Mechanicus Codex (unoffical fandex)

[inquisitor Tarn]

hi Guys, I got permission from Kurgn the Lurker to place a fan-codex that a have written for the Adeptus Mechanicus in the downloads section; it can be found Here .

 

I'm hoping you'll give it a look over, and if you like what you see, help me test play this beta version; then post back your ideas and critique, regards gameplay and unit pointage etc.

 

Once I have pleanty of feedback I can revise anything that needs a change.

 

cheers Nigel

[Zealot Of Chaos]

Just having browsed through it there are a few typos

 

page 23:

None of the Melta weapons have the melta special rule

 

page 28:

Tribute entry has the stats down for a tribune but the composition says 1 tribute

Centurion composition has 1 magos with the unit only being 40 points

 

page 33:

Valkyrie Assault Carrier in the stats box says Mass Crawler

 

I am going to ask my local gaming group if they have any objections to me using this list and if the general consensus is favourable then I will be using it, if this is the case I will let you know how it plays and performs

[inquisitor Tarn]

Just having browsed through it there are a few typos

 

page 23:

None of the Melta weapons have the melta special rule

 

page 28:

Tribute entry has the stats down for a tribune but the composition says 1 tribute

Centurion composition has 1 magos with the unit only being 40 points

 

page 33:

Valkyrie Assault Carrier in the stats box says Mass Crawler

 

I am going to ask my local gaming group if they have any objections to me using this list and if the general consensus is favourable then I will be using it, if this is the case I will let you know how it plays and performs

 

hi there, thanks for getting back to me with these, just shows how many times you can read though it and still miss typos; most of which are to my shame 'copy & paste' errors, where I've neglected to exchange for the correct stats/wording

 

I've highlighted the three errors you mention on my own paper copy and will be correcting the download itself in due course once as I'm sure there are nho more corrections in there to be found. Please continue to post up any mores errors you find.

P28 should read 1x centurion not 1x Magos for composition

 

I'm really pleased you're thinking of trying it out at your club, and look forward to hearing your opinions good or bad; I've been trialing at our local club; lost 3, won 2 drawn 0 so going on that it seems fairly balanced regarding the units and combinations I've tried to date.

 

One thing we notivced is that electro-priests are to expensive at 30 points each for their effectiveness in combat; my opponent last game agreed with this afterwards and I'll be changing the points cost to 22 points each instead, so feel free to change this if you intend to try them out; not the best unit against marines or orks though. Another option discussed was to keep the cost and make them I4; so any views on this would be appreciated

 

many thanks Nigel

[Zealot Of Chaos]

Are Icons of Faith and Icons or Mars the same thing?

 

And page 12 Chimera is spelt wrong

 

Will keep looking

 

One thing we notivced is that electro-priests are to expensive at 30 points each for their effectiveness in combat; my opponent last game agreed with this afterwards and I'll be changing the points cost to 22 points each instead, so feel free to change this if you intend to try them out; not the best unit against marines or orks though. Another option discussed was to keep the cost and make them I4; so any views on this would be appreciated

 

Note taken, thanks

[inquisitor Tarn]

Are Icons of Faith and Icons or Mars the same thing?

Well spotted :(

# Adeptus retinue on p6 should read Icon of Mars rather than faith

# Adesii Ventron on p19 I'll be changing 'icon of faith' to 'Leader of the Faithful' to avoid confusion; though in addition he is an Icon of Mars

And page 12 Chimera is spelt wrong

spelling corrected

 

YOU sir are a diamond, please keep up the good work ; and thanks again for all the input.

 

cheers Nigel

[vikingwolves]

Are Securator Breatheren supposed to be 110 points?

[longshot7]

Ok I have only looked this over for a bit but here are my first impressions.

 

There seem to be too many HQ options. I would suggest moving Tech-Priest Cabal to the Elites section and consider using the Tribune and or the Centurion as "platoon" leaders for Skitarii units.

 

I agree 110 pts for Secutor Brethren seems high. I like the idea but the points are not right.

 

Battle engines seem like an excuse to have dreadnoughts in the army, I think the idea fits but I am not sure the fluff fits I think they should be more like huge combat servitors.

