Compared to similar 2D space combat RTS games

[Brother PaciFist]

Hello, i want to ask the beta players of BFG, how do you find/like the game compared to similar space combat games like Sins of a Solar Empire, Star Wars Empire at War, Nexus the Jupiter incident, Sword of the Stars, Star Trek Armada 2 or Homeworld 2 (homeworld is 3d i know)?

Thank you for your answers in advance.

Have a nice day

[startrekmike]

I can't speak for Nexus or Sword of the Stars but having played all the others on the list, I don't really think Battlefleet Gothic can compare to them in any meaningful way. Sins, Armada, and even Homeworld are all fairly traditional RTS's in the sense that you are constantly building new ships and just kinda throwing them at the enemy (perhaps not as much with Homeworld but that is still possible in that game). Each individual unit is not so valuable that it cannot be replaced and as such, battles can often end up being more about who wins and not at all about the losses you take.

Perhaps the best way to compare would be to put Battlefleet Gothic up against Star Trek Armada. Both are based in a setting where the ships are very large, very powerful, and very important. The loss of a Galaxy class starship is a massive thing in the Star trek shows/films in the same way that the loss of a Battleship is in Battlefleet Gothic. In the the games, this loss is handled very differently. In Armada, you lose a Galaxy class, it is really no different than losing a rifleman in Command and Conquer or a Hydralisk in Starcraft. A loss of a Battleship in Battlefleet Gothic results in you not having that ship available for a couple of games afterwards, it results in permanent loss of the crew upgrades and is while you can use renown to "buy" the ship back, it is costly.

Many players have expressed a lot of dislike for the persistent fleet mechanic but I think it is a welcome choice. As a player, you can pull your ships out of the battle individually if you think you may lose them so it really comes down to you making good tactical choices in order to avoid losing important ships. More to the point, you can often own more ships than you can field at any one time so losses are not as severe as some make them out to be.

Whereas games like Armada focus more on fairly standard RTS mechanics (which is not a bad thing), Battlefleet Gothic is attempting to do something a bit different, they are trying to be loyal to not only the mechanics of the tabletop game but also the lore and the setting. Ships are not terribly disposable in Battlefleet Gothic and the game tries to reflect that.

[Brother PaciFist]

Originally posted by startrekmike:

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Thank you for your long answer startrekmike. I bought the game. A persistent fleet mechanic could be interesting, hopefully it isnt too much f2p oriented. The permanent loss of ships will reward cheesy tactics, overcautios turteling or low cost ship spam. What is a space battle game without the loss of big ships, nothing exciting. Persistent fleet mechanics are good for a single player campaign but not for multiplayer. That seems out of place.

Have a nice day