Rogue Traders (Hektor Heresy)

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The stereotypical Rogue Trader Militant

The first Rogue Traders were commissioned in the earliest days of the Emperor's Great Crusade. Rulers of human realms conquered by Imperial forces, beginning with the losers of the Unification Wars were offered the choice of a Warrant of Trade and the task of scouting ahead of the mighty Expedition Fleets - or death. Forbidden a return to Terra and granted little resources beyond those that their own ingenuity could garner, the early Rogue Traders Militant were far more likely to perish in the void between the stars than to prosper. But there are always exceptions.

Notable Rogue Traders Militant

Countless unscrupulous and enterprising individuals were dispatched to scout the reaches of the Galaxy. These are but of few of the lucky ones who struck fame, riches, or both in their adventures.

• Lord Captain Megasu Athon once had held sway over the massive Lambent Station that heralded Terra's orbit about Sol. He had tried to remain aloof from the Unification Wars and profited by sale of arms to the techno-barbarian states until the Emperor's final victory. In 803.M30, Ajax Camillus of the First Legion led a compliance force to subdue Lambent Station and Megasu Athon wisely chose to surrender to the Space Marines. He began the Great Crusade with a substantial fleet of sixteen warp-capable voidships and carried out several compliance actions in his own right, as well as being called upon to support the campaigns of Imperial Expedition Fleets. Megasu Athon is particularly famous for his actions in the Parthorum Xenocide, in which his fleet assisted in the early scouting operations and took part in the attack on War Fortress Tzor.

• Adela Exard, captain of the Black Joke was of uncertain origin but most likely hailed from the Outer Solar System. She gained fame by discovering and mapping the Parthorum Stream and aided the First Legion in the Parthorum Xenocide, particularly in the First and Second battles of Kopt Dara.

• Captain Visant Le Gall, commissioned in 857.M30, died in 918.M30. He was one of the most successful Rogue Traders Militant of the Great Crusade era thanks to his prodigious talents and ties to the Fifth Legion.

• Helga Olafsdottir was a Terran-born Rogue Trader Militant, best known for discovering the Haeltoth Stations in 818.M30. Her cruiser was named Lone Wolf.

• Antoine d'Orléans, b. 842.M30 (Ciban IV) was the grandson of the famous Marshal Jean-Davide d'Orléans, the first commander of the Ciban Chasseurs. Antoine had an unusual character for a Rogue Trader. He was largely uninterested in wealth and, with his family's name already well-established, had little interest in fame. Instead, he longed to explore unknown places and saw a Warrant of Trade as the best means for indulging his passion. Fiercely loyal to his homeworld and with a great admiration for Gaspard Lumey, Antoine often undertook missions directly at the behest of the Fifth Legion's victualary.

• Lino Pisani was the nephew of an officer in the Fischetti Numeri. After the Numeri's surprising valour in the Curis-4 Compliance, Gaspard Lumey presented the Pisani family with a Warrant of Trade as a reward for their service to the Imperium.

• Vuthros Khan was a petty Terran warlord notorious for using rad-missiles on the nascent Second Legion in the Dalvan Atrocity. He surrendered to Imperial Forces dispatched from his homeworld to serve the Great Crusade. Despite his criminal past on Terra, he will be forever remembered for mapping the Vuthros Sector, rediscovering valiant Carlisar IV and the crypt world Kondrus.

Gallery

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  Visant Le Gall
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  Lino Pisani
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Rules

Naval warfare (Battlefleet Gothic)

Odysseus-class Galleass of War (220 points)

The Odysseus class Galleass of War is a combination of macro transporter and warship. These ships are highly prized by rogue traders for long distance expeditions far beyond Imperial Space.

TYPE/HITS	SPEED	TURNS	SHIELDS	ARMOUR	TURRETS
Grand Cruiser/10	20cm	45°	3	5+	3
ARMAMENT	RANGE	FIREPOWER/STRENGTH			FIRE ARC
Port Weapons Batteries	30cm	6			Left
Starboard Weapons Batteries	30cm	6			Right
Port Lances	30cm	4			Left
Starboard Lances	30cm	4			Right
Prow Torpedoes	Speed:20cm	6			Front

Rogue Trader Expeditionary Fleet

FLEET COMMANDER

1 Rogue Trader Militant

You must include one Rogue Trader Militant to lead the fleet. The ship to which he is assigned has Leadership 10. If your fleet includes any Odysseus Class Ships, he must be assigned to that ship in preference to a cruiser.

Rogue Trader Militant					50 points 

You may buy Fleet Commander re-rolls for the Rogue Trader Militant.

