Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K Hot Mess – Corsair Voidscarred
Boy, did this Corsair Voidscarred unit feel like a weird throw away idea in the latest Aeldari Codex. Let’s fix that.
I love the idea of Space Elf Pirates that are not just pain driven murder hobos. The idea of a weird Rogue Trader like group of desperate Xenos ready to trade, fight, and dance thru the Warp sounds awesome and sadly this unit and the rules they have just don’t work.
How do you make an army work? You give them rules that interact with the units and options that are cool. How do the Corsairs even work now? You have a unit and some rules but the rest of the army just doesn’t fit at all. Where are my pirates? Where are my neon discos full of unsavory pointy-eared individuals? This needs a feeling of connection between all the Corsair units and options that isn’t a copy and paste from either Dark Eldar or Craftworld Eldar. The Corsairs need a unique feel that makes you building this list something cool and unique on the tabletop.
First Let’s Make It An Army
This army needs to have a true leader that feels unique. It doesn’t need a copy of the Aeldari or Drukhari options and instead go with a true “pirate” like leader. They need to lead by their strength and willingness to get stuff done. The idea that this leader has pulled everyone together without the powers of a weird God of Death and instead just the sheer will of – we’ll make sure you are getting paid.
It really needs to be set up with different options and units from all the Aeldari like books with Dark Eldar options, Aeldari options, and even some Harlie friends to help round things out. Instead of some kind of belief in Death it should shift to something else that is less – getting your rocks off when you buddy eats it next to you.
This means a really tailored set of options to help fill out the list. Each of these units need slight tweaks in rules. It most likely doesn’t need any Aspect Warriors and other non “bribe-able” units in the books but just unique enough to let you go crazy making your Space Elf Pirates.
Spice Up Their Rules!
Give them a cool psychic table that mixes a bunch of options, gives them some cool evasion abilities, and lets them be cool on the table. Let them have some cool weapons too that are not just re-skined Aeldari stuff – for instance based on plunder they have stolen. Heck let them use some Chaos Stuff, traded bits from Fabius Bile, and even ancient Necron tech they decided to liberate and reuse. Let all the units have a Jack of All trades options or even let them create little unique Killteams like Deathwatch that are mixed in units.
Give Corsairs Lots of Cool Deployment Options
They should be able to show up all over the place like with weird teleport options, webway mini gates, and just screaming from the skies. They need to be able to just show up everywhere and steal your stuff. Or punch you in the face, give you a smirk, and then flip over the ledge as they run away with your goodies.
Build Then Around Your “Pirate Lord”
Watching ‘Our Flag Means Death’ has me really thinking building around your “pirate” captain as a way to build a unique force. You build out your traits for your leader and it flows into your army. Do they prefer long ranged warfare? How about all your guys get a +1 to hit things that are over 12 inches away. Are they truly sneaky jerks that – let more stuff scout up the table. How about they work with certain races more than others – you get to pick a unit and add it to your army without breaking your Pirate rules.
>
Go All In To Make Corsair Voidscarred A Unique Army
Let an army be truly unique and bring the old Rogue Trader like aspects into the game. Let a player buy and convert a ton of different options to let something cool show up on the tabletop. There is a lot of unique things that are missing from the game and I thought this army could bring some of that back – with a flair of the Pirate added in.
