The Movement Phase¶
During the Movement Phase, vessels manoeuvre into position to begin battle. Moving your battlefleet into the right position to rain destruction upon your opponent is vital – some ships need to keep their distance while others need to come to grips at close quarters. The Movement Phase is filled with opportunities. By moving your ships you can surround a target and destroy it, smash through the heart of an opposing fleet, lurk behind planets and moons, flee from powerful enemies, even set traps to lure unwary foes to their destruction. A wise admiral can achieve all this and more in the Movement Phase.
Basic Moves¶
A player may move each ship up to its standard move distance each turn. Once one ship has completed its movement, the player selects another and moves that one and so on until he has moved all the ships he wishes to move.
This can be summarised as:
- Choose a ship to move.
- Move the ship up to its maximum move distance.
- Choose another ship to move.
Note that a player has to move his ships unless they use the Burn Retros special order to remain stationary. A ship has to move at least 5 cm to not count as defences against the Gunnery Table.
Move Distance¶
Ships are pushed through the firmament by the most powerful engines anywhere in the galaxy. In space combat, the thrust available to a vessel can mean the difference between survival and destruction. All ships can move at up to their normal speed. Speed varies from one ship to another, but by way of example, an Imperial Lunar class cruiser has a speed of 20 cm. A ship’s normal move may be increased by using the All Ahead Full special order that follows. A vessel’s move
can also be decreased in some circumstances during a battle. Damage to the ship may inhibit the efficiency of its engines and reduce its top speed, and a ship which moves through Blast Markers will be slowed slightly by the shockwaves and explosions.
Minimum Move Distance¶
Ships moving under engines retain enormous amounts of momentum. If a vessel slows down without the correct preparations, it is so big that there is a very real chance that its structure will be damaged because the whole of its vast length isn’t moving at the same speed. Because of this, ships must always move at least half of their speed unless they use the Burn Retros special order, detailed below. Ships who are unable to move half their speed (due to damage, Blast Markers, etc.) must move the maximum possible distance instead.
Special Order: All Ahead Full¶
A ship can move faster than its basic cruising speed by using the All Ahead Full special order. Using * orders means that a ship cannot turn and its firing ability is less effective, as explained in the Shooting rules. All Ahead Full orders are most useful for closing in on a distant foe or escaping from a deadly situation. See pg. 46 for all effects.
Special Order: Burn Retros¶
A ship can move slower than half its basic cruising speed by using the Burn Retros special order, or even remain stationary (hold station). A ship can make a single turn without having to move forward first but its firing is less effective. Burn Retros orders are handy for holding back, when moving at full speed would bring you within range of an enemy’s guns, or would cause a ship to crash into asteroids. See pg. 46 for all effects.
Turning¶
The bigger a ship, the slower it will turn. While light escort ships are quite agile, larger cruisers are ponderous beasts. The time lag between a cruiser applying thrust and turning is considerable. Battleships take even longer to manoeuvre.
When ships move they have to travel in a straight line, directly ahead. However, ships may make one turn as part of their movement unless they are using special orders which prevent them from doing so.
A ship can turn by a maximum of either 45° or 90°, how sharp a turn it can make is included in the ship’s characteristics. A ship can only count forward movement made in the current Movement Phase as part of its minimum movement before turning. By way of example, the Imperial Lunar class cruiser is able to make turns of up to 45°.
Large ships have to move a certain distance before they are allowed to make a turn. The distance they must travel depends on their type:
- A battleship must move 15 cm before it can execute a turn.
- A cruiser must move 10 cm before it can execute a turn.
- An escort ship can execute a turn at any point in its move.
Special Order: Come To New Heading¶
A ship can turn more sharply by using the Come To New Heading special order. It may make an extra turn during its movement. Using Come To New Heading means that a ship is less effective in the Shooting Phase as explained in the Shooting rules. Come To New Heading orders are best used either for turning to get a more favourable attack angle on an enemy as it attempts to escape, or to outmanoeuvre a larger enemy ship. See pg. 46 for all effects.
