Horus Heresy Exemplary Battles - The Liberation of Constanix II

[Lord Marshal]

Exemplary Battles? On a Friday? It's more likely than you think!

 

Direct PDF link.
 

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As with all of the Exemplary Battles series, this article includes new rules for Age of Darkness players to try out. A number of new Provenances that can be taken by Imperialis Militia armies are included, theming them after the types of mortal forces found on Constanix II, as well as those from other forge worlds. This gives players the chance to field some very different types of units in their Mechanicum force. In common with the existing Imperialis Militia, this army list offers some intriguing new conversion and kitbashing opportunities.

 

This article draws to a close the current run of Exemplary Battles, a series that very much focused on the lesser known and, in many cases warp-corrupted, forces that first saw combat during the Horus Heresy. But fear not, we’ll return to the series in due course as the Horus Heresy team have plenty of ideas for future subjects up their sleeves, inspired by the vast and rich canon of the Age of Darkness.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Lord Marshal

[Astartes Consul]

Sooooo, this is basically so you can use Skitarii models?

[Indy Techwisp]

5 minutes ago, Astartes Consul said:

Sooooo, this is basically so you can use Skitarii models?

 

Looks like it.

Also, I note that despite being mecanicum themed, this is for Militia only, unless I missed something

[Marshal Rohr]

Oh my god YES

[Lord Marshal]

3 minutes ago, Indy Techwisp said:

Also, I note that despite being mecanicum themed, this is for Militia only, unless I missed something

 

Correct.

 

Amusingly you still need Cyber-Augmetics to become Sworn Brothers with Mechanicum.

[Marshal Rohr]

28 minutes ago, Lord Marshal said:

 

Correct.

 

Amusingly you still need Cyber-Augmetics to become Sworn Brothers with Mechanicum.

It looks like Cyber Augmetics and Arms of the Omnissiah will let you run a Skitarii Light force. Shame because I used Radium Carbines instead of rifles :(

Edited December 1, 2023 by Marshal Rohr

[Marshal Loss]

Had hoped when seeing this that an FAQ for the exemplary battles vol. one book would come out alongside it, which badly needs it to fix the legiones hereticus mess. Guess not, but hopefully it's actually being worked on.

[OttoVonAwesome]

6 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

It looks like Cyber Augmetics and Arms of the Omnissiah will let you run a Skitarii Light force. Shame because I used Radium Carbines instead of rifles :(

Secutarii can be run with rad carbines already. 

[OttoVonAwesome]

7 hours ago, Astartes Consul said:

Sooooo, this is basically so you can use Skitarii models?

Kind of. You can make psuedo rangers as grenadiers and use thralls as levies but it seems you can't really represent both at the same time properly I'm hoping this isn't some sort of cop out on a full skitarrii list cuase come on... Where is it? We want more plastic heresy and there's a whole bloody army just warming the benches.

[Noserenda]

They wont release a Skitarii army because its GW plastic models sadly, so we get cop outs like this.

Though i do like the meme of an allied militia detachment fielding dozens of battle tanks :D 

[Marshal Rohr]

1 hour ago, Marshal Loss said:

Had hoped when seeing this that an FAQ for the exemplary battles vol. one book would come out alongside it, which badly needs it to fix the legiones hereticus mess. Guess not, but hopefully it's actually being worked on.

The Merchant Princelings are running an event this weekend with most of Heresy Game Devs in attendance, so they might get better feedback there than online where :cuss: shout at them about every unit not being a leafblower. 

[Petitioner's City]

39 minutes ago, Noserenda said:

They wont release a Skitarii army because its GW plastic models sadly, so we get cop outs like this.

Though i do like the meme of an allied militia detachment fielding dozens of battle tanks :D 

 

Even long before 40k skitarii, Bligh and French were resistant to having them, due to being especially Martian. Maybe one day if we do get that Mars campaign book....

