Nova Cannon Rulebook

[Whitelion]

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?

[Bung]

Cause Nova Canons have their own special rules.

[Rik Lightstar]

Also, in BFG weapon strength tells you the number of shots, not how powerful they are.

 

Weapon Batteries > Lances > Eldar Lances > Nova Cannon

 

Gives you a better idea of the actual power of the weapons.

 

Rik

[Ficinus]

Nova cannons fire a sort of blast template that if it hits dead on can do d6 hits.

[Whitelion]

One hit One kill?

[Sword Brother Adelard]

The Nova Cannon rules were iffy if I recall. I think in the original rules you couldn't pre measure the distance, it was a straight guess. So you'd say I think the target is Xcm away, and then place the centre of the template Xcm away from the model, no scatter.

I then know it got changed, but can't remember how. Because people got too good at guessing; would always have another ship next to the Nova Cannon which fired first, (therefore telling them the range) and I even heard of people painting starscape boards where the stars were regularly spaced enough to use as a measurement method!

[Fajita Fan]

Well wouldn't you shoot with one ship, measure the range, then guess the next shot with the next squadron?  That's how people did guess weapons in 40k, shoot an AC 48" at a target then whack with a mortar, it's how it's done in real life too.

[Firedrake Cordova]

The Nova Cannon rules were iffy if I recall. I think in the original rules you couldn't pre measure the distance, it was a straight guess ... I then know it got changed, but can't remember how. 

From what I remember, it went from guess-range-and-roll-to-hit to nominate-point-and-roll-to-hit.  Given that a nova cannon didn't circumvent shields, you'd probably be wanting to shoot something else into the target first to drop the shields (assuming there wasn't a target with shields down from the previous turn) ...

[Whitelion]

ok, so I declare the nova cannon attack, I shoot the Dice D6, if it comes up 6 the target ship is always destroyed, do I understand the mechanism?

[Firedrake Cordova]

ok, so I declare the nova cannon attack, I shoot the Dice D6, if it comes up 6 the target ship is always destroyed, do I understand the mechanism?

After you place the template, you roll a scatter die, and a number of D6 (dependent upon range).  If the scatter die comes up "hit", it stays where it is, otherwise it moves a number of centimetres equal to the total value of the D6s rolled, in the direction indicated by the arrow on the scatter die.  If a vessel's base is under the hole in the middle of the template, it takes D6 hits, and any other vessel under the template takes 1 hit. 

 

As any vessels which bigger than escorts have multiple hull points (and shields!), it's unlikely that a hit from a nova cannon will destroy a cruiser class vessel in one shot.

 

Explanatory video

Edited September 3, 2020 by Firedrake Cordova

[Cactus]

I once crippled my own Mars class flagship by under-guessing the range of a nova cannon shot.

 

I've always hated guess range mechanics, and later learned I have a lazy eye that hinders depth perception. The later version that Cordova describes is much fairer.