Heresy era ship drawings in FW "Extermination" book!

[timdp]

Speaking ship sizes, does anyone know is this table valid? Because i was thinking of  making myself Universe class conveyor but when i started to take measurements it turned really big, I know it suppose to be but its just massive.

The chart has some obvious discrepancies (identical Chaos cruiser hulls being different lengths), but is generally pretty good. Am working with him to correct some of the problems. Cobra is a bit small: should be 1,786 m.

Universe is pretty darn big: 12,008 meters. At BFG's scale (1:56,000), the Universe comes out to 8.44" long.

Here is the Universe compared to a Goliath (same hull as Mechanicus Arc). Image is in scale with BFG ships at 72dpi.

[dicnar]

Thx a lot for the numbers timdp! Now 8,44 inches is just crazy in BFG model scale. Also the thickness of the hull is impressive as most huge BFG ships are long but not very bulky. Universe measures a whole chaos Styx cruiser lenght in its thickest point.

[timdp]

To calculate in the in universe length of a BFG ship, measure it in millimeters and multiply by 56 to get the in universe length in meters.

[timdp]

A bit more detail on the ship class list from the Extermination book from Cormac Airt on Bolter and Chainsword.

For BFG modelers the most interesting bit is the battleship length range bolded below: 8 to 12 km. At our 1:56,000 scale, this gives us a BFG model range range of 5.63" to 8.44" for the more standard battleship classes.

The obvious problem with this range is that none of the BFG battleship sized models are more than 5" long (except for the Battle Barge which is 5.12") and both Emperor (Imperator) and Retribution classes are mentioned in this new list. A 5" long BFG ship scales up to 7km. Individual ships that were built before the Heresy in the Emperor and Retribution classes still exist in the M41 time frame, so it is unlikely that these classes of ships somehow grew from 7km to 8km+ over the millennia.

It is possible that this is a new ship size retcon, but if it is, it makes the BFG battleship class models obsolete since they would have to be at least .6" longer than they are now to be in scale with the other BFG ships.

Another possibility is that scale is an elusive concept to the FW writers (as opposed to FW model builders) and they just guessed a kilometer too high for the lower limit of battleship lengths.

Glorianas are mentioned, among other things. That list hits most of the points, but it leaves out some and is misleading on others. I’ll provide a more full list as detailed on page 15, titled “Warships of the Great Crusade.” If anyone has a profile at the other forum, feel free to share this.

Battleships or Battle Barges
Battleships are the principal/capital class of warship in the Armada Imperialis
Range 8-12 km in length, though some were constructed far larger.
Battle Barges are any variant or retrofit of Battleship class hulls modified and optimized for use by the Legiones Astartes specifically for Space Marine planetary assault and ship-to-ship boarding actions.
Purpose-built Battle Barges have also been constructed, particularly in the Great Crusade’s later years.
In common parlance, any capital class vessel used by the Legiones Astartes exclusively is often referred to as a Battle Barge regardless of the technical truth of the matter.

Noteworthy Classes:
Goliath
Victory
Gloriana
Infernus
Retribution
Imperator
Tiamat (Shield Bastion)
Ironclad
Warspite (Battle Barge)
Dictatus
Mortis Rex

Note: I believe the parts in parentheses mark purpose-built ship classes.
Note: The section on warships has nothing on the Basileus and Legatus class of Battleships. I assume they will be mentioned elsewhere.

Grand Cruiser and Galleass of War
Grand Cruisers are ‘pocket battleships’ that are intended principally for lone operations rather than as a part of a larger fleet, but are also flags of smaller fleets
Galleass of War is equivalent, but given over to freight and transport capacity
Noted as ideal support for long-range explorations into unknown regions of space and as the flagships of the most powerful Rogue Traders Militant

Noteworthy Classes
Avenger
Dagon
Inflexible
Maelstrom
Odysseus (Galleass of War)

Cruisers
Both Light and Heavy, range between 4 km and 6 km in length
Heavies are defensive w/ heavy firepower
Lights have speed and manoeuvrability
Strike Cruisers are modified designs used by the Legiones Astartes, optimized and reconfigured for planetary assault and boarding actions in primacy over other roles.

