Adeptus Mechanicus Codex - April

[Prot]

So as the incredibly cool art suggests, the new codex is coming out.

 

As the binary in the video suggests, the new codex is released in April.

 

And we now know this model: 

.... is a "Marshall". 

 

 

At this time official information is scarce. The most interesting section of the article to me was the following:

 

 

With a host of improvements to their weaponry and rules, there’s never been a better time to exchange weak flesh for holy machine.

That’s not all – if you’ve ever wanted your Tech-Priests to rummage around inside other factions’ technology and create strange new artefacts, you’ll want to take your Adeptus Mechanicus force on Crusade. 

 

The nod towards a crusade set of rules is fun, but ultimately the reference to 'other factions' technology' probably won't be a tournament legal addition.

 

However I think the reference to 'a host of improvements to their weaponry and rules' is where we hoping to see the most information.

 

So we have until some time in April to speculate, and theorize what could be in store for Admech. Please keep it to this thead, and once the codex comes out we can close this up and start a new thread.

 

What do you hope to see? What do you think we need? What do you think the Marshall does? What new models do you think we will see?

[MagicHat]

Troke saying that the AdMech kept the best tools for themself makes me hopeful for the torsion cannon. It was a MM without the melta special rule. Now it is a MM without the new shiny rule and half the shots.

[Magos Takatus]

Troke saying that the AdMech kept the best tools for themself makes me hopeful for the torsion cannon. It was a MM without the melta special rule. Now it is a MM without the new shiny rule and half the shots.

This. The Torsion cannon sounds like it should be horrifically effective but it always seems a bit lacklustre in practice. Hopefully it will gain a decent boost in power.

[Subtle Discord]

*Stubtle steeples his fingers and a faint binaric cant of static punctuate by rhythmic tones*

 

 The Omnissiah provides! The timing is an unexpected surprise that I think is going to fit into my larger plans quite well. This is, acceptable.

[Gaz1858]

In terms of sheer firepower i think we are ok now. If they decide to remove/restrict wrath of mars then we will need a damage boost to things like Kastelans etc to make up for that as without it they do become difficult to justify the cost

 

Making the Admech Assault units really viable would be nice. Currently Fulgurties are top and even they have some issues with only 2 attacks. Ruststalkers, Dragoons etc are all not very good at assaulting.

 

Good Relics!!! Even the ones in Rust are a bit lacklustre to be honest. 

[brother_b]

I’m really hoping that any forge world will get to use Cawl.

 

I also hope that there will be new rules for the various onager loadouts, torsion cannon as mentioned, etc.

[clanfield]

id like the galvanic rifles to get a twist like before,yep torsion canons and haywire would be nice to see-sorted out i guess the new bits from last year will be

 

 

rebalanced ie nerfed thats the usual pattern im hopeing knights stay in as this will svae me some dollars in the short turn

[MagicHat]

Just found out that wyches was limited to 1 of every special weapon, and only for every 10 models at that.

With the restrictions on plague marines I fear the skitarii are next.

Would make the arquebus rather pointless.

[Prot]

Good call out on the Torsion cannons.

 

Actually I feel when the 'popular' armies got a rewrite on popular weapons, the Admech kind of got left out. The basic guns of the Rangers/Vanguard could use a tweak. I'm not sure what but they could be better, or cheaper perhaps.

 

For me a few big ones come to mind:

 

- The Kastelans. I really despise they way they play. I would revamp some of their rules. I'm not saying they should be better, just different. They are one of the most boring units in the codex, and they really don't work that well unless you use the dakka variant and the awkward mechanism of locking them in double shoot mode. 

 

I never use them anymore in larger than 2 man units. In my experience, nothing gets you an exasperated eye rolling reaction more than a blob of these dakka bots. I'd love to see them more functional in hand to hand configuration and do something... anything with that Datasmith. I honestly don't think in this edition the Kastelans are that great anymore. 

 

 

 

- Breachers. I think these need a good tweak. Again this is another unit that people find success with in a blob, and you just blob up the middle of the board with these. For me it's just another unimaginative unit.  I think these should be a little more flexible and a troop option we should see more often (outside of the blob lists). I feel like these troops have been more or less unused since the early admech days when we first saw the codex come out.

 

 

So I guess most of my hopes rest with the troops and Kastelans. 

 

The worst case scenario is this codex just compiles a lot of datasheets we have spread throughout multiple publications.

 

I'm very anxious to see our Secondaries though as well.

