Red Wolf Squadron

Rogue Trader: Drake Dynasty
GM
Adam
Dynastic Power
Character Level: 31,250 XP / Rank 8
Profit Factor: 43𝖕
Command Crew
Lord-Captain Drake Navigator Primus Mordecai Arch-Millitant Winter Astropath Solarus
House Drake Fleet
Aurea Albion Hound of Albion • Abhorrent Fortuitous Purpose • Penance of Iocanthos
Drake Trade Empire
Damaris • Scintilla • Kulth Svard • Dross • Aurum Sepheris Secundus • Tennenberg Killian's Rest
Drake Expeditions
Open Missions
Grand Endevours
Personnel
Magistrates • Retainers Militants Svard 1st • Stormtroopers House Drake Expeditionary Army
Assets
Materiel Aerospace Craft • Ground Vehicles
Armoury Wargear • Relics and Artifacts
Other Estate Secrets and Contacts • Awards and Honors
The Galaxy
Locations Calixis Sector Koronus Expanse • Periphery Subsector Personalities Peers of the Imperium Rival Rogue Traders
Utilities
Rogue Trader Timeline House Rules Guide and Lore

Red Wolf Squadron is one of the advanced squadrons for House Ben'yam's flotilla. Their goal is to scout and flush out screening elements of an enemy fleet before the rest of the flotilla jumps in.

The Implacable Archer

Turbulent-class Heavy Frigate

Lord Navigator-Captain Katyaina Ben'yam

Imported from the Scarus Sector for use as heavy naval escorts during the early days of the Angevin Crusade, the handful of Turbulent-class heavy frigates surviving in the Calixis Sector never returned, some say because they found the tumultuous Calixian region more to their tastes. Intended to drive ahead of the main fleet and engage rival scouting units when encountered, the history of the Turbulent class has been characterised by aggressive and piratical actions against the Emperor’s foes. Although rare, the Turbulent has gained a reputation as a “lucky” class. Turbulents have participated in many of the most glorious naval actions of the sector, whilst coincidentally either surviving or not being involved at all in the most disastrous.

Some armchair admirals dismiss the Turbulent, citing its comparatively inefficient energy weapon transfer systems and deriding its antiquated internal communication network of brass vacuum pipes and electric lights. However such mockery is best done behind closed doors, as several of the senior admirals in Battlefleet Calixis served aboard these feisty ships.

House Ben'yam acquired this heavy frigate to form the anchor of its Red Wolf Squadron. It is built to avoid damage when possible, and to keep going even when damaged. It can engage at farther distances than most frigates due to its expensive weaponry, a cost the House has deemed acceptable to keep enemy ships at bay.

The Zealous Navigator

Falchion-class Frigate

Navigator-Commander Torian Ben'yam

The Falchion is considered a new class, having only been laid down in 261.M41. Given the Imperial Navy’s deference towards the truly ancient ships in its arsenal, the class (given its mere 550 years of service) is regarded as an untried and untested pretender to the throne of more established ships like the venerable Sword. As such, it has engendered some undisguised and unfair hostility from the more hidebound and traditional sections of the Battlefleet Calixis officer class. This is a pity, for the Falchion, like all Voss Forge world ships, is a thoroughly well-constructed and innovative design. It is more flexible than many frigates, having, unusually, the capacity to carry torpedoes. This has led to the class being used in a more aggressive capacity than perhaps suits it, more reactionary officers tending to treat it as an upgunned heavy destroyer. This ignores its abilities as an escort vessel for larger craft, its original purpose. Rogue Traders, being freethinking innovators, are less likely to adopt the Navy’s unsympathetic approach to the new class, and it is not surprising that some Falchions have already been sighted within the Koronus Expanse.

As the second frigate of House Ben'yam Red Wolf Squadron, this frigate is intended to cover The Implacable Archer's stern. With its innovative torpedo design and its complement of unusually long-ranged weapons, it can engage foes from long distances while using its additional speed and maneuverability to avoid attacks and position itself for follow-up strikes. It is less able to 'tank' than the Implacable Archer, though compared to most ships, it is still remarkably resilient.

The Arrowhead

Viper-class Scout Sloop

Navigator-Commander Miriam Ben'yam

The Viper is the smallest warp-capable vessel used in Battlefleet Calixis. The Viper is a fast scout ship, with immensely powerful realspace engines. It is used for short term spy missions aimed at specific hostile regions, largely by charging into hostile territory at high speed. There it uses powerful auspex and augur scanners to collate as much information as possible, before retreating to a safe warp jump point, usually pursued by enemy ships.

Given its specialist role, the Viper is unsurprisingly limited in many ways. It is a tiny ship, with very restricted space for additional Components. Furthermore, it is not heavily armed, as extensive weapon batteries would draw vital power from the sensor arrays and engines. They are rare vessels and are not ideal vessels for Rogue Traders, given their highly specialised nature. However, more enterprising and wealthy dynasties will often employ a Viper as part of a larger fleet, leap-frogging ahead of the main force to rapidly establish the nature of each planetary system encountered.

In this role, House Ben'yam has placed the Arrowhead has the third ship in Red Wolf Squadron to provide advance intel on any systems where the squadron expects fighting. Using its immense resources and unparalled access to the very best of the Imperium's technology, House Ben'yam provided the Arrowhead with a swiftness and nimbleness unmatched by any ship in the Sector. Even allies who have witnessed it begin its silent runs have remarked on its uncanny ability to 'become one with the Void.' Its sole concession to armament is an unusual xenos weapon system that seems to use neither power nor ammunition. Because of its heretical bent, the ship rarely stops at official ports and masks the weapon's signature with that of the more mundane Thunderstrike macrocannon profile.