There are many factions in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, each with its own units, ideals, and years of lore to pore over. No matter your favorite, you are sure to learn something wild and uncanny as you dive deeper into the books and various other source materials. Even in humankind, there are various armies and groups that make up the Imperium.
One of the most mysterious and overlooked is the Adeptus Mechanicus. If you’re new to 40K, or just haven’t done much looking at the Ad Mech history, there is quite a bit you may not know about them. But here are some of the basics to know before you do some real lore diving.
Fortress On Mars
Their Headquarters
Every faction needs a home base, and unlike the rest of humanity, the Adeptus Mechanicus doesn’t really call Terra (Earth) home. Their base is located on the planet Mars, albeit just a quick jump from Terra. They have turned the planet into a veritable fortress where their scientists do various experiments on every facet of the Imperium, but mostly where war is concerned.
Most of the surface is entirely metal and concrete now, and various rings of defense platforms and docks orbit the planet. Some argue that there are darker secrets in the bowels of Mars that only the most advanced of the Mechanicus forces know about.
Weakness Of Flesh
Closer To Perfection
The Mechanicus is entirely devoted to the pursuit of technology in all its forms. This often alienates them from the rest of humanity, most notably in the main group of the Mechanicus, the tech priests.
These red-robed scientists, inventors, and engineers have come to the conclusion that mortal flesh is equal to weakness. Therefore, they undergo surgeries to replace parts of themselves with advanced machines. Limbs, eyes, parts of their brains, internal organs, the more they are made of metal and wires, the closer they are to perfection.
Many higher-up tech priests have been alive for hundreds of years due to the mainly inorganic components of their bodies.
The Punishment For Disobedience
Worse Than Death
With such a strict society, going against the many teachings of the machine god doesn’t go over well. The main punishment for most severe crimes and mistakes is being turned into a servitor.
These are lobotimized humans who are made to follow the simplest orders. They can be made to clean or do more advanced jobs with various additional mechanical add-ons, like hydraulic lifts for moving cargo or machine guns for security purposes. The idea is that killing a criminal or imprisoning them is a waste of possible labor.
Belief In The Omnissiah
The Machine God
Something that has become an issue in the past is the religious belief system in the Mechanicus. While most humans look to the Emperor for most things, the tech priests and other followers look to The Omnissiah, or the machine god.
Every machine from a toaster to a battleship has a machine spirit that makes it run correctly, which is in turn a part of The Omnissiah. Saying prayers, soothing these spirits with grease and oils, and just proper maintenance is all vital in the eyes of the Adeptus Mechanicus for making sure The Omnissiah is happy, and the machines run properly.
Some tech priests do see The Emperor as a part of the Omnissiah. Or, at least a part of its divine plan.
Their Own Army
Not Defenseless Engineers
The tech priests of Mars are usually aligned with sharing their technology with the other fighting forces of the Imperium, but they do keep some of the best technology for themselves.
They can field their own armies, headed by troops known as Skitarii, who are heavily modified humans made only for war. They also have a host of interesting weaponry, from laser, plasma, virus, radiation, gravity, and other types of weaponry. They are also the keepers of the surviving titan legions and some of the only automata in the 40K universe.
Automata were technically outlawed by Imperial decree thousands of years earlier for being too dangerous.
Leaders Of Forge Worlds
Manufacturing Centers
When the Mechanicus lays claim to a planet, due to strategic necessity, or for mineral deposits, they often turn into forge worlds. These end up resembling hive cities in many ways, except that instead of a large, continent-spanning mass of living quarters, the entire planet is turned into a factory.
Steel spans the entirety of the planet, and oceans are sucked up for refineries to make tanks, guns, fuel, or anything else the Imperium may need.
The Final Say On Technology
Some Forbidden, Others…
The Imperium has a long and troubling view of technology. Many of the more impressive inventions made by humanity and the Mechanicus are considered lost or outlawed. Much of this comes from issues related to losing contact with human colonies both pre- and post-heresy, and from xenophobia about any technology that isn’t inherently humanoid in nature.
This is a big part of the stagnation that the Imperium now faces. The Mechanicus usually is the one vying for the expanse of technology, and also who gets to use it when it finally gets approved.
A Betrayal Of Their Own
Heretics Aplenty
The Horus Heresy cut many of the imperial forces in half. It mostly focused around the Space Marine legions, but human armies followed, and so did a sect of the Ad Mech. These, now referred to as The Dark Mechanicus, believed Horus was the real connection to The Omnissiah because of his fringe beliefs of chaos.
Now, as part of the heretical armies, they run experiments with artificial intelligence, alien technology, and most importantly, how chaos and machines intersect. This has led to daemons being implanted into machines to run them with bestial intelligence rather than a crew of humans.