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Suzuteo wrote:
"Oh, and did I forget to mention they have the Fly keyword? This allows them to Fall Back from combat and still shoot at full effect. Brutal!"

I hope this mean Icarus Dunecrawlers can shoot Crisis Battlesuits now. Bwahaha.

@bortass
I have all my kits, and I am sitting pretty until I see stats. For example, Sydonian Dragoons were the clear best chicken walker option in 7th, but now, those overpriced TL Cognis Lascannon Ballistarii look mighty tempting...

I hear ya on the kits. I don't have an army since I got rid of all my stuff last spring. I ordered another two start collecting boxes. It may be overkill but the numbers work. It'll give me the 6 dunewalkers I want. I also will have 6 full squads of infantry. I will go with two ranger and four vanguard. The rangers will get the sniper riflles and the vanguard will split the plasma and arc rifles. I plan to assemble and paint most of the infantry. I can do 8 per box, it's the Alpha and omnispex guy that I'm holding off on. I don't feel like magnetizing my alphas... The dunecrawlers will all get magnets.

I ordered three chicken walkers since I had a codex credit to offset the cost some. I did see a magnetized version of them but it required the gunshield to be glued on, so the CC walkers had the shield. Not the end of the world but I don't know how good it looks in RL. I will maybe do some basic assembly of them but doubt it. I probably won't have my 48 infantry all painted by release, lol.

The tech priest is waiting as well. I'm gonna have to try to sell a few of them off since I don't see needing 6 of them unless I just build them differently to swap out as needed. Not sure if I want to magnetize that model yet.

Hopefully they drop us some info soon with a faction focus...

Suzuteo wrote:
"Oh, and did I forget to mention they have the Fly keyword? This allows them to Fall Back from combat and still shoot at full effect. Brutal!"

I hope this mean Icarus Dunecrawlers can shoot Crisis Battlesuits now. Bwahaha.

You could shoot them before. You just were hitting on 6s because of Skyfire.

If anything, I would expect some kind of benefit against something with keywords Flyer, Jetbike, Skimmer, or the like. Not just "Keyword: Fly" because then all of a sudden AA weapons are apparently for popping jump pack infantry?

Anyone base their dunestalkers? I've only built one and it's not on a base yet. Curious if there are any quality of life tradeoffs when moving it around the table or transporting them.

I can see a small rules benefit to using the base in 8th but I dunno if it's worth it.

I did my bases up separately so I can set them on the bases or take them off (for transport or trying to fit them in terrain.

Not to detract from this thread but I have a fully painted 3K skittarii/ad mech force for sale if anyone is in rebuilding or starting the Army for 8th edition!! Only bring it up here because you guys be the ones to benefit the most from it

Looks like it's that time of year, folks. Time to update OP, and gather leaks!

Meh.


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Full scans, courtesy of rdv1ofakind.

Did anyone else notice that the Ruststalkers Princeps can change his weapons out independently from the squad? This means that you can give him two Transonic Blades and a Chord Claw and leave everyone else with a Transonic Razor and a Chord Claw. It used to be that everyone had to change their weapons together. This is a really cool addition, and seems to be the most potent loadout since he has the most attacks, and he doesn't miss out on the Chord Claw.

Also, I think I am going Radium Jezzail and Phosphor Serpenta on my Sydonians. Being able to snipe at Characters is a big deal.

From the looks of it, Vanguard outclass Rangers now. Better range, better killing. Just overall better unless I am missing something.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

From the looks of it, Vanguard outclass Rangers now. Better range, better killing. Just overall better unless I am missing something.

Rangers still have better range though..

 Kanluwen wrote:

Suzuteo wrote:
"Oh, and did I forget to mention they have the Fly keyword? This allows them to Fall Back from combat and still shoot at full effect. Brutal!"

I hope this mean Icarus Dunecrawlers can shoot Crisis Battlesuits now. Bwahaha.

You could shoot them before. You just were hitting on 6s because of Skyfire.

If anything, I would expect some kind of benefit against something with keywords Flyer, Jetbike, Skimmer, or the like. Not just "Keyword: Fly" because then all of a sudden AA weapons are apparently for popping jump pack infantry?

Icaruscrawler popping "Fly" keyword on a 2+ is now confirmed! Ahahaha, Admech owns the skies!

