Starfighter launch Bays:
The new book ‘Into the Storm’ talks about acquiring a squadron of starfuries – something I’m sure we all want to do... but does having a starfighter squadron take up additional space? The obvious answer is yes, but this is a game where we need to know power and space requirements so we can fit it on our ship!

Now I would assume each ship always has a hanger bay for some ships boats (maybe some Arvus Lighters, Aquilla landers and Guncutters – otherwise how would crew be transferred or distance boarding actions be possible unless every ship has a Teleportarium?). There’s the ‘Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay’ (Power 1, Space 2) is a mini-hold which unbalances the ship but it does assume some mass carrying capacity (maybe more lighters?). A Cargo Hold (compartmentalised or normal, Space 5/4, Power 2) would assume massive Halo Barges to load and unload the cargo). There’s also the Barracks – we have to assume that they have planet landing capability?

But... How much space does a Starfighter Launch bay take up? We could use the new example of Drop pods (Space 3, Power 1) which are equipped to hold 20 pods and can launch 10 per strategic turn... That sounds like a hanger equivalent to me... But is it that simple?

I don’t think so... On a cruiser/light cruiser scale it matches the Battle Fleet Gothic ship rules where a Launch Bay (Port or Starboard) is able to launch 2 squadrons of starfighters/bombers a turn (Determining space for it is easy however; each launch bay would be the size of a weapons battery approx Space 4, Power 4 – though maybe with increased power requirements)... But the bay replaces a weapons housing and in Rogue Trader Cruisers do not have the benefit of Dorsal and Prow weapons mounts as they do in BFG. There is also another problem using the BFG rules - they do have listings for Escort Carriers “Freighter hulls were often converted to “escort carriers” installing fighter support equipment into their cramped cargo bays to launch out the cargo doors. The difficult conditions meant that accidents abounded, and few squadrons of craft could be carried in any case”. However the Escort Carrier’s Launch Capacity was only (Port or Starboard) 1 squadron of starfighters/bombers a turn and it took both a starboard and Port weapons slot (allowing 2 squadrons per turn) – not exactly in the mode of cargo ships in RT who have a dorsal and a prow weapons mount!

So... It is a fairly complex component which perhaps requires multiple options for how they apply to the ship classes.

Component Hull Type Power Space SP
Launch Bay Transports 2 3 1
Light Cruisers, Cruisers 2 3 1

Launch Bay
The vessel with a Launch bay is able to launch a single squadron of Starfighters, Bombers or Guncutters per strategic turn (for two turns only and then they must replenish the squadrons).
- A Starfighter squadron is able to either 1) neutralise another squadron of starfighters, Bombers or Guncutters or 2) neutralise any ordinance (GM’s discretion).
- A Squadron of Bombers is able to conduct a macrocannon attack against an enemy vessel with within 6VU’s of the parent vessel.
- A Squadron of Guncutters allow the parent vessel to make an additional Hit & Run/Boarding attack per turn.
Transports: This Component replaces one weapon mount on the transport, but may be purchased twice. A maximum of two Launch bays are able to be installed on a Transport.
Light Cruisers, Cruisers: If bought singly this module does not replace a weapon mount on the vessel, but if two are purchased it will replace a port or starboard weapon mount. A maximum of four Launch bays are able to be installed on a Light Cruiser or Cruiser.

Perhaps also - given the large amount of munitions and fuel in this componant - if it is damaged it automatically catches fire...

Sounds rather nice. Anyone who have already tried the spaceship combat system have an opinion about balance ?

And For bombers, what do you mean "a macrocannon attack" ? With which caracteristics ? Which BS do you use for this attack ?

For starfighters : Who chooses who to neutralize ? I mean, if I have one starfighter squadron, one bomber squadron, and my opponent has one fighter squadron. I want to neutralize his fighters, and he wants to neutralize my bombers. What's happen ?

Excellent points!

For bombers, what do you mean "a macrocannon attack" ? With which caracteristics ? Which BS do you use for this attack ?

An idea in development - Probably the smaller of attacks otherwise Bombers would replace ships entirely! lol! As for BS, use the character's BS if they are leading the Squadron, otherwise it's the standard for the 'class of crew' (ie standard 30, etc)

For starfighters : Who chooses who to neutralize ? I mean, if I have one starfighter squadron, one bomber squadron, and my opponent has one fighter squadron. I want to neutralize his fighters, and he wants to neutralize my bombers. What's happen ?

Again an idea in development - Best & easiest that it come down to iniative I would think... So it would follow:

1. Let's say you get iniative, you then mix it up with his fighters - fight combat to the death. If he destroys your squadron he can then go after your bombers (if they haven'ty already completed their mission and flown home).

2. If he gains iniative - his fighters jump your bombers and take them out - your fighters can then engage the remnants of his squadron and wipe them out.

Nice idea.

For bombers I would add the following:

A bomber attack bypasses any void shields, however, the turrets do defend against bombers. Subtract the target ships turret rating, from the margins of succes scored by the bombers. This can result in a complete miss.

And: All attacks by bombers count as being below half range, they always add the +10% to hit because of this.

For Fighters add:

Close Support: If a fighter wing supports a bomberwing in its attack run on an enemy ship, each wing of fighters will neutralise 1 point of turrets, these turrets cannot be used to defend against the bomber attack.

(Example: A ship with 2 turrets is attacked by 1 fighter wing and 1 bomber wing. The fighter wing suppresesses 1 turret, the bomber wing makes its attackrun, and the target ship substracts 1 margin of succes, for its 1 remaining turret)

It sounds good, but I'd want to roll it out a few times to make sure it wasn't too overpowered - this is a game about BIG ships after all, not X-wings against the death star!

Having given this a great deal of thought - I then realised that the FFL expansion on ships will cover al this...

Hehe... yeah, we are all chomping on the bit for that one. My Rogue Trader prequel campaign ("Building of a Dynasty") is during the Gothic War, so I've been winging all the stuff. The fan-supplements really help in the tight spots. Rules look pretty good, I'll give 'em a good test. My players are currently scraping together a mixed Lightning / Fury squadron (in a warzone), so it'll be a while till they got a fully functional fighter bay; I can ease them into it.