Greetings all.

My players have just sold an STC to the Mechanicus (long story) and been incredibly well rewarded.

One of the things they have acquired are 5 monitor ships. I got these from battlefleet gothic where they are escort size, move slowly but have good armour and really good weapons.

Has anyone done up stats for monitor ships yet that they'd be willing to share.

On a similar note, they have now got Orbital defence platforms defending a world that they've "adopted". If anyone has stats for these i'd be interested in seeing them.

Finally, a rival mechanicus faction offered them a Ramilies class star fort. Silly naive me was under the impression that these were small space stations designed to guard strategic locations, i was going to change the wayfarer station in the main rule book to be a bit tougher and more shooty to reflect this. I re-read the battlefleet gothic rules though and discovered that the Ramilies starfort is basically a VAST and DEADLY installation, far, far more massive and deadly than the humble wayfarer station.

I plan to stat one up (even though my players don't have one yet) but again, any existing rules would be interesting to see.

Gribble_the_Munchkin said:

I don't have the stats - but have a look on the Forgeworld website and see if they still have a pdf available.

As for the Ramilies that the characters have been offered - there's no reason it has to be fully functional... it could just be an empty, burnt out shell with a semi-functional power core. Then the characters have a whole range of endeavours they need to achieve to get it fully functional again!

OK, i got impatient and knocked together some rulles myself.

See below.

Defence Monitor Ship

These ships are non-warp capable heavy system vessels, designed for war and defence of static locations. They are slow, but tough and well armoured. Uses components as a frigate. Is about 1km long but of noticeably blockier build than an equivalent sized imperial vessel.

Speed: 3 Manoeuvrability: +10
Detection: +15 Hull Integrity: 45
Armour: 20 Turret Rating: 2
Space: 30

Weapon capacity: 1 Prow, 2 Dorsal

Components:
Jovian Pattern class 2 plasma drive (Grants Power 45, Space 10)
Multiple void shield generator (Power 7, Space 2)
Combat Bridge (Power 1, Space 1)
M-1.r Life sustainer (Power 3, Space 1)
Pressed Crew Quarters (Power 1, Space 2)
M-100 Auger Array (Power 3, Space 0)
Prow Mounted Titanforge Lance weapon (Power 9, Space 4)
Dorsal Mounted Mars Pattern Macro battery (Power 4, Space 2)
Dorsal Mounted Mars Pattern Macro battery (Power 4, Space 2)

Totals
Power 32 – 13 left
Space 24 – 6 left

Weapons:
Prow Mounted Lance weapon
Dorsal Mounted Mars Pattern Macro battery
Dorsal Mounted Mars Pattern Macro battery

Orbital Defence Platform

These static defences are typically emplaced around worlds or orbital facilities. Tough and with a good range, they are a problem for smaller ships and even larger ships need to be wary of them when getting too close.

Speed: 0 Manoeuvrability: N/A
Detection: +15 Hull Integrity: 45
Armour: 20 Turret Rating: 1
Space: Filled
Weapon capacity: 2 Keel

Components:
Jovian Pattern class 2 plasma drive (Grants Power 45, Space 10)
Single Void shield generator (Power 5, Space 1)
Combat Bridge (Power 1, Space 1)
M-1.r Life sustainer (Power 3, Space 1)
Pressed Crew Quarters (Power 1, Space 2)
M-100 Auger Array (Power 3, Space 0)
Keel Mounted Sunsear Laser battery (Power 6, Space 4)
Keel Mounted Sunsear Laser battery (Power 6, Space 4)
Munitorium (Power 2, Space 3)

Weapons:
Keel Mounted Sunsear Laser battery
Keel Mounted Sunsear Laser battery

Further thoughts on the above. I've put the defence monitor together using raider rules but having that much power left over seems a bit wrong, might rejig it to use a transports plasma reactor. Either way, removing the need to a warp drives sure does safe a lot of power/space. Nasty little vessels, very punchy.

