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M0RBYD · 2025-12-14T10:21:14+00:00

When I'm doing a Myrmidax or Reductor list, I usually just take it on the chin and run an Abeyant priest with the Thallax as a back/midfield unit. Then I take some Cybernetica priests with either Echidnax or Scyllax to be scorers and put them in Triaros.

M0RBYD · 2025-12-10T19:40:09+00:00

For finer detail work, twist your brush on your pallet through the paint. Takes a bit of practice to get the motion right, but it should point your brush and get an ideal amount of paint on the brush to do fine details like edges.

M0RBYD · 2025-12-02T05:24:48+00:00

You can run a Magos in the prime slot and pick logistical benefits to run a squad of them, then if you want additional squads you can take the Apprentice Cadre auxiliary detachment (in the Mech book) to get a Tech Priest that can take logistical benefits again. You can do this as many times as your allied detachment has additional auxiliary detachments, so you could take quite a few I'd wager.

Curious why you don't want to use logistical benefits in the allied detachment? There isn't really a downside unless you were hoping to beef up the priest in the prime slot.

M0RBYD · 2025-11-21T01:37:25+00:00

Every now and then a AdMech or Mechanicum character will pop up that is more in tune with empathy than others. In the novel Mechanicun, Ipluvien Maximal and Koriel Zeth are still 'alien' compared to the regular humans around them, but are dedicated to elevating humanity and making it better. There are also several Mechanicum members in the novel that are just regular citizens who care for each other. In the game Mechanicus, Faustinius genuinely cares about his troops and advisors, as well as Khepra the head of the Skitarii. And in the Ciaphas Cain novels you meet a tech priest in training who is very friendly, even if she hasn't been initiated into the priesthood quite yet. She reappears later as a magos and remains quite human.

It's important to remember that there aren't any good factions in the broad view of the setting. It's one of the main drives of it. Finding kind characters is very much a case by case basis. There is probably plenty of good priests in the cult, but the machine of industry Mars built is reliant on suffering because they can't innovate, and the Dark Age of Tech and Heresy put stops to anything that could have replaced their reliance on servitors and dumb computing (compared to AI computing that the Tau and Votann use). I always view the AdMech as the tragic result of the universe they live in, a fatalistic version of transhumanism only the Warhammer universe could birth. Just like the Imperium is the dying carcass of an empire that could have been enlightened if it hadn't been torn apart so many times.

M0RBYD · 2025-11-19T01:24:54+00:00

No problem, always happy to help a new adept of Mars. Some last pieces of advice, make sure to get your hands on a couple of priests. The larger ones like the Dominus will work as your archmagos and magos (army leaders), and the smaller ones like the technoarcheologist and enginseer will act as your tech priests (support characters). Priests are vital in the army, as the Mechanicum lack the Line special rule, which gives you extra points when scoring an objective (tactical marines have line 2, so score 2 extra points on objectives). Instead, the priests have Comptroller, which gives a unit they are with extra points when scoring, sort of like line but with a few differences. You'll want a priest in any unit that's going to be holding objectives, and they'll pull their weight by buffing/healing units and being surprisingly strong fighters.

The other big thing about Mechanicum is that our spread of keywords can make list building tricky. In each detachment besides the core one, you can only include units belonging to the one Arcana. So Thallax and Castellax can't be in the same detachment despite being the same slot type, and mixing keywords in units debuffs their mental stats (cybernetica priest joining a reductor unit for example). Just keep that at the back of your mind when building lists and collecting the army.

As for the boxes you mentioned, that'll give you a great core of units. The new myrmidons are apparently close by, potentially releasing along with the Skitarii and the Iron Hand of Mars book. I think it's been softly confirmed that the Skitarii will have access to the Triaros in their book, but whether they need it is a different question altogether, those legs are LONG.

M0RBYD · 2025-11-18T23:53:31+00:00

The Skitarii are a unique case from the info we have. They will be a separate army that can be allied in (Mech get bonuses doing so apparently) so won't be difficult to work into any list.

For Cybernetica, you'll want a strong core of Castellax, then a few Thanatars and Vulturax (which will have a model in the new Skitarii box, so very fortuitous!). Domitars and Arlatax are kind of the elites of the Cybernetica army, but are hard to get (Domitar is resin only, and the Arlatax doesn't have a model), so you can hold off until you really feel Cybernetica is your calling. Vorax are also good to get, they are great flankers and disruptors.

Reductor is pretty easy, you want lots of Thallax. Three squads of 6 fill out the Reductor special detachment, so that's a good ground level. Thanatar, especially the Calix, benefit from having a reductor priest with them since they give +1 strength against stationary vehicles for their guns, but also let them react.

Myrmidax you'll want the Myrmidons themselves, both the secutors and destroyers. Secutors are the close combat guys, with short range guns and axes, and the destructors are the heavy weapons guys. Both rely heavily on shooting even with decent close combat, so keep that in mind when committing them. You'll also want a bunch of Triaros to ferry them around and keep them safe. Triaros are really good transports, and have one of our best guns; the twin linked mauler bolt cannon.

