I checked the Eldar rules for using Solar Sails in the Lure of the Expanse book - I did not see rules for using a "Sunward table edge" or direction which would make the Eldar ship using solar sails have a variable speed depending on which arc the nearest star was in.

Rules from Battlefleet Gothic are here (Copyright Games Workshop, source BFG rulebook) for reference regarding Eldar ship movement with solar sails:

http://5hxunq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1paG_FmCKrnfdp5kyeU2Pky6WEJ9JSp4KqfH9yG0hPu_NwLzG1gUuPnW6xkdYa5QSZeRv11AYNmVaPa9SrVSLM972RxeD-Rl67/eldar_movement.bmp?psid=1

- I guess one can house rule the speed into "thirds" to have a movement for each sun arc condition.

My question - did I miss solar sails and sunward edge rules anywhere in the Rogue Trader rules or supplements because I can't find them?

You didn't miss them, because they aren't there. Given that light comes from all stars, and the speed of it never stops, the location of the nearest star wouldn't make any difference to the speed, in reality.

Thanks!

There is a descriptive paragraph (fluff) on the same page that does mention the variable speed of Eldar ships due to solar sails but I did not see any rules that translate that descriptive element into game mechanics.

Well, it's because the distance moved by ships (VU) is an abstract number, in that it means whatever the GM wants it to mean. If they chose to want Eldar ships to move slower in certain circumstances, that's up the the GM for that game. I quite like them being incredibly fast, but also breakable when you get a shot through their Holo-Field.

@Millandson

You didn't miss them, because they aren't there. Given that light comes from all stars, and the speed of it never stops, the location of the nearest star wouldn't make any difference to the speed, in reality.

Now I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to the millenia-old technology of an alien race that once had the entire galaxy at its mercy, but assuming the solar sails work about the same way as normal sails (or modern day solar sails), only translating solar energy instead of kinetic energy into movement, they still would derive more power from a nearby star, for the same reason the earth derives more power from the sun than from Alpha Centauri. The speed may remain constant, but the amount of light is spread evenly among a given surface area of a sphere.

Well, it's because the distance moved by ships (VU) is an abstract number, in that it means whatever the GM wants it to mean. If they chose to want Eldar ships to move slower in certain circumstances, that's up the the GM for that game. I quite like them being incredibly fast, but also breakable when you get a shot through their Holo-Field.

I think making them dependent on the specific direction might make for an interesting and tactical game where the Rogue Trader can attempt to "corner" them by forcing them to make disadvantageous movements.

Cifer said:

Which is fair, but given that the rules have to be usable both by people who use maps/minitures/drawings, and those that don't, including rules that pretty much require you to know exactly which direction the closest sun is shining tends to slow the game down and start making it required that you need models.

Which is fair, but given that the rules have to be usable both by people who use maps/minitures/drawings, and those that don't, including rules that pretty much require you to know exactly which direction the closest sun is shining tends to slow the game down and start making it required that you need models.

Now I haven't tried to do it otherwise, but doesn't naval combat pretty much require graphical representation anyway just to figure out what weapons you can bring to bear at a given moment?

Cifer said:

Well, I run it narratively I just run fast + loose with it, otherwise it slows down the rest of the game. If I don't have to use models for any other RPG, and for no other bit of the 40k RPG, I'm not gonna buy models just to run space combat.

It makes sense to me to keep the rules fast and simple. The whole sunwards thingt is great for the BFG game. But here the Eldar are mysterious, very fast and deadly opponents.

Of course my players reduced that nice shiny Eldar ship to 2 hullpoints after just one round of combat. They surely needed their speed to get away from these monkeys fast after that. (**** rolling a 01 when firing that Lance

Well that's just what the Eldar deserve IMO!

I think the solar sails RPG rules are just fine

it was just strange that the sun direction was mentioned in the fluff with no rule for it.

Sister Callidia said:

I can't wait to run this Eldar ship in a game against my players <..> ha hah

Sorry to arise this thread again. But I am interested in how much faster the Eldar ship is compared to, lets say, the Sword class frigate. Within the Rogue Trader RPG book.

And yes, in BFG Eldar have their speed determined depending on the sunward table edge.

While Millandson is right that stars are everywhere it is is also true that Eldar ships fight in systems with, in most cases, one sun. So that's the nearest sun, the highest enery emission. Thus the point of origin for the Eldar ship to get its speed from.

And for the lol effect : I pretty much dislike the movement system in Battlefleet Gothic for Eldar. tsssk, moving in the ordnance phase is just crap.

alas, lets not stray away.