As for the star fort. I'll have to think longer on that. Giaus, the starfort the PCs were going to receive was in exchange for an STC so the AM would see this as more of a Holy Duty. They wouldn't want to short change the PCs by giving them a clapped out wreck. Also, i'm kinda interested in what a "fully armed and operational" star fort looks like in RT. Given the weaponry it mounts in Battlefleet Gothic though i think we'll have to wait for the official rules in Battlefleet Koronus before we get battleship scale weapons and launch bays.

They look good - the other option for monitor ships would have been to take the Q-ships in Into the Storm and arm and armour them up.

Faid enough on the Ramilies - thought I did think of a couple of other challenges for your players:

1) it would need maybe 250,000 crew at least - and then another 250,000 community to service visitors etc... That's an epic endeavour - how to get 1/2 a million people to move onto a space station.

2) is it in the right place? It might have been a secondary defence platform protecting an Ad mech archive moon for 3,000 years - but that''s not where the characters want it! How do they get it moved?

There are a few stat ideas for bigger ships and stuff on Dark Reign by BuckX. I have been using them sporadically but it should give you a good idea of scale and includes prototype rules for torpedoes, attack craft and battleship level weaponry.

Giaus Novus Khan said:

The Ramilies is notable for having a warp bubble generator and Gellar fields, requiring a few (six?) warp tugs and a team of Navigators rather than full-scale disassembly and a fleet of transports

Giaus Novus Khan said:

Hive World recruitment. "It's just like home, but less crowded!"

Darth Fanboy said:

Yup. Six tugs, and a team of 17 Navigators, according to the article that introduced them. Sorry, six battleship-sized tugs and seventeen senior Navigators

As for the monitors- would it not be more fitting to load up on high-drain cannons (the Ryza-pattern springs to mind) and fit it with a shedload of extra armour and reinforced bulkheads? As opposed to a multiple void shield array (technically restricted to cruisers and Secutor-class light cruisers, but hey, this is House Rules).
There's also the System Ships in the GM Kit, which, most usefully for these purposes, contain a scaled-down drive component for interplanetary ships (only providing 20 power). I suspect they may well be too anaemic for your purposes, however.

Oi, Gribble (and everyone else)

I'm not aware of any official write up for the Ramilies except for the Battlefleet Gothic Rules. That said, I was toying with the idea of inflicting one on my players. The following is the ROUGH DRAFT of my write up for the Ramilies; I finished it up and decided to post it. Any comments or suggestions? Feel free to shamelessly copy for non-commercial use, provided credit is given.

Cheers!

- V.

Written by Vandegraffe
Quick stat and descriptive writeup of a Ramilies Class Star Fortress. The Ramilies is a vast and powerful space station, with extensive armaments and repair bays. Despite its colossal bulk, the Ramilies is designed to be moved over interstellar distances, though it takes a team of six battleship sized tugs and seventeen senior navigators to transport it through the warp. The Imperial navy uses them as mobile bases when a major crusade is in the offing, though a few have fallen into the wrong hands and support a Black Crusade of Chaos, or are used as pirate bases.

It goes without saying that an unclaimed Ramilies is a valuable prize indeed. An intact Ramilies class is too powerful for even a strong Rogue Trader vessel to defeat in a fair fight, though subterfuge or sabotage are certainly options; a GM who wants his players to think of creative solutions instead of relying on brute force could certainly make use of a Ramilies in his campaign. Of course, a Ramilies might well be damaged, and getting it repaired can well be an adventure in itself.

