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Imperial Navy

2023-05-25T08:43:49Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84: /* NCO Ranks */

[[File:imperialnavy1.jpg|400px|thumb||Cathedrals IN SPEHSS!]]

{{Topquote|When you began, you couldn’t have possessed enough bones for the whole ship. It would look stupid with a few dozen skeletons nailed to the walls. So, how do you start? Do you save up enough bodies for a corridor at a time, or put them away until you have enough to decorate the entire vessel?’|[[Jain Zar]],-Storm of Silence, And while in context she is talking about a [[Dark Eldar]] ship, it applies equally well to the Imperium. She thoroughly underestimates how many corpses both have readily available.}}

{{Topquote|By my faith, may the light of the Emperor spread to the farthest star. By my duty, the galaxy will belong to the righteous. By my actions, the Imperial Navy shall be honoured and remembered on Holy Terra. For the Emperor of Mankind, AND FOR THE BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC!|Imperial Navy Captain Abridal, shorty before his blaze of glory that ultimately stopped the 12th [[Black Crusade]] and saved billions of Imperial lives.}}

The '''Imperial Navy''' is one of the main branches of the [[Imperium of Man|Imperial]] military in [[Warhammer 40,000]], although very little of the Navy actually appears in the tabletop game. They're also one of the main factions in the beloved spin-off game [[Battlefleet Gothic]].

Unlike the [[Imperial Guard]], who get killed in the <s>thousands</s> <s>millions</s> billions every day, the Imperial Navy rarely suffers that many casualties (at least when capital ships are concerned). This is because, unlike the [[lasgun|flashlight]] used by Guardsmen, the main weapon of the Navy is a giant, heavily-armed, heavily-armored battleship that puts other races' spaceships to shame. These ships are also [[Awesome|massive, flying, Gothic cathedrals]]. Be mindful that a ship ''surviving'' a fight doesn't mean survival of any and all of her crew - when the hull is compromised, people die by the hundreds, and retrieval of hulks after a victorious battle is a routine operation for the Navy.
The Imperial Navy is actually well handled by the Imperium. I know, shocking. ''But'', (there it is!) the Imperium seems to think trying to defend everywhere is a good idea. This works fine in general because most threats it faces are hilariously out-matched rebels. But when they're not facing hilariously out-matched rebels, multiple worlds are lost before the Navy can get enough force concentration to win and usually take back those planets. Since those rebels don't need anything above escorts to go squish them (and protect the transports of Guardsmen to do personal squishery), the Navy's penchant for trying to shove full fleets everywhere and even having light cruisers on patrol is not thought-out. It doesn't mean that Guard would get support of a full battlegroup initially tasked with securing the system during their ground campaign (see [[Vraks]] as an example).

Depending on how you look at it, and who you're looking at, the officers of the Navy are either wealthy cowards or badass gentlemen. In either case, their ships have crews numbering the hundreds of thousands or even millions (we're not kidding when we say that each ship has its own language(s) and culture(s,)) since the Imperial Navy doesn't understand how auto-loaders work, so loading a gun requires thousands of slaves running on treadmills. Of course, this might be the fault of [[Adeptus Mechanicus|a certain other branch of the Imperium, who, coincidentally, ''do'' have working auto-loaders on their ships]]. In any case, [[Grimdark|the Imperium has found it cheaper and ''more effective'' to use manpower because they have ''that many people'' to throw at even the tiniest of problems.]] Of course, for a major officer, most days simply require him to press a button and blow something up, then go back to drinking his tea. Oh, and ''maybe'' scramble the ground-support flyers, if he's feeling charitable that day.

Note that, back in the [[Great Crusade]], the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy were one and the same, operating under the far-less-badass name of "Imperial Army." However, thanks to the [[Horus Heresy]], the two got split up, so that a single military commander couldn't control too many forces; a Guard commander isn't able to get off any given planet either without the Navy ship or commandeering a civilian transport, an action that (theoretically) also reqiures approval of Navy officials, and the Navy isn't able to conduct wars (and, you know, occupy territory) without the Guard. You'd think that this enforced mutual co-dependence would make them collaborate, but [[grimdark|of course]], despite how much they need each other, the two bicker constantly, which, in fact, may be the reason for shitty situation the 40k Imperium finds himself in, at least on the military front. And it's all thanks to no other than [[Roboute Guilliman]], the fact his fans keep forgetting about.

While the fleet and ground forces generally had their own commands in the Imperial Army, they had one superior officer in form of Lord Militant (or Lord Solar) on top of both branches. Since admirals are not known for knowing jack shit about ground operations and vice versa, High Command generally operated in auftragstaktik and delegated specifics to the underlings (the same way WW2 army generals worked with air force, essentially), unless the whole expedition was lead by Lord Marshal (think Rogue Trader expedition, but with a cohort of [[Solar Auxilia]] and not all that interested in trading).

Interestingly, though most of the most well-known Chaos ship classes have been put into reserve fleets by the Imperium (hopefully after fixing the insanity-causing problems), those ships are still used by virtue of being, well, reserves. When your battlfleet goes off to fight who-knows-what, the reserve fleet is what holds the line if some major invasion happens. Frontline loses are generally not replaced by the reserves and reserves are used for when greater numbers or something are needed only if situation is really dire. Think of it as holding back a portion of your forces to take a wait-and-see approach for determining where to use them. It might have something to do with reserve fleet ships actually having rules for routing from the field easier and even turning traitor if the enemy fleet is Chaos in BFG...hmmmm.

Weirdly, although Chaos is famed for its use of numerous carriers and attack craft and the Imperium for its big guns, the Imperial Navy has more dedicated carriers and more hybrid carriers whereas Chaos has the most and best guns. The difference is, of course, that the Imperium doesn't make nearly as frequent use of its carriers and carrier hybrids as Chaos does just as Chaos's non-carrier hybrids tend to be used as support vessels like how the Imperium uses its dedicated lance boats and ordnance boats which Chaos also has a small handful of. Chaos Lances and Macrobatteries also tend to have longer ranges due to being made with ancient advanced technology that has been long lost for Imperium of 40k. It sucks that [[Belisarius Cawl]] has been too obessesed with his Primarises for 10 thousand years to actually make something useful for any other military branch of Imperium, doesn't it?

== Types of Ships ==

The Imperial Navy has four types of ships they hide their cowardly asses in. The main ships are battleships, cruisers, escorts, and fighters. There are also mobile Battle Fortresses/Starbase.
Each ship can also be classified by its weaponry, and role in the battlefleet:
*'''Basic:''' Jack of All Trades ships, due to having multiples weapons types, and not being specialized into any. Lunar class cruisers are the prime example, having macrobateries, lances & torpedoes. Why use basic instead focusing on Ordnance-boats to drop shields and Lance-boats to finish off? Because escorts can carry lances and destroyer squadrons can spam torpedoes and the light cruisers can supplement cruiser ordnance and lance and attack craft wherever needed. Which turns space combat into a very complicated game of Chess and Risk combined. As such, carriers, ordnance-boats, and lance-boats become supplementary rather than the bread and butter. After all, if you have an ordnance or lance boat and its supporting escorts get quickly killed off (which is what would happen) then you've lost half your capabilities and would probably lose to a basic as you either couldn't drop shields fast enough or once you did drop you couldn't finish off the enemy fast enough. Plus, lances fluff-wise seem to do massive damage to shields and their only draw-back is the shields regenerating nearly as quickly as the lances so having even a small number of weapons batteries to prevent recharge or even take more bites out of enemy shields between lance blasts would be very good. Which seems to be how the Imperium likes to fight, actually: with lances being their "real" cannons and weapons batteries just assisting with a storm of shots.
*'''Lance-boats:''' Ships that focus into Lance weaponry, used for long-range focused attacks, especially against small ships & unshielded ones. Rarer as they have a weakness to Void Shields and require better drives due to the power requirements of the lances.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Opposite of the Lance-boat, replaces Lances with more Macrobatteries, focusing mostly into medium & short range brawls against enemy ships. Usually this is because they need extra power due to mounting a Nova Cannon or having power-hungry macrobatteries such as Plasma Cannons.
*'''Carrier:''' The red-haired stepchild of the Navy. Replaces the Lances with Launch Bays and is disliked by most Admirals due to the stigma against Attack Craft, although it is because the Traitors and Chaos pawns focused on raiding and striking fast, so with enemy fleets focused on long range attack (Lances, laser, and attack craft) plus Chaos likes them more because they can fill the bays with Assault Boats, the Imperial Navy might have got that stigma of seeing too many Chaos carriers raiding and pillaging imperial planets and so started disliking them. Some Carriers are also made from wrecked cruisers of other types, in which case damaged broadside weapons are ripped out and replaced by launch bays. Attack Craft are the primary weapon of the mighty Emperor-class and Despoiler-class battleships. So much for carriers being weak.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Originally an experiment for escort ships to overrun enemy vessel crews using boarding torpedoes, it was doomed to failure as the targets were either too nimble or too big. The Imperial Navy kept a few as Missile Destroyers.

=== Mobile Battle Fortress ===

Massive space stations that can serve a fleet of ships. Only two classes have been named in canon.
*'''Ramilies-class Starfort:''' Very rare battle stations that can move thru the Warp. Nobody knows exactly how that works so over the millennia, over a thousand of these valuable and rare artifacts were lost. As these were made by [[STC]]'s, it is assumed that they can still be constructed albeit very slowly. They serve as forward bases most of the time and only the most important people/locations get to have one. There used to be an Imperium-wide network of these things which enabled the Imperium to very quickly respond to threats despite the unpredictability of Warp travel.

In more recent canon, these things can move only with the aid of tugs, but their utility remains, and they serve as hubs for local military activity and Crusade staging.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battleship|Battleship]] ===

Supposedly rare, but every Grand Marshal and High Admiral has at least one and often several or even dozens to hide in because GW is completely and hopelessly inconsistent with fleet sizes, though as of late it seems that GW is leaning towards big fleets and big armies when it gives numbers. The biggest heaviest hitters available, these things are like actual medieval cathedrals in that the grandchildren of the workers who start building them get to live to see their completion. Fuckheug, lots (and lots, and lots) of guns and most can deploy fighters and bombers. Many of you are wondering why battleships instead of focusing on carriers. Contrary to popular belief, large ships are not negated because of smaller but more numerous ships being able to swarm it dead. Big ships are built to kill the ships directly below them, which the ones below them etc. like the universe’s most brutal food chain. So, the ships below them in power ganging up on them still costs more than the big ship they’re ganging up on. For torpedo boats, big ships are escorted by vessels specialized in killing torpedo ships and attack craft. Carriers replaced battleships in real life due to range, which is irrelevant when cheap swarms of potent anti-air ships can be spammed.
*'''Ordnance-boats:'''
**'''Retribution:''' Packing all gun batteries, the ship can devastate an entire continent in one broadside, has 3/4 of Gothic broadside as auxiliary weapons in turrets and enough torpedo tubes to tear a cruiser in half just for good measure. Subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.
**'''Invincible:''' An interesting class, dubbed a 'fast battleship', these were designed to chase down xenos and chaos raiders, and then use them to make the vast, empty tracts of space more interesting by filling it with their enemies' debris fields. This type of battleship combines the firepower of a ''Retribution'' with the speed of a ''Dauntless''. It worked ''incredibly well'' to the point that piracy and xenos activity in the entire sector became almost non-existent practically overnight. The problem, of course, is the general incompetence of Imperial tacticians. It looks exactly like a ''Retribution'' and has the guns to match, so it must be one, right? NO. They excelled at the role they were designed for, but throw them into gunfights against dedicated battleships, and these things tended to come apart easier than wet cardboard, earning them the nickname 'Kisher's Kombustibles' and the scorn of many admirals. Admirals who ignored the fact that the reports detailing the introduction of the ship and how to best use it (it's tactics also included in the Tactica Imperialis) explicitly state not to use it on a gun-line and that it is for fast-ship interdiction. The ship's Commissars must be particularly incompetent to let this slide as in the Guard the generals would be executed quickly for such incompetence. Of course, these are also the Commissars who do nothing when troop transports' escorts frequently run off to fight while the transports lose a significant percentage of their ships. Perhaps if they would actually enforce their orders to stay with the transports, the Imperium would have won most of the campaigns it has lost. Given that they still often win even with a fraction of their beginning ground forces actually managing to make landfall. [[Grimdark|Because they have THAT many men to throw at the enemy.]] Hmmm in fact, misusing the Invincible-class is technically heresy as its instructions of use are in the Tactica Imperialis and violating the Tactica Imperialis is outright heresy (I think I remember someone actually being executed in the fluff for violating it).
***Much like the Chalice-class of Battlecruisers, the Invincibles are a big reference to the real life Battlecruisers of World War 1, especially with the term "Kisher's Kombustibles" (real life Battlecruisers were referred to as "Fisher's Combustibles") and the fact that three blew up in a single battle (referencing Jutland).
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Apocalypse:''' One of the oldest ship designs (predating the ''Retribution'', which is also one of the oldest ship designs), this ship packs a lot of [[lances]] and a [[Nova Cannon]]. Good for taking out lots of smaller sized ships with massed lance fire. It's also described in fluff as being able to cripple anything up to a cruiser with a single, concentrated broadside. They're fairly rare, since the Imperium doesn't know how to build them anymore, and the ones still operating are so old, their weapons systems have degraded permanently, forcing them to fire their lances at only a fraction of their full power. Shares all the disadvantages of a ''Gothic''-class cruiser.
***Despite the fluff stating that the Apocalypse and Oberon classes are unique in that they lack figure-heads, the artwork and [[Crunch|models]] [[Derp|give them one anyway.]]
**'''Victory:''' Possibly an attempt to recreate the ''Apocalypse'' class, the ''Victory'' is basically a ''Retribution'' with a bunch of lances replacing its broadside cannons, and a Nova Cannon instead of torpedoes. Has the range that fluff states the ''Apocalypses'' once had, but lacks the same level of firepower. Effective at sniping, and hilarious when used against escort heavy fleets.
**'''Desolator:''' A ridiculously old design. Designed to emphasize range and carries Torpedos, Broadside Lances and Dorsal Macrobatteries. Like most keel-built ships, the Desolators ended up mothballed or went traitor.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Emperor:''' The "standard" battleship of the 40k 'verse, the ship has multiple fighter decks and, thanks to dorsal and prow turrets, enough weapons batteries to put Dominator broadside to shame. Unfortunately, most commanders like to use this ship as a hideout, causing the lack of sufficient air support in the ground wars even though the Navy's atmospheric aircraft are completely different from its much bigger space based strike craft. Tabletop-wise, its status as the official battleship of Battlefleet Gothic doesn't stop it from losing carrier duels against the Chaos equivalent.
**'''Nemesis:''' The super-carrier of the Imperial Navy. It has SIX flight decks (the size of towns or small cities, each), more than any other ship in the galaxy. But because of Rule of Cool, it is incredibly rare since the Navy captains prefer to get up close broadside their enemies, or actually rather because all of the ships in this class were just ships modified from Emperor class ships in one particular war, because they were damaged or otherwise. Naturally, the Navy never considers making them based on the Invincible instead (the Invincible was mass-produced).
**'''Desecrator:''' The carrier variant of the Desolator. Replaces half the Broadside Lances with Landing Bays. Shared the same fate as its sister class and is now only seen in Chaos fleets. Traitorous despite its clearly pious and Emperor-loving name.
**'''Despoiler:''' Oh boy, where do we start? The Despoiler-class came about after the cogboys discovered plans for a carrier on Barbarus. The catch? Well, Barbarus is the former homeworld of the [[Death Guard]], and the plans were for the same class of ship that the [[Terminus Est]] is a part of. Showing a complete lack of common sense, the Imperial Navy decided to build ships of this class, only for them all to go traitor due to the class's inherent [[Gellar Field]] flaws. [[Fail|Oops]]. The Despoilers at first don't appear to be that unique, as they have Dorsal Lances and Broadside Landing Bays and Weapons Batteries. Their difference is that, like the Terminus Est, they managed to have a Prow Landing Bay as well.
*'''Other:'''
**'''[[Gloriana-class_Battleship|Gloriana]]:''' Massive, terrifying and capable of decimating entire fleets on their own, these were the personal flagships of the Primarchs during the Great Crusade. Very few, if any, are still around in the Imperium in M41, though a few such as Horus's flagship ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]'' are still tooling around inside the Eye of Terror. Because they were dickheads, the [[Alpha Legion]] had two, creatively named the ''Alpha'' and the ''Beta''. Interestingly, the Ultramarines have one, the ''[[Macragge's Honour]]'', but didn't [[derp|fucking]] use it, the whole fucking time until [[Roboute Guilliman]] returned. It shows up again in ''Dark Imperium,'' with the Smurfs having stolen it back from the Red Corsairs, which at least is fucking funny even if it makes no sense. The Imperial Fist had the ''Eternal Crusader'', but it was never their flagship since the [[Phalanx]] is so much better, so [[Rogal Dorn]] gave it to the [[Black Templars]] in the [[Second Founding]]. Also, due to Forgeworld apparently hiring people from the street now, the 9th black book of HH states Dark Angels had those as core of their ''support'' flotillas.
**'''Oberon:''' The mixed-breed bastard of the Imperial Navy. It has [[lances]], fighter bays, and weapon batteries. Its a powerful ship... <s>when fighting foes half its size</s> "Newer" fluff says the Oberon is rare, but a complete success in making a ship capable of killing anything it comes across, alone. Unfortunately, fluff also says a ridiculously low number of these (apparently) powerful ships were made (like, 3 or so). Then again: only four Iowa class battleships ships were built (technically 6, but 2 were scrapped before completion), and we know HOW to build them. It makes sense in a way. Attack craft can cripple an enemy's main weapons and engines and likely ultimately damage the power transfer from generators to void shields. Combined with macro-batteries hammering away and the enemy's weakened ability to maintain its shields would cause them to drop much quicker than usual. Then the city-sized lance-batteries rip the enemy in half. If used against enemy escorts to support attacks on large enemy ships like battleships and grandcruisers, this would work extremely well to the point an Oberon would likely become a priority target for enemy ships.

=== [[Imperial Navy Grand Cruiser|Grand Cruiser]] ===

Only slightly weaker and less powerful than Battleships, Grand Cruisers were the weird middle-child of actual Line Ships (that really were the mainstay of the fleet back then) and Cruisers in the ancient Imperium. Built primarily with autonomy in mind, those were reserved for the most daring expeditions in the uncharted regions, conducted both by Imperial Army and Rogue Traders. Nowadays most of them run on archeotech that is barely understood and hard to repair with current Imperial knowledge. These grand ships are often used as flagships in lieu of extremely rare Battleships. Ultimately replaced by battleships (which is why they became explorers later) as it’s ultimately cheaper to build a battleship than a grand cruiser and a cruiser to rival the firepower and survivability of a battleship. Even though realistically since many Grand Cruisers are a third smaller than a battleship, it actually is better to build two Grand Cruisers to gang up on enemy battleships and way waste to everything else but the writers forgot about the massive difference in ships’ volume. Basically, they are the quintessential Battlecruisers; tougher and deadlier than Cruisers and yet more mobile than Battleships. Strangely, a common characteristic of all classes is the inability to fire forward though all can ram.
*'''Basic'''
**'''Vengeance/Furious:''' The granddaddy of "modern" Imperial warships. The ''Vengeance'' was the winner of a GW-sponsored ship design contest, and was originally known as the ''Furious''. Highlights include heavy shielding and armour (though lacking the prow armour of later designs), as well as both lances and long range weapons batteries, making this the sniper of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers.
**'''Repulsive:''' Originally named the Corinus Class, before being renamed after many fell to Chaos by an overly literal Mechanicum designation. Whilst the Repulsive Grand Cruisers are exceedingly maneuverable heavy warships (and therefore exceedingly useful because they can fill a hole in the Imperial tactical lineup), they are considered a cursed class due to the majority of them falling to chaos, [[Fail|which unfortunately was the result of experimental warp drives which occasionally interfered with the Gellar Field (OMGWTFBBQTIME)]]. Only the Emperor knows what kind of complete moron would deploy ships equipped with that. The ones that remain in Imperial control are kept mothballed in reserve fleets and segmentum fortresses (imagine giant glass boxes with 'In Case of Emergency, Break Glass' signs). It doesn't say anything about their warp drives being swapped out for something that isn't shitty or perhaps a completed and no longer experimental version of their own. Not that you want AdMechs tear off your head for tinkering with their sacred templates, on the other hand.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Avenger:''' The short range brawler of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers, it's a ''Vengeance'' with only macrobatteries (kilometres of Macrobattery broadsides). Intended to break the line of battle like Nelson's ships at Trafalgar, while suffering from the lack of an armored prow. Unfortunately line-breaking is quite a dangerous role for any ship, even a Grand Cruiser that excels at doing it, and so not many exist in the 41st Millennium. Those that have survived are known for being exceedingly reliable and faithful; it takes a lot of damage or mistreatment to cause these noble vessels to give trouble. If you spoke with members of the Imperium (both members of the public and the navy), this is the vessel they would think of if you asked them about Grand Cruisers. Now, if only the Imperium realized a slower but more heavily armored and shielded ship would fare better in its role.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Executor:''' The sniper of the Vengeances, the Executor replaces its Broadside Macrobatteries with even more Lances. Unfortunately, the last remaining Imperial Executors decided to act retarded and chase a fleet into the Eye of Terror, meaning that all of the ships are chaos aligned now.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Exorcist:''' A ''Vengeance'' that has carrier bays in place of lances. Useful in providing carrier support to any Imperial fleet. As a bonus, being Grand Cuisers mean they can outrun anything except battleships to save their vulnerable carrier self while their attack craft are away. Originally designed for extended operations alone on the Frontiers of Imperial Space, either on Patrol or by exploring into the unknown, the Exorcist developed quite a reputation for 'boldly going where no man has gone before'. Whilst not many remain in Imperial Service due to maintenance difficulties, they still find use in the hands of Rogue Traders who need vessels capable of long cruises and of defending themselves against anything they might encounter. So much for maintenance difficulties.
**'''Retaliator:''' A mix of a Repulsive and a Vengeance, but as a Carrier. Has Lances, Launch Bays and Macrobatteries on its Broadsides. Unfortunately, it has the Repulsive's tendency to go traitor.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battlecruiser|Battlecruiser]] ===

What do you do when you forget how to maintain an entire category of heavy warships? You build a new bunch of heavy warships, with simpler technology.

Battlecruisers are basically upgunned cruisers, with more weapons (usually adding dorsal weapons and some armor), and are intended to fill the gap between true battleships, which are rare, and normal cruisers, which tend to die really easily to the ancient Chaos cruisers and grand cruisers. Battle cruisers were tried in real life as some way to combine battleship firepower or armor with the speed of a cruiser. They did not, frankly, work well and much like reality these things have their share of problems. Chaos operates their own versions known as Heavy Cruisers. In real life, the accepted successful form of a battlecruiser is between a heavy cruiser and a battleship; it can kill anything it can catch and it can outrun anything that can kill it (usually only an enemy battleship). After its teething years it was generally a good and effective form of combat when used intelligently. Then the navies trying them realized they had basically made a battleship and it fell out of use again. Why build a ship with the speed, only a slightly lower firepower and roughly equal armor to a battleship when you can fork out a few bucks more and build an actual battleship? Exactly.
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Armageddon Battlecruiser:''' An upgraded variant of the Lunar Class Cruiser (YAY! ANOTHER ONE!). A rather new innovation, the Armageddon class is basically made up from recovered Lunar Class Hulks that have been extensively repaired and then retrofitted with more armour and more weapons. The base hull was never designed to cope with all this extra equipment (and the extra crew to man said equipment) and so it has problems operating independently for long periods of time. This isn’t really a problem, though, since they wouldn’t be operating away from a fleet anyway. Though reinforcing its frame to handle the added mass would be a smart thing to do to save immensely in future maintenace costs over the centuries. Battlefleets won't say no to them because more guns = better! These ships are extremely powerful and live up to their name. Somehow, though, the Imperium never went “Hey guys, this thing kicks the shit out of everyone, let’s upgrade all Lunar-class ships to Armageddon-class and make a new class to accomodate the new crew and equipment.” Or someone did and was turned into a servitor...
**'''Hellfire Heavy Cruiser:''' An upgunned Murder-class. Has the same issues as the Armageddon, slow as fuck and has power and supply issues. [[What|Also, lacks Void Shields]]. Most mutinied and joined Chaos, which decided to use them for some reason.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Overlord Battlecruiser:''' The Classic Imperial Battlecruiser. Using the standard Imperial doctrine of - Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes, the Overlord has become the most effective Battlecruiser simply because it really complements standard Imperial Navy Tactics. As an added bonus, its simplicity of design makes it easier to produce and one can be built within a decade. The only negative (if you can call it a negative), is that it's not really useful for anything except war.
**'''Chalice Battlecruiser:''' A fast heavy cruiser. Unique to the Calixis sector and an exceedingly new design, the Chalice was conceived as a Battlecruiser that could either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill. Which means it was conceived to be a plain ‘ol normal battlecruiser. Whilst good in theory, unfortunately, speed came at the cost of armour and durability and so whilst these vessels punch hard, they can't take as many hits as other cruisers. Which is fine since battlecruisers as a concept are meant for slaughtering escorts in real life not fighting other capital ships. In addition, it carries an experimental plasma drive layout, which while boosting power efficiency, also makes it rather vulnerable to lighting up like a roman candle. Imperial Propaganda is currently trying to cover up their failings and is lauding them as the Poster-ships of the Calixis Sector and therefore a lot of people think they're the 'Best Battlecruisers Eva!'. If they would just use a normal plasma drive and make the whole ship bigger, it would be fast enough, armored enough, and even better armed (or just change the drive). Unfortunately, not being stupid is heresy in Calixis.
***The idea of a ship that can "either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill" that turns out to be really poor at taking hits was the original design of real life Battlecruisers, which although being up-gunned Cruisers (<s>which are the equivalent of Frigates IRL, not Ships of the Line</s> cruisers are the lowest level of capital ship types, you’re thinking of the WW2 destroyers), were used as discount Battleships at Jutland were they turned out to lack the armour required for a proper fight. Thus, if the Imperials were smart, they would be using the Chalice as a commerce raider, not a ship of the line. Or use it to rip up escorts and light cruisers and then run away and hit somewhere else in the battle before they can be overwhelmed by an enemy cruiser.
**** Actually, they were not bad at taking hits, they were better at it than heavy cruisers. They just sucked at taking hits from battleships like everybody else on the planet. Real life battlecruisers (after their early screw up designs) were made only a little smaller than battleships which allowed them to have greater armor and firepower and speed than heavy cruisers and were even fast enough to outrun battleships at the cost of significantly lower firepower and armor than the only slightly larger battleships (which caused things like the Jutland kablooie). They had the whole package. So, imagine an Invincible-class but give it a heavy cruiser’s firepower and use the saved weight to give it proper battleship level armor. In reality, the larger the ship the faster it is in navies (broadly speaking, in dense fluids the longer the vehicle is relative to its cross-section, the easier it is to go fast (and the larger the engine by even a little makes far more power)), sci-fi just is made by ignorrants. Battlecruisers fell out of favor shortly after they were perfected for the same reason battleships and heavy cruisers did: the carrier. That isn’t quite accurate. Light cruisers stopped being made because anti-air destroyers grew large enough to do the same job (or you could see it as light cruisers being renamed “destroyers” and actual destroyers being phased out by them, but there were also AA cruisers which was probably not fun to fly against) though when light cruisers were first invented they were just stop-gaps but the name returned to use for normal cruisers due to the invention of heavy cruisers and heavy cruises became known just as “cruisers”, battleships stopped being made, battlecruisers were perfected by making them so big, armored, and armed that they were battleships by another name and so the name “battlecruiser” was dropped as meaningless by that point. That said, they were indeed usually used as commerce raiders. But that is true for all ships. Navies exist to destroy enemy commerce shipping and to transport armies. The only reason fleets engage each other is because both sides defend their own shipping and seek out enemy fleets to pre-emptively destroy to protect said shipping and transports. In 40k, it could be said that the Invincible-class is the closest thing the Imperium has to an equivalent to a real life battlecruiser.
**'''Long Serpent Battlecruiser:''' A true success story, this is what the ''Chalice'' wishes it was. Taking a battlecruiser's armour and firepower, and giving it the engine suite of a battleship, this thing can kick the shit out of anything short of a grand cruiser or battleship, while being able to keep up with raiders. It's only real flaw is that when one is taken out, it has a better than average chance of rupturing its warp drive. As a result, the names of ''Long Serpents'' that have been destroyed are usually accompanied by those of allied ships that were too close. Which is somewhat odd since the reasoning is that the Long Serpent also has a battleship's warp core (who knows why, it isn't big enough to need it). Given the small difference in size between this ship and other "normal" cruisers which are the mainstays of the fleet, the Imperium could just choose to use a smaller warp core suitable for this ship's size and focus on mass-producing the Long Serpent to replace basically every other class of ship except battleships , Cobras, and carriers. Fewer would be made but, unlike video games, swarming a capital ship with escorts does not work at all. The escorts are slaughtered and the capital ship like this one is left unharmed. (<s>There are plenty of instances both in 40k and irl of large capital class ships being overwhelmed by smaller, faster vessels due to being caught without support.</s> Actually that is when they’re spamming torpedoes. All non-Imperial navies do not do that (the closest being Chaos but even they don’t use torpedoes nearly as much), although swarms of Firestorms could carve up large ships, the shields prevent this without much larger supporting vessels. Swarms of Cobras and Vipers could do it, but few would survive the attempt, not that any admiral cares about that...until the tech-priests tell them they won’t have a Navy for the few centuries it takes to replace so many ships regardless of size) But doing this would require common sense, which is [[Heresy]]. Like properly using the Invincible-class must be.
**'''Mercury Battlecruiser:''' Another fast Battlecruiser. It's a cruiser with a Battleships's engines. Nothing more.
**'''Hades Heavy Cruiser:''' A long-ranged brawler. Carries Broadside Macrobatteries and Dorsal and Prow Lances. Got phased out like most keel-built designs, but Chaos still uses them.
*'''Lance-boats:'''
**'''Acheron Heavy Cruiser:''' Designed to test new Lances and Macrobatteries. The Imperials only built one, which went traitor. Carries Broadside and Dorsal Lances with Prow Macrobatteries.
*'''Carriers:'''
**'''Mars Battlecruiser:''' In a word - Mediocre. Some Imperials say it's versatile due to its diverse weapons loadout but in reality it makes it an awkward duckling to use. The Nova Cannon and Launch bays would be good on a ship holding back and harassing enemies at range and yet it has Macrobatteries and Lances which are great for brawling. So if you sit back and harass or go in and brawl, you're wasting half your ship. The Imperial Navy never really got on with it either and so it has gone out of production on most Forge-Worlds. Which is a shame because if they would replace the macrobatteries and lances with larger, long-range lances, and a great number of small, short range weapons batteries for fighter support and self-defense respectively, this would be a great ship in any fleet. It's nova cannon clears a hole in the enemy escort screen, the attack craft rush through to wreck the weapons and engines of light capital ships while long-range lances assist other Imperial ships in slaughtering targets of opportunity. The destroyed enemy light capital ships leaves all the other big ships vulnerable to mass, concentrated torpedo attack from friendly ships. Attack craft return to the fight to tear up the no-doubt seriously damaged enemy big ships and lances win the day. Then just send in friendly light capital ships with attack craft support to finish off the surviving escorts. That would almost make this ship into a sort of miniature "I Win" button. Almost. Especially in a squadron of two, as they could assist each other against any opponents that slip through to them with their combined, close-range firepower, lances, and whatever attack craft they kept back for defense ripping the enemy weapons and engines apart to let the close-range macrobatteries have fun.
**'''Dominion Battlecruiser:''' Basically a fixed Mars, some tech priest got it in their head that, maybe, it'd make more sense to replace the Macrobatteries with Lance Batteries instead, making it a dedicated support ship, harrassing enemy ships at range whilst the big guns go out and fight. Apparently not that successful, a number were used at the Battle for Maccrage (Of course the fucking Smurfs get them) against the tyranids, though apparently they all got fucked up and have been in drydock since, which is why up until now no-one's seen them.
**'''Styx Heavy Cruiser:''' A pure carrier. Has Broadside Launch Bays, Dorsal Lances and and Prow Macrobatteries. For some reason the Imperial phased it out for the Mars, so only Chaos uses them now.
**'''Hecate Heavy Cruiser:''' An attempt to replace the Styx. Swaps out some of the Launch Bays for Macrobatteries. Believed to have an inherent design flaw that made them go traitor, so they were decommissioned.

=== [[Imperial Navy Cruiser|Cruiser]] ===

Cruisers are the bread and butter of the Imperial Navy. Much larger than escorts and light cruisers, but less rare than battleships, cruisers are what the Imperial Navy (and Chaos and Xenos) use to fight their campaigns across the stars. Thus far, all Imperial Cruisers have been shown to utilize the same hull-type: a squat armored prow in front, capable of mounting a prow-mounted weapon system, and a big bunch of engines in the back, with baroque and Gothic architecture in-between. Most cruisers can effectively be placed in four categories:
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Lunar:''' The Lunar. You've heard so much about it and now you want to know what makes it the standard Imperial Cruiser. First of all, it's one of the oldest designs still in use by the Imperium and is so easy to build that even less advanced worlds can produce them. They're quite versatile due to their weapons loadout (a balanced build of Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes) and make up the backbone of Battlefleets throughout the entire Imperium. This is the cruiser against which all other cruisers are measured.
**'''Emasculator:''' Considered a failure by the Imperium at large, Emasculators have the same basic load-out as the Lunar, but are keel-built, lacking the armored prow and replacing the torpedo tubes with more weapons batteries. This means they require different tactics to a Lunar, using their speed and longer ranged weapons to pound ships from a distance. As this fits with Chaos tactics more than Imperials. most of them ended up as traitors. [[/d/|The name Emasculator is due to them being seen mostly as Slaaneshi ships, their original name is unknown.]] The fact the Imperium keeps trying new ships built on the normally Chaos style hulls implies that usually it must work out just fine since otherwise it would have been banned by now. So, there are probably many cool looking keel-based Imperial ship classes floating around we'll never catch wind of ever.
**'''Slaughter:''' A special type of Cruiser, the Slaughter-class has a more powerful drive called the Scartix Engine Coil, but lacks prow weapons. Armed with short ranged, but powerful lances and macrobatteries, the Slaughter is designed to get in close, blast away and retreat. Unfortunately, the Imperium can't build them anymore because one went traitor and destroyed the plans for the Scartix Coil. It is unknown if they were always called the Slaughter-class or were renamed when most went traitor. Considering the usual lack of intelligence in the Imperium's leadership, it was probably called something worse, like the "Traitor-class" or something and then the Imperium was shocked when they lived up to it. Really, would you be surprised if the Imperium did that?
**'''Inferno:''' A earlier counterpart to the Carnage-class, carrying more lances in exchange for some Macrobatteries. Had the same difficulties as the Carnage and was mothballed, though a few went renegade beforehand. Rare example of the Imperium learning its lesson. Still too stupid to realize that using cheaper-after-a-few-centuries-than-manual-labor auto-loaders would've fixed the problem for both ships.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Gothic:''' Another variant of the Lunar Class, the Gothic is designed as a heavy Lance gunship. Due to the amount of Lance Weaponry it carries, it can easily deal with ships of its own size or larger but often does require an escort or a partner to strip enemy void shields first in order to use its own weaponry to the maximum effect. When supported and used correctly, Gothic Cruisers are the most efficient way to deal with enemy capital ships.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Dominator:''' A variant of the Lunar Class, the Dominator is designed primarily for planetary bombardment and assault. Not generally used in fleet actions even though it can provide support with its Nova Cannon when necessary. After one Dominator fucked over a Chaos Cruiser with said Nova Cannon during the Gothic War, the Navy took note and started making more Dominators. [[Awesome|Additionally, another Dominator came close to destroying the Terminus Est (''aka the toughest Battleship in the galaxy''), before being destroyed.]] The Dominator possesses the same armament as the Retribution-class battleship but lacks the range of one. This is fine, though, since it's meant to get close to the enemy like most Imperial ships anyway. Basically, if you get in range of this thing, ''you're going to die''.
*** From Lexicanum 40K: "Captain Straden of the Depth of Fury defended the shrine world of Kathur to the death, and came very close to destroying the Death Guard ship Terminus Est. As it was, he and his crew vaporised several of its decks and destroyed scores of escort ships before finally succumbing. Ironically, no Imperial souls survived to tell the tale."
**'''Tyrant:''' The Tyrant was originally intended as a stand-off vessel; it would stay at long range and bombard enemies from afar with superfired plasma weaponry. Unfortunately, due to design compromises where it mixed both short range and long range weaponry to save on power, it wasn't really deadly enough at long range to do its job. Therefore the Imperial Navy is trying to replace the short range weapons with ancient Long-range weaponry (that doesn't use a lot of power) recovered from Space Hulks or Renegade Ships. The Hull itself is a rather effective design and so the Tyrant has become very popular with Rogue Traders who generally replace all of the Plasma Weaponry in order to have more power available compared with other cruisers.
**'''Relentless/Carnage:''' Another attempt at a fleet support ship with Plasma weapons, the Relentless ended up with technical difficulties and, when these were overcome, [[Heresy|most ships ended up turning traitor]] [[Fail|(including the lead ship of the class)]]. [[Tzeentch|This is theorised to be due to something wrong with the geometry of the ship's design]], as the Relentless-class is keel built, like most older ships (This also means the Relentless lacks an armored prow and torpedo tubes, carrying more plasma batteries instead). The tendency of these ships to turn to Chaos, along with changing tactics, led to the class being renamed the Carnage-class and mothballed in favor of the Tyrant-class, though their speed means they suit Chaos tactics famously.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Dictator:''' A Carrier retrofit of extremely damaged Lunar Class Cruisers. If a Lunar class has its lance weaponry destroyed, it's quicker, easier and cheaper to replace those with heavy launch bays for strike craft. This makes it quite versatile and able to deal with virtually all situations and interestingly enough, makes it more effective than the original Lunar Class at everything except fighting as a ship of the line. Unfortunately, the Lunar Class is designed for fighting as a ship of the line, so Admirals dislike Dictators. Interestingly, given why attack craft and torpedoes can go through shields, theoretically a Dictator whose weapons batteries are missiles could use its fighters and missiles to swarm enemy anti-air and ultimately kill an enemy ship without damaging its shields.
**'''Jupiter:''' A kitbashed design, converted from other classes of cruiser that have been heavily damaged in battle. By stripping out all the damaged components and replacing them with launch bays, you get a pretty sturdy carrier. Just don't let the enemy get anywhere near it. Apparently the Imperium doesn't build these normally at all, likely because they are absolutely shit at defending themselves from other Cruisers.
**'''Devastation:''' Deviating from the standard Carrier design, the Devastation-class carries Lances instead of Macrobatteries. Mostly turned traitor or mothballed, as they lack armored prows and torpedos; and are keel-built. Chaos likes them, as they can pack them with mutants and sit back to spam assault boats and lances at anything that looks at them funny.
*'''Other:''' Various other cruiser types exist, but are rarer.
**'''Ambition:''' Custom-made Cruisers for the exceedingly affluent - it's the Rolls Royce of the Cruiser World. Most Rogue Trader ships are second-hand, battle-scarred, tired and worn ex-navy vessels but the Ambition is not. It's the only cruiser class that can be bought brand spanking new by Private parties in the Imperium and each one is unique and built to the customer's specifications. These exclusive ships, whilst still cruisers and deadly in their own right, are stately homes and status symbols. Some durability sacrifices have been made in order to make them the most opulent and luxurious ships on the market but for eccentric people like Rogue Traders, it's generally worth it.
**'''Conquest-Class Star Galleon:''' Built for the very first Rogue Traders on the orders of the Emperor himself, the Star Galleon is an ancient and noble design. Whilst not considered heavily armed by modern standards, they're still formidable opponents and yet as specialist exploration vessels they are able to operate independently for many years and can transport greater quantities than other Cruisers. In effect, it's a cruiser fused with a transport and looks fucking amazing.
**'''Murder:''' The predecessor to the Lunar. Differs by being keel-built, exchanging their torpedos for Lances and having more powerful macrobatteries. The majority that appear in modern 40k are Chaos-aligned, as the Imperials mothballed theirs in favor of the Lunar. A few carried lances as well as Macrobatteries, meaning they don't fit into any category. As with the Slaughter, it is unknown if Murder-class is their original name or they were renamed.
**'''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. 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.

=== [[Imperial Navy Light Cruiser|Light Cruiser]] ===

Smaller than true cruisers, light cruisers are used in two ways. Either you use a fast, maneuverable light cruiser like the Dauntless to add some extra firepower to a scouting squadron or long-range patrol, or you use a pocket cruiser like the Voss light cruiser to add some heavy firepower and armor to a convoy, fleet, or base. The advantage of the light cruisers are that they're cheaper to build and operate than real cruisers. Another departure from real nomenclature. In real life, “light” cruisers were less armed and armored normal cruisers made to make up for losses, especially in America after Japan’s initial attack. After the industry fully turned to wartime manufacturing, the light cruisers’ changes were recinded and they were just normal cruisers again. However, with the introduction of heavy cruisers, the normal cruisers again were named “light” cruisers to avoid confusion. In 40k, however, light cruisers are very distinct and fill a unique niche. Like the Cruiser, they fit into a few base categories.
*'''Basic:''' Same as its larger sibling, a Jack of All Trades.
**'''Dauntless;''' The standard Light Cruiser of the Imperium; it's a Jack-of-all-Trades. You can't go wrong with the Dauntless even though other Light Cruisers may be better for certain tasks. Considered 'scouting' cruisers, these make up the bulk of Imperial Patrol Squadron leaders. Comes in lance and torpedo variants, with the prow lance being a bit more common.
**'''Defender:''' A convoy escort variant of the Dauntless, with added dorsal weaponry.
**'''Endeavour;''' A 'heavy', Light Cruiser, designed as a stop-gap between the 'lighter' light cruisers and true cruisers. Whilst they can slug it out in a fleet fight, they can easily be overwhelmed because they simply aren't cruisers and don't have the equivalent fire-power or hull integrity. As an added titbit, most of Battlefleet Koronus' patrols consist of an Endeavour and a pair of frigates. The Endeavour and its variants are relatively new designs unique to the Voss Prime forge world and are rare outside of Battlefleet Armageddon. Except Battlefleet Koronus, apparently, which must have a ton of them.
**'''Siluria;''' Three-quarters the cost of the Endeavor, and about three-quarters the ship. Standard weapon batteries only, no fancy frills to speak of. Cheap and effective, at short range, to catch enemy torpedoes.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Also the same as the Cruiser version, though some have weak weapons batteries for better defence.
**'''Endurance;''' An Endeavour variant with just enough guns to claim it has them, lance batteries and a couple of torpedoes. It's the lance half of a Lunar, nothing more.
*'''Carrier:''' More useful as a Light Cruiser, as it can act as backup for patrols.
**'''Enforcer:''' A carrier variant of the Dauntless, with a bombardment cannon like those seen on space marine cruisers. Designed to maintain control of rebellious planets via intimidation [[Grimdark|(and possible orbital bombardment)]]. Given one managed to stop the rebellion of an ''entire sub-sector'', its a shame the Imperium doesn't build more of them. Anyone else just realize that 40K is so Grimdark we're disappointed the dystopian ultra-oppressive, bloody regime isn't being more oppressive? [[Grimdark|''Because we know their oppression is the right and best choice they have.'']]
**'''Defiant;''' A carrier variant of the Endeavour. It's quite versatile (by virtue of being a carrier) and so has found a home in many Rogue Trader houses but unfortunately the Imperial Navy doesn't consider it as useful because they can't stand by themselves and require an escort. Gee, it's almost like ships are meant to be used in groups to compliment each other. Due to being based off of the Endeavour, it's relatively well armoured for a Light Cruiser and that does help with its survivability.

=== Ironclad ===

8 kilometer long battering rams. No, really. Tyranids and Orks are busy taking notes.

=== [[Imperial Navy Escort|Escort ships]] ===

Escorts are the smallest armed vessels available to the Imperial Navy. These ships are normally assigned sector patrol duties or perform as escorts for much larger ships. In fleet engagements they will also act as scouts, ranging out in front of their armada to verify enemy ship numbers and locations. They are generally classified as either frigates or as destroyers. They are usually deployed in squadrons consisting of the same class.

==== Frigates ====

Ranging from about 1.4-2km long. They are used for all sorts of duties from convoy escorts to attack or patrol squadrons. Ironically named, as in real life Frigates were the same as Cruisers (which were not Ships of the Line). In the Age of Sail. But in WW2, cruisers had like six or eight times the armament and were more than twice the size of frigates and were self-sufficient and were intended to fight other ships and were considered capital ships. Usually deployed in three-ship squadrons.
*'''Basic:''' Laser batteries or Light Macrobatteries only, maybe some Torpedoes if you're lucky. Named after types of swords.
**'''Sword Frigate:''' The most common warship in the Imperial Navy, and one of the simplest. No torpedoes or lances to distract you here; a Sword puts two massive laser batteries in turrets behind a pointed armored prow and cuts into enemy formations like [[C.S Goto|a multi-laser through canon.]]. Some variants replace the lasers with light macro batteries instead.
**'''Falchion Frigate:''' A new (245 years old) class of escort ship built by [[Forgeworld|Voss Prime]]. Slower than the Cobra (in the lore they were faster than invading Chaos ships, though) but still capable of firing torpedoes. While Cobras are used offensively in fleet actions, Falchion's are designed to be convoy escorts and stick close to larger warships to defend them from enemy escorts. Effectively a Voss-pattern Cobra with two more laser/macro batteries.
**'''Turbulent Heavy Frigate:''' Heavy Naval Escorts; these things have comparable armour to cruisers. They're built to sally forth ahead of the main fleet and win skirmishes against enemy scouting forces and vanguard elements. They've garnered a reputation for being lucky; they've contributed to many glorious victories and survived catastrophes that other ship classes have not. Their only downside is that they have rather antiquated communication equipment, probably equipped for durability, not ease of use. The other downside is that the Navy isn’t smart enough to replace the Sword-class with these badasses.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rarer for Frigates, as they need a Prow slot to mount a Lance.
**'''Firestorm Frigate:''' A Sword-class frigate with a prow-mounted Lance replacing one laser/macro battery. Gives the Sword some extra anti-ship punch that it dearly needs. It's also two hundred meters longer than the Sword-class as a result. The Navy does not like the Marines having them, for [[Horus Heresy|some reason.]]
***[[Derp|Given the general naming scheme for Frigate classes is naming them after weapons (Claymore, Sword, Falchion, Gladius etc), the Firestorm would make more sense being called the ''Lance''-class due to its role.]]
**'''Thunderbolt Heavy Frigate:''' Not much information on this one, but implied to be a Lance version of the Turbulent, like how the Firestorm is the Lance version of the Sword.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Mostly upgunned Frigates. Can carry a mix of macrobatteries and small lances.
**'''Tempest Strike Frigate:''' Specialized Brawling frigate designed for devastating enemies at close range. Basically a Sword with a triple armoured prow and heavy short-range broadside batteries. They're often equipped with Assault Boats and Barracks for boarding actions.
**'''Havoc Merchant Raider:''' Small, yet fast raider sized vessels whose impressive firepower came at the expense of armor. Glass Cannons, in large squadrons these can easily overwhelm larger vessels by weight of fire. Supposedly has large storage space for its size. Which makes sense for something meant for piracy.

