Imperial Navy Cruiser

The workhorse of the Imperial Navy's fleets, the Cruiser is a medium-sized warship, sitting at the midpoint between the Battleship and the Destroyer escort. Though they are less powerful than a Battleship, they are faster and much more common, and as such are used for typical fleet duties like sector patrols, planetary blockades, and lightning raids into enemy territory.

Cruisers fall into four broad categories: Basic (mix of weapons batteries, lances, and usually torpedoes), Ordinance-boats (those armed mostly with Macrocannons), Lance-boats (likewise, armed mostly with Lance batteries), and Carriers.

Cruiser Classes per Category

Basic

Lunar

Your bread and butter.

The Leman Russ Battle Tanks of Imperial Cruisers.

The "standard" Imperial Cruiser, the Lunar-class is one of the oldest Cruiser designs still used by the Imperium. It's also easy-to-build and maintain, which explains its continued popularity with the Imperial Navy. Due to its standard load-out (Macrobatteries, Lances, and Torpedoes), the Lunar is very versatile and easily slot into any fleet role given to it.

Usually, cruisers operate in pairs, and the Lunar is no exception, as it allows twice the firepower to be brought against the enemy, whilst forcing them to halve their reply. Although lore-wise Imperial cruisers are few and mostly operate like pocket battleships for light cruiser or patrol squadrons that encounter serious trouble. The standard tactic with the Lunar class is to fire the torpedoes whilst closing with the enemy. This will cause some disruption as the enemy attempts to manoeuvre away from the torpedoes. This disruption will hamper attempts to fire upon the pair of cruisers, and they will get within range, and turn their broadsides to face the enemy. From here, they will fire volley after volley into the enemy while circling at full speed.

The Lunar class is represented in almost any Imperial Fleet that one will see, as it is uncomplicated to produce. Roughly six hundred Lunar class vessels are in service in Segmentum Obscurus alone (also this is probably a lowball considering Imperial record-keeping being shit). Even a Hive World with no shipbuilding expertise can build a Lunar class in short periods of time. The ship Lord Daros was built in orbit of the Feral World of Unloth, using materials mined unknowingly by the natives below.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Lunar-class is the generalist of the Cruisers, and can fill any role in a fleet. It's also one of the cheapest points-wise, which is a steal given how versatile it is.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 28 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 95,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 2.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Carriers

Dictator

Now with fighter support!

A retrofit of damaged Lunar-class ships, where any destroyed Lance battery gets swapped out for a pair of Launch Bays for fighters and bombers, although the Dictator retains the Lunar's weapons batteries and torpedo capabilities, as well as the armoured prow. The shield, turret, and engines also remain unchanged. This elegant solution makes the Dictator even more effective than the Lunar at some roles, just don't expect it to win in a straight out broadside duel. Of course, you shouldn’t be getting close until after your attack craft weaken your target’s weapons to give you the advantage. If you’re dueling. But really, a squadron of Dictators can be used tactically beyond just “open fire”.

It was originally designed as a stop-gap method to deliver the huge numbers of atmospheric craft that an opposed planetary landing needs. In these situations it is unusual to have an airfield under the control of the invaders, and therefore the Dictator fills the role of the airfield for the bombers and fighters supporting the landings.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Dictator is an Imperial player's first serious Carrier (unlike the Defiant-class), but it's also the smallest available. Don't expect those two Launch Bays to do much, unless you run the Dictator in support for another Carrier. However, they can be helpful for stripping turrets in support of torpedo attacks. Don’t rely on them for damaging enemy ships, though.

• Length: 5.1km
• Mass: 29 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 85,000 crew, 15,000 pilots and support personnel; approx
• Acceleration: 2.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Lance-Boat

Gothic

Not compensating for anything.

Take the Lunar, replace the Macrocannons with even more Lance batteries, and you get the Gothic-class. Due to its weaponry, this class can easily deal with heavier ship types, but often have to work in conjunction with another ship to deal with enemy shields. This weaponry is also its main weakness: unlike macro cannons, lance batteries are delicate things, making it much easier to destroy the ships weapons. Lances are also less effective than macro cannons in a short-range broadside battle.

The ship has the distinctive armoured prow of the Imperial Navy and the standard six torpedo tubes of an Imperial cruiser. The class is as fast and manoeuvrable as any other Imperial cruiser type, with an equally good shield and turret coverage. Supported properly, however, and the Gothic becomes an effective capital ship killer.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Gothic does well against heavily-armored foes thanks to the armor penetration of its Lances. The fact that Lances never miss doesn't hurt either.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 28 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 79,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 2.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Ordinance-Boat

Dominator

The most well-named class since Planet Killer. Your pocket Retribution, right here.