On a side note, whats the thoughts on electro priests now? Corpus are down 4pts a Fulg down 2pts while becoming what appears to be abit more killy.

Gak Attack wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

From the looks of it, Vanguard outclass Rangers now. Better range, better killing. Just overall better unless I am missing something.

Rangers still have better range though..

They can shoot further, but in order to get in rapid fire range, they have to be shorter ranged than Vanguard. And they don't really have any bonuses anymore. It would have been cool if Galvanic Rifles allowed the attacker to pick casualties rather than the defender.

I don't like the new Sicarians, they look really boring now? I'd rather run ruststalkers over infiltrators because I like the look of their weapons more, but no grenades and they're just going to get shot and die immediately

Neurostatic aura and transonic blades have some cool lore, and I just feel really let down.

Loving the electropriests though, especially the fulgarites for those glorious mortal wounds.

Cawl's probably going to setup camp by my kataphrons every game, maybe I'll hit a torsion cannon shot for once?

Transuranic Arquebuses look too expensive still, but sniping characters without having to waste shooting is probably going to be a lot more valuable than I think.

Canticles seem dull and uninspired. I'd honestly prefer doctrines with their cost/benefit design.

Arc weapons look pretty gak to me? Haywire was very reliable.

Wow I have so much to say about all these leaks, thanks for sharing them by the way, I was concerned about my beloved Mechanicus army

The Techpriest Dominus now rocks 5W and can repair 1d3 each turn, this is huge ! No more having to choose between repairing your Onager or yourself. The rerolls of 1 in Shooting for close Mechanicus units is nice to have too since you can't hide him anymore. Overall these changes are nice I think.

Having the Enginseer officialy in our codex feels right, might be a nice support character to fix your Doom Onagers (seriously they look rad).

The Kataphrons are overall more expensive depending on their loadout (I counted 228 pts for my 3 Grav/Flamer Kataphrons). I like that they are a bit slower but can still sprint, and they finally gain their FnP (replaced for all the army by an invulnerable save, I like that too). I still believe I'll sell them because I don't like the models :(

Electropriests looks buffed as they should be, nobody picked them in V7. Now they seem more resilient and able to dish out Mortal Wounds like nothing. Still dont like their models haha

Oh lord my beloved Kastelan Robots, you're now even better ! Move of 8", 6 Wounds. The change to the repulsor grid is nice, although different, and the change to the Aegis Protocol is welcome (+1 to saves and Inv. saves). 3 Attacks stock is good, I think this will encourage people to play them more melee-orientated thanks to their better move and the 3 damage of the Powerfists. Love the Combustor, no regrets modelling mine with these now. Also notice they do not require a Datasmith anymore, but in a way you'll still play him because as he's a character you can hide him and he can repair the robots at last ! Problem will be to keep up with the Robots's pace if you make them run full 8". I think I'll buy more of these guys

As for the Rangers and Vanguards I feel a but sad, they look nerfed overall. The Rangers don't have what made them Rangers anymore, I mean a bonus to represent their superior agility. Galvanic Rifles don't look that great anymore to shoot off 4+ enemies :/ They don't feel like hunters anymore. The arquebus still looks nice, sad to see they don't really have Relentless anymore, but the change to the weapons looks balanced. I'll probably use my 2 squads as the sniper one like today, and the barebones Rangers as buffers between attackers and them. The Vanguard look better than the Rangers this time, as the Assault weapons mean you can Advance and shoot with a malus of -1, they'll be able to get in range faster. The Radium Carbines looks more built towards killing big models now, but it's still nerfed, I can't wound ANY Toughness now, and you won't be able to clear up a unit faster due to the radioactive additional wounds. Still, with a little luck of shot can kill a Primaris Marine in one hit. The Omnispex will be mandatory I feel. The change to how plasma works means I can now use mine without fear of him blowing up after one shot ! Yeah !

Don't know how to feel about the Infiltrators, on one hand they're still devastating in melee with how many hits they can inflict (with a Taser Goad even better), but their Neurostatic Aura is not so great and their Ld is terrible. Their weapons feel buffed, that means they'll be able to shoot a lot in melee given both are pistols, and the Flechette Blasters more reliable now with S3. WS 3+ is a nice bonus. I absolutely love the new Infiltration, as they can be used to make a diversion to grab an objective or something. With a bit of luck you can still charge while arriving from Infiltration too. I'm just concerned as to find a spot on the table where they can spawn while being out of the 9" distance from the enemy. Also, they're REALLY cheaper now, my 5 man squad with Taser Goads and Flechette Blasters costs 128 pts instead of 185.

