Geek Day Diary Entry #3: "Sector 10034.07.998 Secured!"

Dear Diary,

Before I knew it, that time was here again - the monthly Geek Day. For those unaware, our small group has recently started getting out into a rented space about once a month. It allows us to play all day long in an environment devoid of interruptions.

Our first two geek days were primarily Warmachine tournaments, so we had vowed to shake things up this time. A Battlefleet Gothic tournament was the order of the day. BFG is an epic-scale spaceship battle game from Games Workshop Specialist Games. Very few models are required and all of the rules and resources are free for download from GW's BFG Resource page, so you really can't go wrong.

We had originally planned for four tables with eight players. However, we had two guys decline at the last minute, so we dropped one table and plunged forward with six players. Each player brought 1000-point fleets from the faction of their choosing.

Last minute preparations.

The tables set-up and ready for the first of three matches.

Play Schedule

I created a play schedule which specified who fought who and on what table for each game. However, the players on the chart were simply identified as A, B, C, D, E, and F. After everyone had arrived, an envelope containing the six letters was passed around and players randomly chose their positions. The players were:

• player A - Martin - Space Marines
• player B - Chris H. - Tau
• player C - Marc - Imperium
• player D - Chris E. - Eldar
• player E - Ken - Chaos
• player F - Jason (i.e. me) - Imperium

And the schedule of play proceeded as follows:

*	Table 1	Table 2	Table 3
Game 1	A vs. B	C vs. D	E vs. F
Game 2	D vs. F	A vs. E	B vs. C
Game 3	E vs. C	B vs. F	A vs. D

Game One: Battling the Chaos Fleet in High Orbit

Ken's Chaos fleet was matched up against my Imperials for the first game. We were on table one, which was set up as an area of space near the orbit of a large planet which encompassed a large asteroid belt. By the time the games were called, Ken and I had done a relatively small amount of damage to each other's fleets. However, Ken more than doubled the amount of damage that I caused (in points) and was declared the victor.

Even as I started approaching the chaos fleet, I was reminded of their horrifying range.


I tried to use the asteroid field to cover my advance.


Ken's fleet unleased waves of bombers...


...and they took their toll on my fleet.


Towards the end, I tried to cross the T.


The chaos cruisers used weapons batteries to punish the Imperial flag ship.


When the game ended, my fleet was standing up to serious ordnance fire. If the game
had continued on, I think it would have been more of a crushing victory for Ken.

Game Two: Black Hole Ambush

For my second game, I got to fight Chris E's Eldar pirates on Marc's fancy new nebula gaming mat. This little number was created my the lovely Angie (a talented seamstress, as well as a baker. What the hell she's doing with Marc is anybody's guess ;) )

For this table, the black hole caused an additional 5cm movement when moving towards it and a -5cm adjustment when moving away. More importantly, there were no real places for Chris to run and hide (the classic Eldar tactic). When all was said and done, I had annihilated the Eldar fleet, scoring a full 1000 points.

The Imperial fleet advanced towards the black hole.


After a swift attack, the Eldar fleet fled from the Imperial cruisers.


Eldar cruisers made another attack run...


...and took out three Sword class escorts. Ouch!


With nowhere to hide, an Eldar cruiser fled behind my fleet.


The swords unleashed their batteries and crippled one of the cruisers.


Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet closed in and took out four out of five Eldar escorts.


The fleet closed in on the Eldar from all sides, leaving no escape route.


Chris made one last attack run.


In the end, the Imperial fleet destroyed the entire pirate fleet.

Game Three: For the Greater Good!

The final match pitted my Imperial fleet against the cruiser-heavy (and ordnance-heavy) Tau fleet of Chris H. Chris was on a time limit and left before the full game duration. However, the Imperial fleet seemed to be standing up to the majority of the combined torpedo-bomber assault and was getting in position to cause some major damage (I think). When all was said and done, Chris had crippled one of my light cruisers, but I had done more damage to one of his and scored almost double points. This match was my second victory of the day.

