Editing Pirate (section)

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
*  Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have  M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.