Hi,

Born-again Epic: Armageddon fan here, making my first post in hopes of some assistance! After raiding the attic and spending many nostalgic hours going through my collection, I’ve decide to get back into E:A; however, I don’t want to break the bank on acquiring new figures just yet so I am trying to assemble some feasible army options from what I have. I have tons of Space Marines and Orks, but probably only enough Eldar for a fairly small force at best. The SM army will be a chapter of my own devising, but will conform to the Codex Astartes.

I’ll primarily be playing ‘friendlies’ at home against easy-going opponents, but would like to ensure that the forces I’m putting together are ‘tournament legal’ (for wont of a better term) in case I start going back to gaming clubs and the like. In particular, I want to conform with the ‘Counts As’ rules. My litmus is that I want a reasonable opponent to hear my ‘Counts As’ choices and accept them as logical and obvious; or, if it’s easier to imagine, I want to avoid a reasonable opponent hearing them and saying “…are you kidding me?”. I appreciate this is subjective to some degree, but as mentioned above, I’m effectively a beginner, and looking for advice from players far more experienced in these matters. If you’re reading this, THIS MEANS YOU.

The logistics of putting these armies together is, of course, my headache to own, but I think some of you might be able to help narrow the options down; to this end, I have some questions based on the stuff I’ve catalogued, and have already done what research I can using online resources (primarily the Living Rulebook and NetEA-approved Army Lists, and the galleries at http://www.epicollector.com/ and http://www.miniwars.co.uk – I’ve used images from these sites to make my questions clearer wherever possible). Here goes then…

1. How do you represent ‘Sniper’ upgrades to a Space Marine Scout Unit? What model(s) are added to (or substituted for) the ‘standard’ Scout Unit?

2. (a) Am I right in thinking that Tactical Units are best represented with 4 SMs with Bolters and 1 SM with a Missile Launcher? The illustrations in the rulebook show 4 Bolters and 1 Sergeant (?), but that doesn’t reflect the Unit Datasheet very well. Plus I have hardly any Sergeant (?) figures (a dozen at most)… I was hoping to use them as Captains (i.e. 1 per Company) - (b) Is this acceptable under the ‘Counts As’ rules?

Adriaaaaan!
(I know the picture is labelled as such, but I just wanted to check that this guy is, indeed, a 'Sergeant' (rather than a 'Captain'). If so, can anyone tell me what a Captain looks like?)

3. I have a just-opened pack of Commander figures (see link below) – have I labelled them correctly? Can anyone help identify the figures in the red box?

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/uu317/mzzza/P1010595_zpskbjrtesl.jpg

4. WRT the same image; are the mounted ones on Attack Bikes? They don’t look like all my other Bikes (see image below) but this could just be a ‘version’ issue. If they’re regular Bikes, can I use ‘Counts As’ to declare them as Attack Bikes (as they are clearly distinguishable from my regular Bikes)?

Vroom!

5. I have a small number of old-school Commander figures (see image below). Is it acceptable to use these as Captains?

Retro Commanders

6. I have 10 Traktor Kannonz (see image below). I assume these are best used as proxies for Big Gunz?

Shooty Shooty!

7. I have 8 Banner Boyz (see image below). I presume I can just add these to random Infantry units as I wish?

Golf Sale -->

As I have far fewer Eldar than Orks and SMs, my Eldar army will represent a moribund (aren’t they all?) Craftworld down to its very last forces. As such, I’ll be using the minimum amounts of figures per Unit (e.g. 3 infantry per stand). I’ve never fielded Eldar before though, and want to make sure I’m following a reasonable convention for what few figures I have…

8. I have the following Plastic Platforms (see image (a) below). What weapon type do these best represent; Heavy Weapons Platforms or Support Weapon platforms? I also have some (Vibro-Cannon) Support Platforms (see image (b) below), would it be best to nominate the Plastic Platforms as Heavy Weapons Platforms so they are distinct from the Vibro-Cannons?

(a)

(b)

9. I have some Guardian Heavies (see image below). What unit type are these best used to represent? (I can’t find ‘Guardian Heavy’ on any of the Army Lists…)

Dodge This.

10. How does one typically represent a Farseer Unit? The Swordwind rulebook shows 1 Farseer and 4 Warlocks, but I don’t own any Warlocks… could I use (e.g.) 1 Farseer with 2 Guardians and a Flagbearer?

11. I have some Swooping Hawk Exarchs (see image below); however, these are the only Exarchs I own – can I only use these to represent Exarch-enhanced Swooping Hawk units? Or could I add one to (e.g.) a Howling Banshee unit? Or would this contravene the ‘Counts As’ rules? It seems a shame that none of my other Eldar units can add an Exarch because I have more SH Exarchs than I could possibly want, but no others...

