The Cult of the Machine God
“Knowledge Is Power, Guard It Well”
On the red sands of Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus toils in service to the Omnissiah, the Machine God whose divine spark they believe resides in all technology. Tech-priests replace their failing flesh with augmetic perfection, pursuing forbidden lore in the Dark Age vaults beneath the Sacred Mountain, while endless legions of Skitarii — lobotomized soldier-servants of the Cult Mechanicus — march to war armed with radium weapons and arc rifles. Towering Kastelan robots and monstrous Kytan war engines lumber alongside them, animated by binaric prayer and machine spirit alike, as the Priesthood of Mars pursues its own inscrutable agenda within the wider Imperium.
Army Rule
At the start of each of your turns, select one Doctrina Imperative for your army: Conqueror Imperative (add 1 to Advance and Charge rolls) or Protector Imperative (add 1 to Hit rolls for ranged weapons but subtract 1 from Hit rolls for melee weapons), applying to CULT MECHANICUS and SKITARII units.
Some ADEPTUS MECHANICUS units can form Data-Tethers with nearby units, sharing targeting solutions to improve hit rolls when both units target the same enemy.
5 available
Noospheric Recon
Force-loaded with enhanced divinatory augurs, far-ranging Skitarii are the unblinking eyes of their masters and cast their sensors in overlapping noospheric nets to root out the enemies of the Machine God. - Friendly PTERAXII/INFILTRATORS/RANGERS/SERBERYS RAIDERS/ SERBERYS SULPHURHOUNDS units have RECON AUGURY. - Friendly RECON AUGURY units have the following ability: Enhanced Augurs: In your Shooting phase, this unit can select one visible enemy unit within 12". That enemy unit is analysed: - While a unit is analysed, that unit has +3" detection range.
Mantled in a susurrus of shrouding code and implanted sensor baffles, this commander has been granted a holy commission to extend their forge world's influence at the forefront of the Quest for Knowledge. SKITARII MARSHAL model only. This unit has Infiltrators.
These veteran raiders have been bestowed with rarefied cybernetic mounts that incorporate stealth-screen projectors, silenced servos, and photo-adaptive hides, rendering them all but invisible until they near their prey. SERBERYS RAIDERS unit only. This unit has Lone Operative 15".
War-form Mantles
When battle looms, many Tech-Priests don their war forms, replacing more delicate mechanical appendages with steel-shod bionics that incorporate auto-repair subroutines. Some also outfit themselves with narrow-band screed casters. These project streams of incomprehensible code that overwhelm the cogitator cores of enemy vehicles and baffle augury. Friendly TECH-PRIEST models have: - 4+ InSv. - Feel No Pain 5+. Friendly TECH-PRIEST models have the following ability: Baffling Data Screed: In your Shooting phase, when this unit is selected to shoot, if this unit is not battle-shocked, you can use this ability. If you do, roll one D6: - On a 2+, select one enemy VEHICLE unit within 12" of this unit. That enemy unit makes a battle-shock roll, with -1 to that battle-shock roll. A unit cannot be selected for this ability more than once per turn. - Or: On 2+, those ranged attacks do not prevent this unit from being hidden.
The inimitable holy programming within these doctrina wafers elicits a bullish agility in a Datasmith's cybernetic wards. So commanded, such robots have scaled rusting piles of shifting scree, bulldozed their way through heretek defences and smashed breaches in space hulk passages. CYBERNETICA DATASMITH model only. At the start of the first battle round, if this unit is an attached unit, this unit has MOBILE until the end of the battle.
This modest-seeming casket is named for the almost indecipherable sigils on its ancient casing. The prevailing theocratic dogma is that this artefact is a weapon, for when its iris shutter is opened, a night- black beam of incredible power is released. TECH-PRIEST model only. This model has the following weapon: TL-4ø9 [DEVASTATING WOUNDS, HAZARDOUS] RANGE A BS S AP D 24" 3 2+ 11 -2 D3+2
Cyber-static Canticles
With voices or binharic emissions raised in holy verse, the disciples of the Motive Force roar their worship. Thunderheads of potentiality roil above them, and rival sects vie to prove the supremacy of their visionary dogma with coruscating intensity. - Friendly CORPUSCARII units' ranged attacks have [LETHAL HITS]. - When a friendly FULGURITE unit has fought, that unit heals D3 wounds. This detachment has the DATA-PSALM tag and cannot be taken with another DATA-PSALM detachment.
