March/April 2004 Issue 01

From the Nexus Publishing House

Pinning Your Bases

Tyranid Evolution

New Fiction

Mars V OverlordAlternative Critical Hits

This Issue:

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Please register your support for this publication.Download your copy direct from the

official web site, at:www.epic40k.co.uk/bfgmag/

Submissions:All types of article are desperately needed, to keep this publicationalive. In some cases, submission includes inclusion on the web site at:www.epic40k.co.uk. Please include a note with your submission if youwould like this clarified. Submission via email implies approval forpublication.

Send your submissions to:New Rules - wr.rules@epic40k.co.ukFocus Articles - wr.articles@epic40k.co.ukPainting and Converting - wr.painting@epic40k.co.ukFiction - wr.fiction@epic40k.co.ukBattle Reports - wr.batreps@epic40k.co.uk

Any comments, feedback or anything else, please send your email to:warprift@epic40k.co.uk

Warp Rift Publication Team:Iain (CyberShadow) - Editor, Battle Reports, DeckhandRay Bell - New rulesChris French - ArticlesJohn Webber - PaintingSpace Cadet - Fiction

Credits:Title Banner - Nicholas MarianaCover Picture - kr00zaAdditional Graphics - John WebberAdditional Fiction - CyberShadow Warp Rift:

Volume One,Number OneMarch/April 2004

Warp Rift is not endorsed, nor does it endorse, Games Workshop, and it is not an official publicationof Games Workshop. Any words, phrases or images are used without permission and no challenge isintended as a result of such usage, including the use of these words, phrases and images without theappropriate symbols of copyright. Additionally, these pages - including content, design and images -are copyright (except where such copyright would infringe other such rights). Licensed names,images and logos are copyright their respective companies or authors. No part of these pages maybe 'borrowed' or reproduced, and no articles or rules should be considered 'official' in any way.

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Issue One - Contents:Warp Rift Incoming Publication (CyberShadow) 03Lock On Is Mars the God of War? (Chris French) 06Encyclopaedia Gothica Alternate Critical Charts (Nathan Montes) 09 Tyranid Evolution, Mutation (Raymond Bell) 11The Dry Dock At the Dry Dock (John Webber) 15Officers Mess Battle of Peluciar (Space Cadet) 18Void Stalker Astronomicon 30 Docking Claws 31 Incoming 31

Hi, and welcome to the very first issue of Warp Rift. This publicationis the first of many, dedicated to the game of Battlefleet Gothic. Youhold in your hands (or in your computer screen) a publication puttogether by dedicated fans of the game, for fans of the game, andprinted on high quality paper (you did print this on quality paper,right?).I wont go on too much about this publication, as I have already donethat on the next page. Instead, I will say a few words about thecover picture for this issue. This vessel is from the collection ofkr00za, and I have been asked to mention that this, and others likeit, are available for sale. For more of his work, check out pictures athttp://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/kr00zza, email him atkr00za@blueyonder.co.uk, or simple head over to the EpiCommsForum at the site hosting this publication where he is often found.I also want to use this space to personally thank the fine team hereat Warp Rift, who have worked very hard to bring this together, anddone a fantastic job, and to appologise for the lack of a Battle Reportthis time around. It will be here next issue. Well, I am alreadyrunning out of space, with no room to talk about the Rogue Traderfleet on the way from Fanatic. There is just enough to ask for anykind of feedback or comments on this issue and to requestsubmissions. This publication needs them to keep going, so pleasesend your articles in as soon as you can. Good Hunting, CyberShadow

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Incoming Publication!CyberShadow

Hi. And welcome to the firstissue of Warp Rift. I don’t getmany opportunities to write aneditorial of any kind, so now Ihave the chance to tap out anextended piece here, I am notgoing to turn it down. I thoughtthat I would take thisopportunity to explain how thispublication came into being,and what I see as its purposeand direction.The whole thing has beinggoing on in my mind for a while,about six months now. There isa web-based lublication for theEpic community, calledIncoming, and run and hostedby the NetEpic group. Thisbi-monthly publication containsarticles, fiction and other botsand pieces and is well-receivedby the community in certaincircles. Now, I always sworethat I would not get involved insomething like this, as it takes alot of time and effort to puttogether. Nonetheless, Ialways thought that a similarpublication would be a benefitto the Gothic community.Fast forward to the end of 2003and Fanatic announces that theofficial Battlefleet Gothicmagazine, along with all of theFanatic publications, wouldcease to exist as separate

publications and instead becombined into a singlepublication. This is all well andgood, and I can appreciate thereasoning behind this, but Icant help feeling that the Gothiccommunity, more than most ofthe Fanatic games, wouldsuffer. Some players would notwant to buy the Fanaticmagazine, and insteaddownload the rules from theweb site. This is fine, but I canthelp feeling that we are losingsomething.Fast forward some more, andIncoming runs a poll to see if itsreaders want to see othergames aside from Epic in itspages. The resounding vote isno, but there does seem to beinterest in the idea.So, I start to put out the ideathat a dedicated internetpublication for BattlefleetGothic might be a good thing.Then it gets a bit hazy and thenext thing I know, I amorganising it. And here we are.

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So, enough random wafflingabout the past, what is thepublication about? Firstly, it islaunched to coincide with theend of Batttlefleet Gothicmagazine. This is not done toset up any kind of comparrison,but instead happens to takeadvantage of the gap in themarket. The new Fanaticmagazine is the only place thatyou will see any official rulesand additions to the game thatcan be used at tournaments orin your games without askingpermission, but this magazinewill contain informal rules andideas which are designed to getyou thinking and to suggestthings for your own games.This gives us a certain amountof freedom that officialpublications cant have. We tryto make everything balanced,but we cant guarantee it, andwe will try to make thebackground fit with theestablished cannon. The aim isto continue the tradition ofBattlefleet Gothic magazine,but be thoroughly a magazineby the platers, and for theplayers.One question that I am sure willcome up is ‘why are you usingthis format, PDF, instead ofHTML/Word/insert yourpreferred format’. Yes, PDF canresult in large files, and forthose of you using modems Iwill attempt to keep an eye on

this to make sure that it doesnot get out of hand. PDF hasthe advantage that the files arefixed and cannot be altered.This means that we can be surethat we are not beingmis-quoted. The format of themagazine is focussed on theproposed use. I imagine WarpRift as being a publication thatis downloaded onto yourcomputers, and then eitherread in your own time, orprinted out and taken for longjourneys or sitting in waitingrooms.When this all came together, Iwas sure about one thing. I didnot want to get into thisunsupported. I got lucky.When this was starting out, Iput out a call for a few people tohelp me out. I knew from thestart that this publicationwould stand or fall on thequality of the editorial team. Inthe end, I got more responsesthan I thought I would, and ofthese four people volunteeredto help edit the publicationeach issue. The five of us arereal players, and verydedicated to the game. We willneed to be.Once this was organised, wejust needed to define what thepublication would include. Formy part, I wanted it to be ableto accept pretty muchanything.

