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Hello everyone, while thinking about what to put into a Tournament List for my Elysian Drop troops I came up with a pretty cool idea to help keep the "image" of my army but at the same time be WYSIWYG in accordance to GW (meaning they have to be primarily GW model, fit the size and have the weapons) so I could do this conversion. The following are projects that I have come up with to utilize Tau units as IG models, just let me know if you think these conversions would be acceptable on the table top and if not how come? Also any ideas for you guys (that support the idea) that could work to help make this work? Thanks!

-Elysian Drop Troops with Snipers as "Fire Warriors": basically the idea here would be that these guys are my "Pathfinders" who are issued a "Long-Las" and given better armor, basically the outriders of my army sent ahead to prepare a position and call in the remaining army. If this is not acceptable I will be utilizing a conversion with Cadains with Respirators and Pulse Rifles so they are WYSIWYG.

-Elysian Tauros Buggies as Pirahnas, will just be placing a melta gun at the tip of the Buggie (perfect slot for it) and then placing two drones on the sides roughly where the wings would be. This would represent the hull of the pirahna and keep it WYSIWYG in terms of the size of the model, even looking at doing a scenic base as well if I have to.

-Drop Sentinels with Missile Launchers and a Rocket Pod to represent Broadsides or rather as "Missile-Sides": Using the standard missile launcher from a base Sentinel kit in combination with a rocket pod mounted to one side (much like the Forgeworld one) to represent the different missile systems found on a "Missile-Side" Suit. For WYSIWYG purposes they have two different missile launchers to represent the two different missile systems. I will also place some bracing bars or even much larger legs to represent the Sentinel locking itself in place to barrage the enemy with missiles. Since they will be in my Elysian army it will be easy to say they are "Heavy Drop Sentinels".

-The Missile "drones" will be inspired by the ones that many modern armies use. Using plasticard and a Hellstrike missile from the Valkyrie kit in combination with some hunter killer missiles I will clip the tip of the missile off and replace it with a camera (much like many early modern military drones). I will then attatch wings either with plastic card or Landspeeder bits onto the missile and then place a hunter killer missile from the tank kits (the one in the box) underneath it (creating a wider base under the missile if I have to) and walla an Imperial Guard drone. However I am leaning towards a standard Tau drone with some Imperial auspex equipment and weapons to make it look more imperial.

-A Dreadknight conversion to represent the Riptide. Will replace the Marine with the top of a Sentinel (seen it already done, looks amazing!) and using some extra Tau bits rigging up a Heavy Burst Cannon and shield on the opposite arm (very much inspired by the movie "Pacific Rim" that is coming out). Now some people say the Dreadknight is a little smaller then the riptide, I will use a scenic base to give my Dreadnight more height to counter this issue and comply with the WYSIWYG rules.

-Now something that I am particualry proud of. While looking at the Tau Razorshark fghter I noticed how closely it represented a "Shadow" predator drone that the US military uses. After looking at a few pictures I have decided to build one of these and kit it out to look like a drone fighter of sorts (some US military drones are the size of fighters). I will file off all of the Tau logos and replace them with Imperial ones while tweaking the weapons in place to give them a more "Imperial" feel.

The main issue here, is size differences.
The drop sentinal is nowhere near as big as the broadside.
The dreadknight is also small compared to the riptide.

Well, you've accounted for the dreadknight, although I'd get someone with a riptide and build the base/arms up until you have as big or bigger profile to it, but the sentinels may be an issue.

You could always add a "targeting auspex" fiddly bit to it somewhere, or even use a larger missile setup of some sort?

 BoomWolf wrote:
The main issue here, is size differences.
The drop sentinal is nowhere near as big as the broadside.
The dreadknight is also small compared to the riptide.

Using the regular sentinel for the Broadsides specifically so they look different, and when comparing sizes of those with the rocket pod being over the shoulder they are pretty close

Sounds awesome man. What you could do with the Dreadknight is use left over Sentinel/IG Tank parts to increase the army and leg length and bulk up the body of the Dreadknight itself might work. As for the Sentinel broadsides make scenic bases and armour them up a bit so they can pass as a unit with a 2+ armour save

It's a good idea to give all the models you are planning to use as allies something that marks them as such. Maybe they all wear a red helmet or something. Since it does matter which is which, it wouldn't do to have it all in the same colour and look as the rest of your units.

Why don't you just use real tau models. Thay way you won't have any issues. Also i don't know if i would play with some one who did what ur looking to do. i have played i guy who made his own hunder fire cannon out of wood it the sizr of a land rider and it tall a nuff to shot over most any thing can't hide. just use the right models

 Purifier wrote:
It's a good idea to give all the models you are planning to use as allies something that marks them as such. Maybe they all wear a red helmet or something. Since it does matter which is which, it wouldn't do to have it all in the same colour and look as the rest of your units.

Already thought of that, my "Fire Warriors" who have been given the nod to use the sniper rifles that come with the Elysian weapon packs to represent them will either have a distinct marking on their armor or even f thinking of putting a "gillie suit" of some kind over the model to make them stand out. Also the fact they will be the only ones with that kind of weapon (the sniper rifle) in the army it should not be a hard thing to tell what is what, hence why I am using the standard Sentinel to use as my "Heavy Drop Sentinels" as it will be a different model. The Razorshark fighter as a "Shadow Drone" will literally be the actual model with some tweaks done to the model.

zilka86 wrote:
Why don't you just use real tau models. Thay way you won't have any issues. Also i don't know if i would play with some one who did what ur looking to do. i have played i guy who made his own hunder fire cannon out of wood it the sizr of a land rider and it tall a nuff to shot over most any thing can't hide. just use the right models

Big difference between the example you have given and what I am doing is that I am actually doing conversions that fit the size profile of the model and not making them to give me a tactical advantage in anyway. I am aware of the issue some people have in regards to players doing that, however I am not one of those I am merely doing it so it matches my Elysian army.

zilka86 wrote:
Why don't you just use real tau models. Thay way you won't have any issues. Also i don't know if i would play with some one who did what ur looking to do. i have played i guy who made his own hunder fire cannon out of wood it the sizr of a land rider and it tall a nuff to shot over most any thing can't hide. just use the right models

Becasue this is a hobby and conversions and scratch builds should be embraced (if they are the same size) since it shows the modeler's skills and ingenuity.