Adeptus Mechanicus competitive army list!

 

Competitive Adeptus Mechanicus 2000-Point Lists (Warhammer 40k 10th Edition)

Adeptus Mechanicus (AdMech) armies in 10th Edition have received significant improvements through balance dataslates and the new codex detachments, making them viable in competitive play​goonhammer.com. Below are two currently competitive 2000-point AdMech lists for matched play (GT/major tournaments as of May 2025), each built with no Forge World units and incorporating the latest rules updates (Munitorum Field Manual points and balance dataslate changes). For each list, we provide the full army roster with point costs and detachment, followed by a summary of its game plan, strengths, and weaknesses. These lists focus on strategies proven in recent GT-level events and represent builds a serious AdMech player could bring to a tournament today.

List 1: Skitarii Hunter Cohort – Mechanized Board Control (2000 points)

A Skitarii Marshal, one of the key leaders in a Skitarii Hunter Cohort army. Adeptus Mechanicus commanders rely on such characters to coordinate their forces.

The Skitarii Hunter Cohort detachment is widely regarded as AdMech’s strongest option in the current meta​goonhammer.com. This list exemplifies the “Protector Imperative” playstyle​goonhammer.com – it maximizes durable Skitarii infantry in transports and cost-efficient fire support to dominate the board. It was piloted to top-four finishes in major events (e.g. Richard Siegler’s 4th place with AdMech) by leveraging improved faction rules from the latest dataslate (boosting the army’s damage output)​goonhammer.com. The list floods objectives with expendable units and focuses on scoring points over pure killing​goonhammer.com, using its mobility and numbers to outmaneuver the opponent. Heavy firepower is present, but the primary goal is board control and trading units efficiently to win on mission points​goonhammer.com.

Army List (Adeptus Mechanicus – Skitarii Hunter Cohort, 2000 pts):

• Characters:

  • Skitarii Marshal – Warlord, Enhancement: Battle-sphere Uplink (65 pts)

  • 2× Skitarii Marshal (35 pts each) – (additional Marshals to buff multiple Skitarii units)

  • Inquisitor Draxus (Ordo Xenos ally, 95 pts) – (provides utility and psychic support)

• Battleline:

  • 10× Skitarii Rangers (85 pts) – galvanic rifles; includes Arc rifle, Plasma caliver, Transuranic arquebus, Omnispex

  • 4× 10 Skitarii Vanguard (90 pts each) – radium carbines; each unit includes Arc rifle, Plasma caliver, Transuranic arquebus, Omnispex

• Dedicated Transports:

  • 4× Skorpius Dunerider (85 pts each) – open-topped transports for Skitarii units

• Other Units:

  • 2× 5 Pteraxii Skystalkers (65 pts each) – mobile deep-striking infantry with flechette carbines

  • 3× Serberys Raiders (60 pts) – fast moving cavalry for scouting and screening

  • 2× 5 Sicarian Infiltrators (70 pts each) – forward-deploying skirmishers with flechette blasters and taser goads

  • 3× Skorpius Disintegrator (175 pts each) – tracked tanks with Ferrumite cannons & Disruptor missile launchers (high-volume anti-tank fire)

Game Plan: This army rides its Skitarii troops into battle aboard Duneriders, using them as both protection and quick delivery onto objectives​goonhammer.com. The Skitarii Marshals (each granting buffs like re-rolls to Hit/Wound) accompany these squads to improve their otherwise modest firepower. Once unloaded, units like Vanguard and Rangers establish a presence on midfield objectives – their goal is to hold ground and perform actions rather than outright destroy the enemy​goonhammer.com. The detachment rule grants all Skitarii units Stealth (and cover in deployment), making the infantry surprisingly durable when near cover​goonhammer.com. Combined with the Protector Imperative (which gives +1 Ballistic Skill army-wide and -1 to be hit in melee when near battleline units), the army can weather return fire and melee blows more effectively. The Duneriders enable “lightning lunges” – rapid pushes into the mid-board or enemy territory​goonhammer.com – while also functioning as movable walls to screen and block enemy movement. The Skorpius Disintegrators provide long-range fire support, bringing the faction’s best anti-tank weaponry​goonhammer.com to soften or eliminate hard targets. Fast units like Pteraxii and Serberys Raiders are used for secondary objectives, screening out deep strikes, and threatening backfield objectives. Overall, this list plays a deny-and-score game, flooding the table with cheap units that can trade and die as long as it gains an scoring advantage​goonhammer.com. Every turn, expendable units (e.g. Infiltrators or small Vanguard squads) move to contest or flip objectives, often using tricks like Rapid Ingress (to deep strike Skystalkers in mid-round) or Heroic Interventions to disrupt the opponent​goonhammer.com. It’s a grindy, tactical playstyle where outmaneuvering the opponent and controlling the mission is the path to victory rather than raw damage output.

