Space Marine Pirates

[Bloodspeaker]

Name - Star Raiders
Warcry - Various (disorganised shouting)
Founding - 4th
Primarch - Guilliman
Successor of - Ultramarines lineage
Homeworld - Nocta Oceanis, Fleet-based
Chapter Master - Admiral Edward 'Redbeard' Blood
Allegiance - Imperium of Mankind
Heraldry - Sea blue(primary) Black (secondary)

Homeworld

The Star Raiders call the 3rd world of the Nocta system home, though it would be more accurate to say that this is where they come to rest between their frequent raids against the enemies of mankind. Oceanis is a world comprised of many islands and much open water. Due to the worlds relatively close proximity to its suns most of the islands are tropical in nature, though there is a band of desert islands around Nocta Oceanis' equator. The planet also has a fairly large number of small, but still active, volcanoes. Although the planet has no moons it's erratic orbit around Nocta's binary star system and the temperature difference between day and night combine to make it a place where the seas can erupt into violent storms at almost any moment.

There are several city states on the planet that have managed gain to rulership over nearby islands, but the true masters of the planet are the pirates that raid the many and violent seas of Nocta Oceanis. For these lawless men life is a constant struggle for mastery over the turbulent seas and to evade the watchful eyes of the land Barons that rule the islands. Most of the islands on Oceanis are only large enough to support two or three cities, meaning that the people of this world have had to develop strong naval skills and fleets just to survive. The Barons live largely by trading with one another. The pirates frequently raid the Barons trade routes and each other, stealing whatever supplies they can.

Since early m.34 the Star Raiders have based themselves off of a large space hulk, the Blake's Revenge, that the chapter captured. Aboard were several valuable pieces of archeotech including an STC that the chapter gladly 'gave' to the adeptus mechanicus in exchange for their help repairing the space hulk. The engines and power plant of the Blake's Revenge had become badly damaged in it's travels and had to be removed. However the Adeptus Mechanicum continues to study this valuable piece of xenos tech. The space marines of the Star Raiders have maintained a close relationship with local Forge Worlds since then, frequently hunting down rare pieces of technology in trade for their services. The chapters former fortress-monastery on the surface of Oceanis is still garrisoned and maintained, but is mostly used to train recruits and provide a safe haven for marines injured enough to need it.

Combat Doctrine

"Ugly, green-skinned SCUM! Try that again and i'll rip your leg off and beat you to death with it!...That does it!"
+++Captain Marcus King (3rd company) to an orc warboss at the Battle of Royal Harbor+++

Since they recruit mostly from lawless pirates it comes as little surprise to the citizens of the Imperium to learn that the Star Raiders chapter does not operate in the same manner as most other chapters. They very rarely fight in pitched battles and prefer lightning fast raids and brutal, close-quarters boarding actions. Space marines of this chapter are known to retreat when the enemy forces seem too great, only to snap back around as soon as their opponents give chase. This fluid style of fighting has caught more than one experienced commander off guard. As former pirates the marines of this chapter have no problem with fighting dirty and employing any tactics necessary to achieve their ends. These facts have all combined to earn the Star Raiders a reputation for being able to defeat forces many times their size.

It is rare to find more than a company or two of this chapters brother-marines engaged in the same battle-front, as many of the chapters space marines still seem to feel the same lust for roaming far and wide that they did before becoming space marines. Relationships between the Captains of the Star Raiders can be tense and it is not unknown for brawls to break out between the various companies. However, like squabbling brothers, they are quick to defend each other from outsiders and enemies alike. Indeed once the fighting starts it would be hard to find a more tight knit chapter.

First Mate Conan Grim

Leads the 3rd companies 2nd assault squad. The Black Rosette on his chest means that he has taken part in the capture of a space hulk, considered to be a prize of particular merit to the chapter. Known to be almost 600 years old, he is one of the chapters oldest living space marines.

