vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Navigator - Notable Navigators: Cassia Orsellio - Cassia Orsellio is a Navigator and the heiress to the novator of the Navis Nobilite's House Orsellio. She was convinced by the most recent heir to the Rogue Trader dynasty of House von Valancius to serve as the new Navigator of the von Valancius flagship after her predecessor was killed during the Warp incursion that also resulted in the death of Lord Captain Theodora von Valancius and the new Rogue Trader's unexpected inheritance of the dynasty.
Navigator - Trivia: The concept of Navigators in the Warhammer 40,000 universe most likely drew inspiration from the science-fiction novels of Frank Herbert's "Dune" universe, being very similar in function and their development of physical abnormalities to the Spacing Guild Navigators.
Navis Imperialis - Navis Imperialis: The Navis Imperialis, called the Imperial Navy in Low Gothic, is one of the primary armed forces of the Imperium of Man.While the Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard) represents the Imperium's ground forces, the Navis Imperialis is responsible for the fleets of starships that maintain order between the stars and planets in the Imperium, for all space and air support provided to the infantry of the Astra Militarum through its Aeronautica Imperialis branch, and for transporting those guardsmen across the galaxy to the Imperium's myriad warzones.The battlefleets of the Imperial Navy are constantly engaging threats both inside and outside the Imperium's borders.In ancient times, during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, the Navis Imperialis was not an independent armed force of its own but was considered a part of the greater Imperial Army and was known as the Armada Imperialis. Its vessels were dedicated to the defence of Imperial space and strategic Warp routes. This was opposed to the fleets of warships assigned to the service of the Legiones Astartes, which were used for the planetary assaults that occupied the bulk of the Great Crusade.After the horrors of the Horus Heresy, during the Imperial reformation overseen at the start of the Time of Rebirth by Primarch Roboute Guilliman, the Imperial Army's fleet component was reestablished as a separate and rival service. This was done to weaken the Imperial armed forces by removing their integrated interstellar transportation in case of a future rebellion against the Emperor's rule.The Navis Imperialis is today largely divided into the five major battlefleets which serve each of the Segmentae Majoris from their respective Segmentum Fortresses, though the largest actual formation that ever sees service are the individual sector battlefleets.
Navis Imperialis - History: During the Great Crusade to reunite all the scattered colony worlds of Mankind beneath the rule of the Imperium of Man, both the Astra Militarum and the Navis Imperialis were originally a single service: the Excertus Imperialis (Imperial Army). Collectively, these massive war fleets would come to be referred to as the Armada Imperialis.Under this form of organisation, each Imperial cruiser would have a single Imperial Army regiment assigned to it. Imperial Army regimental commanding officers held command over both their regiment and the warship assigned to them, making a single warship a tactically flexible combined arms unit and minimizing the damage to the Imperium in the event of the loss of a starship, its crew and its assigned troops in the Warp.During the Horus Heresy, however, it appeared that some Traitor Army regiments used the power of the starships at their disposal in order to forge interstellar empires for themselves in the fires of anarchy that swept the galaxy during the seven bloody standard years of the Heresy. This tendency to make use of the power of an Imperial starship combined with that of an Imperial Army regiment to establish tyrannies on many worlds led to the eventual split of the Imperial Army into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy to deliberately foster a bureaucratic and inter-service rivalry between the two. The Emperor of Mankind Himself issued a decree before his internment within the Golden Throne that starships could no longer be commanded by the officers of the newborn Imperial Guard but only by the members of their own service.
Navis Imperialis - The Horus Heresy: During the Great Crusade, it was common practice to subordinate Imperialis Auxilia regiments and their supporting Excertus Imperialis war fleets to the Imperial Expeditionary Fleets controlled by the Space Marine Legions. But after the corruption by the Chaos Gods of the Emperor's most favoured son and Imperial Warmaster, the Primarch Horus, and the onset of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium, it soon became apparent what a monumental mistake it had been to place Imperial Army units under the control of the Space Marine Legions.During that time of civil war, the Imperium was split asunder and humanity turned in upon itself in a bloody war which almost saw its complete destruction. The Warmaster led fully half of the legendary Space Marine Legions in open revolt against the Imperium which had created them and the master which they were sworn to protect. Alongside these legions of genetically engineered warriors marched millions of Imperial soldiers, men and women drawn from across the colonies of Mankind and gathered under the banner of the Emperor.When Horus turned against his father, he took countless soldiers and ships of the Imperial Army with him. Those men which had once fought for humanity during the Emperor's Great Crusade to reunite the human-settled galaxy under the Imperial banner were instead pitted against each other in a bloody struggle as the Heresy unfolded and civil war spanned the galaxy.Among the Traitor Legions, almost all of their attached Imperial Army formations uniformly followed their masters into rebellion, out of fear or blind faith. Even amongst the Loyalists, Imperial Army units with an officer cadre of genetically-enhanced Geno warriors performed poorly, usually driven to destruction by the inability of the unaugmented human soldiers to keep up with the demands of their transhuman Space Marine leaders.Over the course of the Heresy, entire armies of mortals were raised and squandered both by the Traitors and the desperate Loyalist commanders. Across the breadth and width of the galaxy, the Imperial Army tore itself apart in monumental battles, on a scale unseen in human history.Combined forces of fleet and army elements moved from world to world at the command of Generals and Lord Commanders whose loyalties were unknown to both sides. Thousands of pocket empires were carved out by ambitious commanders with no true loyalty to either side. Over the course of the following centuries, and at a cost of billions of lives, the Imperium was slowly reforged, forever tainted by the blood spilt in the massive civil war which had almost destroyed it.
