Army Idea Exchange

[ElectricPaladin]

Have you got an idea for a conversion - or even an entire themed army - that you think that you will probably never actually use yourself? Do you think they're cool enough that it's kind of a shame? This is the thread for you.

The rules are simple:
1) If you have an idea to donate, post it.
2) If you read an idea you like, steal it, but...
3) If you get an idea from this thread, and you actually use it, you have to either post pictures or a link to a blog/thread where you post pictures as your project gets completed.

Maybe we can even get this stickied?

[SotonShades]

Hovercraft transports/vehicles, probably Imperial Guard, but could also work for Orks

[Da Gargoyle]

I have an image in my head from a movie called wizards. I immediately transformed this image to Orks. Basically I melded a lot of Orks from the War Hammer world with 40k Orks. On result was the Black Wotchas, a bunch of Orks with shootas and big shootas in kilts painted with the black watch tartan.

I then found some cold ones from a bitz box I won and the image from Wizards hit me. An Ork astride the cold one with a bang stikk, a spear with a stikk bomb attached, sat astride the cold one with his head turned to one side. The cold one would be festooned with kit, and the spear would be in the vertical position. The ork would be a 40k creature in a relaxed pose on patrole. I have most of the parts but have not had the right idea for manufacturing a saddle. I have been side tracked by the many tasks related to my Eldar. But it continues to lurk in my imagination.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Harlequin army. Honestly I've seen people doing this already, but:

Autarch with the Mantle of the Laughing God and whatever tricksy Eldar nonsense you feel like tooling her up with. Multiple units of Harlequins themselves; convert Storm Guardians into Harlequin players/understudies; make Harlequin Jetbikes. No idea if it'd be any good, but by god it'd be *fun*. And look great!

One of these days I'm going to work out how to make Motley from the Andy Chambers Dark Eldar novels. <3 Motley. He's lovely.

[Mr.Pickelz]

Spiritseer (Shadowseer), Solitaire (Autarch with Mantle), 30+ Harles, Wrathblades as troops, and Dark Reaper (Death Jesters) as heavy support.
Optional additions, Avatar (wraithlord dancing with sword), Jetbikers (with harlequin CCW's)

I always thought about doing Harlequin Wrathblades, and have those as troops, but have clear strings coming out of joints as if they were puppets controlled by some "greater power" with a Spiritseer being the "Shadowseer"
also having Dark Reapers represent squads of death jesters. a wraithlord representing an Avatar of the laughing god. For this he would have to be cut and reposed in a more "dancing" manner as would the Wraithblades.

[Phototoxin]

For the Solitaire - autarach with the magic sword, the mantle and a *jet bike* this represents the ability to run like the wind all over the place and have +1T and have cover saves all the time, befitting the solitaires almost legendary status. The only problem I have is figuring out what model to use..

[LordGrise]

When the Imperium pulled back the Damocles Crusade, they abandoned an insane number of IG Brigades, with all their equipment, with the parting instructions to do as much damage as possible and to fight to the death. The Emperor alone knows how many obeyed; what is known is a fair number of IG surrendered on terms, and became the basis for the Gue'vasa that the Farsight Enclaves boast. So I have always had the idea of an IG-to-Gue'vasa contingent. The rules for this have never been published; it's one of the bones I have to pick with the current Codex. My understanding is that the Gue'vasa are not addressed in the Farsight supplement either, although I haven't read that yet; I have to wait on the dead-tree edition, currently due in October. Confirmation or correction of this by anyone with the supplement would be nice to have...

A subset of this is what the Enclaves would do with all the materiel languishing in the deserts, because while traditionally abandoned vehicles are scuttled, that's tough to do once you're out of fuel and explosives. (In the real world, I'm given to understand that there are still WW II vehicles being found in the deserts of Africa - essentially completely intact.) In my concept of the Enclaves, those abandoned vehicles are rcovered, refurbished and refitted to bring them up to compatibility with the mainline Tau forces. After all, the basic designs - produced by Man back in the glory days, if not quite as well realized as back then - are extremely effective. I amuse myself by imagining Earth Caste engineers going over these vehicles and finding circuit runs and bits of fitting that serve no purpose whatsoever - but are still included because that's how they're made.

