Emperor Class Battleship
Hi guys,
Back with another addition to my Bakka fleet, bringing it up to a nice round 3,000pts, the Emperor Class Battleship. A pretty solid and common feature of Imperial Fleets, the Bakka fleetlist only allows one, and only as reserves, unless the character Lord Admiral Rath is taken. This fits in with the general ordnance light feel of the fleet and it differentiates the list from the more common Gothic sector list.
Prow
Bakka’s Emperor Class is very famous however! Named the Dominus Astra, it plays a key part in turning back the Tyranid assualt on Macragge.
“Roaring forward on its many tails of white fire the Dominus Astra ripped through the bio-ships with its jagged ram, weapons blasting from every gun port and turret, the enemy so close that the shot and detonation of its fusion cannon were simultaneous. For a brief instant the Dominus Astra kept the horde back with the blaze of its weapons before the Tyranids swept in like a tide of bone and flesh to cover it with their numbers.
A black globe crackled and flared into existence over the spot. Real space rippled visibly and then shuddered back before the groaning warp drives of the Dominus Astra as it hurled itself into the warp. Reality contorted under the strain: mass and warp energy collided in a cataclysmic implosion of black light and impossible sound. All of the closest Tyranid ships were dragged into the Astra’s displacement and were lost with it. Those further away were smashed in the swirling storm of dust, rocks and other detritus swept into the ship’s wake. Great flares of incandescent gas gouted up from Circe to incinerate the handful of surviving ships that remained in a holocaust of flame. The Dominus Astra disappeared into the warp never to be seen again.”
Lord Admiral Rath powers the great beast of a Battleship right into the heart of the Tyranid fleet before deliberately engaging the warp engines, seemingly suicidally sucking vast numbers of them with him into the Warp.
AMBRIEL – my Emperor Class
The ship is painted to match the rest of my Bakka fleet in Dark Red, Black and Gold, with the weapons slots being magentised to allow for easy swapping. In game the Emperor is probably the most popular Battleship taken, offering long range weapons batteries and numerous launch bays. In the context of the Bakka fleet list, it is the launch bays that are hardest to come by, but this is hampered by the difficulty of actually taking it. The Emperor Class can normally only be taken as a reserve ship, needing three other battleships before it can be selected. This means that is just isnt feasible in normal sized games. The only way around this is to take Lord Admiral Rath, who although Ld 10 w/ 2 re-rolls, +1 defending against boarding and weapons ./ ship refit, is still very expensive at 200pts!
