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so i am rebuilding my IG army. its been about 10 years since ive played, so i wanted all new models and i absolutely love that they changed to mostly plastic kits so i can convert things easier.. BUT


im still grumpy about the IG tanks with their exposed tracks/treads.. so i was wondering can i..

A) use other tanks in its place.. ie instead of a chimera, use a rhino? i would outfit it the same... just use the frame.

and

B) is there a good place i can get some sort of conversion kit so i can cover the treads on the lem russ etc.?

Ive seen people use rhinos before for adeptus arbites armies as guard proxies. I'm sure most players would let you, it just depends on who you are playing against. Some older tanks used to cover more of the tracks, like the third edition ones. Most of the tanks back then had an armor plating that covered the top half of the tracks. Maybe you can find some of those on ebay. If not, im sure you can convert some with plasticard or cardboard. Forgeworld sells a track guard kit for chimeras http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Imperial_Guard/Imperial_Guard_Accessories/CHIMERA-TRACK-GUARDS.html but i havent seen one for leman russes sorry. hope that helps

cool, thanks for the link. not sure i want to pay $6 uk (which i think is around 10US for a tank track cover lol. i may just get rhinos/razorbacks and use those. i like them and i have made one recently for my fledgling space wolf army.

One thing to note is that while many players like myself would be fine with the substitution, just as many would not. The vehicles have a very different footprint on the tabletop, and that could cause issues.

The Rhino and chimera footprints don't vary by enough to make a difference - and nor does the Leman Russ.

I didn't use ANY GW vehicles for my Guard army (Tanks were Pig Iron, "Chimeras" were wheeled APCs from another company. Other tanks used bits by GW (Treads/wheels and hatches) but had scratchbuilt hulls built to the same size as their actual model (or what would become one - as I stopped doing the army two years ago and gave up on 40k not long after).

I have several Russ variants - a Chimera-based proxy, a pair of Panzer 2s, and a Churchill.

The Leman Russ track guards are part of the GW Tank accesories spure which also has the Dozer blade on it which the Russ also doesnt come with.

You could always make them from Predators with FW turrets if you wanted, they are close enough in Ssize to a Russ that unless someone is really anal about it I couldnt see any issues.

The rule of cool will always apply to tank conversions. As noted Rhino chassis are close enough to the other tanks for it not to make much difference. Just remember to try and get the weapon mounts in roughly the right place. I used a rhino chassis for my Hydras, and they are supposed to be on chimera chassis. A simple hull HB and the job was done

you could always use WWII/ Korean war era tanks in 1/72 scale; same scale as 40k.

I want to see if these are about the same scale as 40k, I was thinking about using them for my renegades. http://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=126_210_195

 l33tninj4 wrote:
you could always use WWII/ Korean war era tanks in 1/72 scale; same scale as 40k.

1/72 tanks would look pathetically tiny. A 1/72 tank might barely look like it could fit 1-2 models

1/48 tanks are a better size comparison. However guns in 40k are HUGE. Not even 1/35 guns sans the biggest howitzers have the same width as a leman russ cannon

I don't have any standard LR tanks in my armoured column. They're all, for the most part, based off chimera tracks w/ track guards obscuring around 50%+ of the tracks. I just don't overly care for the leman russ design.

Here's my Abrams-esque version of the Russ:

I was recently in the same situation as the OP, started a new guard army after restarting the hobby a while ago.
I wanted chimeras with covered tracks (and leman russ')
The "impergial guard tank accessories" sprue has the plastic track guards which still fit the new leman russ hull/tracks and fit the new chimera tracks just fine, although you have to slice a small piece off of one part if you want the guards to cover all along the top edge of the tracks (chimera only)
I have also tried the forgeworld track guards, whilst they look amazing in the pic and that made me buy 3 sets for my 3 chimeras they are actually a massive PITA to fit, mine all came warped with hideous flash required so much trimming to get them to fit nicely. This might well be becuase they were for the original chimera hull....

The old Russ kit came with track guards. It shouldn't be too hard to bitz-order some.

They're also pretty easy to replicate with plasticard.

 Bum_Fluff wrote:
I have also tried the forgeworld track guards, whilst they look amazing in the pic and that made me buy 3 sets for my 3 chimeras they are actually a massive PITA to fit, mine all came warped with hideous flash required so much trimming to get them to fit nicely. This might well be becuase they were for the original chimera hull....

Ditto - but all mine were hideously warped and i wasnt able to get them totally straight. Plus they are actually a bit TOO long!!!!

Coudnt see any reason why you couldnt do what Flinty has done but combine a Razorback hull with Predator sponsons and FW turrets to make a "higher tech" version of the Russ.