With the initial barrage of monthly balance batches to Warhammer 40k officially over, the meta is set in stone for the next three months, which means players can not only become more practiced at their specific lists, but also be molded by specific matchups and damage thresholds. The time of the brewer is largely over, which I’m just a bit disappointed by, but with the solidification of army archetypes amid the release of the new standard Marine statline, there’s a whole new world to explore. If we turn our eyes to Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus received one of the most profound balance changes of any faction not affected by the MEQ profile changes, with its most popular detachment being increased to 2 DP, in Lords of the Forge. To offset this drastic change, two other detachments saw decreases in their Detachment Point cost, being both Eradication Cohort to 2 DP and shockingly, Cohort Cybernetica to 1 DP. Was this faustian bargain worth it? What should you be playing in the new meta? What models should you prioritize to paint and purchase, as you collect the faction in 11th? We’ll be talking about all of that here today.
First and foremost: This is a nerf, albeit one with a couple asterisks. Lords of the Forge was in contention for the title of ‘best 1 DP in the game’, and if any of them were going to get nerfed to this extent, Lords makes sense. That being said, unlike all the other 2 DP options, Lords’ mechanical depth resembles that of a 1 DP, still only having 3 stratagems and 2 enhancements. It’s strong, certainly, but this change precludes it from every viable build other than Cohort Cybernetica, which it swapped costs with. This has resulted in every Lords-mix falling from playability outside of exactly CyCo/Lords, which was the third-best way to play Lords in the previous meta. That being said, third best in a tight field still kept it fairly competitive in its time, and in the newly emergent metagame, this pairing of Cybernetica & Lords not only appears to be the best way to play Priority Assets in Admech, but is also jockeying for the status of best list overall. Its competition is an entirely new breed of Admech list, making use of the two buffs the faction received from a macro perspective, by combining Eradication Cohort with CyCo. Erad, as I’ll call it, was pitched as the straightforward lethality-focused detachment for a complicated army, and unlike its main competitor in Rad-Zone, its benefits were restricted to models with the Skitarii keyword. It was never the best way to play Admech, but was always the most new-player-friendly, and thus attracted a healthy fanbase of pilots who entered the faction via Erad.
Via Reddit
Now, I was not among this lot, having started the faction at the very outset of Index-era 10th edition Admech, and as such by the time Erad became legal I had thought myself above it, preferring the Cult Mechanicus side of the army and Haloscreed Battleclade. That being said, with the changes (or lack thereof) in this balance patch, it’s time for me to face the music—Erad can be plenty skill-intensive, with the right setup. All four of the detachments I’ve practiced with and brought to tournaments around the eastern US have been in some way nerfed, either directly or indirectly. Data-Psalm Conclave, my first real ride-or-die, is locked behind additional buffs for its core unit (Electro-Priests) with a keyword, and its only worthwhile enhancement no longer functions, with nerfs to Fights First. Explorator Maniple, known for its ability to guarantee Lethal Lascannon shots in Overwatch, can no longr do that with the changes to snap shooting, and is outcompeted by Erad in all other aspects. Haloscreed is middling, and Lords of the Forge has been put in jail, clearly intended only to function alongside Cohort Cybernetica. So, why am I suddenly pursuing Erad over other options? Two packages: Coteaz, and Skitarii Kastelans.
Via Bitsandpieces
Let’s take a brief detour to cover Inquisitor Coteaz, because funny enough one of the main drivers for this Admech list is a model not from the army. He’s an allied Inquisitor, and affords us two abilities: We can strip cover from a unit within 18” during our Command Phase, regardless of visibility, and when our opponent generates a Command Point via an ability, on a 2+ we do as well. For 95pts, that doesn’t seem like a lot. If we take a step back though, a lot of the units buffed in a list like Erad/CyCo don’t have innate [IGNORES COVER], namely Ferrumite Disintegrators & Ironstriders, and if we can push their BS to 2+/3+, the rerolling of 1s to hit in Protector Doctrina means we can cut Cawl, and treat Coteaz like his little brother. The Command Point generation, however, has gotten demonstrably better in the face of new abilities like Da Boss & Transhuman Strategist. Coteaz does check for points generated by these effects at the start of the Battle Round, meaning we can usually play a 15 CP game rather than a ~10 CP one, which Admech normally has to. By having a ton of Data-Tethers (which refund CP on a 5+ when targeted) on top of Coteaz, these end up layering to produce >1 extra CP per turn, which due to the limit rounds down to just 1—this opens up far scarier initial gambits, and means we can better plan around having things like a rerollable charge. Speaking of which, by chucking Erad’s Martial Signatum Amplificator onto a Datasmith, producing Skitarii-keyworded Kastelans, a unit which very badly wants to charge. By pairing this with Thulia Ghuld to provide Advance & Charge, and the CyCo stratagem Motive Imperative, we can have Kastelans which move 11”, can advance and charge, and receive +1” to each of those rolls; this results in an average threat range of 23.5”, a baffling and terrifying thing to face down from the game’s outset.
