Fleet Assets of Krakendoom's Great Company

[Mattias]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have any information, or educated guesses regarding the fleet assets available to Engir Krakendoom's Great Company? Am I right in guessing that it would be a single capital ship supported by a number of escort ships?

 

Cheers,

 

Matt.

[Blitzkreig]

I'm guessing he would be cruising around in a Battle Barge with a few fast attack/escort craft supporting him.

[Captain Trivia]

Agreed, the Great Companies of the Space Wolves are not Codex, so it's not as simple as "let's just check the Codex and see how many of 'x' they have", but I would presume a battle barge and tons of troop transports (along with support vessels) are part of the Great Company's fleet (Krakendoom was the Great Company that favored transports and boarding actions, if memory serves me correct)

[Gyson_Vore]

-Removed due to ignorance-

[Grey Mage]

Well, the core of the fleet would undoubtably be Strike Cruisers, with Escort Support, and Finally a Battle Barge or two. The only real flexibility you have is in the Escorts. Look at the Specialist games for the download for the fleet lists for Battle Fleet Gothic, that might help. Space Wolves have no designated transport ships, as that is what the Strike Cruiser and Battle Barge are for.

 

You would probably be looking at about 1 Battle Barge, 1-2 Strike Cruisers and about 3-4 Escort Squadrons at base.

*blink* You are so off base here. Thats a small fleet for a standard codex chapter.

 

It is noted that the SWs have ~15 capital ships at any given time ranging from cruiser size to Logans personal craft- wich is an Emperor Class Battleship. This is not including attendent escorts. Each Wolf Lord has their own vessel, and the others are mothballed in case of necessity.

 

You can expect 3-6 Strike Craft to be supporting any given cruiser sized vessel, and 6-12 available to escort a battleship If we take the known named vessels and extrapolate, we can figure theres probly 5 battleship/Grand Cruiser sized vessels and 10 Cruiser/Battle Cruiser sized vessels, making a likely number for rapid strike vessels around 75.

 

This does not include any system ships that are specificly tasked with defending the Fang and its prodigious space docks- remember, the Fang is the 3rd greatest fortress in the entire imperium, second only to Cadia and Terra itself. Any number I could give on these system ships would be speculative, but I would feel a conservative estimate of another 40-50 escort- light cruiser sized vessels, and considering both the pressures on the astartes fleets and the numbers they require I doubt theyd have anything active that was larger than a light cruiser attached for gaurd duty.

 

Note, again, that the crew of an imperial cruiser can vary wildly from a few hundred to many thousands of crewmen based upon the exact size of the vessel and the condition and quality of the technology its based on- the better the equipment, the fewer men you need. SWs, despite barbaric upbringings for much of the terrestrial population, seem to have no issues with the active maintenance of technology and certainly have the connections to get quality items from the Admech.

 

Engir himself would have a single cruiser or battlecruiser- though he might have one of the larger vessels just as easily- and its attendent escorts. His love of boarding actions and transports could easily be shown by a craft with more thunderhawks available than normal, perhaps increasing the launch capacity by removing some weapon batteries- or just being larger.

[WeWillBuryYou]

Wowowowowo. Logan has an emperor class battleship? I would never doubt you Grey Mage, just very curious where thats written.

[Grey Mage]

Wowowowowo. Logan has an emperor class battleship? I would never doubt you Grey Mage, just very curious where thats written.

Nothing wrong with asking for a quote or citation:

 

The Space Wolves maintain fifteen ships in their fleet, one for each Great Company and three in reserve. Each of the fifteen ships is unique unto itself, the fleet including many different classes and configurations of vessels. Two of the Chapters ships are massive warships akin to Imperial Navy capitol ships. The Iron Wolf is the ship of Egil Ironwolf which he claimed in combat when his Company’s own ship was badly damaged. Slightly larger The Pride of Fenris is the personal ship of Logan Grimnar.

 

From Space Wolves: a comprehensive history. I trust it as a source, as the librarium is very thorough in their fact checking.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...showarticle=193

 

You can find their list of sources on the very bottom right... some 40ish official texts.

 

Edit: the previous version listed it as a captured emperor class battleship, noting that it was a particularly sticky point with the imperial navy. :S

[Jonny Wolf]

Excellent post's Brother Grey Mage.

[Mattias]

Thank you for your input Grey Mage it was very informative, given that Engir Krakendoom's Great Company is noted as being proficient in boarding actions, but also as leading the Space Wolves fleet do you think his capital ship is more likely to a Battleship/Grand Cruiser (more effective at boarding) or a Cruiser class vessel (more effective at scouting/leading the fleet)?

[Sharpsilver]

Thank you for your input Grey Mage it was very informative, given that Engir Krakendoom's Great Company is noted as being proficient in boarding actions, but also as leading the Space Wolves fleet do you think his capital ship is more likely to a Battleship/Grand Cruiser (more effective at boarding) or a Cruiser class vessel (more effective at scouting/leading the fleet)?

