warhammer 40k - MBT?

[cj95]

A few days ago I inquired into the possibility for adding body armor to infantry.

In the interest of full disclosure the request was not so much for the application of Kevlar, but in the interest of developing a possible Warhammer 40k mod and the associated power armor gear common to Space Marines.


For the most part a mod should be a relatively straightforward conversion, especially where units like the Imperial Guard and such are involved.

Similarly most Space marine equipment should be easy to convert with walker type units such as dreadnoughts being classified as turreted vehicles

The power armor itself for the average trooper however is what is giving me fits.

I had hoped to boost the infantry armor to simulate its protective nature and thereafter just mod weapon stats as necessary, keeping the squad oriented nature of Space Marine troops.


At this point however I think the only option is to either completely remove Space Marines as troops, or alternately make each individual soldier a vehicle with its associated armor.

The problem with that is creating scenarios with a HUGE amount of troops to move around even considering the fact that Space Marines are never present in large numbers.


What do you guys think? Is there a third option, or workaround I'm not thinking of?



(I am aware of the recent Warhammer 40k:Armageddon game currently available, but I have been disappointed with the tactical possibilities and such and therefore want to run scenarios with the much more impressive SPMBT engine.)

[Wiking]

I've long thought that Steel Panthers would be well suited to at the very least representation of the Imperial Guard, and perhaps small squads of Space Marines. But it would be an awful lot of sprite work at a minimum, and of course all the LBM's and OOB edits you'd need to do.

All that said, I think the best thing you can do is advocate that the Space Marine player set his infantry toughness to either 150 to 200%, and that will have to suffice. Any other option is not going to be very believable (swarms of light tanks representing marines I think would lead to a host of undesirable behaviors).

[cj95]

I thought I had come to a good compromise with making each individual 'vehicle' represent an element of 3 marines. Give them two bolters and maybe a flamer and call it done.

Unfortunately after some more thinking I realized that the Marines as vehicles has another problem.

Namely occupation of buildings....you cant.



Sprites and such are not a huge issue since I have found several premade on the internet. Apparently several other people came up with the same idea as I did, but for some reason never finished the project.


Maybe they ran into the power armor issue as well.


The only problem with messing around with infantry toughness is that it applies to the whole side. It negates any Imperial Guard supported by Marines scenarios.


Oh well Im going to keep thinking....

[Wiking]

It does prevent allied scenarios but I'm just not sure that its avoidable with this engine. And yeah, what you mentioned is exactly what I was talking about, undesirable behaviors.

I imagine most people abandoned the project when they realized the amount of work required; even just tweaking the German order of battle for me is a fairly intensive hobby.

[scorpio_rocks]

How about using motorcycle troops as Power troopers?

They can enter buildings (as infantry) but act in some ways like vehicles. I am not sure if they can be armoured, sorry.

As you say making each unit a "Squad" of 5 or so marines would work.