Introduction

I recently got the opportunity to play in both the Battlefleet Gothic (BFG) and Firestorm Armada (FSA) tournaments at Adepticon. Those experiences convinced me to tackle a subject I’ve been interested in writing about for some time; an in-depth look at the differences and similarities between these two space combat miniatures games. As you might expect, I plan on comparing and contrasting these two games across several gameplay specific areas, including movement, shooting, boarding, and carrier operations. However, I also plan to take a step back and look at broader topics such as turn structure, overall game feel, model quality, and so on.

Why Compare FSA and BFG?

This is a perfectly valid question, and one I figure I should answer straight off to provide a sense of direction to these proceedings.  As I see it, these two games occupy a very similar place in the gaming world, in that they are in the same category of “fleet-scale space combat hobby miniature games.” What do I mean by that? Well, “fleet scale” indicates we are talking about engagements featuring multiple large ships on each side, supported by smaller ships and fighters/bombers.  The term “hobby miniatures game” means that the models come unpainted and unassembled, as opposed to a pre-painted game like Star Wars Armada. As such, I would argue that despite the difference between the background fluff, mechanics, and other aspects, BFG and FSA is an apples to apples comparison. I think this comparison will be of interest to those gamers looking to start a space combat game, and can’t decide on one game or the other. That may seem odd on the face of it given that FSA is in active production and official support for BFG ended years ago, but BFG is still a going concern as a game, as evidence by the fact that there are still events for it at major conventions like Adepticon, a strong market for used models on eBay, and a growing selection of BFG-compatible 3rd party models.  As a secondary objective, I hope this article will be of interest to fans of one of these systems who might be curious about the other.

Turn Structure

The first, and one of the most obvious differences, between BFG and FSA is the difference in the turn structures between the two games. BFG is a “UGOIGO” system, where  game turns are divided into player turns. During each player turn,  players take turns performing actions with their whole fleets at once. There is a slight modification to this, where both players get to move what BFG calls “ordnance” (fighters, bombers, torpedoes, and the like) during each player turn, meaning ordnance effectively moves twice per game turn.  FSA, on the other hand, features an “integrated” turn system, where players alternate performing actions with only a part of their fleet. There are pluses and minuses to both approaches. A UGOIGO system has the virtue of tending to be somewhat easier to keep track of on the table, since players do not need to keep track of which models have activated and which haven’t. However, it can also lead to long periods of inactivity for one of the players when it is not their player turn. Integrated turns promise a greater level of interaction and a closer approximation of “real time” events on the table. Therefore, integrated systems tend to cut down on the frustration of not being able to react to your opponent’s actions in a timely matter. The downside is that integrated systems can also lead to a little more “analysis paralysis,” and of course require some mental bandwidth be devoted to tracking what has and hasn’t been activated.  Of note, it seems that game design has been trending more towards the integrated model for the last decade so.

Movement

Inches vs. Centimeters: BFG measures its distances in centimeters, which was something of an oddity in the late 90’s and still not common today. As such, when we discuss movement, I’ll have to do some rough conversions back and forth, so bear with me.

In BFG, ship “speeds” range from 15cm/turn (roughly 6”/turn) for battleships, up to 35cm/turn (about 14”/turn) for small escort ships like Frigates. Cruisers are in the middle, moving 20-25cm/turn (about 8-10”). Interestingly, these speeds are almost a match for the corresponding classes in FSA. However, there is a key differentiator in maneuverability. In BFG, large and medium ships are allowed to make a single turn after traveling a certain distance straight ahead. That straight ahead distance varies by ship type: Battleships have to 15cm straight ahead, cruisers 10cm, and Escorts 0cm. Once that ship has moved the required distance, it can rotate a set number of degrees, normally 45 degrees for battleships and cruisers, and 90 degrees for Escorts. Only one turn can be made, though Escorts get the option of taking that turn before or after they move. Ships in FSA, by contrast, are far more maneuverable.  Ships can take a 45 degree turn every time they reach their turn limit, which is generally 2” for Battleships, 1” for cruisers, and 0” for small ships. The turn limit has to be done straight ahead, and each turn consumes 1” of movement. Therefore, a Battleship with 6” of movement can turn twice; it moves 2” straight, turns 45 degrees and consumes 1” of movement, and then repeats the process. This allows Battleships to turn through 90 degrees per activation, medium ships generally can turn through 180 degrees, and small ships can literally run circles around larger models!

