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Im wanting to make a set of hydras out of leman russ bodies because i have 13 of them and i dont need that many. I was gonna set the turret in the back area behind where the normal turret usually sets. The body is the same length and its about 1/2 an inch taller than a chimera body but ill be setting the turret to where it would normally set on a forgeworld hydra kit. Do you guys think this would be legal or modeling to your advantage (or some other BS i cant think of)?

P.S. If this is in the wrong place just move it, it seemed like where it needed to be though.

It seems fine, the size aint terribly off. The only thing you have to do is make sure it has the four cannons on it, no hull guns and your good to go. It really seems cool too, it makes me think some guardsmen or techpriest decided to put and anti-aircraft gun on a tank chasis to improvise.

But me personally, as long as it is somewhat reconizable as a hydra. i have no problem with it.

Ill be making a box-ish shape out of something and attaching four long barreled guns that im making. It will be noticeable that its a hydra turret

As with most modeling questions: who the hell knows? It all depends on the opponent.

The aegis defense line cannons work wonders as hydra turrets. If you can, I would recommend making them on chimera chassis's but it really wouldn't be a requirement as long as the model looks cool.

But your plan does sound perfectly legal so long as you do not model things on it that are not there.

-cgmckenzie

Sounds awesome. I might try that, as I have more Russ chasises than I can use at the moment. My original plan was to use the quad-autocannon turret from the Imperial bunker set.

SJ

IMO youre going to want to convert it a bit. If it's just a Russ body with an Aegis gun stuck on top it's going to look like the product of a scandalous incest.

Robbyraidar wrote:It seems fine, the size aint terribly off. The only thing you have to do is make sure it has the four cannons on it, no hull guns and your good to go. It really seems cool too, it makes me think some guardsmen or techpriest decided to put and anti-aircraft gun on a tank chasis to improvise.

But me personally, as long as it is somewhat reconizable as a hydra. i have no problem with it.

I've seen this done before with traitor guard at last years Battle for Salvation in NY

Also the hydra has a hull gun, comes stock with a HB

As long as it has 2xAutocannons on it I'd see no issue, make them snazzy and have 4 autocannons for twinlinking purposes and even better.

Like most things it will probably fall under rule of cool for most opponents: make it look great and hardly anyone will complain

At tournaments: entirey up to the TO. Best thing you can do for ANY TO is clear it up beforehand, specifically mentioning the ingame differences it may have e.g. 1/2" taller means it can get better LOS over objects, that sort of thing. Most TOs will not care about such a small difference, maybe caveat with "if anything is marginal it will be assumed to be 1/2" lower", and let you carry on.

This makes you a more honest player in their eyes (you acknowledge there may be an issue so you bring it to their attention BEFORE any games start and befroe the tournament, so you dont havea fait accompli pressure-on-the-TO situation) and you can enter knowing they have already ruled on it, so there wont be any arguments.

Again, if its stunning send pics, maybe next to a normal chimera chassis so they can see the scale, and again you're likely to see Rule of Cool come into play I know when i organise tournies part of the reward comes from seeing nice models....you could get away from murder if the rule of cool is followed i reckon

I wouldn't have any problem with it at all. IMO as long as it is more or less recognisable as a hydra in load out and size then the rule of cool wins.

You should be fine.

But if it does worry you you could always sell some russes on ebay then buy some chimeras. You would probably even make a small profit.

Has anyone of you actually made the experience at a tournament that an opponent would not allow you to use a converted model for something? Just wondering, since I did not play any tournaments yet and nobody ever had a problem in all those friendly games.

Its not the opponent that would stop you, but the TO. All an opponent can do is call over a TO to rule no the model.

Very few TOs would take the model out of the game, assuming the person is being at all reasonable - usually theyd just rule it "counts as"a standard GW model for heigh, width etc. How i've seen it handled at most places.

eBay is a wonderful thing (or even the trading post here). I'm sure your local surplus of Russ hulls can be traded for someone else's surplus of Chimera hulls.

