# Building A Rogue Trader Army



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Greetings all. 

I have recently decided to return to playing 40k. 

One of the big draws for me is the ability to build a force that is unique, and has a fun story to it. So with that iam looking to build an army with lots of conversions, cool paint jobs and has a pile of fun “fluff” to it. I also want an army that could in theory fight with and against nearly every other codex’ed army out there, so I did some thinking and have decided to make the personal army of a Rogue Trader! 

The current plan looks something like this:- 
The army will be based from the imperial guard codex. It will represent forces that the warrant of trade allows him to levy from imperial forces. 

I will also use “counts as” units to fill out the force with some xenos, for this one thinking of Gardsman Marbro, but having some conversion or something, just need to decide on a good race. 

Fluff wise, the plan is to have the trader come from quite an old family, thinking that the warrant of trade was given to them by the emperor himself from the start of the great crusade (well it was signed by him, it will have been compiled by some minion, it gives them great about of leeway under imperial law, but does mean they get a lot of attention from the inquisition who are trying to find ways to call them heretics (which gives me the excuse for pile of fights with the imperial forces out there). 

So the question I have to ask, what are people’s thoughts? 
What do you think I should put in this army? 
Units I should avoid? 
Things that would be cool conversions? 

All from a story(Fluff) point of view, will once I get this side sorted run another thread crunching numbers about how an army list should actual work, so I can put together a shopping list. 

Thanks.


----------



## Giant Fossil Penguin (Apr 11, 2009)

Whilst you seemed to have settled on C:IG, have you considered using C:GK? If you went the route of an Inquisitor-led army, maybe using Coteaz (shock, gasp!), it might cleave a bit closer to the fluff. Going this route, you can get a mix of some more exotic troops, which might fit well with the motley collections of individuals, as well as the expensively hired brilliant ones, that make up a Rogue Trader's armed force. You could even add in the odd unit of GK. Ok, they're hard-as, but there are Rogue Traders out there who have Astartes support- just paint them as Deathwatch and you're away!
However, if IG's your thing then I don't think it would be too difficult to get close to the same result, just not too many tanks or Valks!

GFP


----------



## Dicrel Seijin (Apr 2, 2011)

Uveron said:


> Fluff wise, the plan is to have the trader come from quite an old family, thinking that the warrant of trade was given to them by the emperor himself from the start of the great crusade (well it was signed by him, it will have been compiled by some minion, it gives them great about of leeway under imperial law, but does mean they get a lot of attention from the inquisition who are trying to find ways to call them heretics (which gives me the excuse for pile of fights with the imperial forces out there).


A Rogue Trader Charter is the focus of the second book in the _Enforcer: the Shira Calpurnia Omnibus._ One of the subplots is the Ecclesiarchy wanting to get the Charter recognized as a holy relic (the Emperor signed it and sealed it with his blood) and willing to use force (the Sisters of Battle) to get possession of it. So you could also have fights with the SoB as well (and probably may not want to include them in your army).


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Giant Fossil Penguin said:


> Whilst you seemed to have settled on C:IG, have you considered using C:GK? If you went the route of an Inquisitor-led army, maybe using Coteaz (shock, gasp!), it might cleave a bit closer to the fluff. Going this route, you can get a mix of some more exotic troops, which might fit well with the motley collections of individuals, as well as the expensively hired brilliant ones, that make up a Rogue Trader's armed force. You could even add in the odd unit of GK. Ok, they're hard-as, but there are Rogue Traders out there who have Astartes support- just paint them as Deathwatch and you're away!
> However, if IG's your thing then I don't think it would be too difficult to get close to the same result, just not too many tanks or Valks!
> 
> GFP


I had not considered Using C:GK, I was trying to keep clear of MEQ, But I do recall they do have some exotic things in there list, the real question is it a list that could be used to build something competitive while at the same time not building another marine army. 

I know very little about C:GK, they were quite new when I was playing last time, and haven't even seen there new codex.


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Dicrel Seijin said:


> A Rogue Trader Charter is the focus of the second book in the _Enforcer: the Shira Calpurnia Omnibus._ One of the subplots is the Ecclesiarchy wanting to get the Charter recognized as a holy relic (the Emperor signed it and sealed it with his blood) and willing to use force (the Sisters of Battle) to get possession of it. So you could also have fights with the SoB as well (and probably may not want to include them in your army).


I will add that the list of books I need to read, but I had already thought about that angle, this has been an idea I have been playing with in my mind since even before I stopped playing (well since I played some inquisitor). 