Strengths:

• Exceptional Board Control and Scoring: The list fields many inexpensive units that can spread out, perform actions, and contest objectives across the board. This makes AdMech one of the strongest armies for secondary objectives and board control – the Skitarii Cohort is “one of the best secondary scoring armies in the game,” with plentiful disposable units for actions and late-game objective grabs​goonhammer.com. It can score primary and secondary points consistently while denying the opponent’s scoring by always having another unit to throw onto an objective.

• High Mobility and Flexibility: With multiple transports and deep-striking units, the army can rapidly redeploy and threaten different parts of the table. Units can disembark after moving (using stratagems) to surprise the opponent with charges or steals on objectives. Pteraxii can drop in from reserves and even return to Strategic Reserves after scoring, thanks to AdMech stratagems, ensuring they can be reused for later turns​goonhammer.com. This mobility combined with stratagem support (e.g. redeploy or fall-back-and-charge tricks) allows for reactive, “go-anywhere” play​goonhammer.com.

• Resilient Screens and Attrition: Individually, AdMech units aren’t very tough, but the detachment bonuses and sheer quantity of units make the army durable in aggregate. Stealth and cover on Skitarii squads often force enemies to deal with a 3+ save unit in cover, and if the Protector Imperative is active, enemy melee is less effective due to the -1 hit debuff. Small units like Infiltrators or Raiders can screen out threats and die in place of more valuable units​goonhammer.com. Every unit is considered expendable, so the army trades pieces efficiently – if sacrificing a unit denies the opponent scoring or gains AdMech an objective, it’s a win. This war of attrition often leaves opponents with too few resources to catch up on points by late game​goonhammer.com.

• Balanced Ranged Threats: While AdMech isn’t a top-tier shooting army, this list does include cost-efficient firepower to deal damage when needed. The trio of Skorpius Disintegrators with Ferrumite cannons provides a credible long-range threat to vehicles and monsters (each Disintegrator is a “cost-efficient shooting threat” that packs decent punch for its points​goonhammer.com). Meanwhile, the massed Vanguard and Rangers pour out volumes of small-arms fire (enhanced by the Protector +1 BS and occasional re-rolls from Marshals) which can shred light infantry and put wounds on tougher targets via weight of dice. The inclusion of an allied Inquisitor adds a Psychic attack and utility (such as an orbital strike or denying Deep Strikes, depending on Draxus’ rules) to round out the arsenal. In sum, the army has tools to chip down most enemy forces over time, even if it rarely scores big alpha strikes.

Weaknesses:

• Limited Anti-Tank Punch: AdMech traditionally struggles against heavy armor, and this list mostly relies on a few sources for high-strength damage. Outside of the Skorpius Disintegrators (and the short-ranged Breachers or Kastelan robots which this list deliberately avoids), the army’s attacks are relatively low strength/AP. Goonhammer notes that “very few units [in AdMech] are strong” at killing tanks and monsters, calling this “the problem” for the faction​goonhammer.com. If facing several tough vehicles or knights, the AdMech player must play the mission even harder, because they can’t easily table a durable enemy. This can make certain matchups (e.g. heavy Knights or Tyranid monster lists) an uphill battle – the damage output might be insufficient to remove those threats before they dominate the board.

