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I have a few Rhino's and Variants but the honest truth is that I just really don't like the model that much. Does anyone use comparably sized models from another sci-fi or historical line? How do people feel about using the slightly larger Chimera in the place of a Rhino? I'd love to see pictures if anyone has anything.

I'm sure most people wouldn't mind.

Friendly games should be fine, as long as your opponent doesn't mind.

On the other hand, all tournaments or events with WYSIWYG would be a problem with "counts as" models.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

If your going to use a Chimera it'd be best to at least convert it appropriatly-lest much confusion will ensue. Don't add on the turret, instead just stick on a marine top hatch. Perhaps add a bit of plasti card to the front where the hull mounted weapon is, bringing the face up to where the driver's vision slit is? Of course cover up the lasgun slits, and add a load of marine insignia and techy equiptment. That's the basic stuff, but a bit of plasticard would help too. ^^

Check the gallery for Old Crow, they do a great line of resin sci fi vehicles.

For serious games, up-armour a chimera and change the access ports and weaponry to match a rhino (warning: adding side doors ain't easy), and few will complain at the result.

Think up some fluff re emergency battlefield modifications to replace destroyed equipment, to shut up anyone who complains about them being unfluffy.

in friendly games most people will allow a "count as" model.
Tournments if you convert them with all the bells and whisles as a rhino variant then maybe. Rogues trader tournment yes, Ard Boyz No

I actually saw on Gw's site the other day some rhino's with Russ tank treads and it looked quite cool.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Check the gallery for Old Crow, they do a great line of resin sci fi vehicles.

Seconded! I've ordered from Old Crow, great service, the owner responds quickly to questions, and they ship to the US with reasonable rates and charges. I'm very happy with what I got, and the prices I paid, and once I get through some of my backlog I'm going to order more. However, I believe Old Crow is 25mm, so the scale is a little smaller than GW. The Slingshot and Trojan and Dragoon are great and appropriately sized. The Halberd Assault Gun is also really good quality, but seems a little small in comparison to GW.

Ramshackle Games has a diverse line of vehicles, as well. Affordably priced, they look great in the pics, and I've got a few things I plan on ordering from them, some day. However, I haven't gotten around to placing an order with them, so I can't comment on overall quality, delivery times, or scale. They've got a small military tracked personnel carrier (Iron Grumbler) that is reminiscent of the Rhino, but has a unique and more post-apoc/militaristic look to it.

JunkyOrk wrote:I actually saw on Gw's site the other day some rhino's with Russ tank treads and it looked quite cool.

Haven't seen that conversion before - I rather like it, and it does make adding the side doors easier than on a Chimera

Right now there is a lot of lines of models. They aren't used in war games at all, My friend bought up a bunch of helicopters from them and they fit the bill nicely. The problem with that is, the whole 50% Gw thing. Other than that i haven't seen much more. You'd need to check the scale of the model, I think my friend used 1/35 scale. It fits nicely. Just an idea.

I should have specified that I never play anything other than friendly games and I have no interest in playing at GW stores.
I am thrilled with the suggestions that I have recieved. I'm building a space wolves company based on the idea of the remnants of a company lost spacebound in a great hunt. Some 13th company inspiration is present and it's a great fluffy reason to have non-standard vehicles. Because of your suggestions I've found several models I've fallen in love with for a fraction of the price of GW.

This Grumbler would make a great rhino that's been worn down and welded back together time and again by a resourceful Iron Priest.


This Boring Machine would make a cool vessel-to-vessel drill tipped boarding torpedoes like the ones mentioned in "From the Warp it Came" converted for land use.



And this is just a much more affordable answer to the land speeder...

Some people use the Boring Machine to count-as a drop pod - ruleswise, it doesn't matter whether it drops from above or drills up from below

If you like the Ramshackle Grumbler lo-tech look, you should consider doing some of your own conversions, using plasticard bodies on wheels/tracks from cheap toys.

Oakenshield wrote:

Speaking of Old Crow... here are some size comparisons for the Iron Grumbler. It's a hair larger then a rhino, but I'd have no problem with it.

JunkyOrk wrote:I actually saw on Gw's site the other day some rhino's with Russ tank treads and it looked quite cool.

That is pretty awesome! Like everyone else has said, you're fine with counts-as models in a friendly pickup game, but not for tournies. As for me, I don't mind letting things count as but prefer that it atleast LOOKS close enough.

Clang wrote:Some people use the Boring Machine to count-as a drop pod - ruleswise, it doesn't matter whether it drops from above or drills up from below

If you like the Ramshackle Grumbler lo-tech look, you should consider doing some of your own conversions, using plasticard bodies on wheels/tracks from cheap toys.

Haha, I actually have some (ugly) scratchbuilt drill torpedoes that I use as drop pods already.