Elite among the Mechanicum’s legions of tech-thralls and automata, Skitarii are augmented soldiers dedicated to the discovery and reclamation of lost technology. Mere rumours until now, the Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms finally deploy to the battlefields of the Age of Darkness with new plastic kits.
Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms
Of all the regiments and Taghmatas that operated across the vast corpus of the Mechanicum, only the Skitarii served the Fabricator General alone. Then, when the Horus Heresy split the Mechanicum and there were two rival Fabricator-Generals, Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms ended up on both sides of the war…
Though Battle-Pilgryms are generally human in appearance, like much of the Mechanicum’s forces they are amalgamations of steel and sinew that surpass the frail shells of mortals. They are built from human thralls gathered according to ancient tithes who are then subjected to the ‘Flesh-shriving’, a bloody ordeal that strips body and mind of their weaknesses and replaces them with the corpus-skitarii – their advanced augmetics and armour.
Bestowed with the collective skills and wisdom of a thousand past warriors, the Skitarii take to the field as agile and resilient light infantry. Deployed as units of eight to 16 Battle-Pilgryms, these capable warriors stand somewhere between the innumerable hordes of Tech-thralls and more heavily reinforced Thallax Cohorts, laying down volleys of powerful close-ranged fire from voltlock arquebuses.
Skitarii Battle-Pilgrym Marshal
They are led in the field by a Battle-Pilgrym Marshal, a veteran selected from the most proficient of a conclave’s ‘ordinator’ squad leaders. These experienced commanders are vested with the authority of the Fabricator General in the field, and frequently carry relic weapons like the symbolic auctorit sceptre to cement their authority over all of the Skitarii in a given theatre.
Vultarax Stratos-automata
Skitarii conclaves generally operate under their own power and are granted access to very few of the Mechanicum’s battle automata, but among those they do deploy, Vultarax Stratos-automata are some of the most common. These floating machines are retrofitted with extra scanning arrays and auspices to help search for lost relics, and cover the advance of the Battle-Pilgryms with barrages of missiles and arc blaster fire.
The Vultarax is a classic Mechanicum unit previously only available in resin, returning to the range with a new multi-part plastic kit. You can first get one of these lethal flying automata along with 16 Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms and a Battle-Pilgrym Marshal in the upcoming Mechanicum Skitarii Battle Group box, which also includes a Mechanicum Macro-constructs transfer sheet with 394 individual decals.
You’ll be able to find all of the rules for the Skitarii in the next Journal Tactica, titled Skitarii – The Steel Hand of Mars. In this book you’ll gain access to the Skitarii Conclaves army list, which lets you field an independent force of Kelbor-Hal’s loyal troops or ally them into an existing army, with a special rule that dodges the 50% points limit for allies when they’re included in a Mechanicum Taghmata force.
Extensive background lore covers the history of the Skitarii, their operations, and the fate that followed them into the Horus Heresy. It may seem unbelievable that such doggedly loyal warriors would ever turn against the Fabricator General and his traitorous master, but whole conclaves elected to fight with the Loyalists, and the reason why might surprise you.
In addition to the lore and unit profiles, this Journal Tactica also includes the Relic Hunt mission pack, which tasks players with recovering objectives of unknown value during battle – only finding out how much their prize is worth when they spend some time analysing it. These unpredictable missions are a great way to shake things up once you’re familiar with the Core missions in the Age of Darkness rulebook and are looking for a more complex game.
See what else is coming to Warhammer: The Horus Heresy by checking back in with our Preview hub, where the siege specialists of the Legiones Astartes have some new plastic kits of their own.
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