Their designs are enough to make you shake your head, Commander. Look here - see this? This is a broad-spectum data feed, running from these fittings - empty, always have been, you can tell from the layers of paint - to this space, which their own training documents say is a storage space for personal equipment. We are going to mount the multi-tracking targeting computer here; I believe they once had something similar as well - but no longer know how to make them...

My current projects are a pair of Sentinels, (both in process, although I'm sidetracked fabricating a new canopy for the one) and a pair of Hellhounds, one of which I've reworked. I also have a old Space Marine Whirlwind - it's a Mars-pattern from 3rd Edition, I think - that I'm debating re-doing as a launch platform for Seekers. After that...?

[ElectricPaladin]

When the Imperium pulled back the Damocles Crusade, they abandoned an insane number of IG Brigades, with all their equipment, with the parting instructions to do as much damage as possible and to fight to the death. The Emperor alone knows how many obeyed; what is known is a fair number of IG surrendered on terms, and became the basis for the Gue'vasa that the Farsight Enclaves boast. So I have always had the idea of an IG-to-Gue'vasa contingent. The rules for this have never been published; it's one of the bones I have to pick with the current Codex. My understanding is that the Gue'vasa are not addressed in the Farsight supplement either, although I haven't read that yet; I have to wait on the dead-tree edition, currently due in October. Confirmation or correction of this by anyone with the supplement would be nice to have...

A subset of this is what the Enclaves would do with all the materiel languishing in the deserts, because while traditionally abandoned vehicles are scuttled, that's tough to do once you're out of fuel and explosives. (In the real world, I'm given to understand that there are still WW II vehicles being found in the deserts of Africa - essentially completely intact.) In my concept of the Enclaves, those abandoned vehicles are rcovered, refurbished and refitted to bring them up to compatibility with the mainline Tau forces. After all, the basic designs - produced by Man back in the glory days, if not quite as well realized as back then - are extremely effective. I amuse myself by imagining Earth Caste engineers going over these vehicles and finding circuit runs and bits of fitting that serve no purpose whatsoever - but are still included because that's how they're made.

Their designs are enough to make you shake your head, Commander. Look here - see this? This is a broad-spectum data feed, running from these fittings - empty, always have been, you can tell from the layers of paint - to this space, which their own training documents say is a storage space for personal equipment. We are going to mount the multi-tracking targeting computer here; I believe they once had something similar as well - but no longer know how to make them...

My current projects are a pair of Sentinels, (both in process, although I'm sidetracked fabricating a new canopy for the one) and a pair of Hellhounds, one of which I've reworked. I also have a old Space Marine Whirlwind - it's a Mars-pattern from 3rd Edition, I think - that I'm debating re-doing as a launch platform for Seekers. After that...?

This is an awesome idea. One of my main frustrations with the Allies system is that although Tau and IG can work together very well to simulate Tau and Gue'Vesa allies, the fact is that Tau and IG don't give each other anything the other needs, so it would be pretty much a fluff-driven vanity project - and as much as I love my Tau, and as much as the way they incorporate other species is part of what makes them cool, I haven't got the budget for that kind of thing, myself.

[Chris Copeland]

Lizardmen as Tau. I would use the Tau codex and Tau weapon bitz... everything else would be WFB Lizardman models.

[Ravingbantha]

I've always wanted to do an IG army crossed with Brettonians and WHFB Empire to be a medievaly themed army. Rough Riders are mounted Knights, IG troops are usually crossed with Brettonian men at arms, priests used Warhammer War priests and so on and so on.

[LordGrise]

Total monetary outlay for my Gue'vasa project is right on a hundred dollars so far; Couple boxes of IG guys - sourced from Dibbles here in San Antonio - and the vehicles, which I bought from a friend. I need to order about four dozen of the Farsight shoulder pads, so there's that... but it's a rule-of-cool, flavor and fluff thing, not intended for anything but beer-and-pretzels play. I mean, I'm essentially making kitbashed one-offs; there are no 'official' statlines for what I'm building. ::grin:: Hmm, that could be another subject... but the last time I tried, no one posted to it, so maybe not.

