Gaming: An Introduction to Super Robot Wars

 

 

So, something I've been mentioning, but never fully explained is Super Robot Wars (SRW), a long established series of video games about to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. These first appeared on the Game Boy platform, but has since appeared on numerous consoles of Japanese origin. Its a cultural staple, although licensing issues have largely prevented it from having any impact in the West. Typically, these are Strategic Roleplaying Games, played on a big map, taking turns, with a vast unit variety. I mean, think about it. There's a great many giant robot styles, reflecting a different technology level and artistic approach. SRW can and always will find a way to make a mecha and its pilot distinct. This leads to the series' biggest effect on the discourse, the categorisation of mecha into “Super Robots” and “Real Robots”. In these games, Super Robots are big, cartoony, heavy hitters that stride into combat soaking up damage. Real Robots however are more sensible and rely more on dodging. However, its not the machine that's important, the pilots have their own special abilities which have a huge effect. And there's usually a character creation element too, so the nominal protagonist is to your tastes. What I'm saying here is that there is depth.

 

Of course, the main appeal is fan pandering. The series as a whole takes the same approach to crossovers and characterisation as Lego does. Characters are recognisable, although the art style tends towards the “super deformed” style, with their backstories intact, but any obvious sources of contradiction are glossed over and ignored. If anything, there's a fan-pleasing sense of humour to events, as jokes get made and "mistakes" of the source material get corrected. Did your fave die tragically? The odds are one of these games will let you fix that. Imagine for a second some kind of massive spy B-movie, featuring James Bond, The Man From Uncle, two different iterations of Charlie's Angels, Jason Bourne, John Wick, The Fast & The Furious, Atomic Blonde, and Austin Powers. Imagine Blofeld meeting Doctor Evil and discussing scalp care. Imagine James Bond, any Bond, teaming up with the Angels. Imagine someone saving Daisy. That's the appeal of a Super Robot Wars game. Its your favourite character appearing on the map, their theme music playing like a wrestling promo, the voice actor delivering the battle chatter, and kicking arse along side your second-fave, with the personalities just bouncing off each-other. It is, simply, amazing. 

 

While a Super Robot Wars games may not offer any great innovations in the realm of Strategic JRPGs, this is only because it has been around for a very long time, and set a few conventions. These games can be very refined, with examples from decades ago having the kind of quality of life features that honestly surprised me. Even the attack animations that so characterise the franchise, can be turned off for the sake of time. There are however two broad problems. The first is the barrier to entry, because, as mentioned, these have remained Japanese-only titles almost exclusively. The only real exception are the  two Super Robot Taisen games, aka Japanese for wars,  two obscure western releases on the Game Boy Advance featuring original, rather than licensed, characters. This leaves an interested player with the choice between fan translations, or tracking down the Asian Switch release of Super Robot Wars T, which has English text, but no Western release. I've used pictures here from the SRW GC game, via fan translated emulation, which is an older example, but fairly representative of things. The other broad problem is that any SRW game takes a bloody long time to play, which ain't great if its featuring a series you don't like. You get lots of content, but a lot of text too, and they usually don't offer much outside of combat. Although the sense of humour really is something else...

 

 

Then something happened that caused me to rewrite the ending of this article, and bring it forward. Super Robot Wars 30 is due this year, and will be on Steam. Against all odds! Woo!

 

Gunpla: The MS-09R Rick Dom (HGUC)

I can get a bit "armchair general" about Zeons assorted Mobile Suit programs, which was a messy contest between multiple factions and reality. Part of it was obviously the need for merch and concerns about viewing figures, but imagine the following. You've invaded Earth, but found your super weapon, the Zaku II series, isn't working as well there. As WMDs are now off the table, you need to make a better version for land combat. At the back of your mind, two things are troubling you. The first is that you are in a stalemate with a power that has 30 times your industrial capability, while the second is that the Federation must be working on their own version of the Zaku. The latter fear is soon proved fully justified by the first episode of the Gundam anime. So what do you do? The answer was deploy the Dom series, a popular design that probably came too late. 

 

 

Now, if we're just talking raw numbers, the Dom was a dramatic improvement over the Zaku series. Its was tougher, better armed, and faster due to its hovercraft system. However, there were issues. Physical armour was about to be devalued by beam weaponry, and the war was about to be move back into space, prompting the Rick Dom variant as a stop-gap. Also, as a result of a certain video game, I've never been keen on the Dom's bazooka as a general purpose weapon, if only for ergonomic and rate of fire reasons. You don't need that to destroy a GM or your average Feddie tank, so it prompts questions as to what Zeon thought they were facing. Well, presumably the ol' RX-78-2, but bazookas aren't ideal for agile targets. The Dom also features some "transitional" attempts at beam weaponry, with what amounts to a nipple-mounted flashbang grenade, and the Rick Dom's externally powered beam bazooka, which incidentally is an "expanded universe " addition.

