fleet-book-imperial-navy.jpg (12575 bytes)

by Erik Setzer and Thomas Setzer

The Imperial Fleet. Practically all inter-stellar travel is administered through the priesthood, who sanction routine journeys and direct craft to suit their purposes. There are a few independent ships capable of interstellar flight but these are very rare indeed. The fleet moves cargo and personnel from system to system, according to the dictates of imperial need. The fleet also has routine duties to perform, such as patrolling frontier worlds and scouting for alien intrusion. In all, the fleet numbers many thousands of ships, and the Imperium has a considerable capacity to build and operate spacecraft.

CONTENTS

 

Introduction

Welcome to Fleet Book: Imperial Navy.  This is the first in a series of fan-written supplements for Battlefleet Gothic, each centered around the ships of one particular race.  In this fleet book, we first examine the Imperial Navy and its background, then introduce over a dozen new warships for use in Battlefleet Gothic.  All of the material contained within is completely optional and unofficial: You must have you opponent's permission to use it!

 

The Imperial Warfleets

Each of the five warfleets serves within one of the Segmentae Majoris and is responsible for protecting shipping within it.

Most space battles take place around installations or planets, most of which can he defended efficiently by means of sub-stellar craft and planet-based defences. Even so, it is impossible to provide total defence for every Imperial world. The warships of the Imperial Fleet are highly mobile and extremely potent weapons, able to gather to meet large threats where necessary.

Warship captains are Imperial servants like their merchant brethren. However, all warship captains are appointed by the administrative officers of the Segmentum, and have no rights of ownership regarding their vessels. The organisation of the fleets is far more rigid than that of the merchant fleet, with a hierarchy similar to that of the land-based armed forces of the Imperium.

BATTLEFLEETS

Imperial space is so vast, with so many star systems and areas of Wilderness Space to be patrolled, that even the many thousands of spaceships in the warfleets must he spread thin, with individual ships and squadrons set out on their own assignments. The Imperium cannot maintain permanent fleets ready to respond to invasion or rebellion. Nor would it make sense to do so - it would take so long for a fleet to get from its base to the war zone that the enemy would surely have moved on by the time it arrived.

Instead, temporary battlefleets are gathered together whenever they are needed. Warships within a relatively small area are summoned to join the Battlefleet. It is rare for ships more than 50 light years from the battle zone to be included in the fleet and more commonly only those within 10 or 20 light years are summoned. Even with ships this close to the battle, it will take at least days and more often weeks for them to arrive.

Only during the very largest of wars, lasting for many decades, does the Imperium bring battlefleets together and dispatch them en masse to a warzone. Such a war is currently underway in the galaxy's south-eastern spiral arm. Here the Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken is inexorably advancing, conquering and consuming the planets in its path. A massive campaign involving millions of men, thousands of ships and whole chapters of Space Marines is being fought against the Tyranid invasion. Fleets are being mustered in all the Segmentae to begin the long journey to the warzone. The journey will take decades in some cases and many of the crew will never see the battles they are heading towards - but the Imperium knows all too well that in mere decades the Tyranid threat will be as strong as even

ENEMIES OF THE IMPERIUM

The battlefleets of the Imperium must combat many enemies -Ork raiders, Eldar pirates, the Tyranid Hive Fleet and other alien invaders. It must also fight forces from within the Imperium itself. Most of these battles are small-scale and involve only sub-stellar craft in skirmishes with smugglers, brigands and rebels. But occasionally larger conflicts occur when whole systems or groups of systems must be brought into line. Sometimes these systems- have their own fleets and the Imperium must send its largest battleships and cruisers to crush the enemy. In these circumstances an Imperial Battlefleet will be facing an enemy containing ships exactly like its own - the enemy will also be using ships like Gothic Cruisers, Firestorms, Dictators, Cobras and so forth.