==== Destroyers ====

The most common warship class. Their tasks range from scouting to shuttling VIPs or fighting in fleet engagements in large squadrons. Most pirates use these speedy, nimble vessels to prey upon transport ships. The Navy usually deploys them in squadrons of four. Instead of a WWII or modern analogue, the destroyers of the Imperial Navy are like those of the First World War: ocean-capable torpedo boats that swarm enemy ships.
*'''Basic:''' Usually mounts Prow Torpedoes and a Macrobattery/Laser.
**'''Cobra Destroyer:''' The PT-Boats of the Imperial Navy. Small, fast, and lightly armed, their one purpose in life is to fire shoals of torpedoes from 3-4 ship squadrons. A great part of the Imperium's military advantage (in fluff and [[Battlefleet Gothic|on the tabletop]]) comes from all the torpedoes they can fire at the enemy, and the Cobras are a big part of that.
**'''Infidel Raider:''' Was meant to replace the Cobra, but the plans [[Blood Ravens|were stolen]] by Chaos. Armed with Prow Torpedos and a Macrobattery like its predecessor, though some Chaos fleets upgrade them to Heavy Raiders by adding another Macrobattery. The Falchion was developed from the redevelopment. Both ships are almost twice the size of the Cobra they are meant to replace. Guess someone realized PT boats aren’t that useful if your extremely long-ranged and fast enemy just slaughters them.
**'''Iconoclast Destroyer:''' If there ever was a Guardsman of starships, the Iconoclast is it. A destroyer so shitty the Navy doesn't want it, the Iconoclast mounts 1-2 macrobatteries and is used by Rogue Traders, Chaos and Pirates. Notable for being one of the few ships to have a forward placed bridge, likely due to the smoke-stack like pylons along its spine. It actually has good firepower for its size and is effective at killing enemy attack craft, torpedoes, and destroyers. So, not actually shitty at all until a Sword shows up to kill everyone.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Why waste space on pop guns?
**'''Viper Destroyer:''' Given GW's naming conventions, it was inevitable somebody would do this. Not to be confused with the Sloop below, this is a variant of the Cobra where the remaining guns are replaced by torpedoes. Weak against escorts but deadly in numbers against capital ships. Use [[Boarding Torpedo|Boarding Torpedoes]] for hilarious results. Since a Cobra has one gun and it’s useless, we can only assume either Tzeench or self-lobotomy was involved when the navy decided to focus on the Cobra instead of the Viper.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rather rare among Raiders, as most use their Prow slots for Torpedoes.
**'''Apostate Heavy Raider:''' A variant of the Infidel. Somehow those heretics managed to shove a full sized Lance into a Dorsal slot, which only Light Cruiser and bigger can normally manage.
**'''Idolator Raider:''' Also known as the "WTF is this" ship, the Idolator is the lovechild of a Infidel, a Firestorm and Xenotech. Has a prow lance and a macrobattery.
*'''Other:''' Mostly weak scouts.
**'''Viper Scout Sloop:''' Smallest warp-capable ship in mass production. It is an exceedingly fast scout ship with ridiculously powerful realspace engines and high-tech auspex scanners. In support of Naval Operations these vessels would burn into enemy territory at high speed, collect as much information as possible and then warp back to friendly territory. Unfortunately they are so specialized that they can't do much else apart from that.
**'''Rudense "Class":''' A small ship designed post Gathering Storm to be as fast, heavily armed, and densely armoured as possible, which they do with aplomb. You may ask yourselves, why are they not used in more regular combat roles? Well, the answer is that they are a specialised orbital insertion ship - designed to get as close to the atmosphere of a heavily defended planet as possible, drop it's cargo of primaris marines into the top layer, and get out of there. Whilst this may seem too specialised to be practical, few enemies are ready for half a company of marines dropping in to their base unexpectedly. (Nb - the class hasn't been formally named yet but the only example of it thus far was named the Rudense).
**'''Claymore Corvette:''' Designed entirely around escorting vulnerable transports and protecting them against light raiders in order to allow true Frigates to accompany more valuable ships such as Battleships, Battlecruisers and Cruisers. The Claymore Corvettes are easy to mass produce and maintain and are exceedingly common in the private sector, as they are simply a discount Sword. It’d be nice if someone bothered using them to protect troop transports.

=== Aircraft ===

As part of the reforms falling the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Army was not just split into regiments to ensure that no one Imperial army could be self-sufficient if it fell to heresy or rebellion: the ground forces were also split from their airpower, which was given to the Imperial Navy. Strictly speaking, all atmospheric aircraft are also part of the Imperial Navy, with only [[Phantine Air Corps| few general exceptions]]. Which was stupid and pointless as now the IG can’t even pretend to defend itself if even one ship above them turns traitor and they don’t usually receive hardly any air support. This means all the split did was ensure the Navy held '''all''' the power.
*'''Fighter:''' The fighter's main role is to stop enemy torpedoes and bombers before they can [[anal circumference|rip your flying cathedral multiple new assholes]]. Comes in different models like the [[Fury Interceptor]] or the [[Thunderbolt Fighter]]. The main difference is that some can enter a planet's atmosphere to dogfight and/or strafe ground targets, whereas others are limited to space combat. Technically, Furies are capable of atmospheric operation but would maneuver like a crippled whale and would basically just be entertaining targets. The good news is you can have a bunch on a planet to surprise buttsax invaders.
*'''Bomber:''' Basically reusable torpedoes. Come in different models like the [[Marauder Bomber]] and the [[Starhawk Bomber]], but again the main difference is that some can dip in a planet's atmosphere and drop bombs on ground-pounders, while others are space-combat only. Starhawks might also be technically capable of atmospheric flight, unknown exactly.
Oddly, a modern F/A-18E Super Hornet is about one-thirteenth the size of a ''Nimitz''-class carrier. A Fury would take about 133 nose-to-tail to measure up to the length of an Emperor-class battleship. Yet, the number of Furies aboard an ''Emperor'' class is at most 40 (eight squadrons of 5 each at best) whereas the number of Super Hornets on a ''Nimitz'' at most is 130. Yeah, there's a problem there. A Super Hornet is slightly less than 19 meters long, a Fury is 60 meters long. That's a very small difference for such a massive discrepancy. The only explanation is that Emperor class is not a dedicated carrier so presumable more of it's internal volume it taken up by gun and lance batteries and other systems. Still that is a ridiculously lack of fighter support it could have.

=== Converted Civilian Vessels ===

Civilian ships seized by the Navy.
*'''Armed Freighter:''' Not really a conversion. Considering what universe this is, odds are every freighter out there is armed in some way as a matter of course. Won't last long or do much damage. However, in sufficient numbers, they can cripple or even destroy Frigates, which is a good trade. Pressed into temporary service, these merchantmen are the basic transports of the navy.
*'''Q-Ship:''' Generally classified as Loki-class. These are civilian cargo ships taken over by the Imperial Navy and retrofitted to sacrifice cargo space for heavy weaponry. Unlike the Armed Freighters above, these are essentially auxiliary warships crewed by navy personnel. The standard tactic is to look like a scared civilian and let the enemy come close, then let them have it with the macros. They don't have warship armor or shields so they die in a prolonged battle.
*'''Escort Carriers:''' Like the Q-Ships above but with hangers instead of weapons. The Imperial Navy currently has a severe shortage of carriers despite having numerous hybrid carrier classes and dedicated carrier classes it chooses not to build, so this is a cheap way to get fighters and bombers to the field. More common than Q-Ships.

=== Fire Ship ===

A fancy name for what's essentially a colossal kamikaze ICBM. A '''Fire Ship''' is an Imperial Navy vessel that for whatever reason, is no longer considered for active service (due to old age, suffered catastrophic damage....etc), stuffed to the brim with whatever explosives the navy could spare, and flown straight into whatever priority target(s) the officers designate in a final blaze of glory. Again, Orks are busy taking notes for their Roks. Contrary to what you might think from the Imperium, this is not necessarily a one-way assignment (atleast for the crew).

A skeleton crew is used and supplied with plenty of escape pods/lifeboats. The crew evacuates and the ship detonates after they are far out of the danger zone. Some captains decide to go down with the fire ship anyway. Or they mindfuck some penitents to stay and guide it to the best point of detonation. The Imperium isn't short on criminals and/or desperate underclassmen/mutants. Despite its reputation, the Imperium does care about its people’s lives (mostly because Imperial lives are the Emperor's currency, and wasting His property is heresy). It just doesn’t care how many of those lives are sacrificed when necessary; but does attempt to minimize said necessity and sacrifice. It’s a nation, not a team-killing asshole out to murder its own people...when not believed needed for the majority to survive.

=== Non-Warp Capable Vessels ===

Vessels incapable of interstellar travel. All but the most primitive Imperial planets have them.
*'''System Ships:''' Civilian ships that do all the civilian stuff like ferrying, mining and transport. As nobody would buy models of them, [[GW]] never bothered to flesh out their canon. If armed, they are dragooned into the System Defense Force during invasions.
*'''Defense Monitor:''' Essentially, a mobile gun emplacement in space. Slow and small, it diverts all its power into the battleship-sized guns it carries. Crewed by regular Imperial Navy personnel and used to augment existing defenses. Threatening enough to make pirates and smallish raiding fleets fuck off for easier targets, but usually insufficient to stop a determined invasion force.
*'''System Defense Vessel:''' The primary unit of a System Defense Force aka the [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]] in space. Nobody knows what they look like or even what capabilities they have. It is assumed they are lightly armed vessels usually used in police actions and customs enforcement. In times of invasion, they use hit and run tactics as best they can until they die.

=== Logistics / Civilian Vessels ===

Ships used for the transportation of cargo or individuals. The majority of Imperial ships would fall into this category.

*'''Carrack-Class Transport Ship;''' A newer version of the Conquest Star Galleon. It's a hardy vessel that can defend itself quite well against raiders. The profile even looks like a Military Vessel so opponents who can't distinguish between Imperial Ships could be scared off.

*'''Jericho-Class Pilgrim Vessel:''' Refinery ships that have been converted into personnel carriers, the majority of which will be transporting poor-er passengers. Can't really defend itself but usually not even worth the bother for pirates.

*'''Orion-Class Star Clipper;''' Blockade runners through and through. They're designed to transport low-volume but high-quality goods, even through hostile space. Speed is the name of their game. Hell, these things can put some Eldar ships to shame.

*'''Universe-Class Mass Conveyor;''' Think Super-Tanker in space. It's the largest standardized Cargo hauler in the Imperium and is 12km long. It looks freaking awesome too.

*'''Vagabond-Class Merchant Trader;''' Rather small cargo vessel but extremely common. As if to assist with its 'commoner' theme, it makes you yawn just looking at it.

== Adeptus Mechanicus Vessels ==
{{Main|Explorator Fleet}}
Being in charge of manufacturing the warships for the other departments of the Imperium, obviously the Adeptus Mechanicus would also have fleets of its own. The official Mechanicum body that constructs and operates spacecraft is known as the Basilikon Astra. Because the Quest for Knowledge can involve long & dangerous travels into unexplored space, it is important that they be heavily armed and armored, so the Adeptus Mechanicus ships generally are overall of higher quality than standard ships, with better tecnology, weapons, and shields. Though the total number of ships the Adeptus Mechanicus has at its disposal dispersed among its many forge worlds is far outnumbered by that of the Imperial Navy, it goes without saying that those responsible for all starship construction reserve for themselves among the most powerful and best-equipped warships encountered anywhere in the Imperium.

*'''[[Ark_Mechanicus|Ark Mechanicus:]]''' If battleships are literal void-traveling cities, then Ark Mechanicus are void-traveling factories or massive laboratories, with industrial capabilities rivaling that of many hive cities, with kilometre upon kilometre of manufactoria, refineries, crackling Plasma Reactors and laboratories, test ranges, chemical vats and gene-bays. These kinds of battleships are incredibly large, nigh-mythical ships that are said to endlessly search the stars as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus Quest for Knowledge, being led by a Venerated Archmagos Explorator. An Ark Mechanicus is outfitted with the most powerful weapons available to the Imperium, generally having a balanced set of lances, wepons batteries, and a Nova Cannon. Shit's that dangerous out there.
*'''Lathe-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed around deep space exploration and extreme self-reliance. These ships, when properly outfitted, can operate for decades without returning to imperial space for resupply. These would make up the bulk of Explorator fleets.
*'''Secutor-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed to excel at the art of war. Tougher than all of the other Light Cruisers and yet still more mobile than true Cruisers. Due to being designed from the ground up to be a Warship, this Light Cruiser is fitted with Cruiser sized Void Shield Generators.
*'''Goliath-Class Factory Ship;''' An Adeptus Mechanicus vessel designed to harvest plasma from Stars. These ships supply the fuel for the entirety of the Imperium. Other ships can be fitted with Plasma Scoops to top up their own tanks but this is the true fuel-harvesting-workhorse of the Imperium.

== Inquisition Vessels ==

The Inquisition usually borrow ships to do their jobs. However, there comes a time in every Inquisitor's life when witnesses are liabilities and executing entire Imperial Navy crews may be too much. Solution: Have a Navy of your very own. Still, these ships are rare and are assigned on a mission to mission basis. Usually carries [[Deathwatch]], [[Grey Knights]], [[Adepta Sororitas]] and/or [[Tempestus Scions]] depending on the [[Inquisition|Ordos]] involved. They do not have Armored Prows and usually travel alone.

*'''Inquisitorial Black Ship:''' What happens when a [[Strike Cruiser]] and Battlecruiser fall in love? They create offspring that are stronger than Battleships. Armed with a dorsal Bombardment Cannon, port weapons batteries, Attack Craft prow launch bays, prow Torpedoes and whatever Xenos/Chaos tech you can imagine.

*'''Inquisitorial Cruiser:''' A Strike Cruiser-variant built for the Inquisition. However, unlike most Strike Cruisers (which are the size of Navy Light Cruisers) they can be a lot bigger and have no set pattern. Usually specifically designed for use by specific Ordos.

== Adeptus Astartes Vessels ==

{{Main|Adeptus Astartes Fleet}}

== Adeptus Arbites Vessels ==

*'''Punisher Cruiser:''' Modeled after the [[Strike Cruiser]]s of the Astartes, they are supposed to bolster local PDF security, put down rebellions, hunt down pirate bands and transport high-ranking Arbites officials. Realistically, carrying Big Wigs is probably all they do. Despite being heavily armed with torpedoes, [[Bombardment Cannon]]s, Fighters and advanced scanners to spot bases, they are too few (usually travelling alone) to fight anything major. That said... being a Strike Cruiser variant means they have the body of a light cruiser but can punch way over their weight class. Can easily destroy escort squadrons and go ''mano a mano'' with bigger ships.

== Important Details ==

=== Crews ===

''Navy crews are made up of officers, techpriests, astropaths, navigators, servants, slave drivers, and slaves.''

A bit of an over-simplification, but broadly true. Due to the Imperium's aversion to AI and Automation each ship needs at least thousands of people to man it. Whenever the crew count gets low, the Imperial Navy sets up fake strip clubs on a planet claiming "Free Hookers" to lure in unsuspecting men (and the occasional woman). Once a future crewman steps in, he's knocked out, bound, gagged, and taken to the ship, [[grimdark|where they'll slave away the rest of their soon-to-be-short existence]] doing everything needed to make flying through space and fighting in the void possible.

This includes dragging shells the size of houses into cannons while being whipped. Still, at least for the crew sex is allowed, in fact encouraged, if for no other reason than maintaining the crew complement. Seriously, whole fucking cities and civilizations arise from the more massive ships, every bit as intricate as a long lived Hive City. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7wcShvrus Here is an idea of how it works, right up to the Roman armor, whips and beatings.] Oh and apparently besides whole civilizations, there are whole civilizations of mutants around too. They can more or less settle new worlds for da [[Emprah]] by simply disgorging their excess population, which the crew is probably all too happy to do.

High ranking officers may also bring their own people on board. These include, but are not limited to, concubines, bodyguards, servants, slaves, etc.. Makes you wonder just what regulations are actually enforced if any exist at all.

One area where fluff [[Black Library|hasn't been consistent]] is in the uniform worn by Imperial Navy crewmen. Some sources suggest that uniforms are divided by segmentum of the Imperium, while others suggest that it is a sector-by-sector fashion choice. Given the scale of the Imperium and the fact that Navy fleets are already identified by hull color, it's probably on a segmentum basis, but [[Games Workshop]] doesn't care enough to make a decision about it (and no matter what they'll inevitably be blinged out in skulls and eagles). For the ranks of the aforementioned shell draggers at the bottom of the naval hierarchy they'd wear a motley collection of their old civilian clothes and whatever they could scrounge up and sew together. Continuing the Age of Sail metaphor.

=== Travel ===

The ships of the [[Imperium]] travel through the [[Warp]] using what's called a [[FTL (Warhammer 40,000)#Warp Drive|warp drive]] to get to where they're going. However, this isn't your happy, fancy tunnel-of-light like in Star Wars, or everything-moves-fast Star Trek, it is an alternate dimension full of [[Chaos]]. In order to avoid being turned inside-out (think Event Horizon) and getting hentai-raped by every daemon in the warp, the ships rely on what is called a [[Gellar Field]] to keep the [[furries]], undesirables, and various other evil beings out of their ship when traveling through. The Baroque decorations are also implied in helping to ward off said daemons. When traveling through literal Hell itself, turning an actual cathedral into an actual voidship is actually a pretty good actual idea. They rely on a [[Navigator]] that uses the [[Empra]] as a beacon to safely navigate the Warp, hence the title "Navigator".

=== Ordnance ===

* '''Macrocannons:''' Guns. Lots of guns. Macrocannons are gargantuan cannons firing equally gargantuan shells. On escort ships these are often mounted in turrets, while capital ships often feature broadside batteries manned by crews of tens of thousands. Generally used to saturate void shields with overwhelming volume of fire. Alternatively, its also used by capital ships to provide planet-side fire support (although due to it's size, its the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb on someone) or used en-masse against the planet's surface to [[Exterminatus|bombard it into oblivion]].
* '''Lasers:''' Smaller than true lances, lasers are common on escorts such as the Sword. Accurate but not overly powerful, their main virtue is that they don't require ammunition and are usually in turrets. They only need lens refocusing or repairing the actual gun itself, as by the time their "ammo" supply (the reactor) is compromised the ship has worse problems than going dry.
* '''Plasma Cannons:''' Powerful, but power hungry and finicky. Not every forge world can build them, but generally the Imperium is better at building ship sized plasma guns than they are at building handheld ones. Imperial ships with plasma tend to be all plasma like the tyrant instead of the normal lance and macro mix of the lunar.
* '''Lance Batteries:''' Lances are enormous particle/laser weapons designed to penetrate armor and inflict deep structural damage. Accurate and powerful but they don't recharge fast enough to defeat void shields unassisted. Their sheer size and power requirements typically limit them to capital ships; lance armed escorts are purpose built vessels like the Firestorm. The necessity to defeat void shields means that the preferred Imperial loadout for capital ships is macrocannons paired with lances. Lances do extreme damage, period, but recharge so slowly that the enemy shields will have mostly recharged by the time you shoot again, hence preference for pairing with macrocannon. Macrocannons either prevent recharge in small numbers or do that and take chunks out of void shields between lance shots.
* '''Torpedos:''' The standard Imperial torpedo consists of a unstable plasma reactor with an engine and a guidance cogitator. On impact, the reactor and its remaining fuel detonates with roughly the force of an escort ship's main drive exploding, but directed straight to the target like a shaped charge. A well placed torpedo allows even a lowly destroyer to threaten a battleship, although they are as often used by capital ships to force an enemy to turn to avoid a torpedo salvo.
** '''Melta Torpedos:''' What causes more damage than a reactor blowing up in a shaped charge? Said reactor blowing up inside the target after a melta charge has burrowed it's way through and more melta warheads exploding alongside, consuming the impact area in nuclear fire. That said, if the torpedo launcher receives a penetrating hit while they are loaded, there is a good chance they will detonate and take the ship with them.
** '''Boarding Torpedo:''' Essentially a torpedo version of an assault ship, boarding torpedoes are more often used by the Astartes due to the acceleration forces involved on both ends of the trip.

== Ranks in the Navy ==

While the Imperial Navy uses a lot of the ranks in similar fashion to modern militaries, they invariably hold to a more archaic form and are not equivalent to modern day ranking systems. Particularly since it's quite clear that commissions in 40k can often be purchased rather than earned, and that a "Warrant" would most likely hold to the original term and be an "officer by appointment" rather than an enlisted grade. Though considering the immense variety of units within the Imperium, this may not necessarily be the case galaxy-wide, so all options are equally valid. A competent naval academy or [[Schola Progenium]] graduate leading one ship and a glory hound who's daddy paid for another can serve on the same bridge. Also, the ship commander will generally be referred to as Captain internally for the sake of simplicity, except in Astartes fleets where they are called shipmasters to avoid confusion regarding the actual rank of Captain in the Astartes. Funnily, this practice among the Astartes is directly opposite to IRL Marine units, where Captains are known as Majors to avoid being confused with the actual Captain of the ship. Since they are not in the dirt, Navy officers look significantly more well dressed than Guard officers but can get scarred just like the ground pounding plebians. LT's and up in the Navy can be very creepy to look at. The smoking hot lieutenant commander in immaculate uniform with fancy frills and spotless [[Carapace Armor]] having half of her face missing and plated over with cybernetics along with her whole arm being replaced by bionics is not an uncommon sight. Ratings and below look more like standard sci-fi lower class cyborgs.

Like the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy has Commissars. They serve the exact same role they do in the Imperial Guard. They're outside the chain of command, they maintain discipline and punish traitors and mutineers, and they can in theory overrule or execute anyone, though it is much more difficult to put a bolt in a Navy Captain's head than a Guard Colonel. Much like guard regiments, not every ship in the navy will always have a Commissar aboard, but the ones likely to need them typically will.

=== Officer Ranks ===

*'''Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy''' - This person is a [[High Lords of Terra|High Lord]] and is the person responsible for the '''ENTIRE''' Imperial Navy, though likely the post holder doesn't do much other than delegate to their subordinates and attend tedious High Lord meetings.
*'''Lord-High Admiral''' - There are five of these guys, one for each Segmentum. While they're probably never anywhere near the front lines they probably have more to do, since its their job to oversee the deployment of fleets and materials from sector to sector. That said, the non-canonical Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 game has Lord-High Admiral Spire personally leading Battlefleet Gothic around the Cadian sector from his flagship, even taking down some of the top-dogs of Abaddon's inner council.
*'''Lord Admiral''' - The guy in charge of a sector fleet who gets direct command of vessels and formations. You see these guys in the fluff quite regularly when "key" worlds ''(like Armageddon)'' need defended or attacked.
*'''Solar Admiral''' - Often a ''terminal'' rank... no really. Occasionally regular Admirals who do good jobs can put themselves forward for promotion to this position, which needs to be approved by the Lord-High Admiral of their Segmentum, then the officer needs to travel to Terra be reviewed by the Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Obviously this can take a very, ''VERY'' long time to approve. So they might often be [[Grimdark|dead before the paperwork gets rubber-stamped]]. If they do get approved they are likely to get promoted straight up to sector commander (see Lord Admiral) as a position will probably have opened up while he was waiting. More rarely, Solar Admirals can get sent on "detached duties" which is basically a license to do as they please with their independent fleets. The fact they get approved implies that those who died waiting were rejected without being told.
*'''High Admiral''' - Commands several group of naval fleets (e.g. Battlegroups), often the most senior Navy officer in a Crusade but the things these fucks usually do is just having snacks with their Imperial Guard counterparts and leaving the combat duties to their subordinate Admirals
*'''Admiral''' - Gets put in charge of a fleet and told to oversee some subsectors. He's usually the highest of the "front line" ranks and much of his time will be on active duty patrolling his assigned region.
*'''Vice Admiral''' - Fleets traditionally get split into three parts, with the highest Admiral taking up the portion containing the larger ships, while the "Vice" Admiral takes the "Vanguard" portion of faster moving ships.
*'''Rear Admiral''' - the third portion of a fleet would be the "Rearguard" and usually gets assigned to the youngest/least experienced Admiral in the fleet. His job is usually the quietest one as he gets the mop-up and repair duties.
*'''Commodore''' - an experienced Captain in command of a squadron of capital ships. It's traditionally only a temporary rank, as capital ships don't always get assigned to each other the same way that escorts do. But the realities of war often mean that ships stay together for extended periods, often well beyond the lifespans of generations of captains.
*'''Lord Captain''' - not actually a rank, but an honourific applied to Captains of detached vessels operating independently. The '''"Lord-"''' part implies that they operate with the full authority of the Imperial Navy when they act so they can deal with outside organisations (like planetary governors, Space Marines or Imperial Guard) on relatively even footing. Sometimes also known by the more archaic term of "Flag-Captain", since as the commander of a detached vessel they figuratively carry their own flag.
*'''Captain''' The commander of a single capital ship or the lead starship in an escort squadron.
*'''Commander''' - Usually the commander of an escort vessel. Is also the ranking officer on board orbital space stations. It also gets used as the terminal rank amongst Pilots, since small attack craft all fall under the remit of the Navy; so a '''Wing Commander''' would get command over all pilots based on a single carrier.
*'''Lord Lieutenant''' - The second-in-command to captains of capital ships, bizarrely Commanders don't hold that role and hold their own positions. Thankfully because a chain of command exists in any military, despite a Wing Commander holding higher "actual" rank over a Lieutenant on a carrier vessel he would not hold any higher authority on that ship than his duties allow for. [[Fail|Sometimes this rank is known as Flag Lieutenant, which allows GW to once again show their incompetence as a Flag Lieutenant is actually an Admiral's aide-de-camp.]]
*'''Lieutenant''' - a "working" rank. Either holds command over small system vessels or acts as second in command to Commanders of escorts, or as department heads on Capital ships. They are also Squadron leaders amongst pilots.
*'''Sub-Lieutenant / Ensign''' - Team leaders or attack craft pilots
*'''Midshipman''' - Apprentice officers who haven't passed any exams or earned any responsibility, they would exist below the Warrant Officers in terms of authority, despite holding a commission. Midshipmen are commissioned from Imperial Nobility as part of the [[Administratum|Imperial Tithe]] ''(which can mean virtually anyone gets the job if they send their useless heirs just to keep the best ones at home)'' but they are also assigned from the [[Schola Progenium]]. In addition, Midshipmen also may be taken on as a personal favour from the Captain of a vessel if he knows the family. This echoes the ancient real-world practice of young noblemen showing up while the vessel was in dock with a letter from their family and being granted a commission on the Captain's say-so.

=== NCO Ranks ===

*'''Ship Master''' - the most senior Warrant officer on board a starship, also quite possibly the busiest man on the starship. It's his job to maintain the logs, update stellar navigation charts, oversee ships stores and order supplies, and command a hangar deck if there is one. Basically he's the guy who knows the ship better than anyone. In real-world historical usage, this guy would have an authority equivalent to a Lieutenant on board a starship, and would "mess" ''(ie: occupy the same space)'' as the other officers do.
*'''Bosun''' - ''(Shorthand for Boatswain)'' The NCO directly responsible for all of the common crew members, including work planning, scheduling, training, and [[Commissar|enforcing discipline]]. Despite his position, his actual rank may vary depending upon the size of vessel or operational requirements, in practice it never really matters since he's unlikely to ever meet another Boatswain. ''(real-world Boatswains are typically petty officers or warrant officers, but could be of any rank. They held responsibility over all areas of the ship other than Engineering, which was left to the Chief Engineer, as if the bosun disciplined/executed/imprisoned a skilled crewman from that department the ship could be crippled because of it)''.
**Note that most Capital Ships, but not all Escort ships, may have an actual Naval [[Commissar]] on board in this role, tasked with maintaining discipline up to and [[Blam|including]] the Officer compliment.
*'''Chief Warrant Officer''' - Also called "Chief Petty Officer" on some vessels. Will often be given command of important ship sections ''(like Chief Engineers, helmsmen, or auspex control, as these are critical to ongoing operation of a starship)''
*'''Chief Enginseer''' - This one is complicated. The engineering section of Imperial Navy vessels falls under jurisdiction of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], which maintains their own byzantine system of ranks among [[Techpriest|techpriests]]. The ranking member of the mechanicus contingent will have shipboard authority equivalent to a Lieutenant. However, on capital ships or vessels featuring archaotech systems, the leading techpriest may well be a full [[Magos]]. Similarly, on ships traveling into unexplored space the leading techpriest might be an Explorator slumming it as an enginseer to ride along.
*'''Chief Navigator''' - Another complicated position. Imperial navy vessels invariably host a small contingent of [[navigator|navigators]] to guide the vessel through the warp. In practice, navigators aboard naval vessels answer ONLY to the commanding officer and show zero deference to any other member of the crew. It's not unheard of for navigators to give crewmembers the warp eye for the slightest transgression; there are even rare cases of navigators demanding ratings or mutineers to sacrifice to complete their navigation rites. If a vessel has [[astropath|astropaths]] aboard, they too generally answer directly to the commanding officer, although they're usually less haughty about it.
*'''Chief Surgeon''': Leads the ship's medicae. Can't downcheck officers, that's the Commissariat's job. Usually a Militarum doctor, but occasionally will be a [[Sister Hospitaler]] if the ship is in a war and the crew are lucky enough for [[Sisters of Battle]] to be barracked aboard for the duration of the campaign, and even more rarely a [[Magos]] Biologis if they're exploring or the crew seriously lucked out on campaign.
*'''Warrant Officer''' - You'll find lots of guys of equivalent rank on a ship, in command of various operational sections keeping the ship running at all times:
**Masters of Ordnance - make certain that Torpedoes and Attack craft (if any) are fueled and maintained.
**Master Gunner - have responsibility over all of the weapons batteries through the Gun Captains and make sure they are loaded and fired when required.
**Master-at-Arms - responsible for all "small" arms on board a starship, overseeing all Sergeants-at-Arms, as well as maintaining order over any barracked Guard regiments currently in transit.
**Master of the Vox - making sense out of the bazillions of messages that run through the bridge at any given moment both internally and externally ''(crews can get pretty massive, and a lot of traffic can come through at once)''.
**Steward - the guy who keeps everyone else well fed.
*'''Gun Captain''' - Funnily enough, the man in charge of a single gun crew. Makes sure that the weapon is taken care of, is reloaded quickly enough, and <s>is accurate when asked to fire</s>, asking the local Enginseer to ensure the gun is accurate when asked to fire. All of that comes back to this guy. . .and the Enginseer.
*'''[[Navis Sergeant-At-Arms|Sergeant-at-Arms]]''' - Man in charge of the weapons lockers and leader of boarding parties, as well as maintaining ship-board security. Usually they are transferred from [[Imperial Guard]] regiments so that they don't have any prior association with the crew, though it likely depends from fleet to fleet. The Sergeants-At-Arms generally directly lead the elite Breacher squads.
*'''[[Voidsmen-at-Arms|Armsmen]]''' - Occasionally referred to as Voidsmen-at-Arms. Crewmen trusted to carry weapons. They train extensively with Lasguns, concussion grenades, and low caliber rotor cannons that are unlikely to chew up starship hulls, as well as getting to wear flak-armour. Since they are trusted more, they have slightly more freedom to move around the vessel as well. They are not [[Imperial Guard|true soldiers]] since offensive boarding actions tend to be rare, so these guys still have their own regular responsibilities on board ship, yet Armsmen can come from the common ratings all the way up to the Officer ranks. On some ships the crewmen really don't want the job, since it means they get scrutinised more, and they might be ordered to beat up their buddies. On other ships, they are set above the toiling classes and are necessary for keeping them in line.
**'''[[Imperial Navy Breachers|Breachers]]''' - the elite amongst the Armsmen who get to wear even heavier void-armour and carry nastier weapons like explosives and melta-guns that would otherwise be suicidal to use inside a starship. Not only are they the primary defensive contingent on board a ship, but they are also the go-to crew members if an enemy ship needs boarded or an [[Star Trek|away team]] is called upon.
*'''Voidsmen''' - the lowest rank of crewman on board a Naval Starship above the [[Servitor]]s unless the Captain is cool with slavery. If they have a skill or a trade they may be referred to as '''Able Voidsmen''' which is an official rank that might require examinations. Additionally, if they show leadership qualities they might be promoted to '''Leading Voidsman''' and put in charge of work gangs and be considered for promotion to Warrant Officer if a position opens up.

== Notable Problems ==
These are problems some have with the Imperial Navy and their fluff....

=== General Logistical Problems ===

The big problem that the Imperial Navy has is that it's the only organised navy in the galaxy that's trying to defend its massive amounts of space. To do this takes vast numbers of ships but rather thinly spread out. Given the problems of warp travel it's also extremely hard to reinforce friendly fleets under attack. The foes of the navy come essentially in two flavours; raiders who might just manage to scrape together a few converted transports (building even escort-sized ships is a huge undertaking, akin to building damn near the entire American Navy combined from iron ore and making it fly) which take an escort squadron to murder, and huge organized invasion fleets that take a whole fleet to fight. These combine together to mean that outside of fleet bases and important strategic worlds there is nowhere in the Imperium that is actually well-defended. At best a fleet has to be formed and sent out and they could arrive months later. Travel takes a lot of time, and out in the void it can be extremely hard to know what you are actually fighting against, especially since the enemy tend to kill anyone who tries to look at them. So when there's a large enemy force that you absolutely must fight (not fighting is much preferable) you don't just band together whoever was within shouting distance of the flagship and go murdering, you pull together every single vessel in the sector and hope to the Emperor it's enough to do the job.

TL,DR: Acquiring a force sucks when command thinks paperwork and red tape are forms of worship and maintenance thinks the toilet needs a prayer before it is unclogged.

Warships genuinely are vast things and obscenely expensive and risking them at all in major actions is not something anyone does lightly. Each cruiser is larger and more complex than a fully-kitted titan legion. These things are MASSIVE. In the BFG book there's a fluff story of a cruiser being built at a shipyard that orbits a primitive world. The entire population of the planet were given over to mining the resources needed to build one single cruiser. It took them eleven years to mine the ore. Sure, that's a primitive world, but if you think about it that makes carving out the rocks for it the largest single project ever engaged upon without mechanization. If you add together all seven wonders of the world you aren't even close to the pile of rock we're talking about. So these things are a big fucking investment and the high lords really don't like risking them without a really good reason (makes you question why they wouldn't build 20 smaller ships instead).

So if you ever wondered why the Navy doesn't get more action, now you know. By the time the big, awesome ships get on the scene the invasion already probably finished and the bad guys moved on. Then you nuke the shit out of them from orbit or drop millions of poor bastards into the meat grinder. Far better idea all round. It's the reason that the enemy, even nutters like Chaos, don't fight in the void without reason. On the ground it's just a scrap, and maybe you win or maybe you don't. If you lose in the void then your campaign on the surface is dead. No reinforcements, no support and a massive constant orbital bombardment to kill everyone left (which sometimes doesn't happen, because, you know, plot armour). That tends to mean fleets hover around and not fighting, one ensuring the other can't directly interfere with the surface war. This is actually an excellent and realistic explanation for why there is significant ground warfare in 40k. Also, ground-based defenses, mobile theater-shields, etc. are common. So, attacking a planet worth anything is like attacking a planet-sized Death Star without the super-weapon. Your ground forces taking out shields and anti-space batteries is critical to achieving anything. But, by that point, most of the enemy is dead and the survivors have either moved to the next defended region or got so stuck-in with your dudes that you can't shoot without killing your own army. Unless you worship Khorne, in which case you really couldn't care less who you kill, even yourself.

Besides that, there are strategic locations to take in order to take or destroy the anti-orbit defenses. Those locations have strategic locations and so on and before you know it, you’re invading the whole damn planet.

So, the navies of the galaxy ultimately get pushed down into either raiders, escorts against raiders, raider-hunters, or babysitting and logistical duty for groundpounders. Which of course brings back the question of why the Navy has such a desire to get more interceptors and bombers for ship-to-ship combat when they rarely engage in combat in the first place and the attack craft are insufficient. Could be to weaken the enemy ships' ability to shoot at the surface, but by the point they would have a target it would have (as stated) gone to a new defended location or whatever else, defeating the point of sending attack craft to weaken the enemy ships' offensive power. They won't shoot at each other, and they can't shoot at the surface (or at least can't shoot anything worth shooting at). In exchange for packing in so many attack craft into hangars designed for countless atmospheric air support fighters and bombers, the Imperial Guard has to die in radically greater numbers than they have any need to since they have limited anti-air capabilities and all of their enemies have no problem sending massive swarms of fighters and bombers at them. That is without even getting to engage the enemy on the ground and not counting the countless soldiers killed as the transports are shot to pieces due to their escorts commonly ditching them to go after obvious bait tactics. Oh, and sending reinforcements from other worlds, let alone the loss of expensive and valuable drop ships and interstellar transport vessels, is far more expensive than just using damn atmo-fighters and bombers for the Guard. Heck, an escort ship variant was created specifically to resolve this problem as even the High Lords got pissed about it. A ship designed as an escort vessel specializing in carrying atmospheric fighters, bombers, etc. just to provide support for the Imperial Guard. The Navy promptly took the ships built, removed the atmospheric craft, and replaced them with Furies and Starhawks. They already have a light cruiser escort carrier and the number of attack craft they crammed in was abysmal.

Thus the rumor that the Navy has no balls. But who needs balls when you have a nova cannon sized dick and eighteen dice worth of fire power.

=== Ship Size ===

No one is quite sure how big the ships really are. One story claims the Retribution-Class is a mere 3 kilometers long, while another says it is 9 kilometers and up to 20 kilometers.

Your best bet is Rogue Trader, although going by those figures, anything bigger than a cruiser has an average density around that of hydrogen... Everything after Rogue Trader became much larger, though, so this is likely inaccurate (though pretty big vessels anyway). Given the constant references to “city sized” weapon batteries and hangars, perhaps take Rogue Trader ship sizes and multiply ten or even a hundred. From a helpful poster on [http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63267&page=2 Heresy-Online] we have this:

For the most accurate scale, look towards the Battlefleet Koronus Expansion, as it is more a stat/rule book than a story. That and previous consensi, as well as cross referencing with the Horus Heresy rulebooks by Forge World (which places Battleships at 8-12km) place Cruisers just above 5 kms, and Battleships in the mid 8s. Please note that most ships above the size of 8ish kilometers are either a unique modified/purpose built flagship or a ship of a small class that is not in widespread circulation. For a sense of scale the largest warship in the world is currently the US Navy's Ford Class Aircraft Carrier measuring in at 337 meters long or 0.337km making the USS Ford the size of a cannon. They have guns literally the length of an Aircraft carrier!

*Transports and other Attack Craft, typically rated for atmospheric operation; also includes ships designed to be boarding torpedoes.
**<1 kilometer. That's the small ones, there are super transports in 40k as well. (A [[thunderhawk]] would go here).
*Escorts are "small" ships, like the Cobra, designed to flank foes and operate in squads.
**1-2 kilometers.
**Heavy Frigates
**Frigates
**Corvettes
**Destroyers
**Freighters
*Light Cruiser, a smaller Cruiser.
**3-5 kilometers.
*Cruiser, the standard fighting vessel; every Imperial fleet has them.
**5-6 Kilometers.
*Battle Cruiser, a beefed up Cruiser; generally more 'modern' than a Grand Cruiser.
**6-7 kilometers.
*Grand Cruiser; pocket-sized Battleship, very old.
**7-8 kilometers.
*Battleship; the biggest of the lot, simply put.
**8-12 kilometers.
**Battleships
**Fleet Carriers

The Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" had this to say about ship sizes, taken from [http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/22848349/ /tg/] who quoted it from the book and written here is just the lengths and names of the ships, for simplicity and space:

*Macragge’s Honour. Twenty-six kilometers - Flagship
*Spirit of Konor. Seventeen kilometers - Battleship
*Antrodamicus. Twelve kilometers - Grand Cruiser
*Antipathy. Nine kilometers - Cruiser (note that the book said it had "six thousand lives" on board, which would be an absurdly small crew for its size by 40k or even 21st century standards, but it wasn't fully crewed at the time; maybe for an astartes or mechanicus vessel its a bit closer to reasonable but definite not for the Navy)
*Aegis of Occluda. Seven kilometers - Class unknown
*Gladius. Four kilometers - Escort
*Then there is the Abyss-class created by Lorgar that is said to match the Phalanx in size. He made three of them. In reality, they matched it in beam, but the Phalanx is round, so iut probably wasn't quite as big.

===Weapon Effects===

The calcs for Imperial Navy warships are one of the [[FAIL|''worst'']] things in GeeDubs' illustrious history. From Macrocannons [[Wat|outputting fewer joules than a punch from an 8-year-old child]] to [[Exterminatus|broadsides breaking continents]] [[Derp|making the existence of Cyclonic Torpedoes feel impotent.]] Calculating the strength of naval weapons have been one of the biggest pain in the ass for /tg/, not helping with the fact that many BL authors have no sense of fucking scale, let alone consistency.

Nevertheless, even if naval vessels shot out megatons per broadside, many newer folks around here may wonder, "Why can't the Imperial Navy do an orbital bombardment of a heavily defended position on land?". The answer is simple. Collateral damage. Yes, even the most incompetent of Imperial commanders recognize that too much collateral damage is a bad thing and would really affect the health of a good Crusade. After all, life is the Emperor's currency. '''SPEND IT WELL'''. This is not helped by the fact that the naval weapons of the Imperial Navy aren't the most accurate of the lot. Sure, fluff dictates that Macrocannons have an effective range in excess of tens of thousands of kilometres. But there is a BIG DIFFERENCE in providing suppressive fire against multi-kilometre spaceships and trying to hit a well-defended bunker that is only ten meters across. The only weapons that could be counted as 'accurate' are Lances and Nova Cannons. But firing them is overkill and the resulting shockwave will fuck up anyone indiscriminately, including ''Titan legions''. This is not counting into the basis of Void Shields and anti-orbital weapons like [[Defense Laser]]s for example.

As such, whilst it is theoretically possible to do orbital bombardment, in reality, most of the time it is just far more efficient to direct your naval assets to spar against ''other'' enemy naval ships, rather than risk a fleet that a) may or may not hit the target or worse, their allies due to inaccuracies, b) must come dangerously close to Defense Laser range or any other anti-orbital weapons and c) when they ''ARE'' given the chance to perform the role, the enemy has either become too insignificant to order a bombardment or have already captured and took hold of the entire planet plus its defences. Ergo, whilst it is tempting, orbital bombardment isn't really popular and just risks splitting your forces where it could have been better suited to, you know, deny the enemy of any potential orbital superiority in the first place.

=== Lack of Balls ===

It is well-known that most Imperial Navy Officers don't have em. Other times their balls are too big and get themselves and their crews killed in idiotic attacks.

An Imperial Navy fleet is most effective when Inquisitors take it over. [[Exterminatus|See Here]].

=== Carrier Hate ===

Back in M36, the Imperial Navy fought a lowkey civil war over fleet doctrine in Segmentum Tempestus known as the Gareox Incident. A cabal of chaos worshipers worked their way high enough in the navy to start designing ships that were ready-built to turn traitor, most of which were carriers. The battlefleet eventually figured out something was off and the result was a giant carriers vs battleships fight that went down the way the Battle off Samar would have if the Japs hadn't been scared shitless by three destroyers. The surviving carriers went openly traitor and since then building new carriers has been borderline heresy so far as the navy is concerned. Doesn't stop them from building a bunch of them anyway. Hating something has never stopped the Imperium from doing whatever is necessary to do its duty (or else).

Strangely, this battle is contradictory in how attack craft fare in any other battle. Normally, you read about bombers and interceptors ravaging and destroying ships with impunity unless you have a way to counter them such as dedicated anti-air ships and interceptors of your own. Which the attacking loyalists in this battle lacked. The big difference between other historical examples are void shields on the capital ships.

Therefore the the most likely thing that happened was that carrier fleet launched a first strike with all there airwings and did solid damage, but took losses from flak and interceptors (most imperium ships have some fighter escorts even if they don't focus on it). When they returned to there carriers to rearm and refuel the void shields on the Imperial ships had a chance to recharge and so the traitors repeated the attack with less overall fighters, takeing lose both on the approach and on the return. Over the course of the battle the Imperials attrited the fighters down and managed to approach to gun range and tore the Carriers apart. That is conjecture though but the only solution to explain the difference are the void shields on the capital ships.

What that means is that the best way to get use out of fighters in 40k space combat should be to coordinate them so they attack with a battle ship either dropping the void shields or attack a vulnerable target without a shield as a finishing blow.

== In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2 ==

The Imperial Navy is the most balanced faction of the game as expected from being the posterboys of Battlefleet Gothic. Decent hull points, strong voidshields, okay speed and a wide selection of choices, the Imperial Navy offers a level of flexibility and diversity that no other faction could match. In general, Imperial Navy ships are more suited for close-range brawler types; their row upon row of [[Macrocannon]]s ensures a steady supply of [[Dakka|munitions]] that is reasonably accurate in short-medium range, whilst their armoured prow enables them to become effective battering rams when needed. Likewise, some classes have their loadout decked in [[Lance Weapon]]s, [[Torpedo|Torpedoes]] and [[Nova Cannon]]s, so they aren't slouches in long-range combat as well. Sure they cannot compete against the [[Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Chaos]] when it comes to overall range, and that they aren't as good when it comes to pure CQC mayhem like the [[Orks]] and [[Tyranids]], but the sheer ''amount'' of ships one can choose means that eventually, you will find a class that will cover each other's weaknesses. By far the easiest and least punishing faction of the lot.

== Music of the Imperial Navy ==

Not to be outdone by the Imperial Guard (as well as to compensate for their aforementioned lack of balls), the Imperial Navy has begun collecting music to either be blared on loudspeakers when not in active use, or in the case of battleship command decks, played live by orchestra. the first four are taken from [[Battlefleet Gothic Armada|Battlefleet Gothic Armada.]]

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DhAAGZVAVo [[Awesome|This one is by far the best.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80QrqY_FgQ8
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0I7M0W_Ig
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFREOz5CvDs
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AlLNITLk8A - A piece dating back to the Armada Imperialis' of the Great Crusade, but is still played regularly.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STVoaxz8-Y - This instrumental is rumored to date back to some epic naval battle during the later dark age of technology.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJEgAFR9vDc - While not quite fitting for battleships and grand cruisers, this piece dates back to when humanity was just beginning to march upon the stars, and as such, is heard regularly in ships captained by sentimental officers.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUrSQNSN6_c - This fitting instrumental is often played in bastion fleets whenever they are mustered to put down [[Black Crusade|yet another temper tantrum.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAw1KlZ8C-A - Battlefleet Gothic Imperial port theme.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlcUwUwjLrs - This ancient piece, a popular mobilization theme for the Imperial Navy, was apparently created during a time in which humanity was at war with a xeno species known as "Cylons". [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|No other records of this species can be found.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so10dKbhorI - Another piece from the same era that the Cylons existed, it was created to commemorate a successful assault on a planet known as New Caprica, what is now an imperial hive world.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFEHCuSnun0 - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gii4e-h3DBc - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral from Praetoria.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qOJrT_lUg - One of the pieces Lord High Admiral Langsung ordered to be played during the Battle for Port Sanctus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_Lp51wyao - This dated back to the glory days of human stellar exploration, when the universe was less grimdark, but is still a favorite for exploratory fleets, or for trying to distract yourself from the fact that you're just one [[Gellar Field|energy field]] away from a level 99 rapefest.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLXNmKvLBQ - One of many favorites of those captaining Ironclads.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXlJ5DMq5o - A favorite of Vostroyan admirals.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elK5iReyAMI - Played during ceremonial ship or fleet launches since the great crusade.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5N0-DqZoU - One of many pieces played when the fleets return victorious.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3q6dCeP7M - An orchestral litany created to aid in battles against chaos ships.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvriqdS3vsc - A common theme of blockade runners, more nimble imperial vessels, and rogue traders plundering xeno planets in the name of the God Emperor.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbh6HT7lLx8 - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDn6WtZBJY - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus led by admirals from oriental cultures.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvUVq-dVEjQ - Battle music that is popular among said admirals of oriental cultures, and also of those from Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo - Music played whenever the Navy has to perform exterminatus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZcj56XXrPM - A personal favorite of an admiral from Armageddon.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3iwvG2ZKuw - The christening and launch of a new ship, straight out of the docks.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9mFPDRZIgE - Encountering a Tyranid Hive Fleet

== See also ==

* [[Famous_Spaceships_of_Warhammer_40,000#Famous_Imperial_Spaceships|Famous Imperial Spaceships]]

== External Links ==

* [http://www.darkreign.org/sites/default/files/BFG%20FAQ%202010_0.pdf/ A Comprehensive List of Ships]
* [http://yenlowang.free.fr/warhammer-forum/BFG/BFG_-_Additional_Ships_Compendium_1.4.pdf Battlefleet Gothic Additional Ships Compendium]
* [https://i.imgur.com/2q7J2Xv.jpg A big poster of fictional navies], with 40k in the center left
* [[Kor'Vattra]]

== Gallery ==

<gallery>

image: EMP-Class.jpg|The Lord Admiral's Love Shack

image: Avenger.jpg| The Grand Marshal's Summer Palace of PWNAGE

image: Lunar-Class.jpg|<s>Imagine how quick land battles would be if these things actually helped</s> They do help, but they can't do it too much or they risk fucking up the planet they came to save, also you try aiming a lance cannon at a spot a meter wide from orbit without hitting your mates on the ground

image: RapidStrikeVessels.JPG|The Bullet-Catchers of the Navy

image: Imperial Fleet Size Sca.jpg|Another demonstration of too much spare time

image: Flagship-mk2.JPG|One of the revered ships of Battlefleet [[/tg/]]: [[Flankitus]]

File:Warhammer Imperial Cruisers by mik.jpg|

File:M1130006 Gothic Art Cover.jpg|

</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Battlefleet Gothic]]

[[Category: Imperial]]

[[Category: Imperial Navy]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Ships]]

{{40k-Imperial-Ships}}

{{Template:Imperium}}

Imperial Navy

2023-05-25T08:39:32Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84: /* Carrier Hate */

[[File:imperialnavy1.jpg|400px|thumb||Cathedrals IN SPEHSS!]]

{{Topquote|When you began, you couldn’t have possessed enough bones for the whole ship. It would look stupid with a few dozen skeletons nailed to the walls. So, how do you start? Do you save up enough bodies for a corridor at a time, or put them away until you have enough to decorate the entire vessel?’|[[Jain Zar]],-Storm of Silence, And while in context she is talking about a [[Dark Eldar]] ship, it applies equally well to the Imperium. She thoroughly underestimates how many corpses both have readily available.}}

{{Topquote|By my faith, may the light of the Emperor spread to the farthest star. By my duty, the galaxy will belong to the righteous. By my actions, the Imperial Navy shall be honoured and remembered on Holy Terra. For the Emperor of Mankind, AND FOR THE BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC!|Imperial Navy Captain Abridal, shorty before his blaze of glory that ultimately stopped the 12th [[Black Crusade]] and saved billions of Imperial lives.}}

The '''Imperial Navy''' is one of the main branches of the [[Imperium of Man|Imperial]] military in [[Warhammer 40,000]], although very little of the Navy actually appears in the tabletop game. They're also one of the main factions in the beloved spin-off game [[Battlefleet Gothic]].

