The Bloody 40!

Hello and Welcome Back, 

Time to take a look at more starport scum. This is the crew of the Bloody Vengeance, a pirate vessel that is the flagship of the Bloody 40 pirate fleet. 

The Bloody Vengence is crewed by an oddball mix of Humans, Splitters (Humans additcted to Gene Modification), self aware rogue robots, a cyborg and a Squat. Typical Starport scum. 

The Bloody 40 began as a mutineer crew. In anger at the abuse of the crew by the captain and first mate the crew rose up. They beat the ship’s officers, stripped them and launched them in a life pod towards the nearest populated world. They then took the ship and upgraded it, remaining it the Bloody Vengeance. 

The rest of the Bloody 40 hang around space port bars collecting information and rumours on ships with abusive officers and captains. They then join the crew of the ship. It is fairly easy to join such a vessel as they tend to have a high turnover of crew. Some of the vessels arrive with less crew than they set out with. These hardened pirates wait until enough of the 40 have joined the ship. Then they lead a mutiny aboard the ship with the Bloody Vengeance lurking nearby to assist if necessary. 

The captured vessel is then stripped of cargo. The remaining loyal crew, officers and captain serve a similar fate to those of the first vessel the Bloody 40 rose up against. The remaining crew are given the vessel or asked to join the Bloody 40. 

The Bloody 40 are regarded as heroes by the abused ship’s crews around frontier space. Captains hate them and whisper their name in fear. Since the Bloody 40 attacks, crew treatment and conditions has improved vastly across the sector. 

Security chief McGroober, Captain Amos Fury, First mate Lino (splitter*)

*Splitter is a slang term for people who have willingly undergone Human Gene Manipulation. 

Gene Thugsbury, Amy Clunk (Cyborg) , Crew person Jane Nasty. 

Turtleo (splitter), assassin Trarg (splitter), Wez Vernons 

Krocadude (splitter), Trooper Gax Morgan, Sideeyes (splitter)

Bullet (gunslinger & sharphooter bot), Grimli (armoured squat), Trooper A3D3 (tactical military bot)

All figures are a mix of Rougestars (copplestone sculpts available from Northstar Miniatures) and Antediluvian Miniatures. 

The Bloody 40 was inspired by a weird bit of local history. "There is a reference in local history book from 1850s which details the Bloody Fourty's activities. Bloody Forty: forty seamen who together would ship as a crew aboard hell-ships, in order to turn the tables on rough bucko mates and masters (Hughill 1967: 89). 'A gang of feared Liverpool seamen who went by the name of "The Bloody Forty" (Lees 2013: 74)."

There is no other details about the Bloody 40 to be found. It makes me wonder what happened to them. I have found some sea shanty/folk music songs about them. Still this is my salute to the original Bloody 40.

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there.