In the end, we narrowed itdown to a number of sectionsand gave each editor a sectionto watch over and pretty muchrun how they wanted.So, that is Warp Rift. I hopethat it is well received, and thatpeople support it in two ways,by downloading a copy of theirown from the official web site(www.epic40k.co.uk/bfgmag/)so that we can see how manypeople download a copy eachtime and work out which issuesare most popular and why, andby sending in articles andcomments to be included in the

publication, as this type ofthing can only survive withinput from the community. Youcan find details of how tosubmit at the very beginning ofthis, and every issue.That's it for this article. Nextissue, I hope to use the spacefor the second of these specialopening articles to introducethe editorial team here at WarpRift, and explain a bit about thevarious sections and domainsof the different parts of thepublication. Until next time, allthe best, and safe passagethrough the void.

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Is Mars the God of War, or isOverlord Underloved?

Chris FrenchRecently, this writer has noticed adisturbing trend in Imperialbattlecruiser (hereafter "BC")selection, amongst those playerswho decide to follow the banner ofthe Lord-Emperor. What'shappening? Very simply, in all theImperial force package selectionsI've seen posted to the BFG mailinglist, no one - not one Imperial playeranywhere - has selected theOverlord-class BC. Instead,Imperials inevitably select aMars-class battlecruiser-carrier(BCV). This struck me as odd -rarely if ever in my long years ofgaming have I seen such unanimityof opinion amongst players(typically, getting gamers to allhead in one direction is like herdingcats).So I asked myself, "Self, why is itno one seems to want Overlords?".It seemed to warrant sitting downwith the Basic Rules, and doingsome serious number-crunching.(And occasionally shifting a kitten,who wondered what all the fusswas about.)Here's what I found out concerningthe two Imperial BCs (yes, I knowthere's a third one out there, butuntil the new Annual comes out,I'm not going to consider it an"official" unit):

UNIT TYPE: Both are classedCruisers, so that's a non-issue.HITS: Both have 8 HP, so that's awash, too.SPEED: Both have 20cm speed.Another no-score draw.SHIELDS: Both have 2 shields, thestandard number for cruisers.ARMOR: Same on both units - 6front, 5 elsewhere (Imperialstandard).TURRETS: Both types get 2 turrets(but see later remarks on unitupgrades).WEAPON BATTERIES: Ah, finallysome variance! Mars has FP 6 /45cm WBs on each flank; Overlordhas FP 8 / 60cm on each flank.Slight advantage to the gunshiphere.LANCES: Both units have ST 2 /60cm lance batteries with L/F/Rarcs. No advantage either way here.NOVA CANNON: Mars does;Overlord doesn't (it usestorpedoes; so far as has beenestablished, NC and torps may notbe mounted on the same unit).

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TORPEDOES: Mars has no torps atall (see previous remark);Overlord has ST 6 torpedoes (Farc).LAUNCH BAYS: Mars has launchbays on each flank, each of whichcan launch 2 squadrons (total: 4);Overlord has none.UPGRADES: Mars can have aleftward column shift for its WBsfor 15 points; Overlord gets anextra turret for 10 points.POINT COST: Mars is worth 270;Overlord is 235.So, the question is, what is it aboutthe BCV that has Imperial playersswooning about it? It could be thelaunch bays, since bombers canmaneuver and chase downopponents, while torps just plowstraight ahead. But the NovaCannon presents as much of ahazard to Mars's aircraft as it doesto the enemy; NCs are notoriouslyindiscriminate about their targets.(Also, in a hypothetical fightbetween these two, the gun BCcould have more than enoughturrets to neutralize the BCV'saircraft, while still costing less.)Perhaps that Nova Cannon is whatattracts folks. I can't say I'm overlyimpressed by NCs; it seems that,NCs are like any other artillery -mainly useful for convincing theenemy to spread out and huddleup. (This from the guy who hasseen a BFIed cruiser walk off two

direct hits from NC.) And, asmentioned, the NC is going toswat one's own ordnance as easilyas it will the enemy.I know it isn't the WB - Overlordwins this one by (if you'll excusethe pun) a long shot. Two extra FPand a 33% range increase puts theMars to shame. Yes, the BCV couldhave that upgrade to its targetingsystems, but it only manages toequal Overlord's WB FP, and it stilldoesn't affect the range deficit(and, of course, the lances arewholly unaffected by the upgrade).Tactically, I don't see a difference -both units require a ReloadOrdnance roll, and both performthe same in speed and handling.More, Mars cannot handle assaultboats - one needs abattleship-sized unit in order tokeep the local Space Marinechapter from tearing outbulkheads while trapped in someImperial Navy tin-can (at leastOverlord can use BoardingTorpedoes…).How these units stack up againstfoes is a relevant concern. Bothunits have WBs for dealing withEldar, lances for whomping anyoneelse, and a special weapon forcausing havoc amongst theEmperor's foes. Overlord'supgrade, though, could be quitehandy for dealing with Chaos andits embarrassment of riches in theordnance department, while Marsmight have a minor advantage in

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performing Eldar-ectomies onImperial space.So, very frankly, I don't see whyImperial players invariablyselect Marses over Overlords. Marsdoes have aircraft and a NovaCannon; but Overlord has a largerhitting range, and is cheaper by atleast one escort to boot. It would

seem to me that Overlord is amuch better choice, and that CVwork is best left to Dictators. So,Imperials, feel free to write in andexplain to Your Humble Narratorjust what it is about Mars thatmakes you-all so dead-set againstOverlords. If you'll forgive the pun,I'm game to listen.

The Emperors Light sat in the dock, warning lights blinking thelength of her flanks. All seemed still, but there was an air ofcontrolled power. On the bridge, Admiral Pontius glanced around,making sure that his bridge crew were prepared and ready for thedeparture.

Silently, he nodded at the Master of the Helm, who barelyacknowledged the command and stared at his console, his fingersflickering over the runic keys.

From the dock, a crowd watched at the viewing ports, as tetherswere cut, boarding ramps recalled and klaxons sounded harshly.Then, with a smooth grace, the Emperors Lights slipped into thevoid like a wraith in the night.

