"All for one and every man for himself!"
- —A popular pirate maxim[8]
A pirate captain of Sartosa
A pirate, also known as a buccaneer, is an individual who commits acts of piracy at sea against other nations' merchant ships, in pursuit of their own enrichment without the legal authorisation of any ruler. Pirates normally gather into crews under the command of a pirate captain who is sometimes democratically chosen to fulfil that command position by their crew.
Pirates who are legally authorised to attack the shipping of an enemy nation by the legitimate government of an Old World realm while at war are known as privateers or corsairs. However, such authorisation lasts only for the duration of the war and many privateers continue their acts of piracy indiscriminately once the conflict has ended and their legal authorisation has evaporated.
A corsair combines prowess as a sailor with a warrior's skill and courage. They lead boarding actions and fight in raiding parties on shore. The Dark Elves' Black Ark Corsairs are notorious for their cruelty. Human corsairs come from all maritime cultures of the world of Mallus, including from the nations of the Old World, Araby, Sartosa, or further afield, often armed with weapons characteristic of their native land. On ships, they man the cannon or bolt throwers during a sea battle.[7a]
History[]
Fall of Mordheim (21st Century IC)[]
After the destruction of the cursed Imperial city of Mordheim in 1999 IC, many pirate captains heard the song of easy riches, as the nearby rivers were filled with ships laden with either gold heading into the city or departing with wyrdstone. Using the perpetual fog and dust that filled the air around the ruins following the strike by a twin-tailed comet, a ship could navigate the city via the deep rivers running through it.[5a]
With lightning speed, the pirate ships appeared from nowhere to attack a ship and quickly looted it of any valuables. Some Captains had even found safe harbors for their vessels and led frequent raiding parties into the city itself. These brave pirate bands became new additions to other groups of adventurers, fanatics, and nightmare creatures that dared enter the remains of the City of the Damned.[5a]
Pirate Wars (2458 and 2478 IC)[]
The Pirate Wars were the product of a crusade launched by the Cult of Manann against the cultists of Stromfels all around the Old World.[4c]
The Pirate Wars, fought between 2458 and 2478 IC, were a series of naval purges launched by the Cult of Manann against the cultists of Stromfels, the god of the dangers of the sea. The conflict lasted for about thirty years and involved most of the Human realms of the Old World.[4c]
Beginning in 2458 IC,[9a] the Cult of Manann in Marienburg declared a crusade against the piratical followers of the shark god Stromfels. Hundreds of devout followers sailed from ports around the Old World to engage with the enemy. An unsuccessful expedition even set sail to the pirate island of Sartosa to strike at the Pirate Princes themselves.[4c]
The Pirate Wars did eliminate several notorious pirates, but there was no lasting decline in Old World piracy, as the adversary was not a unified navy that could be completely defeated -- new pirates always emerge to replace those who have fallen.[4c]
The Great Pirate Lords[]
"In the early days, they would run straight. Running the jaws we called it. On the last of their vittals and the last of their man-strength, they'd break backs for Luccini or Miragliano, hoping to give us the slip. Those were the days of the big pirate ships, you understand. Sixty-pair guns, eight hundred tonnes. Sacadra the Jinx, Bonnie Berto, Banehanded Ezra. The pirate lords of legend, Manann spare their souls. In open sea, a black flag could spy a treasure galleon from twenty-seven miles...and vice versa. It was a game of chase and stamina, one the heavy treasure ships often lost, more often than not. So the prey learned to come in close to the shore and work up into the islands. In amongst the islands, they were harder to spot, and they had a chance to draw breath and reprovision after the arduously long crossing. Working their way through the islands -- threading the teeth, it was called -- they could choose when and where to make their break into open sea. It improved their chances. That's why, in this modern age, we prefer the slighter hunting ships. We have learned to stalk the islands, and spring upon the prey in lagoons and shallow bays while they are watering. It is a trick the corsairs have learned too. Their galleys could never catch a four-master galleon fat-yarded in a blow."
