Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Adeptus Mechanicus (section)

===={{W40Kkeyword|Cult Mechanicus}}====
*'''Cybernetica Datasmith''': The herder for your robots. Quite competent as a fighter in its own right, with a Terminator stat line, complete with a 2+/5++ and a power fist, as well as a pretty scary pistol that can reliably one-shot Primaris marines - but its main purpose is to tend to your Kastelans and provide an extra relic and/or WL caddy for your patrols/battalion.
**Keep in mind that the protocol change takes place on your next turn ''after'' you've declared it. Consider what you're up against and structure your game plan accordingly - since your opponent knows what you're up to a turn in advance, you'll have to play the rest of your army around your Kastelans to get the most use out of them.
**You can use the 1CP stratagem '''Binharic Override'' to change the active protocol for a unit immediately and lock your robots into that protocol for the rest of the game, but Command Points are generally worth far more than the Datasmith's measly 45 points.
**Your Datasmith can carry a WL trait without using an HQ slot - if you want to save CP in ninth.
**Don't miss the fact that it's got 6" Move to the bots' 8".
**Generally speaking, it'll make back its cost in points if you've changed Protocols at least once with it. If you also manage to get it in melee and take some wounds off something, you've already got more than what you paid for.
**As of the 9E codex, these guys become even more vital to your bots. Not only do they not take up an elite slot if taken with some Kastelans, they also can exclusively repair them and have a 3" aura that grants them the {{W40kKeyword|Core}} keyword. While you won't be expecting much from any WTs that can buff them, there are plenty of stratagems that suddenly open up just by keeping this cyborg nearby. It also counts as a {{W40kKeyword|Doctrina Assembler}}, meaning that it can pull double duty and keep an eye on some skitarii as well.
*'''Tech-Priest Enginseer (Astra Militarum)''':What's this? Two Enginseers? Well the thing is the Guard Version of the Enginseer also has the keywords Cult Mechanicus and Forge world, same as your codex Enginseer. They lack adeptus mechanicus keyword instead haveing the Astra Millitarum of course, but RAW: so long as every unit in your detachment has either Cult Mechanicus Or the forge world keyword (And every unit has that last one) then: yes you can take the gaurd uof the Enginseer since the whole detachment share's a faction keyword.* There are some quirks to this however, namely since the keyword used to give your army Objective Secured is Adeptus Mechanicus, if you put a Astra militarum Engineseer in, your detachment will lack Objective secured, see next paragraph.  So with the legalese of why you can take the Guard Version of the Enginseer, why would you want to? At a full 20 points cheaper then normal Engineseers they have, worse gun, worse bionic save, can't take holy orders and, the death blow, can't benfit from Canticles of the Omnissiah and prevent the whole army from benfiting from them since they lack Cult Mechanicus. What they do have to make up for it is that they have a more expansive list of target vehicles they can repair, a list that includes Forge world vehicles, Astra Miltarium, or '''Questor Mechanicus''' Knights. Normal enginseers can only repair forge world vehicles. As such these guys have a clear use case: only take them if your all ready planning to ally with guard or an Imperial Knight formation beyond just a single Free Blade and as such would lose canticles anyway. In fact since the Engineseer would make you lose Objective secured there better for small Admech Forces allied to larger detachment's of Knights or guardsmen as a way to get extra repairs in and also squeezing in a few Admech support unit into the detachment, knights in particular would like this since they can give repairs and a few supporting options. If on the other hand you have a primary admech force, you'll have to keep them in there own Detachment separate from main 'bulk' of your admech army, and in that case you'll need at least 3 detachments for this to make sense, your primary admech, the Astra Admech and the guard or knights, which can be prohibitive in CP and number of detachments you can even take. Bottom line:  losing access to Canticles make them a hard pass in an admech army, but if you want to put a small admech force to support a larger Knight or Guard Detachment, espically knight's since they don't have access to repair's natively the way guard can, then they might be considered as option.
**This logic also extends to guard servitors as well, but since there objectivly worse then your own were not even going to dignify them with a unit entry.

*'''Electro-Priests:''' The blue man group fit within an interesting niche in that they're utterly flimsy with only T3, but then they have a 6+/5++/5+++. Their shining point is that they're able to dump mortal wounds at close range on the charge. Of course, the issue is actually getting them there because they're just people.