Navis Imperialis - From the Ashes: After Horus was defeated and his armies had taken flight from Terra into the Eye of Terror, the Imperium was in chaos, weakened and shattered after long years of war. Even though the need for the Imperial Army was as great as ever, those Loyalist leaders that remained, led by the Ultramarines Legion's Primarch Roboute Guilliman, were fearful of a repeat of the rebellion which had cost them so dearly.In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, massive changes were implemented to civil and military administration of the Imperium on Guilliman's orders, a period forever after known as the Imperial Reformation. To prevent the possibility of large-scale rebellion occurring again, the titanic armies of the Imperial forces were divided. The Space Marine Legions were dissolved and split into separate, 1,000 Astartes-strong Chapters.No longer would the superhuman Space Marines serve as the Imperium's frontline military force. That task would fall to the mortals who had once comprised the Imperial Army -- there were far more of them than there were of the surviving Loyalist Space Marines, and more importantly, should they turn Renegade, the damage they could do was far less severe. The newborn Adeptus Astartes would assume the role of planetary assault forces and elite special operations troops.Thus the Excertus Imperialis as it had been for centuries ceased to exist. The link between the Imperial Fleet and Army was formally and bureaucratically severed -- never again would Imperial ground commanders be given direct control over interstellar ships or even their own units' air support. From the ashes of the Imperial Army were born the separate armed services of the Imperial Navy and the Astra Militarum.The Astra Militarum, often better known as the Imperial Guard, was reorganised into smaller units known as regiments, an existing formation from the old organisation structure of the Imperial Army, and centrally-trained political officers known as Commissars were universally introduced to watch out for disloyalty and to keep the Guardsmen and naval crews properly motivated in defence of the Imperium.The inter-dependence of the newly formed Imperial Guard, the most numerous of the Emperor's troops, ensured that should a regiment turn against their oaths of fealty, they would not be able to spread their treachery beyond a single world, and should an Imperial Navy fleet mutiny, they would not have the ability to resupply or deploy ground troops. The Imperium had learned a harsh and painful lesson following the dark days of the Horus Heresy.This was the birth of the Imperial Navy as it exists in the late 41st Millennium. Divided by logistics and separated by the gulfs of space and myriad different planetary cultures, it remains united by a common duty to the God-Emperor and Mankind.
Navis Imperialis - Holy Fleet: On many Imperial planets, the Imperial Navy is often referred to as the "Holy Fleet." The Ecclesiarchy preaches that the Fleet is an extension of the God-Emperor's divine will and is therefore itself a sacred institution. This is due to the intimate relationship between the Navigators who are able to guide the fleet though the Warp using the psychic beacon emanating from the Golden Throne and the Astronomican.Whether or not the title applies to all starfaring vessels in the Imperium that make use of Navigators is unclear, though this is unlikely. The Adeptus Mechanicus would also no doubt consider the vessels themselves holy. However, this is due to their own techno-theological beliefs concerning the divinity of all machines.
Navis Imperialis - Imperial Navy Organisation: The Imperium is divided into five fleet zones known as the Segmentae Majoris. Every starship of the Imperial Navy is assigned to one of these Segmentae, and falls under the command of the respective Lord High Admiral who commands all the Imperial Navy assets of that Segmentum.The naval assets of an entire Segmentum are named after that division of the Imperium; i.e. all of the Imperial fleet assets in the Segmentum Solar are known as the Battlefleet Solar, all the assets in the Ultima Segmentum are the Battlefleet Ultima, and so on.There are five Lord High Admirals, one controlling the assembled Battlefleet of each Segmentum. Although all 5 High Admirals are ranked equally, command of the Segmentum Solar is considered the oldest and therefore the most prestigious and senior posting. It is not uncommon for one of these Lord High Admirals to sit on the Senatorum Imperialis as a ruling High Lord of Terra.All Imperial shipping, civilian or military, is supervised within the jurisdiction of one of the five Segmentae. Each Segmentum has an orbital headquarters called a Segmentum Fortress which forms the base of fleet operations within the Segmentum. The Segmentum Fortress is controlled directly by a high-ranking official of the Adeptus Administratum known as the Master of the Segmentum, who reports only to the Master of the Administratum.
