With the new Allies system, we 40K players have been given a pretty sweet chunk of potential awesome for future codices; the option to include minor races!
Think about it; how better to keep people who want a Kroot Codex happy than making a mini-dex inside the Tau Codex, and then say "Kroot can be taken as Allies!"?
So, on that theme, I decided to have a go at making some Dogs of War, as well as drumming up any interest in the project from you lot. :P
Big questions to ask before we begin:
1. Terminology:Before we begin, I'd like to establish some terms used throughout the project. Units / Army Lists in this project should be divided up into three categories.
"Minor Races" are sub-factions - armies that are too small or limited in scope to work as a stand-alone list, but can easily be added to an existing faction. For example, Harlequins could be classed as a Minor Race of Eldar, or Arbites a Minor Race for the Imperials.
"Mercenaries" are a sub-faction that has a much wider scope. These are generally forces that can be feasibly added to almost any other army, such as Kroot Mercenaries, Eldar Corsairs and so on. Really, the difference between a "Minor Race" and a "Mercenary" faction is how forgiving the allies matrix is!
Finally, there are "Dogs of War". These are not so much armies as full-blown sellswords, perhaps even built as unique units in their own right!
2. Alliance Matrix:When devising a faction, I would strongly suggest that your first port of call is to find which army they are most closely linked to, and then use their alliance matrix. You may wish to change it a little from there, but the 'parent' race is a good starting point.
Remember, however, that the Tyranids do not ally as a rule. As such, if you have a unit / army that
can ally with Tyranids, it probably shouldn't be able to ally with anyone else!
3. Requirements:All an Allied army needs is 1 HQ and 1 Troop to be legal. As such, the minimum requirement of a Minor Race is just that - a HQ option and a Troop option. You can throw more in, and are encouraged to do so, but don't feel pressured into trying to invent units for the sake of having 2-3 choices per force organisation slot!
4. Ideas to get you started:Here's a few fun ideas for new factions to get this project going!
- Adeptus Arbites
- Legion of the Damned
- 13th Company
- Kroot
- Tarellian Dog-Soldiers
- Demiurg
- Hrud
- Eldar Harlequins
- Eldar Exodites
- Eldar Corsairs (though Novae and I made a Codex for these which is cool enough to stand on its own! :P)
- Feral Orks
- Freebooter Pirates
- Blood Axes (notorious Ork mercenaries!)
- Pirates in general
- Genestealer Cults
I myself will be working through this list as best I can - I'll likely post the Harlequins later today, and I'm really liking the idea of a Legion of the Damned army list so that'll likely be race #2 out of me!
If you want to have a crack at one of these units, or one I've missed, just do it! Anything and everything is welcome; from unit entries to ally matrix updates to ideas on rules for how to take unique Dogs of War without using allies!
For Arbrites, you could probably use a slightly modified version of the Necromunda Arbites "Gang". They'd be a single unit for an Imperial army, Battle brothers with IG and Sisters, the next step down for Marines and whatever for GKs. I'd personally make them a Troop and give them an alternate ammo for their shotguns, that being the Exicutioner round. Be 24" range, str 3 AP 5 and - to cover saves. Either negating all together or neging one. Another option instead of neging cover is to give the 6 chooses target rule. Can't remember what it's called now.
Not sure how you'd go about representing the shield rule wise. It's supposed to be a solid slab of steal, sometimes with a shock plate in it. Maybe any hits that fail to wound an arbite cause the model that attaced, to attack at ws 1, I 1 in the next round of combat? With a 5++ in CC?
I can do a bit of work on the Thirteenth Company. Probably do a bit on Genestealer Cults too if I can find the time.
Posted Tarellian Dog-Soldiers, the first of our canon minor Alien groups.