- —Luka Silvaro, former pirate lord[1f]
In the annals of piracy, the era of the Great Pirate Lords stands as a time of legendary figures, colossal ships, and daring pursuits across treacherous waters, in a time that can still be remembered by old men. Figures such as Sacadra the Jinx, Bonnie Berto, and Banehanded Ezra ruled the seas with unmatched ferocity and cunning, carving their names into maritime lore. These were the days when pirate ships carried sixty-pair guns, weighed 800 tonnes, and were built for the rigors of open-sea combat.[1f]
Running the Jaws[]
During this period, treasure-laden galleons sailing from Lustria -- often the prey of these formidable pirate lords -- would embark on perilous crossings of the Great Ocean. On their last reserves of supplies and manpower, they would make desperate attempts to evade capture by charting direct courses for fortified ports like Luccini or Miragliano. This maneuver, known colloquially as "running the jaws," became a high-stakes game of endurance and strategy.[1f]
Pirates and treasure ships alike relied on long sightlines and stamina. With visibility extending up to 27 miles on open seas, the infamous black flag of piracy was often both the herald and harbinger of doom for treasure fleets. More often than not, the heavily laden galleons, designed for transport rather than speed, found themselves outpaced and overtaken.[1f]
Threading the Teeth[]
As pirate activity intensified, treasure ships adapted by altering their strategies. They began to hug the coastline and navigate into archipelagos, seeking the cover and concealment that islands offered. This shift, referred to as "threading the teeth", allowed these vessels to evade detection while replenishing supplies and crew strength after grueling transoceanic journeys.[1f]
Among the islands, treasure ships could dictate the terms of engagement, choosing when to venture into open waters for the final leg of their journey. This evolution in tactics significantly improved their odds of survival but also turned the labyrinthine passages of the islands into hotspots of ambush and intrigue.[1f]
Legacy of the Pirate Lords[]
The era of the Great Pirate Lords is remembered as a golden age of maritime piracy in the Old World -- a time when daring captains and their fearsome crews dominated the seas. While many of their exploits ended in bloodshed, their cunning and audacity left an indelible mark on the history of the ocean.[1f]
Even now, the names of these legendary figures and their infamous vessels echo across taverns and shipyards. Their legacy endures as a testament to an age when the ocean was both a battleground and a frontier of boundless opportunity.[1f]
That's why at present why pirates prefer slighter, more maneuvrable vessels to serve as their hunting ships. They have learned to stalk the islands, and spring upon the prey in lagoons and shallow bays while they are watering. It is a trick privateers have learned too. Their galleys could never catch a four-master galleon fat-yarded in a blow.[1f]
Sacadra the Jinx, Willem Longtooth, Metto Matez and his brigands, Ezra Banehand, Bonnie Berto Redsheet are now all names and legacies that a boy could read on books about piracy. At present, some of the most infamous pirates inlcude Jacque Rawhead, Jeremiah Tusk, and Reyno Bloodlock, not to mention Luka Silvaro and Red Henri.[1d]
Archetypal Pirates[]
A pirate of Sartosa ready to raid a mercantile vessel.
The Norscans are infamous for raiding and marauding, so it is no surprise that they have a reputation as wanton pirates. Even the more civilised Norscan tribes, such as the Bjornlings, are happy to indulge in piracy and raiding coastal settlements if the opportunity presents itself, or if circumstances prevent them from making a living from honest trade.[4a]
Even those brave merchants from other Old World nations who are willing to trade with the Norscans feel a pang of fear should they spot the silhouette of a Norse Longship on the horizon. Longship captains and their crews often bear little loyalty to anyone but themselves, so even a merchant with a history of trading with a particular Norscan tribe will not necessarily benefit from their goodwill if they encounter Norscan vessels at sea.[4a]
Yet for many in the Old World the archetypal pirate is not regarded as Norscan, but Tilean. This is even the case along the northern shores of the Empire, where the corsairs of the Tilean Sea are a distant threat, and Norscan raiders a constant danger.[4a]
Pirate Ships[]
Although principally used by the fleets of the Imperial Navy, wargalleys are often captured or built by pirates, and can thus be found prowling seas the Known World over.[6a]
Pirate Customs[]
X Marks the Spot[]
Pirate captains do not usually carry their riches with them, but often bury them and keep a private and often coded chart. On that chart is a cross, an X, which marks the location of their buried trove. When a pirate captain reaches the end of their career on the waves, they and their crew sail for that X, uncover the riches, and share them out, a portion to every man as befits his duty, service and rank. But few pirates are known to have survived long enough to retire in such a way.[1i]
Pirate Flags[]
- Jolie Rouge or the Bloody Flag - A plain red flag and the sign of no quarter or mercy.[1b]
- Pirate Marks or The Black - Designs on a black background that warn a victim ship to give up without a fight, or informed another pirate of the presence of a fellow pirate. If a pirate captain displayed their black flag before an attack, and the target surrendered without a fight, the pirates were obliged to show mercy to the ship's crew.[1b]
Notable Pirate Crew Roles[]
Pirate heraldry as depicted in Man O' War: Corsair.