 

Mass Crawlers and Valkyries fit in the list but only one unit can take Valkyries and only the Adeptus Retiune mass crawler. I would expand the use of both of these transports.

 

Sagitarii Mantiple is a little confusing it took me reading it 4 times to really understand how it worked, maybe make it 2 units one for heavy servitors and one for Skitarii heavy weapon teams.

 

I like the Cybernetica Cohort.

 

Cataphract Armoured Fist: call it something other than Armoured fist, maybe armoured assault, or heavy assault.

Specify that the base sponson upgrade mounts heavy bolters.

 

I like your knights

 

The Ordinatus Prime is a bit confusing. In the Unit entry you should state how many Vehicle Sections are in the base Ordinatus Prime unit and what type they are.

For example; the Ordinatus prime consists of 3 Vehicle Sections, a Command Section in front a Central section and a Rear Section.

You refer to these sections but never state how many are in a base Ordinatus Prime. I know this can be inferred but you should never leave things to be inferred it leads to confusion.

 

I hope this helps. I really like the work you have done and I hope you take this all as constructive criticism to help improve on the great work you have already done.

[inquisitor Tarn]

There seem to be too many HQ options. I would suggest moving Tech-Priest Cabal to the Elites section and consider using the Tribune and or the Centurion as "platoon" leaders for Skitarii units.

I'd considered the cabal as an elite myself, if the gerenal concensus agrees I'll move them; Tribune however will defo stay as HQ as it allows the option of a 'pure' skitarii force if wanted, may drop Centurion altogether or move to elites

 

I agree 110 pts for Secutor Brethren seems high. I like the idea but the points are not right.

Points are as intended, wounds however are not, he should have 2, I envisaged this guy as a the counter-part to a SM chaplain; so with this in mind and a 2+ save I feel points are about right

 

Mass Crawlers and Valkyries fit in the list but only one unit can take Valkyries and only the Adeptus Retiune mass crawler. I would expand the use of both of these transports.

Point taken, I'll have a think on that for Valkries; mass crawlers I think should remain the sole preserve of the top man himself, but perhaps allow him and ANY unit he joins to travel in it, rather than just a retinue

 

Sagitarii Mantiple is a little confusing it took me reading it 4 times to really understand how it worked, maybe make it 2 units one for heavy servitors and one for Skitarii heavy weapon teams.

Having read this through again, I can see why you found it confusing; I'll be following your advise and make 2 seperate units instead

 

The Ordinatus Prime is a bit confusing. In the Unit entry you should state how many Vehicle Sections are in the base Ordinatus Prime unit and what type they are.

I think I'll remove the option for extra sections and standardise to a single central section with four primary weapons; should be enough at 3500pts anyway :yes: BTW I've got the beginnings of this model in the pipeline

 

hope this helps. I really like the work you have done and I hope you take this all as constructive criticism to help improve on the great work you have already done.

It most certainly does help, and many thanks for posting back; as to criticism, THAT is exactly what I'm after if it's aimed at helping, as yours obviously is.

 

thanks again Nigel

[nurglez]

just a quick question concerning the displacer field, what happens if you displace somewhere you cant go? like a wall, or an enemy unit for example.

[inquisitor Tarn]

just a quick question concerning the displacer field, what happens if you displace somewhere you cant go? like a wall, or an enemy unit for example.

 

I good point, I'll revise the description to read

 

"if this displacement move would put the model into impassable terrain or in the space occupied by another model, reduce the movement by the minimum amount neccassary to avoid this happening"

 

This assumes the devise is advanced enough not to materialise it's user within another object

 

many thanks nigel

[DerekLee688]

Sounds like a dangerous terrain test if I ever herd of one.

[inquisitor Tarn]

Sounds like a dangerous terrain test if I ever heard of one.

Agreed, below is the amendment I'll be using, also increased the distance to 2D6" and removed the note regards hitting another squad member as it over-complicates things.

