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"By the God-Emperor, she's a beaut, isn't she? Five kilometres long if a metre, clad in adamantium 10 metres thick, and a statue of Celestine herself on the prow. She'll cut a swath through the Koronus Expanse, she will."

—Yard-master Hale, launching the first Ambition-class Cruiser
Port Aquila

A fleet of Imperial Navy cruisers

A cruiser is a type of void-faring warship that makes up the backbone of any starfaring warfleet. More maneouverable than a battleship and more powerful than an escort, they have the firepower and speed to be used for almost any sort of duty, including patrols, blockades, raids and straight-up firefights.

Cruisers are divided into many sub-types depending on their size and tactical role. From light cruisers that are fast enough to chase off escorts all the way up through standard cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battlecruisers, culminating in the massive grand cruisers that are almost the equal of a true battleship, each cruiser type has its own part to play in achieving victory in void battles.

Imperial Navy Cruisers[]

RogueTraderVesselUnderAttack

A Rogue Trader Cruiser under assault by an unknown foe.

The conduct of the Great Crusade required vessels by the thousands, vessels that could not only carry armies and bring apocalyptic destruction to bear, but that could also endure the perilous transit of Warpspace and the titanic forces and hardships of the Empyrean and the deep void both.

Military vessels were needed to replace losses and meet the ever expanding demands of the expeditionary fleets, the Imperial Army's Armada Imperialis and, on a lesser scale, the Rogue Traders and local star system defence navies. To satisfy this constant need, a bewildering variety of classes of warship were developed to fulfil an equally bewildering variety of tactical roles.

Light cruisers and heavy cruisers are medium-sized Imperial warships, ranging in general terms between 4 and 6 kilometres in length and with an on-board complement of crew ranging into the tens of thousands. They are intended primarily for independent military operations such as raids, outpost assaults, deep-range patrols and search-and-destroy missions, and for use as "workhorse" warships in larger fleets and squadrons.

The difference between the two primary types of cruisers is principally found not in general size (although this may also be the case) but role and tacical specialisation; heavy, or armoured cruisers as they are also known, are designed to favour defence and firepower (particularly over-gunned ships for their class may be referred to as battlecruisers).

A noteworthy but relatively uncommon type of Imperial warship, grand cruisers are "pocket battleships" -- something of a halfway house between a battleship and a cruiser in size and firepower. They were intended principally to be capable of operating on their own rather than as part of a larger fleet, however, and are often further specially designed either for range (which was to say duration of deployment without significant resupply or refit) or to mount a specialised weapon system which required particular tactics to utilise. Grand cruisers make for formidable heavy raiders and could use their range and speed to catch targets unawares, as well as serving as powerful flagships for small fleets of cruisers and escorts.

The galleass of war is an equivalent vessel to a grand cruiser (though often much larger physically), much of whose fabric is given over to freight and transport capacity, while still maintaining formidable armaments and defence. They make for ideal support vessels for deep-range explorations into unknown regions of space and were used in ancient times as the flagships of the most powerful Rogue Traders Militant.

Light cruisers sacrifice some of the favoured elements of heavy cruisers for greatly increased speed and manoeuvrability. Both however are more than a match for any warship smaller than themselves, and will be the death of any civilian ship it chooses to turn its wrath on.

Just as with battle barges -- but on a smaller scale -- strike cruisers are modified designs used by the original Legiones Astartes and their Successor Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, optimised and reconfigured for planetary assault and voidship boarding actions in primacy over other roles.

No cruiser of any type can hope to match a true battleship in an open fight on equal terms, and so in any "clash of the line" between fleets, they are used in a supporting role for their side's battleships and battle barges, their role primarily to use their speed to carry out flanking attacks, combine their firepower, and to harry and finish off wounded ships of the line.

Because of the flexibility of their hulls and their relatively smaller scale in comparison to a battleship -- needing far less resources and material to construct as a mighty capital ship -- cruiser-sized hulls are also used for a wide variety of rarer variants and specialised functions.

