New BFG Imperial Attack Craft (other races soon to follow after we play test them):
First I must warn you my group interprets (as well as makes up) the rules of fighting attack craft as such:
Ships have sufficient regular squadrons to last any battle but they are not "unlimited".
Mixed waves VS ships: If fighters are in a mixed wave when it attacks a ship they are assumed to "clear a path" and are eliminated first just like in ordinance battles.
We play this way; you don’t have to (house rules)
" * " Means craft type is not a regular attack craft and therefore limited to 4 squadrons for cruisers, 8 squadrons for battleships/fortresses.
Upgrades cost 15 points for cruisers 25 points for battleships/fortresses. Escorts obviously can’t carry them. They are expensive but potent.
Roll D6 for the type of craft OR both players may opt to allow all types at the cost above per type
Hybrids: a bomber/fighter hybrid. Fighter class. Capable of defending its self and other bombers against fighters but also can attack big ships. "It fights like a fighter and bombs like a mortar". In combat against other ordinance it fights like a fighter and does the same damage. But because it is lighter and carries less "bombs" it gets D3 rolls to hit instead of D6. Turrets effect Hybrids as normal. For example: a wave of 2 hybrids attacks a Murder class cruiser with two turrets. The cruiser gets two dice rolls to shoot at the incoming Hybrids. The surviving Squadron(s) will then make D3-2 attacks against the lowest armor value before being removed from play.
Stealth Fighters: Fighter class. Like Eldar torpedoes, these vehicles scramble targeting systems making them virtually undetectable. This means defensive turrets or weapons hit on a 6 instead of a 4,5 or 6. This effects attack crafts as well (not torpedoes) giving each stealth fighter squadron 1 additional non-stealth squadron kill in attack craft combat. For example (assuming the rules above): 3 Stealth fighters can eliminate 6 enemy hybrids or fighters, or 9 enemy bombers or most impressive 15 assault boats.
Stealth Bombers: Bomber class. Like Eldar torpedoes, these vehicles scramble targeting systems making them virtually undetectable. This means defensive turrets hit on a 6 instead of a 4,5 or 6. This effects attack crafts as well (not torpedoes) giving each stealth bombers squadron 1 less squadron loss in attack craft combat. For example (assuming the rules above): 3 fighters can eliminate 3 stealth bombers or 2 stealth fighters can eliminate 4 stealth bombers.
ECM Fighters: Nasty little fighters packed with jamming gear. ECM fighters do not form or join waves. Each squadron works alone. Anything capable of attacking ECM fighters can only destroy the squadron on a D6 roll of 6. This goes for all fighters and ships alike. ECM’s don’t destroy anything either. They just "jam" if you will. How they fight:
Against enemy attack craft: Each enemy fighter class squadron gets a D6 roll to destroy the ECM. On any 6’s the ECM is destroyed. However the enemy wave is "broken" down the middle and separated by 1 cm. If the enemy fighters fail to destroy the ECM it creates D3 breaks in the wave at the ECM’s discretion.
For Example: a ECM comes into contact with a enemy wave consisting of four Bomber squadrons and two fighter squadrons in the following configuration FBBBBF. Each squadron rolls a D6 getting a 4 & 5. Because the ECM survived the assault it breaks up the wave rolling a D3 to determine how many breaks. The ECM player gets a 2 and then decides to break the wave up into the following configuration:
FB-1cm-BB-1cm-BF or F-1cm-BBBB-1cm-F or F-1cm-BB-1cm-BF
Had the fighters destroyed the ECM the wave would still have been broken up as follows:
FBB-1cm-BBF
Against Ships: ECM’s use a wide variety of targeting and communication jamming equipment. This wreaks havoc on ship to ship communications as well as internal ship communications and targeting. ALL ships, friend or foe, whose stem is within 10cm of an ECM, suffer the following:
Squadron members within the effective range are still part of the squadron however as long as they are effected they use their own leadership value and fire independent of the rest of the squadron. This is in addition to the regular ship disruptions. The effects are cumulative, so if a ship is in the effected range of two ECM’s it suffers the penalties twice.
Ships may fire at ECMs as normal but only hit on a 6+.
Stukas: These are bombers that deliver a specific type of damage. They are designed to strafe the hulls of ships causing damage to external protruding objects/ports. Stukas fight like normal bombers (although a little faster) and die like normal bombers. The only difference is the type of damage they do and how they do it. In a Stuka VS ship battle roll turrets as normal then surviving Stukas announce the side the entire wing (all squadrons) will attack (Front, port, rear, starboard). Each squadron rolls as normal to hit against the armor value of the declared side. For each "hit" scored roll on the appropriate following table to determine the damage for that side only:
| Port/Starboard | Front | |
| Dorsal weapon strength halved | 1 | Dorsal weapon strength halved |
| Sensors damaged reduce LD by 1 | 2 | Prow weapon Strength halved |
| Primary weapon strength halved | 3 | Primary weapon strength halved |
| Secondary weapon halved | 4 | Sensors damaged reduce LD by 1 |
| Turrets fire ½ strength in that fire arch | 5 | Turrets fire ½ strength in that fire arch |
| Armor value reduced by 1 | 6 | Armor value reduced by 1 |
Rear
Damage is cumulative so if a 3 is rolled twice against the port side then the primary weapon is at 0 strength until repaired. With the exception of armor damage, all Stuka hits can be repaired. Stukas do not cause much in the way of internal damage so Stuka hits never roll against the critical hit table or cause "hit" damage to the ship itself. A cruiser with 8 hits left that tangos with a strength 4 Stuka wave may loose one sides entire armament, but the ship will still have 8 hits left.
Heavy Bombers: These fight like bombers although slower. Because of their speed they are easier targets and will be removed after fighters but before any other attack craft or ordinance in the wave. Why they are special: each squadron rolls 2d6 to damage instead of 1 like regular bombers.
My group loves carrier engagement and will regularly hold our carriers out of range to let our attack craft do the damage. These rules work really well for us and we use them. If you do not like carrier battles these rules will suck for you and I would recommend against them. However we think these rules are way cool. These rules make attack craft vital to survival and enemy destruction in a major carrier fleet. Currently we allow all players these options but some of our group is testing different types for different races. These will probably follow.