Tabernacle of Lord Angevin
Class: Ramilies Class Star Fortress
Speed: 0 [1 under tow]
Maneuverability: N/A [-40 under tow]
Void Shields: 4
Detection: +30
Armor: 24
Hull Integrity: 400
Turret rating: 4

Equipment: Ramilies Hyper Plasma Reactor[*1], Ramilies Warp Bubble Generator[*2], Gellar Field, Quad Void Shield Array, Command Bridge, Hydroponics Decks[*3], Voidsmen Crew Quarters, Command Station Auger Array[*4], Quad Launch Bays[*5], Repair Docks[*6], Munitorium, Servitor Reclamation Facility, Civitas Decks[*7], Barracks, Temple-Shrine to the God-Emperor, Librarium, Murder-Servitors, Observation Dome, Teleportarium, Astropathic Choir-Chambers, Cogitator Interlink
Machine Spirit Oddities: Martial Hubris
Past History: Haunted
Maximum Morale: 94 (losses 1/5 normal, +1)
Max Population: 105 (losses 1/5 normal, -3)
Crew Quality: Competent (Skill 30)

Weapons, Each quadrant arc (4):
Sunsear Las-broadside - Macrobattery; str 6; Dmg 1d10+3; Crit 4; Range 9
Lathe grav-culverin broadside - Macrobattery; str 6; Dmg 1d10+4 (1d10+2); Crit 6; Range 5 (7)
Sunhammer Lance Battery (x2) - Lance; str 2; Dmg 1d10+3; Crit 3; Range 9
Quad Launch Bays

Weapons, Basilica (keel):
Ryza Plasma cannon battery (x2) - Macrobattery; str 4; Dmg 1d10+5; Crit 4; Range 5
9 Torpedo Tubes[*8]

Special Rules:
Four equal quadrants - Due to the Ramilies' huge size and symmetric construction, all four arcs - port, starboard, prow, and aft - use the rules for side arcs. In other words, the Ramilies has four equal sides; the weapons in each can only fire into their own 90 degree arc, but all four sides can, and do, mount broadside weapons.
Big as a Hive Spire - Due to the Ramilies vast bulk and huge population, morale losses from damage are only 1/5 normal, rounded down, before applying any modifiers for equipment.
Space station - Unless it is under tow, the Ramilies Class does not move or turn in combat, and cannot be moved by an outside force. The station's massive banks of position keeping thrusters and grav stabilisers ensure that it will stay in a stable orbit.
Stable firing platform - The huge bulk and massive inertial dampers provide a superb platform for accurate, long range fire. The Ramilies has a +10 bonus to all ballistic skill tests with macrobattery and lance weapons.

* Special Systems:
1 - Ramilies Hyper Plasma Reactor. This immense generatorium uses principles poorly understood by the Mechanicus. It provides more than enough power for all the fort's systems. Unfortunately, if it ever goes critical, the resulting explosion will be colossal. If the Ramilies ever suffers a plasma
drive explosion, apply the following changes: The test to avoid damage is Arduous (-40), the blast radius is 1d10 + 10 VU's, and the damage is 2d10 macrobattery hits.
2 - Ramilies Warp Bubble Generator. This arcane device allows the Ramilies to be towed through the warp. Unfortunately, it requires vast quantities of bottled warp energy to function, with horrific effects if the device is ever destroyed. If the Ramilies ever suffers a Warp Drive Explosion, double the radius and damage of all effects.
3 - Hydroponics Decks. These provide fresh air, clean water, and food, even if it is only algae paste. The Ramilies suffers no penalties to crew population or morale no matter how long it stays in the void.
4 - Command Station Auger Array. The Auger Arrays on the Ramilies are not only high quality, they are far larger than anything a ship could mount. They provide a +20 bonus to detection (already included in the stats) and score one extra degree of success on a successful roll.
5 - Launch Bays. Each launch bay can hold four squadrons of small craft. In absence of official rules, these can be used to conduct additional hit and run attacks, one per launch bay, with a +30 modifier due to the number of craft available. (They can also launch fighters or bombers if the GM has appropriate rules.)
6 - Repair Docks. The Ramilies can completely repair docked ships or itself with enough time and effort. A Ramilies has four docking spines. Each of these allows a vessel of Grand cruiser size or smaller to dock. Additionally, a Ramilies can dock twelve frigate or smaller size vessels internally. Internally docked ships (and the Ramilies itself) receive a +10 bonus to tech use tests for repairs as the internal docks have air and gravity, allowing the laborers to work in shirtsleeves. These can also be used to build frigates or smaller vessels given enough time and resources.
7 - Civitas Decks. The Ramilies is, in effect, a small city in space. The Civitas Decks can comfortably house a half million or so civilians, with all the amenities you'd expect in a modest city.
8 - The Ramilies' command basilica has a cluster of 9 anti-ship torpedo tubes. Since rules for these have not been published, the GM is welcome to use any house rules he/she chooses, declare them out of ammo, or simply rule that each torpedo tube is equivalent to a Jovian Pattern missile battery.