As a result, minor cruiser classes such as siege monitors, attack carriers, pursuit cruisers, arvelasters, torpedo rams, claw-cruisers and shield-barques can all be found in the ancient Armada Imperialis order of battle and as relics in the Space Marine Chapter fleets and Navis Imperialis of the 41st Millennium.

Grand Cruisers[]

Grand cruisers are vastly powerful and archaic Imperial warships, remnants of a more technologically advanced era of Imperial history. Only battleships, true ships of the line, carry heavier armour or wield more firepower. These vessels were once the core of battlefleet squadrons, tough warships designed for concerted broadside actions and punishing void-duels. Now few in number, they are in many ways relics of a bygone age dating back to the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.

Very few grand cruisers have been constructed in recent millennia, the entire concept having fallen out of favour in many battlefleets. Their revolutionary and highly sophisticated Warp and realspace engine designs are now poorly understood by the Adeptus Mechanicus, leading to many well-publicised disasters and Warp calamities. Indeed, the fleets of the Archenemy contain the reinvigorated hulks of many formerly proud Imperial grand cruisers lost in the Warp due to the gradual dilution of the sacred knowledge needed to render these imposing starships safe.

Regarded by many suspicious senior staff officers in the Navis Imperialis as dangerous, temperamental, and constructed using dubious and possibly heretical technologies, the surviving grand cruisers of the 41st Millennium are largely relegated to the segmentum reserve fleets. These are motley collections of outdated and mothballed antique warships, held cold and silent in orbit around Departmento Munitorum depot worlds, ready for one last call to arms.

Although incredibly costly, complex, unpredictable and massively demanding in terms of maintenance and manpower, grand cruisers have much to offer Rogue Traders. They are vastly powerful ships, with continent-shattering firepower and ironclad armour that enables them to sweep aside entire squadrons of lesser vessels. As such, these vast voidcraft are surprisingly common among the fleets of the wealthiest Rogue Trader dynasties, especially given the willingness of cunning Navis Imperialis battlefleet lord admirals to divest themselves of what they regard as expensive and hazardous anachronisms.

  • Dominus-class Grand Cruiser (Great Crusade era)
  • Inflexible-class Grand Cruiser (Great Crusade era)

Galleass of War[]

The galleass of war is a vessel otherwise to a grand cruiser in firepower and defensive survaivability, though often much larger physically. Much of this increase in size is given over to cargo and transport capacity, while still maintaining formidable armaments and defence. They make for ideal support vessels for deep-range explorations into unknown regions of space and were used in ancient times as the flagships of the most powerful Rogue Traders Militant. They are rarely found as prized relic ships today among the wealthier or luckier dynasties of the Rogue Traders of the 41st Millennium.

  • Odysseus-class Galleass of War (Great Crusade era)

Battlecruisers[]

The battlecruiser concept arose as a result of the perceived failures of the older Imperial grand cruiser designs. These had been built around advanced experimental Warp-Drive systems, which ultimately proved to be unacceptably prone to catastrophic malfunction during Warp transit. As a result of these issues, grand cruisers came to be regarded by many in the Navis Imperialis as cursed ships. Furthermore, during the internecine conflict of the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium, several of the skills required to safely maintain the arcane technologies of the grand cruisers were lost, rendering them hazardous to operate.

Yet there was still a gap in the Imperial fleet armoury for a heavy cruiser, a vessel which straddled the gap between a "classic" cruiser like the Lunar-class Cruiser and a full battleship. Numerous small task forces required a powerful flagship, yet the potent and precious battleships could not be spared for every such engagement.

Using the simpler technologies of the later Imperial cruisers, and the power systems of battleships, the master tech-masons of the Adeptus Mechanicus produced an elegant hybrid, the battlecruiser, during the latter centuries of the 36th Millennium. Designed to provide the fleet with the long range punch of battleship weaponry in a cruiser-sized hull, battlecruisers are forged purely for heavy engagements between vast capital vessels, and excel in this narrow speciality. They overpower other cruisers by virtue of their overcharged weaponry; very few ships can out-shoot a battlecruiser.