I send the Sword escorts sling-shotting around the planet in preparation for an attack to the rear.


The Tau fleet unleashed massive amounts of ordnance.


As the game ended, I had just started dishing it out. If I survived
one more turn, I think I would have caused massive damage.

The Rest of the Day

Although it's difficult to concentrate on what others are doing when you're in the process of playing your own games, I did stick my nose in here and there and grab some shots of the action.

Marc's Imperials vs. Chris's Eldar


The Imperial Battleship Intolerance


Martin's Space Marine fleet


The Eldar lay the smack-down on the Space Marines


Marc's Imperial vs. Ken's Chaos


Absolute interstellar mayhem


A whale chewing on Martin's head


Geeks in action


The damaged Eldar leave the Space Marine fleet noticeably down-sized


Apparantly, the Sunday-school children were aware of the impending space battles


A freakish Eldar outcast presents me with my prize.

At the end of the day, the final ranking was...

• 1st: Imperium (Jason) - wins x 2, loss x 1, 1310 pts
• 2nd: Space Marine (Martin) - wins x 2, loss x 1, 1135 pts
• 3rd: Imperium (Marc) - wins x 1, draws x 2, 457 pts
• 4th: Eldar (Chris E.) - win x 1, draw x 1, loss x 1, 815 pts
• 5th: Chaos (Ken) - win x 1, losses x 2, 663 points
• 6th: Tau (Chris H.) - draw x 1, losses x 2, 265 pts
  

Since the top three spots were held by the Imperial forces, I think we can assume that the sector was cleansed and secured.

All in all, yet another successful geek day. We got to meet another fine geek from the area, and I think he (as well as everybody else) thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This event encouraged all of us to finish our fleets and to build some deep space terrain. In fact, one of the great side effects of these geek days is how they light the fire of productivity as they give concrete goals for painting and modelling projects. Continuing in our space gaming theme, the next Geek Day will be a full day of the boardgame Twilight Imperium.

Until then, thanks for reading,
JET

BFG engagements - Crush the Aliens!

The geeking last night started with a game of Warmachine between Kreoss (i.e. Ken) and the Witch Coven (i.e. Marc), but by the time I remembered to get the camera, the game was well under way. I decided to snap some Battlefleet Gothic shots instead, as I was lucky enough to have two new opponents.

Chris showed up with his 650-point Eldar fleet. It's composed of a Shadow Class Cruiser, Aconite Frigates x 3, Hellebore Frigates x 2, and a few upgrades.


The "other Chris" (from now on referred to as non-coughing Chris, aka NC Chris) brought along his Tau fleet. His three cruisers are scratchbuilt from leftover bitz from Tau vehicle kits. Very nice stuff! I don't know the names of any of the ships, so I won't even attempt it.


Fleet Engagement One: Imperial Navy vs. Eldar Space Pirates

The first scrap was between my Imperials and Chris's Eldar. The first shot was taken after the first turn. The Eldar frigates made a fairly ineffective attack and fled to the asteroid field.


The Admiral of the Dictator class Imperial cruiser dispatched Starhawk bombers and ordered them towards the asteroid field in an attempt to ambush the space pirates if they tried again.


The Shadow class cruiser opens up on the Sword squadron and wrecks a frigate.


The space panzee... ehh.. pirates "strategically reform" (read: flee) but are chased down by frigates. The Sword weapons batteries cripple the Eldar capital ship.


Meanwhile, the second Sword squadron, with some assistance from the Dauntless light cruisers, dispatch the remaining Eldar frigates. Victory to the Imperium!



Fleet Engagement Two: Imperial Navy vs. Tau Navy

NC Chris and I played a similar sized-game. The Tau began by unleasing a hail of torpedoes and holding their fleet back.


This game became a close-up fleet action with opposing fighters and bombers trading blows between the enemy capital ships. Broadsides erupted in a hail of small craft action (picture the assault on the Death Star). Imperial shields saved the day, and the Starhawk bombers (clearly the MVP's of the evening) took their toll on the Tau Navy.


