Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Steampunk Motorcycles (5)

First off, I want to thank all you readers and responders to my posts - especially in the light of eriochrome's post on comments: http://twilight40k.blogspot.com/2009/04/ftw-letter-to-editor.html
It is great to see real interest in my little constructions and ideas. A warm welcome to all new readers - I hope I can keep you interested for a while :)

OK, as mentioned in my previous posts, I had to do a re-build.
The advantage is, that it is now a lot cleaner and straighter than the original.
Here's a comparison shot of the old and the new bike.

As you can see, I also added some rails on the outside, protecting the drive mechanism from obstacles when driving.

I will probably also add something on the front, that may act as some armour plating as well as "plow".

I am not sure about the weapons though.
Normal Rough Rider rules allow for laspistol and close-combat weapons, as well as the lances. My idea was more along the lines of some real firepower, with the twin-MG and maybe some bolters.


Anyhow, the idea of the tail-fin is gone, so there won't be much more in the rear - well, the exhaust(s) off course, plus some luggage.
I'm considering adding the two small bolters from the vehicles sprue (the twin bolter for the commander) and mount them left and right on the railing, plus the twin-MG.
Any better ideas or suggestions?
Thanks
Klaus

12 comments:

  1. Im not sure about weapon choices... the rough riders allow for lance, lasgun and close combat as you say, but you could use these models with sentinel rules?? so you could put on one heavy bolter, autocannon, plasma etc. It would look great with a multimelta like on the Elysian Drop sentinels
    Craig @ cadian8th

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  2. I suppose you could count them as allies (kind of) and give them twin-linked bolters like having IG on Space marine bikes, just a thought.

    And with the letter to the editor post, I've commented on every single post I've read since then

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  3. That's a good idea Craig actually (we posted comments at the same time) using them as sentinels could work but then they'd be pretty perculiar walkers wouldn't they?

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  4. I would say just go with the machine gun and bolters, or drop the machine gun, keep the bolters and make sure the "plow" is nice and big so that it can count as the lance...

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  5. I think the problem with a plow is that these are small light vehicles. I would imagine them going over obstacles or swerving around them before going through them.

    As for the weapons... if it were me, I'd have some with a lance mounted in an upright position (ready to be grabbed by the guardsman). These would have the guardsmen waving swords or firing pistols or something like that. Then some could have the guardsman holding the lance and the other weapons could be stowed. Otherwise, I'd use them as Sentinels with heavier weapons on them. Or why not use the base cycle as both, Rough Riders and Sentinels are both sort of fast scout type units fluff wise.

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  6. I like the idea of them using one hand to hold the lance and the other to drive.
    That and maybe having some lance stowed away for some of the guys to add variety. Similar to The Inner Geek's idea.

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  7. Ok, Pistol and CCW make for the extra attacks, but if everyone knows they're Rough Rider equivalents, they'll know the stats they're supposed to have. Go ahead and model the twin bolters on the railings, and put the MG on the front. GW like to throw around the term "counts-as", and these certainly fall into that. I guess play enough other games that I just call them cool conversion/proxies, and assume that any opponent that will allow me to use those models will also let them have whatever weapons they're supposed to have.

    A cool model that clearly had lots of love and attention put into it is tons of fun to play with and against. Why would anyone spend their time telling you that they don't see a lance, or that Rough Riders don't have twin bolters?

    Either that, or use them as Sentinels. I still think they make cool Rough Riders, and anyone who bitches about them having guns, but doesn't bitch about them not actually riding horses anymore, is just fooling themselves.

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  8. i'm not too sure on the rails as they would surely be spinning around as the large wheels turn, and they look like they'd clash with the drive mechanism. apart from that, really cool idea

    great work!

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  9. the rails are attached to the inards as I see it and the tracks would spin outside the inards... if you get me.

    Keep commenting people I cant agree enough with how important it is, it really motivates me and Im sure none of you want your posts to go unnoticed either!

    Craig @ cadian8th

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  10. Inner Geek: I'd fully expect them to dodge and dive around rocks and boulders. Squishy flesh-things, however, are a different matter...

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  11. Hehe Itkovian, whicked ideas in your mind *grin*
    I'm not really sure if it would be a good idea to drive right into some Ork bodies (they seem to be sturdier than normal flesh things)
    OTOH that's the fastest way to get into close-combat....
    Maybe if I can get me a curved armor plate for the front, that will serve to protect most of the front, und kind of guide every obstacle downwards, unter the bike...

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  12. I like the squishy way you're thinking, Klaus... ;)

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