Playing Corsairs with Craftworlds codex

[SyNidus]

The Aeldari boarding action boxset looks pretty tempting. I've always liked the lore and narrative of the corsairs - outcasts from the craftworlds, but so far gone as the dark eldar. At one point or another I've played either the Craftworlds or Dark Eldar. So i was just wondering whether anyone has previously or currently run their Corsairs using craftworld units. What kind of modelling modifications would you need to consider, what about unit/rule restrictions?

[Brother Tyler]

I only have theories about how I would do this with the existing kits (rather than the 1st edition models). If that works for you...

 

First of all, I assume you're talking about using Asuryani units (e.g., Guardian Defenders, Dire Avengers, etc.).

 

The only units I would definitely avoid would be the Avatar, the Phoenix Lords, and the Wraith~ units. Even then, the Wraith~ units might be rationalized (if you really want them). Aside from those, I could see just about anything else showing up in an Anhrathe force, including Harlequins and Ynnari.

 

The main modeling modification I would recommend would be headswaps, especially using the heads from the Corsair Voidscarred and various Drukhari kits (I personally prefer the bare Drukhari heads, but YMMV). You may have plenty of those left over from your previous armies. The Guardians kits also come with a lot of bare heads.

 

More creative modeling modifications might involve using Drukhari bodies to represent analogous Anhrathe/Asuryani units, or even intermingling units (e.g., a regular Corsair squad represented by a "Storm Guardian" squad that uses models from the Corsair, Guardian, and Kabalite kits).

 

The key visual cue I recommend is keeping weapons consistent with whatever unit is represented. And certain key units such as "Dire Avengers" might require some distinction from the regular "Guardians" unit. There are a variety of ways to do this, from using certain colors on certain types of units (e.g., all "Aspect Warriors" have a certain color, or a certain color for each type of "Aspect Warrior"), consistent head/helmet use (perhaps all "Fire Dragons" have a bare head with the lower mask), etc.

 

Certain units lend themselves well to the Anhrathe, especially in representing their Doom of Mymeara counterparts (which might not survive if GW expands the Anhrathe range). For example, Swooping Hawks are an obvious fit for the jet pack Corsairs; Rangers are one-for-one equals of the Ghostwalkers; Dark Reapers with bare heads instead of goofy skullmask helmets are great for Balestorm squads.

[The Yncarne]

I've been going a bit in the other direction using corsair bits mixed with kabalite and craft world parts to make a pirate themed army. I'm not quite as restricted as most players here.

• You can add storm guardian heads to corsair units for a bit more dramatic pirate look
• You can add corsair helms to drukhari kabalites. These blend better if the kabalites have minimal spikes. I haven't had trouble with the shruriken / splinter rifle visual differences
• You can add dire avenger heads and gubbins to several of the models to make dire avengers in a more contemporary scale. most of the capes and tabards make it unnecessary for the other DA bits. you'll need guardian shurikens though. bonus points for the catapult scopes
• You can build one corsair to blend in more with rangers models, but stand out a bit 
• You can use some of the gubbins (like the bird) as other unit upgrades or conversions I've seen several farseers with the bird flying around the base or spear

Hope this inspires you.

Edited March 24, 2023 by The Yncarne

[Dr. Clock]

For me it's all about the paint scheme. I've got Ulthwé as my main Craftworld scheme but then some of the Windriders, Rangers, two falcons and 10 Corsairs are painted the teal/orange of my Drukhari, who have always been more on the Corsair end of the Commorites anyhow.

 

I'd avoid using many Aspect Warriors rules for Corsairs personally, unless there's some pretty substantial conversions... Throwing Corsair heads on anything will make it read as Outcast generally, though... and basically anything operated by a Guardian could theoretically also have ended up in a Corsair fleet.

 

For the old school jetpack Corsairs I'd likely think of Scourges, although rules-wise using them as swooping hawks is likely more convenient... I find it SO annoying that Corsairs don't work in Ynnari, but if you did want to go that route I guess Corsairs minis as basically Guardians, Wyches, Kabalites or Dire Avengers could make reasonable sense. Indeed in a situation where you want to proxy / convert Corsairs into other units you're almost better off not including any 'actual Corsairs'.

 

Corsairs themselves are at least relatively serviceable at present IMO. They're just so cheap! As an MSU trading solution riding in any vehicle I'd encourage you to just use them as intended whenever possible. They're likely to change enough for 10th that I have high hopes of them being a bit better integrated to the list in general pretty soon (now that we know 'mandatory slots' are not going to be a thing anymore).

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

 

[Doctor Perils]

To add on what @Brother Tyler mentions, at least wraithguard should be acceptable in at least some corsair fleets: the Steeleye reaver's leader has a bodyguards of wraithguard for example

[SyNidus]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback guys. 

As an extension of this, is there anywhere I can read more on the Corsair fluff?

[sitnam]

On 4/27/2023 at 4:47 PM, SyNidus said:

Awesome, thanks for the feedback guys. 

As an extension of this, is there anywhere I can read more on the Corsair fluff?

The Kill Team: Nachmund has a decent amount of lore for the corsairs in it