So, that's 300ish words on the lore, how is it as a model? Well, it's a prestige kit from 2006, so they put a lot of effort in, but you can tell its an older product. Colour accuracy is high, featuring transparent parts, a moving monoeye, but the scattering beam gun requires a sticker. There's multiple hands, of a 3 part style, but they don't look great due to gaps and seams. You have the option to build a vanilla or Rick styled Dom, but it's not something convenient to switch after assembly. Posability is about what you'd expect of something whose feet are as big as its torso, possibly better than it looks, but nowt earth-shattering. Following a lens mishap, I opted for the beam bazooka, which I will admit is a touch daft and a little heavy for the arm joints. I then did a bit of light panel-lining.

Overall, this kit feels just a little outdated. There's definitely nice touches like the shoulder armour, and the overall effect is great, but the weaknesses are definitely things that are in the nuisance category. There are probably nicer Doms, but that's not its fault, to be fair.

The Mecha Hack: 4 Ideas for Realer Real Robots

So, here's the thing, say you want "realism" in your Mecha Hack. That's realism as a design motif, not an actual function of the rules mechanics. It's a simple game, and giant robots are not realistic in any serious sense. But you mean realistic as in "not a Super Robot, a Real Robot". The next question is how realistic? Oh you mean militaristic? Gotcha. Well, the first thing you do is look at the Gundam franchise and throw most of it out. While the original series was a trope maker, one thing it did not do was apply the idea of a “squadron” well. In a real world military, vehicles of different types are not deployed together as a unit. Its a matter of logistics and practicality, the vehicles have to be able to keep pace with each-other, do the same tactical role, and as simple as possible to supply. You can see hints of this with antagonists, but the famous White Base has a mixed unit of a melee specialist with a bazooka, mid-range artillery, long-range artillery, and whatever you count the core block vehicles as. To be fair to Amuro & company, they were just refugees playing the hand they were dealt, and we're dealing with matters of drama, but this arrangement was fairly influential. This sort of thing however isn't Gundam's invention or fault. We are talking some seriously foundational storytelling dynamics. Think Journey to the West. Think Fellowship of the Ring. Think Five-Man Band. As a result, most mecha animes are often only Mildly Military in tone and execution, I.E. something outside the usual framework and without the attitude of a professional soldier, and obviously merchandise driven, like most anime is. If you want something that at least looks broadly sensible you have to go a bit more obscure, like Votoms, Gasaraki, Front Mission, and the outlier that is is Gundam: The 08th MS Team. This article presents some ideas on how to do that in The Mecha Hack, presented in a clickbait format.

 

Idea 1: Use Maps and the Optional Rules

While not specific to the Real Robot genre, there is a serious-mindedness that is common amongst its proponents. Just using a map will add a more considered and and technical feel, but would require more preparation from you as GM. The Mission Manual meanwhile presents a megaton of optional rules which could be layered onto a campaign, specifically Environment Templates and Hard Mode. Ammunition is an obvious one, as are Fire Team tests. On-foot skills may also be a good fit for smaller scale mecha settings. Try to aim for thematic, rather than tiresome, however.

Idea 2: Modifying Chassis

A basic tenant of the Real Robot style is for everything to be a mass produced item, often with a comparatively small number of main designs. The quickest way to introduce that feeling of uniformity is to simply have one chassis, letting pilot types and modules do the heavy lifting. You just need to ensure your chosen chassis does not present an obvious balance issue in bulk. Having a squad of strikers for example would hamstring the reactor mechanic without a modification. So, that's what I did for a game, I took that ability out and replaced it with stuff from other classes. modules and weapon qualities to create the feel of unified team, but each having a speciality.

Idea 3: Modify Level-ups

Following on from the above, you could change how a mecha levels up. It's far from unheard of for a generalist mecha to be customised for a specific person, so even if the basics are common, people can specialise in more subtle ways than new Chassis Abilities. There's a whole trope about it, the Ace Custom. So, while things like Hit Die could remain fixed, the other stats may level up differently. So, you might use the brawler as a base, but allow players to be "Scout Specialists" and level like a scout.