Both games have methods for modifying a model’s movement. In BFG, this is accomplished by using the Special Order (SO) system. I will go into the SO system in more detail some other time, but essentially the options for movement is to slow down, speed up, or increase the maneuverability of a model. In FSA, there are similar modifications through the use of Tactical Action Cards (TACs), though you will tend to have fewer opportunities to employ these mobility modifications in FSA than you will in BFG over the course of a normal game.

To summarize, the distances models move in BFG and FSA are very similar, but models are much more maneuverable in FSA than they are in BFG. This tends to make moving models in FSA more “forgiving,” as you do not have to plan out your movement quite as carefully to line up firing arcs on the enemy.  One final difference to note is that collisions are impossible in FSA, while ramming is a specifically permitted tactic in BFG.

Shooting

In BFG, there are two basic direct-fire weapon types: Weapons Batteries and Lances. Weapons Batteries employ the BFG Gunnery Table, which compares a target’s size and orientation to the strength of the battery to determine the number of D6 to be rolled. The dice are then rolled, and the results compared to a target’s armor value. Dice that equal or exceed the armor value (which, as you expect, ranges from 1 to 6) are hits. The number of dice are affected by range and blast markers, which result in column shifts on the table. Lances completely ignore the gunnery table; the strength listed in the model’s profile is equal to the dice that dice thrown, regardless of target range and orientation. Lances hit on a 4+, regardless of target armor. To offset these obvious advances, the number of dice models get to employ is very limited; 6 is considered a lot of lance shots, while 2-4 is more common. Any hit that gets past a model’s shields causes a point of damage, and for each point of damage caused players roll 1D6 for a Critical Hit check; a result of a “6” causes a Critical Hit.

FSA employs range bands to determine the number of D6s that a ship can throw at a target. A player measures the range to a target, determines the range band the target is in, and then looks at how many D6s are rolled for that weapon system in that range band. Models in a squadron are able to employ “link fire, “ where one model serves as the focus of an attack and gets all of the dice it is permitted to use. The other ships in the squadron pool their attack dice, which is then divided in half (rounding down) and added to the lead model’s dice. These are then rolled against the target, and hits are gained through the “exploding D6” mechanic. In this mechanic, 4s and 5s count as one hit, while 6’s count as two hits and allow players to roll another die.  The number of hits are added up, and compared to the target’s Damage Rating and Critical Rating. If the number of hits equals or exceeds the Damage Rating but not the Critical Rating, the target takes a point of damage. If the hits exceed the Crit Rating, the attacking player rolls 2D6 and looks up the results on the Critical Hits table. Which brings us to…

Critical Hits

BFG and FSA both employ a critical hits table that has 11 results, numbered 2 through 12. When a critical hit occurs, players roll 2D6 and look up the results on the table. The manner in which criticals are caused differs between the games, as discussed above. In general, criticals are easier to achieve in FSA, which is reflected by the fact that the most common 2D6 results (6, 7, and 8) are less severe than the effects associated with the less likely results. In BFG, the table essentially ignores the bell curve; the higher the total, the more severe the result tends to be. In FSA, all critical hits result in at least 2 points of damage; in BFG, a majority of the results do not result in any additional damage. Other than that, the effects are somewhat similar; impairment to offensive shooting, defensive capability, speed, and maneuverability can be found in both.

Move/Shoot Ratio

I would like to round out this first post by comparing the Move/Shoot ratio between the two games. In BFG, the longest range for standard weapons is 60cm (roughly 24”). Granted, there are a few long-range weapons like the Nova Cannon, but I’m going to focus on standard weapons ranges. Given the speed of ships, this translates to a ratio of 1:4 for battleships, which are slow and tend to have the long range weapons, down to almost 1:1 for escorts, which are faster but typically have short range (30cm) weapons. In FSA, the move/shoot ratio for battleships is also about 1:4. However, medium and small ships also maintain a  1:4 shooting ration in many cases. For example, Terran frigates have a torpedo attack out to 48.” This translates directly into a different feel for FSA compared to BFG; in BFG, escort ships have to dart in close to employ their firepower. In FSA, smaller ships can afford to hang back and fire at range. Compounding this is the fact that in BFG, weapons using the Gunnery Table are most effective at ranges of 15cm (6”) or less, where as in FSA most weapons get their peak attack dice at range band 2 (nominally 8-16”, depending on the weapon system).

Conclusion

Whew! I think that is enough for now. There is still a lot more to talk about, however. Next time, I will take a look at Boarding and Carrier operations between the two games, and then, if there is still room, I will go on to discuss some of the different game concepts used in each game, and wrap up with my final thoughts. I might have to move that to a Part 3, though! Until next time…