I’ve taken the acolytes of the Adeptus Mechanicus to 2 RTT-level events and 1 GT-level event, so I feel I’m qualified to say (with my 3-0 Day 1 performance into double Death Guard) the faction is fine, at the moment. Critically, it is moreso that Admech is difficult, perhaps the most difficult it has been for a dedicated pilot in 10th edition so far, because a shocking degree of the book is good enough right now to push players to vary their lists. If you want to run a stock Hunter Cohort list, go right ahead, but lurking just below the apex of the army is a slew of opportunities, from Kastelans to Electro-Priests, just waiting for their time in the sun. Admech feels bad right now because it is hard to play, certainly, but I would argue it is largely down to the overcentralization of the meta around three armies, only one of which we have any real sort of game into. Let’s use this augmented army as a jumping-off point to talk about that, in the context of the incoming Balance Data Slate.
Via Pintrest
First and foremost, yes there have been leaks surrounding the various changes being considered behind the scenes for the September slate, and broadly I think they’ll do a fine job. Currently word upon the wind has Cawl, the Skatros, and Dominus each going down by 5pts, with no other changes to the army—for those hoping to see Admech at top tables consistently, this isn’t really what you wanted to see. Still, those changes shave off another 10pts for Data-Psalm, so I’d be happy nonetheless.
The other big news is the fact that, yes, we’re in what is effectively a 2-army meta right now. Between Death Guard and The Knights, lumped together for convenience, this is a high-lethality time to be playing Warhammer 40k, and only lists which can pass the stat check of 4-6 big Knights are remotely playable. Worse still, if those stat checks die to Damage 3 (such as our beloved Kataphron Breachers), you need to tilt severely to respect your Death Guard matchup. Of the armies in the entire game, few meet both of these criteria, meaning we’re mostly seeing a few stray skew lists amidst a field of Death Guard and Knights.
Via Imgur
I’ll have the moderate opinion and say that I don’t think anything in Death Guard’s book is beyond saving with some point fixes; we’ve seen things like +20pts on both Drones & Deathshroud, and +15 for PBCs, and I think that would be about what I’d ask for. The 6” Deep Strike provided to Deathshroud seems unreasonable, especially for an army not known for its mobility, but aside from Mortarion’s Hammer as a detachment, you do need to get up close to turn the rule on. What makes less sense for DG is the fact you can take a brick with a Leader for ~250pts. This has meant hull-spam Mortarion’s Hammer with maxed Deathshroud both cannot be contested in midboard, due to the prevalence of Drones & Blight Haulers, but also you can’t stay back for fear of being tagged with a PBC and chunked down by Lance Deathshroud. It’s that catch-22, that you can do 3 times with fairly reasonable point thresholds, which bothers people.
Via Reddit
Knights on the other hand just strike me as an error in math, because frankly I have no idea how they arrived at ~30pt cuts for every big Knight of note. Certainly, Knights losing a point of Toughness is significant, and makes them far weaker to exactly Lascannons…but not every army takes Lascannon profiles, nor should they need to. This nerf was buoyed by additional Wounds as well, and alongside Rotate Ion Shields you can shrug half of the already-dicey D6+3 damage shots for a single CP, for the entire Shooting Phase. You can’t focus Knights down easily, you can’t really clog them up in melee, and their offensive profiles don’t degrade such that if you threaten multiple at a given time they’re able to be worn down effectively.
Then, there’s the Atrapos. I believe I speak for nearly everyone when I say this Forge World monstrosity should never have seen the light of day. The model is the tallest we’ve seen played in years, meaning it has the delightful quirk of being able to see down into Ruins, behind walls, and shoot at units tucked inside. When staging doesn’t work against Knights, something is seriously wrong.
Via Flickr
Fixing Knights will take perhaps just a smidge more than just points, although that’s a way to start the conversation. I’d begin by simply reverting their points to pre-codex/index, and go from there; if we see the exchange of Toughness for 3 Wounds as fundamentally a sidegrade (which it is), there’s not a single reason for these models to make room for another 2 Armiger chassis in their lists. Big Knight lists should be capped at 5 bigs, or 4 plus a few Armigers, and any of the Atrapos/Lancer chassis need to be severely hiked. Beyond that, Imperial Knights ought to lose their scaling Feel No Pain, and I’d even go as far to say Rotate Ion Shields should be modified to resemble Armor of Contempt—for one attack sequence, not the phase.
These changes would go a long way to helping halt the real issue with Knights being good: Their effect on list construction. The opportunity cost in 40k to include additional Anti-Tank compared to Anti-Horde is always going to be greater, because critically, those weapons are scaled to be higher cost in terms of points. Shooting down with your Las Cannon doesn’t feel amazing, but it will kill things; conversely, shooting up with your brick of Infernus Marines will do diddly squat into even an Armiger.
Via Warzone Studio
Back to Admech though, what have I been playing in this field? It might surprise you, but I’ve seen a shocking amount of success, pun intended, with Data-Psalm Conclave. Taking a list full of multiple minimum-size units of Battleclade, Electro-Priests, and Breachers has done quite well for me, and specifically Fulgurite profiles match up extremely well into Death Guard. In tournament games, I have not dropped a game to Death Guard—not even the literal Tacoma-winning list, piloted by a player I know has the skill to use it. I am, unfortunately, one of few people on planet Earth with the requisite Priests & Clade to actually play the list I’m on, but it’s a start! Selfishly, I’d kill to see some buffs to the Cult Mechanicus models, and because the majority of players have not seen success with DPC, there’s a very real chance we get it.
To have that degree of success though, I’ve met with a gruesome fate, with a fully 0% win rate into Imperial Knights in tournament games (and 66% into Chaos Knights). As I’ve stated, I’ve largely eschewed paying the opportunity cost for Anti-Tank, running a meager 2x3 Breachers and 2x1 Disintegrators. In a meta without Knights, that would be fine, but we don’t live there just yet.
Via Bell of Lost Souls
Even in perhaps the most centralized metagame we’ve had so far in 10th Edition, I’ve still had a blast in tournaments though! Getting well and truly back into competitive 40k, with such a wonky list, gets my blood pumping like nothing else; the prospect of even shaving an extra 10pts off of this list with the leaked changes to Admech already has my brain buzzing. Still though, I feel Admech will be in a fine spot once the dust settles, albeit no easier of an army to pilot…this is the curse it bears, to be expensive in terms of mental room allocated, and US Dollars.
We’ve got 2ish weeks until it’s time for the Slate, so what are you hoping gets changed? Have you had fun playing against Death Guard & Knights? What in Admech needs a buff? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