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Alternate Critical ChartsNathan Montes (Revised by Ray Bell)

There is nothing inherently wrong with the currentcritical hit table but there is no harm in trying toimprove on a functional design. The only problem withthe critical hit table is that it doesn’t take direction intoaccount. I’ve always found it strange when mystarboard broadside is taken out of action when I wasbeing shot at from the port (I can imagine this beingpossible but extremely unlikely). As such Nate Montescreated these great little arc specific critical charts(with help from a couple of his friends). Please trythem out in your next game but remember they aredesigned for all the races that currently use the‘normal’ critical hits table.Shooting from different angles would be able to cause only certaincritical hits to a ship therefore there are three arc related critical hittables. For bombers you may choose which arc to bomb (this willgenerally be the rear arc). Hit and runs have their own table. Boardingand for types of damage that can cause damage with out weapons i.e.asteroids should use the original table.When firing at a closing ship use the closing table when firing at a shipwhen its abeam use the abeam table and finally when firing at a shipthat is moving away use the, you guessed it, the moving away table.When using these tables roll 2D6 and take the lowest value. (Apartfrom Hit and Run table).

Closing Table Critical Caused123456

Dorsal Armament DamagedProw Armament Damaged

Fire! (+1 Hp in every end phase if not repaired)Thrusters Damaged (+1 Hp)

Hull Breach (+D3 Hp)Bridge Smashed (-3 Ld, cannot be repaired)

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Abeam Table Critical Caused12

3456

Dorsal Armament DamagedPort or Stbd Armament Damaged (depending on

targeted side)Fire! (+1 Hp in every end phase if not repaired)

Thrusters Damaged (+1 Hp)Hull Breach (+D3 Hp)

Bridge Smashed (-3 Ld, cannot be repaired)

Moving Away Table Critical CausedEngine Room Damaged (+1 Hp)

Shields Collapse (cannot be repaired)

Fire! (+1 Hp in every end phase if not repaired)

Thrusters Damaged (+1 Hp)

Hull Breach (+D3 Hp)

Bulkhead Collapse (+D6 Hp)

Hit and Run Table (D6)

1

2

3

4

5

6

Critical Caused1234567

FailProw Armament Damaged

Starboard Armament DamagedPort Armament Damaged

Dorsal Armament DamagedThrusters Damaged (+1 Hp)

Fire! (+1 Hp in every end phase if not repaired)

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Tyranid Evolution, MutationBy Raymond Bell (inspired by John Kemp)

It's fair to say that Tyranids are a very awkward fleetto fit into a campaign. This is because they shouldn'tuse the sub-sector map in the same way as everyoneelse, not to mention hindering everyone else's use ofwarp space thanks to the 'Warp Shadow'. Putting thisall to one side you can fit them in if you say thecampaign is set over a very short time and when ever aworld is taken by a Tyranid player it only attracts theHivemind (Reinforcements) it isn't consumed(allowing a normal campaign to be played). To this endthe Tyranid player replaces the effect of shipsexperience (and Refits) with the Tyranid Evolutiontable.I would suggest that if the Tyranid player wants a Refitin the conventional way (4+) he should roll twice onthe table and pick the desired result. Also if a Tyranidvictory results in capture of a world the Tyranid fleetshould receive reinforcements of equal hits (or less)corresponding to the repair points of that planet(depending on renown). Note: it's hard to gain aHiveship due to not having 6 escorts to accompany it,make sure you have enough escorts to field it andmake sure you have enough Hiveships to fieldeverything else. You would be able to do it if you usedup 2 reinforcement rolls in one campaign turn. In anycase the current rule set for the Tyranids is on hell of abastard mutation, look forward to seeing revised rulesfor them in a future issue of Warp Rift, in the meantime don't evolve too fast!

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The Tyranid fleets are evolving to counter new threats and adapt andabsorb the genes of target species to further the tendrils of the GreatDevourer. Hiveships and smaller vessels of the Hivemind may displaynumerous mutations breaking from the general trend of its species:Hiveships may have up to all types of mutation (but may only have oneReactive Evolution), in which case it would cost a staggering amount onyour fleet roster! Cruisers may only have up to 3 mutations so make sureyou really want the mutation before you change your fleet roster, as themutations won't just fall off (at least not yet)! Escorts may only have onemutation that must be applied to all other escorts in the squadron.(Reactive Evolution may only affect certain escorts due to not possessingcertain weapons, and so the others will count as not having a refit on yourfleet roster (these escorts may not gain a different refit).After each battle roll on this table for each ship or squadron of escorts used.Escorts suffer a -5 modifier on this roll and Cruisers suffer a -1 modifier tothis roll. Roll 2D6 and apply the result if wished (Note you may decide themutation is worthless and ignore the roll and wait until next time). If theship or squadron has already taken the result rolled for or rolls below 2,the result counts as a 'Failed Evolution' (result 7 maybe taken twice andresult 9 up to four times):

2: Failed Evolution, No change.3: Failed Evolution, No change.4: Solar Vanes; +10%pts, +5cm speed.The ship has Bio-engineered solar wings that spread to absorbthe smallest of ambient solar energy.5: Celestial fins: +5%, Not slowed by BM’s or Gas/Dust clouds.The ship has developed a streamlined set of fins and constrictormuscles, making it easier to navigate through debris or gaseousterrain.6: Adrenaline sacs; +5%, +2 D6cm AAF.The primary valves and constrictor muscles at the rear of thebio-ship have grown in size and strength.7: Extra spore cysts; +10pts, + 1 Spore cyst (Max of +2).The ship gains one spore cyst. No more than two spore cysts canbe gained in this manner. Escorts may only gain one additionalspore cysts and Kraken may never gain spore cysts.

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8: Accelerated healing; +10pts, Ignore blast markers whenhealing.The bio-ship has enhanced its ability to heal when in a conflicthaving a honeycomb of secondary carapaces filling withhealing enzymes or smaller creatures when critical damage issustained.9: Reinforced Carapace; +10pts, +1 hit (max +4). Thecreature has grown to an inordinate size with correspondinglyreinforced endostructures and additional ablative carapace,increasing its total mass and capacity to sustain damage. Theship gains one hit. No more than four hits maybe gained in thismanner. If a Cruiser attains 10 hits in this manner you ‘may’replace the Cruiser with a Hiveship. The ‘new’ Hiveship will stillhave all other Evolutions but will have a totally new set ofarmaments, which may be picked as if you were designing anew Hiveship (as such the Hive ship will cost a great deal morethan the original Cruiser).10: More Discharge vents; +10%pts, Reduces turningdistance by 5cm.The number of discharge vents along the beast’s length hasincreased dramatically. The creature reduces the distance itneeds to move before turning by 5cm.11: Tenacity; +10%pts, When on AAF, BR, CTNH, weaponsstrength in unaffected.The creature has evolved the capability of effectively bringingits weapons to bear on its enemies even when following theprerogative of the Hive Mind. When on All Ahead Full, BurnRetros or Come to New Heading special orders, it’s Pyro-acidbatteries and Bio-plasma are unaffected.12: Hive Mind Nexus; +0pts (Free), Range of Hive Mindincreased to 60cm (but –1 Ld over 45cm).The Hive ships connection to the Hive Mind has grownexceptionally strong able to relay thoughts and overrideinstincts at great distances.

