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 xlDuke wrote:
Yep, arquebuses seem to be an all-in type thing. The dangerous characters are very difficult to kill with them these days. It’s a shame that jezzails are so bad really, it’s often quite hard to get solid LoS with multiple arquebuses at once.

However, with the recent price cut, they're not a bad idea especially with the range. 10 Rangers with three Arqs camping an objective are just great at popping shots, with the occasional Strat to make everything hit as necessary for one squad.

 Colonel Cross wrote:
Well take this with a grain of salt. Death Guard were primary actors in a story with the Tau and were nowhere in the Greater Good ...

But admech are definitely in the Engine War PA book so there's not really much discussion on that.

I'm kinda hoping it's not just a generic Skitarii HQ, not because I don't want one, but because the way that little story excerpt reads Radiant Wrath is a relic, a one of a kind arcanum something special. It could be a reference to a WT or Relic that allows us to upgrade a Vanguard or Skitarii amplifying their existing abilities...or maybe it's a full-on upgrade for our troops similar to what marines get: Spend a CP upgrade a unit/character. Though I'm still not sure whether an increased range or potency of Vanguard radiant aura would be all that useful, thematic as it would be. I'm definitely excited for what the implications of Radiant Wrath actually mean thats for sure, it's a bit more specific than some of the previous PA stories.

What advantage to you have to taking a squad of 10 for 3 special weapons vs 2x5 with 2 each?

None of the stratagems that can affect vanguard/rangers i'd ever put on them over my striders or infiltrators.

Biggest reason i hate bringing squads of 10 is the morale issue in this game. Its too easy to punish a squad of 10 or more to lose more models and impossible to punish a squad of 5.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
What advantage to you have to taking a squad of 10 for 3 special weapons vs 2x5 with 2 each?

None of the stratagems that can affect vanguard/rangers i'd ever put on them over my striders or infiltrators.

Biggest reason i hate bringing squads of 10 is the morale issue in this game. Its too easy to punish a squad of 10 or more to lose more models and impossible to punish a squad of 5.

I don't see any unless you're short on troops slots. Same story with Ruststalkers, it's the same points for 10 as it is for 2x5 yet with 2x5 you get another princeps with extra attack and str. Though I guess you can doctrina a squad of skitarii for +1 to hit but kinda isn't worth it unless they're dragoons.

Octovol wrote:

I'm kinda hoping it's not just a generic Skitarii HQ, not because I don't want one, but because the way that little story excerpt reads Radiant Wrath is a relic, a one of a kind arcanum something special. It could be a reference to a WT or Relic that allows us to upgrade a Vanguard or Skitarii amplifying their existing abilities...or maybe it's a full-on upgrade for our troops similar to what marines get: Spend a CP upgrade a unit/character. Though I'm still not sure whether an increased range or potency of Vanguard radiant aura would be all that useful, thematic as it would be. I'm definitely excited for what the implications of Radiant Wrath actually mean thats for sure, it's a bit more specific than some of the previous PA stories.

I was just being thorough, I'm personally assuming that if we're getting a generic Skitarius HQ then it'll be a dual kit for this named character. Yea, the possibility of it being a strat or relic upgrade (though to what? A vanguard alpha? Who would bother?) had crossed my mind but given that AM seemed to be lined up as the Imperial faction being focused over Knights on we are likely due a good number of toys even accounting for the ones we already know are on the way, so I feel that a new model is likely. Plus GW has been all about the character clampack models lately, particularly with the PA releases, so not getting one feels uncharacteristic.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
What advantage to you have to taking a squad of 10 for 3 special weapons vs 2x5 with 2 each?

None of the stratagems that can affect vanguard/rangers i'd ever put on them over my striders or infiltrators.

Biggest reason i hate bringing squads of 10 is the morale issue in this game. Its too easy to punish a squad of 10 or more to lose more models and impossible to punish a squad of 5.

If you can deal with the morale, a unit of 10 is more than twice as hard to kill as a unit of 5 with regards to Kill/Kill More in ITC.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
What advantage to you have to taking a squad of 10 for 3 special weapons vs 2x5 with 2 each?

None of the stratagems that can affect vanguard/rangers i'd ever put on them over my striders or infiltrators.

Biggest reason i hate bringing squads of 10 is the morale issue in this game. Its too easy to punish a squad of 10 or more to lose more models and impossible to punish a squad of 5.

10x Ryza Vanguard with 3x Plasma Caliver. Use Plasma Specialists and Doctrina.

That assumes this is a Ryza army with no plasma-kats though, in order to make that big unit the prime choice for plasma specialists.

 Vineheart01 wrote:
What advantage to you have to taking a squad of 10 for 3 special weapons vs 2x5 with 2 each?