Now for the Ironstriders. They're more expensive but hell now they have 10" move and 6 Wounds so I can let pass The Ballistarii look on the same footing for melee as the Dragoons save from one attack less, but how can you end up in melee with that speed ? The Ballistarii seems better and worth taking now. The Dragoons looks promising, Taser Lances now deal 2 damage and keep the Taser rule, the Radium Carbine will make them great character hunters and they keep their incense cloud. you'll pay a Dragoon with Taser Lance 68 pts instead of 45 now though, but remember how tougher they look.

The Dunecrawler looks like an absolute beast. They don't count as units anymore so their Emanatus fields are changed, it's a permanent 5++ with rerolls if within 6" of another Dunecrawler. I like it because you can now shoot at different targets with your multiple Onagers. 11 Wounds and 8" move is really good, given they can now advance (albeit 3" max) and they ignore the penalty for moving and shooting. Eradication Beamer now only have two ranges but still looks devastating, as are his other weapons. The Neutron Laser is still the final boss of heavy weapons to me, dealing effectively 3+1d3 damage at AP -4 at 48". Twin Heavy Phosphor Blaster is viable now with that many shots that ignore cover (take that, Eldar scum) but to me the big surprise is the buffed Icarus Array. All these weapons can shoot a 4+ on any Ground Targets, and 2+ on Flying units, 2+ ! I'll definitely build my next one with this. They're more expensive to justify their lethality, 148 points for an Onager with Laser + Heavy Stubber. Only thing I'm sad about is that I can't charge with the Cognis Manipulator to crush anyone under S10 AP1 attacks, but oh well

I'm really happy with how the army looks. The army-wide 6++ is good because only Mortal Wounds will ignore it this time and not 80% of the arsenal of the game. I love the explode rule, that encourages to charge with your Dragoons and Robots to make them kamikaze on the enemy and that is so lore-loving I can't help it. I'm sad for the Relentless that is mostly gone though, that was a signature of the army for me, but hey they have so much new stuff it's still good. The basic Rangers and Vanguards for me looks less important than before, except for carrying special weapons and of course capturing. I still think I'll add Tempestus Scions if their rules are nice and there's a legal way to place them without too much hassle.

Really looking forward to try this all out More Kastelaaaaaan !

 Aaranis wrote:

Oh lord my beloved Kastelan Robots, you're now even better ! Move of 8", 6 Wounds. The change to the repulsor grid is nice, although different, and the change to the Aegis Protocol is welcome (+1 to saves and Inv. saves). 3 Attacks stock is good, I think this will encourage people to play them more melee-orientated thanks to their better move and the 3 damage of the Powerfists. Love the Combustor, no regrets modelling mine with these now. Also notice they do not require a Datasmith anymore, but in a way you'll still play him because as he's a character you can hide him and he can repair the robots at last ! Problem will be to keep up with the Robots's pace if you make them run full 8". I think I'll buy more of these guys

A couple other things about Kastelen I noticed...

-They are now vehicles (the enginseer can repair them!)

- the Kastelen protocols take effect at the start of the next Battle Round, not your next turn. Which means if you go second, your choice will take effect at the start of their turn. Important for that double overwatch or double fight if you're about to be charged.

-Protocols are done independently of the datasmith now. So if you have two melee Kastelens in a unit up front within 6" using Conquerer, you can have the shooty Kastelen unit 6" behind using Protector, off of one datasmith.

-the Suffer the shooting heavy weapon on the move penalty :(




Side note- both Ironstriders are now FAST ATTACK, freeing up some HS slots

Hooray! Balistarii are worth taking, now!

A bit sad that Rangers are still questionable. I want to actually build some.

Will get to work updating OP as soon as I get on a proper computer.

 Verviedi wrote:
Hooray! Balistarii are worth taking, now!

A bit sad that Rangers are still questionable. I want to actually build some.

Will get to work updating OP as soon as I get on a proper computer.

Just do what I am going to do and give Vanguards Ranger heads. Better guns and cooler appearance.

