Chaos Battleship
The heaviest class of warship available to the forces of the Ruinous Powers, Battleships are often the armored fist of the Warmaster. Many are millennia old, and with their hulls still bearing the scars of the the conflict that forced their exile to the Eye of Terror.
Chaos Battleships are big, mean, and heavily-armed and armored. They feature a wider, flatter, and sleeker profile (if you ignore the spikes that is) when compared to their Loyalist counterparts. Being based on older designs, they also lack the Armored Prow that characterize contemporary Imperial Ships.
A lot of them have been... changed by their time in the Immaterium, and depending on their Commanders, may come in varying flavors of spiky, angry, disgusting, perverted, or nerdy.
Battleship Classes[edit]
Basic[edit]
Desolator[edit]
One of the more 'standard-issue' class of Chaos Battleships. The Retribution-class if you will.
A design dating to the dawn of the Imperium, and constructed using technology long lost to the Imperium, the Desolator was a warship that emphasized destruction from afar and it was fully capable of doing so, with Lance turrets, long-ranged macro cannons, and Torpedo tubes as standard.
Between M31 and M34, at least five Desolators turned against the Emperor's light and none now remain in service. With the introduction of newer Battleship classes and a change of Imperial doctrine. There are no more Desolators left in Imperial service, all having turned to Chaos long millennia before.
The Desolator is heavily armed; carrying 8 Torpedo Launchers, 6 Double-Barrel Heavy Lance Battery Weapons and 2 Triple-Barrel Super Heavy Missile Turrets.
- Length: 8-12km; approx
- Mass: 55 megatons; approx
- Crew: 160,000 crew; approx
- Acceleration: 2.0 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Carrier[edit]
Desecrator[edit]
More of a carrier-battleship than a true carrier.
First encountered during the Gothic War, this new class of Chaos Battleship represented the first newly encountered Chaos vessel recorded by the Imperium in millennia. It is believed that the Desecrator is a modified version of the Desolator-Class Battleship, modified by removing the forward Lance batteries in place of attack craft hangers and the addition of Weapons Battery turrets to the dorsal spine.
Sporadic reports of Desecrator battleships conducting raids throughout Segmentum Obscurus have persisted in the years since the Gothic War. One such raid against the Imperial Navy base of Junta IV resulted in the boarding and capture of three Imperial escort vessels.
- Length: 8-12km; approx
- Mass: 53.3 megatons; approx
- Crew: 142,000 crew, 30,000 pilots and support personnel; approx
- Acceleration: 1.9 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
Despoiler[edit]
A Carrier-type, the Despoiler was based on a blueprint found by the Adeptus Mechanicus on Barbarus, the homeworld of Mortarion (which should have been a hint that the thing was gonna cause trouble). Similar in design to the infamous Terminus Est commanded by Typhus, it was discovered too late that it had severe flaws in its Geller Field generators. Not surprisingly, many turned Traitor, which led to the Imperium abandoning the construction of the class.
The Despoilers at first don't appear to be that unique, as they have Dorsal Lances and Broadside Landing Bays and Weapons Batteries. Their difference is that, like the Terminus Est, they managed to have a Prow Landing Bay as well.
On a more interesting note, despite being a new class, GW fucked up their fluff and had Rogal Dorn disappear aboard a Despoiler, 5000 years before the class was created. Note this class was actually already named "Despoiler-class" by the Imperium. Yet, they were surprised these things went traitor. Wow. Also, after fixing the Gellar Field problem, the Imperium still decided not to build more, which was stupid since there was no longer a reason not to. I get not wanting to chance it, but beggars can't be choosers.
The Despoiler is armed with 1 Heavy Launch Bay capable of carrying 8 squadrons worth of Swiftdeath Fighters, Doomfire Bombers, and Dreadclaws, 1 Quad-Barrel Super Heavy Lance Artillery, 4 Heavy Macro Battery Weapons, 2 additional Launch Bays and 3 Double-Barrel Lance Turrets.
- Length: 8-12km; approx
- Mass: 53.7 megatons; approx
- Crew: 145,000 crew, 28,000 pilots and support personnel; approx
- Acceleration: 1.9 gravities max sustainable acceleration; approx
In Battlefleet Gothic[edit]
With their long weapon ranges and high speeds, Battleships lean toward the long-ranged keep-away playstyle that Chaos favors. Due to their high armor and shields, they can also do well during short-ranged brawls, though with their weaponry there's no real reason to do so.
That said, if one wants to come close and personal, Chaos can make Boarding Actions more effective for a cost by taking Chaos Space Marines as crew. Taking those will then give a player the option to field Chaos Space Marine Terminators.
A single Battleship may be included in your list or every three Heavy or regular Cruiser deployed.
In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2[edit]
Comparatively cheaper than the Battleships of the Imperial Navy, Chaos Battleships are also faster, with speeds matching Cruiser-class warships (only the Retribution-class has the same speed). Without Armored Prows, they're less protected up front, and are less effective in Ramming maneuvers, but due to the extremely long ranges of their weaponry, have no reason to get into brawling range.
Unlike in the tabletop game, there's no option to upgrade to a Chaos Space Marine crew, so Chaos Battleships are less effective in Boarding actions.
| Vessels of the Traitor Legions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spaceships | ||
| Space Station | Blackstone Fortress | |
| Super Battleships | Abyss | |
| Battleships | Battleship (Gloriana - Planet Killer) - Ark of Omen | |
| Cruisers | Light Cruiser - Cruiser Heavy Cruiser - Grand Cruiser | |
| Escorts | Escort | |
| Others | Silver Tower of Tzeentch | |
| Combat Spacecraft | Doomfire Bomber - Swiftdeath Fighter | |
| Landships | ||
| Siege Carriers | Siege Carrier | |
| War Machines | Chaos Harvester - Nurgle Plague Tower - Woe Machine | |
| Titans | Questor Scout Titan - Slaanesh Subjugator Feral Scout Titan - Ravager Battle Titan Chaos Warlord Titan - Chaos Emperor Titan Skull Reaper | |
| Troop Transports | Mastodon | |
| Superheavy Tanks | Baneblade - Fellblade - Plaguereaper Tower of Skulls | |
| Airships | ||
| Flying Fortress | Harbinger | |
| Aerospace Vessels | Stormbird | |
| Seaships | ||
| Oceanic Battleships | Oceanic Battleship | |