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Reactive Evolution:If any doubles were rolled that would result in an Evolution; you mayinstead choose a specific refit dependant on the enemy of the last battleas shown below. A ship may only ever have one Reactive Evolution.Imperial, Space Marine, Necrons, Demiurg: Enlarged Bio-Plasmaconstrictor muscles; The ships Bio-Plasma weapons range is increasedby 10cm at a cost of +5pts per point of Bio-plasma strength (All theship's Bio-Plasma have to be upgraded if this refit is chosen).Chaos, Tau: Enhanced Pyro-acid conflagration enzymes; The shipsPyro-acid batteries cause fire criticals on a 5+ instead of 6+ (No changeagainst Eldar/Dark Eldar) at a cost of 5pts per 4 points of firepower. (Allthe ships's Bio-Plasma have to be upgraded if this refit is chosen).Eldar, Dark Eldar: Solar Vanes; The ship has Bio-engineered solar wingsthat spread to absorb the smallest of ambient solar energy, the shipgains +5cm speed at a cost of +10%pts (rounding up to the nearest 5).Orks: More Discharge vents; the number of discharge vents along thebeast's length has increased dramatically. The creature reduces thedistance it needs to move before turning by 5cm (escorts may Come toNew Heading with no penalty to weapons strength) at a cost of +10%pts(rounding up to the nearest 5).

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At the Dry DockBy John Webber

Welcome to the first issueof the Warp Rift Paintingand Modeling section wecall: At the Dry Dock!This issue, we’ll try toshow you one approach atovercoming the minordisaster that results fromfrequent breakage of theplastic model base stemsparticularly if they aresupporting the heaviermetal Battlefleet Gothic(BfG) models.I recently acquired some very niceOrk and Chaos models in a trade forsome of my old Blood Bowl goodies.(Thanks, Jerry!) However when theparcel containing the modelsarrived and was unwrapped withdue excessive diligence (yeeehaw!new models!) It was found tocontain several nicely finishedmodels with snapped base stems.Any BfG veteran knows that thishappens all too frequently,sometimes even while a fleet isengaged in desperate battle on thetabletop!Well, I decided this would be aperfect opportunity to apply mypreviously developed

xenotechnology for effectingrepairs once and for all! And I’dmake digipix as I went along to usein this new forum.

So, ‘ere we go!Step 1- Bill O’ Materials1 ea.-Large Games Workshopflightstand base (added stabilityfor heavy model)1 ea.-Small Games Workshopflightstand base (optional use oncruiser or smaller size ships)1 ea.-1-inch x 1/8 inch wood screw1 ea. wood golf tee (may useplastic tee if available) heavy brassfloral wire- about 3/32 in. diameterElectric drill motor drill bits: 1/4in., 1/8 in., 3/32 in.Isocyanoacrylate glue(super-glue) or your favoriteequivalentBig metal ship to glue on top!

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Step 2 - Prep componentsLarge and small Games Workshopflightstand base discs: Drill existingholes out with 1/8 in. bit.Large flightstand base disc: usingsmall hole as pilot, drill 1/4 in.countersinkhole in underside ofbase to a depth of about half thethickness of the disc so as to sinkthe screw head at least flush withbottom of disc.Golf tee: using 3/32 in. bit, drill a3/4 in. long shaft axially throughlarge end

Step 3- Assemble BaseApply a modicum of super glue tothe countersunk hole in bottom oflarge disc and insert screw all theway through.Apply a bit of super glue on theunderside of the small flight diskand fit it over the screw threads andpress down onto the topside of thelarge disc.

Apply super glue to threads andshaft of screw and screw the largeend of the golf tee onto it tocontact the topside of the small

base disc.

Step 4- Final assemblyDetermine the desired height of theflight stand (how high the modelwill be) and using sidecutter pliersor a modeling saw, trim the pointyend of the golf tee off to the desiredlength and square it up with a bit ofsanding, then drill axially again,this time down only about 1/4 in.with the 3/32 in. drill bit.

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Cut about 3/8 in. of the brass floralwire and super glue into the hole.This should be a nice close fit.

If you model was like mine, theremains of the broken plastic stemwere still in the mount hole of themodel. Use the 3/32 in. bit and drilla new mount hole into theremaining plastic. Apply super glueto brass and top of the golf tee andinsert into the mount hole of themodel. Support the model inposition for a couple of minutes ‘tilthe glue sets up.If you like, use epoxy or hot-glue to

add additional support where stemmeets model.Paint the base and stem flat black(or your favorite color), then if youlike, use a Galaxy white marker orMarvy or Pentel gel pens to addstars to the base.

But, using gel pens and markers fordetailing will be the subject ofanother ‘At the Dry Dock’ section inWarp Rift!Best Regards,John

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Battle of PelucidarBy Space Cadet

Battle of Pelucidar, BFG Mag14, p9, substitution.This was based upon a what-ifquestion, asking what wouldhappen if other races got intothe action at Pelucidar, andwhat would be the results.Admiral Parol watched as his fleetretreated towards the planetArmageddon. He had sent hisfleet towards the side of the Orkarmada approaching the planet,hoping to defeat enough of theirships to make them slow down tocover their cripples.Unfortunately, the Ork Hulks hadbeen deployed to meet his forces,and although they had managedto destroy five kroozers, threeRoks, and a Hulk, he had lost overhalf his escorts, along with threecruisers of his own. Four of theescorts were mere hulks at thispoint, and he was sure that theOrks were busy moving ships intoposition to salvage everythingthey could, to build morewarships.Still, there were the orbitaldefenses to help against the Orkfleet, and his ships should getrepaired a little faster at the yardsin orbit. Turning towards a commstation, he was about to tell theTech-Priest standing there toopen up a channel to the base

when one of the sensor lookoutscalled out to his Flag-Captain,“Captain, surveyors are reportingfour, possibly six contacts in thevicinity of the Ork fleet. Configurationunknown.”

