[bfg] ramilies

7/26/2019 [BFG] Ramilies

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RAMILIES CLASS

STAR FORT

RULES FOR FORGEWORLDSSUPERB NEW MODEL

by ANDY CHAMBERS

HistoryThe Ramilies class star fort has formed a vitallynch pin in Imperial strategy since the

earliest days of the Great Crusade. It wasdesigned, according to Mechanicus legends,by the hitherto unknown Artisan Magos LianRamilies from STC materials captured in thepurgation of the Stone World, Ulthanx. TheHyper-plasmatic energy conduction systemused by the Ramilies is barely understood bythe Tech Priests in current times, but thanksto the STC system it is still reproducable andhas guaranteed endurance of over 3,000years. The greatest advantage of the Ramilies

by far is that it powerful generators can erecta warp-bubble over the entire structureenabling it, with the aid of seventeen

navigators and an attendent fleet of tugs,supply ships, war ships and system craft, toenter the warp and be towed to different starsystems. This operation, always perilous, hasresulted in the loss of over twelve hundredRamilies Stars Forts in their ten millenia ofservice to the Emperor. However eachjourney has shortened Imperial campaignsby years at a time by allowing the Imperialfleet to move repair, command and resupplyfacilities right up to the front line, saving itsships lengthy return trips to temporarysupply bases or full repair dock facilities farbehind the warzone.

The Ramilies itself is heavily armed as befitsits role and fully capable of fighting off afleet of attackers if need be. On occasion theyare commandered to be placed aspermanent orbital bombardment emplace-ments over embattled worlds, or act as partof the defences of a vital system. At any onetime Cypra Mundi will include between six

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and eight of these gigantic fortresses as partof its orbital ring. Some are used as AdpetusMechanicus deep space research facilities forprojects too secret to be placed near anyinhabited world. Others have gone to theInquisition to be used as hidden fortressesfor that clandestine and all-powerful

organisation. Over the centuriesblasphemously altered rebel star forts havebeen sighted sighted likewise supportingChaos renegade fleets. Such abhorrence isattached to these twisted parodies that theyare pursued doggedly by Imperial NavyCaptains, but the last acreditted destructionof one was in the Tauran Annulus in M.39.Ork raiders have captured partially crippledRamilies at least six times, most memorably

in the notorious Skaggerak incident duringthe Segmentum Obscurus fleet review of975.M41

Special RulesThe Ramilies star fort is so large that itsweapons, hits and defences are divided upinto four quadrants representing thedifferent sides of the space station. When thestar fort is fired upon determine whichquadrant the firing will hit by tracing a

straight line from the stem of the firing shipto the center of the fort. Likewise whenordnance hits it will be resolved against the

quadrant of the fort it moves in from.

Nova Cannons and Armageddon Guns canscore a full on D6 hits only against thequadrant most under the centre hole of themarker when it hits.

All damage and criticals only affect thequadrant that they are inflicted againstunless specifically noted otherwise.Quadrants are crippled individually oncethey are reduced to 6 damage points. Once aquadrants hits are reduced to 0 any furtherhits plow into the drifting wreckage and dono further damge, treat that quadrant of thefort as an asteroid field from now on.

Hit and run raids are likewise resolvedonly against the quadrant they are directedat and will not affect other quadrants.

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East Quadrant

North Quadrant

South Quadrant

West Quadrant


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The Ramilies cannot be boarded by ships.

Whole regiments would be needed.

Damage control is also undertakenindividually. To all intents and purposes the

four quadrants function as individualstations placed back to back. The fort itselfis only destroyed once all four quadrants are

reduced to 0 damage points.Special Orders

Unlike most defences, the command control

and communications of the Ramilies issuperior to even that of a Warship. Torepresent this a Ramiles can use the

following combat orders;

Reload Ordnance

Lock On

Brace For Impact.