• High Skill Requirement: The Skitarii Hunter Cohort list is notoriously difficult to pilot optimally​goonhammer.com. Maximizing its potential requires careful movement, screening, and trading. Mispositioning screens or wasting units too early can cause the game plan to fall apart. Goonhammer notes this detachment is “not ideal for the casual player or beginner,” but in the hands of an experienced AdMech commander it yields the best results​goonhammer.com. In a tournament setting, this means the margin for error is slim – a few mistakes can snowball since the list’s power is in precise play and scenario management rather than brute force.

• Low Direct Damage / Slow Kills: Because the game plan isn’t about destroying the enemy outright, this army can struggle to finish off opponents in a timely manner. Against armies with strong defense or regeneration, the AdMech might find itself swamped if those enemies keep pushing onto objectives. If an opponent plays extremely aggressively and trades units freely as well, the AdMech list can be put on the back foot, since it doesn’t excel at quickly wiping out attacking units. Essentially, it wins by points, not by tabling – if a mission or matchup demands killing power (for example, certain secondary objectives for kills), AdMech may find it hard to rack those up.

• Vulnerable Key Units: Although most of the army is expendable, a few elements are linchpins – for example, the Skitarii Marshals (for buffs) and the Disintegrators (for anti-tank fire). If an opponent can assassinate the Marshals early, the Skitarii squads lose valuable rerolls and leadership, making them far less effective. Similarly, if the Disintegrators are neutralized, the army might have no answer to a tough target. Protecting these pieces is vital, and a savvy opponent will prioritize them. This forces the AdMech player to dedicate some units to bodyguard or screening duty for those lynchpins, which can sometimes hinder the primary game plan.

Alternate Build – “Trash Horde” Variant: An alternative way to run the Skitarii Cohort (favored by some players in dense terrain metas) is to lean fully into the Conqueror Imperative style – colloquially called the “trash list.” This variant swaps out some vehicles and ranged elements for even more bodies: for example, massive hordes of Skitarii troops and Sicarian infantry (one successful list ran 30 Rangers, 20 Vanguard, and 30 Sicarian Ruststalkers, supported by Pteraxii and a couple of Duneriders)​tozudos40k.blogspot.com. The Conqueror-style list banks on overwhelming board presence, flooding every objective with AdMech bodies to jam the enemy in their deployment zone and relentlessly score points​goonhammer.com. It foregoes almost all dedicated firepower – damage is an afterthought – in exchange for sheer objective saturation. This can be very effective on terrain-heavy tables or against armies that can’t deal with waves of infantry, though it makes the AdMech even more one-dimensional (score, score, score) in its win condition. Notably, this “horde” approach also benefits from the Skitarii detachment’s tricks (Stealth, 5+ Feel-No-Pain stratagems on Sicarians, etc.) to make those squishy units a bit harder to remove​goonhammer.com​goonhammer.com. It’s another competitive approach, though most top AdMech players still include a balance of some vehicles (as in the main list above) to avoid being completely helpless against certain threats.

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List 2: Haloscreed Battle Clade – Adaptive Combined-Arms (2000 points)

Belisarius Cawl – legendary Tech-Priest of Mars. Many competitive Haloscreed lists include Archmagos Cawl for his aura buffs and durability, making him the centerpiece of the army’s battle plan.

The Haloscreed Battle Clade detachment is a newer addition (released in late 2024’s updates) that has quickly proven itself as a competitive AdMech option. Haloscreed lists have started to put up solid tournament results (for example, an AdMech Haloscreed army took 4th place at a recent GT)​goonhammer.com. This detachment’s strength lies in its flexibility – it can apply powerful buffs to a couple of units each turn with Noospheric Transference, such as granting +2″ Movement, Advance and Charge, +1 Toughness, or Stealth as needed​goonhammer.com. In practical terms, a Haloscreed army can adapt its strategy on the fly: one turn your units might be extra tough, the next turn two key units can suddenly launch an all-out charge. The following 2000-point list is an adaptive combined-arms force that mixes fast melee threats (boosted by Haloscreed’s mobility buffs) with strong ranged fire support. It’s a balanced approach that can hit the enemy hard but also play the mission efficiently. Notably, this list features Belisarius Cawl leading the army – his presence amplifies the effectiveness of nearby units – and uses the detachment’s tricks to send a deadly Sicarian Ruststalker unit into the fray at lightning speed while bolstering slower units like Kataphron Breachers with defensive buffs. The result is a well-rounded AdMech army that can punch surprisingly hard and take opponents off-guard with its versatility​goonhammer.com​goonhammer.com.