Watching his Flag Captain walkover, Admiral Parol was curious.Were these unknown aliens moreallies of the Orks, or somethingelse entirely? Calling up thevolume specified in the report, hesaw, something.There appeared to be four definitecontacts heading towards the Orkfleet, each in two groups of two,and what appeared to be a hazebehind them, in roughly two slightconcentrations. Eldar? NotImperial definitely, and not theTraitors either. Obviously notOrk. Fra’al mercenaries comingto fight Orks?Whoever they were, the Orkswere launching theirfighter-bommas to interceptthem, and behind them were twoescort squadrons closing as well.It looked like one squadron of sixOnslaughts, and anothersquadron of 4 Brutes. Suddenly-What was that? Some sort ofparticle weapon was fired at theOnslaughts, destroying fouroutright, and smashing theshields down on another. And

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that had been just from the firstsquadron of alien ships. Watchingthe fighter-bommas, he saw thatthey had gotten behind the alienships, and snorted. Obviously thesealiens didn’t take small craft seriouslyenough. Suddenly a flare lit up theregion, and he nearly gasped at thesight, as every single fighter-bommawas destroyed in the energy wave.Focusing his screen on the secondsquadron, he watched as those twoships destroyed two Brutes, anddropped the shield on a third.Mentally going through the sequence,he saw that there were only twoOnslaughts and two Brutes left. Hedid chuckle though, as the aliensdirected some form of lightning at theOrk vessels, but did it against theirfront, which everyone knew washeavily armored against attack.But now it was the Orks’ turn.Two more squadrons joined in thefun, with one Ravager in onesquadron, and six Ravagers in thesecond. The Onslaughts in themeantime engaged their engines,but their gunners fired early,before their ships impacted. Thebrutes managed to ram thealien ships though, and one ofthem had a minor powerfluctuation detected, but theother had no damage that wasnoticeable. At the next attack, healmost laughed. The six Ravagersfired their torpedoes, making atotal of 29 torpedoes on the wayin, but the Onslaughts were in theway, and the first two waves oftorpedoes from them were

wasted upon the Onslaughts. Theremaining four waves, attackingthe first alien squadron though,managed to score just fourimpacts, but there was only aminor power fluctuation from oneof the ships.The alien response was swift anddeadly, as particle weapons, andwhat appeared to be some form ofdirected lightning destroyed all ofthe Ork escorts. The aliens hadmanaged to get to the sides of theOrk escorts, and their weaponshad annihilated every vesselthere. Apparently these alienslearned quickly. Unfortunately,their bows were facing directlytowards the Ork fleet, and hecould see more movement withinthe fleet. Although these alienshad destroyed six Onslaughts,four Brutes and seven Ravagers,that was not even a thousandth ofthe Ork fleet that was beginningto notice them. Two more escortsquadrons were already movingto engage them.Each of the escort squadronsnumbered two vessels, one madeof Brute Ramships, and the otherof Savage gunships. The Savageswere potentially nasty due to thetorpedo salvos, but these alienshad gotten directly in range of theBrutes for a ramming attack, andhe could see the signatures of theBrutes increase as theyoverloaded their engines to ram.Even if these aliens survived theBrutes and Savages, there wereKill Kroozers moving in behind

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them, and he could even see aRok starting to fire jets, to changecourse.The Brutes had selected one shipeach, and they roared in, theirengines flaring from the fueldumped in, as each Captain of theBrutes slammed his fist on the“Red Button” that was installed inevery command cockpit of an Orkship. The vessels screamed in,their tail fins glowing white fromthe heat of their engines. TheBrutes slammed into their targetsand-The alien vessels were still there.Even more surprisingly, theBrutes weren’t. The alien vesselshad appeared fragile, with longfins, and a thin body, but theywere surprisingly resilient todamage. The brutes though, hadshattered upon impact, and theirshattered pieces were drifitingpast the alien vessels, the piecesstill having the same momentumbefore the impact.Admiral Parol watched inadmiration and horror as theSavages began their own attackrun on the other pair of alienwarships. Both of them hadselected the same warship, andtheir heavy gunz belched fire, astheyopened fire upon the aliens. Thealiens though, hardly seemed tocare. The orks had gone to farforwards, and were opening fireon the abeam aspects of the alienships, one of the most difficult

shots to make. The Ork accuracyreflected that. Only one of thetwo Savages even managed to hitits target, and the aliens simplyignored the effect of that shot.He briefly thought about what afleet of those vessels could dounder his command, or worse,against it, but watched the screenagain, almost eager to see thealien reaction to the Savages.With what appeared to be casualdisinterest, the vessel onlyidentifiable as a cloud fired its ownlightning weaponry, anddestroyed both Savages. Neitherof the two main alien warshipshad even bothered to use theirweapons.The aliens maneuvered again,combining their forces into acentral position, covering eachother’s vulnerable side arcs, whilekeeping their unusual weaponryavailable for use. It was good thatthey did this, as a Kill Kroozer wasnow in range of the vessels, and itbegan opening fire upon them,with its forward gunz. Its shootingwas pathetic though, and none ofthe shots that were fired evenmanaged to impact the armor.Swinging around, the aliensmanaged to get broadside on theKill Kroozer, and Admiral Parolcould imagine the results of thatmaneuver.The alien shooting was neitherpathetic nor inaccurate, andAdmiral Parol watched the burststhat he had nicknamed “Solar

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Flare” impact on the Kill Kroozer.Two flares hit it from the front, butthe forward armor was able tohelp the shields, and no damagewas scored. The Particle weaponswere next though, and theydropped the shields, and inflictedsome damage on it. Theirlightning weaponry was next, andwhile an Imperial vessel wouldhave been hampered shootingthrough the explosions from theshield impact and damage, thesealiens were not hampered at all.Unfortunately, the solid armoredfront of the Kill Kroozer resistedall their attentions, and they onlymanaged another crater in thearmor. The strange stealth ship inthe rear opened fire as well, but itwas unable to even damage thearmor.Now though, the second unit ofstarships opened fire upon the KillKroozer. Their attacks were goingagainst the side armor, and werefar more deadly, to the Ork. TheSolar Flare attacks did not harm itthough, but the Particle weaponswere savage, and half of them hitimmediately. The Kill Kroozer’senergy signature flickered wildly,indicating that the volley hadcrippled it. The Lightning weaponsthough, did not open fire withtheir full violence. Instead, thefire was carefully metered, andfinally the Kill Kroozer wasnothing more than a blazing hulk,drifting forwards, while infernosraged through its hull.