Navis Imperialis - Notable Segmentae: Galactic DirectionSegmentumSegmentum FortressCentralSegmentum SolarMarsNorthSegmentum ObscurusCypra MundiSouthSegmentum TempestusBakkaEastSegmentum UltimaKar DuniashWestSegmentum PacificusHydraphur
Navis Imperialis - Sectors: Each Segmentum is divided into sectors, regions of space that are generally cube-shaped and contain 8 million cubic light years of space. These Sectors contain multiple sub-sectors, collections of star systems no more than 20 light years in radius. The Imperial Navy starships of each Segmentum are divided amongst the sectors into further groups called Battlefleets.These Battlefleets are assigned the task of safeguarding the Sector they are assigned to, and each Battlefleet is generally named after the Sector it protects (Battlefleet Gothic is located in the Gothic Sector, Battlefleet Calixis is in the Calixis Sector, Battlefleet Cadia is located in the Cadian Sector, etc.) and commanded by an officer with the rank of Lord Admiral.
Navis Imperialis - Sub-Sectors: Sectors are further divided into sub-sectors, usually comprising between 2 and 8 star systems within a 10 light year radius (some may encompass more systems), while others are smaller in size and are governed by the practical patrol ranges of Imperial warships.Because Sub-sectors are actually astrographic divisions of worlds (rather than volumes of space) there are vast numbers of star systems within each sector which do not fall within a sub-sector. These are formally referred to as inter-sectors -- and are more commonly known as wilderness zones, forbidden zones, empty space, wild space and frontier space.Inter-sectors may contain gas or dust nebulae, inaccessible areas, alien-controlled star systems, unexplored star systems, uninhabited star systems and uninhabitable worlds.
Navis Imperialis - Imperial Battlefeets: Each Sector Battlefleet is assigned a number of Cruisers and Battleships, usually between 50 and 75 vessels. Each Sector Battlefleet is also assigned multiple squadrons of Escort starships, and is also in command of a large number of transports, messenger craft, orbital defences, space platforms and system patrol vessels.The ships of a Battlefleet must constantly patrol their sector and fulfill a variety of roles; protect Imperial merchant shipping from pirates, transport Astra Militarum regiments to warzones, escort Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets on their voyages to the Imperial frontier and provide orbital support for invading or defending armies.Because of the vast volume of space that requires policing, a Sector Battlefleet is normally split into detachments called Battlegroups consisting of one or two Cruisers, accompanied by a squadron of Escorts. If a particular situation is more than one Battlegroup can handle, additional detachments of Battlegroups or squadrons are called in to reinforce.On occasion, an entire Battlefleet can be formed to operate in a smaller area than an entire Sector. Battlefleet Armageddon is assigned solely to the Armageddon Sub-sector, and, prior to the Third War for Armageddon, was made up of 4 Battleships, 27 Cruisers and 36 squadrons of Escorts. Battlefleet Solar is assigned specifically to the Solar System, and is primarily charged with defending the two sacred worlds of Terra and Mars that lie at the very heart of the Imperium.
Navis Imperialis - Bastion Fleets: Even within a single Segmentum, battlefleets can vary massively from sector to sector, having been shaped over the course of millennia to respond to their own particular need and circumstance. For example, Battlefleet Gothic forms a component part of the Segmentum Obscurus battlefleets, as do its neighbours, Battlefleets Tamahl and Odessa, as well as the more distant Battlefleets Cadia, Agripinaa, Scarus and Corona, among others.Even though these battlefleets all hail from the same Segmentum and rely on many of the same Forge Worlds and naval bases, there is still great variation within them in terms of composition and number of warships.Battlefleets Cadia, Agripinaa, Scarus and Corona, in particular, are collectively known as the Bastion Fleets. These fleets are given over to guarding the region of space in the Segmentum Obscurus around the Eye of Terror, or the "Sectors Ocular" as these bordering regions are sometimes known in the Administratum.By their very nature, the Bastion Fleets are some of the most extensive and best-equipped battlefleets of the Imperium, forced to exist in a state of near-perpetual warfare against the frequent Chaos raiders from the Eye of Terror. More rarely, these battlefleets are forced to assemble into vast armadas and repel the amassed threat of a Black Crusade, and to this end maintain substantial reserve fleets ready for action with the existing active duty fleets of the Imperial Navy when dire circumstances require their use.
