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I'm in the mood to make a new list and I want to play pirates. Just some small time thugs who are doing a bit better than just surviving. They are small enough that they have to work the fringes and can't really face any serious forces. Consequently, they pick their targets carefully and switch areas often to avoid attracting attention. I decided to go for 2500 points so I could play them in smaller pick-up games. In my mind, this unit is a 'cult of personality'. The leader and his/her right hand person are the center of the band - each has their crew which operate around them. In game, based on the points, I see this as couple of attack squads. Attack squads because they don't really have a better plan. They are very much a one trick pony, a smash and grab unit with violence as their main and only tactic. I decided that the leaders pilot the only CAV models in the unit. The rest of the crew operate vehicles - remember these are small time thugs. I opened the CAV store and scrolled through looking for models I liked the look of. Specifically, I wanted CAVs I'd never used/painted before. I settled on a Warhawk for the second in command and a Voodoo for the Captain of these scurvy pirates. 🙂 I don't really like kit-bashing models, @TigerWraith is more 'that guy'. So I looked hard at the available vehicles and the remaining points and ended up with these squads: Given the limitation that I needed cheap vehicles that didn't require kit-bashing to create I didn't have a ton of options. Ideally, to represent the 'rag tag' nature of the pirate band I'd love each model to be unique but... we just don't have enough models in the lower points zone yet - keep the faith. 🙂 The Warhawk squad belongs to the second in command - fancy names coming soon 'TM'. The Warhawk itself is probably the best 'fighting model' in the band. The long range MACs and Guided Missiles allow it to stand back and engage at traditional CAV range. The 2 chieftains I think of as Harpoons. They rush forward and try to harass and harm the enemy all the while drawing attention (and fire to them). The Ashigaru is an odd bird. Its main job is to provide ECM support for its brethren. However, any model it shares a Target Lock for allow it to fire it's Guided Missiles. If it dares to show it's head. 🙂 The Voodoo squad works in a similar fashion to the Warhawk squad but, because it is the Captain's squad, it has a few extra luxuries. The Banshees fulfill a similar role to the Chieftains. They move forward and harass the enemy with the threat of their powerful PBGs. The Captain - being the VIP they are - splits the electronic warfare role across 2 models - the Black Mamba and the Sabre. Together, they fulfill an almost identical role to the Ashigaru except they can be in 2 different place and losing one of them doesn't lose all of your EW abilities. This unit really wants to fight other squads and doesn't do it very well. Most of its firepower is very short ranged. If it gets caught in open terrain it'll suffer from an enemy force with longer range firepower - likely a loss. If it can leverage terrain and cover long enough to get its PBGs into the battle it can be a problem for similar pointed squads. Honestly, this unit is me creating a story in my head about a Pirate Force and then making them a unit in CAV. It wouldn't be hard to create a MUCH nastier force at the same points level and wipe these guys and gals off the board. My point isn't to build a winning force but to build a fun unit. Something I like the story behind. The kind of story that grows and twists with each battle the Small Fry face. As a quick side note about 'non-optimal forces' like the Small Fry. You can win without min-maxed models. I won the the 2022 CAVCon tournament using a force whose highest strength weapon was 5. I encourage you to make forces that fit the story of CAV and make your unit a chapter in the grand game. Have fun!

This is fantastic! Great ideas here, often I see people getting caught up in the min/max as stated above and it seems to leak out a lot of the fun aspects, like bringing that cool model that you like, but may not have the best stat line. The pirates in this game are a great place to get creative with story telling and paint jobs and all kind of fun stuff. I can hardly wait to see what you come up with for the paint jobs on these! If any audience votes count? The idea of having them each painted up in their own scheme appeals to me for pirates and even mercenaries. Possibly one part of the paint scheme to tie them together a bit or they are all different, can be all part of the story. Thanks for posting this Red Baron