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. (It's Forgeworld, they have half a brain, sadly the other half belongs to GW. So fingers crossed.)

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. There's been word that it'll be between the Tempestus codex and a full codex in size (source: another GW manager).

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.
• Rerollable BS2 snap shots on walkers. Hells yeah.
• Rerollable BS4 snap shots on the Warlord's squad. Holy motherfucker.
• Everything has Scout and Crusader USR. EVERYTHING.

Skitarii Special Rules

Special Rules

• Doctrina Imperatives

There are a total of 6 Doctrines. At the beginning of each of your (the Skitarii player's) movement phases you may select any one of them (one use only) to increase either the BS or WS of the entire Skitarii army, though this is sometimes at the expense of the other stat. They are split into Conqueror Imperatives (Which boost WS) and Protector Imperatives (Which boost BS)

• • Hazard Optimization (Gamma) - +1 BS
  • Mindstate Secutor (Gamma) - +1 WS
  • Gundrill Symbiosis (Beta) - +2 BS / -1 WS
  • Technomartyr Concords (Beta) - +2 WS / -1 BS
  • Binharic Omniscience (Alpha) - +3 BS / -2 WS
  • Hyperaction Protocols (Alpha)+3 WS / -2 BS

• Dunestrider

Units with this rule add 3" to movement in the Movement Phase, charges, and Run moves.

• Crawler

Units with this rule are not slowed by Difficult Terrain, and automatically pass all Dangerous Terrain tests.

Warlord Traits

1. Reinforced Exoskeleton - Grants the Warlord Eternal Warrior.
2. Artificer Armament - One of the Warlord's weapons becomes Master-Crafted. This can't be applied to Relics.
3. Masterwork Bionics - Reroll failed Feel No Pain rolls.
4. Incense Generatorium - The Warlord and his unit get Shrouded.
5. Disciple of the Omnissiah - The Warlord and all friendly Skitarii within 12" reroll failed Morale checks, Pinning tests, and Fear tests.
6. Emotionless Clarity - The Warlord and his unit fire Overwatch at BS4. This does not stack with Doctrina Imperatives.

It should be noted that only Skitarii Ranger Alphas and Vanguard Alphas get to roll D6 for traits. Sicarians only roll D3.

Skitarii Maniple Detachment

Like many of the new 7E codexes, the Skitarii have their own detachment with special rules. In particular, the Maniple is akin to the Harlequins and their Masque detachment, which also lacks an HQ. Unlike the Masque, however, you're not stuck with a whole bunch of taxes.

2 Compulsory Troops choices are what you need to start with, leaving you with 6 optional Troops, 2 Fast Attack, 4 Elites & 4 Heavy.

The command benefits are pretty sweet: Your warlord gets the customary re-roll on the Skitarii Warlord table, but ALSO gets Preferred Enemy to boot.

Additionally, all models in the detachment get Crusader and Scout for free. Though under the condition that you cannot Outflank these scouting models, though if a model could Outflank via other means (like having Infiltrate), then that's acceptable.

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 hits 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. The sword comes as the Infiltrators basic weapon and are S4.
• Transonic Knife/Blade The crazy sonic resonance weapons found on Ruststalkers. Both are AP 5 (Blade is +1 S), tying in with the rubbish AP on most skitarii melee weapons. However, both come with the Transonic rule; They wound automatically on any roll of a 6 to hit in the first round of combat, and become AP2 for every 6 rolled to wound. In all subsequent rounds after the first,they become AP 2 and still auto-wound on 6s to hit. Awesome.
• Chord Claw - Also standard on Ruststalkers, this is identical in stats to a Transonic knife, but has the Molecular Dissonance rule. This means that when a model attacks with a Chord Claw, it rolls a separate attack with Fleshbane.

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.
• Stubcarbine - Basic weapon found on Infiltrators. S4 and no AP is pretty crap, only real selling point is assault 3
• Flechette Blaster - Pistol available on the Infiltrators paired with a Taser Goad. 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.
• Mindscrambler Grenades - Stock on Ruststalkers, they're AP4 Haywire Grenades that always wound on a 4+ (They become S3 when assaulting vehicles). This isn't poisoned, so you can screw with people with that.
• 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. To Wound 6's cause two AP2 wounds which we will remind you, YOU get to allocate (IF you hit those shots with 6's). Basically, if you're going to be taking these on Dragoons, you will have to commit to it - as in they're all gonna be sniping. By and by, pretty good for close range heavy infantry/monstrous creature sniping.
• 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. Not to mention, anything that uses this gun has Relentless, so just walk sideways and get yourself a nice peek at some side armour if you're that worried.
• Icarus Array - A fucking awesome anti-air platform that goes on your Onager Dunecrawler. Everything is Heavy (so you can move), 48" range, and Skyfire.
  • Daedalus Missile Launcher - S7 AP2 Heavy 1. It's a particularly badass Flakk missile.
  • Gatling Rocket Launcher - S6 AP4 Heavy 5. Ignores Cover to boot - jink this, assholes! A machine gun with rockets. Fuck yeah.
  • Twin Icarus Autocannon - S7 AP4 Heavy 2 with Interceptor and Twin-linked.
• Eradication Beamer - It's an inverse Conversion Beamer. Yeah, I know, but it drops 5" templates rather than the usual 3". Appears to be the default weapon for the Dunecrawler. S10 AP1 up to 9", S8 AP3 between 9" and 18", S6 AP5 between 18" and 36".
• Neutron Laser - The Eradication Beamer without the bullshit. Very expensive, but 48" S10 AP1 3" Blast, with Concussive. Hell yes.