Noteworthy Classes
Armiger
Eclipse
Hades
Hellfire (Lance Cruiser)
Siluria
Tetsujin
Crusade
Olympia (Strike Cruiser)
Cardinal
Lunar
Bellerophon (Heavy Assault Cruiser)

Note: It’s spelled ‘Siluria’ in the Warships page.
Note: Didn’t notice a mention of the Crusader Cruiser, but with there being a Crusade Cruiser in both of our lists, I’m wondering if it’s the same class spelled differently elsewhere (which Siluria and Silurian might be as well), if it’s an error on the other list’s part, or if there are actually two Cruiser classes called the Crusade and the Crusader.

Escorts
Catchall designation for the smallest division of Warp-capable warships
Seldom larger than 1-2 km in length

Noteworthy Classes
Sword
Thunderbolt (Heavy Frigate)
Sceptre
Havoc
Baron
Harpy
Stalwart (Minekeeper)
Cobra (Destroyer)
Vigil (Siege Frigate)
Spectre (Warp Runner)
Thor (Ordinancer)

Note: Yes, ‘keeper,’ not ‘sweeper’
Note: Saw nothing on a Quicksilver Frigate, might again be seen later.

[Malika]

I've got a feeling that it's a bit of a retcon. Don't worry about the models though since they all have different scales anyway. What counts is the base.

[timdp]

I can see how it is converted, and that's what I thought the rear looked like, but I'm more hoping it may give FW an excuse to produce a boxed game similar to space hulk with some of these ships in to give me ways to get more grand crusiers without the depths of ebay :p

Below is a scaled Tribune compared to a Vengeance GC and a battleship. VGC prow is perfect once you sculpt a stylized eagle on top of it. Tribune looks to have two side weapons bays on each side, one with a weapons battery and one with bombardment cannons. Then there are additional weapons batteries along the bottom of the ship and the turret mounted Nova cannon (or an early version of the weapon). I'm definitely going to have to make some 3x bombardment cannon weapons modules to fit the standard Imperial weapons bay...

Lower rear hull looks somewhat like the battleship hull that has a Desolator rear hull added on top of it.

[BaronIveagh]

Sticking to the fluff, the Tribune is a modified Victory class battleship.   Following the fluff, this implies that this style of ship indicates it was built at the shipyards at Inwit, in much the way Voss and Mars ships have a certain appearance,

Some interesting revisions and throwbacks.


Breaking down the list by catagory, and what game they actually have stats in.

 

Battleships:

 

Goliath (no stats)

Gloriana: (technically, BFG has stats for Vengeful Spirit

Victory: (BFG)

Retribution (BFG)

Infernus (No Stats)

Imperator (ie Emperor class, BFG)

Tiamat (no stats)

Ironclad (unsure if this is referring to an Ironclad as in a battleship with no warp drive, or a new class)

Warspite (battlebarge)

Dictatus (no stats, possibly Desolator)

Mortis Rex (no stats)

 

Grand Cruisers:

Avenger (BFG, BFK)

Dagon (no stats)

Inflexible (no stats)

Maelstrom (no stats)

 

(note, one of these is most likely Repulsive, Maelstrom or Dagon may or may not be Charybdis)

 

Galleass of War:

Odysseus (no Stats)

 

Cruisers:

 

Lunar (BFG/RT)  (Again, this is a massive retcon of Lunars having come into existence in M35, as a replacement to the Murder)

Hades (BFG)

Cardinal (Rears it's ugly, sideways torpedo spewing head again!)

Hellfire (BFG)

Olympia: (BFG, standard SM strike cruiser)

Siluria (BFG)

Eclipse (no stats)

Armiger (no Stats, possibly later Murder, based on name)

Tetsujin (no stats)

Bellerophon (no stats)



Escorts:

 

Sword (BFG, RT)

Thunderbolt (no stats, old Space Fleet escort, listed as a Heavy Frigate)

Scepter (no stats)

Havoc (RT, BFG FAQ 2010)

Baron (no stats)

Harpy (No stats)

Stalwart (No stats, listed as a mine layer/sweeper?)

Vigil (no stats,listed as a siege frigate??)

Specter (no stats, but description suggests this is similar to Viper)

Cobra (BFG/RT)

Thor (Ordinancer??  Assuming this is a ship for orbital fire support)



Interesting notes: almost all current SM ships were designed by the traitor legions.  Iron within, Iron without.