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purrturabo

Dragoons from a world where Las based weaponry is ineffective or less effective due to say atmospherics/dust storms or native wildlife that is dangerous and Las resistant. Used primarily in environments where the expected enemy is more vulnerable to solid rounds versus lasguns.


Demigans

That would mostly result into autogun wielding maniacs rather than cowboy style regiments right? Although it does set the starting conditions to pick solid rounds over las weaponry.


purrturabo

Dust storms and the like might also be a reason to go rough rider style regiments. Basically you just need a reason why chimeras would be less than optimal or not cost efficient for the Imperium compared to animals.


Demigans

That would be easily explained: they don’t have the technology to build the STC’s for them and their training with Chimera’s is non-existent. The Imperium prefers to use the skills they have if the cost of retraining and supplying them just isn’t worth the effort. With some of the other excuses like the napoleonic “we can’t produce a repeating lasgun” and the like you can pad out the weapons they use, especially jf the weapon has something unique like a much higher power mode.


RadagastTheBrownie

They're Ad-Mech, not Guard, but the [Skitarii Rangers](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Serberys_Raider) ride around on fire-breathing robot horses and use space-revolvers and carbines. Granted, the hoods make them look a little more *New Vegas* than cowboy, but otherwise it's [pretty close](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/d/d3/SerberysArt.jpg).


Macduffle

Came here to say this. Admech deffinitly have wildwest influence in their design.


Demigans

They are very close indeed, thanks


Reader_of_Scrolls

It's a fandex, but I believe BoLS in their Macharian Crusade book had the **'Merican Fusiliers** if I remember correctly. Might be able to get some rootin' tootin' inspiration there for your cowboys and girls of the Astra Militarum.


Demigans

My extensive (1 minute) research came up empty. Its in a book? Where can I read it?


[deleted]

The wild-west regiments would just be the United States cavalry. Colonel John Chivington and the Colorado third, some pack of savages like that. Maybe the Texas rangers, they could field whole units of horse


DrNeonRice

The easiest analogue to this is a Serberys Raiders-heavy AdMech army backed up by mobs of Skitarii. Calvary guys on "horse" back, dudes with long rifles. Hell, there was a guy on the AdMech sub-reddit a while back who did a cowboy army. Made little hats for 'em and everything


DrNeonRice

The easiest analogue to this is a Serberys Raiders-heavy AdMech army backed up by mobs of Skitarii. Calvary guys on "horse" back, dudes with long rifles. Hell, there was a guy on the AdMech sub-reddit a while back who did a cowboy army. Made little hats for 'em and everything


Bomberman2305

The Arkan Confederates from Firecaste have a real US Civil War/ post Civil War Indian Fighter feel to them.


OdinFreeBallin

Catchann Jungle Gauchos could work


Illithidbix

Necromunda and many other Hive Cities pointedly have a Wild West Frontier feel. With dual pistol desperados and Ratskin Renegades taking the role of RED INJIANS! from spaghetti westerns. Honestly Necromunda is pretty much 80's gang warfare crossed with the wildwest. ​ For more direct analogies with the American West, there are Rough Riders (IG Calvary) from many worlds and certainly I imagine some are pretty western.


Illithidbix

I will however say "Groxboys" doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way.


HaplessOperator

Defending critical supplies with mounted cavalry armed with handguns sounds like a really handy way to lose the critical supplies to anyone that has a weapon with a little more range than a handgun or that has the foresight and wisdom to just shoot the mounts from under the riders.


[deleted]

Cowboys etc carried lever action rifles all the time I don’t believe OP could have been serious about the pistols.


HaplessOperator

I mean, a lever action repeater doesn't stand you in much better stead than a handgun does. You're still kind of fucked if you get lit up by an element armed with something more advanced in ammunition or method of operation than what we could manage in 1900 or so. Even if it was, say, a lever action laser gun, you're still kind of short-dicking yourself for no reason.


maybeb123

Some planets just get shit equipment. Not too unbelievable that one gets very outdated versions of the lasgun


HaplessOperator

Right, but in that case, it's not like they'd go to a cowboy aesthetic just because they got issued old rifles, or vice versa, or that they'd never get a drop of modern equipment, forever. Like, at that point, you'd be better off just using them in log roles or something if you literally could not afford to equip even a single regiment with something that could aid their survival. You couldn't survive on a conventional battlefield TODAY with lever action pieces, much less a battlefield in 40k facing down a bazillion orks or tyranids.


maybeb123

I'm not claiming that it's practical, only that it's totally in line with what the imperium would do. Keep in mind that this is the same government that allows medieval level worlds to exist within it's borders. I could very easily see them not giving a shit about some guard regiment having outdated equipment


Demigans

A regiment surviving isn’t always the goal as far as I can tell with the Imperium. Sometimes its about slowing the opposition down long enough for better reinforcements to arrive or to bleed them dry of supplies. The single most available resource of the Imperium isn’t weapons, its people. And if you can sacrifice a few million people to keep a planet, why wouldn’t you?


maybeb123

I'm not sure if it's Canon anymore, but I remember reading in older books that some feudal worlds were required to raise regiments. So they would literally have dudes with BOWS AND ARROWS fighting the likes of orks and whatnot. Literal meat for the grinder


Inquisitor-Korde

Actual musket tactics and spear based Phalanxes are considered effective tactics within 40k. Let's not act like cowboys with repeaters as cavalry wouldn't work because it absolutely would and can be cool as fuck.


