Tuesday 12 January 2010

Procrastination on the subject of Stalk Tanks

I've been doing some thinking into how to make a Stalk Tank for my Blood Pact and as far as i see it, the donor model will depend on what i want it to count as:

Option one: Sentinel

I could go the route most people take and have it class as an Armoured Sentinel, in which case it's simply a case of adding more legs to a Sentinel body and shifting them into a Spider-like pattern. However, i think the Sentinel rules make for a vehicle that's a bit 'light' for a Stalk Tank, which is often portrayed as spearheading Archenemy assaults.

Which leads me on to...

Option 2: Leman Russ

This idea would tie in with the assault vehicle aspect of the Stalk Tank, able to mount multiple plasma weaponry (something mentioned in the books)and even represent the command configurations that are out there for it (using 'counts as' Pask)

If i go for this route, it would be an in depth conversion, involving stripping down a CSM Defiler and mounting Leman Russ weapons and mounting it all onto a Valkyrie base (to keep the same basic footprint as a 'Russ).

Only problems with this option is obviously the extra cost of models, as well as the fact that as i'm entering a league soon, if the organiser doesn't approve of the 'counts as', it won't be able to be used.

What do people think?

All thoughts and opinions are welcome

3 comments:

  1. I go the rout of the armored sentinel. They aren't spearheading assaults, to quibble over vocabulary, so much as they are supporting infantry or occasionally, tanks who are spearheading an assault.

    They seem to bridge the gap between infantry and vehicle, but are quite fragile. There is a scene where a sniper rifle pierces the driver's bubble, and many scenes where a tread-fether destroys them in a spectacular fashion.

    Honestly, I think a dreadnought would fit the vehicle better. But for most games it's an armored sentinel for me.

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  2. I'd actually say one of the hellhound varients. They're a mid range armour with a good mix of weaponry plus they're fast, so could easily keep up with infantry whilst providing support.

    With regards to the fluff, it's quite wide ranging, I remember in the earlier books that stalk tanks fronted major assaults and took horrendous amounts of fire power to take down. Later on, they were portrayed as light support. So there's no reason you couldn't make a variety of stalk tanks as there's no set STC for them.

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  3. Didn't think of Hellhound hmmmm... could be very interesting. as it's both got armour and firepower, as well as the rather tasty Melta Cannon. If i build it with magnetic weapons, i could juggle between using it as a Hellhound and a Sentinel depending on what i need at the time, as long as it's clear to my opponent what it is.

    And several 'classes' of stalk tanks is a nice idea too.

    I think further research is needed all round. I'm going on bitz sites and seeing how the various models break down and what i could do with them before buying any kits

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