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Hi everybody,
As a new Admech player I do have a question regarding 8th edition:
Starting with two starter boxes I am struggling with the weapon loading for my Skitarii troops.
In general I want one set of five Vanguards whether sets of five Ranger.
Two Arquebus are mandatory I think?
Which should be the weapons of choice for my regular troops?
Do I have to equip the alpha with a pistol or can he pick a rifle too? If not which closes combat weapons to prefer?
Thanks a lot for some help with this.

I try to keep these squads as small and cheap as possible.

I tend to go 2x 5 rangers with 1 arquebus each. Or, 6-7 rangers with 2x arquebus.

For the same reason, I usually go with 5x Vanguard with 1 plasma. The only exception is arc rifle, it's so cheap that I can put 2 in a 5-man squad anyway.

The Alphas are fine with their rifles. Mauls are nice, but eventually I tend to prefer to use those points elsewhere. No other upgrades are worth it, except possibly an Omnispex in the larger Ranger sniping squad.

Hi, welcome to the AdMech !

Like above, I'd recommend leaving Vanguard with their base weapons most of the time because they're really good for their worth as they are, they pump out a lot of volume of fire to deal with hordes and any special weapon you give them it's 3 less shots from their carbines. Only special weapon I'd recommend for the Vanguards would be the plasma gun, because it's the same range as their base guns and can do good damage, especially when you get rerolls of 1s to Hit near a Dominus to go Overcharge with the plasma. It's an expensive weapon though, so place it in a squad of 6-7 Vanguards so that you have bodies to spare when the squad gets shot to be sure you'll have a turn of shooting with it.

As for the Rangers, I give them 2 Arquebuses and one Omnispex in a squad of five. One Arquebus won't do much, and your squad won't move because the weapon can't be fired after moving, so might as well dedicate the whole squad to sniper duty. Other special weapons worth using on them are Arc Rifles, they're really cheap and will allow you to chew through tougher infantry like Marines easier thanks the the S6 AP-1. I wouldn't recommend vehicle hunting with it as the average Toughness value of most vehicles is 7 you'll only wound them on 5+, which is not very good. However, if you have the opportunity to shoot at T6 or lower with them, go for it, it's just 4 points and can do the job on the right targets.

For the pistols and CC weapon question, never go for the Radium pistol, it's costlier and WORST than your basic Vanguard gun, so don't take them, even if they look rad (no pun intended). Arc pistols are great to add another Arc shot in a squad without having to max the size of the unit (you don't want max Skitarii squads due to weak morale), and you'll be in range most of the time. Phosphor blast pistol is more expensive by 1 point and less powerful, ignore cover on a pistol is pretty bad in my opinion. So the only viable choice I see for pistols is the Arc pistol. For the CC weapons, it's really not THAT useful but in less competitive environments I like them, it's always a highlight of my games when a Vanguard Alpha kills two Plague Marines in CC by himself with his Taser goad. Arc maul and Taser goads are nice, never tried the Power sword but it doesn't give extra Strength so I'm doubtful about it's efficiency. I'd only give pistols and CC weapons to Vanguards though, they're the ones who're actually decent in CC (not against Berzerkers of course) thanks to their -1T aura, so the weapons could get some wounds as long as you have a valid CC unit fighting by your Vanguards' sides.

Don't give them the Data-tether thing, it's too costly for what it does. Omnispex are best on Sniper Rangers.

Thank you both for your reply - did help me to make decisions here.
So I did build up guys for following setup:
1 X 5 Ranger with two Arquebus and an Omnispec
1 X 5 Vanguard with arc pistol and Taser
2 X 5 Ranger with 1-2 Arc Rifles

First ten Rangers are already finished today - rest will made later this week...so still some time to make some changes here.

Arques for Rangers, and Plasma for Vanguard. Arc Rifles are lame now.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Arques for Rangers, and Plasma for Vanguard. Arc Rifles are lame now.

No they're not lame, they're just not designed to auto-kill vehicles like in 7th ed. They're a cheap middle ground between standard weapons and Plasma to deal with tougher stuff. I wish they'd have made it like "You always wound Vehicles on 4+" but they didn't so we have to make with what we have: a cheap S6 AP-1 Rapid Fire weapon.

I think I'm the outliar but I don't like 5 man rangers with Arquebuses, it makes a very expensive and fragile squad. The gun is good, but the whole squad dies if you look at it and costs a ton.
I prefer 5 man units of rangers with 2 arc rifles. Reason being it keeps them incredibly cheap, doesn't limit movement, and gives them a bit more punch than naked for almost no extra cost. They won't be high priority for your opponent like the arquebus, but can still do something. They're good objective grabbers and can punch meq and light vehicles a bit.

For vanguard I like a 5 man with 1 plasma, or 10 man with 2-3 plasma.

 Braxator wrote:
Thank you both for your reply - did help me to make decisions here.
So I did build up guys for following setup:
1 X 5 Ranger with two Arquebus and an Omnispec
1 X 5 Vanguard with arc pistol and Taser
2 X 5 Ranger with 1-2 Arc Rifles

First ten Rangers are already finished today - rest will made later this week...so still some time to make some changes here.

 Aaranis wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Arques for Rangers, and Plasma for Vanguard. Arc Rifles are lame now.