 

Displacer: The device senses potentially fatal attacks and attempts to remove the bearer from harms way

• A displacer grants a 3+ invulnerable save with a successful roll teleporting the bearer 2D6” in a random direction
  

• If this places the model in impassable terrain or the space occupied by another model then a dangerous terrain test must be taken and the bearer’s movement is reduced the minimum needed to avoid collision
  

[inquisitor Tarn]

All the changes and corrections you guys have helped in pointing out, as well as a few points adjustments have been edited into the codex.

 

A revised version is now available in the downloads section.

No doubt there's more corrections and changes to come before it's totally workable, but I feel its getting there.

 

Many Thanks for all your help

 

Nigel

[RexTalon]

Have you thought of submitting it to GW once it's complete? I haven't had the chance to review it yet but it sounds awesome and really, GW should have done this a long time ago.

 

In fact, if they don't do it soon I might just quit playing all together.

 

But your dex is certainly a step in the right direction and may keep people like me playing for a little while longer.

[inquisitor Tarn]

There seem to be too many HQ options. I would suggest moving Tech-Priest Cabal to the Elites section and consider using the Tribune and or the Centurion as "platoon" leaders for Skitarii units.

 

I've been thinking about this and I see your point, when I do the next revision of the codex I shall be bumping Tech-priest cabal to Elites; Tribune will stay as HQ as it gives the option to field a 'guard' style skitarri only army.

Centurion will also be bumped to Elites with a option to take an honour guard, thereby using a force org slot, OR be attatched as an upgrade before the game begins to a Hypaspist or Classiarrii maniple.

 

 

Have you thought of submitting it to GW once it's complete?

 

Not really, their legal department would probably hit me with a large stick or worse :(

[longshot7]

Not really, their legal department would probably hit me with a large stick or worse :(

 

That made me laugh B)

[Zealot Of Chaos]

Not really, their legal department would probably hit me with a large stick or worse :devil:

 

Not a grot blaster?

 

 

Oh wait, a big stick is more intimidating than a grot blaster

[Divine Carrot]

OMG!!!! dedication went into this fandex. Its awsome. best ive seen yet by far! If you right some errata and do an FAQ for it, it would be awsome.

 

Im so happy someone did the AM justice in a codex :P

[RexTalon]

Not really, their legal department would probably hit me with a large stick or worse :P

I wouldn't worry about that. They can't doc you for being creative. The rule of thumb is, if you're not making money off of it or it's distribution, you can't go to jail. They might write you angry letters but that's just them posturing. They have no legal standpoint. In other words, they can't sue you for saying, "Hey guys, I wrote this. Use it if you want. I'm not making any money off of it, but I thought it might be cool if you took a look at it, or incorporated it into the game. I'm not even asking for credit."

 

See, their legal department has really almost put themselves out of a job. They've postured so much that people are even afraid to do conversions. It's sickening really, but not what this thread is about, so I'll just can my rage for now.

[D3athwolf]

Hey dude i really like this codex one thing i did notice is that all the plasma weapons in the armory is listed as AP3 i can't imagine the mechanicus have worse plasma than SMs

[inquisitor Tarn]

Hey dude i really like this codex one thing i did notice is that all the plasma weapons in the armory is listed as AP3 i can't imagine the mechanicus have worse plasma than SMs

 

WOW how did I miss that, you're quite right should be AP2.

 

I've not been able to do much work to the codex lately, other than a little play testing due to work commitments; however things have calmed down so will be revising it again soon. Was hoping for some gaming feedback, if anyone else has given it go.

 

Praetorians and luminen will be getting a revision, as will teleport assault (too good for points)

 

many thanks for feedback, any feedback from trial games would be appriciated

 

EDIT: just finished this round of revisions, given the exeriences I've had trialling the fandex; corrected download available

 

*Weapons for the teleport assault are now more expensive, as were well under pts for their destructive potential

*Slight re-point for lunminen, and an increase in points and downturn in stats for their special character

*Re-point for Praetorians, and slight change of wargear, everyone thought las weapons where too 'girly' for massive battle servitors, so I changed standard armament to storm bolter instead. has the upside of making the conversions easier too.

