“Roger Roger.” In M41 – A Conversion Project

[Trokair]

“Roger Roger.” In M41 – A conversion Project

 

 

From a Galaxy Far Far away (mid 2020) a new army has arisen in my collection. The Droidari, as named by their first opponent at the local store. Stating as a small scale idea to build and paint some Droids after discovering that Star Wars Legion had gone to plastic from resin. As there was no SW Legion scene in my area that I was aware off, and having already converted Fantasy and AoS armies to 40k this seemed like an obvious next step.  

 

Originally planned as just a small project centred on the Droid half of the starter box plus a AAT and maybe some STAP Riders, as Ep1 Droid Army interested me more than later iterations, the project grew over time as new kits were released and made their way into the growing pile of waiting to be converted boxses.

 

First though I had to figure out as what 40k faction they where most suited to, quickly narrowing it down to AdMech, Necrons and Eldar (with Tau and Guard a close 4^th and 5^th consideration). From there however I went back and forth, all three had a good fit in some regard, but not others (including already having multiple Necron and Mech armies).  In the end the decision settled on Eldar, and looking back I think it was the best fit, it only took a year and a bit to decide. Plus being light infantry focused it would be different from my existing Eldar forces (Wraith and Jetbike focused).

 

Please note that as this project has a heavy dose of IP not related to the B&C’s purpose, and as such I did seek Mod approval just in case (Thank You), and I will therfore be focusing on the parts of the project that are the most 40k relevant.

As such there will be minimal unmodified SW Legion models (and only as part of shots with more relevant content), and even models that have some gubbins/40k basing will be limited, even though they probably make the majority of the built models. The focus of this thread will be those conversions that have clear Eldar elements as major components. I have also yet to work out a colour scheme, beyond the principle that Aspect Warriors will have some element of their traditional Aspect colour. I am also inclined to try to use transfers for the first time in many many years to apply some Eldar Iconography once the painting is done.  

 

 

As of this point I have over 2000p built (depending on upgrades and exact count as usage) and consider the majority of the build/converting done, but I do still have some unused Droid bodies to use and am working on a Wave Serpent count as. 

 

 

Let’s start with some actual models, 5 example Guardians made from B1s together with a weapon platform. The platform had some spirit stones carefully removed so that it meshes a bit better astatically with the Droids, who after all don’t have any. In this picture two B1s just have some 40k basing, while 2 more have gubins.

 

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Next up we have an assortment of Aspect Warriors, going from left to right a Dark Reaper, a Fire Dragon with a cut down Wraithcannon as a supped up Dragon Fusion gun/firepike, a Howling Banshee Exarch with Executioner (facing away so that the Eldar component  of the converted blade is easier to see) and 2 striking scorpions with elder chainswords (courtesy of the new guardian kit).

 

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A Farseer, not much to say here.

 

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And lastly for this initial post the squad that is likely to be the poster child for this project, They are the most mixed conversion betwen SW Legion and Warhammer 40k out of the lot. A Support Weapon Platform unit with Vibro cannons. It seemed the most SW weapon out of the options, but the main weapons are swappable to the other two options. I also trimmed away some of the spirit stones here for the same reason as before.       

 

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[Brother Tyler]

I look forward to seeing this project's progress, especially as you get paint on the models. I'd love to see the finished army (or even just a kill team/combat patrol) on the tabletop, facing Clone Troopers Humanity's Finest.

 

The thing I'm most curious about right now is who General Grievous might represent. My money is on Jain Zar, but I could see a number of alternatives.

[Trokair]

29 minutes ago, Brother Tyler said:

I look forward to seeing this project's progress, especially as you get paint on the models. I'd love to see the finished army (or even just a kill team/combat patrol) on the tabletop, facing Clone Troopers Humanity's Finest.

 

The thing I'm most curious about right now is who General Grievous might represent. My money is on Jain Zar, but I could see a number of alternatives.

 

Grievous is the Phoenix Lords of the Army and Grievous 1 is indeed Jain Zar. However I then obtained two more Grievous, so built the second with the alterative option and turned him into Asurmen as he makes a good all rounder. The third is currently undecided, Karandras and Fuegan are under consideration. Karandras I think I am more likely to field, but I would need to source a suitable giant elder chainsword (compared to the ones I used on the Striking Scorpion) or I give him two chainswords on one side, and then a suitable claw on the other (the Scorpion Exarch is using a Magnaguard hand as a claw due to scale, but that won’t work for Grievous). Fuegan would be easier as I would use a Wraithblade axe in one hand and doing another fusion gun out of a wraith cannon would not be a problem, but pose wise he might end up a bit to similar to Grievous 2 aka Asurmen. Baharroth might also be a choice if I can figure out some suitable wings for him and a squad of B1 / Commando Droids to make some Swooping Hawks.

 

Grievous as  Jain Zar

 

 

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Grievous as Asurmen

 

 

 

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[ZeroWolf]

I'm all aboard with this idea! Fantastic work so far, can't wait to see them painted up. Great use of the magna guard as a farseer. What else you got planned for this?

[Mazer Rackham]

This is exceptionally novel, and a great idea - but then again, I always love your kitbashes.

[Trokair]

23 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

I'm all aboard with this idea! Fantastic work so far, can't wait to see them painted up. Great use of the magna guard as a farseer. What else you got planned for this?

One of every unit is probably out; some are problematic or just too inefficient. So one of ‘most’ units I’d guess.

[Xin Ceithan]

„I have a bad feeling about this..“ 

 

No, seriously, that is an entirely great idea -building and playing an army from something you like. So, do go  head and send in more droids, please 

[Trokair]

Roger Roger, more droids to the front.

 

5 of my 10 rangers this time, between the boxes o droids I acquired I had 4 B1 sniper rifle looking guns (far left of picture), and 3 sniper rifle like guns from the BX Commando Droids (far right of picture).

 

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So for the three remaining squad members I had one holstered sniper rifle from the new ranger kit (or maybe the ranger bike kit, can’t quite remember), which when on the back of a binocular using B1. For the last two I scoured my bits box and found some Dark Eldar splinter rifles, they were about the same size and would be unlike any elder weapon I was likely to use while still sharing some design elements, so there they are.   

[Boc]

This is coming together great. Though the most important question is, when fielding the army in a game, will you use the Droid voice?

[Trokair]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:00 PM, Boc said:

This is coming together great. Though the most important question is, when fielding the army in a game, will you use the Droid voice?

 

I have not, I am terrible at voices, and during the games I have played whit them I was too focused on the game and making sure my opponent always knew what was what and such.

[Mr. Oddity]

Love to see the crossover between franchises! The different loadout setups you have for the aspect warriors look great and very distinctive (always important). The swapping around of loadouts for Grievous is a nice touch as well. Looking forward to seeing your future progress!

[MithrilForge]

This looks like a fun conversion exercise and a great cross over army,  you need to rewatch any star wars movie with the droid armies and memorize all those one liner quips the droids used that made them seem more human than droid... 

 

A great bit of work this is 

 

Cheers, M.  

[Trokair]

It has been a while, been busy, but as the glue is now dry and I am planning on using it in a game tomorrow here is a count as Wave Serpent made from a converted AAT. I know it isn’t much 40kifying , I just did not have much in the way of spare Eldar vehicle parts or accessories (unlike imperial vehicle parts). I also used the AAT’s small side guns to make a smaller turret weapon compared to the one the ATT normally has. This will hopefully help make it visually distinct from the two AAT I have and use as Falcons.  

 

 

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