Idea 4: Command and Supply Vehicles

A concept that pops up occasionally is the idea of a non-humanoid support vehicle. Say a truck loaded with sensors to guide the Mecha, or supplies to assist. This might be an NPC, but then again you do get people whom enjoy playing support/healer/Auxillary, so here's some rules for that. This inspiration here is mainly the example in 08TH MS Team, although the modules lean on Front Mission.

 

Support Truck Chassis

Hit Die D6 Damage Die D4 Reactor Die D6

Levelling

Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for System and Presence. At levels 3, 6, & 9, gain a new module.

Starting HP

1d6 + 3

Proficiencies

Light Ranged Weapons, Light Amour.

Starting Equipment

Comlink, Defensive Turret (Light Ranged Weapon), Light Armour.

Sensor Boom

You gain Advantage on System tests to detect Distant and beyond-distant foes. You also gain Advantage on Initiative tests, provided at no foes are Close or Near.

Target Designator

See the Auxillary's Reinforce ability.

Support Truck Modules

Weapon Rack: You have stowage for weapons and shields, equivalent to 6 hands. You or a friendly Close Mecha may retrieve and henceforth operate a single piece of equipment with a Use action.

Emergency Repair Beam: As a Use action, immediately repair 1HP to all Close friendly mecha. Mecha with no AP remaining also gain a 1AP as well. Roll your reactor die.

If you do end up using these rules, please let me know how it turns out.

Plamo: The ATM-09-ST 1/20 Scale Model SCOPEDOG (Armored Trooper VOTOMS)

I've had a long term fascination with VOTOMS, first becoming aware of it during the early days of the interwebs. I've watched a bit of it, while a good show, its not one I've ever got around to finishing. Its very much an anime where I am intellectually interested rather than emotionally invested. The thing about VOTOMS is that, acknowledging the strong 80's vibe, its very hard to come up with a more realistic take on mecha concept and still have the result be humanoid. It is the gold standard of such things.

People just end up reinventing the Scopedog, although in fairness, this may have something to do with creator Ryosuke Takahashi revisiting the basic idea frequently in other projects and thus codifying the trope. A basic argument against mecha as weapons is their size, complexity and how difficult it would be to armor such a thing. VOTOMS presents mecha that sit at the 4 metre mark, looks exactly like a robot you could make in 1983, and generally aren't armoured in any meaningful sense. Tanks and jets are still a thing, and while the first armored trooper was a game-changer, it was not a super weapon. It's like how the the original 1987 version of Robocop looks and moves like he's bulletproof; they utterly nailed the concept right out of the gate. Another defining, but possibly less realistic, aspect are the wheels in a Scopedog's feet, allowing for high-speed slalom manoeuvres. These were rugged, aggressively manufactured, and nimble. And, for most practical purposes, these replaced infantry, while being ultimately viewed as disposable in manner evoking the worst of the first world war. It was kind of a bleak series...

As a kit, the obvious comparison to make is with a Master Grade gunpla circa 2007, this coming in a similarly chonky box, and also being made by Bandai. I've dabbled in such things, but I can't make any deep comments in that regard. How big is it? Well, it towers over the 1/44 scale I normally do, and most of my Transformers, which is about typical for a master grade. There is definitely a similar "this is everything" feel to proceedings, going above and beyond the animation externally, while having a detailed cockpit, pilot figure, and other internals. That said, this kit does put me in mind of a more serious-minded scale model release, despite it being snap-fit. There's individual bolts you have to apply with an included tool, which was less annoying than I feared, as well as a metal rod for the cockpit hinge. As a build, this kit was time consuming if comparatively straightforward, with big polycap joints, translucent plastic for the rotating lens assembly, excessively numerous water slides decals and some cheap-looking metallic plastic. Do be mindful of the lenses. These rely on a tiny peg and I was somewhat brutish with it, prompting a repair job. As a completed mecha, it's got all the posability you'd expect, but not all you'd actually want. Part of this is the subject matter, and part of it is age. I can't claim that a Scopedog is in any way a ninja, so what joints it has are fine, I just feel that a touch better articulation could have been possible, had they wanted to. Achieving a two-handed gun pose is for example is right on the edge of what the arms can handle.

