Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Skitarii

Why Play Skitarii

Revealing their hand in white dwarf, the Mechanicum are getting a presence in core 40k in the form of the Skitarii (or "Tech Guard" for those of you not in the know). This is NOT the same as the Horus Heresy Mechanicum army or units. Though if Forge World have half a brain they'll start finding ways to add their 30k units into the 40k army in an upcoming Imperial Armour book.

But for just now all we've got to run with is a few units until more information comes to light. Apparently, 5 new kits are in the works for the Skitarii (source: Local GW manager) and the book is likely to be a new army release rather than a supplement a la Harlequins.

Reasons for playing Skitarii

• You've wanted Mechanicum units in 40k for a long time
• From appearances, every unit has Relentless so no static gun lines for you
• Funky-ass wargear that can't be found anywhere else
• They look to be a middle ground between Astra Militarum and Astartes in terms of individual power level, on par with the Sisters of Battle, while getting better support.
• Lots of Precision Shot going around. Fuck their characters.

Skitarii Special Rules

Special Rules

• Doctrina Imperatives - ?
• Could be a form of Imperial Synapse, or maybe even a form of orders,but it appears that Infantry have this rule standard.

Skitarii Wargear

Melee Weapons

• Arc Maul - A Haywire power maul.
• Taser Goad/Lance - A cool tesla-type S+2 melee weapon that causes two extra wounds for every 6 you roll to hit. The Lance version has a higher strength of +3 when charging and also doubles the initiative of the user (generally to six). Unfortunately neither version has any AP to speak of, though get enough of them together and you can overwhelm enemies with lots of hits.
• Power Sword - The same old weapon seen throughout 40k. S: User AP3. Good for taking out MEQ, but your guys are S3. You wound them on 5s. However, This can be offset slightly if you give it to a Vanguard Alpha, which thanks to the -1 toughness penalty against enemies in Close combat, can give you a better chance at taking out power armored foes.

Ranged Weapons

• Arc Weapons - Haywire weapons; come in pistol or rapid fire format for your pleasure. Also has a nice S6 if you don't want to shoot at vehicles for some reason, though it's AP value is crap.
• Flechette Blaster - Pistol available on the Rustwalker. It's got piss-poor strength at S2, but fires 5 shots with shred.
• Cognis Weapons - A regular Autocannon or Lascannon, but with the ability to make snapshot attacks at BS2.
• Galvanic Rifle - the "Basic" Skitarii Ranger weapon is pretty good. 30" range rapid fire weapon with S4 AP4 and precision shots. Not bad at all when you compare it to the basic weapon of nearly every other Faction in the game. It also means a gun line of Skitarii can easily trade blows with a Fire Warrior gun line and happily come out on top.
• Phosphor Weapons - Imagine firing a Tracer round from a Heavy Bolter and this is what you'll get. The same strength and AP, but only single shot. Any wounds or hull points caused on a target will light them up like a christmas tree and reduce their cover save for the rest of the turn. Also makes them easier to charge at.
  • Phosphor Blast Pistol - Pistol format phosphor weapon
  • Phosphor Serpenta - 18" Assault 1, essentially your squad's markerlight when you want to follow up the attack with more shooting and probably a charge later.
• Radium Weapons - Cancer guns, have a low strength of 3 as basic, but a to-wound of 6 causes two (instead of one) auto-wounds which must be saved separately.
  • Radium Pistol - It's a pistol
  • Radium Carbine - 18" range and Assault 3, meaning lots of hits at short-mid range with the potential of cascading effect when they start causing additional wounds later. The basic weapon of the Skitarii Vanguard.
  • Radium Jezzail - possibly a nod to the Skaven warp weapons, particularly in appearance. It's a two shot sniper version as a weapon choice for the Dragoon, in place of its Taser Lance, for free. 6's cause two AP2 hits which we will remind you, YOU get to allocate.
• Plasma Caliver - An 18" range, 3-shot assault plasma gun. It still gets hot because the mechanicum haven't figured out plasma like the Tau or Eldar have.
• Transuranic Arquebus - An Armourbane sniper rifle, now remember that Sniper weapons are S4 against vehicles, so Armourbane can only reliably glance AV11, so you're better off using Arc Weapons with Haywire to chase after Land Raiders with. On the other hand, it's great for opening transports and it has a ludicrous 60" range, so with enough of them you can bust open that METAL BAWKS and force those Mary Sues to foot slog the rest of the game.