Relevant Modifiers:
+20 to Ballistic tests with ship's weapons from bridge (still +15 if Bridge is disabled)
+5 to all Command from bridge
+20 to Hit and Run tests.
+10 to Tech Use tests for repairs on itself or escort sized ships.

Bonuses from equipment are already included in the above statistics.

History:
The Ramilies Class Star Fortress named Tabernacle of Lord Angevin was recovered and reconsecrated by Imperial forces just in time for service in the Angevin Crusade. (Its history prior to the Crusade has been sealed by a high level Inquisitorial writ, but it is believed to have been salvaged in the Ixaniad sector in late M37.) The Mechanicus lavished much attention on the refurbished fortress, declaring it sacred and equipping it with the best manufactoria plus an exceptionally high proportion of servitors. Though it was never on the front lines, the Tabernacle orbited Solomon for much of the Angevin Crusade, providing a vital link in supply lines and critical repairs to the Imperial Navy. It was never a popular post during the Angevin's Crusade, with
officers preferring the chances of glory in a ship command, and the enlisted crew constantly muttering that the fort was cursed. The Tabernacle saw two significant Xenos raids during the fighting, as well as one major sabotage attempt, but the fort survived.
In the millennia since, the fort has served Battlefleet Calixis well, being moved from Solomon to Malfi in 891.M39. It remained around Malfi, supporting naval operations in the Malfian Sub until 772.M41. In that year, it was reassigned and sent into the Koronus expanse to support the increasingly troubled Margin crusade. (This was done by order of Lord Sector Marius Hax, over the vocal protests of many Malfian nobles, an act which further soured political relations between Malfi and Scintilla.)
In 788.M41, the Imperium lost contact with the forces of the Margin Crusade. The Tabernacle of Lord Angevin was but one of many losses suffered by the Imperium in that ill fated venture. The surviving Imperial records do not show where the fortress was located in the Koronus expanse, or even if it arrived.
Today, the Tabernacle of Lord Angevin drifts in the Koronus Expanse. The crew are all long dead, though the fortress is still blasphemously active... The station is haunted or controlled by some unknown entity. Perhaps it is the ghosts of former crew from the Margin or Angevin crusades. Perhaps it is some warp entity or insubstantial xenos (Cryptos?) that possesses systems and motivates them to function. Or perhaps the Cogitator Interlink is, in fact, an AI. Whatever the cause, systems still function, and servitors walk the halls, mindlessly carrying out their allotted tasks. From a distance, the station appears mostly powered down, though a few eldritch lights still shine in the windows. However, a successful active augury reveals void shields and weapons are active, and the fort will fire on any ship that gets close. (Broadcasting the correct Imperial Navy access codes might allow a ship to dock, though these should be very hard to get... and this only works if the controlling entity is the AI. Warpspawn or Cryptos will feign compliance, and then
Lock On with all available weapons at point blank range.) The safest way to board is probably to take a small shuttle on silent running and sneak in. The interior has moderate damage; some areas of old damage have not been repaired, and the fort suffered considerable fighting when the possessing entity took control and exterminated the remaining humans. There are many, many active servitors on board, some of them blasphemously corrupted or heretek designs, and these will oppose any attempt at recovery. A brute force solution will be very expensive. The elegant solution is to find and eliminate whatever entity is possessing the station... Once it is defeated or placated, then the fortress can be salvaged without resistance.
Naturally, the Tabernacle of Lord Angevin contains a vast amount of Imperial military hardware. It is unlikely to have very rare items, but it has a flotilla of shuttles, enough tanks, transports, weapons, and other materiel to equip several regiments. Returning it to Imperial control would earn a big reward for the explorer's dynasty, and attract the attention of several prominent noble houses on Malfi.

