Conversion OK / Bad idea?

[tjhairball]

So I've been fiddling around with the tier lists and realized that Zerkova can fit an awful lot of Vanguards in an army if you want to be silly.

And I like being silly.
And I realized that Vanguards are on a medium base, have a shield, have an axe, and... hey! Man-o-War Shocktroopers come five to a box.
And I've been interested in trying something a little more involved in terms of minis.

So if I didn't add the big ol' shoulderpads, converted the straight-blade axe into a hooked guisarme, moved around where the head might be, and made the shield a bit bigger ... do you think I could pull of transforming a unit of five shocktroopers into a unit of five Zerkovan Vanguards? Or would my opponents scoff, roll their eyes, and tell me I can't claim some hacked-up shocktroopers are light merc 'jacks?

[Kalranya]

Depends on where and who you play with. If you're like me and don't care about organized play, then go for it.

However, the conversion rules for Steamroller are fairly strict. The SR2012 rules can be found here: http://privateerpress.com/files/SR2012_Rules_V1.3.pdf

The short version is:
-It has to be made up mostly of the model it's representing.
-It has to be obvious what it is.
-Weapons must be correct and easy to identify.
-If you use an upgrade kit, you must use the right upgrade kit, it must be used with the proper stat card, and it must be identifiable.
-Don't mess with the bases too much.

[Brandubh]

I was actually thinking about doing the opposite - converting Vanguards into Man-O-War models. If you do this, I'd love to see pictures.

[tonylipira]

I'd say you're better off adding MoW parts to some actual Vanguard models. This way, they are clearly Vanguards with some Khador styling and not just hacked-up MoWs. Weapon swaps are okay so long as the weapons are equivalent and are on the correct arms. MoWs and Vanguards both have poleaxes and shield cannons so I believe it might be legit. It'd also be an easier and better looking conversion. There's a guy in my local gaming group planning to make three Khadoran Vanguards, now that I think about it.

[Dragoneye9]

Ummm... Not a conversion question just a rule one... Zerkova's theme force Wolves by Winter has Khador non-charecter Warjacks listed under warjack entry. How would she feild field the vanguard wich is a Merc Warjack?

[MagnustheJust]

It's in one of the tier bonuses... Don't remember which off hand though.

[Mercykiller]

It's as different theme force published in No Quarter where she's given access to the Vanguard and in-theme Gorman.

[FiddyBucks]

Zerkova "Hunting Wolves" Tier printed in NQ 34, reprinted in NQ 40 aka the Tier list issue =) 4point vanguards sound sexy though =)

[Wishing]

Since you're asking on the internet, I presume you are looking for a generic internet response based on forum opinions. In that spirit, my personal feeling is that there is a preference for not using proxies in the warmachine online meta-community. Generally, it is considered most "proper" to use the real models when you want to field something. Converted proxies still tend to be considered to be proxies, which should be temporary and aren't allowed in many/most tournaments.

Whether this view will be prevalent whenever you play real people in the real world is impossible to say though. The only consideration that I think is universal is that the more work you put into your project and the better and more awe-inspiring it looks, the more likely people are to want to play you rather than scoff.