++ Greetings all Void-masters ++

This topic has probably been discussed before, but I'll run it again

I am a great big fan of story mode roleplaying and I think the rich universe of WH 40k is fantastic. The only thing I feel we don't master good enough is starship combat. I have the Battlefleet Gothic game and think it's a great miniature game, but I want to play Rogue Trader in story mode and not as a board game.

So if anyone out there would like to share their experience or solution on how to run a fluid tarship combat, I would really appreciate it.

The book as two ways to play Space Combat:

1) Detailed Method: here you use a tactical square map to track the ship's movement and everyone's exact possition on the battlefield.

2) Abstract Method: you don't use the tactical square map not miniatures, but rather make your players do appropiate Pilot Tests if there is a doubt about them been able to fire or not the enemy ship.

While the abstract method seems what you are looking for, it only works when you have few ships on the battlefield. If your players have 2 ships and they are fighting against 8 ships, the tactical positioning of the Detailed Method is the key to their survival.

I often run the Descriptive method instead of the Detailed method due to time, space or model constraints. With smaller battles it's easier, but with larger ones (i'd say 4+ ships on each side) I can see running the positioning easier on a larger scale.

I've also noticed that on standard sized battle mats, the Detailed method doesn't work too well, aka you run off the map much to easily.

Larkin said:

That's why I have several 10x10 squares independent battle grids. When a ship goes off the board, just move one segment you aren't using to that part ot the table. Works perfect.

Some of us have only paper cutouts and graph squares to work with! Could use another table or two as well to make enough room.

If I had the miniatures available (and I wish I did!) I'd just use a ruler for movement and range determination, but otherwise stick to the rules from the book for the most part. (Going to skip the discussion about Macro Salvos and Armour Values for now). With the miniatures and rulers you can also just halve the values to represent larger battles (aka 1inch = 2vus) which is much easier than on a grid.

A 6' by 6' area will probably work ideally for just about every battle, and if you can get bigger, go bigger.

Also to note, I've not had space combat go past 5 rounds. Your Explorers are terrifyingly efficient in their vessel. It'll slow down the more ships they have, since likely rolls will either be spread out, or crew ratings will stink. If a vessel does not have an explorer on it I recommend using the NPC Starships rules on pg 114 of BFK. Give those rules straight to your players and let them know that NPC ships are NPC ships. Also use them and the squadron rules on the page before, they help battles flow much smoother if you're in the Detailed Method.

Larkin said:

You don't need to invest much money or time to have what I use. Just download a square battlegrid from the internet (D&D ones work great) and print several copies. There you have, you are done. Alternatively, you don't have to print anything, you can draw the squares on several pices of paper.

If you want to make the grids heavier, just glue them to a pice of carboad (independently, so you have several small grids rather than a big one). You don't even have to buy the cardboard, you can use a cereal or rice box.

To represent the ships, I've done several flat tokens with an arrow on them (to see where the ship is facing) that perfectly fits the grid's squares.

We use a pad of graph paper. Problem solved.

We use maptool and a framework designed for Rogue Trader, requires quite some prep time, but speeds up battles a lot and you NEVER run out of map.

Many thanks to all for good replies!

Anyone out there not using any map or minis?

Most of the time I don't. For instance, I had a single Pathfinder start sniping at my PCs. He was ineffective (and was mainly a plotline extension/reminder and an introduction to the combat mechanics for 2 new players) but I didn't bother with a grid and instead opted for descriptions from the players as well as descriptions from me for them. He was hiding/moving and only shooting every 2-3 rounds, so it would have been detrimental to actually set up a board for it.

As long as the GM is descriptive enough, there shouldn't be any problems. But I know as a player that I prefer a grid with markers at least, oftentimes it is the quickest and easiest way to get everyone on the same page.