So, poking around in Enemies of the Imperium, I noticed the blurb about how the Severan Dominate is kept supplied in part by unscrupulous Rogue Traders - not to the point of them augmenting his forces, but just doing supply runs and the like. And then I wondered what would happen if the Navy caught them in the act while transporting a fresh wave of Guardsmen. Someone with a Rogue Trader's ego isn't likely to run, especially if they've been identified as supplying known traitors. Warrants of Trade only stretch so far. Their best option, it seems to me, would be to make sure no one ever finds out what happened. And how do Rogue Traders do that? Murder-servitors seem to be a very popular option...they sound quite nasty, but I can't seem to find stats. Anyone know of anywhere they're listed, or at least a template I could work off of?

Just as a thought exercise, you understand. I wouldn't spring a fight with one on a squad at the start of a new campaign, especially not while they're trapped on a slowly disintegrating transport ship.

That would be cruel.

If it's of any help, the Dark Heresy core rulebook has a Gun Servitor and Combat Servitor in the adversaries section, an advanced version of which can be found in the Inquisitor's Handbook.

That being said, I'd generally caution against transplanting material from other games due to the slight mechanical differences and the scaling between them.

You could simply take the Servitor from the OW rulebook and "pimp" him with some combat-focused gear and traits representing relevant upgrades?

They're in Hostile Acquisitions, a RT sourcebook, on page 87.

Other than DH's lesser daemons, I don't see much in the way of scaling differences between the game lines, discounting the first couple of incarnations of Deathwatch genestealers. OW Orks are identical to DW Orks are identical to DH Orks, except that the DW and DH Orks have a TB 2 higher.

Deathwatch is the only real outlier, since its Tyranids and Tau etc. are designed with pre-errata DW weapons damage in mind.

Erioch-class Battle Servitors from DW (p.376), if you want "the best, most military-themed" servitors (I don't know how well and true that really is, of course) could fit the bill. They work for Techmarines, so they might help you. Still good at tasks, but armed to fight what an Adeptus Astartes expects to encounter.

Oh, that Rogue Trader version looks fun (in the Dwarf Fortress sense of the word). Thanks!

I'm not really looking for a direct translation - just a framework to build on. It'll probably be heavily damaged if and when the squad bumps into it in any case (surrounded by corpses, of course. Got to keep it intimidating.)

Oh, that Rogue Trader version looks fun (in the Dwarf Fortress sense of the word). Thanks!

I'm not really looking for a direct translation - just a framework to build on. It'll probably be heavily damaged if and when the squad bumps into it in any case (surrounded by corpses, of course. Got to keep it intimidating.)

I know what you mean by it being fun - at least it explains why these things give such a bonus to boarding actions.

As for converting it; can't suggest anything there but at least the working version in HA should work well for a starting point.

if you're looking at them from a RT bonus point of view. consider the differences between a navy rating, a navy armsman, and your standard guardsman.

the rating isn't usually armed except for a club or knife. (wrench of butcher knife) and no armor. he probably has a voidsuit though. not combat trained 80% of crew. knows not to create a hull breach.

the armsman is armed, but most of his weapons are for crowd control, not combat/killing. he may or may not have armor, but does have a voidsuit. combat trained 20 % of crew. knows not to create a hull breach

the guardsman is armed and armored for combat. if he's lucky he has a voidsuit. he's combat trained. probably doesn't know jack about fighting in space and has lots of high penetration exploding toys.

They do list Murder servitors in "No surrender". Not ultra killing, but still well armoured and tough

They're in Hostile Acquisitions, a RT sourcebook, on page 87.

They were, in fact, written for exactly this purpose - by the time work started on Hostile Acquisitions, the number of times people had asked on these forums for Murder Servitor stats was enough that I took the first opportunity I got to write some up...

the armsman is armed, but most of his weapons are for crowd control, not combat/killing. he may or may not have armor, but does have a voidsuit. combat trained 20 % of crew. knows not to create a hull breach

the guardsman is armed and armored for combat. if he's lucky he has a voidsuit. he's combat trained. probably doesn't know jack about fighting in space and has lots of high penetration exploding toys.

Since you've mentioned hull breaches: A hull breach is extremely unlikely to occur when you're fighting on board a voidship. If your ship's hull can be punctured by a bolter round, God Emperor help you when you encounter something with a macro cannon battery...

That being said, there's likely still lots and lots of electronic stuff hidden just behind the wall, floor and ceiling panels that reacts badly to bullets.

how much of the ship is already open to space by the time boarding starts. very rarely do boardings start without a shot being fired by those macrocannons.

another option what happens when said guardsman uses a grenade to kill enemy and blows a hole in the water stores/reclamation. void suit will keep you from drowning too. fuel stores and shell storage will be armored. but sewage? exhaust from some piece of equipment?

most will know not to have a fire fight in the gun bays or other high explosive areas. but might want to keep a close eye on the ogryn. short temper with a big gun?

while i agree that breaching the outer hull with infantry or even vehicle class weapons is unlikely, if you are using them on a ship. the SHTF long before that point and the hull could look like swiss cheese at that point.

Equally, causing a serious structural breach with infantry weapons - unlikely. As you say, the hull armour stands up to macrobattery fire.

Causing a small enough breach to decompress the compartment you're currently in? Quite possibly.

Unfortunately, the outer decks (where major boarding engagements are fought) are likely to be within, or even outside, the ship's main armour belt (gotta be able to get to the systems mounted on the outer hull to maintain them, after all).

the armsman is armed, but most of his weapons are for crowd control, not combat/killing. he may or may not have armor, but does have a voidsuit. combat trained 20 % of crew. knows not to create a hull breach

the guardsman is armed and armored for combat. if he's lucky he has a voidsuit. he's combat trained. probably doesn't know jack about fighting in space and has lots of high penetration exploding toys.

Since you've mentioned hull breaches: A hull breach is extremely unlikely to occur when you're fighting on board a voidship. If your ship's hull can be punctured by a bolter round, God Emperor help you when you encounter something with a macro cannon battery...

That being said, there's likely still lots and lots of electronic stuff hidden just behind the wall, floor and ceiling panels that reacts badly to bullets.

Heh, you forgot the fun stuff. Voidship fuel is quite volatile. And Throne help you if you get into a firefight near where the ship stores its munitions...

"Be careful, Ryan. Some things in here don't react well to bullets." - Marko Ramius, The Hunt for Red October

Cheers,

- V.