Starting Ad-Mech

[strawberry fist]

Hello there,

 

With the release of the Forgebane set I think I'll finally cave into making a skitari army that I've been holding back on since they were released in 7th. I'd like to make a 1000 point list and I would like to use a Skitari backbone for troops but bar that I don't know which way to go.

 

After the purchase of Forgebane what would you guys recommend? 

[Tyriks]

Get 2-3 Start Collecting boxes. They're good savings, you need troops and Onagers are one of the most cost-effective anti-armor available right now.

[Vash113]

Onagers with Neutron Lasers or Icarus Arrays are amazing, Kastellans with tripple Phosphor Blasters are amazing, Kataphrons with Heavy Grav Cannons are amazing. Those are all three solid choices that will serve you well.

 

Rangers/Vanguard are decent troops with decent firepower, I'd avoid the Arc rifles and stick with Plasma and Arquebus for overcharge Primaris and Bike killingness and character sniping.

 

With Forbebane you are already well over halfway to 1000 points though. 240 or so per Armiger, times two puts you at 480, ten Skitarii and the Dominus will easily put you up around the 800 point mark. Depending on your meta, what you expect to face I'd suggest an Onager for some long range anti armor or anti flyer, or some Kataphrons with Grav for just anti everything. Five shots a piece makes them a formidable firebase.

[strawberry fist]

Yeh I've looked at the price of the Onagers and there almost as much as the start collecting set! 

 

How many squads of skitari would you recommend and how many models in the unit and what would be the most optimal load out?

[Vash113]

Yeh I've looked at the price of the Onagers and there almost as much as the start collecting set! 

 

How many squads of skitari would you recommend and how many models in the unit and what would be the most optimal load out?

 

If cost is your concern IMO the most efficient thing is to get 3 boxes, one from Forgebane and two Start Collecting boxes. That'll let you build three squads of 10, one armed with three plasma, one with three arc and one with three sniper rifles. Two Onagers, build one with a neutron and one with an icarus array. Plus two Armigers. I favor the Rangers at the moment, more range on their weapons makes for some solid and reliable fire without moving too much. I prefer the Macrostubber and Eradication Ray on the Dominus.

[strawberry fist]

 

Yeh I've looked at the price of the Onagers and there almost as much as the start collecting set! 

 

How many squads of skitari would you recommend and how many models in the unit and what would be the most optimal load out?

 

If cost is your concern IMO the most efficient thing is to get 3 boxes, one from Forgebane and two Start Collecting boxes. That'll let you build three squads of 10, one armed with three plasma, one with three arc and one with three sniper rifles. Two Onagers, build one with a neutron and one with an icarus array. Plus two Armigers. I favor the Rangers at the moment, more range on their weapons makes for some solid and reliable fire without moving too much. I prefer the Macrostubber and Eradication Ray on the Dominus.

 

Would these be Rangers or Vanguard?

 

Also would the neutron beam be a better weapon for both of the Onagers? 

 

Luckily I already have the Cawl model so thats one less thing to get :) 

[Tyriks]

I currently have 30 Skitarii built and in casual games I proxy other stuff as more pretty regularly.  They're very cheap so they make good board control / deep strike denial.  I'll be glad to have the extras from Forgebane.  It's also a little annoying because there's only one of each special weapon in the box and they sell for a lot on bits sites, so if you want 3 ten man squads with plasma, good luck.  

 

The Icarus Array is very good at picking on flyers, especially jump pack units and the like that are flyers now but weren't in 7th.  They really mess those types of things up due to the volume of shots and their relative strength.  But if your opponent doesn't have many flyers, Icarus is still ok but not great.  By comparison, the Neutron Laser has never failed me.  Every army has tanks and a lot of those tanks are dangerous, so being able to reliably ruin their day is great.  They will suffer a little against Hard to Hit enemies due to BS penalty, but I think Neutron Lasers are likely to do more against flyers than an Icarus Array is gonna do against tanks.  So, really, if you reliably see flyers in your games, Icarus might be a safe bet.  Depends what you play against.  

 

That said, while they're a pain to magnetize, I'd recommend it.  

[strawberry fist]

With the lack of flyers in my local store I think the neutron beam would be better.

From what I gather, it looks like it will be best to put the dominus' next to the onagers to heal/ allow re-rolls. 

 

Would 2 units of 10 Rangers with 3 arc riffles in 1 and 3 arquebus in the other be a good objective holder/ screen for the onagers with a squad of 10 vanguard with3 plasma running forward be useful army troop selections? or is there a better load out for our troops?

[Cilu]

I've just ordered the Forgebane box as so many others have and was wondering I've some of you AdMech veterans have a good site for alternative weapon bits for the Skitarii? I was specifically thinking about the Plasma and Ark rifles. It seems that those items are at a ridiculous premium right now on each and every bits site on the web...

[strawberry fist]

Had a little play around with the suggestions mentioned and this is what I've got.

 

49 PL, 882pts

 

[HQ

 

Tech-Priest Dominus 

-Eradication Ray, Macrostubber, Omnissian Axe

 

Tech-Priest Dominus

-Eradication Ray, Macrostubber, Omnissian Axe

 

Troops 

 

Skitarii Rangers 

-Enhanced data-tether

. 3x Ranger (Arc Rifle): 3x Arc rifle

. Ranger Alpha: Galvanic rifle

. 6x Skitarii Ranger

 

Skitarii Rangers

-Enhanced data-tether

. 3x Ranger (Transuranic Arquebus): 3x Transuranic arquebus

. Ranger Alpha: Galvanic rifle

. 6x Skitarii Ranger

 

Skitarii Vanguards

-Enhanced data-tether

. 4x Skitarii Vanguard

. 3x Vanguard (Plasma caliver): 3x Plasma caliver

. Vanguard Alpha: Radium Carbine

 

Heavy Support

 

Onager Dunecrawler 

. Neutron laser & cognis heavy Stubber: Cognis heavy stubber, Neutron Laser

 

Onager Dunecrawler 

. Neutron laser & cognis heavy Stubber: Cognis heavy stubber, Neutron Laser

 

models from the sets/ already have and I haven't put in are:

-another dominus 

- 2 Armigers (Set)

-cawl

-knight crusader (magnetised so can be any load out) 

 

what do you think for a base?

[Tyriks]

Arc rifles are hurting badly right now. Their S is too low to reliably get wounds through, so their relatively high damage is misleading. To be fair though my meta is on the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to vehicle toughness.

[Michaelum]

I would get 2 starting boxes and wait for the new knights before getting forgebane, those Armigers dont look like a game changer and you already have 2 dominus.

[Subtle Discord]

Yes, despite the savings for all of the miniatures, unless you're splitting/selling the Necrons with Forgebane you'll be buying a whole lot you don't really need. The Armigers are cool looking but they don't synergize with AdMech nearly as well as Onagers, and it's all but guaranteed they're getting other variants once the official kit drops. I'd get 3+ Start Collecting boxes first, giving you 3x of all the special weapons and 30+ rank-and-file troops to work with, however you want to equip/split them. Naturally, that also gives you 3 Onagers, which is where I think all AdMech forces should be with them (2 is good, 3 is better) they're just that good for the points.

 

Yes, get used to having more Tech-Priest Dominus models then you'll know what to do with; feed the bits-box and happy converting! It's going to get bundled in with every AdMech themed box for the foreseeable future, so once you've got 2-3 try to find creative uses for any extras you accumulate.

[strawberry fist]

My brother is planning on using his necrons again so the Ad-Mech stuff is up for grabs so will be helpful as part of a base for the army. 

 

The Armigers look ok as a bit of a threat as the can melt veichle and charge things. 

[brother_b]

Yes, despite the savings for all of the miniatures, unless you're splitting/selling the Necrons with Forgebane you'll be buying a whole lot you don't really need. The Armigers are cool looking but they don't synergize with AdMech nearly as well as Onagers, and it's all but guaranteed they're getting other variants once the official kit drops. I'd get 3+ Start Collecting boxes first, giving you 3x of all the special weapons and 30+ rank-and-file troops to work with, however you want to equip/split them. Naturally, that also gives you 3 Onagers, which is where I think all AdMech forces should be with them (2 is good, 3 is better) they're just that good for the points.

 

Yes, get used to having more Tech-Priest Dominus models then you'll know what to do with; feed the bits-box and happy converting! It's going to get bundled in with every AdMech themed box for the foreseeable future, so once you've got 2-3 try to find creative uses for any extras you accumulate.

 

Great info. I almost plopped down the money for the forgebane set, I could always use more vanguard/rangers I guess. The armigers look really neat, but it's still a better option for knights, and not really Admech because they can't take advantage of the admech stratagems, etc. I've always wanted to paint and run a loyal knight for my admech, down the line, so maybe I'll pick up a forgebane for that eventuality. 

 

I don't know, right now I'm building up 3 onagers that I feel will be the core of my army. I've already done some mag work on one also, so I can switch between icarus/neutronager.

[Subtle Discord]

My brother is planning on using his necrons again so the Ad-Mech stuff is up for grabs so will be helpful as part of a base for the army. 

 

The Armigers look ok as a bit of a threat as the can melt veichle and charge things. 

Fair enough. I just wanted to make sure you weren't getting enamored strictly by the Armigers and not considering the wider picture. They're not horrible models paired with AdMech by any stretch, they just don't synergize as well as Onagers.

 

In that case, I would do as others have said, 1 Forgebane box and 2 Start Collecting boxes (both together, one now one later, it doesn't matter) for the same reasons; 30 Troops with 3x specials to use and Onagers, sweet sweet Onagers. Again, just accept you'll get too many Dominus models over time if you start AdMech, and even if you remove that model from the Start Collecting box it's still a savings to each kit separately.

[strawberry fist]

Just got the codex and a start collecting box today :) looking through the rangers they can take an omniscope, with the 30'' riffles I'd assume this is a must, especially with the arquebus'.