None of the stratagems that can affect vanguard/rangers i'd ever put on them over my striders or infiltrators.

Biggest reason i hate bringing squads of 10 is the morale issue in this game. Its too easy to punish a squad of 10 or more to lose more models and impossible to punish a squad of 5.

Honestly morale is a non-issue. I do 10 man squads for easier use of Strats, simple as that.

 Tastyfish wrote:
That assumes this is a Ryza army with no plasma-kats though, in order to make that big unit the prime choice for plasma specialists.

It's why I run both Ryza Plasma Destroyers and Plasma Vanguard in a drill. Plasma Destroyers wreck havoc turn 1, they'll likely get a lot of fire in return and possibly taking a lot of losses in the process, turn 2 the Vanguard pop out of the drill and I still have a good target to use Plasma Specialists on. If you're going Ryza for Plasma Specialists having a bit of redundancy never hurt.

Mr. Funktastic wrote:

 Tastyfish wrote:
That assumes this is a Ryza army with no plasma-kats though, in order to make that big unit the prime choice for plasma specialists.

It's why I run both Ryza Plasma Destroyers and Plasma Vanguard in a drill. Plasma Destroyers wreck havoc turn 1, they'll likely get a lot of fire in return and possibly taking a lot of losses in the process, turn 2 the Vanguard pop out of the drill and I still have a good target to use Plasma Specialists on. If you're going Ryza for Plasma Specialists having a bit of redundancy never hurt.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't put Kataphrons in a drill

Octovol wrote:

Mr. Funktastic wrote:

 Tastyfish wrote:
That assumes this is a Ryza army with no plasma-kats though, in order to make that big unit the prime choice for plasma specialists.

It's why I run both Ryza Plasma Destroyers and Plasma Vanguard in a drill. Plasma Destroyers wreck havoc turn 1, they'll likely get a lot of fire in return and possibly taking a lot of losses in the process, turn 2 the Vanguard pop out of the drill and I still have a good target to use Plasma Specialists on. If you're going Ryza for Plasma Specialists having a bit of redundancy never hurt.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't put Kataphrons in a drill

he doesnt put kata's in the drill.

the kataphrons start on the board and blow up a thing or two, the opponent then guns them down, and he deepstrikes the drill + vanguard on his turn 2 for a second wave of plasma specialist

Octovol wrote:

 Colonel Cross wrote:
Well take this with a grain of salt. Death Guard were primary actors in a story with the Tau and were nowhere in the Greater Good ...

But admech are definitely in the Engine War PA book so there's not really much discussion on that.

I'm kinda hoping it's not just a generic Skitarii HQ, not because I don't want one, but because the way that little story excerpt reads Radiant Wrath is a relic, a one of a kind arcanum something special. It could be a reference to a WT or Relic that allows us to upgrade a Vanguard or Skitarii amplifying their existing abilities...or maybe it's a full-on upgrade for our troops similar to what marines get: Spend a CP upgrade a unit/character. Though I'm still not sure whether an increased range or potency of Vanguard radiant aura would be all that useful, thematic as it would be. I'm definitely excited for what the implications of Radiant Wrath actually mean thats for sure, it's a bit more specific than some of the previous PA stories.

I really hope it's a generic skitarii hq and not just a named character, or worse, the old 7th Ed squad upgrade. The last one especially would be functionally useless in anything above 500pts.

If the story does mean anything, I'd assume it's referring to a relic a skitarii vanguard Alpha HQ could take. Although the story makes it sound so insanely powerful that it would start killing every model on a 6x4 table turn one, I could see it just being a 6" aura debuff for enemy units near him or something. That said, this is hardly the first story we've seen with what sounds like a cool new unit or ability that turned out to be nothing more than just a story. After all, there were several stories of Imperial Guard soldiers suddenly becoming saints or pyskers in battle but that never turned into anything. Not even a real buff for pyskers beside a single random strat.

It would be easy to make a skitarii Dominus style HQ, since all you need is a headswaps to be Vanguard or Ranger with maybe some different weapon options. There's tons of cool buffs they could do, like a vanguard with an aura T debuff for enemy units, or a ranger character that assists with rerolling wound rolls or accuracy benefits to friendly skitarii. But really all we have to go on now is speculation. I do feel like there's Hope though. GW has made a running gag of giving admech players stuff they want only after much begging and pleading, I could definitely see the final skitarii/dominus interaction being "you know what, screw it, you know so much, you be in charge"

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
God I hope so, we've been asking for a skitarii Alpha since the army first was released.

To be fair, we didn't need one until they rolled us in with Cult Mechanicus...

An actual Skitarii HQ would be nice if purely so that we could have a Character that can benefit from the Skitarii specific relics.

