Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 - Imperial Navy Ships

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Imperial Navy Ships

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In this section I will outline all ships of the Imperial Navy at the disposal to the players. I will not be including pictures of these vessels as that would be far to time consuming and I will only be giving very brief descriptions of them, not a list of every stat they have. As players you can look more into these stats by creating your own fleet and looking at the information provided for every ship.

I will not be organizing ships I list here by their classification or class. While this is an efficient way to list them for a game, I think a better way to visualize these will be to categorize them by their weapons arrangements and their perspective roles within your fleet. Ships will be listed from this category further from top to bottom by point values.

An Imperial Battlefleet traversing space towards its destination.

“The Imperium! How mighty its aspect! How far-reaching its boundaries! As one world dies ten more are brought into the fold. Fear us, for we count the lives of planets, not men!”
– Apocalypse Expansion Book for Warhammer 40k (pg 21)

Carriers

Dedicated Carriers are ships that primarily carry squadrons of fighters/bombers/troop transports into battle for offensive and defensive purposes. Please be aware that these are not the only ships which carry these craft, simply that these are actual dedicated carriers. Ships that do have launch bays as augments to their weapon arrays will be listed in the “Multi-Purpose” section.

Defiant

Class: Light Cruiser
Cost: 153 points
Role: Long-Range Carrier
Launch Bays: 2

This is the smallest and cheapest carrier available to the faction. It should be be kept away from the primary engagement zone as being a Light Cruiser means the ship is fragile. It also comes armed with 2 lance turrets but these are almost negligible. You use this ship if you want a small carrier to stay on the outskirts of the fighting.

Exorcist

Class: Grand Cruiser
Cost: 308 points
Role: Long-Range Carrier and or Mid Range Support Ship
Launch Bays: 4

This Grand Cruiser is a formidible opponent and has the ability to pack a decent punch while being armed with macro-batteries. Because of the increased durability that comes from being in a higher class, you can use this ship more offensively than the Defiant and use it support your engagements.

It should also be considered that 2 Defiants bring the same number of squadrons as an Exoricist for 2 points cheaper. So while you do gain a more durable package, you lose the flexibility of having squadrons deployed to other areas of the map and if you lose this ship you lose your squadron capabilities.

Emperor

Class: Battleship
Cost: 367 points
Role: Long-Range Carrier and Heavy Support Ship
Launch Bays: 4
Special: Advanced Detection Radius

The Emperor Battleship is an incredible ship worthy of its title in the lore, it provides several squadrons while being very durable. This is also one of three ships in the Imperial Navy which has an advanced detection radius, meaning you will see enemy radar blips from farther out. This is very useful for a carrier-oriented ship as it can send fighters out for scouting and harrasment duty.

This ship is good but not optimal, the reason being its point value. You can get an Exorcist for 59 points cheeper and still get the same number of squadrons out onto the field. The only real trade off is durability. Considering that battleships that don’t have mobility based skills are easy prey for opponents I wouldn’t recommend this vessel. The advanced detection range can also be accounted for by using scout ships or scout orriented skills/upgrades.

Escorts

Escorts serve the purpose of being viable scouts and ships to capture zones with. They also serve as “filler” points within a fleet in the case that points are leftover but there are not enough to purchase another line ship. These vessels simply augment the fleet by providing additional firepower, high speed, and scouting potential.

Cobra

Class: Destroyer
Cost: 34 points
Role: Torpedo Patrol Craft

An easy ship to understand, the cobra is akin to a small patrol boat. It has a macro-turret and can launch torpedoes. Outside of this, the destroyer is extremely fast and mobile.

Widowmaker

Class: Destroyer
Cost: 37 points
Role: Torpedo Scout Craft
Special: Advanced Detection Radius

This ship is the most advanced scout available to the faction. The increased detection range makes this an excellent ship for surveying enemy posistions and marking enemy ships. If you are having problems versus stealthed or kiting strategies, bring one of these and you will know where the enemy is.

Firestorm

Class: Frigate
Cost: 41 points
Role: Lance Patrol Craft

This escort ship features a forward fixed lance weapon and a macro-turret. This is a good option to take over the cobra if your fleet doesn’t focus on torpedoes. The lance weapon makes it useful if you lack armor-piercing weapons in your fleet.

Sword

Class: Frigate
Cost: 41 points
Role: Macro Patrol Craft

The Sword escort focuses on doubling up its firepower with an additional macro-turret instead of introducing a new weapon system like the previous two. If you just want more firepower, take this.

Falchion

Class: Frigate
Cost: 41 points
Role: Heavy Torpedo Patrol Craft

This ship is the heavier version of the Cobra Destroyer, featuring an additional 2 macro-turrets and increased survivability. If you want to take an escort that brings torpedoes but don’t care about the scouting function of the ship, pay the extra points and get this one over the Cobra.