 

Also do join the Merchant Princelings discord, it's very nice - https://discord.com/invite/u8CdBgrZ - and does have occasional appearances by Ben, one of the game developers. He is good at some feedback there too :)

Edited December 1, 2023 by Petitioner's City

[Noserenda]

No i definitely spoke to Alan Bligh at length about his ideas for the Skitarii in 30k and while it was mostly about their fluff and political situation in 30k (Essentially, at a gross simplification, they and the Cybernetica swap places between eras) but they fit as cleanly as anything else does into the Taghmata system. They are Mars centred sure, but Mars has major influence over loads of other Forgeworlds. I certainly got the implication they would pop up in the Mars book that was forever a couple of years away at the time, but we were talking about background minutia rather than mechanics.

I did rather get the impression later that the Secutarii line was originally conceived as 30k specific Skitarii types and got retasked as Secutarii instead actually, but never anything solid on that.

Point being, they definitely had a solid plan for what Skitarii were doing at the time, but things have change pretty dramatically in the scope and focus of Age of Darkness in the years since.

 

[Marshal Loss]

2 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

The Merchant Princelings are running an event this weekend with most of Heresy Game Devs in attendance, so they might get better feedback there than online where shout at them about every unit not being a leafblower. 

 

That'd be great - all for civil feedback and a great event. Perhaps they could also read and action some of the very reasonable feedback and questions sent in to the official FAQ email.

[SkimaskMohawk]

Ya guys, secutarii peltasts had (and still have) rules to equip them as skitarii analogues. And they can be taken pretty easily as an optional detachment; obviously skitarii have a place in 30k, and I'm a little confused what the point of the exemplary battle was as a result of the already available options.

 

2 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

The Merchant Princelings are running an event this weekend with most of Heresy Game Devs in attendance, so they might get better feedback there than online where shout at them about every unit not being a leafblower. 

 

What an unbelievably disingenuous representation. A lot of people want less lethality available in terms of lascannons, Custodes guardians, and contemptors being toned down. A lot of people are also confused why their 200 point resin tank basically bounces off so many units in the game while the 115 point Scorpius gets easy access to rend 4+, pinning, and STR 8; why is equivalent points of rapiers better at killing marines (or militia, or daemons) than a medusa or arquitor? People just generally want to feel like their cool model that cost hundreds of dollars actually does something useful. Not everything needs to cut through armour but everything does need a reason to be taken in the game. And that doesn't even touch on unclear/redundant mechanics like death guard move out of combat, ironwarrior +1 str overlap with blasts, jaghatai Khan outflank, melee engagement range determination, the different rules based on languages of the books.

 

Also, fun history lesson of 5th and 6th; blasts got neutered by terrain. Barrage couldn't go through ruin levels and normal blasts could only affect a single floor's worth of guys, scatting off wasted the entire shot; a typhon regularly got to kill 3-4 marines a turn. The only people who got mangled by "leaf blowers" were the guys who wanted to take bricks of 20 marines with an apothecary and march them in formation in the open. And what's funny is that people complained about iron hands running those bricks and that they were "the best legion"...until their counter was applied. 

 

Where was I? Oh yes, misrepresenting the complaints and the mechanics around the dreaded leaf blower. Pretty classic 2nd Ed blind defender. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by SkimaskMohawk

[WrathOfTheLion]

There can be and are valid criticisms, but one would be best to ask them or approach it civilly, the specifics are completely irrelevant as to an individuals behavior in that kind of setting. There's no purpose to not acting in any professional manner, for a multitude of reasons, including that behaving without courtesy has the least likely chance that you'll actually see what you want addressed.

[Nagashsnee]

7 hours ago, SkimaskMohawk said:

Ya guys, secutarii peltasts had (and still have) rules to equip them as skitarii analogues. And they can be taken pretty easily as an optional detachment; obviously skitarii have a place in 30k, and I'm a little confused what the point of the exemplary battle was as a result of the already available options.

 

Great question! For me the answer is tied to 30k being a lore centered game.

