Warhammer 40K: Ad Mech Tech-Priest ‘Holy Order’ Upgrades
The Adeptus Mechanicus is getting some Tech-Priest specific upgrades with new Holy Orders. Come take a look.
Codex Adeptus Mechanicus is coming very soon and with it are a ton of new rules for the Techno-wizards within it’s ranks. The Tech-Priests in particular are getting some attention with new ‘Holy Orders’ they can join. How will these work in your armies? Let’s get right into the rules primer from Games Workshop.
“By paying a nominal cost in points or Power Level, your Tech-Priest models can hail from one of four Holy Orders. Far from just being a flavourful footnote, each Order provides two specialised skills to further customise the leaders of your army.”
Alright, so far this isn’t so different from other books who have gotten “officer” upgrades. But how will these changes impact the army on the battlefield?
“The first skill allows you to lower the Command points cost of a critical Stratagem when you need it most, with each Holy Order dedicated to their own code of war.
The second skill, however, is something rather different. Called progressive abilities, these rules come in two parts – an Initial part that’s in play from the beginning of the battle, and an Advanced part that you can choose to activate by having your Tech-Priest take the Activate Advanced Protocols action.”
Okay – so this is basically a two-part upgrade for the unit. Let’s go over them one at a time. Thankfully, GW has also provided some rules as examples. Today, we’re getting a look at the Magi specifically.
This part of the ability is very straight forward. The cost of the stratagem is reduced by 1 CP, once per battle. Nothing too crazy complicated. So how about the second ability?
The ability kicks off with the “Initial Part” active. This remains active for as long as you want in game. You never have to activate the “Advanced Part” if you don’t want (or need) to. To swap, you have to have your Tech-Priest take the Activate Advanced Protocols action. Once performed, you swap the the Advanced Part. From what we gather, once activated there is no option to swap back.
Here’s another example – this time from the side of the Artisans:
Both of these abilities is really good! Being able to fall back and still charge and shoot is always a solid ability! The other option is that their ranged attacks get 1 extra strength! I’m not really seeing a draw back for either of these parts being active.
The new codex is up for pre-order this weekend! Will your Tech-Priests join one of the holy orders?
