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The sheer options available to the Magus makes it hard for me to come up with optimal builds. He has a lot of toys available, but i can see him getting expensive too fast.

I`d like people to share their builds. What worked for you, what didn't ?

go to 1d4chan.org, and find the mechanicum tahgmata tactica. boom, almost all the info you should need ever. if you go to the talk page there, you can also get more info.

I've lost games over that one VP for slay the warlord too many times to not spend 300+ points on him.

The last time i was on 4chan there seemed to be an obsession with taking the weakest and cheapest choice as your warlord - this makes no sense as it just makes the opponent's job easier.
While he has no toys he is struggling for purpose while being very easy to kill - i always take the archmagos upgrade, abeyant and macchinator array to get T6 and relentless, then an MC photon thruster, djinn skein (for +1 BS for something) refractor field cyber familiar and four cyber occularis for reducing cover or giving interceptor.

The times i go for a cheap Magos Prime i spend more on units to protect him than i would on just draping him with every option i can.


Edit: For magos type i found immense fun in running a 'lachrimallus' with tech-thralls filling every troop choice - hurl the thralls forward and wait for them to re-spawn!

Your Magos really needs to compliment the rest of your army. For example, tank heavy forces really benefit from Archimandrates giving them "It will not die" or Macrotek's extra battle smith roles.

You can go cheap with a battle smith build repairing Krios squadrons. I think a magos reductor works best here, since he can confer sunder to the Krios Venator squadron.

In that case, just a cyber familiar, photon thruster, and servo arm are needed. The goal is to keep the character out of the fight so he can buff/repair tanks. For a macroteck, you might want to opt for the jetpack instead to keep up with more mobile tanks.

Myrmadax and Malagra are your close in shooters/fighters. Photon gauntlet and thruster on the myrmadax, or paragon blade, rad furnace and machinator array on the malagra for close combat. Both should take rad grenades and cyber familiar. The myrmadax goes with Thallax or Myrmadons, while the Malagra probably wants to hang with the Ursax for max CC terror.
The Lachrimallus is really for lots and lots of tech thrall. To take advantage of that you want lots of tech thrall squads. At 65 points for 20 base, that is dirt cheap. 200 for 650 points and your opponents will have a tough time chewing through the sheer wounds. You probably just want the magos to sit in back and keep calling in more squads, so a conversion beamer and whatever else to taste is probably best.

Durandal wrote:
Your Magos really needs to compliment the rest of your army. For example, tank heavy forces really benefit from Archimandrates giving them "It will not die" or Macrotek's extra battle smith roles.

You can go cheap with a battle smith build repairing Krios squadrons. I think a magos reductor works best here, since he can confer sunder to the Krios Venator squadron.

In that case, just a cyber familiar, photon thruster, and servo arm are needed. The goal is to keep the character out of the fight so he can buff/repair tanks. For a macroteck, you might want to opt for the jetpack instead to keep up with more mobile tanks.

Myrmadax and Malagra are your close in shooters/fighters. Photon gauntlet and thruster on the myrmadax, or paragon blade, rad furnace and machinator array on the malagra for close combat. Both should take rad grenades and cyber familiar. The myrmadax goes with Thallax or Myrmadons, while the Malagra probably wants to hang with the Ursax for max CC terror.
The Lachrimallus is really for lots and lots of tech thrall. To take advantage of that you want lots of tech thrall squads. At 65 points for 20 base, that is dirt cheap. 200 for 650 points and your opponents will have a tough time chewing through the sheer wounds. You probably just want the magos to sit in back and keep calling in more squads, so a conversion beamer and whatever else to taste is probably best.

I've really been thinking hard about a bunch of these options myself. I have one Krios Venator and one Krios Battle Tank, and I'm pretty tempted to go the reductor option for that juicy sunder rule, but I feel like I would need at least one more venator making a squadron of 2 to really be worth the investment.