 

So secutarii are the titan guard, they exist to fulfil a very specific role, namely support, and protect the titans and their supporting elements, they exist in a very specific window and to act in very specific ways. They are not meant to be an independent military force and should not have the options to be that. Its why I eventually came around to them being allies in 2 ed rather then in the list proper and not being line without titans in their own list.

 

Skitarii on the other hand while different to their 40k role are still the premier infantry force/army of the martian style mechanicum. They ARE meant to be a army, they are meant to be able to act independently, with air power, armored elements, light and heavy infantry etc etc. You have your conscripts/militia in the thralls, you have you actual war priests in the myrmidons, you have your big boom lovers in the reductor and your robot boys in the cybernatica, etc.

 

The mechanicum 30k army is vaguely based on the Eastern Roman army and its tagmata system. Where to keep it simple you would have some professional elite regiments centered on the capital and key cities/sites (the tagmata) and then supplement them with auxiliaries, levies and specialists as needed.  At present in 30k, despite the codex saying you are playing the mechanicum tagmata, it is LACKING its actual tagmata, that is to say the core, professional line regiments. All the book has is the auxiliaries, levies and specialists. In the varies forms of tech thralls, robots, reductor tanks etc.

 

So why not JUST use secutarii? Cause they are just another specialist formation, allies who cannot be line and lore wise are not really part of the army. Just infantry on loan like everyone else. I WANT skitarii, I WANT an actual mechanicum military unit, not a specialist, not a worker forced into battle, not a spine stuck in a suit by the reductor, I want my forge guard, it doesn’t have to even use the 40k minis, release a new unit! Make the models different, change the guns, make them more feral or less, taller or sorter, shootier or not at all. We get 30k in plastic now drop a 30k skitarii unit box make me buy another 100! But I WANT skitarii.

 

I WANT my bloody tagma to field in my Tagmata Mechanicum!  

[Petitioner's City]

9 hours ago, Noserenda said:

No i definitely spoke to Alan Bligh at length about his ideas for the Skitarii in 30k and while it was mostly about their fluff and political situation in 30k (Essentially, at a gross simplification, they and the Cybernetica swap places between eras) but they fit as cleanly as anything else does into the Taghmata system. They are Mars centred sure, but Mars has major influence over loads of other Forgeworlds. I certainly got the implication they would pop up in the Mars book that was forever a couple of years away at the time, but we were talking about background minutia rather than mechanics.

I did rather get the impression later that the Secutarii line was originally conceived as 30k specific Skitarii types and got retasked as Secutarii instead actually, but never anything solid on that.

Point being, they definitely had a solid plan for what Skitarii were doing at the time, but things have change pretty dramatically in the scope and focus of Age of Darkness in the years since.

 

 

I see! I was going off the 2015 Weekender

 

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For those waiting for an exploration of the more esoteric Heresy-era Adeptus Mechanicus cults in 40K, it probably won’t happen, as they don’t really exist in a notable form in 30K. (Names of cults were named, but went over my head – sorry.)

 

It’s not likely there will be skitarii models in the foreseeable future. Though they’ve been featured prominently in the novels, the tone of Alan and the designers was that they saw thallaxi and tech-thralls as the primary Heresy-era troop choice for the Mechanicum – so perhaps expect to see more of those in the novels from now on.

 

And here

 

