Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 6

8/10/2019 Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 6

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Once a supremely rare sight, the giganticstately commerce vessels of the Demiurg havebeen seen with increasing regularity in theUltima Segmentum over recent centuries. Fleetstrategists have postulated a link between theships and the expansion of the Tau Empire on

the Eastern Fringe, citing three confirmedsightings of Tau/Demiurg or Kroot/Demiurgfleets in the region of the Damocles Gulf.Others have suggested that the nomadicmovement of the mysterious Demiurgdemonstrates only an opportunistic desire tocapitalise on the disruption caused by theTyranid hivefleets.

The type classified as Stronghold class is fairlytypical of Demiurg vessels, being very large,technologically advanced and extremely well

powered. Strongholds appear to act asfactory/processor vessels and bases for a fleet ofintersytem asteroid mining pods, haulage flyersand prospector probes (it is theorized thatmany of these are automated). Typically, lonestrongholds have been encountered in the flareor mercurial zones of uninhabited star sytems,hanging motionless and prow-on to the star

In most cases these ships withdraw their craftand disenage if challenged but in someinstances have inexplicably turned on theirattackers with surprising ferocity. It is worthy ofnote that every known encounter betweenDemiurg and Ork vessels has resulted in

combat, and that renegade elements have oftenhired Demiurg vessels to fight as mercenariesin interplanetary and intersystem powerstruggles. As warships, Demiurg vessels areslow but well defended, boasting considerablefirepower at close ranges and the capacity forlaunching mining craft reconfigured as attackcraft and torpedoes.

A notable trait of the Stronghold class is itsemployment of an array of electromagneticfields around its prow to scoop up interstellar

hydrogen. This is accelerated to the rear of theship to provide motive power in a ram-jet effectbut the complex shielding it requires evidentlyproduces numerous other benefits. Thisprocess is little understood by the AdeptusMechancius and they would dearly like tosecure an intact Stronghold for investigationbut thus far the opportunity has eluded them.

NEW THREAT ALERT

DEMIURG STRONGHOLD COMMERCE VESSEL . . . .350 pts

Experimental rules for Forge Worlds new alien ship,

by ANDY CHAMBERS


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Special RulesLeadership

Demiurg Stronghold class ships are heavilyautomated and count their Ld value as beingequal to their remaining number of hits, sostarting at 10. Once a Demiurg has beencrippled by suffering 5 hits its Ld value will notdrop any further than 5. Bridge smashedcritical hits will not inflict additionalLeadership loss on a Demiurg ship, but insteadcause an extra point of damage (and possibleattendant Ld loss) on the vessel.

Blast Markers

The curious shielding arrangement of theStronghold dissipates the effects of ionisedgases and repels larger obstacles in its path. Asa result, any Blast marker which a Strongholdmoves over is removed immediately thisincludes any in base contact with the

stronghold at the beginning of its turn. Blastmarkers have no effect on the movement of theDemiurg ship. Keep markers hoovered up likethis to one side so they can be used to fire acutting beam from the prow in the shootingphase. Note that Blast markers moved overmust be removed, the Demiurg player cantchoose to remove some markers and leaveothers in place.

Cutting beam

The cutting beam is a short ranged butdevastating ionisation beam the Strongholdusually employs for gouging out recalcitrantmoonlets. Each Blast marker picked up by theStronghold in the movement phase gives thebeam the equivalent of one lance shot.

Mercenaries

Unless the fleet is entirely composed of

crippled. Crippled Demiurg ships will attemptto disengage every turn and run for the nearestpoint on the nearest table edge if they fail.However if the Demiurg ship is part of a fleetfighting against Orks it will only disengage iffirst reduced to 1 or 2 Damage pointsremaining.

Celestial phenomena

Demiurg Stronghold class ships are totally

unaffected by solar flares, gas and dust cloudsand radiation bursts.

Deployment and Scenarios

Any fleet, except Orks, Tyranids and Necronscan use Demiurg Stronghold class vessels. Theyare purchased as cruisers but do not contributeto the number of ships required to gain accessto battleships, grand cruisers, etc. Demiurgships can never carry Fleet Commanders, useFleet Commander re-rolls or be placed in

squadrons with non-Demiurg vessels. AStronghold class vessel is worth 350 Victorypoints normally but in a pure Demiurg fleet orone fighting against Orks it is worth 400 Victorypoints instead to reflect its extradetermination.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS

Battleship/10 15cm 45 4 5+/6+prow 4

ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC

Port weapons battery 30cm 12 Left

Stbd weapons battery 30cm 12 Right

Port lance battery 60cm 3 Left

Stbd lance battery 60cm 3 RightProw weapons battery 45cm 14 Front

Prow cutting beam 15cm Special Front

Dorsal Torpedo silos 30cm 6 All round

Dorsal Launch bays Fighters 30cm 3 squadrons All round

Bombers 20cm

Assault Boats 30cm

Special Orders

Demiurg Stronghold class vessels cannot employ Come to New Heading orders.


