Starting Mechanicus

[TrawlingCleaner]

Hi guys, I'm looking at starting AM but I'm not sure what to get to start with. Lots of people suggest 2 SC boxes as it the savings on the dune crawler are pretty gnarly. Gw also have the adeptus mechanicus army bundle on their website which is the SC box plus sicarans and karaphron(?) is that a good starting point?

[Teun135]

I used the SC boxes to start. They are a great value, as you will use every model in there in most games. A pair of those, and some Kastelans, and you are well on your way!

[Frostglaive]

Both the army bundle and the 2 SC boxes are good deals, so it's really your preference on what you want. Me personally, I'd go with the 2 SC boxes to start. 2 Dunecrawlers and Techpriest Domini (dominoes? Dominuses?) and 20 Skitarii, that easily gets you to a battalion detachment right there.

 

If you end up doing that, I recommend you build both dunecrawlers with the neutron lasers. Or try to magnetize so you can swap out weapons for any situation (ignore the eradication ray thought. It's worthless in my opinion). Build the Skitarii to your preferences, whether Vanguards or Rangers. Techpriests, I'd go with Volkite and macrostubbers (bare basic loadout).

 

After that, it's really up to you what to buy next. Most people would probably say Kastellan Robots (and for good reason. They're amazing and a must-have in an AdMech army). I personally would recommend a squad or two of Sicarian Infiltrators or some Sydonian Dragoons. Infiltrators are the only things in our army that has a "Deep Strike" style rule to them. And Dragoons are fast and can hit pretty hard on the charge (good for board control or objective grabbing). These allow for at least some form of board control and mobility, something the AdMech as a whole lacks.

Electropriests are hiliarious. Ignore Ruststalkers entirely, they're worthless at this time. Definitely pick up a couple of Techpriest Enginseers, since they're our only cheap HQ. Kataphrons are... okay. Pricey in points and are a hit-or-miss in effectiveness (at least in my opinion), but they can be fun at times.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Okay cool, thanks for the advice. What's wrong with the eradication arrays? Just meh?

On another note, which special weapons should I equip the vanguard and rangers with? And kastellan robots?

[Magos_Adephus]

Eradication Beamers on the Onager are kinda meh because it's outclassed by the other options. It's meant to be a general workhorse, by the other weapon do their respective jobs so much better that it's just surpasses it. The one for the Dominus is pretty good for a frontline/melee build.

 

Give Vanguard max Plasma and the Data-Tether, and give the Rangers max Arqubuses (is it actually "arqubii"?) and the Omnispex. Those play into their strengths and roles well. Both units have crap leadership, it'd be best to take just 5 man squads if you're not going Skitarii heavy. (Note: if you want cheap low STR massed fire then get a 5 man squad of Vanguard w/ all Radium Carbines)

 

People will argue about Kastelans until the end of time. Here's the basics: if you're running a gunline then do shooty, 3x Heavy Phospher Blasters is terrifying. If you wanna be more mobile and play some rock-em sock-em robots then do fists and Heavy Blaster. People would say to use the incendine combustor, but here's the thing: if you have melee Kastelans, you should never be getting charged. You should always be the one charging, never pausing for a second as you move from enemy to enemy to let them charge you. Besides, the Phospher Blaster helps them plink off a couple wounds at they inevitably footslog across the board toward the enemy.

[brother_b]

I've actually built my onagers for the option of using an eradication beamer. The reason I did so was in case I want to use some sort of slow advance the beamer gets better at range. That being said, I would prefer the array/neutron.

[TrawlingCleaner]

So is the max 2 in each squad? Is there much point giving sergeants melee weapons?

[Vel'Cona]

You can take 3 specials in a maximum Skitarii unit (believe it's referenced in their unit entry).  The melee options (IMO) are mostly for fun/uniqueness but honestly the Alpha is best off with his standard issue firearm and not much else, since Vanguard are mostly speedbumps in melee and Rangers aren't even that.  If you must give the Alpha something unique, the pistols are probably more useful (though I'd keep their standard weapon anyway).

[TrawlingCleaner]

Okay cool, do they come with the option of 3 in the box? Or do I need to look through some bits websites

[clanfield]

they come with 1 of each wepon in the box so bitz if you go down the two sc box's you could run with 2 x of each which isn't bad if you using points not power levels

 

if I had 2 onagars I would run 1 Icarus and 1 neutron back that with 10 vanguards with two arcs and data tether

1 ranger (5 man) 2 aqubus,then 5 vanguards with 2 plas  with the two domi you can run a battalion (3 command points)

 

and then slap in some droids 

 

the alphas you could theme or keep cheap with basic kit

 

hope this helps

[Frostglaive]

I second clanfield's recommendation on how to build your SC boxes. It's a good start to your core army and easy to expand from there. Definitely get some Kastellan Robots afterwards (or like I suggested some Infiltrators and Dragoons, but then immediately followed up by Kastellans).

 

I did say earlier to build both crawlers with Neutron lasers, but I do see the merit in having one laser and one Icarus array instead. I more said that due to my local meta having very few, if any, flyers. Still good to have just in case though. When you get around to reading the Dunecrawler entry in the codex, remember this when adding crawlers to your army: always, always ALWAYS give them the Broad-Spectrum data tether over the smoke launcher. Smoke launcher is nice and all, data tether is better. Especially when you start using the Protector Doctrina stratagem.

 

For melee weapons on sergeants..... I agree with people saying just stick with their main gun. I only run the melee weapons if I'm playing 2,000pts or higher, and that's only if I have the points to spare (and if I know my skitarii are going to get crunched in close combat). To each his/her own on this. I personally say don't bring melee weapons unless you have the points to spare (which you really shouldn't unless you're playing a larger game at that point)

[clanfield]

frosty is right

but remember speeders skimmers and jet bikes all have fly watch word as do jump pack units

 

personally I love dragoons not seen sciarians do much except die of any variety just keep the old crawlers near by for the morale boost and you infantry can advance well into gun range and dakka away till they stop twitching 

 

 

also with the droids I mix my unit so one gun and one flamer fist great mix

 

enginseers are great second hq choice 

[TrawlingCleaner]

Right, okay. If they're using different weapons should I use them in 2 different squads? Or would it not matter too much and depend on the list?

[Magos_Adephus]

Clarification: A squad of 5-9 models can only take 2 special weapons, but if you add a 10th dude he can take another special weapon for a total of 3. The reason I kept mentioning "2" is because our current meta favors smaller squad sizes in regards to Morale Tests, so yeah.

 

Regarding your last question, I assume you're referring to mixing Kastelan weapon loadouts in a squad? If so, I recommend you don't mix Fists and Heavy Phospher except in a large squad, 4-6 bots. When it's only 2 bots they lose effectiveness when you inevitably keep switching between protocols. It may look good having some flexibility, but in my experience it works better to have them fill one purpose exceptionally than be a jack of all trade (but master of none).