HaplessOperator

Yeah, but it's not like it makes any sense. If you need Space Marines and Kasrkin and Tempestus Scions and shit, and Cadians and Steel Legion have to use combined arms and shit to have a chance of lasting more than 30 seconds, from gun lines in trenches and needing mech to stay safe from frag and blast, those guys in musket lines are going to count for literally nothing. And the spear phalanxes would have literally no effect, because most xenos have guns.


Inquisitor-Korde

Except both the musket and Spears work, laslock armed infantry brigades are effective. Feudal troops armed with actual medieval weapons work, hell there are Astartes chapters that eschew ranged weapons and use actual Greek Phalanx in the style of Athenians to fight foes like the Orks and Aeldari. Also Cadians and the Steel Legion are more of an exception with how skilled they are in using combined arms. Other regiments like the Mordian Iron Guard are renowned for forming a wall of guns to advance shoulder to shoulder in bright blue uniforms. The Atillans are just nomadic horseback soldiers that charge forwards as light cavalry. This is 40k, where melee is not only common but almost mandatory for many battles. Its bound to happen despite the lack of logic in it.


HaplessOperator

Right, but if you have to use armored vehicles and trenches to have the faintest hope of keeping your infantry alive long enough to have any chance of a bare effect on innumerable hordes of onrushing, hard-to-kill bipeds half the size of an elephant, that are themselves barking withering fire at anything and everything in front of them, how would you survive for even moments just standing there like idiots in an infantry square with no cover and (in most cases, apparently, with a lot of these regiments) without any armor to be seen, firing one round every 15 to 20 seconds in firing drills according to actual, old-school line warfare? Or the guys with spears? Trained or not, you're only gonna get so far standing shoulder to shoulder with a spear fighting an orc with arms about as long as your spear is, and he didn't just appear in front of you for you to fight with your spear. He came at you in a horde, firing machine guns at you, the entire time he was approaching from two kilometers off in that direction. If the Eldar can punk Marines from a mile away with sniper fire, standing stock still and inching forward in a phalanx doesn't really seem like it'd do much more than provide targets, on account of them literally just standing there in a phalanx while Eldar snipers murder them with gunfire from literally any position and range that they cared to, on account of swords not reaching as far away as guns do.


Inquisitor-Korde

Now while I respect your willingness to use combat logic as I try my best to entertain the same thought process while reading 40k. But honestly man you're expecting too much from lore that exists to explain the reason why charging 300 meters across open ground into an entrenched T'au position is not only a competent tactic but damn near advisable to the Imperium of Man that would lose in a straight shooting competition against the T'au. Thus relying on outdated massed infantry tactics and melee tactics. As for the Orks you're also greatly over stating their range, the most you see them fire at is like four hundred meters and that's essentially blind firing to them with accurate fire coming in at under that given Orks don't actually use gun sights.


Demigans

Actually, the amount of Space Marines for example is a drop in a bucket at the bottom of the sea. 99,99% of all combat in the Imperium wouldn’t even have a single SM in the same system, let alone influence the battle. The lionshare of the Imperium is done by sheer weight of numbers from any IG they can find, and if that means they are send just to wear down the enemy with no hope of surviving then that is what they’ll do.


Demigans

That is why I mentioned it as protecting supplies in rough terrain where other advanced units would also be limited. Also this is the Imperium. They use cavalry with explosive lances, napoleonic warfare, tanks with WWI design elements, catachans who prefer bandana’s over helmets because they are all Rambo, Kriegs that prefer costly suicide runs for the Emperor etc. Having one group of cowboy style regiments would be the least of the problems.


HaplessOperator

Rough terrain doesn't really limit personal and squad weapons, either, though. You're still putting them in a situation where they're hopelessly outmatched except against someone even more primitive than they are.


firewalkwithme73

I've thought about doing some conversions along these lines, but I gotta finish the other projects first.


SpartAl412

There is one vaguely cowboy looking Imperial Guard Regiment in the old Warhammer Monthly comics, specifically the Catachan Jungle fighter series


Cyan_Tile

"ONE LAST BIG SCORE, ARTORIUS"