First mechanicum list

[Varyn]

Hey guys

 

I'd be grateful for some feedback on this first draught mechanicum list, I'm very new to mechanicum.

 

 

2000 points

 

HQ

Magos prime, 3x cyber-occularis, cortex controller, ordinator, conversion beamer

Magos dominus

 

Troops

3 thallax, destructor

3 thallax, destructor

3 thallax, destructor

castellax, darkfire cannon

castellax, darkfire cannon

 

Heavy support

thanatar, enhanced targetting array

thanatar-calix, enhanced targetting array

 

Lord of war

Knight atrapos, occular augmetics

 

So that's my first go at a list, I'm trying to take models that I like the look of and stuff that should give me a chance on the table!

 

any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[Reclusiarch Darius]

So I guess my first question would be, what kind of Mechanicum list appeals to you? 

 

Taghmata is the infantry army. It's not the strongest currently, but if you like the infantry units Mechanicum have, that's the best place to run them. You should take an Arch-Magos Prime for a HQ (he'll be so expensive you're best off taking one and making him as tough and killy as possible). Carefully select which doctrine to take, as it will greatly affect your unit selections. Myrmidons in Triaros are your firepower core here, Secutors bring grav-guns for killing armour or plasma fusils for woodchipping infantry, while Destructors bring grav-imploders for crushing Primarchs and TDA, or irradiation engines for mass infantry deletion. 

 

Legio Cybernetica is the all-robot army. Basically you field some cheap Tech-Thralls for scoring (chuck them in Triaros in larger games so they don't get deleted), but all your other points get poured into expensive but awesome robots. Your HQ's should be Domini, at 2k I'd strongly recommend either Inar Satarael or Anacharis Scoria for your big boss, as they're both very tough and effective leaders for your robots. 

 

Ordo Reductor get scoring tanks, and uniquely both 4 Heavy slots and the excellent Siege squadron in Heavy (always run them in Matrix of Ruin). If you love tanks, Ordo Reductor is the list for you. 

 

It's important to pick which variant, because combining them ends up being a mess and will perform poorly on the battlefield. 

 

 

As a point of interest, I would discard the following from your current roster:

- Thallax are too underpowered currently. They're not good at their job (killing vehicles), they're too expensive and slow, and they get ripped to shreds in melee even with Ferrox and heavy chainblades (WS3 and I2 is why). 4+ armour also leaves them vulnerable to heavy bolters, autocannons etc. 

- Thanatar-Calix is a complete waste of points. FW forgot to give its shoulder lascannon Heavy 2, and again it sucks at its job (it wants to punch buildings to death, but its only able to move 6" a turn cos it can't Run, so even by Turn 4 its entirely possible you'll never reach your intended target). 

 

Knight-Atrapos is a solid choice, he's my Lord of War too. 

[Varyn]

Thanks for the feedback, there's lots to think about there. I'll take your advice onboard and look at building a new list, I think cybernetica is the type of list that appeals the most, the big robots look so cool! Although I'm not keen on painting dozens of thralls!

[Reclusiarch Darius]

You can proxy Thralls, the legit models are ungodly expensive. I use Kroot currently, but I'm planning on converting some Guard or Milita infantry to be more thematic replacements. You need them for scoring, because Machine Creature prevents your Troops Castellax from scoring (a dumb oversight I hope is corrected in the future). 

 

If you're doing Legio Cybernetica for 2k, I'd seriously consider Inar Satarael or Anacharis Scoria. Satarael has the advantage of being an MC in his own right, and he's got decent gear (grav imploder makes Primarchs and TDA cry). The cyber-occularis he brings let you Interceptor with your Thanatars and Castellax, which is excellent against a variety of Legion builds. Scoria buffs Arlatax and Castellax in melee, he's almost as unkillable, and he can actually kill Primarchs in melee. I'd then fill your remaining HQ slots with Domini armed with augury scanners (anti-Infiltrate and an 18" Interceptor bubble). If you're facing Night Lords, infravisor on the Domini is a cheap way to let your Castellax have Night Vision (Thanatars already have it). That way you don't need to buy the squad infravisors, as Night Vision is conferred if one model in a unit has it. 

