Badab war BFG scenario creation comitee

[ThePov]

Well, I had kind of imagined a parrallel BFG campaign that mirrored but didn't actually interfere with the the 40K one, but now that I think about it, since the BoLS campaign is multi-tree, we may just want to create one tree to optionally replace the Shipping raids one... but let's cross that bridge when we come to it. First, I think, we should simply get at least a few good scenarios written and in the process of playtesting before we get too in depth about how we arrange them.

To get the ball rolling, I'm going to start off by trying my hand at writing a Raid on Tarturga IV scenario (see original post) over the next few days, and if anyone else wants to pick a scenario and start working, be my guest.

[ThePov]

Well, I knuckled down, and with a few hours work, I managed to pump out a rough draft of the Raid on Tarturga IV scenario, based fairly heavily on the standard "The Raiders" scenarios. This may end up being an easier project than I thought, as there is a stock BFG scenario for most of the situations described in the Mini-dex, so all it will take to create scenarios is a little bit of flavorful tailoring. So, without further ado, here it is. Comments, critiques, and opinions are welcome, especially from anyone who is willing to (and hopefully has) playtest it.

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The Raid on Tarturga IV

Towards the End of the Shipping Raids, the Lamenters were running amok in Rear-Admiral Heydon’s Tarturga IV patrol sector. In their most daring raid, the Lamenters destroyed a large Battlefleet Maelstrom cruiser squadron less than 5 lightyears from dock at the patrol sector base of Tarturga IV. The success of this crippling raid drove Battlefleet Maelstrom to seek the Mechanicum’s aid, provided in the form of the Null beacons which laid bare the fleet patterns of the Executioners and set the stage for Heydon’s Gambit.

Forces:
The Battlefleet Maelstrom player may take up to 4 Imperial Navy Cruisers (no escorts or Battleships allowed), with a max point limit of 1000 points. The Lamenters player may choose up to 750 points worth of Space Marine vessels.

Battle Zone:
Due to the Tarturga IV patrol sector’s proximity to the Maelstrom, the space in this area was notoriously unstable. Before the battle, randomly place D3-1 Warp rifts on the battlefield. Additionally, due to the Lamenter’s skill in navigating the Maelstrom, they automatically pass the leadership test to enter one of these Warp Rifts, and may elect to disengage rather than re-enter the battlefield once they do so.

Set-Up:
Follow the standard set-up rules for the “Raiders” scenario, found on page 71 of the Battlefleet Gothic rulebook.

First Turn:
The Lamenters player gets first turn, and moves his fleet in from one table edge.

Special Rules:
During their first two turns, the Battlefleet Maelstrom ships suffer -1 leadership to represent their reduced state of alert.

Game Length:
The Game lasts for eight turns, or until one fleet disengages or is destroyed.

Victory Conditions:
Use the standard Battlefleet Gothic Victory conditions to determine the winner.

[ThePov]

In a fit of inspiration, I've come up with another scenario, based on the Battle of Butcher's Alley (I admit, I am cherry picking the best ones. So sue me. No-one else volunteered.). It's a combination of several stock BFG scenarios, with a few personal additions, so it will likely need a lot of playtesting and adjustment. As above comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and reports of how playtest went would earn you eternal gratitude (unfortunately, I have no steady game group to playtest these myself with).

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Battle of Butcher's Alley

After the Astral Claw’s final withdrawal from the Palace of Thorns, they attempted to retreat back from the Badab System into the Grand Abyss of the Maelstrom. Admiral Orman of Battlefleet Maelstrom anticipated this move, and arrayed his ships in newly discovered warp conduits along the Astral Claw’s line of retreat. As the Astral Claws raced towards the safety of the Maelstrom, Battlefleet Maelstrom pounced, erupting upon the retreating vessels with guns blazing. When the battle was over, only 200 Astral Claws survived the battle of Butcher’s Alley and went on to form the Red Corsairs, who still terrorize the Maelstrom to this day.

Forces:
The Battlefleet Maelstrom player may select a force of up to 2500 points from the Battlefleet Armageddon fleet list found in the Armada Supplement. He must then divide this force into six separate detachments. These detachments need not be of equal strength, but each must contain at least one capitol ship or escort squadron. The Astral Claws player may select a force of up to 2000 points from the Adeptus Astartes Fleet list found in the Armada Supplement.

Battlezone:
The Battle of Butcher’s Alley occurred in the outer reaches of the Badab System. Thus, randomly generate and place D6 celestial phenomena from the Deep Space table.

Set-Up:
The Battlefleet Maelstrom player sets up first. Instead of deploying his ships outright, he places six numbered tokens, which represent his six detachments, anywhere up to 45cm from either long table edge, being careful to remember which token represents which detachment (note that the Astral Claws player should NOT know which token represents what, only the Battlefleet Maelstrom player). Each turn, starting in the first turn, the Battlefleet Maelstrom may activate D3 of these tokens at the beginning of his movement phase, placing each ship within 10cm the token (note that squadrons need only have one member within 10cm of the token). The Astral Claws player then flips a coin to determine which short table edge he will move in from. The Astral Claws player may move as many ships as he wants in from this table edge on his first turn, but must move at least one ship in first turn. Any ships that do not move in on the first turn MUST move in on the second turn.

First Turn:
The Astral Claws player get the first turn.

Special Rules:
The Astral Claws player may only disengage ships by moving them off the opposite table side from the one they move in on from.

