Warhammer 40K Should Adopt The Dark Mechanicus Now<br>

From the immaterium has come Vashtorr the Arkifane. An initial conflict between the Necrons and Imperium armies has escalated into a full-scale intergalactic conflict. Adeptus Mechanicus, Sisters of Silence, two Necron dynasties, several Space Marine chapters, and Belisarius Cawl, the man behind the banned archeotech that started it all, are all waiting to fight it out in the stars.

There will be reinforcements shortly. When Imperial soldiers arrive in the Nephilim Sector, they are met with surprise, along with the might of the Inquisition and two Primarchs. Vashtorr, a demon who abandoned the Chaos Gods to lead his own cults and armies, has returned to add a touch of chaotic energy to the proceedings after Cawl’s ancient weapons caused a split in the cosmos. All I can hope is that he takes the Dark Mechanicus along.

For a detailed overview of the Pariah Nexus campaign’s intricate story, see our recap of the campaign.

As the Chaos Space Marines are to the Adeptus Astartes, so the Dark Mechanicus are to the Mechanicus. Their hatred of flesh has even led them to ask the evil gods for favors; they are more like horrible beings than fallen angels. By the norms of the 41st Millennium, the clergy of the Dark Mechanicus go too far, but the Tech-Priests of Mars would pray to the Omnissiah and replace their limbs with robotics. The Dark Mechanicus are one of the most fascinating forces in the Warhammer 40K mythos because of their accursed appendages and abnormal talents.

Reading the Soul Drinkers books was how I initially developed a deep affection for this terrible faction. The demonic Magos, whose creations appear to be composed of glass or some other crystalline structure, squares up against the deranged Marines. I wanted to replicate them on a tabletop right away, but what could I do other than cast Servitors in clear resin? I went with my own interpretation of the Dark Mech instead. I manifested my dreadful creations utilizing models from every range, fusing the steely advancement of engines with the bloated corpses of Nurgle.

A Few New Out of Storage Units From My Dark Mechanicus Army



I was running them as counts-as Astra Militarum at first, turning foot soldiers and Chimeras into messed-up monstrosities, but I was ecstatic when the Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus Codexes came out. In addition to having appropriate regulations to manage my troops under, I also had an abundance of exquisite plastic models to transform. I built Onager Dunecrawlers from Giants almost entirely from scratch, adding new weaponry and kits into each conversion and painstakingly assembling Stormfiends and Kastelan Robots to create rat-robot abominations.

It’s been almost ten years since then, and not everything has held up. Some of the components don’t appear to be as good as I had anticipated. Belisarius Cawl, poor thing, was left half-completed during a conversion and has been left undone for about eight years. Now is the opportunity to make this right. After having his Green Stuff completed and any broken limbs restored, he will be fitted with Vashtorr’s amazing mechanical wings. Given that he is an Omnissiah Avatar (played as Cawl in-game), he should receive the best conversion possible.





My Mechanicus were more Grey than Dark. They were so devoted to the Omnissiah, according to my lore, that they lost sight of their duty to the Emperor. Excommunicated and shunned by the Imperium, they persisted in their quest for mechanical perfection at any costs rather than turning to Chaos. They didn’t pause to consider whether they should because they were so focused on whether they could.

Aside from my own conversions, there is much to be discovered about the Dark (or grey) Mechanicus. Their models might be extremely imaginative, and their lore is complex and profound. Simply use Vashtorr as a model; if everything appears to be as disorganized as he is (kudos), we’re in for a treat.


Plastic Mechanicum, I believe, is next. I don’t know why, but that’s what the Mechanicus was named in the third millennium. More Forgeworld kits being turned into plastic present a potential chance to expand the Mechanicus model line in 40K while also revealing their darker side in reprisal.

In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Dark Mechanicus is a glaringly underdeveloped group. While novelists have devised inventive methods for Magi to disfigure their adherents, nothing substantial has been revealed on the tabletop. The Dark Mechanicus emerges from Vashtorr’s darkness and into the light as time shifted. Demon Perturabo or that, that’s my preference, and I know which I would pick. I apologize to Iron Warriors lovers.