Scrap that, Maraduers are a paid feature

Guess I will never see it as I am too busy trying to figure out what this menu icon is supposed to represent: is it the metaphorical box on the shelf for all the game functions that weren't important enough to get their own slot?

The Stellaris Marauders don't really operate much like our SiS version. They primarily destroy infrastructure while the slave-taking is a secondary feature (and there's no 'slave market' feature). They also act as that game's version of Mercenaries. In addition, they provide fodder for the one of the new 'mid-game' crisis situations with the Great Khan.

The entire 'Great Khan' event chain makes it pretty clear that Paradox had the Mongols and other steppe tribes in mind when developing this feature; given they mostly produce historical games the influence here is clear. It's possible that the SiS Gremak Marauders was part of the inspiration, but on the other hand raiders from the edge of space pillaging other cultures goes at least as far back as Space Viking by H.B. Piper (published in 1963) so there is a strong tradition of this idea in space opera already.

-Will