Army List (Adeptus Mechanicus – Haloscreed Battle Clade, ~2000 pts):

• Characters:

  • Belisarius Cawl – Warlord (135 pts) – a potent HQ providing aura buffs (e.g. re-rolls) to nearby units and a durable centerpiece

  • Skitarii Marshal (35 pts) – cheap support character for Skitarii units (leadership and rerolls)

  • Tech-Priest Manipulus (70 pts) – armed with Magnarail lance; Enhancement: Sanctified Ordnance (+6″ range to his unit’s guns)

  • Tech-Priest Manipulus (75 pts) – Magnarail lance; Enhancement: Inloaded Lethality (boosts critical hits for his unit)

  • Technoarcheologist (45 pts) – utility character; improves objective control (prevents enemy deep strikes/actions near objectives) and can lead certain units

• Battleline:

  • 10× Skitarii Rangers (85 pts) – basic skirmish unit with Galvanic rifles; includes 1× Arc rifle, 1× Plasma caliver, 1× Transuranic arquebus, 1× Omnispex for utility

  • 2× 10 Skitarii Vanguard (95 pts each) – close-ranged troops with Radium carbines; each squad includes 1× Arc rifle, 1× Plasma caliver, 1× Transuranic arquebus, 1× Omnispex

• Dedicated Transports:

  • 2× Skorpius Dunerider (85 pts each) – transports (capacity 12) for ferrying Skitarii or Sicarian units safely across the board

• Other Units:

  • 6× Kataphron Breachers (320 pts) – heavy battle-servitors with arc rifles & hydraulic claws (excellent at close-range tank-busting and holding objectives)

  • 3× Kataphron Breachers (160 pts) – smaller Breacher unit for backline objective hold or secondary firing platform

  • 5× Pteraxii Skystalkers (70 pts) – jump infantry for harassment and actions (flechette blasters, great for deploying from Reserve and scoring secondaries)

  • 2× 5 Sicarian Infiltrators (70 pts each) – infiltrating units with pistols & taser goads to threaten early objectives and harass the enemy flanks

  • 10× Sicarian Ruststalkers (150 pts) – fast melee specialists armed with transonic blades (one upgraded with a chordclaw for extra damage); primary shock assault unit

  • 2× Skorpius Disintegrator (175 pts each) – artillery tanks equipped with Disruptor missile launcher and Ferrumite cannon (the army’s long-range heavy fire support)​goonhammer.com

Game Plan: This Haloscreed list employs a two-pronged strategy: a hard-hitting melee strike combined with strong board control and shooting. Each turn, the AdMech commander will use the Haloscreed detachment ability to select two key units to buff with the HALO OVERRIDE keyword (since this is a Strike Force game)​goonhammer.com. Depending on the situation, those units might gain Advance + Charge (to launch an assault), +1 Toughness (to tank incoming fire), +2″ Move (to reposition quickly), or Stealth (to survive enemy shooting). For example, in the early turns the AdMech player might buff the large Ruststalker squad and a Dunerider with Advance and Charge, then use the stratagem Aggressive Impulse on a second Dunerider – this combo allows up to three units of Ruststalkers to disembark and charge in a single turn, covering an average ~15″ move before charging​goonhammer.com. In this list we only have one Ruststalker unit of 10 models, but the same principle applies: that squad can be loaded into a Dunerider and flung forward for a devastating turn-1 or turn-2 charge, effectively springboarding a melee attack across the board. Belisarius Cawl often rides with or near this Ruststalker unit, not to join their assault, but to provide rerolls and a Fight First aura, and potentially soak overwatch or counter-charge threats (Cawl is very tough to kill, acting as a distraction carnifex if he’s out front).

