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"Damn the torpedoes! All ahead full!" -Admiral Dvid Fargutt, M.2 The Grand Cruiser Libertas Reginam broke from the warp with a scream, the immaterium refusing to let her go. Her escort vessels, a small strike force of 10 other cruisers and a multitude of escorts followed close behind, quickly gathering in formation as the auspex went live. The return immediately showed a mass of XVII legion in orbit over Autrex Prime, already moving to engage the 129th's strike force. The Fleetmaster, Captain Sawn Konnore reviewed the information from the hololithic display, the 3d representation of the battle space updated every second. He was a proud man, renowned amongst his brethren as one of the best fleet masters in the legion. His armor was an artificed variant of Mk III, festooned with armorial awards, and bonding studs. He carried a sheathed blade across his back, the handle spartan in comparison to the rest of the weapon. In the crook of his arm, a Macragge pattern vox helm rested, covered in esoteric instruments to aid with visualization and communication of the battlespace. He was silent as information began to be called out by his subordinates. Commander Juntar spoke out from his station below the command rotunda, "XVII Legion ships!Assault formation! Fleet Master! They outnumber us three to one!" Sawn looked over at his second in command, his white beard and hair painted a dull red by the command lighting. "Then it is an even fight. Warborn, Tallassar Rex, Jewel of Veridia! Execute the Vairos Feint, targeting the Battle-Barge Ex Valoris. All other vessels! Fire at will! Burn their traitorous hides!" Juntar looked to him, "And us sire?" ​"Find me their Commander. Let us cast them from the sky." [Warborn, Libertas Reginam, Talassar Rex] [Fleet Master Sawn Konnere] [Alternate angle of Konnere, Lawbringer is on display]

Battlefleet Gothic was the game of "Spaceship Battles in the 41st Millennium" and was part of the old Specialist Games range from Games Workshop. First published in 1999, the game was considerably different from its predecessor, Space Fleet, which was released in 1991. When Games Workshop decided to close up shop on the Specialist Games range, the availability of models dropped off until they were discontinued altogether in 2013. Players can still find the rules and various articles for the game at sites like Specialist Arms and Yaktribe, but you'll either have to pay exhorbitant prices on eBay, use 3D printing files, or other low tech substitutes (Legos or paper standees work) if you don't have the models. Alternately, players can resort to fleet battle games in other IP settings such as A Call to Arms: Babylon 5 Space Combat, Firestorm Armada, Star Wars: Armada, Dropfleet Commander, and others. Battlefleet Gothic was a fun and different game from Games Workshop, one that filled a niche that made sense in the setting. The discontinuation of support for the game (despite the ongoing unofficial support via fans) was a great loss to the community and the setting. Though there is a very fun electronic version of the game (be careful with that link - my virus protection throws up a warning when I follow it) that players can enjoy online, and digital mediums such as Tabletop Simulator provide a way to play the game, both of these options, while very enjoyable in their own way, don't scratch the itch that genuine tabletop wargaming provides. The game was essentially a set of naval tabletop wargaming rules set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The initial presentation of the game via the boxed set was an historical campaign - the Gothic War (Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade). The scenarios were based on key engagements during that event and pitted the forces of the Imperium versus the ships of Chaos. Subsequent releases expanded the range of ships and factions in the game, expanding it from the more strict confines of the Gothic War to the broader range of starship combat in the WH40K setting. There were even experimental rules such as those for the Demiurg (the Squats reimagined). In recent years, Games Workshop has brought back many older beloved games. The 3rd edition of Space Hulk was released in 2009, with a 4th edition released in 2014; Adeptus Titanicus and Necromunda were brought back in 2018 (both of which continue to enjoy support); Lost Patrol was re-released in 2016; Aeronautica Imperialis was brought back in 2019. This raises the question as to whether or not Games Workshop might revisit Battlefleet Gothic, either resurrecting the 1999 game en toto or revisiting the concept in some other setting. While the default assumption for a revisited version is something in the modern Warhammer 40,000 era, the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy setting presents a viable alternative. The Battlefleet Gothic game allowed for the complete range of conflict in the Warhammer 40,000 setting to be explored, providing the possibility of playing battles in different games to represent the full scale of a battle. A campaign might start with Battlefleet Gothic games - an invading fleet assaulting an enemy-held world. That operation might then continue with the war in the air via Aeronautica Imperialis, as well as the war on the ground via Warhammer 40,000 (the expansions provided a decent way of representing key points in a campaign such as the planetary assault, sieges on fortifications, and armor battles). Small scale action might be played out using Kill Team, while large scale action might be played out using Epic Armageddon (another victim of GW's amputation of Specialist Games) and Apocalypse. Enterprising players might even adapt some of the boardgames to fill out alternative looks at warfare during the campaign - the new Risk: Warhammer 40,000 is a good choice, but many of the boardgames from Fantasy Flight Games could also be adapted. Personally, I'd like to see both settings explored. I'd like to see the mainstream game set in the current era. This would allow most of the range to be used (assuming the masters still exist). GW could repackage a lot of the scenarios, rearranging them to fit the narrative of some modern (or recent) campaign. The initial boxed set would necessarily feature two factions, and in this I favor the Imperium versus Chaos. Additional factions could be introduced via additional campaigns, similar to the manner in which the new Aeronautica Imperialis is expanding that range. The Great Crusade/Horus Heresy, meanwhile, could be supported by Forge World. There would even be the possibility of taking some of the ships from that setting and using them in the modern setting. For example, the flagship/fortress monastery of the Black Templars, the Eternal Crusader, would be represented by a Gloriana class ship from the Horus Heresy setting. Overall, I'd like to see a potential new Battlefleet Gothic to be largely similar to its 1999 predecessor - with some updates and tweaks to make it better, but without overhauling the game or changing it drastically (e.g., without changing to a hex-based system such as they did to Aeronautica Imperialis). For those of you that are either fans of the game or who may be interested in it, would you like to see Games Workshop revisit it some day? If so, what would you like to see in a new version of the game?

