Warhammer 40,000 player Kyle Zhang is converting a custom T’au Empire army “without any T’au race models” to represent the diplomatic aliens’ coalition of allied species. The most recent addition is a Hammerhead grav tank, built on the redoubtable chassis of an Astra Militarum Rogal Dorn battle tank, and crewed by both human defectors and Kroot aliens.
Of all the Warhammer 40k factions, the T’au Empire has the best claim to be “the good guys” – or at least, they’re not appreciably more awful than expansionist, colonial empires from real human history.
Unlike the Imperium of Man, they’re eager to work with other alien species, even incorporating them into their armed forces – their longstanding pact with the Kroot being the most obvious example.
Zhang – aka Hydraphantom on Reddit – says he “just likes the concept of a galactic alliance faction”. He’s been working on his custom army since 2017, though he took a break from Warhammer 40k in that time and “only got back to it in January”.
His force includes a multitude of conversions. There’s a converted Commander Farsight, made from a Sisters of Battle Paragon Warsuit; a Ghostkheel battlesuit piloted by a Sylvaneth Dryad; a human (aka Gue’Vesa) Cadre Fireblade; and a unit of Pathfinders filled with Kin from the Leagues of Votann.
Zhang converted the Rogal Dorn himself, picking its chassis as the basis for a Hammerhead with ion cannon because “it’s the same size”, and wouldn’t give him an unfair advantage when positioning his tank for battle. He “didn’t have the confidence” to paint it himself, instead commissioning Skistmix Commissions to do the brilliant red paint job.
It was an involved conversion: “a lot of stuff needed to be cut to fit”, Zhang says, and for delicate jobs “like a hand to hold on rails” that could be very challenging. The results speak for themselves!
We’re keen to see where he takes this project next: we think Zhang’s conversion skills would do a fantastic job making models for the fanfiction concept of T’au Space Marines, for instance.
Love custom 40k conversions? Make sure you check out this amazing 3D printed, baby-piloted Space Marine Land Raider.
Source: Wargamer
