From: "William Sariego" Subject: small scenarios for BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC (Games Workshop) GOTHIC TREK By William Sariego (with thanks to John Herrington) Gothic Trek tells the saga of the Rentaprise, an Overlord Class Battlecruiser famed for exploration rather than combat, under its flamboyant crew. In addition to being a whimsical parody that we can all enjoy, Gothic Trek illustrates something else. An entertaining game does not have to last a whole evening and consist of dozens of capital ships per side. A 15 minute mini-game while waiting for the rest of your mates to show up can be a lot of fun! To represent the unique ability of the Rentaprise to do the impossible, I will take into account its leading officers. Unless otherwise dictated by the scenario, the ship will be commanded by its captain, James T. Quirk (Leadership value 9). Depending on the scenario Special Rules, another officer may be at the helm. The First Officer is a logical Balkan, Lt. Cmdr. Shlock (leadership value 10). The Chief engineer is Mordecai Snott (leadership 9). Cpt. Quirk also gets one Heroic re-roll. With Lt. Cmdr Snott (you can call him Snotty) in engineering, the Rentaprise will get to roll an extra d6 when attempting to make repairs. Now, before you play any of the following scenarios someone must dim the lights and say the following in a somber voice: Space, the last place to go. These are the voyages of the starship Rentaprise. Its five year, never ending mission, to seek out new life forms in virgin space. And boldly go where no man has gone before. SCENARIO ONE: The Ambassador Situation: The Rentaprise is outbound from the planet Balkan with an ambassador (who just happens to be Mr. Schlock’s father) heading toward a peace conference. Not everyone wants to see "Peace in our time" so a group of Ork Pirates have been hired to ambush the Rentaprise. Also, a foul saboteur lurks aboard...... Battlezone: Deep Space The Forces: 250 points of Ork ships, chosen by the foul Greenskin player. Rentaprise with Cpt. Quirk commanding. Setup: Rentaprise enters on turn one via the middle of one of the short edges and has the first turn. The Ork player must split his forces into two groups. Each enters in the middle of one of the long board edges. Rentaprise has the first turn. Special Rules: As soon as the first blast marker is placed on the Rentaprise, the saboteur strikes. Roll on the Critical Table and apply the result. Victory Conditions: The Rentaprise must exit via the opposite short edge from which it entered. The Orks must destroy the Rentaprise. Playtest Notes: There are enough Ork points to give the good guys a contest, especially if a lucky roll on the initial critical is serious. Overall, however, Cpt. Quirk should be able to get the ambassador to Wonderland in time. SCENARIO TWO: The Stranded Landing Party Situation: A landing party from the Rentaprise is visiting Omygosh IV and making a mockery of the Prime Directive whilst Lt. Cmdr. Snott has taken the ship for a Scotch Run. In the meantime two Chaos cruisers have shown up. Battlezone: Deploy a small planet directly in the center of the table. Then generate celestial effects normally as a Primary Biosphere. The Forces: Rentaprise with Mr. Snott commanding. A Chaos Murder and Slaughter class cruiser. Unlike a normal game, there is NO Chaos Warmaster or Lord present. Set up: Deploy the Chaos cruisers on opposite sides of the planet. The Rentaprise enters on a randomly determined board edge (cast runes, read tea leaves, roll a die, whatever) and has the first game turn. Victory Conditions: The Rentaprise wins by either destroying both Chaos cruisers or rescuing the landing party and then withdrawing. Special Rules: To beam the landing party up the Rentaprise must enter orbit and remain one full turn. Playtest notes: Can be a tricky win for the Imperium. Individually, the Chaos cruisers would be dead meat but combined and with the weakest officer in command, the Rentaprise will have a rough time. SCENARIO THREE: The Cloaking Device Situation: The Rentaprise has been shadowing an Eldar craftworld in an effort to learn more about the Eldritch race. Quirk, by subterfuge, has been "captured" and is held on an Eldar cruiser equipped with a cloaking device. The Eldar are not amused........ Battlezone: Deep Space. Randomly determine Sunward AFTER the Eldar set up. The forces: Rentaprise with Mr. Schlock commanding, and an Eldar Shadow Class Cruiser, which has the first turn. Set up: Deploy the Rentaprise in the exact center of the table. The Eldar places four numbered markers, with facing indicated, in the center of each board edge. The Eldar player must write down which one represents the actual ship. Victory Conditions: The Rentaprise must wait for Cpt. Quirk to return and then successfully disengage, having stolen the Eldar technology. Special Rules: The Eldar player moves the counters, disguising which is the real ship. When it first fires, remove the dummy markers and deploy the Shadow Class cruiser. The Eldar ship cannot be fired on until it fires at the Rentaprise. After this, the Rentaprise still cannot use Lock On special orders. The Eldarship has an Armor value of 5 for this scenario. The Rentaprise lances hit on a 5+ Captain Quirk is seducing the beautiful Eldar commander. At some point he will make a suitable, heroic escape with the stolen technology. Begin rolling at the end of Turn 4. On a 4+ he escapes (duel linked transporters, shuttle craft, whatever) and returns to the Rentaprise. Afterwards the Rentaprise can attempt to disengage. Playtest Notes: The Rentaprise is a superior ship at a severe tactical disadvantage. Hopefully there will be something left when Quirk escapes..... SCENARIO FOUR: The Superman’s Revenge Situation: An old rival of Quirk, a man of enhanced genetic ability named Caan, has escaped prison on a Death World and taken over a starship. His wrath has no limits and he has come searching for the Rentaprise. Battlezone: A very cluttered nebula. Treat as Inner Flare region, but celestial phenomena is generated automatically rather than on a 4+. Any roll of Planet becomes Warp Rift instead. Forces: Rentaprise with Quirk commanding, opposed by Caan (leadership 10) in a pirated Tyrant class ship, with the increased battery range upgrade. Set up: Roll die for each. High roller gets to choose which board edge his ship enters on turn one. Loser enters the opposite edge but gets the first turn. Victory Conditions: Kill or be killed. Neither ship can disengage. A draw, however, is possible per the Special Rule. Special Rules: Caan has a special device aboard called The Creator, which can make a last shot weapon. If the Tyrant is reduced to rolling on the Catastrophic Damage Table, Caan sets off the device instead. This makes the roll a 12 and the range effect of the implosion is 6d6 cm rather than 3d6. Playtest Notes: 60%-40% in favor of the Rentaprise. SCENARIO FIVE: Gunslinger Situation: Quirk meets up with a legendary Chaos commander who has admired the exploits of the Rentaprise from afar. The known universe is only big enough for one of these cowboys.... Battlezone: Outer Reaches. Forces: Rentaprise with Quirk commanding. A Repulsive Grand Cruiser called the Odiferous Magnus, commanded by a Heroic Chaos Lord. Lord Fartulance has a leadership of 9 and the Mark of Nurgle. The Odiferous Magnus has the Dorsal Lance upgrade. Set up: Roll die for each. High roller gets to choose which board edge his ship enters on turn one. Loser enters the opposite edge but gets the first turn. Victory Conditions: Kill or be killed. A moral victory occurs if you force your foe to disengage. Special Rules: None Playtest Notes: The stuff epics (or bad episodes) are made of......... SCENARIO SIX: Ratings War! Situation: Fighter pilots Gemini and Starhunk are returning to the Battlecruiser Gatticca, which has dropped out of Warp Space from another galaxy (network!), having spied the Rentaprise. Believing each other mortal foes, the two fight in a clash of titans. Battlezone: Inner biosphere. The Gatticca is searching for lost earth...... Forces: Rentaprise with Quirk commanding. The Gatticca is a Mars class battlecruiser, commanded by Ahdamit (leadership 9). Set up: Roll die for each. High roller gets to choose which board edge his ship enters on turn one. Loser enters the opposite edge but gets the first turn. Victory Conditions: No disengaging. Winner takes the prize for being the cheesiest science fiction show of the 1960s or ‘70s! Special Rules: On turn three the vile Necrons show up, who have followed the Gattica and are intent on its destruction. Necrons are controlled by Quirk (but this may change) but must head toward the Gatticca at top speed and make an attack run. Once the attack is over, roll a die: 1-3 they are still controlled by Quirk, 4-6 Ahdamit controls them and they must now attack the Rentaprise. make this roll immediately after the Necron squadron makes its attacks. There are three Necron Scarab Class Raiders which have the following stats: NECRON SCARAB...........35 pts TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOR TURRETS Escort/1 35cm 90% 1 5+ 1 ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC Weapons Battery 30cm 3 Front Note: REAL easy conversion. Just use an old Epic 40,000 flyer stand and a Necron Scarab from the 40K range. Playtest Notes: A wild one with the Necrons being the deciding factor. I experimented with giving the Rentaprise the Turret upgrade for this scenario but found that to shift the balance too much. ADDENDA: Keep on Treking...... With your opponents permission, you may use the Rentaprise, commanded by Captain Quirk in a regular scenario. It is an Overlord battlecruiser with no upgrade and will cost additional 50 points in a DYO game. Enjoy, William "I was a trekkie before being a trekkie was cool" Sariego