Editing Imperial Navy Light Cruiser (section)

==== Dauntless ====

[[File:BFGADauntless.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Don't underestimate this.]]

Imperial scout cruisers have generally always had enough firepower to fight off a determined attack by escort-sized ships and can hold enough supplies to remain autonomous for months at a time, the Dauntless being no exception.

The fastest Light Cruiser class available, the ''Dauntless'' is also quite versatile thanks to its weapons load-out of [[Macrocannon|weapons battery broadsides]], prow-mounted [[Torpedo]] tubes, and front-facing [[Lance Weapon|Lance]] batteries. This combination of escort-like speed, and respectable armament and defense allows the Dauntless to be a significant thorn in the side of most opponents that it might face. Woe to the foolish skipper that underestimates a Dauntless due to its size, and few ever live to make that mistake twice. Compared to the Endeavour, it's faster and has the option for lances, making it effective at dealing with other light cruisers.

Some confusion exists over the exact shape of the Dauntless. In written descriptions, it's stated to lack the Imperial Navy's distinctive armoured prow - but the prow has been present on every official model and artwork. Adding to the confusion are its armour rules. On the tabletop, the Dauntless lacks the additional prow save bonus afforded to heavier Imperial vessels, suggesting that it's just down to the size of the vessel. However, in the BFGA video games, its prow armour is as strong as any other cruiser (and, hilariously, stronger than the Emperor-class), while in BFGA 2 it's the ONLY Light Cruiser hull to have a prow armour bonus, suggesting that it actually does benefit from an armoured prow. But then in the [[Rogue_Trader_(RPG)|Fantasy Flight Rogue Trader RPG]], while its prow armour is only marginally lower than a stock Lunar-class cruiser hull, the Armoured Prow is a specific upgrade for cruiser-tonnage vessels and not something innate.

This may just be a modelling issue; other Imperial light cruisers have a 'boxier' style with a different prow (as seen further down on this page), and nobody got around to retconning the Dauntless' model once those were introduced. It's also possible that it's just because the ship is so much lighter than a true cruiser; the prow ''is'' armoured, but the difference on a ship of that size isn't enough to make a difference on the six-point tabletop scale (as with how Tacticus power armour is supposed to be better than Aquila power armour but they're both a 3+ save). Finally, it could be that the Dauntless is based on a Lunar-class blueprint which was scaled down linearly; so even though it shares a shape with other vessels, the armour is actually significantly thinner and so doesn't afford additional protection (though that would raise the issues of why the rest of the ship doesn't have weaker armour...)

Whatever the case, the Dauntless is still pretty well-armoured in every depiction. Just remember to double-check whether the prow is only there for show in your system.

The ''Battlefleet Gothic: Armada'' games give you two variants of the Dauntless. The Mark-I version comes with a lance, while the Mark-II version mounts torpedoes.

*'''Length:''' 4.5km 
*'''Mass:''' 20 megatonnes; approx
*'''Crew:''' 65,000 crew; approx
*'''Acceleration:''' 4.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration

<gallery>
Battlefleet-gothic-armada-ii-imperial-navy-light-cruisers-advanced-ship-guide.png|The Mark II Torpedo boat version.
</gallery>