Unlike the [[Imperial Guard]], who get killed in the <s>thousands</s> <s>millions</s> billions every day, the Imperial Navy rarely suffers that many casualties (at least when capital ships are concerned). This is because, unlike the [[lasgun|flashlight]] used by Guardsmen, the main weapon of the Navy is a giant, heavily-armed, heavily-armored battleship that puts other races' spaceships to shame. These ships are also [[Awesome|massive, flying, Gothic cathedrals]]. Be mindful that a ship ''surviving'' a fight doesn't mean survival of any and all of her crew - when the hull is compromised, people die by the hundreds, and retrieval of hulks after a victorious battle is a routine operation for the Navy.
The Imperial Navy is actually well handled by the Imperium. I know, shocking. ''But'', (there it is!) the Imperium seems to think trying to defend everywhere is a good idea. This works fine in general because most threats it faces are hilariously out-matched rebels. But when they're not facing hilariously out-matched rebels, multiple worlds are lost before the Navy can get enough force concentration to win and usually take back those planets. Since those rebels don't need anything above escorts to go squish them (and protect the transports of Guardsmen to do personal squishery), the Navy's penchant for trying to shove full fleets everywhere and even having light cruisers on patrol is not thought-out. It doesn't mean that Guard would get support of a full battlegroup initially tasked with securing the system during their ground campaign (see [[Vraks]] as an example).

Depending on how you look at it, and who you're looking at, the officers of the Navy are either wealthy cowards or badass gentlemen. In either case, their ships have crews numbering the hundreds of thousands or even millions (we're not kidding when we say that each ship has its own language(s) and culture(s,)) since the Imperial Navy doesn't understand how auto-loaders work, so loading a gun requires thousands of slaves running on treadmills. Of course, this might be the fault of [[Adeptus Mechanicus|a certain other branch of the Imperium, who, coincidentally, ''do'' have working auto-loaders on their ships]]. In any case, [[Grimdark|the Imperium has found it cheaper and ''more effective'' to use manpower because they have ''that many people'' to throw at even the tiniest of problems.]] Of course, for a major officer, most days simply require him to press a button and blow something up, then go back to drinking his tea. Oh, and ''maybe'' scramble the ground-support flyers, if he's feeling charitable that day.

Note that, back in the [[Great Crusade]], the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy were one and the same, operating under the far-less-badass name of "Imperial Army." However, thanks to the [[Horus Heresy]], the two got split up, so that a single military commander couldn't control too many forces; a Guard commander isn't able to get off any given planet either without the Navy ship or commandeering a civilian transport, an action that (theoretically) also reqiures approval of Navy officials, and the Navy isn't able to conduct wars (and, you know, occupy territory) without the Guard. You'd think that this enforced mutual co-dependence would make them collaborate, but [[grimdark|of course]], despite how much they need each other, the two bicker constantly, which, in fact, may be the reason for shitty situation the 40k Imperium finds himself in, at least on the military front. And it's all thanks to no other than [[Roboute Guilliman]], the fact his fans keep forgetting about.

While the fleet and ground forces generally had their own commands in the Imperial Army, they had one superior officer in form of Lord Militant (or Lord Solar) on top of both branches. Since admirals are not known for knowing jack shit about ground operations and vice versa, High Command generally operated in auftragstaktik and delegated specifics to the underlings (the same way WW2 army generals worked with air force, essentially), unless the whole expedition was lead by Lord Marshal (think Rogue Trader expedition, but with a cohort of [[Solar Auxilia]] and not all that interested in trading).

Interestingly, though most of the most well-known Chaos ship classes have been put into reserve fleets by the Imperium (hopefully after fixing the insanity-causing problems), those ships are still used by virtue of being, well, reserves. When your battlfleet goes off to fight who-knows-what, the reserve fleet is what holds the line if some major invasion happens. Frontline loses are generally not replaced by the reserves and reserves are used for when greater numbers or something are needed only if situation is really dire. Think of it as holding back a portion of your forces to take a wait-and-see approach for determining where to use them. It might have something to do with reserve fleet ships actually having rules for routing from the field easier and even turning traitor if the enemy fleet is Chaos in BFG...hmmmm.

Weirdly, although Chaos is famed for its use of numerous carriers and attack craft and the Imperium for its big guns, the Imperial Navy has more dedicated carriers and more hybrid carriers whereas Chaos has the most and best guns. The difference is, of course, that the Imperium doesn't make nearly as frequent use of its carriers and carrier hybrids as Chaos does just as Chaos's non-carrier hybrids tend to be used as support vessels like how the Imperium uses its dedicated lance boats and ordnance boats which Chaos also has a small handful of. Chaos Lances and Macrobatteries also tend to have longer ranges due to being made with ancient advanced technology that has been long lost for Imperium of 40k. It sucks that [[Belisarius Cawl]] has been too obessesed with his Primarises for 10 thousand years to actually make something useful for any other military branch of Imperium, doesn't it?

== Types of Ships ==

The Imperial Navy has four types of ships they hide their cowardly asses in. The main ships are battleships, cruisers, escorts, and fighters. There are also mobile Battle Fortresses/Starbase.
Each ship can also be classified by its weaponry, and role in the battlefleet:
*'''Basic:''' Jack of All Trades ships, due to having multiples weapons types, and not being specialized into any. Lunar class cruisers are the prime example, having macrobateries, lances & torpedoes. Why use basic instead focusing on Ordnance-boats to drop shields and Lance-boats to finish off? Because escorts can carry lances and destroyer squadrons can spam torpedoes and the light cruisers can supplement cruiser ordnance and lance and attack craft wherever needed. Which turns space combat into a very complicated game of Chess and Risk combined. As such, carriers, ordnance-boats, and lance-boats become supplementary rather than the bread and butter. After all, if you have an ordnance or lance boat and its supporting escorts get quickly killed off (which is what would happen) then you've lost half your capabilities and would probably lose to a basic as you either couldn't drop shields fast enough or once you did drop you couldn't finish off the enemy fast enough. Plus, lances fluff-wise seem to do massive damage to shields and their only draw-back is the shields regenerating nearly as quickly as the lances so having even a small number of weapons batteries to prevent recharge or even take more bites out of enemy shields between lance blasts would be very good. Which seems to be how the Imperium likes to fight, actually: with lances being their "real" cannons and weapons batteries just assisting with a storm of shots.
*'''Lance-boats:''' Ships that focus into Lance weaponry, used for long-range focused attacks, especially against small ships & unshielded ones. Rarer as they have a weakness to Void Shields and require better drives due to the power requirements of the lances.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Opposite of the Lance-boat, replaces Lances with more Macrobatteries, focusing mostly into medium & short range brawls against enemy ships. Usually this is because they need extra power due to mounting a Nova Cannon or having power-hungry macrobatteries such as Plasma Cannons.
*'''Carrier:''' The red-haired stepchild of the Navy. Replaces the Lances with Launch Bays and is disliked by most Admirals due to the stigma against Attack Craft, although it is because the Traitors and Chaos pawns focused on raiding and striking fast, so with enemy fleets focused on long range attack (Lances, laser, and attack craft) plus Chaos likes them more because they can fill the bays with Assault Boats, the Imperial Navy might have got that stigma of seeing too many Chaos carriers raiding and pillaging imperial planets and so started disliking them. Some Carriers are also made from wrecked cruisers of other types, in which case damaged broadside weapons are ripped out and replaced by launch bays. Attack Craft are the primary weapon of the mighty Emperor-class and Despoiler-class battleships. So much for carriers being weak.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Originally an experiment for escort ships to overrun enemy vessel crews using boarding torpedoes, it was doomed to failure as the targets were either too nimble or too big. The Imperial Navy kept a few as Missile Destroyers.

=== Mobile Battle Fortress ===

Massive space stations that can serve a fleet of ships. Only two classes have been named in canon.
*'''Ramilies-class Starfort:''' Very rare battle stations that can move thru the Warp. Nobody knows exactly how that works so over the millennia, over a thousand of these valuable and rare artifacts were lost. As these were made by [[STC]]'s, it is assumed that they can still be constructed albeit very slowly. They serve as forward bases most of the time and only the most important people/locations get to have one. There used to be an Imperium-wide network of these things which enabled the Imperium to very quickly respond to threats despite the unpredictability of Warp travel.

In more recent canon, these things can move only with the aid of tugs, but their utility remains, and they serve as hubs for local military activity and Crusade staging.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battleship|Battleship]] ===

Supposedly rare, but every Grand Marshal and High Admiral has at least one and often several or even dozens to hide in because GW is completely and hopelessly inconsistent with fleet sizes, though as of late it seems that GW is leaning towards big fleets and big armies when it gives numbers. The biggest heaviest hitters available, these things are like actual medieval cathedrals in that the grandchildren of the workers who start building them get to live to see their completion. Fuckheug, lots (and lots, and lots) of guns and most can deploy fighters and bombers. Many of you are wondering why battleships instead of focusing on carriers. Contrary to popular belief, large ships are not negated because of smaller but more numerous ships being able to swarm it dead. Big ships are built to kill the ships directly below them, which the ones below them etc. like the universe’s most brutal food chain. So, the ships below them in power ganging up on them still costs more than the big ship they’re ganging up on. For torpedo boats, big ships are escorted by vessels specialized in killing torpedo ships and attack craft. Carriers replaced battleships in real life due to range, which is irrelevant when cheap swarms of potent anti-air ships can be spammed.
*'''Ordnance-boats:'''
**'''Retribution:''' Packing all gun batteries, the ship can devastate an entire continent in one broadside, has 3/4 of Gothic broadside as auxiliary weapons in turrets and enough torpedo tubes to tear a cruiser in half just for good measure. Subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.
**'''Invincible:''' An interesting class, dubbed a 'fast battleship', these were designed to chase down xenos and chaos raiders, and then use them to make the vast, empty tracts of space more interesting by filling it with their enemies' debris fields. This type of battleship combines the firepower of a ''Retribution'' with the speed of a ''Dauntless''. It worked ''incredibly well'' to the point that piracy and xenos activity in the entire sector became almost non-existent practically overnight. The problem, of course, is the general incompetence of Imperial tacticians. It looks exactly like a ''Retribution'' and has the guns to match, so it must be one, right? NO. They excelled at the role they were designed for, but throw them into gunfights against dedicated battleships, and these things tended to come apart easier than wet cardboard, earning them the nickname 'Kisher's Kombustibles' and the scorn of many admirals. Admirals who ignored the fact that the reports detailing the introduction of the ship and how to best use it (it's tactics also included in the Tactica Imperialis) explicitly state not to use it on a gun-line and that it is for fast-ship interdiction. The ship's Commissars must be particularly incompetent to let this slide as in the Guard the generals would be executed quickly for such incompetence. Of course, these are also the Commissars who do nothing when troop transports' escorts frequently run off to fight while the transports lose a significant percentage of their ships. Perhaps if they would actually enforce their orders to stay with the transports, the Imperium would have won most of the campaigns it has lost. Given that they still often win even with a fraction of their beginning ground forces actually managing to make landfall. [[Grimdark|Because they have THAT many men to throw at the enemy.]] Hmmm in fact, misusing the Invincible-class is technically heresy as its instructions of use are in the Tactica Imperialis and violating the Tactica Imperialis is outright heresy (I think I remember someone actually being executed in the fluff for violating it).
***Much like the Chalice-class of Battlecruisers, the Invincibles are a big reference to the real life Battlecruisers of World War 1, especially with the term "Kisher's Kombustibles" (real life Battlecruisers were referred to as "Fisher's Combustibles") and the fact that three blew up in a single battle (referencing Jutland).
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Apocalypse:''' One of the oldest ship designs (predating the ''Retribution'', which is also one of the oldest ship designs), this ship packs a lot of [[lances]] and a [[Nova Cannon]]. Good for taking out lots of smaller sized ships with massed lance fire. It's also described in fluff as being able to cripple anything up to a cruiser with a single, concentrated broadside. They're fairly rare, since the Imperium doesn't know how to build them anymore, and the ones still operating are so old, their weapons systems have degraded permanently, forcing them to fire their lances at only a fraction of their full power. Shares all the disadvantages of a ''Gothic''-class cruiser.
***Despite the fluff stating that the Apocalypse and Oberon classes are unique in that they lack figure-heads, the artwork and [[Crunch|models]] [[Derp|give them one anyway.]]
**'''Victory:''' Possibly an attempt to recreate the ''Apocalypse'' class, the ''Victory'' is basically a ''Retribution'' with a bunch of lances replacing its broadside cannons, and a Nova Cannon instead of torpedoes. Has the range that fluff states the ''Apocalypses'' once had, but lacks the same level of firepower. Effective at sniping, and hilarious when used against escort heavy fleets.
**'''Desolator:''' A ridiculously old design. Designed to emphasize range and carries Torpedos, Broadside Lances and Dorsal Macrobatteries. Like most keel-built ships, the Desolators ended up mothballed or went traitor.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Emperor:''' The "standard" battleship of the 40k 'verse, the ship has multiple fighter decks and, thanks to dorsal and prow turrets, enough weapons batteries to put Dominator broadside to shame. Unfortunately, most commanders like to use this ship as a hideout, causing the lack of sufficient air support in the ground wars even though the Navy's atmospheric aircraft are completely different from its much bigger space based strike craft. Tabletop-wise, its status as the official battleship of Battlefleet Gothic doesn't stop it from losing carrier duels against the Chaos equivalent.
**'''Nemesis:''' The super-carrier of the Imperial Navy. It has SIX flight decks (the size of towns or small cities, each), more than any other ship in the galaxy. But because of Rule of Cool, it is incredibly rare since the Navy captains prefer to get up close broadside their enemies, or actually rather because all of the ships in this class were just ships modified from Emperor class ships in one particular war, because they were damaged or otherwise. Naturally, the Navy never considers making them based on the Invincible instead (the Invincible was mass-produced).
**'''Desecrator:''' The carrier variant of the Desolator. Replaces half the Broadside Lances with Landing Bays. Shared the same fate as its sister class and is now only seen in Chaos fleets. Traitorous despite its clearly pious and Emperor-loving name.
**'''Despoiler:''' Oh boy, where do we start? The Despoiler-class came about after the cogboys discovered plans for a carrier on Barbarus. The catch? Well, Barbarus is the former homeworld of the [[Death Guard]], and the plans were for the same class of ship that the [[Terminus Est]] is a part of. Showing a complete lack of common sense, the Imperial Navy decided to build ships of this class, only for them all to go traitor due to the class's inherent [[Gellar Field]] flaws. [[Fail|Oops]]. The Despoilers at first don't appear to be that unique, as they have Dorsal Lances and Broadside Landing Bays and Weapons Batteries. Their difference is that, like the Terminus Est, they managed to have a Prow Landing Bay as well.
*'''Other:'''
**'''[[Gloriana-class_Battleship|Gloriana]]:''' Massive, terrifying and capable of decimating entire fleets on their own, these were the personal flagships of the Primarchs during the Great Crusade. Very few, if any, are still around in the Imperium in M41, though a few such as Horus's flagship ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]'' are still tooling around inside the Eye of Terror. Because they were dickheads, the [[Alpha Legion]] had two, creatively named the ''Alpha'' and the ''Beta''. Interestingly, the Ultramarines have one, the ''[[Macragge's Honour]]'', but didn't [[derp|fucking]] use it, the whole fucking time until [[Roboute Guilliman]] returned. It shows up again in ''Dark Imperium,'' with the Smurfs having stolen it back from the Red Corsairs, which at least is fucking funny even if it makes no sense. The Imperial Fist had the ''Eternal Crusader'', but it was never their flagship since the [[Phalanx]] is so much better, so [[Rogal Dorn]] gave it to the [[Black Templars]] in the [[Second Founding]]. Also, due to Forgeworld apparently hiring people from the street now, the 9th black book of HH states Dark Angels had those as core of their ''support'' flotillas.
**'''Oberon:''' The mixed-breed bastard of the Imperial Navy. It has [[lances]], fighter bays, and weapon batteries. Its a powerful ship... <s>when fighting foes half its size</s> "Newer" fluff says the Oberon is rare, but a complete success in making a ship capable of killing anything it comes across, alone. Unfortunately, fluff also says a ridiculously low number of these (apparently) powerful ships were made (like, 3 or so). Then again: only four Iowa class battleships ships were built (technically 6, but 2 were scrapped before completion), and we know HOW to build them. It makes sense in a way. Attack craft can cripple an enemy's main weapons and engines and likely ultimately damage the power transfer from generators to void shields. Combined with macro-batteries hammering away and the enemy's weakened ability to maintain its shields would cause them to drop much quicker than usual. Then the city-sized lance-batteries rip the enemy in half. If used against enemy escorts to support attacks on large enemy ships like battleships and grandcruisers, this would work extremely well to the point an Oberon would likely become a priority target for enemy ships.

=== [[Imperial Navy Grand Cruiser|Grand Cruiser]] ===

Only slightly weaker and less powerful than Battleships, Grand Cruisers were the weird middle-child of actual Line Ships (that really were the mainstay of the fleet back then) and Cruisers in the ancient Imperium. Built primarily with autonomy in mind, those were reserved for the most daring expeditions in the uncharted regions, conducted both by Imperial Army and Rogue Traders. Nowadays most of them run on archeotech that is barely understood and hard to repair with current Imperial knowledge. These grand ships are often used as flagships in lieu of extremely rare Battleships. Ultimately replaced by battleships (which is why they became explorers later) as it’s ultimately cheaper to build a battleship than a grand cruiser and a cruiser to rival the firepower and survivability of a battleship. Even though realistically since many Grand Cruisers are a third smaller than a battleship, it actually is better to build two Grand Cruisers to gang up on enemy battleships and way waste to everything else but the writers forgot about the massive difference in ships’ volume. Basically, they are the quintessential Battlecruisers; tougher and deadlier than Cruisers and yet more mobile than Battleships. Strangely, a common characteristic of all classes is the inability to fire forward though all can ram.
*'''Basic'''
**'''Vengeance/Furious:''' The granddaddy of "modern" Imperial warships. The ''Vengeance'' was the winner of a GW-sponsored ship design contest, and was originally known as the ''Furious''. Highlights include heavy shielding and armour (though lacking the prow armour of later designs), as well as both lances and long range weapons batteries, making this the sniper of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers.
**'''Repulsive:''' Originally named the Corinus Class, before being renamed after many fell to Chaos by an overly literal Mechanicum designation. Whilst the Repulsive Grand Cruisers are exceedingly maneuverable heavy warships (and therefore exceedingly useful because they can fill a hole in the Imperial tactical lineup), they are considered a cursed class due to the majority of them falling to chaos, [[Fail|which unfortunately was the result of experimental warp drives which occasionally interfered with the Gellar Field (OMGWTFBBQTIME)]]. Only the Emperor knows what kind of complete moron would deploy ships equipped with that. The ones that remain in Imperial control are kept mothballed in reserve fleets and segmentum fortresses (imagine giant glass boxes with 'In Case of Emergency, Break Glass' signs). It doesn't say anything about their warp drives being swapped out for something that isn't shitty or perhaps a completed and no longer experimental version of their own. Not that you want AdMechs tear off your head for tinkering with their sacred templates, on the other hand.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Avenger:''' The short range brawler of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers, it's a ''Vengeance'' with only macrobatteries (kilometres of Macrobattery broadsides). Intended to break the line of battle like Nelson's ships at Trafalgar, while suffering from the lack of an armored prow. Unfortunately line-breaking is quite a dangerous role for any ship, even a Grand Cruiser that excels at doing it, and so not many exist in the 41st Millennium. Those that have survived are known for being exceedingly reliable and faithful; it takes a lot of damage or mistreatment to cause these noble vessels to give trouble. If you spoke with members of the Imperium (both members of the public and the navy), this is the vessel they would think of if you asked them about Grand Cruisers. Now, if only the Imperium realized a slower but more heavily armored and shielded ship would fare better in its role.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Executor:''' The sniper of the Vengeances, the Executor replaces its Broadside Macrobatteries with even more Lances. Unfortunately, the last remaining Imperial Executors decided to act retarded and chase a fleet into the Eye of Terror, meaning that all of the ships are chaos aligned now.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Exorcist:''' A ''Vengeance'' that has carrier bays in place of lances. Useful in providing carrier support to any Imperial fleet. As a bonus, being Grand Cuisers mean they can outrun anything except battleships to save their vulnerable carrier self while their attack craft are away. Originally designed for extended operations alone on the Frontiers of Imperial Space, either on Patrol or by exploring into the unknown, the Exorcist developed quite a reputation for 'boldly going where no man has gone before'. Whilst not many remain in Imperial Service due to maintenance difficulties, they still find use in the hands of Rogue Traders who need vessels capable of long cruises and of defending themselves against anything they might encounter. So much for maintenance difficulties.
**'''Retaliator:''' A mix of a Repulsive and a Vengeance, but as a Carrier. Has Lances, Launch Bays and Macrobatteries on its Broadsides. Unfortunately, it has the Repulsive's tendency to go traitor.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battlecruiser|Battlecruiser]] ===

What do you do when you forget how to maintain an entire category of heavy warships? You build a new bunch of heavy warships, with simpler technology.

Battlecruisers are basically upgunned cruisers, with more weapons (usually adding dorsal weapons and some armor), and are intended to fill the gap between true battleships, which are rare, and normal cruisers, which tend to die really easily to the ancient Chaos cruisers and grand cruisers. Battle cruisers were tried in real life as some way to combine battleship firepower or armor with the speed of a cruiser. They did not, frankly, work well and much like reality these things have their share of problems. Chaos operates their own versions known as Heavy Cruisers. In real life, the accepted successful form of a battlecruiser is between a heavy cruiser and a battleship; it can kill anything it can catch and it can outrun anything that can kill it (usually only an enemy battleship). After its teething years it was generally a good and effective form of combat when used intelligently. Then the navies trying them realized they had basically made a battleship and it fell out of use again. Why build a ship with the speed, only a slightly lower firepower and roughly equal armor to a battleship when you can fork out a few bucks more and build an actual battleship? Exactly.
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Armageddon Battlecruiser:''' An upgraded variant of the Lunar Class Cruiser (YAY! ANOTHER ONE!). A rather new innovation, the Armageddon class is basically made up from recovered Lunar Class Hulks that have been extensively repaired and then retrofitted with more armour and more weapons. The base hull was never designed to cope with all this extra equipment (and the extra crew to man said equipment) and so it has problems operating independently for long periods of time. This isn’t really a problem, though, since they wouldn’t be operating away from a fleet anyway. Though reinforcing its frame to handle the added mass would be a smart thing to do to save immensely in future maintenace costs over the centuries. Battlefleets won't say no to them because more guns = better! These ships are extremely powerful and live up to their name. Somehow, though, the Imperium never went “Hey guys, this thing kicks the shit out of everyone, let’s upgrade all Lunar-class ships to Armageddon-class and make a new class to accomodate the new crew and equipment.” Or someone did and was turned into a servitor...
**'''Hellfire Heavy Cruiser:''' An upgunned Murder-class. Has the same issues as the Armageddon, slow as fuck and has power and supply issues. [[What|Also, lacks Void Shields]]. Most mutinied and joined Chaos, which decided to use them for some reason.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Overlord Battlecruiser:''' The Classic Imperial Battlecruiser. Using the standard Imperial doctrine of - Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes, the Overlord has become the most effective Battlecruiser simply because it really complements standard Imperial Navy Tactics. As an added bonus, its simplicity of design makes it easier to produce and one can be built within a decade. The only negative (if you can call it a negative), is that it's not really useful for anything except war.
**'''Chalice Battlecruiser:''' A fast heavy cruiser. Unique to the Calixis sector and an exceedingly new design, the Chalice was conceived as a Battlecruiser that could either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill. Which means it was conceived to be a plain ‘ol normal battlecruiser. Whilst good in theory, unfortunately, speed came at the cost of armour and durability and so whilst these vessels punch hard, they can't take as many hits as other cruisers. Which is fine since battlecruisers as a concept are meant for slaughtering escorts in real life not fighting other capital ships. In addition, it carries an experimental plasma drive layout, which while boosting power efficiency, also makes it rather vulnerable to lighting up like a roman candle. Imperial Propaganda is currently trying to cover up their failings and is lauding them as the Poster-ships of the Calixis Sector and therefore a lot of people think they're the 'Best Battlecruisers Eva!'. If they would just use a normal plasma drive and make the whole ship bigger, it would be fast enough, armored enough, and even better armed (or just change the drive). Unfortunately, not being stupid is heresy in Calixis.
***The idea of a ship that can "either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill" that turns out to be really poor at taking hits was the original design of real life Battlecruisers, which although being up-gunned Cruisers (<s>which are the equivalent of Frigates IRL, not Ships of the Line</s> cruisers are the lowest level of capital ship types, you’re thinking of the WW2 destroyers), were used as discount Battleships at Jutland were they turned out to lack the armour required for a proper fight. Thus, if the Imperials were smart, they would be using the Chalice as a commerce raider, not a ship of the line. Or use it to rip up escorts and light cruisers and then run away and hit somewhere else in the battle before they can be overwhelmed by an enemy cruiser.
**** Actually, they were not bad at taking hits, they were better at it than heavy cruisers. They just sucked at taking hits from battleships like everybody else on the planet. Real life battlecruisers (after their early screw up designs) were made only a little smaller than battleships which allowed them to have greater armor and firepower and speed than heavy cruisers and were even fast enough to outrun battleships at the cost of significantly lower firepower and armor than the only slightly larger battleships (which caused things like the Jutland kablooie). They had the whole package. So, imagine an Invincible-class but give it a heavy cruiser’s firepower and use the saved weight to give it proper battleship level armor. In reality, the larger the ship the faster it is in navies (broadly speaking, in dense fluids the longer the vehicle is relative to its cross-section, the easier it is to go fast (and the larger the engine by even a little makes far more power)), sci-fi just is made by ignorrants. Battlecruisers fell out of favor shortly after they were perfected for the same reason battleships and heavy cruisers did: the carrier. That isn’t quite accurate. Light cruisers stopped being made because anti-air destroyers grew large enough to do the same job (or you could see it as light cruisers being renamed “destroyers” and actual destroyers being phased out by them, but there were also AA cruisers which was probably not fun to fly against) though when light cruisers were first invented they were just stop-gaps but the name returned to use for normal cruisers due to the invention of heavy cruisers and heavy cruises became known just as “cruisers”, battleships stopped being made, battlecruisers were perfected by making them so big, armored, and armed that they were battleships by another name and so the name “battlecruiser” was dropped as meaningless by that point. That said, they were indeed usually used as commerce raiders. But that is true for all ships. Navies exist to destroy enemy commerce shipping and to transport armies. The only reason fleets engage each other is because both sides defend their own shipping and seek out enemy fleets to pre-emptively destroy to protect said shipping and transports. In 40k, it could be said that the Invincible-class is the closest thing the Imperium has to an equivalent to a real life battlecruiser.
**'''Long Serpent Battlecruiser:''' A true success story, this is what the ''Chalice'' wishes it was. Taking a battlecruiser's armour and firepower, and giving it the engine suite of a battleship, this thing can kick the shit out of anything short of a grand cruiser or battleship, while being able to keep up with raiders. It's only real flaw is that when one is taken out, it has a better than average chance of rupturing its warp drive. As a result, the names of ''Long Serpents'' that have been destroyed are usually accompanied by those of allied ships that were too close. Which is somewhat odd since the reasoning is that the Long Serpent also has a battleship's warp core (who knows why, it isn't big enough to need it). Given the small difference in size between this ship and other "normal" cruisers which are the mainstays of the fleet, the Imperium could just choose to use a smaller warp core suitable for this ship's size and focus on mass-producing the Long Serpent to replace basically every other class of ship except battleships , Cobras, and carriers. Fewer would be made but, unlike video games, swarming a capital ship with escorts does not work at all. The escorts are slaughtered and the capital ship like this one is left unharmed. (<s>There are plenty of instances both in 40k and irl of large capital class ships being overwhelmed by smaller, faster vessels due to being caught without support.</s> Actually that is when they’re spamming torpedoes. All non-Imperial navies do not do that (the closest being Chaos but even they don’t use torpedoes nearly as much), although swarms of Firestorms could carve up large ships, the shields prevent this without much larger supporting vessels. Swarms of Cobras and Vipers could do it, but few would survive the attempt, not that any admiral cares about that...until the tech-priests tell them they won’t have a Navy for the few centuries it takes to replace so many ships regardless of size) But doing this would require common sense, which is [[Heresy]]. Like properly using the Invincible-class must be.
**'''Mercury Battlecruiser:''' Another fast Battlecruiser. It's a cruiser with a Battleships's engines. Nothing more.
**'''Hades Heavy Cruiser:''' A long-ranged brawler. Carries Broadside Macrobatteries and Dorsal and Prow Lances. Got phased out like most keel-built designs, but Chaos still uses them.
*'''Lance-boats:'''
**'''Acheron Heavy Cruiser:''' Designed to test new Lances and Macrobatteries. The Imperials only built one, which went traitor. Carries Broadside and Dorsal Lances with Prow Macrobatteries.
*'''Carriers:'''
**'''Mars Battlecruiser:''' In a word - Mediocre. Some Imperials say it's versatile due to its diverse weapons loadout but in reality it makes it an awkward duckling to use. The Nova Cannon and Launch bays would be good on a ship holding back and harassing enemies at range and yet it has Macrobatteries and Lances which are great for brawling. So if you sit back and harass or go in and brawl, you're wasting half your ship. The Imperial Navy never really got on with it either and so it has gone out of production on most Forge-Worlds. Which is a shame because if they would replace the macrobatteries and lances with larger, long-range lances, and a great number of small, short range weapons batteries for fighter support and self-defense respectively, this would be a great ship in any fleet. It's nova cannon clears a hole in the enemy escort screen, the attack craft rush through to wreck the weapons and engines of light capital ships while long-range lances assist other Imperial ships in slaughtering targets of opportunity. The destroyed enemy light capital ships leaves all the other big ships vulnerable to mass, concentrated torpedo attack from friendly ships. Attack craft return to the fight to tear up the no-doubt seriously damaged enemy big ships and lances win the day. Then just send in friendly light capital ships with attack craft support to finish off the surviving escorts. That would almost make this ship into a sort of miniature "I Win" button. Almost. Especially in a squadron of two, as they could assist each other against any opponents that slip through to them with their combined, close-range firepower, lances, and whatever attack craft they kept back for defense ripping the enemy weapons and engines apart to let the close-range macrobatteries have fun.
**'''Dominion Battlecruiser:''' Basically a fixed Mars, some tech priest got it in their head that, maybe, it'd make more sense to replace the Macrobatteries with Lance Batteries instead, making it a dedicated support ship, harrassing enemy ships at range whilst the big guns go out and fight. Apparently not that successful, a number were used at the Battle for Maccrage (Of course the fucking Smurfs get them) against the tyranids, though apparently they all got fucked up and have been in drydock since, which is why up until now no-one's seen them.
**'''Styx Heavy Cruiser:''' A pure carrier. Has Broadside Launch Bays, Dorsal Lances and and Prow Macrobatteries. For some reason the Imperial phased it out for the Mars, so only Chaos uses them now.
**'''Hecate Heavy Cruiser:''' An attempt to replace the Styx. Swaps out some of the Launch Bays for Macrobatteries. Believed to have an inherent design flaw that made them go traitor, so they were decommissioned.

=== [[Imperial Navy Cruiser|Cruiser]] ===

Cruisers are the bread and butter of the Imperial Navy. Much larger than escorts and light cruisers, but less rare than battleships, cruisers are what the Imperial Navy (and Chaos and Xenos) use to fight their campaigns across the stars. Thus far, all Imperial Cruisers have been shown to utilize the same hull-type: a squat armored prow in front, capable of mounting a prow-mounted weapon system, and a big bunch of engines in the back, with baroque and Gothic architecture in-between. Most cruisers can effectively be placed in four categories:
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Lunar:''' The Lunar. You've heard so much about it and now you want to know what makes it the standard Imperial Cruiser. First of all, it's one of the oldest designs still in use by the Imperium and is so easy to build that even less advanced worlds can produce them. They're quite versatile due to their weapons loadout (a balanced build of Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes) and make up the backbone of Battlefleets throughout the entire Imperium. This is the cruiser against which all other cruisers are measured.
**'''Emasculator:''' Considered a failure by the Imperium at large, Emasculators have the same basic load-out as the Lunar, but are keel-built, lacking the armored prow and replacing the torpedo tubes with more weapons batteries. This means they require different tactics to a Lunar, using their speed and longer ranged weapons to pound ships from a distance. As this fits with Chaos tactics more than Imperials. most of them ended up as traitors. [[/d/|The name Emasculator is due to them being seen mostly as Slaaneshi ships, their original name is unknown.]] The fact the Imperium keeps trying new ships built on the normally Chaos style hulls implies that usually it must work out just fine since otherwise it would have been banned by now. So, there are probably many cool looking keel-based Imperial ship classes floating around we'll never catch wind of ever.
**'''Slaughter:''' A special type of Cruiser, the Slaughter-class has a more powerful drive called the Scartix Engine Coil, but lacks prow weapons. Armed with short ranged, but powerful lances and macrobatteries, the Slaughter is designed to get in close, blast away and retreat. Unfortunately, the Imperium can't build them anymore because one went traitor and destroyed the plans for the Scartix Coil. It is unknown if they were always called the Slaughter-class or were renamed when most went traitor. Considering the usual lack of intelligence in the Imperium's leadership, it was probably called something worse, like the "Traitor-class" or something and then the Imperium was shocked when they lived up to it. Really, would you be surprised if the Imperium did that?
**'''Inferno:''' A earlier counterpart to the Carnage-class, carrying more lances in exchange for some Macrobatteries. Had the same difficulties as the Carnage and was mothballed, though a few went renegade beforehand. Rare example of the Imperium learning its lesson. Still too stupid to realize that using cheaper-after-a-few-centuries-than-manual-labor auto-loaders would've fixed the problem for both ships.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Gothic:''' Another variant of the Lunar Class, the Gothic is designed as a heavy Lance gunship. Due to the amount of Lance Weaponry it carries, it can easily deal with ships of its own size or larger but often does require an escort or a partner to strip enemy void shields first in order to use its own weaponry to the maximum effect. When supported and used correctly, Gothic Cruisers are the most efficient way to deal with enemy capital ships.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Dominator:''' A variant of the Lunar Class, the Dominator is designed primarily for planetary bombardment and assault. Not generally used in fleet actions even though it can provide support with its Nova Cannon when necessary. After one Dominator fucked over a Chaos Cruiser with said Nova Cannon during the Gothic War, the Navy took note and started making more Dominators. [[Awesome|Additionally, another Dominator came close to destroying the Terminus Est (''aka the toughest Battleship in the galaxy''), before being destroyed.]] The Dominator possesses the same armament as the Retribution-class battleship but lacks the range of one. This is fine, though, since it's meant to get close to the enemy like most Imperial ships anyway. Basically, if you get in range of this thing, ''you're going to die''.
*** From Lexicanum 40K: "Captain Straden of the Depth of Fury defended the shrine world of Kathur to the death, and came very close to destroying the Death Guard ship Terminus Est. As it was, he and his crew vaporised several of its decks and destroyed scores of escort ships before finally succumbing. Ironically, no Imperial souls survived to tell the tale."
**'''Tyrant:''' The Tyrant was originally intended as a stand-off vessel; it would stay at long range and bombard enemies from afar with superfired plasma weaponry. Unfortunately, due to design compromises where it mixed both short range and long range weaponry to save on power, it wasn't really deadly enough at long range to do its job. Therefore the Imperial Navy is trying to replace the short range weapons with ancient Long-range weaponry (that doesn't use a lot of power) recovered from Space Hulks or Renegade Ships. The Hull itself is a rather effective design and so the Tyrant has become very popular with Rogue Traders who generally replace all of the Plasma Weaponry in order to have more power available compared with other cruisers.
**'''Relentless/Carnage:''' Another attempt at a fleet support ship with Plasma weapons, the Relentless ended up with technical difficulties and, when these were overcome, [[Heresy|most ships ended up turning traitor]] [[Fail|(including the lead ship of the class)]]. [[Tzeentch|This is theorised to be due to something wrong with the geometry of the ship's design]], as the Relentless-class is keel built, like most older ships (This also means the Relentless lacks an armored prow and torpedo tubes, carrying more plasma batteries instead). The tendency of these ships to turn to Chaos, along with changing tactics, led to the class being renamed the Carnage-class and mothballed in favor of the Tyrant-class, though their speed means they suit Chaos tactics famously.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Dictator:''' A Carrier retrofit of extremely damaged Lunar Class Cruisers. If a Lunar class has its lance weaponry destroyed, it's quicker, easier and cheaper to replace those with heavy launch bays for strike craft. This makes it quite versatile and able to deal with virtually all situations and interestingly enough, makes it more effective than the original Lunar Class at everything except fighting as a ship of the line. Unfortunately, the Lunar Class is designed for fighting as a ship of the line, so Admirals dislike Dictators. Interestingly, given why attack craft and torpedoes can go through shields, theoretically a Dictator whose weapons batteries are missiles could use its fighters and missiles to swarm enemy anti-air and ultimately kill an enemy ship without damaging its shields.
**'''Jupiter:''' A kitbashed design, converted from other classes of cruiser that have been heavily damaged in battle. By stripping out all the damaged components and replacing them with launch bays, you get a pretty sturdy carrier. Just don't let the enemy get anywhere near it. Apparently the Imperium doesn't build these normally at all, likely because they are absolutely shit at defending themselves from other Cruisers.
**'''Devastation:''' Deviating from the standard Carrier design, the Devastation-class carries Lances instead of Macrobatteries. Mostly turned traitor or mothballed, as they lack armored prows and torpedos; and are keel-built. Chaos likes them, as they can pack them with mutants and sit back to spam assault boats and lances at anything that looks at them funny.
*'''Other:''' Various other cruiser types exist, but are rarer.
**'''Ambition:''' Custom-made Cruisers for the exceedingly affluent - it's the Rolls Royce of the Cruiser World. Most Rogue Trader ships are second-hand, battle-scarred, tired and worn ex-navy vessels but the Ambition is not. It's the only cruiser class that can be bought brand spanking new by Private parties in the Imperium and each one is unique and built to the customer's specifications. These exclusive ships, whilst still cruisers and deadly in their own right, are stately homes and status symbols. Some durability sacrifices have been made in order to make them the most opulent and luxurious ships on the market but for eccentric people like Rogue Traders, it's generally worth it.
**'''Conquest-Class Star Galleon:''' Built for the very first Rogue Traders on the orders of the Emperor himself, the Star Galleon is an ancient and noble design. Whilst not considered heavily armed by modern standards, they're still formidable opponents and yet as specialist exploration vessels they are able to operate independently for many years and can transport greater quantities than other Cruisers. In effect, it's a cruiser fused with a transport and looks fucking amazing.
**'''Murder:''' The predecessor to the Lunar. Differs by being keel-built, exchanging their torpedos for Lances and having more powerful macrobatteries. The majority that appear in modern 40k are Chaos-aligned, as the Imperials mothballed theirs in favor of the Lunar. A few carried lances as well as Macrobatteries, meaning they don't fit into any category. As with the Slaughter, it is unknown if Murder-class is their original name or they were renamed.
**'''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. 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.

=== [[Imperial Navy Light Cruiser|Light Cruiser]] ===

Smaller than true cruisers, light cruisers are used in two ways. Either you use a fast, maneuverable light cruiser like the Dauntless to add some extra firepower to a scouting squadron or long-range patrol, or you use a pocket cruiser like the Voss light cruiser to add some heavy firepower and armor to a convoy, fleet, or base. The advantage of the light cruisers are that they're cheaper to build and operate than real cruisers. Another departure from real nomenclature. In real life, “light” cruisers were less armed and armored normal cruisers made to make up for losses, especially in America after Japan’s initial attack. After the industry fully turned to wartime manufacturing, the light cruisers’ changes were recinded and they were just normal cruisers again. However, with the introduction of heavy cruisers, the normal cruisers again were named “light” cruisers to avoid confusion. In 40k, however, light cruisers are very distinct and fill a unique niche. Like the Cruiser, they fit into a few base categories.
*'''Basic:''' Same as its larger sibling, a Jack of All Trades.
**'''Dauntless;''' The standard Light Cruiser of the Imperium; it's a Jack-of-all-Trades. You can't go wrong with the Dauntless even though other Light Cruisers may be better for certain tasks. Considered 'scouting' cruisers, these make up the bulk of Imperial Patrol Squadron leaders. Comes in lance and torpedo variants, with the prow lance being a bit more common.
**'''Defender:''' A convoy escort variant of the Dauntless, with added dorsal weaponry.
**'''Endeavour;''' A 'heavy', Light Cruiser, designed as a stop-gap between the 'lighter' light cruisers and true cruisers. Whilst they can slug it out in a fleet fight, they can easily be overwhelmed because they simply aren't cruisers and don't have the equivalent fire-power or hull integrity. As an added titbit, most of Battlefleet Koronus' patrols consist of an Endeavour and a pair of frigates. The Endeavour and its variants are relatively new designs unique to the Voss Prime forge world and are rare outside of Battlefleet Armageddon. Except Battlefleet Koronus, apparently, which must have a ton of them.
**'''Siluria;''' Three-quarters the cost of the Endeavor, and about three-quarters the ship. Standard weapon batteries only, no fancy frills to speak of. Cheap and effective, at short range, to catch enemy torpedoes.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Also the same as the Cruiser version, though some have weak weapons batteries for better defence.
**'''Endurance;''' An Endeavour variant with just enough guns to claim it has them, lance batteries and a couple of torpedoes. It's the lance half of a Lunar, nothing more.
*'''Carrier:''' More useful as a Light Cruiser, as it can act as backup for patrols.
**'''Enforcer:''' A carrier variant of the Dauntless, with a bombardment cannon like those seen on space marine cruisers. Designed to maintain control of rebellious planets via intimidation [[Grimdark|(and possible orbital bombardment)]]. Given one managed to stop the rebellion of an ''entire sub-sector'', its a shame the Imperium doesn't build more of them. Anyone else just realize that 40K is so Grimdark we're disappointed the dystopian ultra-oppressive, bloody regime isn't being more oppressive? [[Grimdark|''Because we know their oppression is the right and best choice they have.'']]
**'''Defiant;''' A carrier variant of the Endeavour. It's quite versatile (by virtue of being a carrier) and so has found a home in many Rogue Trader houses but unfortunately the Imperial Navy doesn't consider it as useful because they can't stand by themselves and require an escort. Gee, it's almost like ships are meant to be used in groups to compliment each other. Due to being based off of the Endeavour, it's relatively well armoured for a Light Cruiser and that does help with its survivability.

=== Ironclad ===

8 kilometer long battering rams. No, really. Tyranids and Orks are busy taking notes.

=== [[Imperial Navy Escort|Escort ships]] ===

Escorts are the smallest armed vessels available to the Imperial Navy. These ships are normally assigned sector patrol duties or perform as escorts for much larger ships. In fleet engagements they will also act as scouts, ranging out in front of their armada to verify enemy ship numbers and locations. They are generally classified as either frigates or as destroyers. They are usually deployed in squadrons consisting of the same class.

==== Frigates ====

Ranging from about 1.4-2km long. They are used for all sorts of duties from convoy escorts to attack or patrol squadrons. Ironically named, as in real life Frigates were the same as Cruisers (which were not Ships of the Line). In the Age of Sail. But in WW2, cruisers had like six or eight times the armament and were more than twice the size of frigates and were self-sufficient and were intended to fight other ships and were considered capital ships. Usually deployed in three-ship squadrons.
*'''Basic:''' Laser batteries or Light Macrobatteries only, maybe some Torpedoes if you're lucky. Named after types of swords.
**'''Sword Frigate:''' The most common warship in the Imperial Navy, and one of the simplest. No torpedoes or lances to distract you here; a Sword puts two massive laser batteries in turrets behind a pointed armored prow and cuts into enemy formations like [[C.S Goto|a multi-laser through canon.]]. Some variants replace the lasers with light macro batteries instead.
**'''Falchion Frigate:''' A new (245 years old) class of escort ship built by [[Forgeworld|Voss Prime]]. Slower than the Cobra (in the lore they were faster than invading Chaos ships, though) but still capable of firing torpedoes. While Cobras are used offensively in fleet actions, Falchion's are designed to be convoy escorts and stick close to larger warships to defend them from enemy escorts. Effectively a Voss-pattern Cobra with two more laser/macro batteries.
**'''Turbulent Heavy Frigate:''' Heavy Naval Escorts; these things have comparable armour to cruisers. They're built to sally forth ahead of the main fleet and win skirmishes against enemy scouting forces and vanguard elements. They've garnered a reputation for being lucky; they've contributed to many glorious victories and survived catastrophes that other ship classes have not. Their only downside is that they have rather antiquated communication equipment, probably equipped for durability, not ease of use. The other downside is that the Navy isn’t smart enough to replace the Sword-class with these badasses.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rarer for Frigates, as they need a Prow slot to mount a Lance.
**'''Firestorm Frigate:''' A Sword-class frigate with a prow-mounted Lance replacing one laser/macro battery. Gives the Sword some extra anti-ship punch that it dearly needs. It's also two hundred meters longer than the Sword-class as a result. The Navy does not like the Marines having them, for [[Horus Heresy|some reason.]]
***[[Derp|Given the general naming scheme for Frigate classes is naming them after weapons (Claymore, Sword, Falchion, Gladius etc), the Firestorm would make more sense being called the ''Lance''-class due to its role.]]
**'''Thunderbolt Heavy Frigate:''' Not much information on this one, but implied to be a Lance version of the Turbulent, like how the Firestorm is the Lance version of the Sword.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Mostly upgunned Frigates. Can carry a mix of macrobatteries and small lances.
**'''Tempest Strike Frigate:''' Specialized Brawling frigate designed for devastating enemies at close range. Basically a Sword with a triple armoured prow and heavy short-range broadside batteries. They're often equipped with Assault Boats and Barracks for boarding actions.
**'''Havoc Merchant Raider:''' Small, yet fast raider sized vessels whose impressive firepower came at the expense of armor. Glass Cannons, in large squadrons these can easily overwhelm larger vessels by weight of fire. Supposedly has large storage space for its size. Which makes sense for something meant for piracy.

==== Destroyers ====

The most common warship class. Their tasks range from scouting to shuttling VIPs or fighting in fleet engagements in large squadrons. Most pirates use these speedy, nimble vessels to prey upon transport ships. The Navy usually deploys them in squadrons of four. Instead of a WWII or modern analogue, the destroyers of the Imperial Navy are like those of the First World War: ocean-capable torpedo boats that swarm enemy ships.
*'''Basic:''' Usually mounts Prow Torpedoes and a Macrobattery/Laser.
**'''Cobra Destroyer:''' The PT-Boats of the Imperial Navy. Small, fast, and lightly armed, their one purpose in life is to fire shoals of torpedoes from 3-4 ship squadrons. A great part of the Imperium's military advantage (in fluff and [[Battlefleet Gothic|on the tabletop]]) comes from all the torpedoes they can fire at the enemy, and the Cobras are a big part of that.
**'''Infidel Raider:''' Was meant to replace the Cobra, but the plans [[Blood Ravens|were stolen]] by Chaos. Armed with Prow Torpedos and a Macrobattery like its predecessor, though some Chaos fleets upgrade them to Heavy Raiders by adding another Macrobattery. The Falchion was developed from the redevelopment. Both ships are almost twice the size of the Cobra they are meant to replace. Guess someone realized PT boats aren’t that useful if your extremely long-ranged and fast enemy just slaughters them.
**'''Iconoclast Destroyer:''' If there ever was a Guardsman of starships, the Iconoclast is it. A destroyer so shitty the Navy doesn't want it, the Iconoclast mounts 1-2 macrobatteries and is used by Rogue Traders, Chaos and Pirates. Notable for being one of the few ships to have a forward placed bridge, likely due to the smoke-stack like pylons along its spine. It actually has good firepower for its size and is effective at killing enemy attack craft, torpedoes, and destroyers. So, not actually shitty at all until a Sword shows up to kill everyone.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Why waste space on pop guns?
**'''Viper Destroyer:''' Given GW's naming conventions, it was inevitable somebody would do this. Not to be confused with the Sloop below, this is a variant of the Cobra where the remaining guns are replaced by torpedoes. Weak against escorts but deadly in numbers against capital ships. Use [[Boarding Torpedo|Boarding Torpedoes]] for hilarious results. Since a Cobra has one gun and it’s useless, we can only assume either Tzeench or self-lobotomy was involved when the navy decided to focus on the Cobra instead of the Viper.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rather rare among Raiders, as most use their Prow slots for Torpedoes.
**'''Apostate Heavy Raider:''' A variant of the Infidel. Somehow those heretics managed to shove a full sized Lance into a Dorsal slot, which only Light Cruiser and bigger can normally manage.
**'''Idolator Raider:''' Also known as the "WTF is this" ship, the Idolator is the lovechild of a Infidel, a Firestorm and Xenotech. Has a prow lance and a macrobattery.
*'''Other:''' Mostly weak scouts.
**'''Viper Scout Sloop:''' Smallest warp-capable ship in mass production. It is an exceedingly fast scout ship with ridiculously powerful realspace engines and high-tech auspex scanners. In support of Naval Operations these vessels would burn into enemy territory at high speed, collect as much information as possible and then warp back to friendly territory. Unfortunately they are so specialized that they can't do much else apart from that.
**'''Rudense "Class":''' A small ship designed post Gathering Storm to be as fast, heavily armed, and densely armoured as possible, which they do with aplomb. You may ask yourselves, why are they not used in more regular combat roles? Well, the answer is that they are a specialised orbital insertion ship - designed to get as close to the atmosphere of a heavily defended planet as possible, drop it's cargo of primaris marines into the top layer, and get out of there. Whilst this may seem too specialised to be practical, few enemies are ready for half a company of marines dropping in to their base unexpectedly. (Nb - the class hasn't been formally named yet but the only example of it thus far was named the Rudense).
**'''Claymore Corvette:''' Designed entirely around escorting vulnerable transports and protecting them against light raiders in order to allow true Frigates to accompany more valuable ships such as Battleships, Battlecruisers and Cruisers. The Claymore Corvettes are easy to mass produce and maintain and are exceedingly common in the private sector, as they are simply a discount Sword. It’d be nice if someone bothered using them to protect troop transports.

