Arcadia Class Battleship

The Arcadia Class Battleship is frequently described as a “fast battleship” as it is larger and more heavily armed than an Imperial Battlecruiser, but is as fast as a standard Imperial Cruiser.

The Arcadia Class was designed as a response to the frequent Necron incursions into the Arcadia Sector. Against the Necron fleet, Imperial ships were constantly finding themselves outmaneuvered by their Necron counterparts. Also, experience had shown that lance batteries were by far the most effective weapon system against Necron vessels. Thus, the Arcadia Class Battleship was designed to address both of these issues. The standard battlecruiser hull was lengthened, and much more powerful engines were installed, along with upgraded power relays to power the massive lance batteries. Two three-lance superfiring turrets were installed forward, and a third three-lance turret aft. A secondary weapons battery was installed amidships to deal with smaller threats.

I wanted to create an anti-Necron vessel. It only made sense, since the first forays I had against Necron vessels with my Imperial Fleets resulted in horrific defeats.

Hence the Arcadia Class was born. After constructing the Scutum Class Cruiser, I wanted to try to make another ship with the bridge moved forward. This, combined with a desire to make the ship's main battery an extremely powerful lance armament, I decided to make it look a lot like a World War II Battleship. Seeing as the lance battery was so powerful (it can unleash a Str9 broadside), I had to make it a battleship rather than a cruiser, in order to justify how the ship is able to generate sufficient power for them.
As such I lengthened the hull both forward and aft with plasticard and bits from another Imperial Cruiser. I used bits from a Chaos cruiser to make the triple lance turrets and the secondary battery amidships.
I'm not sure that I'm entirely happy with either the lenghthening of the engines (that is, how they look, not the added length), as well as the relatively featurelessness of the forward sides of the hull, as they look rather "blank". At some later date the ship can always undergo a cosmetic refit.
The Arcadia has yet to see action, but it will soon make the Necrons pay for the defeat at Axis Columen.
The Arcadia Class Battleship next to a Lunar Class Cruiser, showing the Arcadia's added length
Comparison shot showing the lance turrets facing to either side of the ship
As a little bit of a bonus, I magnetized the three lance turrets so I can rotate them at will.

Painting Slugga Boyz, Day Eleven

Painted Boltgun Metal in a heavy drybrush over the metal parts. I intentionally let some of the Tin Bitz show through so as to represent rust, etc.

Then I started finishing up one of the boyz, and when I went to do his eyes, I accidentally got some Blood Red on his left hand. Rather than touch up and fix the mistake, I decided to go with it... This particular ork just blew somebody away at close range, and got a face full of it.
Normally I don't go over the top with blood and gore on my models, but rarely, the model seems to ask for it.

Nemesis Class Destroyer

The Nemesis Class Destroyer is a relatively new design, combining the speed and maneuverability of the Cobra Class Destroyer with a similar, albeit slightly less powerful armament to the Sword Class Frigate. Although not quite as well armed or armored as the reliable Swords, the Nemesis Class Frigate can be deadly in numbers. These ships are still rare, but are being built in increasing numbers.

I wanted to create a new escort ship for the Imperial Navy, something that serves the same role as the Iconoclast Escort provides for the Chaos Fleet. Basically, a smaller, faster, cheaper version of the Sword Class Frigate. I really liked the look of the real-world modern ship, the Littoral Combat Ship, specifically the General Dynamics design, which is a trimaran. In some ways it looks like a spaceship already.
I scratchbuilt the ship out of plasticard, and now that I've built the thing, I think I succeeded a little too well. It looks like the actual LCS took off and is flying in space... I'll have to play with the design a little bit, the second ship in the class will hopefully look a little bit more like a spaceship and less like the real LCS.

Painting Slugga Boyz, Day Ten

Got a lot done today, it being the weekend. Painted Boy #3, then heavily drybrushed the remaining 17 with Snot Green on the skin areas, then painted Boy #4. 4 down, 16 to go.

Scutum Class Cruiser

While the Prometheus Class Carriers had a formidable offensive armament in the form of its attack craft, it was sorely lacking in defense. The Scutum Class Cruiser was developed to fulfill that role in the fleet. With the powerful Scutum Integrated Defense System, the Scutum Class is a master of anti-ordnance warfare, allowing all nearby ships to combine their defensive systems in a protective shield around the group.

While its offensive armament is lacking compared to other cruisers, the Scutum almost always acts in company with a Prometheus Class Carrier or other offensive platforms, providing defense for the fleet as a whole.

As I had recently created the Prometheus Class Carrier, a ship which had essentially no armament other than its own attack craft, I decided to make a defense ship for it. Since the Prometheus' offensive power is ordnance, I decided to make its escort an ordnance defense ship, having a role similar to the roles Aegis Cruisers have in protecting U.S. aircraft carriers. Instead of being an "Aegis" Cruiser, mine is the "Scutum" Cruiser.
In that regard, the Scutum Class has a lot of similar features to a modern missile defense cruiser. It has a Vertical Launch System (36 cells forward, 46 aft), which launches Anti-Ordnance Missiles (AOMs). On the stern there are two torpedo launchers, one facing to port, the other starboard, similar to the Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile Launchers on the sterns of many modern US ships. On the port and starboard of the main hull, the Scutum has a pair of radomes, similar to those on the superstructures of missile defense ships. Ok, so I copied tons of stuff from present day ships. Despite this, it's still just a conversion of the standard Imperial Crusier design, so it looks "gothic" enough to fit with the other Imperial Ships.
To make it, I trimmed off parts of the basic cruiser's superstructure, to make room for the VLS' and the stern torpedo launchers. For the sides of the ship, I did not add any of the normal weapon systems, but filled it in with plasticard and greenstuff. For the bow I drilled some holes and loaded it up with sensor masts.
I also shifted the bridge structure forward from its usual aft position and onto the forward "hardpoint" where you normally could attach a mast or a lance battery. Imperial cruisers, with their bridges aft, looked disturbingly similar to Imperial Star Destroyers from Star Wars to me (along with the prodigious size of the vessels themselves). Moving the bridge forward makes the ship look more aggressive in my opinion, and is also in line with the bridges of real world warships.