Ramilies are also typically manned byexperienced personnel, so their Leadership is

rolled as for capital ship. A Ramilies also hasa single command check reroll which maybe used when it attempts to roll special

orders. Fleet commanders may be placedaboard a Ramilies, in which case their ownLeadership value is used by the fort and the

forts reroll is added to the commanders ownrerolls so that it can be used throughout thefleet.

Split orders

The internal communications of theRamilies mean that its different quadrantscan use different squadrons can use differentspecial orders. For the purposes of issuingspecial orders to the Ramilies the owningplayer can effectively divide the quadrantsup into squadrons and then issue specialorders to each in turn.

For example, the player wishes to issueReload Ordnance orders to the north andeast quadrants, while Locking On with thethe south and west. Only two commandchecks are made for the two pairs of orders.If later in the turn the player needed to BraceFor Impact he could do so with a single

quadrant only, leaving the rest free to reloador lock on again next turn.

Weapons mounted on the central Basilicacount as operating under the special ordersof all of the quadrants, so it entirely possiblefor them to be locked on, reloading andbraced all at the same time. Brace for Impactorders will halve the firepower and ordnancestrength of the Basilica weapons as normal.

Ordnance

Individual quadrants have their ownordnance and will run out on doubles asnormal. basilica weapons are considered to

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS

Defence/12 per quadrant 0cm 0 4 per quadrant 5+ 4 per quadrant

ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC

Quadrant Batteries

Weapons Battery 60cm 12 quadrant

Lance Battery 60cm 5 quadrant

Launch Bays Fighters (30cm) 4 squadrons -

Bombers (20cm)

Basilica Batteries

Weapon Battery 45cm 4 all round

Torpedo Silos Speed (30cm) 9 all round

RAMILIES CLASS STAR FORT . . . . . . . . . . . 875 pts

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have an unlimited supply of torpedoes andnever run out.

Shields and Blast markers

Each quadrant has its own shields, whenblast markers are placed put them in contactwith the appropriate edge of the forts base.

In the End phase D6 blast markers areremoved from the whole of the Ramiliesfort, not D6 blast markers per quadrant.

Docking

Friendly ships in contact with the Ramiliesmodel can halt their movement just as ifthey were in a gravity well. If they wish toturn they may use Burn Retros special orderswithout taking a command check to do so. If

a ship is in contact with one of the four inter-quadrant docking piers it can fully dock.While fully docked a ship it gains an extrafour dice when rolling for damage controlduring a battle and can restock ordnance if ithas run out by remaining in contact with thepier and successfully using reload ordnancespecial orders for two consecutive turns,being reloaded on the third turn. Even whilefully docked the ship is still targeted andattacked separately to the fort, although itcounts as being in close formation with thefort for massed turret fire with the benefitsand dangers that brings.

For more detail see p7 of Warp Storm.

Deployment And ScenariosA Ramilies can be deployed as an orbitaldefence or, in appropriate scenarios suchPlanetary Assault, Exterminatus, SurpriseAttack, or Hunter, Prey as a replacement fora planet. In such scenarios orbital defencesmay be sited within 30cm of a Ramilies classStar Fort. A Ramilies is bought from thefleets points, rather than defences torepresent its rarity and importance. Ramiliesmay only be used by prior agreement incompetitive games (its unlikely to beambushing you in the middle of a fleetengagement after all), but can prove to be agood surprising find for players in Umpiredscenarios.

AvailabilityThe Ramilies is available to Imperial andChaos Fleets. Special scenarios can bedevised to represent Orks and Eldar using acaptured Ramalies.

THE FORT IN CAMPAIGNSIn a campaign a Ramilies can only be gainedby a commander of eleven or more renownby making a dedicated appeal needing a 5+to succeed. Alternatively the commander

may surrender control of one forge world orHive planet and be granted a Ramilies byway of replacement. A Ramilies generatesrepair points equivalent to a pirate base andplayers can attempt to attack it in the sameway as a pirate base. In addition to

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Docking Pier

Docking Pier

Basilica

Quadrant


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2D6 Extra Result

Roll Damage2-3 +0 Lances damaged.The quadrants lance array is taken off line by

the hit. The quadrants lance armament may not fire until it hasbeen repaired.

