Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

this was a bordem build and plase dont diss! comments and rules for it maybe

and suggestions for improvement.
thanks!

Toilet roll tubes and drinking straws? Think this would require more effort to pull off properly

Oi be a bit nicer mate, You try and creat one with stuff around the house all in all its not bad at all mate well done!

Jordankeeps wrote:Oi be a bit nicer mate, You try and creat one with stuff around the house all in all its not bad at all mate well done!

No need to have a go at him for suggesting improvement. I agree with him, it's a good start but it could be improved by incorporating other parts rather than toilet rolls straws.

It would also be immeasurably improved by being called a Tau-tan.

Ok, I love the idea for a tau super heavy. I previously read you wip post a while back and liked the idea. Few suggestions for the arms, swords, and AA mounts. The straws and toilet rolls just don't cut it. I am going to guess you were trying to go for a build with stuff from your bits box and from around the house.

The arms are too big and not jointed, If you wanted a rifleman look maybe but it doesn't look like that is what you were going for. The arms could have been made out of scrap wood, dowel rods, couple pens worked together to give it a exposed/skeletal look. Empty Elmers glue stick containers would work. Then use plasticard (a for sale sign works) to add armor plates and facets to the model.

The AA guns can be anything. Rail rifles from broadsides or fire warriors placed on an extended mount would work great or a grouping of burst cannons.

The dawnblade can be made out of a pen and some plastic card. I made a axe for a dreadnought of mine from an empty pen and some rhino doors (pics in gallery). Old toys laying around the house could be used or just trace your own out of plastic card.

Here are some pics from CMON of another tau titan. This will give you some inspiration and ideas on how to improve yours. Good luck with this build.

Im pretty sure 99% of these are from other tau models.









Just my $.02

For homebrew Apoc units, its all about the rule of cool, and it seems like you are looking to get a uber unit without the work/cost of one. Fallen has the right idea, and his suggestions are right on the money.

Baron von Felixton wrote:Toilet roll tubes and drinking straws? Think this would require more effort to pull off properly

Everyone gets dehydrated, especially titans.

As for actually being helfpul;
This tau titan was made of plastic sheets which can be bought here for 6.58$

picture source is here.

they are NOT straws they ar bits of bamboo

Either way, it looks very rushed and unfinished. I mean, you can call it a Tau-Titan, but it looks like a devilfish sprouting toilet-paper rolls.

Well, there's no more duct tape. Not sure if this is an improvement or not.

It does look very rushed.

And the only thing that makes it resemble Tau is the fish in the middle of it. I would dis-assemble it and take a hard look around and try again.

That said, I couldn't do better. Also, those Titans, Fallen, are damn nasty. The one Nebu posted isn't bad either.

My partially complete tau Titan. Friend of mine saw this thread and suggested i post some pics of my work in progress.
Still need to paint over the shimmer nickel silver prime. This was a big conversion project. But the conversion and assembly is complete.
This model is magnetized with various sized magnets to make it both interchangeable, and assemble. Also completely posable on it's
stand... Feedback is appreciated...!!!

A few more pics from other various angles...

Well Brain555, I must say I am rather impressed.

the Rules for it
Tau Swordfish(or other name) Cost: 1250pts

Void Shields: 2
Structure points: 4

Armor
BS Front side rear
5 14 14 14

Equipment: Fusion blaster AA turrets, Ion cannon, Burst cannon drones, Neon Blade.

Unit Type : Heavy Walker

Special Rules
Bombardment: The Swordfish is linked to the orbiting Tau Space Ships. On a 4+ once a Game it can call in a large Blast Bomb that is strength 10 AP1
Jets: as its feet have engines in them the Sword fish can move 12” and still fire 2 weapons.


Weapons Range Strength AP Type
Burst Cannon 18” 5 5 Assault 3
Ion Cannon 60” 7 3 Heavy 3
AA Turrets 60” 10 1 Heavy 1 Melta
Neon blade
(Close combat) 6” 8 2 Assault 1
Neon blade
(ranged) 24” 6 3 Heavy 2 Large blast ignores cover

Not bad 2 any of the tau titans at least there is intrest in creating custom models

Way, way undercosted. The Armor should not be 14 all around, no titan (even an Emperor) has that, let alone Tau. The AA turret should be AA, and not have melta, especially with a 60" range. A sword is a sword, no need to make it a gun too.

If you didnt want to change the rules at all, it needs to be at least 1250 points. It is much closer to a Reaver Titan then a Warhound.

Think the arms could use the most work. They need some kind of joint or articulation. Not that it needs to actually have bendable arms, just the appearance that I could move them.

Hey Tadhghouze,

Just read your post on costing. WOW - sorry, WAY under costed. For what you're fielding, there are HQ's that can't be fielded for so little.

I put mine together using Army Builder's 40K VDR (Vehicle Design Rules) datafiles... and this is what I came out to:
Tau Walker, War Machine Size
That as a base price is 145pts.

