The Pelagic Dominate

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The Cnidarians

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Tech Level:  4

Description:  A galactic empire of aquatic sentients, the Pelagic Dominate is led by inscrutable hyper-intelligent invertebrates, the Cnidarians, who seem obsessed with destroying all sentient terrestrial life in the galaxy and hydro-farming their planets. The Cnidarians are the overlords of this empire but there are many species of aquatic sentients in the Dominate, such as its rank and file warriors, the Karkarines.

The Dominate takes extremely advanced vehicle technology to war, employing for instance the "Man of War" heavy anti-grav combat platform. These vehicles serve equally well as flyers in space or planetary atmosphere, or at nape of earth as powerful hovertanks.

Cnidarians have so far only been seen as Officers for Karkarine forces: they have not been seen forming their own units.

Armour

8

 Twin 3-man DF Bolt Autoguns

 Capacity for 7 infantry

3

Pelagic Dominate Bio-Weapons

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Tech Level:  1

Description:  As part of their way of waging war, the Pelagic Dominate employs large numbers of biological weapons in the form of semi-sentient "bugs" that are programmed to attack the enemy. These bugs are dropped by Bio-Weapon Insertion Droppers (aka "Bug-Dumpers") usually just prior to a strike from Karkarine forces. These squads of bugs work in the following way in GYFTOOMF:

• Parasachnid Bio-Weapons (above, left) are almost completely mindless. Once dropped onto the table, each time their card appears they move directly towards the nearest enemy infantry unit with the aim of getting into Close Combat with them . They may use Initiative Dice for spotting and moving only (they have no distance weapons). Once in Close Combat, they count as Elite Troops (i.e. +50% dice) and fight until completely destroyed i.e. they ignore all "loss" results, the combat continuing until either no enemy or no bugs are left alive. If they win a Close Combat, then they immediately head for the next (nearest) enemy unit.

• Mantis Stalker Bio-Weapons (above, right) operate in exactly the same way as above, except for the fact that the Pelagic player may choose which enemy unit they aim for, rather than having to head for the nearest one.

 Infantry

• All Pelagic Dominate Bio-Weapons count as Elite Troops in Close Combat, receiving +50% dice.

4

WLK

• The Parasachnid Ogre Beetle is fairly mindless. Each time it is activated, it will fire its flameweapon at the nearest enemy unit. If no enemy unit is in range, it will move towards the nearest enemy unit or Blind. If no enemy units or Blinds are on the table, it will move randomly (use the deviation dice).

The Karkarine

Tech Level:  1

Description:  Called the "Karks" by Terran warriors, these Shark-kind can just as often be found serving as soldiers of fortune outside the Dominate, selling the services of their great mercenary regiments to the highest bidder. Though they can breath air indefinitely, the Kark Landser are at the best when water is flowing over their gills, so when they go to war they wear SCOBA gear (self-contained out-of-water breathing apparatus).

 Infantry

• The above strike value includes a light support weapon.

The Orca

Tech Level:  3

Description:  The spacefaring xenophobic aquatics of the Pelagic Dominate have an ace in the hole for special strike missions -- the Orca Assault Warriors, large power armour wearing mammalian sentients who have evolved from carnivorous cetaceans. These behemoths are as intelligent as they are strong and fearless, and have been equipped by the inscrutable Cnidarian Overlords with a powered battle suit of immense strength and durability.

When the Cnidarian exploration craft reached Orcos, the home world of the Orcas, they found a strong spacefaring people ready to contest any conquest. However, when the scout, a delphine diplomat, explained the goals of the Dominate, the Orcas willingly decided at a meeting of the Orca high council pod to submit to the empire, seeing the logic of it -- provided, that is, that two conditions were met. First, they must be allowed to keep their ancient traditions in governing their own world. Second, once a conquered world was aqua-farmed, as a mark of their special status they must be permitted to swim that sea in a procession before any other Pelagic life forms. The response of the Cnidarians was mysterious to the Orcas, but the delphine diplomat interpreted for them, saying that these conditions were acceptable.

The Orcas being intelligent crafts-creatures by nature, each Orca noble makes his own weapons, as is dictated by tradition from time immemorial. Their main armaments are for close combat, the dreaded Ahab power harpoon and the Behemoth power claw for manipulation. For close range shooting they use the multi-barreled Stingray gatling gun.

Added to this arsenal by the Cnidarians are several other weapons, for the Cnidarians employ the Orca Warriors as elite special strike forces, often teleporting to a target, destroying it, and teleporting out. One such weapon, the Barnacle smart missile system, is an intrinsic part of every Orca battle suit, firing a blizzard of high explosive smart missiles at numerically superior infantry foes. Another vital weapon is the Sea Snake anti-structural missile, fitted to an arm hardpoint of the suit, permitting the warrior to destroy heavy tanks or structures such as command posts, bunkers and power stations.

 Infantry

• Orca Assault Warriors count as Elite Troops in Close Combat, receiving +50% dice.

• Orca Assault Warriors add one dice when firing due to their Barnacle smart missile system.