 

I reckon Engir's Great Company uses a Strike Cruiser for Manoeuvrability and speed. Two key requirements of Boarding Actions which would be at higher advantage than the bulk of a Battle-barge.

[Grey Mage]

Thank you for your input Grey Mage it was very informative, given that Engir Krakendoom's Great Company is noted as being proficient in boarding actions, but also as leading the Space Wolves fleet do you think his capital ship is more likely to a Battleship/Grand Cruiser (more effective at boarding) or a Cruiser class vessel (more effective at scouting/leading the fleet)?

 

I reckon Engir's Great Company uses a Strike Cruiser for Manoeuvrability and speed. Two key requirements of Boarding Actions which would be at higher advantage than the bulk of a Battle-barge.

Sharp Silver makes an excellent point, however it could just as easily go the other way as the main boarding actions for a SM force are done via teleport-hit-and-run attacks, and Thunderhawks.

 

We dont use teleporters much... so that leaves thunderhawks. If you want to get the image of a small fleet of longboats flying out to meet the enemy on their own ground, then thunderhawks-and a larger vessel- are the way to go. If you want the epic fight of a smaller faster ship ramming into and engaging enemy ships 1 at a time, then a cruiser is best.

 

All we do know is that its probly not a full on battleship- as he has neither of the largest vessels available to the fleet. I would probly give him an archaeotech grand cruiser personally- about half way between a cruiser and a battleship with extra maneuvering thrusters and a solid set of launch bays.

[LoneSniperSG]

Thank you for your input Grey Mage it was very informative, given that Engir Krakendoom's Great Company is noted as being proficient in boarding actions, but also as leading the Space Wolves fleet do you think his capital ship is more likely to a Battleship/Grand Cruiser (more effective at boarding) or a Cruiser class vessel (more effective at scouting/leading the fleet)?

 

I reckon Engir's Great Company uses a Strike Cruiser for Manoeuvrability and speed. Two key requirements of Boarding Actions which would be at higher advantage than the bulk of a Battle-barge.

 

I doubt it. A Battlebarge is one of the nastiest ships available. They're superior to the Battleships of the Imperial Navy. A battlebarge is... is... like a brick wall with lots of large cannons, thunderhawk bays, torpedo tubes and drop pod ports. Not saying they're not sluggish, but are capable of taking and smacking aside hardcore beatings that would render a Strike Cruiser or any other ship useless.

 

Ah yes. The Pride of Fenris, an Emperor-class Battleship gifted to Leman Russ the day he took charge of the Space Wolves legion. I first saw this in a fan-made Battlefleet Gothic ruleset for Space Wolf fleets, but I came to find out it was referenced in some bit of fluff.

 

The one idea I always liked (also from the same book) is that Space Wolves would capture and use enemy ships for their own benefit. Likely such that due tothe behavior of Space Wolves, and the age of the chapter, there's probably a few thousand ships of varying size and class. I could just see some Great Company flying around the galaxy in a reclaimed Grand Cruiser or captured Despoiler battleship or something.

[Mattias]

All we do know is that its probly not a full on battleship- as he has neither of the largest vessels available to the fleet. I would probly give him an archaeotech grand cruiser personally- about half way between a cruiser and a battleship with extra maneuvering thrusters and a solid set of launch bays.

 

Would you say something like an Imperial Exorcist Class Grand Cruiser would be appropriate as it has weapons batteries and launch bays and the mass to make a ram/boarding action practical.

 

Plus it says that it was designed as a long range patrol vessel capable of self sufficiency for long periods of time which would also seem appropriate?

[Grey Mage]

All we do know is that its probly not a full on battleship- as he has neither of the largest vessels available to the fleet. I would probly give him an archaeotech grand cruiser personally- about half way between a cruiser and a battleship with extra maneuvering thrusters and a solid set of launch bays.

 

Would you say something like an Imperial Exorcist Class Grand Cruiser would be appropriate as it has weapons batteries and launch bays and the mass to make a ram/boarding action practical.

 

Plus it says that it was designed as a long range patrol vessel capable of self sufficiency for long periods of time which would also seem appropriate?

If I was bringing it into BFG that is exactly what I would base it off of.

 

Probly bump the price up to an even 300pts, add 1 to port and starboard launc bays, and add a dorsal bombardment cannon at Str 5.

[LoneSniperSG]

All we do know is that its probly not a full on battleship- as he has neither of the largest vessels available to the fleet. I would probly give him an archaeotech grand cruiser personally- about half way between a cruiser and a battleship with extra maneuvering thrusters and a solid set of launch bays.

 

Would you say something like an Imperial Exorcist Class Grand Cruiser would be appropriate as it has weapons batteries and launch bays and the mass to make a ram/boarding action practical.

 

Plus it says that it was designed as a long range patrol vessel capable of self sufficiency for long periods of time which would also seem appropriate?

 

that's what most Grand Cruisers are used for - the few that the Imperium has left are relegated to long-range patrols due to the terror they can dish out, and due to their size which allows for enough supplies to be loaded up for however long their journey takes them.