Love it!

Makes the Ramilies as trull terrifying to fight as it should be.

Once we get official battleship weapons rules it might be worth it to redo your design with them, at the moment the Basilica plasma batteries are a problem. In BFG the basilica batteries have a range of 45 compared to 30 for most cruiser batteries. The quadrant batteries have a range of 60. I don't see much way around this with the current rules, unless we invented some kind of rule such as

Battleship Batteries : All weapons batteries and lances on this ship have their range increased by 50% (round up).

And apply that to the Ramilies (and obviously to battleships). Come to think of it, Grand cruisers and batlecruisers could do with a similar rule

Grand/Battle Cruiser: All weapons batteries and lances on this ship have their range increased by 25% (round up).

If I've learned one thing, its that it's really tough to do a straight conversion from BFG to RT. In Battlefleet Gothic, the Murder has 45 cm range plasma batteries and 60cm range lances. The just published Edge of the Abyss has a Murder, with the original weapons. The RT Murder has range 8 batteries and range 11 lances. So, the stuff for the Ramilies isn't too far off in terms of range.

I think the single biggest stumbling block is the range on a Sunsear laser battery. These got a big range increase in the Rogue Trader system and other macrobatteries didn't, so that makes a conversion awkward. (The BFG Sunsears have a paltry 30 cm range.) Incidentally, that's why my homebrew Ramilies has Sunsear broadsides - I loaded it with the longest range weapons available.

Cheers,

- V.

Gribbles's stuff for the Defense Monitor was pretty good, I must say. I would make a few changes to it, though. Below I provide some information that was presented in Battlefleet Gothic . Unlike the System Ships mentioned on the same page, the Monitor ships are not described as being incapable of warp travel. I include my own example; both as a basic hull, and a completed vessel.

Battlefleet Gothic page 144
Ships of the Gothic Sector pdf page 42
Note: Copied verbatim from BFG . Any and all typos are the sole work and property of Games Workshop .

• " Defence monitors are dedicated defence ships crewed by Imperial Navy personnel, designed to hammer the enemy at close range. Much of the power generation systems are linked to amaments rather than engines, which means that they pack a lot of weaponry for their size, but are relatively hard to manoeuverable. However, when fighting an enemy who is intent on attacking a world and who must therefore approach closely and directly, this ungainly handling is not so much a handicap. "

Orthus -class Defence Monitor
Dimensions: 1.6 km long, 0.45 km abeam at fins.
Mass: 6.8 megatonnes
Crew: 17,000 crew approx.
Accel.: 2.3 gravities maximum sustainable acceleration.

Outfitted for War: The Orthus is built solely for combat, and in anticipation of this it has been equipped with the heavy power couplings and projection arrays to maintain multiple void shields. The Orthus may equip "cruiser only" Void Shield Components.

Speed: 5 Manoeuverability: +10
Detection: +10 Hull Integrity: 35
Armor: 20 Turret Rating: 2
Space: 42 SP: 45
Weapon Capacity: 2 Dorsal , 1 Prow.

Sample Ship:
The Nemean Lion
Hull: Frigate
Class: Orthus -class Defence Monitor
Speed: 4 Manoeuverability: +8 Detection: +10
Armor: 24 Void Shields: 2 Hull Integrity: 35
Crew: Competent (30) Morale: 98 Population: 100
Space: 42 (Used: 42) Power: 47 (Used: 46)
Turret Rating: 2
Weapon Capacity: 2 Dorsal , 1 Prow
SP Total Cost: 55

Essential Component: Sterlov 1 Warp Engine, Gellar Field, Jovian Pattern 2b "Escort" Drive, Multiple Void Shield Array, Command Bridge, M-1.r Life Sustainer, Pressed-crew Quarters, M-100 Auger Array.

