I've been considering trying a Pirate army for a while, and I think I've finally struck on a way to do it. It's not a particularly competetive army, mainly being based around fluff, and will link in with my Bretonnian army (at some point I am going to build the Bretonnian frigate La Patrie captained by Pierre La Courageux, cousin of Phillipe de Morgause, and hopefully I can have an ongoing story between him and Capitaine Christy-Pallière). It will also provide me with some perfect tools for a narrative campaign involving the GC rules for ships.

Without further ado, the list. Fluff in italics.

THE CREW OF THE BELLONE

Capitaine Christy-Pallière
Mercenary General 90pts
Brace of Pistols 20pts
Luck of the Devil: Talisman of Protection, 15pts
125pts in total

I haven't developed much of a personality for this guy yet, but I have a basic idea of a somewhat grudging respect between him and Pierre, both being superlative captains. A bit of flair, but not an over-the-top Jack Sparrow - a man very much intent on his livelihood, which mainly involves running down merchant-vessels and taking their cargo at gunpoint. Slightly aristocratic, perhaps an interesting past. Ideas welcome.

Master Rousseau
Paymaster 55pts
Brace of Pistols 14pts
69pts in total

The master of a ship is the man who controls the men's wages, lays in provisions, etc. Key to the pay chest becomes key to the Bellone's spirit-room. For personality, I've got an idea of a rather rotund, solid, unremarkable but steady man.

Boarders: 12 Duellists
Pistols
108pts

Boarders: 12 Duellists
Pistols
108pts

Boarders: 12 Duellists
Pistols
108pts

These are the upper-deck men, usually responsible for working the sails and ropes. I considered using Pikemen to represent them, as in Napoleonic times boarders were served out with boathooks and pikes as weapons, but I didn't see them fighting in ordered ranks, so I used Duellists instead.

Topsmen: 10 Crossbowmen

Topsmen: 10 Crossbowmen

First up: the Crow's Nest is something you only find on whaling ships. Fighting ships had fighting tops, square platforms at intervals along each mast at which marines with muskets would be deployed, mainly sharpshooters, plying swivel-guns loaded with grape and picking off enemy officers when the ships came into close range. Clearly a Warhammer ship needs to be a bit more ancient than that, so muskets and swivels are replaced with crossbows.

Capstan Crew: 3 Ogres
Additional Hand Weapons
123pts

The Ogres are there to work the capstans - a capstan is a large turning device that raises the anchor for you non-nautical types. After all, why have eight men doing what one big guy can accomplish? Definitely going to use the Ogre kingdoms Pirate Maneater for one of these guys.

Long Drong's Slayer Pirates
14 Slayers with Command & Drong
255pts

'Nuff said.

The Spirit-room Guard
19 Paymaster's bodyguard
171pts

As I said, in boarding actions marlinspikes, bills, pikes and boathooks were served out as weapons, and that's what I intend to represent their halberds as. The least cunning, burliest pirates would, under my logic, be selected by the Master and forwarded in a list to the Captain to guard the spirit-room and the hold in watches, and the three watches of men would be enough to form a regiment. I intend to position them on their bases so that they don't look like ranks, more a dense mass of men.

Monsieur Alocard and the bow-chasers:
Bronzino and 2 Galloper Guns

265pts

Bow-chasers were small-calibre cannon mounted towards the front of a ship, ideally long-ranged and accurate. I felt these would be the only guns a captain would 1) deprive his ship of to go ashore, as you don't want to leave your means of life defenceless, 2) be able to carry with him. Bronzino is represented as Monsier Alocard the ship's gunner, he and his gun-crews having "requisitioned" some old nags from the nearby landsmen. The relocation rules I think fit the army quite nicely, as experienced gunners would definitely be able to shift these light weapons into better positions - and you don't get much more of an experienced gunner than one who fights a floating battery of guns that rolls and pitches with the waves - potentially firing in stormy weather and gales - keeping the cannon dry in all weather on board a leaky wooden ship...

In fluff terms, Monsieur Alocard would be a taciturn, grizzled man of great experience. The model would have to sport some kind of extreme scar or lost limb (wooden leg! Yay!) - you don't fire cannon on board a warship of any kind without sustaining some kind of injury after a while.

THE GUN-DECK CREW

The gun-deck is below-decks, where the majority of the guns are housed in a larger ship, the roof overhead keeping the rain and spray off them for the most part. The gun-deck crew would only be required to fight in an emergency, if the Bellone was boarded herself and the enemy reached the hatches, and as there's nowhere to go I thought they'd best be represented by a close-packed mass of hard-to-break men. Voila! Kislev allied detachment.