These rebellions most often happen when an area of the Imperium is cut off by a warpstorm. Warpstorms are common occurrences and systems frequently lose contact for a few years - when the storm passes, contact is re-established and little has changed. Sometimes storms last for decades, even centuries, and systems that are cut off for this long can stray far from Imperial authority. Once the warpstorm has died down and travel to the system is feasible again, the Imperium may be rebuffed by an independent federation or find itself in the midst of a local war. A Battlefleet will be assembled to return the system to Imperial control and Imperial spaceships will find themselves facing ships that perhaps once served alongside them in other wars.

It is also not unknown for squadron or fleet commanders to rebel and turn against the Imperium. using the awesome power they command to carve out their own petty empires on the fringes of Imperial space. The most infamous rebellion in the Imperium's long history is that of Warmaster Horus when fully half of the Imperial forces turned against the Emperor and mankind was divided in a terrible civil war. Only the death of Horus himself and the banishment of the rebels to the Eye of Terror brought peace to the Imperium. Even now, a constant vigil is kept around the Eye of Terror where the Chaos fleets remain, often launching small raids and occasionally major incursions into Imperial space.

SPACESHIPS OF THE IMPERIUM

Most spaceships are old - open space, the most hostile environment to man, preserves the plastics and metals that spacecraft are made from. Space gives them with the power to endure through generations of men. The Imperial fleets number many thousands of ships, the majority of which are at least a thousand years old. Some are as old as the Imperium itself, a full ten thousand years. A very few claim a pre-Imperial origin. It is difficult for those born under the claustrophobic sky of a planet to appreciate the great dignity which is inherent in all old spacecraft.

The spaceships of the Imperium are vast constructions that take many decades to build. Each craft represents a huge investment of time and resources. But once completed, fitted out' armed and commissioned, a spaceship continues in service for centuries, even millennia. After that, it may be refilled. modernised, reconstructed and live on practically indefinitely. Barring a major accident or destruction in battle, a ship is immortal like a great city, its population and fabric existing in a constant state of decay and renewal.

Throughout this time there is a constant process of rebuilding and renewal. Hulls are damaged by battles, asteroid storms and the ravages of the warp. Mechanical parts inevitably wear down. Electrical components fuse. Engine housings crack or melt under the immense pressure and heat created by plasma and warp drives. To combat this constant process of decay, every interstellar spaceship has a maintenance crew of hundreds or thousands of dedicated craftsmen, continuously striving to repair and refit the ship. Inside a large Imperial warship there are factories and workshops, huge forges and plasma furnaces, even small refineries and ore smelting plants to provide raw materials for the work of reconstruction.

Interstellar spaceships are powered by plasma and warp drives. Plasma drives are used to move through star systems at sub-light speeds. They burn with the fierce energy of a star, converting their fuel into a super-heated gas plasma to create the immense thrust needed to propel these gargantuan craft through space. As a large interstellar spaceship moves out of orbit towards the edge of a star system ready to jump into the warp, the fiery arc it traces across the night sky can clearly be seen from the planet it's leaving. It appears to be a great comet streaking through the heavens - on many worlds, the arrival or departure of a spaceship is read as an omen, a divine harbinger of joy or doom.

Warp drives are altogether more esoteric and terrifying understood by few even among a spaceship's crew. When the spaceship reaches the jump point at the edge of the star system it's leaving, its plasma drives are turned off and its warp drives engaged. These hurl the spaceship out of real space and into warpspace, propelling it through the warp to a destination light years away. If a spaceship's warp drives were switched on while it was still within a star system. the huge rent in the very fabric of space that they create would be catastrophic for the population and planets of the system. The spaceship itself would be torn apart as the massive pull of the star's gravity reacted unpredictably with the energies released by the warp drives.

Fully one-third of a spaceship can be taken up by its engines with their huge thruster ports, cavernous combustion chambers, generators surrounded by massive protective cladding and the miles of pipes, tunnels, corridors and ducts needed for the control mechanisms, fuel supply and access by service crews.