• Orca Assault Warriors use the Tech 3 armour line (1,2,3/4,5/6) on the casualty table and have a "2 or 3 on 2d6" save against kills.

The Myzontid Rangers

Tech Level: 1

Description: When the Pelagic Dominate goes to war it invariably sends in the Myzontids first, silent and pitiless killers who are expert at raiding and destroying targets. Often deployed by drop pod along with the various entomalian bio-weapons employed by the dominate, they do not generally have vehicular support so carry a heavier weapon than the Karkarines, a missile launcher which gives them some level of anti-tank capability should the need arise.

Myzontids are pitiless and calculating killers, and are the perfect snipers, and either operate with, or are associated with, a lone marksman who will often take a day or longer working himself into position to eliminate his target.

Like the Karks the Myzontids are amphibious and can survive indefinitely out of water, but they are at their best when water is flowing over their gills. Their SCOBA gear is configured for their physiognomy, as these creatures take in water through a hole on the top of their heads. This permits them to suck the juices from their victims without suffocating themselves.

Myzontids are skilled at killing silently. Their favoured method is to sneak up on an adversary and suck out its lifeblood by ramming the foe's face into the waiting maw of the ranger, a jawless hole lined with razor sharp teeth. Human militias call the rangers "vampires" and facing the prospect of fighting the Myzontids is never good for morale.

The Karks dislike the Myzontids from the time before the Dominate, when the Myzontids would raid Kark worlds for food-slaves. Now the Karks also dislike the Myzontids as being preferred as warriors by the Cnidarian overlords. The Karks get along well with other sentients and have a wanderlust that drives them to see the galaxy and meet new races, but the silent Myzontids are never seen outside of a Pelagic invasion -- and seeing one is often the last thing you ever see.

Infantry

• The above strike value includes the light support weapon shown second from left in the pictures above.

Force Composition

Karkarine Landser Company

 Company HQ

  1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 1st Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 3 x Karkarine Squad (each 7 x Karkarine)

 [1 x Feldwebel; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 4 x Landser]

 2nd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man 

 3 x Karkarine Squad (each 7 x Karkarine)

 [1 x Feldwebel; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 4 x Landser]

 3rd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 3 x Karkarine Squad (each 7 x Karkarine)

 [1 x Feldwebel; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 4 x Landser]

 4th Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 3 x Karkarine Squad (each 7 x Karkarine)

 [1 x Feldwebel; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 4 x Landser]

•  Platoons may be converted to Cavalry by adding one Man Of War/Infantry Carrier Configuration per squad.

Myzontid Ranger Company

 Company HQ

  1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 1st Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 1 x Black Marine Sniper

 3 x Ranger Squad (each 8 x Myzontid)

 [1 x Squad Leader; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 5 x Rangers]

 2nd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 1 x Black Marine Sniper

 3 x Ranger Squad (each 8 x Myzontid)

 [1 x Squad Leader; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 5 x Rangers]

 3rd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 1 x Black Marine Sniper

 3 x Ranger Squad (each 8 x Myzontid)

 [1 x Squad Leader; 1 x Light Support Weapon + Crewman; 5 x Rangers]

•  Platoons may be converted to Cavalry by adding one Man Of War/Infantry Carrier Configuration per squad.

Orca Assault Group

 Company HQ

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man 

 1 x Orca Assault Squad (8 x Orca)

 1st Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 2 x Orca Assault Squad (each 8 x Orca)

 2nd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 2 x Orca Assault Squad (each 8 x Orca)

 3rd Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 2 x Orca Assault Squad (each 8 x Orca)

 4th Platoon

 1 x Cnidarian Big Man

 2 x Orca Assault Squad (each 8 x Orca)

•  Platoons may be converted to Cavalry by adding two Man Of War/Infantry Carrier Configuration per squad.

Pelagic Dominate Support Units

•  Support units are held centrally in companies of six platoons each, and attached to Landser forces on a mission-specific basis.

 3 x Man Of War/Main Battle Tank Configuration

 2 x Man Of War/SP Artillery Configuration

 1 x Sea Wasp/Scanner Configuration (as FOO)

 Sea Wasp Flight

 2 x Sea Wasp in any combination of configurations (mission dependent)

Parasachnid Swarm

Ad Hoc Number of Parasachnid Squads (each one pod's worth or 8 Parasachnids)

Mantis Stalker Swarm

Ad Hoc Number of Mantis Stalker Squads (each one pod's worth or 8 Mantis Stalkers)

Card Allocation

One card is included in the pack for each platoon present. Man Of War infantry carriers always act on the platoon card of the infantry that they carry, and may operate independently once the troops they carry have been disembarked. One card should also be included for each support platoon present. Karkarine Lander companies usually have three Big Men to command them.

Armoured Bonus Move:  always applies to Man Of War or Sea Wasp units, whatever configuration.

Air Support: applies when Man of War or Sea Wasp units are acting in VTOL mode.

Off Table Artillery: applies when Man Of War/SP Artillery units are acting off-table.

Man Of War Bonus Fire: may apply to Man of War/Main Battle Tank configurations.

Sniper: applies to Myzontid platoons, one card per platoon.