'A magnificent ship no doubt, but I would rather have a crew who knew their airlaps from their transons.'

• Us Battleship Class
• 40k Emperor Class Battleship Size
• Emperor Class Battleship 40k
• Warhammer Emperor Class Battleship Size
• Emperor Class Battleship Crew Size
• Iowa Class Battleship Crew Size

Apocalypse Class (Long Range, Limited Weapon Types) 10.6 km long, 1.3 km. Abeam approx., 150,000 Nominal Crew. Unique amongst Battleship Classes, the Apocalypse Class is the only Battleship armed with a Nova Cannon as standard, and is well suited to dictating the pace of the battle from great distances. It would have been the ultimate duel of dreadnoughts. In one corner, Japan’s Yamato, weighing in at 65,000 tons, the biggest battleship in history.In the other corner, Iowa, at 45,000 tons the. The list of battleships includes all battleships built between c. 1890 and 1946, arranged alphabetically by country. The initial dates of the ships correspond to the launch time, followed by a separation that indicates their retirement or final date. The boundary between ironclads and the first battleships, the so-called 'pre-dreadnought battleship', is not obvious, as the characteristics of. If we say that your average Emperor class Battleship is '1', then the intervals of your guesstimations of some other ships might be given as. Gloriana class battleship is 1.5-2.5. Ark Mechanicus is 1.5-3.5. Furious Abyss is 3-5.5. The Rock is 10-80. Just to give some random examples of the top of my head. Please don't read too much into any of those. Due to the size and amount of power required by the warp engines, however, the Emperor class takes an extra 1d5 days to reach a safe jump point outside of a system. Strategium: The Emperor-class is known for its large and well equipped Strategium centres, allowing embarked military commanders to conduct entire planetary assaults without having.

– Admiral Rath, on viewing the Emperor-class Battleship Dominus Astra

The biggest and heaviest ship class available to the Imperial Navy, the Battleship is often the flagship of the Admiral during a campaign. These ships are often the heaviest hitters of any armada,with guns, armor, fighter and bomber support, and torpedoes a-plenty. Properly supported by its fleet, a Battleship can easily turn the tide in an engagement. Just don't expect them to get anywhere quickly, due to their relatively ponderous speed.

Many Battleships are centuries or even millennia old, with rolls of honor to match. The loss of any Battleship is keenly felt by the fleet in question, with each a near-priceless relic that cannot be easily replaced, even by a Forge World like Mars.

Battleships typically come in three flavors: Ordnance ships (armed with a majority of Macrocannons), Lance ships (armed mostly with Lances), and Carriers (carrying mostly Fighters and Bombers).

• 1Classes
  • 1.1Carriers
  • 1.2Lance Ships
  • 1.3Ordnance Ships
  • 1.4Others

Classes[edit]

Carriers[edit]

Emperor[edit]

The poster-ship for Battlefleet Gothic, the Emperor carries four Launch Bays worth fighters and bombers, which are supplemented by a suite of macrocannons for ship-to-ship combat. Hence, it is more accurate to state that the Emperor is a Carrier Battleship rather than a true Aircraft Carrier due to its heavy armaments. This means that the Emperor can reliably put the hurt on enemies at extreme range, and in-universe accounts for the versatility and self-sufficiency of the class.

It is also one of the oldest designs still in use, due to the discovery of Divine Right fused into a Space Hulk for some ten thousand years.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Emperor has the longest Identification Range of the ship type, shared only by the Oberon-class Battleship and Widowmaker-class escort.

• Length: 8-12km

Nemesis[edit]

A modification of the Emperor-class, the Nemesis adds two more Flight Decks, to a total of six, in exchange for some of its guns. It is a relatively cost-effective way for the Imperium to re-use old Carriers into something viable.

In many ways, the Nemesis functions like an actual Aircraft Carrier found in the 21st century rather than the Carrier Battleship layout of the Emperor; a vessel that primarily hosts aircraft and is minimally armed with CIWS whilst dependent on being defended by a carrier group.

Therefore, due to its mode of 'construction', the Nemesis is another rare class in-universe, as all existing Nemesis were created from damaged Emperor-class ships. On an interesting trivia, the Nemesis Class Fleet Carrier was originally a fan-designed ship by Matt Sprang.

• Length: 8-12km

Lance Ships[edit]

Apocalypse[edit]

The long-ranged sniper of the Battleships, the Apocalypse carries Nova Cannon and Lances a-plenty, this makes it the bane of small fast ships. In-universe it's one of the oldest Battleship designs available, and fairly rare, so much so that it is widely believed to be the precursor of the Retribution-class battleship.

