Rak'gol

A face only a mother would love.

The Rak'gol (not to be confused with Rakghouls) are a race of spacefaring pirate/psychopathic-murder-lizard/insect/cyborg... things. These guys are pretty much what happens when the Dark Eldar has all their kinkiness replaced by extra badassery and awesomeness peppered with Rip and Tear and a touch of Cthulhu. They were created by FFG for the Rogue Trader (RPG), which is no longer officially supported by the company. The majority of /tg/ pray that they will one day receive some added fluff and crunch on these Pirate-Cyborg-Lizard-Insects, but Games Workshop being Games Workshop likely won't ever create a Codex for these guys.

Some people in the Imperium (and a lot in real life) realized that the Rak'gol have no famous/infamous individuals in their society; heck, even the Tyranids have more recognizable guys, such as Old One-Eye, for example. Furthermore, due to the common theme of ignorance in the Imperium and the vastness of space, it is quite common to see the Rak'gol excused as a mythological beast; hell, even the name "Rak'gol" itself was the name of a mythical creature used to frighten children, like the bogeyman, before the Imperium even coined the name of their race in the first place.

From what we have learned, the Rak'gol are a species of aliens that like to scavenge and loot things from other aliens. Often their would-be hostages are raped to death, have their flesh eaten and their skin sewn to the Rak'gol's clothes. And, if they (the hostages) are very, very lucky, they (the Rak'Gol) will do it in that order. They (and the Tyranids) are the only race whose origins have not been explored much, due to their first contact being in the outermost reaches of the Koronus Expanse and the fact that trying to negotiate and talk to them often ends with the interrogator being ripped apart and shat upon. Because of this, the Imperium have trouble knowing what the hell these guys are up to. The only time the Imperium actually get a specimen to study, is a corpse, and the results are often at best inconclusive. Being described as reptilian with some insectoid features, they are infamous for their apparent hard-on for cybernetic surgery, changing their already deadly natural bodies into even more fearsome forms. Fortunately for the Imperium (or so they say...) the Rak'gol are easily identified by their apparent ramshackle designs of their starships as well as being the only race whose technology is worse than the Orks'. Although their technology is relatively primitive, they make up for this with brutal simplicity of design. The Imperium considers them to be less intelligent than Orks, probably because they seem to lack any sort of language, communicating only in roars and grunts. It's unknown how they manage to coordinate the building of weaponry, let alone starships, but they seem to manage somehow...

Anatomy

Despite the Xenobiologists best attempts, we still know very little about their culture and way of thinking, fortunately what we do know is what these guys are made of. The Rak'gol is often described as having the odd combination of both reptilian and insectoid features, their most notable features include having eight limbs, very tough reptile-like scales, a mouth filled with teeth, a long prehensile tail ending with a barbed end, and laying eggs big enough that it should be considered out-right impossible by real world standards. Rak’Gol are large creatures that easily dwarf humans; standing a little over the height of a Space Marine, and weighing upwards of 175 kilograms.

They are recognized among /tg/ for being one of the few races, I repeat FEW races in WH40K that looks and sound original, not like those fantasy races in SPAAAACE! or those races that look like it got ripped out of other Sci-Fi works (then again, their culture is pretty much the Reavers from Firefly, though they might predate Firefly (and the Reavers, just like everything else about Firefly, aren't even close to being original to that series). Their name is also very similar to the Rakghouls from the Star Wars expanded universe, but are otherwise nothing alike. Visually they greatly resemble the various xenomorphs from Alien, but again have nothing in common thematically). But back on topic, the Rak'gol other than their cybernetics, are shown to be incredibly strong and tough as nails, such as surviving in their nuclear leakage in their very own ships as well as shrugging off multiple Autogun shots like bee stings.

Furthermore, their brains are noted to be fairly...primitive when compared to Humans' brains, but are still more advanced than Orks' brains. However, that does not mean that they are smarter, and their apparent lack of creativity in their technology and weapons that would embarrass even the Orks. There are still no documented cases of female Rak'Gol, but we should be fortunate that we don't get to see one (God forbid /d/ if they actually created one... which of course they did, knowing them)

They also make excellent chairs.

Caste

These guys look like they might actually make it out alive...

...Oh God!

The Rak'Gol at least show some sign of intelligence, in that they have a clear and specific rank (which is surprising given their apparently bestial nature (probably biological caste system)), and thus they know who's boss of the Pirate Games.

Rak'gol Carvers: Your typical mooks, they are the youngest members of their race and look like the triple-bastard love-children of Slenderman, a mantis, and a velociraptor. Completely naked (but that doesn't stop them for being tough enough to shrug off Bolters like they were pea-shooters) and terrifyingly vicious. They are only allowed to be gifted with Cybernetics if they survive their first raid, and prove to their superiors that they can rip and tear. They're usually armed with basic stubbers or autoguns, but if they lose them, they can still use their claws, teeth and tails to rip Guardsmen apart like candy-floss.

