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

===={{W40Kkeyword|Skitarii}}====
*'''Secutarii <sup>Forge World</sup>''': The Titan Guard are Super-Skitarii, but with a downside. Their Secutarii special rule means they don't benefit from any {{W40Kkeyword|<Forge World>}} dogmas or stratagems. However, they don't keep the rest of your army from benefiting from the dogma if they are Battle-forged, though they can still enjoy Doctrinas. This introduces some unwelcome hurdles for using them. They don't benefit from the auras of Cawl or a Dominus since they both specify a {{W40Kkeyword|<Forge World>}} unit. [[What|This is because apparently, being assigned to guard Titans means you immediately lose all Forge World specific equipment and training, despite the fact that Titans are both drawn from specific Forge Worlds and the fact that the Codex specifically states that the Titan Guard is drawn from a Forge World's 1st Macroclade]]. In exchange, they gain the niche ability to heroically intervene any enemy within 6" that charges a friendly titan sharing the same {{W40Kkeyword|<Titan Legion>}} keyword.
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<tab name="Secutarii Peltasts">
*'''Secutarii Peltasts:''' Ad-mech Dark Reapers. 5++ makes them slightly sturdier than Vanguard. Their Galvanic Casters have 2 firing modes: 18" Assault 3 S4 AP0 D1 and 24" Heavy 1 S5 AP-2 D1, making them worse than Vanguard at killing almost everything in the game. Once per game they can give themselves -1 to be hit instead of shooting. Maybe not worth the cost of the models now, but multiple shenanigans ensue. Unlike other Skitarii the Alpha carries the special equipment and can't take both an EDT and a melee weapon. 
**Do not give the Alpha a pistol, ever. None of our pistols are worth giving up the ''free'' Galvanic Caster. Melee is not good for them at all.
**Their Blind Barrage can only be used to protect themselves, not a different unit as they could in previous editions. [[Fail|It's also shittier than the free Dogma you get from being Stygies VIII, which Peltasts can't use]].
***Generally, Peltasts are best left to fulfil a scouting and objective-sitting role. They perform quite well against most basic infantry targets regardless of their immediate circumstances, and their lack of {{W40Kkeyword|<Forge World>}} synergy means that they can be sent out independently without really missing out on any buffs.
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<tab name="Secutarii Hoplites>
*'''Secutarii Hoplites''': Budget Skitarii with budget TH/SS. These guys melt to massed low strength firepower but can hold their own against a charge from a knight gallant. They are very strong in melee especially when buffed with the omniscient mask. They are also very points efficient for what they do, so don't underestimate the shooting of a large blob of arc lances. At S6 AP-1 per shot, or melee S+3 (S6) AP-1 hits that both do 1 damage each or changes to D3 vs vehicles, hoplities are the perfect unit to tie up vehicles and even infantry in melee combat. Anything short of Terminators will fear a charge from Hoplites.
**S6 AP-1 D1d3 isn't going to scare many t7 vehicles, ''but'' those light vehicles you are good against are usually (land speeders, etc) absolute death to Admech troops. The other decent targets are things like Ogryn, Kataphron Destroyers, Grotesques, and the like. This makes hoplites decent because they come with decent durability to start but not as good offense as other choices. Kinda niche, but also much cheaper than our other elites.
**At only 1 pt more than Vanguard, these guys make for great cheap bodyguards. In addition to a flat 5++, they have a shield that gives them a 4++ against melee and reflects a mortal wound back on the attacking unit on any unmodified saving throw of 6 in CC. Arguably the best meatshields we have, especially against melee-focused infiltrators and other meatshields.
**Hoplites benefit massively from access to a Termite, and it provides them with the only guaranteed way to get into charge range without getting shot off the table.
**Put them into combat with vanguard to wound MEQs or lower on a 2+
**While they lack a '''<Forge World>''' keyword, Hoplites can still benefit from '''Acquisition at any Cost''', making them pretty good at contesting and holding mid-board objectives.
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*'''Sicarians:''' The spindly droids are a decent bit are a good bit more mobile than the electropriests. That said, they're a lot less shared between the two. Both of them have a 4+/5++ save and 3+ to both WS and BS as well as 2 wounds at T3. 