4 +0 Main armament damaged. Heavy damage silences some of thequadrants weapon batteries. They fire at half stength until it hasbeen repaired.

5 +0 Ordnance Bays hit.The quadrants ordnance bays are ravaged byexplosions. No ordnance may be fired by the quadrant until thebays have been repaired.

6 +1 Reactors damaged.The Hyper plasmatic reactors are damaged,shutting down the power grid to the defences. Until the damageis repaired the quadrants shields and turrets are at half strength.

7 0 Fire! Oxygen lines are broken, leading to fires in manycompartments. Roll to repair (extinguish) the fire in the EndPhase, if the fire is not put out it causes 1 point of extra damageand keeps burning.

8 +D3 Hull breach. A huge gash is torn in the quadrants hull, causingcarnage among the crew.

9 0 Command Tower Struck. A command tower on the centralbasilica is torn away. The Ramilies Leadership value is reduced by

-2 points. This damage may not be repaired.10 0 Shields Collapse.The shield generators overload and burn out,

leaving the quadrants virtually defenceless. The quadrants shieldstrength is reduced to zero. This damage may not be repaired.

11 +D3 Basilica pentrated!The main basilica is struck, causing immensedestruction as the torpedoes stored there explode and wreakhavoc. All quadrants suffer D3 damage and the Basilica weaponsare lost.

12 +D6 Reactor Struck!The central plasma reactor at the heart ofRamilies is struck, all four quadrants suffer an extra D6 hits from

the resulting power surges and leaking plasma. Roll anothercritical damage result immediately and apply that to the quadrantstruck.

CRITICAL HITS TABLE

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generating repair points the Ramilies enablesone capital ships or escort squadronwithdrawn for full repairs to return beforethe start of the players next game on a D6roll of 4+.

If a Ramilies is found it can be moved to tryand prevent further attacks on it. If the

owning player decides to move his fort hemust roll a D6. On a roll of 1 the fort is lostin the warp and must be struck from theroster. On a 2 or more the fort relocatessuccessfully and must be found again beforeit can be attacked.

RAMILIES CLASS STAR FORTCRITICAL DAMAGE TABLE.

Some of the larger defensive platforms likespace stations and the Ramilies havemultiple hits. When it comes to takingdamage defences with multiple hits work

just like capital ship. They can suffer criticalsjust like capital ships and get crippled oncethey have lost half of their damage points.Remember that critical hits against theRamalies only affect the quadrant they arescored against unless the result specificallystates otherwise.


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Once all four quadrants of the Ramilies are reduced to 0 damage points roll a D6 to seewhat happens to the vast wreck.

D6 Blast ResultRoll Markers

1-2 0 Wrecked.The main structure of the stations survives somehow withparts intact and even some pockets of atmosphere. Venting gasesand wreckage block line of fire across the wrecked fort, treat anymovement through it as moving through an asteroid field.

3 0 Structural Collapse.The area is filled with huge chunks of wreckageas the fort comes apart. Place a 15cm diameter asteroid field whereit was

4-5 2D6 Hyper-plasma Meltdown.The sophisticated reactor of the Ramiliesgoes critical in spectacular style. Resolve eight lance shots at everyship within 4D6cm. All ordnance within that distance is removed.All other ships, defences and ordnance markers on the table sufferthe effects of solar flare centred on the fort as noted on p47 of theBattlefleet Gothic rulebook.Finally the fort itself is replaced by 2D6blast markers.

6 0 Warpbubble Implosion.The Ramilies is drawn into the warp by aninstantaneous collapse of its warp bubble generator. Resolve fourlance shots at every ship and ordance marker within 4D6cm. Thenreplace the Ramilies with a Warp Rift as detailed on p45 of theBattlelfleet Gothic rulebook. All ordnance and ships on the table topare then drawn 15cm towards the Rift immediately and if movedinto it will beaffected is noted in the celestial phenomena rules.

CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TABLE

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