All Ahead Full – Ramming Speed!¶
A ship moving at All Ahead Full may attempt to ram an enemy vessel. As Battlefleet Gothic is a 2D representation of 3D space, a ship cannot attempt to ram more than one ship per Movement Phase, even if multiple enemy vessels are in its range of movement.
When the All Ahead Full command check is passed, the owning player must declare which ship it is attempting to ram and make the appropriate leadership test to do so before rolling the number of additional D6 cm it will move All Ahead Full. This choice cannot be changed if the ramming ship ends its movement in base contact with more than one vessel or does not reach the intended vessel. The number of ships it “moves through” or ends in contact with does not change or alter this.
Take a Leadership test for the ramming ship: if the test is passed, the captain skillfully manoeuvres his ship into a ramming position. If the test is failed, the would-be rammer misses the target and moves normally (under All Ahead Full).
Obviously, it’s easier for an escort to ram a battleship than the other way round. There are four sizes concerning the separate leadership check to ram. From biggest to smallest: Defence > Battleship > Cruiser > Escort
If the target vessel is of a smaller type than the ramming one, the Leadership test is taken on 3D6.
If the target vessel is of the same type than the ramming one, the Leadership test is taken on 2D6.
If the target vessel is of a larger type than the ramming one, the Leadership test is taken on 1D6.
For example, the Imperial Lunar class cruiser Agrippa would take a Leadership test on 2D6 to ram another cruiser, on 3D6 to ram an escort or 1D6 to ram a battleship.
A ship does not have to make a separate leadership check to ignore closer targets to ram one further away.
The ship now must move its FULL distance, including any extra distance moved for being All Ahead Full.
Ramming is determined by base-to-base contact. If any part of the ramming ship’s base contacts any part of the rammed ship’s base in the course of its movement, the ram is considered to be successful. Pause the movement and resolve the ram attempt.
Roll 1D6 for each point of its starting damage capacity (not the damage capacity it has left). Any dice that equal or beat the target’s armour value score a point of damage on it. Damage from rams is not deflected by shields.
The ramming ship may well suffer damage too, so the vessel being rammed rolls a number of D6 equal to half its starting damage. Any dice which equal or beat the ramming ship’s front armour rating score a point of damage. If the vessels are hitting head on (i.e. front to front) the rammed or defence vessel rolls a number of dice equal to its full starting damage capacity.
Once the ram attempt is resolved, the ramming ship continues its movement.
Ramming example: The Agrippa, a Lunar class cruiser, rams the Unclean, a Murder class Chaos cruiser in the starboard side. The Agrippa had a starting damage capacity of 8 so it rolls 8D6 to damage the Unclean (which has Armour 5), rolling 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6 and scoring 3 points of damage. By way of return the Unclean (with a starting damage capacity of 8) rolls 4D6 to damage the Agrippa (which has armour 6 on the front thanks to its armoured prow) rolling 3, 3, 5, 6 and scoring 1 point of damage.
If either ship is destroyed and explodes due to ramming, the explosion (and any subsequent hits) is resolved at that moment. The ramming and rammed ship will both always be in the explosion. If it was the rammed ship that exploded it is easier to finish the ramming ships movement as normal, but unless it has special rules to navigate Blast Markers it will be slowed by Blast Markers from the explosion.
While a ramming vessel may later attempt to board or shoot, it may only attempt to board a vessel if it ends up in base contact with one at the end of its full movement. This does not necessarily have to be the same vessel it just rammed.
When ramming defences, they always roll their full number of starting damage capacity to damage the ramming ship as if prow-on, as defences are more solidly built than ships are.
Ramming Summary¶
Ramming ship: Roll a number of D6 equal to its starting damage.
Rammed ship hit from the side or rear: Roll a number of D6 equal to half its starting damage.
Rammed ship hit from the front or Defence: Roll a number of D6 equal to its starting damage.
