Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus, Now With More Metal

Text copyright Kenton Kilgore, 2021
Most images copyright Games Workshop, 2021. Used for review purposes.

I came late to the party that is the Adeptus Mechanicus, but once I arrived, I became a big fan. The AdMech fight like a high-tech Astra Militarum, with an emphasis on infantry, rather than vehicles (not that any of their vehicles are sad). As such, their rules fit well with how I want to run my “Space Dwarf” army that I started many years ago. As you might imagine, I glommed on to the latest Codex: AM very quickly.

As I do with my rulebook reviews, I’m not going to cover everything in exhaustive detail. Instead, I’ll touch on what I like, what I don’t like, and what I’m indifferent to. If you’re looking for a more in-depth view, I highly recommend this analysis by the guys at Goonhammer. So, let’s get started. 

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A Sacred World

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming novel Stray Cats, about the adventures of a cat named Pimmi across nine worlds, one of which will be familiar to visitors to this site.

If you like 40K fiction (and/or cats), I think you'll like this, which incorporates a lot of Jungle lore, with adjustments made to avoid infringing on Games Workshop's intellectual property.

Chronology: 14.038.379
Sector: Udaipur
System: Bagha
Planet: Vedah

Like many other cats on this hot summer afternoon, Pimmi is napping in a patch of sun when the Kurindans come to end the world.

A shrill keening from high above jerks her awake. The kitten cringes, head tucked, ears flat, eyes following those of the thin boy sitting next to her on the cracked stone steps of the shrine, forgotten by almost all.

A silvery shimmer, streaming white smoke, screams from the empty blue sky, spinning a flawless spiral for a second or two. Then it smashes into the village in the shallow valley below, a thundering explosion as the ground shakes. Pimmi’s heart beats a single time, and then the shockwave of the strike knocks the boy atop her as the scores of other cats who live here scatter.

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“KD&D,” Part 7: Simpler & Better Spellcasting

This post is part of a series describing the rule changes I've made for my current fantasy role-playing campaign. "Kenton's Dungeons & Dragons," or "KD&D," is a full-fledged variant of the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game initially released in 1977. Feel free to use some or all of these rule changes for your own D&D gaming, no matter what edition you play.

After many years of role-playing retirement, I started, in 2020, running a 1st Edition AD&D campaign at the request of my neighbors and family. Coming back to the game, I’ve realized that, while it’s still my favorite, the mechanics of it can be clunky and difficult, and that some parts are lame.

To make what I consider to be improvements to the core rules, I’ve borrowed ideas from issues of Dragon Magazine and later D&D editions, as well as come up with a few of my own. My operating motto for re-tooling the game is to make it, “Simpler & Better.”

Thus far in this series, I’ve talked about:

  1. Going back to AD&D instead of using the current, 5th Edition D&D;
  2. “Simpler & Better” character races;
  3. “Simpler & Better” character classes;
  4. The basics of making combat “simpler and better;”
  5. An in-depth look at “simpler and better” combat; and,
  6. Changes to various weapons.

Let’s switch gears and talk about casting spells, which is just as big a component of D&D as is combat.

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Birthday Spankings: Old Friends, New Starts

By Patrick Eibel and Kenton Kilgore

It was only within the last thirty standard solar years that the planet Tondar had been discovered, seized (violently), and settled by Imperial forces. Two years ago, this world had been overwhelmed by a massive Ork Waaagh!, and only within the last few months had the Greenskins been driven from it by the Space Wolves, led by the ancient Dreadnought Ferin Ironhammer.

Before a proper force of Astra Militarum could be sent to secure the planet, the Wolves had been ordered to another warzone, and in that vacuum, the forces of Chaos had struck, drawn to the Warpstone—crystalline hunks of solidified Warp energy—found on Tondar. 

Should the Traitors acquire the Warpstones, their power might be nigh-unlimited. But while the Wolves were gone, the planet was not undefended….

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In Praise of Patrick

by Kenton Kilgore

My pal Patrick Eibel turns 55 (!) today, and seeing as how he has achieved this milestone birthday, I thought I’d tell you some more about him and post a public “thank you” for all the things he’s done for me and this site over the years.

Jungle Guide Patrick Eibel

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Back and Badder Than Ever: the 9e Drukhari

Text by Kenton Kilgore, copyright 2021
Most images copyright Games Workshop, 2021

The fact that the second xenos army book released for 9th Edition is Codex: Drukhari—and not one for Craftworld Aeldari, T’au, or Orks—flabbergasts me, but I’ll take it. I’ve been playing Dark Eldar since they arrived with the 3rd Edition rules in 1998, and they’re one of my favorite forces to play. As I’ve done in the past, I’ll go over the new book, pulling out some of the things I like, some that I don’t like, and some that I’m indifferent on. Ready? Off we go!

