Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (HoR)/Tactics/Adeptus Mechanicus(7E)

The Admech are known for their hoards of ancient tech and their proclivity for mechanical customization, and boy do they have a lot of that in HoR. You'd be hard pressed to find another army that has as many unit choices or armory options as these guys.

Model Availability

• 1 Leader
• 1-20 Core Models
• 0-5 Special Models

Five Special is about the standard for most armies, but it's also where most of the variety lies within our opus, so choose wisely and accordingly. 1-20 core models doesn't seem like much, but if you remember Kataphrons armed with Heavy Arc-Rifles start at 21 Points...

General Rules

• Canticles of the Omnissiah: works just as it does in the codex, but as you lose models it's powers begin to increase in effect. Makes a smaller more elite team slightly more viable as you already begin with a lower model count.
• Omnispex & Data Tether: Both work just like in the codex, but only on models within 6" of the user. Not bad since your Skitarii should probably be in groups of 2 or 3 anyways.
• Esoteric Arsenal: Limits any given model to weilding two of any given weapon. I guess the writers were wary of Tech-Priest's quad-wielding Combi-Plasmas.

Philosophies

(Work In Progress...)

Tactical Actions

(Work in progress...)

Wargear

Oh boy, so much wargear...

• Mindscrambler Grenade: Helps your Sicarian units survive that overwatch.
• Sucortical Dampener: Lobotomizes the model's leadership in exchange for a passed leadership test. If you do it too many times you run the risk of turning it into a vegetable.
• Flagellant Core: Turns your docile servitors into MELEE MURDERBOTS. Best used on a Breacher armed with an Arc Claw and Cognis Flamer.

(Work in progress below)

Leaders Only

• Stasis Grenade: Anything stuck under the blast is now in stasis. If your enemy roll a 4+ on the model in question, they're now free; if they fail, they're now utterly incapable of doing anything. At all. Can you say "Sniper, go sniping!".
• Volkite Serpenta: What, were you not expecting the Adeptus Mechanicus to hoard the old hot shit for itself? Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the Forge World Horus Heresy rules, it's an S5 AP5 pistol with a 10" range. But that short range is made up by it's Deflagrate rule: IF you score any unsaved wounds, you get an equal number of free automatic hits at the same profile as the Serpenta. It's not much compared to its bigger brothers, the Charger and the Caliver, but it's devastating against weak armor.
• Superior Bionics: Congratulations. Your worship of the Machine God has resulted in your model becoming Non-Flammable and the ability to force Poisoned or Fleshbane weapons to re-roll their wounds. Some Dark Eldar's day is now ruined.
• Master-Crafted Weapon: It's in the name.
• Incense Generatorium: Another WT converted to purchase. This one is definitely one to consider for your lightweight leaders.

Techpriests Only

• Cyber-Familiar: For 15 points, you can take in another HH relic for either the Techpriest OR the Vanguard/Ranger Alpha. This gives you +1 to Feel No Pain (Which gives your Alpha a 5+) as well as the ability to re-roll a failed characteristic test (Other than Leadership).
• Plecian Tome: 15 points better spent elsewhere in most cases. I mean, yes, it helps restore vehicles by d3 HP, but if your Ironstrider is that hurt, it's probably dead.
• Psalm Code: A cheap way to regain the use of a single Canticle of the Omnissiah. Always nice.

Unit Analysis

Leaders

• Tech-Priest Procurator Your Mini-Dominus armed with his axe and usual aura ability that re-rolls 1's in the Shooting phase. What make it an interesting unit is that you can choose to specialize your priest into one of three campuses.
  • Campus Retiarius: The "shooty" Tech-Priest. Increases it's BS by 1 and give it two Ballistic Mechadendrites for free. The perfect place to start if you're looking to make a Deathstar.
  • Campus Secutor: The "choppy" Tech-Priest. predictably, it increases its WS by one and gives it two Combat Mechadendrites for free. Not exactly a Deathstar, but if you make a fire-base around him your opponent will think very hard about approaching it.
  • Campus Auctorati: The "Takticul" Tech-Priest. Gains two mechadendrites of your choice totalling up to 20 points and instead of a stat boost it can add or subtract a value of one when rolling for Canticles. Essentially a mini-Cawl (or Cawl back in his freshman days).

Despite being quite expensive, it is a very versatile unit with access to two additional mechadendrites and almost everything in the armory. Use that to your advantage if you know who you're playing against or what terrain you'll be encountering.

• Tech-Priest Reductor: Pretty much the same tactics as on the regular page. It's get slightly more airtime in HoR as opposed to Bighammer, but overall it remains a very lackluster unit. There's almost no situation where you wouldn't be better off with an Auctoris.

• Cybernetica Cognitor: Your wannabe Data-Smith that instead of re-coding Dark-Age Robots gets to herd Kataphron Servitors into battle. Has the same buffs as the Data-smith, but for better or for worse, the chosen exigorations do not lock in place when your Cognitor bites the dust. if you're looking to delete everything in in it's line of sight arm your Kataphrons with Grav-cannons, turn on the Protector Exigoration and fire-hose everything that moves. If you're looking for a relatively mobile Leader with intimidating bodyguards pair it Kataphrons armed with Cognis Flamers and Arc Claws, and proc the Conqueror Exigoration every turn.

