The Mechanicum are the latest faction to receive the full-plastic treatment in the Age of Darkness, as a gigantic new boxed set crammed with 29 miniatures arrives for pre-order this week in a cloud of noospheric interference, with more on the way. There’s a lot to take in, so Game Developer James has twiddled his mechadendrites and uploaded his tactical thoughts to Warhammer Community.
Thallax, Thallax, Thallax: Arguably one of the best Troops choices in the game, Thallax Cohorts are incredibly mobile, using their Incunabulan jetpacks to boost their Move characteristic, leap over terrain, and make an additional move after shooting. This is enough to get them to wherever they need to be, and they pack a nasty punch with their lightning guns and Djinn-sight.
Each unit can be upgraded to include heavier weapons, too. A cohort of six Thallax with a pair of multi-meltas and melta bombs is a great way to hunt down heavily-armoured vehicles like Land Raiders, while phased plasma fusils can even cut through enemy Artificer or Terminator armour. Watch out for enemy units with too much firepower, however, as a Return Fire Reaction will really make a dent in these cyborgs.
Thallax are also great for drawing melee infantry units out of position, and they’re usually able to outpace them while raining down shots. If you're feeling especially bold, chain bayonets are a very cheap upgrade, giving small Thallax cohorts the melee punch to threaten fire support units such as Rapier batteries – but be wary of trying to take on dedicated melee units in this way.
Tech-Priests: While the Taghmata Omnissiah is characterised by all its enormous cybernetic war-machines, these are somewhat limited without the guidance of the ruling Tech-Priests – the Archmagos Prime and Magos Dominus. These savants can wield the secret Rites of Cybertheurgy – one of the most useful is the Cybernetica Exortus Rite, found in the Arcana of Artificia Cybernetica. This allows you to selectively improve the combat capabilities of allied automata throughout your own turn, or let them use Reactions in your opponent’s next turn! For bonus Omnissiah points, use this last option on a unit containing a Warlord with The Logic of Victory Warlord Trait…
Tech-thrall Covenants: While Thallax are great for speeding around the battlefield, the humble Adsecularis Tech-thrall Covenant fulfils an altogether different role. While their characteristic profile is modest, a combination of Stubborn and Feel No Pain (5+) makes them superb at locking down objectives.
Don’t assume they have to be hordes! Small units of 10 can work well, as they’ll be lower priority targets for your opponent than your marauding automata. Many a battle has been won thanks to the Victory Points scored by these unassuming cyborgs! With Strength 4 and Assault 2, even their lowly las-locks can put out a reasonable volume of shots when the enemy closes in, and if they can bring down just two or three enemy models, they can trigger a crucial Morale check.
Castellax Battle-automata: Often overlooked in the Troops slot, as they lack the Line sub-type – (unless of course you have an Archmagos Prime in the same Detachment with the Cybernetica High-techno Arcana...), Castellax Battle-automata nonetheless have a solid role to play. Their bulk and variety of weapons puts them in a similar role to Contemptor Dreadnoughts, but they are perhaps at their most useful as a solid firebase, pounding enemy units with mauler bolt cannons and the incredibly useful Pinning special rule. Several small units can be used early in your Shooting Phase to threaten Legion Heavy Weapon Squads, and draw out a Reaction. With Fearless and four Wounds apiece, Castellax also make a resilient anvil to absorb the enemy’s fury while your more specialised units go about their deadly business in peace!
Embrace the esoteric: While the Mechanicum has access to many standard-issue Imperial munitions, the true strength of its armoury lies in the more unusual weapons it can bring to bear. Tech-Priests in particular have wide access to weapons like graviton guns and corposant staves with the Haywire special rule, making them excellent hunters of Vehicles and Dreadnoughts.
Likewise, Myrmidon Destructors armed with irradiation engines will make short work of all but the most heavily armoured infantry, and are capable of clearing large numbers of enemy Legionaries from objectives. There is also nothing more fun than seeing the horror on an opponent’s face than when a Mechanicum Knight Atrapos triggers a vortex with its singularity cannon!
Thanks, James! The Mechanicum Battle Group hits pre-orders this Saturday, and you can reinforce it with the Knight Castigator and Acheron Knights Battle Group.