Hades-class Heavy Cruiser

Once a design considered suitable to serve as the backbone of an Imperial Battlefleet, the Chaos Hades-class Heavy Cruiser is an exceptionally dangerous and well-armed vessel, a dire threat to any ship of the line. Hades-class Heavy Cruisers can put out a devastating amount of firepower at long range, including dual banks of lances and heavy clustered weapons batteries on each broadside.

It is suspected that the Hades-class contains certain non-Euclidian quirks of architecture, perhaps placed deliberately by its corrupted planners, that inexorably lead towards madness and worshiping daemonic entities of the Warp. Whatever the truth, it is well-known that this heavy cruiser is often found serving at the forefront of Traitor battle formations.

Notable Hades-class Heavy Cruisers[]

Contagion - Originally designed as the Vengis when still serving the Imperium, the Contagion was captained by the Battlefleet Gothic's legendary Flag-Captain Hendrik Morreau. Morreau sold his ship and soul to Nurgle when he became trapped in the Immaterium. A keen tactician, Morreau's specialisation was to power down his ship as to be undetectable, and overwhelm his opponents from an unexpected quarter. Morreau and the Contagion joined forces with Abaddon the Despoiler during the Gothic War, and the vessel was ultimately destroyed during an engagement with the Dictator-class Cruiser Lord Solar Macharius.
Injustice - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War. Destroyed in a suicidal boarding action undertaken by the Elysian 234th.
Malignus Maximus - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in the Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War.
Optimus Nemesis - The vile pirate warlordKarrad Vall of the Koronus Expanse uses a Hades-class Heavy Cruiser, the Optimus Nemesis, as the flagship of his Chaos Reaver fleet. Its name spoken in fear by Rogue Traders and Imperial Navy officers alike, the Optimus Nemesis has engaged dozens of ships from Battlefleet Calixis and several Rogue Traders. Although it has been brought to battle many times, the Optimus Nemesis has never been destroyed, its deeply-scarred hull a testament to the warship's unholy resilience. Some whisper that the ship is often commanded by a Chaos Space Marine, thus explaining its exemplary battle record. Despite this, however, there are reports that Karrad Vall is currently constructing a much larger class of warship in orbit over the planet Iniquity. It is likely he intends to shift his flag to this new vessel, whatever it may be.
Warmaker - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War. The Warmaker was once one of the most highly praised vessels in the Gothic fleet, but is now numbered amongst its most hated enemies. Before the Gothic War, the Warmaker acted as a training vessel, having been retired from active duty following thirteen highly praised centuries as flagship to the 4th Heavy Cruiser Flotilla. It is unknown how long the foul grip of Chaos had festered, before being spread to every corner of the fleet to promulgate their despicable beliefs amongst their crews. This base treachery was only discovered with the outbreak of the Gothic War, when the Warmaker opened fire on Jarnu Orbital Station, shortly after breaking from dock. The wreckage of the space station fell onto Jarnu Capital, killing over 3 million Imperial citizens in the resulting mass conflagration. The Warmaker easily outdistanced the few vessels in position to give pursuit and was next sighted accompanying a fleet of marauders blockading the Slavonis System. To this date, the Warmaker had eluded capture or destruction, twice being crippled, but managing to limp to safety under the cover of its Escorts.

Dimensions[]

Hull: Heavy Cruiser
Class: Hades-class
Dimensions: Approximately 5.2 kilometres long, .8 kilometres abeam.
Mass: Approximately 33.5 Megatonnes.
Crew: Approximately 130,000 crew.
Acceleration: 2.4 Gravities maximum acceleration.

Sources[]

Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook (Blue Book), pg. 121
Rogue Trader: Battlefleet Koronus (RPG), pg. 109
Rogue Trader: Fallen Suns (RPG), pg. 70
Codex: Astra Militarum (7th Edition), pg. 22