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How do!

Whilst my intended 2026 Hobby Rampage is currently more a Hobby Mild Disturbance In The Street? I will be getting through my backlog of Marines and Mechanicum in the next few months.

I don’t feel the need to add further to either force right now (well, a Falchion and Glaive in due course. And a whirlwind). And my Mechanicum whilst kind of an army in its own right is still intended primarily as an ally pool.

And I now want to do so kinda the same for Solar Auxilia. Probably looking around 2,500 points or so. Enough to be an alternative army entirely, but working best when attached to my massive Marine collection. Looking to pick brains on how you might go about it. As a conversation topic.

Since your Marines are going to be doing the heavy lifting, I'd say go for what looks like fun and different.

If you can stomach the horrid pound-per-point ratio, the light sentinels look fun, have great firepower for their points, and you can take the "chapter tactic" that they're scoring despite being Cavalry (White Scars cry ourselves to sleep).

Wall of AV14 is of course also good. And remember that Allies get infinite Prime Command slots for some reason, so every Leman Russ can be a Command Tank (+10 pts for +1 BS and self repair) and you have so many detachment unlocks and logistical benefits you don't have to think about slots at all for the rest of your list writing.

Whenever I'm brainstorming a force, the thing I keep in the forefront of my mind if "what's the story I want to tell?"
And also "What units do I like and want to run?"

In terms of stories you could try to tell something like a beleaguered force of SolAux desperately holding the line long enough for the cavalry to come.
So you'd run lots of more static SolAux units combined with a more mobile Legion element.

Or perhaps you imagine your SolAux as the hammer blow with your Legions providing the anvil (basically the reverse of forces of the above).

Or perhaps your Legions act as the scalpel to your SolAux's hammer - featuring heavy hitting SolAux units and mobile precise striking Legion units.

Or perhaps you run a veteran Legion cadre who've been bloodied in heavy fighting, their local force bolstered by reinforcing SolAux units.

Which of these stories (and more) you choose from should depend on what you find most compelling. Perhaps the boards you usually play on and/or the forces your local opponents play lend themselves to a particular story?
Perhaps you just really love tanks and want to run a story that gives you a lot of tanks.