I was poking around d4chan, reminiscing on how one particular Governor Militant "misplaced" 100, or something, baneblades, and it got me thinking; in Rogue Trader, one of the greatest threats a Rogue Trader and Co. can face is the loss of their ship. Sure, with the Warrant, they still have their power, but without the ship, they really aren't going anywhere, aren't gaining more wealth/influence, and the loss will certainly speak volumes to those who learn of it, friend, or foe.

But, the thing is, a failure of Rogue Trader might be said to be that the players can easily pimp themselves, in a way that can be hard for NPCs to counter, and if they do counter, it can just make the PCs efforts seem wasted, since they actually put work into their growth. I can sort of see the players losing their ship to space combat; only so much pimping for that, but if the enemy want to capture the ship, instead of just hulking it (most material would have me believe this is the preferable option, considering the value of a ship), they'll eventually have to board you. Once they do, it will eventually stop being Command tests for boarding actions, and start being the PC group, running from firefight to firefight, repelling boarders (I imagine they'll push for that, anyway). Once it does get to that point, it almost feels like, other than pure attrition, their superior stats will carry them to not get captured, and if they do, they may not live long enough to do anything about it.

How does a party lose their ship, but escape to be angry about it? What are they getting away in, and how did it get away? This isn't Star Trek, so their "shuttles" won't have warp engines. Other than "they weren't there at the time", how can a party go about losing their ship, and then swear to try, and get it back? In the line of them, both Orleans, and Armellan did this, but neither was with their ship when it was lost.

What sorts of similar experiences have anyone played through, and care to share? Thanks much, and have a good one.

probably the funnest i have heard of from a friend of mine, was when all the NPCs were boarding an enemy ship via their ( the players) transporter. Unbeknownst to them thou, the enemy captain had transported a very large bomb to the players engine room. The players got to the bridge and all but defeated the enemies on the bridge when the captain said something along the lines of " if i die I'm taking you with me" well one plasma shot latter and with a weak little laugh he hit the detonator. The players got to watch from the bridge of a ship they had all but totaled as about 2/3 of their flagship blew up. Apperinitly enough of there crew survived ( plus all their nifty gear they had built up) that they could make emergency repairs to the ship they took and limp back to home base.

You just exemplified one of the reasons RT isn't meant to get that tactical. At some point the players have lost their ship. If they insist on fighting to the bitter end, nuke them and get it over with. Some people need to be baptized in TPK. If they acquiesce and burn a fate point, you have their section of the ship get blown off into space where they later get picked up by their rescuers. Then they use their PF to acquire a new ship, probably something like a Vagabond.

You just exemplified one of the reasons RT isn't meant to get that tactical. At some point the players have lost their ship. If they insist on fighting to the bitter end, nuke them and get it over with. Some people need to be baptized in TPK. If they acquiesce and burn a fate point, you have their section of the ship get blown off into space where they later get picked up by their rescuers. Then they use their PF to acquire a new ship, probably something like a Vagabond.

Or, if you are lucky you have a ship being repair and refitted at Port Wrath and just burn some PF to hurry the process up and hire someone to salvage your old vessel for its remaining components to put back in the new vessel or sell on if not suitable.

This is sort of off-topic, but it's my topic, so I won't complain , and it COULD be very on-topic, so I'll give it a try. Many Rogue Traders seem to maintain one ship, or, perhaps, a main ship, and one, or more, escorts. Even if they possess a fleet's worth of vessels, like Winterscale probably does, these myriad ships are often spread out, absorbed in numerous enterprises, sort of like an Astartes Chapter/Legion. So, you find yourself and your 1-3 ships, and you need to hit an enemy hard.

I'd like to say Tau, but that's iffy for stats, and we have the Ork ships, so I'll go with that. Your party is nearing the end of their campaign, are high-level in their careers, and have amassed a great deal of cool trinkets, pieces, and titles, but now they must dance with da'Wurldbreaka, and an escort fleet of Ork Kruisers, raiders, and whatever else a fleet of them is likely to muster. I believe that da'Wurldbreaka counts as a battleship, and it's likely escorted by cruiser-class ships, and more. While you might have allies in the Navy, or among some other Rogue Traders, and thus access to some other ships, and personnel, you still have to go up against an escorted battleship. What are some of the important things to do to plan for this encounter? Please assume that, like the party, the NPCs will be more than "just the bare weakest they can be, in case your party wasn't planning for this", as RT can sometimes be guilty of, and they'll have decent numbers, and use some tactics?

As I hinted, I care more about the Tau, and they'd be fielding a Custodian-class battleship, as well as three carried Wardens, several cruisers, some frigates, and her plethora of fighters; the core fleet of a Tau Koronus invasion force. Whichever race, though, what can you do to give you any decent chance of victory? Were you to need to face down Morglaash, or Kor'O bork'an Eld Ar Shi Kais, how would you go about it, whether being a more militant group, or more explorer/money-maker?

Thanks much. Just trying to get a feel for what can happen in a "real" space battle, a fleet engagement, rather than the maybe more typical "two Rogue Traders, or one and some raiders, duke it out, alone".