Corsairs Gallant

Corsairs Gallant
Battle Cry	“Fortune favors the bold!”
Number	XXI
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	None
Successor Chapters	Aquilon Knights (Fillibuster), Crimson Hawks (Fillibuster); Umbral Maw
Primarch	Rahman Keita'mansa
Homeworld	Manden
Strength	67,000 at height (officially 47,000)
Specialty	Zone Mortalis Operations, Covert Actions, Small Unit Tactics, Economic Warfare
Allegiance	Separatist

This page is part of the Warmasters Triumvirate, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Warmasters Triumvirate page for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Corsairs Gallant were the XXIth Legiones Astartes. Led by Rahman Keita'mansa, they were known for their covert nature and specialty in Zone Mortalis and AirLand operations, and a fondness for highly specialized bolt weaponry. Long skirting the line of acceptable behavior, having pushed to the limit the use of various legal loopholes to avoid censure, they sided with the Separatist forces during the Brother's War, and eventually became an economic and naval powerhouse of the Union that followed. Their primarch, Rahman Keita'mansa, was often considered to be a Rogue Traider first and a primarch second, and he eventually disappeared into the unknown in M35, leaving behind the Gallant Quest, a series of clue and map fragments that some said led to a reponsitory of wealth, archeotech, or other prizes, but that the Corsairs themselves felt was the location of their genefather.

Often distrusted even by their allies, the Corsairs had engaged in false flag operations even during the Great Crusade, and infiltrated several secret chapters in the Imperium, known as Fillibuster chapters, yet largely remained unified following the end of the Brother's War.

Legion Doctrine

Legion Culture & Personality

What is the legion like, and what their Primarch's personality?

Legion Organization

Filibusters and Blackshields

A Corsairs Gallant-aligned Blackshield operating during the Brother's War

Even prior to the Brother's War and the Corsair's joining of the Separatist cause the Corsairs Gallant made heavy use of unmarked and false-flag operatives, keeping a full twenty-thousand marines in covert status. The origins to this phenomenon lie in the traditions of old Manden and surrounding worlds. Trade families dominated the politics, and it was simply the way of things to both declare ones official forces as well as maintain unmarked forces, often masquerading as other armies or mercenaries, yet composed of fully loyal members.

Legion Equipment

Power Armor

A Corsairs Gallant Tactical Marine in Mark III Ultra/Manden pattern armor.

A Corsairs Gallant Assault Marine wearing assault-grade armor

Designed based on their standard Mark III armor, the Mark III Ultra/Manden resembles exterior pattern of Mark III plate closely, though its shoulders tended to be more akin to that of the older Mark II plate. Notable for its use of exposed riveting as much for decorating as construction purposes. It also utilized a wide, flaring belt, as well as usually a loincloth woven of armormesh which actually could deflect or reduce the power of las weapons, though it was largely stylistic in usage. The true modifications were largely internal; the pattern was constantly updated to incorporate later advances in internal technology, while retaining the front-focused defensive capabilities of the original Mark III armor favored by the Corsairs for its usefulness aboard vessels and in other narrow confines, such as urban terrain. Additionally, they integrated improved targetter systems and autosenses above that of standard power armor, with even the basic tactical marine incorporating improved optics and other technology as a force and power multiplier. The design is also intended to be able to easily host extra pouches, ammo or grenade racks, or other equipment as necessary, and also an optional wrist mounted vid-screen with integrated vox uplink to the overall network, often coordinated via command Rhinos that are deployed in theater.

Further, the Corsairs Gallant produced what was known as assault-grade armor, designed for use by their rare but elite assault and other jump troops. Though its torso design was taken more from later patterns, its internals and other parts were mostly linked to that of the original Mark III plate, abet with a much higher gorget and a full cowling around the head. Later models would included reinforced leg-mountings that had greater armor and impact absorbing properties for jump-use.

The Corsairs Gallant would continue to use Mark III Ultra/Manden pattern armor well past the Brother's War, abet integrating later developments in certain areas into it. The use of the consistent style was an intentional choice; associating a specific pattern with the legion helped to set apart the Blackshields and Fillibuster forces who, in contrast, nearly never were seen in Mark III armor, let alone the Manden pattern of it. Though seemingly simple, this small choice proved effective.

