Ophatran Sub-Sector Starmap

Over the years as I developed narratives for my 40k scenic photographs I pondered the various planets that might be in the Ophatran sub sector, centered around the main planet Ophatran Secundus. A couple months ago I had a strong urge to break out the Battlefleet Gothic game again after many years and played a couple of games. My friend agreed to play a campaign, so we made our fleet lists and generated a random sub sector map using the guidelines in the Warp Storm rulebook. I was really pretty happy with the random results as it fit my nascent ideas about the planets in the remote Ophatran sector.

Naturally, I couldn't leave it at that so I started creating a starmap in Photoshop, using 40k maps and historical maps from the age of exploration as inspirations. 

 

The end result is better than I'd hoped (I certainly spent way more time than I can afford on it) and is a bit of a "Where's Waldo" experience. Once I make sure there's no egregious errors I'll have a couple printed off at 11x17,  300dpi. 

The Raiders - Gordouc System - Ophatran Sub-Sector Campaign

 The Admiral of the Ophatran sub-sector decided not to sit idly by after discovering chaos vessels in the asteroid field near Sagua 5V, an outlying world on the fringe of the sub-sector. He dispatched clandestine squadrons to major asteroid fields near planets likely to be supply points. A single ship, the Emperor class Aeon Flux, was dispatched to perform a perfunctory investigation of the Gordouc system near the hub.

 

To the Admiral's surprise, his enhanced sensor arrays detected another chaos flotilla harbored in the asteroids, dangerously near the planet. Deciding to reduce power and coast into the side of the flotilla, the Master of Ordnance prepared the launch bays with assault boats and fighters. 

 

 

The Chaos admiral, lounging in the command bridge of the Repulsive class Invoker, was stunned to see an Emperor class appear suddenly on the flanks. He cursed his underling's failures to notice such a large vessel until it was upon them. The panicked commander directed his ships to use the planets and moons to swing around and pin the lone vessel in a vice, as waves of enemy attack ships from the Aeon Flux waited to pounce.

  

The Emperor unloaded its weapons on the escorts as the attack craft chipped away the capital ships. Chaos attack craft retaliation was abysmal, the pilots rattled by the sudden appearance of the Imperial scum. Chaos attack craft blew apart in blast waves, were shot down by enemy turrets, or disintegrated in the asteroids. The Pyschotron failed over and over to prepare new waves, and nervously recalled the rumors of the ritual sacrifice of the officers of the Styx class Charon's Touch a few weeks ago after their failures. 

The escorts fled the field after losing some ships, knowing there was little chance to harm the looming battleship bearing down on them. The remaining chaos vessels chipped away at the Emperor, inflicting minor damage as they wheeled into position, while suffering critical hits themselves, reducing their effectiveness. The chaos ships did well to use asteroids as cover from the direct fire weapons of the battleship, however the Psychotron's failure to provide fighter cover left them vulnerable to assault boats and bombers. 

Eventually, as the chaos capital vessels found their bearings, the Aeon Flux found itself in a compromised position. Slowed by blasts, it braced for impact asthe chaos capital ships emerged from their asteroid cover. Broadsides and lances overwhelmed the Battleship's shields and stripped off armor plating. The chaos commander licked his lips, knowing the next hit from his devastating broadside would certainly cripple the battleship. 

 

 

 

Then, like a warp ghost, the crafty commander of the Emperor disappeared into the cover of the nearby blast clouds and planetary bodies. It had disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared. The command crew on the bridge of the Grand Cruiser Invoker cast uneasy glances at each other...

 

 This was the second battle in a recently started BFG campaign between my friend and I. After the game, I asked my opponent if I could have rolled any worse with the Devastation cruiser, and we agreed it could have been worse- by one roll, because it made only one command check the entire game 😂. I think I maybe made two command checks total. Definitely should have had this one in the bag but the gods of chaos were NOT on my side!

 

 

Fleet Engagement - Sagua 5V, Ophatran Sub-Sector Campaign

Anomalous astropathic traffic warranted an investigation. An Imperial battlegroup consisting of Mars, Lunar, and Overlord cruisers, with Cobra and Sword escorts, discovered a renegade fleet orbiting a mining world on the sector fringes, holding position near an asteroid belt. Having been discovered, the renegade fleet consisting of Styx, Carnage, Archeron cruisers, along with Idolator and Infidel escorts, sought to engage in a classical 'cross' pattern, but the Imperials chose to form up alongside. The renegade admiral let the Imperial lapdogs take the opening move. 

 

The Cobras bravely (or foolishly) charged ahead, launching a wave of torpedoes, and a nova cannon burst nearby to no effect. Shortly after a wave of bombers and two fighter squadrons launched from the Charon's Touch. A withering fusilade of fire devastates the Cobras. The lone Cobra abruptly changed course to exit the primary biosphere.

 

 

The Imperials return fire, sending nova cannon and torpedoes into the Archeron, the Perturbator, doing much less damage than expected. The renegade escorts take some losses as they make for the cover of the asteroids. The renegade squadron commander somehow neglects to fire torpedoes, despite the advantageous position. 

Broadsides and lances lit the heavens, with superficial damage to the cruisers on both sides. 
Feeling the vice closing in, the renegades sweep around the asteroids- the Perturbator, seeking to avoid Imperial attention, moved ahead on full, while the renegade escorts pulled an unexpected maneuver and piloted through the asteroids putting themselves behind the Imperial formation.

The Styx barely managed to remove the Swords with bomber waves, and would thereafter fail to reload the spacecraft, leaving a single squadron of fighters to roam.  

The renegades now found themselves at the advantage, with a flurry of broadsides and lances crippling the Mars, the Lit by Flame. With the escorts in the rear and three healthy chaos cruisers wheeling around, the Imperials began to use the debris and asteroids as cover to disengage. 

The Mars cruiser was unable to hide however, and the renegades began to fire at range, sending fighters in to harry the Lit by Flame. 

 

The Imperials, desperate, engaged the Gellar field and made an emergency jump into the warp, leaving the fighters perplexed and reluctant to face the wrath of the renegade admiral. 

 

Later, the Admiral Barbado Drax, feeling the favor of the Powers of Chaos, ritually sacrificed the Master of Ordnance of the Charon's Touch along with the swiftdeath pilots. The result was certainly going to be a 'disciplined crew'. 

Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet made its way back to Ophatran Secundus to alert the governor, where the Mars would seek repairs and the Lunar would be scheduled for a refit to the thrusters. While the onset of the Cicatrix Meladictum had thrown the Gothic Sector into devastation, the Ophatran sub-sector had been lucky... until now.