FAST SLEEK AND DANGEROUS

THE BATTLECRUISERS

The battlecruisers were a measure seen as replacing the ageing grand cruisers and veteran heavy cruisers. Their aim was to provide extensive hitting power combined with speed and maneuverability. The weakness was that the protection was not proportional to the power and in direct fights with battleships, the battlecruisers tend to be very fallible.

THE VALHALLA CLASS BC

The Valhalla class was the first of a line of designs that eventually produced the warship designs of the modern navy. It combined the typical command superstructure and the armoured prow that give our ships their character, with the sleek and powerful lines now beyond the capabilities of Imperial yards.. The vessels proved imminently successful and were produced in large quantities. They served with distinction throughout the Emperors dominions and covered themselves in honour and glory.. They combined speed and a mix of Lances and weapons batteries that make them a versatile and dangerous opponent. Unfortunately they combined many design aspects that have since been lost to our shipbuilders skills and although efforts were made to keep them in service their numbers dwindled to the point where only some 30 to 40 examples remain in service today.... The majority of those remaining are ending their lives honourably as training vessels for his Majesty’s young officers.. All officers serving in the modern navy are proud to proclaim and remember fondly their service in a Valhalla class BCs. Perhaps the most famous of the class, "Odin’s Thunder" memorable for it’s loyal service during the Horus rebellion is now currently acting as the fleet flagship at Massada. This naval base in the Golgotha spiral is a powerful and fit setting for the closing years of such a famous vessel.

Helmut Von Sperling was like his ship the last of his line.. He had also decided that now was a good time to die for both of them.. Von Sperling is a rear admiral in His Imperial Majesty’s navy.. Until twenty two hours ago he had also been the officer commanding the imperial navy’s battle group at Massada.. Alas his command was no more and he had just two hours to decide the fate of his crew and his ship.. Von Sperling´s orders had been clear defend the warp portals at Massada and prevent the spread of heresy from Shalom to the Golgotha subsector.. What a sham it all had been.. The same policy that had guaranteed the success of the Shalom secession also infected Golgotha.. His fleet had been manned almost exclusively by conscripts from the Golgotha spiral.. Only the veteran Valhalla class BC "Odin’s Thunder", an officer training vessel and the flagship of the Battle group was clean of corruption.. For that reason and that reason only Odin’s Thunder was now the only ship still under his command.. They had given him twenty four hours.. Surrender or be destroyed they had said.. HAH!! Death or death what choice was that?? His decision was long made, only the timing was important.. To complete his shame they had consigned the Retribution BB "Honour of Empire" to guard the old veteran.. "The Honour" had been his first command.. How they turned the screw . Honourable men they had called themselves!! Fighters for freedom they claimed.. Followers of God they declared!! "BULLSHIT" he screamed.. They were heretics and traitors and the emperor would take his revenge.. Von Sperling on the other hand would fight and die.. "Odin’s Thunder" would die along with him...

Gathering his shattered pride the admiral opened the comm link. Thumbed the URL of the high command at Golgotha Prime and set the vidrec. in motion..

" My Lords

You see before you the unhappy Rear admiral Von Sperling.. I have lost my command the system and my honour. Only my courage remains and I must act before this too disappears.. The traitors have offered me vain death or imprisonment. I refuse them both. It is my intention to take my ship and my command out of Massada orbit and return to Golgotha.. The odds are against us and I have little hope.. This ship has a long and glorious history. I will not stain that memory but sign a signature of death that will live forever in Imperial legend.. I consign my soul and those of my cadets to the Emperor and take my leave of you.. Till death or our reunion on Golgotha.. Farewell.."

At ease with himself Helmut closed the link and opened the ships pubcom system..

"Fellow officers, our time is nigh.. I cannot accept the traitor’s terms and it is my intention to fight this ship to Golgotha.. If there are any without the stomach to join me then go now to your staterooms and take your worthless lives .. If you do not, I will kill you myself.. On this ship of glory only heroes and servants of the emperor are welcome.. Gentlemen power up the engines we go to make history"

With a roar of thunder and a gentle jolt, one of the oldest warships in the imperial fleet went to meet it’s fate.. In the vastness of space "The Honour of Empire" and it’s consorts moved to meet it.

