Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

 RazgrizOne wrote:

Isn't this choice two? I'm all for being a Space pirate, yo, but I don't wanna be executed. I wanna praise the Emperor... but still enjoy life.

If I recall correctly, Rogue Trader have an sanction to act on behalf on the Imperium. They are tasked to explore and monitor the uncharted worlds or the remote imperial planets and enforce Imperial authority there. They can be half pirates or traffickers but, still, they travel with the Emperor's will.

And suddenly I'm a Rogue Trader. Off, to explore the unknown, kill the heretic, and plunder the loot! Beware, women, for the rowdiest llama in the galaxy has been let loose!

Seems like a good choice indeed !

I bet if you could find a decently intelligent synapse creature you could strike some kind of deal with the hive mind, I'll smuggle rippers and warriors onto imperial worlds and in exchange you resurrect me every time I die in a similar manner to hive tyrants. After the all theTyranids are more than just a mindless swarm and always looking for easier/more efficient ways to consume worlds.

AtraUnam wrote:
I bet if you could find a decently intelligent synapse creature you could strike some kind of deal with the hive mind, I'll smuggle rippers and warriors onto imperial worlds and in exchange you resurrect me every time I die in a similar manner to hive tyrants. After the all theTyranids are more than just a mindless swarm and always looking for easier/more efficient ways to consume worlds.

1. The Tyrannids have been doing pretty well without you, they have no need for one smugler when they have Genestealers.
2. That was the most heretical thing I've ever heard in my life. I may only be a Rogue Trader, but I solemnly swear on the Emperor that I'll hunt you down and bring you to glorious justice.

Shas'Nel Tau wrote:
IoM fan boys are so predictable. Tau or rogue are the only way to go if you have a brain. Depends on if you're more of a bleeding heart pinko or more of an outlaw libertarian. I make no excuses, I love the Tau because I'm a utopian pinko. And you don't get sterilized unless you're problematic. Kroot and Gue'vesa are too valuable as sources of troops and labor for the Tau to genocide them via sterilization. IoM needs to quit the crying; either accept playing for an evil dictatorship and embrace it for what it is (much like Chaos, Nid and Ork players) or join the greater good but stop trying to argue that the genocidal Imperium could ever be the lesser evil. It's like Hitler vs Castro. Is Castro perfect? No, but trying to say that Hitler was a better guy is just no.

If I spoke Gothic? I would gladly offer my services to the Inquisition. The Emperor's dream for Humanity will be realized only once the stars are wiped clean of the filth of the Xeno, the Heretic, and the Mutant.

 Psienesis wrote:

Shas'Nel Tau wrote:
IoM fan boys are so predictable. Tau or rogue are the only way to go if you have a brain. Depends on if you're more of a bleeding heart pinko or more of an outlaw libertarian. I make no excuses, I love the Tau because I'm a utopian pinko. And you don't get sterilized unless you're problematic. Kroot and Gue'vesa are too valuable as sources of troops and labor for the Tau to genocide them via sterilization. IoM needs to quit the crying; either accept playing for an evil dictatorship and embrace it for what it is (much like Chaos, Nid and Ork players) or join the greater good but stop trying to argue that the genocidal Imperium could ever be the lesser evil. It's like Hitler vs Castro. Is Castro perfect? No, but trying to say that Hitler was a better guy is just no.

If I spoke Gothic? I would gladly offer my services to the Inquisition. The Emperor's dream for Humanity will be realized only once the stars are wiped clean of the filth of the Xeno, the Heretic, and the Mutant.

I love how Tau fanboys like to spout off morality and self righteousness when in fact they are blinding themselves to the greater truth.

Their forces are not prepared for the galaxy. They may have allies and technology and drones, but they lack the most important knowledge of all: knowledge of the Warp. Their leadership ignores Chaos and strikes at the only empire that can defeat it's forces. If the Tau had it their way, they would destroy the Orks and the Imperium... and then Abaddon would descend on them, break them over his knee like Bane did Bats, and the galaxy would be lost.

Or, you know. All those humans they're absorbing in their empire? I have no doubt there will be a ton of cultists and psychers in there. Since the Tau have no experience nor stomach to make their own Black Ships and Inquisition... maybe Abaddon won't even need to set foot outside of the Warp. The Tau will do all the work for him.

I don't fight for the Emperor because I like his methods. I don't fight for him because I think it's cool to murder a planet for one cultist. I fight for him because even though it's brutal... his justice is right. Chaos must be defeated because desperate times call for desperate measures... and this is the most desperate of times.

Either way, I'm a Rogue Trader. I couldn't care less about anyone else. The Emperor has blessed me, on free to execute heretics, mingle with friendly xenos in order to use them for my purposes, amass a lot of wealth, amass a harem, and best of all... I'm still loyal to the Imperium. Lion El'Johnson said loyalty is it's own reward, but heck... the Emperor protects AND he provides fat stacks. FOR THE EMPEROR!

^ Amen.

