Navis Mercantilis

7/27/2019 Navis Mercantilis

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Navis MercantilisThe Imperium of Man is the greatest galacticempire of its time, spanning from UltimaMacharia on the very edge of the western rimto the shrouded Eastern Fringe almost a

hundred thousand light years away. Uniting itsmillion worlds is perhaps the greatest weaponand resource available to Man: the ImperialFleet, controlled by the powerful bureaucracyof the Adeptus Administratum. The Imperialfleet can be broken down into three primarycomponents; the Navis Militares, protectingthe Imperium with its great warships, theNavis Mercantilis, handling the flow of tithesand trade in the Imperium, and the Navis Civiles, whose ships are owned and controlled bynoble lords, guild masters, free traders and other privileged citizens.

Of these three fleets, the Navis Mercantilis (or merchant fleet) is by far the greatest. In mostImperial sectors, the merchant fleet will be ten times bigger than the military and civilfleets. The name of the Navis Mercantilis is actually somewhat misleading, as free trademakes up a relatively small portion of the traffic between Imperial worlds. The primarypurpose of the merchant fleet is arguably the collection and distribution of tithes underdirection of the Departmentos Conlatio and Auctus of the Adeptus Administratum. Due tothe high degree of specialisation of Imperial colonies, there are many worlds that are utterlydependent on external supplies in order to be of use. Forgeworlds and industrial worlds aresome of the most valuable types of Imperial colonies, but these would be almost worthless ifnot for a steady supply of food from agriworlds and ores from mining worlds. It is thefunction of the Navis Mercantilis to drive this circulation, in many ways acting as the bloodof the great body that is the Imperium.

While the flow of tithes is arbitrarilycontrolled by the Adeptus Administratum,the Navis Mercantilis also has animportant second function from which itwas originally given its name. Becauseships with warp drives are so veryexpensive, trade would be all butimpossible on many worlds if not for theservices of the Navis Mercantilis. Byproviding a public transport service to

sanctioned commercial organisations, theNavis Mercantilis is able to stimulateeconomical growth. Trade cartels thatcannot afford building or purchasing their

own ships may rent space onboard the vast merchant vessels of the Navis Mercantilis asthey pass by on their scheduled routes. Many interstellar trade syndicates and cartels havestarted out by conducting business via the Navis Mercantilis, eventually gathering enoughwealth over the centuries to purchase their own vessels in the Navis Civiles.


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The Merchant fleet in battleFew vessels in the Navis Mercantilis areentirely defenceless. In a galaxy filled withhidden dangers, xenos raiders, renegade fleets,

pirates and warp-spawned behemoths, evenore carracks and trading galleons are equippedwith ranks upon ranks of weapons to deterattackers and deal with miscellaneous dangerssuch as asteroids or minefields.

Against dedicated attackers, the ships of theNavis Mercantilis are extremely vulnerableand so must avoid enemy contacts at all costs.The ships of the Imperial Navy and AdeptusAstartes are ever vigilant, constantly patrollingand guarding Mercantilis trade routes to

ensure the safety of unprotected merchantvessels. In regions threatened by war, all non-military traffic is ceased immediately, so not to sacrifice the vulnerable and valuableImperial merchant vessels. Some trade convoys however, must reach their destinations atregular intervals no matter what enemies lay in their way. From the heart of SegmentumSolar, enormous trade fleets fill their cavernous holds with vital cargo and set out to centrallocations around the Imperium, sailing along the major trade lanes with huge militaryescorts. To these Solar Merchant fleets, reports of xenos raiders and pirate ambushes areacknowledged with stoic determination, as billions of lives depend on the arrival of theirprecious cargo and future generations depend on their safe return back to the SegmentumSolar.

[Above: A Navis Mercantilis convoy in transit]

Authorsnote:

Below, you will find rulesformerchantvessels in

BFGandaspecialBFGconvoyscenario.Thereason

IhavemadeadditionalrulesforusingtransportsinBFGistwofold.First,itsagreatexcusetoconvert

and paint awhole bunchof new ships for aBFG

fleet.Anyone can just slap together a new type of

battlecruiser,butbuildingatugboatorsprinttrader

is a differentkind ofchallenge. Second, while the

trade convoy is one ofmy favourite scenarios for

BFG, I find that itdoesntreally work ona grand

scale. The nervous tension of trying to avoid

discoverybyasquadronofenemyescortsisntquite

there when youre cruising forward with two

battleshipsoneachflank.Therulesbelowallowfor

greater battles involving bigger merchant vessels,

allowing people [like me] to find a use for their

newlyconvertedsuper-heavybarge.