Supplemental Components: Dorsal Mars Pattern Macrocannons (x2), Prow Titanforge Lance Weapon, Armor Plating, Excess Void Armor.

Machine Spirit Oddity and Background/History: Stoic, Vessel of the Fleet (2)

I've also got a version worked up that mounts the newer Repulsor Shield Array to round out the Power Usage.

There is also a rather questionable version in my head with Augmented Retro Thrusters x4 on it. This version requires the Warp Engine and the Gellar Field both to be taken off line completely in order to meet the 12 points of power draw for the massive Augmented Retro Thrusters array. Basically, once the ship reaches the system it is assigned to protect the warp systems are taken off line and the enhanced manoeuvering systems powered up. It's theoretically allowable according to the Compnents write up on page 191.

Alternately, if one considers the Defence Monitor to be intended exclusively as a system ship, you can use the hull provided and without the Warp Engine and Gellar Field , use the 12 Power for the 4 Augmented Retros and the 10 Space for 5 Reinforced Bulkheads .

What do people think? It's a little more powerful then a more direct conversion from BFG .

-=Brother Praetus=-

There are system defense ships statted out in the adventure that comes with the GM screen. Not particularly dangerous to anything on their own so I don't think I'd use them as imperial navy monitors. Though you could always up the armor.

George Labour said:

Actually, I looked at those. They are noted as system freighters, bulk tenders and the like. They are not quite defence monitors in the truest sense of the word. Since much of Rogue Trader is derived from Battlefleet Gothic I feel it something to point out that a System Ship , which those are, is different from a Defence Monitor.

And, wow if I can't find the links on the Games Workshop site anymore, but it seems the book is available for order once more.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Agreed, system defense ships are the space equivalent of the PDF troops. They're the locals navy and thus (usually) not as well equipped as their main line brethren. Good for discouraging casual in system piracy, and slowing down real invaders long enough to get the planet ready.

In the Vraks book from forgeworld it mentions them towing Monitors into the system to provide orbital control and convoy protection. They also seemed to be able to handle capital ship level combat well enough so long as all they had to do was fly forward, and shoot.

I think taking a page from Traveller might help with this one. Basically a monitor in that RPG is a mid sized vessel where most of the space used for fuel and the FTL systems are replaced with more armor and a few more guns. Sure it won't catch pirates, but if you park a few in close proximity to something then they'll scare off or annihilate anyone not ready for a full on invasion.

Actually now that I had that thought, I may go through some of my other Traveller books and scan those for ideas. Rogue Trader is basically traveller in the grimdark after all. Heck they both have an imperium of man.

The BFG stats for a defense monitor are as follows.

Hits 1

Speed 10cm (abysmal)

Turns 45

Shields 2 (very impressive)

Armor 6+ (very impressive)

Turrets 2

Weapons Battery Str 8, 30cm, Left Front Right

Lance Battery Str 1, 30cm, Front

No warp drive

In comparison a sword class frigate is as follows

Hits 1

Speed 25cm

Turns 90

Shields 1

Armor 5+

Turrets 2

Weapons Battery Str 4, 30cm, Left Front Right

Hope this helps. For an escort class ship Monitors are VERY powerful with roughly 3x the firepower of a sword class with the awesomeness of 6+ armor and 2 shields. In RT terms it would have 4 dorsal and 1 frontal weapons slots. and all around armor equal to the frontal armor of a cruiser with an armored prow (24).

I can also give you the BFG stats for defense stations if you tell me approx how big they are (escort or cruiser sized) if you want them.

llsoth said:

Ilsoth,

I personally have the PDFs for Battlefleet Gothic as well, from when they were available as free downloads from Games Workshop . Since they aren't there anymore, I was avoiding posting copyrighted material which seems to be no longer free to the public. But yeah, Defence Monitors are the 20 pound sledgehammer of "escort" scale ships. Slow, cumbersome, and hurtful in the extreme.