Heraldry

While the basic heraldry of the Star Raiders is Oceanic Blue and Black the buccaneers of this chapter will frequently embellish their armour and weapons with trophies taken from the battle field. It is also common practice within the chapter to replace broken pieces of equipment with pieces stolen from the battlefield dead. This means that it is not uncommon for the only unifying feature of any given squad to be the chapter symbol of the Raiders Skull.

Marines who have taken part in the capture of a space hulk are awarded a Black Rosette. Since space hulks are typically the largest ships in space the capture or destruction of one is considered a prize of considerable note and any buccaneers that are involved in taking one will gain considerable respect from their brothers. While the chapter does not have veteran units in the fashion of other chapters, marines who have earned a Black Rosette do form an elite faction within the chapter that serves much the same function as the veterans of other, more traditional, chapters. First Mates, the chapter equivalent of sergeants, decorate their helmets with a white stripe, while the upper echelons of command will typically use all kinds of garish and gaudy markings to signify who they are.

Each buccaneer bears a mark denoting which captain he serves under. For example those serving in the 1st company under Admiral Blood smear red paint over the aquilla on their chests while marines serving under Captain Hind of the 4th company paint a crude bone on their shin guard in deference to the fact that Captain Hind lost his leg at the Battle of Watunga.

Relationships

Imperial Guard - The buccaneers of the Star Raiders have a remarkably good relationship with most Imperial Guard regiments and commanders. They lack the superior outlook that most space marines have and are more than happy to spend some time drinking and carousing with the common soldiery. In addition the tactical flexibility that the chapters Captains have gained from living a life of piracy means that any commanders working with this chapter know that any option they suggest will be considered.

Mechanicum - While the majority of the Mechaniucum's tech-priests are confused by the Star Raiders outlook on humanity, they are nevertheless pleased with the number of rare 'gifts' they receive in exchange for their services. Many buccaneers support one augmetic or another, as a result of leading brutal lives.

Adeptus Astartes - Ironically it is the other space marine chapters that take the dimmest view of the Star Raiders, though this opinion does differ from chapter to chapter. Chapters that view themselves as Knights or are strictly codex-compliant tend to look on the Star Raiders as upstarts and thieves whereas chapters with less civilized origins are more accepting of the chapters innovative and unorthodox approach to warfare.

Inquisition - The Star Raiders deeply distrust the Inquisition, seeing them as the ultimate everything wrong with law enforcement. The chapter will consciously try to avoid anything to do with this whole institution. For their part the Inquisition finds this behavior deeply suspicious and may Inquisitors are fairly itching to investigate the Star Raiders.

Noteworthy Battles

The Taking of the Blakes Revenge (176.M34) - One of the largest hulks ever seen in the s'naM'oN sector (try reading the name backwards), the Blake's Revenge had been dropping into and out of Warp space within the sector for the better part of two thousand years. Up until 176.M34 all attempts to capture it had failed due to the seemingly random locations at which it would appear and the relatively short time it would stay in reality before returning to the Warp. At the very start of this year Captain Jacques Thrush of the Star Raiders had managed to obtain a data bank full of star charts and other valuable information. One of these charts detailed the route taken by the Blake's Revenge as well as approximate timings for each reappearance.
Unable to pass up the chance of the biggest prize in chapter history, Captain Thrush gathered the captains of three of the Star Raiders other crews and took up the chase. At first the Revenge proved illusive, but finally they caught her in orbit around the world of Siktub. The Orks of Siktub had also noticed the appearance of the enormous hulk near their world and were also eager to capture it. Knowing that the Orks would rush headlong to the hulk, Captain Thrush ordered patience. The other captains, knowing Captain Thrush's reputation for cunning, waited. They waited until the majority of the Ork forces to be aboard the hulk, then Thrush led a surgical strike against the hulks secondary control center. Once they had secured the secondary control center the techmarines with the boarding party overrode the control and opened every bulkhead and door on the Blake's Revenge to space. The orks had, in their haste to capture the hulk, not bothered to take control of the ships gravity systems. Those few that weren't sucked straight out into space and didn't die of asphyxiation were easy prey for the battle hungry space marines.
While the boarding team was fighting their way through the hulk the Star Raiders forces under the command of Captain Pitt went to work destroying the ork vessels still in space. Again the Orks haste proved their undoing, many of their ships barely still having enough crew aboard to operate at all. The space marines suffered only two casualties, both of which were caused by some of the ancient derelicts equipment explosively malfunctioning.

