Unique Steam Tanks for SFO II

Steam Tanks. Those glorious machines belching smoke and ramming through the hordes of filthy heretics, blasting out cannonballs and scalding steam. But have you ever felt there’s something missing? That there’s something lifeless about tanks that all looked like they were built by robots to look identical? After all, in WHFB there were only twelve Steam Tanks in the entire Empire, and only eight of those are still running. Each one should be unique and have character, right? Well, you’re in luck, because that’s exactly what this mod does. The aim is to make as many Steam Tanks as possible stand out from the crowd.

Ultimately, I’d like to have eight in total, so–wait? Do you hear something?

                                             BAH GAWD THAT’S IKIT KLAW’S MUSIC!

                                                

Yep, that’s right, the Skaven have found themselves a Steam Tank! Borrowing liberally from the archives of GW’s pre-Age of Sigmar website, I’ve combined the fluff of one of the lost Imperial Steam Tanks with the Rat Tank designed for one of their WHFB Skirmish scenarios.

• Five new Imperial Steam Tanks (all limited to one per campaign or custom battle army):
  • ALTER KAMERAD
    Alter Kamerad ("Old Fellow" or "Old Friend" in Reikspiel) resembles your basic Steam Tank, with one exception. In place of the cannon, a Helblaster Volley Gun has been installed, giving the tank a quicker-firing weapon useful against foes both on the ground and in the air.
  • DELIVERANCE
    The pride of Nuln’s engineering facilities, Deliverance has undergone a wide variety of modifications, including the addition of a fearsome Flame Cannon. The strength of the tank and the bravery have earned it the coveted medal known as the Imperial Cross, an honor bestowed only upon the Emperor’s favored warriors.
  • IMPLACABLE
    Implacable trades the closed design and both the steam cannon and turret for a powerful mortar. This makes it a potent mobile artillery platform, able to engage in open battle as well as siegeing cities.
  • INVINCIBLE
    The Steam Tank most faithful to Leonardo do Miragliano’s original design, Invincible has never been fitted with a steam turret. It still boasts one of the most powerful steam cannons, making it useful in taking out powerful lords, heroes, and monsters.
  • SIGMAR’S HAMMER
    As the name would suggest, Sigmar’s Hammer is designed to mercilessly pound enemies using an enhanced version of the Steam Tank’s already-powerful battering ram. To give it the power to do this, the cannon and steam gun have both been removed, allowing the engine’s steam to increase the tank’s speed.
• A brand-spanking-new Skaven Rat Tank (also limited to one per campaign or custom battle army):
  • RAT TANK
    The Rat Tank began life as the Imperial Steam Tank Sigismund, which was lost in a swamp near Marienburg. It was recovered by the Skaven, led by the Chief Warlock Engineer of Clan Skyre, and now thrums with the twisted power of warpstone. It boasts a full-powered Warp Lightning Cannon as the main weapon, and a smaller Doomwheel-style cannon mounted on the turret.
• Brand-new custom "Pour on the Steam!" ability for Imperial Steam Tanks, granting temporary enhancements to speed and firepower, at the cost of reduced accuracy and longer reload time.
• New and enhanced textures including:
  • Unique armour colors and different metals for decorations (based on the hex codes for actual Citadel Miniatures paints where possible).
  • Replacement sigils and heraldry (WIP).
  • Metallic tops for Implacable, Invincible and Sigmar’s Hammer.
  • Tweaks such as better Imperial Crosses, no more neon orange rust, and generally cleaner looks.
• Unique unit cards and descriptions for each tank.

All of the Imperial Steam Tank units require you to own the settlement of Nuln, the industrial center of the Empire, to better reflect the origin of the Steam Tanks in lore. In addition, you must have built both an Engineer’s Workshop (Level 3 Forge) and the Nuln Gunnery School unique building before you can recruit them. This mod only adds entries for these units, so it should be compatible with just about everything. However, this mod does reference vanilla entries for Steam Tanks and Warp Lightning weapons in some places, so if another mod overwrites those, there may be issues or unbalanced stats.

This version is designed around Steel Faith Overhaul II (SFO2), but I also made a separate version for the vanilla game. In addition, all the tanks are included in Cataph’s "Closer To Tabletop – Boyz Will Be Boyz" (CTT BWB) mod, including misfires and abilities, without the need for a separate submod.

Q: Hey, I was promised a Helblaster and basically got a huge shotgun! What gives?
A: Like any Master Engineer worth his salt, I’m tinkering with things and trying to make stuff work, but some things just have to be jury-rigged. For right now I seem to be limited by the length of the firing animation. If you’ve got any ideas on how to make it work, let me know in the comments! In the meantime, I’ve made the main gun fire three Helblaster shots at once.

Q: Why doesn’t the cannon on Sigmar’s Hammer fire?
A: As the description mentions, there isn’t supposed to be a cannon there in the first place, and it’s non-functional in the game. Unfortunately, the modding tools currently don’t allow removing it from the model.

Q: Why does the Rat Tank have two Warp Lightning Cannons? And why does the main one have a regular cannon firing animation?
A: My original intent was to have the Rat Tank’s turret be a Warpfire Thrower, but for some reason all flamethrower-type weapons are completely broken on war machines. I’ve asked on the official CA forums, but I haven’t heard a response back yet. As for the firing animation, it’s tied to the original Steam Tank model, and I’m not sure if I can change it. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make those work, I’m all ears!

Q: Can I suggest some ideas and/or improvements?
A: Of course! Any sort of suggestion or constructive criticism is welcome in the comments. I’m a novice modder, so any help is appreciated. And while I’ve got a couple ideas from various GW sources I’m trying to implement myself, past a certain point the lore and the fluff get a little hazy, and there are modding tool limitations that may make some of those designs difficult or impossible.

Q: Dude, this mod SUCKS!
A: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ If all you do is complain, I don’t know what to fix.

Q: Can I use any or all of these units in my own mod?
A: Absolutely! As long as you ask for permission and credit me, it’s fine.

Q: Will you be making a submod that is compatible with <INSERT MOD HERE>?
A: See COMPATIBILITY above for currently-supported mods. Other than that, I don’t have any immediate plans, but modders are welcome to contact me.

New tanks (as close to lore versions as possible)
More updated/fixed textures
Changes to stats as needed

-GW, for the Warhammer universe
-CA, for the game and the modding tools
-Mixu, for the original expanded Empire of Man unit mod that gave me the idea
-Cataph, for advice and incorporating the tanks into CTT BWB
-Steel*Faith and Venris, for bits of advice and encouragement
-Sebidee, for the excellent Complete Guide to Warhammer Unit Modding[www.twcenter.net]