Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - COMBAT PATROL: Adeptus Mechanicus

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The only problem? Everyone else wants in on the action, and now the whole galaxy is boarding the Arks of Omen in search of glory, treasure, or just a big punch-up. In fact, four more Boarding Patrol boxes are preparing for launch in the near future – and only one of them might be said to have the Emperor’s best interests at heart… They’re also a great faction to collect. They have some of the most unique models in all of Warhammer 40,000 and some of the strongest firepower that humanity can wield in the Shooting phase. But don’t think that having incredible guns means they don’t have equally incredible melee. They have a little bit of everything, and they are a great faction to get started with. Five Pteraxii Sterylizors provide a potent deep strike threat with their phosphor torches, and three Serberyrs Sulphurhounds are fast, flame-spewing cavalry who can trade up into tougher foes. Inside the Codex is a guide on how to get your Purge Corps Deltic-9 painted in the livery of Mars, and some tips for tipping engagements in your favour. Or do you just run headlong at the ones in no man’s land and have a massive dust-up? We know what the Orks would do.

In this article, I’m going to lay out some of the highlights you can expect when first embracing the Omnissiah, as well as some of the tribulations you should anticipate when appeasing the Machine Spirit. This versatile box provides bodies, ballistics, and big-hitters for you to join the eternal quest to uncover archeotech and fragments of holy STC from the ancient Arks of Omen. If you missed it, we look at the latest pricing and values of the new Warhammer 40k box sets in separate posts below:Chaos Daemons have – appropriately, given the arrival of Angron – manifested as a huffing and slavering crash of Khornate nightmares. 10 Bloodletters and 10 Flesh Hounds are led by Khorne’s favourite hunter – Karanak, the Hound of Vengeance. In the cramped confines of a space hulk, these frenzied killers will close the distance between enemy guns with warp-flushed speed and savagery. This time around, there are Boarding Patrols coming from the Adepta Sororitas, the Adeptus Custodes, and the Thousand Sons. Let’s take a closer look. Boarding Patrol: Adepta Sororitas Stripping themselves of the undue burden of organic components, followers of the Adeptus Mechanicus worship the Machine God in any way they can. From the simple act of being a nameless cog in the great forge worlds, to the holy acts of sacraments performed upon the blessed Bolt Rifle before battle, the AdMech is pervasive throughout the Imperium, but also a wholly distinct group on their own. Adeptus Mechanicus Example Army (ignore the invalid double-special weapons on the Skitarii). Credit: Pendulin

Do you like Intercessors? Good, then this box is for you. 25 of the 29 models in this battleforce are some flavor of Intercessor, whether your preference be assault, chunky, or vanilla. Rounding out the box are three Bladeguard Veterans, the least interesting Primaris Captain, and a Storm Speeder for folks who are curious about how long a T6 flyer with no invulnerable save will survive. The box is okay. Not great, not terrible. Existing Space Marine players likely already have more than enough Intercessors, but it’s a perfectly legitimate Patrol for the Astartes curious. At least for me it would have been more appealing had the box gone all-in on being a big boy heavy force, perhaps with Eradicators, more Heavy Intercessors, and the original boltstorm gauntlet Gravis Captain. As it stands I recommend looking instead at the various Combat Patrol boxes, which are close to the same value and contain much more interesting units. Final Verdict: Skip It Pteraxii Sterylizors– Another kit released with Psychic Awakening, they are the yin to the Serberys’s yang. Cheap to field, surprisingly fast flying infantry. They come with some deep-strike deployment courtesy of their Thermal Riders abilities, a ranged threat with their auto-hit Phosphor Torch, as well as a melee threat with their talons. As always, keep your astropathic choir trained on the searing light of the Astronomican – or just sign up for the Warhammer Community newsletter for more up-to-the-millennium communiqués as they’re revealed.

Adeptus Mechanicus Combat Patrol

Firepower– AdMech have incredibly efficient shooting, some of the best in the game. From the lowly Skitarii Ranger to the towering Ironstrider Ballistarii, and all sizes in between, this army has a lot of point-efficient ranged weapons. The result? Tense, involved, but straightforward games that can be played in less than an hour.* There’s still plenty of nuance for Warhammer 40,000 experts to enjoy – swapping out Enhancements and Secondary Objectives to mix up their playstyle, and mastering each faction’s Combat Patrol in turn, without having to build up a full Incursion or Strike Force-sized army. And because this faction isn’t complicated enough, there are a couple ways of manipulating Canticles. First and foremost, you have Mars, which grants the Canticles of the Omnissiah ability to all Skitarii units. Yes, this means you are applying two sets of buffs to your Skitarii. Yes, this makes them very powerful. Yes, it’s good and complicated, go try it! Additionally, there are three ways of manipulating Canticles for individual units: Belisarius Cawl‘s Lead in Prayer ability, as well as a Mars-exclusive strategem, and a strategem that is available to any Tech-Priest. This means you have a huge variety of options each turn to plan around. TROOPS: 10x Skitarii Vanguard (Radium Carbines, w/ your choice either Omnispex or Data-Tether) 85pts This box is interesting because it’s the first one with an entire squad of Repentia! A lot of the boxes had like three of them for whatever reason, so this is just fun to see. This is a pretty combat-focused box, but overall seems pretty decent. Boarding Patrol: Adeptus Custodes

