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Hi all, I'm looking for advice on using my Cult Mechanicus and Skitarii in battle, mostly to use some of the lovely models I've spent hours converting and painting. However, I do want to win some battles at my local store. Any advice?

I have had a lot of success running a "Knights of Sydonia" type army at my FLGS that has actually beaten several Top Tier/Internet Tournament lists just because people are not expecting having to face so many fast moving walkers in a single game. I actually did this army because I was tired of seeing Skitarii players only field the War Con and wanted to see if there was another way to win with them, my 2k army:

-2 Skitarii Maniples
-Four squads of x5 man Vanguard usually with x2 Arc Rifles
-Four squadrons of x3 Dragoons all with Lances and Phosphor Serpentas
-Three squads of x2 Ironstriders with Autocannons
-x5 Dunecrawlers, 3 with Neutron Laster and additional Stubber, x2 with Iccarus Array and additional Stubber

With this army you have a total of 23 Walkers on the table with a large variety of anti armor and anti infantry killing power available and because of how much speed the army has on top of some surprising durability has caught many of my opponents off guard. So far having played almost every single army in the game (still have yet to play against the new Chaos and Demons) the only army I have struggled against was Tau and that was due to the amount of S5 and volume of shooting they have in general, even then though I have still beaten them a few times.

Hmm thanks, food for thought I guess. That is Skitarii only though, and I feel some reliable grav and/or plasma could help any Skitarii list?

 Sledgio wrote:
Hmm thanks, food for thought I guess. That is Skitarii only though, and I feel some reliable grav and/or plasma could help any Skitarii list?

Grav most certainly, changing some things up to add some Grav Kataphrons is not a bad idea, the plasma can be handled by the Vanguard if you decided to take the Cavilers

 gmaleron wrote:
I have had a lot of success running a [u]"Knights of Sydonia" /u] type army at my FLGS

Brilliant naming

Also, props for showing that a unique army build is effective. The more variety the better

If you are not running War Con I have had huge success with the Elimination Maniple. If your robots score a wound, your grav kataphrons ignore cover and gain BS. Its nasty. Not much can survive 18 grav shots, or more if you take more squads. Along with the Elimination maniple you can take the Skitarii Walker formation to get some of the above mentioned fast walkers if you bulk those squads out or just the the Skitarii version of the CAD and fill in with what you need.

I been having moderate luck with a cohort cybernetica mixed in with a large wave of skitarii vanguard. It can be hard to take down, and so far the only thing to fully kill all the robots was a tag team between thunderwolves, psykers and a horde of blood claws and an imperial knight crusader (took him the entire game to widdle them down)

Lately I havn't been having that much luck with my games, but I'm still loving my skitarii.

The way GW organized the skitarii books is asinine. Splitting what's obviously one army into two books who's rules don't mesh well, having an HQ in only one book, it's just stupid, and being the only recent army with no real decurian with core and aux choices. But that's my whine.

I too love the models and refuse to play the war convo because it's stupidly laughably OP, and restrictive. So far my take has been a mostly skitarii army with either a cohort cybernetica or holy requisitioner formation to be able to have a proper hq.

I really like the dragoon/ ironstrider heavy army posted above, except those models are so expensive dollar vs points. Going to have to eventually try that.