Hello Rogue Traders,

This week we're pleased to introduce a designer diary by long-time Warhammer writer, designer, and enthusiast Andy Chambers, as he discusses his work on the upcoming Battlefleet Koronus.

Since this is coming out in 'Winter', can we at least know if it's by the end of the current winter or winter 2011?

That said, As someone who really loves RT, this is the book I've been wanting since I got my hands on the core the week it hit the shelves. Give us moooooore!

Jon D said:

I'm 99% sure they mean winter 2010/2011, so this should be coming very soon. FFG wouldn't be doing designer diaries for a book that's not out for another 8 months.

I love the art in the preview!

Hmmm, military stuff isn't my particular interest but it might be worth adding to my shelf.

A very interesting read, thanks for the link! Andy Chambers doing a lot of the writing there makes me feel good, as I absolutely loved his short story "Ancient History". Captured the image of a massive Imperial warship perfectly. Other than that, I'm also curious to see the new fluff about the Imperial Navy. The Guard is pretty well established by now, but the Navy has few sources explaining it.

I really like the fact that this preview confirmed that the Hornblower series was an inspiration for the ships of W40K. It will allow me to force my players to read it (because they haven't got the faintest idea on how to play deck officers, especially the Battlefleet-born Captain).

Arag said:

I can also greatly recommend the TV series - got the entire box here, and for some reason I feel like re-watching it after having read your post ...

Actually, you could probably "prepare" your players by watching it together! Either as a seperate evening, or watching a single episode before the game to "get into the mood"... depending on how much time your players are willing to set apart, of course.

Lynata said:

I own the books (in three Omnibus Editions, rereading it right now), the series (with Ioan Gruffud), the movie (with Gregory Peck). In a way I'm a Hornblower fan(atic).

I think that watching Master & Commander would be a better idea, since it has some great scenes which show the vast difference between the officers, the warrant officers and the hands (like the one in which Aubrey drags.a midshipman up with the words "stand tall on the quarterdeck, always")

I personally am very enthousiastic about one of the creators of Battlefleet Gothic and dude who worked on Starcraft II for Blizzard writing part of the supplement. So here's a thank you to FFG and Mr. Chambers and the fervent hope I can get my hands on the book in my nook of the world as quickly as possible.

Let's just hope that the attack craft integrate a little better than Battlefleet Gothic's did.

I WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The question becomes: when does it hit the UK?

Darth Fanboy said:

Why? I'm not in the UK..

I got my copy yesterday so I guess it's already in the UK as well since I'm in Poland.

Tequila said:

I want to believe (that the book has reached Europe).

Tequila said:

You've got it already!? What's it like?

My "Battlefleet Koronus" book should reach me tomorrow, first sales day in Germany is today.

Lightbringer said:

Well as somebody said It's like Battlefleet Gothic the RPG But seriously it's a must have for anyone who did not have enough starship hulls before, we have 21 new hulls from grand cruisers to transports, and rules for Torpedos[incl. melta,virus vortex], attack craft,Nova cannons new components (plus component quality rules) and facilities in the first chapter (pages 6 to 42) and than something that I wnat to read tonight, chapter two "Imperium's shield" - The Imperial Navy, Battlefleet Calixis and Koronus [Passage Watch 27 Est], ranks, history etc. Than chapter three Enemies with their own ship rules, components and "how to use" tips for the GM. So we have Ork, Eldar, Stryxis, Rak'Gol, Kroot (just 1 giant Warsphere), and Chaos ships a lot of them, many classes and hulls (pages 74 up till 110). And than the final chapter "Rules of War" from squadron rules to large scale warfare, lots and lots of rules [something I'll use regardless form any warmongering - NPC Starships] complete witch an appendix of vehicles [assault boats, fighters and bombers for almost all races).

For it's 144 pages the content looks massive, and quite frankly I'll be using some of the stuff regardless of any wars my players want ignite.

But on the other side I dont know when I'll be able to finish reading all of it. Between work and family there's always room for dads "7,5 km long 1,8 abeam at fins approx" Grand Cruiser

I wish all those wonderful books would have been out some 15 yeras ago while I still had some time to read and play rpgs almost every day.

For all my players a fair warning! Prepare to face the Chaos "Retaliator Class Grand Cruiser" if You dare not to bring some chips and beverages for the next session.

Excuse my poor English (and my spelling).

Tequila said:

Your English is fine. Heck, it's good enough that this description has me planning my next tactical strike against my local gaming shop.

This book couldn't have come out at a better time for me and my group.

the ffg site still says "available soon": how is it that you already have it?

How cool, I really want this book!

One question though: among the new hulls do we get battleships?

Badlapje said:

I ordered the book by a local (Polish) internet hobby shop and it came on Monday the 7th of March along with others (incl. The Black Sepulchre for Dark Heresy), there is nothing more to it. I'm not in charge of FFGs shipping but my theory is this:

Open any new FFGs book on page 1 and look for yourself, it says "Printed in China" (what do they not make/print in China this days?), maybe they just ship the books out of Asia, it may be cheaper than shipping them to the US and from there to god knows where. And this time the shipment for Europe arrived earlier? GregorM1980 said that he gets his book tomorrow and he is "next door" in Germany. There is really nothing more to it.

As for your question csabez: there are no stats for battleships in the book (non that I have found anyway).

FFG still has Battlefleet Koronus listed as on the boat, and Amazon pushed back the release date from March 8 to April 12. (which is close to the guestimate I got from my local gaming shop as well). Any word from FFG on a release date for the US yet?

Tequila said:

You're welcome

Those were mine (well, the basic rules; the actual starship components/damage values/etc were dealt with by others), so I'm eager to hear what people think of them.

Tequila said:

Continuing the trend established with Into the Storm and continued in Edge of the Abyss, the Ork stuff in there is mine as well - and it was a lot of fun to write. Again, I'm eager to hear what people thought.

Tequila said:

Squadron rules, NPC starships and tactical/GMing advice are also mine; once more, feedback is appreciated.

I recognise it's uncool to ask for actual stats from those who have the book, but I'm facinated by Nova cannons.

Are they one big hit like lances? Or lots of hits, like macrobatteries or atomics?

And do they cost 2 ship points, or more?

My book comes next week, apparently (too slow!)