Episode 358: Battlefleet: Gothic Armada

[Rob Zacny]

Three Moves Ahead 358:

Battlefleet: Gothic Armada

This week's show features another game chosen by our Patreon backers: Battlefleet: Gothic Armada. In the grim dark future there is only war, but here in the present there is... well, still only war, just mostly in the form of Games Workshop games with "war" in the title. Rob, Rowan Kaiser, and freelance writer Jonathan Bolding to talk about this boardgame adaptation and agree it's a gorgeous visual feast that also embraces the glorious tradition of Warhamminess.

Battlefleet: Gothic Armada

• Listen on the Episode Page
• Listen on Soundcloud
• Listen in iTunes

[Turrican]

What happened to the Endless Legend show that won the poll on 16 April?

[ilitarist]

They didn't find enough people still playing Endless Legend and promised it'll come later.

[Michael]

Correct. Endless Legend won the poll during the week in which every person remotely related to strategy gaming was playing Stellaris for review. Since then, it's been a royal pain getting people on board with going back to spend time with an old game with so many new releases coming out. For a fun peek behind the scenes: scheduling shows and coordinating everyone's schedule is the most difficult part of doing this show, by a wide margin.

Endless Legend should be coming very soon, and our next Patreon poll will be up today.

[Turrican]

Thanks. I have to say, some of my favourite shows are those where the guys revisit a game (such as CK2, CoH2, EU4, etc)

[cornchip]

The complaint about not knowing which units are effective against other units without end-game information screens isn't one I share. I have definitely been in unclear situations (do stalkers beat roaches?) and trying a few unit compositions and tactics myself has always cleared it up. Help screens/manuals usually explain damage/armor types, etc. Worst-case, I can play a test game with someone to run a bunch of tests or create a scenario for this if the game has an editor. I see this process as part of playing an RTS so it's interesting that others roughly my age expect to not have to do that anymore.

[spacerumsfeld]

I'd be up for the Brutal Legend show.

Correct. Endless Legend won the poll during the week in which every person remotely related to strategy gaming was playing Stellaris for review. Since then, it's been a royal pain getting people on board with going back to spend time with an old game with so many new releases coming out. For a fun peek behind the scenes: scheduling shows and coordinating everyone's schedule is the most difficult part of doing this show, by a wide margin.

Endless Legend should be coming very soon, and our next Patreon poll will be up today.

[Arathain]

I agree with the panel's view on the game. It is a fun spectacle, I just wish I understood what was going on. I really want that post battle breakdown.

Example: the first light cruiser the Imperial get is the Dauntless Mk. 1. It has broadside cannons and a forward facing beam weapon. Is it worth telling the ship to fight facing forward to maximise the beam damage, or are the cannons putting out the damage? No idea.

There's a Dauntless Mk. 2. It replaces the beam with a torpedo launcher that has to be carefully microed. Is it worth the attention and maneuvering required? That's fleet maneuvers, since torps do friendly fire. Don't know.

[Gaizokubanou]

How is the campaign structured btw? Is it a free form campaign or list of missions or something in between?

[Akalabeth]

Heresy Rowan! The best battle in Babylon 5 isn't a fleet battle, it's the comparatively small battle in Severed Dreams.  Great action, flow, all the characters involved, drama, etcetera. Can watch that battle endlessly.

[Arathain]

How is the campaign structured btw? Is it a free form campaign or list of missions or something in between?

 

Every campaign turn you get to undertake two missions. If there's a story mission available you have to do that one first. Otherwise you get to see the map of the sector, and any planet with a mission will be flagged with the faction you'll oppose. That could be any of the four, since Imperial sedition is something you have to deal with. Fail the mission or don't take it and you lose the planet. For each planet you lose you take a small penalty, depending on what sort of world it it, meaning your task becomes harder as the sector starts to slip away from you.

 

The story involves trying to stop a Chaos lord from getting sufficient MacGuffins to Make A Bad Thing Happen. You can fail these and continue on, with Chaos closer to their goal.

 

There's definitely a large premium on reliability, as far as I can see. I tried an Imperial fleet themed around lances, big beams that always hit and treat all armour as light. That fleet did great, easily winning fights without major losses. I then went the other way, relying on torpedos and strike craft. That fleet got wrecked without feeling like it did a whole lot in return. Would it be different if I was better at aiming my torps? Maybe, but I'm not sure I want to make all that effort. 

[Gaizokubanou]

Every campaign turn you get to undertake two missions. If there's a story mission available you have to do that one first. Otherwise you get to see the map of the sector, and any planet with a mission will be flagged with the faction you'll oppose. That could be any of the four, since Imperial sedition is something you have to deal with. Fail the mission or don't take it and you lose the planet. For each planet you lose you take a small penalty, depending on what sort of world it it, meaning your task becomes harder as the sector starts to slip away from you.

 

Ok so that sounds like there is a soft timer since losing planets is inevitable... thank you~