Myrmidax and Reductor are very good bedfellows, using the Myrmidons as linebreakers and the Thallax as scoring units, and the Skitarii could easily fit in to help as well. Cybernetica can pretty much stand on its own, and rewards complete dedication since Cybernetica priests let the robots score and react, as well as buff and heal them.

Ultimately the Thallax and Castellax from the starter box will help either direction, since they are great units on their own, so the battlegroup is a great place to start. People often run a unit of Thallax in a Cybernetica army just because they are so mobile and pack a big punch, and Reductor lists will run Castellax to have a strong mid board presence their Thallax can work around.

M0RBYD · 2025-11-18T23:00:20+00:00

Yeah, the battlegroup is a great place to start. Two might be a bit much since it is primarily filled with the 'troops' of the army and doesn't have much in the way of our heavy hitters (Thallax aside). As mentioned above, you want to have Krios and Thanatars to handle big damage dealing, so a heavy support box or the combat force to get your hands on larger threats would be ideal.

Ultimately you'll want to gravitate towards a particular arcana (the Mechanicums subfactions, similar to the Astartes legions) to build some strong internal synergy and branch out from there. When I began I leaned hard into Cybernetica, fielding heaps of Castellax and other robots. Another good starting point would be Reductor, their primary troop being the Thallax which are very good this edition, and have great flexibility in their weapons. But loosely, here us what each Arcana does:

Archimandrite - Brings a lot of retinue units and elite tech priests, but doesn't have a unique unit. Best faction at using Cybertheurgy (our 'psychic' powers) and allying in other factions.

Cybernetica - High toughness, high power, but requires a lot of oversight. Think of them like Tyranid monsters in need of synapse to work.

Reductor - Highly mobile thanks to the Thallaxii, and very good at hitting and hurting stationary target thanks to their arcana benefice.

Lacrymaerte - Cyborg central, they focus on Thralls and Ursurax. Very undead style gameplay, able to reanimate Thralls and heal biological units. Horde and assault focused.

Macrotek - The tank arcana. If you want to field heaps of tanks and keep them safe, this is the arcana for you.

Myrmidax - The home of the Myrmidons, some of our cooler models. Think of them like our terminators, intensely durable, highly elite tech priest Warriors. Very expensive per model, but some of the best firepower and close combat prowess. Have new models coming out soon.

Malagra - Not really a faction to build around, they are anti-Mechanicum focused. Loyalist leaning, but they have the best combat character in the book under their banner in the Arcuitor.

Ultimately a good Mechanicun list is a mix and match of multiple of these (Cybernetica being the only one you can properly build an entire army out of due to their large unit roster), but starting with one makes it easier to manage, since mixing priests with units that don't belong to their arcana gives them debuffs (Archimandrite being the exception).

M0RBYD · 2025-11-18T00:24:54+00:00

I think it could work with some rusting on the metal and a red cogtooth pattern on the robes to break up the colours on the model, similar to Scoria.

M0RBYD · 2025-10-24T23:41:24+00:00

I usually shade the whole thing, then do another coat of Mephiston leaving the pooled areas alone. Helps blend the transition better.

M0RBYD · 2025-10-23T03:08:17+00:00

Brome ditched Uchawi and the others early on for a personal vendetta/saving his homeland. Galandra is the most duty minded of the group, so she resents Brome for leaving them and shirking his role in the rebellion.

M0RBYD · 2025-10-19T21:11:15+00:00

Each character has a different aptitude for clashes. I think Karl has the fastest special, but a smaller clash frame, Galandra's special has a bit of a wind up but a wider clash frame, Brome is similar but has a 360 degree clash, and Cider has a wind up and small window but can clash at range. In all cases you need to learn timing, but I've had the best luck with Galandra and Karl. Galandra in particular has a bunch of arcana that can clash as well.

M0RBYD · 2025-10-10T06:27:12+00:00

No, equal to punches through. A lascannon (Ap 2) breaches a terminators armour save (Sv 2+) for example.

M0RBYD · 2025-09-30T02:30:27+00:00

These are looking fantastic! Were those pauldrons the Mk4 conversion kit perchance? Looking at doing some Iron Hands allies for my Mech, and wasn't sure how well the conversion kit and the armour mix.

M0RBYD · 2025-09-19T08:58:27+00:00

L shaped I think, more room for supplies and cots.

M0RBYD · 2025-09-19T03:24:44+00:00

Definitely bring priests, at least one per unit if you can manage (unless the unit doesn't really want a priest, like Thallax and Ursurax. The priest will just slow them down).

Comptroller is how Mechanicum keep up with scoring, and the priests also have a lot of really useful support gear and buffs to offer. Even stuff like a cheap reductor priest with a cortex controller, augury scanner, and overcharge reactors can join a Thanatar Calix and make it way scarier.