=== Aircraft ===

As part of the reforms falling the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Army was not just split into regiments to ensure that no one Imperial army could be self-sufficient if it fell to heresy or rebellion: the ground forces were also split from their airpower, which was given to the Imperial Navy. Strictly speaking, all atmospheric aircraft are also part of the Imperial Navy, with only [[Phantine Air Corps| few general exceptions]]. Which was stupid and pointless as now the IG can’t even pretend to defend itself if even one ship above them turns traitor and they don’t usually receive hardly any air support. This means all the split did was ensure the Navy held '''all''' the power.
*'''Fighter:''' The fighter's main role is to stop enemy torpedoes and bombers before they can [[anal circumference|rip your flying cathedral multiple new assholes]]. Comes in different models like the [[Fury Interceptor]] or the [[Thunderbolt Fighter]]. The main difference is that some can enter a planet's atmosphere to dogfight and/or strafe ground targets, whereas others are limited to space combat. Technically, Furies are capable of atmospheric operation but would maneuver like a crippled whale and would basically just be entertaining targets. The good news is you can have a bunch on a planet to surprise buttsax invaders.
*'''Bomber:''' Basically reusable torpedoes. Come in different models like the [[Marauder Bomber]] and the [[Starhawk Bomber]], but again the main difference is that some can dip in a planet's atmosphere and drop bombs on ground-pounders, while others are space-combat only. Starhawks might also be technically capable of atmospheric flight, unknown exactly.
Oddly, a modern F/A-18E Super Hornet is about one-thirteenth the size of a ''Nimitz''-class carrier. A Fury would take about 133 nose-to-tail to measure up to the length of an Emperor-class battleship. Yet, the number of Furies aboard an ''Emperor'' class is at most 40 (eight squadrons of 5 each at best) whereas the number of Super Hornets on a ''Nimitz'' at most is 130. Yeah, there's a problem there. A Super Hornet is slightly less than 19 meters long, a Fury is 60 meters long. That's a very small difference for such a massive discrepancy. The only explanation is that Emperor class is not a dedicated carrier so presumable more of it's internal volume it taken up by gun and lance batteries and other systems. Still that is a ridiculously lack of fighter support it could have.

=== Converted Civilian Vessels ===

Civilian ships seized by the Navy.
*'''Armed Freighter:''' Not really a conversion. Considering what universe this is, odds are every freighter out there is armed in some way as a matter of course. Won't last long or do much damage. However, in sufficient numbers, they can cripple or even destroy Frigates, which is a good trade. Pressed into temporary service, these merchantmen are the basic transports of the navy.
*'''Q-Ship:''' Generally classified as Loki-class. These are civilian cargo ships taken over by the Imperial Navy and retrofitted to sacrifice cargo space for heavy weaponry. Unlike the Armed Freighters above, these are essentially auxiliary warships crewed by navy personnel. The standard tactic is to look like a scared civilian and let the enemy come close, then let them have it with the macros. They don't have warship armor or shields so they die in a prolonged battle.
*'''Escort Carriers:''' Like the Q-Ships above but with hangers instead of weapons. The Imperial Navy currently has a severe shortage of carriers despite having numerous hybrid carrier classes and dedicated carrier classes it chooses not to build, so this is a cheap way to get fighters and bombers to the field. More common than Q-Ships.

=== Fire Ship ===

A fancy name for what's essentially a colossal kamikaze ICBM. A '''Fire Ship''' is an Imperial Navy vessel that for whatever reason, is no longer considered for active service (due to old age, suffered catastrophic damage....etc), stuffed to the brim with whatever explosives the navy could spare, and flown straight into whatever priority target(s) the officers designate in a final blaze of glory. Again, Orks are busy taking notes for their Roks. Contrary to what you might think from the Imperium, this is not necessarily a one-way assignment (atleast for the crew).

A skeleton crew is used and supplied with plenty of escape pods/lifeboats. The crew evacuates and the ship detonates after they are far out of the danger zone. Some captains decide to go down with the fire ship anyway. Or they mindfuck some penitents to stay and guide it to the best point of detonation. The Imperium isn't short on criminals and/or desperate underclassmen/mutants. Despite its reputation, the Imperium does care about its people’s lives (mostly because Imperial lives are the Emperor's currency, and wasting His property is heresy). It just doesn’t care how many of those lives are sacrificed when necessary; but does attempt to minimize said necessity and sacrifice. It’s a nation, not a team-killing asshole out to murder its own people...when not believed needed for the majority to survive.

=== Non-Warp Capable Vessels ===

Vessels incapable of interstellar travel. All but the most primitive Imperial planets have them.
*'''System Ships:''' Civilian ships that do all the civilian stuff like ferrying, mining and transport. As nobody would buy models of them, [[GW]] never bothered to flesh out their canon. If armed, they are dragooned into the System Defense Force during invasions.
*'''Defense Monitor:''' Essentially, a mobile gun emplacement in space. Slow and small, it diverts all its power into the battleship-sized guns it carries. Crewed by regular Imperial Navy personnel and used to augment existing defenses. Threatening enough to make pirates and smallish raiding fleets fuck off for easier targets, but usually insufficient to stop a determined invasion force.
*'''System Defense Vessel:''' The primary unit of a System Defense Force aka the [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]] in space. Nobody knows what they look like or even what capabilities they have. It is assumed they are lightly armed vessels usually used in police actions and customs enforcement. In times of invasion, they use hit and run tactics as best they can until they die.

=== Logistics / Civilian Vessels ===

Ships used for the transportation of cargo or individuals. The majority of Imperial ships would fall into this category.

*'''Carrack-Class Transport Ship;''' A newer version of the Conquest Star Galleon. It's a hardy vessel that can defend itself quite well against raiders. The profile even looks like a Military Vessel so opponents who can't distinguish between Imperial Ships could be scared off.

*'''Jericho-Class Pilgrim Vessel:''' Refinery ships that have been converted into personnel carriers, the majority of which will be transporting poor-er passengers. Can't really defend itself but usually not even worth the bother for pirates.

*'''Orion-Class Star Clipper;''' Blockade runners through and through. They're designed to transport low-volume but high-quality goods, even through hostile space. Speed is the name of their game. Hell, these things can put some Eldar ships to shame.

*'''Universe-Class Mass Conveyor;''' Think Super-Tanker in space. It's the largest standardized Cargo hauler in the Imperium and is 12km long. It looks freaking awesome too.

*'''Vagabond-Class Merchant Trader;''' Rather small cargo vessel but extremely common. As if to assist with its 'commoner' theme, it makes you yawn just looking at it.

== Adeptus Mechanicus Vessels ==
{{Main|Explorator Fleet}}
Being in charge of manufacturing the warships for the other departments of the Imperium, obviously the Adeptus Mechanicus would also have fleets of its own. The official Mechanicum body that constructs and operates spacecraft is known as the Basilikon Astra. Because the Quest for Knowledge can involve long & dangerous travels into unexplored space, it is important that they be heavily armed and armored, so the Adeptus Mechanicus ships generally are overall of higher quality than standard ships, with better tecnology, weapons, and shields. Though the total number of ships the Adeptus Mechanicus has at its disposal dispersed among its many forge worlds is far outnumbered by that of the Imperial Navy, it goes without saying that those responsible for all starship construction reserve for themselves among the most powerful and best-equipped warships encountered anywhere in the Imperium.

*'''[[Ark_Mechanicus|Ark Mechanicus:]]''' If battleships are literal void-traveling cities, then Ark Mechanicus are void-traveling factories or massive laboratories, with industrial capabilities rivaling that of many hive cities, with kilometre upon kilometre of manufactoria, refineries, crackling Plasma Reactors and laboratories, test ranges, chemical vats and gene-bays. These kinds of battleships are incredibly large, nigh-mythical ships that are said to endlessly search the stars as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus Quest for Knowledge, being led by a Venerated Archmagos Explorator. An Ark Mechanicus is outfitted with the most powerful weapons available to the Imperium, generally having a balanced set of lances, wepons batteries, and a Nova Cannon. Shit's that dangerous out there.
*'''Lathe-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed around deep space exploration and extreme self-reliance. These ships, when properly outfitted, can operate for decades without returning to imperial space for resupply. These would make up the bulk of Explorator fleets.
*'''Secutor-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed to excel at the art of war. Tougher than all of the other Light Cruisers and yet still more mobile than true Cruisers. Due to being designed from the ground up to be a Warship, this Light Cruiser is fitted with Cruiser sized Void Shield Generators.
*'''Goliath-Class Factory Ship;''' An Adeptus Mechanicus vessel designed to harvest plasma from Stars. These ships supply the fuel for the entirety of the Imperium. Other ships can be fitted with Plasma Scoops to top up their own tanks but this is the true fuel-harvesting-workhorse of the Imperium.

== Inquisition Vessels ==

The Inquisition usually borrow ships to do their jobs. However, there comes a time in every Inquisitor's life when witnesses are liabilities and executing entire Imperial Navy crews may be too much. Solution: Have a Navy of your very own. Still, these ships are rare and are assigned on a mission to mission basis. Usually carries [[Deathwatch]], [[Grey Knights]], [[Adepta Sororitas]] and/or [[Tempestus Scions]] depending on the [[Inquisition|Ordos]] involved. They do not have Armored Prows and usually travel alone.

*'''Inquisitorial Black Ship:''' What happens when a [[Strike Cruiser]] and Battlecruiser fall in love? They create offspring that are stronger than Battleships. Armed with a dorsal Bombardment Cannon, port weapons batteries, Attack Craft prow launch bays, prow Torpedoes and whatever Xenos/Chaos tech you can imagine.

*'''Inquisitorial Cruiser:''' A Strike Cruiser-variant built for the Inquisition. However, unlike most Strike Cruisers (which are the size of Navy Light Cruisers) they can be a lot bigger and have no set pattern. Usually specifically designed for use by specific Ordos.

== Adeptus Astartes Vessels ==

{{Main|Adeptus Astartes Fleet}}

== Adeptus Arbites Vessels ==

*'''Punisher Cruiser:''' Modeled after the [[Strike Cruiser]]s of the Astartes, they are supposed to bolster local PDF security, put down rebellions, hunt down pirate bands and transport high-ranking Arbites officials. Realistically, carrying Big Wigs is probably all they do. Despite being heavily armed with torpedoes, [[Bombardment Cannon]]s, Fighters and advanced scanners to spot bases, they are too few (usually travelling alone) to fight anything major. That said... being a Strike Cruiser variant means they have the body of a light cruiser but can punch way over their weight class. Can easily destroy escort squadrons and go ''mano a mano'' with bigger ships.

== Important Details ==

=== Crews ===

''Navy crews are made up of officers, techpriests, astropaths, navigators, servants, slave drivers, and slaves.''

A bit of an over-simplification, but broadly true. Due to the Imperium's aversion to AI and Automation each ship needs at least thousands of people to man it. Whenever the crew count gets low, the Imperial Navy sets up fake strip clubs on a planet claiming "Free Hookers" to lure in unsuspecting men (and the occasional woman). Once a future crewman steps in, he's knocked out, bound, gagged, and taken to the ship, [[grimdark|where they'll slave away the rest of their soon-to-be-short existence]] doing everything needed to make flying through space and fighting in the void possible.

This includes dragging shells the size of houses into cannons while being whipped. Still, at least for the crew sex is allowed, in fact encouraged, if for no other reason than maintaining the crew complement. Seriously, whole fucking cities and civilizations arise from the more massive ships, every bit as intricate as a long lived Hive City. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7wcShvrus Here is an idea of how it works, right up to the Roman armor, whips and beatings.] Oh and apparently besides whole civilizations, there are whole civilizations of mutants around too. They can more or less settle new worlds for da [[Emprah]] by simply disgorging their excess population, which the crew is probably all too happy to do.

High ranking officers may also bring their own people on board. These include, but are not limited to, concubines, bodyguards, servants, slaves, etc.. Makes you wonder just what regulations are actually enforced if any exist at all.

One area where fluff [[Black Library|hasn't been consistent]] is in the uniform worn by Imperial Navy crewmen. Some sources suggest that uniforms are divided by segmentum of the Imperium, while others suggest that it is a sector-by-sector fashion choice. Given the scale of the Imperium and the fact that Navy fleets are already identified by hull color, it's probably on a segmentum basis, but [[Games Workshop]] doesn't care enough to make a decision about it (and no matter what they'll inevitably be blinged out in skulls and eagles). For the ranks of the aforementioned shell draggers at the bottom of the naval hierarchy they'd wear a motley collection of their old civilian clothes and whatever they could scrounge up and sew together. Continuing the Age of Sail metaphor.

=== Travel ===

The ships of the [[Imperium]] travel through the [[Warp]] using what's called a [[FTL (Warhammer 40,000)#Warp Drive|warp drive]] to get to where they're going. However, this isn't your happy, fancy tunnel-of-light like in Star Wars, or everything-moves-fast Star Trek, it is an alternate dimension full of [[Chaos]]. In order to avoid being turned inside-out (think Event Horizon) and getting hentai-raped by every daemon in the warp, the ships rely on what is called a [[Gellar Field]] to keep the [[furries]], undesirables, and various other evil beings out of their ship when traveling through. The Baroque decorations are also implied in helping to ward off said daemons. When traveling through literal Hell itself, turning an actual cathedral into an actual voidship is actually a pretty good actual idea. They rely on a [[Navigator]] that uses the [[Empra]] as a beacon to safely navigate the Warp, hence the title "Navigator".

=== Ordnance ===

* '''Macrocannons:''' Guns. Lots of guns. Macrocannons are gargantuan cannons firing equally gargantuan shells. On escort ships these are often mounted in turrets, while capital ships often feature broadside batteries manned by crews of tens of thousands. Generally used to saturate void shields with overwhelming volume of fire. Alternatively, its also used by capital ships to provide planet-side fire support (although due to it's size, its the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb on someone) or used en-masse against the planet's surface to [[Exterminatus|bombard it into oblivion]].
* '''Lasers:''' Smaller than true lances, lasers are common on escorts such as the Sword. Accurate but not overly powerful, their main virtue is that they don't require ammunition and are usually in turrets. They only need lens refocusing or repairing the actual gun itself, as by the time their "ammo" supply (the reactor) is compromised the ship has worse problems than going dry.
* '''Plasma Cannons:''' Powerful, but power hungry and finicky. Not every forge world can build them, but generally the Imperium is better at building ship sized plasma guns than they are at building handheld ones. Imperial ships with plasma tend to be all plasma like the tyrant instead of the normal lance and macro mix of the lunar.
* '''Lance Batteries:''' Lances are enormous particle/laser weapons designed to penetrate armor and inflict deep structural damage. Accurate and powerful but they don't recharge fast enough to defeat void shields unassisted. Their sheer size and power requirements typically limit them to capital ships; lance armed escorts are purpose built vessels like the Firestorm. The necessity to defeat void shields means that the preferred Imperial loadout for capital ships is macrocannons paired with lances. Lances do extreme damage, period, but recharge so slowly that the enemy shields will have mostly recharged by the time you shoot again, hence preference for pairing with macrocannon. Macrocannons either prevent recharge in small numbers or do that and take chunks out of void shields between lance shots.
* '''Torpedos:''' The standard Imperial torpedo consists of a unstable plasma reactor with an engine and a guidance cogitator. On impact, the reactor and its remaining fuel detonates with roughly the force of an escort ship's main drive exploding, but directed straight to the target like a shaped charge. A well placed torpedo allows even a lowly destroyer to threaten a battleship, although they are as often used by capital ships to force an enemy to turn to avoid a torpedo salvo.
** '''Melta Torpedos:''' What causes more damage than a reactor blowing up in a shaped charge? Said reactor blowing up inside the target after a melta charge has burrowed it's way through and more melta warheads exploding alongside, consuming the impact area in nuclear fire. That said, if the torpedo launcher receives a penetrating hit while they are loaded, there is a good chance they will detonate and take the ship with them.
** '''Boarding Torpedo:''' Essentially a torpedo version of an assault ship, boarding torpedoes are more often used by the Astartes due to the acceleration forces involved on both ends of the trip.

== Ranks in the Navy ==

While the Imperial Navy uses a lot of the ranks in similar fashion to modern militaries, they invariably hold to a more archaic form and are not equivalent to modern day ranking systems. Particularly since it's quite clear that commissions in 40k can often be purchased rather than earned, and that a "Warrant" would most likely hold to the original term and be an "officer by appointment" rather than an enlisted grade. Though considering the immense variety of units within the Imperium, this may not necessarily be the case galaxy-wide, so all options are equally valid. A competent naval academy or [[Schola Progenium]] graduate leading one ship and a glory hound who's daddy paid for another can serve on the same bridge. Also, the ship commander will generally be referred to as Captain internally for the sake of simplicity, except in Astartes fleets where they are called shipmasters to avoid confusion regarding the actual rank of Captain in the Astartes. Funnily, this practice among the Astartes is directly opposite to IRL Marine units, where Captains are known as Majors to avoid being confused with the actual Captain of the ship. Since they are not in the dirt, Navy officers look significantly more well dressed than Guard officers but can get scarred just like the ground pounding plebians. LT's and up in the Navy can be very creepy to look at. The smoking hot lieutenant commander in immaculate uniform with fancy frills and spotless [[Carapace Armor]] having half of her face missing and plated over with cybernetics along with her whole arm being replaced by bionics is not an uncommon sight. Ratings and below look more like standard sci-fi lower class cyborgs.

Like the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy has Commissars. They serve the exact same role they do in the Imperial Guard. They're outside the chain of command, they maintain discipline and punish traitors and mutineers, and they can in theory overrule or execute anyone, though it is much more difficult to put a bolt in a Navy Captain's head than a Guard Colonel. Much like guard regiments, not every ship in the navy will always have a Commissar aboard, but the ones likely to need them typically will.

=== Officer Ranks ===

*'''Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy''' - This person is a [[High Lords of Terra|High Lord]] and is the person responsible for the '''ENTIRE''' Imperial Navy, though likely the post holder doesn't do much other than delegate to their subordinates and attend tedious High Lord meetings.
*'''Lord-High Admiral''' - There are five of these guys, one for each Segmentum. While they're probably never anywhere near the front lines they probably have more to do, since its their job to oversee the deployment of fleets and materials from sector to sector. That said, the non-canonical Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 game has Lord-High Admiral Spire personally leading Battlefleet Gothic around the Cadian sector from his flagship, even taking down some of the top-dogs of Abaddon's inner council.
*'''Lord Admiral''' - The guy in charge of a sector fleet who gets direct command of vessels and formations. You see these guys in the fluff quite regularly when "key" worlds ''(like Armageddon)'' need defended or attacked.
*'''Solar Admiral''' - Often a ''terminal'' rank... no really. Occasionally regular Admirals who do good jobs can put themselves forward for promotion to this position, which needs to be approved by the Lord-High Admiral of their Segmentum, then the officer needs to travel to Terra be reviewed by the Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Obviously this can take a very, ''VERY'' long time to approve. So they might often be [[Grimdark|dead before the paperwork gets rubber-stamped]]. If they do get approved they are likely to get promoted straight up to sector commander (see Lord Admiral) as a position will probably have opened up while he was waiting. More rarely, Solar Admirals can get sent on "detached duties" which is basically a license to do as they please with their independent fleets. The fact they get approved implies that those who died waiting were rejected without being told.
*'''High Admiral''' - Commands several group of naval fleets (e.g. Battlegroups), often the most senior Navy officer in a Crusade but the things these fucks usually do is just having snacks with their Imperial Guard counterparts and leaving the combat duties to their subordinate Admirals
*'''Admiral''' - Gets put in charge of a fleet and told to oversee some subsectors. He's usually the highest of the "front line" ranks and much of his time will be on active duty patrolling his assigned region.
*'''Vice Admiral''' - Fleets traditionally get split into three parts, with the highest Admiral taking up the portion containing the larger ships, while the "Vice" Admiral takes the "Vanguard" portion of faster moving ships.
*'''Rear Admiral''' - the third portion of a fleet would be the "Rearguard" and usually gets assigned to the youngest/least experienced Admiral in the fleet. His job is usually the quietest one as he gets the mop-up and repair duties.
*'''Commodore''' - an experienced Captain in command of a squadron of capital ships. It's traditionally only a temporary rank, as capital ships don't always get assigned to each other the same way that escorts do. But the realities of war often mean that ships stay together for extended periods, often well beyond the lifespans of generations of captains.
*'''Lord Captain''' - not actually a rank, but an honourific applied to Captains of detached vessels operating independently. The '''"Lord-"''' part implies that they operate with the full authority of the Imperial Navy when they act so they can deal with outside organisations (like planetary governors, Space Marines or Imperial Guard) on relatively even footing. Sometimes also known by the more archaic term of "Flag-Captain", since as the commander of a detached vessel they figuratively carry their own flag.
*'''Captain''' The commander of a single capital ship or the lead starship in an escort squadron.
*'''Commander''' - Usually the commander of an escort vessel. Is also the ranking officer on board orbital space stations. It also gets used as the terminal rank amongst Pilots, since small attack craft all fall under the remit of the Navy; so a '''Wing Commander''' would get command over all pilots based on a single carrier.
*'''Lord Lieutenant''' - The second-in-command to captains of capital ships, bizarrely Commanders don't hold that role and hold their own positions. Thankfully because a chain of command exists in any military, despite a Wing Commander holding higher "actual" rank over a Lieutenant on a carrier vessel he would not hold any higher authority on that ship than his duties allow for. [[Fail|Sometimes this rank is known as Flag Lieutenant, which allows GW to once again show their incompetence as a Flag Lieutenant is actually an Admiral's aide-de-camp.]]
*'''Lieutenant''' - a "working" rank. Either holds command over small system vessels or acts as second in command to Commanders of escorts, or as department heads on Capital ships. They are also Squadron leaders amongst pilots.
*'''Sub-Lieutenant / Ensign''' - Team leaders or attack craft pilots
*'''Midshipman''' - Apprentice officers who haven't passed any exams or earned any responsibility, they would exist below the Warrant Officers in terms of authority, despite holding a commission. Midshipmen are commissioned from Imperial Nobility as part of the [[Administratum|Imperial Tithe]] ''(which can mean virtually anyone gets the job if they send their useless heirs just to keep the best ones at home)'' but they are also assigned from the [[Schola Progenium]]. In addition, Midshipmen also may be taken on as a personal favour from the Captain of a vessel if he knows the family. This echoes the ancient real-world practice of young noblemen showing up while the vessel was in dock with a letter from their family and being granted a commission on the Captain's say-so.

=== NCO Ranks ===

*'''Ship Master''' - the most senior Warrant officer on board a starship, also quite possibly the busiest man on the starship. It's his job to maintain the logs, update stellar navigation charts, oversee ships stores and order supplies, and command a hangar deck if there is one. Basically he's the guy who knows the ship better than anyone. In real-world historical usage, this guy would have an authority equivalent to a Lieutenant on board a starship, and would "mess" ''(ie: occupy the same space)'' as the other officers do.
*'''Bosun''' - ''(Shorthand for Boatswain)'' The NCO directly responsible for all of the common crew members, including work planning, scheduling, training, and [[Commissar|enforcing discipline]]. Despite his position, his actual rank may vary depending upon the size of vessel or operational requirements, in practice it never really matters since he's unlikely to ever meet another Boatswain. ''(real-world Boatswains are typically petty officers or warrant officers, but could be of any rank. They held responsibility over all areas of the ship other than Engineering, which was left to the Chief Engineer, as if the bosun disciplined/executed/imprisoned a skilled crewman from that department the ship could be crippled because of it)''.
**Note that most Capital Ships, but not all Escort ships, may have an actual Naval [[Commissar]] on board in this role, tasked with maintaining discipline up to and [[Blam|including]] the Officer compliment.
*'''Chief Warrant Officer''' - Also called "Chief Petty Officer" on some vessels. Will often be given command of important ship sections ''(like Chief Engineers, helmsmen, or auspex control, as these are critical to ongoing operation of a starship)''
*'''Chief Enginseer''' - This one is complicated. The engineering section of Imperial Navy vessels falls under jurisdiction of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], which maintains their own byzantine system of ranks among [[Techpriest|techpriests]]. The ranking member of the mechanicus contingent will have shipboard authority equivalent to a Lieutenant. However, on capital ships or vessels featuring archaotech systems, the leading techpriest may well be a full [[Magos]]. Similarly, on ships traveling into unexplored space the leading techpriest might be an Explorator slumming it as an enginseer to ride along.
*'''Chief Navigator''' - Another complicated position. Imperial navy vessels invariably host a small contingent of [[navigator|navigators]] to guide the vessel through the warp. In practice, navigators aboard naval vessels answer ONLY to the commanding officer and show zero deference to any other member of the crew. It's not unheard of for navigators to give crewmembers the warp eye for the slightest transgression; there are even rare cases of navigators demanding ratings or mutineers to sacrifice to complete their navigation rites. If a vessel has [[astropath|astropaths]] aboard, they too generally answer directly to the commanding officer, although they're usually less haughty about it.
*'''Chief Surgeon''': Leads the ship's medicae. Can't downcheck officers, that's the Commissariat's job. Usually a Militarum doctor, but occasionally will be a [[Sister Hospitaler]] if the ship is in a war and the crew are lucky enough for [[Sisters of Battle]] to be barracked aboard for the duration of the campaign, and even more rarely a [[Magos]] Biologis if they're exploring or the crew seriously lucked out on campaign.
*'''Warrant Officer''' - You'll find lots of guys of equivalent rank on a ship, in command of various operational sections keeping the ship running at all times:
**Masters of Ordnance - make certain that Torpedoes and Attack craft (if any) are fueled and maintained.
**Master Gunner - have responsibility over all of the weapons batteries through the Gun Captains and make sure they are loaded and fired when required.
**Master-at-Arms - responsible for all "small" arms on board a starship, overseeing all Sergeants-at-Arms, as well as maintaining order over any barracked Guard regiments currently in transit.
**Master of the Vox - making sense out of the bazillions of messages that run through the bridge at any given moment both internally and externally ''(crews can get pretty massive, and a lot of traffic can come through at once)''.
**Steward - the guy who keeps everyone else well fed.
*'''Gun Captain''' - Funnily enough, the man in charge of a single gun crew. Makes sure that the weapon is taken care of, is reloaded quickly enough, and is accurate when asked to fire. All of that comes back to this guy.
*'''[[Navis Sergeant-At-Arms|Sergeant-at-Arms]]''' - Man in charge of the weapons lockers and leader of boarding parties, as well as maintaining ship-board security. Usually they are transferred from [[Imperial Guard]] regiments so that they don't have any prior association with the crew, though it likely depends from fleet to fleet. The Sergeants-At-Arms generally directly lead the elite Breacher squads.
*'''[[Voidsmen-at-Arms|Armsmen]]''' - Occasionally referred to as Voidsmen-at-Arms. Crewmen trusted to carry weapons. They train extensively with Lasguns, concussion grenades, and low caliber rotor cannons that are unlikely to chew up starship hulls, as well as getting to wear flak-armour. Since they are trusted more, they have slightly more freedom to move around the vessel as well. They are not [[Imperial Guard|true soldiers]] since offensive boarding actions tend to be rare, so these guys still have their own regular responsibilities on board ship, yet Armsmen can come from the common ratings all the way up to the Officer ranks. On some ships the crewmen really don't want the job, since it means they get scrutinised more, and they might be ordered to beat up their buddies. On other ships, they are set above the toiling classes and are necessary for keeping them in line.
**'''[[Imperial Navy Breachers|Breachers]]''' - the elite amongst the Armsmen who get to wear even heavier void-armour and carry nastier weapons like explosives and melta-guns that would otherwise be suicidal to use inside a starship. Not only are they the primary defensive contingent on board a ship, but they are also the go-to crew members if an enemy ship needs boarded or an [[Star Trek|away team]] is called upon.
*'''Voidsmen''' - the lowest rank of crewman on board a Naval Starship above the [[Servitor]]s unless the Captain is cool with slavery. If they have a skill or a trade they may be referred to as '''Able Voidsmen''' which is an official rank that might require examinations. Additionally, if they show leadership qualities they might be promoted to '''Leading Voidsman''' and put in charge of work gangs and be considered for promotion to Warrant Officer if a position opens up.

== Notable Problems ==
These are problems some have with the Imperial Navy and their fluff....

=== General Logistical Problems ===

The big problem that the Imperial Navy has is that it's the only organised navy in the galaxy that's trying to defend its massive amounts of space. To do this takes vast numbers of ships but rather thinly spread out. Given the problems of warp travel it's also extremely hard to reinforce friendly fleets under attack. The foes of the navy come essentially in two flavours; raiders who might just manage to scrape together a few converted transports (building even escort-sized ships is a huge undertaking, akin to building damn near the entire American Navy combined from iron ore and making it fly) which take an escort squadron to murder, and huge organized invasion fleets that take a whole fleet to fight. These combine together to mean that outside of fleet bases and important strategic worlds there is nowhere in the Imperium that is actually well-defended. At best a fleet has to be formed and sent out and they could arrive months later. Travel takes a lot of time, and out in the void it can be extremely hard to know what you are actually fighting against, especially since the enemy tend to kill anyone who tries to look at them. So when there's a large enemy force that you absolutely must fight (not fighting is much preferable) you don't just band together whoever was within shouting distance of the flagship and go murdering, you pull together every single vessel in the sector and hope to the Emperor it's enough to do the job.

TL,DR: Acquiring a force sucks when command thinks paperwork and red tape are forms of worship and maintenance thinks the toilet needs a prayer before it is unclogged.

Warships genuinely are vast things and obscenely expensive and risking them at all in major actions is not something anyone does lightly. Each cruiser is larger and more complex than a fully-kitted titan legion. These things are MASSIVE. In the BFG book there's a fluff story of a cruiser being built at a shipyard that orbits a primitive world. The entire population of the planet were given over to mining the resources needed to build one single cruiser. It took them eleven years to mine the ore. Sure, that's a primitive world, but if you think about it that makes carving out the rocks for it the largest single project ever engaged upon without mechanization. If you add together all seven wonders of the world you aren't even close to the pile of rock we're talking about. So these things are a big fucking investment and the high lords really don't like risking them without a really good reason (makes you question why they wouldn't build 20 smaller ships instead).

So if you ever wondered why the Navy doesn't get more action, now you know. By the time the big, awesome ships get on the scene the invasion already probably finished and the bad guys moved on. Then you nuke the shit out of them from orbit or drop millions of poor bastards into the meat grinder. Far better idea all round. It's the reason that the enemy, even nutters like Chaos, don't fight in the void without reason. On the ground it's just a scrap, and maybe you win or maybe you don't. If you lose in the void then your campaign on the surface is dead. No reinforcements, no support and a massive constant orbital bombardment to kill everyone left (which sometimes doesn't happen, because, you know, plot armour). That tends to mean fleets hover around and not fighting, one ensuring the other can't directly interfere with the surface war. This is actually an excellent and realistic explanation for why there is significant ground warfare in 40k. Also, ground-based defenses, mobile theater-shields, etc. are common. So, attacking a planet worth anything is like attacking a planet-sized Death Star without the super-weapon. Your ground forces taking out shields and anti-space batteries is critical to achieving anything. But, by that point, most of the enemy is dead and the survivors have either moved to the next defended region or got so stuck-in with your dudes that you can't shoot without killing your own army. Unless you worship Khorne, in which case you really couldn't care less who you kill, even yourself.

Besides that, there are strategic locations to take in order to take or destroy the anti-orbit defenses. Those locations have strategic locations and so on and before you know it, you’re invading the whole damn planet.

So, the navies of the galaxy ultimately get pushed down into either raiders, escorts against raiders, raider-hunters, or babysitting and logistical duty for groundpounders. Which of course brings back the question of why the Navy has such a desire to get more interceptors and bombers for ship-to-ship combat when they rarely engage in combat in the first place and the attack craft are insufficient. Could be to weaken the enemy ships' ability to shoot at the surface, but by the point they would have a target it would have (as stated) gone to a new defended location or whatever else, defeating the point of sending attack craft to weaken the enemy ships' offensive power. They won't shoot at each other, and they can't shoot at the surface (or at least can't shoot anything worth shooting at). In exchange for packing in so many attack craft into hangars designed for countless atmospheric air support fighters and bombers, the Imperial Guard has to die in radically greater numbers than they have any need to since they have limited anti-air capabilities and all of their enemies have no problem sending massive swarms of fighters and bombers at them. That is without even getting to engage the enemy on the ground and not counting the countless soldiers killed as the transports are shot to pieces due to their escorts commonly ditching them to go after obvious bait tactics. Oh, and sending reinforcements from other worlds, let alone the loss of expensive and valuable drop ships and interstellar transport vessels, is far more expensive than just using damn atmo-fighters and bombers for the Guard. Heck, an escort ship variant was created specifically to resolve this problem as even the High Lords got pissed about it. A ship designed as an escort vessel specializing in carrying atmospheric fighters, bombers, etc. just to provide support for the Imperial Guard. The Navy promptly took the ships built, removed the atmospheric craft, and replaced them with Furies and Starhawks. They already have a light cruiser escort carrier and the number of attack craft they crammed in was abysmal.

Thus the rumor that the Navy has no balls. But who needs balls when you have a nova cannon sized dick and eighteen dice worth of fire power.

=== Ship Size ===

No one is quite sure how big the ships really are. One story claims the Retribution-Class is a mere 3 kilometers long, while another says it is 9 kilometers and up to 20 kilometers.

Your best bet is Rogue Trader, although going by those figures, anything bigger than a cruiser has an average density around that of hydrogen... Everything after Rogue Trader became much larger, though, so this is likely inaccurate (though pretty big vessels anyway). Given the constant references to “city sized” weapon batteries and hangars, perhaps take Rogue Trader ship sizes and multiply ten or even a hundred. From a helpful poster on [http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63267&page=2 Heresy-Online] we have this:

For the most accurate scale, look towards the Battlefleet Koronus Expansion, as it is more a stat/rule book than a story. That and previous consensi, as well as cross referencing with the Horus Heresy rulebooks by Forge World (which places Battleships at 8-12km) place Cruisers just above 5 kms, and Battleships in the mid 8s. Please note that most ships above the size of 8ish kilometers are either a unique modified/purpose built flagship or a ship of a small class that is not in widespread circulation. For a sense of scale the largest warship in the world is currently the US Navy's Ford Class Aircraft Carrier measuring in at 337 meters long or 0.337km making the USS Ford the size of a cannon. They have guns literally the length of an Aircraft carrier!

*Transports and other Attack Craft, typically rated for atmospheric operation; also includes ships designed to be boarding torpedoes.
**<1 kilometer. That's the small ones, there are super transports in 40k as well. (A [[thunderhawk]] would go here).
*Escorts are "small" ships, like the Cobra, designed to flank foes and operate in squads.
**1-2 kilometers.
**Heavy Frigates
**Frigates
**Corvettes
**Destroyers
**Freighters
*Light Cruiser, a smaller Cruiser.
**3-5 kilometers.
*Cruiser, the standard fighting vessel; every Imperial fleet has them.
**5-6 Kilometers.
*Battle Cruiser, a beefed up Cruiser; generally more 'modern' than a Grand Cruiser.
**6-7 kilometers.
*Grand Cruiser; pocket-sized Battleship, very old.
**7-8 kilometers.
*Battleship; the biggest of the lot, simply put.
**8-12 kilometers.
**Battleships
**Fleet Carriers

The Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" had this to say about ship sizes, taken from [http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/22848349/ /tg/] who quoted it from the book and written here is just the lengths and names of the ships, for simplicity and space:

*Macragge’s Honour. Twenty-six kilometers - Flagship
*Spirit of Konor. Seventeen kilometers - Battleship
*Antrodamicus. Twelve kilometers - Grand Cruiser
*Antipathy. Nine kilometers - Cruiser (note that the book said it had "six thousand lives" on board, which would be an absurdly small crew for its size by 40k or even 21st century standards, but it wasn't fully crewed at the time; maybe for an astartes or mechanicus vessel its a bit closer to reasonable but definite not for the Navy)
*Aegis of Occluda. Seven kilometers - Class unknown
*Gladius. Four kilometers - Escort
*Then there is the Abyss-class created by Lorgar that is said to match the Phalanx in size. He made three of them. In reality, they matched it in beam, but the Phalanx is round, so iut probably wasn't quite as big.

===Weapon Effects===

The calcs for Imperial Navy warships are one of the [[FAIL|''worst'']] things in GeeDubs' illustrious history. From Macrocannons [[Wat|outputting fewer joules than a punch from an 8-year-old child]] to [[Exterminatus|broadsides breaking continents]] [[Derp|making the existence of Cyclonic Torpedoes feel impotent.]] Calculating the strength of naval weapons have been one of the biggest pain in the ass for /tg/, not helping with the fact that many BL authors have no sense of fucking scale, let alone consistency.

Nevertheless, even if naval vessels shot out megatons per broadside, many newer folks around here may wonder, "Why can't the Imperial Navy do an orbital bombardment of a heavily defended position on land?". The answer is simple. Collateral damage. Yes, even the most incompetent of Imperial commanders recognize that too much collateral damage is a bad thing and would really affect the health of a good Crusade. After all, life is the Emperor's currency. '''SPEND IT WELL'''. This is not helped by the fact that the naval weapons of the Imperial Navy aren't the most accurate of the lot. Sure, fluff dictates that Macrocannons have an effective range in excess of tens of thousands of kilometres. But there is a BIG DIFFERENCE in providing suppressive fire against multi-kilometre spaceships and trying to hit a well-defended bunker that is only ten meters across. The only weapons that could be counted as 'accurate' are Lances and Nova Cannons. But firing them is overkill and the resulting shockwave will fuck up anyone indiscriminately, including ''Titan legions''. This is not counting into the basis of Void Shields and anti-orbital weapons like [[Defense Laser]]s for example.

As such, whilst it is theoretically possible to do orbital bombardment, in reality, most of the time it is just far more efficient to direct your naval assets to spar against ''other'' enemy naval ships, rather than risk a fleet that a) may or may not hit the target or worse, their allies due to inaccuracies, b) must come dangerously close to Defense Laser range or any other anti-orbital weapons and c) when they ''ARE'' given the chance to perform the role, the enemy has either become too insignificant to order a bombardment or have already captured and took hold of the entire planet plus its defences. Ergo, whilst it is tempting, orbital bombardment isn't really popular and just risks splitting your forces where it could have been better suited to, you know, deny the enemy of any potential orbital superiority in the first place.

=== Lack of Balls ===

It is well-known that most Imperial Navy Officers don't have em. Other times their balls are too big and get themselves and their crews killed in idiotic attacks.

An Imperial Navy fleet is most effective when Inquisitors take it over. [[Exterminatus|See Here]].

=== Carrier Hate ===

Back in M36, the Imperial Navy fought a lowkey civil war over fleet doctrine in Segmentum Tempestus known as the Gareox Incident. A cabal of chaos worshipers worked their way high enough in the navy to start designing ships that were ready-built to turn traitor, most of which were carriers. The battlefleet eventually figured out something was off and the result was a giant carriers vs battleships fight that went down the way the Battle off Samar would have if the Japs hadn't been scared shitless by three destroyers. The surviving carriers went openly traitor and since then building new carriers has been borderline heresy so far as the navy is concerned. Doesn't stop them from building a bunch of them anyway. Hating something has never stopped the Imperium from doing whatever is necessary to do its duty (or else).

Strangely, this battle is contradictory in how attack craft fare in any other battle. Normally, you read about bombers and interceptors ravaging and destroying ships with impunity unless you have a way to counter them such as dedicated anti-air ships and interceptors of your own. Which the attacking loyalists in this battle lacked. The big difference between other historical examples are void shields on the capital ships.

Therefore the the most likely thing that happened was that carrier fleet launched a first strike with all there airwings and did solid damage, but took losses from flak and interceptors (most imperium ships have some fighter escorts even if they don't focus on it). When they returned to there carriers to rearm and refuel the void shields on the Imperial ships had a chance to recharge and so the traitors repeated the attack with less overall fighters, takeing lose both on the approach and on the return. Over the course of the battle the Imperials attrited the fighters down and managed to approach to gun range and tore the Carriers apart. That is conjecture though but the only solution to explain the difference are the void shields on the capital ships.

What that means is that the best way to get use out of fighters in 40k space combat should be to coordinate them so they attack with a battle ship either dropping the void shields or attack a vulnerable target without a shield as a finishing blow.

== In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2 ==

The Imperial Navy is the most balanced faction of the game as expected from being the posterboys of Battlefleet Gothic. Decent hull points, strong voidshields, okay speed and a wide selection of choices, the Imperial Navy offers a level of flexibility and diversity that no other faction could match. In general, Imperial Navy ships are more suited for close-range brawler types; their row upon row of [[Macrocannon]]s ensures a steady supply of [[Dakka|munitions]] that is reasonably accurate in short-medium range, whilst their armoured prow enables them to become effective battering rams when needed. Likewise, some classes have their loadout decked in [[Lance Weapon]]s, [[Torpedo|Torpedoes]] and [[Nova Cannon]]s, so they aren't slouches in long-range combat as well. Sure they cannot compete against the [[Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Chaos]] when it comes to overall range, and that they aren't as good when it comes to pure CQC mayhem like the [[Orks]] and [[Tyranids]], but the sheer ''amount'' of ships one can choose means that eventually, you will find a class that will cover each other's weaknesses. By far the easiest and least punishing faction of the lot.

== Music of the Imperial Navy ==

Not to be outdone by the Imperial Guard (as well as to compensate for their aforementioned lack of balls), the Imperial Navy has begun collecting music to either be blared on loudspeakers when not in active use, or in the case of battleship command decks, played live by orchestra. the first four are taken from [[Battlefleet Gothic Armada|Battlefleet Gothic Armada.]]

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DhAAGZVAVo [[Awesome|This one is by far the best.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80QrqY_FgQ8
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0I7M0W_Ig
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFREOz5CvDs
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AlLNITLk8A - A piece dating back to the Armada Imperialis' of the Great Crusade, but is still played regularly.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STVoaxz8-Y - This instrumental is rumored to date back to some epic naval battle during the later dark age of technology.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJEgAFR9vDc - While not quite fitting for battleships and grand cruisers, this piece dates back to when humanity was just beginning to march upon the stars, and as such, is heard regularly in ships captained by sentimental officers.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUrSQNSN6_c - This fitting instrumental is often played in bastion fleets whenever they are mustered to put down [[Black Crusade|yet another temper tantrum.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAw1KlZ8C-A - Battlefleet Gothic Imperial port theme.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlcUwUwjLrs - This ancient piece, a popular mobilization theme for the Imperial Navy, was apparently created during a time in which humanity was at war with a xeno species known as "Cylons". [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|No other records of this species can be found.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so10dKbhorI - Another piece from the same era that the Cylons existed, it was created to commemorate a successful assault on a planet known as New Caprica, what is now an imperial hive world.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFEHCuSnun0 - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gii4e-h3DBc - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral from Praetoria.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qOJrT_lUg - One of the pieces Lord High Admiral Langsung ordered to be played during the Battle for Port Sanctus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_Lp51wyao - This dated back to the glory days of human stellar exploration, when the universe was less grimdark, but is still a favorite for exploratory fleets, or for trying to distract yourself from the fact that you're just one [[Gellar Field|energy field]] away from a level 99 rapefest.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLXNmKvLBQ - One of many favorites of those captaining Ironclads.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXlJ5DMq5o - A favorite of Vostroyan admirals.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elK5iReyAMI - Played during ceremonial ship or fleet launches since the great crusade.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5N0-DqZoU - One of many pieces played when the fleets return victorious.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3q6dCeP7M - An orchestral litany created to aid in battles against chaos ships.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvriqdS3vsc - A common theme of blockade runners, more nimble imperial vessels, and rogue traders plundering xeno planets in the name of the God Emperor.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbh6HT7lLx8 - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDn6WtZBJY - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus led by admirals from oriental cultures.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvUVq-dVEjQ - Battle music that is popular among said admirals of oriental cultures, and also of those from Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo - Music played whenever the Navy has to perform exterminatus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZcj56XXrPM - A personal favorite of an admiral from Armageddon.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3iwvG2ZKuw - The christening and launch of a new ship, straight out of the docks.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9mFPDRZIgE - Encountering a Tyranid Hive Fleet

== See also ==

* [[Famous_Spaceships_of_Warhammer_40,000#Famous_Imperial_Spaceships|Famous Imperial Spaceships]]

== External Links ==

* [http://www.darkreign.org/sites/default/files/BFG%20FAQ%202010_0.pdf/ A Comprehensive List of Ships]
* [http://yenlowang.free.fr/warhammer-forum/BFG/BFG_-_Additional_Ships_Compendium_1.4.pdf Battlefleet Gothic Additional Ships Compendium]
* [https://i.imgur.com/2q7J2Xv.jpg A big poster of fictional navies], with 40k in the center left
* [[Kor'Vattra]]

== Gallery ==

<gallery>

image: EMP-Class.jpg|The Lord Admiral's Love Shack

image: Avenger.jpg| The Grand Marshal's Summer Palace of PWNAGE

image: Lunar-Class.jpg|<s>Imagine how quick land battles would be if these things actually helped</s> They do help, but they can't do it too much or they risk fucking up the planet they came to save, also you try aiming a lance cannon at a spot a meter wide from orbit without hitting your mates on the ground

image: RapidStrikeVessels.JPG|The Bullet-Catchers of the Navy

image: Imperial Fleet Size Sca.jpg|Another demonstration of too much spare time

image: Flagship-mk2.JPG|One of the revered ships of Battlefleet [[/tg/]]: [[Flankitus]]

File:Warhammer Imperial Cruisers by mik.jpg|

File:M1130006 Gothic Art Cover.jpg|

</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Battlefleet Gothic]]

[[Category: Imperial]]

[[Category: Imperial Navy]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Ships]]

{{40k-Imperial-Ships}}

{{Template:Imperium}}

Imperial Navy

2023-05-25T08:28:54Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84: /* Aircraft */

[[File:imperialnavy1.jpg|400px|thumb||Cathedrals IN SPEHSS!]]

{{Topquote|When you began, you couldn’t have possessed enough bones for the whole ship. It would look stupid with a few dozen skeletons nailed to the walls. So, how do you start? Do you save up enough bodies for a corridor at a time, or put them away until you have enough to decorate the entire vessel?’|[[Jain Zar]],-Storm of Silence, And while in context she is talking about a [[Dark Eldar]] ship, it applies equally well to the Imperium. She thoroughly underestimates how many corpses both have readily available.}}

{{Topquote|By my faith, may the light of the Emperor spread to the farthest star. By my duty, the galaxy will belong to the righteous. By my actions, the Imperial Navy shall be honoured and remembered on Holy Terra. For the Emperor of Mankind, AND FOR THE BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC!|Imperial Navy Captain Abridal, shorty before his blaze of glory that ultimately stopped the 12th [[Black Crusade]] and saved billions of Imperial lives.}}

The '''Imperial Navy''' is one of the main branches of the [[Imperium of Man|Imperial]] military in [[Warhammer 40,000]], although very little of the Navy actually appears in the tabletop game. They're also one of the main factions in the beloved spin-off game [[Battlefleet Gothic]].

Unlike the [[Imperial Guard]], who get killed in the <s>thousands</s> <s>millions</s> billions every day, the Imperial Navy rarely suffers that many casualties (at least when capital ships are concerned). This is because, unlike the [[lasgun|flashlight]] used by Guardsmen, the main weapon of the Navy is a giant, heavily-armed, heavily-armored battleship that puts other races' spaceships to shame. These ships are also [[Awesome|massive, flying, Gothic cathedrals]]. Be mindful that a ship ''surviving'' a fight doesn't mean survival of any and all of her crew - when the hull is compromised, people die by the hundreds, and retrieval of hulks after a victorious battle is a routine operation for the Navy.
The Imperial Navy is actually well handled by the Imperium. I know, shocking. ''But'', (there it is!) the Imperium seems to think trying to defend everywhere is a good idea. This works fine in general because most threats it faces are hilariously out-matched rebels. But when they're not facing hilariously out-matched rebels, multiple worlds are lost before the Navy can get enough force concentration to win and usually take back those planets. Since those rebels don't need anything above escorts to go squish them (and protect the transports of Guardsmen to do personal squishery), the Navy's penchant for trying to shove full fleets everywhere and even having light cruisers on patrol is not thought-out. It doesn't mean that Guard would get support of a full battlegroup initially tasked with securing the system during their ground campaign (see [[Vraks]] as an example).