 EVOLUTION CONTINUES

EMPIRE OR CHAOS, THE MISSING LINK..

This is the next phase in my search for the designs that linked the chaos/empire ships to the modern designs in use in the empire..

THE DIVINE RULER CLASS BC

The "Divine Ruler" class was the natural development of the Valhalla Class vessels and an important link in the chain that eventually produced the warship designs of the modern navy. They are first registered during the 32^nd millennium being built initially on Mars but variants have been seen that obviously bear the mark of yards all across the galaxy.. It combined most of the modern Imperial design features from the Valhalla and then some of it’s own. These are a landmark design in ship development in that they were the first to incorporate the slab sided weapons batteries that are now the hallmark of imperial gun ships and what’s more it was the first design to include the formidable nova cannon as it’s prow armament. The ships were indeed a true Imperial gunship design. The combination of the long range capabilities of the NC and the versatile dorsal lances make it perhaps the first design to truly merit the name of battle cruiser. The vessels proved operationally and tactically successful but were never produced in large quantities. Like the Valhalla class many design concepts were even then almost beyond the capability of the empires shipyards and further building would have put a strain on the maintenance resources of the navy as it was at that time.. One of the more elusive factors that condemned the design to be produced in such small quantities was the fact that it was aesthetically a total disaster.. Although the ship does have it’s supporters the general trend of opinion is that the class is one of the ugliest ever produced (except perhaps for an Emperor/Repulsive hybrid emanating from the Henderson Yards at Cypra Mundi in the 39^th millennium) . In time many commanders came to respect these versatile and effective vessels!! The combination of the ancient engines and power multiplier techniques with modern gunnery systems and operating practices produce a vessel capable of holding it’s own in any battle line.. The long-range capability is unmatched even by the mighty overlord BC’s that followed the Acheron class! The class never exceeded more than 40 ships but is still in service today.. These highly decorated and desirable vessels are much coveted commands for young captains on their road to the admiralty.. In recent years one at least was despatched to the Golgotha spiral to bolster the imperial fleet stationed at the naval base at Golgotha prime. The vessel, named the "Royal Sovereign", is currently commanded by Cpt. Klaus Baumann. Baumann is of course famous for his defence of the Imperial research base at Extremis Segunda. Baumann commanded the base while under the freelance command of Inquisitor Van Haroom during his exploration of the galactic rim at the end of the Golgotha spiral.. The base was attacked by what are believed to have been pirates who, had it not been for the outstanding performance of both Baumann and the "Royal Sovereign", would surely have destroyed the Empires bridgehead in that remote regions and condemned Van Harooms expedition to total destruction..

RESURRECTION CLASS BATTLECRUISER

The fleet of the Massada sector located on the northern rim consisted of mostly light and medium cruisers. At its core was the ancient battleship Leviathan.. Unfortunately this vessel was fast reaching the point where its engines were beyond the point of repair.. in preparation for its inevitable demise, the Massada yards began work on a warrior class BC.

The warriors were equipped with a full lance broadside and standard imperial lances on the dorsal mounts and the awesome nova cannon on the prow.. Long before the Warrior was complete, the Leviathans engines failed for the last time..

During the fitting out of the warrior the Massada techpriests suggested that the firepower of the warrior could be infinitely improved by fitting the dorsal lances of the leviathan to the Warrior.. This was carried out with no previous testing and when the first test fire of this powerful array took place, the warrior was dead in space. The guns had drained all power from the engines.. Thus enamoured of the idea of the power of these lances a decision was made to refit the warrior with engines under construction for a fleet carrier.. This would of course greatly increase the cost of the warrior but would give the sector fleet a hard-hitting core that few fleets in the region could match. The class was rebuilt in this form, renamed the Resurrection and a new super BC was born. As a bonus the added engine power allowed range 45 lances to be added to the main weapon batteries.