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Mechanicum:-

MB: John Blanche’s artwork is a major inspiration for the Mechanicum. Tech-priests are the ‘human’ face of the Mechanicum – and there are much, much worse than them yet to be seen. AB wants to do the ‘crazy’ ones… the Mechanicum are the ultimate recycling army, they re-use absolutely everything left laying around after a battle, including body parts. AB likes the creepy guy look.
AB: I have at least one army where I drilled the eyes out! <hangs head in shame, laughter>
MB: The whole look of the Mechanicum is deliberately different from the rest of the Imperial forces… Mech tanks look fragile, but have lots of energy shields instead of armour. They always keep the best stuff for themselves and let the Imperial forces have the lesser gear… Legion Land Raiders, for example, are inferior to the Mech forces.
AB: Must remember that the 30k Mechanicum are NOT the 40k Adeptus Mechanicus. They are a kind of shadow empire, only partially part of the Imperium. The Dark Mechanicum have split off from the main track because they don’t want to obey the rules that have been imposed upon them (by the Emperor etc).. But we have to remember that the Mechanicum haven’t split right down the middle in the same way as the Legions… in many ways, the Mechanicum has split more. Some of the Dark Mechanicum don’t so much follow Horus as just want to rebel against the strictures of the Mechanicum – example, Cyclothrathe – they are out on the edge of the Imperium, and what they’ve found out there has driven them mad.
The Legio Cybernetica are a kind of compromise from the age of (now banned) sentient machines – the LC have artificial intelligence but not artificial sentience – they aren’t self-willed, sort of artificial beasts. However, as the war goes on and supply chains get disrupted (on both sides) it starts getting hard to replace the cortices in the robots – the Dark Mechanicum will start to take short cuts and try using daemons instead – although this is later, doesn’t happen immediately. Even during the Great Crusade, some of the Primarchs were started to get worried abou how many battle-automata were being created – suspected that the Mechanicum were building up to take on the Imperium itself? Although there are differing levels of suspicion amongst the Primarchs – for example, after a while (after the start of the Heresy) Perturabo starts to mistrust his own legion so much that he has a bodyguard of battle-automata created, instead of using his own legionaries.

Q: Will there be a red book for the Mechanicum?
TC: Yes, but not just yet – there is more yet to add.

Q: Will we see some of the odder sub-cults of the Mechanicum? (such as the electro-priests from 40K).
TC: A lot of 30K stuff isn’t seen in 40K and vice versa – the Mechanicum has evolved a lot.
AB: The 30K Mechanicum has no set organisation – a lot of it is ad hoc (the Taghmata are likened to a feudal ‘raising of banners’) and varies wildly between forge worlds. We may see some bits of the unusual stuff, but the 30K Mechanicum army we see is the ‘macro’ army, the more common stuff.

Q: Will we see 30K Skitarii?
TC: Skitarii are 40K Adeptus Mechanicus troops, their role has pretty much already been covered in 30K – if they are seen, they are likely to be quite different from what you’re used to.

 

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Horus Heresy Weekender Flesh and Steel Round-Up

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Zion 

6384 posts · Joined 2011

#1 · Feb 23, 2015

Flesh And Steel.
Alan Bligh, Mark Bedford, Edgar Skomorowski, Tony Cottrell

Subject – the Solar Auxilia and the Mechanicum

Initial ‘reveal’ – that an Ordinatus model (BIG!) is work in progress at FW right now… and it will be bigger than a Baneblade!

The Solar Auxilia – aggressive defence tactics, force landings and then defend the beachhead.
The Solar Auxilia are – just like the Legiones Astartes – split in the Horus Heresy… some of them have fought with Horus or other Traitor legions for years/decades… naturally in many cases they have formed tight links with these legions, so in many cases have followed them into treachery.
Looking at the new SA ogryn models:-
ES: This Ogryn design is a kind of halfway house between the Solar Auxilia infantry and tanks.
AB: The Ogryn rules in “Conquest” are WAY toned down from the initial version!
These ogryns are ‘stitched’ into their armour and then switched on – organic killing machines, but deliberately not in the style of the Mechanicum. They actually have an ‘off’ switch on the back of their head! Also a kind of cage on the side of their head to stop them biting the medicae.

