Editing Maugen-pattern armored cruiser

{{Title|''RCS''-class armored cruiser}}

{{Era|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}

{{Ship class infobox

|name=''RCS''-class armored cruiser

|image=[[File:H4-RCSArmoredCruiser-SideFull.png|300px]]

|manufacturer=

|class=[[Cruiser]]

|role=Patrol, occupation<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/covenant-cruiser '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Covenant Cruiser'']</ref>

|length=2,000 meters (6,562 feet)<ref name="EVG">'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 41''</ref>

|power=

|engine=[[Repulsor engine]]s

|slipspace drive=Equipped

|navigation=

|hull=[[Nanolaminate hull plating]]

|armament=*[[Energy projector|Ventral cleansing beam]]

*Anterior [[plasma turret]]s

*[[Pulse laser turret]]s

|complement=[[Type-31 Seraph]]s

|crew=

|passengers=

|othersystems=*Stasis enfolder system<ref name="H4EVG"/>

|era=*[[Human-Covenant War]]

*[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]

|affiliation=[[Covenant]]<br>[[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant]]

The '''''RCS''-class armored cruiser''' is a [[Covenant]] [[Capital ship|capital]] [[warship]] classification.<ref name="EVG"/>

==Specifications==

The ''RCS''-class armored cruiser was first commissioned when [[Covenant]] [[energy shielding]] technology was far more limited. An older class of [[cruiser]], the class lacked both the firepower and robustness of the {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}.<ref name="universe"/> The armored cruiser's primary roles are patrol and planetary occupation. The ''RCS'' is 2,000 meters long, 1,000 meters wide, and 296 meters tall. It is the second-largest cruiser of the former [[Covenant fleet]], overshadowed only by the {{Class|ORS|heavy cruiser}}. Armed with [[plasma torpedo]] turrets, [[pulse laser]] point-defense cannons, and a ventral [[energy projector]], it is also outfitted with a stasis enfolder system;<ref name="EVG"/> this technology is presumably a much larger version of the [[stasis cannon]] used by the [[Type-29 Vampire]].<ref>'''Halo: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 200''</ref>

The "R", or Reverence, in the cruiser's three-letter classification code, "RCS", indicates that the cruiser is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions and is capable of excavating [[Forerunner]] artifacts. The "S", or Salvation, denotes that the ''RCS''-class armored cruiser is a dedicated [[warship]] capable of destroying its opponents with an energy projector.<ref name="canon fodder2">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-have-s-moa '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder: Have S'moa'']</ref>

''RCS''-class armored cruisers served in the [[Covenant]]'s [[Covenant fleet|fleet]] for centuries as the empire's primary "missionary and compliance" [[warship]], having allegedly been in service when [[human]]ity was just making its first long-distance ocean voyages. However, the class was eventually supplanted by the more refined {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}. Many cruisers of the ''RCS'' class were broken down into feedstock for [[High Charity]]'s [[Assembly Forges]], being reformed and remade into new ships, vehicles, and armor to equip the [[Covenant military]]. The remaining vessels of this class were left as reserve vessels in the [[fleet]]s of important Covenant colonies or transferred to distant reserve fleets to take on various utilitarian roles.<ref name="canon fodder armory">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-armory-amore '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Armory Amore'']</ref>

The ''RCS''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s use during the [[Human-Covenant War]] was largely overshadowed by the ''CCS''-class battlecruiser, the mainstay of the fleet.<ref name="H4EVG"/> At the dawn of the [[Great Schism]], many armored cruisers played an important role in many [[Covenant remnants|remnant factions]] of the Covenant Empire.<ref name="universe"/> Following the end of the war, many surviving battlecruisers were commandeered by [[Kig-Yar]] scavengers or independent [[Sangheili]] factions. As a result, the ''RCS''-class armored cruiser took on a more predominant role in [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant]].<ref name="H4EVG"/> Several ''RCS''-class cruisers were assigned to Jul 'Mdama's fleet occupying [[Requiem]] in [[2558#February|February 2558]], escorted by a much larger number of comparatively diminutive {{Class|CRS|light cruiser}}s.<ref name="H4EVG">'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]'''</ref> One was destroyed when the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} emerged from slipspace and rammed it. Another fled the [[shield world]] after 'Mdama set the planet on a collision course with the [[Epoloch system|local star]].<ref>'''[[Halo 4]]''', ''[[Spartan Ops]]''</ref>

