Alternative human armies

[DBadger]

My friend is an Orks collector and I must admit I'm a bit infatuated by the theme. There's something about the Mad-Max vibes it all gives off and I really want the Mekboy Workshop.

 

But I hate Orks.

 

What I'm interested in is alternative human armies, and wondered if anyone has examples. What I want to do is some kind of non-Imperial affiliated human faction. Perhaps based on some kind of lost world that isn't touched by the Imperium. They aren't rebels as such, they probably forgot the Imperium even existed. Perhaps it's been lost in the warp, but they're also not chaos. They're just human, and making by on scraps of old civilisation.

 

So I am thinking of humans in an Ork theme, using Scrapheap Challenge style vehicles, cobbled together equipment, etc.

 

For the actual humans themselves I am thinking a mix of some catachan bits, last chancers, maybe some comically oversized mech parts, Necromunda, and some non-gw models if necessary for different poses.

 

Anyway, I'm wondering how Fluffy this could be, and whether such a scenario is sensible in an obviously Imperium dominated world. And I should add this army probably won't appear anywhere other than my bookshelf so don't worry about competitive play. Will probably just consist of the scrapyard, a couple of vehicles, and a little army of peeps.

 

Does anyone have examples of:

 

- Humans riding Ork-like vehicles

- Non-Imperium human armies

- Fluff for the above?

 

And if such a thing doesn't exist I'd be very interested in creating some kind of inde codex for this army.

Edited November 23, 2019 by DBadger

[Jukkiz]

GSC is human based(mostly) and as GW showed us, miners of sort. Some models are easy to convert to look more human and even just regular tools of mining industry too.

[DBadger]

Been so out of the loop I forgot GSC existed. Thanks!

 

Also looking at Necromunda I think cool stuff coud be done with the Orlock gang.

[Bryan Blaire]

Necromunda would be a good place to look.

 

You could do a human army with high technology that has been able to maintain it due to "reasons" or is just rediscovering it and use the Tau or possibly Necron Codex - maybe they just started getting out of their area which had been locked away with Warp storms or something that receded when the Great Rift formed, so they are just encountering the wider galaxy. You could use the Van Saar with some modifications to represent them.

 

The Goliaths might be usable with the Ork Codex as well.

[Lay]

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Digga

https://66.media.tumblr.com/c519551acfca52095a9a62619723f693/tumblr_inline_pinoi4qSqH1tx0gtf_1280.jpg

 

What you're describing sounds a lot like Digganobz. They're a human faction for the Gorkamorka game which was inspired by Mad Max.

[DBadger]

For now I've bought some House Orlock figures and some figures from Wargame Exclusive (and will be converting them to make them both more GW and less boob-y). If they turn out OK I think my next purchase will be Genestealer cultists on bikes. Those will populate the Mekboy workshop (with a few changes to make it less Ork-y).

 

Where they would fit in rules-wise I don't know, but I'm not too concerned about that at the moment.

 

Digganobz sound great!

[Ciler]

On a somewhat similar idea, in an effort to further expand my Thousand Sons army, which is modeled and painted in a pre-heresy style, I would like to add some Prospero Spire Guard (which were the Prospero-based regiment of the Imperial Army at the time). Based on the few available descriptions, their uniform was something similar to Mordians (with frogging) or Vostroyans (when fighting on ice worlds). My main problem is that (aside from the fact that those ranges do not exit anymore) they would have to "count as" tzangors and thus be equiped with a CC weapon and/or CC weapon and pistol of some sort, when most human models (including the necromunda range) comes mostly with ranged weapons.

 

Victoria miniatures provides this set : https://victoriaminiatures.com/products/10-sword-and-laser-pistol-arms which combined with their Tannenburg Fusiliers regiment, but the cost of even a 10-man unit is quite high, and of course it's not GW models so I would not be able to play them at my local store (the manager would probably be OK with it, but I wouldn't fell comfortable nonetheless).

 

Any ideas, kitbashes, or sprue combinations ?

[DBadger]

Gotta be something in AoS that would be suitable for that. Would keep it GW.

[Wulf Vengis]

I would say necromunda gangs using the ork Codex.

[Vykes]

Another vote for Necromunda gangs and use the Guard/Ork/Skitarii/Renegades and Heretics lists.

Frankly I've been building a Renegades and Heretics "Voidclade" list from Genestealer Cults as 'Grenadiers', Marauders, using Modified Mechanicus Dunecrawlers as Leman Russes, and gonna be getting some necromunda Ambots as boarding shield armed Ogryns.

My 40K Chaos army uses Escher as Cthonian militia as they 100% look the part.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Vykes

[DBadger]

I think I'm veering away from an army and towards a diorama, because of a few ideas. Basically I'm thinking that this is a civilisaton that doesn't know the Imperium exists, let alone the rest of the universe. But gradually little bits start seeping in. The minute they face an army they're toast, but for now they exist in brief harmony...

 

Thinking... a stray termagaunt as a pet. A Tau on a scouting mission joins the crew. Hints of Chaos start seeping in. And once the Imperium arrive, they see them as the Big Bad Guy of the universe and probably end up in a fist fight with an Inquisitor.

 

Anyway, I went out and bought the Mekboy Scrapyard, and it's immediately my favourite GW set. Very chunky, very sturdy, lots of detail and much bigger than I was expecting. Think I'd be happy paying double for it to be honest.

[Son of Sacrifice]

Well, technically half the galaxy has been untouched by the imperium for a few hundred years now. So anything you create would be a fit somewhere.