Fluff wise, I want to write up parts of the charter, the big question is iam not sure how to refer to the emperor, in the time of the great crusades.


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Uveron said:


> I will add that the list of books I need to read, but I had already thought about that angle, this has been an idea I have been playing with in my mind since even before I stopped playing (well since I played some inquisitor).
> 
> Fluff wise, I want to write up parts of the charter, the big question is iam not sure how to refer to the emperor, in the time of the great crusades.


Refer to Him as Him.

For Marbo, I think that the most suitable options would be:

A Mandrake (They can be hired, as shown in 'Sabbat Martyr')
An outcast Striking Scorpion (No longer bound by the rituals of the Shrine, hence uses poison etc.)
A Kommando (You'd need a convincing background story to justify the lower Toughness though. Maybe he was raiding a Spyrer's den and got hit with some kind of Rad Grenade?)
A Stealth Suit from the Farsight Enclave, hence the combat focus and experimental weapon system (Demo Charge)

Personally I think that a Farsight Enclave Stealthsuit is the best option. It gives you a lot of freedom with the background.

Midnight


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Refer to Him as Him.
> 
> For Marbo, I think that the most suitable options would be:
> 
> ...


Thanks, they are some good ideas I am kinda taken with the Stealth suit idea myself, something to look in on at more detail. 

One question, on the list of options, what is a Kommando? are you talking about the Ork unit, or some other thing


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Sounds like a good idea. As well as IG, you could have Kroot in there, as they are mercenaries, and would add some CC ability. You might think of adding some sort of AdMech allies as well, as a RT usually tends to have close ties with them. He might have an explorator tagging along with him, and his retinue of tech guard, skitarii and battle servitors would come in handy when the going gets tough..

You might even be able to add a squad of marines, if the RT had a long standing arrangement with an outlying chapter. You wouldn't really be able to use alien allies if you had marines in your list though.


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Sounds like a good idea. As well as IG, you could have Kroot in there, as they are mercenaries, and would add some CC ability. You might think of adding some sort of AdMech allies as well, as a RT usually tends to have close ties with them. He might have an explorator tagging along with him, and his retinue of tech guard, skitarii and battle servitors would come in handy when the going gets tough..
> 
> You might even be able to add a squad of marines, if the RT had a long standing arrangement with an outlying chapter. You wouldn't really be able to use alien allies if you had marines in your list though.


When I started thinking of this army, that was allot of the ideas that jumped to mind, slowly its evolved into the "counts as" idea's so I try and stick to one codex, so that the force can be "legal" and I have a shot at entering some tornys with it in the future.


----------



## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Well after reading Eisenhorn, it seems pretty usual for richer families to have personal armies, so why not a rogue trader.


----------



## Hellados (Sep 16, 2009)

i've been having similar naughty thoughts, however my idea keeps becoming more admech then rogue trader 

the prob imho with the GK codex is the demon weapons

i had the thought of using the tau codex for my rogue trader, tau do sell to rogue traders.

you could use guardsmen as firewarriors, normal tau stealth tanks but they would of had come downgrades, tau arent giving away there best stuff after all


----------



## Anarkitty (Jul 29, 2008)

I like the idea. I would second the idea of looking at a C:GK force using your Rogue Trader counts-as Coteaz.
You can make a very effective army without any MEq's, or have a single small unit representing either an elite team wearing old power armor that the Trader's family has owned for millenia, or an small group of Xenos who happen to have the same stats (Squats?). Similarly, you can use the Dreadknight rules for a small knight-class titan that the family owns or whose pilot's family they are allied with. A Dreadnought could be an ancient walker from the family's armory that happens to have the same stats as a Space Marine Dreadnought on the tabletop.

You can do a lot with counts-as. Check my sig for an entire counts-as codex based on C:GK for inspiration if you like.


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Uveron said:


> Thanks, they are some good ideas I am kinda taken with the Stealth suit idea myself, something to look in on at more detail.
> 
> One question, on the list of options, what is a Kommando? are you talking about the Ork unit, or some other thing


The Ork unit, the Kommando. However, although the WS can be explained easily (Highly trained), the BS buff is a little more difficult (An Ork at BS 5?). Universal Toughness of 4 in for Orks (Orks, not Gretchin), so you'd need to explain that. Rad Grenades, from C:GK, lower Toughness for a round of combat so it makes sense for him to have been hit by one of those, but one either much more potent or one that reacted to him differently than normal. 

