I've been mulling this over in my head for a while now... my players generally go equipped with grenades and semi- or full-auto weapons. Is there any reason the Deathwatch rules for Hordes can't be imported into Rogue Trader?

They can be, but with RT characters lacking the staying power of even the lowest of Astartes, the increased damage value means that each successful attack either costs a Fate Point or time making a new character.

Yeah, I've realized that due to the increased damage of a horde, they're really only able to be used as an "environmental" effect, or something that the players have had time to prepare themselves for. Situations I'd thought of were:

• Players are on a world that's just opened up into full rebellion, and are tasked with aiding the arbites in holding a fortress until evac can arrive.
• A clan of natives is on the move, and the players are tasked with preparing ambushes and hit 'n run attacks against the horde.

Although perhaps that sort of thing is better suited for narration and less crunch.

Well the Horde danger is mostly in the Magnitude and the weapons they use (especially if these weapons have semi-auto or full-auto). However, a Horde with Magnitude 10 or 15 can still be taken out in a round or two by a well-prepared Rogue Trader group, since last time I checked RT characters still have access to grenades, flamers, Bolters (yay for Explosive damage), and full-auto weapons. Plus a Horde with Magnitude 10 or 15 will still present a credible threat to RT characters if armed with lasguns or pistols, and a Horde with Magnitude 20 armed with primitive weapons or Natural Weapons (think Spanish conquistadores with gunpowder and steel weapons and metal armour vs. Aztecs) can also present a decent threat. Just don't throw Hordes of Tyranids/Tau/Kroot/Orks at the players, stick to human pirates, chaos cultists, thugs, primitive savages, zombies. Furthermore, there's no reason that RT characters won't bring their own Horde or two with them (armed ratings, guardsmen, whatever) to cancel out enemy Hordes. Personally, having run both Deathwatch and RT with RT mass combat rules, the Horde rules are easier to run (and Hordes much easier to stat) and make for a more interesting fight.

I used Hordes too, but my players asked a good question...

If the player shooting an automatic weapon damages enemy per bullet, then why isnt hordes the same way? why can they do a damage of weapon strength and then add to that max 2d10, isnt there shooting per bullet too?

I personaly think of it as a shotgun effect maybe? but If I had missread something then plz correct me!

I also think low-magnitude hordes are totally o.k., especially if the PCs have an escort of their own troops. In a play-by-post game I'm currently running, my players are now confronting a magnitude 25 horde of madmen (armed with shotguns) while having a magnitude 25 horde of houshold troops (cowering in fear at the moment^^) and NPC-manned Guncutter weapons. They're all alive so far

Khensu said:

The Horde Rules are designed to let weaker enemies hurt Spacemarines in Deathwatch. If you want to, you can just change the horde rules for Rogue Trader so instead of more dmg, you just get more hits.

Bassemandrh said:

good idea

maybe will use that instead of dmg bonus, and that way my players will have an easier time too...

"25 horde of madmen (armed with shotguns)" that sounds evil, but may I ask how you count the extra hits from the shotguns scater effect with hordes?