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I have heard many people lately say that they are putting a mek boy in a Gorkanaut so that they can use the mek tools. I was going to do this but I believe the rule on the mek boy says that if possible it must join a troop choice and stay with that unit. I don't know what would make it not possible to join a troop choice so it sounds to me like using a mek boy in a gorkanaut is not really an option. Am I wrong?

you can take 6 man loota or burna squads and put 3 meks in one also i am not sure you reading that right i believe it says they must attempt to be assigned to infantry or artillery if possible

any mek must if possible be assigned to an infantry or artillery unit.

So you could take 5 lootas, make 3 meks and attach another slotless mek to the unit and have a squad of 6 models 4 of which are meks in a naut.

There's almost no way its not possible to join them to a unit, unless you are playing unbound and have meks and nothing but vehicles, even then you would end up just grouping all the meks into units since they are infantry unless it was just 1 sole mek total.

Pretty much the only way I figure the Gorkanaut can be used properly: does not have an assault ramp.
Seems logical to stuff Burna boyz in it and upgrade a couple Meks to improve survivability.

I get that you can build a unit and stick them in there. What I wanted to do was just pay 15pts for a mek and stick him in there. Looks like a no go unless I use the mech formation in the Gaz supplement. In which case I need a few hundred more dollars to buy the other Gorkanauts required.

The mek formation in the ghaz supplement does not allow you to buy meks. It just has the 1 big mek, you have to take whats listed and nothing more so you can't take slotless meks with it in that formation.

You could just buy a bigmek, and a mek, and attach the mek to the big mek as the big mek is infantry and put them in a gorkanaut.

That's not quite true. The only restriction in that formation is that all 3 killa kan units can only have 3 models. Nothin about any other upgrades.
Mek's aren't units, they are unit upgrades and do not count as 'any' slot. Adding a Mek to a unit is the same as ugrading one of your boyz to a nob. You may buy one for every HQ choice in a detachment (So a max of 2 in the case of this one). The only restrictions on the lil meks themselves is that they can only join infantry or artillery units in the detachment used to unlock them. (Which means only the Big Mek or the Painboy in this detachment, one of which they must join).

To further clarify see "Mekaniaks" rule page 56. "He is treated as part of that unit for all rules purposes" So a Big Mek (or Painboy) unit with a lil mek attached, is still just a single Big Mek (or Painboy) unit.

As for the OP's question, there is a really cheesy to do that, yes. Start the game with the lil mek attached to the Big Mek, and on turn one, have the Big Mek leave the unit. While, little meks are specifically prohibited from leaving their unit, theres nothing stated about them being left behind. It is a cheesy loophole that is probably against the intention of the writer, but there ya have it.

That's wrong.

Meks are a unit entry and have a special rule that makes them not take up a HQ slot. They are not an upgrade option for any HQ, since they don't appear on any of the HQ's entries, nor the the wargear lists they have access to. Upgrade characters, dedicated transports and other ways to get additional/different models are explicitly available as upgrade in the corresponding unit's entry.

You are not allowed to buy any choices for a formation except the ones listed. If no mek is listed, you are not allowed to buy one, no matter how many HQs you have and where it ends up.

Formation rule's "can't" beats the mekaniaks rule's "can".

I'm pretty sure that you can assign a Mekaniak mek to a gorkanaught. If you attach it to it at the beginning of the game than he is already part of another unit. The rule states, "any mek that is not already part of another unit" (56)

.."must be assigned to an infantry or artillery unit if possible"

the gorkanaut is not infantry or artillery.

But if he's already part of the gorkanaughts unit he doesn't have to join infantry.

Waaagh 18 you have a future as a reporter. Just leave out the parts of the statement that don't fit your point.

okay.

you buy the mek.

he is not part of anything at all.

before the battle begins he has a rule that says you must assign him to a infantry or artillery unit if possible.

which means if you have any infantry units, or any artillery units you must put him there.

if not then hes all by himself.

that and a gorkanaut is a vehicle of 1 model, and models cannot join 1 model vehicle units. Please do not take this to mean models can join multiple model vehicle units, as they cannot do that either in general.

Makinit wrote:
Waaagh 18 you have a future as a reporter. Just leave out the parts of the statement that don't fit your point.