He'd be a really fast Ork at I5, and a bloody fierce one at 4 attacks base (Or maybe he has implants). Leadership is the Ork standard, no problems there. Save, well, he's an Ork Ninja. Who's to say the Rogue Trader hasn't found him some big plates of Flak Armour? The Ripper Pistol is effectively a Slugga, but with special ammunition. And the Envenomed Blade is just a choppa with some particularly acidic squig blood on it.

For the Stealthsuit, things get more difficult. The experimental battlesuit gives him most of his stats and abilities, but the save and toughness decrease is a bitch. Is it a suit that relies on it's stealth aspects to stay alive, and hence was not given heavy armour so it could move more freely? WS 5 is because he's been trained by Farsight, or an underling, and Farsight did love a bit of hack'n'slash once in a while. This also explains high initiative.

Ripper Pistol is a new Tau plasma weapon, and the Demo Charge could be a one-shot fusion-based gun. Envenomed blade... now, that's interesting. Mounting a big ass sword onto a Battlesuit is stealing O'Shovah's thunder, so I don't really know. A close range support system? Like a battlesuit version of the flechette discharger? It's up to you.

Midnight


----------



## C'Tan Chimera (Aug 16, 2008)

I think it'd be pretty damn nifty to have a couple Kroot and Ork divisions within the force- you could cut a lot of corners with prices on vehicles by using some old 'Ramshackle' magic courtesy of the mekboyz collaborating with space chickens.


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

forkmaster said:


> Well after reading Eisenhorn, it seems pretty usual for richer families to have personal armies, so why not a rogue trader.


That's kinda where my thinking is going. And why I was leaning towards IG over GK for the base rules. Something about a private army that is santioned by the empror himself... in a kinda legal loophole kinda feels very 40k to me.


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Hellados said:


> i've been having similar naughty thoughts, however my idea keeps becoming more admech then rogue trader
> 
> the prob imho with the GK codex is the demon weapons
> 
> ...


I do like the tau, and I was pondering collecting them, But I am not sure if I was to go that way, I may as well make a Gue'vesa army.. 

I kinda want a force that will let me get involved in any campain or battle, which at the same time has some good 40k gothic feel to it


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Anarkitty said:


> I like the idea. I would second the idea of looking at a C:GK force using your Rogue Trader counts-as Coteaz.
> You can make a very effective army without any MEq's, or have a single small unit representing either an elite team wearing old power armor that the Trader's family has owned for millenia, or an small group of Xenos who happen to have the same stats (Squats?). Similarly, you can use the Dreadknight rules for a small knight-class titan that the family owns or whose pilot's family they are allied with. A Dreadnought could be an ancient walker from the family's armory that happens to have the same stats as a Space Marine Dreadnought on the tabletop.
> 
> You can do a lot with counts-as. Check my sig for an entire counts-as codex based on C:GK for inspiration if you like.


I have had a quick look at the C:GK, and I am not sure I see allot I like and I could see the power in building a 500pt army or something it would have some real flavor to it, but I want something I can build bigger and having to limit of some of the codex choices in such a way.. (aka no MEQ's).. not sure. 

Part of the issue is I used to play Guard back "in the day" so there is part of me thats looking for the comfort in the old. 

I love the idear of the titan... but looking at the rules its a MC, which eh.. Iam not sure.


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> The Ork unit, the Kommando. However, although the WS can be explained easily (Highly trained), the BS buff is a little more difficult (An Ork at BS 5?). Universal Toughness of 4 in for Orks (Orks, not Gretchin), so you'd need to explain that. Rad Grenades, from C:GK, lower Toughness for a round of combat so it makes sense for him to have been hit by one of those, but one either much more potent or one that reacted to him differently than normal.
> 
> He'd be a really fast Ork at I5, and a bloody fierce one at 4 attacks base (Or maybe he has implants). Leadership is the Ork standard, no problems there. Save, well, he's an Ork Ninja. Who's to say the Rogue Trader hasn't found him some big plates of Flak Armour? The Ripper Pistol is effectively a Slugga, but with special ammunition. And the Envenomed Blade is just a choppa with some particularly acidic squig blood on it.
> 
> ...


Right, part of me loves the Komando idea, you can have allot of fun making Orks, but you are right there are just some changes to the stat-line that stretch my willingness a bit. 

But I do like the Battle suit idea, Perhaps to get around the whole close combat / tau, issue solve it the tradtional tau way and get a kroot to do it. Have some enterprising researcher having fed the right genetic material to the kroot in question to give him some of the more odd stats, and then kited him out with some high-tech kit.... 

