Purely a fluff question regarding the Duke

I am new to DE and after reading almost all of the codex and thinking about how I want to build it I have a question.
I like the fluff surrounding the duke, he broke away from Commoragh, stealing ships as he went, making several archons angry in the process to become a corsair.
I like that and I would like to build an army around that and theme it appropriately. So are there any units you would not see in this type of list? Would a corsair have access to wyche cults for instance? If not could I mix the bits from warriors and wyches to come up with something that looks a bit different?
Like I said purely a fluff question, what do you think?

In my opinion, a corsair can have access to absolutely anything. It entirely depends on the success of the dread archon at the helm of the fleet, as getting new recruits is a matter of how infamous the archon is and how many great deeds are under his belt.

For instance, my own corsair fleet has the core of a warband of kabalite warriors that, with a wych cult dedicated to Khaine joining in after hearing of the archon's claims and rather successful displays of being worthy the Bloody Handed god of Murder. The fleet is backed up by a rogue haemonculus, providing various kinds of help and support in return of acquiring certain items from various places for research purposes and such.

Really, just about anything is possible with a corsair force, I suggest checking out the project logs, some of them have stellar mixes of craftworlder kits with DE ones.

If you really want to go with a pirate corsair fleet, I really like your idea of mixing up different bits to make your models... maybe even toss in some CW Eldar-ey-ness, as well as the odd unit from other races. I don't think that a corsair WOULD have access to a wych cult... but they may have access to a single wych, who may train other units. Same thing applies for warrior squads... doubt he would be able to just get a whole kabalite squad, but he might have a few warriors from here or there that could train other units.

He could probably get scourges (in the way that Siticus described above, backed by a rogue haemon or something of the sort), so you could have many different races with DE equipment. The only thing I would shy away from would be Incubi, and maybe bombers and fighters. Incubi because (in the fluff) their clans are extremely selective, and highly disciplined, and I can't see their equipment being accessed and stolen very easily... not enough for a whole squad anyway, and the fighter/bomber for the fact that it sounds like there are very few of them, owned by a very select number of kabals...

Dread Archons have whatever they want. They are pirates in a society of... well pirates. I see no problem having wyches in a DE "Corsair" list. If you want something different though, you could just use warriors with CCWs and say they are the "boarding elite", but then that would be part of your particular fluff for your Fleet. Your imagination is the only limit for any army.

This has inspired me... I may make a corsair fleet, just because why not... mixing in other races would make it awesome too! Maybe I'll use an Ur Ghul or medusae as my archon... XD

Having access to something is supremely easy for any race with webway knowledge. A journey that would be a heroic undertaking for any human would be a night's travel for an Eldar. The Duke might stop off in Commorragh, unload a stolen treasure, and pick up a Wych Cult or two for a raid on the other side of the galaxy, to be back within the week. So, he drops off some booty, and picks up some booty as well!

The biggest hint that the Duke in particular can and appreciates having Wyches along is that he has an in-game rule that rewards you for taking combat drug units. You could always claim they are pirate combat specialists rather than impossibly agile gladiator women, but the result would be a drug-crazed guy with exotic weapons and a Dodge save, so it's all good in the end.

Ruke wrote:

The only thing I would shy away from would be Incubi, and maybe bombers and fighters. Incubi because (in the fluff) their clans are extremely selective, and highly disciplined, and I can't see their equipment being accessed and stolen very easily... not enough for a whole squad anyway, and the fighter/bomber for the fact that it sounds like there are very few of them, owned by a very select number of kabals...

I agree with Incubi, but the planes are probably the most Corsair-ey thing in the DE codex. Corsairs are all about lightning raids from the orbit, and that's what the planes do. If you look at the Forgeworld Corsair list, they can have 3 Nightwings and 3 Phoenixes (roughly equivalent of our Razorwings and Voidravens) in a single list. The superheavy Vampire Raider is also fluff-vise supposed to be primarily a Corsair plane. Corsairs love planes.

Speakign of Corsair units, basic Kablite stuff would do just fine representing Corsairs, as I imagine most Comorrite Corsairs would still use splinter weapons and the same vehicles as Kabalites (since those would be relatively easy to get in Commorragh). Maybe mix some Craftworld/Corsair bits and even non-Eldar models (Kroot mercenaries, anyone?) to highlight the fact that Corsairs are a diverse bunch. Forgeworld Corsairs with jump packs would make good thematically appropriate counts-as Scourges.

I am using kroot as my grotesques, wracks and beastmasters, though with a spin of them being just improved mercenaries granted ascendacy. I find it quite plausible that kroot would follow the will of a haemonculus as a grand shaper. It is their instinct of becoming stronger, and earning colossal strength through mercing out to ruthless pirates that'll grant them their wishes while also getting all they can eat and shiny new guns and blades? Heck yeah.

I also completely agree on Razorwings and likewise with Reavers. Hit fast, hit hard is what the corsairs value, and supersonic devastation would be just the thing. As long as the fleet has sufficiently large base ships, they can house and maintain plenty of aircraft.

I would disagree with shying away from Incubi, though. It would most certainly be far more difficult to gain favor with an Incubi shrine for a dread archon, but once that's done, they'd follow him or her just like any other archon of Commorragh. Of course, an alternative is always using counts-as in their place.

Thanks for the replies everyone, they really help and have me thinking about a few different things.
Captain Balroga- I like the idea of the pirate combat specialists. I may have to make up a fewe to see how they turn out, and post some pics of course.
Ruke- I am glad you have been inspired by this, I would like to see what you come up with.