Thank you

 Waaagh 18 wrote:
But if he's already part of the gorkanaughts unit he doesn't have to join infantry.

Please cite permission to join the gorka. Page and para.

Logic for my argument:
You can add characters to units.
The Mek is a character.
The mek can join a unit before deployment.
The mek has to join infantry or artillery if he does not ALREADY have a unit.
So he can join a unit of Killa Kans, Gorkanaught, or he can join infantry if he hasn't already chosen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
It seems like games workshop would want a mek to be able to support a vehicle


Automatically Appended Next Post:

nosferatu1001 wrote:

 Waaagh 18 wrote:
But if he's already part of the gorkanaughts unit he doesn't have to join infantry.

Please cite permission to join the gorka. Page and para.

Page 56. "Before the battle, immediately after determining warlord traits, any Mek that is not ALREADY part of another unit must, if possible, be assigned to a unit with the infantry or artillery type in their detachment" . So if he has been predetermined onto the gorkanaught than he doesn't have to join infantry


Automatically Appended Next Post:
NM. Just realized in the new edition you can't join characters to vehicles [barring longstrike etc.]. Sorry for arguing I just thought that I could join my mek to a killa kan squad. I don't see how they could ever use their Meks tools otherwise as you can't move into base contact with a model unless you're in their unit. That was the other basis for my argument.

The mek is not an independent character. It can't join any unit it wants, just those that the rules list.

Yes. However, neither can an independent character as they can't join vehicles. The vehicles are therefore unremarkable unless the Meks or big Meks are actually inside the vehicle which seems unrealistic as half of the Meks tools stuff is useless

Even if Gorkanauts weren't vehicles, you would still have been wrong. Just being a character doesn't allow the model to join a unit. The model must be an independent character in order to join a unit if it's not taken as a part of that unit at list creation (ie, Space Marine sergeants, etc.)

It's not even "this" edition. You haven't been able to join vehicles ever, to my knowledge.

You also can move I to base, they're not an enemy, and this isn't WHFB

 Waaagh 18 wrote:
I don't see how they could ever use their Meks tools otherwise as you can't move into base contact with a model unless you're in their unit.

Also false. This rule doesn't exist anywhere.

nosferatu1001 wrote:
It's not even "this" edition. You haven't been able to join vehicles ever, to my knowledge.

You also can move I to base, they're not an enemy, and this isn't WHFB

Sorry. I've read both rule books and get stuff confused sometimes. That's where I got the movement stuff from.

Formations are detachments, same as the combined arms detachment, the green tide, warband, etc. the only way you'd be restricted in taking them in a formation is if the special rules or restrictions said you couldn't or there are no HQ's in the formation already.

No where in the Mek entry does it say it changes a units type in any way. An independent character IS a unit. A unit of 1 model, same as a def dread, dakkajet, etc. A Mek would not take that status away in any way. If anything were changed in this regard, then the mek would gain independant status since "it becomes part of that unit for all rules purposes"

There's no need to make note of the mek on every single infantry & artillery unit since it's all wrapped up nicely on the meks own datasheet, not to mention that with the new datasheet format they've decided to go ahead with leaves space at a premium.

You may take one for every HQ in a detachment. That's very clear under the mek entry. A formation is just another type of detachment. That's also very clear and it's stated several times page 121 brb. Back to the mek entry, once assigned to a unit, it becomes part of it for all rules purposes. I.e. A Big Mek unit with 2 little meks attached is still a single Big Mek unit. It just composed of 3 models instead of 1.

The formation in question poses no restrictions whatsoever on what each units composition is except for the killa kanz. Now if in the restrictions it stated that the Big Mek, wierdboy, etc. units must contain a single model each, or stated that HQ's in this formation do not unlock meks or something along those lines then ok. It does not, however. The only restriction really is that any lil meks bought MUST join another unit as there is no lil mek unit in the formation listed as you've stated.

The lil mek IS different than anything else in this or the last codex so it can, understandably cause some confusion.

1) the mek would not gain IC status, as that is not a unit but a model rule.
2) the formation states exactly what models can be taken. Is a mek on that list? Yes or No.