Chris, I got two sprues of lizardmen that I had forgotten about til I read your post; thank you for the idea, sir!

[Drunkencorgimaster]

It seems to me that if you have an idea, it can probably be put into play using existing army rules. For several years I wanted to do a Liberian/Sierra Leone Guerilla army ever since I saw this image. 4679 Google images of these guys sometimes. They were the most whacked-out psycho-crazy bad-***** around (and yes, those are technical terms). -And guess what? I finally just went ahead and made them! Just a platoon of 30 guys so far but I run them as IG Conscripts or Chaos Cultists alternatively. I don't seem to have a picture of the models handy. I'll get some and post them on the modelling section in the next day or two.

[Ravingbantha]

It seems to me that if you have an idea, it can probably be put into play using existing army rules. For several years I wanted to do a Liberian/Sierra Leone Guerilla army ever since I saw this image. 4679 Google images of these guys sometimes. They were the most whacked-out psycho-crazy bad-***** around (and yes, those are technical terms). -And guess what? I finally just went ahead and made them! Just a platoon of 30 guys so far but I run them as IG Conscripts or Chaos Cultists alternatively. I don't seem to have a picture of the models handy. I'll get some and post them on the modelling section in the next day or two.

He may be whacked out and all crazy, but he's not going to hit the broad side of the moon shooting an AK like that,

[troglodytesrus]

I've done a full Harlequin army back in the day with the old PDF rulebook and it was a hell of a lot of fun whilst it was still around. I'm currently painting a High Elf army based on the idea that each elven family has its own heraldry and colours and each single model has a different style; it makes a rainbow of an army that is rather fun to see displayed out.

I do love the sound of the archeic bretonnian/empire IG army and also of Guevassa, I converted some long ago and have had a soft spot ever since for them.

I always have a soft spot for the unique units in armies, or the down trodded sides. I'd like an army entirely of Skinks, or Vespids or the afore-mentioned Guevassa.

My real dream would be a converted Loyal Nagarythe army though, with Shadow warriors and SW-inspired nobles, built around a core of nomadic High Elves and straggly vagrants. Not sure how you would model it though.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

He may be whacked out and all crazy, but he's not going to hit the broad side of the moon shooting an AK like that,

Aw hell no, he ain't hitting jack! That's why the Conscript BS 2 is a nice fit.

[DWest]

Here's an idea that's more "I hope I can do sometime in the future, but am placing it here for posterity if it never gets done": An Ultramarines / Alpha Legion combo army.

The models would all be modeled as bog-standard Ultramarines, and kitted out so they can be played as Codex Marines, except for 2 Heldrakes. The trick is, the boys in blue have Alpha Legion iconography on them in UV-reactive "invisible ink" type paint. The Heldrakes are there less for their utility and more for the fact that with their height above the table, size of the hull, and the vents on the belly, they can be used to carry a battery of UV LED lights to light up the army and show their true nature.

[ElectricPaladin]

I had this idea to make a "pretty" and "angelic" Daemons army. So, it's all of the forces of Chaos, but in shapes that reflect Chaos's positive, "gentler" nature. They come to take the planet by guile, inspiring worship, and resort to military action if they are prevented. They're lead by a demon prince "archangel" who believes that the conflict between the real world and the Warp is caused by the real world's failure to fall on its knees and worship its rightful gods. My basic conversion guide is as follows:

• Slaanesh -> winged angels, very pretty.
• Nurgle -> animal creatures, plant creatures, beast-headed angels
• Khorne -> warrior angels, fiery wings and such
• Tzeentch -> sorcerers, "revelations" angels (ie. many-faced, many-winged, covered in eyes, etc).

The only problem is that this sort of project would involve basically sculpting the whole freaking thing from scratch... and I'm not that into it.