Navis Imperialis - Reserve Fleets of the Segmenum Obscurus: As with all highly militarised zones, it is important for the Imperial Navy to maintain substantial reserves of vessels around the Eye of Terror, ready to deploy as reinforcements should the need arise. Whilst it is possible to keep the vessels themselves ready in this manner, Battlefleet Obscuras simply does not possess the manpower to keep reserve crews stationed aboard these vessels as well.Instead, whole orbital shipyards are filled with rows of silent, inactive vessels, often representing classes of ship now outdated or scarce. In times of great need these warships will then be brought into service and crewed with ratings from destroyed or crippled vessels or even with hastily mustered new recruits, meaning the crew is unlikely to have any familiarity with their new vessel.A posting to a reserve fleet is an unnerving duty, forcing a rating to enter deep into an unfamiliar vessel which may have lain dormant for many standard centuries. Much superstition surrounds such fleets and perhaps because of this, unusual behaviour of both crew and vessel in these fleets is rather too commonplace.Reserve fleets are used only reluctantly by the Imperial Navy, and only in the most desperate of circumstances, but an invasion the size of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41 without doubt qualifies as exactly that -- the most dire of circumstances, the most desperate of times.In a reserve fleet, all vessels are prone to certain unexpected events, such as mass panic or even mutiny amongst the crew, inexplicable noises, sensor readings and sightings or disconcerting setbacks and failure of machinery. Against Chaos Warfleets, where the followers of the Dark Gods are able to exert their influence to further unsettle their already nervous opponents, unforeseen events can be even more devastating to ship morale.
Navis Imperialis - Notable Imperial Navy Battlefleets: Battlefleet AgripinaaBattlefleet ArmageddonBattlefleet BakkaBattlefleet CadiaBattlefleet CalixisBattlefleet CoronaBattlefleet CorribraBattlefleet GothicBattlefleet KoronusBattlefleet OrpheusBattlefleet Scarus Battlefleet Solar
Navis Imperialis - Vessels of the Imperial Navy: The fleets of the Imperial Navy are made up of multiple vessels that can be divided into three broad size categories: Battleships and Grand Cruisers, Cruisers, and Escorts. The actual size of starships in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is debatable; however, it is worth noting that the upper size of an Imperial Escort mentioned is 30 kilometers from the Black Library story "Wolf Pack" by Gordon Rennie, though the HDMS Lord Solar Macharius is noted to be just 3 kilometres long. The general consensus is that in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Imperial Escort vessels are anywhere between 750 metres and 3 kilometres in length, Cruisers are anywhere between 5 and 6 kilometres long and Battleships anywhere between 6 and 8 kilometres.
Navis Imperialis - Battleship: Battleships are truly massive starships, equipped with enormous numbers of weapons and potent Void Shields, and usually serve as the flagship for an Imperial Lord Admiral, though this is not always the case. Although very powerful, Battleships are slow and cumbersome to manoeuvre. The Imperial Navy employs three main classes of Battleship: the Emperor (which can carry an immense amount of Attack Craft in addition to its normal weaponry), the Victory (known for its heavy Lance batteries) and the Retribution (which is noted for its powerful broadside firepower and its large number of torpedo tubes).The Battleships of Battlefleet Armageddon are based on the older Apocalypse and Oberon-classes. Other Segmentae's battlefleets may rely on yet other starship classes, but the Emperor and more recent Retribution-class vessels are by far the most common Battleship classes in the Imperial Navy.Imperial Battleships can have crews of anywhere between 25,000 to 3,000,000 men or more depending on the source consulted, including large numbers of Imperial Navy armsmen (marines in modern parlance) to defend against enemy boarding assaults.Battleships can be up to 8 kilometres from prow to stern and displace billions of tons. Because they represent such a vast expenditure of resources to construct and require a fairly advanced technical base to maintain, Battleships are typically constructed only in the largest Imperial shipyards in orbit of the major Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Worlds. These vessels are precious assets of the Imperium and are carefully husbanded, usually employed in only the larger fleet formations and the most critical engagements.For the Imperial Navy officer class (admirals, captains, commanders, first lieutenants, etc.) on board, an entire section of a large Battleship's command deck may be divided into huge, luxurious staterooms, with vast bedrooms, offices and wardrobes, bathrooms and toilets mirroring those of an Imperial Planetary Governor's palace, and even harems of concubines and handmaidens.Lower-class bridge officers and chief petty officers would have fairly large, moderately luxurious quarters, and the armsmen, mid-class crewmen and petty officers would all have decent accommodation, generally consisting of a sleeping area, chemical toilet and storage locker. However, the bottom-class enlisted conscripts and slave ratings would have little more than a flea-infested sleeping pallet and a single toilet shared between ten ratings.
Navis Imperialis - Grand Cruiser: Grand Cruisers are smaller than Battleships, yet larger than Cruisers. These vessels are usually much older in design and do not incorporate many of the features that are typical in the more current classes of Imperial Navy vessels, like the armoured prow, and are not quite compatible with current Imperial Navy tactical doctrine. As such, many are retired from active duty, but are still used by the Imperial Navy's reserve fleets.The Avenger-class, with its powerful broadside firepower, is one such example of a Grand Cruiser. There are also some modernised versions of Grand Cruisers in active service, but since these are much larger and more heavily-armed than their predecessors, they are more often classed at present as Battleships. These kinds of vessels are usually purpose-built or modified from Battlecruiser hulls and are not commonly encountered in the Imperial Navy.
