The Eldar Codex covers Eldar pirate characters and a single basic pirate squad type, but only allows them as part of a regular Eldar force. There are no provisions for building a complete army of Eldar pirates with a general, psykers, support and allies. The following article offers an army list for an Eldar pirate army. Please note that this is not an official Games Workshop army list and that, when or if they eventually do one, it will probably differ considerably from this one.

In an effort to keep the army playable and consistent with the game, no new weapons, Wargear Cards or Special Characters have been added, although there is certainly room in the system for them. This army is also a good way to use many of the original Eldar figures that are not really usable as part of craftworld army.

The pirate listings in the Eldar Codex were used as a starting point, to which were added some of the ideas from the Eldar pirate army list from the first edition Warhammer 40,000 supplement; Chapter Approved: Book Of The Astronomicon which provided an Eldar pirate army list with background and a Special Character or two.

PIRATE ORGANIZATION

The Rogue Trader book describes Eldar pirates as the "worst elements of the race; misfits, lunatics, sadists and the seriously disturbed." Add an equally wonderful leader and you have the beginnings of a pirate fleet.

An Eldar pirate fleet is usually made up of a number of ships led by a pirate Overlord with his own ship and pirate crew. Each ship has its own Captain leading a contingent of other officers, each in turn leading a 'wing' or 'cadre' of 3?5 pirate squads plus support.

Each ship's leaders and crew will fight as a unit. Any pirate army should reflect this organization. In a small game the force will be from the Overlord's (if he is chosen) or a single Captain's ship so contingent coherency is not a problem. In larger forces, however, each Captain should command his own troops as a unit and not have them scattered all over the table and mixed up with other Captains' troops, We have not provided any specific coherency rules because of possible exceptions (jet bike squads come to mind) but suggest running each Captain's troops as a coherent group instead of a number of random squads. PIRATE CHARACTERS

In the Eldar Codex, all pirate squads that are a part of an Eldar army are led by a pirate character who may never leave the squad. This rule does not apply to full pirate armies, so a pirate Overlord, the pirate Captains, Standard Bearer and Musician are all independent characters. Pirate champions still must always remain with a squad.

RENEGADE EXARCHS, WARLOCKS AND FARSEERS

Peaceful craftworlds are often far too quiet for Farseers and Warlocks trapped on the Witch Path or Exarchs trapped on the Path of the Warrior. These jaded Farseers, Warlocks and Exarchs will often leave their craftworlds and accompany pirate fleets on their wanderings. Some will eventually return to the Eldar Path and their craftworlds or Aspect shrines while others live out their lives as pirates. (If you prefer that Farseers never leave their craftworlds, call level 4 pirate psykers High Warlocks).

MUSICIANS

Pirate musicians have been included in the army list, but the rules for their Sonic Disruptor instruments did not get finished in time for this issue and will be published in the next issue.

SERPENT SQUADS

Serpent squads are made up of recent recruits to the pirate fleet; bored or disaffected Eldar from craftworlds or Exodite colonies that have left the relative comfort and safety of their previous existence for a life of adventure. Some follow the Path of the Outcast and, if they survive, will eventually return to their craftworld and rejoin civilized Eldar society. Others leave the fragile protection of the Eldar Path to become renegades. It is a dangerous life, as Eldar pirates face the horrors of the Warp much more intimately than their craftworld counterparts when navigating through space during their long years of piracy. Out in the perilous universe these new recruits are a little less confidant and so have a lower Leadership stat than normal Guardians.

VIPER SQUADS

Members of the Viper squads are the survivors of the Serpent squad recruits, who have faced the perils of the Warp, learned how to fight in null?grav during ship?toship assaults and survived the confusion of compartmentto?compartment ship clearing actions. Serpent and Viper squads make up the bulk of a pirate army. One Viper squad is allowed for every two Serpent squads in the army.

COBRA SQUADS

The tough and experienced Cobra squad members are the most successful of the pirate crews and are well equipped from their captured booty and loot. Cobra squad members are always looking for a chance to catch the Captain's eye with a daring exploit and move into a command position with all of the attendant advantages as well as officer shares of any captured booty. Cobra squads are limited to a maximum of one for every Viper squad, which means you need two Serpent squads and one Viper squad in order to buy a Cobra squad.

