The Imperial Navy's powerful Victory-class Battleship is suspected to be a modified Retribution-class Battleship. In its internal layout, the Victory-class greatly resembles the Retribution-class. It is possible that this design is the product of grafting Lance weapons systems onto a Retribution template in an attempt to replicate the successful Apocalypse-class Battleship. However, a key difference between the two classes of Battleship is the substantial number of Lance systems present on the Victory-class in place of the Retribution 's large number of Attack Craft hangers. The Tech-priests of Mars refuse all requests for access to their records by historians of the Imperial Navy, so the origin of this class remains unclear, though one vessel, the Conqueror, is known to have particularly distinguished itself during the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium to bring the Emperor's light to the galaxy after the end of the Age of Strife. When Hive Fleet Behemoth, the first major Tyranid Hive Fleet encountered by the Imperium of Man in 745.M41, four Victory-class Battleships met the threat of the Behemoth -- the Victory, Argus, Conqueror, and Hammer of Scaro.
Notable Victory-class Battleships
- Argus - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Argus was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41.
- Conqueror - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Conqueror was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. The Conqueror had a long, proud pedigree that stretched back over ten millennia, having particularly distinguished itself during the Great Crusade to bring the Emperor's light to the galaxy after the end of the Age of Strife. The Conqueror led the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet that cleansed the Stabulo System of the deviants that polluted the Segmentum Tempestus at that time.
- Hammer of Scaro - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Hammer of Scaro was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. The Hammer of Scaro was rebuilt with prow torpedoes instead of its Nova Cannon after receiving severe damage ramming the Ork Space Hulk Gungedrinka at the Battle of Lexus.
- Victory - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Victory was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41.
Sources
- Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 2, "D'aynes Fighting Ships of Segmentum Tempestus - Battlefleet Bakka," pg. 37