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. Do note that since no one got hit by a weapon with the Blind Special Rule, all units (including friendly) within D6 have to test like they were hit with one.
• 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.

Relics of Mars

• Phase Taser - It's a CCW with AP-. Sounds terrible, but an unsaved wound (yes, FNP and Reanimation Protocols can stop it) against it calls for an Initative test, which if failed causes Instant Death... Well it won't do shit against Spess Mehreens or Eldar , but maybe against Necrons or Tau , it could be rapetastic
• Relic Pistol - A phosphor pistol with AP2 and Poison (3+) that shoots three times. Combine with an Omnispex and some Plasma Calivers for cover-ignoring lulz.

Unit Analysis

HQ

Like the Harlequins, you don't have to take one. Thank the Omnissiah, because to make an effective one you'd wind up dumping several hundred points into wargear.

Fluffwise this is due to Skitarii being directed by Techpriests who have the good sense to send orders remotely from orbit instead of risking their necks on the ground. Interestingly these orders are seen as guidance from the Omnissiah.

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 Calivers 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 Caliver each. Phospher blast pistol and Omnispex are a recommended combo for some Tau shenanigans

Elite

• Sicarian Ruststalkers - Flighty little metal men with Trans-Sonic knives, Chordclaws and Mindscrambler Grenades, they benefit from both Dunestrider and Furious Charge, which add to make them a fast attack force. They're also very fragile with T3, even if they have 2 wounds each. They can exchange their weapons for two Trans-Sonic Blades for free, which can ensure more of a hurt, but at the cost of utility and the chance for ID, while the Princeps can gain an additional Chordclaw for the cost of a melta.

• Sicarian Infiltrators - The bastard children of Alpha-5 of the Power Rangers, if he were built by a bunch of xenophobic men in red robes. Their loadouts are less impressive than the Ruststalkers with Stubcarbines and Power Swords and they're more expensive, but they get better rules: Dunestrider, Infiltrate, and Stealth means that they'll certainly reach reliable cover where they need it. However, they can be equally handy as walls as they make enemies within 6" take -1 WS/BS/I/Ld, which can lock them in for at least a round, and replacing their guns with Taser Goads can make them irritating.

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 (with the ability to generate 2 extra S8 hits with 6's) 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?

• Onager Dunecrawler - The bastard child of a Deff Dread and Defiler, the Onager is a big ugly heavy weapons platform above all else. They have a neat ability in that they all have a 6++ save, which gets boosted by 1 up to a 4++ for every other Onager within 4". Kit it out with the Icarus anti-air array (which would still be decently effective against ground targets) for a 135pt anti-air rape machine, but be wary of spending the 45pts to upgrade to a Neutron Laser. As long as 3 are alive and close together, 3 AV12 walkers stomping towards you should survive well enough for the price.

Formations

• Ironstrider Cavaliers - 2 Units of Dragoons and 1 unit of Ballistarii. Units gain Acute Senses and Outflank. All must come in from reserves and come in together, but you start your roll on your first turn. Also they can trace line of sight and shoot through other units in this formation without giving a cover save for intervening models. Also at the start of the first game turn you nominate an enemy character, models in this Formation get to re-roll To Wound on that character and its unit.

• Sicarian Killclade - 3 units of Ruststalkers and 1 unit of Infiltrators. Makes the Infiltrators 6" -1 WS/BS/I/Ld into 12". Once per game you can run and charge (after the first turn) with the Ruststalkers in the formation.

Allies

Apparently the usual "Forces of the Imperium" rules. You know the drill, Battle Brothers with anything human, but hate everything else except Eldar.

Ally Blood Angels or Space Wolves for METAL BOXES for your METAL men... Things.

Honestly, Skitarii are the sort of army that is being taken as an ally, not taking allies. Make a cheap Battle Maniple detachment so you can get some Rangers or Vanguard, make good use of your primary detachment's transports... It's the one thing this army could really use.

Tactics

• Upon seeing all the rules, I conclude that this army is composed entirely of Walkers and Infantry . Good thing they have Move Through Cover. The Rangers are a ranged force, and benefit from advancing behind a wall of Vanguard, in cover. Vanguard will be running quite a bit to get into range, but with 3 plasma cavaliers, an Omnispex and a Reic Pistol, you have forged a serious amount of rape. Infiltrators seem to quite good at disabling and murdering units. With Dunestrider, Infiltrate, Steath, and that stat reducing skill,they can screw over a unit of your choice in your opponents force. Ruststalkers excel at destroying units in CC, but suffer from AP5 in the first round of combat, so beware! Will destroy termies if they survive the onslaught, whicch can be difficult. The Onagers appear to be your main source of anti-armor, be that flyers or tanks, what with their nasty weapons and magic "By our powers combined!" invuln save. Make a gunline of them, and pump out the dakka. The Ballistarii can hound light infantry or TEQs depending on your weapon choice and can be decent Anti Air in a pinch. The Dragoons could be a force in melee with their +3S Tesla hits and I6 on the charge, but don't underestimate a full squad of jezzails (made even more potent with the Ironstrider Cavaliers formation).

• The Battle Maniple has 1 optional Fortification available to it. An Aegis Defense Line with a Comms Relay seems like the best (and cheapest...70pts) choice, especially if you take the Ironstrider Cavaliers formation.