The living areas of a spaceship contain the thousands, often tens of thousands, of men that serve aboard. These areas are often built up from the ship's hull into huge domes and spires that rise hundreds of metres into space. On some ships, they seem like the heart of a mighty city, immense towers rising to touch the stars, their sides glittering with lights bridges spanning the void between them. On others they resemble a gigantic cathedral, the towers colonnaded and sculpted. Vast carved figures of legendary heroes recede into the darkness of space - huge horned gargoyles leap and leer from the highest pinnacles in mockery of the tenors of warpspace - golden domes blaze with the light of stars.

On freighters and merchant vessels, the rest of the ship is taken up by holds containing the ship's precious cargo. On warships this space is filled by the colossal power generators that drive their weapon systems. These towering structures hum and crackle with the monstrous energies bounded inside. They are housed within deep shafts which disappear from view into a darkness that is broken only by the crackling blue arcs of lightning which leap from the generators. When a laser battery is fired with a titanic unleashing of energy, its power well is filled with a furious roar. In battle, a warship echoes with the thunder of its weapons, its decks shuddering with the recoil of their furious discharges.

 

Imperial Fleet Ranks

The following list briefly outlines the important ranks in the organisation of a Segmentum's warfleet (often also known as the naval fleet).

Warfleet Commander

The highest ranking of the military officers is the Warfleet Commander. He is in charge of the entire naval contingent of a Segmentum, numbering many thousands of warships. There are only five Warfleet Commanders, one for each of the Segmentae Majoris. They rank equally, although command of the Warfleet Solar is generally regarded as the most prestigious position.

The Warfleet Commander formulates the naval fleet strategy throughout the entire Segmentum, overseeing repair schedules, supervising construction programs and ensuring the general space-worthiness of the fleet. His personal staff is divided into armament, maintenance, design, construction and a thousand other working committees.

Space Commanders

Under the Warfleet Commander are individual Space Commanders responsible for naval operations within each sector. The Space Commander is based at the Sector Fortress, along with other sector-level administrative staff of the Administratum and other branches of the Adeptus Terra. He must answer not only to his naval superior, the Warfleet Commander, but also to the Adeptus Sector Commander in overall charge of the sector.

The Space Commander has direct command of a portion of the Segmentum's warfleet. A typical command comprises about 50 interstellar ships, although the number would obviously vary depending upon the needs of the sector. Fifty ships is very few when you consider that a typical sector has between 30 and 40 thousand stars forming a cube with sides approximately 200 light years long!

These warships are divided up into patrol vessels, ships on permanent station in one star system and the reserve fleet. The reserve fleet is usually stationed at the Sector Fortress.

Group Commanders

Group Commanders are in charge of a portion of a sector's fleet. They are sometimes based around the Sector Fortress or, more often, on one of the permanently-manned docking stations in one of the sub-sectors. Group Commanders are responsible for patrolling and keeping order within sub-sectors and inter-sectors around their base.

A typical command consists of a sub-sector base, non-combatant staff and a couple of squadrons of ships. One squadron is usually a patrol squadron, while the other is held in reserve to meet specific threats.

Group commanders often serve as Battlefleet Commanders when the need arises. The Battlefleet is a temporary force, summoned to meet a single crisis or defeat a particular enemy. It usually consists of spaceships from only two or three neighbouring sub-sectors at most. The Battlefleet Commander is generally the most senior of the Group Commanders whose warships are involved in the battle.

Squadron Commanders

A Squadron Commander is in charge of a squadron of spaceships. He is also a ship Captain and leads his squadron from the bridge of the ship he commands. A typical squadron might be three spacecraft of which the Commander's ship is one.

While the Battlefleet Commander dictates the overall tactics of the force, the Squadron Commander's task is to make decisions about the formation and manoeuvres of the spaceships he leads.

Captains

Captains are in charge of individual ships. In terms of fleet organisation, they are the lowest ranking officers - on their own ships, they are absolute commanders. On a spaceship that is vast beyond belief, crewed by tens of thousands of men and women, the Captain's position is one of huge prestige and honour. To the spaceship's crew, far distant from the higher organisation of the fleet, their Captain is the voice of the Emperor and the symbol of supreme power in their ship-bound lives.

