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.

I have never really had a problem with simple proxies, such as a weapon here or there, or a simple change in war gear. However I played a game recently that just got me annoyed, I played a 1000pt game against another player, who basically proxied every unit in his army, some to be units found only on FW. nothing was as shown, some things weren't even close to resembling what they were supposed to be, I had to constantly ask what I was shooting at, and he seemed to be pulling rules out of thin air, most of which I couldn't really challenge because I had ever heard of the unit in question.

There was another time somebody was fielding severely damaged russ tanks, they looked like somebody stepped on them and most were missing weapons. this bothered me but I didn't say anything.

So I am wondering what policies do you guys follow when it comes to proxies? because I think some restrictions need to be made.

A large paint bottle as a battlesuit.. has been played. I played it. hahahaha.

Shaman wrote:A large paint bottle as a battlesuit.. has been played. I played it. hahahaha.

-Tsk, tsk, you should have mentioned the Soda Bottle Fex a la Turn Signals of a Land Raider.

IMO, it only goes too far if the opponent didn't inform you how much stuff would be proxied.
Stuff like this should be worked out before the game.

In addition, he should have all the materials (rules and rule books) with him...so when you have a question, he can point it out for you.

I proxy CSM as SW or vice versa, but I try to get them as much as WYSIWYG as possible, I don't think that's too much of a big deal. I also sometimes use a Dreadnought as a daemon prince.

I think it all depends on the level of play, Tournament? Friendly? Play Testing?
When with my usual game group, we all pretty much have run "test" armies before, just to see if it was worth purchasing said models. And when we play friendly games, before the game even starts we write down whats what if we are proxing something.
In a tournament I would never proxy and I would be hard pressed to let someone else proxy.

I have proxies i use, when I call a melta gun a combi-weapon, but I keep it the same in the squad, all melta's are combi, etc. I use my tactical marines with bayonets as Sternguard lol.

But even in friendly games there comes a point where enough is enough, like when someone fields an Armor Company and the tanks aren't even glued they are held together with rubber bands, and don't have any weapons on them.

When someone stats using Orks for Necrons... and its not on his kitchen table.... then there might be a problem.

I let my friend proxy his old dev squad as wraith guard for his new Eldar army just so he could see what was up with them playstyle wise. I disdain the use of proxies as MUCH as humanly possible. So much so that I have gone out of my way to purchase extra models if I feel I MAY use special weapons in the future. I have 4 Captain/Chapter Master Models. They are all different. I only use 1 in 1 game out of 20. We're not talking named characters here.

@ZombieKoolaid, rare earth magnets are your friend! lol a wise investment, $20 + cost of mini, to get any option you want, or $100 in mini's to get all the options?

Proxies, personally I dont use them at all. If I dont have the model I dont use it.

Counts-as on the other hand is a completely different topic, I plan on running 13th company wulfen on dreadnought bases as thunderwolf cavalry. At adepticon I ran a Genestealer cult themed army with 80 guys converted guard/nid as Termagants. They were fully painted and converted, and none of our opponents had any problems sorting out what units were what.

The line for me is between Counts-as and Proxies. The only time I've ever proxied is when my team was building the army lists for adepticon and we were practicing games against each other.

Proxying weapons is fine, but everything else like units or tanks is hardly acceptable.
I like playing themed battles with some background.

Proxying stuff to test it out in a few games is fine but I think that if you end up liking the unit and wanting to use it in the future you should try to get the actual models or something that looks like it (aka no paper circles)

Stop drinking my Carnifex!

Termagants as M&M's! That way you get a delicious snack every time your opponent kills some.

Someone in my store who plays nids proxies air fresheners as drop pods, but thats because they do not make models for them. We have commented that he has the best smelling nids around. He covered one in green stuff and put some bits on it, and it actually looked good.

Only a couple of us in my group of friends actually have armies of models (me included), and even I don't always have all the models I need. So 90% of the games I have played, I'm shot at by cardboard circles, and I cut up little paper flags in close combat. The worst we ever had though was the mass proxies made out of circles cut from a stack of post-it notes.

It really depends on the situation.

For a one-off, just to try something different, I have no problem with proxies of any kind.