Small Arms and Infantry Equipment

The standard bolter pattern utilized by the Corsairs Gallant was the Mark IV Ultra Pattern, notable for its capability for both single-shot and three-bolt burst fire as well as automatic, loaded from a standard 25-round sickle magazine and firing the same .75 caliber explosive tipped mass-reactive bolt of most other patterns. However, the Mark IV Ultra Pattern also integrates a built-in ammunition counter, an Auto-senses targeting uplink, and a biometric handgrip sensor for genetic identification of its user as standard features, and was usually constructed to a significantly higher grade by both the Forges that the Corsairs patronized and by their own legion smiths. Capable of accepting a number of other attachments, the legion tended to equip many of its forces with additional optical sights, drum magazines, barrel extensions or suppressors, and with foregrips, among other attachments, all of which improved its versatility and capabilities. It could also mount a grenade launcher under-barrel.

The focus on the bolter is not entirely odd; it is, after all, the standard small-arm of the legions. However, the focus on quality and versatility the Corsairs Gallant put into it exceeded that of other legions by several levels. The Corsairs Gallant culture shunned the use of the common plasma and melta weaponry, and the rare and hard to maintain grav and volkite gear was also disliked. Flamers, while useful, were niche and lacked versatility. For plasma and melta weaponry, it was a mix of issues; plasma tended to have stability issues, a major concern for smaller forces like the Corsairs, and also was dangerous for use in shipboard environments. Melta weaponry was even more so, and its range limitations was seen as almost precluding use. As a result, the Corsairs preferred to utilize mix of dedicated and underbarrel grenade launchers and combi-bolters equipped with drums and specialized ammunition as support weapons, and notable integrated these weapons at a tactical level, in contrast to the dedicated support squads used by other forces.

Much like their attitudes to small arms, the heavy weapons utilized by Corsairs infantry were limited largely to heavy bolters and missile launchers, once against linked to their focus on versatility. The heavy bolter could utilize various ammunition types, and often was equipped with suspensor harnesses to assist in mobility and use aboard ships and other close quarters areas. Missile launchers were used both in dedicated heavy launchers as well as single-shot disposable tubes, thus giving individual squads capabilities that they otherwise would lack. There was one heavy weapon the legion did use that was unique to them: the frag cannon. A heavy, shotgun-like weapon that fired either in slug or fragmentation modes, it could decimate entire corridors or punch through the armored bulkheads when needed.

The legion also made heavy use of shotguns, even equipping whole squads with them during shipboard actions, themselves utilizing a variety of specialized rounds as well.

Bolter Ammunition

One of the primary ways the legion achieved versatility in the use of its bolters was in its focus on specialized bolt rounds for them. Stalker-pattern bolts designed for stealth use and other rounds like Metal Storm frag shells were not invented by the Corsairs, but were extensively utilized by them. However, the legion did go out of its way to gain the ability to produce certain rounds for itself, such as Tempest Bolts, which were largely the province of Mars before the Corsairs gained the ability to produce them through a mix of covert acquisition and reverse engineering. The discovery of this fact nearly led to a small crisis between the Mars priesthood and the legion, with the Corsairs Gallant promising to limit their production and the spread of the round in exchange for knowledge they later used to produce an even more devastating round: Misericorde bolts. Named after an ancient armor-piercing dagger, the misericorde bolt utilized a small plasma charge not unlike a plasma grenade, detonating upon impact and burning through even the ceramite of power armor. However, the rounds were risky, and used only in the most necessary of situations as a result, as they could prematurely trigger and thus destroy the weapon and perhaps injure the user.

Other strange rounds included toxin-infused Metal Storm rounds, known as Viper Storm rounds, as well as Webber Binding rounds, Graviton Torsion bolts, and the odd Bombard round, which was designed to be fired at an arc as a sort of impromptu light mortar, containing greater explosive filler due to the lower propellant, and less focus on penetrative power over blast force. Combined with the targeting systems used, this meant squads could form small urban fire support platforms.