But, as we both know, the Defence Monitors and System Ships are different beasts. The System Ships are slightly faster but not nearly as heavily armed or shielded when compared to the Defence Monitors. And, yes, I was in error as far as Defence Mointors ever being warp capable. I see where that's stated in the BFG materials. Not in their direct description, but in the section for the Planetary Defences. I will have to revise the Orthus at some point soon.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Brother Praetus said:

Here is the link, still free.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=4300022

Gotta love GW for putting all that up for free, even if they don't really support the games anymore. It's certainly helped me puzzle out somethings, like my ideas on smaller kroot vessels and their warp navigation.

Still, hoping for something semi official in Koronus doesn't hurt.

And while not exactly a Ramilies, The Frozen Reaches features stats for 'The Bulwark' a massive defense station made out of a hollow moon. Which is just asking for a certain quote from a certain space fantasy movie.

Nice work & write-up! I am also tackling this, in

I will post what I come up with there. I like what you have here! Good job getting this together!

Quote

Weapons Battery Str 8, 30cm, Left Front Right

Lance Battery Str 1, 30cm, Front

I.e. has lance like Firestorm, but dorsal gun batteries are 4x of Firestorm's, or 2x Sword's.

On 1/22/2011 at 5:43 PM, llsoth said:

But, as we both know, the Defence Monitors and System Ships are different beasts. The System Ships are slightly faster but not nearly as heavily armed or shielded when compared to the Defence Monitor  s. And, yes, I was in error as far as Defence Mointors ever being warp capable. I see where that's stated in the BFG materials. Not in their direct description, but in the section for the Planetary Defences.

Where? Planetary Defences section is in Ships of the Gothic Sector p.140. I see only "system defence vessels" there, monitors aren't mentioned.

RT, The Game Master's Kit, p26, has a System Ship. BFG core rulebook, p144, has System Ships and Defence Monitors.

Defence Monitors are Navy Ships with Navy Crews, dedicated to the systems they are stationed. System Ships are typically the civilian vessels in a system and have no warp capability. Some of them might be civilian militia, to supplement other defenses.

Bastion-class Defence Monitor is on p.81 of Hostile Acquisitions.

On 8/14/2018 at 11:49 PM, Primarch Anubis said:

BFG core rulebook, p144, has System Ships and Defence Monitors.

Defence Monitors are Navy Ships with Navy Crews, dedicated to the systems they are stationed. System Ships are typically the civilian vessels in a system and have no warp capability. Some of them might be civilian militia, to supplement other defenses.

My question was about interstellar travel part. BFG (Ships of the Gothic Sector in split pdfs) p144 has only stat sheets with brief descriptions. Which explicitly say that system ships aren't Warp-travel capable, but does not claim this about monitors. While having Navy crews implicitly confirms interstellar capability, in that they are not assets of local rulers.

In our campaign we treat the monitor as system ships, albeit with weapons on par with a heavily armed warship. Monitor vessels generally carry one category larger weapons then their size normally allows. Often carrying salvaged or surplus capital grade turrets they keep systems safe on a budget - not needing a warp engine frees a lot of space and power in a conventional warship in game terms, and significantly reduces how much crew you need and how much specialist support ( No navigator necessary, often not even an Astropath, a lot less Ad Mech reps to keep everything running ).

This fits nicely with the history of actual monitor ships which would defend coastal regions, specific ports or do regional / river warfare on a budget. Often armed with weapon systems salvaged from older ships.

Our Dynasty has quite a few, building mostly medium ( light cruiser size ) and heavy ( cruiser size ) planetary defense ships, in order to defend our colonies. We also have a squad on loan from the Imperial Navy for services rendered. Ownership will probably vary from system to system, tho I agree that the Imperial Navy would own them by default.