Hi!

I'm quite new to the RT game and just finished GM'ing some sessions. I've also read several of the source books, and some questions arised:

1) Who uses the rules to convert Achievement Points - > Profit Factor?

It seems quite odd to me, that you can easily obtain 5 or more points of PF each game session if you equipped your ship accordingly. Am I missing something there?

2.) Does the ships realworld speed anyhow affect the speed of warp travel?

I'd say no, but im not really shure how moving forward works in the warp.

3.) Bracing / Heavy Weapons / Autostabilised: If i have acces to autostabilised weaponry, am I still bound to 45° firing arcs? Why can i use anti-gravitational weapon upgrades only on heavy weapons?

4.) Accurate / Aiming: Why do I get +1/+2 d10 of Damage, if I'm aiming with an accurate weapon? Eldar Rangers receive armour penetration and damage boni. Furthermore, it doesn't make sense to me at all, because an Arch Militant could easily kill an Orc or power armour - clad soldier with one shot, while he shouldnt penetrate the armor / tough muscles with it at all.

5.) Void Master / Crafting equipment: What kind of tests, time and materials would it take for a VM to create say, a boltgun, a powerarmour, a bundle of lasguns?

6.) Fighters/Bombers/Balancing: Since I could not yet experience any space combat including bombers or fighters, I would like to ask your experiences including them. How well are they balanced, how well do the rules work ? I've got some concerns that the mechanics are somewhat slow and cumbersome to use and that a maxed-out flight-master voidmaster will just obliterate most small or medium sized vessels in one or two turns.

Hi .

1: People use the achievement point system. I dont use it exactly like that, since the endeavours as written will generate less than the side boni picked up with ship components. Im experimenting with 300-500 achievement per PF. But that is me.

2: No. As simple as that, its two different sets of shoes.

3: Since you can turn aournd and change your 45° firing arc without rebracing the weapon, it has become irrelevant. Suspensors are cannonically only avauilable for heavy weapons. Common sense doesnt tell me much about it, except its your game. Recoil gloves also yield horrific results if taken only as RAW, apply fun gaming as necessary.

4: Accurate represents you shoot the crack in the armour instead of the guy as a whole. Beyond that the RPG does quite a few things differently than the tabletop (Not always betgter, dont get me started on bolters).

5: I dont know. Make it high, or you Explorator will buy poor quality equipment and use Tech-Use to upgrade it to mastercrafted for free.

6: Dont fear, a tricked out VM can just as easily obliterate a cruiser within 2 turns by using the macrobatteries. If you do not houserule lances AND macrobatteries; you players will never touch a lance, unless they have bad ballistic skill. Basically fighters do alot of damage, but FFG has for some reason cut a rule away that the author of the rules has put in. Hitting a squadron with big guns is at -60 (i read -20 once, but that isnt a whole lot), And no VM wants to be in the one squadron that gets hit. Just keep telling that to a potentially bombermongering VM.

1. I use them, but limit the AP bonus to situations where they are of use. Filling your Main Cargo Hold to the brim with Eldar exotica, negotiating a trade deal in the midst of your personal Trophy Room, or storming a citadel with your elite Storm-Trooper regiment. These are all acts that would gain the benefit, but there's little use to the bonus of Shadowblind Bays if you're transporting an open cargo.

2. Not really, a ship travelling through the Warp moves at narrative speed; it's Speed value is irrelevant in this case.

3. Auto-stabilised allows you to fire without bracing. Bracing enforces the 45 degree angle of fire. Ergo, no. Suspensors are Heavy Weapons only for whatever reason seems appropriate. Say they only take effect for weapons over a certain weight, or are so bulky themselves that the awkward dimensions of the suspensor mitigate the weight-reducing advantages.

4. ***** in the armour.

5. See the crafting rules in Inquisitor's Handbook. Building a weapon from scratch should take several days or weeks at least.

6. This tends to happen in most cases anyway. The rules work once you've gotten used to them, it's effectively a hit-and-run with more detail. The core to slowing down or defeating Fighters and Bombers is a curtain-wall of defensive turrets. I believe No1-h3r3 had included rules for a ship's macrobatteries shooting at incoming attack craft at a significant penalty, but I can't find it right now. I imagine I'll house-rule something similar back in to my games, just to stop my players from tearing everything apart with five-meter long ships.

Thanks for your fast responses!

I've taken a look at the crafting rules written in the Inquisitors Handbook and they seem quite vague to me. Espacially determining the time and complexity value is not specified very much.

Reading these rules however, i got the idea of a special alternate career rank for my VM, focusing on crafting gear and equipment, espacially "classics" like boltguns, lasguns and powerarmour.

I was quite shocked when all i found was the Orc Mekkboy to receive a bonus of +10 / +20% on armourcrafting and even a special ability relating to it. Even the Techpriests of Mars only activate that trade. Am I missing something? Why should orcs be so much better?

ForTheEmperor said:

Orks build Ork'y stuff...not high grade Imperial Tech

Also to build stuff don't you need a template?... as in an STC?

Not really. Engineering blueprints are like religious scripture for the Mechanicus. While the most powerful and rare STC patterns are closely-guarded relics akin to the Dead Sea Scrolls, most Explorators would know how to build a functioning engine or lasgun with the appropriate tools. The Manufactorum in Battlefleet Koronus provides sufficient tools and patterns to assemble almost any Common or lower item; more unique items would be subject to the Crafting rules from the IH.

ForTheEmperor said:

A Mekboy's technical skill comes from instinct spawned from genetic memory - he's literally born to build weapons and tools for the Orks, and understands the principles behind them on an instinctive level, even if he can't consciously put that knowledge into words.

Humans have to learn such skills the hard way.

Plus, it's to counteract the fact that Orks typically have a fairly low Intelligence, allowing the Mekboy to be actually good in his chosen field rather than mediocre.

Still, the final product of anything a Mekboy creates will be Orky in nature. An explorator or tech priest would construct something that probably can work in human hands. Any gear made by a Mekboy should just be plain unusable by humans unless a rather odd amount of work went into the item.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

But armourer runs off agilty, not off intelligence. Did something change? My Explorator would get to building everything if you can switch to intelligence for that.

Bombers would be overpowered if they could attack every round. However, at best they will be making attack runs every 2-3 combat rounds, and each attack run risks the loss of craft, which aren't easy to replace.

I also rule that a squadron that is put out of action is unavailable for the remainder of the battle, even if it doesn't suffer permanent losses.