40K Expanded Universe

This weekend, I discovered a fantastic Adeptus Mechanicus codex on the internet (http://miniaturewargameconversions.blogspot.com/p/articlesreviews.html, download here http://www.mediafire.com/?bien2ie9hnjvnbb). Now, there are a lot of fan-written codexes on the internet, but most of them leave a little to be desired (my first attempt at a Squat included, if I'm honest!). Two things set this codex apart:

1. The look of the book
2. The units therein

Firstly, the book looks... fantastic! The author has made a real effort to present the book in a format not disimilar to a 'real' codex, which helps the reader to quickly pick up and use the book. Each of the sections you'd expect are in there, though the author does admit that the 'fluff' does need expanding upon - something he's working on at the moment, I believe.

What really makes this book special though is that the author has really gone to town on creating units unique to the Adeptus Mechanicus, as opposed to taking the easy way out and just copying and renaming existing Imperial Guard or Space Marine units. This makes the A.M. army an exciting proposition, and one that I'm looking forward to delving into and reading more of, over the next few weeks. I'd strongly recommend all our Claws & Fists readers to do the same!

The only other similar book I've found on the internet in the past is an Exodite Eldar codex (http://www.agisn.de/html/codex_exodites.html, download here http://www.agisn.de/html/download.html). Again, the author has spent a long time creating a brand new, living and breathing army, with stacks of background 'fluff' and some innovative and unique units. Just like the A.M. book described above, what makes this special is that it's not just "renamed-Craftworld-Eldar-units-painted-a-different-colour", rather the units are completely bespoke and well thought out.

All of this makes me want to revisit and revise my (admittedly poor) first attempt at a Squat Codex. Over the last year or so I have been putting together a counts-as Imperial Guard army of Squats, however my progress has been limited since GW have inforced a complete ban on non-GW models at Warhammer World (and quite rightly too - it's their flagship venue and they want to promote and sell their wares). I will post later this month an update on my progress with that particular project.

So, my challenge for the next couple of months is to revise my original Squats codex, but taking inspiration from the two fantastic efforts described above (Adeptus Mechanicus and Exodite Eldar). I realise that the book will never be deemed acceptable for tournament play, but that really isn't the point - the aim here is to create something 'a bit different' that I can truly call my own.

So, my aims for my new 'fan-dex' are:

1. To write some original fluff (based on, and expanding upon, the back-stories from the Rogue Trader and second edition books I grew up with)
2. To create unique Squat units throughout the army list (the original units were intentionally renamed and minimally-tweaked Imperial Guard units, as I thought at the time that would lend some credibility to my project).
3. To produce a fan-dex that looks as visually professional as the A.M. and Exodite Eldar books.

So there you have it - my aim for the remainder of the year. But now I'll throw the subject open to you, the loyal Claws & Fists readership:

Which army or armies would you love to see a codex for?


Would you ever contemplate having a go yourself?

Would you be happy to play against a fan-written book?

Links updated 16.50, 3/10/2011