Another variant based on the Lunar-class hull, the Dominator is essentially a Retribution-class Battleship in miniature (minus the range of course). The ship was originally designed as a long-range support vessel, using its massive Nova Cannon from behind fleet battle lines. In this function, however, it never really excelled and only gained a handful of victories to its name.

It was never truly appreciated by its crew(s) until the start of the Gothic War. In a particular battle, a single Dominator, the Hammer of Justice, found itself between two Chaos cruisers. The Dominator's true role was found that day when the Hammer of Justice gave both of its rivals a full broadside to the face and crippled them in the one volley.

Armed with Macrocannons with a prow-mounted Nova Cannon thrown in, the class was designed primarily around planetary assaults, and in-universe was rarely seen in fleet actions. It can still provide support, however, and any ship that gets within range of a Dominator is guaranteed to get hurt badly.

One of these, the Depth of Fury, nearly killed the Terminus Est.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Dominator can wreak havoc on enemy fleets with its regular armaments alone. Throw in its stasis bomb and disruption bomb abilities, and a properly-placed squadron of Dominators can slow enemies, strip their shields, and THEN blast them to kingdom come with the Nova Cannon.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 30 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 90,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 2.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Tyrant

Meet the pinnacle of false advertising.

The Tyrant was initially conceptualized as a long-ranged plasma ordinance boat. At the end of the 38th Millennium, a new technique was found for extending the range of plasma-based weaponry. The super-fired plasma weapons developed by Adeptus Mechanicus Artisan-Magos Hyus N'dai were built into the Tyrant class cruiser. In the 39th Millennium, the Tyrant class was popular, due to its superior range over other cruiser classes. It was theorised that the Tyrant would be able to deliver both long-range fire, and short-range fire, of the same power.

Unfortunately, reality is often dissapointing, as design compromises (to not tax the plasma reactor) led to it to being armed instead with an ineffective mix of short-ranged batteries and long-ranged plasma macrocannon. The Navy is still trying to make the class work, but now has to scavenge the replacements to the short-ranged weapons either from enemy vessels or the odd Space Hulk. This is stupid, just use a different short-ranged weapon that takes comparatively little energy like railguns or missiles and devote the rest to the long-range plasma cannons to make up for their lack of numbers. Or use this as a lesson to change the Dictator by replacing its weapons with long-range plasma and abandon the Tyrant. And bring back the Hades, which had no problems and the Tyrant is doing a very bad job of replacing.

The ship is popular with Rogue Traders, who mostly just strip out the plasma weaponry to maximize all that reactor power.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 27.2 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 90,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 2.4 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Other

Ambition

The Super-Yachts of Cruisers.

The Ambition-Class Cruiser is a type of Cruiser class vessel used by various Human fleets. These cruisers are often produced by Adeptus Mechanicus shipyards for extremely wealthy individuals, Rogue Traders, or the System Defence Forces of noble dynasties.

These are rare vessels, as it is not common for shipbuilders to contract their services to buyers outside of the Imperial Navy. Despite being operated by various clans, houses, and fleets these are true Cruisers, packing as much firepower as the Lunar or Tyrant classes.

They also invariably incorporate luxurious quarters and amenities for their buyers. These are ships built efficiently, and lacks some of the ultra-conservative redundancies built into Imperial Navy vessels. As a result, some have claimed that these ships are more fragile than "true cruisers", but most Rogue Traders and noble families are willing to take the risk.

• Length: 4.9km
• Mass: 25 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 89,000 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 3 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Cardinal

The black sheep of Imperial Cruisers.

A ship that's plagued by its ancestors.

The Cardinal-Class Heavy Cruiser is a class of Cruiser used by the Imperial Navy. Seeing as how this ship used the original template for the ill-fated Acheron Class, one can see why this class of ship proved a tad bit too controversial for the Imperial Navy. But no, you can’t see the controversy past the ten thousand years of Imperial ships turning to Chaos without their entire classes being censured.

The failure of the Acherons and their supposed use of xenos technology has haunted the Cardinal Class and now only a handful of Imperial Navy fleets use the ageing ships in service.

As its design was Great Crusade-era, the Cardinal lack the armored prow of its modern cousins and is more suited for long-range engagements instead of being target practice. Which means it probably was named Cardinal during the violently atheist time before the violently religious time. Cardinal then may have been in reference to the secular meanings of the word and now lives on as an amusing joke.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 32 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 89,400 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 2.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Rogue Trader Cruiser

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

The ship used by everyone's favourite space smugglers.