Victory Conditions:
Use the standard Victory conditions to determine the winner of the battle. In addition, each non-crippled ship the Astral Claws player disengages as per above scores victory points equal to its points value. Each crippled ship disengaged in this manner scores victory points equal to one half of its points value.

[ThePov]

Okay, I know this is just a bout my 5th post in a row here, but whatever, I seem to be the only one actively involved in creating stuff here, so I'll have my fun, thank you very much. Anyway, here's a quick little BFG themed blurb of an article I whipped up to go with the scenarios, make them a bit more "fluffy." Tell me what you guys think.

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Planetary Defenses of the Later Badab War


If the Badab war taught the Admirals of the Imperial Navy anything, it was that even the most elaborate planetary and inter-planetary defense lines can be broken with the right strategy. After all, the Rebel chapters had a full four years to fortify their various home worlds (or, in the case of the Lamenters, main anchorage), time which they did not waste. Why, then, were Imperial forces not smashed the moment they entered orbit? Why did the Space Marines succeed where two previous Imperial Navy expeditions failed so miserably? Why did three of the four rebel strongholds fail to keep the Imperial forces from the rebels harboring within? The answer is that each of the failed defenses lacked one of the basic requirements to stave off a major naval assault: a strong fleet, a well-planned defensive line, and a smart strategy for utilizing them.

Perhaps the least effective naval defense put up by the Rebels was that of the Mantis Warriors. Though they had built up impressive fortifications around Tranquility, the vast majority of their fleet had been destroyed in Von Strieb’s Backhand. Thus, the relatively large Space Sharks fleet dispatched to bring the Mantis Warriors to their knees was able to enter the outer reaches of the system with very little resistance. From there, they showcased one of the many great talents of the Adeptus Astartes: clearing away orbital defenses. Without an adequate fleet to force their enemies into the teeth of their defenses, the Mantis Warriors could do little but watch as the Space Sharks isolated and destroyed sections of their defense line with a series of lightning raids. The orbital supremacy established in this phase of the siege proved to be one of the deciding factors in the capitulation of the Mantis Warriors.

The Executioners fared little better. Historically, the chapter was never known for their prowess in fleet actions, preferring instead to focus their martial energies on ground combat. Leading up to the Siege of Vigilance, The Executioners’ fleet had been stymied after Heydon’s Gambit, and was no longer able to conduct offensive raids, but they appeared to have adequate strength to keep an enemy fleet from landing troops on their home planet outright. Knowing this, the Imperial forces wisely decided contain the Executioners rather than confront them, and set up the “Phantom Blockade,” which succeeded in destroying the Rebels’ fleet as it was sent against the blockade piece-meal, instead of all at once in a single, powerful blow. This strategic blunder robbed the Executioners of their fleet assets, and with no support fleet, Vigilance’s orbital defenses fared little better than those of Tranquility, allowing the Sons of Medusa to land with little to no losses in transit.

Many passive observers have wondered why there were so few static defense encountered during the Battle of Null Point. After all, if the entirety of the Lamenters’ fleet was based in this one area, wouldn’t it make sense and be relatively easy to fortify it against attack? In fact, the very nature of the Maelstrom makes the opposite true. Firstly, the Lamenters simply did not have the resources to fortify such a vast area of space with no planetary focal point. It is tremendously difficult to find and enter the Null Bastion, which is notoriously remote, and thus it is tremendously difficult to supply it. What resources the Lamenters did get in were needed for more basics facilities, such as repair docks. Secondly, and more importantly, part of the reason the rebels chose the Null Bastion as a port was because it would not need to be heavily fortified. It was too well hidden. Only the Lamenter’s unparalleled knowledge of the Maelstrom allowed them to detect it in the first place, and only an unparalleled stroke of chance allowed Captain Minos of the Minotaurs to tail an unsuspecting Lamenters strike cruiser back to it. Once inside, the Minotaurs caught the Lamenters at anchor, and with few static defenses to slow them down, they ran amok.

The Astral Claws, who sparked the rebellion, were also the hardest of the Rebels to unseat. The Siege of the Badab System took four years, and for good reason. For the first and only time in the war, smart defensive strategy, strong defenses and a large fleet stood in the way of the bringing the Rebels to justice. The Astral Claws had been frugal with their naval assets during the early stages of the war, and Master Huron had turned the entire system into one massive fortress, upstaged only by such famously impregnable systems as Port Maw. Hidden space stations supporting numerous warships littered the system, and each of the six major planets, as well as several of the larger moons, had substantial defenses. An entire chapter of Space Marines and several regiments of the Badab PDF manned the various outposts, and insidious booby traps claimed both ships and ground troops. Faced with this seemingly air-tight defense, the Allied forces called upon their biggest advantages: numbers and brute strength. Instead of trying to bypass or neuter Huron’s defense network, as with the other Rebel chapters, the combined forces of thirteen Space Marine chapters and an Imperial Navy Battlefleet instead simply punched through them. Rarely in Imperial history has such a massive concentration of military might been brought to bear on a single system. The battle was unbelievably bloody, but planet by planet, fortress by fortress, trench by trench, the Astral Claws were forced from their defenses, until even the Palace of Thorns crumbled.

[Bulwark]

nice work

[Ivarr]

I love what you have done so far. Did you get much feedback on the scenarios written so far? Is this project still ongoing?