Chaos Light Cruisers
Harbinger/Hellbringer Class Light Cruiser
Size: 4.6 KM long, 0.45 KM abeam at the wings
Crew: 60,000-72,000
Max Acceleration: 4.8 g
Defences: faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.
Standard Main Armament: 2 dorsal 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro turrets, (Harbinger) 2 Lance batteries (1 per broadside), (Hellbringer) 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside)
Standard secondary Armament: Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)
Auxiliary craft: (both ships) 4 Arvus lighters, (Hellbringer only) 85 Swift Death fighters, 108 Hell Talons, 60 Doom Fire bombers, 78 Dread Class assault pods.
Lore: This class of warship is perhaps the deadliest warship of her weight class. She is a native design of Chaos, heavily inspired by old Imperial designs, and the intention of the design appears to have been to stick as many dangerous weapons as possible onto a Light Cruiser. The class is frequently used in raids and in lesser-planetary invasions for her incredible mix of firepower, speed and the hellbringer's strike craft/landing craft/assault boats.
The twin classes are infamous among Imperial fleets: the appearance of one of either of these vessels sending shivers down the spine of the captain of any cruiser and spelling doom for any escort, space station or light cruiser. This is due to the Light Cruisers armament of Heavy plasma-macros being of the same kind found on larger cruisers of Chaos, as well as the Hellbringer having capacity to launch a respectable number of strike craft of varying types, and not sacrificing any of the speed. The sister of the Hellbringer, the Harbinger, replacing their hangar bays with lances of the same kind found on larger Chaos cruisers, to only further increasing its ship-to-ship lethality vs its peers among other factions. Often the only clues a Hellbringer or Harbinger will give that it was ever there, if not spotted immediately, being the gutted wrecks of its victims. The Light Cruiser is however a glass cannon. Having pathetically thin armour that can easily be overmatched by her rival, the Dauntless, being especially vulnerable to Imperial broadsides and torpedoes even by Chaos standards.
The Light Cruiser appeared in great numbers in the Gothic War. The Chaos Predators tearing a bloody path through the Battle Fleets reserve of Light Cruisers and Escorts: but it was the carrier capacity of the Hellbringer that made them especially deadly. Already able to produce a fair few squadrons alone, when deployed on masse like in the Gothic War, they could swamp and overwhelm even the largest fleet formations; which pushed Battlefleet Gothic to scramble for carrier capable vessels.
Pestilaan Class Light Cruiser
Size: 5 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings
Crew: 50,000 + unknown number of daemons of nurgle
Max Acceleration: 2 g
Defences: faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.
Standard Main Armament: 20 Plasma-Macro Cannons (10 per broadside)
Standard secondary Armament: Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)
Auxiliary craft: 4 Arvus lighters
Lore: The exact origins of this ship are unknown, given the ship is so horribly bloated and warped that no identification can be given to it from any records uncovered by the Navy. The ship is an ungainly and clumsy looking thing and, for a Light Cruiser, its speed and manoeuvrability are appallingly bad as well as having a less than impressive armament of two short range weapon batteries. However, the ship is a surprisingly hard nut to crack, able to take a savage beating. The true power of the ship however is hinted at in the fleshy sores that are open on the ship's hull and the rusted, bloated appearance: this ship found only among Nurgle fleets.
Getting close to this ship is suicide. Many an Imperial Captain have looked upon the vessel as easy prey, only to get too close and claimed by Nurgle's taint. The ship spreads diseases through its weapons batteries, demonic-assisted boarding and some other unholy means that is yet to be determined but is, fortunately, short in range. These diseases effectively render any ship dead-in-space: being extremely fast spreading and lethal, only known 'cure' being to pledge one's allegiance to Nurgle, thus expanding the numbers of the plague fleet and repeating the cycle of corruption.
These warships are perhaps the most feared warships among experienced Imperial Captains and Admirals, captains for its ability terrible illness and inflictions upon their ship and Admirals for its ability to expand the numbers of Chaos fleet while thinning the Imperial ranks. Although small, and relatively rare, vessels in the Gothic War: Captains where under strict orders to 'Kill on Sight; and quickly!', failure to do so meaning execution for anyone who survived the encounter.