Mechanicum:-

MB: John Blanche’s artwork is a major inspiration for the Mechanicum. Tech-priests are the ‘human’ face of the Mechanicum – and there are much, much worse than them yet to be seen. AB wants to do the ‘crazy’ ones… the Mechanicum are the ultimate recycling army, they re-use absolutely everything left laying around after a battle, including body parts. AB likes the creepy guy look.
AB: I have at least one army where I drilled the eyes out! <hangs head in shame, laughter>
MB: The whole look of the Mechanicum is deliberately different from the rest of the Imperial forces… Mech tanks look fragile, but have lots of energy shields instead of armour. They always keep the best stuff for themselves and let the Imperial forces have the lesser gear… Legion Land Raiders, for example, are inferior to the Mech forces.
AB: Must remember that the 30k Mechanicum are NOT the 40k Adeptus Mechanicus. They are a kind of shadow empire, only partially part of the Imperium. The Dark Mechanicum have split off from the main track because they don’t want to obey the rules that have been imposed upon them (by the Emperor etc).. But we have to remember that the Mechanicum haven’t split right down the middle in the same way as the Legions… in many ways, the Mechanicum has split more. Some of the Dark Mechanicum don’t so much follow Horus as just want to rebel against the strictures of the Mechanicum – example, Cyclothrathe – they are out on the edge of the Imperium, and what they’ve found out there has driven them mad.
The Legio Cybernetica are a kind of compromise from the age of (now banned) sentient machines – the LC have artificial intelligence but not artificial sentience – they aren’t self-willed, sort of artificial beasts. However, as the war goes on and supply chains get disrupted (on both sides) it starts getting hard to replace the cortices in the robots – the Dark Mechanicum will start to take short cuts and try using daemons instead – although this is later, doesn’t happen immediately. Even during the Great Crusade, some of the Primarchs were started to get worried abou how many battle-automata were being created – suspected that the Mechanicum were building up to take on the Imperium itself? Although there are differing levels of suspicion amongst the Primarchs – for example, after a while (after the start of the Heresy) Perturabo starts to mistrust his own legion so much that he has a bodyguard of battle-automata created, instead of using his own legionaries.

Q: Will there be a red book for the Mechanicum?
TC: Yes, but not just yet – there is more yet to add.

Q: Will we see some of the odder sub-cults of the Mechanicum? (such as the electro-priests from 40K).
TC: A lot of 30K stuff isn’t seen in 40K and vice versa – the Mechanicum has evolved a lot.
AB: The 30K Mechanicum has no set organisation – a lot of it is ad hoc (the Taghmata are likened to a feudal ‘raising of banners’) and varies wildly between forge worlds. We may see some bits of the unusual stuff, but the 30K Mechanicum army we see is the ‘macro’ army, the more common stuff.

Q: Will we see 30K Skitarii?
TC: Skitarii are 40K Adeptus Mechanicus troops, their role has pretty much already been covered in 30K – if they are seen, they are likely to be quite different from what you’re used to.

Q: Will there be more types of Ordinatus?
TC: In 40K, each Ordinatus machine is unique, and they are very rare. In 30K they are somewhat less rare, so we will likely do some variants.

Q: Will you cover the relationship between the Mechanicum and the Iron Warriors? Rules and background?
AB: We will cover how the Iron Warriors’ relationship with the Mechanicum evolves – ditto with the Iron Hands, Salamanders – even the Dark Angels (my note – interesting!). After they became one of the Shattered Legions, the remains of the Iron Hands cope in different ways – fight back, start a guerrilla war, some basically go mad. Some turn to forbidden tech – the Keys Of Hel.
MB: Some legions desperately need to replace lost warriors, and quickly…

Q: Will there be any weapon packs for the Mechanicum? For Myrmidons?
MB: Yes, we’re doing them now, but they’re not ready yet.

Q: Will you produce rules for the tech used by the Raven Guard? Reflex shields, etc?
AB: That all depends on the space available in the books. Some stuff – like that Raven Guard gear mentioned – will be left to later books.

Q: After having seen the illustration of the Mechanicum Ordinatus being planned, are you going to be using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) more?
TC: We will be using it more, but still using old-fashioned sculpting as well – kind of a fusion of the two. We will model by hand and by computer – were are not a CGI company!

Q: Are there any Solar Auxilia heavy weapons coming?
TC: The SA don’t tend to carry many heavy weapons.
AB: Most of the SA’s heavy weapons are machine-mobile rather than shoulder-carried or the 40K Astra Militarum two-man fixed teams… they will use Rapier platforms and such. There will be some other heavy/special weapons coming – such as snipers? (Joke about unicycle Rough Riders).

