It feels like Christmas in February as an Admech player, because as the end of 10th Edition approaches, there’s never been a more fun time to play everyone’s favorite tech-adepts. While there’s been some grumbling that the faction’s had essentially a single viable build for the majority of the edition, I want to reframe that narrative with a bit of insight into Admech’s past & future; this past weekend, I managed to place 2nd at the Rhode Island Invitational…running 30 Electro-Priests & 29 Servitor Battleclade. Moreover, for those feeling frustrated at the need to play half a dozen chickens, there’s 3 brand-new units arriving in the next batch of 500 Worlds releases, including the instantly-beloved ‘grandma’ Thulia Ghuld. In spite of the issues that’ve plagued the army this edition, there’s not a single other choice I’d have rather made in getting back into 40k. With that said, let’s cover what’s been working for me, and what might be the direction for Admech, as we approach the 11th Edition in Summer 2026.
Source: Warhammer Community
Let’s talk about a personal achievement of mine first, and that’s taking second at my first true-blue invitational. I had to win an RTT in my area to qualify, and everyone present was in the same boat; it was a high skill environment, and naturally it made sense to me to play my favorite list for Admech, Data-Psalm Conclave. Per 40k Statcenter, DPC has a whopping 96 games this season, compared to the most popular detachment of Haloscreed at ~3000—why in the name of the Omnissiah would I choose to play a version of the army so maligned that it basically has no data? Simple: The version I was putting forth is one few people period could even play.
Even in Admech’s second-least-popular detachment, there’s a kernel of legitimate competitive merit, so long as you sell a few organs to fund it. My list ran more Electro-Priests & Battleclade than most Admech pilots own, and I feel it’s perhaps the only means of making the strategy viable; in every army, there lives a build so niche that basically no one reps it, meaning its actual competitive teeth (if not immediately obvious) remain essentially unexplored.
So, if virtually no one owns the 117 models needed to play Data-Psalm, what does it actually do? Much like Moneyball…it gets on base. What I mean by that is, while it lacks many of the traditional tricks or agility one needs in a competitive list, it’s playing for the opportunity to sink one of about a dozen cheap MSUs (Multiple Small Units) into opposing threats, and trade up to a wild extent. You’ll lose models, sure, but your opponent will lose ones worth far, far more points for the trouble. Better still is the amount of reasonable firepower we can pack in reserves, and the secondary play that comes with 29 models that can Advance, Shoot, & Perform an Action. If they refuse to play for the midboard, we threaten to outscore. If they do, we use their own mobility against them and clap back with our 6” move threats. This is flexing Admech’s weirdly high point-per-damage ratio to the max, and coupling that with enough threat of a Fights First deathstack to scare unwary opponents. For a faction that many would argue has been anemic the entire edition, this 3% playrate detachment in a faction with a 4.5% representation sure does feel amazing to pilot.
I say all of this because Admech has been announced to receive 3 brand-new units, across 2 brand-new kits, in the next 500 Worlds book, alongside Knights & Iron Warriors. That means Admech’s set to receive a brand-new detachment as well, and from what we’ve seen in previous End-of-Edition releases they’re being quite adventurous with what they can accomplish.
First, the units: Thulia Ghuld, and the Hastarii Exterminators/Fusileers. Thulia is the second Epic Hero for Admech, after Cawl, and appropriately she’s his bitter rival as a staunch traditionalist from Mars. She represents the Ordo Reductor, masters of destructive siege warfare as an appropriate counterbalance to the Iron Warriors, who represent the very same on the side of Chaos. In terms of design, she appears to be on an 80mm round, taking up roughly equivalent area to Cawl, just as a circle rather than an oval; in many ways, the two are akin to the Tech-Priest Dominus/Manipulus, with one having an axe and greater focus on melee, while the other has an Omnissian Staff. If we use that paradigm as our basis, one can expect her shooting to be better, at further ranges, with likely a pip less of AP in melee to make up for it. In terms of her rules, though, that’s harder to say.
Her reveal focuses on Thulia’s role as a living saint of sorts to the Skitarii, the strictly-military wing of the Adeptus Mechanicus; my army focuses on the other, the Cult Mechanicus (a more eclectic and indirectly militaristic group). Still, I fully expect Thulia herself to have the Cultmech keyword like Cawl, and probably only join up with the new Hastarii as a Leader, if she joins units at all (it’s more likely she has the Lone Op within 3” rule). Perhaps she provides CP economy, something Admech doesn’t…really have access to, beyond the occasional Data-Tether, or increases the Strength of ranged weapons as befitting an Archmagos Terminus.
As for the Hastarii, I think calling my shot is far easier. They’re going to be T4/1W, slightly bulkier Skitarii that serve as the faction’s take on Havocs/Devastators. Hastarii Exterminators are said to wield “Eradication Casters” alongside shoulder-mounted Arc Pistols, projecting close-range death akin to the Onager’s Eradication Beamer. Fusileers meanwhile have shoulder-mounted Phosphor Blasters and “Neutron Fusils”, as a dedicated anti-vehicle unit.
Via Warhammer Community
These units, alongside Thulia, say one thing loud & clear: The dedicated detachment for this release is going to focus on Onager Dunecrawlers. It seems obvious the Exterminators will get some kind of bonus for firing at half range, and Fusileers might strip cover or otherwise debuff vehicle targets with their obviously-1-Attack gun, but the key thing is that these weapons are just miniaturized versions of Onager loadouts. It’s an iconic vehicle for the faction that’s had no love this edition, and if I had to place my bets, Hastarii & Onagers are the two beneficiaries of what’s coming up. Let’s call it…the “Reductor Macroclade”.
The Onager comes with four different main guns, and if I’m picking up the vibe here, I bet we’ll see something akin to the new Eldar Corsair detachment: Enhancements for non-Leaders. Maybe each Enhancement gives your choice of main gun some extra punch, and makes the crab feel more worthwhile for its points; after all, Thulia’s here to break sieges with archaeotech, and the heaviest, weirdest guns are shared between the Hastarii & Onagers. This is also how Games Workshop has handled C’tan, to a questionable extent, giving them mandatory point hikes in their dedicated Detachment. Here it would feel just a bit better, as the Onager chassis is weirdly tough and underplayed for its points, primarily because actually maneuvering it compared to Ironstriders or the Skorpius Disintegrator is unwieldy at best.
Via Pintrest
For a detachment rule, let’s add Hastarii to the list of units that benefit from the Onager’s Emanatus Force Field, and also improve the oomph of Heavy weapons by giving Admech that stand still an extra pip or two of ranged Strength. A Stratagem to let Onagers walk through walls would be great, maybe some sort of lore-related reason for them to irradiate the enemies around them as a sort-of Grenade for 1CP. In the same vein as the now-fixed More Dakka detachment, if our opponents get too close we should make sure there’s a way to either fire into combat or retreat & shoot, and if there was any time to bring back Baleful Halo’s fire-back-when shot…please lord let it be now. While I tend to be a dedicate of the Cult Mechanicus, frankly it’s difficult for me not to be excited for more Admech goodies. After all, if I can love it (and win with it) this much throughout 10th, there’s nothing to keep me off of the faction, ever.
What do you want to see from the 500 Worlds expansion for Admech? Do you have any ideas for the upcoming detachment? Would you consider playing Data-Psalm in the current meta? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