Admiral Parol smiled as hewatched the Ork response.Apparently the destruction of theKill Kroozer had set the Orks into afrenzy, and there were several KillKroozers jockeying for position toengage. Two were in the lead,and there were several followingthem, but the ones following wereactually firing upon each other, intheir desire to be first. The twolead Kill Kroozers came intorange, and they opened fire uponthe alien side arcs again, as thealiens were maneuvering to avoidclose action, and offering theirside arcs for each volley.The first Kill Kroozer opened fireupon the aliens, and its prow gunsreached out, targeting the leadship. The heavy armor and thedifficult shot though, made theOrks miss again, and AdmiralParol could imagine the threatsthe Ork Kaptin was spewing at hisgun crews. The second KillKroozer, had maneuvered to anunusual angle, and opened fire.This time though, the prow gunswere in position so they could onlyhit the trailing ships, and werefiring at their forward aspects.This volley did some damage,causing a power fluctuation again.The side arc weapons fired at thelead ships though, but missedentirely, due to the alien armor,and abeam aspect.It was the aliens’ turn to replynow. The lead trio of shipsproceeded to put their Orcs intotheir abeam aspect, and Admiral

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Parol had seen enough of the alientargeting to know that evenabeam, the aliens would easily hitthe Ork Kroozers. The aliens firedupon the first ship, using theirsolar flares to knock down itsshields, followed up with theirparticle weapons to deliver moredamage. Their lightning weaponswere last, and proceeded tosavage the Ork Kroozer. A briefseries of low-level power surgeswas detected, and a massiveexplosion was witnessed at theengines section of the Ork ship.He knew the signs well. The Orkship had just received a series ofmassive explosions in the engineroom, and would be unable to turnuntil it was repaired. However,the Ork ship was little more than awreck now, and he doubted theOrks would be able to fix anythingon it. As he watched, the firesburned themselves out, and theOrk ship began drifting, a memoryof its former danger. The second Kill Kroozer’sCaptain’s expression was not hardto imagine. After all, the alienvessels had just crippled hispartner, and now the other shipswere coming after him. SolarFlares washed out, but they againhad no effect on the forwardarmor. The particle weaponrylashed out at the forward armor,with five of the main pulses hittingand damaging the Ork ship. Heexpected to see the lightningweaponry go to work next, butstrangely, only the stealth ship in

the third group opened fire withits lightning. Apparently, thelarger warships were unable tofire their lightning weaponrydirectly ahead. A valuablereminder for the future.The lightning slashed towards theOrk Kroozer, though very little ofit penetrated the forward armor.Enough penetrated though, andthis Kroozer was also crippled, itsdefenses and weaponry havinglost too many of their personnel tokeep the ship in fighting shape.At first he thought that the alienswere simply stuck there,wondering what to do with the KillKroozer, when he rememberedthe stealth ship in the first group.As he watched, it directed astream of lightning towards theKill Kroozer, judging the streamso it took out the Ork Kroozer, butnot cause it to explode. Theirprecision was shown again, andthe Ork Kroozer was reduced to adrifting hulk, following its twomates in their dance across thestars. The Kill Kroozer that hadbeen a burning hulk earlier slowlywent out, with a few moreexplosions, but joined the otherKill Kroozers.Admiral Parol was tempted tocheer at the sight, butremembered that the Orks wouldlikely salvage the hulks and putthem back in action, unless thealiens intended to redirect a fewshots, and dispose of them. Stillthe rest of the Ork fleet was

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getting very annoyed at the alienactions, and he could see a fewRoks starting to line up an attackrun. The Kill Kroozers were passingthem, but the Roks were closing. Acouple of Hulks had also noticed thecommotion, and were slowly comingabout to engage the aliens.The next Kill Kroozer Kaptin hadapparently learned a little fromthe previous encounters, andcharged his ship directly into themiddle of the alien fleet, placingone trio of ships into its side arc,and the second trio into hisforward arc. The Ork ship seemedto shake as all of its gunz fired,and it seemed to even drift to theside slightly, from the firepowerunleashed. But that was anillusion caused by the firepower,and the targeting systemsretracking the Ork vessel. Hewatched the alien ships, curiousto see the results of the salvoupon them.For the trio in the side arc, thestealth vessel took a hit from thegunz, while the larger vesselswere the subject of the heavygunz. Unfortunately, the heavygunz again failed to score, and heknew the aliens were planning anasty attack on it. The forwardships though, were within rangeof the prow gunz, but not theheavy gunz, so they received asingle impact from a large volleyof the gunz. Even as Admiral Parolwatched though, the section ofhull that was hit merely reformeditself, and was just as good as

before.Now, the aliens’ weaponry spoke.Solar Flares went out from the twoclosest ships, and the Kroozer’sshields fell. Their Particleweapons opened fire next, andthe Kroozer’s hull was shatteredby the beams, and immediatelybegan drifting. There was stillsome life in it though, and theLightning weaponry arrived next.Those arcs of energy washed overthe hull, looking for and findingthe chinks in the armor.Measuring carefully, the Kroozerwas knocked down, and AdmiralParol watched, wondering if thealiens could hulk the fourth shipas well. The answer was yes, anda fourth Hulk drifted throughspace.The next Kill kroozer moved up,some distance from the othervessels. The aliens moved tomeet it, staying away from thedrifting hulks, in case any of themwere attacked by the Orks tomake them blow up. A Rokshowed up as they weremaneuvering, and Admiral Parolwatched as its long-range gunzopened fire upon the alien ships.Unfortunately, in spite of the Orksbeing able to get the guns to fuireat near their maximum rate, thefire was completely ineffective,and nothing even managed to getnear the alien vessel.The Kill Kroozer opened fire aswell, using its prow guna to targetthe rearward trio, and its port gunz

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to target the closer trio. The portgunz were also ineffective, whilethe prow gunz managed to score asingle hit on another of the alienvessels, but as he watched, thearmor seemed to heal itself thereas well. The aliens returned fireupon the Kill kroozer first, and hewatched as the closer groupmaneuvered into its side arc, totake advantage of the weakerarmor there. Solar Flares leapedout, but the shields held, and theirparticle weapons spoke again.The shields died, and armor wasraked by the weapons. Theirlightning weapons danced over itshull after that, and the Rokconvulsed as the lightningseemed to shred the hull, leavinga wrecked hull moving onwards.The fifth hulk drifted throughspace, joining the other four. The stealth ship opened fire uponthe Rok after that, and the Rokwas crippled by that first salvo.The second trio spoke, and theirParticle weapons danced over itshull, openuing gashes along itssides, and detonating ammo binswithin the hull. The Rok broke upinto a group of asteroids, its hulltotally destroyed by the attack. Another Rok showed up toentertain the aliens, and its owngunz let fly again. The gunners onboard maanged to get all theweapons swung around to targetthe aliens, and all the guns wereable to fire as well. A pity though,as the aliens had managed toswing their sides around,

presenting a side aspect again,likely so they could use theirlightning weaponry on all ships.The result of this was that evenwith the massive salvo, only oneblast hit, and the armor healed that aswell.The alien reply was just as sure aslast time, and even faster inspeed. Particle and lightningweapons bathed the Rok in theirunnatural energies, and the Rokvanished from view, leaving onlya scattering of asteroids.Something apparently wasdecided among the aliens, as thestealth ship destroyed all four ofthe escort hulks present. Briefly,he wondered why they would dothat, then realized that the alienshad realized that even with theirpower, they could not hold thefield, and sought to deny the hulksto the Orks.Unfortunately, now, an Ork Hulkhad showed up, and even its masswould take some time to destroy,even for these aliens. Itsweaponry was far vaster thananything a mere Rok could dishout, and he watched Orkfighta-bommas launching from itssides as well. Its gunz were thefirst to fire, and the alienorientation was barely enough toput theclosest group’s aft aspectsto the Ork weaponry. The onlysaving grace the aliens had wasthat they were all in the portaspect, so only the weapons fromthat side, and the dorsal Lancescould fire. The lances fired first,

