Not Imperial? No Fortifications for You!

With the prolific nature of flyers in the games nowadays, fortifications like the Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Gun is one of the most seen models on the tabletop, no matter the army. But be honest with me here, how many of you xenos players feel a little denied by the soup nazi when it comes to the fortifications, model-wise.

So what do we do about it? What can we do about it?

Well, if you're Orks, then you could still use the current models, and just make them more..."Orky". But then again, I've seen Ork armies do that to most every model in the game except for Tyranid models. Ork players have it almost as easy as Chaos players in that regard. But what about Tau, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Necrons?

Welcome to the counts-as universe folks. We should be used to this scenario by now with some codex armies having lacked official models for years, but the fortifications are a bit of a different beast when it comes to converting and scratch building your own. Why? Honestly because they are very specific pieces of terrain now. Terrain that has very specific and useful effects in-game, and being a little off in size could give someone an unfair advantage whether by accident, or in the worst of situations, by intention. Luckily, I think we truly only have two points of details we truly need to attend to in order to make sure the playing field is fair.

Armaments

This is the easier of the two to represent. Just be sensible in your counts-as representation of the weaponry of your choice, and your opponents shouldn't have too much to complain about. The closer in size and theme to the existing model weaponry, the better off you'll be when it comes to people accepting your conversions.

Dimensions

This is where the arguments can start. If you are going to scratch build the equivalent to an Aegis Defense Line, or a Bastion or Sky Shield Landing Pad, you have to take accurate and precise dimensions. How long is the Defense Line? How far off the ground is the Landing Pad? What is the width, depth and height of the Bastion? Take accurate measurements and then build off those measurements. So long as you follow those numbers, a opponent or judge shouldn't have any issue with your own versions of the fortifications in the rule book.

I've got some interesting plans for a number of Tau fortifications, myself, but who has actually taken the plunge and built a themed fortification for their army? If you have, chime in and give us a link to some pictures!

- Tim