Red Corsairs
The Red Corsairs are a Chaos Space Marine warband formed primarily from members of the Astral Claws chapter.
|
Contents
Background
Following the events of the Badab War, the surviving Astral Claws broke through the Imperial blockade and fled to the Maelstrom, taking the broken body of their Chapter Master Lufgt Huron with them. Huron turned to the ruinous powers in order to survive and still leads the remnants against the Imperium, though they now call themselves the Red Corsairs.
The intent of the Red Corsairs' raids are to build Huron's army with captives who turn traitor. Lord Huron is feared and despised by the Imperium as well as honoured by the other traitor legions. Huron Blackheart's empire within the Maelstrom has become a great threat and a power that rivals the legions within the Eye of Terror. One of the planets under their control is New Badab, where the tournament called the Skull Harvest is held [4].
Notable Engagements
- The Fall of Vilamus
- The San Leor Massacre
- The Scouring of Makenna VII
- The Assault on San Leor
- The Third Purging of Lastrati
- The Raid on Bakka
- The Destruction of Mortain[11]
- Besieging the Chogoris, Kaelas, and Sessec Systems.[13]
- The Gildar Rift[12]
Combat doctrines
The Red Corsairs fight primarily as an expression of their twisted faith. In order to save what was left of his chapter and his hideously wounded body, Lufgt Huron made a terrible pact with the Ruinous Powers, pledging eternal service in return for the blessings and patronage of Chaos. With limited numbers at their disposal, the Red Corsairs spent much of their time as space pirates, but also launch brutal raids on Imperial shipping and outposts. These raids are not for plundering, but for the sheer pleasure of raiding the areas that they once swore to protect.
Organization
The Red Corsairs are organised into a large fleet, able to deploy small, elite forces of renegade space marines supported by larger groups of human reavers. The Space Marines among the force are supremely proficient at the boarding actions favoured by the chapter whose ship-to-ship fighting prowess is infamous. Huron Blackheart maintains a substantial fleet consisting of vessels captured over numerous engagements, ranging from a single Adeptus Astartes battle barge, a number of strike cruisers, many and varied escorts and a huge number of classes of interceptors and bombers. Rumours suggest that Huron's command ship, salvaged when it was drifting on the edge of the Maelstrom, was originally a Word Bearers Traitor Legion ship.
Over the years through absorbing other bands of Renegade Space Marines and outlaws, the Red Corsairs have grown close to the size of a pre-Heresy Space Marine Legion.[13]
Assets
Notable Members
- Huron Blackheart - Master of the Red Corsairs
- Oneius Prayd - Former Red Scorpion, now a warlord[10]
- Variel - Apothecary Secundus known as 'The Flayer', betrayed the Red Corsairs and joined Talos and his Night Lords.[8b]
- Sartak - renegade Codicier[9]
- Garlon Souleater - Sorcerer Lord[9]
- Garreon - Lord Apothecary of the Red Corsairs. Known as 'The Corpsemaster'.[12a]
- Armanneus Valthex - Master of the Forge of the Red Corsairs. Known as "The Alchemancer".[12b]
- Corpulax - Former Consecrators, now a Plague Marine.[14]
Known Vessels
- Venonomous Birthright: A Battle Barge previously belonging to the Night Lords where it was known as the Echo of Damnation[8a]
- Spectre of Ruin A Battle Barge, often used as Huron Blackheart's flagship[12]
- Aquiline: An Overlord Class Battle Cruiser[8a]
- Hell's Iris: A Ramilies Class Starfort previously known as Canaan's Eye[8a]
- Hope's Sunset: An Executor Class Grand Cruiser[12]
- Midnight Solitude: An Executor Class Grand Cruiser[12]
- Nightmare's dawn: An Executor Class Grand Cruiser[12]
Related Articles
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000: Compendium
- 2: White Dwarf 101 (UK) "Index Astartes: The Badab Uprising" by Rick Priestley
- 3: White Dwarf 303 (UK) "Index Astartes: Rogue Sons" by Andy Hoare
- 4: The Skull Harvest (Short Story) by Graham McNeill
- 5: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pg. 7
- 6: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 18
- 7: Imperial Armour Volume Nine - The Badab War - Part One, pgs. 54-56
- 8: Blood Reaver (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
- 9: Into the Maelstrom (Short Story) by Chris Pramas
- 10: Apocalypse pg. 171
- 11: Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition) p. 40
- 12: The Gildar Rift (Novel) by Sarah Cawkwell
- 13: Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook pg. 176
- 14: Pandorax