 

 

[INKS]

I am in agreement with both of those Prot. 

I also want to run that all servitors type army. Probably not the most effective or competitive but I just love the idea of all Servitors or nearly all.

[Prot]

One other thing I forgot that's been really bugging me about my Admech in 9th....

 

I'm a huge Knight fan as well and I've had a growing army of the House Taranis Knights for some time. I'd love a 'seamless' way of integrating knights and Admech that doesn't cost CP, and has a smoother synergy between the two armies. I actually think this is a no brainer and VERY easy to do with a simple 'detachment' side rule that would have a few parameters (IE: you can't have outside armies in it... Guilliman for example). 

 

I really don't like how Knights work in the game right now, and this is one way they could fix a few things at once. We've had Knights in the AM codex for a while, but really they haven't felt like a part of the army since... 7th ed?

[SpiritFox22]

Just found out that wyches was limited to 1 of every special weapon, and only for every 10 models at that.

With the restrictions on plague marines I fear the skitarii are next.

Would make the arquebus rather pointless.

 

Yeah the Wyche weapon nerf isn't as doom and gloom as you said imo.  Yes they're limited to 0 spec weapons besides their SGT in less than a 9 strong squad, but at 10 they get access to 1 of each of them.  Which was also a self balancing thing since their two go two options, Flails and Shardnets would've been insane, since Flails double their attacks and Shardnets now add cumulative penalties to the no escape rule.  Would you have wanted to try and fall back with a -3 penalty on a D6?

 

Though from what I've seen it's sporadic on what units are slapped with the "Only 1 of each per X models" issue.

 

I'd expect Rangers to not bet slammed with that restriction regarding their Arq's, but Vanguard getting hammered on their access to Plasma and Arc Rifles.

Edited March 22, 2021 by SpiritFox22

[The Officer]

Really looking forward to this! The cover is awesome and I like the new model too!

 

They said in the preview that you can wield hover armies or flying armies or marching + cavalry armies, would be nice if these kinds of different theme armies would get some support, though that probably wasn't what they actually meant.  

 

In the same vein with the other weapon buff hopes, arc weapons becoming actually effective against vehicles, a real anti-tank option for the skitarii especially. 

 

The ability to wield pure skitarii or pure cult mechanicus armies, which I guess we are finally getting! 

 

Effective close combat units that aren't electro priests. Like Inflitrators, Ruststalkers and Kastellans.

 

Variety between different types of techpriests explored more. We already got this in Engine War as the Holy Orders, but expanded further.

 

And finally wishlisting, I would very much like to see a Mechanicus Lord of War unit. Maybe to replace the knights, which I think are a little out place in our codex. Then again, I don't own any knights and don't plan on getting any, and might think differently if I did! :)

[brother_b]

Good call out on the Torsion cannons.

 

 

 

- The Kastelans. I really despise they way they play. I would revamp some of their rules. I'm not saying they should be better, just different. They are one of the most boring units in the codex, and they really don't work that well unless you use the dakka variant and the awkward mechanism of locking them in double shoot mode. 

 

- Breachers. I think these need a good tweak. Again this is another unit that people find success with in a blob, and you just blob up the middle of the board with these. For me it's just another unimaginative unit.  I think these should be a little more flexible and a troop option we should see more often (outside of the blob lists). I feel like these troops have been more or less unused since the early admech days when we first saw the codex come out.

 

Unfortunately 9th edition seems to be the edition of the blob sitting on objectives. In fact that’s all this edition is, get on the objective and stay. There’s not much in the way of tactical movement as the boards are small. I’ve found my best blobs for sitting are, you guessed it, robots and breachers, hopefully together. 

 

So in that sense I don’t want them to change, I don’t have anybody else that can hang onto objectives.

 

As far as the datasmith I’m I in full agreement please make them do something. Maybe a buff to fighting or shooting or having techno cants kind of like space marine librarians have their litanies.

 

Adding some new strange weaponry rules would be great, hopefully with new technology that feels crazy and out there.

 

I feel optimistic because I believe the Omnissiah will provide!

Edited March 22, 2021 by brother_b

[Prot]

While I agree that 9th is largely about the primary, I still think those two units could be made a lot more interesting. I mean a few armies have some intriguing ways of accomplishing that goal. Like Custodes for example with army wide Intervention or “Stooping Dive”. Those are fun, interactive and dynamic ways of using your units. 
 

there has to be a better use of Kastelans than just parking on one area of the board and in a monochromatic voice telling your opponent you are in Protector protocol..... yawn. This unit could be a LOT more interesting. 
 

and I think Kastelans ( to me at least) are an iconic units for Admech. Not everyone loves those 50’s robots and maybe the aesthetic runs some people the wrong way, but they should be something much more interesting than they are now. 
 

