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I wanted to have a cool army that had a lot of power and could look good too. Obviously I went towards the Tau because of the variation between units, the surfaces of each type of model are very unique, varying from armor to sinew to insectoid carapaces. Next, I had to decide how I wanted my army to look, one key factor stood out, I have always been a fan of the videogame series Halo. The main antagonists from Halo are known as the Covenant, a collective of alien species on a religious mission, guided by mysterious "prophets". I find the Covenant very similar to the Tau Empire, sharing many analogous species (I'll get to this later). I made up my mind and ordered a single team of Fire Warriors along with all the paint I would need to make a squad of sanghelli.

Tau Empire-Covenant Analogous units:
Tau-Elites
Kroot-Brutes
Vespids-Drones (Buggers)
Broadsides-Hunters
Pathfinders-Grunts and Jackals
Piranha-Ghost
Hammerhead-Wraith
Skyray-Anti-air Wraith
Baracudas-Banshee
Devilfish (wish that they could deepstrike)-Phantom Dropships
Aun'va-Prophet
Commander Shadowsun- Arbiter

So, I have most of my units picked out.
I got home from work tonight and was told that my delivery of firewarriors and paints had arrived at my friend's house (he does all of my online ordering). My friend works late on Saturdays so I was unable to pick up my models and paint... Hopefully after my long shift at work tomorrow I'll be in a mood to model them. I don't know when exactly I'll begin posting pictures, whenever the paint dries on the first model. Comment, Critique and Question, please.

I like this idea a lot
Orca would fit the Dropships the best.

I'd almost say do battlesuits and elites and fire warriors as grunts.

I love this idea. I believe it will work. Please post pictures as soon as you can.

Doomface81 wrote:I'd almost say do battlesuits and elites and fire warriors as grunts.

That puts a pretty severe limit on the amount of elites I can field, I also heard that Tau were getting squats in their next codex. I could always wait and if they do come out I could convert some of them into grunt cannon-fodder teams.

This is probably the coolest thing ive heard of. Good luck


Automatically Appended Next Post:
U should make stealth suits elites and firewarriors grunts

Doomface81 wrote:I'd almost say do battlesuits and elites and fire warriors as grunts.

I second this. Elites as Crisis Suits and Grunts as Fire Warriors

Why not both stealth suits and crisis suits as elites? That would depict different ranking elites.

I was hoping you would have some models to show!! I guess I will have to wait ): ..................

This is going to be a lofty goal, my friend. Hopefully, you can deliver a mind-shattering, eye-watering experience for us.

I got my models today, rushed to put one together. I now have the team's leader nearly completly painted. Tomorrow afternoon I will post pictures of the team leader and at least one other model. I beleive I have solved the grunt problem as well. I have been considering using pathfinders as joint gunt-jackal squads, standard pathfinders could be grunts while rail rifle pathfinders could be jackals, utilizing unique paint styles, further customizing the look of the army. Again: Comment, Critique and Question, please.

Wizkids released Halo Actionclix around the time Halo 3 came out, and (as of the last time I bothered to check) has pretty much abandoned the game. The figures had a (mostly) decent level of sculpting, and you could use them as a source of bitz, clipping off the detailed parts to add to your models.

You probably would be able to pick up a bunch of figures for cheap, especially the Commons and Uncommons which has most of the Grunts, Jackals, Elites and some of the Brutes.

I am aware of Actionclix, I want to specify what I am doing, for the most part I am not doing conversions. There may end up being some minor conversions but I am NOT making an army that will be a 40k version of the Covenant. I am making a Tau army that is meant to closley resemble the Covenant. That is my goal, I am very open to suggestions, however I do not want to stray too far from that particular goal. I may use Actionclix for smaller details, but definately not to change the fundimentals of the Tau army. A huge thanks to everyone who has contributed their suggestions thus far!

Sorry for the low-res shots, I took them with my cell-phone, in a relativley poorly lit room, I showed them off to some school-pals and received a good deal of praise for their stylization.

this is an awesome idea!

but kroot as brutes? lol

shadowsnip wrote:this is an awesome idea!

but kroot as brutes? lol

Brutes and Kroot seem pretty similar, they are both highly animalistic in armies built around technology.
The main difference I see is the fact that Kroot have several "subspecies" that act as integral parts of their teams, the Brutes do not. I'm not sure if I will use Kroothounds and Krootox, I would like to but they dont exactly fit the Covenant theme.

Krootox = Brute Chieftan?

Lord Magnus wrote:Krootox = Brute Chieftan?

Good idea, I will probalbly do that when I eventually get my Kroot.

Seems pretty awesome, but better photos please?

Sorry folks, things have been dead here for a while. I don't have any new models and am nearly complete with the models that I do have, expect higher quality pictures around Monday, possibly this coming weekend...

Great idea!

On a side-note:
Does anyone know of a varnish that isn't anti-shine, matte, or satin. I want something that does deliver a good, full shine, not overpowering though. If you are familiar with the look of the Covenant than you'll understand what I mean.

Also, What are some of your suggestions for the next unit I should do? most suggestions wins.

I just used GW gloss varnish, and that adds a really sic-fi gleamy metallic look to things.

I was hoping for a spray, I'm not sure if one exists though...
I could settle for the egular paint-kind.

Beggars can't be choosers, but the citadel spray gun may be able to spray the varnish.

Spartan-Kun wrote:Why not both stealth suits and crisis suits as elites? That would depict different ranking elites.

Just give the stealth suits swords, and then they could be the invisible elites!

nos wrote:

Spartan-Kun wrote:Why not both stealth suits and crisis suits as elites? That would depict different ranking elites.

Just give the stealth suits swords, and then they could be the invisible elites!

I am using Commander Shadowsun as an Arbiter and giving it a "retinue" of accompanying stealth suits, these will represent especially high ranking elites.
I will more than likely be posting pictures of what I have done, today.

Squidmanlolz wrote:

nos wrote:

Spartan-Kun wrote:Why not both stealth suits and crisis suits as elites? That would depict different ranking elites.

Just give the stealth suits swords, and then they could be the invisible elites!

I am using Commander Shadowsun as an Arbiter and giving it a "retinue" of accompanying stealth suits, these will represent especially high ranking elites.
I will more than likely be posting pictures of what I have done, today.

looking forward to seeing some more pics!

Will be a very interesting army

Git on wiv it!

Give me 45min, I have to wait for my sis to get home so I can borrow a camera, sorry.