Which Legion had the most powerful Gloriana-Class?

[Ogun]

 

Isn't it just the wreckage from the Furious Abyss that the Salamanders fly through? Pollux tells them to tow away all the debris above Macragge when going over how to better fortify Ultramar, which would explain the massive ship graveyard out in space near Macragge.

 

Yes that's what I initially thought too. However, the Furious Abyss was destroyed when the small strike team that boarded it destroyed its plasma drives. The team consisted of about a dozen or so Marines from the Space Wolves, World Eaters and Ultramarines.

 

By contrast the wreck in the graveyard had its warp drives detonated by a massive boarding party and there were corpses of hundreds of Ultramarines and Word Bearers frozen in combat on every deck of the wreck. 

 

 

I got the feeling that that bit might have been acting as a tie in to something not yet released. Deathfire came out in the same general time frame as Tempest, and I seem to recall that there were quite a few mentions at the time that Tempest was going to be followed by a book focused on the larger Shadow Crusade. Possibly Kyme might have been referring to a battle he knew would be mentioned at some point, possibly one over the wreck of the Furious Abyss.

[Marcus Arias]

All of the Gloriana's would have been based of the same design, if you compare this with merchant ships, however, subtle variations would creep in dependant upon a factors such as design iteration (due to known faults), additions of new kit (better macro cannons etc), techniques and process employed by the ForgeWorlds that built them (Mars or Ryza?) or the personal flavour of the Legion and their Primarch. In essence the definition of the Gloriana class would change, it would merely be a designator for a group of ships.

 

If I had to state with regards to killing power I would vouch for the Vengeful Spirit - As Horus was favourate he would have the best tech- right?

 

As an Aside, I have a feeling that the Invincible Reason becomes the Rock. As there is no mention of the vessel in any fluff after the civil war events on Caliban. Which would mean she was either destroyed or used to form the basis of the fortress known as the Rock, which was hewn out of the remnants of Aldrukh - Not a DA player so its just a fan theory!

[Marshal Rohr]

Aldarukh is the fortress monastery of the Angels and the Rock is a tectonic plate from Caliban if you go by the artwork from the Fenris book. But if you also go by that the Dark Angels have billions of serfs crewing thousands of battleships.

[Spinsanity]

All of the Gloriana's would have been based of the same design

Just because they're built on the same frame doesn't mean they have to be all that similar.

 

Look at modern cars. There are plenty of models that share underlying frames and yet are significantly different from one another. Why wouldn't it be the same with the Glorianas?

[K3nn3rs]

Did the Imperial Fists not have any Glorianas?

 

I know they have the Phalanx but it seems strange that the Legion with one of (the?) biggest fleets doesn’t have any.

[Spinsanity]

Did the Imperial Fists not have any Glorianas?

 

I know they have the Phalanx but it seems strange that the Legion with one of (the?) biggest fleets doesn’t have any.

They had the Eternal Crusader, which, as of 40k, is the Black Templar flagship...

[DogWelder]

Is the Eternal Crusader a full-fledged Gloriana btw? Cause it seems rather small for a Gloriana-Class.

 

It is 10km while Glorianas are usually 20+ km in length.

[Lord_Caerolion]

Could be "taller" or "wider", in that case.

[bluntblade]

Is the Eternal Crusader a full-fledged Gloriana btw? Cause it seems rather small for a Gloriana-Class.

 

It is 10km while Glorianas are usually 20+ km in length.

It's definitely a full Gloriana. The Iron Blood is 15, Vengeful Spirit is the only one I'm certain is 20 long Edited February 1, 2018 by bluntblade

[Spinsanity]

Is the Eternal Crusader a full-fledged Gloriana btw?

Maybe part of the ship was damaged beyond repair and the rest salvaged into a still fighting vessel?

 

Anyway, here's the passage, from Black Legion, second to last paragraph of Chapter 12:

'Sister,' Ultio called to the Eternal Crusader, the Vengeful Spirit's sibling and the only Gloriana-class battleship in the enemy armada.

[Laughingman]

Laughingman's theory: Black library has no internal cannon police, thus everyone describes Gloriana class battle ships as different sizes

[Memento Of Prospero]

Gloriana class ships have no consistency, due to the uniqueness of their production and designs, which changed with the various primarchs tampering with their flagships.

 

The most powerful is without a doubt the Vengeful Spirit. No contest

[Skalpynock]

I seem to recall the Iron Blood as the most heavily armoured, to the point that it had no window.

[b1soul]

Did the Emperor not have a Gloriana?

 

Imperator Somnium I believe

[Memento Of Prospero]

Did the Emperor not have a Gloriana?

 

Imperator Somnium I believe

The Emperor had his own golden flagship, dwarfing all other imperial vessels. As such, I doubt it was a Gloriana, but rather something of his own design.

[SkimaskMohawk]

Bucephalus was his ship iirc

[bluntblade]

Early on yes, but it was the Imperator Somnium shortly before Ullanor

[TheRealMcCagh]

It's been a long time since I read First Heretic, but isn't the Emperor's flagship so large they have to be careful with it around planets since it will effect gravity/tides? I thought i remember a passage saying something like that when they are on Monarchia

[Walter Payton]

Two ships are mentioned as being the Emperor's flagship.  

 

- Imperator Somium (bad Latin for Imperial Dream) is the giant one that can move tides etc.

 

- He also has a battle-barge sized ship called Bucephalus (the name of Alexander's horse) which can land on terrestrial bodies.

 

Have we ever met the Gloriana herself in the series/background?

[Ogun]

Gloriana is not a class, that was confirmed by Laurie Goulding and Alan Bligh. It is an honourific for particularly impressive macro sized battleships. A bit weird in my opinion, but it does help explain the inconsistencies in designs and scale. Vengeful Spirit is the 'greatest vessel ever built to Scylla design schemata'. Red Tear was in the Emperor's fleet before he left Sol. Perturabo built Iron Blood entirely to his own design, as did Fulgrim. There are some definite oddities though in some of the earlier Heresy novels. The length of the Red Tear given in Fear to Tread is shorter than an Emperor Class, but Swallow describes its dorsal fin section as being so huge that there are docking bays for escort frigates, meaning that it would have to be vastly larger than an Emperor Class. Flight of the Eisenstein describes Endurance as being only the length of one of the Vengeful Spirit's cannons and I'm pretty sure that that is absolutely no longer canon. 

[bluntblade]

Definitely with the Endurance. Swallow describes some of the other DG vessels being bigger, but by PoH there's not even the suggestion of that; the Endurance is the monster without peer in their fleet.

[Azorius]

Invincible Reason. I'm convinced that the flagship of the First Legion would be a crystallized incarnation of DAoT tech and one of the most ancient, powerful and advanced ship in the hands of Imperium, if not the largest. 

[Kasper_Hawser]

A bit off topic, but i realise which Gloriana is the coolest. Angron's Conqueror without a doubt. SHIP HARPOONS FOR THE WIN!!!

 

FIRE THE URSA CLAWS!!!

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

A bit off topic, but i realise which Gloriana is the coolest. Angron's Conqueror without a doubt. SHIP HARPOONS FOR THE WIN!!!

 

FIRE THE URSA CLAWS!!!

 

I cannot find any fault that argument.

[bluntblade]

I can only fault the spelling. It's Ursis Claws.