Crazy Ideas #3: Part 1. A glimpse into the mind of a fester

So I made the rookie mistake of explaining how I come up with these awesomely amazing ideas. After SneakyDan's glowing praise of my DinoRiders idea, and TKE blocking my use of anything Ork related (Ork-dar, seriously?), I have had to turn my brain back to "insane" and start thinking of new ideas again... all by myself.

Okay, so not a new idea, an old idea that really spawned this whole Crazy Ideas thing, and the one army that I am actually going to build myself to see how it works out.

Anyway, back to basics. There are a few options that lead one to creating a "crazy idea", as such. Any of these are valid, and generally by the time the idea is rounded out, all will be looked at to make the army work.
1. Codex / Rules
2. Fluff
3. Models
4. Hobby aspect
5. X-factor
6. Cost
Most of these are self-explanitory but I will go through them just incase you have the mental capacity of Taak a brick.

1. Codex / Rules
Right, so you heard about this codex that does something really cool that you like. For example, biker armies, MC spam, hordes, TH/SS thunderbubble, etc.
So you look into the list, write a list and try to wrap something around it to make it work.
Let's take, Thunderbubble for example. When I think thunderbubble I think shields (SS to be precise) and when I think of the army it will walk up the board using the TH/SS as cover. So how about we start thinking Dwarves, stout, hardy, tough... Dakka preds can be some form of cannon, Dwarves are able engineers fluff-wise so we can do a Golem or construct for the Dreads...

2. Fluff
Obvious one, you read a story in the 40k or similar universe and want to emulate it on the board.
How about Air-cav done themed around Apocolypse, Now using Hueys?
This is the simplest of starting points for a crazy idea. This is where the Dino-Riders idea came from. I started with the concept of Dinosaurs with Guns and worked out how to make that fit in the 40k universe outside of the normal obvious places, Orks (squiggoths) and Eldar (exodites).

3. Models
Do you have a boxful of Bretonnians that now suck, or found a lovely set of models you just want to use.
Well you can take the "army" of models you have, and build something around what you have.
For instance, building a horseback SM biker list using your fantasy cavalry models. This is a rewarding way to build an army, save some money, and get re-use out of that pile of crap we all have laying around

4. Hobby Aspect
Some people have a fetish for plasticard. I admit I am one of them, and have built many a crazy thing over the years. You can take a cool idea and build a whole army out of it.
Some people will spend days and days sculpting the perfect Mortarion for their Death Guard, and then go and use a non-SM based codex to make it work!

5. X-factor
Sometimes, just having an army that doesnt conform to the "rules" is enough to get people thinking about something a little different. BushidoRedPanda's Sons of Horus are a good example of this I think. Sure they use the Chaos codex, and sure that's obvious, but crazy ideas don't NEED to be out of the standard codex.
For instance, in  this army, his obliterators are Epic Reaver Titans Cool huh!

6. Cost
We all know this hobby is a terrible thing to do if your have little-to-no cash, so how about saving some money to make the army better? This shouldnt be the primary goal, but it is always something that needs to be considered.
Do you really want to start out on the new project only to find you could have built 3 armies for the 1 you are trying to do? Eww.

Example Army
Vinsanity is looking to work on an army based on this: http://kirbysblog-ic.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-armies-blood-angels-jump-pack-army.html. I know that his Crazy Idea is a Night Lords army based on this list.

So, lets look at what we have. Items 1 and 2, check.
Lets look at 3. Models. Well, we can either go the proper model route (eww) or, as we are counts-as BA, go down a different route. Vins asked about how to chaosify jump-packs in the chatango thingy, I just suggested this: http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=74&category_id=26
#3, Tick. #4, well, we are looking at Night Lords. I am sure Vins will be doing the requisite lightning painjob.
#5. This army, being a particular well known and loved Chaos army will satisfy the X-Factor.
However, to bring it home, I would suggest doing something special for the VV's. Maybe getting special jump packs, bat-wings or something, and possibly doing something a little more Possessed to set them off.
#6. Wel,, based on all the above, and knowing that the standard NightLords models are metal (and ugly), we will definitely be saving money.

Where to from here?
So I have basically outlined the basics of any list/army creation. What makes this so different?
Well with an army/idea that is designed to have that coolness factor of being something completely different, these ideas need to be planned out prior to starting, and moreso than normal armies, you need to have dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's with everything, from list, to design of units, to how you will explain what the hell everything is.

Next I will start looking into what I intend to do with my crazy army, how I tick the boxes, and how the hell I intend to get this past the "GW only" crowd!

I am also looking for some people to flick me army lists or ideas they want analysed and have a Crazy Idea applied to their concept. I would love to turn up to an event one day and play off against an army that started here as an idea, and was fully fleshed out by somebody with ability and willpower!

Here's some pics of what is currently winging its way to me to whet your appetite.