Martian Dreams – What to Expect from Cult Mechanicus
Skitarii is just the tip of the Adeptus Mechanicus iceberg. Here’s what Codex Cult Mechanicus may hold for us all.
Does the fluff mean we’re going to get crazy wargear for the Cult Mechanicus?
Heresy to 40K Weapons “Evolution”
Grav weapons from the Space Marine codex says that only the most trusted tech priests understand and can create the complicated grav technology. Where else would the most trusted tech priest be if not leading the forces of the Cult Mechanicus into battle?
My prediction is that we will see Grav guns, grav cannons – and more… If we learned anything from the Tempestus release is that these mini codices are just a taste of what is to come.
We can look at the Horus Heresy line and then at the Skitarii and see that this is what the Heresy weaponry would look like if you fast forwarded it ten thousand years. The Plasma Caliver is direct evolution of a Volkite Charger.
You’ll also notice that we don’t see any direct imports from the Horus Heresy line in the Skitarii codex. I think that will remain true with the release of Cult Mechanicus. We will see the ‘evolution’ of those models and rules. For example we are not going to see any Myrmidons, we will see the 40k version of those figures. This fits thematically as well as the fact that Games Workshop has no reason to compromise sales of one line of figures for another. So we’ll see something that makes sense in relation to the established fluff and the existing line from forgeworld but we’ll probably see some brand new 40+mm base size figures with a shoulder mounted super gun.
Who Loves Giant Robos?
What else can we expect? Giant Robot Combat!! If the Adeptus Mechancius do anything correctly in the fluff, and evidenced by the art of John Blanche, it is create robots with a ridiculous amount of cables and hoses all over them. I don’t think we’ll see a Thanatar or any Castellax robots directly as Forgeworla already did those, but we’ll see whatever the 40k version of them will be. I think we can fully expect some sort of fully anglicized named giant robots with the best weapon technology that the imperium can offer.
The 30K and 40K Divide
I believe it is clear that Games Workshop considers Horus Hersey and Warhammer 40k two totally separate games. We have seen minimal cross over between the two lines. I hope in my heart that we will see a similar cross over for the Adepticus Mechanicus but the Skitarii codex in no way supports that. On the contrary, it gives us every indication that there will be no cross over and that the upcoming Cult Mechanicus codex will not share any models with the Horus Heresy line. As someone who owns two Triaros Conveyors this saddens me but I think the writing is on the wall. Is that bad? Absolutely not. Maybe we ademch buyers will get lucky and get the ability to take ‘Mechanicus Relics.’
Miniature technology has finally caught up to the John Blanche imagination. We can finally get the 40k giant robots that we want – that we deserve! It will also all be in plastic.
My wallet is sounding the alarm, Danger Will Robinson.. Danger..
I expect to see Tech Priests leading armies of servitor type small base figures. I think we’ve seen the elites from the Cult in the Skitarii codex. What I mean by this is that I expect that the Rangers and what not will be in the Cult codex but they will not be the Troops. Games Workshop will not miss the opportunity to give us a whole new way to purchase, and field the army and like the Scions and then the Guard – we’re going to get a fair amount of new kits. These kits are not going to miss the mark aesthetically or rules wise.
This summer is going to be a GREAT time to be a 40k imperial player. We are going to see Assassins, Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marines.. I can’t wait!
We talk about this sort of stuff over on the FTN Facebook page and on the Podcast.