Disengaging from Combat¶
Sometimes it’s better to run away and fight another day. A ship may be crippled with no hope of defeating its attackers, or just outnumbered so heavily that its captain decides that it’s hopeless to fight on. The classic approach to disengaging is to make a sudden course alteration and then cut all power so that the ship cannot be detected by its energy emissions. With luck the vessel will simply drift out of the immediate battle area and can set course for home once it’s clear of the fighting. Sometimes it even works ...
A vessel that moves off of the table edge during play for any reason counts as being disengaged. Or, in order to disengage, a ship or escort squadron must pass a Leadership test at the end of its Movement Phase with the following modifiers:
| CIRCUMSTANCE | MODIFIER |
|---|---|
| Each Blast Marker within 5 cm | +1 |
| Any celestial phenomena within 15 cm | +3* |
| Each enemy ship or Ordnance | marker within 15 cm |
*This is for a tabletop feature such as an asteroid field or planet. If a tabletop effect such as a radiation burst or solar flare is taking place this bonus applies anywhere on the tabletop.
All positive and negative modifiers must be added together before determining the leadership check, even though check rolls of 11 or 12 still automatically fail.
For instance, a ship or escort squadron with Ld9 attempts to disengage after moving within 5 cm of three Blast Markers and an asteroid field (+4Ld) with no enemy ships or ordnance markers within 15 cm (no negative modifier). Even though the effective leadership to disengage is now Ld13 because these must all be added together BEFORE the roll, the player must still roll no higher than 10 to not fail the check.
If the test is passed, the disengaging ship is removed from the tabletop and may not return during the game. If the test is failed the ship remains in play but may not fire, launch ordnance or attempt to use special orders (except Brace for Impact!) during the turn.
Any ship or squadron that, through a combination of effects, is reduced to Leadership 1 or less must attempt to disengage or move toward the closest table edge.
A vessel not hulked that moves off of the table edge during play for any reason counts as being disengaged.
An escort squadron that successfully disengages only counts as being 10% destroyed against the full value of all the escorts in the squadron. It counts as 25% destroyed if the squadron was crippled before disengaging, as in if at least half the escorts in the squadron were destroyed (rounding down) before the squadron disengaged.
If any single ship in an escort squadron disengages, the whole escort squadron must then immediately and in subsequent turns attempt to disengage following normal rules. This prevents an escort squadron from disengaging one or two vessels to keep leadership or victory point benefits, then pushing the rest of them in a suicide run at the enemy.
Capital ships in a squadron may disengage separately, relying on their individual base leadership to do so, not the highest leadership in the squadron. If it attempts to disengage and fails, it falls out of the squadron and may not attempt to re-join it. This is in addition to all other effects for ships that fail to disengage when attempting to do so.
A ship that disengages successfully counts as 10% of its point value for the enemy, or 25% if it is crippled before it disengages. This is NOT in addition to the 25% victory point value if it remains on the table at the end of the game but is crippled.
Flying Bases Overlapping¶
As ships can overlap by flying over/under one another it is possible to stack ships. When ships overlap it is common practice to remove the models from their flying bases. To keep things clear, it is usually best to have a few stemless flying bases around with a straight line drawn from the central hole to the bases edge to indicate direction. If desired, numbered contact markers can be used for this as well. The drastic weakening of their shield strength usually discourages this as described in the section on Blast Markers, but it is completely legal.
Stacking Ships And Escort Squadrons¶
Cruisers and escorts can be stacked to follow the movement of battleships and other models that use a large base. If the models do not physically fit where they should be located, a contact marker or similar can be used for this purpose. As a rule, ships should only be stacked or overlap as an unavoidable consequence of movement or to attain a particular shooting solution and should not be used solely because it is allowed.
When a ship is forced to stand still, it counts as being targeted as Defences. Minimum move distance to not count as defences is at least 5 cm.
At no time do ships count as moving simultaneously (even if in a squadron) and must always be moved one at a time, in any order desired by the owning player.