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The Adeptus Mechanicus

From their cyclopean fortresses on the prime forgeworld of Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus are the masters of both the science and the ritual of the Machine. It is they who build the machines and weapons, they who seek the ancient secrets of technology. The average Guardsman might think it preposterous that these academics would be found on the field of battle - but they could not be more wrong. The Adeptus Mechanicus construct, preserve, and command the mighty Titan Legions, as well as the Tech-Guard, maintaining a sizeable force for assault as well as defense of their many forgeworlds. In their endless pursuit of the STCs, it is not uncommon that natives and aliens will have to be -- dealt with. And, long ago, during the Imperium's darkest hour, it is said that many of the Adeptus Mechanicus chose to follow the Traitor.

Tech-Guard Armies

Fielding a Tech-Guard army is quite simple, and can be done using the current Imperial Guard rules, especially if one adds house rules for heavy support weapons or robots. My only suggestion would be to replace the optional Commissars with Tech-Adept advisors (same cost and stats) who, although not using the rules for Commissars with regard to taking command, might be able to take items such as the servo-arm, signum, or other pieces of exotic wargear such as the graviton gun.

Gav Thorpe once wrote an article about using Tech-Guard in Epic-scale battles - if you have access to this, I would take a look at it for an idea of what a Tech-Guard army 'looks like' - but of course, in the end, it's your army. I would suggest plenty of Sentinels (especially a squad attached to your Command HQ) and a fair share of tanks!

Electro-Priests

The Electro-Priests, now fewer in number, are one of the elite troops available to the Tech-Guard. Once a normal human, the Electro-Priest has been gifted with the forgotten technology called by some the 'electoo' - a full-body tattoo of circuitry implanted in the skin, tracing a labyrinthine path around the Electro-Priest's limbs, torso, and face. The design of the 'electoo' is such that it harnesses and amplifies the body's natural bioelectric field, as well as accelerating the wearer's metabolism. These two effects combine to give the Electro-Priest great strength, the ability to fell opponents with shocks delivered from the hands, and surrounds the symbiont with a nimbus of electromagnetism that can repel small-arms fire by reversing the kinetic polarity of incoming missiles. No wonder that the Electro-Priests, fanatic as they were to the Machine God, were once the favored crusaders of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Electro-Priest (0-1, Elites)

Model	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Electro-Priest	30	4	4	4	4	1	3	2	8	4+ (Inv)

Squad: Up to three Electro-priests may be taken as a single Elites choice; however, the Electro-priests are considered Independent Characters and need not be deployed in coherency. They may be attached to other squads; oftentimes they are used as a Tech-Priest's bodyguard, and thus form a single "command-squad" style unit with the Tech-Priest.

Weapons: Electoo. The Electro-Priests use their bare hands in combat, but are considered to be armed with two close-combat weapons (this is accounted for in their profile).

Options: None. This means no power weapons, sorry.

Praetorian Cyborgs

The current vogue amongst Tech-Guard commanders is the use of cyborg troops called Praetorians (no relation to the Imperial Guard regiment of the same name) as both shock troops and a personal bodyguard. Praetorians are similar to their weaker kin, the Servitors, in construction, but where the Servitor has tool-limbs and data-access ports, the Praetorian has cybernetic weaponry and armor. The Praetorians are best suited to hand-to-hand combat, where their myriad whirling blades and spinning drills can slice the enemy to ribbons. Their substantial armor, combined with their inability to feel pain as such, allows them to shrug off blows and wounds that would kill a normal man.

Praetorian Cyborg Squad (0-1, Elites)

Model	Pts	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Praetorian	20	4	4	4	4	1	4	1	8	5+ (Inv)
Praetorian Hero/Cmdr	+15	5	4	4	4	2	4	2	8	5+ (Inv)

Squad: A Praetorian Cyborg squad consists of five to ten Cyborgs. One of these may be upgraded to a Hero at the cost of +15 points.

Weapons: Each Cyborg is armed with a close combat weapon and an autopistol or laspistol (or equivalent). Any number of Praetorians may exchange their pistol for an additional close combat weapon at no cost.

Options: The Hero (or Commander) in the squad may exchange a close combat weapon for a power weapon for +10 points (this is as likely to be a diamond-tipped buzzsaw as it is a sword).