DRAGON SQUADS

Any recruits with heavy weapons training are drafted into the Dragon squads or weapon platform teams to provide heavy weapons support for the other squads. Unfortunately, their support positions far to the rear of the fighting troops means that they are the last ones to capture any booty and so receive only token shares. This makes manning heavy weapons an unpopular job and troops are only to glad to leave their heavy weapons to more recent recruits in order to join a Serpent squad. 

Pirate command group (on hill, top to bottom); modified Space Knight jet bikes and riders (with added Eldar helmets and weapons), Warlock, fantasy elf standard bearer with Admiral Yriel's personal banner from Chapter Approved: Book Of The Astronomicon and musician. The bottom row center figure is unmodified, but the other two have had their helmets modified with putty to (slightly) resemble a Tony Hough Eldar pirate illustration for Space Fleet.

SUPPORT WEAPONS

Eldar pirates have less access to and less reason to use heavy support when using their favored "hit and run" tactics, so support is limited to 25%. Pirates use a wider range of weapons (mostly captured) than a craftworld army. Some of these are hand held, while the heavier ones are mounted on Eldar anti?grav platforms. They also occasionally adopt the Imperial technique of mounting twin weapons on a single platform (Tarantula) for increased firepower. These twin weapons are true twin weapons that may only fire at a single target with a single hit roll. All hand held and platform mounted heavy weapons are equipped with targeters.

DESIGN NOTES

Players may notice that there are a few oddities in this army list. Here are some explanations:

The pirate characters in the Eldar Codex all have one more Wargear Card available to them than normal characters of of corresponding levels. This has been carried over to this list for all pirate characters, including psykers and Exarchs that become part of a pirate band.

The points values for the Tarantulas were based on the points values given in the Space Wolf Codex in combination with the lower weapon point costs for net BS 4 (BS 3+ targeter) troops. Serpent crew: 20 points, Tarantula mount: 10 points, weapons costs: 10 points more than a single weapon of its type.

BUILDING YOUR PIRATE ARMY

This list was designed to make use of the early Eldar figures that were released when Warhammer 40,000 first came out and are no longer really usable in a craftworld army. In addition there are many other figures that can be used in the pirate army. Check out some of the photos for conversion possibilities.

In addition to the older figures, plastic and metal Guardians make a good starting point for Serpent squads. Some interesting paint schemes and a few plastic weapons are all that is needed. There are a number of Harlequin figures that can be used as pirates, especially with un?Harlequin colors and some flattened balls of putty on legs and arms to represent armor. Aspect warrior figures are usable as well; strangely painted Dire Avenger, Striking Scorpion, Howling Banshee and Fire Dragon figures can work well as troops and characters.

There are also older fantasy High Elf and Dark Elf models than can be used to give the army a slightly archaic look. The standard Warlock and Farseer figures can be used as psykers, but using some of the older fantasy High Elf or Dark Elf models for your psykers adds a bit of character to the army.

In addition to Eldar jet bikes, both models of Imperial jet bikes are appropriate to a pirate army as captured equipment, especially since they are no longer available in Imperial army lists.

The Tarantulas in the photos were built using two weapons mounted on the small pieces used for mounting heavy weaons on Eldar dreadnoughts.

PAINT

Eldar pirates are extremely individualistic and will paint and decorate their armor as they see fit. The more experienced the pirate the more outrageous his "uniform" is likely to be. Pirates have traditionally worn flamboyant silks and satins captured as booty in their adventures. Accents in bright flamboyant colors are appropriate as are full Harlequin paint jobs (bright colors without the patterns). For less adventurous pirates, common colors are deep greens, purples, blues, rust and of course, the ever popular black.

Serpent squad members usually bring along the armor from their previous army and will not have had time to make extensive modifications. A typical squad might have two members in Iyanden craftworld colors, one in BielTan colors and a couple of Exodite warriors from different colonies, making for a motley and colorful squad.

My original Eldar army was made of older Eldar models that had been painted in color?matched squads of five. To make the prirate army I simply mixed up the squads and added a few plastic shuriken catapults, chainswords and power swords.

So dig out those old figures and your paints and you can build yet another army with which to terrorize the galaxy!

Eldar Pirates 40K Warfare

Background
Army Selection: Characters
Army Selection: Squads
Army Selection: Support