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Caravel transport (transport capacity: 1)Caravels are represented by an ordnance marker and counts as ordnance to all intents andpurposes. If a caravel marker comes in contact with enemy attackcraft (fighters, bombers or assault boats), roll a D6 for each enemyattack craft in contact. If any of the attack craft score a 4 or higher,

the caravel is destroyed and removed from play. Caravels may beattacked with long range weapons like other kinds of ordnance,using the normal rules. Caravels have a speed of 10 cm, allowingthe ship to move 10 cm per ordnance phase (i.e. 20 cm per turn)

Clipper transport (transport capacity: 1)

Type/Hits Speed Turns Shields Armour Turrets

Escort/1 15cm 45 1 4+ 1

Armament Range/Speed Firepower/Strength FireArc

Portweaponsbattery 15cm 1 Left

Starboardweaponsbattery 15cm 1 Right

Dorsalweaponsbattery 15cm 1 Front/left/right

Freighter transport (transport capacity: 2)


Escort/1 15cm 45 1 5+ 1





Galleon transport (transport capacity: 4)


Cruiser/1 15cm 45 1 5+ 1





Carrack transport (transport capacity: 6)


Cruiser/6 15cm 45 2 5+ 2






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Barge transport (transport capacity: 8)


Cruiser/8 15cm 45 2 5+ 2





Heavy barge transport (transport capacity: 10)


Cruiser/10 15cm 45 2 5+ 2





Super-heavy barge transport (transport capacity: 12)


Cruiser/12 15cm 45 3 5+ 3





Merchantvessels:

TheshipsoftheNavisMercantilisaregenerallynotbuiltwiththesameadvancedtechnologyastheNavisMilitares,the

ImperialNavy.Inadditiontotheirinferiordefensivecapabilities,Merchantvesselsareoftenmoresluggish,lackingthe

powerfulenginesusedbytheImperialNavy,whichmakesthemhardertomanoeuvreandslowertoaccelerate.Naturally,

theofficersandcrewofMerchantshipsarerarelyasskilledorexperiencedindangeroussituationsasthoseofNavyships

andmostsailorsintheNavisMercantilismaygotheirentirelifewithoutseeinganythinglikecombat,inmanyregionsof

theImperium.

MerchantfleetshipsusingAllAheadFullordersonlyadd+3D6cmtotheirspeed.Theyalsoreducetheirrandomlyrolled

Leadershipbyone,sotheywillhaveaLeadershipvalueofbetween5and8.

Variants;TherearemanytypesofmerchantshipsintheImperiumbeyondthecategoriesbasedonvolumeandcargocapacity.

Sprinttraders,frontiertraders,armedmerchants,jumptenders,bulktraders,fuelcarriersandvoidcruisersarethemost

commontypesofspecialisedmerchantships,thoughtherearealsomorecommonvariantsincludingfuelcarriers,ore

carriersandpassengerships.ThelargeconvoysplyingthemajortradelanesoftheImperiumwillusuallyhaveamixed

compositionofsuchshiptypes,dependingontheneedsanddemandsoftheAdeptusAdministratum,butoccasionally

strategicconsiderationswillpromptarequestforsprinttradersorarmedmerchantsspecifically.

Sprinttrader-

Sprinttradersareaclassofmerchantshipswithtremendousspeedatthecostofcargocapacity.Theyareexpensive

vessels,withadvancedenginesthatapproachthecapabilitiesofImperialmilitaryvessels,andtheirservicesareavailable

onlytotherichestandmostprivilegedcitizensandadepts.Sprinttradersareusedforavarietyofpurposes,butmost

commonlycarryingluxurygoods,importantpersonnel,freshfoodorvaluablelifeforms.Sprinttradersarealsosometimes

commandeeredbyInquisitorstravellingincognitoandbysmugglersorroguetraderslookingtobypassImperialorxenos

blockades.


