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It's all in the title. I'm working on the background of my chapter and I planned to have them find a damaged Ark Mechanicus fused with a 20 kilometers-long Space Hulk, but I don't really know the size of an average Ark Mechanicus.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/14 13:23:50
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
They vary in size as each is unique, but they are roughly comparable to any other Imperial Battleship. So in the 5-7 kilometer range.
There have been unusually large examples though. There was one which was over 20 kilometers long in one book IIRC. it was a particularly advanced Ark though so it was a special snow flake.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/14 16:20:49
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
The Speranza is probably the one you're thinking of, and while we don't have a concrete size given for it, we know that it had, in sequence, a manufactorum capable of building titans near the prow, three training spaces large enough for multiple-titan engagements, and enough hangar space to carry a Rogue Trader vessel internally. The main doors to the bridge were, I believe, five hundred metres high.
It's almost as though McNeill forgot halfway through that his book was set on a space ship and started writing about a forge world.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
Pretty much. They can vary in size, so as long as it's not too ludicrous you should be fine.
TheEyeOfNight- I swear, this thread is 70% smack talk, 20% RP organization, and 10% butt jokes
TheEyeOfNight- "Ordo Xenos reports that the Necrons have attained democracy, kamikaze tendencies, and nuclear fission. It's all tits up, sir."
Space Marine flyers are shaped for the greatest possible air resistance so that the air may never defeat the SPACE MARINES!
Sternguard though, those guys are all about kicking ass. They'd chew bubble gum as well, but bubble gum is heretical. Only tau chew gum
There custom built, so any imperial battleship hull from Gloriana to emperor class.
Battleship would make a solid base I think.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
War Kitten wrote: Pretty much. They can vary in size, so as long as it's not too ludicrous you should be fine.
Actually I want to balance it. They will cleanse the space hulk and use it as a mobile base for a while, but it will get destroyed by Necrons, leaving them with the ark. The size of a battle barge would be fine.
From battleship up to a max of about 10km for eternal crusader. But that one is high end of scale as I know
Most are custom or built off a battleship type hull.after that there carried as they come. Far as I know, no set class made
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/15 23:28:12
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Battlebarges are battleship class vessels. So in the 4-5 kilometer range. They can be purpose built for Space Marines or retrofitted from other types of battleship.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Arks Mechanici, and Battle Barges, vary in size according to the power of who constructed it. Some Arks Mechanici were constructed during the DAoT (like the Speranza, which has a friggin STC built into it), these can be veritable flying Forge Worlds. Others were constructed much later by the AdMech, and thus could be anywhere from moon-sized to Battleship-sized, depending upon the wealth/influence the of the ArchMagos who had it built. As for Battle Barges, well, it's pretty much been stated already: Battleship size (though Gloriana-Class Battle Barges are noted as being much larger).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/15 23:54:11
To quote a fictional character... "Let's make this fun!"
Tactical_Spam wrote: There was a story in the SM omnibus where a single kroot killed 2-3 marines then ate their gene seed and became a Kroot-startes.
What makes a ship an Ark? Is it just a special ship or does it have to meet certain criteria?
Spoilered another question as it is both on and off topic.
Spoiler:
What other ships does the Mechanicus have? I ask because I've been trying to make a one off type of ship, and this seems to be the best place to ask without maknig an entire thread? Could they have older recovered archeotech, such as grav-landers? I've been trying to make one to act as a giant display board for my TT army.
So it would be a small (by IOM standards,) troop transport that falls into atmosphere via slow burn and then it is used as a base of operation, they float and maneuver using the same tech as land speeders and giant thrusters, combined with a giant engine.) It acts as a mobile base to deploy Crusade Assets. I'm trying to make a giant floating aircraft carrier styled craft, that looks like a mix of the Epic 40k lander and that train theme the Mechanicus has, with the standard Imperium prow.
Is that even possible in 40k?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/16 00:38:40
Ark Mechanicae are the AdMech's flagships. Generally they should be able to conduct long-range exploratory missions without support. They need to carry everything with them necessary to pacify any newly discovered worlds of interest, protect themselves from pirates and preserve their sacred knowledge.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
Okay, thanks. I'm going for a more recent Ark built somewhere between the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade and about 7 kilometers long (the chapter found it in the early M32).
EDIT : Oh, and by the way, how would an intelligent chapter explore a Space Hulk ? (By intelligent, I mean that they sent probes to map the corridors first and that they don't use Terminators)
I was thinking of something like that (in a corridor allowing 3 space marines to walk abreast)
Spoiler:
This formation would allow the Space Marines equipped with heavy bolter/rocket launcher to fire above the crouched Flamer-bearing ones.
