I've just got a hold of battlefleet Koronus and I have to admit I'm impressed...lots of great information and a lot of long standing questions answered, especually regarding ranks and crews...

However I have a question for the rules greybeards out there..

Under TRANSPORTING AND DEPLOYING FORCES on p. 127 it states

"Once a force has been mustered and equipped, all that is left is to move it where its needed and deploy it to the battlefield. This will involved specially configured voidships to transport all the men and material, escorts to protect them, and shuttles, landing craft or drop pods to ferry everything from orbit to the surface"

My question is, does the barracks component count as a 'specially configured voidship'?

The reason is that that on page 11 it states that

" If a ship has a cargo hold component (Such as cargo hold and Lighter bay) they should be able to hold a additional four vehicles."

It seems a little odd that a ship with barracks for troops would not have have extra shuttles to ferry troops to the surface.

I know its sounds like nitpicking...but I was kinda hoping the book would address this, which is a shame because I thought the shuttle vs ship space ratio idea on p. 11 was inspired.

Ideas?

I wouldn't count the barracks itself as incorporating or coming with a voidship capable of deploying all your forces at once, but Halo Barges would suffice for the purpose of disembarking. Just don't expect it to fair well in a hot drop.

Um... So from reading this sentence it basically just says troops need a troopship to be transported to the target world. Makes sense.

A spacecraft equipped with barracks is indeed a "specially configured voidship" in the sense that it can act as a troopship, because it comes with everything necessary to garrison the troops onboard until arriving at the destination.

To bring these forces on the ground, however, you either need to land the ship itself (unlikely) or further equip it with shuttles, landing craft and/or pods. At least I wouldn't assume they are part of the barracks by default. You need a Lighter Bay for this.

I was hoping they would detail a Troop Transport a la Battlefleet Gothic. Those transports are supposed to be able to carry several regiments of IG, plus their vehicles, equipment, and supplies. I guess I always assumed the transport ships were capable of facilitating the landing as well. Are there additional rules to design your own troop ship?

Lord of Bones said:

I think that the shark assault boat can meet that purpose as it can be used to land on a planet as well as assault ships. Or Halo Barges. Im not expecting that a Sword Frigate can incorporate a mini voidship to carry the troops as well.

If a frigate by the formula of 1 per every 5 points ships space has 8 craft, all I was wondering is if barracks like a cargo hold would have an extra 4 craft as per the rules to transport troops to the surface. It just seems odd that barracks allow you thousands of troops to be carried but not deployed. Whats the advantage of having barracks then from a narrative point of view aside from 100 EXP per military venture?

Captain Harlock said:

I think you've misread that sentence. "Specially configured voidship" does not refer to the necessity to carry a mini-starship in your hangar, it just means that the ship that carries the troops has to be equipped in a way allowing this (such as by adding the Barracks).

There are a number of small craft capable of short range travel between an orbiting capital ship and a planetary landing zone, including the Aquila Lander . Finding a place for such flyers in your voidship should not be difficult, but it does require the presence of a (small) Hangar or Lighter Bay.

Captain Harlock said:

Keeping order aboard your ship, repelling boarders, and - yes - also being able to make planetfall. The problem is that without a number of shuttles, you can only take so many down with you at any one time. The more transports you actually equip your ship with, the faster you can get the garrison to the ground. It's a pay-off between available space aboard the ship versus deployment speed.

At least that's how I would see it.

There is some sense to having the troop conveyance separate from your landing craft carrier, at least if you don't trust your own troops entirely. As long as the troop ship has enough space to keep rotating landing craft launched from a nearby carrier through a smaller bay - load the craft and launch it, repeat, and once all craft are ready the swarm descends to the planet.

Frigates, raiders, and transports should be able to land. They can by BFG rules at the very least.

Beyond that, a Barracks component is a 'Cargo Hold and Passenger Compartments' type component. I gather that a hold component gives some extra small craft, so I think that the barracks would qualify.

korjik said:

That was was my reasoning but it isnt explicit in the rulebook. It almost seems that for tactical flexibility its better to have a Cargo Hold where you can dump your troops get extra XP for commerce and have some extra shuttles, than to have barracks and not have the extra ability to land the troopers. With Halo Barges and Assault Boats only carrying 40-50 men at a time I know that Ork onslaught ships according to fluff in BFG can land and discourge planetside, but I'm unaware if frigates can actually do this.

korjik said:

Isn't the Lighter Bay the only component of this category that does this? Seeing that this is the only one where it is stated.

I always figured you'd just have to balance troops and cargo space with hangar space, giving you a range of options all depending on if you prioritize transport capacity or deployment speed or prefer a mix of both.

That makes perfect sense. I figured that the options to add Barracks and Lighter Bays as Supplemental Components was there to customize ships designed and built for those purposes. Options to fill out the STC so to speak. I was hoping to see the Troop Transport type of ship to see how FFG distributed their points to make one.

I suppose it wouldn't be too hard for an industrious Rogue Trader to convert a Jericho Class Pilgrim Ship into a Troop Transport. Use most of the space for Barracks and Cargo/ Lighter Bays.

