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The '''Il'Fannor''' class [[cruiser ]] (designated as '''Merchant''' class by the [[Imperium]]) was the next major ship designed by the [[Tau]] after the [[Gal'leath Class Battleship|Gal'leath]] class battleship. It was originally designed to become the new workhouse of the fledgling [[Tau Empire]], its warp drives [[Gravitic Drive]] being able to reach a third of normal warp speed. As the Gal'Leath leath proved ineffective as a military vessel against the [[Orks]], the Merchant was heavily redesigned into a cheap and effective (if rather slow) warship that remained the Tau's mainline military ship until the advent of the [[Lar'shi Class Cruiser|Lar'shi]] class. As a cruiser, it lacks the hard-hitting firepower, speed and durability of those of the other major races, but makes up for it by being very cheap and easy to produce.^1,2

There exist two current configurations of the Il'fannor cruiser, the Ke'lshan and Dal'yth.^1,2

The more popular design incorporates mid-range port, prow and starboard Railgun batteries that are able to fire in multiple arcs. They also utilise two [[Gravitic Hooks]] that can transport smaller vessels that do not have their own warp drives.¹

This subtle redesign replaces the Gravitic Hooks with short range [[Ion Cannons Cannon]]s and is thus able to be better utilised in up close engagements independently.¹

[[Category:Fleet (Tau)|*]][[Category:BattleshipsNaval Vessels|*]]   == Sources ==*¹ [[Armada Appendices]Category:Cruisers|*], page 102*² Games Workshop, Specialist Games, Resources, Tau Fleets[http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1280012_BFG_Tau_Fleets.pdf]