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Aclipper,freighter,galleonorcarrackmaybeupgradedtoasprinttraderatthecostof5pointspereachtransportcapacity

point.(Afreighterwithtransportcapacity2mustpay10points.)Thisgivestheshipa+5cmspeedbonusandalso

providesa+4D6cmspeedbonuswhenusingAllAheadFullorderinsteadof+3D6cm.Sprinttradershavehalfthe

originaltransportcapacityoftheirshiptype.

Armedmerchant-

Armedmerchantsaresimplymerchantvesselsthathavebeeneitherconstructedorrefittedwithmilitarygradeweaponry,

thelikesofwhichareusuallyreservedfortheImperialNavy.WhilemostImperialtransportsareequippedwithasmallbatteryofweaponstodiscouragepiratesandraiders,theyareeasypreyinarealbattle.Armedmerchantsareoftensentto

warzonesorfrontierworldstogetherwithImperialNavyescortsinsituationswhereenemyraidsarenotonlypossible,but

almostcertain.Notallmerchantshipsarenormallyrefittedinthisway,however.Thesmallestcaravelswouldbe

practicallyuselessastransportsifequippedwithmassivemilitarygradeweapons,andthelargestvesselssuchassuper-

heavybargesaresovaluablethattheyusuallyhavededicatedImperialNavyescortsquadronsinstead.

Aclipper,freighter,galleonorcarrackmaybeupgradedtoanarmedmerchantatthecostof5pointspereachtransport

capacitypoint.(Afreighterwithtransportcapacity2mustpay10points.)Thisgivestheshipa50%increaseinweapon

batterystrength,withnoadditionalrange.Forexample,afreighterwithstrength2weaponbatterieswillhavestrength3

weaponbatteriesifupgradedtoanarmedmerchantship.Theupgradeismadetoeachbattery(port,starboardanddorsal).

Armedmerchantshavehalftheoriginaltransportcapacityoftheirshiptype.

Convoy battleConvoy battleConvoy battleConvoy battleIn this scenario, an Imperial merchant convoy is en route to its destination, carryingenormous amounts of valuable cargo, when a large enemy fleet appears and begins toengage. While initially trying to avoid battle in order to protect its cargo, the Imperialconvoy is eventually trapped and must defend itself. The attackers must destroy as manyImperial transports as possible before the battle is over.

ForcesForcesForcesForcesThe Imperial convoy may have any number of transport ships, each with a differenttransport capacity. However, for every 100 points of military vessels (using the ImperialNavy, Adeptus Astartes, Rogue Trader or Adeptus Mechanicus lists), the convoy must have1,5 transport capacity points. For example, in a game of 2000 points, the convoy must have

30 transport capacity points divided between its transports. These 30 points could bedivided amongst fifteen freighters, three heavy barges or a variety of other selections. Anyupgrades made to the transports count would be included in these 2000 points. Theattacker has an equal amount of points as the defender, the Imperial convoy.

BattlezoneBattlezoneBattlezoneBattlezoneThe convoy may be attacked anywhere, even in orbit of its destination or point of departure.Often, convoys will be attacked in deep space, just as they emerge from the warp. Anymethod for placing celestial phenomena which can be mutually agreed upon by the playersis acceptable.


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SetSetSetSet----upupupupThe attacker must split his forces so that between 25% and 50% of his fleet (calculated interms of point cost, not number of ships) belongs to attack group A and the rest belongs toattack group B. The attacker first deploys attack group B, then the Imperial convoy deploys

and finally the attack deploys attack group A. Note that all ships in each deployment zonemust face the same direction, as indicated in the deployment map.Attack group B and A may be deployed up to 30 cm from their short table edge, and theImperial convoy may be deployed anywhere on the tabletop, but not within 30 cm of theenemy.The set-up represents attack group B chasing the convoy into the jaws of attack group A.

First turnFirst turnFirst turnFirst turnEach player rolls a dice and the player with the higher score may choose whether to go firstor second.