And I might add this :

"Tau Empire fan boys are so predictable. Ethereals or Farsight Enclaves are the only way to go if you have a brain. Depends on if you're more of a bleeding heart pinko or more of an outlaw libertarian. I make no excuses, I love the Imperium because I'm a utopian pinko. And you don't get sterilized unless you're problematic. Regular human are too valuable as sources of troops and labor for the Imperium to genocide them via sterilization. Tau Empire needs to quit the crying; either accept playing for an imperialist dictatorship and embrace it for what it is (much like Chaos, Nid and Ork players) or join the True Light of the Golden Throne but stop trying to argue that the orwellian Tau could ever be the lesser evil. It's like Hitler vs Castro. Is Castro perfect? No, but trying to say that Hitler was a better guy is just no."

Definitely IMPERIUM. They may be nuts genocidal tyranny, but against chaos you need to be. Dorian gray when you posted that Nazi b.s., you DO realize that was to combat chaos, right? And no, hating cross it's not like hearing other human races. It's eliminating competition for resources, like wolves tearing up coyotes. Either way, I go imperium. If I knew fit certain I'd survive training and could pick rank, I'd be an ultramarine tactical sergeant. Otherwise, I'd be an inquisitor for certain.

I would totally be a Rouge Trader. With a former IG sargent as my muscle, a no-nonsence Navigator and a Disenfranchised Ad Mech mechanic. And a beautiful Eldar concubine who realy is the one in control but lets me think I am the one in charge. I of course have a suit of custom made artificer armor and range of awesome weapons including a paragon blade and a matching pair of aerotech pistols that resemble Colt revolvers.

 Lord Blackscale wrote:
I would totally be a Rouge Trader. With a former IG sargent as my muscle, a no-nonsence Navigator and a Disenfranchised Ad Mech mechanic. And a beautiful Eldar concubine who realy is the one in control but lets me think I am the one in charge. I of course have a suit of custom made artificer armor and range of awesome weapons including a paragon blade and a matching pair of aerotech pistols that resemble Colt revolvers.

I love Eldar concubines as much as the next guy, but we're pirates, and pirates are free! We're in control of our ships and smack fools because we can.

You know, I wonder why the Rogue Traders don't get more press. We're clearly much more awesome and happier than some space monk in power armor (no heresy, pls)

Because you're borderline heretics and GW is scared of their fans realising that they ripped off Star Wars too.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Because you're borderline heretics and GW is scared of their fans realising that they ripped off Star Wars too.

40k>Star Wars, and this is coming from a long-time SW fan.

I'd wanna be an inquisitorial aspirant. judging by how I look, talk, and act, there would be tests, but the knowledge that I would have would either A) get me killed, or B) give me a job, hopefully the latter.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Because you're borderline heretics and GW is scared of their fans realising that they ripped off Star Wars too.

What? care to explain? because they both have space ships? last time I checked, the closest similarity MAY be the force and psykers, beyond that, nothing.

RTs are closer to Star Trek than Star Wars... but, on the SW kick, RTs are basically variations of Han Solo, when Han Solo was a Corellian spice-smuggler.

 Psienesis wrote:
RTs are closer to Star Trek than Star Wars... but, on the SW kick, RTs are basically variations of Han Solo, when Han Solo was a Corellian spice-smuggler.

Except that RTs are government-sanctioned traders, not smugglers. There's a reason the Inquisition generally turns a blind eye to RTs when it comes to Xeno tech.

 Psienesis wrote:
RTs are closer to Star Trek than Star Wars... but, on the SW kick, RTs are basically variations of Han Solo, when Han Solo was a Corellian spice-smuggler.

And Star Wars was in turn ripped clean from 30's to 50's pulp sci fi.

 dusara217 wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
RTs are closer to Star Trek than Star Wars... but, on the SW kick, RTs are basically variations of Han Solo, when Han Solo was a Corellian spice-smuggler.

Except that RTs are government-sanctioned traders, not smugglers. There's a reason the Inquisition generally turns a blind eye to RTs when it comes to Xeno tech.

Not just government sanctioned. Many Rogue Trader family's have charters that were signed by the Emperor himself.

Rogue Traders are also a form of diplomatic corps on the fringes of the Imperium, including all the spying and double-dealing that goes hand in hand with that.

They can make backroom deals where the Imperium at large requires deniability, trading in Xenos tech, or providing military support to otherwise undesirable elements, and it can be written off as them going off-script if discovered. Often a Rogue Trader will broker a deal for support or passage from say pirates or Eldar, whereas the Imperium cannot be seen to do that publicly.

It allows them to use double standards in certain situations without the citizens at large getting indignant, and of course the Traders are well compensated for their actions. Like the Inquisition though, Traders vary wildly in tactics and motivation, and while some Traderss and Inquisitors will happily do deals with aliens, others are more likely to always react with violence towards them.

Also, a small part of the fluff mentions it is possible to be a Trader and an Inquisitor at the same time, though very rare. As it is considered essentially heresy to refuse a warrant of trade (being as they are sanctioned by the Emperor in most cases) it's an extremely expensive way to get rid of otherwise untouchable people and send them into a form of (vastly wealthy) exile at the frontiers.

If an Inquisitor was making too much trouble for certain High Lords, this is a legal and convenient way to get them out of their hair without causing too much friction.

