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==Overview==
*{{Main|Badab War}}
The Red Corsairs are a Renegade Chapter and [[warband]] of [[Chaos Space Marines]] who lead a vast fleet of pirates composed of mortals and other Traitor Marines that threaten [[Imperial]] shipping and Imperial worlds near the [[Maelstrom]] [[Warp rift]] in the [[Ultima Segmentum]], a region known as the Maelstrom Zone to Imperial astrocartographers. The Red Corsairs were once a Loyalist [[Space Marine]] [[Chapter]] called the '''Astral Claws''' who were based on the world of [[Badab Primaris]] in the [[Badab Sector]] of the Ultima Segmentum. The Astral Claws were, ironically, raised during the [[10th Founding]] in the [[35th Millennium]] to guard against the numerous daemonic and alien threats emerging from the Maelstrom. Under the leadership of their [[Chapter Master]], [[Lugft Huron]], the "Tyrant of Badab," in the late [[41st Millennium]], the Astral Claws sought to have the Badab Sector secede from the Imperium of Man in protest against the Imperium's continued attempts to use the resources of the Badab Sector outside the region rather than dedicating them fully to the defeat of the [[Chaotic]] and [[Xenos]] threats that emerged constantly from the Maelstrom Zone. The Astral Claws and the Tyrant of Badab were able to convince several other Astartes Chapters also dedicated to the protection of the Maelstrom Zone, including the [[Executioners]], [[Lamenters]], and the [[Mantis Warriors]] to stand with them against the Imperium in what they believed to be a just cause and an attempt to maintain the traditional autonomy of the Adeptus Astartes in the face of unwarranted interference from the Imperial nobility, economic interests and the often hated Inquisition.{{cite thisCite Marker End}}
Unfortunately, Lugft Huron had slowly been corrupted by his desire for power into the service of Chaos, and eventually the Imperium was forced to respond to the Secessionists in the Maelstrom Zone by unleashing the full might of the Imperium in the terrible civil conflict that became known in the Imperial record, before the Inquisition laid down an Order of Obliteration that sought to remove all records of the Astral Claws' existence from Imperial history, as the Badab War. This conflict was fought between 901.M41 and 912.M41 and ended in the complete destruction of the Astral Claws' defences and the devastation of their Chapter homeworld of Badab Primaris. Only 200 Astral Claws survived the final Imperial assault, and these Astartes, all corrupted by Chaos, fled with the maimed body of their leader into the Maelstrom, where they founded a new Chaotic empire.{{Fn|4}}
==Combat doctrine==
[[Image:HollowWorldsArt.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Red Corsairs forces led by Huron Blackheart{{Fn|20a}}]]
The Red Corsairs fight primarily as an expression of their twisted faith. In order to save what was left of his chapter and his hideously wounded body, [[Lugft 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 spent 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.{{Cite thisMarker End}}
==Organisation==
The Red Corsairs are organised into a large fleet, able to deploy small, elite forces of renegade Space Marines supported by larger groups of human reavers. The Space Marines among the force are supremely proficient at the boarding actions favoured by the chapter whose ship-to-ship fighting prowess is infamous. 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 classes of interceptors and bombers.{{Cite thisMarker End}}
Over the years, through absorbing other bands of [[Renegade Space Marine]]s and outlaws, the Red Corsairs have grown close to the size of a pre-[[Horus Heresy|Heresy]] [[Space Marine Legion]].{{Fn|13}} While its Space Marines form the core of the Legion's fighting force, the Red Corsairs also includes vast amounts of [[Traitor Guard]], [[Pirate]]s, [[Mutant]]s, [[Xenos]], and any other willing to pledge themselves to Huron Blackheart.{{Fn|23a}} Known Xenos warbands in service with the Red Corsairs are the [[Loxatl]]{{Fn|24}} and [[Tarellian]]s.{{Fn|23b}}
==Sources==
{{Citation issues}}
*{{Endn|1}}: [[Warhammer 40,000: Compendium]]{{cite thisCite Marker End}}
*{{Endn|2}}: [[White Dwarf 101 (UK)]] - ''Index Astartes: The Badab Uprising''
*{{Endn|3}}: [[White Dwarf 303 (UK)]] - ''Index Astartes: Rogue Sons''
*{{Endn|10}}: [[Apocalypse]], pg. 171
*{{Endn|11}}: [[Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition)]], pg. 40
*{{Endn|12}}: [[The Gildar Rift (Novel)]]{{cite thisCite Marker End}}
**{{Endn|12a}}: Chapter 5
**{{Endn|12b}}: Chapter 18
*{{Endn|13}}: [[Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook]], pg. 176
*{{Endn|14}}: [[Pandorax (Novel)]]{{cite thisCite Marker End}}
*{{Endn|15}}: [[Warhammer 40,000 7th Edition Rulebook]] — ''The Pandorax Incursion''
*{{Endn|16}}: [http://web.archive.org/web/20110211195331/http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m70037a_Strategy_cards_1 Strategy Cards] for [[Planetary Empires]] expansion game, card ''"Planetstrike – Major Stratagem"'', ''(saved archive page, dated February 2011, last accessed 7 October 2015)''
