firestorm

Dauntless' will squadron together with the Firestorm squadron behind them to catch a flank hopefully, that's 6 WB's and then 9 Lances up somethings butt

I guess the Lunars squadron as well with the Dominator moving up by itself shooting NC until it's in range.

Dictator could hang around the Escorts maybe to provide a little Ordinance support so they don't get chewed up

Yay or Nay?

what all do you have if I may ask?

Right now I have the Emperor, 2 Lunars, a Dauntless and 3 Firestorms.

My buddy has a huge collection, with a lot of unbuild cruisers, so I'm trying to decide what the last few cruisers of the list will be so I can buy them off him.

Ok making sure that we wernt telling you something that was unobtainable you know.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
its all fun and games to tell you something like run 3 Activated Blackstone Fts but the likely hood you have 3 is minimal lol


Automatically Appended Next Post:
and dont underestimate escorts they can take quite a bit of shots before the squad is wasted. I would also say that Swords are better then Firestorms but that is a personal preference.

Here's the fleet so far, I've also got my first Lunar painted up it's just not in the shot.

Will be playing my first 1v1 game tomorrow when I pick up the rest of my ships.

Looks good friend! wish you luck on your game!

Need more cruisers! cruisers are the backbone! Escorts and dauntless are fragile and only good at the perfect timing

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
Need more cruisers! cruisers are the backbone! Escorts and dauntless are fragile and only good at the perfect timing

I'll post a picture of what I get today and do a quick game recap.
I'm picking up a Dictator, Tyrant, and a Gothic. Already have my Lunar

If it's not too late then as I said on the b&c, magnetise as much as possible
As you can see above everyone has their own play style which favours certain ship classes, until you find your own play style you don't want to choose a permanent class for your increasingly expensive cruiser hulls
Nice job on the colour scheme, close enough to my red and white scheme that I blinked a few times when I saw it

kewl...

Radu Lykan wrote:
If it's not too late then as I said on the b&c, magnetise as much as possible
As you can see above everyone has their own play style which favours certain ship classes, until you find your own play style you don't want to choose a permanent class for your increasingly expensive cruiser hulls
Nice job on the colour scheme, close enough to my red and white scheme that I blinked a few times when I saw it

Yes, i used one 15 mm round magnet in the weapon bay and made a cavity for paperclip metal, works like a charm.

Alright! It has been a long time coming but I finally got my 1v1 game in with jae4x4 and it was aaaawesome, I think I can safely say I'm hooked on BFG!

Without further adieu, some sweet ass space combat.

The Lists: 1500 points

The Ash Bringers Fleet:
Emperor Battleship w/ Shark Assault Boats
Dictator Cruiser
Lunar Cruiser
Gothic Cruiser
Tyrant Cruiser w/ Range upgrade
Dauntless Light Cruiser w/ Lances
Dauntless Light Cruiser w/ Lances
x3 Firestorm Escorts

Opposition:
Apocalypse Battleship
Mars Battlecruiser
Dictator Cruiser
Lunar Cruiser
Gothic Cruiser
Tyrant Cruiser w/ Range Upgrade + Nova Cannon

So coming into this I knew J out-ranged the crap out of me with 3 (!) Nova Cannons and a couple 60cm Lance batteries. I'd need first turn and I'd need to somehow split his force up so that my lighter, faster ships could sandwich his weakened line.

Luckily I win the roll off and get first! Here's our deployment.



J's left flank is huge! I need to split that up ASAP. My plan is to send out all my torpedoes in a huge salvo to create lanes of movement.



He takes the bait! His Lunar and Gothic move left to avoid the torpedoes and use the "Come to a New Heading" order to get 2 turns in their movement. He's going to try and kill my isolated Dictator which I was counting on.
His Nova Cannons all hit...I might be in trouble...but he rolls 1's and 2's on his D6 damage results! Wooo close call, I need to close fast.



My escorts and Dauntless Light Cruisers shoot up the side to try and get behind J's line, they're basically paper planes so we'll see how well they do!



Mid-game is where things always get interesting. We've set the field for battle and a blood bath ensues...
I take the middle of the map and get a few pot shots off with my Starboard batteries as well as a few Bombers harassing his Cruisers. On the far side my Dictator is waiting for the right time to book it into the fight, leaving J's squad stranded in the asteroids.



Hoooly crap BFG is a gak show! Lmao! Shots, Torpedoes, Attack Craft, Explosions! What else could you ask for?

I focus his Mars on the right to try and reduce his Attack Craft capabilities so that my Emperor can reign supreme. I end up crippling it (half of its starting hit points) which in turn halves all its attack values. Pretty good so far! In the Ordinance phase I get really lucky and cripple J's Tyrant on the left with my Bombers further reducing his Fleets fire power.

In turn he cripples my Gothic...that Apocalypse is taking names with mass "Locked On" Lance batteries. To the right he all but erases my escort squadron AND a Dauntless, their pot shots will not have been in vain!



After I launch a HUGE wave of 8 Bombers, the crippled Mars takes one for the team to clear them out so the Apocalypse can keep ploughing ahead...
And it lives with 1 hull point! Son of a...



I finally lose the valiant Dictator, which explodes right in the middle of 3 ships lol.
My last remaining Dauntless swings around to take the last point of damage off the Mars! I knew they'd do something this game :roll:
I also cripple the Apocalypse.
J FINALLY gets his Lunar and Gothic into the fight and tries to take a few more points off me by killing the Dauntless, he fires everything into it and I BRACE FOR IMPACT...
I roll three 6's! Lmao, hero Dauntless I swear.

With this, we call the game. I win with about 640 points and J has around 470 I think.

The Ash Bringers are victorious!
Wow what a close game

The subtle strategy involved in BFG's orders and movement phases, coupled with the insane mini-game that is the Ordinance phase has me hooked, love this game already.

Thanks for the bat rep. I like the way you guys made the table look and the fleets. Everything looks really good. Congrats on the win!

 Thedecay wrote:


The subtle strategy involved in BFG's orders and movement phases, coupled with the insane mini-game that is the Ordinance phase has me hooked, love this game already.

Welcome to the BFG club. It's a blast

Roadkill Zombie wrote:
Thanks for the bat rep. I like the way you guys made the table look and the fleets. Everything looks really good. Congrats on the win!

I'm pretty sure the board is a F.a.T Mat from Frontline gaming, kind of like a giant mouse pad. It's so nice to play on.

Thanks for reading guys! Going to get another game in today so we'll see if I can start a win streak haha