If HQ wasn't a thing and you just had to have X number characters in detachments then they wouldn't have need to faff about removing the Character keyword from princeps and skitarii alphas.

Hello!

As one of my friends wanted to get into Kill Team, and as I've been playing the Mechanicus computer game, I got a box of Skitarii to start a Mechanicus Kill Team. However, as I'm planning out future expansions for the Kill Team to make it good, I'm realizing there's no getting around having a small force for 40k.

I've assembled my box of Skitarii as Rangers. My plan is to Kitbash a Manipulus, get some Vanguard Skitarii, some Infiltrators, and some Fulgurites. After playing the Mechanicus computer game, I also kinda want some Kastellan punch bots. I want to keep this force relatively small for both ease of transportation and because I'm fast running out of room to store things (I'm likely going to have to get rid of minis games that, while I enjoy greatly, no one around here plays).

While I have time to plan and paint the stuff I already have, I have a few questions:

-Regarding the Vanguard Skitarii, how important is the Plasma Cavalier? I can save money and get enough bits for 10 guys, as I have the spare heads and Rad Rifles for them, but the Plasma Cavaliers are difficult to find outside of the kit. Would it be better to just get the kit for the Plasma Cavalier or can I just save money and get the bits I need?

-I'd want an additional Tech-Priest so I can do at least a battalion detachment. I'm tempted by Daedalosus, but he's expensive money wise to get on his own. Should I still go for him, should I go for just a regular old Enginseer for utility when souping with my Guard army, or should I get a Dominus as more substantial investment?

-Are Kastellans with the fists and flamer (as I jokingly refer to as 'punch bots') any decent in the current meta?

-Anything else that's going to be a Must-have even for a small detachment? Is Ad-Mech something that should be gone into whole hog (2k+ army rather than souped) to be any decent?

Hi, will answer questions in order;

1) i run 4 calivers in two units of 5 but the caveat is they ride in a dunerider. Without transports, skitarii should be barebones with the exception of 4+ arquebus on rangers.

2) kitbash daedalosus using the datasmith body, omnispex from the skitario kit and a rad beamer guntip from the dominus kit. Everyone kitbashes this guy.

3) Unfortunately, punchy kastelans are not competitive. Outside of Lucius delivery wirh Vigilus detachment stratagems, they still suffer from 4+WS and no invuln save in melee. They have relatively few attacks and only rerolls available are via canticle.

4) Disintegrator tanks are a must have in my opinion. Running three belleros equipped tanks allows you to consistently clear out enemy objectives each turn regardless of line of sight and they still carry a tonne of dakka.

Admech are above average and excel when built for purpose. You wont find much success in a random list because our strategies rely on saturation of units and depth of threats to gain board control and stay ahead.

IronVaught wrote:
Hi, will answer questions in order;

1) i run 4 calivers in two units of 5 but the caveat is they ride in a dunerider. Without transports, skitarii should be barebones with the exception of 4+ arquebus on rangers.

2) kitbash daedalosus using the datasmith body, omnispex from the skitario kit and a rad beamer guntip from the dominus kit. Everyone kitbashes this guy.

3) Unfortunately, punchy kastelans are not competitive. Outside of Lucius delivery wirh Vigilus detachment stratagems, they still suffer from 4+WS and no invuln save in melee. They have relatively few attacks and only rerolls available are via canticle.

4) Disintegrator tanks are a must have in my opinion. Running three belleros equipped tanks allows you to consistently clear out enemy objectives each turn regardless of line of sight and they still carry a tonne of dakka.

Admech are above average and excel when built for purpose. You wont find much success in a random list because our strategies rely on saturation of units and depth of threats to gain board control and stay ahead.

Thanks for the responses. I've got a plan now for kitbashing Daedalosus now as well. I don't think I'll need the Omnispex and cannon as I've got a plan using some leftover bits from a Ridgerunner I impounded into my Guard army (Radar dish + Arc Pistol for the gun, and a spare arm, the camera thingy, and a good amount of Green Stuff for the Omniscanner).

Sad to hear about the Kastellans, they're a beautiful and fantastically silly model.

Based on what you're saying, Ad Mech is a "go big or go home" army in that you really need to invest into it rather than trying to step into it halfway or collect piecemeal.

If that's the case, then I'll probably just get what I need for Kill Team for the moment. Ad Mech units are complicated (and good looking) enough in design that will take time to paint and I don't want to game with any until they're painted. I'll likely collect a full army someday, but I've got a few other armies and games I still need to either paint or decide what I'm going to do with first.

punching kastellans need a massive statboost or huge pricedrop. They just arent that deadly, 3 attacks hitting on 4s with a single medium-grade gun for the same price of the dreadnaughts that hit 4-5 times on 3s with an equal or stronger attack and still have a single or pair of decent guns.
Yeah they can fight twice but then they cant use the gun they still pay for, and if they go into that stance theyre probably locked there forever.