 Amiricle wrote:
Formations are detachments, same as the combined arms detachment, the green tide, warband, etc. the only way you'd be restricted in taking them in a formation is if the special rules or restrictions said you couldn't or there are no HQ's in the formation already.

No where in the Mek entry does it say it changes a units type in any way. An independent character IS a unit. A unit of 1 model, same as a def dread, dakkajet, etc. A Mek would not take that status away in any way. If anything were changed in this regard, then the mek would gain independant status since "it becomes part of that unit for all rules purposes"

Oh, don't cut off the important part:

Mekaniaks: For each HQ choice in a Detachment (not including other Meks) you may include a single Mek chosen from this datasheet. These selections do not use up Force Organisation slots. Before the battle, immediately after determining Warlord Traits, any Mek that is not already part of another unit must, if possible, be assigned to any unit with the Infantry or Artillery type in their Detachment; a Mek cannot leave his unit and is treated as part of it for the entire battle for all rules purposes.

The mek only ever becomes part of that unit after you have rolled for Warlord traits. Detachments and units are chosen long before that. Your army list will never list a mek chosen this way as part of any unit, because you are actually allowed to choose his place on the fly. For example, if your opponent has nothing to threaten the leadership of your mek gunz, you could add it to a unit of boyz instead.

There's no need to make note of the mek on every single infantry & artillery unit since it's all wrapped up nicely on the meks own datasheet, not to mention that with the new datasheet format they've decided to go ahead with leaves space at a premium.

Noting the mek as part of a unit would work completely different. See above.
Considering that meks are listed as parts of the burna/loota squads also contradicts your opinion on this.

You may take one for every HQ in a detachment. That's very clear under the mek entry. A formation is just another type of detachment. That's also very clear and it's stated several times page 121 brb. Back to the mek entry, once assigned to a unit, it becomes part of it for all rules purposes. I.e. A Big Mek unit with 2 little meks attached is still a single Big Mek unit. It just composed of 3 models instead of 1.

Actually, that's also wrong. I can't give you page numbers due to owning ebooks, but I can copy&past directly from that book:

Instead of including a Force Organisation chart, the Army List Entries that comprise a Formation are listed on it, along with any special rules that those units gain. Unless stated otherwise, each individual unit maintains its normal Battlefield Role when taken as part of a Formation.

As above, the mek is still an army list entry. It's battlefield role and the unit it ends up in are completely irrelevant.

The formation in question poses no restrictions whatsoever on what each units composition is except for the killa kanz. Now if in the restrictions it stated that the Big Mek, wierdboy, etc. units must contain a single model each, or stated that HQ's in this formation do not unlock meks or something along those lines then ok. It does not, however. The only restriction really is that any lil meks bought MUST join another unit as there is no lil mek unit in the formation listed as you've stated.

As above, meks are a army list entry unless bought as part of a burna/loota unit. For that reason you violate formation rules by getting an army list entry that's not listed.

The lil mek IS different than anything else in this or the last codex so it can, understandably cause some confusion.

Yes it is. That's exactly why it doesn't work like unit entry, but rather like the necron council, eldar warlock council or the previous installment of wolfguard. You're simply seeing thing that don't exist. Just because something looks like a duck, doesn't mean it can swim or fly.

 Jidmah wrote:

Oh, don't cut off the important part:

Mekaniaks: For each HQ choice in a Detachment (not including other Meks) you may include a single Mek chosen from this datasheet. These selections do not use up Force Organisation slots. Before the battle, immediately after determining Warlord Traits, any Mek that is not already part of another unit must, if possible, be assigned to any unit with the Infantry or Artillery type in their Detachment; a Mek cannot leave his unit and is treated as part of it for the entire battle for all rules purposes.

The mek only ever becomes part of that unit after you have rolled for Warlord traits. Detachments and units are chosen long before that. Your army list will never list a mek chosen this way as part of any unit, because you are actually allowed to choose his place on the fly. For example, if your opponent has nothing to threaten the leadership of your mek gunz, you could add it to a unit of boyz instead.

Damn, you are right and I concede that I have been f'n up. I had been reading that as permissive, not declarative in exactly when you have to assign them which it certainly is. So yea, since you aren't able to attach a mek to a unit until after you roll warlord traits then they can't be added to a formations' units.