An Imperial Cruiser traveling through the depths of space.

“Between the stars the ancient unseen enemies of mankind wait and hunger. Every voyage into the nothing is a confrontation with horror, with the implacable things of the warp, and with man’s own innermost fear.”
– Unknown

Lances

Ships which focus on using lances as their primary way of dealing damage are excellent at getting through the tough armor of some factions and being able to sit at any range and be effective. The Imperial Navy has access to many lance based weapons but it mainly uses them to augment their current weapons.

Endurance

Class: Light Cruiser
Cost: 105 points
Role: Mid-Range Lance Cruiser

This ship is BAD… Not because lances are not useful or that the dps is unacceptable, its because of the range. Lances are good weapons, the fact that they don’t miss and generally have lower dps output means that you want them to be as far away as possible. The fact that this ships lances are only useable at 9,000 units or less (13,500 units or less if using “Lock On” stance) means that this ship is easy for your enemy to engage. Also the fact that you have to use a stance to make a ship viable is not good. I would skip this ship when building your fleets.

Gothic

Class: Cruiser
Cost: 162 points
Role: Mid-Range Lance Cruiser

This ship has all the same characteristics as the Endurance, except that the Gothic comes in a more sturdy package as a result from being in a higher class. Is the Gothic better in the sense that when enemies engage it, it will take more time to kill? Yes. Is it still a waste of points? More than likely.

Apocalypse

Class: Battleship
Cost: 284 points
Role: Heavy Lance Support Ship
Special: Nova Cannon, Overload Lances

So first let me explain why this ship is catagorized in “Lances” and not in “Nova Cannons”, this comes down to cost. If you want to spam Nova Cannons or simply use them, there are far cheaper options available to you as a player. You take this ship to have lances in your fleet, the Nova Cannon is just a bonus.

The second bonus to this ship is that while it suffers the same problem as the Gothic Cruiser and Endurance Light Cruiser in that its lance weapons can only be used at 9,000 units or less, the “Lock On” stance boosts that to 18,000 units. This is more viable than the Gothic and Endurance as a result. Is it good? It certainly is better than the other two by far.

Nova Cannons

The space nukes of Gothic Armada, these weapons are devestating to enemies caught in the blast radius. The weapons do take time to charge and will give your opponents time to flee from the area-of-effect, but if you can predict movement or simply target enemies whose movement has been impaired, the damage will be immense. As a bonus to the large amounts of burst damage Nova Cannons cause, they also deal morale damage to enemy crews.

Dominator

Class: Cruiser
Cost: 188 points
Role: Mid-Range Attack Cruiser

The Dominator has a very appropriate name, if you manage to land Nova Cannon shots you will be dominating your opponent. This ship is also good at being a standard ship-of-the-line and engaging with other vessels due to its macro-battery armament. If engaging at medium range, it can also use its Nova Cannon mid fight if oriented in the direction you want to use it.

Mars

Class: Battle Cruiser
Cost: 260 points
Role: Multi-Purpose Attack Cruiser

The Mars is in many ways a direct improvement to the Dominator. By paying an extra 72 points you get an increased range out of you macro-batteries, 2 lance turrets, and switch a pair of macro-batteries for launch bays. The only downside many people will see with this vessel is that instead of having such a heavy armament of macro-batteries it does integrate fighters and bombers. You as a player will have to decide if paying these extra 72 points is worth it for your specific fleet.

An Imperial ship using its many weapon systems to destroy the enemies of the Imperium.

“What fear of death have we who know there is immortality in the great and noble deeds of men?”
– Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rule Book (pg 110)

Macro-Batteries

The absolute and final word dispensed by the vessels of the Imperial Navy via the broadsides and turrets of its many ships. These projectile weapons are the primary weapon that this faction uses and they come in many varieties across their ships. The following are ships that use these weapons to brawl with the enemy at short to medium ranges, making them excellent ships-of-the-line.

Endeavour

Class: Light Cruiser
Cost: 107 points
Role: Light Attack Cruiser

The cheapest ship amongst the vessels meant for “brawling” with the enemy fleet. This ship comes loaded with macro-batteries and macro-turrets. It also has access to torpedoes. An effective and cheap ship.

Dauntless MK2

Class: Light Cruiser
Cost: 116 points
Role: Light Attack Cruiser

This light cruiser is simply an improved Endeavour. It features higher frontal armor along with a similar armament which has a slightly higher dps output. Also has the access to torpedoes.

Dauntless

Class: Light Cruiser
Cost: 128 points
Role: Light Attack Cruiser

This ship takes that Dauntless MK2 design and simply replaces the torpedo tubes with a forward fixed lance weapon. If you want to utilize torpedoes, go for the MK2, otherwise this is arguably an upgrade. The reason for this is that the lance provides a more consistant source of damage. It is also useful when pursuing fleeing craft as it can forward fire. For best results with the lance, the ship should be enganging the enemy at short range so it will rotate more and fire on as many targets as possible.