Its just funny that a mere 10pt difference makes them turn from pathetic to ridiculous...punch vs dakka is definitely not a 10pt difference in terms of power lol

Or in comparison to the venerable dreadnought.
For 143 points it hits on 2s, rerolls 1s,d3 plasma, S 14, 3 more wounds, 5++, 6+++, fills HQ slot, melee hit reroll aura, +1 S if in the same combat, 5 attacks with angels of death, 4 boltershots, litanies, especially of hate which gives a melee reroll aura

 0XFallen wrote:
Or in comparison to the venerable dreadnought.
For 143 points it hits on 2s, rerolls 1s,d3 plasma, S 14, 3 more wounds, 5++, 6+++, fills HQ slot, melee hit reroll aura, +1 S if in the same combat, 5 attacks with angels of death, 4 boltershots, litanies, especially of hate which gives a melee reroll aura

You're mixing up a bunch of stuff here. Chap Dreads are what you're referring to and they don't get Plasma stuff.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:

 0XFallen wrote:
Or in comparison to the venerable dreadnought.
For 143 points it hits on 2s, rerolls 1s,d3 plasma, S 14, 3 more wounds, 5++, 6+++, fills HQ slot, melee hit reroll aura, +1 S if in the same combat, 5 attacks with angels of death, 4 boltershots, litanies, especially of hate which gives a melee reroll aura

You're mixing up a bunch of stuff here. Chap Dreads are what you're referring to and they don't get Plasma stuff.

Full Name: chaplain venerable dreadnought.
I see they cant get plasma, must be an error but they can take other weaponry like twin lascannons

 0XFallen wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:

 0XFallen wrote:
Or in comparison to the venerable dreadnought.
For 143 points it hits on 2s, rerolls 1s,d3 plasma, S 14, 3 more wounds, 5++, 6+++, fills HQ slot, melee hit reroll aura, +1 S if in the same combat, 5 attacks with angels of death, 4 boltershots, litanies, especially of hate which gives a melee reroll aura

You're mixing up a bunch of stuff here. Chap Dreads are what you're referring to and they don't get Plasma stuff.

Full Name: chaplain venerable dreadnought.
I see they cant get plasma, must be an error but they can take other weaponry like twin lascannons

You just get the TL Lascannon as nothing else takes advantage of the BS2+ they have.

Even dakka bots aren't worth it for me. Too much risk for too little.

Lose the downsides to the protocols and we might be in business. Otherwise i'll take disintigrators over them for my heavy choices and if hordes are my issue we actually have quite a few options now we can stuff corpuscarii in duneriders. Even a bunch of autocannon chickens works better for me.

And if we're going back to the whole wrath of mars thing again, we have better options for MW generation in priests and better options for everything any config fo those robots do.

Octovol wrote:
Even dakka bots aren't worth it for me. Too much risk for too little.

Lose the downsides to the protocols and we might be in business. Otherwise i'll take disintigrators over them for my heavy choices and if hordes are my issue we actually have quite a few options now we can stuff corpuscarii in duneriders. Even a bunch of autocannon chickens works better for me.

And if we're going back to the whole wrath of mars thing again, we have better options for MW generation in priests and better options for everything any config fo those robots do.

I agree, especially now that we generate VP for objectives each round in the new missions.
They can only deal dmg but cant move, need a lot of cp, cawl and thus mars, but they dont deal enough dmg in that regard, especially against T6+

New Engine artcile with better shots of the new models is up.
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/03/30/engine-war-requisition-approvedgw-homepage-post-2/

Seems like GW is asking us to model for advantage. The plane can be built on a stand or on the ground from what theyve said. Can't wait to be called names for not putting the stand and having it be easier to transport.

Yeah it seems really problematic to allow people the option to build flyers at ground level, especially flying transports. That option alone is probably worth 30% of its value in points, because it means it can't be killed T1 on any board with decent terrain, whereas if it's modeled in the air, it's usually a sitting duck.

Can't you park a transport on a Skyshield Landing Pad?

I wouldn't be shocked, in all seriousness, if this is a sign of things to come with a "Vertical Take Off or Landing" bit for flyers.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Can't you park a transport on a Skyshield Landing Pad?

I wouldn't be shocked, in all seriousness, if this is a sign of things to come with a "Vertical Take Off or Landing" bit for flyers.

if you forfeit the 5++ that the skyshield gives, you can heal a flyer for D3 if it stayed for the whole turn on it. (meaning it only works with hovering flyers)
It still doesnt allow you to remvoe it from its base