Navis Imperialis - Ironclad: Ironclads, much like their contemporary Imperial Navy counterparts, the Battleships, are vast, 8-kilometre-long vessels which lack the Void Shielding of their Battleship counterparts in favour of metres of adamantium plate armour. These warships, built before the advent of Void Shield technology, have since been phased out of production by the Imperium to be replaced by more modern designs.However, those remaining in service have been recommissioned for a variety of purposes; various pattern Ironclads may be retrofitted with a gargantuan, ship-, station- and even planet-killer cannon 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 starships are rare in the Imperial Navy, due to their archaic design and the lack of facilities still capable of repairing them at existing Forge Worlds, let alone manufacturing new ones.
Navis Imperialis - Escort Ship: Escort ships are the smallest type of warship in the Imperial Navy's fleets, found in two distinct sub-classes. The larger of the two sub-classes of Escorts are Frigates, which are better armed and more heavily armoured than other Escorts. Destroyers are generally smaller than Frigates, but they are by far the fastest and most manoeuvrable interstellar warships employed by the Imperial Navy.They are usually organised in squadrons of 2 to 6 vessels and will always operate as a group or "wolf pack." The main task of Escorts is to serve as a screen for capital starships against enemy torpedoes and Attack Craft so that they can get into position more quickly and safely.They are also employed behind the gun line to finish off enemy Cruisers that have been damaged so that the larger vessels can concentrate on the most dangerous capital ship threats in an enemy formation. Most Escort classes specialise in a certain role, such as the Cobra-class torpedo boat Destroyers or the Firestorm-class Frigate with its armour-piercing prow-mounted Lance. Escorts are normally not more than 1.5 kilometres in length, with Destroyers generally being only 750 metres to 1.5 kilometres from prow to stern.
Navis Imperialis - Imperial Navy Rank Hierarchy: See Also: Imperial Navy Hierarchy
Navis Imperialis - Warrant Officers: Warrant Officers (also known in some quarters by the archaic term "Petty Officers") act as the equivalent of non-commissioned officers like Sergeants and Corporals in planet-bound Imperial Guard regiments. They disseminate orders from higher authority, ensure that those orders are carried out by the rank and file of enlisted ratings and maintain discipline with regular floggings. They are called Warrant Officers because their rank is created through the issue of a written warrant from either fleet administration or the captain of their warship. Warrant Officers occupy positions of trust on the ship and a Captain with even the most mutinous of crews can keep the ship running as long as he can rely on his Warrant Officers. It is common practice in the Imperial Navy to promote Warrant Officers from among the ratings already on board a warship, but large numbers of warrants are also issued to civilised worlds as part of their Imperial tithe of experienced personnel for the Emperor's military, often with a promise of reward to entice skilled individuals.Ship's Master - The Ship's Master is generally the senior-most Warrant Officer and most experienced voidsman on board a given starship. Often the master is tasked with critical responsibilities, such as stellar navigation and the keeping of the starship's log. In addition, he or she might oversee the keeping of the ship's attitude jets, hangar decks, and stores and supplies.Gun Captain - A Gun Captain is a highly respected non-commissioned officer who has the great responsibility of commanding a single gun crew on an Imperial warship. The Gun Captain is the foremost expert on performing all the duties of the subordinate ratings in his or her command and often achieves the post only after decades of working his or her way up through all the different enlisted ratings.Sergeant-At-Arms - A Sergeant-At-Arms is placed in charge of a squad of Armsmen anywhere between six and twenty-strong with responsibility for close action in naval combat (such as hit-and-run attacks and boarding actions). A Sergeant-At-Arms' greatest responsiblity is the keys entrusted to him for the weapons lockers found on every deck of a warship. When battle commences the Master-At-Arms signals the Sergeants to clear the decks and prepare for action, indicating at that time whether to arm the crew. Sergeants-At-Arms are often recruited via warrant or planets from among former Imperial Guardsmen to ensure they do not have prior associations with the current crew of their warship.Bosun (Boatswain) - A starship's Bosuns are disciplinarians and taskmasters in a crew, assigned to oversee the common enlisted ratings and indentured workers, determine their duties and ensure that they are carried out efficiently. This often means that Bosuns are responsible for enforcing discipline on recalcitrant crewmembers, and are likely to handle that task personally. This makes them unpopular figures, and aboard many warships they find themselves naturally allied with a ship's Sergeant-At-Arms, as their duties are similar.