Tyrant

Class: Cruiser
Cost: 178 points
Role: Mid-Range Attack Cruiser

This is a mid-tier ship that has access to two different versions of macro-batteries: plasma, and regular. The plasma variation simply has a longer range than the standard. This means the ship is still effective if it is forced to disengage or if “brawling” with the opponent is not the correct course of action. This vessel also has access to torpedoes.

Avenger

Class: Battle Cruiser
Cost: 199 points
Role: Short-Range Heavy Attack Cruiser

This is the easiest ship to understand and use for the Imperial Navy. It is a wrecking ball that pounds the enemy with relentless macro-battery fire. Because of its higher ship class, it is very durable with a high hull value and shield rating. Beyond that this ship has no other funtion, drive it at the enemy and watch it work. Due to this ships lack of flexibility however, it will usually end up being “amazing” or “useless”. Since it doesn’t have any forward facing weaponry, it is not good for pursuing fleeing enemies.

Overlord

Class: Battle Cruiser
Cost: 216 points
Role: Heavy Attack Cruiser

This ship is a beast in combat. Featuring two plasma macro-batteries on either side of the ship along with a compiment of two lance turrets, we finallly have a ship that can do well in close, medium and even long range. The fact that the ship also has lance based weaponry is a nice bonus because it means the ship can effectively do damage at very long range and deal with high armor values. To top it all off, this ship has access to torpedoes.

Retribution

Class: Battleship
Cost: 306 points
Role: Heavy Attack Vessel

The might and fury of the Imperial Navy incarnate. This ship has three plasma macro-batteries on either side of it, a compliment of 3 lance turrets, and a heavy torpedo launcher. This ship is a nightmare for opponents to deal with at close range or to attempt to take a strategic point from. This vessel is very vulnerable to long range attacks however as it can’t return fire effectively and doesn’t have the speed to close the gap. You take this as the anchor of your fleet or not at all.

This ship has varying degrees of effectiveness as mentioned above. Its lack of mobility and sheer inability to react to the field around it make it a cumbersome choice. Unless you are taking a movement based skill/upgrade I would suggest you save points and pick something like an Overlord to fill this role instead. It is faster, has a higher turn speed and has around two-thirds the weapons at a 90 point discount.

Imperial vessels patrolling and providing security for an Imperial world and orbiting space station.

“The Emperor is master of the galaxy, but the captain is master of his ship.”
– Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook (pg 10)

Multi-Purpose

This last selection of ships fill multiple roles or have several different weapon systems to fill gaps within your fleet. They take the roll of being “in the middle” compared to the earlier mentioned specialized ships.

Lunar

Class: Cruiser
Cost: 165 points
Role: Lance/Attack Cruiser

The Lunar, like the Dictator, trades a set of macro-batteries for a set of lance batteries. Ok if you are desperate for more armor-piercing weapons but lances at short range do not compare to micro-weapons in terms of dps. Comparable to the Tyrant Cruiser at a decreased cost of 13 points.

Dictator

Class: Cruiser
Cost: 206 points
Role: Carrier/Attack Cruiser

This ship trades offensive firepower for the ability to use have access to launch bays and the squadrons that come with them. Comparable to the Tyrant Cruiser at an increased cost of 28 points.

Armageddon

Class: Battle Cruiser
Cost: 210 points
Role: Heavy Lance/Heavy Attack Cruiser

This battle cruiser trades micro-batteries in exchange for lance weapons. This one is a more resonable trade compared to the Lunar Cruiser above as it also has two lance turrets to augment a more long range playstyle. This ship is comparable to the Overlord Battle cruiser at a decreased cost of 6 points.

Vengeance

Class: Grand Cruiser
Cost: 260 points
Role: Heavy Lance/Heavy Attack Cruiser

Again this ship trades micro-batteries for lance based weapons. The macro-batteries on this ship also get upgraded to plasma macros which increase their range. This is not a ship I would suggest trading up to from the Avenger considering the massive point increase. This ship is comparable to the Avenger Grand Cruiser at a increased cost of 61 points.

Oberon

Class: Battleship
Cost: 334 points
Role: Heavy Mixed Weapons Platform
Special: Advanced Detection Radius

Imagine a ship that uses all weapon systems available to the Imperial Navy, that is the Oberon Battleship. It has access to launch bays, macro cannons, lance weapons, and turrets. Overall I don’t think this ship is a reasonable choice to make your fleet more “balanced”. Because of its lack of a dedication to any particular weapon system, it makes it ineffective and hard to see the promise of. This heavy vessel is similar to the Emperor Battleship in that it loses a pair of launch bays to pick up a pair of heavy lance-batteries. This ship is comparable to the Emperor Battleship at a decreased cost of 23 points.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 – Imperial Navy Ships