BACKGROUND

The pirates sailing the seas, selling themselves off as mercenaries, have long been sustained only by a few ships that they have stolen from the Empire. Most of the pirates’ ships are composed of reformatted Wargalleys which have proved just as effective in the hands of rogues as with the organized Empire. Recently, an Imperial Wolfship had been captured and reworked into the Lone Wolf, the pirates’ first true warship. Several more Lone Wolf conversions followed as the rogues were able to convert more and more of the powerful ships after capturing them intact, but there had never once been a circumstance when the pirates sailing the Sea of Claws were able to get their hands on anything larger. That is, until recently.
An Imperial Greatship was escorting a transport barge through the Sea of Claws when the convoy was attacked by the dreaded pirate Darius ‘Wild Dog’ Corso, who was able to grapple his Wargalleys onto the Greatship and take over its crew, forcing them to demonstrate the workings of the ship. While the ship was not completely unharmed, as one of its masts were broken from the deck during one short volley of fire, the Greatship was still captured in well enough condition for Corso to have it reworked and changed into his own personal flagship, the Recreant.
Arming it with the ancient treasure Dark Heart and a huge metal lance protruding from the prow of the ship, Corso was able to make a great Imperial vessel into his own implement of destruction. The loss of the single mast was less than missed, as Corso’s crew and their superior sailing skills were so admirable that even with the loss of the fore mast, the ship can still match speeds with an Imperial Greatship.
In addition, the Dark Heart’s pure magic energy is enough to push the Recreant through the waves without wind or oars to be manned.
The deadly lance which beams deep into the bowels of the Recreant extends from the prow of the ship, as if reaching toward its next prey. The great lance is capable of skewering all except the largest ships, ramming deep into the hull and tearing a gaping hole for boarders to access the ship from the inside. The single blow can often cripple ships, making it impossible for them to continue combat against the pirates. However, because of the size of the Death Lance and the fact that the Recreant lacks oar power, the ship must be going at full speed for the ram to take effect. Anything closer than that and the ship simply deflects the blow and both ships end up colliding, therefore both must make a below the waterline save. As the ship is skewered, its superstructure begins to break apart under the force of the lance driving itself into the ship.

CLASSIFICATION
The Recreant is, as there is only one, a Man O’ War, but because of Corso’s devilish behavior and thirst for battle, it cannot be assigned to be the Admiral’s flagship, as he would leave his armada behind without a second thought.

FLEET RESTRICTIONS
Because of the unique weaponry on the Recreant, and because there is only the one Corso owns, there can only even be 1 per battle.

COMBAT
The Recreant is armed with 4 cannon batteries, 3 broadside and 1 aft, and the giant Death Lance mounted on the prow. The cannons act and function as normal batteries on a Greatship, and therefore have no special rules.
The Death Lance, however, is a much different matter. As the giant spike protruding from the prow of the ship advances toward its target, the devastation of the blow it can cause is always a surprise. When the ram connects, the pirate commander rolls on the Recreant ram table. On a roll of 1, the ship’s hull holds, and the blow is deflected. Both ships collide, forcing a below the waterline save for both ships. On a 2 or 3, the ram connects, and the lance is forced partly into the ship’s side. Roll for a location, and that ship must make a save at normal or be impaled. On a roll of 4 or 5, the ship is heavily impaled, the lance being driven in deep. Roll for a location, and that ship must make two saves for that spot, the first at normal, but the second at +1 as for the diminished force of the ram as it goes in. On a roll of 6, the ram finds home as it is lodged deep within the ship’s hull, breaking apart the deck and shredding structure beneith. Roll for location, then the ship must make 3 save rolls as per the devastating force of the ram. The first is at normal, the second at +1, and the third at +2, as the ram’s force is depleted as the lance is driven inward. Except for rolling a 1, in any outcome the lance is lodged inside the ship. Neither ship may move in any way, unless the Recreant backwaters with magic up to 1” for the length of the lance would hold within the enemy ship. While the two are connected, neither ship may fire, and the pirates in the Recreant may begin boarding actions. The lance may connect with any ship it can go after, but because of the way it is mounted, the smallest ships are able to escape uneffected. Ships that do not have any difference between high and low sections are not effected, as the only part of them possible to get his by the lance are the sails, and they would simply be pushed aside by the great stiletto.

MOVEMENT
The Recreant has two forms of movement, sails and magic. Because the loss of the fore sail, the ship’s movement would have been diminished, had it not been for the power of the Dark Heart mounted in its place. The Dark Heart creates a barrier around the Recreant, making it more streamline and capable of cutting through the waves easier. Thus, the ship is only in need of two sails. As one is destroyed, the ship loses speed, and it reduced to half its distance. With the destruction of the second mast, the Dark Heart can no longer help with the wind propelling it through the water.
The Dark Heart itself, however, produces an amazing amount of energy capable of moving the ship through the means of magic. The Dark Heart is capable of making the Recreant glide through the water up to 6” in a strait line, going forward, backward, or to either side. This gives the Recreant an incredible edge, especially in getting out of tight situations. With the Death Lance’s devastating ram, it impales itself within another ship, and the only way a disconnection can be made is by reversing with the Dark Heart’s power. However, because of the extreme force the Dark Heart gives off, any other magical force that originates from the same location would be almost instantly destroyed and therefore, a Wizard cannot be placed onboard the Recreant.

POINT COST
The Recreant costs 300 points and is worth 5 battle honors. However, because the Empire has a price out for Corso’s head and the destruction of his ships, any Imperial fleet or a fleet with Imperial allies gains double battle honors for the confirmed destruction of the dreadful Recreant.

DESIGNER NOTES
The Recreant was the first ship I made, and it turned out rather well for a first attempt. My original idea was to make simply this huge gunship for the pirates to have in response to all the deadly artillery the Empire’s packing, but that just didn’t seem to fit. I didn’t want to make any extremely new weapons, because that just didn’t seem right, since the pirates get everything from raiding. Then, after I had gotten into the story I was writing at the time, when I reached the part about the deadly pirate warship I had dreamt up, it just seemed so perfect. Instead of adding a whole bunch of artillery on, I actually reduced it to add the giant lance, as that could be obtained a number of ways and didn’t seem too far-fetched for pirates to have. It didn’t seem enough because if the enemy ship impaled on the lance was to sink, the Recreant would go down with it, and, seeing as I couldn’t add oars due to the fact that it’s a stolen Empire Greatship, I decided a magic force was just right. Not too far fetched, seeing as they could have stolen it from any number of magical races like the Dark Elves or the Tzeentch maybe. And since it didn’t seem right to allow more than one in a game at a time, since they’re so powerful in the right hands, I added my captain from my story and made it his ship to be unique. Just seemed to fit so nicely.

Nicholas Patterson