The Plaguereaper is a good example of a new vehicle converted from the parts of an already existing one.
WYSIWYG
So, the most important thing about any datasheet that you come up for it that it must be represented by a painted, WYSIWYG model (WYSIWYG = what you see is what you get), or it cannot be used at all! In this context 'WYSIWYG' means that the model must be of the right type and size, and have the correct number of weapons on it. Weapons that are of a new design or appearance (ie, are not Citadel weapon models) can 'count as' another type, but you must tell your opponent about this at the start of the battle, and you must be consistent about it. For example, if you say, "this gun counts as a lascannon" then another weapon that is identical must also count as a lascannon. If, on the other hand, your model is plastered with Citadel lascannons, then you must count them as lascannon, and not as uber-death ray guns or whatever else you might prefer them to be. Basically, if you think to yourself "Will this confuse another player?" and if the answer is "Yes" then you shouldn't do it! |
s I've already mentioned, one of the primary aims of this article is to allow players to use models that they have scratch-built or converted themselves. My aim is most definitely not to allow players to plonk down a cardboard box and say something along the lines of "this box represents the death-dealing uber-vehicle what I came up with last night." 
It may seem like an obvious thing to say, but the first thing you'll need is a converted or scratch-built model. I'll describe what I mean by converted and scratch-built in more detail later on, but for the moment the important thing to understand is that the model really should be finished before you come up with any rules for it.
There are two reasons for doing this. First of all it means you will avoid the temptation to create datasheets 'on paper', before you start on the model. And the reason you want to avoid doing that is because it's only a hop, skip and a jump away from making a model based on its effectiveness under the rules, rather than making it because you think it will look great. Trust me, nothing gets a players back up more than a scratch-built model that is clearly only designed to take advantage of the rules. It's not clever or funny, so just don't do it, okay!
Stepping down from my soapbox, the second reason for making the model first is that it's important to see what it looks like in order to write rules that really reflect the qualities of the model. This is why we say that Warhammer 40,000 is 'model-driven', in that the rules are written to reflect what the model looks like. So, if the model has a huge gatling gun of some kind, then it needs rules that allow is to pour out a lot of shots, and if it's big and heavily armoured then it will need high armour values and plenty of structure points, and so on. This is much easier in practise than it sounds; believe me, when you see the finished model then the rules will follow very easily.
CONVERSIONS
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The Terminus Ultra Land Raider is another example of converting an existing model. (Rules For Terminus Ultra are in White Dwarf and on the Web) |
o, you need a model to start with – but how to go about making it? Well, the simplest place to start when making your own models is to convert an existing one. This can be as simple as swapping the weapons in a gun mounting for some different ones,
or as complex as building what is almost a new vehicle
based on the hull of an existing one. The Chaos Plaguereaper
and Ork Skullhamma in the Apocalypse rulebook are good
examples of fairly complex conversions based on the
Baneblade hull.
I'm not going to give detailed advice about how to convert models, which is better left to the expert modellers in our Studio and web hobby teams. What I will say is that simple conversions are both quite easy to perform, and can produce really great looking models that are very easy to incorporate into games of Apocalypse. Because of this they represent an ideal way to start designing your own models. Once you've made one or two simple conversions, then complex conversions or scratch-building a model will seem much less intimidating.
Next: Scratch-built and Classic Models
Previous: Introduction
