Hogs of War Guest Post - Counts-As Armies

Original Post is Here.

What can I say, I'm a publicity whore. Also been a member of the Hogs of War community for a while now making me one of their rare Euro-Hogs. And seeing I started updating this regularly I took the plunge and asked to be a guest poster. Reposted here for posterity...and myself, because I have no actual updates on my army at the moment (snail mail, bah!).


Greetings all I’m Draxius, a newly minted guest poster here on Hogs of War, and you all have the poor luck to be reading my first post in that capacity. So forgive any odd looking choices in layout as I am still learning on how to use this format and hope to get better at it as I go.

I wanted to briefly touch on a subject which a lot of people seem to have an opinion about. So called “Counts-As” Armies. This is where models from either different armies or production companies other than the original producer are incorporated in a manner as depicted in the army book or codex. The other use is when using one army as another army.

I would like to touch upon the first in this post (making the title somewhat of a misnomer). For instance; I myself am working on building up an Imperial Guard army but have found numerous models and such that do fit my army theme and such. For instance I obtained models from the now discontinued game AT-43, Red Blok. Amongst these are the ones depicted below.

IG Sentinel / Hellhound?

My first hunch was to use these models as my Hellhounds, Sentinels and the larger one could function as either Basilisks or a Leman Russ. This of course brings with it the question of model size. The Red Blok Kolossus is nowhere near as tall as a Sentinel, and compared to a Hellhound its size is even more disproportionate.

 

I figured a suitable solution might be to actually add a base that is the same size as the Hellhound template; this does not solve the height difference. Height in my eyes is a smaller problem as its benefits are evened out with the drawback. Sure you might not be able to shoot at my model, but I can't fire at you either.

 

IG Basilisk / Leman Russ?

As I am not a tournament player I am not sure what the stance is on using other models in your army but as far as I know GW Sanctioned tournaments require the army to be comprised of GW models only.

There are a lot of miniature companies out there that make fantastic models, is it wrong for wanting to use these? Especially now, with prices rising, there are some alternatives which are plain cheaper.


So I would like to ask what it is that you think on this matter. Are you for or against “Counts-As” Armies and/or Units? And regardless of the answer, why?

Arrivals

So my stuff has started to arrive. Imagine my surprise that the order from Black Cat Bases, of 10 B'dass Troopers and 2 B'dass Leaders actually contained 12 troopers. Apparently I got given two for free (or by mistake, I'd like to think the first option). The miniatures scale up nicely among the others with one noticeable diffirence I did not even think to consider. The B'dass lack the pot belly most GW Dwarfs seem to have. 

Also in the mail was one of the possible APC's I am considering at this time. The arrival was the Sand-Carrier from Scotia Grendel, this was the last of the vehicles I ordered so it made good time getting to me. Of special note was the packaging; I never thought about it before but they packed it inside an empty clear plastic VHS Cassette Case.

Smart!

Of course I just perused Inso's Blog once more and found even more vehicles that would look awesome with my army. It does raise the question again what is the style I would like to go for? I do like the look of the Sand-Carrier but it is rather sleek, I think a more Industrial Style would fit my Squats better. A race of miners and workers would, in my eyes, have more sturdy work related equipment retrofitted to suit them. It is what drew me to the Half Ute from Ramshackle, but then I came across this beauty:

So another possible vehicle I will order soon, I like the fact that it has wheels instead of tank treads. Next month! I wonder what will be waiting for me today when I get home from work (if anything), I'm hoping for my bits so that I can assemble some more Squats.

New Member Monday - Winning Essay

Figured I´d share the little nugget I sent in to be featured on the Blogroll of House of Paincakes (over a week ago). At the time it did amuse me and work was slow enough to allow me to jot stuff down. It is amazing how fast you can run out of words to rhyme with, because in my head it was even longer.

New Member Monday


Khepri's Eternal Legion
Keywords: Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Thousand Son's, Tomb Kings, The Forbidden Knowledge of Skarro, Tournament stuff

Little Legions
Keywords: Historical gaming, ancient Britons, crusaders, Impetus, Wars of the Roses, all those really tiny smaller scale things that most of us don't understand, ctrl+c


You Aint Seen Squat!
Keywords: Warhammer 40k, Imperial Guard, Squats, The Depth and Breadth of Dwarf Miniatures

Weapons of Mass Distraction
Keywords: 40k, Grey Knights, Eldar, Tactica, Battle Reports, the Worst LGS hours ever, AAR


And we have a winning essey as well!  Draxius hit us with a full blown poem as part of the application forms for You Aint Seen Squat.  Good times.

Once upon some worlds in the vacuum of space,
there existed a somewhat stunted race.
Seperated from humanity by a savage warp storm,
They considered themselves the norm.
When these storms abated,
Humanity was encountered as if it was fated.
First mistaken for an alien civilisation,
The Empire of Man threatened extermination.
Before the end they realized their mistake,
and joined them in their ranks for humanity's sake.
Technologically advanced, their future seemed bright,
but Games Workshop was about to bring the eternal night.
Not able to be fairly beaten,
it was decided to have them be eaten.
Their Homeworlds swarmed by the Tyranids,
their civilization was blown to bits.
Eradicated from the rules and books,
nevertheless leaving a lot of story hooks.
As the Players keep insisting,
the writers keep resisting.
They are considered gone and dead,
but the players are not misled.
They must still be around,
and have merely gone to ground.
With this conclusion in mind,
a lot of fans have done the grind.
And started their own collection,
converting and crafting with affection.
What I read and hear a lot,
is You Ain't Seen Squat!

