Continuing an old thread, I'm making some small progress on my Mechanicus army, and I thought I'd make a thread to record it all; There's pics and a bit of fluff to go with them (I like writing fluff, I like modeling (imaginary) military forces better than just painting playing pieces):

Explorator Expedition 11206



An Explorator ground survey expedition usually fields a base vehicle and as many support all-terrain vehicles as the mission requires.

The Base Vehicle carries a small but powerful reactor, providing energy to recharge the auxiliary vehicles. In addition, it usually carries a broad-spectrum voxcaster, allowing tech-magi on an orbiting cruiser to command several ground teams through full noospheric links. The drive trains are adaptations of the Land Raider template design, which are in plentiful supply on the Forge world.

The auxiliary vehicles are, unless special needs dictate, standard-issue Rhino armoured personnel carriers. They, too, are manufactured in bulk on Stenberg, and are thus cheap and plentiful. They are easily adapted to carry tech-adepts' or servitors living quarters, labs, or supplies.

The five Rhinos seen here is the minimum complement usually seen on a ground survey; There is one Geo-lab, on supply carrier, two people-carriers with four explorator techno-magi, and one carrier with ten servitors for menial work. A command crew of three magi and five servitors operates (and live aboard) the base vehicle.

Even on peacetime missions, all Explorator vehicles are armed with boltguns, and a base vehicle usually fields some sort of medium-range beam weapon as well; The weaponry is standard issue, and it is generally considered more trouble than it is worth to mount and dismount the weaponry depending on the mission - if there are no hostile natives, there is often enough nasty local fauna that needs to be dealt with.

Weaponized Servitors



When the war started, Forge servitors were quickly retasked for combat duty, by recalibrating arc welders, hardmounting heavy bolters and uploading combat and targeting routines to the servitor brains.

Forge Knights



The Stenberg Forge makes extensive use of large anthropomorphic mechanicals for heavy lifting and large-scale work; Only when a particular manufacturing process has been codified and entered into the Book of Standards will fixed installations like cranes and conveyor belts be built.

The mechanicals are typically crewed by one, a highly trained, skilled and respected Tech Adept. Since the machines look much like an ancient suit of armour, both the machines and their operators have, over time, acquired the name "Forge Knights".

In times of war, the Forge Knights are easily adapted to combat; Their hull is built to withstand accidental spillage of molten metal, and their list of standard configuration tools include arc welders and forest-clearing implements. The welders, re-calibrated for firing intense bursts over as long a range as their optics allow, make excellent mid-range beam weapons, and the chainswords works just as well on enemy armour as it does on timber (though the teeth needs replacement more frequently).

Class Gothic Cruiser 'Leibniz'



The Gothic class Cruiser Leibniz is part of the Stenberg Forge defense fleet; It is nevertheless frequently away from its home port, serving as military protection for Explorator fleets both small (where it would be the only capital ship) and large (where it would form part of a cruiser squadron, possibly escorting an Ark Mechanicus flagship).

At the time of the Heresy war, it saw action during the fighting for Stenberg Forge; It provided ground support for the beleaguered defenders during the initial surprise assault, but was ultimately driven away once the attacking Guard had secured the orbital defence lasers; It subsequently took up station in the system, harrying Imperial reinforcement convoys until it was able to form up with the returning main fleet.

Stenberg Skitarii, 1st Demi-Century Hypaspists



The Stenberg Forge was not without regular military forces at the time of the outbreak of hostilities; In addition to the defending Imperial forces, the Forge maintained its own Skitarii militia.

When Imperial PDF attack came, the Skitarii Hypaspists currently on duty in the forge commandeered a shipment of Rhino APCs and went out in the face of overwhelming odds to protect the forge and the sanctity of the Machine Cult.

Macaroni Heavy Tank Cataphract



In addition to the Hypaspists, the Forge standing military force consisted only of a small squadron of venerable Macaroni heavy tanks; They were mobilized along with the Hypaspists and faced the Guard onslaught on the first day of the war.



The usual main weapon for a Macaroni command tank is a twin-mounted Vanquisher cannon, useful in stand-off tank battles. However, a small number of Macaronii were fitted with Vulcan Mega-bolters, for use in a close support anti-personnel role.

EDIT: Added obfuscation.

EDIT again: Removed possible IP infractions

Very nice.

