You know, we were rather excited when we heard that BFG magazine seven would contain a "canonised" pirate fleetlist. We weren't terribly impressed when we saw it, though. We were expecting at least one or two new ships: civillian manufactured vessels that had found their way into pirate useage, perhaps? Sure, there are the transports, but we nonetheless found ourselves a bit disappointed.

We also found it hard to belive that Imperial Firestorm and Sword frigates could play any sort of major role in pirate fleets, or that so many transports could make up a viable offense. Still, it's arguable that this could all work, it just wasn't what we were expecting. Therefore, we've decided to make a sort of addition to the Pirate fleet list, based on our own aspirations.

"So... do we have a deal?" the thief asked, his voice marked with a tinge of fear. Kingpin Carlos studied the device with his cybernetic eye: it had been well taken care of, and was in excellent condition. More importantly, it was genuine Tau technology. The device was a quantum-imaging sensor block, and though it was a relative small sample of high technology, reverse-engineering of the device would show how one could make deep scans into warpspace. The Kingpin looked up at the thief and smiled, "Its excellent, I'm quite impressed." The thief grinned, revealing some less than perfect dental upkeep, "Glad to hear, glad to hear, Gov'nor! I'm sure you can imagine the effort required to obtain an item of this rarity." Carlos smiled again, "Oh yes, just as I'm sure it took quite a bit of effort to steal those ten bars of trilumium from my vault..." Carlos continued smiling, but the grin was washed from thief's face instantly. He stuttered a bit and smiled again nervously, "Uh... why Gov'nor, whatever do you mean?" "Don't play stupid with me, you sad excuse for a shyster!" Carlos spat, and his face turned hard, "Do you think the Komar Syndicate is as stupid as one of your petty thieves guilds? We've known you took the bars all along, we just kept you around to obtain the device." The thief sputtered and babbled, "Oh... of course... my mistake. I'll tell you what: I'll give you back the bars, and you keep the sensor block no charge!" Carlos shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, Tal, but you obviously know too much about our security systems, and that's an unacceptable risk." The Kingpin snapped his fingers and Gronk, his Orkoid bodygaurd, appeared from the shadows and raised a gleaming laser pistol. The thief didn't manage to vocalise his scream before Gronk's pistol crackled. Tal fell to the floor. Carlos pointed offhandedly and two human ruffians obediently picked up the body and carried it away. Carlos sighed. 'Work can be such a task at times,' he thought, and continued examining the sensor block.

About the Komar Syndicate:

In the Imperium, crime is usually limited to petty felonies. Thanks to the efforts of the Inquisition and the Adpetus Arbites, not to mention the tight grip the military maintains in Imperial space, organized crime is a very difficult venture. However, the Imperium is by no means free of corruption, and in some regions of space crime syndicates play a powerful role in the local politics.

One such organization is the Komar Syndicate, which operates in the Eastern fringes of the large and sporadically patrolled Ultima Segmentum. It is rumored that the syndicate is headed by a member of one of the Imperial families of Terra, but this is unconfirmed speculation. The Komar Syndicate is involved in several unsavory activities, including extortion, forgery, perjury, and assassination. However, their highest grossing activities (and naturally, the ones which concern Imperial officials the most) are piracy and smuggling of illegal technologies.

With the Tau moving into the local space, the members of the Komar Syndicate are ready and eager to steal technology and sell it on the private market. As for the pirates, many of them are Imperium-sanctioned privateers. Segmentum officials have issued many letters of Marque and Reprisal (some say too many) which allow local mercenaries to prey on Tau and Kroot transports. However, an increase in the loss of Imperial merchant vessels seems to indicate that some captains are abusing their powers.

Playing a Komar Syndicate Fleet:

To play a fleet of Komar Syndicate ships, use the Wolf Packs pirate fleet rules on p.18 of BFG Magazine No.7. The only two exceptions are that you must use Komar Syndicate fleet commanders (not the pirate chief) and you cannot use any Imperial Naval vessels (ie: Cobras, Swords, and Firestorms), as Syndicate fleets often prefer to maintain the illusion of legitimacy. All other rules apply and any other Wolf Pack ships can be used in full.

Firespray Torpedo Boat:

The Firespray class is a relatively loose term which applies to ships which have been modified or specialy built to carry torpedoes. Torpedoes are either haphazardly constructed or stolen from a variety of sources, meaning their performance is never constant. Strict regulations govern the trade and use of explosive ordnance by civilian ships, but it seems those regulations are rarely enforced upon certain individuals.

Fatality Class Laser Destroyer:

Several years ago, a planet in the Tariss sector of the Ultima Segmentum began manufacturing and selling a class of escorts for civilian use. The destroyer mounted a prow laser which could fire several shots in rapid succession. It is rumoured that the enhanced cooling system used by the ship's weapon utilises stolen alien technology. Imperial forces soon moved in an seized the planet's assets. However, a few of these powerful ships can still be found in the fleets of wealthy merchants and privateers.

Piranha Class Boarding Ship:

Inspired by some of the brute force tactics employed by Ork fleets, the Piranha Boarding Ship is by no means an example of subtlety. A heavy escort, the Piranha has large cargo holds, not for storing goods, but for carrying boarding parties. In a battle, a squadron of these ships will make a run for the largest enemy vessel. The Piranhas will slam into the side of the enemy ship and burrow into it with a prow boarding drill or some simillar device. A small army of battle-hardened thugs then storm into the enemy ship. Though designed for capturing small captial ships for sale on the black market, a sqaudron of Piranha Boarding Ships can cause even the crew of a battleship to worry.

Veldet Class Control Cruiser:

The Veldet is an ultralight cruiser which was originally designed and deployed for system defense in outlying human worlds. The Veldet has long since fallen out of favour, replaced by defence platforms and an increased naval presence. Many of these ships were sold off by planetary governments and found their way into the hands of wealthy merchants... or other parties.

Fleet Commander:

Komar Kingpin (+2 Ld) - 100 pts
Privateer Captain (+1 Ld) - 75 pts

A Komar Fleet Commander comes with one free reroll. They may buy additional re-rolls at the listed costs:

One extra reroll - 25 pts
Two extra rerolls - 75 pts
Three extra rerolls - 150 pts

Special Ability - Corruption:

Its amazing how a few thousand credits can make an otherwise devoted naval officer look the other way. A corruption can be used to counteract the effects of your opponent's fleet commander rerolls. At the start of the game, secretly write down the name of one of your opponent's capital ships on a peice of paper. Do this for each corruption you have purchased. If your opponent ever tries to use a fleet commander reroll on that ship, you may reveal your choice and use your corruption to cause their reroll to fail automatically. Corruptions can not be used on escorts or ships which have a fleet commander on board. Only one corruption may be used on a ship per game. Corruptions do not work against Tyranids or Necrons for obvious reasons.

A Komar Fleet Commander may buy corruptions at the listed costs:

One ship corruption - 25 pts
Two ship corruptions - 75 pts
Three ship corruptions - 150 pts

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