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<tab name="Sicarian Infiltrators">
*'''Sicarian Infiltrators''': The taser variant that used to destroy hordes has been weakened, the power sword variant that wrecked marines hasn't changed. They have even freer reign on starting positions than even the rangers. Their aura now deals a -1 to leadership within 3" as well as denying re-rolls to hit and to wound on any attacks made against them within 12", severely hampering the value of HQs they'll be fighting. Just remember to keep them in cover until you're ready to charge them because they still suffer from T3 and only a 4+.
**Flechette Blasters outperform Stubcarbines against T5 or less and T8 or higher, and while Stubcarbines will absolutely do better against T6 and T7, you're still attempting to scratch paint - against a Rhino, for example, a minimum unit shooting expects to deal 0.93 wounds with the Blasters and 1.11 wounds with the Stubcarbines. Flechette blasters with 50 shots make superb (if high variability) Wrath of Mars strat targets.
**In melee the Power Sword's increased AP relative to the Taser Goad mean that it will outperform it against the targets you'd expect it to; the taser goad was nerfed to only add hits on natural 6s, greatly weakening its combat effectiveness as the conqueror doctrina imperative no longer multiplies hits.
**Following Engine war this unit is in a bit of an odd place its most commonly fielded variant has become less efficient in CC while its existing rivals in the corpuscarii became more efficient. Equally, the new pteraxii are competing with it in terms of deepstrike firepower. While not out for the count, expect less of them.
**A notable thing to consider is their new capability to actually infiltrate, unlike before, meaning they can start anywhere on the board outside on 9" of the enemy's deployment zone. This is a massive boon as you can either hide these guys turn 1 out in the field to scan for octarius data, or take a massive brick of 10 with the temporcordia to threaten a turn 1 charge if you go first, or hunker down with the defensive doctrina and shroudspalm (Mars is great for these guys), and bait your opponent into trying to kill them. Then they've overcommitted, blast them away with your chickens!
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<tab name="Sicarian Ruststalkers">
*'''Sicarian Ruststalkers''': These guys are your Mortal Wound sources for Skitarii-heavy armies. They're faster than fulgurites on the whole, slightly tankier than a pre-kill fulgurite due to their 4+ save and natural invuln, and have better AP than the fulgurite staff with their blades. However, they lack their 4++ invuln after a kill and can't consistently put out as many mortal wounds. 
**Always buy the Princeps the Blades as it's now free and it doesn't have to give up its chordclaw.
** You can have a full unit of 10 infiltrate post-deployment for 1CP; this is incredibly cheap for the ambush potential they provide. Note that since you can drop 9" away from ''any'' battlefield edge and enemy with this, you can let your enemy advance then drop a unit of rusties with the Eyes of the Omnissiah WLT and Temporcopia relic into a piece of cover in or near the enemy DZ. They should now have a +2 save against ranged attacks and the ability to force a charging enemy to fight last, making them a bit more difficult to shift prior to their charge into the enemy's rear.
*** The above stratagem (Circuitous Assassins) also lets them serve as great action monkeys and VP scorers for more shooty armies, particularly with secondaries like Repair Teleport Homers, or Linebreaker/Engage On All Fronts. Infiltrating them into the opponent's DZ then triggering an action is an entirely legal strategy, as is using it to get them out of combat.
** 2CP for two strats gives them +1 to attacks and strength for the fight phase, so a full blades-equipped unit goes up to 41 S6 AP-3 melee attacks at WS+3. This is incredibly nasty against MEQs and kinda good against TEQs.
*** Assuming we go with a Terminator statline, let's do some mathhammer. 3+ WS gives you a 2/3rds chance of hitting, or 0.66. 41 attacks * 0.66 chance to hit is 27 hits, with a 1/6 or 0.16 chance of a MW (27 hits * 0.16 chance of a 6, so 4.32 MWs on top of regular damage). S6 vs T5 means we're wounding on 3+, so a 0.66 chance of wounding, which gives us 17.82 wounds. If their invulnerable save is a 5++, we lose (17.82*0.32) 5.7 wounds; if it's 4++, we lose (17.82*0.5) = 8.91 wounds). The result is, respectively, 12 and 9 (rounded) wounds, which will take out most of a 5-man termie unit before it has a chance to hit you even once due to the relic.
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