Navis Imperialis - Ratings: Ratings are the basic enlisted voidsmen aboard a warship that take care of the menial tasks; hauling shells and missiles, re-routing cables, clearing debris and conducting basic maintenance. Men and women in this class typically have a myriad of sub-classifications (ratings) that specify their role further, e.g. Gun-Layer Third Class, Fuse-Changer Second Class and so on. Ratings make up the great bulk of the starship's crew and will be the ones doing most of the fighting during boarding actions. Contrary to popular belief, many Imperial Navy Ratings are volunteers, for the pay is good and the conditions are better than those on many Imperial worlds. If there are not enough volunteers to fulfill a Captain's requirements he or she always has the right to send Press Gangs to tithe more crew directly from any planet along the way, which may include penal colonies or hab-blocks. In practice, this is often achieved through collusion with the local Planetary Governor, but an Imperial Navy Captain does not need civilian permission to take crew from any world.Armsman - Armsmen are crewmembers trusted to carry weapons at all times on board the ship and maintain the contents of the weapons lockers. They keep discipline among the lower ranks and protect the crew as needed. Unlike most Ratings, Armsmen get to move around different decks of the warship in the course of their duties and their loyalties are carefully scrutinised. Armsmen are essentially the Imperial Navy's equivalent of marines in the most ancient sense of that term.Voidsmen - Voidsmen (also referred to by the more archaic "Shipmen" on some Imperial Navy vessels) are a warship's enlisted crewmen who possess some training and skill, and are the Ratings most likely to be entrusted with tasks such as conduit-maintenance, bulwark repairs, cog polishing, or other menial jobs that might require some skill and autonomy. Hive Worlders are favoured as Voidsmen due to their familiarity with advanced technology and the fact that they are inured to the worst of the noise and claustrophobic conditions found on Imperial warships.
Navis Imperialis - Indentured Workers: Indentured or slave workers are those unfortunate individuals who rank even below enlisted personnel on a warship and are press-ganged from a world's slums or taken en masse from penal colonies for their ability to perform unskilled hard labour. They are given duties such as hauling guns into position, turning flywheels, and carrying supplies, heavy equipment, and Macrocannon shells. Most ships must replenish their crews of indentured workers every so often, as a steady stream die to malnutrition, accidents and disciplinary actions.
Navis Imperialis - Fighter Squadrons: Many Imperial Navy capital ships of Cruiser-class size and above are capable of carrying squadrons of Attack Craft like starfighters and starbombers. These are used in a variety of roles, from small fighters providing defence against torpedo attacks, to heavy bombers packing anti-starship ordnance. The largest Imperial Battleships and Heavy Cruisers are known to have launch bays capable of carrying up to 2000 fighter craft, bombers and dropships.
Navis Imperialis - Void Combat: The Fury Interceptor is the most common starfighter used by the Imperial Navy for space combat. With some variants reaching 60 to 70 metres in length, the more common patterns of the Fury are significantly larger than most fighters designed for atmospheric operations, and it carries a three-man crew, including a pilot, navigator and gunner.On occasion, an Astropath psyker will also be aboard, to provide greater communications capability. The Fury's reinforced hull contains an extensive network of circuitry and life-support systems, and even has a small chemical toilet and sleeping compartment for the crew.Furies are normally equipped with multiple forward-firing banks of Lascannons and anti-starfighter missiles. An average Attack Craft carrier can carry upwards of 1,000-2,000 Furies (although most will carry less as to increase their capacity to carry more Starhawks and atmospheric craft), split into fighter wings comprised of roughly 15 interceptors each.Starhawk bombers are larger, slower spacecraft, designed to carry a heavy payload of Plasma Bombs and armour piercing missiles for use against enemy capital ships in the void. Crewed by a pilot, co-pilot, Tech-priest (plus Acolytes), various turret gunners and a logistics officer, a standard Starhawk features limited sleeping quarters, chemical toilets and even an automated medical unit inside its hull.Armed with a multitude of short-range turret-mounted defence weapons used to fend off enemy starfighters, a lone Starhawk can wreak havoc among enemy fighter squadrons before swooping in to deliver a crippling missile strike on an enemy capital ship. On rare occasions, Starhawks can be modified to carry and launch a very small number of anti-starship torpedoes. A standard carrier warship can carry between 1,000-2,000 Starhawks.