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Every Imperial fleet is supported by hundredsof secondary vessels, mostly chartered orcommandeered merchant vessels used totransport supplies between embattled systems.The most common of these ships are theImperial transports, but across the Imperiumthere are a vast array of different space faringvessels, any of which can be pressed intoservice at need.

Super heavy transports are used to support

large fleet actions, such as planetary assaults.Each is capable of carrying tens of thousands ofmen and thousands of vehicles. They are alsoused by Adeptus Mechanicus Titan Legions formoving their huge war machines or enoughmunitions to supply an entire army. Such aconcentration of vulnerable forces needsprotecting, and most fleet commanders assigndedicated escort vessels to a squadron of Superheavy transports, and position them at thecentre of the fleets formation for maximum

protection. The loss of one of these vesselsduring a planetary assault can have hugelongterm effects on the ground campaign.

As well as their military role Super heavytransports are also used as bulk ore or graincarriers, and damaged vessels have beenconverted into supply bases, hospital vessels

d f d i f ili i f fl i

Using Super Heavy TransportsYou can use Super heavy transports as straightreplacements for standard transports. You canuse them in Convoy scenarios, in which case asingle Super heavy transport counts as twostandard transports. For every Super heavytransport taken, the defender may choose upto 100 points of ships to protect it. For thepurpose of victory conditions each Super heavytransport that exits the board edge is worthtwo standard transports.

In planetary assault scenarios a Super heavytransport counts as two standard transports, sothe attacker may take one for every 500 pointsof his fleet. He may mix standard transportsand Super heavy transports freely.

A Super heavy transport delivers 4 assaultpoints per turn that it remains within 30cm of

MERCHANTMEN

IMPERIAL SUPER HEAVY TROOP TRANSPORTS . . pts/special

Experimental Rules for Forge Worlds new models,

by WARWICK KINRADE


Cruiser/2 15cm 45 1 5+ 1


Dorsal weapons battery 15cm 2 Right/Left/Front

Notes: Super heavy Transports do not havethe powerful drives fitted to warships. Whenusing All Ahead Full orders only add+3D6cm to their speed. They also reducetheir randomly rolled leadership by one, sothey have a leadership between 5 and 8.Super heavy Transports have special fortheir points value as they are only used asobjectives in missions.


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IMPERIAL SUPER HEAVY FUEL TRANSPORTS . . . .pts/special

ELDAR TRANSPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pts/special

Every Imperial Guard army requires vastamounts of supplies, not least amongst themfuel. Every tank, armoured carrier, aircraft andvehicle needs it to operate. Fuel supplies will

often need to be shipped to an army, and asecure, constant supply is always a highpriority for any ground commander. Thissupply is often carried on one huge tanker. ASuper heavy fuel transport can carry enoughfuel to support an entire campaign. As suchdefending them is vital.

Just like Imperial forces Eldar fleets need thesupport of transports. Unlike Imperial forcesthese transport are fast, stealthy and hard tothe catch. Because they are harder to catch andconsidering that Eldar cargoes are likely to

Convoy Run scenario are changed when theEldar are defending the convoy.

Transport Exiting Result75% or more Eldar Convoy win66% 74% Eldar Convoy marginal win


Cruiser/2 15cm 45 1 5+ 1


Dorsal wepaons battery 15cm 2 Right/Left/Front


Escort/1 10/10/15 Special Holofields 4+ 0

ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARCProw weapons battery 30cm 1 Front

Notes: Super heavy transports do not have thepowerful drives that are fitted to warships.When using All Ahead Full orders only add+3D6cm to their speed. They also reducetheir randomly rolled Leadership by 1, so theyhave a leadership between 5 and 8. Superheavy transports have special for their pointsvalue as they are only used as objectives in

missions.

Fuel transports carry highly flammablecargoes. When hit they are likely to explodespectacularly. When rolling on the CriticalHits table add +2 to the dice roll. Themaximum result is still a 12.

When rolling on the Catastrophic Damagetable also add +2 to the dice roll. The

maximum result is still a 12.


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Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 6

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