Well it’s been a while between posts, but it’s time for a recap of my first 30k tournament using my Legio Cybernetica Mechanicum army.
So, as per my last update, I was furiously painting away the week before Outpost 6030’s Skulls XIV tournament. And after a last minute list change it got even more chaotic as I was left with having to paint a Forgeworld Avenger Strike Fighter the night before the event…
The list…updated…
I had to drop the Imperial Knight at the eleventh hour, tough break as I had nothing to really replace it with and no time to build anything. Luckily I had and Avenger Strike Fighter already primed and ready to be painted for my Imperial Guard army which I requisitioned into service for the Mechanicum’s Legio Cybernetica. A quick switch around and throwing some upgrades on some units and adding in a few more models I was left with a fairly substantial pile of painting and only 4 days left to finish it!
One thing I will say is that the Enhanced Targeting Arrays are a must for any Mechanicum unit with ranged firepower! +1 Ballistic Skill and -1 Cover Save is fantastic. Using this with the Thanatar Seige-Automata’s Helix pattern plasma mortar is brutal against just about any infantry or light vehicle.
The tournament
If theirs one way to learn a new army it’s by entering a tournament. The first game against Sam (a great opponent who was upbeat and kept the game fun despite numerous stops and rules checking) went well and I managed to pull out a win which was a little surprising. his Ultramarines list had a unit of three Thudd Guns which I found were brutal against my Thallax and his Fire Raptor was a real pain in the rear. Game highlight would have to be my unit of three Castellax ripping through a 10 man Legion Tactical Sqaud before almost killing his Preator in close combat.
Cybertheurgy is fantastic when it works! Casting Rite of Destruction on a Thanatar and getting it’s Plasma Mortar to fire twice can be brutal against certain armies. In fact in game three against a Dark Angels (using the crusade list) it managed to kill 17 marines in one round of shooting! Use it wisely though, not having the model not fire again in the following shooting phase can be loss. Casting Rite of Eternity to gain wounds back is also very handy and I managed to get this off a few times to keep my Thanatar alive.
With the Mechanicum’s Legio Cybernetica’s boost of the range of the Cortex Controller and Cybertheurgy from 12″ to 24″ it really allows you to move units around without being subject to Programmed Behavior rules, allowing for a much greater tactical flexibility. The Vorax really get to benefit from this.
I managed to finish with two wins and two losses and finished third overall out of 6 players, not bad at all really, I wasn’t expecting to win anything.
Playing the Mechanicum army on the table top and in a tournament setting I plays very differently to any 40K army I’ve played before. I’d say it feels like a cross between an Imperial Guard army and a Tau army. The high Toughness values of it’s monstrous creatures is a blessing for the army, however it’s relatively poor armour saves on the units up front can hurt it.
The future
Moving forward and rewriting the list after the tournament I’d definitely like to add in another Thanatar, their just so good. I’d also like to add in more Castellax units, the Dark Fire Cannons are very handy at ripping through armoured units and the standard units are just so tough to kill as they move forward across the table. The Thallax unit’s that I used were handy but a little on the smaller side, deep striking them works really well and adding in a Multi Melta or a Phased plasma-fusil will greatly add to their usefulness.
I’d like to bump the list up to a solid 2500-3000pts in total. Adsecularis Covenant Tech Thrall units for more Objective Secured in the army. More Vorax for their sheer maneuverability and massed shooting that they can put out.
The one thing it does need is more armoured vehicles, I really like the look of the Krios Venator along with the Triaros Armoured Conveyer too. Either should give the army some ranged firepower and a solid troop carrier too. Just too many options…
So, with that army and tournament out of the way (for now) it was time to focus on my Objective Secured 40k Masters list…and that was an even crazier decision by me to build and paint an army in less than two weeks…
Also, Massaen’s done a fantastic job on the Objective Secured scoring app. I had the pleasure of testing the Beta version at this tournament and it really does help keep track of scores during a game and totaling up after the round ends. Another handy feature is the turn timer, no one can slow play when the clock is running!
