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 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.

Captain Visant Le Gall

Captain Visant Le Gall

Visant Le Gall, b. c820.M30 (Llysfam Annuwiol), d. 918 (deep space), was one of the most successful Rogue Traders Militant of the Great Crusade. Thanks to his upbringing, he was an expert diplomat, fluent in most of the common human and xenos languages of the Galaxy with the notable exception of the Eldar tongue - though most would admit that he spoke that ancient language better than most men. Perhaps more surprisingly, given how late in life he took to the stars, Le Gall also had a gift for thinking three-dimensionally and planning the maneuvers of his craft, though he generally avoided battle where possible. And of course, he was a brilliant businessman and con artist, accumulating unthinkable riches through dealings both fair and foul.

Most who met the Captain found him charming and witty, with an exotic anecdote for every occasion. He was just as comfortable grunting to fur-clad primitives as he was in dealing with some of the most advanced peoples of the Milky Way. Le Gall became proud in his old age, but he was never vain and rarely stubborn. He lacked for moral character, and his only firm principle in life was the abhorrence of any principle. Nonetheless, he was not cruel and his crews generally considered him a fair and generous master.

Le Gall hailed from the Al-Sherar Sector, beginning life as a slave to the Amatteir race which had dominated that region of space. Even as a child he impressed his owners with his prodigy, and was given preferential treatment and some degree of education to make him useful as an officer's assistant. Le Gall also learnt the arts of corruption and vice while serving the Amatteir, but loyalty was a lesson that always eluded him. During the Al-Sherar Sector War, he organised a last-hour revolt among his peers, thereby winning some small goodwill with the conquering Fifth Legion and avoiding a sentence of hard labour for collaborating with the Xenos. Instead, his punishment was a Warrant of Trade and exile from human space. Le Gall took the matter lightly, as he had no real history with human-ruled worlds.

At the helm of the Cruiser The Weatherman, Le Gall and his crew scouted ahead of the Great Crusade. He soon became notorious for defrauding credulous primitive peoples. A favourite routine was for Le Gall to impersonate a servant of "the Sky Gods" and take a tribute in return for assuring locals that their deities would soon arrive to usher in a new age. The unscrupulous Captain brushed aside any suggestion that such acts were criminal with the rejoinder that he only told people the truths that they could understand. There is perhaps some truth to this, as he was also responsible for bringing the Hive World Fischetti into compliance through diplomacy - and if the savvy Fischettians paid dearly for his services, they got good value by being spared a bloody conquest. Le Gall played a critical role in the Curis-4 Compliance by providing information to Fifth Legion and opening diplomatic channels with the Orvar Nation - a duty for which he was richly rewarded. Perhaps more nobly, Le Gall was first to sound the alarm when WAAAGH! Rok'Ed began to move towards Imperial space, providing the Fifth Legion with precious time to organise their response.

Like many of his forgotten peers, this famous Rogue Trader Militant died in space. However, Le Gall passed away peacefully in his bed aboard The Weatherman, leaving his ship and a Warrant of Trade bearing Gaspard Lumey's signature to his beloved granddaughter Helori. Visant Le Gall's immense successes laid the foundation for one of the Imperium's greatest Rogue Trader dynasties, and his example would inspire many ambitious souls to follow him into the great unknown.

Lesser Notables

• 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.

• Claude Louis Rigau, another Rogue Trader associated with the Vth legion, known for his discovery of Sturmundrang and Thomas Gaudin.

• 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.

• Vuthros Khan was a petty Terran warlord dispatched from his homeworld to serve the Great Crusade. Though he lasted for just twelve years among the stars, he will be forever remembered for mapping the Vuthros Sector and rediscovering valiant Carlisar IV

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.