# Strike Cruiser Fluff Question



## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Okay, I need help with these questions about Strike Cruisers.

Does a Captain of a Company also command a Strike Cruiser? 

Also, are Strike Cruisers assigned to Companies?

And the penultimate question, if the Captain of a Company doesn't command a Strike Cruiser, who does? Do they wear Power Armour? Are they even astartes?

Now for my final question. Drum Roll Please, how many pilots are needed to pilot a Strike Cruiser and are they all Space Marines?


Rep to the person who answers this question, thanks.

-BoK


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## dark angel (Jun 11, 2008)

A) I believe the actual Captain of a Strike Cruiser depends on the Chapter, although when one is aboard, they probably pair up with the original commander.

B) It depends I think. Some Companies are gifted with Battle Barges for some missions, I assume the same goes for Strike Cruisers, with no assigned Company but rather able to take any force out.

C) Many sources would have them as Astartes; yes. I believe the Master of the Fourth is actually the commander of the Chapter's fleet, so it wouldn't be suprising if he assigned ranks from his crew.

D) I honestly cannot answer that. I assume some of the crew are Astartes, who probably wear armour during times of conflict. However I imagine the majority of the pilots will be formed from Chapter Serfs, who in turn are probably washed over by the few Astartes on board.

Hope that helps, all I can really say if I am honest...


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Thanks, rep to you. Rep to if anybody can come up with question D. Also, I'm writing a Raven Guard novel about the Fourth Company, which I'm guessing is the Master of the Fleet, so they'd probably have him in command of the Strike Crusier. 

-BoK

Edit: I appraently need to share some more rep before I can give some to you, Dark Angel. Sorry.


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Bane_of_Kings said:


> Does a Captain of a Company also command a Strike Cruiser?


Yes and no, there are captains who have enough experience in space combat that the captain of the ship will differ command to them. However, most chapter ships are crewed by experienced serfs, the captains included, and most company captains will instead differ to their command.

They run the ship most of the time, they have the experience, know the lay of the land, and singular focus that can allow the astartes within to better do their duty without having to deal with something else.



Bane_of_Kings said:


> Also, are Strike Cruisers assigned to Companies?


It largely depends on the chapter; more often then not the answer is actually yes. Most companies work with with the crew of a particular company, and both elements work together well. To have a company constantly changing ships, where they could work with the same one, would mean that the company and crew may not be able to mesh as well.



Bane_of_Kings said:


> And the penultimate question, if the Captain of a Company doesn't command a Strike Cruiser, who does? Do they wear Power Armour? Are they even astartes?


If the captain of a company is not in command of the ship, then the captain of the ship is in command of his ship, though ultimate command still lies with the captain of the company. Generally, the captain and crew of the ship do not wear power armour, they are chapter serfs who failed the process to become a space marine, though they still serve the chapter with honour and distinction, they will never earn the right to wear such holy armour.

Chapter serfs are not space marines, though they may have implants and can be granted longer lifespans; they failed to become space marines a long time ago, they do not have the geneseed.



Bane_of_Kings said:


> Now for my final question. Drum Roll Please, how many pilots are needed to pilot a Strike Cruiser and are they all Space Marines?


The numbers are never given; but strike cruisers are cruisers so the crews are massive. This is because it is not just the people who run the bridge, the armoury, the engine and reactor, but also those who load the ships massive weapons batteries or torpedo tubes as well. If I were to venture a guess, cruisers of the Imperial navy are, easily, crewed by around one thousand personnel; strike cruisers are slightly smaller, and have servitors for a fair amount. I would say figure between half and three quarters of a normal imperial navy ship.


The master of the fleet bit is more down to the chapter; it can be any of the various captains other than the tenth, and possibly the first. The tenth because he would be the master of recruits, since tenth company is the scout company responsible for the training of the recruits of the chapter. I think the eighth shadow-captain may be the master of the fleet for the Raven Guard though; having a bit of trouble locating where I got that from, but I can say that its not the second/fifth or third.


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## Bakunin (Mar 27, 2010)

Bane_of_Kings said:


> Okay, I need help with these questions about Strike Cruisers.
> 
> Does a Captain of a Company also command a Strike Cruiser?
> 
> ...


Okay, further to the previous answers, Battle Fleet gothic fluff states that Guilliman wrote in his little blue book that Space marines should only have access to space craft for means of transportation. Different chapters have interpreted this in very different ways. Some chapters are entirely fleet based, others have very weak fleets, while others have extremely powerful fleets.

However, each codex chapter is meant to maintain a master of the fleet. He is part of the chapters command and appoints the captains of the fleet and helps to decide the size of a fleet sent as part of a strike force. The master of the fleet and his captains would all be veteran marines with experience in all areas of the chapter.

Battle Barges and strike cruisers cover a wide range of ships and some battle barges date back to the crusade and were not specifically designed for marine use. However, most chapters have about two battle barges and six to eight strike cruisers. They also have a number of escorts. Fluff wise a battle barge carrys two to three companys and a strike cruiser can fit one company.

Crews would be alot less in number than imperial navy vessels and also more highly trained as a result. Because it is considered wasteful to have a marine looking at a screen or manning a gun, the majority of the crew would be either chapter serfs or servitors, with a small number (five or so) of marines as officers. Of these some would be tech marines.

Game wise, about three different fleet lists were published for marines in BFG. these were a basic list, a crusadeing list and a non standard fleet based chapter list. (The last two allowed fortress monastrys and a lot of modelling potential).

So with that and the previous answers in mind:

a) No, not least because when the company captain is planetside someone needs to be commanding the ship in potentially hostile space. But the company commander might have overall command of the mission.

b)A company might spand years tied to a particular cruiser, but the fleet is assigned dependent on the needs of a mission and so its make up would vary. For one warzone a company might have its own strikecruiser, for the next they might be sareing a battlebarge. It all depends on how the master of the fleet decides to chare out limited resources.

c)An astartes would always captain a marine vessel. They would have experience and armour. They would have other astartes and techmarines to assist but the crew would not be asartes and an astartes would never adopt a non-command role in the crew.

d)Since there is no standard design of marine strike cruiser, there is no set number. However, the minimum is probably two. As captain giveing all the orders and a techmarine superviseing the ships machine spirit and instructing the crew on keeping it functioning. All the gunners, bridge crew etc, would either be honoured and highly skilled chapter serfs or simple servitors following the commands of these two marines.


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Thanks guys, all of you can have reps.

-BoK


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## Bakunin (Mar 27, 2010)

I've dug out the article on Space Marine Fleets in 'Fanatic issue 6'. This had variant marine lists and was written by Matt Keefe, Andy Chambers and Gav Thorpe. Basically most of what i wrote above was from memory of this article and some of it is slightly incorrect.

Basically, in some chapters the 'Master of the Fleets company provide the crew and captains for the chapters ships, with each of his veteran captains acting as a captain top a vessel and the spuad members being officers for the crew. In other cases, squads from different companys are assigned to the fleet, with the master of the fleet being the overall commander.

the article stated that at a minimum the master of the fleet needs eighty to a hundred marines to properly crew the fleet, thunderhawks and landing craft and most chapters ensure a standing force of this size is available to the master of the fleet.
Interestingly, it also mentions that marines under the master of the fleets command would lead specialised boarding partys.

Hopefully thats a help and adds a bit to my previous post, as well as correcting a couple of points.


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

thanks for your help man.

-BoK


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