The Imperium warmachine is built upon a single concept - efficiency. Having the right weaponry for an engagement is often the key to victory and having access to all manner of different ship configurations allows an Admiral access to what she needs, when she needs it. With widespread rail networks extending from Prussia to the other Germanic nations of the Imperium, the navy (known as the Kaiserliche Marine) decided to equip a new generation of warships and support vessels with compatible gauge rails to allow weaponry and goods to be easily changed in short order. This allows the Imperium to be responsive to the needs of the operation at hand without having to go to the cost or lengthy construction times of creating specific ships to fill those requirements. Should a vessel be needed to bombard an enemy shore battery, then a Blucher cruiser can be modified to create an Augustus Bombardment Cruiser in less than a day. At the Wilhelmshaven Imperial Shipyard, the record stands for the refitting of the warship Stralsund. The cruiser had arrived fresh from hunting corsairs off the coast of Heligoland three hours earlier. In those few hours the yard crew removed her (still steaming) Volt Gun Batteries and installed a Gustav Heavy Bombard in their place.
Over a hundred and fifty Elector-type hulls have been constructed from the fleet yards at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. Many of these operate today as Elector class Battleships, the mainstay of the Imperium navy. One in ten Elector hulls are of a suitable quality for further reinforcement and outfitting to become a Kaiser class Heavy Battleship. Often the last thing seen by a target abeam of these vessels, the Kaiser’s Salute is a full volley from her Heavy Volt Gun Batteries to Port or Starboard. Some vessels, such as the Heidelberg Class Battlecruiser carry their own locomotives with them in order to ensure fast and efficient loading, unloading and refitting at whatever port they visit. In addition to this pair of Bavarian Adler class engines, Heidelberg Battlecruisers have expansive logistics staff and control centres to help conduct successful military operations.
The Elector Battlefleet Set kit builds seven multi-part plastic and resin miniatures;
- 1x Elector Class Battleship
- Each Battleship can alternatively be built as either SMS Brandenburg, Heidelberg, SMS Holtzendorff, Kaiser or SMS Tirpitz Class
- 2x Blucher Class Cruisers
- Each Cruiser can alternatively be built as either Augustus or Schaumburg Class
- 4x Arminius Class Frigates