One re-roll						25 points
Two re-rolls						50 points
Three re-rolls						75 points

0-2 Veteran Rogue Traders

A Veteran Rogue Trader may be present for every two Rogue Trader cruisers in a fleet. If a fleet has more than one Rogue Trader cruiser or also includes more than one squadron of transports, a Veteran Rogue Trader must be assigned to a Rogue Trader cruiser.

Veteran Rogue Trader				50 points 

A Veteran Rogue Trader gets one re-roll, which may be used for his vessel or an accompanying Rogue Trader escort squadron.

CAPITAL SHIPS

Grand cruisers

You may include one grand cruiser in your fleet for every two cruisers.

Odysseus Class						230 points
Charibdys Class						280 points
Vengeance Class						240 points

0-12 Cruisers

Rogue Trader Cruiser					195 points
Crusade Class						195 points
Hades Class						210 points
Lunar Class						190 points
0-1 Olympia Class (1)					145 points

Notes: At least half the Rogue Trader cruisers in an Exploration fleet must be of the basic variant, but Rogue Trader cruisers in an Exploration fleet may also be of the following ship classes: Lunar, Hades, Crusade for their normal point cost, +15 points if the ship is equipped with lances or 60cm weapons due to the additional expense maintaining such weapons, as reflected in the fleet list. No special variants in the notes of these ship’s profiles can be used. For example, the Lunar can’t take a Nova Cannon, etc.

1. Use the Strike Cruiser rules from the Space Marine Fleet. An Olympia may only be taken if there are no Xenos Vessels in the fleet.

Light Cruisers

You may include any number of light cruisers in your fleet.

Dauntless Class 					120 points
Siluria Class 						100 points

ESCORTS

A single squadron of 2-6 Rogue Trader escorts and auxiliary vessels may accompany each Rogue Trader capital ship in a fleet, in any mix desired. Separately, it may also be accompanied by any number of cargo ships of any type (whether or not the scenario requires transports), organized in squadrons of 2-6 ships, but these squadrons can only contain cargo ships and always count against their full cost against the total points in the fleet. Xenos vessels cannot be used in fleets that include Space Marine ships.

Xenos Vessel						50 points
Recommissioned Escort					30 points
Nova Class Frigate					45 points
Spectre Class Warp Runner				25 points
Sword Class Frigate					35 points
0-3 Thunderbolt Class Heavy Frigate			60 points
0-3 Vigil Class Siege Frigate				40 points
Escort Carrier                                          60 points

TRANSPORTS

A Rogue Trader fleet must include at least one squadron of escort-sized cargo ships of any type (whether or not the scenario requires transports), in a squadron of 2 to 6 ships. Any number of cargo ships beyond this ships. Any number of cargo ships beyond this number may be taken, organized in squadrons that only contain cargo ships. These count their full cost against the total points in the fleet, and regular transports are not free. Heavy transports may also be taken but not in squadrons with other transport types. No more than 1/3 of the fleet’s total transport value can be made up of heavy transports.

Q-ship 							60 points 
Rogue Trader Cargo Vessel				20 points
Heavy Transport						40 points
Armed Freighter						20 points 
Cargo Transport						10 points

ORDINANCE AND UPGRADES

"The Best Money Can Buy"

Rogue Trader capital ships and escorts commonly bear refits of uncertain origin. Even the vessel’s crew are unlikely to be anything as straightforward as regular spacers, since Rogue Traders have a knack for acquiring crowds of followers and hangers-on, and tend to be rather indiscriminate in who they take on to crew their vessels. Their command crews however tend to be deeply seasoned after many years in space, and successful Rogue Traders tend to be as experienced as the most veteran Naval captains. To represent this each Rogue Trader cruiser and escort squadron may roll one random crew skill on p.157 in the Rulebook for free. In addition, each Rogue Trader vessel may also roll randomly against the Xenotech System table below for +15 points per cruiser or +5 points per escort. For an additional +5 points per ship, the player can select the desired technology instead of rolling randomly for it. Auxiliary vessels in a Rogue Trader escort squadron can only use these refits if they are in a squadron that includes at least three Rogue Trader escorts.

XENOTECH SYSTEMS

1. Long Range Sensors: The vessel adds +1 to its base leadership (max of Ld10).

2. Targeting Matrix: The vessel counts all targets as closing when using the gunnery table within 30cm and ignores right-shift modifiers for shooting greater than 30cm.

3. Advanced Shielding: The vessel increases the strength of its shields by +1.

4. Ship Defense Grid: The vessel increases the strength of its turrets by +1.

5. Advanced Drive Technology: The vessel adds +5cm to its speed as well as +1D6 when undergoing All Ahead Full special orders.

6. Gravitic Thrusters: The vessel can double the maximum rate of its normal turn.

ATTACK RATING

A Rogue Trader fleet has an attack rating of 3.