Demiurge and the Tau Empire

Imperial Guard Veterans?

So as I already mentioned the possibility of Human Conscript troopers it would be wrong to not mention the following possibility. As I also own a small Tau army I could also possibly use Tau Fire Warriors as Imperial Guard Veterans and my collection of Kroot as a Penal Legion Squad. Much like the humans I prefer not to use any other army influences at all, but if using any and all models available for a possible Apocalypse Battle they are a welcome collection of more bodies.

Penal Legion Squad?

At the moment (as soon as my models arrive) I can assemble an army of over 6000 points, including the Tau I might up that even higher. Speaking of models arriving... My squad of B'dass troopers arrived along with the two Squat looking Comissars. The order of Miniature Market also arrived increasing my army with 6 Kolossi and 3 Dotch Yagas. I do have to say they are fine looking miniatures although the Kolossi are less....colossal than I expected. They might still work as Sentinels or Hellhounds, but I will have to increase their base sizes in order to make it so that I am not powergaming.

Kolossus

Dotch Yaga

Also arrived is my small order from GW. Plasma guns for my squads and more round bases. Which will come in handy now that I have ordered in more lasgun arms so I can actually reassemble my Cadians as well.

Huzzah!

On an unrelated note, I am aware my posting speed has slowed down. This is mostly due to me actually wanting to have something to post about as opposed to me boring everyone to tears with how work was today and such. Thanks for reading!

Links and Bits Galore!

Right so no Squat related (well indirectly) update, am still waiting for my things to get here. I did find out today that the Shadowsword I won as a weekly prize from Heroes of Armageddon has been on somewhat of a world tour. Falk, the sponsor who runs Tabletop Fix made sure to order it from Wayland Games so that it only had to travel to me from the UK. Apparently the Shadowsword has arrived in New Zealand now, which means that my Prize has made a longer trip than I ever have (my record is the US).

So as soon as Falk can manage that will be shipped once more to, hopefully, arrive in short order.

I was looking around today to see if I could find any places that sold Warhammer bits in order for me to re-arm my plastic imperial guards, as well as get some for possible expanding my Squat troops. Buying a box set of Cadians and one of Dwarf Warriors is not exactly cost effective.
So without further ado, places that sell bits:

- Bitspudlo.com: A bit store based in Poland that is ran by two wargame enthusiasts. This is the place I ordered my magnets from as well as some of the Dwarf bodies that are trapped in snail mail.

- Bitzbox: A well known website from the UK, speaks for itself and is known by a lot of people. I personally haven't ordered from them yet as they did not have any Lasgun arms in stock at the time.

- Bits and Kits: Recommended by my DakkaDakka conspirator and contributor Viktor von Domm.

These last four are all eBay stores I happened across, the first three are bits related and the last one gets an honorable mention for selling Pegasus Scenery. Which I bought enough of to fill my own 4' by 8' gaming table. If there is an interest I can possibly take some (crappy) pictures of that too.

- The Bitz Store: Bits, bits and more bits. One can never have too many places to check for specific items one might need.

Click me to get a proper look.

- Blackdagger Games: Lots and lots of stuff, they also sell the odd single complete miniature. They have Cadian lasgun arms aplenty so I will most likely end up ordering a good lot of them.

- Hoard O Bits:  Recommended by my DakkaDakka conspirator and contributor Viktor von Domm.

- Drum and Flag: Check out the Pegasus scenery, I can highly recommend it. Even the ruins are a good deal more sizeable than the ones from GW. The Scenery images are not mine (I wish) but they did inspire me. Pictures are from Bell of Lost Souls, model built by Sabol Studios. If you look closely you can see a Shrine of the Aquila used for the main entrance.

Go check out Sabol Studios, their work is excellent and I dare you not to get excited.



Warpath

So on Beasts of War came the announcement from Mantic Games. They are indeed releasing a Sci Fi game: Warpath.
I have to say I am quite interested in this, actual sci fi dwarfs and vehicles to get my paws on. To those interested Beasts of War now has a subscribers area that will offer further scoops on the development as the game as well as provide early access to the Beta testing of the ruleset designed for the game. So if you are interested hop on over there and do your thing. Just keep in mind that Mantic will do a public beta later as well.

Informations so far:
- release in october 2011
- big battles
- written by Alessio Calvatore
-  8 races (?), Orcs and Dwarves confirmed

The Video with the news should be watcheable Here.

Below I've included the images that were 'leaked' a while back.

The Squats will Rise Again!

Feeling Disarmed.

So I've been tinkering with my Squat Bikers today in order to feel at least somewhat productive in regards to my army and I ran across the following issue. Even the original Squat Biker arms seem to be aimed at the Squats using the underside of their handlebars or are shaped as if they need to hold a weapon of sorts.
Anyone got any suggestions on how to tackle this issue?
Cutting up the original (plastic) arms to change the way they fit and the way the hands are situated seems an option but is easier said then done. The Squat shoulders are extremely close to the front of the bikes...

I guess i'll leave them for now until I think of something and instead just start assembling the two actual Sentinels I have laying about. Minus the weapons of course, incoming magnets after all, to leave my options open.

On a note related to the Pig Iron Troops... They come without bases, so to make a viable seperate human 'army' I need to get my hands on at least 90 more round bases. 50 PI Troopers, 5 PI Command Squad, 40 Armless Cadians.

And of course all the Bit stores I know seems to be out of Lasgun Arms as well. It is never easy is it?