Ooof. I guess coming off a WarConvo makes the sticker shock on points a bit more extreme. Looks like it is going to be tough to fit in most of what I had in my 1850 and 2000 lists now. Stuff all around got expensive.

The Dunecrawlers seem brutal now. Balistarii with Twin Las look like a nice way to start hurting tanks.

Ruststalkers with their high attacks mean potentially a fair amount of mortal wounds. That might make them worthwhile.

I am still digesting the faction.

Any info on the <FORGE WORLD> stuff? I run Metalica, so Cawl is now off limits for me?

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
Ooof. I guess coming off a WarConvo makes the sticker shock on points a bit more extreme. Looks like it is going to be tough to fit in most of what I had in my 1850 and 2000 lists now. Stuff all around got expensive.

The Dunecrawlers seem brutal now. Balistarii with Twin Las look like a nice way to start hurting tanks.

Ruststalkers with their high attacks mean potentially a fair amount of mortal wounds. That might make them worthwhile.

I am still digesting the faction.

Any info on the <FORGE WORLD> stuff? I run Metalica, so Cawl is now off limits for me?

Curious about the Forge World keyword too, is it just a fluff decision or will it impact the gameplay with "Forge World" tactics, like Chapters ? Mine are from my own Forge World so I'd have to choose the rules befitting them the most I guess.

And yes, that would make only the Mars units benefit from Cawl's power.

EDIT: Oh I noticed I misread the Explode rule, you have to roll a D6 and it's only on a 6 that it explodes. Seems way more reasonable suddenly

 Aaranis wrote:


Curious about the Forge World keyword too, is it just a fluff decision or will it impact the gameplay with "Forge World" tactics, like Chapters ? Mine are from my own Forge World so I'd have to choose the rules befitting them the most I guess.

And yes, that would make only the Mars units benefit from Cawl's power.

EDIT: Oh I noticed I misread the Explode rule, you have to roll a D6 and it's only on a 6 that it explodes. Seems way more reasonable suddenly

I hope they do, otherwise all it does is lock everyone that doesn't use Mars from using Cawl. Of course if you do use one that's not the big 3(based on what they provided in the painting guide etc) there won't be much support for it. I went with FW Lucius for no real reason outside I like being a bit contrarian and not having access to Cawl is fine with me. I never liked named characters. Right now FW will be the same as <regiment> for Guard. A way to limit buffs in a fluffy way.

I can now start pricing out my current forces and see what I need to add. The omnispex looks like a must take still. I only built one of my 6 Onagers and left the Cognis manipulator off it, just as well it seems. The big hole I see is going to be CC. I have 60 Skitarii, 6 Onagers, and 3 chicken walkers. The Onagers will be magnetized and I assume that I'll go with the CC build for the walkers. I did see someone magnetize those for bot CC and shooting but it required leaving the gun shield on at all times since there was no good way to make it removable. Never having played in 7th and Ad Mech didn't exist the last time I played is making this interesting. I'm just slapping stuff together, lol.

bortass wrote:

 Aaranis wrote:


Curious about the Forge World keyword too, is it just a fluff decision or will it impact the gameplay with "Forge World" tactics, like Chapters ? Mine are from my own Forge World so I'd have to choose the rules befitting them the most I guess.

And yes, that would make only the Mars units benefit from Cawl's power.

EDIT: Oh I noticed I misread the Explode rule, you have to roll a D6 and it's only on a 6 that it explodes. Seems way more reasonable suddenly

I hope they do, otherwise all it does is lock everyone that doesn't use Mars from using Cawl. Of course if you do use one that's not the big 3(based on what they provided in the painting guide etc) there won't be much support for it. I went with FW Lucius for no real reason outside I like being a bit contrarian and not having access to Cawl is fine with me. I never liked named characters. Right now FW will be the same as <regiment> for Guard. A way to limit buffs in a fluffy way.

I can now start pricing out my current forces and see what I need to add. The omnispex looks like a must take still. I only built one of my 6 Onagers and left the Cognis manipulator off it, just as well it seems. The big hole I see is going to be CC. I have 60 Skitarii, 6 Onagers, and 3 chicken walkers. The Onagers will be magnetized and I assume that I'll go with the CC build for the walkers. I did see someone magnetize those for bot CC and shooting but it required leaving the gun shield on at all times since there was no good way to make it removable. Never having played in 7th and Ad Mech didn't exist the last time I played is making this interesting. I'm just slapping stuff together, lol.