Rogue Trader Cruisers refer to a variety of vessels operated by Rogue Traders. Not possessing the wealth or resources to build Cruiser class vessels themselves, Rogue Traders often rely on vessels built by others. Such vessels are often gifts to loyal and successful Rogue Traders from the Administratum or retired Imperial Navy ships. In exchange for such a gift, however, a Rogue Trader may be called upon to lead an expedition into uncharted space.

Rogue Trader Vessels are unique, exotic ships. Often exhibiting many signs of the Traders own tastes and colonial adventures, they are subject to constant refit and adornment, much of it alien in origin. The business of a Rogue Trader can take him/her all over the galaxy and while their vessel's class may be common in its sector of origin, it may also be virtually unknown to other regions of the Imperium.

They often have their own miniature launch bays for exoatmospheric and interplanetary expeditions, as such, they also have their own flight crew. Often these small space and aircraft aren't really suited for combat, often carrying a small compliment of Gun-Cutters, Arvus Lighters and Aquila Landers.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 28 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 75,000 crew, including 2,000 pilots and support personnel; approx
• Acceleration: 2.6 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Inquisitorial Cruiser

EXTERMINATUS MOTHERFUCKERS!

Personal pimp boat for everyone's favourite psychopaths.

Inquisitorial Cruisers are Cruiser-class vessels used by the Inquisition. These vessels are specially constructed for the Inquisition and wield technology and weaponry available only to the fleets of Mars itself such as a certain cyclonic torpedo. This also means that they are proof that the Mechanicus will share it’s technology (the goods, not the knowledge) if you pay them and the Imperium is a cheapskate.

As a result, they are faster, better armed, and better protected than Imperial Navy ships of the same class. While a few standard patterns are used by the Inquisition, they are just as often purpose-constructed and optimized for specific roles. These ships are usually used by Inquisitors mission-to-mission before being transferred, though it is not unheard of for individual Inquisitors to have permanent Cruisers attached to their names.

• Length: 5km
• Mass: 29 megatonnes; approx
• Crew: 84,500 crew; approx
• Acceleration: 3.2 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Conquest

The fat bastard of Cruisers.

The big, fat and THICC boy of Cruisers.

The Conquest-Class Star Galleon is an ancient Cruiser design still used in older fleets of the Imperial Navy as well as some Rogue Traders. They are thought to be treasure ships from the very first Rogue Traders on the orders of the Emperor himself.

Ships still in service have technical wonders that have since become a lost art of the Imperium, capable of conducting both long-range exploration missions and having enough combat capacity to carve apart renegade empires.

By the 41st Millennium, few of these ships remain in service and are seen as precious relics from the legendary founding time of the Imperium. Remaining Conquest Star Galleons are mostly used by Rogue Traders, as Imperial Navy officers tend to view them as under-gunned for their size and fragile. This opinion, however, misses the obvious fact that it is an armed freighter, not a warship. Double stupid since it clearly has two rows of guns to each gun deck.

• Length: 5.1km
• Mass: 30 megatonnes approx
• Crew: 65,000 crew, approx
• Acceleration: 2.1 gravities max sustainable acceleration

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2

Much like in-universe, the Cruiser will be the bread and butter of any Imperial Navy fleet. While having a Battleship is all good and well, any decent list out there will feature multiple Cruisers (of any flavor) simply due to their low point cost (one can get two Cruisers for the cost of a Battleship). Run with Destroyer squadrons for maximum fun.

Though lacking standard prow weapons, and ostensibly focused on broadsides, Imperial Navy cruisers can be surprisingly deadly on a frontal charge. A full six-torpedo spread can devastate enemy ships, the heavy prow armour allows them to survive long enough to close to ranges where landing all six is reliably possible, and the forward ramming spur allows them to deliver a brutal follow-up to survivors. Most of your ships are reliable picks, and can be counted on to give a good account of themselves.

Nonetheless, there are winners and losers here.

The Lunar is, as on the tabletop, your standard cruiser. Its mixed-loadout of lances and macrobatteries means it'll always be effective but never efficient when considering any target, but it is one of your cheaper options. If you're good at micro and want to specialise your ships to take advantage of that you'll get better results elsewhere, but if you'd rather spend your clicks elsewhere, it's a solid choice. Generally, though, it takes long enough to take down shields that you might as well focus on specialized ships and choose your preferred range and ships which compliment that approach. A Jack of all Trades ship is okay but really only for assisting specialized ships. But, since those ships are more expensive and their effectiveness means you don’t strictly need a bunch of them, Lunars are a good mortar to their brick. On the other-hand, there are other general purpose ships than the Lunar in different flavors of deck combinations: launch bays, lances, and macro. Pick your strategy, your engagement range, and build your fleet on those factors.