The wild voltagheists said to inhabit this holy casket are more aggressive and intrusive than those that guard the Electro-Priests, and surge in interfering pulses that scramble the foe's sensors. TECH-PRIEST model only. Enemy units cannot target this unit with snap shooting attacks.
This ornate brazier emits incense-laced particulate chaff that swirls in glittering veils. The silvered mist is alive with sacred energies that foul attempts to pinpoint the Omnissiah's faithful. TECH-PRIEST model only. This unit has Stealth.
Murderous Imperative
The Skitarii fighting in a focused clade all but vibrate with the inloaded need to kill. This manifests not as wild rage, however, but rather as a coldly efficient drive to acquire the next target, bring it down with pinpoint fire or neatly placed thrusts, then find a new victim and repeat in an infinite loop. Each time a model in a Skitarii unit from your army makes an attack: ■ If the Protector Imperative is active for that unit, re-roll a Hit roll of 1. ■ If the Conqueror Imperative is active for that unit, re-roll a Wound roll of 1.
This unique tactical-cogitation augmetic provides its bearer with a wealth of situation-appropriate responses in even the most intense battle. Skitarii Marshal model only. The Conqueror Imperative and Protector Imperative are both active for the bearer's unit.
This strange device taps into the data-tethers that carry Skitarii command imperatives and disseminates them to other, less soldierly servants of the Omnissiah. Tech-Priest model only. Models in the bearer's unit have the Skitarii keyword.
These slender conductor vanes channel esoteric energies into nearby weapon systems, rendering their machine spirits rapacious and bellicose. Adeptus Mechanicus model only. Add 6" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons equipped by models in the bearer's unit, and add 1 to the Strength characteristic of those weapons.
A Skitarii Marshal implanted with this thoracic augmetic feels the Machine God's molten fury flowing through their veins and out into the weapons they wield in battle. Skitarii Marshal model only. Add 2 to the Attacks characteristic of melee weapons equipped by the bearer, and improve the Armour Penetration and Damage characteristics of those weapons by 1.
Noospheric Transference
Tech-Priests can override the will of their thralls and project martial data inloads into the minds of their warriors, blessing the soldiery with endless streams of precisely tailored binharic code. In your Command phase, select one or more Adeptus Mechanicus units from your army (including units that are embarked within Transports ). The maximum number of units you can select depends on the battle size, as follows:
Inloaded with advanced combat protocols, tactical hymnals and holy autoscripture, these doctrina wafers grant greater autonomy and destructive might to the constructs of the Legio Cybernetica. Cybernetica Datasmith model only. When the bearer is attached to a Kastelan Robots unit, until the end of the battle, models in that unit gain the Halo Override keyword. That unit cannot be selected when selecting units as part of the Noospheric Transference Detachment rule.
From afar, the guiding hand of the Omnissian priesthood allows this warrior to process streams of sensory input and encoded imperatives simultaneously. Adeptus Mechanicus model only (excluding Cybernetica Datasmith models). The Conqueror Imperative and Protector Imperative are both active for the bearer's unit.
The ammunition borne to battle by this disciple of the Machine God and those at their command has been subjected to ritual anointings and autosermonic blessings, lending it far greater stability. Adeptus Mechanicus model only. Add 6" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons equipped by models in the bearer's unit and, each time a Hazardous test is taken for that unit, you can re-roll the result.
The ancient noospheric receptors implanted into this field commander enable them to receive constant streams of binharic kill code and static prayer chants, lending them greater strength and martial prowess. Tech-Priest Dominus or Tech-Priest Manipulus model only. Add 3 to the Attacks characteristic of the bearer's melee weapons and add 1 to the Damage characteristic of the bearer's melee weapons.
21 stratagems
Detachment · Shooting phase · Cohort Acquisitus
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly ADEPTUS MECHANICUS unit is selected to shoot. TARGET: That ADEPTUS MECHANICUS unit. EFFECT: Select one visible enemy unit within 12" of a friendly RECON AUGURY unit. Your unit's ranged attacks that target that enemy unit have [IGNORES COVER].
Detachment · Movement phase · Cohort Acquisitus
WHEN: Start of your opponent's Movement phase. TARGET: One friendly unengaged RECON AUGURY unit. EFFECT: Your unit has -3" detection range until the end of the turn.