Depending on how you look at it, and who you're looking at, the officers of the Navy are either wealthy cowards or badass gentlemen. In either case, their ships have crews numbering the hundreds of thousands or even millions (we're not kidding when we say that each ship has its own language(s) and culture(s,)) since the Imperial Navy doesn't understand how auto-loaders work, so loading a gun requires thousands of slaves running on treadmills. Of course, this might be the fault of [[Adeptus Mechanicus|a certain other branch of the Imperium, who, coincidentally, ''do'' have working auto-loaders on their ships]]. In any case, [[Grimdark|the Imperium has found it cheaper and ''more effective'' to use manpower because they have ''that many people'' to throw at even the tiniest of problems.]] Of course, for a major officer, most days simply require him to press a button and blow something up, then go back to drinking his tea. Oh, and ''maybe'' scramble the ground-support flyers, if he's feeling charitable that day.

Note that, back in the [[Great Crusade]], the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy were one and the same, operating under the far-less-badass name of "Imperial Army." However, thanks to the [[Horus Heresy]], the two got split up, so that a single military commander couldn't control too many forces; a Guard commander isn't able to get off any given planet either without the Navy ship or commandeering a civilian transport, an action that (theoretically) also reqiures approval of Navy officials, and the Navy isn't able to conduct wars (and, you know, occupy territory) without the Guard. You'd think that this enforced mutual co-dependence would make them collaborate, but [[grimdark|of course]], despite how much they need each other, the two bicker constantly, which, in fact, may be the reason for shitty situation the 40k Imperium finds himself in, at least on the military front. And it's all thanks to no other than [[Roboute Guilliman]], the fact his fans keep forgetting about.

While the fleet and ground forces generally had their own commands in the Imperial Army, they had one superior officer in form of Lord Militant (or Lord Solar) on top of both branches. Since admirals are not known for knowing jack shit about ground operations and vice versa, High Command generally operated in auftragstaktik and delegated specifics to the underlings (the same way WW2 army generals worked with air force, essentially), unless the whole expedition was lead by Lord Marshal (think Rogue Trader expedition, but with a cohort of [[Solar Auxilia]] and not all that interested in trading).

Interestingly, though most of the most well-known Chaos ship classes have been put into reserve fleets by the Imperium (hopefully after fixing the insanity-causing problems), those ships are still used by virtue of being, well, reserves. When your battlfleet goes off to fight who-knows-what, the reserve fleet is what holds the line if some major invasion happens. Frontline loses are generally not replaced by the reserves and reserves are used for when greater numbers or something are needed only if situation is really dire. Think of it as holding back a portion of your forces to take a wait-and-see approach for determining where to use them. It might have something to do with reserve fleet ships actually having rules for routing from the field easier and even turning traitor if the enemy fleet is Chaos in BFG...hmmmm.

Weirdly, although Chaos is famed for its use of numerous carriers and attack craft and the Imperium for its big guns, the Imperial Navy has more dedicated carriers and more hybrid carriers whereas Chaos has the most and best guns. The difference is, of course, that the Imperium doesn't make nearly as frequent use of its carriers and carrier hybrids as Chaos does just as Chaos's non-carrier hybrids tend to be used as support vessels like how the Imperium uses its dedicated lance boats and ordnance boats which Chaos also has a small handful of. Chaos Lances and Macrobatteries also tend to have longer ranges due to being made with ancient advanced technology that has been long lost for Imperium of 40k. It sucks that [[Belisarius Cawl]] has been too obessesed with his Primarises for 10 thousand years to actually make something useful for any other military branch of Imperium, doesn't it?

== Types of Ships ==

The Imperial Navy has four types of ships they hide their cowardly asses in. The main ships are battleships, cruisers, escorts, and fighters. There are also mobile Battle Fortresses/Starbase.
Each ship can also be classified by its weaponry, and role in the battlefleet:
*'''Basic:''' Jack of All Trades ships, due to having multiples weapons types, and not being specialized into any. Lunar class cruisers are the prime example, having macrobateries, lances & torpedoes. Why use basic instead focusing on Ordnance-boats to drop shields and Lance-boats to finish off? Because escorts can carry lances and destroyer squadrons can spam torpedoes and the light cruisers can supplement cruiser ordnance and lance and attack craft wherever needed. Which turns space combat into a very complicated game of Chess and Risk combined. As such, carriers, ordnance-boats, and lance-boats become supplementary rather than the bread and butter. After all, if you have an ordnance or lance boat and its supporting escorts get quickly killed off (which is what would happen) then you've lost half your capabilities and would probably lose to a basic as you either couldn't drop shields fast enough or once you did drop you couldn't finish off the enemy fast enough. Plus, lances fluff-wise seem to do massive damage to shields and their only draw-back is the shields regenerating nearly as quickly as the lances so having even a small number of weapons batteries to prevent recharge or even take more bites out of enemy shields between lance blasts would be very good. Which seems to be how the Imperium likes to fight, actually: with lances being their "real" cannons and weapons batteries just assisting with a storm of shots.
*'''Lance-boats:''' Ships that focus into Lance weaponry, used for long-range focused attacks, especially against small ships & unshielded ones. Rarer as they have a weakness to Void Shields and require better drives due to the power requirements of the lances.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Opposite of the Lance-boat, replaces Lances with more Macrobatteries, focusing mostly into medium & short range brawls against enemy ships. Usually this is because they need extra power due to mounting a Nova Cannon or having power-hungry macrobatteries such as Plasma Cannons.
*'''Carrier:''' The red-haired stepchild of the Navy. Replaces the Lances with Launch Bays and is disliked by most Admirals due to the stigma against Attack Craft, although it is because the Traitors and Chaos pawns focused on raiding and striking fast, so with enemy fleets focused on long range attack (Lances, laser, and attack craft) plus Chaos likes them more because they can fill the bays with Assault Boats, the Imperial Navy might have got that stigma of seeing too many Chaos carriers raiding and pillaging imperial planets and so started disliking them. Some Carriers are also made from wrecked cruisers of other types, in which case damaged broadside weapons are ripped out and replaced by launch bays. Attack Craft are the primary weapon of the mighty Emperor-class and Despoiler-class battleships. So much for carriers being weak.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Originally an experiment for escort ships to overrun enemy vessel crews using boarding torpedoes, it was doomed to failure as the targets were either too nimble or too big. The Imperial Navy kept a few as Missile Destroyers.

=== Mobile Battle Fortress ===

Massive space stations that can serve a fleet of ships. Only two classes have been named in canon.
*'''Ramilies-class Starfort:''' Very rare battle stations that can move thru the Warp. Nobody knows exactly how that works so over the millennia, over a thousand of these valuable and rare artifacts were lost. As these were made by [[STC]]'s, it is assumed that they can still be constructed albeit very slowly. They serve as forward bases most of the time and only the most important people/locations get to have one. There used to be an Imperium-wide network of these things which enabled the Imperium to very quickly respond to threats despite the unpredictability of Warp travel.

In more recent canon, these things can move only with the aid of tugs, but their utility remains, and they serve as hubs for local military activity and Crusade staging.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battleship|Battleship]] ===

Supposedly rare, but every Grand Marshal and High Admiral has at least one and often several or even dozens to hide in because GW is completely and hopelessly inconsistent with fleet sizes, though as of late it seems that GW is leaning towards big fleets and big armies when it gives numbers. The biggest heaviest hitters available, these things are like actual medieval cathedrals in that the grandchildren of the workers who start building them get to live to see their completion. Fuckheug, lots (and lots, and lots) of guns and most can deploy fighters and bombers. Many of you are wondering why battleships instead of focusing on carriers. Contrary to popular belief, large ships are not negated because of smaller but more numerous ships being able to swarm it dead. Big ships are built to kill the ships directly below them, which the ones below them etc. like the universe’s most brutal food chain. So, the ships below them in power ganging up on them still costs more than the big ship they’re ganging up on. For torpedo boats, big ships are escorted by vessels specialized in killing torpedo ships and attack craft. Carriers replaced battleships in real life due to range, which is irrelevant when cheap swarms of potent anti-air ships can be spammed.
*'''Ordnance-boats:'''
**'''Retribution:''' Packing all gun batteries, the ship can devastate an entire continent in one broadside, has 3/4 of Gothic broadside as auxiliary weapons in turrets and enough torpedo tubes to tear a cruiser in half just for good measure. Subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.
**'''Invincible:''' An interesting class, dubbed a 'fast battleship', these were designed to chase down xenos and chaos raiders, and then use them to make the vast, empty tracts of space more interesting by filling it with their enemies' debris fields. This type of battleship combines the firepower of a ''Retribution'' with the speed of a ''Dauntless''. It worked ''incredibly well'' to the point that piracy and xenos activity in the entire sector became almost non-existent practically overnight. The problem, of course, is the general incompetence of Imperial tacticians. It looks exactly like a ''Retribution'' and has the guns to match, so it must be one, right? NO. They excelled at the role they were designed for, but throw them into gunfights against dedicated battleships, and these things tended to come apart easier than wet cardboard, earning them the nickname 'Kisher's Kombustibles' and the scorn of many admirals. Admirals who ignored the fact that the reports detailing the introduction of the ship and how to best use it (it's tactics also included in the Tactica Imperialis) explicitly state not to use it on a gun-line and that it is for fast-ship interdiction. The ship's Commissars must be particularly incompetent to let this slide as in the Guard the generals would be executed quickly for such incompetence. Of course, these are also the Commissars who do nothing when troop transports' escorts frequently run off to fight while the transports lose a significant percentage of their ships. Perhaps if they would actually enforce their orders to stay with the transports, the Imperium would have won most of the campaigns it has lost. Given that they still often win even with a fraction of their beginning ground forces actually managing to make landfall. [[Grimdark|Because they have THAT many men to throw at the enemy.]] Hmmm in fact, misusing the Invincible-class is technically heresy as its instructions of use are in the Tactica Imperialis and violating the Tactica Imperialis is outright heresy (I think I remember someone actually being executed in the fluff for violating it).
***Much like the Chalice-class of Battlecruisers, the Invincibles are a big reference to the real life Battlecruisers of World War 1, especially with the term "Kisher's Kombustibles" (real life Battlecruisers were referred to as "Fisher's Combustibles") and the fact that three blew up in a single battle (referencing Jutland).
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Apocalypse:''' One of the oldest ship designs (predating the ''Retribution'', which is also one of the oldest ship designs), this ship packs a lot of [[lances]] and a [[Nova Cannon]]. Good for taking out lots of smaller sized ships with massed lance fire. It's also described in fluff as being able to cripple anything up to a cruiser with a single, concentrated broadside. They're fairly rare, since the Imperium doesn't know how to build them anymore, and the ones still operating are so old, their weapons systems have degraded permanently, forcing them to fire their lances at only a fraction of their full power. Shares all the disadvantages of a ''Gothic''-class cruiser.
***Despite the fluff stating that the Apocalypse and Oberon classes are unique in that they lack figure-heads, the artwork and [[Crunch|models]] [[Derp|give them one anyway.]]
**'''Victory:''' Possibly an attempt to recreate the ''Apocalypse'' class, the ''Victory'' is basically a ''Retribution'' with a bunch of lances replacing its broadside cannons, and a Nova Cannon instead of torpedoes. Has the range that fluff states the ''Apocalypses'' once had, but lacks the same level of firepower. Effective at sniping, and hilarious when used against escort heavy fleets.
**'''Desolator:''' A ridiculously old design. Designed to emphasize range and carries Torpedos, Broadside Lances and Dorsal Macrobatteries. Like most keel-built ships, the Desolators ended up mothballed or went traitor.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Emperor:''' The "standard" battleship of the 40k 'verse, the ship has multiple fighter decks and, thanks to dorsal and prow turrets, enough weapons batteries to put Dominator broadside to shame. Unfortunately, most commanders like to use this ship as a hideout, causing the lack of sufficient air support in the ground wars even though the Navy's atmospheric aircraft are completely different from its much bigger space based strike craft. Tabletop-wise, its status as the official battleship of Battlefleet Gothic doesn't stop it from losing carrier duels against the Chaos equivalent.
**'''Nemesis:''' The super-carrier of the Imperial Navy. It has SIX flight decks (the size of towns or small cities, each), more than any other ship in the galaxy. But because of Rule of Cool, it is incredibly rare since the Navy captains prefer to get up close broadside their enemies, or actually rather because all of the ships in this class were just ships modified from Emperor class ships in one particular war, because they were damaged or otherwise. Naturally, the Navy never considers making them based on the Invincible instead (the Invincible was mass-produced).
**'''Desecrator:''' The carrier variant of the Desolator. Replaces half the Broadside Lances with Landing Bays. Shared the same fate as its sister class and is now only seen in Chaos fleets. Traitorous despite its clearly pious and Emperor-loving name.
**'''Despoiler:''' Oh boy, where do we start? The Despoiler-class came about after the cogboys discovered plans for a carrier on Barbarus. The catch? Well, Barbarus is the former homeworld of the [[Death Guard]], and the plans were for the same class of ship that the [[Terminus Est]] is a part of. Showing a complete lack of common sense, the Imperial Navy decided to build ships of this class, only for them all to go traitor due to the class's inherent [[Gellar Field]] flaws. [[Fail|Oops]]. The Despoilers at first don't appear to be that unique, as they have Dorsal Lances and Broadside Landing Bays and Weapons Batteries. Their difference is that, like the Terminus Est, they managed to have a Prow Landing Bay as well.
*'''Other:'''
**'''[[Gloriana-class_Battleship|Gloriana]]:''' Massive, terrifying and capable of decimating entire fleets on their own, these were the personal flagships of the Primarchs during the Great Crusade. Very few, if any, are still around in the Imperium in M41, though a few such as Horus's flagship ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]'' are still tooling around inside the Eye of Terror. Because they were dickheads, the [[Alpha Legion]] had two, creatively named the ''Alpha'' and the ''Beta''. Interestingly, the Ultramarines have one, the ''[[Macragge's Honour]]'', but didn't [[derp|fucking]] use it, the whole fucking time until [[Roboute Guilliman]] returned. It shows up again in ''Dark Imperium,'' with the Smurfs having stolen it back from the Red Corsairs, which at least is fucking funny even if it makes no sense. The Imperial Fist had the ''Eternal Crusader'', but it was never their flagship since the [[Phalanx]] is so much better, so [[Rogal Dorn]] gave it to the [[Black Templars]] in the [[Second Founding]]. Also, due to Forgeworld apparently hiring people from the street now, the 9th black book of HH states Dark Angels had those as core of their ''support'' flotillas.
**'''Oberon:''' The mixed-breed bastard of the Imperial Navy. It has [[lances]], fighter bays, and weapon batteries. Its a powerful ship... <s>when fighting foes half its size</s> "Newer" fluff says the Oberon is rare, but a complete success in making a ship capable of killing anything it comes across, alone. Unfortunately, fluff also says a ridiculously low number of these (apparently) powerful ships were made (like, 3 or so). Then again: only four Iowa class battleships ships were built (technically 6, but 2 were scrapped before completion), and we know HOW to build them. It makes sense in a way. Attack craft can cripple an enemy's main weapons and engines and likely ultimately damage the power transfer from generators to void shields. Combined with macro-batteries hammering away and the enemy's weakened ability to maintain its shields would cause them to drop much quicker than usual. Then the city-sized lance-batteries rip the enemy in half. If used against enemy escorts to support attacks on large enemy ships like battleships and grandcruisers, this would work extremely well to the point an Oberon would likely become a priority target for enemy ships.

=== [[Imperial Navy Grand Cruiser|Grand Cruiser]] ===

Only slightly weaker and less powerful than Battleships, Grand Cruisers were the weird middle-child of actual Line Ships (that really were the mainstay of the fleet back then) and Cruisers in the ancient Imperium. Built primarily with autonomy in mind, those were reserved for the most daring expeditions in the uncharted regions, conducted both by Imperial Army and Rogue Traders. Nowadays most of them run on archeotech that is barely understood and hard to repair with current Imperial knowledge. These grand ships are often used as flagships in lieu of extremely rare Battleships. Ultimately replaced by battleships (which is why they became explorers later) as it’s ultimately cheaper to build a battleship than a grand cruiser and a cruiser to rival the firepower and survivability of a battleship. Even though realistically since many Grand Cruisers are a third smaller than a battleship, it actually is better to build two Grand Cruisers to gang up on enemy battleships and way waste to everything else but the writers forgot about the massive difference in ships’ volume. Basically, they are the quintessential Battlecruisers; tougher and deadlier than Cruisers and yet more mobile than Battleships. Strangely, a common characteristic of all classes is the inability to fire forward though all can ram.
*'''Basic'''
**'''Vengeance/Furious:''' The granddaddy of "modern" Imperial warships. The ''Vengeance'' was the winner of a GW-sponsored ship design contest, and was originally known as the ''Furious''. Highlights include heavy shielding and armour (though lacking the prow armour of later designs), as well as both lances and long range weapons batteries, making this the sniper of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers.
**'''Repulsive:''' Originally named the Corinus Class, before being renamed after many fell to Chaos by an overly literal Mechanicum designation. Whilst the Repulsive Grand Cruisers are exceedingly maneuverable heavy warships (and therefore exceedingly useful because they can fill a hole in the Imperial tactical lineup), they are considered a cursed class due to the majority of them falling to chaos, [[Fail|which unfortunately was the result of experimental warp drives which occasionally interfered with the Gellar Field (OMGWTFBBQTIME)]]. Only the Emperor knows what kind of complete moron would deploy ships equipped with that. The ones that remain in Imperial control are kept mothballed in reserve fleets and segmentum fortresses (imagine giant glass boxes with 'In Case of Emergency, Break Glass' signs). It doesn't say anything about their warp drives being swapped out for something that isn't shitty or perhaps a completed and no longer experimental version of their own. Not that you want AdMechs tear off your head for tinkering with their sacred templates, on the other hand.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Avenger:''' The short range brawler of the Imperium's Grand Cruisers, it's a ''Vengeance'' with only macrobatteries (kilometres of Macrobattery broadsides). Intended to break the line of battle like Nelson's ships at Trafalgar, while suffering from the lack of an armored prow. Unfortunately line-breaking is quite a dangerous role for any ship, even a Grand Cruiser that excels at doing it, and so not many exist in the 41st Millennium. Those that have survived are known for being exceedingly reliable and faithful; it takes a lot of damage or mistreatment to cause these noble vessels to give trouble. If you spoke with members of the Imperium (both members of the public and the navy), this is the vessel they would think of if you asked them about Grand Cruisers. Now, if only the Imperium realized a slower but more heavily armored and shielded ship would fare better in its role.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Executor:''' The sniper of the Vengeances, the Executor replaces its Broadside Macrobatteries with even more Lances. Unfortunately, the last remaining Imperial Executors decided to act retarded and chase a fleet into the Eye of Terror, meaning that all of the ships are chaos aligned now.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Exorcist:''' A ''Vengeance'' that has carrier bays in place of lances. Useful in providing carrier support to any Imperial fleet. As a bonus, being Grand Cuisers mean they can outrun anything except battleships to save their vulnerable carrier self while their attack craft are away. Originally designed for extended operations alone on the Frontiers of Imperial Space, either on Patrol or by exploring into the unknown, the Exorcist developed quite a reputation for 'boldly going where no man has gone before'. Whilst not many remain in Imperial Service due to maintenance difficulties, they still find use in the hands of Rogue Traders who need vessels capable of long cruises and of defending themselves against anything they might encounter. So much for maintenance difficulties.
**'''Retaliator:''' A mix of a Repulsive and a Vengeance, but as a Carrier. Has Lances, Launch Bays and Macrobatteries on its Broadsides. Unfortunately, it has the Repulsive's tendency to go traitor.

=== [[Imperial Navy Battlecruiser|Battlecruiser]] ===

What do you do when you forget how to maintain an entire category of heavy warships? You build a new bunch of heavy warships, with simpler technology.

Battlecruisers are basically upgunned cruisers, with more weapons (usually adding dorsal weapons and some armor), and are intended to fill the gap between true battleships, which are rare, and normal cruisers, which tend to die really easily to the ancient Chaos cruisers and grand cruisers. Battle cruisers were tried in real life as some way to combine battleship firepower or armor with the speed of a cruiser. They did not, frankly, work well and much like reality these things have their share of problems. Chaos operates their own versions known as Heavy Cruisers. In real life, the accepted successful form of a battlecruiser is between a heavy cruiser and a battleship; it can kill anything it can catch and it can outrun anything that can kill it (usually only an enemy battleship). After its teething years it was generally a good and effective form of combat when used intelligently. Then the navies trying them realized they had basically made a battleship and it fell out of use again. Why build a ship with the speed, only a slightly lower firepower and roughly equal armor to a battleship when you can fork out a few bucks more and build an actual battleship? Exactly.
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Armageddon Battlecruiser:''' An upgraded variant of the Lunar Class Cruiser (YAY! ANOTHER ONE!). A rather new innovation, the Armageddon class is basically made up from recovered Lunar Class Hulks that have been extensively repaired and then retrofitted with more armour and more weapons. The base hull was never designed to cope with all this extra equipment (and the extra crew to man said equipment) and so it has problems operating independently for long periods of time. This isn’t really a problem, though, since they wouldn’t be operating away from a fleet anyway. Though reinforcing its frame to handle the added mass would be a smart thing to do to save immensely in future maintenace costs over the centuries. Battlefleets won't say no to them because more guns = better! These ships are extremely powerful and live up to their name. Somehow, though, the Imperium never went “Hey guys, this thing kicks the shit out of everyone, let’s upgrade all Lunar-class ships to Armageddon-class and make a new class to accomodate the new crew and equipment.” Or someone did and was turned into a servitor...
**'''Hellfire Heavy Cruiser:''' An upgunned Murder-class. Has the same issues as the Armageddon, slow as fuck and has power and supply issues. [[What|Also, lacks Void Shields]]. Most mutinied and joined Chaos, which decided to use them for some reason.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Overlord Battlecruiser:''' The Classic Imperial Battlecruiser. Using the standard Imperial doctrine of - Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes, the Overlord has become the most effective Battlecruiser simply because it really complements standard Imperial Navy Tactics. As an added bonus, its simplicity of design makes it easier to produce and one can be built within a decade. The only negative (if you can call it a negative), is that it's not really useful for anything except war.
**'''Chalice Battlecruiser:''' A fast heavy cruiser. Unique to the Calixis sector and an exceedingly new design, the Chalice was conceived as a Battlecruiser that could either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill. Which means it was conceived to be a plain ‘ol normal battlecruiser. Whilst good in theory, unfortunately, speed came at the cost of armour and durability and so whilst these vessels punch hard, they can't take as many hits as other cruisers. Which is fine since battlecruisers as a concept are meant for slaughtering escorts in real life not fighting other capital ships. In addition, it carries an experimental plasma drive layout, which while boosting power efficiency, also makes it rather vulnerable to lighting up like a roman candle. Imperial Propaganda is currently trying to cover up their failings and is lauding them as the Poster-ships of the Calixis Sector and therefore a lot of people think they're the 'Best Battlecruisers Eva!'. If they would just use a normal plasma drive and make the whole ship bigger, it would be fast enough, armored enough, and even better armed (or just change the drive). Unfortunately, not being stupid is heresy in Calixis.
***The idea of a ship that can "either out-run or out-manoeuvre anything it can't kill" that turns out to be really poor at taking hits was the original design of real life Battlecruisers, which although being up-gunned Cruisers (<s>which are the equivalent of Frigates IRL, not Ships of the Line</s> cruisers are the lowest level of capital ship types, you’re thinking of the WW2 destroyers), were used as discount Battleships at Jutland were they turned out to lack the armour required for a proper fight. Thus, if the Imperials were smart, they would be using the Chalice as a commerce raider, not a ship of the line. Or use it to rip up escorts and light cruisers and then run away and hit somewhere else in the battle before they can be overwhelmed by an enemy cruiser.
**** Actually, they were not bad at taking hits, they were better at it than heavy cruisers. They just sucked at taking hits from battleships like everybody else on the planet. Real life battlecruisers (after their early screw up designs) were made only a little smaller than battleships which allowed them to have greater armor and firepower and speed than heavy cruisers and were even fast enough to outrun battleships at the cost of significantly lower firepower and armor than the only slightly larger battleships (which caused things like the Jutland kablooie). They had the whole package. So, imagine an Invincible-class but give it a heavy cruiser’s firepower and use the saved weight to give it proper battleship level armor. In reality, the larger the ship the faster it is in navies (broadly speaking, in dense fluids the longer the vehicle is relative to its cross-section, the easier it is to go fast (and the larger the engine by even a little makes far more power)), sci-fi just is made by ignorrants. Battlecruisers fell out of favor shortly after they were perfected for the same reason battleships and heavy cruisers did: the carrier. That isn’t quite accurate. Light cruisers stopped being made because anti-air destroyers grew large enough to do the same job (or you could see it as light cruisers being renamed “destroyers” and actual destroyers being phased out by them, but there were also AA cruisers which was probably not fun to fly against) though when light cruisers were first invented they were just stop-gaps but the name returned to use for normal cruisers due to the invention of heavy cruisers and heavy cruises became known just as “cruisers”, battleships stopped being made, battlecruisers were perfected by making them so big, armored, and armed that they were battleships by another name and so the name “battlecruiser” was dropped as meaningless by that point. That said, they were indeed usually used as commerce raiders. But that is true for all ships. Navies exist to destroy enemy commerce shipping and to transport armies. The only reason fleets engage each other is because both sides defend their own shipping and seek out enemy fleets to pre-emptively destroy to protect said shipping and transports. In 40k, it could be said that the Invincible-class is the closest thing the Imperium has to an equivalent to a real life battlecruiser.
**'''Long Serpent Battlecruiser:''' A true success story, this is what the ''Chalice'' wishes it was. Taking a battlecruiser's armour and firepower, and giving it the engine suite of a battleship, this thing can kick the shit out of anything short of a grand cruiser or battleship, while being able to keep up with raiders. It's only real flaw is that when one is taken out, it has a better than average chance of rupturing its warp drive. As a result, the names of ''Long Serpents'' that have been destroyed are usually accompanied by those of allied ships that were too close. Which is somewhat odd since the reasoning is that the Long Serpent also has a battleship's warp core (who knows why, it isn't big enough to need it). Given the small difference in size between this ship and other "normal" cruisers which are the mainstays of the fleet, the Imperium could just choose to use a smaller warp core suitable for this ship's size and focus on mass-producing the Long Serpent to replace basically every other class of ship except battleships , Cobras, and carriers. Fewer would be made but, unlike video games, swarming a capital ship with escorts does not work at all. The escorts are slaughtered and the capital ship like this one is left unharmed. (<s>There are plenty of instances both in 40k and irl of large capital class ships being overwhelmed by smaller, faster vessels due to being caught without support.</s> Actually that is when they’re spamming torpedoes. All non-Imperial navies do not do that (the closest being Chaos but even they don’t use torpedoes nearly as much), although swarms of Firestorms could carve up large ships, the shields prevent this without much larger supporting vessels. Swarms of Cobras and Vipers could do it, but few would survive the attempt, not that any admiral cares about that...until the tech-priests tell them they won’t have a Navy for the few centuries it takes to replace so many ships regardless of size) But doing this would require common sense, which is [[Heresy]]. Like properly using the Invincible-class must be.
**'''Mercury Battlecruiser:''' Another fast Battlecruiser. It's a cruiser with a Battleships's engines. Nothing more.
**'''Hades Heavy Cruiser:''' A long-ranged brawler. Carries Broadside Macrobatteries and Dorsal and Prow Lances. Got phased out like most keel-built designs, but Chaos still uses them.
*'''Lance-boats:'''
**'''Acheron Heavy Cruiser:''' Designed to test new Lances and Macrobatteries. The Imperials only built one, which went traitor. Carries Broadside and Dorsal Lances with Prow Macrobatteries.
*'''Carriers:'''
**'''Mars Battlecruiser:''' In a word - Mediocre. Some Imperials say it's versatile due to its diverse weapons loadout but in reality it makes it an awkward duckling to use. The Nova Cannon and Launch bays would be good on a ship holding back and harassing enemies at range and yet it has Macrobatteries and Lances which are great for brawling. So if you sit back and harass or go in and brawl, you're wasting half your ship. The Imperial Navy never really got on with it either and so it has gone out of production on most Forge-Worlds. Which is a shame because if they would replace the macrobatteries and lances with larger, long-range lances, and a great number of small, short range weapons batteries for fighter support and self-defense respectively, this would be a great ship in any fleet. It's nova cannon clears a hole in the enemy escort screen, the attack craft rush through to wreck the weapons and engines of light capital ships while long-range lances assist other Imperial ships in slaughtering targets of opportunity. The destroyed enemy light capital ships leaves all the other big ships vulnerable to mass, concentrated torpedo attack from friendly ships. Attack craft return to the fight to tear up the no-doubt seriously damaged enemy big ships and lances win the day. Then just send in friendly light capital ships with attack craft support to finish off the surviving escorts. That would almost make this ship into a sort of miniature "I Win" button. Almost. Especially in a squadron of two, as they could assist each other against any opponents that slip through to them with their combined, close-range firepower, lances, and whatever attack craft they kept back for defense ripping the enemy weapons and engines apart to let the close-range macrobatteries have fun.
**'''Dominion Battlecruiser:''' Basically a fixed Mars, some tech priest got it in their head that, maybe, it'd make more sense to replace the Macrobatteries with Lance Batteries instead, making it a dedicated support ship, harrassing enemy ships at range whilst the big guns go out and fight. Apparently not that successful, a number were used at the Battle for Maccrage (Of course the fucking Smurfs get them) against the tyranids, though apparently they all got fucked up and have been in drydock since, which is why up until now no-one's seen them.
**'''Styx Heavy Cruiser:''' A pure carrier. Has Broadside Launch Bays, Dorsal Lances and and Prow Macrobatteries. For some reason the Imperial phased it out for the Mars, so only Chaos uses them now.
**'''Hecate Heavy Cruiser:''' An attempt to replace the Styx. Swaps out some of the Launch Bays for Macrobatteries. Believed to have an inherent design flaw that made them go traitor, so they were decommissioned.

=== [[Imperial Navy Cruiser|Cruiser]] ===

Cruisers are the bread and butter of the Imperial Navy. Much larger than escorts and light cruisers, but less rare than battleships, cruisers are what the Imperial Navy (and Chaos and Xenos) use to fight their campaigns across the stars. Thus far, all Imperial Cruisers have been shown to utilize the same hull-type: a squat armored prow in front, capable of mounting a prow-mounted weapon system, and a big bunch of engines in the back, with baroque and Gothic architecture in-between. Most cruisers can effectively be placed in four categories:
*'''Basic:'''
**'''Lunar:''' The Lunar. You've heard so much about it and now you want to know what makes it the standard Imperial Cruiser. First of all, it's one of the oldest designs still in use by the Imperium and is so easy to build that even less advanced worlds can produce them. They're quite versatile due to their weapons loadout (a balanced build of Macrobatteries, Lances and Torpedoes) and make up the backbone of Battlefleets throughout the entire Imperium. This is the cruiser against which all other cruisers are measured.
**'''Emasculator:''' Considered a failure by the Imperium at large, Emasculators have the same basic load-out as the Lunar, but are keel-built, lacking the armored prow and replacing the torpedo tubes with more weapons batteries. This means they require different tactics to a Lunar, using their speed and longer ranged weapons to pound ships from a distance. As this fits with Chaos tactics more than Imperials. most of them ended up as traitors. [[/d/|The name Emasculator is due to them being seen mostly as Slaaneshi ships, their original name is unknown.]] The fact the Imperium keeps trying new ships built on the normally Chaos style hulls implies that usually it must work out just fine since otherwise it would have been banned by now. So, there are probably many cool looking keel-based Imperial ship classes floating around we'll never catch wind of ever.
**'''Slaughter:''' A special type of Cruiser, the Slaughter-class has a more powerful drive called the Scartix Engine Coil, but lacks prow weapons. Armed with short ranged, but powerful lances and macrobatteries, the Slaughter is designed to get in close, blast away and retreat. Unfortunately, the Imperium can't build them anymore because one went traitor and destroyed the plans for the Scartix Coil. It is unknown if they were always called the Slaughter-class or were renamed when most went traitor. Considering the usual lack of intelligence in the Imperium's leadership, it was probably called something worse, like the "Traitor-class" or something and then the Imperium was shocked when they lived up to it. Really, would you be surprised if the Imperium did that?
**'''Inferno:''' A earlier counterpart to the Carnage-class, carrying more lances in exchange for some Macrobatteries. Had the same difficulties as the Carnage and was mothballed, though a few went renegade beforehand. Rare example of the Imperium learning its lesson. Still too stupid to realize that using cheaper-after-a-few-centuries-than-manual-labor auto-loaders would've fixed the problem for both ships.
*'''Lance-boat:'''
**'''Gothic:''' Another variant of the Lunar Class, the Gothic is designed as a heavy Lance gunship. Due to the amount of Lance Weaponry it carries, it can easily deal with ships of its own size or larger but often does require an escort or a partner to strip enemy void shields first in order to use its own weaponry to the maximum effect. When supported and used correctly, Gothic Cruisers are the most efficient way to deal with enemy capital ships.
*'''Ordnance-boat:'''
**'''Dominator:''' A variant of the Lunar Class, the Dominator is designed primarily for planetary bombardment and assault. Not generally used in fleet actions even though it can provide support with its Nova Cannon when necessary. After one Dominator fucked over a Chaos Cruiser with said Nova Cannon during the Gothic War, the Navy took note and started making more Dominators. [[Awesome|Additionally, another Dominator came close to destroying the Terminus Est (''aka the toughest Battleship in the galaxy''), before being destroyed.]] The Dominator possesses the same armament as the Retribution-class battleship but lacks the range of one. This is fine, though, since it's meant to get close to the enemy like most Imperial ships anyway. Basically, if you get in range of this thing, ''you're going to die''.
*** From Lexicanum 40K: "Captain Straden of the Depth of Fury defended the shrine world of Kathur to the death, and came very close to destroying the Death Guard ship Terminus Est. As it was, he and his crew vaporised several of its decks and destroyed scores of escort ships before finally succumbing. Ironically, no Imperial souls survived to tell the tale."
**'''Tyrant:''' The Tyrant was originally intended as a stand-off vessel; it would stay at long range and bombard enemies from afar with superfired plasma weaponry. Unfortunately, due to design compromises where it mixed both short range and long range weaponry to save on power, it wasn't really deadly enough at long range to do its job. Therefore the Imperial Navy is trying to replace the short range weapons with ancient Long-range weaponry (that doesn't use a lot of power) recovered from Space Hulks or Renegade Ships. The Hull itself is a rather effective design and so the Tyrant has become very popular with Rogue Traders who generally replace all of the Plasma Weaponry in order to have more power available compared with other cruisers.
**'''Relentless/Carnage:''' Another attempt at a fleet support ship with Plasma weapons, the Relentless ended up with technical difficulties and, when these were overcome, [[Heresy|most ships ended up turning traitor]] [[Fail|(including the lead ship of the class)]]. [[Tzeentch|This is theorised to be due to something wrong with the geometry of the ship's design]], as the Relentless-class is keel built, like most older ships (This also means the Relentless lacks an armored prow and torpedo tubes, carrying more plasma batteries instead). The tendency of these ships to turn to Chaos, along with changing tactics, led to the class being renamed the Carnage-class and mothballed in favor of the Tyrant-class, though their speed means they suit Chaos tactics famously.
*'''Carrier:'''
**'''Dictator:''' A Carrier retrofit of extremely damaged Lunar Class Cruisers. If a Lunar class has its lance weaponry destroyed, it's quicker, easier and cheaper to replace those with heavy launch bays for strike craft. This makes it quite versatile and able to deal with virtually all situations and interestingly enough, makes it more effective than the original Lunar Class at everything except fighting as a ship of the line. Unfortunately, the Lunar Class is designed for fighting as a ship of the line, so Admirals dislike Dictators. Interestingly, given why attack craft and torpedoes can go through shields, theoretically a Dictator whose weapons batteries are missiles could use its fighters and missiles to swarm enemy anti-air and ultimately kill an enemy ship without damaging its shields.
**'''Jupiter:''' A kitbashed design, converted from other classes of cruiser that have been heavily damaged in battle. By stripping out all the damaged components and replacing them with launch bays, you get a pretty sturdy carrier. Just don't let the enemy get anywhere near it. Apparently the Imperium doesn't build these normally at all, likely because they are absolutely shit at defending themselves from other Cruisers.
**'''Devastation:''' Deviating from the standard Carrier design, the Devastation-class carries Lances instead of Macrobatteries. Mostly turned traitor or mothballed, as they lack armored prows and torpedos; and are keel-built. Chaos likes them, as they can pack them with mutants and sit back to spam assault boats and lances at anything that looks at them funny.
*'''Other:''' Various other cruiser types exist, but are rarer.
**'''Ambition:''' Custom-made Cruisers for the exceedingly affluent - it's the Rolls Royce of the Cruiser World. Most Rogue Trader ships are second-hand, battle-scarred, tired and worn ex-navy vessels but the Ambition is not. It's the only cruiser class that can be bought brand spanking new by Private parties in the Imperium and each one is unique and built to the customer's specifications. These exclusive ships, whilst still cruisers and deadly in their own right, are stately homes and status symbols. Some durability sacrifices have been made in order to make them the most opulent and luxurious ships on the market but for eccentric people like Rogue Traders, it's generally worth it.
**'''Conquest-Class Star Galleon:''' Built for the very first Rogue Traders on the orders of the Emperor himself, the Star Galleon is an ancient and noble design. Whilst not considered heavily armed by modern standards, they're still formidable opponents and yet as specialist exploration vessels they are able to operate independently for many years and can transport greater quantities than other Cruisers. In effect, it's a cruiser fused with a transport and looks fucking amazing.
**'''Murder:''' The predecessor to the Lunar. Differs by being keel-built, exchanging their torpedos for Lances and having more powerful macrobatteries. The majority that appear in modern 40k are Chaos-aligned, as the Imperials mothballed theirs in favor of the Lunar. A few carried lances as well as Macrobatteries, meaning they don't fit into any category. As with the Slaughter, it is unknown if Murder-class is their original name or they were renamed.
**'''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. 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.

=== [[Imperial Navy Light Cruiser|Light Cruiser]] ===

Smaller than true cruisers, light cruisers are used in two ways. Either you use a fast, maneuverable light cruiser like the Dauntless to add some extra firepower to a scouting squadron or long-range patrol, or you use a pocket cruiser like the Voss light cruiser to add some heavy firepower and armor to a convoy, fleet, or base. The advantage of the light cruisers are that they're cheaper to build and operate than real cruisers. Another departure from real nomenclature. In real life, “light” cruisers were less armed and armored normal cruisers made to make up for losses, especially in America after Japan’s initial attack. After the industry fully turned to wartime manufacturing, the light cruisers’ changes were recinded and they were just normal cruisers again. However, with the introduction of heavy cruisers, the normal cruisers again were named “light” cruisers to avoid confusion. In 40k, however, light cruisers are very distinct and fill a unique niche. Like the Cruiser, they fit into a few base categories.
*'''Basic:''' Same as its larger sibling, a Jack of All Trades.
**'''Dauntless;''' The standard Light Cruiser of the Imperium; it's a Jack-of-all-Trades. You can't go wrong with the Dauntless even though other Light Cruisers may be better for certain tasks. Considered 'scouting' cruisers, these make up the bulk of Imperial Patrol Squadron leaders. Comes in lance and torpedo variants, with the prow lance being a bit more common.
**'''Defender:''' A convoy escort variant of the Dauntless, with added dorsal weaponry.
**'''Endeavour;''' A 'heavy', Light Cruiser, designed as a stop-gap between the 'lighter' light cruisers and true cruisers. Whilst they can slug it out in a fleet fight, they can easily be overwhelmed because they simply aren't cruisers and don't have the equivalent fire-power or hull integrity. As an added titbit, most of Battlefleet Koronus' patrols consist of an Endeavour and a pair of frigates. The Endeavour and its variants are relatively new designs unique to the Voss Prime forge world and are rare outside of Battlefleet Armageddon. Except Battlefleet Koronus, apparently, which must have a ton of them.
**'''Siluria;''' Three-quarters the cost of the Endeavor, and about three-quarters the ship. Standard weapon batteries only, no fancy frills to speak of. Cheap and effective, at short range, to catch enemy torpedoes.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Also the same as the Cruiser version, though some have weak weapons batteries for better defence.
**'''Endurance;''' An Endeavour variant with just enough guns to claim it has them, lance batteries and a couple of torpedoes. It's the lance half of a Lunar, nothing more.
*'''Carrier:''' More useful as a Light Cruiser, as it can act as backup for patrols.
**'''Enforcer:''' A carrier variant of the Dauntless, with a bombardment cannon like those seen on space marine cruisers. Designed to maintain control of rebellious planets via intimidation [[Grimdark|(and possible orbital bombardment)]]. Given one managed to stop the rebellion of an ''entire sub-sector'', its a shame the Imperium doesn't build more of them. Anyone else just realize that 40K is so Grimdark we're disappointed the dystopian ultra-oppressive, bloody regime isn't being more oppressive? [[Grimdark|''Because we know their oppression is the right and best choice they have.'']]
**'''Defiant;''' A carrier variant of the Endeavour. It's quite versatile (by virtue of being a carrier) and so has found a home in many Rogue Trader houses but unfortunately the Imperial Navy doesn't consider it as useful because they can't stand by themselves and require an escort. Gee, it's almost like ships are meant to be used in groups to compliment each other. Due to being based off of the Endeavour, it's relatively well armoured for a Light Cruiser and that does help with its survivability.

=== Ironclad ===

8 kilometer long battering rams. No, really. Tyranids and Orks are busy taking notes.

=== [[Imperial Navy Escort|Escort ships]] ===

Escorts are the smallest armed vessels available to the Imperial Navy. These ships are normally assigned sector patrol duties or perform as escorts for much larger ships. In fleet engagements they will also act as scouts, ranging out in front of their armada to verify enemy ship numbers and locations. They are generally classified as either frigates or as destroyers. They are usually deployed in squadrons consisting of the same class.

==== Frigates ====

Ranging from about 1.4-2km long. They are used for all sorts of duties from convoy escorts to attack or patrol squadrons. Ironically named, as in real life Frigates were the same as Cruisers (which were not Ships of the Line). In the Age of Sail. But in WW2, cruisers had like six or eight times the armament and were more than twice the size of frigates and were self-sufficient and were intended to fight other ships and were considered capital ships. Usually deployed in three-ship squadrons.
*'''Basic:''' Laser batteries or Light Macrobatteries only, maybe some Torpedoes if you're lucky. Named after types of swords.
**'''Sword Frigate:''' The most common warship in the Imperial Navy, and one of the simplest. No torpedoes or lances to distract you here; a Sword puts two massive laser batteries in turrets behind a pointed armored prow and cuts into enemy formations like [[C.S Goto|a multi-laser through canon.]]. Some variants replace the lasers with light macro batteries instead.
**'''Falchion Frigate:''' A new (245 years old) class of escort ship built by [[Forgeworld|Voss Prime]]. Slower than the Cobra (in the lore they were faster than invading Chaos ships, though) but still capable of firing torpedoes. While Cobras are used offensively in fleet actions, Falchion's are designed to be convoy escorts and stick close to larger warships to defend them from enemy escorts. Effectively a Voss-pattern Cobra with two more laser/macro batteries.
**'''Turbulent Heavy Frigate:''' Heavy Naval Escorts; these things have comparable armour to cruisers. They're built to sally forth ahead of the main fleet and win skirmishes against enemy scouting forces and vanguard elements. They've garnered a reputation for being lucky; they've contributed to many glorious victories and survived catastrophes that other ship classes have not. Their only downside is that they have rather antiquated communication equipment, probably equipped for durability, not ease of use. The other downside is that the Navy isn’t smart enough to replace the Sword-class with these badasses.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rarer for Frigates, as they need a Prow slot to mount a Lance.
**'''Firestorm Frigate:''' A Sword-class frigate with a prow-mounted Lance replacing one laser/macro battery. Gives the Sword some extra anti-ship punch that it dearly needs. It's also two hundred meters longer than the Sword-class as a result. The Navy does not like the Marines having them, for [[Horus Heresy|some reason.]]
***[[Derp|Given the general naming scheme for Frigate classes is naming them after weapons (Claymore, Sword, Falchion, Gladius etc), the Firestorm would make more sense being called the ''Lance''-class due to its role.]]
**'''Thunderbolt Heavy Frigate:''' Not much information on this one, but implied to be a Lance version of the Turbulent, like how the Firestorm is the Lance version of the Sword.
*'''Ordnance-boat:''' Mostly upgunned Frigates. Can carry a mix of macrobatteries and small lances.
**'''Tempest Strike Frigate:''' Specialized Brawling frigate designed for devastating enemies at close range. Basically a Sword with a triple armoured prow and heavy short-range broadside batteries. They're often equipped with Assault Boats and Barracks for boarding actions.
**'''Havoc Merchant Raider:''' Small, yet fast raider sized vessels whose impressive firepower came at the expense of armor. Glass Cannons, in large squadrons these can easily overwhelm larger vessels by weight of fire. Supposedly has large storage space for its size. Which makes sense for something meant for piracy.

==== Destroyers ====

The most common warship class. Their tasks range from scouting to shuttling VIPs or fighting in fleet engagements in large squadrons. Most pirates use these speedy, nimble vessels to prey upon transport ships. The Navy usually deploys them in squadrons of four. Instead of a WWII or modern analogue, the destroyers of the Imperial Navy are like those of the First World War: ocean-capable torpedo boats that swarm enemy ships.
*'''Basic:''' Usually mounts Prow Torpedoes and a Macrobattery/Laser.
**'''Cobra Destroyer:''' The PT-Boats of the Imperial Navy. Small, fast, and lightly armed, their one purpose in life is to fire shoals of torpedoes from 3-4 ship squadrons. A great part of the Imperium's military advantage (in fluff and [[Battlefleet Gothic|on the tabletop]]) comes from all the torpedoes they can fire at the enemy, and the Cobras are a big part of that.
**'''Infidel Raider:''' Was meant to replace the Cobra, but the plans [[Blood Ravens|were stolen]] by Chaos. Armed with Prow Torpedos and a Macrobattery like its predecessor, though some Chaos fleets upgrade them to Heavy Raiders by adding another Macrobattery. The Falchion was developed from the redevelopment. Both ships are almost twice the size of the Cobra they are meant to replace. Guess someone realized PT boats aren’t that useful if your extremely long-ranged and fast enemy just slaughters them.
**'''Iconoclast Destroyer:''' If there ever was a Guardsman of starships, the Iconoclast is it. A destroyer so shitty the Navy doesn't want it, the Iconoclast mounts 1-2 macrobatteries and is used by Rogue Traders, Chaos and Pirates. Notable for being one of the few ships to have a forward placed bridge, likely due to the smoke-stack like pylons along its spine. It actually has good firepower for its size and is effective at killing enemy attack craft, torpedoes, and destroyers. So, not actually shitty at all until a Sword shows up to kill everyone.
*'''Torpedo-boat:''' Why waste space on pop guns?
**'''Viper Destroyer:''' Given GW's naming conventions, it was inevitable somebody would do this. Not to be confused with the Sloop below, this is a variant of the Cobra where the remaining guns are replaced by torpedoes. Weak against escorts but deadly in numbers against capital ships. Use [[Boarding Torpedo|Boarding Torpedoes]] for hilarious results. Since a Cobra has one gun and it’s useless, we can only assume either Tzeench or self-lobotomy was involved when the navy decided to focus on the Cobra instead of the Viper.
*'''Lance-boat:''' Rather rare among Raiders, as most use their Prow slots for Torpedoes.
**'''Apostate Heavy Raider:''' A variant of the Infidel. Somehow those heretics managed to shove a full sized Lance into a Dorsal slot, which only Light Cruiser and bigger can normally manage.
**'''Idolator Raider:''' Also known as the "WTF is this" ship, the Idolator is the lovechild of a Infidel, a Firestorm and Xenotech. Has a prow lance and a macrobattery.
*'''Other:''' Mostly weak scouts.
**'''Viper Scout Sloop:''' Smallest warp-capable ship in mass production. It is an exceedingly fast scout ship with ridiculously powerful realspace engines and high-tech auspex scanners. In support of Naval Operations these vessels would burn into enemy territory at high speed, collect as much information as possible and then warp back to friendly territory. Unfortunately they are so specialized that they can't do much else apart from that.
**'''Rudense "Class":''' A small ship designed post Gathering Storm to be as fast, heavily armed, and densely armoured as possible, which they do with aplomb. You may ask yourselves, why are they not used in more regular combat roles? Well, the answer is that they are a specialised orbital insertion ship - designed to get as close to the atmosphere of a heavily defended planet as possible, drop it's cargo of primaris marines into the top layer, and get out of there. Whilst this may seem too specialised to be practical, few enemies are ready for half a company of marines dropping in to their base unexpectedly. (Nb - the class hasn't been formally named yet but the only example of it thus far was named the Rudense).
**'''Claymore Corvette:''' Designed entirely around escorting vulnerable transports and protecting them against light raiders in order to allow true Frigates to accompany more valuable ships such as Battleships, Battlecruisers and Cruisers. The Claymore Corvettes are easy to mass produce and maintain and are exceedingly common in the private sector, as they are simply a discount Sword. It’d be nice if someone bothered using them to protect troop transports.