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KD&D, Part 6: Weapons

This post is part of a series describing the rule changes I've made for my current fantasy role-playing campaign. "Kenton's Dungeons & Dragons," or "KD&D," is a full-fledged variant of the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game initially released in 1977. Feel free to use some or all of these rule changes for your own D&D gaming, no matter what edition you play.

After many years of role-playing retirement, I started, in 2020, running a 1st Edition AD&D campaign at the request of my neighbors and family. Coming back to the game, I’ve realized that, while it’s still my favorite, the mechanics of it can be clunky and difficult, and that some parts are lame.

To make what I consider to be improvements to the core rules, I’ve borrowed ideas from issues of Dragon magazine and later D&D editions, as well as come up with a few of my own. My operating motto for re-tooling the game is to make it, “Simpler & Better.”

Thus far in this series, I’ve talked about:

As a follow-up to the previous post, let’s talk weapons. I’m happy with almost all of the weapons and their characteristics—speed factor, damage, etc.—listed in the Players Handbook (PHB) and the Unearthed Arcana (UA) books. There are a few, however, that I feel need to be adjusted.

Much of what follows is drawn from the Second Edition Player’s Option: Combat and Tactics book (POCT). I wasn’t (and am still not) a fan of Second Edition, but this sourcebook was excellent (you can purchase a PDF of it here).

 

Here are the weapons I changed for my campaign:

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Tigers of a Different Stripe (Primaris Version)

The Fighting Tigers of Veda have been online for 21 years, and every so often, someone will e-mail me photos of their Tiger minis. I’m always glad to see what someone who can actually paint decently does with them! If you’ve painted up some and would like me to share them here, shoot an e-mail to me: kentonkilgore@kentonkilgore.com.

People have sometimes asked me if there are there Primaris Fighting Tigers of Veda. Well, there are now! Mik Burns (aka Cygnus46 on Instagram) has been hard at working painting up these, to bring stripey retribution to the enemies of the Imperium!

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“KD&D,” Part 5: Simpler and Better Combat (Explained)

This post is part of a series describing the rule changes I've made for my current fantasy role-playing campaign. "Kenton's Dungeons & Dragons," or "KD&D," is a full-fledged variant of the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game initially released in 1977. Feel free to use some or all of these rule changes for your own D&D gaming, no matter what edition you play.

After many years of role-playing retirement, I started, in 2020, running a 1st Edition AD&D campaign at the request of my neighbors and family. Coming back to the game, I’ve realized that, while it’s still my favorite, the mechanics of it can be clunky and difficult, and that some parts are lame.

To make what I consider to be improvements to the core rules, I’ve borrowed ideas from issues of Dragon magazine and later D&D editions, as well as come up with a few of my own. My operating motto for re-tooling the game is to make it, “Simpler & Better.”

Thus far in this series, I’ve talked about:

This time, I’d like to take a deep dive into making combat “simpler and better” by looking at the 10 steps to a  melee round that I listed in the previous blog post. Those steps are:

  1. Is Anyone Surprised?
  2. How Far Away is the Enemy?
  3. What Are You Going to Do?
  4. How Will You Fight?
  5. Who Goes When?
  6. Roll “To Hit”
  7. Is it a Critical Hit?
  8. Roll Damage
  9. Does the Enemy Hit You?
  10. The End of the Melee Round.

Again, I developed some of the revisions myself, but most of them, I cribbed from the 1e Players Handbook, Unearthed Arcana, and DMG, as well as the 2e Player’s Option: Combat and Tactics book.

So, grab your favorite beverage (I take my tea with lots of lemon and sugar), and perhaps a snack, and let’s have a long chat.

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“KD&D,” Part 4: Simpler and Better Combat (The Basics)

This post is part of a series describing the rule changes I've made for my current fantasy role-playing campaign. "Kenton's Dungeons & Dragons," or "KD&D," is a full-fledged variant of the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game initially released in 1977. Feel free to use some or all of these rule changes for your own D&D gaming, no matter what edition you play.

After many years of role-playing retirement, I started, in 2020, running a 1st Edition AD&D campaign at the request of my neighbors and family. Coming back to the game, I’ve realized that, while it’s still my favorite, the mechanics of it can be clunky and difficult, and that some parts are lame.

To make what I consider to be improvements to the core rules, I’ve borrowed ideas from issues of Dragon magazine and later D&D editions, as well as come up with a few of my own.  My operating motto for re-tooling the game is to make it, “Simpler & Better.”

Thus far in this series, I’ve talked about:

This time out, I’ll tackle a fundamental, huge, and often overly-complicated component of AD&D, or any role-playing game: combat.

Continue reading ““KD&D,” Part 4: Simpler and Better Combat (The Basics)”