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Pretty nice !! The Infantry are DRM & G/W ?

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Thanks. The infantry is all DRM Industrial Infantry. I have a few GW techmarines that I'll put a cloak on and use as Tech-Priests and Tech-Lord, but those aren't done yet.

Nice story

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More weaponized servitors:

Ordinatus Minorii, Stenberg Forge Pattern



The Base Vehicles manufactured for use by Explorator missions were also repurposed for War. Stripping out the habitation modules left space for a pair of Void Shield generators, and the already oversized plasma reactors on the vehicles proved adequate for powering Titan-class weaponry.



A typical engine-slayer formation from the early days of the war. While the guns were powerful, they were hampered by the need for a direct line of fire and the slow speed of the engine. They were well suited for static defense of Mechanicum installations, but proved impractical for offensive operations.



The Mechanicum forces would usually seed the local low orbital space with Auspex satellites; The comms uplink allowed the formation to fire at targets beyond the horizon.

Since the weapons are magnetized, they are fully interchangeable with the rather large collection of loose Titan weapons I have for my Titan Legion; at least the ones made for carapace mounts.

This is a classic formation, two Quake cannons and an orbital uplink (counts-as Corvus Landing Pad) to provide a 6BP MW Barrage out to 180cm range. Mmmmm.



During the war, the mechanicum frequently deployed rocket artillery batteries to pound Imperial positions for days prior to engaging with Skitarii ground troops.



A very rare sight, only seen during the latter stages of the conflict when a crusading Loyalist Titan legion had entered the war on the side of the Imperial forces. The formation allows a battery of Deathstrike missiles to be kept mobile and hopefully undetected until the right moment comes to strike an enemy Engine.


It is nowhere near Vaaish standard, but they'll get the job done, I expect. And the components used were cheap and easily acquired. Here's a link to an assembly guide; I hope it may inspire someone to do a better job (and post pictures, of course).

I like em. Thanks for the assembly guide. I will put them on my to do list although i am a crap painter and mine wont be as good as yours. Looks like fun though.

I love the assembly guide easy and looks good, thx STM!

After the fall of the main Forge, the battle for Stenberg became a drawn-out war of reduction against the other manufacturing centers on Stenberg. Each battle became progressively harder, as more and more Crusade-ready equipment was being appropriated and put to use by the Stenberg Skitarii. Each battle also saw increasing tactical and strategic skill on the part of the Mechanicum, as old protocols were brought back online and re-calibrated for local terrain and equipment. A few months into the war, Skitarii frontline battle centuries were all led by experienced Magi Ars Militari. In some cases, the experience in question was even their own.

2nd and 3rd Skitarii Demi-Centuries



Magos Logis Frederik Epsilon Mu Suvorov was named Magos Ars Militaris during the struggle for Plasma Cores in Valley Phi Three. He adapted quickly to combat, and was instrumental in the defeat of the overextended Imperial attack, the turning point of the first war. He subsequently rose to serve as Magos Ars Bellum of the entire Liberation campaign on Stenberg that eventually led to the rout of the occupying Imperial Guard.

Magos Ars Bellum



During the second war on Stenberg, Suvorovs body was damaged beyond repair. He still serves to this day as a strategy teacher on Stenberg military academy, through the use of noospheric imagery.

Very cool !!!

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

brilliant fluff, nice minis - the omnissiah is pleased.

We learn, and strive to approach perfection asymptotically.

Mole Mortars

The Mole remote-controlled mining charge was first used for rapid tunnelling during excavations of deep mines on Stenberg. A sequence of charges would drill into position and be brought to detonation simulaneously, setting up conflicting shockwaves that broke bedrock to rubble much faster than a traditional drill.



It only took a few weeks after the outbreak of hostilities before a bright Magos Geologos realised that if the detonations were triggered right beneath the surface, the shockwave would also break up anyone walking on said surface. Mole launchers soon became ubiqutious as light support artillery for mechanicus ground forces.

Mechanized Skitarii

A demi-century of Skitarii, accompanied by Infantry Fighting Vehicles.



In keeping with Mechanicus tactical doctrine, the Rhino APCs commandeered in the early stages of the war were soon modified and upgraded with heavy weaponry, at the cost of half its transport capacity.

excellent work, what turrets did you use for the IFV's?