Due to the Imperium being unable to replicate the Lance tech it uses, the rarity is further exasperated. Some naval strategists believe that these ships were created to deal with the threat posed by the growing number of Grand Cruisers and battleships from the Eye of Terror, a role at which the Apocalypse excels.

The Apocalypse has a small weapons battery on its dorsal section, and banks of lances down the port and starboard hull. Normally the weapons batteries would be used to collapse the shields of an enemy ship, before the lances rip into the ship directly. Instead, the Apocalypse uses its big dickNova Cannon when closing in on the enemy.

Ironically in Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Lance batteries of the Apocalypse had a shorter range than its Battleship brethren. One had to use its Overload Lances ability to bump up the range of its batteries up, which makes no sense to people, as it should have had those ranges at base.

• Length: 8-12km

Victory[edit]

Another retrofitteed class of Battleships.

An attempt to recreate the Apocalypse-class with less fancier tech, the Victory is essentially a Retribution with its Broadside macros replaced with Lances, and its Torpedo tubes replaced with a Nova Cannon.

Its exact origin nonetheless remains unclear, as the Techpriests of Mars refuse to disclose the classes records due to the obvious and borderline heretical attempts at modifying the Retribution. The Victory-class is known to have existed as far back as the Great Crusade.

Much like the Apocalypse, it's good at sniping, and getting rid of pesky escorts.

• Length: 8-12km

Ordnance Ships[edit]

Invincible[edit]

A 'fast battleship' class, the Invincible was designed with the pursuit of Xenos and Chaos raiders in mind. It was the brainchild of Admiral Kisher, this vessel was designed to hunt Chaos and Eldar Corsair raiders at the speed of a Light Cruiser. Despite protests from the Adeptus Mechanicus over inherent design flaws in the internal compartmentalization and issues with the back-up systems and power distribution grid, Kisher went ahead with the concept.

Featuring the speed of a Dauntless on top of the usual weaponry of a Retribution, the Invincible was quick as it was deadly and its close external appearance to the Retribution caught many would-be attackers off guard.

Unfortunately, this speed came at the expense of protection, which meant that in a straight battleship duel the Invincible-class despite the name, suffered the same fate as the Battle cruisers used by Terra various ocean navys and crumpled like wet cardboard (also not helped by some Admiral's foolishly using them as front line sluggers). Despite this, the ship was deemed successful enough to mass-produce.

• Length: 8-12km
• Acceleration: 4.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration

Retribution[edit]

What one gets when you cram as many macrocannons on a hull as humanly possible, with some lances and torpedoes for flavor, the Retribution is as close to the Imperial Navy can get to a bruiser, capable of comfortably duking it out with opponents at medium-to-long ranges. The class as such, is a true ship of the line, being able to deliver a devastating broadside assault on the enemy, but is also equipped with impressive ordnance capabilities.

The Retribution features the distinctive armoured prow of the Imperial Navy which allows it to speed headlong at the enemy fleet, ignoring all but the heaviest fire brought against it. The ship is also as fast as the main cruisers of the Imperial Fleet. Being able to keep up with them gives extra support that can be vital in a fleet engagement.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Retribution is actually the fastest Battleship type available to the Imperial Navy (probably as a nod to the Invincible-class). It also has arguably the highest damage potential of the available Battleships in the games; a full broadside plus successful ram is capable of crippling or even destroying ships the size of Cruisers or smaller.

• Length: 8-12km

Others[edit]

Ironclad[edit]

Giant fucking battering rams in SPESS.

Ironclads were a classification of Imperial Battleship that have since been largely retired from service.

Ironclads, also known as Adamanticlads much like their contemporary counterparts, are vast 8-kilometre vessels which lack the void shielding of their counterparts in favour of metres of adamantium plate armour. These ships, built before the advent of void-screen technology, have since been phased out of production, for the main part, to be replaced by more modern designs.

However, those remaining in service have been re-commissioned for a variety of purposes; various pattern ironclads may be retrofitted with gargantuan, ship-, station- and even planet-killer cannons running the entire length of the ship's keel, linked directly to the stern fusion reactors; others may simply be braced and reinforced for the purpose of ramming into - and through - enemy vessels. These ships are rare in the Imperial Navy, due to their archaic design and the lack of facilities still capable of repairing, let alone producing them.

