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Made in us
Hardened Veteran Guardsman




What factions have mercenaries that can/will work with mostly any other factions?

I know that humans can just have non Imperial troops, and there are renegade Rogue Traders that might fight for and with xeno scum. The Tau have a lot of auxiliaries, and the Kroot seem to be pretty mercenary at times. I assume that chaos warbands are OK working with non-chaos types to achieve some sort of mission of mutual benefit (well, some flavors of chaos at least). Ork Freebooters might be "hired" by some other faction as long as Da Boss keeps them in line with beatings or keeps paying them in tech bits and teef. Individual Space Marines Renegades might be available if the employer is offering enough something of interest.

I ask because I have a few models of this and that put together out of bitz boxes over the years and sort of wonder what kind of Island of Misfit Models I could feasibly make and still be lore friendly enough to drop on a board for a very friendly game of KZ?

-STS

Grey Knights 712 points Imperial Stormtroopers 3042 points Lamenters 1787 points Xenomorphs 995 points 1200 points + 1790 points 770 points 369 points of Imperial Guard to bolster the Sisters of Battle
Kain said: "This will surely end in tears for everyone involved. How very 40k."

 
   
Made in fi
Regular Dakkanaut



Whiterun

Mercs are sadly neglected part of the lore. Considering the few times they are brought up they are tend to be treated as a rather ubiquitous part of the galactic life.

Almost any faction can be (or at least be used to represent) mercs and be hired by pretty much any faction if you spin a yarn hard enough, save for Tyranids i guess. Unless you use Nid models to represent some homebrew aliens. Its all about forging that narrative enough.

For example, Tau aren't generally seen as a faction who'd serve as sellswords, but back when Tau Empire was launched a WD article on Farsight Enclaves talks about how mercenaries from the Enclaves are an increasingly common sight around that region and are being hired by just about everyone, which funnily enough includes Kroot operating outside the Tau Empire.

Full of Power 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







Dan Abnett's books have a range of non-human mercenaries working for Chaos.

I think there are 2 issues with mercenaries as far as GW is concerned. The first is that there are so many design archetypes in the established factions, how do you come up with new unit types that could be used widely across different forces? And then on the model side, how do you get enough momentum to make a set of mercenary units worth it to market and sell?

Most existing forces have a wide enough range of unit types that you can pick one and do some "counts as" to model up a mercenary unit or two. For Guard, it could even just be a different colour scheme on standard Cadian dudes. Otherwise, if you are playing with friends, just agree to widen the available units in an army without affecting CPs and available stratagems.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/20 16:45:21


Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in us
Stabbin' Skarboy





Back in the old days, if you were running blood axe orks you could use a bunch of chimeras and stuff they got as payment for their mercenary work. There’s a fun lore tidbit where blood axes get paid by imperials going to former ork battle sites and picking teef out of the dead orks.

"Us Blood Axes hav lernt' a lot from da humies. How best ta kill 'em, fer example."
— Korporal Snagbrat of the Dreadblade Kommandos 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






Mercs are one of those things that work in small-scale 40k settings like Kill Team or Necromunda but not so much on the larger scale.
Combine that with the fact that a lot of the more mercenary types found in the background are Xenos and it becomes difficult to pull off. Most of the factions in 40k are Xenophobic and only interact with other races out of desperation or necessity.
   
Made in ca
Twisted Trueborn with Blaster



Ottawa

 Gert wrote:
Mercs are one of those things that work in small-scale 40k settings like Kill Team or Necromunda but not so much on the larger scale.

Sadly, I think you're right. Most major factions are too xenophobic to consider hiring outsiders, and self-sufficient enough not to require them in the first place. Eldar are among those who may need outside help to make up for their low numbers, but they would rather manipulate other races into doing their bidding than hire them.

Mandrakes are often mercenaries, at least within Drukhari society. They usually get paid in slaves, but sometimes ask for a more unconventional form of payment, "such as a heartbeat, a true name or a voice" (codex). I could easily imagine them hiring themselves out to non-Drukhari factions if they thought it was to their advantage. For example, helping a human orchestrate a coup to become a planetary governor, in order to establish a "client world" that can ply Commorragh with thousands of slaves and souls every year without requiring the Drukhari to spend vast resources on slave raids.

.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/10/20 18:13:45


Cadians, Sisters of Battle (Argent Shroud), Drukhari (Obsidian Rose)

Read my Drukhari short stories: Chronicles of Commorragh 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






It basically does come down to the various beings that inhabit Commoragh hiring themselves out to Kabals, Covens, and Cults.
   
Made in no
Liche Priest Hierophant





Bergen

In the lore some orks work for weapons I belive. (Although they might turn on you if they have a good opertunaty.)

Kroot are mercaneries. Not just for tau.

Dark Eldar are mercebraies for each other.

Eldar pirates can probably be talked into something.

GSC can probably work for anyone as long as you include the liberators into your culture afterwards.

Corupt humans can probably flex muscle and send in the guard

   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






 Niiai wrote:
In the lore some orks work for weapons I belive. (Although they might turn on you if they have a good opertunaty.)

Kroot are mercaneries. Not just for tau.

The point being for either of these races, who is hiring them? What self-respecting Regiment of Cadians is going into battle alongside the Orks? What Chapter is utilising Kroot as force multipliers instead of Imperial troops?
If they are being hired out it's not as a single group of 10 Orks or Kroot, it's as a whole force at which point they're an army unto themselves. The Imperium is Xenophobic and its only within the retinues of the more Radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitors that you'll find Xenos operatives.

Eldar pirates can probably be talked into something.

Generally, not really. Aeldari pirates are still Aeldari and consider any race not their own beneath them, hence free to be pirated upon. Corsairs often maintain alliances with Exodite worlds or even Craftworlds in an effort to maintain a safe harbour for their fleets and it is only in times of extreme hardship that a Corsair Prince will consider hiring their band out as mercenaries to the lesser races.