While the Ruststalkers (with support from Infiltrators or even buffed Vanguard) put pressure on the enemy’s front lines, the rest of the army secures objectives and lays down fire. The Kataphron Breachers form a midfield anchor – their job is to trundle onto an objective (possibly with +1 Toughness buff making them even harder to shift) and blast away at heavy targets with their arc rifles. Cawl can alternatively join a Breacher unit, boosting their shooting accuracy and durability significantly. The Skorpius Disintegrators sit back and bombard enemy armor or important units, leveraging their high-damage ferrumite cannons. With Cawl and the Marshal providing hit rerolls, these tanks become quite reliable at punching through tough targets. Meanwhile, Skitarii Vanguard and Rangers (often riding in the Duneriders early on) focus on playing the mission – they hop out to take objectives, perform actions like scanning or raising banners, and use their bodies to screen out enemy deep strikers. The Vanguard squads, in particular, can also act as a second-wave melee unit: under the Conqueror Imperative (which the AdMech player can switch to in later turns), Vanguard get boosted AP on their melee attacks​goonhammer.com, and with their Toxic Rain ability (rad-saturation) they can weaken enemies for the Ruststalkers to finish off.

Critically, the Haloscreed list thrives on reactive tricks. It has a stratagem for almost every situation: e.g. Analytical Divination lets an Infantry unit make a quick 6″ move in the enemy’s movement phase (great for repositioning onto an objective or out of harm’s way)​goonhammer.com; Guided Retreat allows a unit that fell back to still shoot and charge (so your Ruststalkers can hit-and-run if they survive an initial fight)​goonhammer.com; and of course Aggressive Impulse (mentioned above) enables charging after disembarking, extending threat ranges dramatically. This means on the table the AdMech player is constantly looking for opportunistic plays – if the enemy leaves a gap, a buffed unit will dart in to exploit it. If the opponent overextends, the AdMech can buff its units defensively (e.g. T+1 or Stealth) to weather the storm and then counterpunch. The presence of Belisarius Cawl cannot be overstated: not only does he enhance nearby units, but he’s also a powerful melee combatant in his own right (with a slew of high-damage attacks) and extremely hard to kill (a 2+ save, 5+ invulnerable, and healing abilities, typically). Cawl can march onto the central objective and effectively count as a monstrous threat the enemy must deal with, all while your other units are racking up points. By the late game, a Haloscreed army aims to have the board split between durable objective-holders (Breachers, maybe Cawl if he’s still kicking) and fast units that can chase down remnants (Pteraxii jumping out of reserve to grab distant objectives or finish off weak units, etc.). In summary, this list can shift gears between aggression and defense: it hits hard at the right moment but also knows when to play cagey and just score – a flexibility that catches many opponents off-guard​goonhammer.com.

Strengths:

• Highly Flexible Buffs and Tactics: The hallmark of Haloscreed is adaptability. Being able to choose different buffs each round for key units means the army can tailor its approach to the matchup and moment. For instance, you can crank up the speed (Advance & Charge) for an alpha strike, then switch to toughness or stealth when you need to survive an enemy counter-attack. This detachment has an excellent suite of stratagems with fewer restrictions than usual, giving AdMech tools for rerolls, extra movement, fall back and charge, and more​goonhammer.com. In competitive play, this toolbox of tricks makes the army unpredictable and allows a skilled player to outplay opponents – you have an answer for many situations. Goonhammer’s review lauds Haloscreed’s “flexible detachment that allows you to buff any unit” and its “great suite of stratagems” for both offense and defense​goonhammer.com. In practice, this means a Haloscreed AdMech army can play both the brute-force game and the objective game in the same battle, shifting as needed.

• Devastating Melee Alpha Strike Potential: With the combination of Advance and Charge buffs and the Aggressive Impulse stratagem, Haloscreed lists can launch a blisteringly fast melee attack. In this list, the 10 Ruststalkers can reach effectively 18″+ charge threat (move + disembark + charge) on a turn when buffed, which often catches opponents by surprise. Some players have taken this even further by running 30 Ruststalkers in their Haloscreed builds, essentially creating a tidal wave of melee that hits turn 1 or 2​goonhammer.com. Even with just one big Sicarian unit here, the threat of that charge forces the opponent to respect your distance. Once in combat, Ruststalkers dish out a large number of AP-2, damage 2 attacks that can shred elite infantry or light vehicles. The detachment also has a stratagem for +1 Critical Hit chance (5+ crits)​goonhammer.com which pairs absurdly well with taser goads or other melee, allowing smaller units like Infiltrators to spike high damage. In short, Haloscreed gives AdMech something it traditionally lacked – reliable melee punch – and uses speed to ensure that punch lands where it hurts.