On the other side of the planet, the Imperial Firestorm frigates traded blows with the Tau frigates for the entire game.


Broadside and bomber madness escalated to new levels of destruction. Two Tau cruisers were wrecked and the hulks drifted into space. The remaining capital ship, under orders of the Tau Admiral, disengaged and fled. Victory to the Emperor... again!


So, it was another night of successful geeking. Our group is growing. This presents some challenges, namely the logistics of how many games we are limited to on a Saturday night. However, this is far outweighed by the new interests brought to the group, as well as the opportunity to explore new games and modelling opportunities. Now we just have to get Ken's fancy new geek room up and running (i.e. two geek tables), and the geek madness will take on a whole new level.

Thanks for reading,
JET

The Imperial Navy

Now that the group has added Battlefleet Gothic to the regular wargames rotation, I figured it was time to add some nicer "posed" photos of my Imperial fleet. Here's the painted fleet so far.

My cruisers. The two in the forefront are Dauntless Light Cruisers armed with weapons batteries and dorsel-mounted lance batteries. The larger cruisers (L to R) are a Dictator class, an Overlord class, and a Gothic class.

A squadron of three Firestorm escorts with prow-mounted lances.


A large squadron of Sword class frigates armed with weapons batteries. Very powerful when firepower is concentrated.

I have enough parts to make another couple of cruisers, so the fleet isn't quite done at this stage. However, I'm ready to play an average-size game, and that 's one of the great aspects of BFG - very few models + free rules = lots of deep space fun for very little money.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Clash of the Titans!

Marc and I bought the Battlefleet Gothic boxed game around six years ago, and other than a couple of luke-warm attempts, it's never really been tried. Last night, we decided to give it a try. Each of us has chosen to paint and play Imperial fleets (green=me; blue=Marc). We tried a 750 point game. Here's how it shook down.

Jason's force: Overlord Battlecruiser, Gothic Cruiser, Dauntless Light Cruiser x 2, Firestorm Escort x 3

Marc's force: Retribution Battleship, Gothic Cruiser, Dominator Cruiser

During the first turn, I did a little shooting and launched a couple of torpedo salvoes. I was trying to use my forces's ability to out-manouvre Marc's fleet to gain the advantage.

Marc's Retribution battleship coming around the other side of the table. Great model and a great paintjob. Also notice the ship's name on the base. Marc's just showing off now.

Dauntless light cruisers and Firestorm escorts move to broadside positions. The idea was to use their superior mobility to close in on Marc's cruisers and to let loose with all of the lance batteries.

The cruisers in question. The Furious Might (on the right) stood up to two torpedo salvoes from my cruisers, sustaining only minor damage.


My cruisers moving closing with the enemy cruisers.

My Dauntless light cruiser squadron is given the "Lock-On" special order and does incredible damage with a barrage of lance shots.

Marc's fleet starts causing some damage on my cruisers.

Marc moves the Battleship Intolerance into a broadside position. Learning as we play, we realize that large unmanouverable behemoths should be committed somwhere central, otherwise, it's too easy for smaller ships to avoid them.

Our loyal fans.

The grand pinnacle of the engagment. My lance-armed light ships cause havoc.

One of Marc's cruisers explodes in a ball of plasma, which in turn, finished off his other crippled cruiser. The hulk floated into space.

Meanwhile, my Gothic cruiser headed off to deal with the battleship. We traded some firepower, and then called the game.

The game was great fun, and I look forward to adding it to the geekly mix. Ken has a Chaos fleet prepped for painting, and I believe Chris has already started painting his Eldar corsairs. These fleets will shake up the game a great deal, as the fleet tactics are so different from the Imperial navy.

Marc will be adding a light cruiser and a squadron of escorts in the near future. His list from last night was intended for learning the game, and he is quite aware that manouverable elements must be added to the fleet.

I'm off to paint some Lawmen! Thanks for reading,
JET