But next time around, if you want to keep using that option, you should have it modelled...

Paperclips to make up for 21 minis he forgot to bring....

A MC base with feet glued to it that he called a venerable dread is the first one that comes to mind. A bunch of plastic tanks from green-army-men bags from a dollar store as Lemans that were about half the width and half the height... but at least they were about the same length?

um yeah. An IC is one thing, you can have your own chapters version of 'Marneus' if your figure is unique enough to stand out, but other than that, proxy is confusing ("this missile launcher is actually a plascannon and that missile launcher is actually a lascannon") sort of thing and I consider it kind of offensive for someone to force me to remember all their random weapons alignment. Get some damn magnets people!

Not everyone has the time and money to have every unit they'll ever want to play, when they want to play it, and that's just fine. There's definitely a line, though, even if it likes to dance around a bit. Are you playing with buddies at home or are these pick-ups at the FLGS (I won't even touch tournaments - I say that's pushing it and I've never even considered competing)? Are you proxying an entire 2000pt army or a unit/vehicle or two? Are you playtesting for a game or two or are you just too lazy to make a reasonable attempt?

I'm new, so I'd be lenient with proxies, as my opponent will probably have to trudge through helping me with rules and inevitably slow play - I'm in no position to be a dick. Doesn't mean I wouldn't rather play against proper models, it's just not of the utmost concern, for me. He better have the rules handy, though. I'll let your Mountain Dew count as a drop pod, but unless you show me where in the codex it says it comes with 3 lascannons standard, I'm calling bull.

There's a difference between proxying a character and turning a shoebox into a baneblade though. Many people invest the time and effort into taking the hobby seriously, appreciating the aesthetics of it, and trying to become better and more involved in it, but when the guy shows up with his dreadnought feet 6 months in a row it makes the more dilligent of us hobbyists think "hell... why do I bother... just go get some airfix HO scale guys for five bucks and make a IG army" or something along those lines.

There is a difference between blatant laziness and lack of effort, and lack of funds and realistic use of cash money.

I proxy every game. My ML Tactical Marine counts as a Multi-Melta, why you ask? Because the only way to get one is out of a $35 box, and you only get one. And as I am just starting the hobby up again I can't really afford to put out $105 just to get three MMs, I do check eBay a lot though and they always get up to like $8 plus shipping. I also proxy Dreadnought arms because the local IG players keep forgetting the ACs I need to make the TLACs.

There is a point where it gets ridiculous though, my friends and I used to play with calculators being tanks, and what not.

LEGO!

Soda Bottles are only acceptable as Drop Pod Proxies, I sugest 3 liter bottles cut about in half, and when you get real drop pods the 3 liter is perfect for storage.
As for other stuff, get it as colse as possible and broken mini's are OK after all happens.

I play the FW Ultramarines Venreable dread as a normal dread (just cause I like the model). Is that proxy?

Nah that's fine man. It looks cool enough, stands out as dif from a regular dread. Now the coke/beer bottle drop pods that dude was mentioning are asking to get thrown. Drop pods are cheesy enough as it is. At least have SOME shame? A FRIGGIN COKE BOTTLE?! At least bring a beer bottle.

"dude quit drinking my drop pod"

Flying Pooo wrote:I play the FW Ultramarines Venreable dread as a normal dread (just cause I like the model). Is that proxy?

Technically, but as long as you tell your oppenet it's a normal dread, not a venerable, it's all good

how about a blob of spray foam on a CD for a spore pod

serious

at a tournament

I assume the person in question did not win.

Guitardian wrote:I assume the person in question did not win.

they did not

To me its all about what the other person thinks. Ask first, if yes your good to go, if not oh well.

I think there is some fun to the fact of having to learn to use the toys at your disposal. I only own 15 Dire Avengers, two of whom are exarchs. This is not common for someone who has about 4000 points worth of eldar, but I like to work around it instead of just going out to buy more stuff, or saying 'oh well these are actually dire avengers, not rangers' or whatever. It's fun to learn to use the toys you have, rather than power listing the toys you wish you have for that WAAC mentality. I dunno about you guys but I like MY toys, not my next door neighbor kids giant Voltron (who I guess could be a proxy titan).