 

BATTLESHIPS

APOCALYPSE CLASS BATTLESHIP

365 POINTS

The Apocalypse class battleship is one of the oldest designs for a battleship in the Imperium.  It is the predecessor to the Emperor battleship, though its weapons systems are much less formidable.  Unlike the Emperor class, the Apocalypse class were equipped with prow torpedo tubes rather than an advanced sensor system.

The Apocalypse class has served the Imperium well throughout its long career, but now only a handful are left.  Many have been lost over the years in various wars to newer, more powerful ships.  Many have simply been lost due to lack of maintenance.    The Apocalypse class remains a powerful ship in its own right, outdated as it is, and will continue to serve the Imperium until the very last ship of its kind is either destroyed or decommissioned.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/12 15cm 45o 4 6+ front/5+ 4
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Starboard Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Port Lances 60cm 4 Left
Starboard Lances 60cm 4 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 3 Front/Left/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 9 Front

VENGEANCE CLASS BATTLESHIP

355 POINTS

The Vengeance class battleship is designed for sheer firepower.  A Vengeance battleship can put out an enormous weight of firepower.  Even though it was built almost 12 millenia before the current date, the Vengeance class is still able to compete with many of the newer classes of ships.  Even so, its time is almost at an end, as the last of its class are slowly replaced by Retribution class battleships.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/12 20cm 45o 6 6+ front/5+ 4
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Batteries 60cm 8 Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries 60cm 8 Right
Port Lances 60cm 2 Left
Starboard Lances 60cm 2 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 3 Front/Left/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 6 Front

JUDGEMENT CLASS BATTLESHIP

405 POINTS

The Judgement class battleship is a relatively new design, armed with full broadsides containing lance battery upon lance battery.  With its powerful lance batteries and multiple shields, the Judgement class has been able to destroy many rebel and pirate ships in the name of the Emperor.  The Judgement class is used as either a support ship to aid assaults on enemy fleets and planets, or as an escort for large lumbering Imperial tranports carrying regiments of Imperial Guard and their supplies.    The Judgement class has been occasionally used to spearhead assaults, using its broadside lance batteries to lay waste to enemy fleets as it passes through, using its dorsal lances and prow torpedoes to clear a path before it.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/12 20cm 45o 6 6+ front/5+ 4
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Lances 60cm 6 Left
Starboard Lances 60cm 6 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 3 Front/Left/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 9 Front

RESOLUTION CLASS BATTLESHIP

355 POINTS

The Resolution class battleship is a larger version of the Majestic battlecruiser.  It is a new design, less than six centuries old at the end of the Gothic War.  The Resolution runs up into the midst of a battle, firing upon any ship that gets near with its lance batteries.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/12 20cm 45o 4 5+ 4
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Lances 30cm 6 Left
Starboard Lances 30cm 6 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 3 Left/Front/Right
Prow Lances 30cm 4 Front

REDEMPTOR CLASS CAPITAL SHIP

395 pts

The Redemptor class capital ship, built in the first centuries of the new Imperium, was the most feared Imperial warship for almost a millenia after the Horus Heresy.  Its firepower was capable of laying waste to whole cities in minutes, and wiping out a world's civilization in just a matter of hours.  It was designed to be self-sufficient, and capable of destroying any ship it encountered.  Sometimes the Redemptors could stand up to entire fleets by themselves.  They were the ultimate fighting vessels.  But even the ultimate fighting vessels, with time, grew outdated, and the Redemptors were soon replaced by the new Redemption class battleship.  Many Redemptors are still in use today, a tribute to the excellent engineering that went into the construction of these ships.

This ship is armed with a power ram.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/12 20cm 45o 5 6+ front/5+ 4
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Battery 30cm 10 Left
Starboard Weapons Battery 30cm 10 Right
Dorsal Weapons Battery 30cm 6 Left/front/right
Prow Lances 45cm 4 Front
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 6 Front

GOTHIC CLASS BATTLESHIP

260 pts

The Gothic class battleship was a very powerful fighting vessel during the years of M31 - M36.  It was a powerful ship, maneuverable and destructive.  Its distinctive bird-like shape gave the ship a frightening look, and its heavy firepower earned the ship a reputation as a "Bird of Prey".  Even after the Gothic class cruisers were introduced into the Imperial fleet, the older Gothic class battleships continued to fight on, often flying alongside their newer cousins.  A Gothic class battleship is still a powerful sight, and most enemies do well not to underestimate its weight of firepower.