To a lesser degree I feel similar about Dune Crawlers. Another iconic unit that is kind of blah right now. I stopped using them as soon as the more dynamic tanks came out. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Prot

[Magos Takatus]

I currently have two Kastelans completed and two more boxed and ready to be assembled, but after having played a couple of games I think I'd feel bad fielding more than the two robots. My main gaming friend plays a melee swarm of Tyranids and though He's so far beaten me on superior board control I feel bad for having a unit that just sits there and makes large chunks of his army disappear. I suppose I could attempt to magnetise them into the melee Kastelan build for varieties' sake? 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Magos Takatus

[MajorNese]

He's so far beaten me on superior board control I feel bad for having a unit that just  sit there and makes large chunks of his army disappear. I suppose I could attempt to magnetise them into the melee Kastelan build for varieties' sake? 

Yeah, dakkabots are not a very subtle unit. On the one hand, you can wait for the new codex and see if they change a bit for more variety, on the other hand magnetizing is never a bad idea.

[SpiritFox22]

Personally I hope the codex bring the Hephaestons, yanno the supposed Heavy infantry unit that was "Leaked/rumored" back when they showed the drawings for the skimmer tank/transport, along with the Marshal.  Though I do hope they fit more on the Skitarii theme than the Cult's.

 

Then again I just like running heavy Ranger and Vanguard Skitarii style lists for Mechanicus.  Don't get me wrong Cult-mech in general have FAR better units in basically every slot, but I cant stand their style for the most part.

 

As far as Upgrades/Nerfs are concerned for the codex. 

I'm expecting Vanguards to lose their ability to run 2x Plasma/Arc's rifles + Pistol in a 5 man squad but get 1 of EA rule like Wyches got to their special weapons.  Rangers I don't really see them getting slapped with the same nerf bat, but I do think they may be getting AP-1 natively.

 

Dakkabots I fully expect to get slammed, probably going to slap them with a 6++ going to a 5++ with Aegis and moving the MW's on 6's to a Strat. Along with dropping Heavy Phospors down to Heavy 2.

Edited March 23, 2021 by SpiritFox22

[MajorNese]

Personally I hope the codex bring the Hephaestons, yanno the supposed Heavy infantry unit that was "Leaked/rumored" back when they showed the drawings for the skimmer tank/transport, along with the Marshal.  Though I do hope they fit more on the Skitarii theme than the Cult's.

Had a talk with the AdMech designer on WarhammerFest, some years ago - there are lots of drawings that will never see the light of day. There are way more initial designs than what GW chooses to continue to develop into a state that can be turned into a model 1:1. Even 3 years ago, when everyone was calling for transports, the answer was "Yes, I also have designs for transports. No, not every design gets used, or used right away". Or the voxcast episode about imperial knights - the initial designs had more weapon options, some were used for the first kit, but some of the remaining ones were picked up and released waaaay later.

 

So while I'd buy the hell out of heavy skitarii, I have my doubts about them being next. It is questionable if there are any more releases to the new codex than just the Marshall, as we had a release wave recently. And the Heavy Skitarii are one design amongst many others, and the only reason we know about their existence at all is because some weapons options ended up on the same drawing of a unit that was further developed and released. They might come in a month, a year, two years, or never at all. We'll see.

[Magos Takatus]

 

Personally I hope the codex bring the Hephaestons, yanno the supposed Heavy infantry unit that was "Leaked/rumored" back when they showed the drawings for the skimmer tank/transport, along with the Marshal.  Though I do hope they fit more on the Skitarii theme than the Cult's.

Had a talk with the AdMech designer on WarhammerFest, some years ago - there are lots of drawings that will never see the light of day. There are way more initial designs than what GW chooses to continue to develop into a state that can be turned into a model 1:1. Even 3 years ago, when everyone was calling for transports, the answer was "Yes, I also have designs for transports. No, not every design gets used, or used right away". Or the voxcast episode about imperial knights - the initial designs had more weapon options, some were used for the first kit, but some of the remaining ones were picked up and released waaaay later.

