Meet the Imperium’s fearsome fleets of the League of Blackships, as they roam the lanes of space bringing meat to the Emperor’s table.

What is the Black Ship League?

The Black Ship League forms the recruiting division, consisting of a large fleet tasked with collecting and transporting psykers. Independent of Imperial Navythey constitute the second largest fleet in the galaxy. There are several thousand black ships. However, only the highest ranking adepts of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica know the true size of the fleet and the extent of its operations. The Black Fleet itself is based on the Magadan orbital construct in the Solar system. They should not be confused with the Black ships of the Inquisition.

Telepathic Astra Adept

The fleets report directly to the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Blackships are feared transports filled with gloomy psykers. This doomed cargo is kept in cavernous holds protected by psi to be transported back to Terra to feed the Emperor’s voracious psychic appetite. Black ships are technologically advanced ships. They are covered in anti-psychic wards and constructed from a psychically resistant ebony metal. The Blackships themselves are supervised by a member of the Sisters of silenceknown as Mistress of the Black Fleet.

Psychic Tithe Blackships Collection

The Blackship fleet constantly travels across the Imperium. Each Imperial world is visited every hundred years or so by a dark ship. When a dark ship approaches a planet, its governor is tasked with preparing the usual levy: a tithe of psykers. Once the sample has been collected, the Blackship Captains make an initial assessment of their cargo before moving on to the next world on their circuit. When the ships are full, they return to Terra. Upon arrival, the psykers are transferred to the Scholastia Psykana before the ship departs to continue their eternal search. It is common for Inquisitors to travel aboard these ships. This gives them a good opportunity to investigate a planet’s potential for psychic corruption.

Recently, due to Great RiftSince its inception, the League of Blackships’ supply chain has been severely disrupted. Imperial worlds can no longer receive their Imperial tithes from Blackships. Planetary governors are now forced to impose their own restrictions on their untrained psyker populations.

Sisters of silence

Black Ship League Crew

Due to their complicated mission, Black Ships maintain a crew several times that of ships of similar size in the Imperial Navy. Only those with the strength of mind to resist the constant, mind-numbing despair that permeates the Blackship can use it, so mentally traumatic is the duty. The most vital crew of the Black Ships is the Sisters of silencewho are well adapted to combat any psychic threat they encounter.

Navy Captain

However, the majority of the crew are standard humans. Captains and other senior officers of the Black Ships are senior adepts of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. As for the rest of the ships’ crews, they are made up of indentured workers recruited from a number of Imperial worlds located relatively close to Terra. The Astra Telepathica have ancient contracts with these worlds, ensuring a constant flow of suitable recruits in exchange for exemption from Imperial Tithes. The deadly crews of the Black Ships are well-trained and equipped with top-secret exotic anti-psyker weapons.

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Dark Ship Navigators and Exotic Guests

All crew who serve aboard the Blackship fleet are rigorously tested and scrutinized for any latent psychic abilities or sensitivities. They are regularly cleaned to remove any dirt or infection. THE Navigator Houses of Granic, MacPherson Ptolemy work exclusively for the Astra Telepathica and are the only navigators authorized to work on board the black ships. In general, few other Imperial agents, apart from Inquisitorsare allowed on board these formidable ships. Occasionally Space Marines, Sisters of Battle or higher-ranking members of the Adeptus Terra may be accommodated at the discretion of the Black Ship Captain.

An example of Blackship – Norn’s Ghost

Dad, gamer, editor, pilot, Texan. Every game since middle school. I started BoLS Interactive in 2006. I am a lifelong enthusiast of tabletop games and RPGs, and an Internet publisher who works every day to entertain and inform my readers. I’ve been playing RPGs and tabletop games since the 1970s. I’ve been playing and covering Warhammer and Warhammer 40K for over 35 years.

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