Count the shells, Suck-a-Duck!

Many thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide – and sorry for the epic (no pun intended) post!

Ya, the counts as rule allows you to say "yes" to most of your questions. As long as it's clear and you're consistent you're good to go.

I used Exodus Wars Shadow Knights as my Scouts, with some head swaps and plasticard for suppressors:



It's acceptable under the counts as rule.

The plastic captain has a cloak and a power sword. Those in the red box look like they're the metal captains.

EA released metal bikes, they were the attack bikes without the sidecar.

The Banner Boyz are great for calling out your Warlord or Nobz.

The first Eldar platform is used as HWPs by most people, the second a SWP.

The Guardian Heavy could be a HWP too.

_________________
Dave

Blog

NetEA Tournament Pack Website

Squats 2019-10-17

My first Eldar army was based on the Eldar Legion box - one single pose, all counted. I represented Autarchs, Exarchs and Farseers with banners, and Aspects with different color schemes:

http://sdahl.net/~sdahl/whepic/phoenix_host.jpg

Same deal for my old-school Marine army: I had one single pose to work with for these, so they are distinguished by helmet markings (blue for devastators, red for assault) and with banners (blue for librarian, red for chaplain, gold for captain or supreme commander)

http://sdahl.net/sites/default/files/im ... AG0707.jpg

Nobody's complained about these yet

I think that as long as your representation is unambiguous, you can get away with almost anything.

Thank you both for the helpful responses, much appreciated!

So, broadly, I get the impression that whilst the strict letter of the 'Counts As' rule is quite prohibitive, in practice it's not something people worry about too much, providing whatever 'proxies' you come up with are (a) clear and (b) consistent? If so, that's great news, as it really opens up my options for building suitable armies.

So, I'm going to use the red-boxed figures from the Command set (thanks Dave!) to be Captains - which gives me 1 per Company including Terminator/Assault/Biker options, so I'm covered. Although I still can't really tell what makes the bike ones 'Captains' as opposed to just regular bike SMs...

Just to check 100% (sorry but I want to make sure I've interpreted everything correctly):

i) It should be ok to use the metal bikes as Attack Bikes (as long as they're ALL Attack Bikes)?

ii) Traktor Kannons for Big Gunz is acceptable?

iii) My Farseer unit idea (1 Farseer + Flagbearer and Guardians) is fine?

iv) I can forego SH Exarchs altogether and just use (e.g.) Flagbearers, or even regular Guardians with a different paintscheme, to represent whatever Exarch I happen to need?

v) As the plastic Sergeant figs (to my eye anyway) look basically the same as the metal Captain figs (in my linked photo), I can use the whole lot of them as Captains if I need to?

Many thanks again for your help,

MZA

Yes to all 5.

Don't be afraid to convert or post up trade threads here too.

_________________
Dave

Blog

NetEA Tournament Pack Website

Squats 2019-10-17

Cheers!

Tbh I'm quite wary of converting at 6mm scale - when I first bought these figs, I spent many an hour painting them and found it relaxing and rewarding, but around 15 years have passed and time has taken its toll on my eyesight. I still intend to finish everything, but I'm having to brace myself for taking a bit of a hit on the overall quality. GW's complete change of paint colours has only made this harder, but I'm trying to be pragmatic about it. I'll just be glad if I have an excuse to play tbh; if my mate doesn't take to it, it'll be game over...

I'll definitely look into trading though. I'm sure I'll have tons of leftovers I'll never need once I'm done, but will still have a few gaps here and there in the stuff I intend to field: I have limited options for Ork AVs - about a bajillion Battlewagons but precious little else - and very limited options for Eldar overall.

Thanks again for the helpful responses!

I think they're holding a power fist? The regular bikers hold on to the handlebar with both hands.

I think you're right! Took a bit of squinting to make out, but they're definitely riding 'one handed', and I think the free hand is a power fist. Good spot!

I am also 'wary' of doing conversions. That said, if you want to distinguish a commander on Marine Bikes I found it relatively easy to use a razor saw to slice diagonally from a commander's neck to left armpit to be able to attach his banner, head and sword-arm to a biker and even to do the same with a metal Landspeeder.

I know exactly what you are talking about, and thus I would like to introduce you to your new best friend:




Several of these are very reasonably priced, and I've found they do an excellent job of making my eyesight back to what it was in my 20's.

As far as conversions go...... don't be afraid.

First, start painting up the basic troops that won't need any converting. Once you've done all those, you may be back to your old comfort level and be willing to experiment a little. Swapping arms with the plastic infantry, and adding banners (Stolen from other plastic infantry) are exceptionally easy, and make specific troops very distinguishable.

If you still are leery, don't worry. The original game worked perfectly just by adding flag poles to "command stands", and your current games can too.

-S'Cipio