• Strong Combined-Arms Capabilities: Unlike the Skitarii cohort which often skews heavily toward one mode (all shooting or all bodies), this Haloscreed list has a balance of firepower, durability, and combat. The inclusion of Kataphron Breachers and Skorpius Disintegrators means it can engage in a firefight with most armies. Those units bring significant anti-tank and anti-elite shooting (heavy arc rifles, ferrumite cannons, etc.), which is something AdMech needs to handle tough targets. In fact, Skorpius Disintegrators are considered the faction’s “best anti-tank unit”​goonhammer.com, and here we have two plus Cawl’s buffs to maximize their output. On the defensive side, buffing Breachers to T6 (or higher if near cover) makes them very hard to remove, serving as sturdy objective holders. Meanwhile, the army still retains chaff units (Skitarii troops, Infiltrators, etc.) to do actions and die for the cause, so it doesn’t sacrifice scoring potential. This combined-arms approach covers many bases – it has answers to hordes (mass radium and galvanic shots), to heavy armor (arc rifles, ferrumite cannons), to fast enemy units (reactive move strats, speedy Pteraxii), and so on. The well-rounded nature of the list makes it adaptable in a tournament setting where you face a variety of opponents.

• Anchor Unit – Belisarius Cawl: Cawl deserves special mention as a force-multiplier. He provides chapter-master style rerolls to a Mars unit, buffs nearby Canticles/Doctrina effects, and can even repair vehicles. In this list, Cawl often anchors the gunline – for example, sitting with the Breacher units or between the two Disintegrators. Under his aura, those units hit much more reliably. Additionally, Cawl is a nightmare to kill; opponents often waste a lot of firepower trying to bring him down, which takes pressure off the rest of your army. If not focused, he will wade into the mid-board and personally cleave through enemies in melee (his omnissian axe and mechadendrites pack a punch). This creates a lose-lose for the enemy: ignore Cawl and he buffs/harasses freely; focus him and the rest of the AdMech army goes about its business relatively unscathed. Having such a durable linchpin unit is a big strength in competitive play, providing both a psychological and practical advantage on the table.

Weaknesses:

• Buff Reliance and Complexity: The need to assign HALO buffs and remember multiple stratagem tricks each turn adds a layer of complexity. A Haloscreed list can do a lot, but that also means it’s easy for the AdMech player to make suboptimal choices (e.g. buffing the wrong unit at the wrong time or wasting CP on less impactful strats). There is also a ceiling to how much can be buffed – only two units (in Strike Force) get the HALO OVERRIDE each turn​goonhammer.com, so you often must choose between offense and defense. For example, you might want both +1 Toughness and Advance/Charge in the same turn, but you can’t have both on one unit at once (without using a risky strat to take mortals for a second buff)​goonhammer.com​goonhammer.com. Goonhammer points out that Haloscreed is “probably worse than Skitarii Hunter Cohort” in raw power because you must make trade-offs on buffs (you can’t passively have durability and damage boosts simultaneously)​goonhammer.com. In practice, if you guess wrong – say you buff for a charge and then fail the charge roll, or buff toughness when you actually needed more speed – it can swing the game. The detachment’s flexibility is a double-edged sword: the army’s performance is very buff-dependent, so a clever opponent might play around your buffed units and target the unbuffed parts of your army.