Monsieur Ribaud, master gunner.
Boyar, 90pts
Pistol: 7pts
Heavy armour, ramrod (enchanted shield): 14pts
111pts

OK, the armour is there because this guy needs to live to keep his men stubborn, and because I don't imagine some chainmail and so forth being out of place on a Warhammer ship, especially a Bretonnian one - the shield definitely seems out of place to me, so I'm representing it as a ramrod, used to block blows like a stave. He would be the second most important character in the army and be the second most detailed guy fluff-wise - I imagine a massively scarred and experienced man, bluff, somewhat red-faced, some kind of big, flamboyant moustache, a rather crude sense of humour but amicable nonetheless. A touch of aristocracy, again - these are Bretonnian pirates!

Starboard Gun-Crew:
19 Kislev Kossars
Full Command
196pts

Port Gun-Crew:
20 Kislev Kossars
Full Command
205pts

I figured there'd be plenty of heavy, weapon-like objects on the gun-deck as well as boarding axes and boathooks, representing the Kossars' Great Weapons, and right now I'm thinking of representing the bows as pistols and various sidearms (please give me ideas, this is the main part of the fluff I'm not happy with). Again, the models would be positioned on their bases to decrease any idea of ordered ranks. The unit joined by Ribaud would be stubborn because they are experienced gun-crews, who have fought several desperate actions and have shared the situation of having nowhere to go. The other gun-crew would perhaps be less experienced gun-crew, more inclined to run and hide in the cabins and hold than the others.

2004pts


MODELLING IDEAS:

There are a couple of Kossar models who look un-Kislevite enough to make good pirates, with unkempt beards and vicious-looking axes. The bows would have to be filed off.

Free company, obviously.

The Bretonnian Men-at-arms boxed set occurs to provide parts for the Spirit-room guard. They would have to be converted, and their weapons made even more ramshackle, because ideally I would later be building the law-abiding Bretonnian mirror-image of this army. I'm thinking lose the armour where possible, lose the shield arms, mix in parts of the free company box, lose the command (find some other way to explain it - "Fighting Spirit"?).

Similarly, Bretonnian archers might supply a good number of pieces to mix and match with the Free Company boxed set.

I'll probably use the upper half of either the Winged Lancer or Gryphon Legion champion for Ribaud.

Rousseau needs a big belly - perchance that priest from the Bretonnian M@A box....

I'm not sure about how to do the Captain. The Mordheim range might provide inspiration.

Sounds great Chilli, not much too add. But if you wish for some good idea of a Bret ship, read the Black Libaray novel "the Burning Shore" the main plot is a bret crew crossing the seas to Lustria.

Very good to read and it also happens to include a group of Kislevians upon the ship the story follows. ;)

KU

Fantastic ideas, Chili. Totally with you on the fluff so far.

I'm not a big fan of the Kossar's bows, though. Pistols et al seem too short ranged to adequatly represent them. Weak crossbows/blunderbusses, perhaps? From the Empire Militia sprue?

I like the use of duelists, and yes you have included a paymaster (might I suggest changing his name to first mate)

my suggestions-
I dont necessarily think that they need crossbows, just solen imperial muskets (but use same rules), in fluff try to make them seem more drunken and notorious, i dont know about galloper guns, as it was that few pirates brought horses on board (take up too much room) you seem to be making these french pirates, good idea, but personally i think that british ones were alot better (in my opinion), and ogres and longdrongs boys seem a little odd here, again may i suggest simply making them EXTREMELY drunken and strong pirates (model & fluff wise) to accomodate the dwarf rules (too drunk to walk very far)

for your captain i would use the kossar champion, and make a tricorn hat using the instructions given by Adam Clark

hope i could help!
-jumba

The idea with the galloper guns is that they've stolen the horses. They're raiding on land, so they might as well nick some donkeys or whatever they can get their hands on the pull the bow-chasers.

First Mate is a good idea, more piratey.

I would make them English pirates, but it was a choice between French and German pirates - there isn't a definitively "English" nation in WH. Ogres and Longdrong's boys... well, they seem to fit pefectly IMHO - who would have less scruples about who they hired than a pirate cap'n? Longdrong's have a very good excuse for being there - they are pirates - and Ogres will do anything for a good fight and their next meal.

Thanks for the tricorn hat article - I'll definitely be using that method, although I think I can probably find a more dashing model than the Boyar.

Until next time, mateys - AHARR!

yeah, i thought i knew about another guy that looked piratey but ic ouldn't find him.

I still like the idea of the ongdrongs guys being all drunk like and whatnot

but what the heck, its your army :D

but you could always make them, from bretonnia originally, then they settle on an island off the coast, and adopt their own culture or something like that...

i agree with what king ulrik flame beard says

it is a really good book chili and it may give you some ideas but i'd guess you have already read it

good luck, also good ideas you got there keep it up :thumb:

What about this model for your captain?

He seems to be a bit more reserved looking than the other models and seems to be WYSIWYGed to your equipment.