The Dictator is your carrier option, but oddly enough isn't a particularly great carrier. Its batteries are short-ranged enough that it can't really hang back from a fight without sacrificing its guns, and if that's what you want you can save a few points and just take a Defiant. Instead, treat it as a fairly typical close-range ship of the line with some optional strike craft support, and you'll get far better use from it. Remember that you don’t have to use your attack craft on the same target as your guns. You can deploy them against other targets to assist other ships or as part of a greater attack craft wave.

The Gothic is your next option, and is both the cheapest and most specialised. A full lance broadside is devastatingly powerful against enemy hulls, and if you can knock out their generators, the Gothic can be incredibly points-efficient. The only issue is that its lances are unfortunately, as with most of the imperial navy, fairly short-ranged.

Your last two options are the Dominator and Tyrant. The Dominator is painfully close to perfect, with a very powerful broadside at close range. However, it's the only cruiser to sport a Nova Cannon and lack the spur, meaning that it can't pull off the torpedo-ram combo which is so effective at the ranges where it wants to fight.

The Tyrant has the opposite problem; its plasma macrobatteries have an extremely long range, but only make up half its battery complement, with the rest taken up by regular macros. At long range it just doesn't have the damage output to justify itself, and in close-range broadsides the weaker plasma means it can't really keep up with the Dominator, Lunar or Gothic. (However, astonishingly, although its broadside DPS is lower than the Dominator, because it's a bit cheaper you actually get more marginally more efficient 'pure' DPS out of it than the Dominator. This doesn't account for the Nova cannon or torps, but it's a surprise to see that the Tyrants would actually defeat an even point value of Dominators in a straight shooting slugfest. Turns out Hyus N'dai knew what he was doing after all!)

If their prow weapons were swapped, both of these ships would be significantly stronger, allowing the Dominator to be one of the most effective brawlers in the game while the Tyrant could justify staying at range with a combination of plasma macros and nova cannon shells. Take notes, Cawl! (It would be nice if the close-range guns were replaced with launch bays, too - but then you'd basically be going for stripped-down Mars-class Battlecruiser).

Vessels of the Imperium of Man
Spaceships
	Space Station	Space Station (The Phalanx - The Rock - Orbital Plate)
	Battleships	Battle-barge - Battleship (Gloriana) - Ark Mechanicus
	Cruisers	Light Cruiser (Imperial Navy - Adeptus Astartes - Adeptus Mechanicus) Cruiser (Imperial Navy - Adeptus Mechanicus) Strike Cruiser - Battlecruiser - Grand Cruiser
	Escorts	Escort (Imperial Navy - Adeptus Astartes)
	Logistics	Imperial Navy Logistic Ships - Adeptus Mechanicus Maintenance Ship
	Dropships	Devourer Dropship - Tetrarch Heavy Lander Space Marine Landing Craft - Galaxy Troop Ship
	Combat Spacecraft	Boarding Torpedo - Fury Interceptor - Faustus Interceptor Shark Assault Boat - Starhawk Bomber
Landships
	Hiveships	Mobile Hiveships
	War Machines	Ordinatus Minoris - Ordinatus Primaris
	Mobile Commands	Leviathan - Capitol Imperialis - Mobile Cathedral
	Logistics	Harvester - Macro-Hauler - Titan Train
	Titans	Warhound Scout Titan - Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan - Reaver Battle Titan Warbringer Nemesis Titan - Warlord Battle Titan - Warmaster Heavy Battle Titan Emperor Battle Titan
	Troop Transports	Spartan Assault Tank - Coronus Grav Carrier - Gorgon - Mastodon
	Superheavy Tanks	Typhon Heavy Siege Tank - Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer Baneblade - Fellblade - Astraeus
	Subterrenes	Mole - Hellbore
Airships
	Flying Fortress	Storm Eagle - Fire Raptor - Marauder Bomber
	Aerospace Vessels	Orion Gunship - Thunderhawk - Stormbird - Overlord Gunship
Seaships
	Oceanic Battleships	Oceanic Battleship
	Maritime Cruisers	Maritime Cruiser
	Submarines	Harvester Submersible