Since I'm coming from 40k into 30k im finding it difficult to spend any more than 250 pts on an HQ, but I have yet to really give a decked out magos prime a go on the table top. I'm really tempted to do something along the lines of double plasma fusils myrmidax with a plasma Thallax squad or double melta guns with a melta thallax squad for tanking hunting. I've also thought about going for a bodyguard type of Magos and tossing him with some Rad Engine myrmidon destructors in a triaros to tank wounds for the unit. I just can't make up my mind because there are so many options!

 ultimentra wrote:


I've really been thinking hard about a bunch of these options myself. I have one Krios Venator and one Krios Battle Tank, and I'm pretty tempted to go the reductor option for that juicy sunder rule, but I feel like I would need at least one more venator making a squadron of 2 to really be worth the investment.

Since I'm coming from 40k into 30k im finding it difficult to spend any more than 250 pts on an HQ, but I have yet to really give a decked out magos prime a go on the table top. I'm really tempted to do something along the lines of double plasma fusils myrmidax with a plasma Thallax squad or double melta guns with a melta thallax squad for tanking hunting. I've also thought about going for a bodyguard type of Magos and tossing him with some Rad Engine myrmidon destructors in a triaros to tank wounds for the unit. I just can't make up my mind because there are so many options!

Personally I love the Myrmadon models so I have been using a unit of 6, half with Irad Engines and Half with Grav imploders with a Myrmadax lord with an additional grav imploder, power axe, abeyant and photon gauntlet making him roughly 215 points. They are slow walking around but nothing and no one wants to get near them, so I've ordered a Triaros to get them places more quickly. In a game where people are dropping 175 points at minimum for an HQ a 250 point one isn't that out of line. Likewise you will often see an HQ+large terminator squad+Spartan tank as your opponent, so my mechanicum equivalent is not going to be that much out of place.

A cheap Magos Reductor can be had for 155 points to baby sit that Reductor artillery tank or Krios squadron, which isn't too bad for a secondary HQ. Also, Melta isn't so great in 30k given the preponderance of upgrades to ignore it, but you will almost always see large squads of Marines, so plasma fusils are a great investment.

Can a Malagra CC Priest work though ? Can he stand up to kitted Preators ?

Borgomos wrote:
Can a Malagra CC Priest work though ? Can he stand up to kitted Preators ?

I haven't used one yet, but stat wise the Preator has the edge in attacks and initiative, but cannot get as good a invulnerable save. Plus the Magos can get rad engines and rad grenades, making every attack potentially instadeath due to double toughness. Both will be hitting on 3s, assuming a charging paragon blade wielding Preator, 6 attacks will give 2 wounds, and the Malaga has a 3+ save vs them for perhaps one wound on the Magos. In response the Malaga has 2 hits back that wound on 2s and have ID, so an 80% chance of winning the fight. Giving the Malagra a Mechanator array for +1 T and an extra PF attach will really tilt it in his favor of winning, as now he's only wounded 7% of the time from the Preator's attacks and has a good chance of ID the Preator every round. Giving the Preator a TH and he has an 18% chance to wound with each attack, but he goes after the Magos now and risks dying before getting his attacks in.

So on paper I think a Magos could win out in CC vs. a combat Marine HQ. The latest named HQ in Book 6 is a beast that can take on some Primarchs with a good chance of coming out on top.

I equip them realy tanky, because my best pal plays Raven Guard and he likes to try and kill him. Even when he has a nice bodyguard of Scyllax.....
Machinator array, Abeyant and radgrenades are set in stone.

Borgomos wrote:
Can a Malagra CC Priest work though ? Can he stand up to kitted Preators ?

Yeah, played him twice. Scary fellow. Keep Paragon blades away from him, or he will die.

Most games, I run an Archmagos Reductor or an Archmagos Ordinator with Machinator array, photonthruster, abeyant, djinn-skein, 2-4 occularii, radgrenades, cyber familliar and a nice bodyguard of Scyllax, Myrmidon Destructors or Techpriest-auxillia.