• Length: 8km

Oberon[edit]

The Oberon was an early variant of Emperor Class Battleship designed to be able to deal with any threat and therefore does not need to be escorted by a squadron of frigates.

The Hybrid of the Battleships, the Oberon features heavy Lances, Macrocannons, and two fighter bays, on top of its usual Torpedos. A somewhat rare class of ship in-universe, the Imperial Navy still considers the Oberon a success due to its self-sufficiency. While it may not be able to duke it out in a straight fight with other Battleships, its armaments make it a terror to smaller ship classes. That said, if there are other carriers with it (which there probably would be due to it only having two attack craft hangars), then it'll probably be able to hit like an Emperor-class but also with a lance deck.

Nevertheless, the Oberon is now rarely used in major fleet engagements, the more specialised ships being preferred by many Imperial Admirals. It is used instead for patrolling dangerous areas, where its ability to multi-task comes into its own. It can be a base for patrolling squadrons of attack craft, then taking the fight directly to the encountered enemy. It's also equipped with a superior long range sensor probe which allows it to detect and analyze threat long before being detected by the enemy, granting it a significant tactical advantage in such circumstances. Due to this, it can patrol large areas with only a small, or no escort, freeing those ships for other duties.

Us Battleship Class

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 & 2, the Oberon shares the same Sensors ability that the Emperor has, increasing its Identification Range. This means that it can work in tandem with its Carrier cousin and support its fighter and bombing runs, while at the same time being able to snipe with its Lances.

• Length: 8-12km

Vanquisher[edit]

The Old Man Henderson of Battleships.

The Vanquisher is a super ancient class of Imperial Battleship even by the standards of the Imperium. The class is believed to have been constructed circa M32 at Hydraphur at the request of Lord High Admiral Javor. These ships have often served in Ultima Segmentum as part of the Dominion Fleet of the Ultramarines.

Due to their age, they are also rare. So damned rare that the entire Imperial Navy currently operates just four Vanquisher Class vessels; all are currently undergoing rearmament and crew training before their return to active service to bolster Battlefleet Ultima in the aftermath of the Battle of Macragge.

Because of this, Vanquishers are regulated as trainer-Battleships so that newly appointed crewmen know how to properly operate a true Battleship.

• Length: 8-12km

In Battlefleet Gothic[edit]

Powerful, well-armored, and well-shielded, Battleships are the centerpieces of a fleet, regardless of point size. However they're are also slow and expensive (you can get about two Cruisers for one Battleship). A player may deploy one Battleship for every three Heavy or Regular Cruisers in their battlegroup.

Positioned properly and kept adequately screened by smaller ships however, and Battleships are well their worth in points.

The Gloriana is a rare class of Battleship fielded during the Great Crusade. Created to be the flagships of the Emperor's sons and their Space Marine legions, each and every one is armed to the teeth and heavily armored, on top of being customized depending on each Primarch's needs. At least two different patterns of the class were made as a base to build on, with the Scylla pattern being slightly larger than the Circe pattern. The four largest Glorianas were stated to be the Iron Blood, the Conqueror, The Hrafnkel, and the Vengeful Spirit.

It's important to not understate how massive each individual Gloriana was. They averaged around 20 kilometers in length, and they were capable of holding entire expeditionary forces and their support staff and equipment complement. Many of them could hold a sizeable portion of a Titan legion inside them, something that normally requires a single dedicated ship to do so. The entirety of a full-strength 'modern-day' Chapter of Space Marines would have trouble filling out even a tenth of their cavernous holds. They were built to such exacting standards that it took nearly 10% of Mars' entire production output working flat out for years to build them.

Not only that, but their firepower was immense as well, with enough lance turrets, macro-cannons, torpedo tubes, and fighter launch bays to fight off entire fleets, with a good chance of the Gloriana coming out on top. Indeed historically, the only way to take out a Gloriana was either through sheer numbers and/or weight of fire, or with another Gloriana.

That said there were several exceptional ships, like the Terminus Est, Infidus Imperator, and the Abyss Class Super-Battleships that could give Gloriana Class a run for their money.

• Length: 20-26km

Chariots of the Primarchs[edit]

During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, each Legion had at least one Gloriana class warship as their Legion Flagship, except for the Imperial Fists who had the larger and even more deadly Phalanx (and the Alpha Legion which secretly had two flagships).