Resurrection class

MARS CLASS "I.M.S. IMPERIOUS"

                                                The Mars class rank among some of the first of the truly modern battlecruiser designs. The first of the class left the Mars shipyards in the 32nd millenia. Although somewhat under gunned , the mars is a flexible ship combining fighter cover with long range lance capability and an acceptable short range firepower. The majority of the class are nova Cannon armed  I.M.S. Imperious is perhaps the most famous of this type . It is notable that the bridge of a hulked Vengeance class grand cruiser was used in it's design. 

MARS CLASS TORPEDO VARIANT

                                                The Mars class rank among some of the first of the truly modern battlecruiser designs. The first of the class left the Mars shipyards in the 32nd millennia. Although somewhat undergunned , the Mars is a flexible ship combining fighter cover with long range lance capability and an acceptable short range firepower. Although the majority of the class are nova Cannon armed the I.M.S. shifting sands was converted to torpedoes during the controversial debate on ordnance versus firepower . It has been a solidly reliable servant of empire and is a much valued vessel.  

Instructions for building this model can be found at  

WARRIOR CLASS BATTLECRUISER

The warrior class battlecruiser was the first truly modern design digressing extensively from the dark gothic style of the empire.. Seen as a long distance dueling platform the warrior has not been a raging success. Many are convinced that the class is incapable of operating alone..

OVERLORD CLASS BATTLECRUISER

As all its contemporaries, the overlords were built to provide the fleet with battleship weapons on a cheap manoeuvrable cruiser hull. Difficulties in building to this specification have limited the number of vessels available to the fleet.

KRIEGER CLASS BATTLECRUISERS

                                                   The krieger class are a product of the Von Krup forge world. They are named for the governor karl franz krieger who tired of his planets ability to produce lunar class vessels acquired the plans of a voss world heavy cruiser by means of industrial espionage. Unfortunately the plans only detailed how to build the engines and dorsal lance batteries . He was therefore forced to produce a voss style heavy lunar with a powerful dorsal lance battery.  

Full details of the class can be found at

CAZADOR CLASS BATTLECRUISERS

                           All battle experiences of the imperial navy throughout the 39th and 40th millenia had proven the Gothic class to be a total disaster. The theory had been fine but the restriction of the vessels lances to 30 had meant that by the time the vessels guns were beginning to take effect the enemy too were closing. The firepower of the Gothics would not allow them to destroy an enemy fast enough to prevent them closing and damaging the Gothic. This was perhaps most notable in the Golgotha spiral where battles with fast heavily armed pirates were the norm. The tech priests of the Shalom shipyards considered many ways to rectify the problem but it was clear that unless the vessels armament could have it's range extended to 60 then the Gothic class were doomed to a short and unhappy life. The problem lie in the power demand. The standard cruiser engine design just would not provide enough power to satisfy the need and tests with long range lances either left the vessel with a pitifully weak battery or the vessel dead in the void from power drainage.

                        A more drastic approach was obviously needed . It was decided to rebuild damaged Gothics using the engines designed for the fleet carriers currently being built by the Massada shipyards to designs by Noah Ben Shalek.   So it was that the Gothics were rebuilt as battlecruisers with heavy modifications and at great cost but with sufficient power to meet all design criteria. The resultant vessel however incorporated an enlarged armoured prow, a deep sensor filled keel and dorsal lances with a range of 60.

                        The vessels proved their worth immediately when the first of the class "Silent Hunter" fought two rim raiders close to the void and totally destroyed them. It is perhaps unfortunate that their destruction was total as the battle-vids showed a type of vessel hitherto unseen in the Imperium and provoked some alarm in the high command. However since pirate raids have since been very much reduced, little has been said about this incident. There are currently three Cazador BC' operating in the Golgotha spiral and others have been thought to be built in other yards outside the spiral.