The humble Kastelan Robot — the star of Admech’s showcase in Hammer & Bolter, the biggest unit in our starring video game, Mechanicum, and many players’ only way to play Adeptus Mechanicus on a budget. These chunky protectors of the Omnissiah’s will are beloved by nearly every Admech player, but rarely actually see play at top tables, often derided by players aiming to win. From where does this disconnect stem? Why have Kastelans become the greatest point of disagreement among the swaths of Admech players putting together lists for Grand Tournaments, and is there any hope for the big bots?
Personally, these units were something of a mechanical albatross for me, as I lacked the time to put together the previously-standard 8 robots, and didn’t want to commit to Cohort Cybernetica. However, with the advent of Haloscreed as a detachment, I was able to dip my toes into Kastelans, and see what the fuss was about. With that in mind, it’s time to dive into the unit we love to paint, and hate to play: Kastelan Robots.
Via Sprocket
As a bit of history, Kastelan Robots are among the most efficient models in one of Games Workshops’ most expensive ranges, in terms of price-per-point. Picking up a suite of these robots allows a player to sink quite a lot of points into an Admech force without spending as much as one might need for something like Skitarii Hunter Cohort, or the Lucius infantry spam lists of years past. While this did tailor your list to a more elite playstyle, for many, even getting a chance to run Admech, a fan-favorite faction, was enough, and quickly the robots became a beloved fixture of the community. That said, there’s been an issue at the heart of these models since their inception: For some reason (lore, in fact), Kastelans have always missed out on some form of the Admech army rule, natively.
In 10th edition, this was remedied for a long while by way of the Cybernetica detachment, whose entire detachment rule simply gave Doctrinas to Kastelans; this meant that taking any fewer than 8 meant your detachment really wasn’t doing all that much, aside from the superb Necromechanic enhancement, and reasonable stratagems for tank-focused lists.
This changed in December, however, with the introduction of Haloscreed Battle Clade. One of that detachment’s enhancements is Transoracular Dyad Wafers, which gives a Datasmith and their attached Kastelans both the Doctrinas & Halo effect, a profound bonus to both the strength and movement afforded to that squad. The kicker, however, is that even in such a fantastic detachment, that enhancement comes in at a whopping 30 points, which hits on the other major downside of Kastelans — their points make up too much of a single list.
While the punch and tankiness you get with robots is profound, it’s hard not to see that the reason these models are so budget-friendly is due in part to the fact that a brick of Dyad Wafered bots costs 475 points, 25 points ahead of Canis Rex (a knight). A full quarter of your entire list is made up by 4 models on 60mm bases, and a leader, and the actual table presence of that block is generally not great enough for what Admech excels at. We are a faction dominated by the fact that our board control outstrips most other armies, and without a Battleline unit nearby this already investment-heavy brick, it loses out on multiple bonuses it needs for its math to be good. Too much of a list is often dedicated to these robots, a tale which continues to repeat itself as Haloscreed players continue to tinker.
Via Etsy
So, the detachment made for Kastelans is middling and requires you to commit a likely half of your points to the robots, and in Haloscreed, a quarter of your list surrounds this single brick — what’s the solution? The actual answer is likely that the surroundings of your list be made far less needy for synergy, such that you can dedicate enough of your points to preserving and buffing the Kastelans in the midboard. Haloscreed lists dominated by Ruststalkers do just this, as aside from Rustalkers generally being able to do their thing without need of Command Points or even Battleline buffs, sometimes, they also synergize with the other aspect of your Dyad Wafers: Sharing the Halo buff. Normally in a 2000pt game, you would only have two units marked with your Halo each Battle Round, but here, you also spread it to your Kastelans, meaning not only can you gain Advance & Charge on Rustalkers, but also Kastelans, shooting them forward to where they’re most effective. The less you can dedicate, in terms of Command Points and assistance, to the rest of your list, the more you can babysit the Robots as they go to town. For what it is worth, once you get them into a position where they’ve done ample melee damage, and have the opportunity to Overwatch with their Torrent weapons, it’s quite solid!
Via Reddit
Such lists may also be successful at skewing towards minimal scoring opportunities for your opponent. Aside from Bring it Down, for which you will of course have a massive vehicle block, you can skimp on Leaders, big units of infantry, etc to deny secondaries and force your opponent to confront the robots in the midboard. If you can actually make Kastelans a problem for your opponent, and not simply see them outscore you (given a quarter of your list is a single brick) you’ll have a reasonable means to stay in the game.
Further still, Haloscreed giving you quite a lot more opportunity for movement is a great asset, and between your Aegis Protocol and a +1T mode for the Halo, your Kastelans can hit the superb Toughness 11, which actually sees standard S5 anti-MEQ fire wound on 6s, and even some smaller ani-tank begin to balk. Of course, shooting at Kastelans with volume fire is discouraged by their Mortal Wounds ability, but between extra Toughness or potential Stealth, and movement tricks, Haloscreed is their best home, albeit one with huge caveats.
Via Brush Wizard
Beyond the tabletop though, Kastelans are one of the most well-known units for the Adeptus Mechanicus, and for good reason! They starred in the faction’s feature in Hammer & Bolter, showcasing the defensive nature of these behemoths, and the lengths to which a tech-priest will go to see it preserved. In the lore, as well, often these automata are full of character, being unique and passed down for a millennia, appearing as if angels to the sides of the Omnissiah’s devoted. The fact they look a bit dopey wraps around to them being charming, and further still, they provide a ton of conversion opportunities, from scrawling on their face-plates, to more…elaborate ones, as I’ve done below.
It’s fun to see your opponent’s firepower bounce off and right back at them, and it’s a blast to see this imposing swath of constructs bat away Marines like flies — all that to say, it makes sense that these are a fan-favorite. We’ve yet to see an edition where it’s been optimal to take Kastelans, mind you, but I have faith, as rarely does a unit so central to the identity of its faction’s playerbase go underutilized for this long. Just be sure to arm them with flamers & fists, or else I might need to buy more!
With that, we’re done with another Admech unit focus! How would you see the Kastelans fixed and brought to glory on the tabletop! Which lists have you had success with in 10th edition, concerning the bots? I’d love to hear what you’ve been brewing in the comments below!