This ship is armed with a power ram.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Battleship/10 20cm 45o 4 6+ front/5+ 3
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Battery 30cm 8 Left
Starboard Weapons Battery 30cm 8 Right
Prow Weapons Battery 30cm 4 Front
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 6 Front

 

 

 

CRUISERS

RELENTLESS CLASS GRAND CRUISER

290 POINTS

There are few Relentless Grand Cruisers still in active duty to this day.    Most are either destroyed or run-down, or have been refitted to use as training centers for Imperial officers.  The few still in service serve proudly, their launch bays and weapons batteries always primed to deliver death to the Emperor's foes.  The Relentless Grand Cruiser is one of the last classes of Grand Cruisers still used by the Imperium, and as Battlecruisers become more and more common, the Relentless nears the end of its prime.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/10 25cm 45o 2 6+ front/5+ 3
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Starboard Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Port Weapons Batteries 45cm 6 Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries 45cm 6 Right
Dorsal Weapons Batteries 45cm 4 Front/Left/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 6 Front

REFITTED RELENTLESS CLASS GRAND CRUISER

210 POINTS

Many Relentless Grand Cruisers were refitted to become training centers for Imperial officers, where they could learn aboard an actual ship.  Some of these ships were recalled back into active duty during the Imperium's many wars.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/9 20cm 45o 2 5+ 2
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
1 squadron -
Starboard Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
1 squadron -
Port Weapons Batteries 45cm 4 Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries 45cm 4 Right
Dorsal Weapons Batteries 45cm 3 Front/Left/Right

Special Rules:  Due to the high number of Imperial officers in training on board, the Refitted Relentless Grand Cruiser gains +1Ld.

OBERON CLASS BATTLECRUISER

220 POINTS

The Oberon class battlecruiser was designed to be a gun platform, able to put out a sheer amount of firepower in any direction except to its rear.  The Oberon's hull is covered with turrets, laser batteries, plasma batteries, and various other weapons.  When firing at full effect, the Oberon can lay a virtual curtain of firepower out to either side, and to its front.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/8 20cm 45o 2 5+ 2
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Batteries 45cm 10 Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries 45cm 10 Right
Dorsal Weapons Batteries 60cm 4 Left/Front/Right
Prow Weapons Batteries 60cm 8 Front

NATAL CLASS BATTLECRUISER

260 POINTS

The Natal class battlecruiser was designed to be a ship that could have powerful firepower as well as be able to launch attack craft.  It is fully capable of making assaults on pirate bases and small rebel outposts with little or no support.    This class saw a lot of use in the years immediately after the Gothic War.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/8 20cm 45o 2 6+ front/5+ 3
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Starboard Launch Bays Furies: 30cm
Starhawks: 20cm
2 squadrons -
Port Lances 30cm 2 Left
Starboard Lances 30cm 2 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 2 Left/Front/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 6 Front

MAJESTIC CLASS BATTLECRUISER

220 POINTS

The Majestic class battlecruiser was designed to carry solely lances, making it a very powerful class of ship.  Its many lances have helped it destroy many a renegade or pirate ship in the past.  Even though this class is relatively new, its kill ratio is very impressive, and a single Majestic has been known in the past to cripple a renegade battleship.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/8 20cm 45o 2 6+ front/5+ 3
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Lances 30cm 4 Left
Starboard Lances 30cm 4 Right
Dorsal Lances 60cm 2 Left/Front/Right
Prow Lances 30cm 3 Front

