Editing Imperial Navy Grand Cruiser (section)

==In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2==
Grand Cruisers were built for a different time, and it shows, playing very differently from other Imperial Navy vessels. There are no armoured prows, torpedoes or Nova Cannons here - indeed, no actual prow weapons. Instead, what you have are vessels built purely for duelling, slugging it out with ferocious broadsides which can rival battleships' output. For some players, this is a deal-breaker, as the reduced prow armour make them twice as fragile when charging into enemy formations and the lack of weapons there reduces the ability to pull off skilled micro moves like smaller cruisers' torpedo/ram combo. However, other players appreciate the lack of micro involved, as once you've chosen a target and set engagement distance and side, there isn't really much else to consider, meaning you can focus elsewhere.

The '''Vengeance''' is your basic grand cruiser, sporting powerful long-range plasma macrobatteries and lances; in this regard it's basically an up-gunned Lunar, though lacking the armoured prow and torps. Unfortunately, your lances lack some of the range of battlecruisers' lance turrets. This means it's harder to withdraw to long range and poke at damaged enemies with accurate fire, and shares the generalist weakness of never being able to bring its batteries against a single target efficiently.

It's nonetheless a strong option, and can actually open up some interesting possibilities. When paired with the longer-ranged battlecruisers, its mobility and enhanced resilience can be used to screen them from return fire; when paired with shorter-ranged ships, it can operate efficiently from behind the lines. And though it strictly lacks prow weapons, it does still have the powered spur for extra ramming damage - with all the weight of a grand cruiser behind it.

The '''Avenger''' is your close-range brawler. The lack of an armoured prow really hurts here; with nothing but macro broadsides you have no option but to charge straight in, soaking fire all the way. When you get there, the lack of lances can be frustrating, and worse, your macrobatteries are actually the light versions, meaning that although it [[Dakka|pumps out a lot of shots,]] the damage output is somewhat lower than you might expect.

If you want a grand cruiser to do grand cruiser things, the Vengeance is usually better; however, as a line-breaker the Avenger still does its job admirably. With the weight of the class behind a powered spur, accelerating to ramming speed will break apart enemy formations and careless enemy ships very quickly, allowing your lances to get to work from afar while the enemy is forced to deal with a ship every bit as resilient as you'd expect from a grand cruiser in the middle of their formation.

The final advantage the Avenger has in this regard is that it's ''astonishingly'' cheap, and so surprisingly expendable in its suicide-charge role. It's so affordable, in fact, that even though it's stuck with light macrobatteries, the Avenger actually has the second-highest broadside DPS per point in the entire Imperial Navy roster, beaten only by the [[Endeavor-class Light Cruiser|Endeavour light cruiser]] (and even then, beaten ''very'' narrowly). Take the armour-piercing ammo upgrade to reduce enemy admirals to tears and ships to scrap.

The '''Exorcist''' is your carrier option, and shares the Tyrant's issue of short-ranged macrobatteries. This means it needs to engage at a far lower distance than it really wants to if it's to contribute to the fight after scrambling strike craft. Worse, the Emperor-class isn't really ''that'' much more expensive and has weapons which allow it to actually engage at carrier range. Plus, despite having two sets of launch bays, it groups all squadrons into a single blob, meaning [[FAIL|you can't scramble fighters for point defence AND bombers for offence at the same time.]]

So - if it's almost the price of an Emperor while lacking its improved hull integrity and weapons, and less flexible than a couple of Defiants, why bother with the Exorcist? The answer is simple; it absolutely ''shits out'' strike craft. Point for point, this is your most efficient source of squadrons, and those squadrons are so large that scrambling bombers can reduce even heavier enemy ships to scrap in shockingly short order. Plus, the way squadrons are handled means that if even a single model survives to return, the whole squadron is replenished, and since you can only carry a limited number this can drastically increase how many times you can launch in longer battles.

Versus the Emperor, you're losing out on the improved sensor suite and turrets, but gaining significantly improved mobility while being just as threatening as an actual carrier. Versus two Defiants, you're trading the flexibility of being in two places at once and having two types of squadrons at once for a much tougher hull and more resilient strike craft. Overall, there isn't a clear winner, as what will serve you best depends on your playstyle; but if you just want to fill the skies with the navy's finest pilots, want to wield a proud relic of [[Great Crusade|humanity's last golden age]], or just love Battlestar Galactica, the Exorcist is a venerable and noble addition to your fleet.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Battlefleet Gothic]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Imperial Navy]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]
[[Category:Ships]]

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