Navis Imperialis - Atmospheric Aircraft: As part of the post-Horus Heresy reorganisation of the Imperial military, all aviation capability and air support in the Imperial armed forces was assigned to the Imperial Navy's Aeronautica Imperialis subdivision. No Astra Militarum regiment (with the exception of the Phantine Air Corps and possibly others) has access to aerospace or atmospheric fighter craft, and the assistance of the Imperial Navy is required when air support is needed for an Astra Militarum campaign.For atmospheric fighter combat, the two workhorses of the Imperial Navy are the Lightning strike fighter and the Thunderbolt heavy fighter. The Lightning is the faster and more maneuverable of the two, but cannot carry as many weapons as the Thunderbolt, and has considerably lighter armour. Lightnings are often used as reconnaissance aircraft and interceptors, while Thunderbolts are mainly assigned to an air superiority role. Both are equipped with vector-thrust capability.Marauder Bombers are huge aircraft, capable of carrying 6,000 kilograms of ordnance. Each Marauder possesses a massive bomb bay and missile racks along the wings, along with a pair of Lascannons and two pairs of Heavy Bolters for defence against enemy fighters.Marauders were the Imperial Navy's original space-borne bomber craft before their replacement by the equally large, but more advanced and heavily-armed Starhawk bomber. The Marauder is also equipped with vector-thrust engines on some patterns, allowing them vertical take-off and landing capabilities. HPAC and SSDC Marauders are equipped with extra ultra-obliteration bombs designed for use against heavily armoured targets such as Chaos Space Marines.For close air support of ground units, the Imperial Navy has access to Valkyrie transports and the Vulture gunship. These aircraft are not true flight craft, instead using vectored thrust to travel quickly at low altitudes. Unlike most Imperial Navy aircraft, they are sometimes directly assigned to specialised Imperial Guard regiments, such as the Elysian Drop Troopers.During boarding missions and for low-profile personnel movement, the Imperial Navy will deploy a spacecraft known as a pinnace. Pinnaces are unarmed, deep-hulled spacecraft, capable of making an airtight space dock. Normally a pinnace is accompanied by a detail of Naval Security Armsmen dressed in grey and black body armour with their fleet symbol on their chest and gold braid edging their epaulettes.They have form-moulded ceramite helmets plus rebreathers, and are armed with compact, short-frame Autoguns, not powerful enough to pierce a starship's hull, but easily powerful enough to kill. The troops of Naval Security are famed for their vigorous training and natural skill, second only to that of Imperial Guard Storm Troopers.
Navis Imperialis - Weapon Batteries: Weapons batteries usually are the primary armament for most Imperial warships. Since each battery consists of numerous ranks of individual weapons, whole sections of the starship's hull can be covered by gun ports, launcher systems, turrets and weapon housings.The weapons employed vary immensely: Plasma Projectors, close-range Missile Launchers, Laser Cannons, Rail Guns, Fusion Beamers and Graviton Pulsars have all been found on Imperial warships. These batteries fire in coordinated salvoes, to increase the chances to hit and the amount of damage done to a target.
Navis Imperialis - Macro Weaponry: Macro weaponry serves as the baseline starship weapons for Imperial warships. Ranks of large cannons or other weapons destroy their targets through powerful broadsides and volumes of fire. Types of Macrocannons used by Imperial warships include:Disruption Macrocannon - This macrocannon variant fires a "shell" of highly-charged, ionized deuterium atoms. These particles cause minimal physical damage to their targets. Instead, they are intended to overload and shut down power transfer systems throughout the target vessels. These weapons are particularly useful for vessels that need to capture their prey intact.Hecutor Pattern Plasma Battery - The Hecutor Pattern plasma battery is an ancient variant of plasma macroweaponry that refocuses the power of the plasma "blast," concentrating it into a compressed photonic packet that can be fired over extremely long distances. It is rare to see these weapons on any but the oldest Imperial vessels, meaning many are found on Heretic vessels lost to the Forces of Chaos millennia ago.Stygies Pattern Bombardment Cannons - These devastating weapons are designed to reduce planetary defences to rubble and support military landings. Most often they use linear accelerators to launch massed salvoes of heavy magma bomb warheads, and though relatively short-ranged, these can also be used in naval combat. Often the rumour that orbiting vessels carry them is enough to force a quick surrender.
Navis Imperialis - Lances: Lances are Imperial directed energy weapons of extreme power. A Lance battery is, in essence, a gargantuan Lasgun, usually mounted in a large and heavily armoured turret. Thanks to the available energy from the ship's Plasma Reactor, a Lance can fire prolonged bursts instead of the short "shots" of man-portable las-weapons. Often, a bright shaft of coherent light connects the weapon to its target, hence the name "Lance". Lances use triple or even quad-arranged energy projectors to focus their energy into a concentrated beam, capable of burning through even the most heavily armoured hulls and cutting smaller vessels in half. Lance batteries can be used to either apply sustained firepower to one precise location of a target, or, by slightly moving the projector, "rake" across its target. Multiple batteries often combine these two firing modes, in the hope of overwhelming their target's Void Shields and inflicting massive damage. The many types of Lances include:Godsbane Lance - This is practically an archeotech relic-weapon. The lengthened focus apparatus and quad lens-arrays give the weapon extreme range, to the point that beam dispersion becomes a problem. The technological demands of these weapons are intense, and only the older Grand Cruisers of the most powerful Battlefleets possess the structural requirements to mount them. In fact, similar weapons are more often found amongst the forces of the Archenemy, as they tend to possess older vessels dating back to the time of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.Las-burners - Las-burners are scaled down versions of true Lances, utilising focused, high-power laser beams to cut through a starship's armoured plating. Though these weapons do far less damage, the turrets are smaller as well, allowing smaller warships to carry them. In addition, their relatively small size also allows them to be used in boarding actions, cutting open the outer adamantium hull to allow armsmen access to an opponent's vitals.Mezoa Pattern Hybrid Lance Weapon - This recent development from the Forge World of Mezoa remains highly controversial in naval circles. It substantially sacrifices range, but increases damage potential by integrating an emitter into the Lance design. Some ship's captains have complained that the reduced range requires a change in ship-to-ship combat tactics. This hybrid Lance can also be installed in batteries.Voidsunder Lance Battery - Commonly mounted on the Dauntless-class Light Cruisers constructed in the Calixis Sector and neighbouring sectors, the Voidsunder Lance Battery sacrifices flexibility for raw power. Mounted in massive housings hanging off a warship's prow and rear fins, these weapons provide a Light Cruiser with a ship-breaking punch. However, only Grand Cruisers are large enough to potentially mount these weapons on dorsal turrets instead, limiting their usefulness.