Kinda need to know more tau fluff to make that work, anyone got any good pointers? who or what was Farsight for a start?


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

C'Tan Chimera said:


> I think it'd be pretty damn nifty to have a couple Kroot and Ork divisions within the force- you could cut a lot of corners with prices on vehicles by using some old 'Ramshackle' magic courtesy of the mekboyz collaborating with space chickens.


The problem with this, or at least the problem for myself is that I do want a force that is "legal" for any and all Tournaments, I end up playing in.. 

Which is kinda my iffyness with the whole C:GK comes in, I could build a themed IG army, and a new codex comes out and it would not be a huge hassle to make sure it still works. But it feels that building something around one or two rules from C:CK (Coteaz in this case) means I am putting myself in a place where -BLAM- my expensive army is no longer legal..


----------



## Hellados (Sep 16, 2009)

I actually meant use the tau codex and guardsmen as counts as  

so snipers as stealth suits, rail gun on some kind of chimera variant or scout quad-bike thingy, 

humans could be like tau, amazing shots, good guns or decent ammo and then the big suit things are drugged up guys in amazing armour  

dunno about the drones, they could have children running around with them, servitors or servo skulls 

If you like the idea I could think about it more if you so wish 

I can't do it myself as I'm building 4 armies at the moment for myself


----------



## Terraxian (Feb 24, 2011)

your Marbo could be a Kroot . The envenomed blade is a fat Krootish ritual blade, the ripper gun is his carbine, the stealth suit is explained by a cameleon camouflage sort of thing. Just tossing


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

I have no real ideas to add, just wanted to say this sounds awesome and i'm looking forward to some pictures :victory:


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Commander Farsight was a very succesful Tau commander, very aggressive, who found a big power sword on an 'Artefact World' that he reclaimed from mysterious aliens. His Ethereals dies fighting the Orks, and he then went on to found his own Enclaves to the galactic north of the Tau Empire. He's seen the galaxy and realises that it's not all lovey dovey let's make friends, and so is preparing his Enclave for war. He doesn't negotiate first, or try to rehabilitate worlds he attacks. He just attacks. However, he's also very racist. He beleives that the Tau should fight for themselves, not other aliens, because nobody else fights for anything but personal gain.

He's a bit of a mystery, as he's been alive for hundreds of years, well beyond a normal Tau lifespan. Is he buying rejuvenat treatments from the Imperium, and thusly being a delightful hypocrite, or is Farsight in fact a title, passed down through the generations along with the armour and sword? Nobody knows. He's a great character, and there's a model if you want it.

Midnight


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Hellados said:


> I actually meant use the tau codex and guardsmen as counts as
> 
> so snipers as stealth suits, rail gun on some kind of chimera variant or scout quad-bike thingy,
> 
> ...


I could see that working in a way, I have been looking at lists and thinking for the last day and a bit (wthout having good net I have been a bit stuck) and I think C:IG is the way I want to move. 

But I see the tau plan having merit, but just feels a bit wrong in a way, as I dont see my army as beeing any "better" than the imperials finest


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> He's a bit of a mystery, as he's been alive for hundreds of years, well beyond a normal Tau lifespan. Is he buying rejuvenat treatments from the Imperium, and thusly being a delightful hypocrite, or is Farsight in fact a title, passed down through the generations along with the armour and sword? Nobody knows. He's a great character, and there's a model if you want it.
> 
> Midnight


Ok, cool that is some fantastic bit of fluff I am very impressed by GW actually it gives some depth to the tau I didn't think they had, it in them. 

Do you know where more stuff on him could be found? is it all in the codex, or is this a BL book or something?


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Terraxian said:


> your Marbo could be a Kroot . The envenomed blade is a fat Krootish ritual blade, the ripper gun is his carbine, the stealth suit is explained by a cameleon camouflage sort of thing. Just tossing


That was my thinking, I do like the Kroot moddle and I think I should be able to get the parts from an online bits seller or something. I am planning on ording some parts for a few other models in the army as well. 

Which will become a debate closer to the point when I start looking at buying the army.. and my plans it looks like I will have to get quite a large initial purchase to give me the options I want.


----------



## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Tau you get much information from the game Fire Warrior, DOW: Dark Crusade, the latest codex and you get some insight with frail alliances between Tau and humans in the first Ciaphas Cain book.


----------