=== Aircraft ===

As part of the reforms falling the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Army was not just split into regiments to ensure that no one Imperial army could be self-sufficient if it fell to heresy or rebellion: the ground forces were also split from their airpower, which was given to the Imperial Navy. Strictly speaking, all atmospheric aircraft are also part of the Imperial Navy, with only [[Phantine Air Corps| few general exceptions]]. Which was stupid and pointless as now the IG can’t even pretend to defend itself if even one ship above them turns traitor and they don’t usually receive hardly any air support. This means all the split did was ensure the Navy held '''all''' the power.
*'''Fighter:''' The fighter's main role is to stop enemy torpedoes and bombers before they can [[anal circumference|rip your flying cathedral multiple new assholes]]. Comes in different models like the [[Fury Interceptor]] or the [[Thunderbolt Fighter]]. The main difference is that some can enter a planet's atmosphere to dogfight and/or strafe ground targets, whereas others are limited to space combat. Technically, Furies are capable of atmospheric operation but would maneuver like a crippled whale and would basically just be entertaining targets. The good news is you can have a bunch on a planet to surprise buttsax invaders.
*'''Bomber:''' Basically reusable torpedoes. Come in different models like the [[Marauder Bomber]] and the [[Starhawk Bomber]], but again the main difference is that some can dip in a planet's atmosphere and drop bombs on ground-pounders, while others are space-combat only. Starhawks might also be technically capable of atmospheric flight, unknown exactly.
Oddly, a modern F/A-18E Super Hornet is about one-thirteenth the size of a ''Nimitz''-class carrier. A Fury would take about 133 nose-to-tail to measure up to the length of an Emperor-class battleship. Yet, the number of Furies aboard an ''Emperor'' class is at most 40 (eight squadrons of 5 each at best) whereas the number of Super Hornets on a ''Nimitz'' at most is 130. Yeah, there's a problem there. A Super Hornet is slightly less than 19 meters long, a Fury is 60 meters long. That's a very small difference for such a massive discrepancy. The only explanation is that Emperor class is not a dedicated carrier so presumable more of it's internal volume it taken up by gun and lance batteries and other systems. Still that is a ridiculously lack of fighter support it could have.

=== Converted Civilian Vessels ===

Civilian ships seized by the Navy.
*'''Armed Freighter:''' Not really a conversion. Considering what universe this is, odds are every freighter out there is armed in some way as a matter of course. Won't last long or do much damage. However, in sufficient numbers, they can cripple or even destroy Frigates, which is a good trade. Pressed into temporary service, these merchantmen are the basic transports of the navy.
*'''Q-Ship:''' Generally classified as Loki-class. These are civilian cargo ships taken over by the Imperial Navy and retrofitted to sacrifice cargo space for heavy weaponry. Unlike the Armed Freighters above, these are essentially auxiliary warships crewed by navy personnel. The standard tactic is to look like a scared civilian and let the enemy come close, then let them have it with the macros. They don't have warship armor or shields so they die in a prolonged battle.
*'''Escort Carriers:''' Like the Q-Ships above but with hangers instead of weapons. The Imperial Navy currently has a severe shortage of carriers despite having numerous hybrid carrier classes and dedicated carrier classes it chooses not to build, so this is a cheap way to get fighters and bombers to the field. More common than Q-Ships.

=== Fire Ship ===

A fancy name for what's essentially a colossal kamikaze ICBM. A '''Fire Ship''' is an Imperial Navy vessel that for whatever reason, is no longer considered for active service (due to old age, suffered catastrophic damage....etc), stuffed to the brim with whatever explosives the navy could spare, and flown straight into whatever priority target(s) the officers designate in a final blaze of glory. Again, Orks are busy taking notes for their Roks. Contrary to what you might think from the Imperium, this is not necessarily a one-way assignment (atleast for the crew).

A skeleton crew is used and supplied with plenty of escape pods/lifeboats. The crew evacuates and the ship detonates after they are far out of the danger zone. Some captains decide to go down with the fire ship anyway. Or they mindfuck some penitents to stay and guide it to the best point of detonation. The Imperium isn't short on criminals and/or desperate underclassmen/mutants. Despite its reputation, the Imperium does care about its people’s lives (mostly because Imperial lives are the Emperor's currency, and wasting His property is heresy). It just doesn’t care how many of those lives are sacrificed when necessary; but does attempt to minimize said necessity and sacrifice. It’s a nation, not a team-killing asshole out to murder its own people...when not believed needed for the majority to survive.

=== Non-Warp Capable Vessels ===

Vessels incapable of interstellar travel. All but the most primitive Imperial planets have them.
*'''System Ships:''' Civilian ships that do all the civilian stuff like ferrying, mining and transport. As nobody would buy models of them, [[GW]] never bothered to flesh out their canon. If armed, they are dragooned into the System Defense Force during invasions.
*'''Defense Monitor:''' Essentially, a mobile gun emplacement in space. Slow and small, it diverts all its power into the battleship-sized guns it carries. Crewed by regular Imperial Navy personnel and used to augment existing defenses. Threatening enough to make pirates and smallish raiding fleets fuck off for easier targets, but usually insufficient to stop a determined invasion force.
*'''System Defense Vessel:''' The primary unit of a System Defense Force aka the [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]] in space. Nobody knows what they look like or even what capabilities they have. It is assumed they are lightly armed vessels usually used in police actions and customs enforcement. In times of invasion, they use hit and run tactics as best they can until they die.

=== Logistics / Civilian Vessels ===

Ships used for the transportation of cargo or individuals. The majority of Imperial ships would fall into this category.

*'''Carrack-Class Transport Ship;''' A newer version of the Conquest Star Galleon. It's a hardy vessel that can defend itself quite well against raiders. The profile even looks like a Military Vessel so opponents who can't distinguish between Imperial Ships could be scared off.

*'''Jericho-Class Pilgrim Vessel:''' Refinery ships that have been converted into personnel carriers, the majority of which will be transporting poor-er passengers. Can't really defend itself but usually not even worth the bother for pirates.

*'''Orion-Class Star Clipper;''' Blockade runners through and through. They're designed to transport low-volume but high-quality goods, even through hostile space. Speed is the name of their game. Hell, these things can put some Eldar ships to shame.

*'''Universe-Class Mass Conveyor;''' Think Super-Tanker in space. It's the largest standardized Cargo hauler in the Imperium and is 12km long. It looks freaking awesome too.

*'''Vagabond-Class Merchant Trader;''' Rather small cargo vessel but extremely common. As if to assist with its 'commoner' theme, it makes you yawn just looking at it.

== Adeptus Mechanicus Vessels ==
{{Main|Explorator Fleet}}
Being in charge of manufacturing the warships for the other departments of the Imperium, obviously the Adeptus Mechanicus would also have fleets of its own. The official Mechanicum body that constructs and operates spacecraft is known as the Basilikon Astra. Because the Quest for Knowledge can involve long & dangerous travels into unexplored space, it is important that they be heavily armed and armored, so the Adeptus Mechanicus ships generally are overall of higher quality than standard ships, with better tecnology, weapons, and shields. Though the total number of ships the Adeptus Mechanicus has at its disposal dispersed among its many forge worlds is far outnumbered by that of the Imperial Navy, it goes without saying that those responsible for all starship construction reserve for themselves among the most powerful and best-equipped warships encountered anywhere in the Imperium.

*'''[[Ark_Mechanicus|Ark Mechanicus:]]''' If battleships are literal void-traveling cities, then Ark Mechanicus are void-traveling factories or massive laboratories, with industrial capabilities rivaling that of many hive cities, with kilometre upon kilometre of manufactoria, refineries, crackling Plasma Reactors and laboratories, test ranges, chemical vats and gene-bays. These kinds of battleships are incredibly large, nigh-mythical ships that are said to endlessly search the stars as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus Quest for Knowledge, being led by a Venerated Archmagos Explorator. An Ark Mechanicus is outfitted with the most powerful weapons available to the Imperium, generally having a balanced set of lances, wepons batteries, and a Nova Cannon. Shit's that dangerous out there.
*'''Lathe-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed around deep space exploration and extreme self-reliance. These ships, when properly outfitted, can operate for decades without returning to imperial space for resupply. These would make up the bulk of Explorator fleets.
*'''Secutor-class Monitor-Cruiser:''' An Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruiser designed to excel at the art of war. Tougher than all of the other Light Cruisers and yet still more mobile than true Cruisers. Due to being designed from the ground up to be a Warship, this Light Cruiser is fitted with Cruiser sized Void Shield Generators.
*'''Goliath-Class Factory Ship;''' An Adeptus Mechanicus vessel designed to harvest plasma from Stars. These ships supply the fuel for the entirety of the Imperium. Other ships can be fitted with Plasma Scoops to top up their own tanks but this is the true fuel-harvesting-workhorse of the Imperium.

== Inquisition Vessels ==

The Inquisition usually borrow ships to do their jobs. However, there comes a time in every Inquisitor's life when witnesses are liabilities and executing entire Imperial Navy crews may be too much. Solution: Have a Navy of your very own. Still, these ships are rare and are assigned on a mission to mission basis. Usually carries [[Deathwatch]], [[Grey Knights]], [[Adepta Sororitas]] and/or [[Tempestus Scions]] depending on the [[Inquisition|Ordos]] involved. They do not have Armored Prows and usually travel alone.

*'''Inquisitorial Black Ship:''' What happens when a [[Strike Cruiser]] and Battlecruiser fall in love? They create offspring that are stronger than Battleships. Armed with a dorsal Bombardment Cannon, port weapons batteries, Attack Craft prow launch bays, prow Torpedoes and whatever Xenos/Chaos tech you can imagine.

*'''Inquisitorial Cruiser:''' A Strike Cruiser-variant built for the Inquisition. However, unlike most Strike Cruisers (which are the size of Navy Light Cruisers) they can be a lot bigger and have no set pattern. Usually specifically designed for use by specific Ordos.

== Adeptus Astartes Vessels ==

{{Main|Adeptus Astartes Fleet}}

== Adeptus Arbites Vessels ==

*'''Punisher Cruiser:''' Modeled after the [[Strike Cruiser]]s of the Astartes, they are supposed to bolster local PDF security, put down rebellions, hunt down pirate bands and transport high-ranking Arbites officials. Realistically, carrying Big Wigs is probably all they do. Despite being heavily armed with torpedoes, [[Bombardment Cannon]]s, Fighters and advanced scanners to spot bases, they are too few (usually travelling alone) to fight anything major. That said... being a Strike Cruiser variant means they have the body of a light cruiser but can punch way over their weight class. Can easily destroy escort squadrons and go ''mano a mano'' with bigger ships.

== Important Details ==

=== Crews ===

''Navy crews are made up of officers, techpriests, astropaths, navigators, servants, slave drivers, and slaves.''

A bit of an over-simplification, but broadly true. Due to the Imperium's aversion to AI and Automation each ship needs at least thousands of people to man it. Whenever the crew count gets low, the Imperial Navy sets up fake strip clubs on a planet claiming "Free Hookers" to lure in unsuspecting men (and the occasional woman). Once a future crewman steps in, he's knocked out, bound, gagged, and taken to the ship, [[grimdark|where they'll slave away the rest of their soon-to-be-short existence]] doing everything needed to make flying through space and fighting in the void possible.

This includes dragging shells the size of houses into cannons while being whipped. Still, at least for the crew sex is allowed, in fact encouraged, if for no other reason than maintaining the crew complement. Seriously, whole fucking cities and civilizations arise from the more massive ships, every bit as intricate as a long lived Hive City. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7wcShvrus Here is an idea of how it works, right up to the Roman armor, whips and beatings.] Oh and apparently besides whole civilizations, there are whole civilizations of mutants around too. They can more or less settle new worlds for da [[Emprah]] by simply disgorging their excess population, which the crew is probably all too happy to do.

High ranking officers may also bring their own people on board. These include, but are not limited to, concubines, bodyguards, servants, slaves, etc.. Makes you wonder just what regulations are actually enforced if any exist at all.

One area where fluff [[Black Library|hasn't been consistent]] is in the uniform worn by Imperial Navy crewmen. Some sources suggest that uniforms are divided by segmentum of the Imperium, while others suggest that it is a sector-by-sector fashion choice. Given the scale of the Imperium and the fact that Navy fleets are already identified by hull color, it's probably on a segmentum basis, but [[Games Workshop]] doesn't care enough to make a decision about it (and no matter what they'll inevitably be blinged out in skulls and eagles). For the ranks of the aforementioned shell draggers at the bottom of the naval hierarchy they'd wear a motley collection of their old civilian clothes and whatever they could scrounge up and sew together. Continuing the Age of Sail metaphor.

=== Travel ===

The ships of the [[Imperium]] travel through the [[Warp]] using what's called a [[FTL (Warhammer 40,000)#Warp Drive|warp drive]] to get to where they're going. However, this isn't your happy, fancy tunnel-of-light like in Star Wars, or everything-moves-fast Star Trek, it is an alternate dimension full of [[Chaos]]. In order to avoid being turned inside-out (think Event Horizon) and getting hentai-raped by every daemon in the warp, the ships rely on what is called a [[Gellar Field]] to keep the [[furries]], undesirables, and various other evil beings out of their ship when traveling through. The Baroque decorations are also implied in helping to ward off said daemons. When traveling through literal Hell itself, turning an actual cathedral into an actual voidship is actually a pretty good actual idea. They rely on a [[Navigator]] that uses the [[Empra]] as a beacon to safely navigate the Warp, hence the title "Navigator".

=== Ordnance ===

* '''Macrocannons:''' Guns. Lots of guns. Macrocannons are gargantuan cannons firing equally gargantuan shells. On escort ships these are often mounted in turrets, while capital ships often feature broadside batteries manned by crews of tens of thousands. Generally used to saturate void shields with overwhelming volume of fire. Alternatively, its also used by capital ships to provide planet-side fire support (although due to it's size, its the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb on someone) or used en-masse against the planet's surface to [[Exterminatus|bombard it into oblivion]].
* '''Lasers:''' Smaller than true lances, lasers are common on escorts such as the Sword. Accurate but not overly powerful, their main virtue is that they don't require ammunition and are usually in turrets. They only need lens refocusing or repairing the actual gun itself, as by the time their "ammo" supply (the reactor) is compromised the ship has worse problems than going dry.
* '''Plasma Cannons:''' Powerful, but power hungry and finicky. Not every forge world can build them, but generally the Imperium is better at building ship sized plasma guns than they are at building handheld ones. Imperial ships with plasma tend to be all plasma like the tyrant instead of the normal lance and macro mix of the lunar.
* '''Lance Batteries:''' Lances are enormous particle/laser weapons designed to penetrate armor and inflict deep structural damage. Accurate and powerful but they don't recharge fast enough to defeat void shields unassisted. Their sheer size and power requirements typically limit them to capital ships; lance armed escorts are purpose built vessels like the Firestorm. The necessity to defeat void shields means that the preferred Imperial loadout for capital ships is macrocannons paired with lances. Lances do extreme damage, period, but recharge so slowly that the enemy shields will have mostly recharged by the time you shoot again, hence preference for pairing with macrocannon. Macrocannons either prevent recharge in small numbers or do that and take chunks out of void shields between lance shots.
* '''Torpedos:''' The standard Imperial torpedo consists of a unstable plasma reactor with an engine and a guidance cogitator. On impact, the reactor and its remaining fuel detonates with roughly the force of an escort ship's main drive exploding, but directed straight to the target like a shaped charge. A well placed torpedo allows even a lowly destroyer to threaten a battleship, although they are as often used by capital ships to force an enemy to turn to avoid a torpedo salvo.
** '''Melta Torpedos:''' What causes more damage than a reactor blowing up in a shaped charge? Said reactor blowing up inside the target after a melta charge has burrowed it's way through and more melta warheads exploding alongside, consuming the impact area in nuclear fire. That said, if the torpedo launcher receives a penetrating hit while they are loaded, there is a good chance they will detonate and take the ship with them.
** '''Boarding Torpedo:''' Essentially a torpedo version of an assault ship, boarding torpedoes are more often used by the Astartes due to the acceleration forces involved on both ends of the trip.

== Ranks in the Navy ==

While the Imperial Navy uses a lot of the ranks in similar fashion to modern militaries, they invariably hold to a more archaic form and are not equivalent to modern day ranking systems. Particularly since it's quite clear that commissions in 40k can often be purchased rather than earned, and that a "Warrant" would most likely hold to the original term and be an "officer by appointment" rather than an enlisted grade. Though considering the immense variety of units within the Imperium, this may not necessarily be the case galaxy-wide, so all options are equally valid. A competent naval academy or [[Schola Progenium]] graduate leading one ship and a glory hound who's daddy paid for another can serve on the same bridge. Also, the ship commander will generally be referred to as Captain internally for the sake of simplicity, except in Astartes fleets where they are called shipmasters to avoid confusion regarding the actual rank of Captain in the Astartes. Funnily, this practice among the Astartes is directly opposite to IRL Marine units, where Captains are known as Majors to avoid being confused with the actual Captain of the ship. Since they are not in the dirt, Navy officers look significantly more well dressed than Guard officers but can get scarred just like the ground pounding plebians. LT's and up in the Navy can be very creepy to look at. The smoking hot lieutenant commander in immaculate uniform with fancy frills and spotless [[Carapace Armor]] having half of her face missing and plated over with cybernetics along with her whole arm being replaced by bionics is not an uncommon sight. Ratings and below look more like standard sci-fi lower class cyborgs.

Like the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy has Commissars. They serve the exact same role they do in the Imperial Guard. They're outside the chain of command, they maintain discipline and punish traitors and mutineers, and they can in theory overrule or execute anyone, though it is much more difficult to put a bolt in a Navy Captain's head than a Guard Colonel. Much like guard regiments, not every ship in the navy will always have a Commissar aboard, but the ones likely to need them typically will.

=== Officer Ranks ===

*'''Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy''' - This person is a [[High Lords of Terra|High Lord]] and is the person responsible for the '''ENTIRE''' Imperial Navy, though likely the post holder doesn't do much other than delegate to their subordinates and attend tedious High Lord meetings.
*'''Lord-High Admiral''' - There are five of these guys, one for each Segmentum. While they're probably never anywhere near the front lines they probably have more to do, since its their job to oversee the deployment of fleets and materials from sector to sector. That said, the non-canonical Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 game has Lord-High Admiral Spire personally leading Battlefleet Gothic around the Cadian sector from his flagship, even taking down some of the top-dogs of Abaddon's inner council.
*'''Lord Admiral''' - The guy in charge of a sector fleet who gets direct command of vessels and formations. You see these guys in the fluff quite regularly when "key" worlds ''(like Armageddon)'' need defended or attacked.
*'''Solar Admiral''' - Often a ''terminal'' rank... no really. Occasionally regular Admirals who do good jobs can put themselves forward for promotion to this position, which needs to be approved by the Lord-High Admiral of their Segmentum, then the officer needs to travel to Terra be reviewed by the Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Obviously this can take a very, ''VERY'' long time to approve. So they might often be [[Grimdark|dead before the paperwork gets rubber-stamped]]. If they do get approved they are likely to get promoted straight up to sector commander (see Lord Admiral) as a position will probably have opened up while he was waiting. More rarely, Solar Admirals can get sent on "detached duties" which is basically a license to do as they please with their independent fleets. The fact they get approved implies that those who died waiting were rejected without being told.
*'''High Admiral''' - Commands several group of naval fleets (e.g. Battlegroups), often the most senior Navy officer in a Crusade but the things these fucks usually do is just having snacks with their Imperial Guard counterparts and leaving the combat duties to their subordinate Admirals
*'''Admiral''' - Gets put in charge of a fleet and told to oversee some subsectors. He's usually the highest of the "front line" ranks and much of his time will be on active duty patrolling his assigned region.
*'''Vice Admiral''' - Fleets traditionally get split into three parts, with the highest Admiral taking up the portion containing the larger ships, while the "Vice" Admiral takes the "Vanguard" portion of faster moving ships.
*'''Rear Admiral''' - the third portion of a fleet would be the "Rearguard" and usually gets assigned to the youngest/least experienced Admiral in the fleet. His job is usually the quietest one as he gets the mop-up and repair duties.
*'''Commodore''' - an experienced Captain in command of a squadron of capital ships. It's traditionally only a temporary rank, as capital ships don't always get assigned to each other the same way that escorts do. But the realities of war often mean that ships stay together for extended periods, often well beyond the lifespans of generations of captains.
*'''Lord Captain''' - not actually a rank, but an honourific applied to Captains of detached vessels operating independently. The '''"Lord-"''' part implies that they operate with the full authority of the Imperial Navy when they act so they can deal with outside organisations (like planetary governors, Space Marines or Imperial Guard) on relatively even footing. Sometimes also known by the more archaic term of "Flag-Captain", since as the commander of a detached vessel they figuratively carry their own flag.
*'''Captain''' The commander of a single capital ship or the lead starship in an escort squadron.
*'''Commander''' - Usually the commander of an escort vessel. Is also the ranking officer on board orbital space stations. It also gets used as the terminal rank amongst Pilots, since small attack craft all fall under the remit of the Navy; so a '''Wing Commander''' would get command over all pilots based on a single carrier.
*'''Lord Lieutenant''' - The second-in-command to captains of capital ships, bizarrely Commanders don't hold that role and hold their own positions. Thankfully because a chain of command exists in any military, despite a Wing Commander holding higher "actual" rank over a Lieutenant on a carrier vessel he would not hold any higher authority on that ship than his duties allow for. [[Fail|Sometimes this rank is known as Flag Lieutenant, which allows GW to once again show their incompetence as a Flag Lieutenant is actually an Admiral's aide-de-camp.]]
*'''Lieutenant''' - a "working" rank. Either holds command over small system vessels or acts as second in command to Commanders of escorts, or as department heads on Capital ships. They are also Squadron leaders amongst pilots.
*'''Sub-Lieutenant / Ensign''' - Team leaders or attack craft pilots
*'''Midshipman''' - Apprentice officers who haven't passed any exams or earned any responsibility, they would exist below the Warrant Officers in terms of authority, despite holding a commission. Midshipmen are commissioned from Imperial Nobility as part of the [[Administratum|Imperial Tithe]] ''(which can mean virtually anyone gets the job if they send their useless heirs just to keep the best ones at home)'' but they are also assigned from the [[Schola Progenium]]. In addition, Midshipmen also may be taken on as a personal favour from the Captain of a vessel if he knows the family. This echoes the ancient real-world practice of young noblemen showing up while the vessel was in dock with a letter from their family and being granted a commission on the Captain's say-so.

=== NCO Ranks ===

*'''Ship Master''' - the most senior Warrant officer on board a starship, also quite possibly the busiest man on the starship. It's his job to maintain the logs, update stellar navigation charts, oversee ships stores and order supplies, and command a hangar deck if there is one. Basically he's the guy who knows the ship better than anyone. In real-world historical usage, this guy would have an authority equivalent to a Lieutenant on board a starship, and would "mess" ''(ie: occupy the same space)'' as the other officers do.
*'''Bosun''' - ''(Shorthand for Boatswain)'' The NCO directly responsible for all of the common crew members, including work planning, scheduling, training, and [[Commissar|enforcing discipline]]. Despite his position, his actual rank may vary depending upon the size of vessel or operational requirements, in practice it never really matters since he's unlikely to ever meet another Boatswain. ''(real-world Boatswains are typically petty officers or warrant officers, but could be of any rank. They held responsibility over all areas of the ship other than Engineering, which was left to the Chief Engineer, as if the bosun disciplined/executed/imprisoned a skilled crewman from that department the ship could be crippled because of it)''.
**Note that most Capital Ships, but not all Escort ships, may have an actual Naval [[Commissar]] on board in this role, tasked with maintaining discipline up to and [[Blam|including]] the Officer compliment.
*'''Chief Warrant Officer''' - Also called "Chief Petty Officer" on some vessels. Will often be given command of important ship sections ''(like Chief Engineers, helmsmen, or auspex control, as these are critical to ongoing operation of a starship)''
*'''Chief Enginseer''' - This one is complicated. The engineering section of Imperial Navy vessels falls under jurisdiction of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], which maintains their own byzantine system of ranks among [[Techpriest|techpriests]]. The ranking member of the mechanicus contingent will have shipboard authority equivalent to a Lieutenant. However, on capital ships or vessels featuring archaotech systems, the leading techpriest may well be a full [[Magos]]. Similarly, on ships traveling into unexplored space the leading techpriest might be an Explorator slumming it as an enginseer to ride along.
*'''Chief Navigator''' - Another complicated position. Imperial navy vessels invariably host a small contingent of [[navigator|navigators]] to guide the vessel through the warp. In practice, navigators aboard naval vessels answer ONLY to the commanding officer and show zero deference to any other member of the crew. It's not unheard of for navigators to give crewmembers the warp eye for the slightest transgression; there are even rare cases of navigators demanding ratings or mutineers to sacrifice to complete their navigation rites. If a vessel has [[astropath|astropaths]] aboard, they too generally answer directly to the commanding officer, although they're usually less haughty about it.
*'''Chief Surgeon''': Leads the ship's medicae. Can't downcheck officers, that's the Commissariat's job. Usually a Militarum doctor, but occasionally will be a [[Sister Hospitaler]] if the ship is in a war and the crew are lucky enough for [[Sisters of Battle]] to be barracked aboard for the duration of the campaign, and even more rarely a [[Magos]] Biologis if they're exploring or the crew seriously lucked out on campaign.
*'''Warrant Officer''' - You'll find lots of guys of equivalent rank on a ship, in command of various operational sections keeping the ship running at all times:
**Masters of Ordnance - make certain that Torpedoes and Attack craft (if any) are fueled and maintained.
**Master Gunner - have responsibility over all of the weapons batteries through the Gun Captains and make sure they are loaded and fired when required.
**Master-at-Arms - responsible for all "small" arms on board a starship, overseeing all Sergeants-at-Arms, as well as maintaining order over any barracked Guard regiments currently in transit.
**Master of the Vox - making sense out of the bazillions of messages that run through the bridge at any given moment both internally and externally ''(crews can get pretty massive, and a lot of traffic can come through at once)''.
**Steward - the guy who keeps everyone else well fed.
*'''Gun Captain''' - Funnily enough, the man in charge of a single gun crew. Makes sure that the weapon is taken care of, is reloaded quickly enough, and is accurate when asked to fire. All of that comes back to this guy.
*'''[[Navis Sergeant-At-Arms|Sergeant-at-Arms]]''' - Man in charge of the weapons lockers and leader of boarding parties, as well as maintaining ship-board security. Usually they are transferred from [[Imperial Guard]] regiments so that they don't have any prior association with the crew, though it likely depends from fleet to fleet. The Sergeants-At-Arms generally directly lead the elite Breacher squads.
*'''[[Voidsmen-at-Arms|Armsmen]]''' - Occasionally referred to as Voidsmen-at-Arms. Crewmen trusted to carry weapons. They train extensively with Lasguns, concussion grenades, and low caliber rotor cannons that are unlikely to chew up starship hulls, as well as getting to wear flak-armour. Since they are trusted more, they have slightly more freedom to move around the vessel as well. They are not [[Imperial Guard|true soldiers]] since offensive boarding actions tend to be rare, so these guys still have their own regular responsibilities on board ship, yet Armsmen can come from the common ratings all the way up to the Officer ranks. On some ships the crewmen really don't want the job, since it means they get scrutinised more, and they might be ordered to beat up their buddies. On other ships, they are set above the toiling classes and are necessary for keeping them in line.
**'''[[Imperial Navy Breachers|Breachers]]''' - the elite amongst the Armsmen who get to wear even heavier void-armour and carry nastier weapons like explosives and melta-guns that would otherwise be suicidal to use inside a starship. Not only are they the primary defensive contingent on board a ship, but they are also the go-to crew members if an enemy ship needs boarded or an [[Star Trek|away team]] is called upon.
*'''Voidsmen''' - the lowest rank of crewman on board a Naval Starship above the [[Servitor]]s unless the Captain is cool with slavery. If they have a skill or a trade they may be referred to as '''Able Voidsmen''' which is an official rank that might require examinations. Additionally, if they show leadership qualities they might be promoted to '''Leading Voidsman''' and put in charge of work gangs and be considered for promotion to Warrant Officer if a position opens up.

== Notable Problems ==
These are problems some have with the Imperial Navy and their fluff....

=== General Logistical Problems ===

The big problem that the Imperial Navy has is that it's the only organised navy in the galaxy that's trying to defend its massive amounts of space. To do this takes vast numbers of ships but rather thinly spread out. Given the problems of warp travel it's also extremely hard to reinforce friendly fleets under attack. The foes of the navy come essentially in two flavours; raiders who might just manage to scrape together a few converted transports (building even escort-sized ships is a huge undertaking, akin to building damn near the entire American Navy combined from iron ore and making it fly) which take an escort squadron to murder, and huge organized invasion fleets that take a whole fleet to fight. These combine together to mean that outside of fleet bases and important strategic worlds there is nowhere in the Imperium that is actually well-defended. At best a fleet has to be formed and sent out and they could arrive months later. Travel takes a lot of time, and out in the void it can be extremely hard to know what you are actually fighting against, especially since the enemy tend to kill anyone who tries to look at them. So when there's a large enemy force that you absolutely must fight (not fighting is much preferable) you don't just band together whoever was within shouting distance of the flagship and go murdering, you pull together every single vessel in the sector and hope to the Emperor it's enough to do the job.

TL,DR: Acquiring a force sucks when command thinks paperwork and red tape are forms of worship and maintenance thinks the toilet needs a prayer before it is unclogged.

Warships genuinely are vast things and obscenely expensive and risking them at all in major actions is not something anyone does lightly. Each cruiser is larger and more complex than a fully-kitted titan legion. These things are MASSIVE. In the BFG book there's a fluff story of a cruiser being built at a shipyard that orbits a primitive world. The entire population of the planet were given over to mining the resources needed to build one single cruiser. It took them eleven years to mine the ore. Sure, that's a primitive world, but if you think about it that makes carving out the rocks for it the largest single project ever engaged upon without mechanization. If you add together all seven wonders of the world you aren't even close to the pile of rock we're talking about. So these things are a big fucking investment and the high lords really don't like risking them without a really good reason (makes you question why they wouldn't build 20 smaller ships instead).

So if you ever wondered why the Navy doesn't get more action, now you know. By the time the big, awesome ships get on the scene the invasion already probably finished and the bad guys moved on. Then you nuke the shit out of them from orbit or drop millions of poor bastards into the meat grinder. Far better idea all round. It's the reason that the enemy, even nutters like Chaos, don't fight in the void without reason. On the ground it's just a scrap, and maybe you win or maybe you don't. If you lose in the void then your campaign on the surface is dead. No reinforcements, no support and a massive constant orbital bombardment to kill everyone left (which sometimes doesn't happen, because, you know, plot armour). That tends to mean fleets hover around and not fighting, one ensuring the other can't directly interfere with the surface war. This is actually an excellent and realistic explanation for why there is significant ground warfare in 40k. Also, ground-based defenses, mobile theater-shields, etc. are common. So, attacking a planet worth anything is like attacking a planet-sized Death Star without the super-weapon. Your ground forces taking out shields and anti-space batteries is critical to achieving anything. But, by that point, most of the enemy is dead and the survivors have either moved to the next defended region or got so stuck-in with your dudes that you can't shoot without killing your own army. Unless you worship Khorne, in which case you really couldn't care less who you kill, even yourself.

Besides that, there are strategic locations to take in order to take or destroy the anti-orbit defenses. Those locations have strategic locations and so on and before you know it, you’re invading the whole damn planet.

So, the navies of the galaxy ultimately get pushed down into either raiders, escorts against raiders, raider-hunters, or babysitting and logistical duty for groundpounders. Which of course brings back the question of why the Navy has such a desire to get more interceptors and bombers for ship-to-ship combat when they rarely engage in combat in the first place and the attack craft are insufficient. Could be to weaken the enemy ships' ability to shoot at the surface, but by the point they would have a target it would have (as stated) gone to a new defended location or whatever else, defeating the point of sending attack craft to weaken the enemy ships' offensive power. They won't shoot at each other, and they can't shoot at the surface (or at least can't shoot anything worth shooting at). In exchange for packing in so many attack craft into hangars designed for countless atmospheric air support fighters and bombers, the Imperial Guard has to die in radically greater numbers than they have any need to since they have limited anti-air capabilities and all of their enemies have no problem sending massive swarms of fighters and bombers at them. That is without even getting to engage the enemy on the ground and not counting the countless soldiers killed as the transports are shot to pieces due to their escorts commonly ditching them to go after obvious bait tactics. Oh, and sending reinforcements from other worlds, let alone the loss of expensive and valuable drop ships and interstellar transport vessels, is far more expensive than just using damn atmo-fighters and bombers for the Guard. Heck, an escort ship variant was created specifically to resolve this problem as even the High Lords got pissed about it. A ship designed as an escort vessel specializing in carrying atmospheric fighters, bombers, etc. just to provide support for the Imperial Guard. The Navy promptly took the ships built, removed the atmospheric craft, and replaced them with Furies and Starhawks. They already have a light cruiser escort carrier and the number of attack craft they crammed in was abysmal.

Thus the rumor that the Navy has no balls. But who needs balls when you have a nova cannon sized dick and eighteen dice worth of fire power.

=== Ship Size ===

No one is quite sure how big the ships really are. One story claims the Retribution-Class is a mere 3 kilometers long, while another says it is 9 kilometers and up to 20 kilometers.

Your best bet is Rogue Trader, although going by those figures, anything bigger than a cruiser has an average density around that of hydrogen... Everything after Rogue Trader became much larger, though, so this is likely inaccurate (though pretty big vessels anyway). Given the constant references to “city sized” weapon batteries and hangars, perhaps take Rogue Trader ship sizes and multiply ten or even a hundred. From a helpful poster on [http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63267&page=2 Heresy-Online] we have this:

For the most accurate scale, look towards the Battlefleet Koronus Expansion, as it is more a stat/rule book than a story. That and previous consensi, as well as cross referencing with the Horus Heresy rulebooks by Forge World (which places Battleships at 8-12km) place Cruisers just above 5 kms, and Battleships in the mid 8s. Please note that most ships above the size of 8ish kilometers are either a unique modified/purpose built flagship or a ship of a small class that is not in widespread circulation. For a sense of scale the largest warship in the world is currently the US Navy's Ford Class Aircraft Carrier measuring in at 337 meters long or 0.337km making the USS Ford the size of a cannon. They have guns literally the length of an Aircraft carrier!

*Transports and other Attack Craft, typically rated for atmospheric operation; also includes ships designed to be boarding torpedoes.
**<1 kilometer. That's the small ones, there are super transports in 40k as well. (A [[thunderhawk]] would go here).
*Escorts are "small" ships, like the Cobra, designed to flank foes and operate in squads.
**1-2 kilometers.
**Heavy Frigates
**Frigates
**Corvettes
**Destroyers
**Freighters
*Light Cruiser, a smaller Cruiser.
**3-5 kilometers.
*Cruiser, the standard fighting vessel; every Imperial fleet has them.
**5-6 Kilometers.
*Battle Cruiser, a beefed up Cruiser; generally more 'modern' than a Grand Cruiser.
**6-7 kilometers.
*Grand Cruiser; pocket-sized Battleship, very old.
**7-8 kilometers.
*Battleship; the biggest of the lot, simply put.
**8-12 kilometers.
**Battleships
**Fleet Carriers

The Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" had this to say about ship sizes, taken from [http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/22848349/ /tg/] who quoted it from the book and written here is just the lengths and names of the ships, for simplicity and space:

*Macragge’s Honour. Twenty-six kilometers - Flagship
*Spirit of Konor. Seventeen kilometers - Battleship
*Antrodamicus. Twelve kilometers - Grand Cruiser
*Antipathy. Nine kilometers - Cruiser (note that the book said it had "six thousand lives" on board, which would be an absurdly small crew for its size by 40k or even 21st century standards, but it wasn't fully crewed at the time; maybe for an astartes or mechanicus vessel its a bit closer to reasonable but definite not for the Navy)
*Aegis of Occluda. Seven kilometers - Class unknown
*Gladius. Four kilometers - Escort
*Then there is the Abyss-class created by Lorgar that is said to match the Phalanx in size. He made three of them. In reality, they matched it in beam, but the Phalanx is round, so iut probably wasn't quite as big.

===Weapon Effects===

The calcs for Imperial Navy warships are one of the [[FAIL|''worst'']] things in GeeDubs' illustrious history. From Macrocannons [[Wat|outputting fewer joules than a punch from an 8-year-old child]] to [[Exterminatus|broadsides breaking continents]] [[Derp|making the existence of Cyclonic Torpedoes feel impotent.]] Calculating the strength of naval weapons have been one of the biggest pain in the ass for /tg/, not helping with the fact that many BL authors have no sense of fucking scale, let alone consistency.

Nevertheless, even if naval vessels shot out megatons per broadside, many newer folks around here may wonder, "Why can't the Imperial Navy do an orbital bombardment of a heavily defended position on land?". The answer is simple. Collateral damage. Yes, even the most incompetent of Imperial commanders recognize that too much collateral damage is a bad thing and would really affect the health of a good Crusade. After all, life is the Emperor's currency. '''SPEND IT WELL'''. This is not helped by the fact that the naval weapons of the Imperial Navy aren't the most accurate of the lot. Sure, fluff dictates that Macrocannons have an effective range in excess of tens of thousands of kilometres. But there is a BIG DIFFERENCE in providing suppressive fire against multi-kilometre spaceships and trying to hit a well-defended bunker that is only ten meters across. The only weapons that could be counted as 'accurate' are Lances and Nova Cannons. But firing them is overkill and the resulting shockwave will fuck up anyone indiscriminately, including ''Titan legions''. This is not counting into the basis of Void Shields and anti-orbital weapons like [[Defense Laser]]s for example.

As such, whilst it is theoretically possible to do orbital bombardment, in reality, most of the time it is just far more efficient to direct your naval assets to spar against ''other'' enemy naval ships, rather than risk a fleet that a) may or may not hit the target or worse, their allies due to inaccuracies, b) must come dangerously close to Defense Laser range or any other anti-orbital weapons and c) when they ''ARE'' given the chance to perform the role, the enemy has either become too insignificant to order a bombardment or have already captured and took hold of the entire planet plus its defences. Ergo, whilst it is tempting, orbital bombardment isn't really popular and just risks splitting your forces where it could have been better suited to, you know, deny the enemy of any potential orbital superiority in the first place.

=== Lack of Balls ===

It is well-known that most Imperial Navy Officers don't have em. Other times their balls are too big and get themselves and their crews killed in idiotic attacks.

An Imperial Navy fleet is most effective when Inquisitors take it over. [[Exterminatus|See Here]].

=== Carrier Hate ===

Back in M36, the Imperial Navy fought a lowkey civil war over fleet doctrine in Segmentum Tempestus known as the Gareox Incident. A cabal of chaos worshipers worked their way high enough in the navy to start designing ships that were ready-built to turn traitor, most of which were carriers. The battlefleet eventually figured out something was off and the result was a giant carriers vs battleships fight that went down the way the Battle off Samar would have if the Japs hadn't been scared shitless by three destroyers. The surviving carriers went openly traitor and since then building new carriers has been borderline heresy so far as the navy is concerned. Doesn't stop them from building a bunch of them anyway. Hating something has never stopped the Imperium from doing whatever is necessary to do its duty (or else).

Strangely, this battle is contradictory in how attack craft fare in any other battle. Normally, you read about bombers and interceptors ravaging and destroying ships with impunity unless you have a way to counter them such as dedicated anti-air ships and interceptors of your own. Which the attacking loyalists in this battle lacked. And the keel-built ships are faster so should have been able to stay out of range and cripple the Imperial ships’ engines and weapons and sensors easily.

== In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2 ==

The Imperial Navy is the most balanced faction of the game as expected from being the posterboys of Battlefleet Gothic. Decent hull points, strong voidshields, okay speed and a wide selection of choices, the Imperial Navy offers a level of flexibility and diversity that no other faction could match. In general, Imperial Navy ships are more suited for close-range brawler types; their row upon row of [[Macrocannon]]s ensures a steady supply of [[Dakka|munitions]] that is reasonably accurate in short-medium range, whilst their armoured prow enables them to become effective battering rams when needed. Likewise, some classes have their loadout decked in [[Lance Weapon]]s, [[Torpedo|Torpedoes]] and [[Nova Cannon]]s, so they aren't slouches in long-range combat as well. Sure they cannot compete against the [[Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Chaos]] when it comes to overall range, and that they aren't as good when it comes to pure CQC mayhem like the [[Orks]] and [[Tyranids]], but the sheer ''amount'' of ships one can choose means that eventually, you will find a class that will cover each other's weaknesses. By far the easiest and least punishing faction of the lot.

== Music of the Imperial Navy ==

Not to be outdone by the Imperial Guard (as well as to compensate for their aforementioned lack of balls), the Imperial Navy has begun collecting music to either be blared on loudspeakers when not in active use, or in the case of battleship command decks, played live by orchestra. the first four are taken from [[Battlefleet Gothic Armada|Battlefleet Gothic Armada.]]

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DhAAGZVAVo [[Awesome|This one is by far the best.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80QrqY_FgQ8
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0I7M0W_Ig
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFREOz5CvDs
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AlLNITLk8A - A piece dating back to the Armada Imperialis' of the Great Crusade, but is still played regularly.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STVoaxz8-Y - This instrumental is rumored to date back to some epic naval battle during the later dark age of technology.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJEgAFR9vDc - While not quite fitting for battleships and grand cruisers, this piece dates back to when humanity was just beginning to march upon the stars, and as such, is heard regularly in ships captained by sentimental officers.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUrSQNSN6_c - This fitting instrumental is often played in bastion fleets whenever they are mustered to put down [[Black Crusade|yet another temper tantrum.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAw1KlZ8C-A - Battlefleet Gothic Imperial port theme.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlcUwUwjLrs - This ancient piece, a popular mobilization theme for the Imperial Navy, was apparently created during a time in which humanity was at war with a xeno species known as "Cylons". [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|No other records of this species can be found.]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so10dKbhorI - Another piece from the same era that the Cylons existed, it was created to commemorate a successful assault on a planet known as New Caprica, what is now an imperial hive world.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFEHCuSnun0 - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gii4e-h3DBc - This was commissioned by a very srs bzns admiral from Praetoria.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qOJrT_lUg - One of the pieces Lord High Admiral Langsung ordered to be played during the Battle for Port Sanctus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_Lp51wyao - This dated back to the glory days of human stellar exploration, when the universe was less grimdark, but is still a favorite for exploratory fleets, or for trying to distract yourself from the fact that you're just one [[Gellar Field|energy field]] away from a level 99 rapefest.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLXNmKvLBQ - One of many favorites of those captaining Ironclads.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXlJ5DMq5o - A favorite of Vostroyan admirals.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elK5iReyAMI - Played during ceremonial ship or fleet launches since the great crusade.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5N0-DqZoU - One of many pieces played when the fleets return victorious.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3q6dCeP7M - An orchestral litany created to aid in battles against chaos ships.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvriqdS3vsc - A common theme of blockade runners, more nimble imperial vessels, and rogue traders plundering xeno planets in the name of the God Emperor.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbh6HT7lLx8 - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDn6WtZBJY - Popular among fleets in Segmentum Pacificus led by admirals from oriental cultures.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvUVq-dVEjQ - Battle music that is popular among said admirals of oriental cultures, and also of those from Segmentum Pacificus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo - Music played whenever the Navy has to perform exterminatus.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZcj56XXrPM - A personal favorite of an admiral from Armageddon.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3iwvG2ZKuw - The christening and launch of a new ship, straight out of the docks.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9mFPDRZIgE - Encountering a Tyranid Hive Fleet

== See also ==

* [[Famous_Spaceships_of_Warhammer_40,000#Famous_Imperial_Spaceships|Famous Imperial Spaceships]]

== External Links ==

* [http://www.darkreign.org/sites/default/files/BFG%20FAQ%202010_0.pdf/ A Comprehensive List of Ships]
* [http://yenlowang.free.fr/warhammer-forum/BFG/BFG_-_Additional_Ships_Compendium_1.4.pdf Battlefleet Gothic Additional Ships Compendium]
* [https://i.imgur.com/2q7J2Xv.jpg A big poster of fictional navies], with 40k in the center left
* [[Kor'Vattra]]

== Gallery ==

<gallery>

image: EMP-Class.jpg|The Lord Admiral's Love Shack

image: Avenger.jpg| The Grand Marshal's Summer Palace of PWNAGE

image: Lunar-Class.jpg|<s>Imagine how quick land battles would be if these things actually helped</s> They do help, but they can't do it too much or they risk fucking up the planet they came to save, also you try aiming a lance cannon at a spot a meter wide from orbit without hitting your mates on the ground

image: RapidStrikeVessels.JPG|The Bullet-Catchers of the Navy

image: Imperial Fleet Size Sca.jpg|Another demonstration of too much spare time

image: Flagship-mk2.JPG|One of the revered ships of Battlefleet [[/tg/]]: [[Flankitus]]

File:Warhammer Imperial Cruisers by mik.jpg|

File:M1130006 Gothic Art Cover.jpg|

</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Battlefleet Gothic]]

[[Category: Imperial]]

[[Category: Imperial Navy]]

[[Category: Vehicles]]

[[Category: Ships]]

{{40k-Imperial-Ships}}

{{Template:Imperium}}

C.S. Goto

2023-05-25T03:56:53Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84:

{{Fail}}
{{WTF}}
{{HurfDurf}}
{{heresy}}
[[image:csgoto.jpg|thumb| Police sketch. Looks like the [[Hats|Demoman.]]]]
{{Topquote|My form of canon is just as valid as anyone else's. Warhammer nerds need to get out of their mothers' basements and do something with their life before they start criticizing others.|From the midget himself. Dick.}}
{{Topquote|Goto ... Considered Harmful|Edsger Dijkstra, ''Communications of the ACM'' (March 1968)}}

You are reading the 1d4chan article for '''C.S. Goto''', and this pleases Him. He is not good.
He [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/943419-warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-soulstorm/41109154?page=9 disputes] the "mother's basement" quote, but acknowledges "[[FAIL|I know that my writing is different from that of some of the other BL writers]]", which more or less, by interpretation, means he doesn't give two shits about fans of the lore but rather only his own stories and depraved fap material. On top of that, he can't even write his way out of a paper bag, so bad is his prose. This, I suppose, pleases him?

Cassern Sebastian Goto is one of [[/tg/|/tg/'s]] most <s>utterly hated</s> "beloved" [[Black Library]] authors, dare we say even more than [[Matt Ward|he who must not be named]]. His books contain plenty of [[Eldar]] torture scenes, and also completely disregard most [[Warhammer 40,000]] [[canon]], along with an apparent contempt for the English-fucking-language. Most likely because they are actually recycled versions of his old movie scripts from fifteen years ago, with just some names changed. Even his Necromunda story which sets up an interesting premise and atmosphere, and given that it's set in Necromunda, has the freedom to tell a lot of different stories anyway (see [[Matthew Farrer|''Junktion'']] for a really good Necromunda story that has essentially nothing to do with the wider universe), is nigh on unreadable past a few pages. His prose is just that bad; the story has clearly been transported from some other failed project, and he still managed to shoehorn in some House Escher themed BDSM.

* [[Multilasers]], anyone? (To be fair, it COULD have been explained away as a supply problem on the Mantis Warriors' part, but for whatever reason he didn't bother to do so.)

* One supply that the Mantis Warriors never did seem to run out of is ammunition. Never in Goto's tenure writing for GW has anyone ever seen the need to re-load. Ever.

* Adamantium is now Adamantite (or is it Ceramite that's become Adamantite? Fucking Goto).

*[[Land Raider]]s. They can transform into [[Razorback]]s now. (They also change back in under a page and a half.)

* Apparently [[Tyranids]] [[Bullshit|bray like donkeys now.]] [[FAIL|And apparently so do Space Marines and]] [[Rage|Necrons]]. (Hint: It is possible that Goto is addicted to Hollywood films, where large creatures take a deep breath and scream in a similar, braying tone towards the camera. So his imagination is not *that* far fetching, considering he is attempting to write for the camera.)

* Back flipping Terminators! Cause Goto apparently thought it was a good idea to have a couple metric tons worth of bulky as fuck armor being capable of doing moves that would defy even the logic bending rules of 40k. With the release of [[Dawn of War 3]], [[RAGE|it is now somewhat canon with the new move sets of Gabriel Angelos, which in turn might indicate that this fucker might have something to do with Gabe's sudden <s>mysterious powers of jumping and doing somersaults</s> going shaolin batshit fucking crazy in said armor.]] And then in the July 2019 White Dwarf update to Gabe's datasheet it [[What|officially became tabletop canon as his "Leap Into the Fray" rule]].