Homer

I don't think I would be too jazzed with it. A Russ hull has a specific armor rating and if I saw a bunch of autocannons, I would just assume it was an Exterminator. If it was a Chimera hull, though, it would be much better for the whole WYSIWYG deal.

Just my 2 cents.

As long as you make it so that it is not designed to give you an advantage most people will probably be fine with it, though you should check with your opponent before the game as well as a TO if you play in a tournament.

I should have one done soon. Ill post a picture to give a better idea. As of right now it will be fully WYSIWYG when it comes to weapons (Heavy bolter, Hydra AC).

Robbyraidar wrote:It seems fine, the size aint terribly off. The only thing you have to do is make sure it has the four cannons on it, no hull guns and your good to go. It really seems cool too, it makes me think some guardsmen or techpriest decided to put and anti-aircraft gun on a tank chasis to improvise.

It can have a hull-gun - but it can only be a heavy flamer or heavy bolter (no lascannon).
It IS afterall, normally built into a chimera hull, and all of those vehicles also have a hull gun.

Tech Heresy!

But in game terms, perfectly legal... even if you are sacrificing TLOS due to a larger hull height.

Most people are pretty relaxed on units that GW doesn't make the models for, less so where there is a model but you don't use it. As the only hydra is a forgeworld model then people will be relaxed although I agree that a chimera body would be better.

Rather than the aegis mount, I find that Bitpudlo's flak cannon is perfect for the job.

So here is a finished tank. I know it looks like ass but would you consider this legal?

It looks a legitimate as any other converted model I think I've ever seen. I wouldn't complain. As usual with tournaments, ask before attending.

Are those ink pens?

Looks decent...only thing an opponent might disagree with, and popped out to me right away, you might want to cut the guns length. Looks like it is about 4-5 inches passed the hull. Some might argue that your modeling to increase the range.

You might also think about lowering the 'deck' of the hydra below the tracks. Get yourself a Chimera and try to match the profile as much as possible. Right now, your hydra is reaaaally tall.

Now that you mention it, they might be a bit long. If you have access to something from FW with a long-barrel autocannon (like a Lightning) you might measure the length of the barrel and cut off yours at that length to make it more 'right'. Honestly though, I don't think I'd have a problem with it as is.

I would say it fails the rule of cool... because it simply isn't cool.

I think the wrong hull could be forgiven with a little bit of effort for the turret. If it looks like no effort, people will then get upset about the LOS advantages from extra height and longer barrels.

I would ask your TO.

This is true it's not Jawdropping enough to ignore the fact it's a definitely alot larger than the FW Hydray or any other Conversions I've seen.

On a side note I had a manticore that had a box like that on it but I used an old Griffon for the Body

I would say; no.

In my mind the important thing is trying to match the dimensions and relative position of the turret on the Hydra model we have to compare to.
On that account, your model falls short.

Very cool man I would so let you use it. It is truly up to your oppentent though so with friends it really does not matter but I would check with anybody that you think might have a problem.

I'm a huge fan of conversions, off-brand kitbashes into GW-like vehicles and all manner of hobby methods for saving a buck.

The concept is sound, but I'm inclined to agree with nkelsch in that this fails the rule of cool in a few respects. Here's a few issues to address.

1) The barrels aren't aligned. This is basic modeling 101. Fix it.
2) Construction issues for the turret. The turret is a bit big, but mostly it's just not strait.
3) Greebling. Needs detailing on the turret and a bit on the barrels.
4) Feed/Reciever/chamber, etc. Needs a boxy area at the base of each barrel. This is where the ammo comes into the barrel and is fired.

In a friendly game, I'd have no problem with this as-is, but from a modeling perspective, it just isn't finished yet. I'd say it's 50/50 whether or not a TO would allow it.

Don't be disheartened, every hobbyist needs to start somewhere. Give it another shot and see how it works out.