Elysian Rough Riders

[Warsmith Wolf]

Not sure whether this is Drop Troops or Conversions, so here goes.....

A horse is not a thing a drop troop regiment uses, unless they have grav-saddles or something. Which, while awesome, is not my thing. I was going to maybe have some Elysians backing up my MechGuard, and using something Elysian for Rough Riders (because fast), but I didn't know how. Then I found this:



Jetpack Guardsmen. All of my yes.

Then comes the weapons: Las-Lance and CCW. Now, how do I do that? Then I saw this.



The 3D Maneuver Gear system from Attack on Titan. The twin blades suits the laslance and CCW just fine, since the one-time use can represent the sharp blade breaking due to the impact, and the idea of twin grappling hooks works well for the maneuverability of Cavalry.

So, that's the gist of it. Jetpack Elysians, twinned with dual short swords (Grey Knight Falchions?) and maybe grappling hooks. The question is, how do I convert such a thing?

[RedsandRoyals]

Just a warning, this is sort of a "Rain on your parade" type post, so take it with a grain of salt.

I think those are the early, 2nd Ed grav chutes, which you can find here. While they do have limited hover capacity, their really designed to allow for controlled descent. Trying to fight with one on isn't a fantastic idea.

On the other hand, that image is clearly from 2nd Ed, back when the Guard had all sorts of cool stuff (like jet bikes) that got retconned out of existence for everyone but the Astartes, more or less. If you can find a PDF of the first IG codex, it might give you some hints.

All that said, I still say go for the idea, simply because it's cool. Good luck!

Edit: Couldn't you just put the rough riders on lightweight looking dirt bikes that could be transported in a Valk? Or even on bicycles, if the idea of a man on a mountain bike waving a lance around appeals to you.

Reds

[Adkenpachi]

Just cause their not jet packs doesn't mean making jet packs won't work

I suggest rocket skates.

[Paradill]

Pegasus.

That's all I'm saying on the matter.

[Warsmith Wolf]

I know of the existance of the humble Gravchute, but if I did them, people would know it's a gravchute. Unless I use the grappling hooks as the lift while the gravchute controls the fall and height...........hmmmmm.

Bikes aren't my thing, since that's more my Ravenwing's turf. Although, Ravenwing with lances.................ohohohooo............

Rocket Skates.........awesome idea, but again, not my thing.

Pegasus? That sounds good for a Black Templars Assault Marine conversion.

Also, jetpacks are canon. I will quote the novel Guns of Tanith:

"Babbist opened the crate and lifted something out for them all to see. It was a compact but heavy metal backpack with a fearsome harness that included thigh loops, and a hinged arm with a moulded handgrip on the left side. The backpack sprouted two blunt, antler-like horns from the shoulders that ended in fist-sized metal balls. It was painted matt-green.
“What we have here, friends and neighbours,” said Babbist, patting the old, worn unit, “is a classic type five infantry jump pack. Accept no imitations. Formal spec, for those that need it, is Type Five Icarus-Pattern Personal Descent Unit with dual M12 gravity nullers and a variable-vent compressor fan for attitude control. Which, I gather, many of you need.”
There were some laughs, but the Ghosts’ attention was fixed on the device.
“Manufactured on Lucius forge world,” Babbist continued, “it’s the standard Guard variant of the assault jump pack. Smaller and lighter, not to mention more compact, than the heavy jobs used by the Adeptus Astartes. The Marines, Emperor bless ’em, need heavier duty babies to hold them in the air. Besides which, we’re not gods. We wouldn’t be able to stand up with one of the Astartes packs yoked to us.” (Guns of Tanith pg. 150-151)"

[syphon]

I think that Steve from Mad Robot Miniatures wants to talk to you, Wolf.

[Warsmith Wolf]

Jul 8, 2013 10:49:07 GMT -5 syphon said:

I think that Steve from Mad Robot Miniatures wants to talk to you, Wolf.

What for?