*AP for plasma weapons corrected :rolleyes:

[longshot7]

So I was looking over your knight rules and I noticed that your CCWs give benefits that the knights already have as superheavy walkers. They fight as gargantuan creatures in CC so they already have the benefits of no armour saves, rolling 2d6 for penetration and strength and their hits are treated as Ordinance.

Also the Thermal Cannon has the same profile as the Melta Cannon on the Devil Dog in the IG codexn so for simplicity sake I think you should use the same name.

[inquisitor Tarn]

So I was looking over your knight rules and I noticed that your CCWs give benefits that the knights already have as superheavy walkers. They fight as gargantuan creatures in CC so they already have the benefits of no armour saves, rolling 2d6 for penetration and strength and their hits are treated as Ordinance.

Also the Thermal Cannon has the same profile as the Melta Cannon on the Devil Dog in the IG codexn so for simplicity sake I think you should use the same name.

 

Another copy & paste error :)

Although in the Super Heavy section, I had always intented to be a HEAVY walker, being in my eyes part way between a dready and a true titan; hence the reason I included the C/C rules, I'll get this corrected as soon as possible.

As to the cannon, I didn't realise GW did a weapon with that profile, yes it makes sence to use the same name so I'll change this too; thanks for pointing it out.

 

Has anyone used this in game yet?? as what I'd really like is some playtesting feedback.

 

Also when I next review the fandex, heavy(H-class) weapon servitors will be losing the 1x heavy ranged & 1x close combat weapon, all will have 2x heavy ranged wepaons of some type; as it's been pointed out to me, the heavy combat servitor role is already covered by praetorians and twin heavy weapons on H-class's fits the fluff better anyhow.

 

cheers for your help

[Magos Anubis]

Been testing this out against my 3 son's armies, and I have to say I am liking it so far. I am really enjoying using these rules vs. the IG rules for the admech. (they have CSM, Tyranid, Ork, Tau, and Blood Angels as the armies to run them against.) Fairly balanced for the most part against these armies so far, though I do have some comments/questions. (as a few things I have noticed in game play)

 

Is there a reason the Archmagos has a 4 Str? It seems at odds a bit with the fluff and all since normally humans do not have a Str that high. (Space Marines do not count as human really anymore.)

 

Same question on str goes to the tribune, luminen host (electro-priest), and several of the named characters. The str over 3 puts them in the realm of the ork or space marine when their fluff does not bear it out. (Note the str on Praetorians, secutor brethren, h-class servitor, cybernetica cohort all seem appropriate considering the massive restructuring of these figures) And nothing in the fluff I have read have put them into being as strong as a space marine.

 

Next on the servitors. Increasing the WS and BS respectively on the combat and gun servitors seems at odds. They already gain the +1 A or heavy ranged weapon for the increase, giving them the equivelent of space marine combat stats seems to be overkill. Servitors should have the standard WS 3 BS 3 for all standard/gun/combat servitors, leave the upgrades to the praetorians. (Praetorians are supposed to be massive upgrades on just servitors, so if the gun servitors shoot just as well as them that does not work.) These increases also make the servitors as good/if not better than their skittarri counterparts that have all the same combat programing/enhancements for combat plus have years of training in combat. If this was the case, the ad mech would not value skittarri so much. A case could be made for targetting servitors having the BS 4, but having them have the fire control ability would warrent them being at a 3 BS as well.

 

By the same token the H-Class servitors BS should lower down to 3, as they can go twin linked on their weapons giving them a 4 BS makes them a bit strong for their points, plus totally removes the need for the sagitarri maniple. (Also what is the reasoning for the A 3 on the H-Class servitor? They have no listed CC weapons but have the stats of effective assault troops, high S/T/W/A.) Basically they have BS as good as a space marine with a slightly lower WS, but higher toughness, attacks, and strenght on a heavy weapons unit.

 

On the Cybernetica Cohorts, the higher BS and WS can easily be explained so no issues there as long as you were intending them to be at the space marine level.

 

On point cost, you need to up the point cost on your Valkyries and your base cost on Cataphract Armoured (I would remove the fist of the name as that was an imperial guard term) as you have them at the same cost as the IG versions but you raised their BS by one in each case. (Your sentinel also may need to go up in points, as well as having the front armor increased to 12 to bring it in line with the armored sentinel squads. Your Chimeras may be about right as they are a bit more expensive than the IG version.)