Special rulesSpecial rulesSpecial rulesSpecial rulesIn this scenario, the attackers have successfullybrought the Imperial convoy to battle. Someattacking ships are kept in reserve at a distance,hoping to hunt down any fleeing transports thathave disengaged and split away. Knowing thattheir best chances for survival lie in maintainingformation, not even the captains of the NavisMercantilis will disengage from this battle unlessforced. To represent this, the transports in theImperial convoy may only disengage if they havebeen crippled. If able to disengage successfully, itis assumed that they have made it to safety (seeVictory conditions). All other ships on either sidemay disengage as normal.

Game lengthGame lengthGame lengthGame lengthThe battle continues until either fleet has disengaged or been destroyed.

Victory conditionsVictory conditionsVictory conditionsVictory conditionsNaturally, the success or failure of the convoy depends on how many transports survive theattack. Calculate the percentage of surviving transports based on transport capacity points.Crippled transports count as having lost half their cargo (i.e. transport capacity points),rounding down.

0% survival The entire convoy has been annihilated, and the defeat is a major blow to theNavis Mercantilis and the many Imperial worlds, armies and fleets awaiting supplies.30% survival Most of the convoy is destroyed, but the Imperial fleet is able to drive awaythe attackers. The attackers are victorious, though perhaps not to the extent that they hadhoped.60% survival While some ships have been lost or significantly damaged, the Imperialescorts are able to avoid disaster and defend their vulnerable transports. The convoy willreach its destination with most of its supplies intact.90% survival The convoy is virtually unscathed, despite the ferocity of the attack. Theattackers have suffered a critical defeat, as their ships have been either lost or badlydamaged and the Imperial convoy has not been stopped from reaching its destination. TheEmperor protects!


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Building merchant vessels

To play battles with the Navis Mercantilis in Battlefleet Gothic, youre going to need miniatures to representthe merchant vessels, of course. As it happens, Games Workshop and Forgeworld produce a lot of lovelymodels already. The basic freighters from Games Workshop could easily be used to represent clippers orfreighters, while system ships can be used to represent caravels. The heavy transports sold by Forgeworld

can be used to represent galleons or carracks. If you want bigger transports, or if you want some more varietyin your merchant fleet, youre going to have to convert some miniatures!

Example 1:Example 1:Example 1:Example 1: GGGGalleon sprint traderalleon sprint traderalleon sprint traderalleon sprint trader

You will need:- 1 Monitor ship (sold by Games Workshop)- 1 Imperial cruiser hull and 2 Imperial launch bays- 1 Chaos cruiser bridge and antennae- 2 Cadia pattern lasguns from Warhammer 40,000Assorted plasticard and bitz for decoration and gap-filling.

Step 1:Step 1:Step 1:Step 1: Use the bottom half of the Imperial cruiserhull. Cut the monitor ship in half, using its hull aspart of the cruiser hull and keep its prow separate.

Step 3:Step 3:Step 3:Step 3: Cut off the spiky bits on the launch baysand cover the empty holes with plasticard.

Step 5:Step 5:Step 5:Step 5: Cut a Cadian lasgun into tiny pieces. Cutaway some of the dorsal fin and insert a bridge for

the ship.

Step 2:Step 2:Step 2:Step 2: Insert a 2 mm plasticard plate in the center ofthe Imperial cruisers plastic hull. It should fitperfectly.

Step 4Step 4Step 4Step 4:::: Glue a launchbay on each side of the centerplasticard. Attach the prow.

StepStepStepStep 6:6:6:6: Insert the lasgun bitz in the gap between themonitor ship hull and the Imperial cruiser hull.


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Example 2Example 2Example 2Example 2:::: SuperSuperSuperSuper heavyheavyheavyheavy babababargergergerge

You will need:- Plasticard of different thicknesses (e.g. 2mm, 1mm and 0.5 mm)- 2 standard Imperial cruisers- 6 Imperial lance batteries, 6 Imperial launch bays (but preferably 12)- Bridge from Imperial or Chaos models.- Lots of various other bitz!

The process of converting this ship was incredibly complicated, so doing a step-by-step guide would requirefour or five pages. Furthermore, it would probably be pointless because such large conversion projects arealways going to require a fair bit of creativity and improvisation anyway! Thus, I present these few images as asimple example of how one can create a super-heavy barge, a gargantuan merchant vessel bigger even thanthe battleships of the Imperial Navy!

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Navis Mercantilis