Kontos-class Battle Barge

Schematics of the Kontos-class

*Please check notes section*

"*I feel wonder to think that, even with the knowledge from the Dark Age of Technology, humankind still favoured a design as old as this one*"
— Magos Illmarinen
The **Kontos-class** was the designation of an extinct line of armoured ships, akin to the Ironclad Battleships and probably the step further in the developement of that design. Already in low numbers since the start of the Great Crusade, even lower of its predecessor, the Kontos-class was used as ramming vessels taking advantage of both its large armoured prow and powerful propulsion system that allowed the vessel to short bursts of accelleration. Hard to maintain and repair for the elevate number of Archeotec in its systems, the vessel was retired before the Horus Heresy when attrition lowered their numbers exponentially.

## History

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+++CLEARANCE: Indigo

+++DATE: 205.M32

+++RED NN. 475009-8

+++BY: Magos Illmarinen, Adeptus Mechanicus

+++SUBJECT: Warship, Kontos-class

ACCESS GRANTED, MAGOS

+++CONTENTS+++

*Dominus,*

*I have completed my analysis on the vessel to find the most suited and optimal approach on the dismantling as requested and I noticed the possibility to remove the vast majority of the ancient resources but the weapons, without making the vessels itself un-operational. This servant of the Omnissiah believes that following the full retrievement of the archeotec, the vessel may be retrofitted as Battle Barge.*

I attach my discoveries in the following reference file, waiting for permission to procede.

*(reference file ++SMP/600.521.UV.++)*

*Ave Omnissiah!*

*I am ever your faithful servant,*

*Illmarinen,*

*Magos, Adeptus Mechanicus*

<ref number>, Logoff, Back, <RETURN>, or Help:

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### Origins

It is believed that the Kontos-class would have been the next step in the development of the Ironclad Battleships, already a relic pre-Imperium, this line of vessels spotted additions and improvements. Already in low numbers at the beginning of the Great Crusade this vessels were however utilized by both Legiones Astartes and Navis Imperialis that used to their advantage their armoured prows and the powerful propulsion system that allowed the Kontos-class to obtain a great accelleration allowing it to charge and ram enemy vessels, even of a larger class, obtaining the nickname among the common soldiers of 'Ship-breaker'.

Hard to maintain, even more then their predecessors, the Kontos-class will be retired before the Horus Heresy to be dismantled to recover precious resources and components. However the civil war will bring the vessels to return operational for a small period of time, as to leave them unmmaned would have been a clear invite to pillage by the traitor forces who in the end even managed to steal some of the ancient vessels, due to the low resources of both side. With the conclusion of the Horus Heresy the last fifteen Kontos-class instead of receiving honours or commendations will be designed once again for retirement, this time on the shipyward of Forgeworld *Sampo*.

Magos Illmarinen, chief of the project however was of a different opinion and after studying the schematics to proceed on his assignement, found a way to retrieve the archeotecs without completely dismantle the vessels but retrofitting them into Battla Barges. Even if unable to completely make them operational and easy to maintain, the vessels would have the last chance to die in service of the Imperium. So after received official approvement, the Kontos-class were converted and left on the shipyard available for Adeptus Astartes Chapters to request them. In the following millennia the surviving Kontos-class will take service among various Chapters and in a way or another meet their end in the void, as the last one was destroyed in M41.

### Design

The Kontos-class, who takes the name by the kontos an ancient weapon of yore, shares also the design with the trireme an ancient sea vessel dating deep in the past of Boeatia. An armoured prow, which can be improved with a large blade was the main weapon of the vessel that allowed, once obtained the right propulsion, to ram the enemy vessel and if the conditions and the angle of impact were fitting even to break the hull in half.

#### Weapons

The Kontos-class spots a generic weaponry of Macrocannons Broadsides and Turrent Batteries who can be bolstered by additional Torpedoes and prow-mountend starship-sized Melta Cannons. However the main weapon of the Kontos-class was the armoured prow combined with the propulsion, the Ursus Claws and the short ranged Archeotec Fusion Cannon who, depending of the build could have been melta or plasma based.

The Kontos-class once defined her objective would accellerate at the maximum, harpooning it to obtain maximal stability and avoid futile evasive manouvers for the enemy. Once at the proper range, the Fusion Cannon still hidden inside a conceiled case in the prow, will open with a lethal short range blast to weak the enemy vessel structure, allowing the armoured prow to break or heavily damage the prey. However even if stronger enough to deal with larger class of vessels, the Kontos-class still needed heavy support from Void Fighers and smaller escorts to accomplish the attacks.

#### Void Shields

After the conversion to Battle Barge, the Kontos-class will be equipped with medium powered Void Shields, however those weren't able to sustain heavy damage as never deployed to the maximum power, considered that the vast majority of energy will be drained by the main weapon and the propulsion system, to obtain the power necessary to the charge and the weakening blast.

#### Propulsion

The ancient propolsion system of the vessel remained operational and in use to offer the maximum accelleration to grant the ramming speed.

## Trivia

* Kontos is the name of a spear, used most notably by the Cataphract cavalry;
* The design of the Kontos-class is inspired by the Greeks and Romans Trireme;
* Illmarinen, derives by Ilmarinen, a Finnish blacksmith god;
* Sampo, which is both the name of the shipyard and Forgeworld, is also one of the possessions of the god Ilmarinen;

## Notes

Please, feel free to ask for the grey version and make your own, basically all Chapter Foundings can have one but the Ultima, the only condition is that every Kontos-class has to be destroyed before M41. Just let me know, so you can be featured in the article as notable users, until all slots are taken.