I'm still kinda new to Rogue Trader so I have yet to become proficient with the ship building process.

Captain Harlock said:

IIRC, the planetary assault scenario in BFG explicitly states that transports and escorts can land.

Also, as an ex-soldier, I find it harsh that you would stick all your troops in the cargo bay. Install some beds man!

Lynata said:

Some of us dont have BFK yet, so are mostly just guessing....

Lynata said:

Apparently not....the sentence reads

"" If a ship has a cargo hold component ( Such as C argo hold and Lighter bay) they should be able to hold a additional four vehicles."

What Im trying to clarify is weather:

cargo hold component = Cargo and Passenger Compartments (as per p 203 of RT Core)

If it does it would mean that having:

Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay, Compartmentalised Cargo Hold, Main Cargo Hold, Luxuary Passenger Quarters, Barracks, Shadowblind Bays, Xeno Habitats, Brig, Ships Stores

Would allow the player to have the extra four craft. For example Luxuary passenger quarters: It wouldnt be beyond reasoning that if you want passengers to travel in style, you wouldn't have three or four liveried Aquilas with leather seats to go and fetch the paying customers planetside. Or would they have to travel in a banged up Halo Barge with some rough lho stick smoking dockhands? Or the Brig -specially reinforced halo Barges to transport the worst convict scum.

I'd say no, it'd have to be an actual cargo hold, so:

Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay, Compartmentalised Cargo Hold, Main Cargo Hold

would have the extra vehicles. The others are passenger components. At least, that's how I read it.

MILLANDSON said:

The game dosent make that distinction tho. At least not explicitly.

You forgot Shadowblind bays too

Hmm, true. But I suppose this is where common sense comes into play. Barracks, Brigs, Passenger Quarters (etc) are Passenger Compartments . Cargo Holds, Main Cargo Holds (etc) are Cargo Compartments . They just happen to share the same category: Cargo and Passenger Compartments . I don't really see this term as mutually interchangable - just because the Brig is in this category doesn't mean you can squeeze four Aquila Landers in your cells. Similarly, whilst you could (in theory) shove your passengers into the Cargo Hold, this would only be a temporary solution that would likely yield some long term repercussions.

And when the book says Cargo Compartments and not Cargo and Passenger Compartments, then only Components meant for Cargo do count.

I also don't think that you get four extra craft per cargo hold, it's just a one-time bonus. I don't really like this. I think that four extra craft per cargo hold seems perfectly reasonable.

korjik said:

It does, by saying "Cargo Hold Component", not "Cargo and Passenger Component".

HappyDaze said:

I remember the Star Wars RPG had rules to construct your own starship classes as well - hangar components simply allowed you to convert cargo space into hangar space, which in turn allowed you to slot small ships into larger ones. The more hangar space, the larger/more ships you could have in there.

korjik said:

Are but would hidden smuggler cargo compartments really have four extra landers.... kinda give the game away...

Millardson...is there any chance seeing as you are plugged into Fantasy Flight creative cogitator of finding out who wrote these rules and seek clarification? I get the feeling that there is going to be a roaring trade in the koronus expanse in retrofitting barracks to transport ships!

I just get sent the rules, I have no idea who writes them (other than N0-1-H3r3, but only because he tells people here, and usually asks me what I think of the stuff he's written when I test it). You could ask for clarification via the "Rules Questions" link at the very bottom of the site, which sends your question as an e-mail to the FFG guys.

Hiya. I got some feedback from FF on this which Im willing to share. I think though I think that we sumise that these are not hard and fast rules:

Hello Gian,

I would say that the Barracks would allow an additional four vehicles,

as would the Shadowblind Bays. The Brig, Xenos Habitats, and Ships

stores would not, as they are not specifically designed to handle

extra ships.

As always though, if the GM decides differently, that's up to him!

Hope this helps!

Sam Stewart

RPG Designer

Fantasy Flight Games

Which I am happy about, but also suprised as I wouldnt have guessed that that Shadowblind Bays would have had the extra landers...but hell what do I know!

However I think that Sam has made clear the GM has some leeway on this question. Infact I might just extra landers and shuttles down work of the:

"Infamous wandering Mechwright Saam Stevart. A now legendary if scorned member of the mechanicus his acolytes were involved in tinkering and 'improving' many ships in the Segmentum Obscurus, beyond the sacred parametres set by the Omnissiah. Many ships bear the signature of his work and ideas, including the ability to squeeze extra landers and shuttles beyond what would normally be possible. While such altered ships are looked with askance from the circles of the conservative members of the Imperial Navy, who dislike the cramped hangar bays and awkward deployment bays, Rogue Traders engaged in endevours of conquest or commerce often seek out these ships for their extra logistical capabilities in ferrying troops or bulk cargo."

That's a fairly balanced decision by Sam. It still means that you will have to make several runs to off a regiment, but not as many as previously needed.

MILLANDSON said:

It works out quite well from a narrative point of view. The extra four landers could be considered modified Halo Barges or Shark Assault boats, they could deliver between 160 and 200 men, and that not counting the extra landers from the main cargo, enough in short to establish a planetside 'Bridgehead', while the shuttles begin their multiple runs for more men and materials.