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Howdy all!

I'm looking to return to 40k after about 25 years away from the hobby. The creativity of conversions and painting the dark gothic theme were always my favorite parts. In fact, my main reasons for losing interest at the time was GW's move away from the original 1st edition ethos of "scratch build, convert, play what you want as long as your friends agree" and towards stuff like "you can only play a converted model if at least 60% of the donor model is identifiable as a GW model" and other such nonsense. Having my main force eaten by Tyranids(!) was kinda the final straw.

I've often looked back into 40k since then as I always loved the setting and fluff, and have run and played other stuff in the universe much more recently (such as the Rogue Trader RPG) which revived that love of a rich mix of societies on the edge of a dark gothic sci-fi/horror playground.

Admittedly it's been a few years since I looked heavily into the latest rules so things may have changed before now, but with 8th edition it looks like GW have made somewhat of a return to their origins with the "Counts As", "Narrative Play", and "Unbound Army" rules, and a seemingly greater focus on just having fun.

Even back in the days of 1st edition I wanted to field a Rogue Trader-themed fighting force, so my question to all of you that have been heavily immersed in the rules and stat sheets is this:

Is it finally time for a Rogue Trader force?

I realise developing a Rogue Trader codex or any kind of special rules is a waste of time as it'd be way to difficult to get anyone to play against it (although if there's some recognised community rules for this I'd love to see them!), so what would be your advice with regards to a base codex? I've been considering a "Counts As" IG force (at least until a new Codex for Inquisitors is released that provides better access to a mix of Xenos additions).

What are the current limitations on fielding a converted army (I saw someone mentioning needing to use "official" GW bases, but surely that's just a requirement for a standard base size)?

Finally, if anyone's in the Peterborough/Cambridgeshire area and interested in local matches (although it'll be a while before I can field a force) or just meeting up for a chat about the state of 40k please message me. There used to be a strong tabletop and roleplay community in these parts, but it seems to have pretty much died a death since I was playing!

I am in the United States, but such a force sounds awesome!

In the new edition of Warhammer, you can actually mix and match various armies as long as they have at least one Faction keyword that matches up. If I was doing a Rogue Trader force, I'd run a Vanguard of Inquisition (so your Rogue Trader gets all the neato Inquisition stuff, and a retinue of infinitely customizable goons in the Acolyte entry). A benefit of using an Inquisitor is they can go in damn near any Imperium transport, so if you wanted your super ostentatious Rogue Trader to drive around in a golden Land Raider Cathedral you could have that, or if he wants to quietly land with little fanfare in an Arvus Lighter, you can have that, or any transport in between. It's cool and fluffy, in my opinion. Yet another reason an Inquisitor might work as a Rogue Trader is if you use the generic "Ordo" rules (rather than taking an Inquisitor from a specific existant Inquisitorial Ordo), then you get "re-roll 1's against characters" as your ability, which fits with how I imagine a rogue trader might fight - a duelist, consummate in general fighting but not necessarily a battlefield warrior himself.

Once you've gotten your Rogue Trader, his assistants, his retinue, and his ride, then you have a bewildering array of Imperial assets to choose from for your next detachment. You could bring Imperial Guard, representing hired mercenaries/private security/literally anything, or Space Marines, if the Rogue Trader joined a crusade and got swept up in the action, or Adeptus Mechanicus, if he's working on a mining operation to secure resources...

...literally anything Imperial. The world is at your fingertips!

I'd be shocked if there was nothing in the Cambridge/Peterborough area club wise - esp with the university I'd expect there to be a good healthy game scene if you can find it.

Conversion wise the "must use X% of GW model" rule only applies if you are playing in an official GW shop. Even then its only a rough guideline. It also depends on the store manager and also on the general appearance of your army.

One heavily converted hero you'll probably get away with it.
A whole army totally made to look like something else with a lot of non GW parts - might not get to play at the local store but it never hurts to ask.

OF course at any club or non GW store you've far more chance of being allowed to use it