* Additionally, Terminators have a habit of [[Wat|surfing on top]] of a [[Rhino]], firing wildly as they go like some kind of drunk-ass [[Jaghatai Khan|dumbfucks]]. Terminators. You know. The aforementioned chonky-ass suits of armour that can only be carried via a [[Land Raider]]? Yeah, seems like according to this dipshit, a Rhino's hull is strong enough to carry a few of them into battle. . .Which they can, putting terminators into rhinos was used in a special mission in the [[Imperial Armour |Anphelion Project]] but it also called out as an emergency only 'shit hit the fan' procedure, which is the rational and lore friendly way to have terminators in rhinos but [[Rage|Fucking hell Goto didn't use his brain for two seconds.]]

* You know that Dawn of War book he wrote? Apparently, during Winter Assault, [[Sturnn]] got to the titan first and met with Gabe and the Blood Ravens, who had apparently been tipped off by the Eldar that there was a Webway Gate under the Titan. Oh and the [[Ultramarines]] [[Sturnn]] escorted? [[derp|They were the Alpha Legion in disguise all along]]. Fucking Stupid.

For some reason, Goto really seems to hate the Eldar. Granted most Fa/tg/uys dislike eldar for the snobs they are, but Goto takes it way too far. Their fluff is repeatedly violated in many unforgivable ways, almost as much as the Eldar themselves are when he's the one writing.

* It's fucking CANON that the [[Aspect Warriors]] don't own their armor (except Exarchs, but '''theirs doesn't come off''') and return it to the Aspect Shrine when they grow too much sense to play dress-up kung-fu ninjas anymore. And this is actually fucking ''important'' considering that not keeping lasting attachments to these roles is part of the Eldar's ideology about saving their souls. Yet, Goto nonchalantly had several Eldar keeping the helmets they wore as Aspect Warriors like some sort of fucking souvenir. You could argue that the Autarch seem to do this since they can take the weapons of multiple aspects, but the Autarch are special commanders who walk multiple aspect paths, more likely they just get a banshee sword from the arsenal before they leave. Even if they grab and use a Banshee Mask, that's still limited to the Autarchs, not every non-Exarch Eldar!

* The Eldar also worship [[Slaanesh]], including the entire Ulthwe Seer Council and [[Eldrad]] himself. You know, despite the fact that every Eldar, even the [[Dark Eldar|crazy, hedonistic ones]], loathe and revile the folly of their ancestors that so happened to result in their race being damned to a life of eternal pain and suffering the moment their souls enter the [[warp]] after death. Ohh, and said folly also reduced their empire to a shadow of its former glory as seen today. Even though the Dark Eldar are totally still doing that depraved shit, it's because they ''have to'' unless they feed Slaanesh by doing so. Any Eldar of any sort who willingly worships She Who Thirsts would ''instantly'' have their soul devoured (and maybe, depending on the source and maybe where all of this is happening in relationship to the Webway, turn into a [[daemonette|daemon]].)

* Or D-Cannons? The things teleport chunks out of the target (looks kind of like Looney Toons-style swiss cheese production, but messier). The retard had them fire '''bullets'''.

* Or [[Craftworld|Biel-Tan's]] Avatar? Apparently he hasn't had his Wailing Doom sword for the past 3,000 years. And is dead. A piece of said Wailing Doom was somehow forged into [[Gabriel Angelos]]' Godsplitter daemonhammer.

* Or [[Fire Dragons]]; Goto wrote that the meltaguns of Fire Dragons (expert tank-hunters) struggle to get through a hastily-constructed [[Imperial Guard]] barricade, even at point-blank range, despite the fact that even ''fucking'' [[Land Raider]]s suffer critical existence failure the moment Fire Dragons starts shooting.

* It gets worse; according to this idiot, [[Herp|instead of using Wave Serpents or Falcons, the Eldar steal tanks from Imperial forces and use them in battle]]. [[Derp|The Eldar do this because the tanks have better armour, in spite of the fact that the Imperial tanks are landbound, slower and have more primitive guns than their own vehicles. Goto seems to have ignored the fact that the Eldar purposely eschew heavy-armored tanks for lighter, faster, and more agile ones as Eldar strategy revolves a lot on quick skirmishes and hit-and-run attacks, instead of the Imperial Guard's equivalent of a steel wall full of guns.]]. And the additional armor is offset by the fact that [[FAIL|the Eldar ride the tanks into battle by standing on the roof or hanging off the sides like suicidal idiots]]. [https://regimental-standard.com/2017/10/18/5-reasons-to-despise-the-perfidious-aeldari/ Even the Warhammer Community team took the piss out of that one] (And the entry below...).

* Additionally, you know how in mainstay fluff, that Eldar tanks are much more versatile and deadlier than Imperial tanks to the point that their dedicated [[Fire Prism|Anti-Vehicle platform]] can render [[Baneblade|Baneblades]] on life support? Yeah you know those vehicles with energy shielding that can deflect multiple [[Lascannon]] shots? Apparently, this retard illustrated that an Eldar grav tank can also be brought down by [[What|feral world kids]] [[Fail|throwing stones into its engines,]] dragging the commander out when he pops the hatch, [[Rape|and sodomizing him with sticks.]] '''[[RAGE|WHAT. THE. FUCK!?]]'''

* Even language isn't safe. According to Goto, the Eldar can't fully grasp human languages or speak them properly (though the languages of the Eldar are much more complex than any human language, and Eldar are capable of having conversations with each other using nothing but body language; yet according to Goto they can't handle human languages!? And pretty much every important Eldar character who figures in canon stories interacting with humans can at least pull off some stilted Low Gothic, while a human mastering Eldar is always mentioned as a notable accomplishment? Fuck off!)

* In the aforementioned Dawn of War book, if you were wondering where [[Taldeer]] (who is suddenly a novice Farseer from Biel-Tan as opposed to a veteran from Ulthwe) was during all this, she was busy being murdered by [[Ahzek Ahriman]] and his Prodigal Sons (who also happened to be on Lorn V for no apparent reason). Goto puts her through nearly 20 pages worth of graphically detailed torture before finally putting her out of her misery (and fortunately rendering the novels non-canon, given that she shows up alive and well in Dark Crusade).
**[[Macha]] doesn't fare much better- after being given one of the Swords of Vaul from Gabe (who got it from the Harlequins after repelling the forces of Ahriman) she uses it to turn into some kind of green warp-fire thing to destroy a Necron ship and subsequently vanishes from the story without a word of explanation.

* [[Lelith Hesperax]] now lives in the [[Eye of Terror]], and is also a worshipper of [[Slaanesh]]. This is in spite of the fact that any [[Dark Eldar]] who was so stupid as to get that close to Chaos' home turf would have his or her soul devoured in seconds (which is why they live in the webway), let alone take the utterly suicidal step of actively offering oneself up to She Who Thirsts. And she's also a [[psyker]], even though psychic powers in Dark Eldar have long since atrophied due to their suppression since, you know, they run the very high risk of being Slaaneshi [[daemon]] chow the moment they commune with the Warp (and even if there were DE psykers, Vect has made it very clear that using said powers in Commorragh is punishable by death or [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi]], the former being death by Haemonculi. In fact they train from birth ''not'' to be fucking psykers.)

While similar accusations might be fairly leveled at almost any [[Black Library]] author, instead of the usual once-per-book or once-per-chapter, or even just once, against Goto you can count one for every page on average (sometimes more), as well as a lack of understanding of how [[Chaos|one of the most important elements]] of the setting and how [[Eldar|one of the most important races]] ''work'', and he's actually supposed to be writing entire books about them. Which often means he degrades them in some [[Slaanesh|sick fetishistic way]].

He is also the only Black Library writer to ever be so much of a pussy to try excusing himself with "having an artistic license" (which in his definition apparently means he's free to screw the canon left, right and inside out however it fucking pleases him). He is apparently also a cigar-smoking midget, and rides a motorcycle that pleasures him simultaneously — much like [[Doomrider]] — which pleases him.

From just a writer's viewpoint the books are awfully written, the plot and characters confusing at times, and it is clear the works were quickly knocked up on a bank holiday weekend by a writer in a half daze from an intense Slaaneshi orgy of whips, chains and daemonette snuff (this indeed pleases him).

Fortunately, though [[Games Workshop|GW]] demands that anything published through the Black Library be considered canon, they also state that canon doesn't necessarily mean ''true''. The work (in universe) may be written as Imperial propaganda, for example. Or in this case, the real-world fan fiction of a severely mentally disabled child living in the slums of a hive city. C.S. Goto is not [[Ben Counter]], though he may wish he was.

[[Twilight|Still, it could get worse, just pray to the Emperor that it doesn't.]]

We have recently obtained information on his background confirming that at some point in his life he was butt-hurt by a man in a red robe.

Which would explain his near-on obsessive need to fit the words red robe into nearly every paragraph and his desire to rape the established background of 40k.

There is a transcript of an interview with C.S. Goto online. At one point Goto asks the interviewer if they said the word "multilasers", even though the transcript shows the interviewer didn't even use a similar-sounding word. This could imply that either Goto has a psychological problem, that he really is that obsessed with multilasers, or both.

He also has the balls to compare himself to [[C. S. Lewis]].

Even when he (or a very artful troll) [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/943419-warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-soulstorm/41109154 shows up in a thread] to defend himself and deny having said the "basement" quote, he comes off as an arrogant yet superficially syrupy-pleasant prick. (Page 10 for those looking to find it)

==The "Best" of C.S. Goto==

"Grasping one talon in the formidable grip of his power fist, Neleus dragged the lictor creature out of the sand and held it momentarily, dangling from its own fore-talon. Then, with a swift movement, he crushed the talon in his fist and launched the hapless creature in the air with a swing of his immense arm, riddling it with hellfire shells as it flew. By the time it landed back in the sea of its own kind, the creature was little more than a shredded husk."
 -'''''Warrior Brood. Terminator Armor does many things, but giving a Space Marine the strength to throw a 1-ton Tyranid a few hundred feet through the air is not one of them. On the other hand, fuck knows how strong Space Marines are thanks to GW never formalizing it and it always shifts with the plot even in GW fluff.

"Balder's fellow veterans were in formation around him, discharging volleys of lasfire from their multilasers, providing support for Hoenir's squad."
 -'''''Warrior Brood. The aforementioned Multilasers.

"Taldeer stood bolt upright with her hands pressed against the lintel and her feet braced against the floor. The sinewy muscles in her slender limbs were taut and bulging with exertion. Her neck was knotted with protruding veins and her mouth was stretched into a contorted, rigid and unnatural cave. But it was her eyes that commanded the scene: they had gone. In their place there were simply two gaping cavities, rimmed with a thick, bloody ichor. She was screaming.(...)After a sudden, gurgling pause in her screams, Taldeer yelled something incoherent in a tongue that Gabriel did not know. Her voice was shrill and wracked with pain, but there was a new quality to the sound that even Gabriel could recognize. She had been shot. As the psychic screaming commenced, slightly weaker than before, Gabriel ripped his chainsword into life and whirled it around his head, clearing a moment of clarity in the mists of Chaos for him to assess the situation. A gaping wound had appeared in the side of the alien's abdomen, as though she had been shot at close range by a bolter. Judging from the position of the wound, Gabriel reckoned that the shell had probably ricocheted off the bulkhead and then punched into her kidneys, [[What|if eldar had kidneys]]."
 '''''-Dawn of War: Tempest, page 88. Unfortunately for her, this doesn't kill her.

"With an explosion of emerald light, the stones seemed to detonate, spraying themselves into shrapnel and jagged shards that ricocheted around the polished, [[wraithbone]] walls of her inner sanctum. A hail of razor-sharp projectiles, like the tiny shruikens (sic) used in eldar firearms, lashed into Macha's body, lacerating the psychic shields and armoured plates with microscopic ease. Before she could rise to her feet or even let out a cry, Macha slumped forwards onto the circular tablet, unconscious and bleeding from thousands of tiny incisions."
 -'''''Dawn of War: Ascension. Macha's also described as having white hair, which is blatantly false too, especially now that Dawn of War III canonically depicts her just as fa/tg/uys have for years. Also, shuriken is singular and plural, like all Japanese words.

"With a blinding blast of red light, the [[Assault Squad|Assault Marine]]'s jump-pack went critical and its fuel cells detonated, firing him down towards the ground like a giant bolter shell. Even from where he was standing, Gabriel could see the Marine was working to release the grenades that were clipped around his belt, flinging them down into the formation of eldar below him even as he rocketed down towards them. The disciplined aliens seemed unphased (sic) for a fraction of a second, holding their firing vectors until they realised what was about to happen. Then, as the xenos creatures began to scatter away from the [[Wave Serpent]]s, the string of grenades smacked into the ground and detonated all at once, blowing a huge crater into the desert and rocking the nearest Wave Serpent. In an instant, the Marine's jump-pack roared down towards the vehicle, spiralling on its axis now that it had been jettisoned by the Marine himself, until it punched heavily into the gunnery cockpit on top of the Wave Serpent, blowing it clean off the vehicle and engulfing the whole thing in a giant red fireball. The Marine himself ploughed down into the desert nearby."
 -'''''Dawn of War: Ascension. Jump-packs do not work that way and they never will. Neither do grenades. Also, it’s unfazed. COPYEDITORS EXIST, GOTO.

"Somewhere in the lashes of the Eye of Terror, Lelith Hesperax flicked open her eyes with a slow smile, the serrated perfection of her teeth glinting lightlessly...(upon killing an underling) This soul she would offer to the Satin Throne, its twisted and unrestrained hedonism would please the dark lord of pleasure and fulfill the continuing terms of their ancient compact."
 -'''''Warrior Coven. The only compact Slaanesh would make with a Dark Eldar is "I eat your soul and you die (not necessarily in that order)." And that would definitely not involve implied lesbianism with a Daemon Prince.

"They all looked down at the tiny form of the alien creature, broken, bleeding, and shattered by the agonies of the warp and the hostility of the Ravenous Spirit." (...)
"Between them they were carrying a large, heavy throne, in which was slumped the broken and contorted figure of the eldar seer." (...)
"Gabriel hastened over to the broken form of Taldeer, who was lying in a frozen pool of her own blood. Her eye cavities trickled with tissue and her abdomen was a shredded mess of flesh and shrapnel."(...)
"His eyes were fixed on the inferno that was gathering in the downed Thunderhawk, enshrouding the dying eldar seer in a thick death-mask of smoke and toxins."
 -'''''Dawn of War: Tempest, pages 89-100. WHAT THE FUCK, Goto, <s>what did Taldeer ever do to you?</s> [[Story:Love Can Bloom|she stole LIVII's well-muscled body away.]]

"The Harlequin mime had been strapped to its surface and was pinned by four Marines, each holding one of its limbs in place. The thin, rubbery armour over the alien’s chest had been sliced open and peeled back, exposing its porcelain skin. In turn, the skin had been cut, burnt and shredded until it was awash with bloody colours, almost as vibrant as the eldar’s armour itself. The alien’s mask had been removed, and I could clearly see its startling blue eyes bulge with each incision. Ahriman circled the table slowly, muttering quietly to himself in a tongue that I recognised but could not fully recall. He was lost in concentration, and seemed to be almost oblivious to the presence of the dying Harlequin on the table next to him. But as he muttered the secret words of his forgotten language, more cuts and gashes appeared in the flesh of the prisoner, each wider and deeper than the last until blood started to ooze out of the joints in the creature’s armour, pooling on the table and then on the floor below. But the Harlequin said nothing. It made no sound at all. Its eyes bulged and widened with each stroke of the invisible knife; it was clear that the alien was suffering terrible pain."
 -'''''Dawn of War: Tempest. You know what, a better title for the book might be "Exhibit A". Clearly Goto dislikes mimes. And Eldar. So, he made his own custom Harlequin unit for the job of...pleasing him.

Here is his Wikipedia page. It is highly recommended that you check it out: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassern_S._Goto&oldid=329863137. The best thing to do is a nominate the article for deletion due to lack of notablity. Just to spite his no talent ass. Addendum it was folded into the main 40K books page

Beware, it is semi-protected because of vandalism. It seems, someone always pleases him with [[multilasers]]

==Why we know that this pleases him==
For those who are new and confused, it all started with an interview [https://web.archive.org/web/20130428070651/http://www.csgoto.com/csgotopositions.html here].

As a previous editor put it:
"He KNOWS about the Multilasers, and all the stuff we said about him. He reads the pages and forums about him... and it pleases him."
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Multilasers.jpg|This is what C. S. Goto actually believes.
Image:GOTO_HH.png|Typical Goto heresy - Superb Cover clamped around manure. The title should have tipped you off about the actual contents.
Image:CS-G0T0.jpg
</gallery>

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:RAGE]]
[[Category:Writers]]
[[category:Black Library]]
[[category:FAIL]]

Heresy

2023-05-25T03:30:57Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84: /* On Heresy, Blasphemy, Heathens, Schismatics, Sinners, and Apostasy */

{{awesome}}
{{heresy}}
{{topquote|+++ Any person who speaks ill of the Emperor, the Imperium, cites his loyalty to any entity besides the Emperor, defaces holy artifacts or buildings, incites heretical thoughts or actions, talks openly about forbidden subjects and generally behaves in a manner disrespectful to all that is holy and good will have his extremities removed and left to bleed to death, for the Emperor's pleasure. The body will then be burned to ensure no taint remains.+++|The [[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]], Art 6741/09a}}
{{topquote|Beware the [[xenos|alien]], the [[heresy|heretic]], and the [[mutant]].|Thought for the Day}}
{{topquote|Since the time of Sigmar Himself, we have been no more than a flickering beacon of hope amidst a sea of despair and corruption, but never before have we faced so many dangers. We must suffer the simple-minded liberalism of our burgomeisters, the sanctioning of magic use, the heresy of false prophets and religions, the arrogance of the Arch-lectors, and the convoluted plots of the Dark Gods - the rot has sunk deep into the flesh of the Empire, where even now it festers and grows. The time has come to act and only within this proud and ancient order lies the strength of will, the zeal, and the righteous fury required to save us. They call us Witch Hunters, in their fear and ignorance, without even the slightest idea of the monstrous deeds we must commit on their behalf.|The Witch Hunter's Handbook}}
{{topquote|Betrayal isn't ridiculous. It's the reason empires fall.|Marisha Pessl}}

[[Image:Heresy_vein-popping.png|thumb|right|'''HERESY''' must be regarded with the [[RAGE|appropriate]] [[Exterminatus|severity]].]]
In [[Warhammer 40,000]], '''heresy''' (or {{BLAM|'''''HERESY!'''''}}) is the most severe accusation the Imperium can make against one of its citizens. It is almost always punishable by [[Blam|death]] or [[Arco-flagellant|worse]]. Most commonly, Heresy involves what real-world politics would call High Treason: willingly consorting with [[Chaos]], unwillingly consorting with Chaos, acknowledgeding the existence of Chaos (basically anything to do with Chaos bar annhilating it in zealous flame), betraying the Imperium to Xenos, which the Imperium gravely forbids, and in particular anyone guilty of [["If only."|merely suggesting anything good about Chaos]] will receive a [[Exterminatus|retribution of Inquisitorial proportions]]. In terms of mass Heresy, [[Exterminatus|mass cleansing]] is often applied as punishment. However, heresy, depending on the tolerance of your planetary government, can also include blasphemy against or defamation of the Emperor and/or the Imperium; saying anything against the Imperial Creed, which details pretty much everything not related to the veneration of the [[Empra]].

The trials for heresy are broad, but the majority of them occur [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jViTte8VAzU&feature=g-vrec like this], or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BxFlmb6S6E this], or [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2xlQaimsGg this] or even [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnF1OtP2Svk this]. The funniest thing is that 99% of the time heresy is actually heathenry since heresy is revering the same God but differently (catholics vs protestants or ecclesiarchy vs mechanicum) while heathenry is worshipping something completely different (shinto vs hindu or Chaos Gods vs The Emperor).

==What IS heresy?==
[[File:1289624777422.jpg|200px|thumb|They're all around you.]]
[[Image:Witch Hunters Handbook.jpg|thumb|left|The only book you should ever learn to read for.]]
The Imperium realizes that heresy is a serious matter and that its implications and consequences must be made perfectly clear to all servants of the Emperor, from the lowliest serf to the highest commander. And so with the aid and wisdom of the Inquisition and the Holy Ecclesiarchy, the definition of heresy in the eyes of our immortal God-Emperor is made known:
*EVERYTHING IS HERESY
*<s>EVERYTHING</s> {{BLAM|HERESY!}}{{BLAM}}
*Banging an Eldar lady is probably heresy too, but try saying that to your Commissa{{BLAM|QUESTIONING YOUR COMMISSAR IS HERESY!}}{{BLAM}}

If you are not sure if something is heresy, it probably is. Play it safe and report it so that it can be properly BLAMMED.

Those interested in finding out more about heresy for the express purpose of removing it from our world are encouraged to check out a copy of ''"The Witch Hunter's Handbook"'', which is available at any Temple of Sigmar and contains useful information on the subject, as well as amusing anecdotes from the late Kasper von Liebenstein. (The second edition has been cleansed of its borderline-heretical text by Huntress Karin Schiller. Reprobates in possession of the first edition copy are required to burn it immediately and repent of their sin of knowledge or else be deemed heretics in the eyes of our Lord Sigmar.)

==But Seriously, What Is It?==
[[Image:Canossa-gate.jpg|thumb|right|Extra heretic Henry IV re-evaluates some of his life choices.]]
Well, outside of the [[Warhammer 40000|the Warhams]] world, heresy is derived from the word '''Heterodoxy''', a Greek word used to describe deviation from ''Orthodoxy'' or established religious doctrine. While most established religions have their share of offenses which are considered "heresy", the word has become most closely associated with the Roman Catholic [[Inquisition]], and by extension all of Christianity because they're the ones that made the biggest splash in Europe and most of the world. Consequently, this whole section will focus mostly on them in the brief history below.

Seeing that Catholic doctrine dictates that the Pope is the guy who has the keys to Heaven, and has a direct phone line to God, he could issue orders of excommunication and interdiction, meaning the affected people and/or countries were effectively permabanned from the Heaven server; The Pope can still do this (and has, notably on Nazis and Cartels) but no one really cares what some old fart in a funny hat thinks any more. Also, way back before books were mass-produced and education was widespread, Peasants (and even some nobles) couldn't read so everyone went to church because the Priest was the only guy who could actually read the Bible. Worse yet, the Bible was written in Latin because that was considered the proper language in much the same way Weeaboos insist that subtitled anime is better because you're listening to the original Japanese. The first attempt at translating it into English ended with the translator being burnt at the stake.

This had severe consequences, as Christianity had far more power and influence in Western society then than it does today. For starters, heresy was considered a one way ticket to [[Warp|Hell]] which, whether or not you're a Christian and believe Hell actually exists, everyone can agree it's a horrible place. Also, there was the little issue that all important oaths of the day were sworn before God, meaning excommunication rendered them null and void. Since the Catholic Church functioned as the court of last appeal for most major matters, this could make the excommunicated person an outlaw, which was especially bad for excommunicated nobles and monarchs. Your [[knight]]s and vassals didn't have to serve you, your [[peasant]]s didn't have to pay their taxes, and if one of them tortured and killed you they could get <strike>in good with the clergy which could lead to rewards</strike> high fives from Jesus. This gave the Church incredible power, which many of the clergy wielded like a club to bludgeon people into acting correctly. And by "correctly", we mean "however the Church wanted them to act at the time" (sometimes justified, sometimes not). The only way to get an excommunication lifted invariably involved large amounts of donations to the Church and/or general ass-kissing.

Now for all we like to joke about the [[Warhammer 40000|the Imperium]] being "Catholic Space Nazis" for their Gothic aesthetics, its has more in common (including its stance on heresy and badass double-headed eagle) with the Eastern Orthodox Church, most notably in Byzantium: The secular and ecclesiastical organizations existed separately, but they were meant to supplement and support eachother ("symphonia") and Ecclesiarchy was kind of part of the Imperial administration, with Emperor having serious influence. So while excommunication by the church may have meant the severing Eucharistic ties for an individual rather than actual corporeal punishment, due to above-mentioned concept, he would be considered to be a criminal by the state. So instead of being lynched by the mob of autists, you would get judged by the state itself. Though instead of getting {{BLAM|BLAMMED}} they would mostly get exiled in some remote monasteries in middle of nowhere.

[[Image:tic.jpg|thumb|left|A hairy tick on the prowl.]]
That isn't to say there wasn't real heresy going on for a while. In the early history of Christianity people developed some funny ideas that lasted for a surprisingly long time, despite the Church telling them to stop in a very pointed manner (and if that failed, out came the pointed objects). These heresies could be grouped into two rough categories- the Trinitarian/Christological heresies and the Gnostic belief systems. To put it in terms someone who isn't a theologian could understand, the former is basically a bunch of people coming up with their own ideas about Jesus' nature and relation to God based on their interpretations of the Bible and trying to make it the official belief system of the Church. The most important of these was Arianism, which basically said that Jesus Christ the Son wasn't the same entity as God the Father, and that he was subordinate to the Father; by contrast, the orthodox view was that the Son and the Father were the same being in different persons. This may sound really weird even before you get into the details of the Trinity, but that's why Arianism is important: '''it made the Christian canon as we know it...well, canon.''' Other heresies managed to hang on long enough to become established sects of their own, such as the Nestorian heresy giving rise to the Assyrian Church of the East.

Gnosticism was a very different beast, since it was less of a divergence from established theology and more of a completely unrelated set of religious beliefs that occasionally borrowed elements from Christianity. While what the many different sects of Gnosticism practiced and believed wasn't entirely standard or agreed upon, they all shared a contempt for the material world in general [[Iron Hands|and the human body in particular]] and claimed that the material world was created by an inferior god or Demiurge (no relation to the Tau) opposed to the true God of the spiritual world. By the use of the esoteric knowledge held by the various Gnostic sects, collectively referred to as [[Mage: The Awakening|Gnosis]], its practitioners could free their spirits from the confines of the material world and escape the influence of the False God. Obviously, their appropriation of various elements of Christianity did not go over very well with the nascent Church, and as of now they exist solely as a few minor groups of mystics with no real influence outside their own communities. As you can probably tell, some of their beliefs were also repurposed for use in several works of fiction, like in Mage: the Awakening.

Eventually, the charges of heresy were leveled against the Catholic Church itself (or rather it was done and not immediately stomped out as had usually the case, see the Hussite Wars) when a monk by the name of Martin Luther denounced the corruption that had been growing within the Church and its clergy. In particular, he was outraged by the selling of indulgences which would supposedly assure the salvation of whoever bought them despite the Bible stating that salvation comes only from faith in Jesus. The Pope wasn't willing to listen to him, Luther refused to recant his views, and to make a long and bloody story short the dominance of Catholicism fell apart in western Europe soon afterwards in what became the start of the Protestant Reformation as various kings and princes throughout the continent realized they could escape from the Pope's influence while still staying in God's good graces. Heretical sects popped up among the Protestants on occasion, but the Protestant were usually too busy defending themselves from Catholic persecution or persecuting them back to do much persecuting of heretics themselves (although they still tried to do it when they could). As a result, said sects were typically left alone to develop into independent groups such as the Anabaptists (whose descendants include the present-day Amish and Mennonites).

While heresy was still taken seriously by both Catholics and Protestants for a time, later events such as a series of brutal and ultimately inconclusive religious wars between Protestants and Catholics, nationalism becoming more important to the general public than religious affiliation, religious tolerance and secularization becoming increasingly popular with the spread of Enlightenment ideals, and other similar concerns have slowly weakened the effectiveness of cries of 'Heresy!' as time went on. At least, that's the case as of this article's writing.

== On Heresy, Blasphemy, Heathens, Schismatics, Sinners, and Apostasy ==
Similar but not identical terms you'll often hear include Heathen, Blasphemy/Blasphemous, Sin/Sinner, and Apostate/Apostasy. Explaining them is pretty simple so we'll start with the one that comes first alphabetically.

An apostate is someone who abandons a pre-existing faith for either another or no faith at all while apostasy is the act of abandoning said faith. A lot of what is often called Heresy in 40k is more correctly called apostasy, such as people taking up worship of the Dark Gods or the Tyranids through Chaos and Genestealer cults in Warhammer 40k and abandoning the Imperial Cult. Apostasy is usually the most serious sort of religious crime you can commit in highly religious societies for obvious reasons. It can take the form of converting to another religion, being a theist (a person who believes in and tries to follow God or gods but doesn't follow an established religion), a deist (a person who believes God or gods exist but doesn't see them as having an active role in society) or becoming an atheist (believing there is no such thing as gods and not following any religion - [[Skub|except maybe Buddhism]]).

'''Example''': <s>I praise Chaos not the Emperor!!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Apostasy!}}

Blasphemy is saying or writing something that is obscene to the faith. Blasphemy can overlap with Heresy but blasphemy is saying something disrespectful about the god/s or something sacred in the religion in question, where heresy is distorting the religion's teachings and spreading those ideas. For the Imperial Cult, calling the God Emperor a magpie driven by his draconic heritage to hoard golden and shiny objects would very definitely be blasphemous on multiple levels.

'''Example''': <s>The Emperor and Khorne are the same deity!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Blasphemy !}}

Heathens are people who were never part of a faith to begin with and the term broadly overlaps with the labels of Infidel and Pagan, though Pagan tends to more specifically refer to polytheistic faiths (Interestingly, the term pagan itself was originally a Latin word that was their equivalent of "hick" or "redneck", and was an insulting term that Roman Christians referred to followers of Greco-Roman polytheism as) while Infidel is usually used for other monotheistic faiths. Someone born into a religion different from yours has committed no heresy nor apostasy and while being a Heathen is seen as something to be corrected by evangelical faiths, most evangelical faiths want to convert heathens rather than kill them. In history, the Catholic Church even complained to the Pope that the Spanish were killing most of their potential converts in the new world and thus preventing them from bringing the native Americans to Christianity because the survivors started seeing the faith as an instrument of terror. In 40k, technically speaking most non-Imperial humans are heathens due to having been born to a different faith, and the Imperium will usually try to convert human heathens who are not tainted by Chaos, aliens, or thinking machines.

'''Example''' <s> Your faith is false join the Logic of the Greater Good!</s>{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heathen!}}

'''Example''' The Omnissiah directs our footsteps along the path of knowledge. {{BLAM|I really want to BLAM you for that Infidel!}}

Schismatics are those who follow a branch of a religion created by some form of schism, most famously the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox branches in Christianity or the Sunni and Shiite branches in Islam. It doesn't see much use today (because in this era Christians of different branches, and to a lesser degree Muslims of different branches, have learned to tolerate each other's existence or at least not start wars over which branch is the "true" religion) but it's still there and occasionally gets used by Traditionalist Catholic nutcases (think the Catholic equivalent of Jack Chick) still fighting the Thirty Years' War almost 500 years after the fact. It technically overlaps with heresy, but it can be properly thought of as the term to call heretics who have become big enough to gain some form of legitimacy. Like the difference between "cult" and "religion" mostly being one of scale these days.

'''Example''' <s>These are the tenates of the [[Cult of the Redemption]] Join us as do the Emperor's work!</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Schismatics!}}

These are all considered forms of sin, which can be thought of as spiritual crimes. Sinners are essentially anyone who commits such wrongdoings, and given how broadly defined sin as a concept is for religions that care about the concept essentially everyone is a sinner to varying degrees (and that's before we even get into original sin). "Forgiveness for your sins" is essentially the religious equivalent of getting a pardon for crimes. Like secular crimes, sins come in varying degrees of severity with similarly variably harsh punishments or requirements to earn forgiveness for them. In more extreme cases, the sin cannot be forgiven by any means available to the mortal coil and the sinner must be put to death. Given that modern countries really dislike other institutions intruding on their ability to enforce and create laws, most religions that aren't the ruling power of a theocracy of some kind can't proscribe punishment for sins that clashes with the laws of the country (eg; most countries that don't have corporal punishment would not permit caning from Islam's Sharia Law). Now, if you do live in a theocracy on the other hand... what if any punishment you suffer depends on the theocracy and religion in question. The odds for mercy are good in the Vatican City, worst you can get is being fired and having your Vatican City passport revoked by the King of Vatican city (who is also the pope it's complicated), but very bad in Saudi Arabia, where the worst is being Tortured and executed, for example.

To make this as simple as possible; a heretic is someone who still claims to be part of the faith but makes irreconcilable challenges to its dogmas, an apostate is someone who outright abandons the faith for another, a blasphemer is someone who says something deemed spiritually obscene to that faith, a heathen, infidel, or pagan was someone who was never part of that faith to begin with, a schismatic is someone who follows a rival church of the same faith, and a sinner is basically any sort of religious criminal. Ironically, this means the Horus Heresy which is defined by half the legions and a third of the army forsaking the Imperial Truth for Chaos might be more correctly called the Horus Apostasy while the Age of Apostasy whose primary conflict was a doctrinal schism between Vandire and Thor is more correctly called the Age of Heresy or the Vandirian Schism. But on the other hand, "Horus Apostasy" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Maybe if Horus were named "Amon" or "Anubis" instead...hrm...

==Major Heresies in 40K==
While any individual can be branded a heretic for the slightest offense, a number of big-time heresies have occured in the 40k timeline.
*Earlier
**'''The Matt Ward Heresy''': A HUGE, ancient heresy lost to time. According to the few reliable reports that have been collected, he was a crazy, demented proto [[Chaos|chaos]] cultist(see:normal), who believed in things that [[Malal|contradicted his very existence]], such as Grey Knights being the best SPEHSS MAHREENS, or Necrons using '''GODS AS POKEMON'''. Luckily, he lost the favor of the chaos gods after he fell in love with the Ultrasmurfs, and died sometime in 2k. However, rumors indicate that his head may have been found by a certain [[Angry Marines|Space Marines]] chapter, now as a horrid chaos deity. Pray to the Emperor that it is untrue.
**'''The Multilazer Heresy''': An ancient heresy with little information on it. What is known is that there was a heretic known as [[C.S. Goto]]. He was vile and unrepentant for his sins, and did everything from torturing [[Dark Eldar|elvenfolk]] for no other reason other than it turned him on, to making things happen when physically, they shouldn't or frankly cannot, such as making a heavy Tyranid bioform a '''FRICKIN FEATHER!''' Everything seems to indicate he was a follower of Tzeentch. Which explains why he was such a [[Eldrad|dick.]] Nothing is solid yet, but some believe he may have been taken to Commorragh. Which both [[Not As Planned|freaks him out]] and [[Just As Planned|pleases him.]]
**'''The Furry Heresy''': A vile heresy that started in M2. Likely a plan from Tzeentch (Slaanesh didn't exist back then) to get others to worship Chaos, followers were described to have a strange obsession with dressing or identifying as animals, and sexing them too. It isn't confirmed, but some believe the Eldar may have adopted this heresy during the Dark Age of Technology, and as a result led to a [[Slaanesh|certain tentacled thing]] being made, as well as creating the Eye of Terror. Even now, millennia later, loyal forces of the Adeptus Astartes (most commonly of the [[Black Templars]] and [[Angry Marines]]), Ordos Malleus and Hereticus, and even the Golden Legion themselves are on the hunt for these specific breeds of heretics, fit only for execution by boltgun.
*M32
**'''The [[Horus Heresy]]''': The big one where [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|FUCKING HORUS]] embraced Chaos worship and caused the biggest civil war to date in the Imperium. (It'd be more accurate to call this "Apostasy", what with the whole "Abandoning Emps for Chaos" thing, but the alliteration is sweet enough for it to slide.)
**'''Schism of Mars''': Horus' rebellion coincided with an equally big Tech-Heresy within the Mechanicus, as the Fabricator-General at the time revealed that he was backing the Warmaster. Half the Mechanicum turned to worship the Chaos Gods and went to war with the other half, creating the [[Dark Mechanicus]].
*Later
**'''Catelexis Heresy''': An extremely powerful Xenos Psyker called the Cacodominus succeeded in capturing the Catelexis sector for himself; when the [[Black Templars]] finally killed him, he let out a psychic scream known as "The Howling," which killed countless astropaths and caused many ships to go astray in the warp, resulting in even more widespread dissarray and chaos. It may have also left the Black Templars unable to produce Librarians, but nobody's completely sure about that.
**'''The Moirae Schism''': During the [[Nova Terra Interregnum]], a heretical branch of the Mechanicus claimed not only to be able to predict the future in the [[Astronomicon]], but also that the Ecclesiarchy and Mechanicus would merge into one organization. This pissed off both the Mechanicus leadership and the Ecclesiarchy, but it also spread like wildfire, leading to two millenia of civil war and the exile of a faction of [[Iron Hands]] that supported it; these would later be recognized as the [[Sons of Medusa]] Chapter.
**'''[[Age of Apostasy]]''': While not labelled explicitly as a Heresy (due to predating the Ordo Hereticus) this war revolved around the conflict between the Temple of the Saviour Emperor and the Confederation of Light for supremacy as the state religion. It ended when the batshit insane Ecclesiarch/Master of the Administratum [[Goge Vandire]] was assassinated by his own bodyguards after the sustained efforts of an alliance of Space Marines, Mechanicus, Custodes, and the Confederation of Light threatened his power.
**'''[[Macharian Heresy]]''': Immediately following the [[Macharian Crusade]], the once-loyal generals of [[Lord Solar Macharius]] pounced upon his death and immediately drew up their own mini-empires independent of the Imperium - [[FAIL|necessitating ANOTHER crusade just to get their territory back and punish the generals.]] And since their superstar commander Macharius was dead (likely the fault of the High Lords/Inquisition, but its vague who pulled the trigger) it took them ten times as long to conquer the same worlds.
**'''[[Abyssal Crusade]]''': A bunch of chapters of Space Marines were deemed as heretics by a Saint and were forced to enter a warp rift in order to fight for their penance. All but one of the chapters were lost, and when that last chapter finally returned, they noticed that this same saint was still the exact same. Surprise, surprise, the saint was actually a chaos-worshipper and thus he was killed and his many records eliminated.

==Heresy in Warhammer Fantasy==
In [[Warhammer Fantasy]], the [[Empire|Empire of Sigmar]] is FAR more benevolent than its science fiction counterpart. Religions of any (non-Chaos) form are allowed despite the state religion being the worship of [[Sigmar|Sigmar Heldenhammer]], magical (psyker) aptitude is met with apprehension but is encouraged within the halls of the Colleges of Magic (established by a [[Teclis|xeno ally of mankind]]), and humanity seeks alliances with other races and actively recruits them as soldiers, or enters into trade and treaties with them ([[Halflings]] are all citizens of the Empire as a matter of fact despite having the personalities of [[Tyranid]] [[Kender]]). Scientific innovation is greatly encouraged, and as a result the Empire is the most scientifically advanced race in the setting. There is less freedom in other ways however; as humanity within cities is VERY prone to rioting, behaviors seen as likely to lead to a riot (including spreading factual news about the current state of the realm and of impending invasion) are suppressed. Undeath in all forms (including concepts accepted in 40k such as the state of the God Emperor and use of [[Dreadnought|Dreadnoughts]]) is a worse form of heresy than consorting with the Ruinous Powers, and any magical act not taught and officiated to you from a College of Magic is considered at best malicious mischief.

While it's commonly known that Chaos Mutations occur with regularity and are normally just unpleasant afflictions, mutants are not officially second-class citizens as long as they are loyal. However, they are prone to mistreatment and are generally the victims of any riot (well, them and teenage girls) and in [[Kislev|areas commonly attacked by the servants of Chaos]] are killed at birth. Chaos Mutants called [[Beastmen]] dedicated to the Ruinous Powers are one of the biggest threats to the Empire, but despite the fact that most learned men are fully aware of the existence of the most powerful of these groups ([[Skaven]], who possess technology on par with real world World War I weapons) they are considered to be fictitious by the general population. Generally, while considered heretical, speaking of Skaven is more likely to be met with public mockery rather than BLAMing. Those who have actually encountered them laugh nervously, those living in ignorance guffaw with the crowd, and those in positions of authority who fear a sudden riot just as capable of destroying the city as an attack by the mutants scowl and throw accusations of madness.

The Witch Hunters of Warhammer Fantasy, despite being far more effective than their "'Kill Everything' Button"-happy counterparts are also entirely more insane than the Inquisition of Warhammer 40k and consist of personalities akin to [[Cultist-chan|Chaos Cultists]]. They themselves are secretly dedicated to a Chaos God of Order (what, you expected logical rules from Chaos?) who empowers them against the servants of the Big Four and Undivided. Most Witch Hunters are severely traumatized individuals taught that their word is higher than that of the Church (they are known to burn [[Sisters of Sigmar]] at the stake due to receiving visions from Sigmar), who see heresy in all actions, and their past is full of self-purges and mass murders as the head of their order inevitably falls into paranoia and senility each generation.

Those in the Warhammer equivalent to Russia, [[Kislev]], are a much more suffering lot than the Empire. Sitting right at the invasion route from [[Warriors of Chaos]], [[Orcs & Goblins|greenskins]], and dwelling in a land where portals to the Warp constantly open and close letting in entire Daemon armies but themselves being a poor and uneducated people, they lack any Inquisitorial group. Each position of authority from local Sheriff straight to Tzarina Katarin herself take it upon themselves to personally purge the population. Any sign of Chaos mutation marks the afflicted for immediate execution, any strange behavior or sign of madness is an indication of an incoming assault. The people of Kislev themselves have become a hardened race, who will face an army of [[Khorne|Bloodletters]] outnumbered armed only with rocks while standing shirtless and in bare feet in the middle of a blizzard and come out triumphant with minimal casualties (in other words, Imperial Guardsmen who can out-NONEPURER Gray Knights).

In addition, the [[High Elves]] of [[Ulthuan]] (like [[Eldar]], but badasses who solve the world's problems, instead of fuckups trying and failing to solve their own) have their own internal Inquisition. The order of the Swordmasters of Hoeth is older than [[Tomb Kings|mankind's first civilization]], and were founded by one of the early Phoenix Kings as a way of purging Elves who joined the [[Slaanesh|Cult of Pleasure]]. While officially they are Sapherian bodyguards, messengers, and general police force of the High Elves and more specifically the spellcasters of the race, the Swordmasters are also master informants who collect information in a complex spy network and send it all to Hoeth, the center of learning in the Warhammer World (also the location of the magic internet). There, the High Loremaster (who is blessed by [[Lileath]], a Lawful Good loli Tzeentch) filters it and signs the death certificates of those [[Dark Elves|Elves so strap-on on head insane they'd fucking worship a god who just wants to eat their souls]]. The Swordmasters themselves are actually more like the super calm variety of Jedi knights, spending most of their time training with animu greatswords bigger than their own bodies which are continually smithed and re-forged using magical liquid metal cores and Ithilmar (hard as steel, lighter than sheet tin) to the point that the lengths of their fingers and the weight of their eyelashes are accounted for in their balance and technique. The result is lightly-armored Elves who fight like Zorro on the Speedforce in groups of one hundred at a time.

==What do they do with heretics?==
In Warhammer Fantasy, heresy is usually met with (questionably historical) torture until a confession is extracted and the TRUE torture (or immediate execution in a busy week) can take place. Although the various churches of the setting are slow to act and generally are only capable of convicting those who march into a city square covered in Chaos tattoos and trying to recruit Priests of Sigmar, or are doing Thriller in a group of Zombies while singing "I am a Vampire" at the top of their lungs, Witch Hunters tend to BLAM without second thought any who smells a bit too nice/bad or stutters when attempting to recite a prayer on command. Any time a [[Mordheim|major event that does not involve large armies occurs]], chances are good Witch Hunters will soon be converging on the area to execute anything still moving.

The Imperium has a much more complex system of dealing with things. If your heresy was serious but you are repentant in your trial, the church may strap you to a horrific war machine called the [[Penitent Engine|Penitent Engine]], which is a bit like a Space Marine dreadnought except it's designed to be really painful and humiliating for the pilot who themselves are drugged and tortured until there's nothing left of their mind but rage and shame. What's creepy is that it's an entirely voluntary way of seeking absolution (obviously, since strapping someone against their will to a war machine they can control is [[derp|NOT SMART]]). Considering how many of these are stomping around, it's a wonder the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|AdMech]] hasn't designed a not-insane version to be used by the [[Imperial Guard]] as an assault walker. [[Sentinel|... right]].

The body of an [[Arco-flagellant]] is a much similar fate for heretics. In fact Penitent Engines and Arco-flagellants seem to be the same concept given to two different writers. In any case if your heresy was serious but you are repentant in your trial, the church may Lobotomize you, fry your prefrontal cortex responsible for rational thinking, strap VR goggles on your newly-lobotomized head, install combat drug pumps into your spine, chop off your arms and replace them with weapons, and hold you in storage as what is basically a combat [[Servitor]]. The fate of an Arco-flagellant is oddly merciful and calming; during times of peace you're sedated and made to watch Ecclesiarchy-approved public television all day. In times of battle you're used as a suicide bayonet rusher.

The [[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]] says that a heretical Guardsman should have his extremities severed and left to bleed to death. At the discretion of the commanders, he may just get moved to a penal battalion or classically BLAM'd.

On remote Imperial worlds and [[Necromunda|highly populated hiveworlds]], minor heresies naturally spring up all the time because the Ecclesiarchy has a weak presence, so visiting preachers may try to take a softer approach with these things. They may even tolerate some fanciful unorthodox beliefs as long as they don't offend the core values of the church. While this might seem at first to be common sense over-ruling grimdark in some some small way, the scary bit is that how far this tolerance extends varies a lot and shifts, some benign little deviation which one high ranking priest would know to be a harmless quirk of local customs may be seen as another as being heretical and dooms millions to die as heretics.

Oddly (in earlier editions of Fluff), it was implied that even significant Heresy could be redeemed but a traitor could never ever be forgiven. One character in The Emperor's Gift was a penitent who had been a member of a significant heretical cult but was redeemed by an Inquisitor and entered her service. Despite this, most other characters viewed him with suspicion or outright hatred, so your mileage may vary.

In terms of mass Heresy, (Example given, a large congregation of worshippers that worship a deity that isn't the God-Emperor of Mankind) the usual solution to such crimes is either [[Exterminatus|genocide via orbital bombardment]] or the deployment of [[Space Marines|death squads]] to the planet itself to commit mass-genocide via [[Bolter]], [[Chainsword]], and armored boot. The [[Black Templars]] are especially gifted at the latter option, often landing on planets deemed to be infected with mass Heresy and usually committing mass murder and torture on a scale that would make an Inquisitor puke (And that's saying something).

For [[Xenos]], their existence is an automatic Heresy. Xenos are usually exterminated on sight, usually in an excessively brutal fashion (e.g. Chainsword disembowelment). Even in several rare cases of Xenos attempting to surrender, the majority were usually purged. In the rare (Read: Nearly nonexistant) cases of a Xeno being captured, the captive is usually "questioned" (Read: Tortured via Chainsword and/or Bolter) and then executed (Usually via Chainsword and/or Bolter).

Humans that have utterly surrendered themselves to [[Chaos]] are of course, treated no longer as a human, but as the lowest form of Heresy possible. Those that are captured (If ever) are usually tortured (In a fashion nearly similar to what Chaos does with unfortunate souls), then turned into [[Arco-flagellant|Arco-flagellants]] and/or killed in an excessively brutal and painful manner (The manner of which is still unknown but horrific).

==Witch Hunters==
Witch Hunters from Warhammer Fantasy are usually recruited from those who had come dangerously close to heretics or Chaos mutants, but who had themselves been spared. Their training is regimented and involves self-flagellation as well as group flagellation to give a high tolerance for pain, constant schooling so that all prayers and religious works concerning Sigmar can be recited by heart simply by being asked for specific page and paragraph number, and tests with a higher mortality rate than facing an actual Chaos incursion. [[Chaos Spawn]] are brought into more elite classes to harden the minds of the young recruits against the taint of Chaos and to teach them how to fight that which is unnatura-- oh nooo'''GRAGHBBGEBBLELBGBELGBLEL'''{{BLAM}} *Ahem*. They are taught the use of martial weapons, both large and imposing like the titular Warhammer to bootknives which can be brought to bear against those thinking they are merely being briefed on situations. Poisons, wilderness survival (in all climates of the world), and general knowledge of the regions of the world are taught to any who manage to make it thus far as knowledge is far more dangerous than weaponry.
Witch Hunters are familiarized with all forms of codes and secret languages known in the Warhammer World, with the exception of arcane scripts which they are taught only to recognize but not to read. Those who manage to pass all other forms of training are taught how to use crossbows and flintlock pistols, which are blessed with each bullet they fire being inscribed with prayers to cause maximum damage to the unnatural forces of the world.

Those deemed particularly possessing of zeal are given access to tainted texts recovered from everything from Necromancer Covens to Chaos Cults. Generally speaking, the information in these are histories of heretics as well as all the knowledge available to those on the other side of the fourth wall who read the Army Books and codices of the games.

Once recruits pass their trials they are then depending on their specialties either armed with crossbows (which is why rather than BLAMming, execution may come in the form of a FWIP instead) and assigned to city bastions or to patrol groups, or are sent out on their own to follow any rumor of heresy and pass judgement on those they find.

They have been reinstated as the [[Azyr#Age_of_Sigmar|Order of Azyr]] in [[Age of Sigmar]].

