Counts as in big tourneys?

[Crystal Mumfrey]

I was just wandering how big tourneys view counts as armies in the major tourneys.

[Wolfshade]

It all depends on what you mean by "count-as" and what each individual TO declares.

Most will insist on WYSIWYG, afterall if I see a guard unit kitted out with flamers I think ah flamers, not oh they are acutally melta guns, best not park my rhino there.

Similiarly, a can of pop will unvariably be dissalowed as a drop pod.

Conversions will probably be allowed as long as people can see what it is you are running, e.g. a white-scars biker list where all the bikes are spiders.

But there is no hard and fast rule and each TO decided what they are and aren't willing to accept.

[Crystal Mumfrey]

was thinking of like a squad of blood crushers counts as a thunder cav squad in a chaos themed marine list

[SotonShades]

Don't think I could have said it better.

Only point to add is that if you have a 'count as' army, send pictures and comments to the TO as far before the event as possible explaining what you want to use and why. If there is a solid reason behind it (such as isotop99's Necromechanicus) then you can usually get away with quite a bit, especially for fully converted armies with a really strong internal consistency. If however you have a load of Space Wolves that you want to run as Chaos Space Marines just so you can take a Helldrake, you may find you have a harder time convincing the TO.

The nearest thing I have ever done 'count as' at any tournaments was this guy;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8386/8539181077_29536d7717_c.jpg

Khorsarro Khan. That's just a bike, not a jetbike. Him, the bikers, the Stormtalon and the Mortis Contemptor where White Scar allies to my Blood Angels main list (though both sets had the same colour scheme at the time). I checked with the TO beforehand, and he was cool with it all as long as I explained to each opponent what was what before the game began.

I also had a Lascannon on a Dreadnought because I lost the Autocannon arm at some point between packing my army the night before the tournament and unpacking for my first game. Again, told the judges immediately so I wouldn't be penalised and explained to each of my opponents at the start of the game. No one had a problem with it (we've all been there after all), but that was only one model, not a whole army.

[Mr Mystery]

Just....keep it reasonable, and keep it consistent.

For instance, I'm ok with 'all my autocannon are actually a missile launchers'. I am not ok with 'this autocannon is a missle launcher. This autocannon is a lascannon, this one is actually a heavy bolter, but this one is an autocannon'. Too confusing. Get stuffed.

Likewise, don't model for advantage. I refer you to the case of a member of 'The Wrecking Crew', a self described 'elite 40k tournament group', who fielded bloodletters plonked atop LOTR horses in place of actual Bloodcrushers. Now, to be fair at the time there were no plastic equivalent, so converting wasn't unreasonable. However, this guy went for the smallest possible cavalry profile (LOTR models are a more realistic scale than others), and the smallest possible base. This changed the profile of the unit considerably, and the diddier bases made deepstrike enmasse easier. This, was of course cheating and unsporting.

Where you're proxying an existing model with a conversion based on something else, try to make sure it's roughly the same size.

But ultimately? It's down to the tournament organisation team what will and won't fly. Some will be really lax, some will be really tough, others yet in between. Check in advance folks!