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So the idea of adding some Space Marine allies to my Tau list had been kicking around in my brain for quite some time now. The Iron Tau list (Tau with Iron Hands allies) is really intriguing to me, and I think I would enjoy trying the list out.

However, I'm very much not a fan of Space Marines. Power Armor doesn't appeal to me either from an aesthetic or a painting perspective quite like the Tau do. So I'm on the hunt for stand ins to be count's as Space Marine bikers but represented with Tau (or third party) models so they fit in with the rest of my Tau army (but use the Iron Hands rules). I settled on putting Fire Warriors on third party jet bikes (wheeled bikes don't seem to make sense with the tau, who use skimmer technology on next to everything), and I've narrowed it down to two options:

This model from Puppetswar:





And this model from Black Hat Miniatures:





I'm currently hung up between the two, the first I think fits the look of the Tau better, and seems to be a more high quality model. The second is cheaper, and if Fire Warrior legs will fit on it, I can purchase it without the rider for even cheaper than that. I'm pretty much 50/50 between them at this point.

Does anyone have any opinion on this to help me make my decision? Or do you know of a jetbike model (or even a converison, as long as I'm not sculpting something from scratch I'd be willing to put in some work if it's cheaper or looks better) that would work better? Let me know!

I also need to think of something to represent a Thunderfire Cannon, but I'm thinking a bigger drone (possibly one that comes with Pathfinders) with a bigger gun attached to it will work, and is not as much of a dilemma.

EDIT: If anyone knows how this Sniper Bike was made, PLEASE let me know! I think it's fantastic, and if it's doable then it'd be my first option!



Thanks to everyone who gives me a response, even just in the poll!

I do know about the Tetra, but if I'm going for a counts-as for a bike, I'd like to stick to the bike style, the seated positioning of the Tetra has a different feel to it that I don't feel lines up to the idea of the unit. I do think they would make a good stand in (maybe taking out one rider), but I don't think it's for me.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?276005-Tau-Sniper-Bike

Pretty sure that that is the only true answer to a Tau jetbike. If you Google sniper bike there have been a few dozen threads and posts over the years, not too difficult of a design to pull off either fro scratch or using parts.

I have seen the sniper bike, both on ATT and on Warseer, but I couldn't find anywhere that showed how he made it. Was it bits, or was it a scratch build? If that's made from bits, and I could figure out which ones, then I'd definitely try building those before going with either of my options, but as far as I can tell it was scratchbuilt, and I don't think I have the sculpting skills to pull that off.

 poda_t wrote:
No. 1 needs some tweaking to get it over the hump to looking tau-like, namely the sectioned armor. No 2 is right out, unless you were running kroot or other allies. Do not like the tau sniperbike. Interesting concept, but not something I'd like to see on the tabletop.

I don't think the sectioned armor is so out of place, the Riptides armor plating in areas is sectioned like that. I felt the intake of the jet was more out of place and I'd either have to cover it with something (e.g. make it look like the intakes of the Tau tanks), or some painting tricks to make it not catch the eye except under close inspection (well placed shadows, etc), or even do both.

davethepak wrote:
I had been considering a similar thing (tau allies on jetbikes) for some time, and to be honest had not found a bike I really liked.

The first one is better than the second, but even that feels too big, but thats just an opinon.

The sniper bike is cool...but might be a ton of work...and feels a bit ...fast for a "counts as" normal bike (maybe for an elder bike proxy).

Here is a pic from another thread...

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g180/Troy_Nevermore/Nautilius002.jpg


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And here on dakka


http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/94624-Pike.html

The size of the first one was definitely a slight deterrent, but considering that the bikes are a full two toughness more than a standard fire warrior, I figure that could go a ways in countering that.

Where is that first picture from? I like the look of it, but can't place the parts.

The speed issue isn't as big for me, as if I decide to use them as Eldar allies down the road then I can do that as well. I just wish I knew how the Sniper Bike was made, I can't seem to find any of the threads where the guy gave any details as to how he did it. If it is a kit bash of some sort (I know the drone is, but the main parts) then I think that's gonna be my #1 option, for looks and cost, but if it's a scratch build than it might be out of my league (I'm not confident I could accomplish all the straight lines and exactness that the project would require). If anyone can even identify if those are bits used and where it was from so I can eBay a few and attempt the conversion, I'd greatly appreciate it!

 Sparkadia wrote:
This concept intrigues me greatly. I prefer the top one, mostly because it looks cleaner, but neither really suit the Tau aesthetic.

My problems with the first are twofold;
Firstly, Tau don't use great big turbofans, they use clean jets or grills. Perhaps covering it with a Drone head or something might do the trick. Adding additional thrusters (ala Pirahna or Tetra style) would really kick it up.

Secondly, the mass of cabling out the bottom. Tau don't have cabling issues unlike the Imperium who seem to be having 100 person LAN events in all their engines. This could be covered pretty easily by extra panels.

Apart from that (and the obvious problem of somehow sculpting riding legs for Fire Warriors) they would be perfectly fine. I'd love to see this conversion.

Those are my thoughts exactly, pretty much. The wires I think will be fairly easy to either file down or hide with some plasticard paneling. I think, if painted right (highlighting the areas around it, and keeping them black and minimally highlighted to draw the eye away from them), both that and the intake turbine won't be so much of an issue, but I think a drone head over the intake would do the trick.

I'm still very interested in how the Tau Sniper bike (I added the picture to the main post) was pulled off. I messaged the user on Warseer but he hasn't been active since last summer so my hopes aren't high. If anyone has any information on how it was done, please let me know! If not, Jetbike #1 is looking like a clear winner.

EDIT: I also found this conversion that looks pretty promising, seems like it was made mostly with bits, but I can't tell what. Could anyone identify them?

I've googled just about anything related to it, and I did turn up that second model, it's fantastic but it's way out of my price range to do 9 or 10 of them...

The Nautilus just doesn't do it for me, it's a great conversion, but it's not quite the look I'm going for. Plus buying a Piranha and a Space Marine bike for every jet bike I need will get expensive pretty quick as well.

I resized the image of the other jetbike. Hopefully that helps if someone can identify it. Here's the original bigger image (if you need to see things zoomed in)

 Breotan wrote:
Dark Eldar (3rd Edition) Jetbike body
Shield Drone for the canopy
Two Pathfinder guns (whatever they're called)
I can't really tell what's on the very back other than the antenna.

The 3rd edition jetbike looks close, but I don't think it's an exact match. The "engine" sort of thing on the back is different in all the pictures I've been able to find. Unless there's a variation I haven't been able to dig up.