Editing Counts As (section)

==The Other Side of the Coin==
[[File:CountsAs.jpg|200px|thumb|left|An example of "counts as" modelling...]]
In a different light, for 40k, the "counts as" rule is a converter's and [[fluff]]-heavy player's best friend, as it can add a bit of individuality to an army.  For example, modeling a single [[Team Fortress 2|heavy weapons guy ]] to "count as" a heavy weapons team in an [[Imperial Guard]] command squad, assistant Techpriests instead of servitors for a Techpriest or Techmarine, an Eldar sword painted glowing red to count as a Fusion Gun as well as a Power Sword, etc. are little ways this rule adds character to a model.  On a larger scale, some [[Iron Warriors]] Chaos Space Marine players are known to use the loyalist Space Marine codex to better represent the mechanized organization of their legion than their current [[chaos|Chaos Space Marine]] codex can.

It also allows players to field fluff-based armies in more creative ways - say, for example, an Imperial world that has been cut off from the rest of the [[Imperium]] for thousands of years has slowly forgotten the superstition surrounding machines and has evolved to the point of re-manufacturing grav tanks and the like.  [[heresy|Such an army would be Imperial in flavour, but would play using the Eldar codex]].  And in fluff, would be targeted by Inquisitors '''AND''' the Mechanicum on a daily basis.  Another common setup is to kitbash Imperial Guard and Tau models together to make a [[Gue'vesa]] force, counting the [[crunch]] as Imperial Guard or Tau, depending on what best represents the force's combat style and composition.  Players with these kinds of armies are rare, however, so "counts as" mostly adheres to the first two types of examples.

And then there's the Orks; for brevity let's just say that an Ork army done right treats "Counts As" as a starting point and then builds on it with [[Looted]] (in editions where they have Looted).

As with the no longer supported models above who "suffer" from the "Counts As" rule, (and for anything in general) it's always necessary to inform your opponent as to what each of these changes count as.