• Dark Angels: The First Legion were given several at the start of the Great Crusade, taken from what had survived Old Night and equipped from the forbidden armouries of Terra. Though the exact number is unknown; 'many' of their fleets were supposedly headed by one. Since Dark Angels were made of six wings at the time. They at least had that many by the time of the Horus Heresy. Any surviving vessels would have likely given to the new chapters. Some to be used as mobile Fortress-Monasteries.
  • The Paradigm of Hate and Truth's Razor both participated in the First Rangdan War. Though the Paradigm was lost and unsalvageable, the Razor survived to fight again later.
  • The Invincible Reason survived the Horus Heresy and currently serves as the Dark Angels' flagship.
• Emperor's Children: Pride of the Emperor (Crippled during the Battle of Thessala, one of the few battles Girlyman lost. No further updates on its status)
• Iron Warriors: Iron Blood (Unknown, probably reconstructed as a space station or Perturabo keeps it in reserve on Medrengard)
• White Scars: Swordstorm (Became one with the speed force during the Battle of Catallus, after Jaghatai attempted to use it as a trap to kill Mortarion.)
• Space Wolves: Hrafnkel (Galaxy's largest space tavern. Was crippled by the Sons of Horus during the Battle of Trisolian, where it narrowly managed to escape the Vengeful Spirit. There has been no known activity with it since, and the Wolves aren't talking about it either.)
• Imperial Fists: Eternal Crusader (Currently serving with the Black Templars, as the Imperial Fists have the Phalanx.)
• Night Lords: Nightfall (Last seen during the Siege of Terra, where one of its last duties was containing Angron within its many mazes because he was having one of his temper tantrums, at Kharn's request. He was later sent down on Terra once the fighting begun. Nobody knows its current status, making it a Grimdark version of the Batcave.)
• Blood Angels: Red Tear (Sanguinius asked a woman to park it. As a consequence, mostly because she was driven mad by Chaos, it crashed on Signus Prime and got transformed into a fortress. It was later towed back into space, repaired, and served in the Horus Heresy. No other activities after that)
• Iron Hands: Fist of Iron (Was severely damaged by the Pride of the Emperor after Fulgrim failed to turn Ferrus. No details about its ultimate fate)
• World Eaters: Conqueror (Formerly Adamant Resolve. Continues to be in active service after the Horus Heresy, last seen during the 13th Black Crusade.)
• Ultramarines: Macragge's Honour (Guilliman’s space chariot/boat. It used to be a shrine ship after Guilliman's defeat against Fulgrim, but after the Primarch's awakening, it was restored to battle-ready condition and is currently being used as his flagship while cruising the galaxy. Fully playable in Battlefleet Gothic 2 and is one of the best ships in the game.)
• Death Guard: Endurance (In service to Nurgle, so its a big garbage truck. Last seen during Mortarion's Plague Wars campaign.)
• Thousand Sons: Photep (Was sent away by Magnus with a contingent of Thousand Sons marines before the Burning of Prospero. Later before the Siege of Terra, they returned to their legion on Sortiarius.)
• Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus: Vengeful Spirit/Magna Tyrannis (The Vengeful Spirit is currently used by Abaddon whenever he has a temper tantrum. The Magna Tyrannis is currently renamed as the Harbinger of Doom, and serves as the Spirit's equally competent but more obscure sibling.)
• Word Bearers: Fidelitas Lex/Chronicle of Ashes (The Fidelitas Lex was destroyed by the Ultramarines over Nuceria during the Shadow Crusade. Role as flagship was taken over by the Trisagion. The Chronicle of Ashes was captured by the Ultramarines during the Great Scouring; after being cleansed of Chaotic taint, it was renamed the Lex Talionis and given to the Nemesis Chapter, an Ultramarine successor.)
• Salamanders: Flamewrought (Disappeared after the Drop Site Massacre. A Battle Barge named in itss honor later served as the Salamanders' flagship.)
• Raven Guard: Shadow of the Emperor (Destroyed by the Terminus Est during the Drop Site Massacre. Its successor, the Second Shadow, was destroyed 10,000 years later, also by the Terminus Est).
• Alpha Legion: Alpha/Beta (Alpha was last seen during the Battle of Pluto. Beta was last seen under the command of Omegon after a warrior claiming to be Alpharius died on Pluto. Much like the Alpha Legion: both ships seemingly disappeared into thin air.)

Swords of the Emperor[edit]

There are few Gloriana-class still in active duty in the modern-day Imperium, and in all cases these honored relics are in command of Astartes Chapters rather than the Imperial Navy. Needless to say, these old survivors have near-legendary reputations or honor rolls that would fill the libraries of entire planetary systems.

