Cult Hit

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus Succeeds By Embracing The Weird.

- Tom Hatfield

A few years ago, Games Workshop loosened its grip on the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and the result has been a glut of small-budget games set in the grim darkness of the far future. The quality has been mixed, but every so often a game like Mechanicus comes along that uses the opportunity to explore a previously neglected corner of the Warhammer universe, and makes it all worthwhile.

The Adeptus Mechanicus are, in many ways, the perfect encapsulation of what Warhammer 40,000 is about, a bizarre Gothic fusion of tech and religion. They are the chief scientists of the Empire, but treat science like a religious cult. Mechanicus translates this unusual faction into a tactics game, and does so wonderfully, oozing character from every pore.

The story is framed by a group of high-ranking tech priests who are constantly debating each mission. They’re all wonderfully quirky characters: Scaevola has removed so much of their humanity they now speak in equations, the devout Videx believes ignorance is strength, meanwhile their leader, Faustinius, has quarantined their emotions. They’re