[Lexington]

Your concept is very much in keeping with the background. It doesn’t get mentioned as often anymore, as the setting has become increasingly focused on the factions of the tabletop and their own drama, but the Imperium is a broad but thin thing, held together more by faith, taxes and conscription rather than by a singular administrative state or widely-shared culture.

 

Planetary governors have an extremely wide latitude in how things are run on their worlds, so there’s any number of scenarios in which huge segments of the planetary population are entirely ignorant of the wider Imperium, or where it’s mostly a poorly-remembered myth about the people from the stars who arrive once every few generations. Maybe the people in power think it’s better that way, or maybe there’s just large populations who are either purposefully excluded from the broader society or exclude themselves. Heck, entire planets sometimes just slip through the cracks of the Administratum, and the worlds themselves gradually forget about the Imperium entirely until some Explorator fleet shows up demanding tithes and Guard conscripts.

 

Also, 40K often kind of gets a “Star Wars” effect, where “worlds” are treated as singular, homogenous things, but actual worlds are enormous. Out here in reality, after all, Earth has held every culture and every idea ever known to the human race, and has been home to any number of people with different knowledges, beliefs, cultures and ignorance. There’s about a jillion reasons for people to not know something, and our own strong culture and education sometimes blinds us to the fact that, without these things, the world looks a lot different.

 

Oh, by the by, one group you should definitely look up on Facebook is “Ash Wastes - The Necromunda Underhive.” It’s a place for people doing conversions very much in the vein of what you’re talking about, and would be a huge source of inspiration. Enjoy! I’m looking forward to seeing your project happen.

[TorvaldTheMild]

My friend is an Orks collector and I must admit I'm a bit infatuated by the theme. There's something about the Mad-Max vibes it all gives off and I really want the Mekboy Workshop.

 

But I hate Orks.

 

What I'm interested in is alternative human armies, and wondered if anyone has examples. What I want to do is some kind of non-Imperial affiliated human faction. Perhaps based on some kind of lost world that isn't touched by the Imperium. They aren't rebels as such, they probably forgot the Imperium even existed. Perhaps it's been lost in the warp, but they're also not chaos. They're just human, and making by on scraps of old civilisation.

 

So I am thinking of humans in an Ork theme, using Scrapheap Challenge style vehicles, cobbled together equipment, etc.

 

For the actual humans themselves I am thinking a mix of some catachan bits, last chancers, maybe some comically oversized mech parts, Necromunda, and some non-gw models if necessary for different poses.

 

Anyway, I'm wondering how Fluffy this could be, and whether such a scenario is sensible in an obviously Imperium dominated world. And I should add this army probably won't appear anywhere other than my bookshelf so don't worry about competitive play. Will probably just consist of the scrapyard, a couple of vehicles, and a little army of peeps.

 

Does anyone have examples of:

 

- Humans riding Ork-like vehicles

- Non-Imperium human armies

- Fluff for the above?

 

And if such a thing doesn't exist I'd be very interested in creating some kind of inde codex for this army.

No you aren't stealing our Orky style.  Live with it.

[Cpt.Danjou]

The Imperiums is huge, anything could go really, how the pdf of a backward/poor/war struggling planet is equipped is really up to you. The minis should not be the issue as long as it is easy to understand what is what. The ork trucks with battle cannons with human crew, could be Leman russes rule wise. If you are using a mixture of Cawdor and Delaque gangers they could easily be armed civilians who have become veterans during months of fighting against Orks, now counting as White shields, or even Guardsmen. Or they could be coming from a death world, like the Catachans, being more durable and stronger, and now counting as orks rule wise, their weapons being heavier, but in a more barbarian state. Open topped Leman Russes with extra plates and the odd spikey bits (not to much, because then they might be mistaken for Chaos) or balls of chains on them. One of their leaders could be a powerful psychic who is utterly insane, weird boy, the ad-mech has gone full heretek and invents stuff from his fever dreams, Mek-boy. The Goliath with extra armour-plates is the warboss.

 

Many times we forget that the Impreium is so huge that anything goes, guardsmen do not have to look like Cadians, Catachans,Tallarns or Vallhallans. Even if the Ad-mech are stickler for rules, they tweak the vehicles from time to time so the work in different environments. The might not like it, but being on a planet without support makes them change the vehicles and equipment in non standard ways, being close to Heretks. Keeping away from the Non-standard is fun, nothing in the 40k universe can be set in stone. One of my armies is a Death Guard army, but the fluff behind it is that several Iron Warriors turned against Perturabo after being left behind on a planet, struggling against starvation, decease and rot, they were saved by the Death Guard they swore allegiance to Mortarion, turning into Plague Marines, but still their old colours can be seen, strange things happens in the 40k universe, not everything is about what happens in or around the rift, and 10k years of history since the Heresy can and should be used, in my mind.  

 

Or you could go down the Chaos road, adding plates, spikes and what nots on everything making them going the more feral Mad max way, and still use the Guard rules. Even stranger use the Chaos rules, but only use Chaos vehicles and cultist, Don't think it is a army you can win with but it could look how ever you wanted.

 

Did not Cain crash on a planet in war with Orks and his rag tag army was a mixture of civilians and veterans riding in trucks, buggies and and jury rigged vehicles armed in a non standard Imperial ways? The Ad-mech girl in that book did stuff that other ad-mech would not do, or am I wrong.

[Jings]

Might not be exaaactly what you're after, but I've often thought about using Mantic's Forge Fathers to count as Demiurg auxiliaries (if you buy into the Demiurg = surviving squats theory as I do). Could work as Abhuman Helots (Squats) in 30K too if you were so inclined.