Games Workshop has produced quite a few games over the years. This site was originally created to support players of the various Space Marine factions in the Warhammer 40,000 game. Over the years, the scope of the site has increased to our present scope, which is the entire range of games set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Our site structure has evolved over the years, growing to include (sub-)forums for each of the (sub-)factions that we cover. Among the many things that the admins are looking into now (as we lean into the software upgrade and server migration - not happening as soon as we'd like, but probably happening before Codex: Squats ) is whether or not our site structure adequately supports the range of games that take place in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Our focus in this is somewhat narrow (for now), looking at what I call the "hobby" games. These are all in the tabletop miniature wargames category, as opposed to the electronic, roleplaying, and board games. These include the following games (links go to the game pages at Board Game Geek): Battlefleet Gothic (and its predecessor, Space Fleet) Epic (as well as Epic Armageddon) Gorkamorka (it might be argued that Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks was a reimplementation of this game) Inquisitor Shadow War: Armageddon Games like Space Hulk, Gangs of Commorragh, and Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress aren't part of this discussion because they're more limited boardgames. Similarly, we're not looking at any of the electronic games or roleplaying games right now. We'll get around to all of these games later. Similarly, we're not talking about any of the homegrown alternatives such as Inquisimunda. We've seen a number of recent games that are updated version of old GW "hobby" games. These include all of those for which we currently have sub-forums of the Other Games forum (Adeptus Titanicus, Aeronautica Imperialis, Kill Team, Necromunda). Without getting into wish-listing, many of us would like to see some of the other games that I've named being brought back by Games Workshop. This discussion isn't about whether or not individuals would like to see Games Workshop bring any of these games back. Instead. we're looking at how well the Bolter & Chainsword provides structure for hobbyists to discuss these games. Several of these games receive a degree of coverage at other excellent websites. For example, Necromunda is the focus of Yaktribe.com (though that site also provides files for a number of the other games we're discussing here), Specialist Arms is the inheritor of the Specialist Games forums and provides files for all of the old Specialist Games, and The Conclave is an excellent resource for players of the Inquisitor game. If you are a fan of any of these games, I highly recommend that you check out these sites and any others that are out there. Ultimately, the B&C isn't in competition with these sites. Rather, our role is to complement these sites. The feedback we're looking for at this point is whether or not you think that our current structure is adequate for your needs/desires insofar as these games are concerned. All of the "hobby" games listed above are currently covered under the general "Other Games" forum rather than in their own dedicated sub-forums. In theory, the proper use of tags will help to identify discussions about each of these games (e.g., we recommend that tags that I've used in this discussion). In addition, we're conducting a little survey to gauge interest in these games, either past, present, or future. All of the input, both text replies below and survey responses, will inform decisions we make about site structure. If little or not interest is expressed, we might maintain status quo. Alternately, if sufficient interest is expressed and a number of other factors come into play (larger technical things that I won't bore you with), we might provide more direct support for some or all of these games.

Hello everyone, little question about the Nova Cannon, I am slowly learning the rules of battlefleet gothic and battlefleet heresy, but I go slowly because in my country there is hardly anyone who plays it and I can do little practice, and my friends are on the same level as me. We are learning the rules of the nova cannon, but in the weapons tab, the strength of the weapon is 1. Usually normal macro batteries have strength 4 or 6, how can it be weaker than macro batteries in terms of firepower?