Pirate Captain[]
Alternative pirate heraldry as depicted in Man O' War: Corsair.
Only the roughest and toughest sea dog can rise to become captain of his own ship. A good Captain has to be bold and decisive in combat, and a forceful personality to hold together his unruly followers. Though often elected by the crew, he must command their respect and fear, and more importantly ensure their continued loyalty with plenty of gold.[5b]
Ship's Mates[]
Each ship has several mates to serve under the captain and ensure his orders are carried out properly. They also keep a careful eye on him as well for any signs of weakness or hoarding from the crew, as each mate would love nothing more than to become captain himself one day. Until that day though they readily obey his commands, oversee the crew and the ship, and stand with their captain ready to plunder and ravage any ships they find.[5b]
Cabin Boys[]
The lure of the sea often calls many young men to leave their boring lives behind and take up the exciting life of a pirate. Some are the youngest sons of nobles who know they will never inherit, or whose families have fallen to disgrace or poverty. Others are simple farmboys yearning for the open sea and adventure. All though, show some glimmer of talent which the captain decides is enough to allow them to serve as cabin boys, where they can learn not only the basics of seamanship but also the more important lessons of how to run a pirate ship. Assuming the live through the years of training, they will go on to become feared captains of their own.[5b]
Crew[]
The backbone to the ship, the crew are drawn together by the lure of the sea as well as the lure of plunder. As sailors, crewmen are experts in seamanship and ship operations. As pirates, they also quickly become proficient in swordplay and in using a variety of weapons especially pistols. It is said a good pirate crewman needs to know how to read the skies, weather, and winds, but most importantly the moods of his Captain.[5b]
Gunners[]
Gunners tend the artillery and ammunition of the ship. Their keen knowledge of blackpowder weapons is essential to prevent the potential disaster of a cannon bursting, overheating, or recoiling out of control. In battle, gunners oversee the banks of cannon, and on land they tend to be armed with the best pistols and other blackpowder weapons from the ship's stores.[5b]
Boatswains[]
Boatswains (or bosons as they are often called) are responsible aboard the vessel for the upkeep of the rigging, the hundreds of lines and cables throughout the ship which keep the sails operating properly. They are experts at moving throughout the ship’s maze of ropes, swinging from one yardarm to another to ensure the overall soundness of the rigging. In the ruins of raided city, these same skills serve them well in moving throughout the building wreckage and craters which litter the former city.[5b]
Swabbies[]
Not all members of a pirate crew are there entirely voluntarily. Some have been captured from enemy vessels, or rounded up on the docks or harbour fronts when the ship was in need of extra men. Kept under a watchful eye by the mates, the swabbies know they had better carry out their duties as assigned, lest they face a keel-hauling or worse. Many have grown accustomed to their lot, but given a chance many will run for it, even into the unknown dangers of foreign lands.[5b]
Sea Shanty Singer[]
The sea shanty singer,[5b] or chantyman,[4b] is renowned throughout the seas as one of the greatest singers aboard a ship, able to raise the spirits of any crew with his stirring renditions of ‘The Sloop Johan Bee’, ‘What do you do with a Drunken Halfling?’, and other famous pirate ditties.[5b]
Notable Pirate Captains[]
- Aranessa Saltspite - Saltspite, a Norscan mutant, commands the Swordfysh.[2]
- Bearded John - Also known as "Henri the Little," Bearded John commanded the Demiurge and often sailed alongside the more infamous Bretonnian pirate captain Red Henri, hence his nickname. He was killed by the former pirate lord Luka Silvaro, along with Pieter Pieters.[1g]
- Bonnie Berto Redsheet - Bonnie Berto "Redsheet" was a pirate lord of legend during the golden age of piracy.[1f] He was one of the two infamous brigands of Metto Matez.[1d]
- Ezra Banehand - Ezra Banehand was a pirate lord of legend during the golden age of piracy.[1f] Ezra was one of the two famous brigands of Metto Matez.[1d]
- Jacque Rawhead - Once an infamous contemporary pirate lord,[1d] Rawhead was one of the many victimes of the Butcher Ship.[1a]
- Jaego Roth - Roth commanded the Nightwatch at first, and then the Heldenhammer after stealing it from the Cult of Sigmar.[2]
- Jeremiah Tusk - Once an infamous pirate lord, Tusk and his ship, the Lightning Tree, fell in their attempt to rid the seas of the menace of the Butcher Ship, once and for all.[1a]
- Hasty Leopald - Once an infamous pirate captain, both his ships, the Windrush, and the Labour of Love are believed to have been sunk by the Butcher Ship.[1c]
- Long Drong - Mercenary Dwarf Slayer pirate captain of the Fair Fregar.