With those two established, let’s talk about the rest of the list I’ve been playing in RTTs thus far. CyCo provides access to both Doctrinas, and ignoring modifiers to hit, so naturally we’re playing 2x3 Ironstriders with Autocannons, one of the army’s premier shooting threats. That’s S9, so to supplement it at a higher breakpoint, we look to the next best shooting Vehicle, 2x1 Skorpius Disintegrator with Ferrumite Cannon. Finally, to round out our shooting hulls, we have a single Onager Dunecrawler with Heavy Phosphor Blaster, coming in at S6 with innate [IGNORES COVER]. Basically, this lets us spend our Command Points on the deadlier shooting, while the Onager is fairly self-sufficient; we do often walk alongside it an Enginseer with Necromechanic, as a beefy bait piece, but the first 5+++ buff goes on our Kastelans. A pair of Battleline help spread buffs and mark OC on the center, and finally, 10 Infiltrators help us fight the pregame war, and push screens back to let our Kastelans sink their fists into the foe. It’s the fewest models I’ve put onto the table for any army since my early 3.0 Beasts of Chaos—at 45 models—and that was a half-decade ago. This is a fairly-elite list, especially for Admech, helps helps loose threads not come undone when counting the number of units killed for Purge the Foe.
Via PoMM
This is also the most approachable Admech list I’ve yet played, in terms of collection, when it comes to the faction. Admech has an earned reputation for being difficult to get into, but I’d contend that Erad/CyCo combines the best of both being fairly easy to pilot, and cheap by the army’s standard. Kastelan Robots are among the highest point-per-dollar units in the range, and while I’d only recommend 4, that spare Datasmith can be converted into your Enginseer, or even Coteaz if you’re creative. Disintegrators are good in a number of lists, as are your standard Battleline, and while supplies last the Armageddon box for Admech comes with an Ironstrider, Disintegrator, & Onager, and while working on getting Infiltrators that second crab is perfectly fine in their slot. Two of that box, two boxes of Kastelans (assuming we convert the second smith into an Enginseer), two boxes of Battleline, Thulia, and you’ve basically got the list, just as long as your Marine-playing friend can give you a power-armored body to count as Coteaz. The only albatross around the neck of this list is, as it always is, Ironstriders. Yes, one comes in the Armageddon box, but you need six, as does essentially any serious list. This is a gorgeous, thematic, powerful model...but they come in but a single copy per box, so at any given point you’ll probably spend half of your list’s budgets purely on chickens. The worst part is that this isn’t even really a skew, it’s just how Admech works, and has worked for half a decade. Just be grateful you can no longer take Onagers in units of 3.
Via Convert or Die
As someone who plays a lot of Admech at a high level, the changes in this pass have largely just resulted in a changing of the guard, in terms of the top lists, and the overall power of the faction is essentially equivalent (or a hair lower). As an example, I think SHC/Lords was better than current SHC/CyCo, and with that in mind, Lords/CyCo is probably now the better list. On top of the pile though, and really the thing which is keeping Admech feeling as powerful as it was, is the fact that they’ve unlocked Erad as a 2 DP option. There are some games that feel like you’re playing with 5 DP, because until about a month ago, you were. Still, the overall internal diversity of the faction has declined with this update, as where Lords required you play 2-3 chaff Battleclade, and the faction’s two Epic Heroes, CyCo basically prices you into running ~2 Disintegrators, 6 Ironstriders, and an Onager or two to taste. The ‘tax’ to make Lords feel worthwhile started at 510pts, the same tax for CyCo to feel worthwhile starts at ~740/990. The wiggle room we have in lists is just simply less, if we’re trying to play the strongest synergy pieces available, and that’s saying nothing about how the utility of a units like Kataphrons have cratered following the snap shooting change. Skystalkers lost their utility as a tech piece, Kats now no longer have a niche, and while Hastarii continue to get cheaper you only really see SHC looking at them, given S12 shooting is more profitable on a Vehicle with CyCo access. I’m having fun with the current MFM, and winning plenty, but I’m having less fun than I was. I’m curious if my tune will change in the 3 months we have this balance patch for, and especially for the thoughts of new Admech players on how 11th has treated the faction!
How do you feel about Admech’s position following the final monthly slate? Are you more or less excited for the faction? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