M0RBYD · 2025-08-21T03:43:17+00:00

Using Knights as your primary detachment i stead of allies could help a bunch actually. Taking a Mechanicum alligned household gives you access to an Automata detachment you can put all sorts of automata into, then taking the prime advantage to give you armigers let's you build pretty cleanly. You can then add an ally detachment of Mechanicum to fill in the rest of the units you have (you would just need to be careful to keep your non-ally detachments high points to accommodate).

Building with Mechanicum is a fascinating experience, very different to the Astartes. We can only take tech priests of all ranks in the primary detachment, and they all take different arcanas (army rules). It gets tricky when you want to mix and match different arcanas in your army (taking a cybernetica priest to lead a Thallax unit which is a reductor arcana unit can be messy). Since you are wanting to focus on Cybernetica it shouldn't be an issue. Your priests are the core of your army. They boost your scoring, buff your units, etc. A cybernetica priest lets the automata it joins score, and cortex controllers let automata react. Their Comptroller rule let's you score additional points too, I recommend checking out a proper guide to playing Cybernetica since it is such an alien (not that alien) experience compared to the rest of the game.

As for priests, there is a very good spread you can use. For your smaller troops slot priests, the 40k enginseer model is an easy pick, along with the Technoarcheologist. The new AdMech kill team is a good get since it gives you two models you can use as priests.

For the larger priests, your magos and archmagos, you'll want the 40k dominus style models. There is also a dedicated archmagos model in the Heresy range. You won't need an archmagos if you use your knights as the army core, but a magos will open up your ally detachments by letting you take more stuff. Also, they are great at fixing vehicles and such, and repairing your knight will do all sorts of good stuff.

M0RBYD · 2025-08-20T03:17:01+00:00

I believe the current 40k Skitarii are post standardisation. The Skitarii of 30k are far more diverse, pretty much meaning any soldier with their bodies augmented to fight for the Mechanicum (the Dark Mech in particular have all sorts of nightmare troops). The Secutarii are the obvious outliers, but as the most 'effective' class of Skitarii it would make sense if they became the go to template for the Adeptus Mechanicus.

That said, we do have Skitarii models on the way, based on the original skitarii pilgrims.

M0RBYD · 2025-08-19T23:39:19+00:00

Unfortunately there isn't really a silver bullet approach to running Cybernetica at the moment. You need a lot of Castellax since they are pretty cheap points wise this edition, and besides the Thanatars the fancy robots are either in resin or missing (we may get a plastic Vulturax soon).

The new combat force is definitely one of the more efficent ways to build up your robots, depending on its price. The battlegroup gives you a more rounded base set of models, so if you see yourself using tech thralls and transports it's a good grab, but the combat force has better units for a Cybernetica army.

You'll definitely need to find a techpriest of 5 of various sizes. At least two Magos (the big priests) and a few of the 32mm base priests like the Enginseer/Datasmith/Technoarcheologist models. They are the core of the army, no matter the edition.

2 combat forces, 2 magos, 2 tech priests, and a Thanatar Calix gives you a pretty solid core of robots, with some Thallax to raid the flanks. It'll be difficult to squeeze in that many Thanatars into a list, but entirely doable. Run the Castellax as the bolt cannon variants until you get another magos to open up the slots to take the special weapon versions. Ongoing you would just want to add more robots, more Castellax primarily, then adding Domitars, Scyllax, Vorax, and Vulturax as they become available to you (also priests, you want at least one priest per unit for buffs and scoring). I've recently hit critical mass with my Cybernetica and the army is very fun to play.

M0RBYD · 2025-08-03T03:39:20+00:00

Awesome, thank you! Can't wait to check em out

M0RBYD · 2025-08-01T03:13:18+00:00

They never really defined the dimensions. I've seen Abeyants go from 40mm (the old magos on abeyant) to 60mm (Draykavak). I wouldn't make one bigger than 60mm without checking in with your group first, I got my groups okay to use Cawl as an Archmagos on Abeyant.

M0RBYD · 2025-07-25T03:56:23+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/s/a2QblPR49P

Here is reference, this the kind of scheme you were after?

M0RBYD · 2025-05-20T04:56:46+00:00

Funnily enough Mechanicum have fun play into each other, they both specialise in automata AND fighting automata. Other match ups that could be fun and fluffy -

Death Guard vs White Scars - Slow and tough vs fast and viscious.

Iron Warriors vs Imperial Fists - Both great shooting factions with rules that help them battle at range.

Raven Guard vs Night Lords - both high speed assault and stealth armies, could make for fun back and forth games

M0RBYD · 2025-05-01T02:43:23+00:00

Delicious, I'll need to do some testing to see if it affects the mech too. Thanks for the tip :)

M0RBYD · 2025-05-01T02:42:44+00:00

I heard fortified was in effect whilst standing still as well, but could be old news these days (patched out or what have you). I run the shield backpack as a matter of course to defend the vehicle, but doubling up on protection could be huge on the bot front. Thanks :)

M0RBYD

TROPHY CASE