Ideas for alien factions and their models for play during the Great Crusade

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

As the title says. Here are two of my suggestions for anybody who ever thought of placing his Heresy battles into the Great Crusade era:

 

- Deep Hive (Wargames Exclusive):

They look like Mirelurks from Fallout although they come in different shapes and sizes. Looking at their units they are supposed to act as Tyranid alternatives.

 

- Cyborgs (Warlord Games/Stargrave):

A non-human faction composed of cyborgs such as the Strogg from Quake or the Borg from Star Trek. Warlord Games just released a new box containing twenty humanoid cyborgs.

 

Do you have any further ideas of what kind of factions could be fielded for play during the Great Crusade?

[Marshal Rohr]

Good formulas to do Great Crusade Xenos or Humans

 

For a technologically advanced human or alien race use the 4-7th Tau Codexes and add about 25% of the total points extra. 
 

For Orks use their 4-7th Codexes and Imperial Armor with 50-75% extra points. 
 

For DIY Aliens the Tyranids codexes and Imperial Armors are always good, but I’m not sure how many extra points they’d need. Also consider the 3rd Edition IG Codex doctrines for some unique rules. 

[N1SB]

3 hours ago, Deus_Ex_Machina said:

- Deep Hive (Wargames Exclusive):

They look like Mirelurks from Fallout although they come in different shapes and sizes. Looking at their units they are supposed to act as Tyranid alternatives.

 

(For those that didn't play Fallout, Mirelurks are like giant mutated crabs and are delicious.)

 

Just sharing something in support of your idea, I talked to Mark Bedford who set the current style of Tyranids from 3rd ed onwards (1st and 2nd ed looked quite different, lankier.)  He ACTUALLY used crabs as his reference, crossed with like gorillas or something.  So what you said might be remnants of the last time Tyranids were here, went down their own evolutionary path, like how Genestealers could operate without the Hive.  And as we saw, even in official 40k (from 1st and 2nd ed), Tyranids DO have different looks.

 

Not too serious a thought, but I remember Daemons of the Ruinstorm rules had like Swarms, Monsters...I might just use those rules.  Like if they're Deep Striking, they're not really teleporting in, it just represents they had burrowed through the ground or something.

 

Meanwhile, I've been playing 40k in Fallout:

 

 

This is "Ultracite" Power Armour.  More Crimson Fists to me.

 

2 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

For Orks use their 4-7th Codexes and Imperial Armor with 50-75% extra points. 

 

Oh, did ppl find that's roughly balanced to 30k points?  I didn't know this!  That's a really intriguing idea.

 

So if I were to do something that I think is fun and funny, I'd use some Little Grey Men miniatures as just the most generic xenos.  Modiphius makes them (as Zetan aliens for Fallout Wasteland Warfare) or some other 3rd party, but to keep it simple with minimal pushback from opponents, I'd just run them using those Imperial Militias & Cults with some Dark Age of Technology Provenance or something.

 

Of course I'd only do this after getting my 30k World Eaters all set up.

[MARK0SIAN]

I came across these several years ago. They are not mine, they were produced for some events run by a group called King Fluff. They were specifically designed to give rules and modelling ideas for the various Xenos and Human races encountered during the Great Crusade and you can clearly see the passion and time that has gone into them.

 

They were intended to be used in games of Horus Heresy and so they use that ruleset (which was basically 7th edition at the time) so they’d need a bit of work to fit in with the current ruleset but I always share them when I can because I think they’re great and really respect the work that went in to them.

 

Book 1:

 

The Laer

The Storm Scions

Nephilim

Megarachnids

Nurthene

The Olamic Quietude

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/skxwhuz8d3psuvv/TheGreatCrusadeBook1.pdf?dl=0

Book 2:

 

Exodites

Demiurg

Interex

Keylekid

Hrud

Jorgall

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8jzbqgjv70wrdld/TheGreatCrusadeBook2.pdf?dl=0

Book 3:

Orks

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fj04fpg84gm32me/TheGreatCrusadeBook3.pdf?dl=0