 

Battle of Watunga (784.M41) - Fabled in story and song for sectors around, the legendary Hoard of M'wertagh (phonetic; Muerta) had been tempting fools to risk the Shifting Storms for hundreds of years. It was only a matter of time before the legend drew the attention of Captain Hind of the Star Raiders. It was said that the treasure could only be found if you already knew where the planet Watunga was. After carefully combing through the records of the Shifting Storms the Captain became convinced that he had discovered the location of Watunga. It did not take him long to drum up a crew.

Upon arrival at the co-ordinates, Hind was dismayed to find a large force of ork freebootaz already on the surface of the planet. Detrmined not to let the green rabble steal his loot, Captain Hind ordered a full assault. He lead the charge himself, finally fighting the Warboss of the Freebootaz, Baw Baw Rowza over the entrance to the treasure hoard. The massive ork managed to bury it's power axe in Hinds leg. Fighting through the pain, Captain Francis Hind torn the ork's ae from his leg and bisected the foul aliens head with it. He awoke a week later aboard the Golden Pearl to the news that the orks were routed and the treasure was theirs. Among the archeotech had been an unusual three-pronged piece of sensor apparatus that Hind ordered attached to his helmet, now known as Hind's Tricorne.  

 

General idea for this chapter is that they are an unruly bunch of space pirates. Think Jack Sparrow (Captain!) or Blackbeard with power armour and bolters.

[Vykryl]

Made me think of a Death Lands trilogy I've read many times.

[Machine God]

Made me think of a Death Lands trilogy I've read many times.

What as in Ryan Cawdor and Doc?

[Vykryl]

 

 

Made me think of a Death Lands trilogy I've read many times.

What as in Ryan Cawdor and Doc?

Yes. They made a jumped and landed in the Philippines and found themselves in a territory as described here.

 

Edit: Skydark Chronicles is the trilogy name. Supposedly 1000 islands in the chain. Some are populated and controlled by Barons, some infested with mutants and beasts. The pirates main island id considered too dangerous to colonize, Ms king a safe haven for the pirates. Hidden on the island is a lab that worked on military weapons and genetic manipulation. The lab is responsible for many of the more dangerous creatures now inhabiting the islands.

 

I like the bases for your chapter. Deep space pirates sound fun.

[Wargasm40k]

I like this chapter.  I'm a fan of all things pirate, especially space pirates. 

[Bloodspeaker]

 

Heraldry

While the basic heraldry of the Star Raiders is Oceanic Blue and Black the buccaneers of this chapter will frequently embellish their armour and weapons with trophies taken from the battle field. It is also common practice within the chapter to replace broken pieces of equipment with pieces stolen from the battlefield dead. This mean that it is not uncommon for the only unifying feature of any given squad to be the chapter symbol of the Raiders Skull. 

 

Marines who have taken part in the capture of a space hulk are awarded a Black Rosette. Since space hulks are typically the largest ships in space the capture of destruction of one is considered a prize of considerable note and any buccaneers that are involved in taking one will gain considerable respect from their brothers. While the chapter does not have veteran units in the fashion of other chapters, marines who have earned a Black Rosette do form an elite faction within the chapter that serves much the same function as the veterans of other, more traditional, chapters.

 

 

Added section on heraldry

[Allart01]

This is quite original and interesting. I like it :)

[NightHowler]

Very fun! Much pirate! I like!

