Red Corsairs

Overview
The Red Corsairs are a pirate warband of Chaos Space Marines who present a significant threat to Imperial shipping near the Maelstrom Warp rift. They were once a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter called the Astral Claws who were based on the world of Badab in the Ultima Segmentum. The Astral Claws were, ironically, founded during the 35th Millennium to guard against the numerous daemonic threats emerging from the Maelstrom. The Astral Claws were originally referred to by Games Workshop as the Tiger Claws.

After rebelling against the Imperium and being defeated in the ensuing Badab War in 912.M41, the Chapter's 200 survivors fled the world, becoming the core of the Chaos pirate warband called the Red Corsairs.

The Astral Claws Chapter Master and former Planetary Governor of Badab, Lufgt Huron is now a Chaos Lord known as Huron Blackheart. In response to Badab's huge debt in planetary tithes and to the Chapter's tardiness in submitting its usual 5% tithe of gene-seed, an Imperial Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator vessel, the Righteous Quest, had entered Badab's orbit in 901.M41. Huron's first overt act of rebellion was to order his world's planetary defenses to fire upon the intruders, starting the Badab War. The Mechanicus vessel was destroyed.

The Astral Claws found themselves outnumbered by the Imperial forces raised against them by the Inquisition and so called for aid from other Space Marine Chapters. They were foolishly joined by the Executioners, the Lamenters and the Mantis Warriors who were unaware of the Astral Claws corruption by Chaos. Eventually, the weight of the Imperium crushed the rebels and Badab fell. The Executioners, Lamenters, and the Mantis Warriors were granted the Emperor's forgiveness, however the Astral Claws were declared Excommunicate Traitoris and became one of the Renegade Chapters.

The surviving 200 Astral Claws broke through the Imperial blockade and fled to the Maelstrom where they became the Red Corsairs. They had taken the broken body of Lufgt Huron with them, and he is said to lead them in raids against the Imperium, although he is more machine than man now.

The intent of the Red Corsairs' raids are to build Huron's army with captives who turn Traitor and swear themselves to Chaos. Lord Huron is feared and despised by the Imperium as well as honoured by the other Traitor Legions for the thumb he poked so successfully into the eye of the False Emperor. Huron Blackheart's empire within the Maelstrom has become a great threat and a power that rivals the Traitor Legions within the Eye of Terror. One of the planets under their control is New Badab, where the tournament dedicated to the Blood God Khorne called the Skull Harvest is held 4.

Combat doctrines
The Red Corsairs fight primarily as an expression of their twisted faith in Chaos Undivided. In order to save what was left of his Chapter and his hideously wounded body, Lufgt Huron made a terrible pact with the Ruinous Powers, pledging eternal service in return for the blessings and patronage of Chaos. With limited numbers at their disposal, the Red Corsairs spend much of their time as space pirates, but also launch brutal raids on Imperial shipping and outposts. These raids are not for plundering, but for the sheer pleasure of raiding the areas that they once swore to protect.

Organization
The Red Corsairs are organised into a large fleet, able to deploy small, elite forces of Chaos Space Marines supported by larger groups of human reavers who are essentially spaceborne Chaos Cultists. The Space Marines among the force are supremely proficient at the boarding actions favoured by the Chapter whose ship-to-ship fighting prowess was long infamous when they were the Astral Claws. Huron Blackheart maintains a substantial fleet consisting of vessels captured over numerous engagements, ranging from a single Adeptus Astartes battle barge, a number of strike cruisers, many and varied escorts and a huge number of interceptors and bombers. Rumours suggest that Huron's command ship, salvaged when it was drifting on the edge of the Maelstrom, was originally a Word Bearers Traitor Legion battle barge.