Also, attacking GW for ripping off Star Wars is pretty funny. If ANYTHING rivals 40k for 'borrowing' from other sources, it's Star Wars. Virtually every single notable element is ripped off. It stole liberally from The Foundation, Lensman, The Hidden Fortress, WW2 cinema dogfight footage, and The Hero With a Thousand Faces to name a few. George Lucas happily concedes all of this.

 dusara217 wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
RTs are closer to Star Trek than Star Wars... but, on the SW kick, RTs are basically variations of Han Solo, when Han Solo was a Corellian spice-smuggler.

Except that RTs are government-sanctioned traders, not smugglers. There's a reason the Inquisition generally turns a blind eye to RTs when it comes to Xeno tech.

Han Solo is the archetypical merchant-adventurer though, which is what Rogue Traders are. On the dodgy side of the law, but with enough knowledge and daring to work around the legal side of things.

40k just combined that with the Privateer archetype to make them fit into the bureaucratic nightmare that is 40k. Most Rogue Trader letters of marque are fake, after all.

Most Rogue Trader letters of marque are fake after all

I thought they were very precious legacies from the Great Crusade Era?

 RazgrizOne wrote:

Most Rogue Trader letters of marque are fake after all

I thought they were very precious legacies from the Great Crusade Era?

My understanding of this is that a lot (though not most) are 'fake' in the sense that they were not issued by the Emperor, but are still officially issued warrants from the Imperium. It's just the Imperium that did the faking of their 'Emperor-sanctioned' status.

The reason being that technically only the Emperor can issue warrants, and obviously their political value meant the Imperium needed to be able to issue new ones so as to give out favours, and also to dilute the accrued power of ancient Trader families.

I don't think anyone is actually running around with a truly fake (non-Imeprial issued) warrant, as due to the power they contain, there'd be a lot of checks and balances to make sure a Rogue Trader was legit. Bear in mind they are given a ton of Imperial resources to carry out their missions, and they wouldn't just hand out a fleet of ships to a common forger.

Imo, every factions in warhammer 40k are purposefully F. They all take random stupid decision, and have no chance of surviving in a galaxy of war. Orks are probably the less stupid faction, just because they build toward some sort of Jungle Rules Utopia, fought without lust of legislative power or some political ambition.

Imperium is rotten to the core. The creation of the Inquisition is a good enought reason for anyone with a bit of common sense to GTFO. Problem is: most man/woman can't because the Inquisition is so spread out, it feels like there is no escaping it. When you feel like your country/nation is becomming too radical, you need to move out NOW, because after the regime is in place, you are stuck there.

Tau at least aint xenophobic and usually talk before shooting, but I'm not too sure about their mind trick and brainwashing technique (havent read enough lore).

Chaos is just soo stupid lol. It's like anarchist that band together to achieve a certain goal, which completly defy the purpose of being an anarchist lol. I mean, if you are into getting mutated and stuff, sure, Chaos is the way to go.

What would be the createst place to be, would be with some Imperium Separatist. Bring the war to the Imperium doorstep, crush the Inquisition, and free the human from the grip of the Imperium. The fact is: for most human, it will stay and feel the same. But in truth, its just better. What does the Imperium do? Protect (ok they arent that great at it with their burn everything tactics) the human in exchange for something (taxes, conscript, etc) But in top of that, if you say something out of place, the Imperium is at your door, with a flamer. A new regime could provide the same services, protecting the humans, but without having that xenophobic and paranoiac mentality. Put in like that: during the medieval time, some Lords ruled over their land with the power of fear, but some didn't, because it wasn't needed. It has been prove many time over the course of history (and by some social study) that fear will only make you do so much. There is other, and better way to united the humans and protect them from invaders.

Hierophant wrote:

 RazgrizOne wrote:

Most Rogue Trader letters of marque are fake after all

I thought they were very precious legacies from the Great Crusade Era?

My understanding of this is that a lot (though not most) are 'fake' in the sense that they were not issued by the Emperor, but are still officially issued warrants from the Imperium. It's just the Imperium that did the faking of their 'Emperor-sanctioned' status.

The reason being that technically only the Emperor can issue warrants, and obviously their political value meant the Imperium needed to be able to issue new ones so as to give out favours, and also to dilute the accrued power of ancient Trader families.

I don't think anyone is actually running around with a truly fake (non-Imeprial issued) warrant, as due to the power they contain, there'd be a lot of checks and balances to make sure a Rogue Trader was legit. Bear in mind they are given a ton of Imperial resources to carry out their missions, and they wouldn't just hand out a fleet of ships to a common forger.

The ones issued by the Emperor are basically "go anywhere, do anything" levels of permission. That makes them extremely valuable. The ones issued by the Imperium can be far more restrictive (can operate in a specific region of space, does not permit use of xeno or archaeotech, requires them to carry Ecclesiarchy missionaries, etc.) and are thus slightly less-valuable. Warrants of Trade are not restricted to issue by the Emperor, however, they can also be issued by the Ecclesiarchy, the Inquisition or the Mechanicus. Think of them as Letters of Marque, which could be issued by the crowns of various nations or by the lords of the various colonies in the New World.