A minor 40k ship query

Todeswind · Post by **Todeswind** » 2008-09-01 07:24pm

Ok now I'm trying to figure out what the cannon estimate for the size and composition of the imperial navy for the GEoM is. I'm trying to figure this out for the purposes of a short story I'm writing. So my question is as follows what are the cannon figures for the number of starships currently in service for the Imperium not including those of the space marines?

How many ships are in a local defense fleet?

Exactly how powerful are the orbital defenses for most hive and capitol worlds (scary uber Terran defenses for GEoM not included)?

Steel · Post by **Steel** » 2008-09-01 08:09pm

Have you tried the search function for any of the topics you just posted?

40K fleet numbers analysis thread

Todeswind · Post by **Todeswind** » 2008-09-01 08:11pm

No, where is the search function? You'll have to pardon me I'm new to the forum.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2008-09-01 08:16pm

If you're asking for a short story, you're best off just asking for the situation in question and getting advise directly. If it's general numbers for something, just keep it vague as the 40k fluff tends avoid giving hard numbers lest regrettable error creep in.

So my question is as follows what are the cannon figures for the number of starships currently in service for the Imperium not including those of the space marines?

I don't think there are any definite breakdowns. Try checking Battlefleet Gothic on the Specialist Games website as that would be the best place.

That said, 40k is pretty haphazard and doesn't have established OOBs like the Star Wars EU pulls out it's ass.

How many ships are in a local defense fleet?

It ranges from none up to a flottilla of cruisers and battleships. Things vary quite drastically so you might want to specify.

A typical system, if the world has any presence at all, would likely be a few destroyers and/or frigates for local defense. Bigger stuff like cruisers and destroyer squadrons would be popping in for visits and port calls at irregular intervals.

Maybe some battlecruisers or other heavies on call from a nodal fleet base.

Exactly how powerful are the orbital defenses for most hive and capitol worlds (scary uber Terran defenses for GEoM not included)?

Pretty damn scary. Ground to space weaponry like energy and missile batteries. Possibly some surface to space fighter wings. Orbital platforms with either heavy weapons or for deploying fighters. Quite probably some minefields.

And nearly all systems with a significant space presence will have astropathic monitor stations, conventional monitoring stations, and other things like that to keep watch over the system.

Wealthier worlds could probably expect some sub-light system defense ships. Those tends to be rarer than the rest as they're a pretty significant investment. These would be more over significant industrial worlds rather than just any hive or capital.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2008-09-01 09:26pm

Naval presence is tricky. A subsector fleet is usually composed of 50 to 75 Naval warships. Some will be on specific missions, others will be in docks, in transit, on guard duty, patrols,etcetera. The Naval strength guarding a world will be determined by answering the question "why would the Navy be here and in what strength?"

System defence ships and monitors are local assets, controlled by the Imperial Commander in charge of the system. This requires the wealth to afford them, the will to build them, the technological base to be able to build them, and the space based manufacturing to build them with. In practice this means most systems won't have them, although industrialized or hive world systems could potentially support small fleets of them.