Thinking of creating some space pirates

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Always had this idea to create some space pirate type of army, it wouldn't be right away. It would be on my many lists of things to do. But I was curious what type of core race should I do it on. Was thinking the Eldar would be it, but with there being different sects I figured I'd ask and see what you guys thought about it. Ages ago I watched a manga type movie called Galaxy Express 999, and it inspired me to want to do an army like this. What do you guys think?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

They exist, they're called Corsairs, I think they used to have rules.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Cool I'll do some more research, like I said it would be a long ways away before I did it but I'd like to do it sometime.

[Slasher956]

FWs Index has the rules for the corsairs however they no longer sell the weapon packs

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/4/6/206598_md-Corsairs.jpg

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Probably just use eldar converted weapons, like I said far way away. Finishing my DW army then getting my SW out of storage so after all that maybe I'll have the ideas to create something like that.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Alternatively, there's just, like... the Drukhari. They're basically soul pirates anyway.

[Lord_Caerolion]

Yep, Drukhari can range from being horrific fae monstrosities that demand the whispered dying wish of a child for payment, through to swashbuckling rogues that come for your riches.

[Ioldanach]

The original incarnation of the eldar was that of mercenaries/pirates. They appeared in 2nd edition as a unit option in Codex: Eldar, but disappeared when GW created the dark eldar (the dark eldar becoming the piratical raiders). The eldar corsairs were later brought back as a separate sub-faction of the eldar in The Doom of Mymeara as a separate list.
 
Based on the rules from The Doom of Mymeara, the eldar corsairs can represent a range of options, from a force that looks a lot like the craftworlds to a force that looks a lot like the dark eldar, and anywhere in between in terms of the way they act and the weapons and wargear they use.
 
As others have said, the latest official rules for them can be found in Forge World's Index Xenos, in which their sub-faction name is apparently "anhrathe" (similar to "asuryani" being the craftworlders and "drukhari" being the dark eldar). If that isn't your cup of tea or if you can't get it, you can always replicate the eldar corsairs in one of four ways. The first two are "counts as" using either the asuryani (craftworlds) or drukhari (dark eldar). Alternately, you can try an aeldari soup. The last option is to "counts as" using the ynnari.
 
As far as the weapons go, a lot of older eldar kits (2nd edition and early 3rd edition) can be used, though the sonic weapons, signature helmets (distinct from those used by the asuryani and drukhari), and the corsair jet packs will be difficult to find. The helmets and jet packs are relatively easy to convert, the sonic weapons less so (though still do-able). The eldar corsairs (in The Doom of Mymeara) were a very fast army, with lots of small fast vehicles (a la the jet bikes, vypers, and venoms) and jumpy war walkers. You might find some of those second hand, and pictures on the internet will help you to convert similar asuryani/drukhari models for the anhrathe.
 
For players that aren't constrained to using official rules, there are also some unofficial rules out in the wild (I'm working on my own set, too).
 
So it really comes down to which version of the aeldari best represents your vision of the anhrathe and what you are allowed to use in your games.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Sounds really interesting, like I said far way away but on the list of things to do. Always liked the sculpts of the rangers. This gives me a good while to do some research and see what I can create I'm terrible at back stories on the fly but I'm sure I'll come up with something when I start. Always wanted to play them, just always been a Space Marine player so doing Xenos is a big unknown area. But I'm doing Inquisition/DW now with maybe some SW later on. Maybe I can set up a story for them to be intertwined. Thanks for the information everyone!

[Captain Coolpants]

Bit of a threadmancy. But did anything come of your corsair venture?