Special Issue Wargear & Armour

• Skitarii Warplate - It's Carapace Armour with a different name.
• Refractor Field - 5+ invulnerable, you've seen these before
• Conversion Field - Like the Dark Angels get, a 4+ invulnerable that goes off like a flash grenade when hit. Friendly units can re-roll the blind test. So, it's awesome because it's a 10 point reliable Invuln save, but it's a crapshoot as to who will get the brunt of the blind effect though.
• Omnispex - Like an Auspex, but made Omni, though it still does the job of reducing cover saves on target units. The owning model does not have to forgo his own ranged attack to get the benefit. Jury's deliberating if it stacks with the Luminagen effect.
• Enhanced Data Tether - Whenever the unit is affected by Doctrina Imperatives they add +1 Ld, starting next turn. Does not stack with Broad Spectrum Data Tether.
• Broad Spectrum Data Tether - Whenever a friendly Skitarii unit is within 6" of a model affected by Doctrina Imperatives they add +1 Ld, until next turn. Does not stack with Enhanced Data Tether.
• Digital Weapons - Re-roll one failed To-Wound in Assault.

Unit Analysis

Troops

• Skitarii Rangers - They have similar stat-lines to Tempestus Scions and have Move-Through-Cover, but also with Feel No Pain (6+) and Relentless which seems standard for Skitarii units. So they have comfortable staying power and decent move-and-shoot mobility. Since they all have Galvanic Rifles as standard, expect lots of precision hits over time, so they're excellent at removing troublesome characters or special weapon troopers from enemy units.
• This unit can also take up to 2 special weapons (3 if the squad is maxxed out), however the best option is the transuranic arquebus. Exceptional for removing MEQs from the board reliably, and as mentioned above, has a ridiculously long range and an anti-transport option but rather expensive. Also an omnispex to deny cover-campers some of their trolling isn't a bad idea.

• Skitarii Vanguard - Your "basic" unit. Cheaper than Rangers at 9 points a model for something almost straight out of Fallout. They are similar to Rangers in statline but get a Radium Carbine instead of a Galvanic Rifle, so they trade reliable longer ranged hits for the chance of additional ones at short range. Additionally as a short ranged unit, since they are so saturated with radiation, anyone engaged in melee with them reduces their Toughness by one.
• Same options for special weapons as above, and they really should take some. Take Plasma Cavaliers if you want to vaporise MEQs and TEQs, and have balls-loads of points to spare. Is your opponent packing a Land Raider or a Monolith? No problem, Arc rifles will make toast out of them for half the price of a Cavalier each. Phospher blast pistol and Omnispex are a recommended combo for some Tau shenanigans

Fast Attack

• Sydonian Dragoons - Cross Imperial Guard Sentinels with Bretonnian knights and you get this. They come in squads of 1-6 and they are terrifyingly fast, open topped walkers with a Taser Lance designed for charging at people. It gets the "Dunestrider" rule which adds 3" to any move, run or charge it makes, in addition to having the Crusader special rule. It's also protected by it's cloud of incense, so gains a 5+ cover save while in the open, which benefits them as assaulters. The basic Dragoon has no ranged attack, but can replace its Lance with a Radium Jezzail (the sniper one) if you want them flanking up the side of the battlefield rather than charging things. But if you still want them charging, either version can purchase Phosphor Serpentas, which can practically guarantee the charge if you manage to score a wound with them.
  • Be advised, that as melee attackers, they each have S8, I6, A4 on the charge, but with no AP to speak of. They "might" be able to poke apart a Land Raider if you had a full squad of six and were lucky at rolling sixes to penetrate armour. Don't be disheartened though, that's not what Dragoons are for. With that speed they are perfect for flanking attacks and catching enemy light units or stationary artillery in the back-field.

Heavy Support

• Ironstrider Ballistarii - If you were thinking about using Dragoons for shooting, you might want to consider this as a superior alternative. They come with Twin-Linked Cognis Autocannons and the Precision Shots rule instead. You may replace the Autocannons with Cognis Lascannons if you want to go tank or TEQ hunting. Ballistarii are still blisteringly fast with Dunestrider and Crusader, but they don't have the incense cloud to protect them, so keep them at arms length from your opponent, preferably obscured behind their own cover.
  • In a pinch these could be used as fast moving Anti-Aircraft platforms. With Twin-Linked Cognis weapons at BS2, they have a ~55% chance of landing a hit on an enemy flyer, which is better than anything with BS3 & Skyfire, and since you get Lascannons a single hit is far more likely to down a vehicle in one shot than the Autocannons or Flakk Missiles you'll find everywhere else. This also leads to very accurate overwatch, but how the fuck did you let the enemy get that close to you?

Tactics

• This army seems focussed on foot-slogging infantry supported by walkers. Therefore, you should be packing some units of Dragoons and Ballistarus to create a fast flanking force which can charge artillery and weak mid and backfield units, or pop open transports and tanks respectively. Rangers are a strong ranged sniper unit, and could be well suited to weakening incoming enemy squads with Precision shots, allowing the Vanguard to move foward and annihilate them up close without worrying about special weapons. Vanguard should move ahead of the Rangers, protecting the Rangers from assault, and Rangers providing covering fire while the vanguard run their mechanical legs close enough to the enemy to blast them. Obviously, Rangers should be in cover, Vanguard should be constantly be vigilant for Deepstrikers and Outflankers.