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and a single alien ship took somedamage from the volley. The portgunz were next, but they eitherwent wide, and the single craterwas healed by the metal.A massive volley of 16fighta-bommas came out, and sixtorpedoes were fired as well at thealien ships from its port side. Thealiens would be hard-pressed todeal with them.The aliens turned to handle thisnew threat though, and openedfire with all their weaponry. SolarFlares punched out at thetorpedos and fighta-bommas,and four of the fighta-bommazwere left from the waves ofenergy. The torpedos were out ofposition now, and the aliensopened fire upon the Hulk, firingtheir Particle weapons. The hulk’sshields were downed in the firstvolley, and the lightningweaponry fired next. Fires brokeout among the Ork’s ships shieldgenerators and dorsal Lances, asthe aliens had been deliberatelyaiming there. The second wavealso fired their Solar Flares, tryingto remove the last of thefighta-bommas. With thoseflares, there was only onefighta-bomma left, and it tried tocommence its own attack run.Unfortunately, the alien vesselshad their own turrets, and thefighta-bomma was shot downshort of the target.Another Hulk pulled in range, andit began opening fire as well. Its

own Lances opend fire as well,and the closest alien vesselmanaged to reflect the energyaway. The hulk fired its own gunzas well, but their fire was only ableto slightly damage one of the alienships. The first hulk opened fireas well, its two Dorsal lancesopening fire first, but missedentirely. The gunz opened fire aswell, but the blast field from thefirst fire made all their shots go offtarget. The port torpedoes werelaunched as well, and morefighta-bommaz got launched, atotal of 12, and they sped towardsthe alien ships again.The aliens returned fire upon theHulk, Particle beams andLightning arcing across its hull,while Solar Flares were popped offto destroy fighta-bommaz. TheSolar Flares were frighteninglyeffective, removing all thefighta-bommerz from the area.For the weaponry, the ParticleWhips removed large chunks ofthe hull, eating their way indeeper. The lightning weaponsfrom the first group of cruiserstook the Hulk to destruction, andit drifted through space, itsinternal systems too horriblyruined to affect the battle anymore. The other ships opened fireupon the other Hulk, and beganremoving systems. A lanceprojector flared, and then it wasthe turn of the stealth ships. Theirfire didn’t seem as effectivethough, but the Hulk shook fromthe bolts. The Dorsal Lances were

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damaged again, obviously thealiens figured the lances as thedeadliest threat.Another Hulk arrived in range, butbarely. Already the aliens werepulling away from the battle, theircogitators likely telling them thatthe Ork Hulks were simply toomassive to be damaged quicklyenough. The new Hulk openedfire with its Lances again, andanother alien ship was damaged.The first Hulk opened fire as well,but its single Lance that hit wasunable to cause any damage. Thenew Hulk launched assault boatsthis time, and a cluster of foursped towards the alien ships.The aliens took their time though,and Solar Flares reached out tothe small craft, vaporizing all ofthem in the energy waves. Theirparticle weapons reached out tothe damaged hulk, and a series ofmassive explosions rippled downits side. The Dorsal Lances wereknocked out by the Particlebeams, along with one of theshield generators. The lightningweapons fired next, cuttingdeeper still into the hulk, seekingout its vital components. Thestealth ships split their firebetween the two hulks, causingthe damaged hulk to be a burningnightmare, gouts of flameshooting from all the holes in itsstructure. The fresh (and onlyhulk within combat range) tooksome shield loss, but not enough.The second pair of alien cruisersfired their lightning weapons

against it, dropping the shieldsbut scoring only a little damageagainst its structure. A lanceprojector flared and dies, a victimof the alien accuracy.A fourth hulk entered the regionat this point, but the aliens werealready pulling out of range, and itonly maanged to score on one ofthe alien ships, while the aliensseemed happy to leave the area.Tallying up the damage seen andrecorded, Admiral Parol saw thatthe aliens were getting ready tofinish off the last Hulk. They hadplaced themselves ahead of theburning hulk, and the flamingdebris pouring behind itprevented the Orks from usingtheir prow torpedoes. The DorsalLances reached out, damaginganother ship. None of the alienships were crippled, but all ofthem were showing scorchedcraters and burn lines along theirhulls, and he knew that the aliens,though not crippled, weredefinitely not wanting to fightmuch longer.The Hulk fired its prow gunzagain, but Admiral Parol wantedto laugh. The Orks were firing thegunz at the abeam aspect andpast the burning debris of theprevious Hulk. The aliens weren’tin range if the Hulk were todetonate, and the Orks haddecided to fire their weapons atthe aliens instead. Surprisinglyenough, two volleys managed tohit the aliens, but their hulls wereable to repair the damage quickly.

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The aliens replied against thedamaged Hulk, and began to wearaway its defenses. Their Particleweapons removed the shields,and a Lance projector went up inan explosion. Their Lightningweapons fired next, and amassive series of gashes was tornin the side of the Ork Hulk, and thelast Lance projectors weredestroyed in the fire, along with asingle shield generator. Thestealth ships fired as well, buttheir fire seemed woefullyunderaccurate, yet the shots thathit destroyed the other shieldgenerators.The blazing hulk continued toburn, and the other Hulk movedup ponderously, and managed toturn slightly, to bring its starboardarmament into play. The alienswere getting close to the Heavygunz range, yet the Ork Kaptin ofthat Hulk seemed to know that thealiens would destroy him with thenext volley. The Port gunztargeted the rear formation ofalien ships, and they were nolonger in the shadow of theburning hulk. The prow gunsfired, though managed toincredibly miss with everything.The Starboard guns, firing on theother trio of aliens, managed toget a single volley on target, butthe alien ships were able toregenerate the damage quickly.The aliens replied with theirweapons, and Admiral Parolwatched as the last functioningparts of the Ork Hulk were

destroyed by the aliens. Firessurged out of control from theHulk, and the aliens merely pacedthemselves beside the twoburning monstrosities, waiting forthem to either go out, or explode.Their ships were out of range nomatter what happened, and hewatched as the first Hulk wentout, but the second Hulk wassuddenly ripped apart by internalexplosions, and the rockystructure it was based upondrifted apart, forming a newasteroid field in the system.The aliens seemed to be merelylooking over the drifting ships,and Admiral Parol looked overwhat the aliens had maanged tograb. Five Kill Kroozers and twoHulks drifting away from thebattlefield, and the aliens werepacing them. Slowly though, thestealth ships each slid up next to aKill Kroozer, and began changingtheir signature. Their signatureswere growing more focused, andthe Kill Kroozers’ signatures werebeing washed out by it. A suddenflare, and both of the stealth shipsvanished, taking a Kill Kroozerwith each.The larger cruisers detached twoof their number, and they beganclosing on the hulks. Theirsignatures changed as well, andtwo more cruisers vanished, eachtaking a hulk with them. The lasttwo cruisers carefully herded thethree remaining Kill Kroozer hulkstogether, and one of the cruisersexpanded its energy signature to