[syphon]

commissar.proboards.com/post/369213

[cheminhaler]

Jul 8, 2013 9:06:11 GMT -5 Warsmith Wolf said:

Also, jetpacks are canon. I will quote the novel Guns of Tanith:

"Babbist opened the crate and lifted something out for them all to see. It was a compact but heavy metal backpack with a fearsome harness that included thigh loops, and a hinged arm with a moulded handgrip on the left side. The backpack sprouted two blunt, antler-like horns from the shoulders that ended in fist-sized metal balls. It was painted matt-green.
“What we have here, friends and neighbours,” said Babbist, patting the old, worn unit, “is a classic type five infantry jump pack. Accept no imitations. Formal spec, for those that need it, is Type Five Icarus-Pattern Personal Descent Unit with dual M12 gravity nullers and a variable-vent compressor fan for attitude control. Which, I gather, many of you need.”
There were some laughs, but the Ghosts’ attention was fixed on the device.
“Manufactured on Lucius forge world,” Babbist continued, “it’s the standard Guard variant of the assault jump pack. Smaller and lighter, not to mention more compact, than the heavy jobs used by the Adeptus Astartes. The Marines, Emperor bless ’em, need heavier duty babies to hold them in the air. Besides which, we’re not gods. We wouldn’t be able to stand up with one of the Astartes packs yoked to us.” (Guns of Tanith pg. 150-151)"

I would be careful in quoting Abnett directly, as Reds always reminds us that he gets details wrong. I didn't believe him back then, but now that I'm reading Titanicus I would agree wholeheartedly...( warhounds are SMALLER than warlords dammit!) *GRAH!#*

We used to have Imperial Army jump infantry back in Rogue Trader days but they were armed with 2 laspistols in the manner of Seraphim, not one-shot hunting lances.
If you want to make IG jump infantry I'd suggest making the models and using them with experimental rules. The bonus S3 hit that jump infantry/ cavalry get on the charge (forgot the name of the special rule) are all that they have in common and equipment-wise there's not much you could do with them.
Depending on the points value they could be worth it - jump packing IG with krak grenades could wreck light vehicles, but if you hate using experimental rules maybe use segways as mounts. You could justify by saying that the segways are dropped via grav-crate, which makes much more sense than dropping horses or gigantic tigers in crates.

[Warsmith Wolf]

Jul 9, 2013 13:14:51 GMT -5 syphon said:

commissar.proboards.com/post/369213

I know about them, but they still look a bit too gravchute-y. They are very awesome however, and I might buy a few to stick on some Stormtroopers.

[Warsmith Wolf]

Jul 9, 2013 13:58:11 GMT -5 cheminhaler said:

Jul 8, 2013 9:06:11 GMT -5 Warsmith Wolf said:

-snip-

I would be careful in quoting Abnett directly, as Reds always reminds us that he gets details wrong. I didn't believe him back then, but now that I'm reading Titanicus I would agree wholeheartedly...( warhounds are SMALLER than warlords dammit!) *GRAH!#*

We used to have Imperial Army jump infantry back in Rogue Trader days but they were armed with 2 laspistols in the manner of Seraphim, not one-shot hunting lances.
If you want to make IG jump infantry I'd suggest making the models and using them with experimental rules. The bonus S3 hit that jump infantry/ cavalry get on the charge (forgot the name of the special rule) are all that they have in common and equipment-wise there's not much you could do with them.
Depending on the points value they could be worth it - jump packing IG with krak grenades could wreck light vehicles, but if you hate using experimental rules maybe use segways as mounts. You could justify by saying that the segways are dropped via grav-crate, which makes much more sense than dropping horses or gigantic tigers in crates.

I'm not a fan of Experimentals because I plan on using 'em at both my local club and my local GW. I'm not doing Jetpack Guardsmen to make Jump Infantry, I'm simply doing it for Rule Of Cool Cavalry. Besides, segways are really not my thing. Cheers though.

[cheminhaler]

If you plan on actually building them yourself maybe chop up a vox-caster and a marine jump-pack and somehow combine them. It might take a few attempts to get something that looks good, so use blue-tac first before gluing and gs-ing it. I suggest drilling holes and adding lots of electrical wires, stripped and in loops, just for that archaeotech look.

You'll also need to g/s a harness on the troops...

[gearboxx]

how about the normal marine backpack-exausts combined with mentioned vox-caster? i think this could work you could use the tow-cable from a basilisk for a strap-on and some GS for the controls...

if you don't, i might...