Rak'gol Marauders: These guys are the most common and easily noticeable Rak'gol during their raids. They're upgraded Carvers (quite literally), and all of them possess a cybernetic feature of some kind. They typically carry Razor Guns or Howler Rifles, but very rarely carry Rad-beam Cannons instead. Often classified as the "Space Marine" of the Rak'gol, while their Carvers counterpart are the "Guardsmen" of the species.

Rak'gol Broodmasters: The captains and leaders of the Rak'gol. These aliens have so much bling and cybernetics that you could actually confuse them for an actual robot. They often tell their inferiors where to hunt and which places boast great opportunities for raiding parties. They also have a lieutenant version called Rak'gol Clutchmasters, which are literally Broodmasters on a diet.

Rak'gol Abominations: As their name suggests, these are some of the most hideous members of the species, and incidentally their highest leaders. Hulking and brutal, they fuse their Cybernetics with Yu'Vath technology, making them incredibly dangerous and powerful. They look like the abominable fetus of a Rak'gol Broodmaster and Dr. Frank N. Furter.

Rak'gol Renders: Basically Abominations with extra helpings of RAEG and Rip And Tear. Apparently they can't or won't open doors, it is theorized by in setting sources that they aren't actually too stupid to use doors, they simply find it faster and easier to carve through them with outrageously fast Chainfists. In summation THEY GIVE ZERO FUCKS.

Techno-Shamans: You ever wonder what would happen if a Rak'gol stole some psykers from the Imperium and infused their powers into their cybernetics? Have you ever wondered what they would look like? Well rest assured, the Techno-Shamans are here! They look like they're wearing a Xenomorph head as a helmet and are known to make low-level psykers shit themselves in terror.

Technology

Such creativity, such beauty and finesse...

The technology of the Rak'gol is so ramshackle, primitive, and generally poor in quality that it makes Ork designs look ingenious. Yeah, seriously. Their ships are among the few still using nuclear fission reactors in the 41st millennium, as compared to the Imperium's plasma fusion generators. In fact, these aren't even good fission reactors; they regularly leak such massive amounts of radiation that any normal human would be killed almost instantly. This has led the Imperium to wonder just how durable these fuckers are.

The Rak'gol also tend to steal and use technology from other races, including the Imperium. This means that, essentially, they are the xenos equivalent of the Blood Ravens. On at least one occasion, a Xenobiologist misidentified them, because they had stolen so much. In fact, the only original thing these guys have (and their most famous trait) is their love of cybernetics. After every raid, surviving Rak'gol are implanted with cybernetics, both to improve their bodies and as a sign of status. Most of these are the typical, cliché implants, like arms or legs, but higher-status Rak'gol are gifted with fancy-schmancy rad-weapons or power claws. Despite the primitive look of these implants, they are highly effective, being made to get shit done.

Weapons

It should be noted that most of the time, Rak'gol weapons are stolen Imperium Stubbers and Autoguns, however here are a few weapons considered original to the Rak'gol, even though they look like they can only fire five shots before they're useable only as makeshift clubs (which they're designed to be good for). To be fair, Imperial ballistic weapons are incredibly powerful compared to modern arms, the fact they use 8-10mm bullets for assault rifles as opposed to battle rifles is pretty impressive.

Rak'gol Razor Gun: Think of these as an Orkified version of an Eldar monofilament weapon, they are usually modified Autoguns that fire barbed wire in a bullet shape, and are usually seen to rip and tear apart Guardsmen like wet-tissue paper thrown into a wood chipper.

Howler Rifle: Imagine these guns as triple-barreled machine guns built by Haitians... expect carnage, pain and the collateral damage of the "Woopsies, it seems my gun kind of broke apart and hit Jimmy on the eye!" variety. Are noted to vomit out so many bullets that the gouts of flame from the end of the barrels could be re-purposed as a flamethrower.

Rad-beam Cannon: These are essentially lasers that shoot out beams of nuclear radiation that somehow "voraciously breaks down armour and materials". Think of them as a combination of a Lascannon and a Chemical Thrower with an added Fallout-esque look. Or if you've played Red Alert 2, it's almost exactly the same weapon the Iraqi Desolators use.

Rak'gol Rad Axe: These are literally power-axes that emit and contaminate the atmosphere with nuclear radiation. /tg/ often imagines them as normal pole-axes with a red light or tinge at the tip of the blade. Damage usually includes severe radiation burns. Nasty stuff.

Rak'gol Intimidator: Nobody knows what they look like, not even the Ad-mech knows what the hell they're meant to be, other then be "Torture Devices" to any poor chap. We like to envision them as needle gloves like Scarecrow from Batman: Arkham Asylum, but those sick/unimaginative bastards from /d/ like to imagine them as electro-whips used to "torture" captured Eldar women...

Hypothesized Stats for the Rak'gol

TROOPS CHOICE: RAK'GOL CARVERS

WS 4 / BS 3 / S 4 / T 4 / W 1 / I 4 / A 2 / Ld 8 / Sv 6+

Composition

5 Rak'gol Carvers

Unit Type

Infantry

Wargear

• Stubber - Each have the following stats: Range 24" / Strength 3 / AP - / Type Rapid Fire
• Rak'gol Blades - Rak'gol Blades are Close Combat Weapons that have the Shred USR.