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include two of them. It vanished,taking them with it. There wasonly one alien cruiser left, and asingle Kill Kroozer left. A cogitatorreported that the alien vessel wasperforming a massive sensorscan, and then the alien movedtowards the Kill Kroozer, and italso popped away, taking the lasthulk with it. Admiral Parol stepped away fromthe display, thinking over what hehad seen. The losses to the Orkswere useful, but not strategicallysignificant to the defense ofArmageddon. But the aliensthough, they had not seemed tobe doing this to assist him. Theyhad instead been acting as thoughthey were just here for a resourceraid, rather than an actual fight.He speculated that the KillKroozers the aliens took would beharvested for materials to buildmore of their warships, and theHulks likewise.

That was beside the point, and hegave orders for a copy of thebattle to be sent byastrotelepathy to the nearestrelay, so it would reachauthorities that had lessbothering them than an OrkWaaagghhh! In the meantime, hewould fight in defense ofArmageddon, and he would win.The aliens though, he knew hewould be seeing them again.The Necron Lord reviewed thedamage to its starships. All four of

the Scythes and one of theShrouds had taken damage in theresource raid, while the otherShroud had gotten offundamaged. The damaged shipswould repair themselves quickly,but for the next period, theywould be unavailable foroperations. Still, the resourcesgathered were higher thanexpected, and it devoted a minorroutine to exploring the statisticalreasons why. It had been orderedto bring back a Hulk, and thesecond was a bonus. The fivecruisers that it had hulked werealso a bonus, and the Necron Lordcould do with them what it chose. The first Hulk had been orderedby the C’Tan, and one of itscruisers had just transported theHulk to the collection station forresource extraction. The fiveother cruiser hulks would havethree of them smelted down forraw materials, but two of themwould be upgraded with properweaponry, and used to scout outterritory, while hiding theircapabilities.The second Hulk though, wasanother matter. The Lordreviewed the capabilities of thestation, and its manufacturingcapabilities. It ran a thousandpossibilities through asubprocessor, and reviewed theresults. Taking half a second todecide, the Lord gave the order,and the Hulk was boarded byWraiths and Immortals, and theybegan slaughtering all Orks on

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board, guided by life formscanners, until there was nothingleft alive. From there, the Lordordered a metal seed to beimplanted in the hull, and acontrol center installed as well.The metal seed would slowly growon the Hulk, covering it with thesentient armor, and the controlcenter would encourage it toconvert its structure intoweaponry, in the proper patterns. The Hulk would take several yearsto finish, but when it was finished,it would be a Juggernaut of space.

Totals:Necrons: Destroyed 6Onslaughts, 6 Brutes, 7Ravagers, 2 Savages, 5 KillKroozers, 2 Roks, 3 Hulks (3965),5 Kill Kroozer drifting hulks (50/,250 pts), 2 Hulks drifting (100/)Need 1485 + 643 to win = 2128Necrons won by 1737 ptsOrks: will wind up holding field,100 pts of wreckage (100)

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Q: A torp salvo, str 6, hit asquadron of cobras. The torptemplate hit the first ship, histurret missed. I successfully hitwith 4 of the 6 torps, but the cobraonly has one point of damagecapacity. Is the resultingremaining torp salvo strength 5 or2?A: It is two. The thing is, yourtorps hit simultaneously andalthough it was overkill, they DIDimpact the same ship. I suppose itwas an unintentional perk in thesense of games balance.Q: Does the eldar holofield allow asave versus ramming or boardingor teleportations? And if the savesucceed for a boarding action,where does the blast marker mustbe displayed ?A: Yes, the holofield allows a saveagainst all directed, non-firepowertable attacks. The blast markergets placed in the direction thatthe attack came from.Q: What is the effect of a warlordattached to a ravager squadronwithlooted torpedoes?

A: One ship gets to double it’sboarding value, (+1 then) and oneship, (The same one) gets to rerollits torp strength. Never put aWarlord on an escort.A: The bonus and benefits goes tothe whole squadron, not to justone escort. However, it is really awaste of a Warlord to put it onsomething as expendable as anescort squadron.Q: Just wondering how vp onescorts are calculated with thenew vp for squadrons? If fourIdolators are in a squadron, andone is destroyed, does this meanyou gain 10% of 45 points invictory points, as the squadronwas not crippled?A: Escort squadrons are treated ascapital ships. Your 4 Idolators areessentially a 4 hit, 180 pointcapital ship. Lose one and you aredown zero points unless youdisengage in which case you drop10% or 18 points. Lose two andyou are the equivalent of crippledand down 45 points whether youdisengage or not. Lose all 4 andyou lose the full 180 points.

AstronomiconThis section of the magazine serves to highlight some of thequestions and points raised on the Yahoo Gothic List. None ofthe answers here are official, but can be considered as asensible interpretation of the rules. Also, if we get anyquestions or emails here at Warp Rift, they will be publishedhere.

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Docking ClawsThe best of the web, listing sites which deal with BattlefleetGothic. If you have a site that you would like listed here, dropus an email.www.epic40k.co.uk (www.epic40k.co.uk) - The host of thispublication, www.epic40k.co.uk is a growing site featuring theEpiComms Forums for great Gothic and Epic chat, the Players Index tofind players in your area, and the Spotters Guide, a discourse on thevessels in the game, as well as lots more.Port Maw (www.one-end.com/portmaw) - Currently undergoing arevamp, Port Maw has always been a favourite for web surfers lookingfor Gothic. In particular, the site has a large collection of new vesselsfor the game.Blackstone 6 (http://blackstone.outpost10f.com) - While currently notbeing updated regularly, there are still a lot of useful articles here, andsome excellent extra counters and downloads.The Golgotha Spiral(http://www.angelfire.com/games4/chubbybob/bfg1.htm) - Anexcellent site focussing on the vessels of the Golgotha Spiral, and theunique vessels which patrol it. An gold mine for the Gothic converter.

IncomingGot an event for Gothic coming up? Let us know. We want tohear about meetings, groups, conventions and games. So,put the word out, and drop us an email detailing your events.