While we've been aware of the rules for Thulia & the Hastarii for a bit now, this past week we got a look not only at their points (which we'll cover at the end), but also Admech's singular new detachment in Eye of Terror: Reign of Iron, the Eradication Cohort. Similar to the new Imperial Knights detachment, this is a bit of a throwback to Index: Adeptus Mechanicus. Not only does it reward some of the units & combos that saw heavy use at the start of 10th Edition, but it proves a compelling counterpoint to Skitarii Hunter Cohort, exchanging that Detachment's survivability for sheer firepower. That being said, while many of the tools we see in Eradication Cohort are familiar, there's enough new toys to make it feel plenty fresh, which I'm very happy to see. With that being said, let's dive into the juicy new rules available to the devotees of the Omnissiah.
Via DeviantArt
The crux of Eradication Cohort arrives in its main rule: Murderous Imperative. This augments your Doctrinas for Skitarii, giving them reroll 1s to Hit or Wound, in Protector or Conqueror respectively. As is often the case, Conqueror emerges the big winner here, with hit rerolls eminently accessible by way of things like Cawl & Skitarii Marshals, the latter of which are central to this playstyle. Meanwhile, rerolls to wound can help units fish for Devastating Wound procs, with things like Arc weapons, or help you more consistently crack high Toughness threats when you're firing away with sheer numbers. As it stands, the main way to get to-Wound rerolls comes from Skorpius Duneriders, otherwise being limited to single datasheets or stratagems in non-Eradication Detachments. The other big point of order to mention is one of the enhancements unique to this Detachment: Martial Signatum Amplificator. Aside from being a mouthful to say, this gives a Tech-Priest the Skitarii keyword, thus spreading it to the entire unit. The obvious use case for the Amplificator is a classic one: Kataphron Breachers. While normally overcosted, there's a number of reasons to run a Dominus-led brick in Eradication Cohort, this the clearest among them.
Via Reddit
While this detachment arrives alongside Hastarii Exterminators & Fusileers, don't be fooled—this is all about bringing back the Breacher Brick, and to a lesser extent, the Belleros Energy Cannon Disintegrators that saw play at the outset of 10th Edition. These were essentially the only things worth doing when Admech got their initial index, thanks to both the unnerfed prowess of Indirect Fire & Vengeful Fallout, the OG shoot-back stratagem. Both of those come home to roost in Eradication Cohort, with tons of rerolls for the Belleros profile, and Analytic Reprisals, as close we'll ever get to a shoot-back. Breachers are a frightening unit in terms of both Overwatch and counterfire, with full rerolls to Hit, and now reroll 1s to Wound, and parking them in the midboard has no clear way to dodge two salvoes per Battle Round. If they move, you Overwatch, and if they stand and shoot...well, they get shot back. The only thing you need to expose, as far as core damage goes, is the Breachers, given the Belleros doesn't need line of sight to do its dirty work.
The name of the game here is exposure, and the fact you only want to expose a single unit at a time, ideally with the CP ready for Analytic Reprisals. Unfortunately, at least one model needs to die for this Stratagem to work, which means the rest of your list should either be tanky enough to survive being shot (a hard ask, for Skitarii) or be able to get into the fray and earn back their points on the turn your opponent might aim to kill (far easier).