• Singular Dependence on Ruststalkers for Melee: While Haloscreed enables a potent melee offense, it largely hinges on the Sicarian Ruststalkers to do the heavy lifting in combat. Aside from them, Adeptus Mechanicus doesn’t have many other strong melee units (Electro-Priests are an option but not taken here, and even they are situational). Goonhammer notes that “AdMech lacks solid melee units outside of Ruststalkers”​goonhammer.com. This means if your Ruststalker bomb fails – e.g. the unit gets wiped out or whittled down before it can fight – you lose your primary assault threat. In this list we’ve mitigated that by including some Vanguard and Infiltrators for backup, but those are much lighter combatants. Compared to a true melee-focused faction, AdMech will fall short in prolonged combat. Additionally, ironically, Ruststalkers can be even more durable in the Skitarii detachment (which can give them a 5+ Feel No Pain and -1 to be hit in melee when near battleline​goonhammer.com), whereas Haloscreed Ruststalkers are more about damage output. So there’s a trade-off – you hit harder with Haloscreed Ruststalkers, but they’re somewhat glass cannon. A savvy enemy might focus-fire your Ruststalker unit early (since it’s not too hard to kill 10 T3 bodies if exposed) and leave the AdMech army without a knockout punch in later turns.

• Mid-Range Focus – Vulnerable at Extremes: The composition of this Haloscreed list is strongest at mid-range engagements – within about 15-24″ and in melee. Many of its weapons (radium carbines, arc rifles, flamers if any, etc.) are short-to-medium range. If an opponent can force long-range firefights on open boards, the AdMech can struggle to reach or meaningfully hurt the enemy. Conversely, if an enemy army survives the initial AdMech assault and brings a strong melee counter-attack, the AdMech units (mostly T3-5 infantry and T6 walkers) can fold relatively quickly in close combat once their buffs are expended. For example, an army like World Eaters or Tyranids with multiple fight phases or interrupts can hit the AdMech lines and grind down those Breachers and Skitarii faster than they can respond. Haloscreed is better at striking hard once than trading blows over many turns in combat. Thus, extremely shooty armies that outrange AdMech or extremely choppy armies that can weather the first punch both pose difficult matchups. The AdMech player must use terrain and careful timing to mitigate those disadvantages, but not all tournament maps will allow that.

• Fewer Bodies for Objective Play: Compared to the Skitarii cohort list, this Haloscreed army has fewer total units (it dedicates a lot of points to characters, Breachers, and vehicles). If it loses a couple of units early, it might find itself stretched thin on the primary mission. For instance, only three troops choices are present – if two of those are killed, you have at most one cheap unit to hold your backfield or do actions, putting a lot of pressure on the remaining units to both fight and score. In missions where multiple objectives must be held, the AdMech player could feel the pinch trying to be everywhere at once. Essentially, this list trades quantity for quality, and that means each unit loss hurts a bit more in terms of scoring potential. Also, with five characters in the list, that’s five drops that aren’t objective-holding units themselves (characters have to attach or stay near squads). In situations where those characters can’t safely contribute (e.g. if their attached unit dies and they are left alone), you effectively lose their utility. An opponent might capitalize on this by sniping a transport and killing the squad inside, stranding the character, thereby indirectly reducing your board presence. In summary, the list must carefully manage its assets to not run out of units to play the mission, especially in later turns if the game is bloody.

Both of the above lists avoid any Forge World units and stick to options from the codex and official GW publications. They incorporate the latest Balance Dataslate changes and point adjustments (Munitorum Field Manual) to ensure they’re up-to-date. These are armies that have proven effective in the current tournament meta – the Skitarii Hunter Cohort build excels at a patient, grindy playstyle, whereas the Haloscreed build adds a bit more aggression and reactive play. A competitive AdMech player in May 2025 can confidently field either of these lists (or a hybrid of the two approaches) at a GT or RTT, knowing that while AdMech isn’t the absolute top faction, it has the tools and tricks to win games in capable hands​goonhammer.com​goonhammer.com. As always, success will come down to smart use of the army’s strengths to score points while mitigating its weaknesses – the Cult of the Omnissiah demands nothing less than calculated perfection!

Sources: Recent tournament list analyses and faction reviews from Goonhammer​goonhammer.com​goonhammer.com, balance update discussions on Warhammer Community, and compiled GT results (Best Coast Pairings / Stat-check data) confirming the performance of these lists​goonhammer.com​tozudos40k.blogspot.com. The specific army compositions are based on lists piloted by top AdMech players (e.g. Richard Siegler and Samuel Martin) and reflect point values from the latest Munitorum Field Manual and Balance Dataslate for 10th Edition.