Typically somewhat smaller and more lightly armoured than their predecessors, the grand cruisers, battlecruisers are nevertheless more economical, safer and more reliable. What they lack in heavy armour and exotic drive systems is more than made up for in raw firepower. Jealously guarded by battlefleet admirals, it is rare for these powerful starships to end up in the ragtag Rogue Trader fleets, but on occasion a particularly influential or devious individual will intrigue their way into the command of a battlecruiser.

  • Eclipse-class Lance Cruiser (Great Crusade era)
  • Hades-class Lance Cruiser (Great Crusade era)
  • Jovian-class Battlecruiser

Heavy Cruisers[]

Heavy cruisers are medium-sized Imperial warships, ranging in general terms between 4 and 6 kilometres in length and with an on-board complement of crew ranging into the tens of thousands. They are intended primarily for independent military operations such as raids, orbital or void outpost assaults, deep-range patrols and search-and-destroy missions, and for use as "workhorse" warships in larger fleets and squadrons.

The difference between light cruisers, standard cruisers and heavy cruisers is principally found not in general size (although this may also be the case) but in their fleet role and tacical specialisation; heavy, or armoured cruisers as they are also known, are designed to favour defence and firepower (particularly over-gunned ships for their class may be referred to as battlecruisers) rather than speed and manoeuvrability.

  • Carnivore-class Heavy Cruiser
  • Castellan-class War Cruiser

Cruisers[]

Standard cruisers are vast warships that form the iron backbone of the Navis Imperialis' battlefleets. Principal combat vessels designed to pound the enemy into flaming ruin, they are monolithic and awesome vessels only rarely found in the hands of the most wealthy and ambitious Rogue Traders.

  • Promethean-class Cruiser (Great Crusade era)
  • Relentless-class Cruiser

Light Cruisers[]

Light cruisers are often characterised as scout vessels, but some Forge Worlds produce true "pocket cruisers," slower, up-armoured and well-armed light cruisers that offer a cheaper alternative to full cruisers. They are often easy to maintain and less demanding in manpower, and many Rogue Trader dynasties find these flexible ships extremely attractive.

  • Defender-class Light Cruiser
  • Enforcer-class Light Cruiser
  • Siluria-class Light Cruiser
  • Tesujin-class Strike Cruiser (Great Crusade era)

Space Marine Cruisers[]

Rogue Trader Cruisers[]

Chaos Cruisers[]

Grand Cruisers[]

Heavy Cruisers[]

Cruisers[]

Light Cruisers[]

Drukhari Cruisers[]

Aeldari Cruisers[]

Battlecruisers[]

  • Phoenix Ship

Cruisers[]

  • Dragonship
  • Naiad-class Cruiser
  • Wraithship

Light Cruisers[]

  • Aurora-class Light Cruiser
  • Solaris-class Light Cruiser

Necron Cruisers[]

Battlecruisers[]

Cruisers[]

Light Cruisers[]

Ork Cruisers[]

Battlecruisers[]

Cruisers[]

Light Cruisers[]

  • Lite Kroozer

T'au Empire Cruisers[]

T'au[]

Leagues of Votann Cruisers[]

Tyranid Cruisers[]

Battlecruiser-grade Bio-Ships[]

Cruiser-grade Bio-Ships[]

  • Dark Prowler
  • Void Fiend

Light Cruiser-grade Bio-Ships[]

See Also[]

Sources[]

  • Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook: Ships of the Gothic Sector
  • Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Imperial Fleets
  • Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Xenos Fleets
  • Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Traitor Fleets
  • Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Necron and Tyranid Fleets
  • Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Tau Fleets
  • Battlefleet Gothic: Doom of the Eldar
  • Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 2, pp. 38-39
  • Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pg. 12
  • Dark Heresy 2nd Edition: Enemies Within (RPG), pg. 97
  • Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign
  • Planet Killer Magazine 1, pg. 45
  • The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series), "Warships of the Great Crusade," by Alan Bligh, pg. 15
  • Bitter Salvage (Short Story) by Nick Kyme
  • Rogue Trader: Battlefleet Koronus (RPG), pp. 20-26
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