Q: Will there be any Mechanicum transfer sheets?
TC: Yes – we have just taken on someone (Jez Goodwin’s daughter, in fact) just to do decals & brass etchings and the like. Previously they’ve been done by various artists in between other projects, if a bit of spare time came up. Now that we have a dedicated person for this, there should be a lot more.

Q: Will there be a Kelbor-Hal model and rules?
AB & TC: We need to get the narrative to Mars before doing something like that. We will be doing at least one book on Mars later – within the next 4 books perhaps? (my note – if what is mentioned in later seminars is true, then at the earliest this would be Book 8).

Q: In one of the Garro audios there is a kick-ass Mechanicum flyer – will you be doing model/rules?
MB: I have some ideas… <laughter>

Q: (Sorry – didn’t hear the question!)
AB: The Scyllax are guardian-automata, they are defensively orientated and have no cortex. Very little of them is organic, for obvious reasons – inside them is a rad-furnace, they are intended to kill with rad weaponry. Sort of the Mechanicum equivalent to the Legion Destroyer squads.

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Petitioner's City

[Petitioner's City]

Quote

The mechanicum 30k army is vaguely based on the Eastern Roman army and its tagmata system. Where to keep it simple you would have some professional elite regiments centered on the capital and key cities/sites (the tagmata) and then supplement them with auxiliaries, levies and specialists as needed.  At present in 30k, despite the codex saying you are playing the mechanicum tagmata, it is LACKING its actual tagmata, that is to say the core, professional line regiments. All the book has is the auxiliaries, levies and specialists. In the varies forms of tech thralls, robots, reductor tanks etc.

 

 

@Nagashsnee, per the quote of AB above, I think you have it the wrong way around?

 

Quote

Q: Will we see some of the odder sub-cults of the Mechanicum? (such as the electro-priests from 40K).
TC: A lot of 30K stuff isn’t seen in 40K and vice versa – the Mechanicum has evolved a lot.
AB: The 30K Mechanicum has no set organisation – a lot of it is ad hoc (the Taghmata are likened to a feudal ‘raising of banners’) and varies wildly between forge worlds. We may see some bits of the unusual stuff, but the 30K Mechanicum army we see is the ‘macro’ army, the more common stuff.

Q: Will we see 30K Skitarii?
TC: Skitarii are 40K Adeptus Mechanicus troops, their role has pretty much already been covered in 30K – if they are seen, they are likely to be quite different from what you’re used to.

 

[Nagashsnee]

27 minutes ago, Petitioner's City said:

 

@Nagashsnee, per the quote of AB above, I think you have it the wrong way around?

 

 

Maybe. But is that interview  is from BEFORE the Mechanicum red book.  Its before allot of things.  I dont remember if they had laid out the tagmata system in the earlier black books or if it was introduced in the mech red book. But i am 100% going off the mechanicum red book explanation of the tagmata and the origins of the term (tho admittedly historical origins don't mean diddly squat in warhammer)

 

2015 is a long long time ago. Times and plans change as the years go by. I remember when they previewed fired of cyraxes and even showed off art and models for the upcoming Mechanicus-Tau-Red scorpion imperial armor. Heck a quick google search brings up images they showed in the presentation. But plans and ideas change and evolve.  FW 2015 plans for a pure resin game while a fantastic read are just that, their plans for over half a decade ago for a different era of the game. 

 

Two years after this interview (2017) they released the secutarii rules in book 7, so already something changed? Or they wanted to compromise?  And again i am 100% ok with them changing them up, like i said do a totally new 30k box for them.

