Games - Imperial Navy

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	Games - Imperial Navy

In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000
, the Imperial Navy is one of the armed forces of the Imperium of Man.

While the Imperial Guard is responsible for the Imperium's ground forces, the Imperial Navy is responsible for the fleets of starships that maintain order between the stars and planets in the Imperium, as well as engaging threats both inside and outside the Imperium's borders.

The Birth of the Imperial Navy

During the Great Crusade, both the Guard and Navy were originally a single organisation; the Imperial Army. Each formation of the Imperial Army was assigned a cruiser-size vessel to act as a transport and mobile base, which was usually accompanied by several escorts. Commanding Officers held command over both their regiment and the starships assigned to them.

The events of the Horus Heresy caused a rethink of military organisation that, among many things, split the Army into the Guard and the Navy, so that no one commander could control both an army and the means to transport that army across space. This makes rebellions easier to contain.

Ships of the Imperial Navy

Fleets of the Imperial Navy are made up of multiple vessels that can be divided into three broad categories; battleships and grand cruisers, cruisers, and escorts. The actual size of starships in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is debated, although it is generally accepted that cruiser-size starships are between 3 and 6 kilometres in length.

Battleships are huge ships, with enormous amounts of weapons and shields, and are usually the command position for the Admiral of the Fleet. Although very powerful, battleships are slow to manoeuvre. Battlefleet Gothic employes two classes; the Emperor (which could carry a sizable amount of attack craft next to its normal weaponry) and the Retribution (which was noted for its powerful broadside firepower and its large amount of torpedo tubes). Battleships of Battlefleet Armageddon are based on the older Apocalypse and Oberon classes. Imperial battleships can have crews of 30,000 or more, including large numbers of Imperial Guardsmen or Space Marines to defend against enemy boarding assaults. Most battleships are between 10 and 14 kilometres from prow to stern.

Grand Cruisers are smaller than battleships, yet larger than cruisers. These vessels are usually much older in design and do not incorporate many of the features that are typical in current Imperial Navy vessels, like the armoured prow, and are not quite compatible with current navy tactical doctrine. As such, many are retired from active duty, but are still used by reserve fleets. The Avenger, with its powerful broadside firepower, is one such example. There are also some modernized versions of Grand Cruisers in service, but since these are much larger and more heavily-armed than their predecessors, they are more often classed as battleships.

Cruisers make up the majority of a fleet. Though not as powerful as a battleship, cruisers are much faster and can still deliver a deadly blow. There are multiple classes of cruiser; most based on the same general hull design but incorporating different combinations of broadside batteries, lance turrets and starfighter hangars. Examples include the all-round Lunar-class, the Gothic with its powerful lances and the Dictator starfighter and attack craft carrier. Large cruisers - those which are over 3 kilometres long - can carry a crew complement of over 10,000, plus Imperial Guardsmen and military police squads.

Note there are also classes of battlecruisers. Although based on a hull-design that is similar to the regular cruisers, these ships are generally larger - occasionally reaching battleship size - and more heavily armed. A notable example is the Mars-class battlecruiser, with its fighter bays, broadside batteries, lance turrets and immense Nova cannon.

A subset of the cruiser category contains the light cruisers. These ships fall in size between cruisers and escorts, mixing the firepower and durability of the former with the speed and manoeuvrability of the latter. The Dauntless is a very common light cruiser class in the Imperial Navy. Extremely self-sufficient, it is fast and has enough firepower to be a threat to both escorts and capital ships.

Escort ships are the smallest type of ship in the Imperial Navy fleets. They are usually organised in squadrons of 3 to 5, though larger squadrons are not uncommon. The main task of the escort ships is to draw fire away from the capital ships so that they can get into position quicker and safer. Most escort classes specialise in a certain role, such as the Cobra-class torpedo boats or the Firestorm with its armour-piercing lances. Escort ships are normally less than 1 kilometre in length, with the smallest being only a few hundred metres from prow to stern.

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