FIrestorm Armada 2.0

When Firestorm Armada was first announced, I waited with anticipation due  to my love for large space battles. But once I got the rules, and (attempted) to read them, I realized the rules were not nearly as tactical as BFG. Not only were the rules poorly written and designed, I thought the models were of poor as well in quality and design. So I stopped at the rules book.

Since then a few things have changed.
1. GW has terminated BFG and the rest of the specialist games line.
2. I've started playing Spartan Games more popular game Dystopian Wars. While the rules were clunky, it somehow seem appropriate for the Victorian SciFi setting. The models were also very high in quality and quantity.
3. Second generations of Firestorm Armada models are also better in quality and quantity.
4. There will be a ground based mass combat game call Planetfall using the same setting.

Spartan Games have announced Firestorm Armada 2.0 to be released this December and I am once again open to entering this game. Not only are the rules have been significantly revamped, likely due to significantly more play testing and feed back from the community, but third generation models are being released for the 6 major factions. The updated basic fleet lists for all six core factions are here. And here are the basic new fleet sets and links for more by factions.

Aquans

Dindrenzi

Directorate

Relthoza

Sorylian

Terrans

DW Allies thoughts

The Alliances:
Grand Coalition
Great Powers: FSA, KoB, RC
Lesser Powers: Australian-Royalists, Canada, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Minor Powers: Belgium
Others: Free Hellenic Kingdom, United Kingdom of Romania, Spanish Republican Confederacy, Socialist Union of South America? Portuguese Empire

Imperial Bond
Great Powers: EotBS, PE, RoF
Lesser Powers: Chinese Federation, Kingdom of Denmark, Italian League, Ottoman Empire
Minor Powers: Scandinavia, Belgium
Others: Republic of Egypt? Republic of Chile 

Free Powers
Great Power: CoA
Lesser Powers: Australia-Free, East India Company
Minor Powers: none currently
Others: Republic of Egypt? Socialist Union of South America?

I don't think the great powers, given their command structures and ego, should mix forces. If you want to represent combined actions take multiple forces like for a 2v2 game.
Great powers: CoA, EotBS, FSA, KoB, PE, RC, and RoF.

Lesser powers should be able to be fielded as stand alone forces in games. Lesser naval powers are the Australia-Royal, Australia-Free, Chinese, Denmark, East India, Italians, and Ottomans. Poland is a lesser power for air games. Canada is a lesser power for land games. I think lesser powers should make 2 squadrons available to their alliance great or lesser powers (one being a small) and be able to take 2 squadrons from alliance great or lesser power (one being a small). 

Minor powers are factions without the ability to field stand alone forces. They should be totally available to their alliance great power and limited available (2 squadrons with one as a small) to their alliance lesser powers. 

Other powers are listed in Spartan Games downloads for Alliance Nations but do not have models currently. 

BFG Alternate Models 2

Saw these boys (from Spartan Games Firestorm Armada) painted dark, and i think they look good for dark eldar.

BFG: After Specialist Games

BFG, as you know, is my favorite game as well (second is warmaster). So the challenge with the end of Specialist Games is whether to continue playing BFG or not. FOr the past few years a friend and I have been working on our own rules set for a spaceship battle game but we are not ready to release this yet. WHile there are other rules set out there, such as Firestorm Armada, none really appeals to me, so BFG it is for now still. Some of us are still hoping BFG will get a re-release as all plastic, that the reason for shutting down BFG is the move to all plastic and resin rather than metal. Maybe this is more wishing than hoping.

I have all the models for BFG I want, but how will others get it apart from eBay? GW is still selling the plastic cruisers for Imperial Navy (IN) and Chaos Navy (CN), the two main factions in the 40k Universe. I suspect these plastic cruiser kits will be available for a while. What is missing are battleships but with a little work, these can be customized by splicing together 2 cruiser hulls to have 6 weapon decks vs just 4 (the remaining shortened hull can be made into an IN light cruiser or with the chaos hull, a Space Marine strike cruiser?). So I think IN and Chaos will be ok for a while. AdMech can use IN cruisers with different prows and adjust the command deck some. The Tyranids ships can be customized via 40k nids warrior boxes. So IN, AM, CN, SM, and Tyranids might be ok for a while.

For the other fleets i think proxys will be needed. The BFG orks and necron model lines were weak and will likely be better served with proxys. The eldar model lines however are excellent and will be hardest to replace. Tau may be the easiest to proxy.

Here is a discussion of alternative models for BFG:

http://www.forum.specialist-arms.com/index.php?topic=5345.0

(this is a very active forum for BFG)

This guys make custom BFG models. they are superb. i bought some "Zeus" prows and converted my plastic IN cruisers to have them

http://www.resinaddict.com/blog/category/battlefleet-gothic/

search all his posts and contact him directly by email to buy

This company makes many spaceship models for its game FIrestorm Armada (i do not think the game is as good as BFG). 

http://shop.spartangames.co.uk/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1820
Here are their latest releases.

BFG: IN vs AdMech

I played a 1500 points game with my new IN fleet against my friend (Jobu) AdMech fleet the other night. My fleet consisted of an Apocalypse (the Kandinsky), 2 Dictators (the Still and the Newman), 2 Lunars (the Kline and the Hofmann), along with 2 squadrons of Falchions (the Dehner and the Callery). Jobu's consisted of a battleship (Retribution class?), 2 AdMech Tyrants, 3 AdMech Endeavors, 3 Cobras and 3 Hunters. At the end of the night i lost the Kandinski and four Falchions with no other ships crippled. Jobu lost 2 Cobras and 2 Hunters with the battleship crippled as well as one of the Tyrant.

What I learn:
1. The Apocalypse should go all ahead full the first turn in order to position itself in firing range of its lances.
2. Bombers, even when combined with torpedoes are fairly ineffective against battleships. I should have sent them against the light cruisers preferably if not the against the cruisers.
3. the Dictators have in essence 2 combined strikes at 20cm so save a fleet reroll for the reload.

I submitted the result to the Draco Sector Campaign

End of Specialist Games?

It appears that GW is ending its Specialist Games activities. Specialist Games models are slowly disappearing from the online store. This is really too bad because GW's best games rules wise is found in their Specialist Games section, at least for me. My top two favorite miniature wargames are Warmaster and Battlefleet Gothic.

It is a shame.


http://epicaddiction.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/the-death-of-specialist-games/

Dystopian Wars Activations & Target Priority

Rules of activation:
1. Activate a squadron that has range.
2. Activate a squadron that will die this round.
3. Activate a squadron that can take a licking.
4. Activate a squadron that can block another squadron that has not already activated.
5. Activate a squadron that can block another squadron from being targeted.

Rules of target priority:
1. Target a squadron that will claim victory objective.
2. Target a squadron that has not activate yet.
3. Target a squadron that will be boarded or rocketed by a later activation.
4. Target the central model of a squadron.
5. Target an activated or broken squadron last.