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Hi,

Recently been thinking of doing an army that is based on special ops/SWAT models (or their more high-tech sci-fi equivalent). I'm thinking of having the guys jumping off a humvee/4WD transport and unloading a whole load of dakka to be darn cool.

While getting the appropriate models would be a little tough, I'm more concerned with which army list should I use to represent such a force.

My idea is that such a trooper/special ops member should retain human stats (i.e T3, str3), but are well trained (BS4), with even a single member having respectable dakka (say like oyur basic bolter) and good equipment (at leaat a 4+ save). And being a mobile force they wouldn't rely on heavy weapons, but rapid fire or assault weapons (like plasma guns, meltas or flamers). And of course their transports should have some amount of anti-infantry dakka (like those 50.cal on humvees).

Naturally IG comes to mind when we're talking about a human force, but using IG guardsmen to represent such an elitist special ops force seems funny. I thought of stormtroopers/grenadiers, but while they fit most of the bill, their dakka is pathetic. Hellguns are just so bleh...

Then I thought of witchunters, and the battle sisters seem to fit the bill rather nicely. Good armor, good dakka, and good BS. But I personally hate the idea of faith points. Something like that should only belong in a fantasy/herohammer setting (like the Might and Will points in LoTR for example). And of course the little rhino hardly pack enough firepower to do pretty much anything.

So which army should I base my list on? I'm leaning more towards WH, but would a WH army without faith be viable? And would the famed mech sisters dakka be just meh without the faith-driven Divine Guidance? And would having rhinos with 2 stormbolters be just plain silly? Would the inclusion of 3 exorcists (yes, 3!) make up for the self-imposed handicap of not using faith? I want a themed army, but not at the expense of wiping the floor with my butt everytime.

And also, any ideas as to what models I can use for such an army? I was inspired by kendoka's adeptus arbite vehicles, and I have also seen someone post a link for a company that makes 28mm scale humvees (although I can't find it for the life of me...). Troops wise are there any plastic models that will represent special ops forces well? Metal figs are just too expensive for my limited budget...

Thanks to all who bothered to read through this lengthy post, and many thanks in advance to any and all advice!

Elyssians. That is all.

IMO 3 valid options....

1.) IG with grenadiers and stormtroopers with rat smipers and tons of chimeras. The chimeras will lay down tons of dakka while the stormtroopers will rely on their special weapons, and snipers will provide a pinning element etc...

2.) Sisters, they have the armor and the dakka, and if you don't like faith points, ignore them and treat the sisters like 13 point marines.

3,) SM scout army, all the bolters at 13 points plus the options for HBs, launchers and snipers...

PS Regular marines, but then you have Toughness 4 3+ save etc...

I would go and take the stormtrooper doctrine along with Veterans.

 

Then, you can put stormtrooper in Chimeras, three veteran squads, and use them to represent the special troopers.

 

Then, the IG plastics to represent the various indiginously trained forces.

 

Plus, rough riders would also fit the SF theme.

 

That would all give you a pretty decent theme, and pretty solid list as well.

You could do an Arbites army.  I managed to make some Arbites out of Space Marine Scouts, and I'm loving them.  I've only got two squads so far, but I'm slowly working on them, and I'll figure out a way to make them at least semi-competitive.

Thanks for all the replies!

I guess that since I already have an IG army based on star wars droids, I think I'm looking for a different army list to play with. Maybe WH will do for me, although how effective they will be without faith I'm not sure...

But perhaps more important than which list to use, I'm more concerned about what models to use. Does anyone have any pics or good ideas on how to convert special ops/SWAT figures? And is there any miniature company that sells 28mm scale humvees/attack vehicles? Someone once posted a link to a company that sells humvees, but I really can't seem to find it...

Any help would be appreciated!

maybe you could use the faith points and just use them as bonuses because they are highly trained, have just looked at the acts of faith and i think that they could be justifed as the units using there special skills.

Tau. They have the high-tech weaponry and the mobility. Tau has all the requirements you need: 4+ save, high strength guns, no specialized/heavy guns, and I'd say the SMS+BC on a 'Fish is more firepower than anything a stupid chimera can think of. Plus, Tau have skimmers so you can easily imagine your guys rappelling off the 'Fish on top of a building or into a forest too. Last, unlike humans and their pitiful "turn the chimera around so we can be right in front of the enemy" tactic, you can always do the classic Fish-of-Fury rapid fire and if you're good enough you'll only take out those models within 12" of you, meaning no assault for them next turn. Pathfinders help with BS-adds, since a swat/ops team will have spotters/comm of some sort.

Daemonhunters.  Same deal as WH, use Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (Chimera, Rhino, etc.).  They give that SWAT feel, just avoid all the strangeness and anti-demon stuff, likewise, as was mentioned, you could use WH, just stick to stormtroopers. 

The pic above by kingayummayumma is also in the current US WD, #319, where they talk a little about how those were converted.