DE corsairs are coming.

[Calisson]

link to discussion on T9A forum

Corsairs

The 'humble' Corsair is anything but. The Dread Fleets recruit from all aspects of Daeb citizenry, and while for most cultures this would result in a rag-tag bunch of cutthroats, a large part of the Republic's recruits come from a military background. While often disenfranchised Auxiliaries who wish to escape from their perceived lower status, the call of treasure, adventure and freedom are not unique to them, and this core of military experience allows for even the most civilian recruit to quickly be shaped up to a formidable fighter in their own right.

While each crew reflects the preferences of their Captain, with their equipment often being whatever the crewmembers have scrounged up for themselves, the Corsairs can largely be grouped in two distinct types:

The Boarders, those Corsairs with a clear penchant for close-quarters combat. First in the fray, last ones out, the Boarders often form the core of a crew. Those of a military background most often find their place here, using their combat experience to allow for a much tighter formation than expected from a group of pirates. Often equipped with higher quality armor than the rest of the crew, they provide the anchor around which the disparate groups of the Fleet can form up around.

The Raiders, those who don't care for the more military tactics, prize their freedom or simply find the call of loot and captives to be more alluring than that of bloodshed and glory, find their place in the Raiders, moving in small groups at the flanks of any battle, ready to spring in at a moments notice. When an outlander thinks of the Dread Fleet, it's the Raiders that first come to mind - Cutthroats with motley equipment and cruel intent, all who are aware of them know that to be taken alive is often a fate worse than death.


On the Guidelines:
The Corsair is meant to reflect the Dread Fleet design guidelines to their core - Borrowing from the previous mention, the army has a focus on smaller units (averaging at around 65% of the maximum size of their equivalent units), with access to lateral movement, special deployment, and units often being multi-purpose, being able to affect multiple phases of the game. The Corsairs have all of this in spades, and should seem quite familiar to players of the pre-LAB Dread elves.

The Boarders are a stand-out elven infantry unit in their unique defensive access, being a rare Armor 3 unit. While the army isn't well-suited to a grinding battle, this should make them less likely to suffer attrition on their way to the enemy.

...
The Corsair Raider is based on the equivalent unit from the main DE book, still with a sizeable difference. One of the main things a book should avoid, is having units that look identical, which is what the Boarders and Raiders were originally, with just Light Troops differentiating them. To avoid mix-ups, the Raiders were changed into a version that was once considered for the DE book, a somewhat combat-capable Skirmisher unit, making up for their unfortunately large footprint with an additional barrage of attacks.

In addition, the unit has Strider (Water), which might seem strange due to how Corsairs in the DE book work...This is due to a fairly impactful change: Kraken's Hide does not automatically grant Coastal Predator.



While nearly everything in the book has Strider (Water), this book can use Coastal Predator much better than the main DE book, where the Corsair Raiders exist as essentially a general reflection of the capabilities of Corsairs. As such, we felt that the ability should be a bit more restricted here (though still available from two sources).

Overall, the Corsairs are meant to provide the backbone of the army - With units sizeable enough to actually break enemy ranks, mobility to allow for control of the board and shooting good enough to remove annoyances and attrition the enemy in general. As well as an actual reason to bring an on-foot combat character along - A rare instance of an unit buffing a character instead of the other way around!

Playstyle Support

In general, the book has quite a bit of options to support its playstyle, perhaps the main one being the Mist Leviathan. A strange creature that combines flying chaff with support rules and actual Monster abilities, the monster itself has not changed from its DE statline...However, its special rule has. While the mist-producing abilities of the Leviathans are unfocused but useful for all armies of the Daeb, the Fleet can guide this quirk of nature with a far greater potency -



Unlike the first-turn protection of the standard Leviathan, those of the Fleet have the mists they produce be used to enhance the duration of the Mist Weaver's magics, allowing for a longer duration of control over the board for the army.

Further helping with the general themes of the army, as mentioned before the army can make much better use of Coastal Predator than its parent book. A large part of that ability is the Maelstrom Decanter:



This item should allow Coastal Predator to be used much more offensively, suddenly springing up a launch pad or hiding spot anywhere on the field. Certain parts of the book are sure to love this item.

And finally, the units in this book are often not that great in a stand-up fight, and sometimes getting charged just isn't an option. To help with that, the Black Flag signifies those veterans of the Fleet that know well when to fold and retreat, and regroup in a better position. While dying for the republic is surely a virtue, any self-respecting Corsair knows that the dead can't enjoy their glory.


And that should do for this weeks (late) spoiler. Tune in next week, hopefully earlier, for a look at some of the more elite parts of the Crew.

[Calisson]

Dreadfleet comes out on 05 October 2023!
See previews in: Alarm, the Pirates come - The Dreadfleet gets ready to raid you