Lance

Imperial Lance turret opens fire

Heavy Lance^[4]

Chaos Lance battery^[4]

A lance is a large, spaceship-mounted energy weapon, often seen on various Imperial Navy vessels as well as ships from other factions. The ability to produce long-range lance weaponry efficiently by Mars was perfected in late M37.^[1]

Overview

The principle of such a weapon is an extremely high-powered energy beam; the efficiency of a lance turret is increased by the incorporation of several smaller beam projectors into a single, focused beam. The resulting weapon is capable of incinerating straight through the armoured hulls of other vessels as if they were irrelevant.

Types of lance weaponry

Imperial

• Godsbane Lance: Ancient weapons of high technological demand, and only older Grand Cruisers or the most powerful warships possess the requirements to mount them. These weapons are extremely long range, to the point that beam dispersion becomes a problem. They are also often found on Chaos vessels.^[2a]
• Mezoa Hybrid Lance: A recent development from the world of Mezoa that is controversial. It sacrifices range substantially, but increases damage potential by integrating an emitter into the lance design.^[2a]
• Titanforge Lance Battery: The weapon system used on the Navy Cruisers of the Calixis Sector.^[3]
• Voidsunder Lance: Commonly mounted on Light Cruisers. It sacrifices flexibility for raw power.^[2a]
• Las-burner: Scaled-down version of true lances, utilizing focused, high-power laser beams to cut through a ship's defenses. Though these weapons do far less damage then standard lances, their size means smaller ships may carry them.^[2a]
• Heavy Lance: Larger lance batteries mounted on Ark Mechanicus Battleships^[4].

Eldar

• Pulsar Lance: Fires a burst of high-intensity laser bolts. The energy requirements for the weapons are tremendous, but a single Pulsar can strike multiple devastating blows.^[2b]
• Phantom Lance: Used on smaller Eldar and Dark Eldar vessels. They are similar in design to Human lances but smaller and require less energy to power.^[2b]
• Shadow Lance: Lighter lances used on smaller vessels.

Ork

• Zzap Kannon: A similar weapon to a Lance. Indeed, Zzap Kannonz are often rebuilt from scavenged Imperial equipment.^[5]

Vessels mounting lance weaponry

Imperial Navy

• Apocalypse Class Battleship
• Mars Class Battlecruiser
• Oberon Class Battleship
• Overlord Class BattleCruiser
• Retribution Class Battleship
• Vengeance Class Grand Cruiser
• Armageddon Class Battlecruiser
• Gothic Class Cruiser
• Lunar Class Cruiser
• Dauntless Class Light Cruiser
• Endeavour Class Light Cruiser
• Firestorm Class Frigate

Space Marine Fleet

• Vanguard Class Light Cruiser^[4]
• Nova Frigate

Chaos Fleet

^[4]

• Planet Killer
• Desolator Battleship
• Executor Class Grand Cruiser
• Repulsive Class Grand Cruiser
• Retaliator Class Grand Cruiser
• Acheron Class Heavy Cruiser
• Hades Class Heavy Cruiser
• Styx Class Heavy Cruiser
• Devastation Class Cruiser
• Murder Class Cruiser
• Slaughter Class Cruiser
• Idolator Class Raider

Eldar Fleet

• Void Stalker
• Eclipse Cruiser
• Hellebore Frigate
• Hemlock Destroyer
• Shadowhunter

Dark Eldar Fleet

• Torture Cruiser
• Corsair Escort

Ork Fleet

• Ork Battleships^[4]
• Battlekroozers^[4]
• Roks^[4]

Leagues of Votann

• Stronghold Class Commerce Vessel^[6]
• Bastion Class Commerce Vessel^[6]

Sources

• 1: Ships of Mars, pg. 2
• 2: Rogue Trader: Battlefleet Koronus
  • 2a: pgs. 34-35
  • 2b: pg. 85
• 3: Rogue Trader: Twilight Crusade, pg. 9
• 4: Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2
• 5: Rogue Trader: Battlefleet Koronus, pgs. 74-77
• 6: Battlefleet Gothic: Armada (Book), pgs. 110-111