When building a full AdMech army, expect to be building multiple copies of the exact same box. In some cases, like Serberys or Ironstriders, expect to be building lots of them. More Skitarii– In 9th edition, our Skitarii got cheaper points-wise, deadlier, and double the amount can fit in a single unit. Regardless how how many of these you have, you’ll probably want at least a couple more. Kastelan Robots – They’re retro. They’re goofy. And while their firepower isn’t what it was in previous editions, they made up for it by become fantastic punchbots. Starting off the game with a 2+ save, you can switch their prototcol to instead give them weapon skill of 2+ and a free reroll on their charges. With a pair of Kastelan Fists, these things will punch a hole through the toughest Space Marine vehicles like they weren’t even there. Fortunately, getting started with Admech is pretty easy, with the one-box option of Combat Patrol: Adeptus Mechanicus. This gets you an Enginseer, 10 Skitarii, 3 Kataphrons, and a Onager Dunecrawler which will give you a good introduction to the Omnissiah. There are two previous bundles that you might see, hidden away at your friendly local game store: Start Collecting! Adeptus Mechanicus and Start Collecting! Skitarii. These are both out of print now, but you can occasionally find them at MSRP which makes them a great deal.Aesthetic– Models in this faction are utterly distinct from any other. The 60s era retro-futuristic Kastelan Robot, the wasteland cavalry Serberys Raider, the spider-tank Onager Dunecrawler: every model in this faction is positively dripping with style. Second, the Combat Patrol versions of each faction’s datasheets army rules are different from their main Index. Datasheets are simpler, and armies have access to different Stratagems, and enhancements. Here are some are some high-level strengths and weaknesses you should know about before diving into an Admech army. The real shame of this box is that Sisters tanks just don’t see much play. While Exorcists were a mainstay of Sisters armies prior to their 2021 codex, modern competitive forces rely much more on foot-slogging lists, potentially with the support of a rhino or two. That said, Immolators do see some use in good lists here and there – most recently at the North and South GT in a top 4 list, where taking 1-2 can give you a tough, mobile source of multi-melta shots, and a recent September GT-winning list featured an Exorcist, and neither are bad units. Beyond that, the Sacresants and battle sisters are must-haves in every Adepta Sororitas army and the Dogmata shows up in most, making this a box that’s great for new players and potentially still a good value for players looking to add to their army who don’t mind adding a couple of tanks. Final Verdict: Good Value Complicated– This applies in a couple ways. AdMech models are complicated to physically build, as they’re fragile and require an exceptional amount of patience. In addition to this, the faction has some of the most complex rules in the entire game. You have Skitarii benefiting from Doctrina Imperatives (except when they don’t) but not benefiting from Canticles of the Omnissiah (except when they do). Kastelan Robots who don’t have the Core keyword unless they are within 3″ of a Cybernetica Datasmith, and you have Kataphrons who aren’t infantry but can nonetheless breach walls Kool-Aid Man style. You have buffs you can hand out to Skitarii Core units within 6″ or to any Core unit anywhere on the battlefield so long as that unit has the Data-Tether keyword. You have warlord traits and relics you can give troops, and an HQ choice that can optionally be his own Supreme Command detachment. The options, and their complexity, are seemingly endless.

Three new Warhammer 40k Boarding Patrol boxes have been revealed, this time for Adepta Sororitas, Adeptus Custodes, and Thousand Sons! The Adeptus Mechanicus, sometimes referred to as the Cult Mechanicum (for historical reasons) or commonly just AdMech for brevity’s sake, is the technological hub of the Imperium of Man. They produce the weapons, manufacture the equipment, and forge the great warmachine that is mankind in the 41st millennium. Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, or our new Discord server, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!Each Combat Patrol is supposed to be balanced against all the others. That might be hard to believe when looking at the contents of the Adeptus Custodes box set, as the boys in gold are notoriously hard! You might notice a few references to Imperial Knights in the AdMech codex. Adeptus Mechanicus are in a unique spot in the Imperium, as they have special ties to Imperial Knights in the fluff, with fully half the Knight Households being devoted to the Machine God specifically rather than the Imperium in general. To represent this, AdMech can grant Knights access to Canticles of the Omnissiah, as described above. It’s all fun and games until the 12 meter war machine gains light cover or gets a free reroll of a hit, wound, and damage dice. Painter’s Dream– These models are intricate, they’re detailed. Each and every one offers endless opportunities for personalization and kitbashing. If you are looking for an army to really make your own, this is it. Belisarius Cawl has more character in his seventh mechanized pinky finger than most armies have in their entire roster.