[DarkLink]

I'm just gonna leave this here (Mini-Dreadknight; counts-as Tau):

https://hxtl2w.sn2.livefilestore.com/y2pPLLyiLwCKcEh3bGLTQMQdjW3oXPqRZ_bvABToECeOJnyIhI pUAX9SV2Z9P8WpODs5uSG9Mt-3W3ArMqIaYfihPkjpK-pmej1ojCq9LV4CM1pu74lS92ycQF6sYSmEexs/WP_000648.jpg?psid=1

[Rissan4ever]

My idea is for an Ork conversion. It's best summed up in one word: KOBRAAA!

Kobra Kommander = Warboss
Lord Destro = Another Warboss (they can't decide which one's the Warlord, so no list should ever contain both of them)

Dr. Mindbender = any one of the following: Shokk Attack Gun, Weirdboy, Big Mek, Mad Doc, etc.
Major Bludd = Boss Zagstruk with his Stormboyz
The Baroness = Boss Snikrot with her Night Vipers
Zartan and the Drednoks = Bikers with Nob

Alternatively, Zartan could be Snikrot and The Baroness could be just a regular Nob.

Anytime the WAAARGH! is called, the player must yell "KOBRAAAA!"

[Ravingbantha]

Aw hell no, he ain't hitting jack! That's why the Conscript BS 2 is a nice fit.

You might want to modify that to a BS of 1 and has to reroll 6's

[LordGrise]

Darklink, can you repost the pic? It didn't take...

If COBRA is to be orcs, then GI JOE would have to be IG... ::grin::

[Rissan4ever]

Darklink, can you repost the pic? It didn't take...

If COBRA is to be orcs, then GI JOE would have to be IG... ::grin::
Of course. I'm thinking an entire army of Hardened Veterans, with Demolitions, Grenadiers, and Forward Sentries, all riding in Chimeras and/or Vendettas. Make 'em super-elite. No Commissars.

Gen. Hawk = Creed
Duke = Straken
Snake Eyes = Marbo
Etc., etc., etc.

[DarkLink]

4726

[ElectricPaladin]

This is an idea that I almost certainly plan to use myself, but I figured I'd share.

In my repaint of my Blood Angels as Knights of Blood, I've decided to paint all my death company as though the black paint and red markings had recently been slathered over the Knights of Blood scheme. In other words: I will actually paint them in silver and red, and then slather black paint over most or all of the model. Perhaps in some cases I'll just put a ragged band of black across the face and obscure the company and chapter markings with black, or paint the shoulder pads ragged black - bleeding over onto the arms and back, of course - and put ragged red crosses over them.

In other words, trying to evoke the sense that these battle brothers have recently fallen to the rage and have had the conversion*applied hastily. It never made sense to me that the death company would be so special looking, given that these are dudes who went crazy fifteen minutes ago.

[Aenir]

One that I've just thought of:

In many settings one of humanities strengths is our numbers, that we wohld repopulate with anything if its willing. In universe you have precdent of humans joining tau and genestealer cults. My idea is an eldar/human army
Maybe for the most part simple headswaps, but perhaps with some conversion work, eldar tank chassis ontop of IG suspensions (leman russ or chimera) mix sentinel and war walker bits, the aspects could be broken down, like fire dragons can equal vets with meltas, maybe eldar legs, arms but human armor and weapons. Etc. Its just a rough thought but if anyone wants to use it, go ahead just show pics as your working on it!

[Rissan4ever]

This is an idea that I almost certainly plan to use myself, but I figured I'd share.

In my repaint of my Blood Angels as Knights of Blood, I've decided to paint all my death company as though the black paint and red markings had recently been slathered over the Knights of Blood scheme. In other words: I will actually paint them in silver and red, and then slather black paint over most or all of the model. Perhaps in some cases I'll just put a ragged band of black across the face and obscure the company and chapter markings with black, or paint the shoulder pads ragged black - bleeding over onto the arms and back, of course - and put ragged red crosses over them.

In other words, trying to evoke the sense that these battle brothers have recently fallen to the rage and have had the conversion*applied hastily. It never made sense to me that the death company would be so special looking, given that these are dudes who went crazy fifteen minutes ago.
I like that idea. I think it would look cool.