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*'''Corpuscarii Electro-Priests''': Same cost as Fulgurites and not as killy in close combat (they can only put out mortal wounds with their Voltagheist Field charge, which inflicts a mortal wound on a 6+ for each model in ''one'' unit charged). They also can't buff their V-field, which means they'll be stuck with a 6+/5++/5+++. However, their Electrostatic Gauntlets deserve a special mention. They have two profiles, either Melee 2 WS4+ or 12" Assault 3 BS3+, but both are a flat S5 AP-1 D1, with any nat 6 causing '''3 hits instead of 1'''. Congrats, you functionally have taser goads at 12" range ''and'' melee. Sure, they're ugly models, but that's an awful lot of firepower from 5 little guys.
**As expensive as it is. A squad of 20 will put out 60 dice rolls. It would take three Leman Russ Punishers with one upgraded for three Heavy Bolters to exceed it. With that much firepower your likely to kill or heavily wound anything short of a Super Heavy.
**Can't benefit from the {{W40Kkeyword|Lucius}} or {{W40Kkeyword|graia}} dogma or Shroudpsalm at all, but a great choice for tactical reserves.
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*'''Fulgurite Electro-Priests''': Get them in close combat and they'll dump Mortal Wounds on people. Of course, getting them to close combat is the trick. If you footslog them, they will die. Fulgurites are ideal if you're running Movement stratagems and transports. Always field these guys in squads of 10 or bigger. At just 2 attacks per model, they simply do not attack often enough to really take advantage of the mortal wounds you can get off the staves unless you attack with enough models, and you NEED them to kill something in close combat as quickly as possible to get that sweet, sweet 4++ save. Still, the Voltagheist field is nice for some pre-combat mortal wounds if you charged, and with Fanatical Devotion, you ignore any wounds taken on a 5 or 6, which is nice.
**Despite the desire for large units of these guys, and the steep cost to deep strike many units of them remember, pulling off a deep strike charge is only feasible when you maximize how many attempts you're making.  Don't field just one unit and expect it to make that critically important charge roll - field at ''least'' '''three''' per thing you want charged, so you can get your odds of at least one getting the charge off to above 50% (in this case, 62.33%). (As of engine war if your deepstriking your Lucius and you can always solar flare a character forward to get them in range of a reroll charges aura from amongst the new warlord traits (with +1 to charge on a manipulus). This potentially makes them viable again.
**9th hits these hard - they need to be in big enough units to get that critical unit kill, but then they become vulnerable to blast weapons (against which their saves mean fuck all).
**The big problem with these is that while they are superb after killing a unit they are weak if they haven't, so they ''need'' to wipe an enemy unit on the turn they get into combat or risk getting wiped when they hit back. Use transports or strats to get them close to a weakened unit before you charge them.
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*'''Servitors''': Your cheapest unit, often a point filler and objective sitter. A poor ranged unit equipped with free melee weapons. While a unit of 4 servitors are 30 points with free servo arms; there ''are'' worse melee units for the cost. Also helping matters is that they won't take up a slot when taken alongside a Tech-Priest of any kind - Expect to spam this mercilessly considering how a dominus and manipulus can already grab a technoarchaeologist or enginseer without taking an HQ slot or how Datasmiths can be taken with Kastelans.
**These guys are stupidly cheap infantry and as such can perform actions without any waste to yourself. They wont stay alive if shot at, but they will waste a unit's shooting if they want to get rid of them, so its a win/win.
**If you would take a Plasma Cannon unit for 42 points, take Plasma Culverin Vanguards for 55 points to do the same job, better (for a single unit with one plasma weapon).
**If you would take 2x Multimeltas in a unit for 60 points, there admittedly isn't a better ''infantry'' option in-faction for the same role, but Onagers will do the same job, better.
*** With the buff to meltas (half range is damage D6+2), and "strategic reserves" being based on PL cost, two units of servitors with meltas and a tech-priest, dropping 9" away on turn 2/3 would put out 8 melta shots, hitting on 4s in their buffed profile. For extra lolz, make sure you are in the reroll 1s canticle, have that tech-priest be Dr. D, who then could put a +1 to hit on the thing you want melta'd, so you are hitting on 3s rerolling 1s. For best results, shoot a thing that has T7 or so, no invulnerable save: average 4d6+8 damage!