Sentinel Conversion Project

Now that i have a large force completely painted and ready to play even Apoc sized battles, its time to start a conversion project and put real time in on each model it produces.

Given how much fun Apoc is i wanted to give myself more toys to play with in future battles, especially if they end up being larger battles allowing me to field more then 3500-4000 points.  The problem is that most of the Imperial Guard formations require crazy amounts of particular models, many of which would never see the light of a normal 40k table.



The formations that stick out to me, not considering my poor bank account:
1. Emperor's Fist Leman Russ Squadrons/Battalion.  A cheap but useful formation that allows your russes to ignore crew shaken results.  Easily one of the more manageable to purchase and still use in normal 40k, but also kinda boring and while its my opinion that the Apoc Formation "Squadron" is different then the codex "Squadron" some might argue against it.

2. Imperial Shield Company.  I can already do this one, and its probably a good overall formation thanks to its 3 assets.

3. Hellstorm Squadron.  Another of the actually feasible formations, its pretty good too but overall not that tactically interesting.

4. Armageddon Stompa Hunters.  This one i like, i like it a lot... 10 Armoured Sentinels is cheap points wise, and while not super cheap model wise isnt to bad.  Not only are the rules it provides good, with its +1 to armour pen rolls and ability to double tap their guns against a single foe, but they provide some interesting tactical options.  For instance, imagine 10 Lascannons (str 10 essentially thanks to their +1), double tapping on a superheavy, who you used Precision strike on (everyone hits that model on a 2+), while supported by Steel Eagle (they gain tank hunter, which brings them to str 11 essentially going into the armor pen roll).  Thats some serious damage output for very low points....

Or you could give them plasma cannons instead, their skill juices them to Str 8 against vehicles which means you have a chance against anything, str 9 with Steel Eagle making them lascannons.  But you don't need precision strike because their blasts now, not to mention that this makes them vastly more effective against elite infantry.

5. Rough Rider Company.  I love this formation, its so not Guard in thats its all about assault.  But the fact is it rocks, again the formation is super cheap points wise.  In exchange you get a super valuable unit that flank marchs itself in to contest objectives your guns have cleared.  If there are enemies near by the Riders gain skilled rider to handle any terrain bits, and if within 6" of the command squad gain furious charge and +2 attacks on the charge.  Combine the above with the Hunting Lance rules and you can quickly see why this formation would be very deadly.

The biggest issue with this formation is the number of models required.  I would love to convert up some rough riders on scout bikes, its a common conversion but its common because it looks about 100x better then  the standard guard on horseback.  so you need 30 of them minimum, at 12 bucks a biker, your talking 360 bucks just for the bikers to start the conversions.....ouch.

6. Heavy Weapons Company.  Good lord this would cause damage to anyone. Twin Link all 36 teams onto a single target within LOS of the command team....its similar to the Armageddon stompas in its role.  Of course you did read that right?  36 heavy weapons teams.....good lord thats a lot of teams to own, paint, assemble, buy.....

7. Steel Fury, already have this formation and love it.


so with all that considered i have decided to convert up a Stompa Hunter Formation.  But i have never been a huge fan of the sentinel model, the new one is leagues better then the old one but still its very...lame.

So the plan is to convert them heavily, generally speaking i want to go for a mech/powerloader look.  With the pilot at least partially exposed.  Im fairly certain i can utilize standard sentinel legs plus some added bits to beef them up and not look so chicken walker ish.  The arms i want to be humanoid and holding the guns so perhaps the tau suit arms will work with some modification of course.  Chest wise im a little lost, nothing sprouts to mind so something tells me their going to be highly modified versions of something.

sadly i recently traded away two of my Tau Broadside suits i had converted a long time back, not only are the tau bits helpful but i had converted them with sentinel legs....which would also be very helpful.

More on this as i get beyond the conceptual stage, but let me know if you have ideas for a chest.