Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - COMBAT PATROL: Adeptus Mechanicus

Product Information

The Adeptus Mechanicus, sometimes referred to as the Cult Mechanicum (for historical reasons) or commonly just AdMech for brevity’s sake, is the technological hub of the Imperium of Man. They produce the weapons, manufacture the equipment, and forge the great warmachine that is mankind in the 41st millennium. Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, or our new Discord server, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!

The crisis deepens – Angron is loose , Vashtorr is scheming , and Abaddon’s Arks of Omen are voyaging to every corner of the galaxy in search of who knows what. The Imperium is scrambling to regain the upper hand, dispatching boarding parties in a last-ditch attempt to stop the Warmaster’s vile plans. Ah, the Blood Angels– noble and civilised sons of Sanguinius, most handsome, tragic, star-crossed and pretty of all the Emperor’s ‘Primarch’ sons. These renaissance Italy-themed space marines are among the most storied and popular chapters of the Adeptus Astartes.

Building Your Army

They’re also a great faction to collect. They have some of the most unique models in all of Warhammer 40,000 and some of the strongest firepower that humanity can wield in the Shooting phase. But don’t think that having incredible guns means they don’t have equally incredible melee. They have a little bit of everything, and they are a great faction to get started with. Or do you just run headlong at the ones in no man’s land and have a massive dust-up? We know what the Orks would do.

Complicated– This applies in a couple ways. AdMech models are complicated to physically build, as they’re fragile and require an exceptional amount of patience. In addition to this, the faction has some of the most complex rules in the entire game. You have Skitarii benefiting from Doctrina Imperatives (except when they don’t) but not benefiting from Canticles of the Omnissiah (except when they do). Kastelan Robots who don’t have the Core keyword unless they are within 3″ of a Cybernetica Datasmith, and you have Kataphrons who aren’t infantry but can nonetheless breach walls Kool-Aid Man style. You have buffs you can hand out to Skitarii Core units within 6″ or to any Core unit anywhere on the battlefield so long as that unit has the Data-Tether keyword. You have warlord traits and relics you can give troops, and an HQ choice that can optionally be his own Supreme Command detachment. The options, and their complexity, are seemingly endless. If you missed it, we look at the latest pricing and values of the new Warhammer 40k box sets in separate posts below: Of the 25 miniatures in the Orks Combat Patrol, 24 were brand new on the set’s release, including 20 new Ork Boyz, three Deffkoptas, and a Warboss in mega-armour. The Deff Dread isn’t a new sculpt, but is as shooty and stompy as ever. Aesthetic– Models in this faction are utterly distinct from any other. The 60s era retro-futuristic Kastelan Robot, the wasteland cavalry Serberys Raider, the spider-tank Onager Dunecrawler: every model in this faction is positively dripping with style.And because this faction isn’t complicated enough, there are a couple ways of manipulating Canticles. First and foremost, you have Mars, which grants the Canticles of the Omnissiah ability to all Skitarii units. Yes, this means you are applying two sets of buffs to your Skitarii. Yes, this makes them very powerful. Yes, it’s good and complicated, go try it! Additionally, there are three ways of manipulating Canticles for individual units: Belisarius Cawl‘s Lead in Prayer ability, as well as a Mars-exclusive strategem, and a strategem that is available to any Tech-Priest. This means you have a huge variety of options each turn to plan around. Do you like Intercessors? Good, then this box is for you. 25 of the 29 models in this battleforce are some flavor of Intercessor, whether your preference be assault, chunky, or vanilla. Rounding out the box are three Bladeguard Veterans, the least interesting Primaris Captain, and a Storm Speeder for folks who are curious about how long a T6 flyer with no invulnerable save will survive. The box is okay. Not great, not terrible. Existing Space Marine players likely already have more than enough Intercessors, but it’s a perfectly legitimate Patrol for the Astartes curious. At least for me it would have been more appealing had the box gone all-in on being a big boy heavy force, perhaps with Eradicators, more Heavy Intercessors, and the original boltstorm gauntlet Gravis Captain. As it stands I recommend looking instead at the various Combat Patrol boxes, which are close to the same value and contain much more interesting units. Final Verdict: Skip It