*Cost: 120 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage Track: 9 • 8 • 4

**Defense array (2)

**Glide (3")

**Point defense (4)

*Secondary Weapon: [[Plasma cannon (starship)|Plasma cannon]] arrays

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

This element includes an ''RCS''-class battlecruiser and one ''SDV''-class heavy corvette.

*Cost: 140 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage Track: 9 • 8 • 5

*Hangers: 3

*Boarding Craft: 3

**Defense array (3)

**Glide (3")

*Primary weapon: Plasma lance

**Range: 18/32"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 10

*Secondary Weapon: Plasma cannon arrays

**Range: 10/20"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

*Additional secondary weapon: [[Plasma torpedo]]s

**Range: 10/24"

**Weapon loadouts: Missiles/Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward

**Dice: 5

*Cost: 160 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage: 9 • 8 • 6

*Hangars: 4

*Boarding Craft: 3

*Security Detail: 6

**Defense array (4)

**Glide (3")

**Point defense (6)

*Primary weapon: Plasma lance

**Range: 18/32"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 10

*Secondary Weapon: Plasma cannon arrays

**Range: 10/20"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 10

**Range: 10/24"

**Weapon loadouts: Missiles/Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward

**Dice: 7

This element includes an ''RCS''-class battlecruiser and one ''ADP''-class escort.

*Cost: 140 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage: 9 • 8 • 5

*Build Rating: 3

*Boarding Craft: 3

*Security Detail: 6

**Defense array (3)

**Glide (3")

**Point defense (6)

*Primary weapon: Plasma lance

**Range: 18/32"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 10

*Secondary Weapon: Plasma cannon arrays

**Range: 10/20"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 8

**Range: 10/24"

**Weapon loadouts: Missiles/Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward

**Dice: 5

*Cost: 160 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage: 9 • 8 • 6

*Build Rating: 3

*Boarding Craft: 3

*Security Detail: 6

**Defense array (3)

**Glide (3")

**Point defense (6)

*Primary weapon: Plasma lance

**Range: 18/32"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 10

*Secondary Weapon: Plasma cannon arrays

**Range: 10/20"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 8

**Range: 10/24"

**Weapon loadouts: Missiles/Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward

**Dice: 7

*Cost: 220 points

*Movement: 7"

*Damage: 12 • 9 • 7

**Defense array (5)

**Glide (3")

**Point defense (7)

*Primary weapon: Plasma lance

**Range: 18/32"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 16

*Secondary Weapon: Plasma cannon arrays

**Range: 10/20"

**Weapon loadouts: Plasma

**Firing arc: Forward/Port/Starboard

**Dice: 15

[[Wikipedia:Armored cruiser|Armored cruisers]] were a warship classification used by European, American and Japanese navies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries that featured superior armor to their predecessors. Armored cruisers became obsolete with the introduction of better armed and faster battlecruisers in 1908, and smaller but just as well-armored light cruisers, though they would serve during World War I, with some surviving to serve in World War II. The history of the Covenant ship parallels the history of the real-life human class, being supplanted by the more advanced [[CCS-class battlecruiser]].

File:InfinityRam.jpg|The UNSC ''Infinity'' rams through an ''RCS''-class armored cruiser in ''[[Halo 4]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> ''[[Spartan Ops]]''.

File:H4 SO S01E10 Palmer watching Covenant fleet.jpg|An ''RCS'' cruiser and its ''CRS'' escort flee Requiem.

File:HFB-RCSmodel.jpg|An ''RCS'' model for ''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''.

File:HFB Orion RCS Comparison 580 Line.jpg|A scale side-on comparison between an [[Orion-class assault carrier]] and an ''RCS''-class armored cruiser.

*''[[Halo Mythos]]''

<references/>