(The rocket launcher can replaced by any Anti-Armor weapon)
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2015/12/16 11:28:15
Oh, and by the way, how would an intelligent chapter explore a Space Hulk ? )
They use cats.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/12/16 12:11:41
His pattern of returning alive after being declared dead occurred often enough during Cain's career that the Munitorum made a special ruling that Ciaphas Cain is to never be considered dead, despite evidence to the contrary.
Ark Mechanici from the Dark Age of Technology (like the Speranza) can get stupidly large, however they are super-crazy and not at all typical.
Excerpt from Priests of Mars that mentions the crazy (probably exaggerated size) of the Speranza:
Spoiler:
Roboute had heard of the vessels known as Ark Mechanicus, but had dismissed tales of their continent-sized cityscapes and planetoid bulk as exaggerations, embellished legends or outright lies.
Now he knew better.
A passing battleship that Roboute recognised as a Dominator-class vessel sailed below the Speranza, and its length was more than eclipsed by the beam of the Ark Mechanicus.
Where the Navy’s ships tended towards wedge-shaped prows and giant cathedrals of stone carved into the craggy structure of their hulls, the Mechanicus favoured a less ostentatious approach to the design of their ships. Function, not form or glorification, was the guiding light of the ancient Mechanicus shipwrights. The colossal vessel had little symmetry, no gilded arches of lofty architecture, no processional cloisters of statuary, no vaulted, geodesic domes and no great eagle-wings or sweeping crenellations.
The Speranza was all infrastructure and industry, a hive’s worth of manufactories, refineries, crackling power plants and kilometre upon kilometre of laboratories, testing ranges, chemical vats and gene-bays arranged in as efficient a way as the ancient plans for its construction had allowed. Its engines were larger than most starships’ full mass, its individual void generators and Geller arrays large enough to shroud a frigate by themselves.
Roboute had seen his fair share of space-faring leviathans, some Imperial, some not, but he had yet to see anything to match the sheer bloody-mindedness and ambition of the Mechanicus to have built such a damnably impressive vessel.
But yeah, typical, post-DAoT Ark Mechanici wouldn't be anywhere near as crazy-large. 10 km max most-likely as mentioned previously.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/12/16 12:49:03
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
LethalShade wrote: Okay, thanks. I'm going for a more recent Ark built somewhere between the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade and about 7 kilometers long (the chapter found it in the early M32).
EDIT : Oh, and by the way, how would an intelligent chapter explore a Space Hulk ? (By intelligent, I mean that they sent probes to map the corridors first and that they don't use Terminators)
I was thinking of something like that (in a corridor allowing 3 space marines to walk abreast)
Spoiler:
This formation would allow the Space Marines equipped with heavy bolter/rocket launcher to fire above the crouched Flamer-bearing ones.
(The rocket launcher can replaced by any Anti-Armor weapon)
Most likely they wouldn't bring a missile launcher or any other heavy ordinance. They don't want to accidentally damage sensitive components. Instead they'll have melta-bombs for any hard targets. Its unlikely you'll encounter a tank in a Space Hulk. Aside from that your diagram seems plausible. Flamers in front to sweep and clear, bolters in the rear to provide covering fire.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
You might want to consider a Breacher type squad. Shields, Bolters and Flamers with Meltabombs for making holes in hard to pass bulkheads. Something like these guys.
Kriswall wrote: You might want to consider a Breacher type squad. Shields, Bolters and Flamers with Meltabombs for making holes in hard to pass bulkheads. Something like these guys.
Grey Templar : The rocket launcher is for any big target immune to flamers or bolter fire (Carnifex and the like). Sure, Melta bombs would be fine too.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/17 06:48:13
You're not going to have time to swing a rocket launcher around, and it'll be a PITA to maneuver through narrower ducts - you won't have that much breathing room most of the time. The plasma gun has roughly the same kill potential for a much more portable unit.
Putting the special weapons behind a light screen of bolters means they're less likely to twitch-fire and waste ammo. It also means that if something gets the drop on the formation, they'll hit bolter-boys rather than someone important.
Pull the formation closer - the last thing you want is something dropping down in the middle of it from above!
Finally, meltaguns rather than dualled up flamers - a meltagun in a corridor will work like a shotgun on steroids and is much more damaging than a flamer. On top of that, it'll let you bypass the majority of door-shaped issues.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
In BFG, Imperial battleships, Space Marine battle barges and Ark Mechanicus are all roughly the same length; seven kilometers at 1:56,000 scale. Ark Mechanicus has three weapons bays on each side, the same as an Imperial battleship.
