Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have a couple of questions regarding the imperial navy (mostly because I haven't gotten my hands on any of the imperial navy back story/fluff before). I am asking because I started painting some imperial guardsmen with shadow grey (they look sexy by the way ) and I often imagine that if the imperial navy had any squadrons of foot soldiers for guards or for intership boarding that they would look roughly like Cadian imperial guardsmen in shadow grey (but maybe with some modified heraldry).
As I love putting some background into my units and armies I wanted to incorporate some captured members of the imperial navy into my chaos army. Since these guys are going to be Conscripts or at most a Guardsman Squad I don't want to delve too much into their history and workings but I wanted to know if there were any bits of information that I could use, such as designs or iconography that would indicate that these men are from the imperial navy?
Also, do the imperial navy operate like most other branches of the imperium and use entire planets as a base, like how the adeptus mechanicus turned mars into a forgeworld?
If they were to run a smaller base, like one on a general world, how heavily would it be defended?
How rigorous are the guards in the imperial navy trained, are they like cadians where warfare is a way of life, or is their training mixed with religion like storm trooper regiments until they are fanatics?

Any answers you folks could give would be great as they would add some depth to an upcoming apocalypse game and maybe even theme a few more guardsmen units as I like the way these guys look.

They have troop inside ship & Port.(Reference:Eisenhorn)

Navy have planet as base? Maybe no.
Imperial Guard and Navy was one organization used to be,but after heresy,they divided. Because they are too strong if they become traitor.


Also,check this.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Imperial_Navy

From reading Eisenhorn I can remember that they wore black (I think carapace armor) and had at the very least the impression of super highly drilled elite ect troops. The ones in question sounded like stormtroopers to me.(no fanatical religious training was mentioned though)

As to the planetary bases, they could and do have space stations and planets that house them, which can and are the bases of fleets. So yes, they do have bases in orbit around planets.
I will say that, like forgeworlds, such planets would not be common and to have a smaller one would be... questionable. Either way, they would be heavy military installations of the most powerful sort. So they would indeed be well defended for whatever size they may be.

Lots of information regarding this is in Dark Heresy, and the Inquisitor's Handbook supplement (they have a specific section on the equipment and nature of Imperial Navy marine forces).

UrbanCowboy wrote:From reading Eisenhorn I can remember that they wore black (I think carapace armor) and had at the very least the impression of super highly drilled elite ect troops. The ones in question sounded like stormtroopers to me.(no fanatical religious training was mentioned though)

As to the planetary bases, they could and do have space stations and planets that house them, which can and are the bases of fleets. So yes, they do have bases in orbit around planets.
I will say that, like forgeworlds, such planets would not be common and to have a smaller one would be... questionable. Either way, they would be heavy military installations of the most powerful sort. So they would indeed be well defended for whatever size they may be.

Those are the more "elite" Naval Troopers.

Hell, the only real title I ever saw for them in Eisenhorn was "Battlefleet Scarus' Elite".

As for the OP's question:
You have to be more specific. Are you talking about the Imperial Navy's space fleets or their atmospheric fleets? Because remember, the Navy doesn't just operate the Battleships that can level continents from orbit--they also maintain and operate the Thunderbolts and Marauders that provide close air support for the Imperial Guard.

For space bases: The general rule of thumb seems to be that the Imperium uses gas giants, which are otherwise uninhabitable and basically useless, as a place to hide their more important bases and refitting stations. Any planet that has shipyards or produces Imperial Naval spacecraft of decent size(I'd say Escorts or higher in terms of tonnage) also has a pretty tight defensive force stationed there.

For things like Thunderbolts/Marauders:
They utilize airbases that would be very like modern day airbases(an air traffic control center, AA defenses, a constant fighter screen ready to launch, along with a large security force of ground troops ready to repel any potential invaders/intruders going after the parked aircraft) for the most part.
But, in that vein, they also maintain and operate Forward Air Bases, which tend to be well hidden affairs which operate as "scramble teams" for emergencies where the Imperial Guard need close air support right now!

In WD australia, there was a narritive campagin where the vostran 45th was on some planet that was used by the imperial Navy as a resupply planet. there was a sketch of the captial city called "Port City" and 2 naval ships were parked by the city for refits. But im not sure if this would count as actual fluff.

In the BL novel Eye of Terror, there is a world that serves as the HQ for Battlefleet Pacificus. it is described as having a redoubt that exited the atmosphere (I think, it's been a while since i read it and i can't find the book now).

I belive there was some sketchs done by somebody at GW a long time ago of Naval troopers and the trooper was wearing a suit wioth a helmet with a visor (think scuba divers).

hope this helps

Thanks guys for some great answers, you have helped me understand a little bit more about the imperial navy (and now that I know their secrets I SHALL DESTROY THEM! BWUHAHAHAH!).
But by the sounds of things I think it would be too hard to bring a squad of imperial navy space troops into chaos and have them launch an attack for the forces of chaos. I may be better served using them as Conscripts and having them represent a PDF force who would be more easily swayed too the glory of the dark gods.

They tend to have shotguns as their standard issue weapon too.

read double eagle by dan abnett for info on imperial navy (specifically aircraft)

KamikazeCanuck wrote:They tend to have shotguns as their standard issue weapon too.

No, those are mostly the Naval Ratings.

Technically not the same thing as the "Naval Security" parts.

And when they're groundside, they lose the shotguns/autoguns/flamethrowers in favor of heavier weaponry.
They tend towards shotguns/autoguns/flamers while on the ships due to worrying about things like blowing a hole in the side of the ship which sucks everyone out into the vacuum of space to their deaths.

Kanluwen wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:They tend to have shotguns as their standard issue weapon too.

No, those are mostly the Naval Ratings.

Technically not the same thing as the "Naval Security" parts.

And when they're groundside, they lose the shotguns/autoguns/flamethrowers in favor of heavier weaponry.
They tend towards shotguns/autoguns/flamers while on the ships due to worrying about things like blowing a hole in the side of the ship which sucks everyone out into the vacuum of space to their deaths.

Yes, so it wouldn't matter if they were ratings or not. (pretty sure they don't use flamers. That would be a terrible idea.)

Flamers are a fantastic idea.

It burns out the corridors of anything organic, but won't do anything more than heat up the hull.

Kanluwen wrote:Flamers are a fantastic idea.

It burns out the corridors of anything organic, but won't do anything more than heat up the hull.

They also cause fires. Fires on ships are bad things.

You're assuming there's a lot of flammable stuff just left lying around.

That's not the case.

And we're not talking about something the size of a modern spaceship. Stuff that small is considered an "Interceptor", or a "Pinnace" and are used to either do nothing more than intercept incoming torpedoes or shuttle small amounts of supplies back and forth between the real vessels.

The smallest vessels upon which you'd find Naval Security teams present on are the size of city blocks.

Fires happen on ships and they are always major incidents. Cite something that actually says they (or any navy) uses flamethrowers.

Space Hulk, a few of the Gaunt's Ghosts books, the Space Wolf novels(which are a bit dated).

Interior fires, contrary to popular belief, aren't that major on a spaceship the size of a city block, with armor plating and contingencies in place to deal with damage control.

You're not going to get any kind of fire burning hot enough in a spaceship to really worry about breaching the hull.

Now, plasma weapons? Yeah. Those are a bad idea.

and what Gaunts Ghost and Space wolf novels might those be?