Detachment · Fight phase · Cohort Acquisitus
WHEN: End of your opponent's Fight phase. TARGET: One friendly unengaged INFILTRATORS/PTERAXII unit. EFFECT: Place your unit in strategic reserves.
Detachment · Shooting phase · Lords of the Forge
WHEN: In your opponent's Shooting phase or the Fight phase, when an enemy unit targets a friendly TECH-PRIEST unit that is within range of an objective. TARGET: That TECH-PRIEST unit. EFFECT: Attacks that target your unit have -1 AP until that enemy unit has attacked.
Detachment · Movement phase · Lords of the Forge
WHEN: Your Movement phase, when a friendly TECH-PRIEST unit is selected to make a fall-back move. TARGET: That TECH-PRIEST unit. EFFECT: That move does not prevent your unit from being eligible to shoot/declare a charge.
Detachment · Shooting phase · Lords of the Forge
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly TECH-PRIEST unit starts an action. TARGET: That TECH-PRIEST unit. EFFECT: That action does not prevent your unit from being eligible to shoot.
Choir · Shooting phase · Luminen Auto-choir
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, when a friendly ELECTRO-PRIESTS unit is selected to attack. TARGET: That ELECTRO-PRIESTS unit. EFFECT: Your unit's attacks that target a unit within range of an objective can: - Re-roll hit rolls of 1. - Re-roll wound rolls of 1.
Choir · Movement phase · Luminen Auto-choir
WHEN: Your Movement phase, when a friendly ELECTRO-PRIESTS BATTLECLADE unit is selected to make an advance move. TARGET: That ELECTRO-PRIESTS unit. EFFECT: That move does not prevent your unit from being eligible to declare a charge.
Choir · Shooting phase · Luminen Auto-choir
WHEN: Your opponent's Shooting phase, when an enemy unit that targeted a friendly unengaged ELECTRO-PRIESTS unit has shot. TARGET: That ELECTRO-PRIESTS unit. EFFECT: Your unit can make a surge move of up to D6".
Wargear · Fight phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Fight phase. TARGET: One Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army that has not been selected to fight this phase. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, melee weapons equipped by models in your unit have the [LANCE] ability.
Strategic Ploy · Movement phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Your Movement phase, just after an Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army Falls Back. TARGET: That Adeptus Mechanicus unit. EFFECT: Until the end of the turn, your unit is eligible to shoot in a turn in which it Fell Back. If your unit has the Skitarii keyword, your unit is eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which it Fell Back instead.
Wargear · Shooting phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Your Shooting phase. TARGET: One Skitarii unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase. EFFECT: Select the [SUSTAINED HITS 1] or [LETHAL HITS] ability. Until the end of the phase, ranged weapons equipped by models in your unit have the selected ability. You can instead select the [SUSTAINED HITS 1], [LETHAL HITS] and [HAZARDOUS] abilities to apply to those weapons until the end of the phase.
Wargear · Shooting phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Your Shooting phase. TARGET: One Skitarii Vehicle unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a ranged attack made by a model in your unit is allocated to a Monster or Vehicle model, you can re-roll the Damage roll.
Battle Tactic · Charge phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Your Charge phase, just after a Sicarian unit from your army declares a charge. TARGET: That Sicarian unit. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, when your unit ends a Charge move, select one enemy unit within Engagement Range of it, then roll one D6 for each model in your unit that is within Engagement Range of that enemy unit: for each 4+, that enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound.
Strategic Ploy · Shooting phase · Eradication Cohort
WHEN: Your opponent's Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has shot. TARGET: One Skitarii Infantry unit from your army that lost one or more models as a result of the attacking unit's attacks. EFFECT: Your unit can shoot as if it were your Shooting phase, but must target only that enemy unit when doing so, and can only do so if that enemy unit is an eligible target.
Battle Tactic · Shooting phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase. TARGET: One Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot or fight this phase. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack, re-roll a Wound roll of 1, and, if it is a Halo Override unit, re-roll a Hit roll of 1.
Battle Tactic · Shooting phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase. TARGET: One Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot or fight this phase. EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack, an unmodified Hit roll of 5+ scores a Critical Hit.