I opted to try a repeat of the Dirty Leo, the Scopedog being exactly the sort of design where a layer of grime makes sense. After initial assembly, I opted against the pilot figure as it looked unfun to finish. Sometimes, they colour the plastic, but not enough, and it looked to a spraypaint job. Same with the Chirico Cuvie figure, as I suck at human skin and could not be arsed with it at the time. The kit was assembled without mods or decals, and panel-lined, before weathering techniques where applied. Limited applications of Game Color Silver was used for chipping and subtle wear, most obviously on the left fist. It never photographs well, for some reason. GW's Typhus Corrosion was liberally brushed on, before being smeared with cotton buds. Stirland Mud was also used in on the feet. I do like how this turned out, these techniques dulled the plastics in an approximately military-industrial-rust-bucket sort of way.

As a project, this was quite satisfying, and if you like VOTOMS, tracking the kit down is probably well worth your time. Especially given how other merch tends to be rather expensive and elusive. Mind you, if something closer to a HG was on the table... I would probably have gone for that instead. As beautiful as it is, I'm indifferent to gimmicks. You might not be...

Battlefleet Gothic: My Thoughts on BFG:XR

So, I had this idea to write a series of tactical analysis articles about a dead game I've hardly played, and am not likely to play for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, its something to do. I'm building some Ork Ships, so why not use the creative energy that's there?

With the completion of Gorbag's Revenge, I find myself having come to the end point of collecting an Ork fleet. I have a more than adequate selection of vessels, painted and built to a standard of "table-worthy" . I've even mastered techniques I didn't know before. The next logical step is to find someone to play against, something hampered as much by my own social awkwardness as pandemic restrictions. I miss gaming, and while this was meant to be a purely creative exercise, it would be nice to have a go. But you might say, "Dude, BFG is a dead game, nobody is playing. You say as much up top. ". Well, apparently not. There are various fan communities with their own rules, such as today's focus, BattlefleetGothic: XR. Now, as the XR ruleset is several hundred pages long, while play-testing is difficult, my observations will be somewhat shallow. I did try and write a full review of things, but decided against it due to inexperience. My general impression is that the rules have diverged so far from the source as to count as a new edition, although this shows an active community for it. This is particularly pronounced in the case of the Xenos Factions, especially Eldar. As I understand it, I'm broadly in favour of how they remodelled the Ork fleet. It seems the basic ideas of 2010 Clans list have been walked back a little, making the older material seem amateurish. So, on the one hand, you've got a convenient and actively-maintained living rulebook. On the other, by definition it's unofficial, and people can be funny about that. I will now discuss what this may mean for my fleet.

With both Gun Batteries and Heavy Gunz reworked, Ork Kroozers are now significantly more broadsidey. Randomised Gunz are now mainly a feature of prows, with flank examples having a standardised minimum of 6FP. I view this as more of a time saver than anything else, but at least you will have fewer RNG embarrassments and it stacks well with other weaponry. Heavy Gunz meanwhile are very different, have a 30cm range, no hit doubling, but a higher strength value within 15cm. The mathhammer comparison for this change is tedious, but you aren't really loosing anything, and gaining more in in the 30cm bracket. I admit that this is probably less interesting than the previous, but these revisions grant the common Ork capitals a basic competency they didn't have before. They also have Lance equivalents now. Zzaps are a little odd in that they damage on a 5+ and suffer infrequent misfires that cause blastmarkers on their parent ship. This makes them less useful than the basic Lance, although you are still looking at an answer to 6+ armour with consistent performance. If you're wondering what this means for the Slamblasta? Well, you get more shots into the bargain. Zzaps also turn up on the Onslaught as an upgrade. This plays into a general reworking of the escort category, a dense topic by itself, but the short version is that Onslaughts are more like Imperial frigates, while the Brutes focus on thier headbutting. So, there's new stuff to do, but its been done in a relatively clean way that feels in line with the original rules.

Does any of this actually count as "good" in the BFG:XR Meta? Maybe not, but is something. There is still a strong justification for aggressive movements towards enemy however. Weapon batteries of any flavour work best within 15cm, and almost everything gets a reinforced ram for happier ramming. But there's the thing; I can easily imagine people complaining because they feel Orks should be terrible, it happened a lot when I played regular 40k. Another example is the characteristic issue with Bombers, which remain, but come across as somewhat more fun. Orky turrets only hit on a 5+, but you have more, and get to fire at all tokens regardless of type. This means bomber tokens are still a worry, but it's not one-sided and boring. If anything, it presents the image of every Ork on board firing their pistols out of the airlocks as something gets close. This amusing mental picture is however swiftly followed by another of someone whinging that they can't destroy a Kroozer in a single pass any more. Given the extent attack craft rules seem to have been rebalanced over the years, this perhaps isn't a uniquely orkish topic, but if anything was gonna provoke a "Sorry, what?" from a foe, it would be the news that you've got 3 turrets. I never did like having to explain to an opponent something they should already have been aware of...