• Skitarii Regulus: Your cheapest leader. He comes equipped with the Radium Carbine, which can lay down some serious hurt when the dice gods bless your rolls. Even if they don't, you drop their Toughness by 1 just for being nearby (at 6" away to boot). The issue is that you kinda don't want to throw your leader into the meat grinder when you got expendable goons to do that job for you.

• Skitarii Anakrator: He's a little more expensive than his's Vanguard couterpart, but he exchanges the Rad-saturation and Radium Carbine for increased AP and a Galvanic Rifle, which is pretty decent.

• Electro-Priest Impulsor: In theory, not a bad choice. His Electrostatic Gauntlets (and taser weapons in general) work wonders in smaller games and her also has a nifty Tactical Action that buffs Arc Weapons. The problem is that T3 and 6+ with three wounds is not that great for a leader, even in HoR.

(Work in progress below)

• Ruststalker Princeps: It's an expensive guy, but he's also the most choppy with his options between Chordclaw/Transonic Razor/Mindscrambler and Transonic Blades with optional Chordclaw. He can also grab a Data-Tether and the Dataspike. Now, the option here is do you want some spare oomph in killing, or do you want the possibility of actually killing when you attack?

• Infiltrator Princeps: An expensive Leader, but has Neurostatic Aura (Which drops any enemy's WS/BS/I/Ld by -1 when they get within 6"). He can switch between Power Sword/Stubcarbine and Taser Goad/Flechette Blaster, which ultimately comes down to whether you want a lot of flimsy shots or a few shots that actually look like they can hurt someone. Note that whatever you pick, you can buy Mindscrambler Grenades as well as the Data-Tether and the Infoslave Skull (Which he can use to outflank from wherever he wants).

Core

• Skitarii Vanguard: Your cheap goons. Being the guys with Rad-saturation, you'll usually be best off arming them with just the basic guns, maybe the Plasma Carbine or Arc Rifle if you need something big taken down.

• Skitarii Ranger: Same as the Vanguard, minus their Rad-saturation. Probably the best platform to use the Transuranic Arquebus (which pairs greatly with a nearby Omnispex).

• Secutarii Peltast: ALWAYS take the two of them (or if you have the Orestes Forgeworld, take all of them!) These are one of the most versatile core units in the entire game, and while they preform marginally better in regular 40K than their Skitarii counterparts, these guys excel and outpreform Vanguards and Rangers in HoR. Flechette Blasters blend hoards like nothing else, and if you run into a TEC or have some ways to go up the board your 30" Kinetic Hammershot can step in. And in a game that is suppose to be packed with terrain the Ignis Blaze doesn't just ignore cover but SHOOTS THROUGH TERRAIN. Seriously even if you can't afford them just kitbash them out of whatever and add them to your roster.

• Secutarii Hoplites: Although they're not as versatile as their peltast coutnerparts they're still quite impressive units, and one of the more entertaining ones to use (Read: Osthimos Surge Protocol). Unlike your Vanguard, these guys are actually built for melee and are super tough nuts to crack with their Mag-inverter Shields. Their Arc lances dual weapon profiles guarantee that even if your Hoplites are out of combat they can still let off some decent shots while they advance towards their next target.

• Kataphron Battle Servitor: This unit folds Breacher and Destroyer into one datasheet resulting in a little more flexibility in weapons choice (using Destroyer weapons lowers the units armor save to those of a Destroyer). At 15 points a pop this unit is probably the most dangerous core unit in the game. Although they can get expensive when weapons are accounted for the best way to think of them is not as expensive Core, but as a Special unit that doesn't use your Special slots. The grav-cannon is super expensive, but with the way 8th edition grav weapons work this is perhaps your most flexible and most dangerous option as it can take down tough units or sweep away small groups of mobs with one salvo.

Special

• Sicarian Ruststalker: Killy machines. Really, their options only bounce between Chordclaw/Transonic Razor and Transonic Blades. If you're looking for a more in-depth analysis the one on the vanilla Admech tactics pretty much applies the same here.

• Sicarian Infiltrator: Slightly less choppy than the Ruststalkers, but these guys at least get guns, even if those guns are incapable of punching armor or making a big enough mark. Teaming up with Vanguard will result in shit dying fast.

• Fulgurite Electro-Priest: Pretty tanky melee units, especially once they get their 3++. If used in tandem with their Tactical Actions they can become quite scary in the charge phase.

• Corpuscarii Electro-Priest: Where the Fulgurites can get their 3++, Corpuscarii have their edge be in their extra firepower since they keep their not-Tesla rule for their giant shackles.

(Work in progress below)

• Sydonian Dragoon: This variation of non-flammable chicken-walker gets a Taser Lance, which guarantees that charges will go his way, and buying the Phosphor Serpenta will ensure that whatever you hit will be erased. In most cases, however, you can trust on any Sicarians you bring to wipe out stuff in combat and thus are free for the Radium Jezzail, which can ensure the pain even if you don't snipe their asses.

• Ironstrider Ballistarii: If you really need to get a weapons platform and are planning to grab the Dragoon, take this instead. Sure, you don't have the power of Radium sniping, but you get Cognis autocannons or lascannons (though you won't be using these in most cases for price, if not for need) instead, which make for some good firing instead.