It is safe to say that the Adeptus Mechanicus have been doing pretty well on the tournament scene since the launch of their 9th Edition Codex.

So much so, that they got an extended mention in yesterday’s Metawatch over on Warhammer Community.

I’m part of an very active Adeptus Mechanicus Facebook group, and they have all been speculating when and what would change come the arrival of the FAQ, which landed today. I am by no means a super competitive player, but I could see from feedback online the the Ad Mech needing some balancing.

So what has changed? Has the nerf bat struck a home run, or will those who follow the Omnissiah be cackling in binary?

All Of The Vanguard

A staple in a competitive Mechanicus army since the Codex is at least one, full 20 man unit of Skitarii Vanguard, which, for the most part, was down to the Enriched Rounds stratagem.

Costing 1CP, this allowed a unit of Vanguard to auto-wound on a hit roll of 4+. A mentally powerful strat, and bar far probably the most used from the book.

Enriched Rounds has been hit twice. First of all, should the unit you wish to use this one have 11+ models, it would cost you 2CP. Furthermore, instead of auto-wounding on a 4+, it is now a 5+.

In my opinion, even with both of these changes, it is still a very good stratagem, and I for one will still be getting mileage out of it. The rate of fire on the Vanguard, in particular when use in conjunction with the Galvanic Field ability from the Tech-Priest Manipulus (which is now worded so you can only apply this to a unit not already affected by this ability) to gain extra range and -1AP, means you are still going to get a number of auto-wounds.

No Re-rolls for the Walkers

Another major change, which was expected, is the removal of the Core keyword from both the Ironstrider Ballistarii and Sydonian Dragoons. No more Core re-rolls unfortunately.

In particular the Ballistarii, these units are still worth taking. The changes to the weapons on both variants were great from the book launched.

Acquisition at Some Cost

Another powerful stratagem, in particular on those large blobs of Vanguard previously mentioned, was the Acquisition at Any Cost strat.

Costing 1CP, this allowed a Core unit to auto pass morale so long as they were within 6″ of an objective marker. It is now worded so that the unit must be wholly within 6″, and more importantly, can now only be used once.

It’s Not All Bad

The stratagem Galvanic Volley Fire has also changed. Previously this 2CP strat changed a unit of Skitarii Rangers to fire there Galvanic Rifles as if they were Rapid Fire 2 instead of Heavy 2.

This mainly allowed you to move your Rangers without fear of being slapped with a -1 to hit penalty for moving and firing a heavy weapon.

Now, for the same cost, it changes the weapon type to Heavy 3. Of course, this means you are getting that -1 to hit should you need to move, however the extra shot is tasty, plus the Adeptus Mechanicus have a few tricks up there sleeve to counter the negative to hit. I could be wrong when it comes to completing the maths, but I actually think this is a positive change.

Summary

All in all, I believe the FAQ goes some way to balance the army. Even though I loved the army (and that is pre-9th edition!) I can completely get the changes. I’m very happy Games Workshop didn’t hit the panic button and really punish the army.

It’ll be interesting to see in the upcoming weeks and months how the above changes reflect the rankings of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Were you happy with the changes? Let us know via social media!

Fancy watching the Adeptus Mechanicus face off against the Disciples of Be’lakor in a Narrative Battle Report? Make sure you check out our 40k stream from a couple of weeks ago!

Published by David Jennings

Born and raised in Crewe in Cheshire, Dave is a geek through and through. Enjoys designing and managing websites. View all posts by David Jennings