 

I 100% agree that was the way they envisioned it in 2015, but things do/did change since then.  All the way up to the latest siege of terra novel the HH is FULL of skitarii, on both sides of the conflict. Echoes of eternity even gave up a fairly prominent secondary skitarii character.  Now i can see game balance reasons for not putting them in. But lore wise? Nah fam. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Nagashsnee

[Nagashsnee]

Double post

Edited December 2, 2023 by Nagashsnee

[Petitioner's City]

I believe the siege (and Master of Mankind) having so many skitarii reflects a change in the mechanicum forces we see at Terra from that more broadly in the Imperium - while much of the heresy focuses on feudal fiefdoms of the Mechanicum distant from or quasi independent from Mars, on Terra, and within the Solar system, we are firmly within the fiefdom of Mars, be it Hel's Mars, or among the loyalists the Mars of the new Mechanicus, using the tools they have to hand to create what is easiest and most efficient. That contextualises why we see so many skitarii at the Siege - this is the most full expression of Mars in the civil war - and perhaps also forms a prelude to the millennia of change ahead propagated by Mars as it assets increasing control over the rest of the remaining Mechanicus. 

 

I guess fundamentally if we got a skitarii list, it would be it's own army list, given the text from the red book, which tells us the taghmata, the Titan legions and the skitarii are three elements of Trans-Magna? (The red book was also published in 2015, so probably was already drafted and even printed when the weekender took place! I certainly don't think anything changed between February and August!)

 

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At the time of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Taghmata Omnissiah was the principal typeof operational military force of the trans-Martian Mechanicum and also the most numerous.To those outside the arcane secrets and strange mysteries of the Mechanicum, the Taghmata wasa difficult thing to grasp, seeming at once a purely descriptive term applied to a bewildering tapestry of Magos, machine work and indentured manpower, and also a rigid and labyrinthine hierarchical structure,the equal
of any in the Imperium's armed forces in complexity Its name,however, translated from the lingua technis into the Terran Gothic of the Imperial Court betrays its fundamental nature; Taghmata Omnissiah being related then as 'that which is divinely ordered for war’- being the military reflection of a forge World's essentially feudal power structure mustered for battle.

 

Alongside the elite Skitarii regiments, whose allegiance and command was owed
ultimately to Mars, and The Collegia Titanica, which comprised the planet-shattering titan legions, both of which organisations operated separate military traditions of their own, the Taghmata formed the great trinity, the 'Trans-Magna' of the Mechanicum's power during The Great Crusade. Besides these three there stood the 'lesser' independent and allied divisions of the Mechanicum such as the Knight Houses, the Ordo Reductor, the Explorators and the Legio Cybernetica, among others. Each was a great power in its own right, but all were dwarfed both in scale and reach by the great three.

 

Still nice to delve back into the red book, but I'd probably resist overstating applying the historical origins of the term onto what Bligh and others developed? 

[Marshal Rohr]

You could make the argument that there shouldn’t be more Skitarii because they are uniquely Martian if the Mechanicum list had continued to be developed beyond Cybernetica or Pure Chaff. There’s no way to represent things like the Gryphonne Tech-Guard attached to the Titan Legion with their Leman Russ and Rhinos. Militia won’t cut it with the Third Line Rule. 

[Petitioner's City]

1 minute ago, Marshal Rohr said:

You could make the argument that there shouldn’t be more Skitarii because they are uniquely Martian if the Mechanicum list had continued to be developed beyond Cybernetica or Pure Chaff. There’s no way to represent things like the Gryphonne Tech-Guard attached to the Titan Legion with their Leman Russ and Rhinos. Militia won’t cut it with the Third Line Rule. 

 

But third line will have to for now - it's a get you by - unless using Panoptica I guess, or indeed just house ruling it? (Or using auxilia instead of militia?)

[Marshal Rohr]

No way to have native cyber-augmetics with Auxilia sadly. It’s an issue that will only be resolved by adding more army lists and expanding what is already there. We keep being told Mechanicum is a wildly diverse army and right now you can either build Thrall Hordes and a single SubCult with some tanks or Legio Cybernetica. Can’t even do much with Reductor besides their specific Shock Troops and an Artillery Tank. The Mech Autokratorii seem like they’d be easy to do, but right now you can only do a single tank and tank Hunter. Things like the Electropriests mentioned in Book Three and show separate from Skitarii aren’t available.