Wrapping thing up

I'm not quite sure what I'm doing next, on the BFG front. This may well be the last article on the subject for a while, assuming I don't feel the need to build some ships. That said, if I were to play, I'd probably play with the XR rules.

Gunpla: The OZ-06MS Leo (HGAC) Yes, AGAIN

 

As you may recall, this is not the first Leo I've done. I can only assume I might like the design at the point. The unfamiliar might ask what a Leo is? Well, it's a memetically expendable and faceless Grunt mobile Suit, made infamous by the series Gundam Wing. My previous comments on the design may be found here, and  here. I'm not repeating myself, when I can instead attempt to drive up traffic by crosslinking articles. We're gonna mainly talk about paints today.

This was an impulse purchase following a trying week which became an opportunity to try something out. The basic assembly and finishing of the Leo was largely the same as the last one, with panels lined with a Unipin Fine Line. The transparent sensor panel was placed atop an area of metallic gundam marker, rather than a reclaimed bit of spare sticker. This makes it a little bit duller, but that wasn't an issue as I was not aiming for shiny. This time, the tip of the gun was painted with one of those newish GW "Contrast Colours", specifically Black Templar. This was a leftover from an abandoned attempt to speed-paint some Ork Boyz. At the risk of going off topic, I found the Contrasts rather disappointing there, which is why the end products haven't been posted on here, but it was acceptable in this project. I suppose black is a hard colour to get wrong. Once the basics had been achieved, I moved on to the matter of "weathering". This was done via generous applications of GW Typhus Corrosion, one of the older but generally reliable Technical range. As paints go, it amounts to something midway between a brown wash and a textured paint which you are encouraged to smear. And smear it I did, placing emphasis on the legs and hard lines. I wanted this to look something that been in the mud like an actual soldier. 

 

The Leo is possibly not an ideal candidate for this technique due to its simplicity and scale, it is still a good one given its obvious grunt stylings. I liked the overall result so much that I decided against trying a chipping effect for the shield. Sometimes, you just look at something, and say to yourself, "Nah, that's great as is.". Plus, I've never seen a Leo survive long enough to chip the paint on a shield. 

 

The Mecha Hack: The Orks Of Warhammer 40,000

Orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks. Periodically, I try to force all my obsessions into a huge great nerd sandwich of a thing. So, this article happened. About how you could run Gorkanauts and Morknauts in The Mecha Hack. You might ask, why not do Imperial Knights, or Titans? Or T'au Battlesuits? Or Marines? Surely if you wanted to do a 40K game in The Mecha Hack, there are other more obvious candidates? Well, perhaps, but Orks are the faction I play,  so they get rules instead. What? There's a new codex soon? Oh, its just a happy coincidence, as I've been sitting on this one for months.

A Word On Scale
The Warhammer 40,000 setting has almost every conceivable weapon of sci-fi war, but its treatment of giant robots does not line up easily with the Japanese Mecha genre. On the one hand, we have what are basically mini-mecha with an infantry support role or western-style walking tanks. On the other? Mobile Fortresses big enough to appear on a map, which will be redrawn after they've done firing. These rules aim towards the larger end of category one.

Notes on Converting the 'Orkanauts
Morkanauts and Gorkanauts carry a wide variety of secondary guns just basically because they can and its awesome. It's a mess of rokkits, big shootas, skorchas, & kustom-megablastas. While mainly mentioned for purposes of flavour, they may be collectively represented by a light ranged weapon that does not count towards the hand limit, termed “Ovver-Gunz”. Gorkanauts and Morkanauts also have interior space for 6ish Orks in cramped conditions, the “Belly Cabin”. This is an opportunity for tag-along NPCs, consumables, and tag-along NPCs that work as consumables. I mean, where else is a Snakebite gonna keep his herd of angry squigs? While there is an obvious overlap between a Gorkanaut and a Morkanaut, I've tried to retain the different tactical roles they fill in 40K. As such, the Gorknaut is great at killing Swarms, but mediocre at  ranged combat against other mecha. The Morkanaut is the more rounded of the two in this ruleset, as it was the anti-tank variant, and slightly less melee focused. It comes with a Kustom Forcefield, because of course it does.


Clan Kulture Modules
Ork mecha may at the time of creation choose a single clan affiliation as a module, and once selected, this cannot be changed. If a player decides to defer this decision, it is a big thing, they must instead choose one at level 3. If in doubt, choose Freebooter. The inspiration was the 8th edition clan rules.

