A Chaos Carnage-class Cruiser
The Chaos Carnage-class Cruiser were designed as fleet support vessels that utilise their long range weapons batteries to stand off and provide supporting fire for other warships. The Carnage-class is especially good at destroying Eldar spacecraft by overwhelming their deceptive Holo Fields with a sheer volume of weapons fire, though Carnage-class vessels fare relatively poorly against the heavily-armoured prows of Ork and Imperial warships.
The Carnage-class was an ill-fated design from the start, marred by the many technical difficulties encountered trying to power such long-range weaponry and the cause of much division within the Imperial Navy's Battlefleet Obscurus. It was further marred when the very first Carnage-class Cruiser, the Relentless, turned to Chaos during the Skalathrax Landing (a different world than the Daemon World Skalathrax), turning its guns on the six Imperial Guard transports it was supposed to be covering as they made a landing in hostile territory, thereby earning the new name Initiate of Skalathrax. Since that time, many more Carnage-class Cruisers have turned Traitor as well.
Notable Carnage-class Cruisers
- Initiate of Skalathrax - The first Carnage-class Cruiser ever built, the Initiate of Skalathrax was also one of the most infamous. Originally named the Relentless, when the Cruiser went into battle during the Skalathrax Landing, supporting six Imperial transports as they attempted to establish a beachhead on that contested world. However, as Traitor vessels from a Chaos warfleet moved in on the convoy, the Relentless turned its guns on the transports, destroying three. The remaining transports reached the surface but found that their landing site had been compromised and they were quickly overwhelmed by the Traitor forces. Renamed the Initiate of Skalathrax for its deeds, this Carnage-class Cruiser survived three millennia of blockades and convoy attacks until it was finally destroyed by Imperial agents whilst it was docked at the traitorous Darkstation space outpost in the Priam Sector during the Gothic War.
- Anarchic Vendetta - The Anarchic Vendetta became another Carnage-class Cruiser that turned to Chaos after a mass mutiny by its crew who left the butchered remains of their officers aboard Station 26/A, and then violently tore the ship out of dock. The Anarchic Vendetta then proceeded to deal heavy damage to the station until they were forced to disengage by the intervention of the Apocalypse-class Battleship Duke Helbrecht.
- Excessive - The Excessive fought and earned renown during the Gothic War.
- Wanton Desecration - The Wanton Desecration fought and earned great fame during the Gothic War.
Sources
- Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook