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For the last few months I have been slowly building a concept army that is centered around the Megarachnid from Horus Rising - Book 1 of The Horus Heresy novels. I have an army list in the works that me and a few of my friends have been building to be able to play the army in our store and to just have fun. The manager of the Games Workshop that I go to suggested that I post the info here to see what you guys think - If you guys could review it and maybe post some suggestions that would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you.

The Megarachnid

1. Fleet special rule (See the Warhammer 40K rulebook)
2. Venom spit - (See stats below)
3. Acid Spit - (See stats below) (Squad Upgrade) Up to 2 from each unit may take this upgrade for +10 pts.
4. Fire Launchers - (Squad Upgrade) 1 from each unit of Warriors, Winged Clades or Giant Web Walkers may take this upgrade for +15 pts
5. Cornered Spiders - Megarachnids do NOT get +1 attack for charging but instead will get +1 attack when they are charged to represent them preparing to meet the charge - (kinda like Counter attack from Space wolves)
6. All squad leaders (+15 points) are given +1 Weapon Skill and +1 Attack
7. Hit and Run, Ignores terrain.
8. Webbing (Squad Upgrade +2 pts per model) - Every unit type may take this upgrade. (Webbing activates on the roll of a 4+)(Roll at beginning of the round for each unit in combat)
-Webbing Upgrades for unit types-
HQ's - Nightmare Web (Psychic Attack) Causes enemy unit to take a morale check as if they lost 25% of their models
Elites - Debilitating Webs - Enemies are at -1 Initiative
Troops - Sticky Webs - Enemies at -1 WS
Fast Attack - Enfeebling Webs - Enemies are at -1 Str.
Heavy Support - Acid Webbing - Lowers enemy armour value by 2



(Any Ideas would be great for the next entries)

Troops - Megarachnid Warriors 15 p.p.m
WS3, BS3, S3, T4, W1, I5, A2 Sv 5+ LD9
Unit size 10+

Troops - Trapdoor Spiders (Ambushing Predators) 19 p.p.m
WS:4, BS:3, Str:4, T:4, W:1, I:5, A:2, Sv:5+, LD:9
Unit size 5-10
1. Fortification - Special rule enabling them to fortify a terrain piece with webs (Roll D3 for results)
D3 results
1-2 -- 2+ cover save
3-5 -- (Some kind of defensive grenades?)
6 - Enemies lose their charge bonus while fighting enemies inside of the terrain

2. Ambush (+2pts per model) - Nominate 1 terrain piece per unit of Trapdoor spiders and roll 2D6 for affected area - roll 1D6 when enemies run over them to see what happens.
-1D6 Results-
1-2 - No affect (Spiders may emerge from the nearest table edge)
3-5 - The spiders emerge and charge the enemy that triggered the trap
6 - The Trap is sprung!!! - All enemy models within a Large blast templete take 1 STR 3 hit per 1D3 roll (no armour saves but Look out Sir rolls allowed) as 1D3 spiders self-destruct - Any remaining spiders autocharge the enemy unit.
(ex. you roll a 6 on 1D3 so your enemies take 3 STR 3 hits - one for each spider that explodes)

Fast Attack - Winged Clades (Flying troops) 18 p.p.m
WS:3, BS:3, S:3, T:4, W:1, I:5, A:2*, Sv:4+, LD:8
Overdrive Clade:
WS: 4 BS: 3 S:3 T:4 W:2 I:5 SV:3+ LD: 9
Unit size 1-3
Winged Clades may take the following:
One clade may be upgraded to an Overdrive clade: 15pts
Extra combat arm: 10pts (+1 attack)
*Special attacks enabling them to pull Independent Characters out of the unit they have joined and throw them out of combat - Must roll for Scatter and 2D6 for distance
(treat each attempt as a normal attack (WS vs WS , STR vs T)


Elites - Spider Guardian (Attached Bodyguard) 50 p.p.m
WS:4, BS:3, Str:5, T:5, W:3, I:4, A:3, SV:4+, LD:9
Unit size 1-3
1. Cannot move more than 12” from the unit they are guarding
2. Void Shields - Grants the unit they are guarding Feel No Pain
- Able to spawn Baby Spiders (Roll 1D6 for each attempt - any roll of a 1 while attempting causes a wound on the guardian)
-- Baby Spiders(Swarm) -- WS2, BS1, S2, T2, W4, I3, A4, Sv5+, LD5
1. No armour saves allowed against Baby Spiders
2. Baby Spiders do not block line of sight for shooting attacks

HQ - Spider Queen (Monstrous Creature) 150 p.p.m
WS5, BS4, S6, T5, W4, I6, A4, Sv4+ LD10
Unit Size 1
1.Queen of the Web - The Spider Queen may summon 1 of the following unit types per round - 6 Warriors - 3 Winged Clades - 2 Spider Guardians (Nominate 1 type of unit and roll either 1D6 for Warriors, 1D3 for Winged Clades, or 1D2 for Spider Guardians - The number rolled is the number of models received). Models spawned in this way may not move more than 12” from the Queen at any time while she is still alive. After each attempt - roll 2D6 - if you roll any doubles you may not attempt to summon again for the duration of the game
2. Disorienting Scream - (Flame Templete - Psychic Attack) The Spider Queen unleashes a scream that causes any enemy affected to pass an Initiative test or suffer -2 WS for that round. (Entire unit affected if already in combat)
3. Commanding Presence - Any Megarachnid unit within 12” of any Spider Queen is at +1 WS while the Queen is still alive

Heavy Support - Giant Web-Walker - (Monstrous Creature) 175 p.p.m
WS4, BS4, S7(8), T5(6), W4, I3, A3, SV4+, LD9
Unit Size 1
1. Web Cannon (supersedes Venom Spit)-Shoots a large template shot (see stats below)(Any vehicles affected on the roll of a 4+ Will also work against aircraft - Web grounds any aircraft that is hit if the center hole on the template is over the vehicle)
All enemy models and vehicles treat the patch as Difficult Terrain.
-Flamer Vulnerability- Any models that have been HIT by the Web Cannon suffer a -1 to their armour save against flamer attacks

May add the following up to 100pts extra:
Heavy Acid Spit: +20 pts
Multi venom canon: 25 Pts.
Void coat: 35 pts (coats 1 allies vehicle with a powerful acid that ignores 1-2 on glancing affect on a roll of 4+) - (Apocalypse only)
Ponderous: 50 pts. (Negates the “Fleet” special rule, adds +1 Strength and +1 Toughness and allows 10 Warriors to be carried into battle)


-Megarachnid Weapon Stats-
Venom spit: 12” Str:5 Ap: - (assault 2)
Acid spit: 12” Str: 7 Ap: 1 ( Assault 1, Melta)
Fire Launchers: (Flame Template) Str: 4 Ap: 5
Web Cannon: 48” Str: 5 (Large Template) (Roll 2D6 + Scatter Die)
Multi Venom Cannon: 36” Str: 9 Ap: 2 (ordinence small blast)
Heavy Acid Spit: 26” Str: 8 Ap: 2 (Heavy 1)

Is there any reason whatsoever to use these rules and not just counts-as tyranids?

For reference, I too have read that HH book, and know what the megarachnid are like.

If you give me a little while to learn how to add pictures I'll be able to post some images of the models that I have assembled so far - I havent concentrated on painting them yet because I want to be able to finish building them considering that almost all of the models are conversions. But they wont be able to tell me that their not GW models. They just look a little a different is all

Go to imgur.com, let them host it... Then copy/paste the link into a post with at the end.

Sweet - thanks for the info



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok here is what the basic Megarachnid Warriors look like - ill post what they look like before so you guys can see what I did for the conversion









From this side view I will show you how I did the conversion - cut off the second and third leg from the spider using a small miter saw (be prepared to mess up until you learn how to cut them - the only advice that I can give you is - practice, practice, practice) - From there, slightly angle the stump where you cut the leg from the body and trim the leg so that the leg points down and slightly out so it wont just topple over when you glue it to the base. Now you can position the front arms any way you want - here are a few of the one's that I have done





I shall post more of the pictures as they become available - Enjoy!!!

In an effort to help you paint a mental picture of what this army will look like when its on the table, Here is the list of what models I will be using for each of my units

HQ 1 - Shelob from the Lord of the Rings range

HQ 2 - (This entry has not made it into the army book yet because I havent been able to find an appropriate model yet.)

Troops - Redesigned Forest Spiders from the Goblin Spider Riders box from the Fantasy range

Fast Attack - Tyranid Gargoyles with Tyranid Hormagaunt Arms from the 40K range

Elites - Spider Queen and Swarm from the Lord of the Rings range

Heavy Support - Orcs and Goblins Arachnarok Spider

I know that we have access to 1 more spider unit from the Lord of the Rings range that might make it into the list eventually, but I don't know yet.

I'm going to be working on my models today so i'll post some pictures sometime this week

ph34r wrote:Is there any reason whatsoever to use these rules and not just counts-as tyranids?

I originally thought about doing that - but there would have to be a LOT more spider models in the GW range to be able to do that - plus - who would not want the challange of creating a viable army book from a fluff army? - especially one that is also not described in the greatest detail. Also I know of at least 5 of my friends who cant wait for me to finish this army so they can fight them.

well - this is a bust - Im surprised nobody has any ideas for this - even if its a similar rule from a different codex

The manager of the Games Workshop that I go to suggested that I post the info here to see what you guys think

Right there... major WTF moment..

(however, the conversions you have really do look good.)

Have you considered mining other miniature ranges for more spiders?

I assume you plan to use the Arachnarok spider thingie as your big guys?

The only reason that I'm not is because I want to keep them as GW models

Just dropping in to give you guys a heads-up. I recently got an idea about converting my Winged Clades and I think I found a pretty good way to do it - So, if you guys can wait for a few hours I will post the pictures. If I'm able to pull it off it should be pretty cool - Wish me luck!!!

This should be in Proposed Rules...
Also not understanding why Counts As Tyranids wouldn't work...
You can use GW models in a Counts As army...

purplefood wrote:This should be in Proposed Rules...
Also not understanding why Counts As Tyranids wouldn't work...

Why is it that almost everyone thinks that just because they are similar to the Tyranids that people would automatically assume that they SHOULD be tyranids. No offence to anyone but if I wanted to play Tyranids I would play them instead of coming up with my own rules and coming up with different ways to convert models before I can even play them. A lot of my friends at my current GW store are very excited to be able to play them soon. I dont think I would want to disappoint them by saying that I'm just going to scrap a codex that Ive been working on for the last year in favor of a codex that I dont like. But thats just my opinion......

Also - how would one go about getting this transfered to Proposed Rules? Just repost it or what?

Well for those of you who like the way my Warriors came out - check out the video I made of my Winged Clades

http://youtu.be/rIzew0u9A60

caveman28640 wrote:

purplefood wrote:This should be in Proposed Rules...
Also not understanding why Counts As Tyranids wouldn't work...

Why is it that almost everyone thinks that just because they are similar to the Tyranids that people would automatically assume that they SHOULD be tyranids. No offence to anyone but if I wanted to play Tyranids I would play them instead of coming up with my own rules and coming up with different ways to convert models before I can even play them. A lot of my friends at my current GW store are very excited to be able to play them soon. I dont think I would want to disappoint them by saying that I'm just going to scrap a codex that Ive been working on for the last year in favor of a codex that I dont like. But thats just my opinion......

Also - how would one go about getting this transfered to Proposed Rules? Just repost it or what?

Well for those of you who like the way my Warriors came out - check out the video I made of my Winged Clades

http://youtu.be/rIzew0u9A60

Press the triangle of friendship and the Mods will come...
I was wondering at your reasoning with Porkuslime and Ph34r...
You said that 'there would have to be a LOT more spider models in the GW range to be able to do that' and later 'The only reason that I'm not is because I want to keep them as GW models' this made little sense to me. If you wanted to use your own rules and not the Nids codex then why didn't you say so in the first place?

well technically I was never really asked - the only reason behind "there would have to be a lot more spider models" is to fill in the rest of the unit types to replace the tyranid models and then about "keeping them as GW models" was in response to farming other model ranges for spider models. But thank you for the info about the "Magic Mod button"

Now, I didnt read the HH book, but was the venom spit depicted as both stronger and more penetrating than a bolter? And spiders spitting on a tank with acid spit was melting the tank to nothing? Cause thats what meltaguns that you base your rule off do.

Acid spit is supposed to be the same as a meltagun - but if you think that we should change it we can - this isnt the final version by a long shot.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I have a update to my Webbing Upgrade

-Webbing Upgrades for unit types- (Any Ideas would be great)
HQ's - Nightmare Web (Psychic Attack) The Queen throws a psychically charged web that causes each troop to see their worst fear - (Causes enemy unit to take a morale check as if they lost 25% of their models)
Elites - (I think this might become something like -1 Initiative or something similar - what do you guys think?)
Troops - Sticky Webs - Enemies at -1 WS
Fast Attack - Enfeebling Webs - Enemies are at -1 Str.
Heavy Support - Acid Webbing - Lowers enemy armour value by 2

The Giant Web Walker seems crazy over powered.

Just give it a Ripper Arm and suddenly you've got a large blast that's more effective at slowing down infantry than a Night Spinner. a 19-24 inch charge range (since you allow all spiders to move as beasts) hes strength 10, and gets 2d6 armor penetration. He also seems to ignore terrain and gets hit and run for even more lulz. You have also given him the option to take a railgun because his other options were apparently lacking!

Auto Breaking from combat seems like an oversight. Its almost like you are asking Dark Eldar to sweeping advance your entire army after nearly every combat.

Then Venom Spit is kind of ridiculous as well. I'd go s5 ap-. That way its powerful, but more so against flesh then armor.

ya I agree - I had added the Ripper arm quite recently - but I'm beginning to think that that one is too powerful - the railgun and a few of the other options were added by one of my friends a while back - but that was before we beefed him up a little - now I dont think we're gonna stick with it - but if you dont mind my asking - which one of the unit entries would you consider to be a railgun? The terminology isnt ringing a bell

Also what AP would you run Venom Spit? you didnt fill that in

And I've thinking about taking out Autobreak for a while - I just had to have a good enough reason - Thank you

Railgun is a tau weapon. In many ways the Railgun is the epitome of tau weaponry. Its 72 inch range, s10, ap1. your equivalent would be the heavy acid gun. Sure you've only got 48 inches, but anybody whose played with missile launchers know that that is more then enough range for most intents and purposes.

akaean wrote:ap-

I did specify the AP value! right there. There are actually rules in play for weapons which have no armor penetration. They get -1 on the vehicle damage table, and units may always take armor against them, regardless of what they have. The most well known example of this is the Imperial Guard Las Gun. Also see the Warp Spider Death Spinner and the Eldar Night Spinner. If you do choose to give the weapon an ap- value, it would probably be fine to let it be assault 2.

Also I'm fine with acid spit being s8 ap1, but I don't think they should get the melta special rule.

Probably the only reason we did the melta rule is to have at least 2 from each unit that could damage a tank if they get close enough.
Also I like the idea of having no AP for Venom spit - that sounds like a good fit

So - if we were to take away the Heavy Acid Gun - what would give him in return? or what would you change that would enable him to keep it?

Sorry to keep asking questions, but just how scary powerful were these arachnids in the book? They sound terrifying, with I am assuming a biological acid that melts tanks like a meltagun (which itself is completely overpowered for a human sized hand held weapon) and a spit that can kill a space marine dead better than a bolter, though without the range or rapid fire.

Now, their shooting seems really strong, but I didnt notice any close combat upgrades. Are they not really close quarters fighters compared to a space marine?

Now that you mention it - close combat is suffering compared to shooting. In the book - they didnt have any shooting - we added in the shooting attacks - when the Emperors Children first encountered them they attacked out of nowhere - killed a few marines and were gone before anyone could retaliate - they eventually learned how to predict the attacks but they still werent even close to killing all of them by the time they left the planet - so maybe we do need to add some kind of combat upgrades as well - what do you guys think?

I think this looks pretty cool. I would tone down the shooting slightly, and bump up Initiative values across the board.

well give me an idea - what would you tone down and what do you think would work for Initiative?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok guys - I am changing the Winged Clades unit entry to better tie in with the 40K rule book.

Winged Clades (Flying troops-Fast Attack) 18 p.p.m
WS:3, BS:3, S:3, T:4, W:1, I:5, A:2*, Sv:4+, LD:8
Overdrive Clade:
WS: 4 BS: 3 S:3 T:4 W:2 I:5 SV:3+ LD: 9
Winged Clades may take the following:
Extra combat arm: 10pts (+1 attack)
One clade may be upgraded to an Overdrive clade: 15pts
Unit size 1-3
*Special attacks enabling them to pull Independent Characters out of the unit they have joined and throw them toward the closest terrain piece (if the throw reaches the nominated terrain piece - the Character takes a Dangerous Terrain test)- roll 2D6 for throwing distance
(treat each attempt as a normal attack (WS vs WS , STR vs T)




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I have updated my HQ's Queen of the Web ability - I thought I had already posted this one already but it made it in after I started the post

Spider Queen (HQ- Monstrous Creature) 150 p.p.m
WS5, BS4, S6, T5, W4, I5, A4, Sv4+ LD10
Unit Size 1
1.Queen of the Web - The Spider Queen may summon 1 of the following unit types per round - 6 Warriors - 3 Winged Clades - 2 Spider Guardians (Nominate 1 type of unit and roll either 1D6 for Warriors, 1D3 for Winged Clades, or 1D2 for Spider Guardians - The number rolled is the number of models received). Models spawned in this way may not move more than 12” from the Queen at any time while she is still alive. After each attempt - roll 2D6 - if you roll any doubles you may not attempt to summon again for the duration of the game




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh boy, I'm on a roll tonight - here is the newest stat line and unit entry for my Giant Web Walker

Heavy Support - Giant Web-Walker - (Monstrous Creature) 175 p.p.m
WS4, BS4, S7(8), T5(6), W4, I3, A3, SV4+, LD9
Unit Size 1
1. Web Cannon (supersedes Venom Spit)-Shoots a large template shot (see stats below)(Any vehicles affected on the roll of a 4+ Will also work against aircraft - Web grounds any aircraft that is hit by over half of the template)
(Any shots that score a direct hit on an enemy unit becomes a permanent sticky patch - all infantry models, vehicles, and aircraft must roll above the webs current Str to escape. Also any infantry that move over that patch treat as Difficult Terrain - The web degrades in Str by 1 per turn

May add the following up to 100pts extra:
Heavy Acid Spit: +20 pts
Multi venom canon: 25 Pts.
Void coat: 35 pts (coats 1 allies vehicle with a powerful acid that ignores 1-2 on glancing affect on a roll of 4+) - (Apocalypse only)
Ponderous: 50 pts. (Negates Hit and Run, adds +1 Strength and +1 Toughness and allows 10 Warriors to be carried into battle)

-Megarachnid Weapon Stats-
Venom spit: 12” str:5 ap: - (assault 2)
Acid spit: 12” str: 7 ap: 1 ( Assault 1)
Web Cannon: 48” str: 5 (Large Template) (Roll 2D6 + Scatter Die)
Multi Venom Cannon: 36” str: 9 ap: 2 (ordinence small blast)
Heavy Acid Spit: 26” Str: 8 ap: 2 (Heavy 1)



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok - I'm gonna take a break off of this before I cook my brain - I'll let you guys look it over and see what you think

As for models, how about Necron Tomb Spyders and Scarab Swarms? It's been a while since I read the book, but how about using the "Hit-and-run" rule for some units? With I5, they can most likely disengage as they please. Instead of beast units, how about just fleet. Possibly move-through-cover for some units. I see these guys as more Eldar type fast rather than cavalry charging fast.

Winged Clades (Flying troops-Fast Attack) 18 p.p.m
WS:3, BS:3, S:3, T:4, W:1, I:5, A:2*, Sv:4+, LD:8
*Special attacks enabling them to pull Independent Characters out of the unit they have joined and throw them toward the closest terrain piece (if the throw reaches the nominated terrain piece - the Character takes a Dangerous Terrain test)- roll 2D6 for throwing distance
(treat each attempt as a normal attack (WS vs WS , STR vs T)

How about making the throw an effect of a successful hit-and-run. Don't limit the throw to a special character, randomly select any non-vehicle, non-monster model. Throw direction can be determined by scatter dice. If they go off the table, they're dead. Impassible terrain, just reduce throw distance. Note the unit may end up out of coherency and per BRB must regain coherency before taking any other action.

Heavy Support - Giant Web-Walker - (Monstrous Creature) 175 p.p.m
WS4, BS4, S7(8), T5(6), W4, I3, A3, SV4+, LD9
Unit Size 1
1. Web Cannon (supersedes Venom Spit)-Shoots a large template shot (see stats below)(Any vehicles affected on the roll of a 4+ Will also work against aircraft - Web grounds any aircraft that is hit by over half of the template)
(Any shots that score a direct hit on an enemy unit becomes a permanent sticky patch - all infantry models, vehicles, and aircraft must roll above the webs current Str to escape. Also any infantry that move over that patch treat as Difficult Terrain - The web degrades in Str by 1 per turn

Just say if the large blast center hole is over the vehicle, the vehicle is affected. Less arguments about how much is half of a template. Non-vehicle units hit by web must treat all terrain as difficult terrain the next turn. Heck, just make it all units. If a vehicle wants to move, it has to roll for difficult terrain. Skimmers/flyers might get a penalty on their rolls. How about any units affected by a web treat all flamer attacks the same or next round as twin-linked as web stuck on them also burns? I guess you'd need a unit with a flamer then to take advantage of that.

hey guys - what do you think would be a good entry that would work for some kind of biological flamer - or how about making it so that each type of unit upgrade (Acid Spitters for instance) become a completely seperate entity (similar to the attached weapon teams from Skaven) that can be taken as either an attached weapon team or as a stand-alone unit (like Long Fangs or Wolf Guard) that way we can add in another type of longer range unit without the need of having to create another type of unit

Just thought of a variant of the typical biological flamer. A spider spits out a dense chemical goo, web or acid variant, that sticks to everything in front of the spider. Basically a flamer template. Less than a second later the spider follows up with a second lighter spray that catalyzes the first mixture to ignite. The targets all have a sticky goo stuck to them that is burning. S:4 AP:5 or something.

Nice, I like that

How about making the throw an effect of a successful hit-and-run. Don't limit the throw to a special character, randomly select any non-vehicle, non-monster model. Throw direction can be determined by scatter dice. If they go off the table, they're dead. Impassible terrain, just reduce throw distance. Note the unit may end up out of coherency and per BRB must regain coherency before taking any other action

I like the idea of being able to throw any model out but Im trying to keep it as close to the rules in the 40K rulebook as possible - I talked with GW and found out that if you wanted to be able to pull a normal rank and file model out - then you would have to move the entire unit with it. Originally, we had the rule to be able to throw a normal model out - but changed it to Independant characters after I learned of the rule. But I do like the idea of being to throw the models in a random direction and the Hit and Run rule. That would keep it a bit more fair. but how would we go about tying in both them? If we pass our Hit and Run - we choose the direction, but if we tie in a random direction that would negate that and give our opponent a higher advantage. so how would you guys want to do that?