New to Mechanicus and 7th, looking for opinions

[Sawtooth]

I'm returning from an absence of a few editions and want to start up a Skitarii/Cult Mechanicus force. I'm hoping to get some opinions from more experienced servants of the Machine God. I plan to start with the 'Start Collecting' box, then build up a Skitarii army before branching out into Cult Mechanicus and running them as a unified force.

First I wanted to know if you think the War Convocation is fun to play against. I'm mostly a friendly casual player who likes balanced lists, and looking at this thing I think 'it's a mega formation of everything I wanted to take anyway!' It looks potent, but I have no idea how it stands in the current meta and I don't want to run some kind of nightmare list that is miserable to play against.

Second, do you like the Skitarii War Cohort? It looks nice from a modeling perspective, because I'll get to paint one of everything in the book (except the walkers, but meh, magnets). It's also the a piece of the War Convocation, but on its own merits I'm curious how it performs, either by itself or allied to a Cult Mechanicus force.

Third, for the Cult Mechanicus side of things, do you prefer the Battle Congregation or a CAD? Objective Secured Kataphrons seems nice, and it would allow you a second Techpriest Dominus who I hear are pretty potent HQs.

As I said, I'm just looking for opinions. I model and paint very slowly so I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to get. I'm just excited to have an official Mechanicus army...even if it does come in strange separate pieces.

[Tiger9gamer]

Welcome to the forge, friend! first of all, I may suggest that you look at some of the enteries in this thread that has been going since the skitarii book came out! you can skip around for the battle report, but this should provide some good data. Do note some of the beginning posts are a bit Barmy and before an FAQ dropped a popular tactic was to take allied transports to put your guys in. Can't really do that now though, but there is still a lot of good data in here on how units operate.

 

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/308196-skitarii-and-mechanicum-hard-data-review/

 

The war convocation is a beast of a machine. It isn't unbeatable by any stretch, but it is a very hard nut to crack, and can put down a lot of damage, especially on newcomers who don't suspect it. It's one of the only ways to make the Mechanicus books one big cohesive force outside of the Get Started box, but the amount of free upgrades and relics you can bring, plus the Canticle and Imperative combination means it can dish out so much damage and buff itself a lot. 

[MagicHat]

A second set of Start Collecting would give you the basis for a good Skitarii force, and buying a single Kataphron unit would let you have an allied Cult Mechanicus detachment in addition.

 

For your first question, only your local meta can answer that. But if you feel that it is powerful, you can limit it yourself, say by paying for all your upgrades.

 

Second question: I personally dislike the composition, should have been more of the regular infantry IMO. Bonus is small in comparison to the standard detachment as well, so I haven't really bothered with it.

 

Third: No real preference. They are almost identical in size, so experiment for yourself and post your thoughts in the Hard Data thread. I have been using Battle Congregation, but I only use 1 priest. Maybe a CM main would benefit more from the objective secured though.

[DeStinyFiSh]

I never used the war convocation... I realy dislike the "get something for free" formations. But I think it might be to strong for a casual game (in a 1850 point game you will have ~2500 on the table)

 

War cohort is ok if you want to field the units anyway, but the bonus is not worth taking a unit you don't like / that does not fit in your concept.

 

Regarding CAD or Battle congregation I would say field both ;)

When I have got the points I take 1 extra priest and 2x servitors as Battle congregation and the rest as cad or other formations, therefore I can use Shroudpsalm or Benedictions twice for the whole army

[Sawtooth]

Thanks everyone. I saw the hard data review thread but misinterpreted it as a simple unit review. I've been reading through it getting some great info, so thank you for that.

The Start Collecting set seems like a really good value, especially since I plan to field more than one Onager. Are the models you get in the set the complete package you would get buying them individually? Like not having limited options based on the Dominus Maniple?

[Akrim]

Thanks everyone. I saw the hard data review thread but misinterpreted it as a simple unit review. I've been reading through it getting some great info, so thank you for that.

The Start Collecting set seems like a really good value, especially since I plan to field more than one Onager. Are the models you get in the set the complete package you would get buying them individually? Like not having limited options based on the Dominus Maniple?

Ive bought the Starter sets and individual sets, as far as I can tell they the same (just better overall cost with the starter). I recommend getting two as Onagers are sweet and youll need two sets of Vanguard/Rangers anyways.

 

The starters plunged me headlong into the army, I originally built an Elimination Maniple but the figs were too sweet to stop there.

 

But to answer your question re: War Convo - Its is a strong list, I only use it for competitive caliber games. Otherwise I go for a Skit/Cult mix with Kastellans, Kataphrons and Vans, Onagers. Lately Ive been running an Ironstrider Cavaliers formation with some success.

 

You definitely want to supplement something in the mobility category if you play Maelstrom missions if youre not using some Dragoons.

[Xisor]

I started off with the Start Collecting and three extra boxes of Skitarii. So my 800pt is just 40 Skitarii.

 

It's a pretty fun wee force, and I'm keen to expand it out too. The Skitarii detachment rules let you play quite aggressively with it too, so adding in some CM elements for something more durable will fit nicely at higher values.

 

For a bit more variety, however, two SC boxes would do well - especially given that buying two Onagers is expensive enough!

[A.T.]

From experience the war convocation is too much for most older books (pre-necron) to deal with. At the other end of the scale you aren't likely to win tournaments with it now that drop pod sharing is out, but it gives the admech teeth against the higher end armies.

 

If nothing else it's also a nice structured list of units to work through and paint up with enough points left over at 2000pts to put your own personal twist on with Kastelans, Dragoons, etc.