 

So while I'd buy the hell out of heavy skitarii, I have my doubts about them being next. It is questionable if there are any more releases to the new codex than just the Marshall, as we had a release wave recently. And the Heavy Skitarii are one design amongst many others, and the only reason we know about their existence at all is because some weapons options ended up on the same drawing of a unit that was further developed and released. They might come in a month, a year, two years, or never at all. We'll see.

 

The existence of heavy Skitarii would probably be the only thing that would make the Transvector able to transport a usable number of infantry. I'm not expecting news for anything more than the Marshal but a new kit or two with this codex release would be amazing if it actually happened. Did they mean that the Codex would land in April or that we would get more articles in April?

[Subtle Discord]

*The Engineseer ponders the button on the Skitarii that has an icon in the shape of a bag of luggage. With a press the Skitarii promptly folds into an impossibly compact shape.*

 

"Well, I didn't know they could do that. This has some potential."

 

It's not impossible that GW changes the transport capacity of the Transvector, but yeah, the model has such a small main body it's hard to picture it with a large capacity unless the occupants can fold up like luggage.

[Magos Takatus]

Good point. I remember in the book Skitarius they said that they were packed into dropships like sardines because they didn't share much of a concept as personal space. P85 "Uncaring of claustrophobia and the lackof such personal space as even a Guardsman would require, Adeptus Mechanicus drop-ships could carry nearly twice the force deployment of an Astra Militarum transport." 

 

Now that I'm picturing collapsible Skitarii being packed into luggage racks it's way funnier. I know lore and game mechanics don't match up all the time and the novel Skitarius was not exactly a literary masterpiece but this is a book that predicted Skitarii officers and aircraft even if they didn't arrive in exactly the same manner as the book presented.

 

Mind you, I was proposing that heavy Skitarii could just offer more firepower in the same cargo space rather than the cargo capacity of the vehicle being enlarged. Knowing the way these things pan out, however, GW would probably make them take up the space of two models anyway. :p

[MajorNese]

Personal space has never been a concept for anyone lower than a techpriest, sure. But GW measurements never added up in that regard - the Taurox can carry 10 infantry models. It has seats for 6, and when you place models in there you can barely fit 4. Infantry is more bulky than truescale (unlike FW), and transports are scaled down to limit the total model size.

 

I know lore and game mechanics don't match up all the time and the novel Skitarius was not exactly a literary masterpiece but this is a book that predicted Skitarii officers and aircraft even if they didn't arrive in exactly the same manner as the book presented.

That novel...it lost me at "The uber skitarii leader needs a transport. We don't have any [transport models released yet], so he latches onto an Onager's ladder and lets it carry him across the battlefield, because it's so much faster than infantry there. No, the codex and miniature range is all there is, as little sense as this makes."

[DanPesci]

Excited for new codex, just saw the art today - stunning stuff.

 

My admech wshlist...

 

- I now want there to be some sort of priest phalanx with spears option like the art - but dont think we'll be seeing this (I think the art is just a really good representation rather than being indicative of any new models).

 

- Kastellans

Id honestly like them to lose the dont move/double shoot shtick entirely

Instead put them to BS/WS 3+, make blasters have slightly more shots base by default (heavy 5), make double fists grant extra attacks, and have the datasmith able to give them a buff to hits (6s Explode), move (+2 move/charge) or aegis (+1 inv) buffs in the command phase (no more waiting til next turn nonsense)

 

This would hopefully mean the robots are still good by themselves (15 shots each still or 5-6 attacks with dual fists), whilst also giving a role back to the DS, but removing the static necessity that was double shooting.

 

Or ive had too much coffee 

 

- I have pretty much no post-PA stuff, so weapon overhauls for Onagers, Rustalkers, Arc and Torsion, and our humble rangers/vanguards would be VERY welcome. It does sound like this may be coming in some respects, so will be nice to see what we get.

 

- Canticle overhaul, with at least one 'anti psychic' option

 

- My lobotomised servitors to not have leadership issues (or at least not when in range of techpriests!)

Edited March 24, 2021 by DanPesci

[Imperator Deus]

Some kind of morale buff would be good. In the Skitarius novel the techpriests could override the Skitarii's instinct for self-preservation. Why not represent that on the tabletop with a Ld 10, or some kind of Tyranid Synapse type of rule while the Skitarii are within a certain range of a Techpriest? Maybe even a 2 or 3 point strategem to make all of your Skitarii immune to morale for a turn?

 

I also think Kataphrons should just be Ld 10, period.

Edited March 25, 2021 by Imperator Deus