Chaos Escort

(This article is about the starships in a Chaos void fleet. For the other type of Chaos escort, look here.)

The smallest and most common type of warship available, Chaos Escorts are lightly armed and armored, but compensate for this by being extremely fast and manoeuvrable. As their designation suggests, they often accompany larger ships during fleet actions, screening them against torpedo attacks or enemy escorts.

In the Fleets of Chaos, Escorts normally act as raiders, penetrating deep into Imperial Space to prey on vulnerable supply ships and transports. Weak individually, such Raiders group up in squadrons for both mutual protection.

Since Chaos fleets are generally very heavy on the Cruiser and rarely have anything between escort and capital ship, they wisely (wisdom should be Chaos heresy) have pretty powerful escorts for their size and cheap enough to come in ridiculously vast numbers. Pretty good at countering Imperial torpedo spam, too. Or rival Chaos fleets' attack craft.

Escorts fall under two broad types: the much larger Raider, which is better-armed and protected, and the smaller Destroyer, which is a lot nimbler and faster.

Destroyers

Ordnance-Boat

Iconoclast

Waaaay too common

A constant peril to shipping, roving squadrons of these Destroyers are a regular part of pirate fleets. Weak on their own, this is normally compensated by sheer numbers, and enough Destroyers working together can even bring down a Cruiser. Other than swarm tactics, they are usually seen engaging enemy escorts, destroying attack craft, and shooting down incoming torpedoes.

The Iconoclast itself is armed by a short-ranged Missile Launching Weapons Battery turret. Sooo...what are those tubes on the sides for if not guns or torpedoes? Chaos, that’s what. Being crazy-stupid for its own sake. Lore-wise it is actually a well-armed ship.

...This ship does look pretty cool, though. Rogue Traders like it.

The Iconoclast is equipped with 6 Light Missile Turrets.

• Length: 1.3km
• Mass: 6.1 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 16,500 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 7.2 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Raiders

Basic

Infidel

Underestimate at your own peril.

ALLAHU AKBAR!

Jokes aside, originating from the Monsk orbital shipyards, this was meant to replace the Cobra-class Destroyer, the designs were found to have been stolen. A few years later, ships bearing the same description were reported to be attacking Imperial supply convoys. As a result of this, the class was redesignated as the Infidel.

Imperial efforts to reconstruct the stolen plans resulted in the development of the Falchion Escort class. In 938 or 939.M41, the two "sister" classes (the Falchion and the Infidel) would confront each other for the first time in a naval battle over Sabatine.

The Infidel is armed with 2 front Torpedo tubes, as well as 4 short-ranged Light Missile Turrets in front.

• Length: 1.8-2km; approx
• Mass: 12 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 24,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 7.0 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Lance-Boat

Apostate

Putting the word 'prostate' in apostate.

The Apostate is one of four new ships (not including Titans) added to the Chaos Navy with the release of the Chaos Expansion pack and not present in the original game.

The Apostate packs a pair of Light Lance Artilleries, making it a bit unique in that it doesn't have any macro weapons at all. The benefit is that all of the damage and CPM the Apostate deals will be very reliable no matter what range it is firing at, given the 100% accuracy of the lances.

While the 90 degree firing arc, customary to prow most lance weapons, limits the ability for the Apostate to move and fire, it seems quite potent as a cheap harasser. Micromanaging their flight path during the long reload times of the lances and using "Stealth" or "Lock On!" will maximize their lifespan while the whittle away the hitpoints of your enemies at range.

The last thing worth mentioning, though important to remember, is the slower speed of the Apostate which is at 200, the same as Cruiser class vessels in the Chaos fleet. Why that's the case or how the fuck an escort got this mangled, we have no idea. So best to let these boys sit out of the back.

The Apostate is armed with the aforementioned 2 Light Lance Artillery.

• Length: 1.8-2km; approx
• Mass: 10 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 22,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 5.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Idolator

Your guess on the nature of these prongs are as good as mine.

A giant tuning fork with rocket engines.

Said to be the product of the Dark Mechanicus Forge World of Xana II, the Idolator-class Raider incorporate features and systems of possibly xenos origin. These ships were also infamous for their incredible long-ranged gunnery, which points to a targeting system that the Adeptus Mechanicus cannot readily duplicate. Why they're trying to duplicate Dark Mechanicum technology is an important question that no one has answered.

It is easily identifiable for its bizarre prong-shaped prow. Don't ask us why the forces of Chaos like to stick four flimsy-looking prongs at the front of their ship, it is not like it is reinforced to withstand a ram like their Imperial counterparts. It's quite possible this is meant to be the lance and/or the targeting system, probably the latter given that's mentioned to be unique to them.

The Idolator is armed with a short-ranged front-facing Lance battery as well as 4 mid-ranged Light Missile Turrets.

• Length: 1.8-2km; approx
• Mass: 11.3 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 23,200 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 7.0 gravities max sustainable acceleration

In Battlefleet Gothic

The cheapest and smallest ship type available, the Escorts are also some of the fastest and agile ships available. There is no limit to the number of Escorts that can be included in a list except points, so use them to round of a fleet.

That aside, use Escorts to screen your much more expensive units from Ordinance or Torpedoes, or harass isolated ships.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2

Much like their counterparts on the tabletop, Escorts are cheap and quick ships. Aside from their obvious role as Torpedo screens for much more expensive vessels, they've also been used as scouts and spotters.

Vessels of the Traitor Legions
Spaceships
	Space Station	Blackstone Fortress
	Super Battleships	Abyss
	Battleships	Battleship (Gloriana - Planet Killer) - Ark of Omen
	Cruisers	Light Cruiser - Cruiser Heavy Cruiser - Grand Cruiser
	Escorts	Escort
	Others	Silver Tower of Tzeentch
	Combat Spacecraft	Doomfire Bomber - Swiftdeath Fighter
Landships
	Siege Carriers	Siege Carrier
	War Machines	Chaos Harvester - Nurgle Plague Tower - Woe Machine
	Titans	Questor Scout Titan - Slaanesh Subjugator Feral Scout Titan - Ravager Battle Titan Chaos Warlord Titan - Chaos Emperor Titan Skull Reaper
	Troop Transports	Mastodon
	Superheavy Tanks	Baneblade - Fellblade - Plaguereaper Tower of Skulls
Airships
	Flying Fortress	Harbinger
	Aerospace Vessels	Stormbird
Seaships
	Oceanic Battleships	Oceanic Battleship