Games Workshop has revealed more information on Warhammer 40k 10th Edition. Specifically, the tabletop publisher has put the spotlight on one of the many armies within their grimdark sci-fi miniatures universe. Fans have gotten a glimpse at the heretical Chaos Space Marines, the armored legions of the Imperial Guard, and the bloodthirsty mania of the World Eaters. Now, the tech priests will be getting some touch-ups. This is the preview for the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Adeptus Mechanicus army.
The Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Adeptus Mechanicus preview
In an official Warhammer-Community post, Games Workshop went into detail with changes coming to the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Adeptus Mechanicus. First, the central appeal of the tech priests of the Imperium is still intact. You'll still be commanding mechanical marvels and buffeting enemies your enemies with overwhelming storms of bullets. Their new army rule, Doctrina Imperatives, leans into this. At the start of a round, you can pick one of two imperatives. Protector Imperative gives ranged weapons the Heavy ability to certain units and worsens enemy Armor Penetration. Conqueror Imperative gives ranged weapons the Assault ability and improves the Armor Penetration of one of your units. Your chosen effect lasts until the end of the battle round.
The preview also highlights the new Rad-Cohorts Detachment. This detachment has two unique rules that revolve around radioactive bombardment. The first rule is Bombardment, which activates at the start of the first battle round. Each unit in the enemy's deployment zone has to choose whether to stay firm or take cover. If they take cover, they are Battle-shocked. If they stand firm, a dice roll happens and mortal wounds are inflicted. The second rule is Fallout, which activates on the second, third, fourth, and fifth rounds, where additional damage dice are rolled for enemies still within those deployment zones. If you want to deny your enemy backline objectives, this is one way of doing it.
As for unit highlights, the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Adeptus Mechanicus have some surprises as well. Battleline squads can take twice as many Skitarii Vanguard and Rangers as other units in your army. Furthermore, various units have abilities that improve when near Battleline units, An example given is the Sicarian Rustwalkers Optimized Gait, which adds bonuses to Advance and Charge rolls. The named unit Belisarius Cawl has also received some improvements with his three different Aura abilities. Invocation of Machine Vengeance allows friendly units to re-roll any 1s on an attack roll. Mantra of Discipline lets friendly units in range to re-roll Battle-shock and Leadership tests. Finally, Shroudpalm gives nearby units Stealth.
Finally, the preview ends with a look at new Stratagems. Aggressor Imperative lets your units get into the thick of it faster, allowing them to declare a charge even after advancing during a turn. The catch is that this Stratagem can only be enabled while Conqueror Imperative is active. Alternatively, Bulwark Imperative can be activated during the enemy's shooting phase, letting you give all targets a 4+ invulnerable save for the exchange. The downside is this Stratagem can only be used while Protector Imperative is active.