Yea, on the Dunecrawlers... are the Manipulators just for show now? Think we will see rules in a Codex?

The Balistarii look simply fantastic. I think I am going to make like... 7.

Fulgurite electro priests are gonna be crazy good in melee

Cheap too

So what are the OP units I should order now, IYO. Electro-priests and Kastelans with their 18 fn shots while standing PER ROBOT?

 WrentheFaceless wrote:
Fulgurite electro priests are gonna be crazy good in melee

Cheap too

But they are still such hideous models... I don't know if I can do it.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 WrentheFaceless wrote:
Fulgurite electro priests are gonna be crazy good in melee

Cheap too

But they are still such hideous models... I don't know if I can do it.

Yea...they do look pretty horrible

I think Admech got overall weaker

No FNP
No Warlord Traits
No Relics
General points increase (which is a trend across all codexs)
No dunestrider rules
Weaker Canticles
No Doctrinas
Still no access to transports
Vastly weaker invul. saves across the board

At first glance it seems a little disappointing but Ill keep looking. As others have said im curious as to what the forgeworld keyword means.

Enron wrote:
I think Admech got overall weaker

No FNP - they got invul saves instead
No Warlord Traits - No one has warlord traits
No Relics - no one has relics
General points increase (which is a trend across all codexs) - No, some (elites for example) got a decrease
No dunestrider rules - High movement value to somewhat compensate and the units are cheaper
Weaker Canticles - They are removing broken things from them game/making them weaker. 2+ cover is broken
No Doctrinas - They got Canticles instead which they didn't have
Still no access to transports - So nothing changed
Vastly weaker invul. saves across the board What? Invul saves are ALL better

At first glance it seems a little disappointing but Ill keep looking. As others have said im curious as to what the forgeworld keyword means.

Dude... Come on....

@ rvd1ofakind

I disagree. an invul save is taken in place of an armor save. not in addition to it. with the plethora of weapons that subtract from armor we are mostly looking at 5-6+ saves
Dunestrider helped in Movement/run and or charge. We lose 1" in the movement phase 3" In the Advance phase and 2" in the charge phase. Sure they compensated for being cheaper but we are also far less survivable now.
I concede that no one has Relics or WL traits
I don't think canticles were that bad. It was the strength of the army. The new ones are in my opinion just meh
Invul saves are worse. Prior to this squad leaders/magos' could at least purchase conversion fields/stasis fields and of course refractor fields. Which again added a bit to the survivability

Just my opinions though.

Enron wrote:
I think Admech got overall weaker

No FNP
No Warlord Traits
No Relics
General points increase (which is a trend across all codexs)

This is true for everyone.

Wanted to start a Mechanicus army so looked at the 8th edition mechanicus rules first.

As a competitive tournament player I first noticed the potential of the Kastelan robots.

spearhead detachment

HQ: Tech priest dominus (basic wargear)

ELITE: cybernetica datasmith, powerfist + gamma pistol
ELITE: cybernetica datasmith, powerfist + gamma pistol

HEAVY SUPPORT: dunecrawler, Neutron laser
HEAVY SUPPORT: dunecrawler, Neutron laser
HEAVY SUPPORT: dunecrawler, Neutron laser

HEAVY SUPPORT: 4x Kastelan robots, 3x heavy phosphor blaster, 1x Incending combustor + Kastelan fists
HEAVY SUPPORT: 4x Kastelan robots, 3x heavy phosphor blaster, 1x Incending combustor + Kastelan fists
HEAVY SUPPORT: 3x Kastelan robots, 3x Incending combustor + Kastelan fists

Around 1900 points

- Got 4 stratagems to reroll dice for dunecrawler neutron laser.
- Tech priest gives reroll 1 to hit for all units within 6 inch and can repair vehicles.
- Datasmith can also repair and change robots protocol
- Dunecrawler neutron laser can take on big targets

Kastelan robots are great allround units! Shooty, tough, burny, clawy, reasonable fast.

Got no idea if its good but when I compare the robots with other units I like what i'am seeing. The protocol flexibility and being able to push them to a 2+/4+ save at the start of game makes them great. 3 robots with 3 heavy phosphor blaster got 27 shots and with the shooty protocol you could double that. Also for overwatch!