Now, bump the armor to something slightly respectible...
Armor 13 F, 11 Side and 11 Rear (Keeping to the theme that Tau are notoriously light on armor).

I'm at 200pts, listing the Titan as a Fully Armored War Machine vs Open Topped.

Give it a Skimmer upgrade at 20pts (to represent my jetpacks... it is a giant crisis suit afterall! :-)

I gave it 2 tau fields (70pts) and 2 structure pts (100 pts and are included in the base price!)

2 gun drones at 12pts each

The targeting array is included but its a % of wpn cost.

Now throw in the standard extras that do not need to be included but could and do come with most crisis suits:
blacksun filter (5pts)
decoy launchers (5pts)
disruption pod (5pts)
flechette discharger (10pts)
multi-tracker (10pts)
sensor spines (10pts)
target lock (5pts)

SO - at this point, I'm at 364pts. The way I designed my titan, the weapons on the arms are interchangeable, but you can only max out at one weapon per arm, not including the seeker missiles on the back.

Add: 6 seeker missiles to represent the skyray mod on the back (60pts @ 10pts each).


And on the arms can mount these possible weapons as load out on the right arm:

a) Heavy Rail Gun (110", S10, AP1, Ordnance 1, Destroyer) or w/ Submunitions (110" S7, AP3 Ordnance 1, 10" blast) (90pts - double the cost of a standard railgun - which is perhaps worth the price to get the destroyer weapon)

or

b) Ion Cannon (60", S7 AP4, Heavy 3) (35pts)

or

c) Dual - Twin Linked Burst Cannon (24", S5, AP5, Assault 3) (48pts)

or

d) Twin Linked Fusion Cascade (24", S6, AP1, Assault D3, Melta) (30pts)


and with these load out on the left arm:

a) Dual - Twin Linked Burst Cannon (24", S5, AP5, Assault 3) (48pts)

or

b) Twin Linked Fusion Cascade (24", S6, AP1, Assault D3, Melta) (30pts)

Also, there is an optional custom built smart missile system that shoulder mounts - it's 3 smart missile systems in 1, - which are 25pts each - that max's out the triple smart missile at 75pts. (S5, AP5, Heavy 4x3)

If I take a) on the right arm (heavy rail) and b) on the left (twin linked fusion cascade), and the smart missile system, I max out pointwise at 619pts.


Now compare that price to say an Imperial Armor Tiger Shark AX-1-0 at 728pts which is a tau super heavy flier, with twin linked heavy rail guns...

Or a warhound (with 2 void shields, 3 structure pts, double barrelled turbo laser and vlcan meg-bolter) for 840pts

Or a baneblade with demolisher cannon, twin linked heavy bolter, 4 sponsons, hunter killer missiles and commissariat crew at 645pts).

With those comparisons in mind, I think I'm pretty close to being resonable/in line on my estimate of a pt cost max'd out using the heavy rail and the fusion cascade weapons on the arms at 619pts. Even I think that my own might be somewhat under costed - but I built it upon existing costs from other tau vehicles already in existence and using the established VDR design rules... That said, my pt cost could go higher to 719 if I add a third structure pt or 789 if I added a third tau field (equal to a void shield). But I still wanted this to be Tau'ish - so kept to the lighter structure pts and lighter armor, but gave it the mobility and weaponry the tau are known for... cost benefit... just gotta figure out how you want to use them... and how you want to represent it on the table! LOL

But definitely far in excess of a max'd out point cost equal to a hammerhead...

Any thoughts or suggestions?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I could also possibly classify the right arm weapon as a twin linked ion cannon for 70 pts instead... Based on the style the weapon design... Doesn't change the max design cost, but it does give another weapon option. (I love the flexible nature of the tau and their mecha-like vehicles and weapons!)

I'm sorry to say this, as i was once like you, conversion wise, but not enough effort has been put into this conversion. you could make it brill if you put a bit of time and effort into it. just wondering, how long did it take you? i spend at least 2 hours on any scratchbuild, especially if it includes greenstuff. i suggest disasembly and as people have said before, a changing of some of the arms ect. try, if you have the money, using pirahna bodies as the upper arms, with a small rod running through the middle, and your guns ect attatched to the end, with a possible joint in between. concerning the legs, rather than use engines for feet, move the engines up to make upper legs, then for the lower legs use some sort of rod ect, then use the wings from the pihranas as feet. couple of questions:
How long have you been doing warhammer?
how many conversions/scratchbuilds have you done prior to this?
do you have any experience with greenstuff?
how old are you?

to walker90234
first 1: idk 2 years
2nd 1 none
3rd one none
last one ill just say im a teen

my one real problem with it is that he has a close combat weapon. Tau don't use close combat weapons. Heck, even their bonding knives are painted on.

Nice work mate. As others have said - more work required - but I am impressed - and I scratch Built an Emperor Titan.

Yes, I'm impressed with your work. As a conversion job - you can always keep working to improve.

Keep the faith Brother

Those conversiond are sweet!

Brain555 where did you get that kit?
I love it.