So as part of the process of developing my army list submissions for the AM I thought I would plot out my ideas here as I slowly build the lists up. This is part of the internal process I typically go through when building a list (which I haven't done publicly in a long while :-) but this time you get to read my random meanderings and nattering.

Overall goals
The overall goal is to develop two lists that focus on the two main reasons why the AM would be fielding a large army. The first is in the defence of a Forge World or significant facility. We'll call this the Forge World Defense list. The second would be an armed force that is part of an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet. This would be a more attack oriented force.

Note: I came up with this split before reading comments in other threads regarding the type of list available in the ATML army lists.

The second goal is to try to create a list that does not rely on gamers having to purchased OOP and/or very expensive miniatures. The Imperial Guard Krieg Siege Infantry Company from GW includes Rapiers and Tarantulas but at $55 US it is a bit pricey so the initial lists will include those models but they may need to be replaced if there is not suitable substitute for them. Or perhaps the assumption should be that gamers will need to provide proxies and just be consistent with their use.

That said, the assumption should be that these lists are an opportunity for gamers to do a bit of DIY work to create custom Ordinatii, Servitors and other units.

Design Goals

Adeptus Mechanicus Defense list

This list will be a hastily equipped and assembled force that has been brought together to defend an attack on a Adeptus Mechanicus or an AM outpost. It will have a core of "professional" AM troops and support formations but it will also have an anarchic collection of Tech Magos and Lords who assemble their own vanguard of troops, Servitors and jury-rgged weapons. These, along with the Skitarii will form the core of the army.

Support will come in the Ordinatti, tanks and standard Imperial units.

One option is to have the player determine what type of Forge World it is and then have that decision effect what sort of support options are available.

Also, given the nature of this type of battle it would be a stretch to assume that there would be Titans available for this type of force. Any large WE would be filled by an Ordinatus Majoris.

Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet

This would be a more focused and organized force under the control of a single Tech Lord and with a more typical military organization. As well, since the force is built for a specific goal and done so in advance it would have more standard types of reinforcements including Titans, drop assets etc.

Given the nature of the Ordinatii Majoris it would be unlikely that this type of force would have any and so it would have access to the Minoris vehicles instead.

Whereas the Forge World Defense force would be an amalgam of forces available to defend a location, the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet force would look more akin to a standard Imperial force but with AM troops and vehicles instead of the more standard Imperial Guard forces.

More to come

I'll be curious to see where you take this from here and how you keep the lists from playing too much like guard

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-Vaaish

They will be structurally different than Guard lists and I want to try to incorporate a rule to try to get the player to focus on keeping their WE and larger units safe at the expense of the "human" and servitor units.

Did some research and there are a few Titan Legions based on Forge Worlds but there are far, far more Forge Worlds than Titan Legions so I think I will keep that restriction.

Renamed the defense list as the Adeptus Mechanicus Defense list (for lack of a better title) to move the focus from Forge Worlds in general and make it clear that it is meant to be a force that defends any AM installation.

Also removed the idea of limiting support options based on types of Forge Worlds as a result.

Maybe put most of the offensive armaments on the Ordinatus, and restrict the infantry to shorter-ranged, less powerful weapons. Combine it with focusing on void shields and DC as defenses for Ordinatus, and not high saves. My idea would be that they would be more resistant against shooting, but vulnerable against assaults (they would also have poor CC and FF scores).

If my speculations are right, the result would be that the "punch" of the army is the Ordinatii, but they need infantry to shield them from assaults.

The term "meat shield" has popped into my mind a lot :-)

Uh, IIRC all (or at least most) Forge Worlds ostensibly have Titan Legions. Some even have more than one.

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The list of known Forge Worlds is much larger than the list of known Titan Legions. This is also one prime reason why I changed the name.

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Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

Hmm, have you read the lists presented by Vaaish and especially E&C, who was developing something very similar to what you are proposing?

1. I see the Adeptus Mechanicus being too large to model in a single list. So how would you fit this style of list into the AM lists Like the Titan Legions, the Armoured Tank Divisions etc.?
   
2. The list is essentially a 'defensive' list; would the Adeptus Mechanicus be used offensively to capture positions and even planets? If so, how should this be presented?
   
3. What would the other lists of the AD Mech be (if any)? For example, where would the Adeptus Arbites and Custodes be presented?
   
4. Finally, how would you include defensive elements like the Shield walls, Defence towers and weaponry, outer works like bastions etc?

1) I think it is far too divergent to capture into a single list which was why I was suggesting the two and also trying to find sme way of theming the lists to help express that multiplicity of options. I don't think that there is a need for me to touch the Titan and ATD lists unless people think it would be useful or necessary.

2) One of the lists is defensive. The other will be very attack focused.

3) Arbites and Custodes fit under the purview of the Adeptus Terra and not the AM

4) The AM Defesnive list will have defensive elements similar to those in the Siege list initially and I will look at expanding it with more technologicial elements but I suspect that the more elaborate protective devices would be used for venerated machines and Tech Lords and Magos and not your average Skitarii.

Which doesn't mean those worlds don't have Titan Legions, just that they don't get talked about.

Each Forge World's founding colony mission would have included a Titan Legion (p 12, Codex Titanicus). There may have been new Forge Worlds founded since, of course, but that'd still suggest that Titan Legions are fairly common.

EDIT: Though page 14 of Codex Imperialis says that the ones founded during the Great Crusade also established their own Titan Legions.

Considering that about 10% of Imperial planets are supposed to be Forge Worlds, that's a LOT of Titans.

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How would you see a skitarii force deployed to either the thirteenth black crusade or Armageddon? Just based on how youre writing I'm a little concerned that the final lists will play similar to both steel legion and siege masters. You will need to make sure that there are significant enough differences than names and token units to give players a reason to play skitarii.

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-Vaaish

But they aren't. I think that the background is quite clear that Titans are rare.

In any case, as I mentioned, I specifically changed the name of the list to avoid this type of argument. :-)

Yup :-)

Not really. We don't see many of them, but we don't see many Skitarii, either, in the grand scheme of things.

_________________
The Apocrypha of Skaros 1.1
Rogue Trader Expedition 0.4
The Horus Heresy 0.5
Night Lords 0.1
My Trade Thread