- Metto Matez - Metto Matez and his brigands, Ezra Banehand and Bonnie Berto Redsheet, were among the last living legends of the golden era of piracy.[1d][1h]
- Muhannad Ru'af - Once an Arabyan Corsair who commanded the Badarra and the Tariq. Muhannad Ru'af's craft were galleys powered by a massive bank of oars. Ru'af's flagship, the Badarra, was a sixty-oar trireme painted red, white, and gold, much longer and narrower than the average Sartosan ship, and dominated by two mighty lateen masts. It had a raised, crenelated fighting castle at the bow. Its consort, the Tariq, was a forty-oar bireme, similar in aspect to the Badarra, but smaller. A great structure of red-painted wood was raised almost upright from the bowcastle.[1b] Luka Silvaro encountered Muhannad Ru'af whilst searching for the Butcher Ship and although he sought to parley, the Arabyan corsair galleys suddenly attacked under the plain red flags signifying no mercy. However, most of the corsairs were weak, undernourished and sick with scurvy and so were outmatched by the pirate crews who sank the Tariq and left the Badarra burning and adrift. Ru'ef himself was captured and questioned, revealing that the Butcher Ship had emptied the seas.[1c]
- Otto Steinroth - Steinrotj was the Red Pirate of Marienburg who successfully raided Ulthuan but brought down the wrath of the High Elves on his city.[3a]
- Red Henri - Red Henri of Bretonnia was the commander of the Kymera, later known as the Butcher Ship.[1c]
- Reyno Bloodlock - Reyno Bloodlock, the scourge of the seas, was one of the few legendary pirate lords of the golden age of piracy that was still active before becoming one of the victims of the Butcher Ship of Red Henri. Reyno Bloodlock commanded its notorious warship, the Sacramento, left rotting on Isla Verde.[1d] The Butcher Ship not only destroyed the Sacramento and slaughtered the crew but with its final curse made the captain a blood-hungry Daemon. Tende, one of the members of the crew of Luka Silvaro, managed to banish the Daemon, but a group of Ghosts slew Reyno, and his soul was cast away and his ship transformed into a burning pyre.[ll] But the curse of the Butcher Ship seemed to be passed to another member of Luka's crew, Roque Santiago Delia Fortuna, who suffered a destiny similar to that of Reyno.[1m]
- Luka Silvaro - Former pirate lord Luka Silvaro is the leader of the pirates known as the Reivers. He captains the Rumour and the Safire.[1a]
- Sacadra the Jinx - Sacadra the Jinx was a pirate lord of legend, hailing from the golden age of piracy.[1d][1f]
- Willem Longtooth - Willem Longtooth was a pirate lord of legend, hailing from the golden age of piracy.[1d]
Miniatures[]
.jpg "6th Edition (Pirate Maneater).jpg (58 KB)")
Sources[]
- 1: Fell Cargo (Novel) by Dan Abnett
- 2: Dreadfleet (Novel) by Phil Kelly
- 3: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
- 3a: pg. 30
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Sea of Claws (RPG)
- 5: Town Cryer 9
- 6: Man O' War: Rulebook (Specialist Game)
- 6a: pg. 41
- 7: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: The Corsairs of Captain Flariel (RPG)
- 7a: pg. 6
- [8]: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Barony of the Damned (RPG)
- 9a: pg. 10