Via Reddit
The core of any Admech army worth its salt is still here, with 2-3 Battleline between Rangers & Vanguard, 1-2 units of Taser Sicarian Infiltrators, and some form of Deep Strike utility, either in the form of Pteraxii Skystalkers or a Callidus Assassin. Every list will begin with those units, and likely at least one Dunerider, even if the latter provides less value to a Conqueror list given we'd already get reroll 1s to Wound. Tack on triple Belleros Skorpius, and a block of 6 Heavy Arc Rifle/Hydraulic Claw Breachers with an enhanced Dominus...and you have fewer points to work with than you'd think. Admech is still fairly low in terms of overall point cost, but it's not that low anymore. It's time to talk about the elephant in the room, though: The points on our new units. Thulia & Hastarii are made for this Detachment, they've practically carved out a niche to ensure each of the three has a place here. Ironstriders already have Sustained and Twin-Linked, so Fusileers get full value from Murderous Imperative & Unshackled Wrath, Thulia can provide double Doctrina to get full reroll 1s for one unit per turn, and hell, Exterminators don't hate some extra consistency on their Arc Blasters. The problem is cost, because in spite of some stand-out datasheets all three of these come in 20-40% overcosted. Thulia is perhaps the best here, as even with her 210pt price tag she puts in a ton of work, but neither flavor of Hastarii is passably pointed at present.
It's 145 for 5 Fusileers, and 135 for 5 Exterminators. To put that into perspective, for 35pts more—the price of a Marshal—you get 2 Ironstriders with Sustained, Twin-Linked Lascannons and far tougher, faster bodies. You're essentially forced to chuck them in a Dunerider to move them up the board (outside of Skitarii Hunter Cohort, where an Infiltrating Scout 6" 5-man+Marshal is still solid), so there goes another 85pts, which you could I suppose prorate for 10 down to ~40pts, given spare capacity. The point still stands though: Fusileers come up short. Exterminators, boy where does one even begin. These could cost half as much before they'd start being good, and even something like 85-90pts would be a healthy spot. 135 approaches reinforced units of our other more Elite infantry, and folks were already unexcited about their main gun. The best part about Exterminators is their Arc Cannon, the sidearm, though that stems primarily from how expensive Breachers are; we're used to paying through the nose for Anti-Vehicle Dev.
So what are we actually doing with this Detachment? Take everything you knew about Admech, circa Index days, and bring it back. Maxing out on Belleros Skorps, Raiders, and a huge Breacher brick led by a Dominus with the Skitarii enhancement, all with our standard utility pieces and a Vanguard+Marshal+Boat combo to round things out. It’s neat, tidy, and exactly 2k, and having Cawl means you can focus fire down your opponent’s secondary scoring pieces with ease. That’s the thing—we don’t actually want to use Oath on the scariest piece, just the thing we can then mathematically dispatch-with using our indirect fire. Raiders are here as fast screening bodies that play for Secondaries well, and as a bonus, can plink away some elite models using their Dev Wound guns with reroll 1s to Wound.
Your aim is simple: Place your Breachers in the midboard, and fire 2-4 times in a Battle Round, taking out anything that tries to contest you, and allow the rest of your force between Disintegrators, the Vanguard unit, and Raiders to clean up opposing scoring/flanking units. Threaten their Victory Points, not necessarily their scariest single unit.
Via Reddit
I think the biggest victory of Eradication Cohort is its accessibility, as for most new players looking to dip their toes into Admech—a notoriously fiddly and difficult faction—it offers lethality that most factions are used to. You can drop 1CP and trade away Vanguard all day using Unshackled Wrath, tossing tons of Sustained & Lethal damage out thanks to rerolls from a Marshal & Boat, or cycle your key shooting/combat threats with Unrelenting Aggression. Thanks to the flexibility of designating any one unit as Skitarii, you can basically play anything here and have a decent time. That’s what Eradication Cohort is for, really. It brings back the flexibility and lethality of Index Admech, and updates the tools available to Rad-zone Corps for the modern game (that Detachment is dead dead, now). Beyond that, it also serves as a home for Thulia and the Hastarii, in theory anyway. Once those units see drops in point costs, we’re sure to revisit this…alongside other potential applications in Skitarii Hunter Cohort, or my favorite Detachment in 10th, Data-Psalm Conclave. Prepare yourself for 7 Strength 11 Damage 3 attacks, Knight players.
What’s your favorite path to playing Eradication Cohort? At what point costs do you think Hastarii come into the picture for other lists? Is Thulia good currently, even at 210 (I frankly still think so, but not in Erad)? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
