Mechanicus Battlegroup - Is it worth it?
After the dust settles, we take a look at the new Mech box set
The Box - What do you get?
Okay so, lets cut straight to the chase and get into this thing. The new Mechanicus Battle Group continues the same pattern we’ve seen in the other “Battle Group” Boxes. A core block of troops (Thallax and Adsecularis), some ‘Elites’ (Castellax), and a Vehicle (Triaros). So far so typical.
The box itself will run you £130gbp, or a local equivilent, and likely reflects a slight discount on the individual boxes (presuming the typical prices for GW kits).
How useful is it?
The most notable issue with the box, is the same that arguably plagued the marine box - a lack of HQ. Unlike the Solar box you cannot simply grab this and bam there’s a starter army. You’re going to need to spend a little bit more first. Furthermore unlike the marine box, you also can’t really go converting a commander from the models you do get (maybe at a push you could tinker a Thallax into a Magos, if you’re feeling kitbash-y).
Now this doesn’t mean the box is bad, but it does emphasise that GW are selling these more as ‘army boosters’ than as a combat patrol style starter box. And for many existing Mech players, this box will be a great source of previously expensive models - especially the Triaros.
The Castellax and Thallax are solid parts of any admech list, so the box containing both is absolutely a strong sell. The new plastics are gorgeous, and you can really see the effort to try and preserve the look and feel of the old resin minis in the new designs, the same very much applying across the whole plastic range that we’ve seen so far. Both units perform well on the field, with the Thallax and their jetpacks being of particular use to many Mech players as fantastic harassing units (although don’t discount the benefits of the plasma-fusil for damaging more armoured infantry). The Castellax can be equipped into a number of roles, with their darkfire cannons being a more costly but particularly brutal loadout for the long range mech player.
The oddity of the box is definitely the Adsecularis Tech Thralls. They are a really fun blob squad in the right build. And hobby wise the kit looks clearly like a wealth of conversion parts and servitors. But I can definitely see a future where a number of these end up on ebay, or facebook marketplace, as players look for the discounted robots over the horde.
Unless you’re playing Lacryaemarta of course. In which case more bodies are even better for you!
The Triaros is a really nice extra. And likely far more viable in mech lists. And I’m certain that the only reason we have never really seen more is their late addition to 1st Edition, and the obscene cost of the resin brick! Its a really rather solid transport, with strong AV14 front armour, 22 transport capacity, and 5 hull points. And pretty heavily armed to boot. Expect to see these become more common as the plastic mech arrives methinks!
Too many troops?
As a final point, we should probably address the small elephant in the corner. The entire box consists of only troops choices!
Now on one hand, this is incredibly handy for a mech player, allowing them to collect a beautiful variety of troop options in one box (or two boxes and really have some options!) This would let players test out the different styles of mech to find which suits them; the hordes of Lacryaemarta, the robots of Cybernetica, the guns of Reductor etc.
On the other hand it does mean all the best toys of the mechanicus will need to be purhchase separately, such as the HQs, the Thanatar, the Myrmidons etc. Particularly because without a cortex controller or two those robots are a little less useful. In fact a more cynical mindset would wonder if this was either intent or ignorance…
Certainly even at 1500pts though, you’ll still want most of these guys in a list, so its not a horrible investment. My own Mechanicum allied detachment typically runs around with 3 Castellax, and 2 units of Tech Priest (yay Cybernetica!) So the addition of some extra robots certainly won’t hurt!
Conclusions
All in all then a useful box! For any budding mech player it will provide a wealth of new troops choices and options, and one of the coolest looking transports. Although for a brand new player it will still need an extra £30 or so spent on HQs before they can really take to the table. And if you’re wanting to play bigger games, you’ll probably need more than one of these boxes…