No they're not lame, they're just not designed to auto-kill vehicles like in 7th ed. They're a cheap middle ground between standard weapons and Plasma to deal with tougher stuff. I wish they'd have made it like "You always wound Vehicles on 4+" but they didn't so we have to make with what we have: a cheap S6 AP-1 Rapid Fire weapon.

Yeah, Arcs now I find more useful as higher toughness infantry killers. Getting the D3 off a vehicle (if it's your only target) is just kind of a bonus, not really anything to be relied on.

And they definitely belong on Rangers, especially now that they're a point cheaper than Vanguard. I had my Arc Rifles on my Vanguard initially and something about it always felt off (18" assault 3 weapons paired with the 24" RF1). Spent the weekend breaking off the heads on my Arc Vanguard and painting up new Ranger heads.

Danny slag wrote:
I think I'm the outliar but I don't like 5 man rangers with Arquebuses, it makes a very expensive and fragile squad. The gun is good, but the whole squad dies if you look at it and costs a ton.
I prefer 5 man units of rangers with 2 arc rifles. Reason being it keeps them incredibly cheap, doesn't limit movement, and gives them a bit more punch than naked for almost no extra cost. They won't be high priority for your opponent like the arquebus, but can still do something. They're good objective grabbers and can punch meq and light vehicles a bit.

For vanguard I like a 5 man with 1 plasma, or 10 man with 2-3 plasma.

Yeah indeed they're quickly focused, but it can mess someone's deployment and their efficiency is really valuable to me, they've killed me a few characters in a single volley, and if there's not characters you can let them shoot at anything else and it will work, that's the magic of S7 AP-2 D3 damage that mortal wounds on a 6.

I agree with your Vanguard loadout, I wouldn't go to 10 man squad size except if I deep-strike or infiltrate them though.

 Aaranis wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Arques for Rangers, and Plasma for Vanguard. Arc Rifles are lame now.

No they're not lame, they're just not designed to auto-kill vehicles like in 7th ed. They're a cheap middle ground between standard weapons and Plasma to deal with tougher stuff. I wish they'd have made it like "You always wound Vehicles on 4+" but they didn't so we have to make with what we have: a cheap S6 AP-1 Rapid Fire weapon.

Look at it this way:
1. It doesn't mash well with the range of the Ranger's weapons. You pay for a weapon with better stats, but it falters with range and requires you to get closer. That's not something Rangers want to do as they're campers and/or screeners, and if you play with screens you'll know that 6" makes a world of difference. So you might as well splurge for the Arque if you're buying them any weapons.
2. It doesn't mesh well with the profile of the Vanguard's weapons. Assault is encouraging them to move forward and advance and shoot. Those Vanguard would wasted.
3. So for the primary roles they have, Arques blend in with the great range that a backline for AdMech is going to have, and provides the ability to try and wound characters (as often as it happens is up for debate of course), and Vanguard are constantly on the move and up close, so you'll of course splurge for Plasma.

Like, I don't hate the profile or price for the Arc Rifle. However...it isn't standing out in any way and doesn't lead into a defined role. It kinda sits there. It's lame.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:

 Aaranis wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Arques for Rangers, and Plasma for Vanguard. Arc Rifles are lame now.

No they're not lame, they're just not designed to auto-kill vehicles like in 7th ed. They're a cheap middle ground between standard weapons and Plasma to deal with tougher stuff. I wish they'd have made it like "You always wound Vehicles on 4+" but they didn't so we have to make with what we have: a cheap S6 AP-1 Rapid Fire weapon.

Look at it this way:
1. It doesn't mash well with the range of the Ranger's weapons. You pay for a weapon with better stats, but it falters with range and requires you to get closer. That's not something Rangers want to do as they're campers and/or screeners, and if you play with screens you'll know that 6" makes a world of difference. So you might as well splurge for the Arque if you're buying them any weapons.
2. It doesn't mesh well with the profile of the Vanguard's weapons. Assault is encouraging them to move forward and advance and shoot. Those Vanguard would wasted.
3. So for the primary roles they have, Arques blend in with the great range that a backline for AdMech is going to have, and provides the ability to try and wound characters (as often as it happens is up for debate of course), and Vanguard are constantly on the move and up close, so you'll of course splurge for Plasma.

Like, I don't hate the profile or price for the Arc Rifle. However...it isn't standing out in any way and doesn't lead into a defined role. It kinda sits there. It's lame.

That makes now a lot sense to me. Maybe staying with two blank ranger units and one with 2 Arquebus.
Anyway pistol and cc weapon for the vanguard only + plasma

The "competitive" consensus seems to be take Vanguard with nothing, which stinks of min/maxing to me. I like plasma and the arc rifle (not together of course). Rangers I think 5-man with 2 arquebus is good.

Wayniac wrote:
The "competitive" consensus seems to be take Vanguard with nothing, which stinks of min/maxing to me. I like plasma and the arc rifle (not together of course). Rangers I think 5-man with 2 arquebus is good.

Agreed, the min maxing last edition was also to never take upgrades on any unit in any army, that's not how I like to hobby so I'm all in for cool special weapons. Plus with the ability to shoot at different targets than the rest of the squad I don't know if the extra .00001% more points efficient is really better than having options.
I think the reason min naked squads are the cheese players way is probably because of all the detachment forge world fuckery, and most net lists are cawl+ All points into kastelans.