Strategic Ploy · Movement phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your Movement phase. TARGET: One Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army. EFFECT: If your unit is a Halo Override unit, it suffers D3 mortal wounds. Select one Override ability. Until the start of your next Command phase, that ability is active for your unit. Designer's Note: This means that if the targeted unit already has the Halo Override keyword, it can be affected by multiple Override abilities at the same time, but suffers mortal wounds to do so. Alternatively, if your unit does not have the Halo Override keyword, it instead has the chosen Override ability until the start of your next Command phase, but does not benefit from any other Override abilities that are active.
Strategic Ploy · Movement phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your Movement phase. TARGET: One Skorpius Dunerider model from your army that has not been selected to move this phase. EFFECT: Until the end of the turn, each time an Adeptus Mechanicus unit disembarks from that model after it has made a Normal move, that unit is still eligible to declare a charge this turn.
Strategic Ploy · Movement phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your Movement phase, just after an Adeptus Mechanicus unit from your army Falls back. TARGET: That Adeptus Mechanicus unit. EFFECT: Until the end of the turn, your unit is eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which it Fell Back, and, if it is a Halo Override unit, you can re-roll Desperate Escape tests taken for it.
Strategic Ploy · Movement phase · Haloscreed Battle Clade
WHEN: Your opponent's Movement phase, just after an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move. TARGET: One Adeptus Mechanicus Infantry unit (excluding Kataphron units) from your army that is within 8" of that enemy unit and not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units. EFFECT: Your unit can make a Normal move of up to D6", or up to 6" instead if it is a Halo Override unit.
30 units
Rules digest
Our own plain-speech digest of how this force's rules hang together — army rule, detachment choice, command-point economy and roster shape. Written by us, not reproduced from the pack; the official PDF is the only authority on exact wording.
Read the official pack PDFEvery list in this force answers to Doctrina Imperatives, so plan your turns around it rather than treating it as a bonus. A second layer — Data-Tether — lets you tilt the same roster toward a different way of fighting before the first dice are rolled. Exact wording lives in the official pack PDF; the summary here is ours.
You commit to one of 5 detachments (Cohort Acquisitus, Lords of the Forge, Luminen Auto-choir, Eradication Cohort, Haloscreed Battle Clade), and that choice locks in both your detachment rule and the 14 enhancements available to your characters. Pick the detachment that matches the units you already own, then buy enhancements last.
There are 21 stratagems on offer, costing between 1 and 1 CP. In a normal game you will bank enough for two or three interventions a turn at most, so decide before deployment which one or two plays you are saving command points for.
The roster runs to 30 datasheets. The cheapest entry comes in at 25 points and the most expensive at 310, so a single flagship choice can eat a fifth of a 2,000-point army. Use the list builder to keep the Rule of Three, character limits and your points ceiling honest as you add units.
Official faction pack v1.2
Our own plain-speech summary of what the current pack alters for this force — no rules text reproduced. The exact wording is authoritative only in the Games Workshop PDF. Legal for matched play from 26th August 2026.
Read the official pack PDFThis pack amends Doctrina Imperatives. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Cyber-psalm Programming has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Taking Cover Section has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Stealth Optimisation has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Veiled Hunter has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
This pack bolts an extra clause onto Faction Abilities section — the rule does everything it did before, plus more. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Archaeopter Fusilave, Bomb Rack Ability has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Archaeopter Transvector is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Archaeopter Transvector, Aerial Deployment Ability has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Belisarius Cawl is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Control characteristic of models in that unit and each time you take is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Cybernetica Datasmith is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Twin Cognis Autocannon is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Twin Cognis Lascannon is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Onager Dunecrawler is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Eradication Beamer - dissipated is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Eradication Beamer - focused is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Twin Onager Heavy Phosphor Blaster is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Serberys Raiders, Tactica Obliqua Ability has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A WS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A WS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A WS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Transonic Blades and Chordclaw is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A WS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Transonic Razor and Chordclaw is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A WS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Skitarii Marshal, Servo-skull Uplink Ability has been rewritten for this pack, so the old wording no longer applies. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
This pack bolts an extra clause onto Skorpius Disintegrator, Skorpius Dunerider - Keywords section — the rule does everything it did before, plus more. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
RANGE A BS S AP D is updated in this pack. See the official pack PDF for the exact wording.
Ruling on Auto-divinatory Targeting
The official pack gives a detailed answer — read it in the PDF.
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