 

 

 

Good things to compare the army list you have to are the Tau and IG, and this is what I am using to look at the balance issues.

 

Have not gotten to test the Apoc rules from them yet as the boys are still building up their titans (Tyranid - Barbed Hierodule, CSM - Chaos Warhound, still working on the other armies) but we are looking forward to it.

 

One thing I did notice was your Knights (I would avoid calling them Knight Titans as they are not really titans, maybe Imperial Knights or the like.) and I have a few ideas. Note I do like the way you did them, they are a well balanced super heavy choice (as they have structure points they are a super heavy not just a heavy) by how you have them currently built.

 

However, if you want them to be a heavy choice (or possibly even a fast attack) in your army maybe a slightly different tact will work. First look at the power levels from the warhound to the next size up titan... it is about 3 times on everything. So if you are going a similiar scale for the knight vs. the warhound you would make the knight about 1/3rd the power of a warhound. (This makes it more powerful than a landraider or lemun russ but still in the normal game realm.) 1/3rd less power removes the structure points entirely as 1/3rd of 3 is 1 and that makes it a normal vehicle vs. a super heavy. And the void shields would need to be replaced with some other kind of shield method to keep it in the fluff, as their voids did not regenerate and they could focus them to be stronger in one area over another on the knights.

 

Heavy Choice: (Or could make it a fast attack choice maybe?)

Imperial Knight ............................. 180 points per model

 

WS 3... BS 4... S 6... front 13... side 12... rear 11... I 2... A 2

 

Composition: Vehicle squadron of 1-3 Imperial Knights

 

Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker)

 

Wargear:

Searchlight

Heavy Bolter

Dreadnaught CCW

Battle Cannon

Knight shield (A knight shield provides a +4 invulnerable save to front facing, +5 Invulnerable for rear and side. Save cannot be used vs. CC attacks.)

 

Special Rules:

Icon of Mars

Agile

 

Options:

*Any model may replace its heavy bolter for:

- Multi-melta..................................................10 points per model

- Plasma Blaster............................................15 points per model

*Any model may replace its battle cannon with an Inferno Cannon, Melta Cannon, or Power Lance...free

*Any model may replace its deadnaught CCW for:

- Exterminator autocannon.............................free

- Punisher gatling cannon...............................25 points per model

*Any model may take any of the following:

- Hunter-killer missile.....................................10 points per model

- Extra armor................................................15 points per model

- Thermo Plas armor......................................60 points per model

 

 

* Note you need to add the Lance type to the Power Lance.

 

Now what I did above limits the Knight to be equivelent (stronger in some ways, weaker in others) to a leman russ or a defiler in power but giving it the bonuses that have always been part of the knights in epic and the books.

*Added in the fact that they are normally used in groups vs. solo into the build.

*Put in the ranged weapons you were using. (or their equivelent, they seem to actually be mainly off the hellhound variants)

*Made the ranged weapon on the dreadnaught CCW itself able to be switched out which removes alot of the need to make different CCW weapons. (Most of the other bonuses are part of dreadnaught CCW anyway.)

*Gave them viable, fluffy, shields without giving them void shields. (Important note, Knights cannot regenerate their shields the way titans can as they run off a battery vs. a fusion reactor.)

*Simplified the special rules to make them more in line with the other vehicles. (The agile trait of the warhounds, but removed the chain reaction as they run off battery vs. a reactor.)

*Balanced them to be about 1/3rd as powerful as a warhound, and worked their points accordingly.

 

As I said just a few quick ideas.

 

I have to say I am really liking how your codex is coming though, looks great.

[Cleon]

A query on page 6, the Artisan - does "Character" refer to models with the "Independent Character" rule, or have you defined this elsewhere? also is it intended that each such character can upgrade one weapon per artisan or one character can upgrade one weapon?

 

One other point, page 14.

 

The Cataphracts sentinel is "still nibble enough", did you mean "nimble" by any chance?