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I'm trying to setup a Tyranid vs. Ancient Roman army (historical models) game.

Do you think Cultist rules/points for CC+AutoPistol would work (Auto-Pistol for Pila)? Maybe Auto-Gun rules for models with bows? Cavalry follows rules for Cultists, except unit type = Cavalry instead of Infantry, for maybe 2 more points a piece? What do you think?

P.S. Oppoising force would just be Hormogaunts, maybe Termagants, Genestealers, Tyranid Warriors or maybe Zoanthropes for Synapse, and Tyranid Prime or maybe Deathleaper for HQ (possibly no HQ at all, since I'd have to figure out rules/points for a Roman HQ)...no MCs, at least not for the first game.

Maybe you can take inspiration from Lord of the Rings for the Romans. Their armies are more similar to the Romans; of course you'd have to adapt different rules and stats to 40k.

Try looking in Codex Alera.

Definitely one of the stranger matchups Ive stumbled upon. Id be wary of giving the Nids anything nastier than Stealers if youre mainly using cultist rules.

You'd do better with Imperial Guard. Rough Riders with Lances, Conscripts as the normal soldiers and then Infantry Platoons as actual Legionares, all with an increased Armor Save to represent shields and no gun attacks except on Specialist Weapon squads that have prolly a Salvo 1/2 24" weapon with normal Lasgun stats. Or full Infantry Platoons that don't have the Armor Save buff but can shoot. So essentially, the increased Armor is an upgrade that replaces the shooting weapon.

Bigger weapons, Ballistas and the like, could be up closer to S5 or 6 but Heavy 1 on a Heavy Weapon team. Two guys on a single base with the Ballista. Makes sense. HQ can be Commisars.

 Ratius wrote:
Definitely one of the stranger matchups Ive stumbled upon. Id be wary of giving the Nids anything nastier than Stealers if youre mainly using cultist rules.

Yeah, I've been thinking more about it, and Hormogaunts, Termagants, and Stealers are probably it, although I do want to do an HQ, so Tyranid Prime may be it...I'd like to maintain the Syanpse/Instinctive behavior rules.

Regarding the strangeness. I have a Roman army, and I'm building a Tyranid army....I'm staring at the two of them almost every day. They need to fight!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 SharkoutofWata wrote:
You'd do better with Imperial Guard. Rough Riders with Lances, Conscripts as the normal soldiers and then Infantry Platoons as actual Legionares, all with an increased Armor Save to represent shields and no gun attacks except on Specialist Weapon squads that have prolly a Salvo 1/2 24" weapon with normal Lasgun stats. Or full Infantry Platoons that don't have the Armor Save buff but can shoot. So essentially, the increased Armor is an upgrade that replaces the shooting weapon.

Bigger weapons, Ballistas and the like, could be up closer to S5 or 6 but Heavy 1 on a Heavy Weapon team. Two guys on a single base with the Ballista. Makes sense. HQ can be Commisars.

Cool...I'm only passingly familiar with the troops in that codex, but I'll give my buddies copy a look. However. most of my Romans are modeled with Sword and Pila, so they do have a missile weapon that needs rules. I do have two units of Archer auxilaries that have Bows but no shields....anyways, I'll take a look, and thanks for the tip.

Ever since seeing "Night at the Museum" I never put my Romans on the same shelf as other armies; actually I try to keep all my armies separate from each other. I know what they do when I'm not around...

A Pila (that's the spear thing right?) could be represented with the stat line 18" S4 AP4 Assault 1, One Use Only to represent it as a thin spear with good penetration.

Upgrades per model can be that spear, a full shield, or base model with Sword and fist to grant a +1 Attack bonus. The Shield could be a 5++ similar to a weaker Storm Shield, taking away that +1 attack bonus.

Depends how accurate we're going here. Melee, legionaires will have the same stat line as a guardsman, with say, armour 6+.

I'd make the pila Assault 1, and either S2 (which would be a bit more realistic), or S3, AP5, with either 12'' or 18'' range

 SharkoutofWata wrote:
A Pila (that's the spear thing right?) could be represented with the stat line 18" S4 AP4 Assault 1, One Use Only to represent it as a thin spear with good penetration.

Upgrades per model can be that spear, a full shield, or base model with Sword and fist to grant a +1 Attack bonus. The Shield could be a 5++ similar to a weaker Storm Shield, taking away that +1 attack bonus.

Think they were equip with three of them

Thanks for the tips everyone.

As far as realism goes, I don't care overly much about it, and am more interested in having a game with a friend where the Romans don't auto-fold. I'd also like to keep it simple, so my friend isn't burdened with new rules, which is why I just figured using the Cultist (or Guardsman) stat line would be helpful, since they're already familiar to my friends.