Armored Vehicles

A Pythagori III-made Rhino hull, using anti-grav technology

Though wealthy and well-equipped, the Corsairs Gallant made a point of avoiding many of the larger, rarer and more complicated vehicle systems used by the legions. This even included the relatively common, comparatively speaking, Land Raider platform, let alone vehicles like the Spartan or Sicaran-series of tanks. Instead, they made extensive use Rhino-patterned vehicles, including the base Rhino Armored Personnel Carrier, the Predator Battle Tank, the Vindicator Siege Tank, and the Whirlwind Mobile Artillery Tank, as well as variants of those. However, they also made use of several other vehicles, most not entirely unique to them but either discovered by them or merely used more extensively.

However, there is one aspect of the Corsair Gallant that set them apart. Though the Grav-Rhino, as it was often called, was not unknown, it was a rare vehicle indeed. The Corsairs Gallant, however, secured the services of a Forge World in the Eastern Fringes, Pythagori III, whose talent with gravity technology was comparable in scope to the plasma expertise of the renowned Forge World Ryza. The pattern of Grav-Rhino hull produced there, using both their expertise and fragments of data recovered by the Corsairs Gallant and their Rogue Trader allies, came to be used by the Corsairs Gallant as the primary hull for nearly all their other vehicles. They produced and used versions of the multitude of other vehicles that were based on the Rhino chassis, all using the same anti-grav skimmer technology that gave them extremely effective mobility. Though they would pass on data to other Legions on most other discoveries, the Corsairs Gallant stubbornly controlled the export of the Grav-Rhinos of Pythagori III, using the fact that it was a Forge World as a shield against charges of tech-hoarding, though their actions and clear manipulation of the Forge World hierarchy was one of a number of things that caused rifts between the core of the Priesthood of Mars and the XXI Legion.

Stegodon Armored Personnel Carrier

Actually discovered by Ashur of Banipal's Loxodontii, the Stegodon never-the-less became a favorite of the Corsairs for its extended hull and weaponry potential.

Cyclone Armored Mortar Carrier

Discovered in the eastern fringe, the STC for the Cyclone is based on relatively common parts. Based on the Rhino hull abet with the top doors removed and parts of its hull left open, the Cyclone was intended as a mobile mortar platform. However, its weapons system was not found, and thus the Corsairs Gallant integrated the quad-launcher into it as a result. When put into service it was found to be an extremely effective mobile artillery platform. Less destructive than the Whirlwind, the Cyclone never-the-less was also faster and easier to transport, and thus became a standby for the Corsairs Gallant in their highly mobile attacks. The data was passed on to the other legions, but the fact that the Corsairs Gallant put it into production prior to getting approval from the Mechnaicum was one of several slights that soured relations between central Mars and the legion, exacerbated when they did pass the data on not to Mars, but local Forge Worlds that were closely aligned to the Corsairs.

Predator Punisher Combat Tank

A modified form of the standard Predator that utilizes a turret-mounted twin Avenger mega bolter taken from the same STC data that led to the creation of the Stormcrow Fighter, and the hull of actually the Stegodon armored personnel carrier. The cupola-mounted combi-bolter was retained, while the sponson mounts usually used heavy bolters. The expanded hull was used to hold the large quantities of ammo necessary to feed the weapons systems on board. The platform was utilized in urban terrain where the massive firepower was useful against infantry and other soft targets, but utterly lacking against anything harder. The design would be later spread to other Legions, particularly those with relative closeness or at least operational connections to the Corsairs.

Aircraft

Storm Eagle Transport

A modified version of the Storm Eagle, the Storm Eagle Transport removed the passenger compartment entirely and replaced it with a more open space with a transport system derived from that of the Thunderhawk Transport, designed to grip a Rhino-pattern vehicle and allow it to be rapidly transported and deployed. The Storm Eagle Transport usually mounts the twin-linked Avenger Bolt Cannons from the Fire Raptor in the nose, while retaining the wing-mounted lascannons, allowing to support the advance of forces after it has deployed them. The Storm Eagle Transport could haul most Rhino-hulled vehicles, sparing the Whirlwind due to the size of its launcher. This was part of the reason the Corsairs came to prefer the less destructive but easier to transport Cyclone in many cases.

Notable Members

Named, noteworthy marines

Rules

If available, tabletop rules