Explorator Maniple: The 11th-Edition AdMech Objective Detachment

At the start of your Command phase you nominate one objective marker as your Acquisition objective marker until your next Command phase. Then, each time an Adeptus Mechanicus model makes an attack, re-roll a Wound roll of 1 if either:

• that model's unit is within range of your Acquisition objective marker, or
• the target of that attack is within range of it.

That second clause is what stops this being a static gunline rule. You do not have to be standing on the marker; you can nominate the objective the enemy is holding and shoot into it from anywhere. In practice most lists want a bit of both: a unit parked on the marker for the safe re-roll, and the flexibility to point the marker at whatever needs killing.

Everything else in the detachment leans on that marker. Three of the six stratagems and all four enhancements reference it directly, which makes the Command-phase nomination the single most consequential decision you make each turn.

• Infoslave Skull (Command) — a second objective within 24\" of a Tech-Priest also counts as an Acquisition marker until your next Command phase. It fixes the rule's biggest weakness, which is being locked to one point on the board.
• Auto-oracular Retrieval (2CP, Shooting) — a unit that disembarked this turn adds 1 to Wound rolls on ranged attacks against enemies within range of your Acquisition marker. Expensive, but it turns a transport delivery into a real alpha strike.
• Cached Acquisition (any phase) — when an AdMech unit is destroyed while within range of an objective you controlled, you keep control of it until your opponent takes it. Trading a unit no longer costs you the point.
• Priority Reclamation (Fight) — Consolidate up to 6\" instead of 3\", provided the unit ends within range of the Acquisition marker.
• Reactive Safeguard (opponent's Charge) — a charged AdMech Infantry unit near the marker can embark into a friendly Transport within 3\", dodging the charge entirely.
• Incense Exhausts (opponent's Shooting) — a targeted AdMech Infantry unit and a friendly Smoke unit within 6\" both gain Stealth and the Benefit of Cover.

All four are Tech-Priest model only, and all four key off the Acquisition marker, so your bearer is going to be standing somewhere exposed.

• Genetor — while the bearer leads a unit within range of the Acquisition marker, that unit has a 4+ invulnerable save. The reason a Tech-Priest can hold that marker at all.
• Logis — while the bearer leads a unit, that unit adds 1 to Hit rolls against targets within range of the Acquisition marker. It pairs with the rule's second clause: point the marker at the enemy and this becomes a general offensive buff.
• Artisan — while the bearer leads a unit within range of the marker, once per phase change one hit roll, wound roll or saving throw for that unit to an unmodified 6. A guaranteed critical, on demand.
• Magos — at the end of your Command phase, if the bearer is within range of the marker, roll a D6: on a 4+ you gain 1CP. Over a full game that is a meaningful command-point engine.

(Points come from the Munitorum Field Manual and move with updates; confirm in the app.)

• Skitarii Rangers and Vanguard — Battleline bodies that sit on the Acquisition marker, switch on the re-roll, hold the objective, and keep the army rule's Battleline clause live.
• Kataphron Breachers and Destroyers — slow, heavy firepower that wants to park on one marker all game, which is exactly this detachment's plan.
• Onager Dunecrawler — a durable gun platform that benefits from the re-roll without needing to move off the point.
• Skorpius Disintegrator — mobile firepower for the turns you point the marker at the enemy instead.
• Skorpius Dunerider — the transport both Reactive Safeguard and Auto-oracular Retrieval assume you are fielding; the pack gave it Firing Deck 2.
• Tech-Priest Dominus — all four enhancements are Tech-Priest only, and Magos turns the marker into command points.

Take it (2 DP) when you want a methodical, objective-anchored army: claim a point, make it the centre of gravity, and grind from it. It suits players who like resource engines over dice spikes, because Magos generates command points, Cached Acquisition refuses to give points back, and Reactive Safeguard denies your opponent the trade they wanted.

Its weakness is rigidity. One marker per turn is a narrow beam, and against a mobile opponent you can spend the game nominating the wrong point. Infoslave Skull is the pressure valve, and most lists plan to spend it most turns. Note also that Auto-oracular Retrieval is a 2CP spend, so the detachment wants a transport and the command points to use it, which is part of why the Magos enhancement carries more weight here than its price suggests.

At 2 DP it leaves 1 DP for a support. Lords of the Forge is the natural fit, because every enhancement here puts a Tech-Priest on an objective in the open.

Sample gameplan: nominate the midfield objective in your Command phase and put a Rangers block with a Genetor-bearing Tech-Priest on it. Keep Kataphrons and a Dunecrawler within range so their wound re-rolls are always live. Spend Infoslave Skull to add the objective the enemy is holding, so Logis and the base re-roll apply to attacks going out as well. Deliver a unit by Dunerider and cash Auto-oracular Retrieval on the volley. When they charge your holders, use Reactive Safeguard to embark instead of fighting, and if you do lose the unit, Cached Acquisition keeps the point.