GOLIATH CLASS BATTLECRUISER

245 POINTS

The Goliath class battlecruiser is a variant of the Overlord class battlecruiser.  It has replaced the dorsal lances with weapons batteries and the prow torpedo tubes with lances.  The Goliath is a ship designed for firepower, able to withstand a prolonged battle against any ship of its size or smaller, and occasionally a battleship.  Even so, the ship is slightly vulerable to attack craft, and as such is usually paired with a ship that carries such craft.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/8 20cm 45o 2 6+ front/5+ 2
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Batteries 45cm 10 Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries 45cm 10 Right
Dorsal Weapons Batteries 60cm 4 Left/Front/Right
Prow Lances 30cm 3 Front

ETERNAL CLASS CRUISER

145 pts

The Eternal class cruiser was created in M38.   The ship was designed as a light-medium cruiser, with heavy armour, decent engines, and a moderate amount of firepower.  It is capable of filling a variety of roles, from scouting to interception.  The Eternals were responsible for destroying a number of pirate and raiding fleets during the millenia of their use, and they soon earned a reputation as the fierce weapon of retribution of the Imperium.   Tactics were devised so that the ships could lay in wait in the Warp behind a convoy or fleet of warships, and pounce upon any raiding parties that jumped the convoy or fleet.  These tactics gave the Eternals a specific role: Counter-ambush.  They have proven particularly effective and are expected to continue to be effective throughout the coming millenia.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Cruiser/8 25cm 90o 2 5+ 2
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Battery 30cm 6 Left
Starboard Weapons Battery 30cm 6 Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 4 Front

 

 

 

ESCORTS

HERMES CLASS DESTROYER

45 pts

Early on in the Great Crusades, the Imperium recognized the need for protection against enemy attack craft and torpedoes.  To counter this threat, they created the Hermes class destroyer - essentially an escort ship covered with laser turrets designed with only one target in mind: enemy ordnance.  These turrets were given some of the most sophisticated targetting arrays in use by the Imperium, able to target individual torpedoes or attack craft with pinpoint accuracy.  In the standard Imperial Navy battlefleet there are dozens of Hermss, designated with the task of protecting the Imperium's capital ships.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Escort/1 25cm 90o 1 5+ 2
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Weapons battery 30cm 4 Left/front/right

Special Rules:
  • Hermes must be in a squadron with a capital ship.  Only two Hermes can join a capital ship to form a squadron, however, and they may not bring the total number of ships in a squadron to over 6.
  • Hermes may add their turrets to any capital ship they are included in a squadron with, as long as they are within squadron coherency.  They may not use their turrets to defend both themselves and the capital ship they are tasked with escorting in the same turn.
    Example:  A Hermes in a squadron with a Mars class battlecruiser may add its 2 turrets to the Mars' 3 turrets, giving it a total of 5 turrets.
  • A Hermes' weapons batteries have had special targetting systems installed to target enemy ordance accurately.  For this reason, they hit ordance on a roll of 5+ instead of a 6.
  • Hermes destroyers are allowed to move at 10cm minimum rather than 13cm.  Their drives have been refitted to allow them to burn a minimal amount of retro engines in order to stay close to the ship they are tasked with protecting.

VIGILANT CLASS DESTROYER

40 pts

The Vigilant class destroyer is an interesting ship.   Originally concepted as a light cruiser, it was later realised that the ship was more the size and style of a destroyer.  In M33, when it was first placed in use, the Vigilant was very effective against lighter ships, and in groups had an awesome effect against capital ships.  Vigilant squadrons were responsible for the destruction of many Chaos battleships during their time, including two Despoiler class battleships during the Gothic War.

TYPE/HITS SPEED TURNS SHIELDS ARMOUR TURRETS
Escort/1 30cm 90o 1 4+ 1
ARMAMENT RANGE/SPEED FIREPOWER/STR FIRE ARC
Dorsal Weapons Battery 30cm 2 Left/Front/Right
Prow Torpedoes 30cm 2 Front

 

 

Power Rams

Some ships are equipped with power rams, especially Imperial ships.  These power rams aid in making ramming attacks on other ships by maximising the damage done to the enemy ship and minimizing damage to the ship equipped with the ram.  When a ship equipped with a power ram makes a ram attack, it adds +1 to the damage done to the rammed ship and reduces the damage done to the ramming ship by 1.


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