[Kelborn]

Them against Freebooters...oh yeah...

 

Cool concept, enjoying it. Keep it up! :)

[Nomus Sardauk]

Them against Freebooters...oh yeah...

 

Cool concept, enjoying it. Keep it up! :)

Sounds like a great idea for a Notable Battle if you ask me, perhaps revolving around both sides trying to claim an elusive archaeotech-baring Space Hulk that regularly jumps around a region of space? Draw your cutlasses, ready your blunderbusses and turn up the PotC theme, it's plunderin' time! :D

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job, but I have to ask how they prevent the Blake's Revenge from reentering and exiting the Warp at unpredictable moments, as Space Hulks do. Did the Adeptus Mechanicus manage to find and repair some archeotech propulsion system aboard the Blake's Revenge, giving the Star Raiders control over the Hulk? Or did they just strip the Hulk of all (uncontrollable) Warp engines aboard it, and install a new one- one the Star Raiders deem reliable?

[Kelborn]

Guys,

 

Capt'n Dabossa and his Grinskullz incoming! :D

 

copyright by me, speak to my lawyer if you want them ;)

[DaBoiKyknos]

AAARRR !!!

 

I like your concept, those loyalist pirate are quite fun.

I can not help but think to them as some kind of loyalist Night Lords (e.g. the smearing of red paint on

the Aquila has quite a renegade flavour).

 

Is there a specific reason for their Ultramarines gene-seed?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

AAARRR !!!

I like your concept, those loyalist pirate are quite fun.

I can not help but think to them as some kind of loyalist Night Lords (e.g. the smearing of red paint on

the Aquila has quite a renegade flavour).

Is there a specific reason for their Ultramarines gene-seed?

Probably the simple fact the majority of M41 Space Marine Chapters are of Ultramarines descent.

And a subtle way of saying, "Go yourself with that oversized wad of toilet paper you call the 'Codex Astartes', Matt Ward!" by demonstrating Ultramarines do NOT need to act as if a lascannon was shoved up their hole and then fired to fry their brains, in order to be good and loyal Marines.

[DaBoiKyknos]

Seems legit. Well actually I´m maybe not that much anti-Ultra as some I guess. Sure they´re boring with empathising standards and rules,

but hey their fluff isn´t that boring.

And I still thing Guilliman as a character is a lot less boring than Jaghatai for exampla.

But all that is quite off-topic I guess...

Back to topic:

Is the skull and crossed bones your final chapter icon Bloodspeaker?

To be honest, it looks a little...bland.

Maybe you can come up with a fluffier symbol, a black flag with stars on it or something like that...

[Bloodspeaker]

@ Lord Velype - The Ultramarines gene-seed was, indeed just because i couldn't be bothered to give them a different one. As to the chapter symbol...what can i say? I'm a fan of the classics. If it's pirates, then it's gotta be skull and cross bone in my head.

Also while the chapter icon may be a bit standard i'm thinking that the marine will look anything but standard with all their looted wargear and random bits of jewellry.

[Bloodspeaker]

Added 'Relationships' section.

 

 

Relationships

Imperial Guard - The buccaneers of the Star Raiders have a remarkably good relationship with most Imperial Guard regiments and commanders. They lack the superior outlook that most space marines have and are more than happy to spend some time drinking and carousing with the common soldiery. In addition the tactical flexibility that the chapters Captains have gained from living a life of piracy means that any commanders working with this chapter know that any option they suggest will be considered.

 

Mechanicum - While the majority of the Mechaniucum's tech-priests are confused by the Star Raiders outlook on humanity, they are nevertheless pleased with the number of rare 'gifts' they receive in exchange for their services. Many buccaneers support one augmetic or another, as a result of leading brutal lives. 

