An Imperial Transport
An Imperial Transport is a voidship of many different classes that serve as the merchantmen, freighters, and support vessels that ply the Imperium's space lanes, carrying the commercial trade that is the lifeblood of the Human-settled galaxy. From the dozen or so transports used by the Imperial military in a single planetary invasion to the hundreds -- or even thousands -- that participated in a naval campaign like the Gothic War, the humble commercial transport is as vital to victory in a conflict as the mighty battleships of the Navis Imperialis that they supply.
The Imperium swarms with transport vessels. Millions of these civilian voidcraft plough the space lanes, ferrying pilgrims, ore, fuel, foodstuffs, weapons, materiel, machine parts and luxury goods to untold billions of eager consumers across the galaxy.
Though slow, ungainly, and poorly-armed, transports are often called upon to defend themselves in battle. Fighting against impossible odds, such battles invariably result in heavy losses to the transports, as they simply cannot match the combat power of a dedicated warship with its more powerful drives, weapons and void shields.
Most transport ships carry some weapons to protect themselves against pirates and other raiders, but without decent augur sensors and fire control carried out by experienced naval officers, the chances of getting in an accurate shot and doing real damage to an enemy vessel is miniscule.
The forces of Chaos often rely on hijacked or otherwise captured Imperial Transports, as they seem disinclined to build something as mundane as a cargo-hauler. Crewed primarily by pirates, Chaos Cultists, and other Renegades, these captured ships will begin to show signs of the warping influence of Chaos after enough standard years under the control of their dark new masters.
History[]
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of transport voidships participated in the Gothic War in the early 41st Millennium. The vast majority were chartered merchantmen of the merchant fleets pressed into service to move war materials to star systems under Chaos blockade, while many others were owned by the Navis Imperialis and used as fleet support vessels to resupply the battlefleets and form temporary repair bases in isolated systems,
The crews of these small vessels, despite being untrained in the arts of battle, struggled valiantly against the often impossible odds and paid a heavy price in blood for their vital efforts.
Notable Imperial Transports[]
- Son of John - The Son of John was a Tarask-class transport that was part of a merchant convoy moving into Port Maw in the early days of the Gothic War. When the convoy came under attack by a Chaos Slaughter-class Cruiser that had slipped past the Navis Imperialis' escort screen, the Son of John engaged the enemy ship from close quarters and succeeded in distracting it long enough for the other transports to escape into the Warp. Its puny guns firing to the last, the Imperial merchant vessel was destroyed, but the heroism and sacrifice of its crew shone like a beacon in the dark days that followed.
See Also[]
Sources[]
- Battlefleet Gothic Resources: Ships of the Gothic Sector (Specialist Game), pp. 114, 126
- Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pg. 39
- Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook (Specialist Game), pg. 114