The reason you should fill out your HQ slots is twofold. Firstly, you want to maintain cortex coverage as much as possible (in Legio Cybernetica its 24"). Not only does it prevent the robots doing dumb things, it also means you can keep them inside Cybertheurgy range (which is also 24" in Legio Cybernetica). Cybertheurgy is great and is often a big difference between your army of robots being okay vs amazing. The ability to restore wounds from 24" away is fantastic, as is granting extra attacks or 

firing twice. The other big reason to bring multiple Domini is to prevent the backbreaking downside of the Legio Cybernetica cohort, which is that if there are no cortex controllers left by game end, you give up extra VP's. This is why taking Satarael or Scoria is so essential (ignore the Arch-Dominus he's awful and will get ganked by most Praetors). Losing the lesser Domini is often a given, but you do not want to give up Warlord and those extra VP's for no cortex controllers. 

 

Legio Cybernetica forces you to take 2 units of 2 Castellax, so you should make them useful. Darkfire cannon and enhanced targeters is essential to making them a good gun platform. Given their slowness frags are rarely going to matter so I don't bother with it. I fight a fair number of Dreadnoughts and have to deal with mech lists as well, so I find the Siege Wrecker worth taking. If you don't expect to see melee combat with them though, don't take it. 

 

In Fast Attack you've got three solid options. Vultarax kill horde infantry, enemy Flyers and vehicles. If you want to make Legion players regret bringing Spartan Deathstars every game, take a couple of Vultarax. Arlatax work best with Scoria IMO, as his 'Rite of the Beast' makes them very reliable melee powerhouses. Vorax are your harassment option. I personally find them too fragile, but they can Outflank/Scout into position, and they will mulch most infantry in melee (stay away from Terminators though). 

 

Heavy Support is 1-2 Thanatars. This is gonna be a meta call, as Thanatars are technically overpriced. That said, they're your only real answer to infantry heavy Legion builds like Inductarii WE or DG Reaping (ie spamming Terminators). They also excel at dealing with Legion jetbikes and bikers, whose speed and firepower can pose a real threat to your slow Castellax (especially DA Ravenwing with their insane acid shells). Thanatars are going to eat a lot of lascannon however, so keep them hidden as best you can. I find mine die around Turn 2/3, but if you cast 'Rite of Destruction' on them Turn 1, they've generally killed enough to be useful. 

 

Ignore the Domitar and Thanatar variants. FW went way too hard into nerfing robots after Legion tears about Castellax Deathstars and Thanatars. Arlatax is basically a fixed Domitar, the Calix is total trash, and the Cynis suffers from 18" range on a robot that can only move 6" a turn. 

[Withershadow]

I'll add that while expensive, the Machinator Array is a great boost to a Dominus, as it basically gives him the ability to Cybertheurgy and repair a bot in the same turn (so with the repair power regenerate 2 wounds per turn). They can also hurt dreadnoughts with S5 armourbane, so you could get that instead of siege breakers on the Castellax the dominus joins.

 

In my experience, Vorax mulch all Infantry including terminators (as long as they aren't FNP and/or 2 wound models). They swing at AP2 wounding on 2+ going first, and can force lots of saving rolls with shooting. Not dying to krak grenades after the FAQ was a huge boost.

[Reclusiarch Darius]

I'll add that while expensive, the Machinator Array is a great boost to a Dominus, as it basically gives him the ability to Cybertheurgy and repair a bot in the same turn (so with the repair power regenerate 2 wounds per turn). They can also hurt dreadnoughts with S5 armourbane, so you could get that instead of siege breakers on the Castellax the dominus joins.

 

You can't use Cybertheurgy and Battlesmith in the same turn. Both replace your shooting. FW need to FAQ this.

Siege Wreckers are much better, S5 Armourbane on average fails to hurt a Contemptor, siege wrecker needs 3's.

 In my experience, Vorax mulch all Infantry including terminators (as long as they aren't FNP and/or 2 wound models). They swing at AP2 wounding on 2+ going first, and can force lots of saving rolls with shooting. Not dying to krak grenades after the FAQ was a huge boost. 

 

I feel like they're much better in Zone Mortalis than in normal games. You also run into problems like WE Inductarii who kill you with massed S6 AP4 in melee and shrug off your S6 hits. But yeah they'll dice the average Tac or Terminator squad no problem. It's Legion elites that roll over them easily, and Sniper Vets are nasty as hell. 

[Withershadow]

That is not what the rules say, you can do either instead of firing "a weapon." Machinator array lets you fire two weapons.

[Reclusiarch Darius]

That is not what the rules say, you can do either instead of firing "a weapon." Machinator array lets you fire two weapons. 

 

It replaces your shooting attacks, as in all of them. You can't replace your ranged attacks twice, only once. 

 

It's dumb, but it may not be forever. Like I said, they need to FAQ it.