Special Rules

Feel No Pain (6+), Stubborn

Options

• May Include up to 5 additional Rak'gol Carvers for 9 points per Model
• Any model in a squad may replace their stubber for a Autogun for 1 point per model
• For every 5 models in a squad, one model may replace their stubber for one of the weapons in the following lists:
  • Heavy Stubber - Has the following stats: Range 36" / Strength 4 / AP 6 / Type Heavy 2......................10 Points
  • Rak'gol Razor Gun - Has the following stats: Range 24" / Strength 3 / AP 5 / Type Assault 3, Shred..............10 Points

Autogun - Has the following stats: Range 18" / Strength 3 / AP - / Type Assault 1

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ELITE CHOICE: RAK'GOL MARAUDERS

WS 4 / BS 3 / S 5/ T 5 / W 1 / I 4 / A 2 / Ld 8 / Sv 4+

Composition

4 Rak'gol Marauders
1 Rak'gol Clutchmaster - Squad Leader (Ld 9 / Sv 3+/2 wounds)

Unit Type

Infantry

Wargear

• Autogun
• Rak'gol Razor Gun
• Rak'gol Blades
• Frag Grenades

Special Rules

• Stubborn
• Feel No Pain (6+)
• Eternal Warrior - Clutchmaster Only

Options

• May Include up to 5 additional Rak'gol Marauders for 17 points per Model
• Clutchmaster may make one of his weapons Master-Crafted for 5 points per Model
• For every 5 models in a squad, one model may replace their Autogun with a weapon from the following list:
  • Heavy Stubber..................................5 Points
  • Rak'gol Razor Gun..............................5 Points
  • Howler Rifle - Has the following stats: Range 48" / Strength 4 / AP 5 / Type Heavy 4, Barrage, Unstable.............15 Points
  • Rad-beam Cannon - Has the following stats: Range 36" / Strength 7 / AP 3 / Type Heavy 1, Melta, Unstable..............20 Points

Unstable - Each time the model rolls a 1 on its To-Hit roll, roll a D6. On a roll of 4+, the model and any model within 6-inches automatically takes a S4 AP- wound. Infantry may take armour or invul saves, vehicles take a 3+ save against it or lose a Hull Point. Master-Crafting nullifies this rule.

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ELITE CHOICE: RAK'GOL RENDERS

WS 5 / BS 3 / S 5 / T 5 / W 2 / I 5 / A 4 / Ld 9 / Sv 4+

Composition

4 Rak'gol Renders
1 Clutchmaster Squad Leader (Ld 9 / Sv 3+)

Unit Type

Infantry

Wargear

• Autogun
• Giant Rak'gol Blades (close combat weapons with Rending, Shred and Rampage rules)

Special Rules

• Stubborn
• Feel No Pain (6+)
• Fear
• Furious Charge
• Eternal Warrior - Clutchmaster Only

Options

• May Include up to 5 additional Rak'gol Marauders for 19 points per Model
• For every 5 models in a squad, one model may replace their Autogun for a Razor Gun for 5 points per Model
• Any model in a squad may replace their Giant Rak'gol Blades with Rak'gol Rad Axes for 5 points per model
• Clutchmaster may make one of his weapons Master-Crafted for 5 points per Model

Rak'gol Rad Axe - Has the following Stats: S +1 / AP 3 / Two-Handed, Fleshbane, Rending on 5+

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HQ CHOICE: RAK'GOL BROODMASTERS - 90 Points

WS 6 / BS 4 / S 5 / T 5 / W 2 / I 5 / A 4 / Ld 10 / Sv 3+

Unit Type

Infantry

Wargear

• Twin-Linked Rak'gol Razor Gun
• Rak'gol Rad Axe
• Superior Bionics - Broodmaster gains the It Will Not Die USR.
• Frag Grenades

Special Rules

• Eternal Warrior
• Hatred
• Stubborn
• Feel No Pain (6+)

Options

• The Broodmaster may make one of his weapons Master-Crafted for 5 points
• The Broodmaster may replace his Razor Guns with Twin-Linked weapons from the following list:
  • Heavy Stubbers - Has the following stats: Range 36" / Strength 4 / AP 6 / Type Heavy 2, Twin-Linked...........................5 Points
  • Howler Rifles - Has the following stats: Range 48" / Strength 4 / AP 5 / Type Heavy 3, Barrage, Twin-Linked, Unstable.............10 Points
  • Rad-beam Cannons - Has the following stats: Range 36" / Strength 7 / AP 4 / Type Heavy 1, Melta, Twin-Linked, Unstable..............15 Points
• The Broodmaster may replace his Rak'gol Rad Axe with a Rak'gol Intimidator for 10 points.

Rak'gol Intimidator - Has the following Stats: S USER / AP 1/ Fleshbane, Rending, All to wound rolls of 6 deal D3 wounds

Super Heretical Promotions!

This article contains PROMOTIONS! Don't say we didn't warn you.

Clearly, with every image posted on the web, we stray further from the Emprah's light. If this arouses you, please consult your nearest Inquisitor for ritual self-immolation with a Heavy Flamer. You sick fuck.

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  Here's a female...