 

Adeptus Astartes - Ironically it is the other space marine chapters that take the dimmest view of the Star Raiders, though this opinion does differ from chapter to chapter. Chapters that view themselves as Knights or are strictly codex-compliant tend to look on the Star Raiders as upstarts and thieves whereas chapters with less noble origins (like the Space Wolves and White Scars. Couldn't think of a better way to say this.) are more accepting of the chapters innovative and unorthodox approach to warfare.

 

Inquisition - The Star Raiders deeply distrust the Inquisition, seeing them as the ultimate everything wrong with law enforcement. The chapter will consciously try to avoid anything to do with this whole institution. For their part the Inquisition finds this behavior deeply suspicious and may Inquisitors are fairly itching to investigate the Star Raiders. 

[DaBoiKyknos]

Jewelery ? I might have missed this part...

Might look fun indeed.

I like the colourscheme btw, simple and effective.

[Knurd]

Maybe two chainswords instead of the crossbones? Make it a little more Astartes maybe.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Maybe two chainswords instead of the crossbones? Make it a little more Astartes maybe.

Alternately, use the Adeptus Mechanicus' half-metal skull, and replace ONE bone with a wrench, to symbolize a (more-or-less) harmonic union of machine and man.

[Knurd]

I like Bjorns idea better.There are plenty of Jolly Rogers out there to choose from.

[Bloodspeaker]

 

 

Noteworthy Battles

 

The Taking of the Blakes Revenge (176.M34) - One of the largest hulks ever seen in the s'naM'oN sector (try reading the name backwards), the Blake's Revenge had been dropping into and out of Warp space within the sector for the better part of two thousand years. Up until 176.M34 all attempts to capture it had failed due to the seemingly random locations at which it would appear and the relatively short time it would stay in reality before returning to the Warp. At the very start of this year Captain Jacques Thrush of the Star Raiders had managed to obtain a data bank full of star charts and other valuable information. One of these charts detailed the route taken by the Blake's Revenge as well as approximate timings for each reappearance.

Unable to pass up the chance of the biggest prize in chapter history, Captain Thrush gathered the captains of three of the Star Raiders other crews and took up the chase. At first the Revenge proved illusive, but finally they caught her in orbit around the world of Siktub. The Orks of Siktub had also noticed the appearance of the enormous hulk near their world and were also eager to capture it. Knowing that the Orks would rush headlong to the hulk, Captain Thrush ordered patience. The other captains, knowing Captain Thrush's reputation for cunning, waited. They waited until the majority of the Ork forces to be aboard the hulk, then Thrush led a surgical strike against the hulks secondary control center. Once they had secured the secondary control center the techmarines with the boarding party overrode the control and opened every bulkhead and door on the Blake's Revenge to space. The orks had, in their haste to capture the hulk, not bothered to take control of the ships gravity systems. Those few that weren't sucked straight out into space and didn't die of asphyxiation were easy prey for the battle hungry space marines. 

While the boarding team was fighting their way through the hulk the Star Raiders forces under the command of Captain Pitt went to work destroying the ork vessels still in space. Again the Orks haste proved their undoing, many of their ships barely still having enough crew aboard to operate at all. The space marines suffered only two casualties, both of which were caused by some of the ancient derelicts equipment explosively malfunctioning.

 

Started adding noteworthy battles.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Taking of Blake's Revenge. However, you have to be careful with this board's unpredictable formatting. More than once, the blank lines I use to separate paragraphs on my posts, are deleted, forcing me to edit the post and re-insert those blank lines.

[EesiOh]

If their isnt a Francis Drake character then i'll eat my tri-corn'd hat

[Bjorn Firewalker]

If their isnt a Francis Drake character then i'll eat my tri-corn'd hat

This gave me an idea: Have a helmet with what resembles a tricorne (in reality, a phased array auspex- see the radar sets on Aegis Combat System-equipped warships) as a Chapter relic. This helmet grants the Acute Senses special rule, and prevents enemy units from Infiltrating within 12" of its wearer.

 

It also needs a cool name, e.g., Skull Helm of Tri-Clops.