Bad Moon: If you have not moved this turn, ranged attacks become critical successes on a roll of 1 or 2.

Blood Axe: You have Advantage on tests to find/use cover, hide, and lie like the sneaky git you are.

Deathskull:  You may reroll dice rolls of 20 on all tests.  

Evil Sun: Once a Moment you may take two standard moves as a single action. Then roll your Reactor Die.

Freebooter: If a friendly ork mecha has already killed an enemy this Moment, gain Advantage on your first attack.

Goff: Melee attacks become critical successes on a roll of 1 or 2.

Snakebite:  You may reroll your Hit Dice when resting, and levelling up. You may also reroll your starting HP.


Gorkanaut Chassis
Hit Die D10  Damage Die D8 Reactor Die D6

STARTING HIT POINTS
1d10 + 4

WEAPONS AND ARMOR
All armor, all weapons, shields

LEVELLING UP
Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for Power and  Presence. At levels 3, 6, and 9, gain a new module.

STARTING EQUIPMENT
Comlink, Klaw of Gork (light melee weapon), Dethstorm Mega-Shoota (light ranged weapon), Ovver-Gunz, light armor (+3 AP), Belly Cabin.

WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!
Announce the name of this ability. As a Move action, immediately move to a Near enemy and make a melee attack against them. Roll your reactor die.

BIG BULLY
This mecha inflicts +2 damage on Swarm enemies. However, when making a ranged attack with its Dethstorm Mega-Shoota at another kind of target, it is resolved as d6 damage instead of a d8.

Morkanaut Chassis
Hit Die D10 Damage Die D8 Reactor Die D6

STARTING HIT POINTS
1d10 + 4

WEAPONS AND ARMOR
All armor, all weapons, shields

LEVELLING UP
Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for System and  Presence. At levels 3, 6, and 9, gain a new module.

STARTING EQUIPMENT
Comlink, Klaw of Mork (light melee weapon), Kustom Mega-Zappa (light ranged weapon), Ovver-Gunz, light armor (+3 AP), Belly Cabin.

WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!
See above.

KUSTOM FORCEFIELD
As a Use action, create a barrier of 2 AP, usable by yourself or a Close mecha against Ranged Attacks. The barrier lasts until you dismiss it or until the AP is spent. Roll your reactor die.


Sample 40k unit to Swarm conversions
For this mod, I have decided to use the Swarm Enemy rules to represent things smaller than a Morkanaut, as it makes the most sense on the face of it. That said, you may have to do some fine tuning. "Hack" games are very stripped down and minimalist. Warhammer 40k can be somewhat  minimalist for a 28mm war game, but suffers from rules bloat and fanboyism. As such the rough conversions I present below can only be abstract approximations subject to my biases. My assumption here is that infantry should present no real threat to your average Gorkanaut, but the challenge is doing it fast enough. You'll also note that as HD/HP goes up the Swarm die goes down, as a LOT of Infantry in 40k tends to wear armour needing an anti-tank round to bypass, while things like Terminators can happily bludgeon tanks to death. Proportionally, as they get more powerful, the better targets they are for mecha, and the less the Swarm die is necessary. Whatever you end up doing, aim for fun, instead of a slog.


Light Infantry, I. E. Boyz, Termagants, Guardsmen, Cultists etc: HD1, HP3, 1d4 damage, max Swarm die: 1d12.
Medium Infantry, I. E Fire Warriors, Nobz, Scions: HD2, HP4, 1d6 damage, max Swarm die: 1d8.
Heavy Infantry, I. E most Marines and Necrons: HD2, HP5, 1d6 damage, max Swarm die: 1d6, plus an appropriate ability.
Light Vehicles and Elite Infantry, I. E bike squadrons, Battlesuits, Meganobs: HD3, HP8, 1d6/8 damage, max Swarm die: 1d6, plus an appropriate ability.
Actual Tanks, greater daemons, dreadnoughts, your typical "Shoot The Big Ones" Tyranids: Not a Swarm.


Going Further
While certain modules or concepts don't necessarily fit the setting, like handheld shields, most can be renamed with no issue. For example, you can simply rename the 4 basic pilot types as Boss, Mekaniak, Git, and Mouth. Another thing you could do is is adapt the new Hybrid Chassis into a Gargantuan Squiggoth. You'd just have to swap out the Mawbeam ability for WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!.

If you end up using these rules, do let me know how it turns out.