GSC can probably work for anyone as long as you include the liberators into your culture afterwards.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with this one since GSC are a Cult based semi-gestalt mind.

Corupt humans can probably flex muscle and send in the guard

But what's the difference between a normal Guard force and one that has become a mercernary band?
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I imagine that CSM will work as mercenaries but expect to be shouting “that wasn’t part of the deal!!!” At the end of the contract
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






"I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it further."
Also yes they absolutely do that to mortals, all the time.
   
Made in us
Using Object Source Lighting





Portland

Speaking from experience I've had with games that successfully integrated mercenaries, the ones that seem to do the best are ones that fill unique/niche roles, ie giving multiple factions something worthwhile but not native to the faction. I feel like anything more general risks redundancy, which we really don't need with some factions' unit bloat. By the same token, it seems reasonable to represent mercs with any number of units, for instance there's nothing stopping you from calling your imperial guard veterans a merc unit.

Things like Cypher and inquisitors are handled okay IMHO, but not much more than okay.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/20 20:36:31



My painted armies (40k, WM/H, Malifaux, Infinity...) 
   
Made in us
Enigmatic Chaos Sorcerer




The dark hollows of Kentucky

 Gert wrote:
"I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it further."
Also yes they absolutely do that to mortals, all the time.

And other Astartes. See: Vilamus.
   
Made in us
Stabbin' Skarboy





I think it’s enemy of my enemy that shows the good parts of working with orks, and the bad parts.

"Us Blood Axes hav lernt' a lot from da humies. How best ta kill 'em, fer example."
— Korporal Snagbrat of the Dreadblade Kommandos 
   
Made in us
Hardened Veteran Guardsman




Currently I have a TS Orison Dreadnought and a squad of disassembled Astartes Scouts without heads (picked up out of a bits box and I will have to modify then put back together). I think I want to make a few Mad Max types of vehicles and a Dark Mechanicum tech priest as a small highly mobile warband....

They won't be legal in KZ, so I'll just use them as a mechanized infantry unit to buff up some other unit or in a really small game so I'll just go crazy with the weapons choices to boost the cost of the unit.

Grey Knights 712 points Imperial Stormtroopers 3042 points Lamenters 1787 points Xenomorphs 995 points 1200 points + 1790 points 770 points 369 points of Imperial Guard to bolster the Sisters of Battle
Kain said: "This will surely end in tears for everyone involved. How very 40k."

 
   
Made in no
Liche Priest Hierophant





Bergen

 Gert wrote:
 Niiai wrote:
In the lore some orks work for weapons I belive. (Although they might turn on you if they have a good opertunaty.)

Kroot are mercaneries. Not just for tau.

The point being for either of these races, who is hiring them? What self-respecting Regiment of Cadians is going into battle alongside the Orks? What Chapter is utilising Kroot as force multipliers instead of Imperial troops?
If they are being hired out it's not as a single group of 10 Orks or Kroot, it's as a whole force at which point they're an army unto themselves. The Imperium is Xenophobic and its only within the retinues of the more Radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitors that you'll find Xenos operatives.

Eldar pirates can probably be talked into something.

Generally, not really. Aeldari pirates are still Aeldari and consider any race not their own beneath them, hence free to be pirated upon. Corsairs often maintain alliances with Exodite worlds or even Craftworlds in an effort to maintain a safe harbour for their fleets and it is only in times of extreme hardship that a Corsair Prince will consider hiring their band out as mercenaries to the lesser races.

GSC can probably work for anyone as long as you include the liberators into your culture afterwards.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with this one since GSC are a Cult based semi-gestalt mind.

Corupt humans can probably flex muscle and send in the guard

But what's the difference between a normal Guard force and one that has become a mercernary band?


Humans usually hires the orks. There is one sub faction of the orks that do mercanery work. But this is in the background. You are not gonne se one detachment of orks and one of guard in the same army if that is what you are looking for. I think in DoW1 orks are working for chaos. (Although they plan on betraying them but it never gets that far.)

Go and play some 6th edition games. Then there where som very odd alied combos. But from a game perspective it is to hard to balance.

There used to be a Kroot mercanery army from forge world. It does not exist any more.

The GSC is not a gestalt mind. Tyranids is a gestalt mind. The GSC patriarch is a singel operate. In computer terms he is off the main network and is running his own local network. In one of the stories a patriarch delays the arrival of the tyranids because he had a personal vendetta he wants to work out before he becomes part of the gestalt mind again. The cult is held together with telepathic link, hypnosis and regular humans who believe in the cause. Some of the GSC will do juts about anything to expand their taint. (Four armed emperor is beeing actively recruited by imperial worlds. Twisted helix is also expanding fast with their snake oil cure all.) GSC doing mercanery work to able to infiltrait either the attackers or defenders, sign them up.

I am pretty sure yiu can bribe eldar pirates for the right amount if you are a planeter governor or something similar.

Human mercaneries would pretty much play like IG. Or one of the forge world humans, like the ig airplanes faction.

It seems like what you are looking for are a new faction representing mercaneries. The 40K armies represent huge factions. And the battles that play out are key moments in fights. It is not like IG do not field lager then 2000 point armies and only agree to fight other 2000 point armies. But that is what the game is about. The closest we will come to a mercanery army in 40k would have been the Kroot mercanery army that no longer exists. And they played as a solid faction, not as a hybrid army you included with others. The dark eldar codex for instance include mercanery units. They will work with any of the dark eldar sun factions without messing up their traits. Would any other army be crazy enough to try to hire dark eldar mercaneries? Only once.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/21 08:14:52


   
 
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