Navis Imperialis - Nova Cannon: Nova Cannons are a classification of exceptionally powerful weaponry that can only be mounted upon capital ships. These extremely powerful weapons can easily wreak vast destruction upon enemy vessels at great range, but are inaccurate and require a stable vessel to fire effectively.Mounted below the heavily armoured prows of Imperial Navy Cruisers and Battleships, Nova Cannons have few equals in terms of their range or destructive power. While variations exist, a typical Nova Cannon consists of an array of potent gravimetric impellers designed to accelerate a projectile to a fraction of the speed of light. Due to the lethal nature of their warheads, Nova Cannon shells are not armed for a fraction of a second after firing, allowing them to travel many tens of thousands of kilometres through the void before they become truly deadly.These projectiles vary more than the nature of the cannons themselves, ranging from sophisticated plasma warheads which burn with the ferocity of a small star for a fraction of a second, to implosive devices which exert destructive gravitational forces upon all those caught within several thousand kilometres of the detonation.In any case, a well-used Nova Cannon is a terrifying thing to face, as much a psychological tool as a weapon. The weapons, however, are often ill-favoured by the Imperial Navy, with most captains preferring to utilise the more traditional torpedoes. Those few who favour the weapon understand that it is difficult to use and often rendered useless at close ranges.
Navis Imperialis - Defensive Weapon Systems: Every Imperial Navy vessel is covered with defensive turrets that fire kinetic projectiles or energy pulses that are designed specifically to destroy incoming bombers and torpedoes.
Navis Imperialis - Void Shields: Void Shields are protective barriers of gravitic or electrically-charged energy that allow all starships to survive the hostile environment that is the vacuum of space. Shields form an invisible band of energy around the vessel, a variable layer of force that can absorb radiation, interstellar dust, particle showers and weapons hits. Shields have a maximum tolerance and can be overloaded by sustained weapons fire, forcing the generators to shut down temporarily to vent the excess kinetic or direct energy.
Navis Imperialis - Armour: Every spacefaring vessel is equipped with a certain amount of physical armour, capable of deflecting direct weapon impacts on the starship's hull. The strength and thickness of the armour vary depending on the starship's size and type -- a tiny Escort ship will have a ribbed outer hull maybe a foot thick or less, while an 8-kilometre-long Imperial Battleship will have three separate, heavily reinforced adamantium hull layers, with a total thickness of dozens of metres. Common amongst all the warships of the Imperial Navy, ranging from Frigate to Battleship size, is the armoured prow, which is massively reinforced and can be hundreds of metres thick on the largest ships as it is also used as a ram. It is capable of deflecting all but the most powerful of strikes to a vessel's bow.
Navis Imperialis - Propulsion Systems: Every Imperial starship is equipped with a fusion-based Plasma Drive for normal propulsion through the depths of space. Running up to a third of the starship's length, the aft section is a mass of drive tubes, engine compartments and plasma reactors. Most Imperial Navy warships employ Warp-Drives to breach the barrier that separates realspace from the Immaterium and allow for interstellar travel. Implosion of these drives can lead to the creation of an unstable Warp rift, such as that which destroyed Hive Fleet Behemoth during the Battle of Macragge in the First Tyrannic War.
Navis Imperialis - Space Hulks: Space Hulks are warped and often Chaos-ridden abandoned starships that have been fused together by the ethereal forces of the Warp. The Ordo Malleus was at one time tracking 600 individual Hulks, but many more are thought to exist throughout the galaxy. The reason they form is currently unknown; however, some have hypothesised that these Hulks were formerly massive ships of varying sizes and origins that were lost during a Warp jump or Warpstorm at an undocumented point in time.Over time these ships would collide with other lost ships to form these Hulks, making them essentially a floating relic from ages long ago. However, they constantly pose a threat to any star system where they re-enter realspace from the Warp due to their often hazardous cargo. Orks are known to frequent Space Hulks, as are Tyranid Genestealers. They are constantly being destroyed as they are found, due to the Forces of Chaos usually having an agent on board.However, it is not uncommon for Hulk Exploration Teams to never return from scouting the interior. All Space Hulks are different, so no single type or size can be used as a basis for interior construction or modeling by the Imperial Navy for assault purposes. Since Space Hulks can sometimes contain valuable archeotech or artefacts, they are often worth exploring for agents of the Imperium despite the inherent danger.