==Extra heresy==
[[Extra heresy]] is a decree recently enacted by local Commissar [[Fuklaw]]. While we're still a bit sketchy on the details, it is clearly mentioned that [[LCB|Xenos]] [[Heretical Love|love]] is Extra heretical (that just makes it even more appealing) but it is a well known fact that anything remotely related to Jersey Shore, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus or anything Western pop music is extra extra heretical. Punishment is still the generic execution by your local [[commissar]]... those dic{{BLAM}} -Most virtuous and excellent officers of the Emperor. Actually, if the Emperor saw all this shit, he'd have a single manly teardrop from his eye.

==What isn't heretical (40k)==
[[Image:Heresy meter.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Imperium's patented heresy detector.]]
Much like the whole Rule 34 and Rule 35 gig, there are a few things that aren't heresy. Here's a short and general list:
*The [[Emperor|immortal God-Emperor of the Imperium of Man]]
*Veneration of the immortal Emperor
*Dying for the Emperor in the most manly way possible.
*Dying for the Emperor in as many ways as possible {{*BLAM*|HERESY!!! LIVING MORE THAN ONCE IS CHAOS WORSHIP}} [[Nagash|But what if I worship the skelepope and not the barbarian gods?]] Life is the currency of the Emperor! (Spend it well... and not on heresy)
*Despising Matt Ward, the future <s>[[Malal|sixth]]</s> <s>[[Retcon|fifth]]</s> [[Skub|sixth]] chaos god.
*Nearly dying for the Emperor while doing something badass as many times as you can before you actually die for the Emperor
*Brutally slaughtering and burning heaps of xenos, mutants, heretics and most especially Modern Pop Fans, for the God Emperor of Mankind. (If you can live long enough to fire that flashlight that is OH GOD NO NOT THE FACE-*{{*BLAM*}} If unable to do so, fighting to distract them until the end.
*Discovering new planets so the Emperor can have even more wars. Unsullied planets + war = More burning Heretics for the Emperor, hurrah!
*Building gigantic Gothic cathedrals the size of sky scrapers for the Emperor.
*[[Imperial Navy|Rendering said cathedrals spaceworthy.]]
*Praising of the Emperor.
*Praising the Emperor through song that isn't modern pop/rap/hip-hop/dubstep.
*Listening to Gregorian choirs praising the Emperor, as well as any militaristic song that does not violate any Imperial Law. (E.g., the song is approved as long as it doesn't violate the [[Imperial Truth]])
*<s>Sexing Aeldari ladies, probably heresy but I'm pretty sure [[Jaq Draco|inquisitors]] [[An Eldar's Ears|do this]] so it's o---</s>{{*BLAM*}} {{BLAM|EXTRA HERESY!!!}} It's Okay so long as they're of the Goth Variety, Lord Guilliman approves.
*Hailing to the High Lords of Terra/Administratum/Ecclesiarchy- except when they commit heresy.
*accusing random people of {{BLAM|HERESY!!!}}
**{{*BLAM*}}
*{{BLAM|Why are you still reading this instead of venerating the motherfucking Emperor?! You must be a heretic for having doubt! Die heretic scum! *BLAM*}}
**Calling the Emperor motherfucking is {{BLAM|HERESY!!!}} {{*BLAM*}}
*getting {{*BLAM*}}'d

==What isn't heretical (Fantasy)==
*Our lord [[Sigmar|Sigmar Heldenhammer, true god of the Empire]]
*Veneration of the holy comet
*Worship of '''Non Chaotic''' lesser deities, special mention being Ulric.
*Growing mustaches
*Brutally slaughtering and burning heaps of daemons, witches, greenskins, Vampires, walking skeletons, talking cats, and [[Warriors of Chaos|Scandinavians]] (remember, the pointy end of the spear faces AWAY from you)
*Fucking Elf ladies (good, people like banging elves)
*Getting drunk with Dwarves (considered a minor anti-heresy)
*Adding [[Steam Tank|steam engines]] to things
*Not rioting
*Praising the Elector Counts (except in times of civil war), and the glorious Emperor Karl Franz
*Not talking about the <strike>[[Skaven|giant rat-men armed with weapons that spit fire, who spread the plague through the water, who have planted a bomb in the city square and...]] IT'S ALL OVER, OUR ONLY REMAINING SOLUTION IS TO RIOT</strike> <strike>{{FWIP|HERESY! *FWIP*}}(fwip? they have guns you know)</strike> {{BLAM|... *sigh* Alright... HERESY!!! *BLAM*}}

==Gallery (40k)==
<gallery>
Image:HeresyStamp.png|The Official Imperial Stamp O' Heresy
Image:Fucklaw.jpg|[[Commissar Fuklaw]] wants to explain a few things to you about Heresy.
Image:Heresy-explained.jpg|Heresy and you.
Image:Heresy-explained2.jpg|You know heres...uh...oh wow...i got to get some Eldar heres{{BLAM}}
Image:Notheresy.jpg|Not heresy.
Image:But_That's_Heresy.jpg|"Sisters can't love Sisters!"
Image:Heresy.jpg
Image:Absolutely heretical newscast.jpg|In the 41st millenium, everything is absolutely heretical.
Image:Extra_Heretical.jpg|[[Lofn|Half-Xenos]] cosplaying commissars? EXTRA HERETICAL.
Image:HeresyComic.jpg|What IS heresy?
Image:HeresyHorus.jpg|Pro-heresy.
File:Beach Bitch.jpg|Go ahead, sleep with it. Just remember foxes have fleas.
File:Hairy Heresy.jpg|<s>Should not want...</s> {{BLAM}} Suffer not the furry to live.
Image:Emperor s will be done pt26a by dustygrafix-d3efy6s.jpg|Heresy at it's finest..in a horrifying and heretical way, of course.
Image:Heresy_Flowchart.jpg
</gallery>

== See Also ==
*[[Chakat]]
*[[Cake]]
*[[:Category:Heresy]]
*[[Extra Heresy]]
*[[:Category:Vampire Counts]]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZg1c3BAjbk The Heresy Alarm]

[[File:1233076587396.jpg|center]]

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

2023-05-25T03:25:13Z

2601:1C0:5001:5320:8C83:E38F:3027:1A84:

{{/vg/}}
[[File:Space Marine poster.jpg|550px|thumb|center|Where he's going, you won't need eyes...]]
'''Space Marine''' is a 3rd-person video game which is featured on the PC, the [[/v/|ECKSBAWKS 360, and the PS3]]. Its genre is a hybrid of shooting and hack and slash. It was released on September 6, 2011. A sequel, [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II]] under Focus Home Interactive and Saber Interactive, was announced in December 2021, starring Captain Titus as a [[Primaris Lieutenant]] (Seems he got a demotion when he got the Primaris treatment), and featuring Tyranid foes. . . at first anyway. Remember chaos took a few hours of game play to show up so who knows if Focus Home will pull the same trick twice..

== The Plot of Space Marine I ==
The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2o-LmI3kiE&|The story] is set on the Forgeworld of Graia. It's being invaded by Orks who wish to loot the shit out of it; weapons, ammunition, vehicles, you name it. Rather surprisingly, the Orks have an actual objective this time: to steal a Warlord-class Titan of the Morning Star Legion '''''(cuz iz ded shooty)''''', an idea the Imperium isn't overly fond of. At first, the 203rd Cadian regiment was sent in to reinforce the forgeworld's defenses, but were eventually overwhelmed and pushed into a desperate defensive posture due to the Orks shooting down the majority of their support craft with a captured surface to air artillery cannon and simply outnumbering them by 100:1. Captain Titus and a small force of [[Ultramarines]] are then sent to hold back the invading Orks with the help of what's left of the Guard while the liberation fleet is on its way.

The Forces of Chaos also have a part to play, and are led by a Terminator sorcerer lord named Nemeroth. They're basically here to open a warp portal using a heretically radical device to both turn Graia into a daemon world and also so Nemeroth can become a Daemon Prince. And unlike previous games, this features actual traitor guardsmen, not the "we've recently converted to chaos and we're here as fodder" guardsmen featured in Dawn of War, fuck no, these are kickass [[Lost and the Damned]] guardsmen.

Not surprisingly, [[Blood Ravens|BLOD REHVENS]] play a role, set against Chaos as they were seen holding the initial incursion, though they only appear in brief cameo. If the game is set after [[Dawn of War II|DoWII]] then we will see [[Gabriel Angelos|Gabe's]] reforms in action, which is nice (if the Marine ending in Retribution takes place).

== Gameplay ==
[[File:SpaceMarinePCBig.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Captain Titus vs EVERYTHING]]
[[Commissar Fuklaw|No cover system. As a man from Relic said: "cover is for pussies". Space Marines are too awesome to be cowering behind cover]]. As a Space Marine, you are given enhanced regenerative abilities and an Iron Halo shield (due to your status as Captain). There are also brutal kills which the player can do to make the enemy's deaths more humorous/gory (to regain health like a man and to show-off the awesomeness of the Angels of Death, of course). Since you are playing as a Space Marine (and better yet, a veteran of 200 years of battle) you could easily kill thousands of Orks with just a simple vertical slash.

That being said, the Forces of Chaos are a lot tougher. Traitor guardsmen are still as weak as ordinary Ork sluggas and shootas, but are quite tactical, being able to organize and <s>plan strategies</s> spam grenades like they're playing a Call of Duty game. Corrupted psykers can spawn enemies and easily kill you from afar. Khorne Bloodletters can teleport, making it hard for you to shoot them, deal massive amounts of damage and can withstand quite a bit themselves. Chaos Space Marines are far more deadly. They pack weapons that are functionally the same as yours, are by far the most durable enemies, and they have regenerating shields like you do.

Instead of having regenerating health like every other shooter out there, you can only regenerate health by stunning enemies and [[Awesome|FATALITY-ing them Mortal Kombat-style]]. Additionally, ''Space Marine'' features a Fury system, which allows you to slow time when aiming a ranged weapon or to unleash a devastating melee attack (provided that you filled up the fury bar by killing enemies of course). While Titus' starting equipment consists of a bolt pistol and combat knife, weapons can range from bolters to lascannons to plasma guns to thunder hammers. You also get to take jump packs which allows you to fly and make an assault jump, which allows you to create an AoE explosion by violently landing in a position of your choosing, though this does restrict your loadouts to only melee weapons and bolters.

== Characters ==
{{spoilers}}
* '''[[Captain Titus]]''' - A Captain of the Ultramarines Chapter and their last hope of finally getting some <s>badass</s> redemption of any kind. He is sent with his company of Ultramarines to prevent an Ork Waaagh!! from looting a forgeworld. It should be noted that his character was first seen as bald but was changed to have a shaved head in the early trailers. He was finally changed to a standard space marine HAIR-etic. He is voiced by Mark Strong. Yes...'''HE'S VOICED BY FUCKING MARK MOTHERFUCKING STRONG!''' He looks kinda like Proteus from Ultramarines the Movie, excluding the longer hair and the better-looking armor decor. Despite being a shrewd commander, he is looked upon with suspicion by some of his fellow Ultramarines after being the only surviving battle-brother from a battle with a Chaos Sorcerer. Deep strike is his favorite entry tactic as shown by his affinity of jumping out of vehicles.
**At the end of the game, it's shown to the player that he does indeed possess an unnatural resistance to the warp, likely a result of his massive [[blackstone]] balls. Unfortunately, Leandros doesn't know that (the faithless cur), and since Titus is the only smurf <s>with something vaguely resembling a clue</s> who's realized that honor has a time and place, he gets roped in by the Inquisition on suspicion of '''HERESY!''' Thankfully, Thrax doesn't take his gun, implying that he isn't buying it... but that still means a certain newbie smurf is going to have a very long discussion on the merits of trust with a power fist, right after the <s>anal probing</s> tests of faith are done.

* '''Veteran Sergeant Sidonus''' - A slightly grumpy smurf, Sidonus is a veteran of the Ultramarines and designated comedian of the squad, delivering dry humor to the heart of the enemy when necessary (or when not so necessary). He is said to have battled Tyranids, Orks, Eldar, Chaos space Marines and Necrons during his centuries of battle. Quite badass, <s>for an</s> like all old Adeptus Astartes. He also has a bionic arm after getting his real one nom'd by Tyranids [[Tarkus|(Wait, I think I've already heard something like this...)]]. Also lost his eye and half of his face when an Eldar weapon blew up in his face [[Huron Blackheart|(... and something like this too...)]]. Decided not to get reconstructive surgery done, opting instead to leave the scars because it looks badass.

* '''[[Lawful Stupid|Brother Leandros]]''' - A newly recruited Ultramarine clinging to his shortened copy of the [[Codex Astartes]] and behaves as a typical Wardian-era smurf. He is the youngest of the squad, being only 75 years old (which is considered young by Space Marine standards) yet he has one of the highest honors that a chapter can bestow (<s>that, ironically enough, seems to be missing from Sidonus' power armor mantle as a ''veteran'', it is assumed that he is trained in the use of terminator armour, like all 1st company ''veterans'')</s> except the Crux Terminatus is an award, so he should still have been carrying it, Terminator honors. <s>Titus probably took his, so now he's mad at him for it... perhaps a little too mad...</s>

* '''Second Lieutenant Miranda Nero''' - Being the only loyalist commissioned officer left, Mira leads what remains of the 203rd Cadian that was reassigned to Graia. Turns out they went too far out into the green sea and got cut off from supplies and support. She seems to share [[Merrick]]'s view of placing the lives of her men above the Imperium. '''HERESY!!!''' The fact that she's holding the entire operation together despite being just a lieutenant impresses even Titus.

* '''Inquisitor Jean-Baptiste Emanuel <s>Zorg</s> <s>Skrillex</s> Drogan''' - The Inquisitor. He looks like he hasn't slept in a week (which is understandable, given that he's fighting both an Ork [[WAAAGH]] and [[Chaos Space Marine]]s on top of being a psyker), and his hair is really dirty and emo looking. He also has a metal plate attached to the right side of his head. Most likely a radical. He's also '''EXTREMELY''' obsessed with killing xenos due to him having been tortured by xenos for several years. During his time on Graia, his '''EXTREME''' obsession made him create mysterious experimental weapons in hopes of getting revenge, and one of these experiments included a portal that led to '''EXTREME''' consequences. This is due to the fact that the forces of chaos used said portal to enter the forge world, '''EXTREME'''ly. His eyes also lit up during a cutscene. MUST BE A HERETIC. {{spoiler|BIG TWEEST. HE'S A PUPPET FOR THE LORD SORCERER.......... Okay it isn't that simple. Turns out he had a "subject" delivered to his laboratory to test his shiny new weapon on, the "subject" turned out to be a daemon which escaped, and proceeded to buttrape poor Drogan and possess his corpse (all the backstory is in the audio logs). Since this daemon read the fluff, he's decided that ''maybe'' the '''EXTREME''' factions have a bit more pull, so he pretends to be '''EXTREME'''.}} He is somehow almost as tall as a Space Marine, likely the result of genemods.

* '''[[Nemeroth|Lord Nemeroth]]''' - A Chaos Terminator Sorcerer Lord and the '''Big Bad''' of the game. He is possibly the Sorcerer Titus "killed" previously. He leads a warband consisting of [[Chaos Space Marines|Chaos Marines]], Khornate [[bloodletters]], [[Blight Drone]]s, and Tzeentch psychers (presumably the forces of [[Slaanesh]] were left out so as to avoid an Adults Only rating in America). He also proves Relic's infinite creativity at naming characters, for the difference between him and [[Neroth|Eliphas' nagging wife]] is but two wretched letters. Also found a way around the Squishy Wizard law, because he wears '''TERMINATOR ARMOUR'''. Still got beat up by an Ork wearing almost no armour, though. Titus manages to defeat Nemeroth because the latter forgot to wear a helmet (then again, neither does Titus). Shame, too, because he was just at the doorstep of becoming a [[Daemon Prince]].

* '''[[Warboss Grimskull]]''' - He is the Ork Warboss leading his Ork [[WAAAGH]]!!! on Graia with the intention of stealing the planet's Titans. Later on, he becomes interested in the power source Titus and Inquisitor Drogan possess. [https://youtu.be/Uox82AiheLI| He ain't so easy to kill].

* '''Inquisitor Thrax''' - The inquisitor that appears at the end of the game with his retinue of [[Black Templars]], where his name was mentioned on the monitor for the status on Graia. He came to take Titus into investigative custody after Leandros' accusations of heresy. Was likely planned to be a major character in the sequel, but that unfortunately never came to fruition.

== Things that rock ==
[[File:Angry marine by mysteryone617-d3j5gzj.png|300px|thumb|The official sequel]]
* Seemingly a better game than that [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior]] where you play as a [[Tau|Space Communist]] on his first day of duty, who is apparently a one man (well, xenos) army that could single-handedly kill genetically modified super soldiers, <s>a daemon prince</s> TWO Daemon Princes and a greater daemon of [[Tzeentch]]. lolwut?
* You get to play as a Space Marine.
* Guardsmen who fight alongside you have balls of steel, they rarely fall back. (Which makes crunch sense: with a Space Marine Captain alongside them, they too SHALL KNOW NO FEAR!)
* Orks (this time they actually look like a credible threat, not just dumb drunk ape-brawlers on steroids)
* Captain Titus isn't a total Mary Sue like the rest of this Chapter, even going so far to say that the [[Codex Astartes]] is just a guidebook and not meant to be taken literally. Thus: FUCK YOU MATT WARD.
* NO REALLY FUCK YOU MATT WARD
* Hilarious amounts of blood, dismemberment, and all other forms of gore you could imagine. [[Khorne]] would probably favor this game, even if you do play as an Ultramarine.
* Executions (like the sync kills in DoW, which you can do to a stunned enemy) are actually required for you to restore your health, rather than going around and picking up medpacks, ducking in a corner and letting your wounds heal like magic, or some other unmanly method. Ensuring that playing longer requires you to give those guys screaming at you a good ol' fashion Chainsword enema, which is awesome.
* Chaos Space Marines.
* BLOODLETTERS!!!
* You pick up an [[Autocannon]] in <s>one</s> TWO levels.
[[File:The weak.jpg|300px|right|thumb|One is running away from the enemy, the other is running '''INTO''' the enemy. <s>Which do you think is loyal to the Emprah?</s> Another difference: one is a genetically modified super soldier with a FUCKHEUGE power armor and Ultrasmurf plot armor, the other is a normal man with a cardboard armor and a flashlight. Both are facing [[Angry Marines|angry]] green warmongers. Which do you think has [[Imperial Guard|balls of steel]]?]]
* Mark Strong (who you may remember from his previous roles starring in Rocknrolla, Kickass, Robin Hood, Stardust and Sherlock Holmes) as the voice of Captain Titus. (Don't forget Merlin from the Kingsman! Who wouldn't want to see Captain Titus murdering some greenskins while belting out Country roads by John Denver)
* <s>JUMP PACKS.</s> Out of fuel. (They be awesome while they last though)
* Pre-Order skins for [[Black Templars]], [[Blood Ravens]], [[Space Wolves]], <s>[[Iron Hands]]</s> [[Iron Warriors]] and [[Emperor's Children]].
* Apparently, even the games demo would destroy a PC's motherboard due to its extreme epicness. Watch here for proof [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47PDV9Rcjv4]
* Co-op comes in the form a 4-player Horde mode.
* Standard multiplayer is Chaos vs. Spess Mehrens. Fuck yes.
* You get to paint your own multiplayer character, much like the army painter system in DoWII. BETTER, because you can change every part of your power armour and paint up to THREE COLOURS FOR EVERY PART. Seriously, is a delight to try paint schemes, it have an asslot of colours and your (Chaos)Space Marine is in glorious 3D. You also get to pick your own loadout.
*Cock of Duty-like perks. Yes, multiplayer perks. However some of them are cool and are named after rules from the TT game, Most make sense, others are FUCKING STUPID (see bottom of next list). One real nice thing about the perks is that you can use them along with your tailored loadout in EXTERMINATUS.
**Said mode brings together 4 battle brothers able to act essentially like mini-Tituses, healing at ridiculous rates with Zeal, Larraman's Blessing or Iron Halo and slaughtering 20 waves worth of orks and one of chaos (or guardsmen, for Chaos Unleashed players)
*Livery changes for the single player are widely available for free. If you still hate the smurfs, you can easily change that by playing something like the [[Black Templars]] or [[Angry Marines]]. <s>are unlocked at level 5 and only affect multiplayer. Enjoy your smurfs.</s> ACTUALLY: whilst it is true that customization options are only available from level 4 onwards, there are unofficial modifications available for livery changes for a great number of chapters in single player. (see: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?262044-Space-Marine-Custom-Titus-Skins-Armour-of-Angelos)
*After release fans wouldn't stop bitching (read flooding the official forums) asking for a mute all button in the multiplayer lobby. A couple weeks later an update included the mute all button, in short THEY [[Gets_shit_done|GET SHIT DONE]]
*New DLC just added [[Dreadnought]]s (AKA ungodly walking rape machine).
*The Anniversity Edition, released on 9/23/21 made all the DLCs free for people who have it, as well as giving goodies like soundtracks, classic and new wallpaper, the manuel, ringtone, artbook, collector's cards, and the launch trailer as well

== Things that Suck ==
* When the daemons first show up, Titus refers to them as "Chaos daemons!" Is there any other kind? <s>WAIT, DON'T ANSWER THAT!</s>
* Explosions look like total ASS. While the texture work on the game is extremely detailed, they apparently skimped on their pyrotechnic effects. Some of the smoke and explosion effects look like they came off a PS1 game. This is painfully jarring in the opening aerial battle between the navy and the Orks.
* Ultrasmurfs. (Bear in mind though, you would probably bitch about it if they mentioned any other chapter as "the greatest of them all". [[Ultramarines:The_Movie|Observe]]). However, it could be argued that part of the joy of the badassery of Captain Titus is that he lends credit to that stereotype.
* While "Cover is for Pussies" is a manly mechanic, being able to fire from cover while being pinned by tons of Ork Shootas and Chaos Havocs in unreachable positions wouldn't be so bad.
** Don't forget the waves of renegade guardsmen who posses an inexhaustible supply of grenades that they lob at you without hesitation. This alone makes it nearly impossible to complete the later chapters without abusing cover and Lascannon camping.
*No awesome executions in multiplayer. Multiplayer executions were dropped because it would leave you vulnerable while performing it and [[Matt Ward|some people]] would get upset at seeing their marine having their organs torn out. This leaves one wondering why it wouldn't be left in as an optional humiliation move.
**More baffling is that it is being left out of the upcoming co-op as well for the exact same reasons, despite it being in singleplayer, meaning you can only regain health by [[Gay|hiding in cover while your health regenerates.]][[Derp| "Cover is for the weak" indeed.]]
***Further undermined by the fact that not taking cover against Tankbustaz will get you killed in a ludicrously quick-and-dirty way, as will charging into a pack of Traitor Guardsmen whilst they burn you alive in your artificer armor with volleys of [[Lasgun|flashlight]] fire.
* Explaining things to the newbs.
*<strike>There is NOBODY in fucking multiplayer, seriously, I've fucking waited for hours.</strike> NOT ANYMORE. The free giveaway have given new life to the multiplayer, with a small but loyal fanbase playing practically every day.
* They wanted to cast Sean Pertwee (Who played Governor Severus in Fire Warrior) as one of the characters, but they already had enough VA's. Not having Sean Pertwee in a Warhammer game, or film, is just plain wrong (though they do express desire to cast him in a possible sequel). '''UNFORTUNATELY!''' <s>THQ said that there won't be a sequel. [[Rage|FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!]]</s> <s>There might be a sequel, apparently, but only if THQ doesn't collapse in on itself like a super-massive star due to all its debt.</s> </s>THQ just went belly-up. The sequel's destiny is now in the hands of Sega....Emperor preserve us all.</s> And he has heard our prayers! it's happening, bois!!! LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
* Another 40k game about some Space Marine snowflake. See Ultrasmurfs. But on the bright side, only Leandros acts like the generic Mary sue Ultramarine, Titus and Sidonus are more-or-less likable, even by those with a slight distaste for the Ultramarines.
* Not enough choppy. For a game that relies a lot on melee combat, not a lot of actual melee weapons to go around, only a knife (Which you can only use at the beginning of the game), chainsword, power axe, and thunder hammer and additionally, sync-kills are fairly limited for each one and starts to get "meh" after a few playthroughs. Given 40K's extensive armory of choppy choppas, you would think Relic could include more things like more power swords, fists and claws, eviscerator chainswords (And a large two-handed, flamer-toting chainsword would have been emprah-like to have), or just more sync-kills for said 4 weapons so players would have more variety in the amount of gore present.
* [http://www.spacemarine.com/blog-post/warhammer-40000-space-marine-e3-game-demo-walkthrough Apparently, melta guns are shotguns now and the Lascannon is some kind of retarded sniper rifle with slow-mo.]
**<s>[[Matt Ward|Sounds somehow familiar, no?]]</s> The Meltas are only shotguns as far as digital [[crunch]] is concerned; they're still burning death rays fluff-wise, disintegrating tons of orks and even daemons in one shot. As for the Lascannons, they aren't any more or less of a sniper weapon here than they are on the tabletop (basically an anti-materiel rifle, except on super grimdark space steroids). Neither of them do a lot against Dreads, which is bullshit. The lascannon has a minor mitigation in that Titus doesn't have the accompanying power-backpack, which could understandably make each shot less powerful.
*Games consist of melta, plasma cannon, stormbolter, or vengeance launcher spam, the few players who disdain cheap tactics (oddly the ps3 space wolves champion this view) lose on principle unless they're banned in a tournament or are a cheating fuck named jwolf96 who bolt pistols you with a headshot WHILE JUMPING AROUND AS ASSAULT.EVERY TIME.hax.
*No [[Flamer]]s. (melta gun doesn't count)
*No [[Grav-Weaponry]]. (No halofags the Thunder Hammer is '''not''' a grav-weapon)
*Gears of War fanboys constantly saying that the game is a copy of Gears of War, even though it's a hack and slash shooter hybrid that does not feature a cover system (GOW is like a ducking simulator). They're also too magnificently retarded to realize that Warhammer 40,000 came Waaaaaaaaayyyyy before Gears of War. Not to mention the [[Space Marines]] of 40k inspired the giant space marine with the huge weapons.
*FUCKING audio stutter during times where you're battling hordes of enemies (which, in a hack-and-slash game, happens all the time). It's revealed that this is not hardware related as even those with high-powered machines and updated drivers also suffer from this. Relic might provide a fix for this but some are shifty about this, fearing that they might pull off the old [[Dawn of War]] ignorance on this game too. If you want a slightly acceptable temporary fix for this that doesn't require you playing this game in silence, infinitely loop a battle theme of your choosing on your music player such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRiU2N03Rzs Requiem for a Tower] while playing, set your volume to a level of your choosing, and gleefully continue hacking your opponents to shreds and curb-stomping them to paste. If you need the voices for tactical input, just enable subtitles.
*Shitty voice acting from anyone who is not a space marine (or lieutenant mira)
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbiqNn6LxFM Shitty fucking lag that has remained unfixed over a month after its released], ergo consigning the game to the dustbin as new Vidya Gaems that are frankly better than it are released.
*<s>Only five maps, all of which encourage outright camping and grenade spam.</s> They're releasing more maps every few months.
*Matchmaking sucks a bag of dicks the size of a [[Nurgle|Great Unclean One]].
*<s>Devastator Marines are vastly more powerful than all other Marines, and it's possible to circumvent the Heavy Bolter's setup time by switching to/from your pistol. The switch-setup was fixed in a patch, but Devastators are still infinitely superior to anything any other Marine class can do damage-wise Assault/Raptor with thunder hammer/daemon maul with Killing Blow. Nuff said.</s> Plus the inability to dodge effectively, (Learn to combat roll, dumbass. Saves my bacon all the time.) slow recharge times on armor and health, and the fact that one shot from a tactical marine's plasma gun will melt your shit instantly balances it out. N00bs need to STFU and get some skill and stop whining. Also, unlike Raptors/Assault Marines, Devastators can't FLY.
*There were originally going to be Combi-Weapons in the game, but it was scrapped.
*Environments need more variety. A lot more variety. The game really doesn't start shaking shit up until about halfway through. Till then, everything is cityscape type level killing a bunch of Orks.
*On the console versions, accusations of Standbying (abusing host lag) are ''rampant''.
*<s>Makes no fucking sense from a chronological perspective - Graia was OMNOMNOM'd by the [[Tyranids]] (caught in the path of the initial Hive Fleet that approached Macragge) long before the events of Dawn of War and Dawn of War 2 - meaning that Titus' victory was ultimately a pyrrhic one, unless there's another Graia out there in the Imperium of Man. It's an alternate timeline, and it takes place on a different Graia (this particular Graia is located in the Segmentum Tempestus, not Ultima Segmentum). You can tell because Titus is the Captain of the Ultramarine's Second Company instead of Sicarius and Titan Invictus wasn't destroyed in the 13th Black Crusade (which was way before Dawn of War).</s>
**It takes place some time into M42, and it's a different Graia. Evidence: In Ultramarines: The Movie, Captain Severus was 2nd Company Captain, and the film took place after the battle for Macragge given their WE MARCH FOR MACRAGGE creed. Sicarius is either dead or been promoted by now. With Severus dead by the hands of the Daemon, Titus becomes his successor. Further proof comes from the Blood Ravens appearance. Hive Fleet Leviathan, a splinter of which was defeated by the Magpies in DOW2, showed up in the final years of M41. Given that Retribution takes place 11 years after that, and Titus mentions the Aurelian Crusades, Relic has left the 41st Millennium behind. In four games, Relic has pushed further with the 40K timeline than Games Workshop has in twenty years.
***This is more or less confirmed by 8th edition. Cato Sicarius gets lost in the Warp at one point, so naturally they would have promoted someone else (namely Titus) to fill in. Sure the [[Great Rift]] doesn't appear on the map in the intro, but it hadn't been made up yet IRL, what are you gonna do?
* Not enough Ham. From the company that brought such gems as "BEAR WITNESS TO MY ASCENSION!!!!" and "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! LET THE GALAXY BURN!", it's a bit of a letdown when <s>even the Orks sound bored</s> you call "GIT OFF MAH SHIP, SPACE MUHREEN!!" bored? Calm Space Marines are boring Space Marines. Shout your litanies to the Emperor, dammit!
*<s>[[Butthurt|Multiplayer perks. COCK OF DUTY MODERN SHITFUCK ANNOYING FUCKING 'MARTYRDOM' RIPOFF. Yes. Your armor's power-pack/jump-pack EXPLODES with a ludicrous kill zone. FUCKING ANNOYING.</s>]] The noobs want perks deal with it. [[Skub|GIT GUD STOP WHINING.]]
**<s>this game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with bigger guys for you.</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heresy!}}
* Multiplayer: MIGRATING TO NEW HOST. MIGRATING TO NEW HOST. MIGRATING TO NEW HOST. MIGRATING TO NEW HOST. NOW I LAG LOLOLOLOLOL. But this comes as a result of no dedicated servers due to a small playerbase. (One player goes as far as to call Host Migrations "Warp Storms" over voice chat, due to the seeming level of warp-dickery behind their timing.)
*<s>[[Butthurt|Dreadnoughts are unstoppable rape machines that will steamroll the entire enemy team by themselves unless it is made up entirely of devastator marines (RELIC SUCKS AT BALANCE!)]]</s> the concept of game balance is bullshit. [[Skub|GIT GUD STOP WHINING.]]
* Final boss fight with Nemeroth is disappointing. Instead of having a proper fight like against Grimskull, it's just a quick-time event. While being sort of epic the first time you play it (You ''are'' falling down a space elevator, after all) it gets repetitive and boring in following play-throughs. Also, you can spam all three of the required inputs at once with no penalty.
** And to get to the irritating button mash you have to drudge through a long and annoying fight with his OP minions.
*Good luck finding a game that's on any of the DLC stuff, or outside of the original five maps, You won't find any matches that aren't Seize Ground or Annihilation. We seriously need a new Space Marine game.
* There's no-one fucking playing multiplayer anymore
* <s>We're never gonna get a sequel :c</s> SEQUEL CONFIRMED, THE EMPEROR HAS HEARD OUR PRAYERS.
* A squad of [[Veteran Squad#Sternguard Veterans|Sternguard Veterans]] or [[Terminators]] could have solved both the Orc and Chaos problems in under thirty minutes. A squad of each should have been aboard the [[Strike Cruiser]] in orbit. Deamon Prince Nemeroth whiled on by Assault Terminators led by Titus would have been funny and [[awesome]] to see.
* Your a dwarf in a barrel.
* Exterminatus glitching the fuck out.
* The bolter behaves like a generic assault rifle. Orks will take like 10 shots to die. Fire warrior (shudders) remains the only 40k game to get the bolter right.
* Ranged and Melee damage do not correlate, meaning switching between the 2 on a single target is an useless endeavor despite it looking sick as fuck
*Said Anniversity Edition now made it priced at $60 USD, overpriced considering that it released 10 years ago

== Downloadable Content ==
The game is constantly being supported and so much new content has been added over the past few months, it's astonishing. New content includes new modes such as capture the flag mode, capture and control, and dreadnought assault. New maps have been released, and previous pre-order only skins are now available (including new ones such as the Legion of the Damned skin-YEAH!) Below is a list of all the dlc you <s>can buy now(some of which is free by the way.)</s> have as of the Anniversary Edition.

*Exterminatus: This is a free update that added co-op to the game. A much needed add-on. Let's you play as Loyalist Marines in a team of four vs hordes of orks. Fun and crazy, (SPOILER!) final round is a bonus round against Chaos (end of spoiler.) Can use all your multiplayer loadouts and gain experience as well.

*Chaos Unleashed: You can now play as Chaos Space Marines in the Exterminatus game mode. Gameplay wise it isn't different from the Loyalist version, but new enemies along with the ol' ORKS are present. These new enemies are the Imperial Guard and the orks get a new unit (read ork entry below.) Oh yeah and we can now KILLZ US SOME SPACE MARINES! ULTRAMARINES TO BOOT!
**IG units include: regular shock troops with lasguns, veterans with chainswords (yes you read that right), sanctioned Imperial psykers who can also tackle stun you, troops with melta guns and troops with grenade launchers.
**Apart from the IG forces the Orks have their old units returning with the addition of KILLA KANZ coming in during the bonus round! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY2sni61dms The start of the bonus round and how fucking tough it is.]
**Yes, space marines are part of the enemy now, and they are tough as hell to kill. If anyone made it to the bonus chaos round for the loyalists, they will know. They have the same armor and health as the CSM of that bonus round, but come standard in every arena (during the later half usually.) You need to work together as a team to take them down, if not you'll get overwhelmed pretty easily. They have the tactical marines, assault marines without jump packs (Thank the Dark Gods) and devastators with plasma cannons (That can fuck your shit in case you allow them to fire a volley)
**Three new maps including Habs Ablaze, Station Tertius and Aquila Canyon. This dlc also includes new achievements and trophies.

*Capture the flag (free update): Regular run of the mill capture the capture the flag mode. Unfortunately, devolves into everyone camping their sides to defend their flags and going long range. IF you've got balls of steel. then charge the other side to scare the hell out of them. Preferably use the Assault Marine with a hammer and "Death from above" upgrade.

*Capture and control: <s>Currently playing. Will update soon.</s> Sadly, due to bad matchmaking and division of map rotations, I cannot find a game to play of this mode. Will try to update soon. If anyone else has, you obviously have the right to update it on your own... something something this was written maybe 3 years ago. Also a run of the mill game mode, Assault unit hell.

*Dreadnought Assault: Probably the most controversial of the game modes. This player has already played it and highly recommends it. But the playerbase is apparently divided. Basically, you have to capture the Dreadnought capture point and as soon as it is captured, a teammate that is inside the point will be chosen to pilot the <s>suit</s> rape machine (at random? no idea. Needs confirmation.) You have to use the dreadnought to <s>capture the other points</s> assrape the other team. It is an ungodly powerful machine with a lot of health and you gain the auto/assaultcannon, powerfist/claw (both former weapons for loyalists and latter for Chaos, the auto-cannon and assault cannon are the weapons that differ from their counterpart on the other side, with the auto having lower RoF but higher damage per shot, and the assault having higher RoF but less damage per shot, but both fire rapidly enough to be used the same way), and meltagun. Obviously becomes a fire magnet and players will mostly use <s>devastators</s> Thunderhammers/Power Mauls on it. (contrary to tabletop, DEVASTATORS/HAVOCS CAN'T SCRATCH THE DAMN DREADNOUGHT) Comes with appropriate skins for Chaos and Loyalist marines.
**Includes three new maps as well; Desolation, Dome Mechanicus and Chem Refinery. New achievements/trophies also included.
**Has apparently vanished into the ether on the Xbox marketplace and is no longer available (on that system at least). Perhaps the playerbase bitched too much?

*As said before, pre-order skins are now available, including some new ones. Just to get you drooling, Iron Hands and Death Guard armor. OH YEAH!

== Multiplayer Tactics ==

Devastators:
#'''USE PLASMA CANNONS AT RANGE.''' Fire a barrage and fuck off. Watch for return fire, the Assault Cannon/Reaper Autocannon have a hellish rate of fire and will tear you to shreds.
#'''ALTERNATELY, USE HEAVY BOLTER AND CAMP TACTICAL LOCATIONS.''' Heavy Bolter can rack up insane damage very, very quickly and can easily wipe a squad of Escorts if you set up correctly. Surprisingly, the Heavy Bolter can also do a lot of damage to the Dread if it doesn't get a chance to return fire (I.E. it has its attention held by Plasma Cannoneers and the like).
#'''LASCANNON ONLY IF YOU'RE THE HOST.''' Lag makes Lascannon headshots completely unreliable unless you're the host, and turns the potential the Lascannon has against both the Dread and its escorts to functionally nil. If you ''are'' the host, feel free to use the Lascannon, as it can damage the Dreadnought (not as much as the Plasma Cannon though) and easily wipe the Escorts out. Generally though, you will want one of the other Heavy weapons (again, mostly Plasma Cannons).

Assaults:
#'''DRAW SOME ATTENTION WITH THE PLASMA PISTOL.''' The Plasma Pistol's virtually worthless damage-wise against the Dread, but a charged shot will stick to it, fuck up its vision for a half-second or so, and rattle around its aim a bit. Consider a Plas Pistol charged shot when you need to get the Dread's attention and keep it from a safer distance.
#'''SWORDS AND CHAINSWORDS, LEAD THE WAY.''' Combine a Sword (Chain or Power) with Swordsman's Zeal and Combat Drugs. You'll generally not do any appreciable damage to the Dreadnought, but that isn't the point: You can use this combo to land next to a Dread, get in a swipe or two on either it or its escorts, and fuck off, potentially drawing fire and attention away from much more important matters (like the Devastators your team has lining up shots). Note, however, that if you delay or the enemy team is smart, you will wind up a bloody smear on the floor. If not on active Dread attention-getting duty, help cap points and deal with the escorts.
#'''AXES ARE RISKY BUSINESS.''' Axeman's Zeal offers bigger damage chunks and the same delicious healing, and works the same way as the Sword/Chainsword tactic above, but it leaves you open more. Bear this in mind. If you're not that good with the Axe, leave it at home.
#'''THUNDER HAMMER/DAEMON MAUL - THE KILLING BLOW.''' Killing Blow helps. A ''fucking'' lot. Without this perk, you can still wreck up the Dreadnought, but not by yourself. Two or more Assaults with hammers and the Dreadnought is [[Ork|proppa]] fucked.
#'''SUICIDE IS PAINLESS.''' It's a dick move, but loading up with Final Vengeance Assaults can do some good damage to the Dreadnought if absolutely every other fucking tactic fails. Fly in, spam grenades, Swing Sword/Axe/Hammer until killed, die on purpose, explode.

Tacticals:
#'''PLASMA GUN IS AN OKAY CHOICE I GUESS.''' Similar to the Plasma Pistol, you aren't taking the Plasma Gun for the damage, even though it is a little higher than the Plasma Pistol's and it can damage the Dread better. The main advantage is punching the fucking escorts with it, or sticking charged shots to the Dread itself to draw attention, damage it a little, and throw off its aim. Fire off a shot, then get the fuck out of dodge.
#'''HELP CAP FUCKING POINTS.''' Damned things won't handle themselves, and you need 'em to win.
#'''MOST OF YOUR WEAPONRY WON'T HURT THE DREADNOUGHT.''' The Tactical has ''one'' weapon that can contribute to a fight with the Dreadnought, and it's also the one weapon almost fucking nobody uses: The [[Vengeance Grenade Launcher|Vengeance Launcher]]. It takes about 12-14 shots given ideal aim, but the Vengeance Launcher ''can'' kill the Dreadnought. Working in teams, this can actually be just as effective as Plasma Cannon spamming - do note that it holds much less ammo, though, and is much harder to use.
#'''HELP YOUR TEAMMATES.''' Teleport Homer may be the most unsung hero of Dreadnought fights. One Tactical in a good spot can effectively act as a mobile spawnpoint for his buddies. Ideal for Devastator teams which need a quick way into the fight that isn't a [[METAL BOXES|Metal Box]].
#'''YOU STILL HAVE GRENADES.''' Grenades can still do damage and still blind the Dreadnought, so for fuck's sake, use them.
#'''STALKER BOLTER THE FUCKING ESCORTS.''' Stalker Bolter will cut the escorts to shreds if you're a good shot, and can reliably damage the Dreadnought a tiny bit if there's no other targets of opportunity handy (generally you want to avoid pissing it off as a Tactical, though). Stalker the escorts though, to ensure your teammates can deal with the Dread easier without worrying about its squad of tagalongs.

''An important note about the DLC. While a lot of the new stuff is fun and cool, the lists are divided by map rotations. Meaning when you choose a specific game mode, you choose the content you want to play in. Normally this isn't so bad, but what ends up happening is that you wait and wait for games to appear for the selected content. If you don't join a game for that dlc during that waiting time, you are pushed into a standard content game. So you want to join a Chaos Unleashed map, but there's no one around, so you join (read: forced into) a regular match. Oh no, the second you join said match, other people joined the CU list and you just left. Hopefully something will done about that.''

=== How to destroy the Dreadnought ===

As tested by two players, one yours truly, there is a limited number of options when it comes to dealing with an enemy Dreadnought.

#[[what|Lascannons do minimal damage]], [[fail|yes the primary anti tank weapon of the Imperium of man does nothing.]] Headshots can do some decent damage - but it's finicky due to lag and a weird head hitbox (especially since the extra-damage weak point on the Dreadnought is the engine at the back, not the head, oops).
#Stalker Bolter is more reliable, but nowhere near as good against the Dread. Works well on its escorts, though.
#Heavy Bolter can damage it but it takes a lot of shots, and the Dread *will* return fire at the first opportunity and fuck your ass. Fire and move.
#[[What|Meltaguns do nothing.]] Avoid. (They take off exactly 10% of the Dreadnought's health from pointblank range, make of this what you will).
#Grenades only annoy it, but Flash Grenades can blind it for a second.
#Devastator stomp does nothing (and if you were trying to do this in the first place, [[Tau|gb2Tau]]).
#Plasma Guns and Pistols do absolutely nothing unless charged, and are questionably useful if charged. The "Sticky" charged shot though is great for drawing a Dread's attention, and can do a bit of damage to help out or soften it up prior to an attack.
#A Dread's close combat arm will put your head through your ass and send you flying in one hit.
#The Dreadnought has its own Iron Halo shield, but only for one charge that lasts for about 30 seconds. When activated, the Dreadnought strikes a distinctive pose while its arm glows. Firing at it now is a waste of ammo and your life.

Your destructive answer in this case is PLASMA, followed by VENGEANCE LAUNCHER. Plasma cannons are the only heavy weapon that will reliably do anything of relevance to the Dreadnought, and it takes around 10 shots. The only option other than Plasma Cannons are the [[Vengeance Grenade Launcher|Vengeance Launcher]] and the Thunderhammer/Power Maul. The former will do in a Dread in about 12 shots; the latter, if you have the Killing Blow perk, will make quick work of the Dreadnought.

== How to spam Chaos Unleashed Exterminatus ==
This DLC added IG and SPESS MAHREENS to your Ork hordes, while allowing you to be HERETICS. Sounds awful, right? WRONG. This mode is actually easy to spam to the bonus wave.
STEP 1: if you manage to get a full four players, divide yourselves among Raptors and Tacticals. (With a minimum of one raptor, but preferably two or three)
STEP 1.5: If you're a raptor, have the perks for damage when you lift off and land on with your jump pack, and a daemon maul or chain axe if you don't like the low swing speed of the maul. (not required but it helps.)
If you're a/the tactical marine, have the teleport homer and perk that allows an extra weapon. Have a bolter, melta gun, and plasma gun. (Again, not required but it helps)
STEP 2: When you enter the map, have one raptor jump to the Orks, and the other jump to the IG forces, while the tactical marines camp in a corner of the map of their choice.
STEP 3: Have the raptors bait the two forces together, kill a few if you're feeling ballsy, and jump away back to the tacticals. The Orks and IG should start beating the fuck out of each other while only a few stragglers chase your gang. Kill the ones that follow you (it will still be a pretty steady stream, but the majority of their forces will be Shooting/chopping each other. )
STEP 4: The IG WILL win once teh SPESS MAHREENS show up. But usually they'll only have a small squads worth of either. You now have two options.
1: have the raptors charge to draw fire, toss grenades, do some damage and leave, while the tacticals charge and blow them up with their meltas, should ammo run out, use fully charged plasma shots. then have them run. repeat until all forces are destroyed.
OR
2: All of you run in from different directions, If you've beaten the main game 1 marine and a guardsmen or two isn't difficult, hopefully (sometimes the AI will still charge one guy, ignoring targets that are closer) they will be split up enough for each player to take out his group and help the others who haven't.
These work all the way up to the bonus round, which is just killa kans.
NOTE: These require some pretty good amounts or coordination between your squad members, and due to the AI's nature have a chance of entering an "allies of desperation" pseudo alliance and zerg-rushing your squad while only minimally chopping each other, this is rare however and the above strategies work 9 times out of ten.
ONE PLAYER METHOD.
STEP 1: Be a raptor with the above described perks and equipment (Much more essential this time.)
Step 2: Basically the same as the other step 2, except you're only choosing one side (usually the orks, they'll chase you longer) and leading them to the other
Step 3: 9 out of ten on the maps have tiny rock outcroppings or similar that you can jump up to and are inaccessible to everything else. jump to one of these, If you don't know where one is, just go to the side of the map.
Step 4: When the IG win you need to do some scouting, usually the AI marines don't clump together, so find an isolated one and take him out. If they are clumped together, throw all of your grenades at them, jump in, kill one (or two if you're feeling ballsy) and jump away, there are usually one or two full refills for your grenades around the level. repeat as necessary until only Guardsmen remain, you should know how to kill a few guardsmen.
NOTE: This falls prey to the Allies of desperation flaw of the other one, if this happens you're fucked.

== Mod: Space Marine Augmented ==
You want a rebalanced game? Want a non-sucky game start/match-making? Additional weapons? Additional armour? All DLC unlocked? All perks unlocked? Start matches with 2 people?
Then Space Marine Augmented is for you!

The following additional new items are in the game:
* MK3 armour
* Chapter/Legion specific artwork/armour pieces
* Flamer
* Astartes Shotgun
* Autocanon
* Power Fist
* Several Bolter patterns like Tigrus, Phobos and relic
* Several Chainswords: the original one, a relic one, a tabletop style one
* Lightning Claw

Terminators and Dreadnoughts are planned.

The mod is started from a launcher. You create a non-steam account in it to store your stuff online and see others in the game.
You can only play with other players who use the mod though, so spread the word!

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uni0jPEK4JY
* https://smaugmented.github.io/

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:Space Marine screenshot 1.jpg|"Space Marines!"
Image:Space Marine screenshot 2.jpg|"Kill da Space Marines!" ("Space Marines!")
Image:Warhammer chaos.jpg|Come hither brother, for I only wish to embrace you.
Image:Mira-noscale.jpg|She wants to fuck
Image:Space Marine screenshot 4.jpg|Stop Ripping-off Henlein, GW, just STOP!
Image:Warlord Class battle Titan.jpg|Dat Heeeuuge
Image:Space Marine screenshot 5.jpg
Image:Space Marine screenshot 6.jpg|This was cut. Probably for the best, as fighting a Deff Dread would have been either a huge letdown or harder than hell. (Actually, that's a Killa Kan. Note the two arms, instead of four)
Image:Renegadeguards.jpg|Wera firin ah grehn lazahs!!!
Image:Bloodlettercharging.jpg
Image:Taintedpsyker.jpg
Image:297690.jpg
Image:Sidonus.jpg|He still should go for the bionic eye implant.
Image:Lieutenant Miranda Nero.jpg|The text box pretty much says it all. Also, hot as hell. Yeah, Rule 34 should follow quickly.
File:Mira.jpg|"When confronted by this particular situation, the only reasonable course of action would be to give her the D." --[[Roboute Guilliman]], The [[Codex Astartes]]
</gallery>

== See Also ==
*[https://store.steampowered.com/app/55150/Warhammer_40000_Space_Marine/ Space Marine on Steam]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyLLeKcxw24XO-696pWe0Ztxx14rNs-a1 The game's soundtrack]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgxVQRTXtz0 Trailer for the sequel]
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Video Games]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]