The Eternal Crusader, formerly of the Imperial Fists Legion, still lives up to its name, serving as the mobile Chapter-monastery of the Black Templars. Up until recently it had been in pursuit of the infamous Warboss Ghazgul, but has since then been deployed for the Cardinal Worlds Crusade in the wake of the formation of the Great Rift.

The Invincible Reason still remains the flagship of the Dark Angels, though in practice it mostly serves as the escort of The Rock in its travels through the galaxy. Much like the Rock, it's currently deployed in Imperium Nihilus.

The Macragge's Honour of the Ultramarines by comparison spent much of the intervening millennia as a spaceborne shrine to their Primarch, and has only relatively recently returned to active service. For a time it was lost to the Red Corsairs in the wake of the disastrous Terran Crusade, but has since then been recovered, and once more serves as the Lord Commander's flagship.

Finally there's the Chronicle of Ashes, formerly of the Word Bearers, it was captured, renamed the Lex Talonis, and had since then served the Nemesis Chapter as their flagship. One can only imagine how long it took and how hard it was to cleanse such a huge vessel of chaos taint, and there's a good chance the depths of the ship still aren't completely safe.

Echoes of the Old War[edit]

There are several Gloriana-class ships known to be still in service to the dark powers.

The most infamous of them all, the Vengeful Spirit, flagship of the archtraitor Horus Lupercal, still bedevils the Imperium well into the current age. Now under the command of his successor, the Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler, the ship leads the fleets of the Black Legion in their rampage out of the Eye of Terror after the fall of Cadia.

Likewise the Magna Tyrannis, renamed the Harbinger of Doom, flies the colors of the Black Legion and serves as the second flagship of the Black Fleet.

Mortarion still commands the plague-ridden Endurance, and used it during the Plague Wars to terrorize the worlds of Ultramar, exchanging a couple broadsides with the Macragge's Honor before retreating. Likewise the Conqueror still remains under the control of the World Eaters, who use it to wreak havoc in Khorne's name, presumably Angron takes command when he is summoned to the Materium.

It's conceivable that the Alpha and Beta of the Legion that doesn't exist are still in operation, but given how that Legion functions, no one knows for sure.

In Battlefleet Gothic[edit]

The Gloriana-class was not statted out when the specialist game was first released. Eventually we were provided the stats of the Vengeful Spirit, but it was underwhelming to say the least, being a slightly more boarding-effective Chaos Battle Barge. It doesn't even get Chaos-specific benefits, especially compared to the other Chaos God-aligned battles barges statted out (see the Terminus Est of the Death Guard).

Not exacly reflecting its reputation as a ship capable of fending off entire Loyalist fleets, and enduring the world-breaking duel between the Emperor and Horus.

40k Emperor Class Battleship Size

The sidebar to the Vengeful Spirit also mentions its equivalents still serving the Imperium are considered 'relic' Battle Barges that can customize their weapon load-out before deployment for free, and come with a Space Marine crew by default. Again, a far cry from what's expected of a ship class that can fend off fleets on its own.

In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2[edit]

The ship class makes its debut in the sequel game, with Macragge's Honour representing the Imperium while the Vengeful Spirit appears on the Chaos side. Each is easily twice as powerful and durable as a 'regular' battleship of their faction. Just don't send them without escorts however, as they can still be overwhelmed by multiple ships ganging up on them. The Macragge's Honour rolls with massive fighter complements, but its primary punch is its mix of lances and torpedoes. Since the torpedoes are parallel, they can hit a target eight times with one button press; good for boarding actions with that Astartes muscle backing it up.

Hilariously, if you play the Chaos campaign: there's a mission that has you defeating the Macragge's Honour, taking Guilliman prisoner (somehow). This results in the Word Bearers gleefully corrupting the Macragge's Honor and re-christening it as the 'Monarchia Redeemed'.

Homebrew Stats[edit]

Emperor Class Battleship 40k

The lack of 'official' stats that reflect the actual capabilities of the class hasn't stopped players from trying to create some of their own. The following statistics are one of the more reasonable tries at this:

Warhammer Emperor Class Battleship Size

• Relic: The Gloriana-class is an irreplaceable remnant of a better but bygone age. The loss of such a ship is considered a grievous blow to the Imperium as well as the Forces of Chaos. The Gloriana gives 50% more Victory Points if Crippled, and 200% more Victory Points if Destroyed.

Emperor Class Battleship Crew Size

Iowa Class Battleship Crew Size