THE ART OF THE ART OF
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 10 60 84 100 174 196 204 ADEPTUS MECHANICUS NECRONS CAESTUS METALICAN SILVA TENEBRIS EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS UI DESIGN CREDITS Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2018. Mechanicus, the Mechanicus logo, GW, Games Workshop, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likeness thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world, and used under licence. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
6 Ark Mechanicus
7 Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is [our] Bulwark Studio’s fourth video game. We first worked with Kasedo Games on Crowntakers and continued our relationship with them with other projects. All these projects went very well, giving us the foundations within the industry to tackle bigger and more ambitious challenges. We also created a great ongoing relationship with Kasedo, which continues to this day. Back in 2016 Kasedo approached us with the chance to work with the Warhammer 40,000 Intellectual Property (IP). As you could imagine, this was a wonderful opportunity for our studio as we’re big fans of the universe. It was a perfect fit. Since then we’ve worked on Mechanicus every day for just under two years. The original pitch for Mechanicus was a 2D tactics game. At the time we were still a team of three. During the prototyping and research stages of development, we hired new members to take on future tasks later down the pipeline, including very talented 3D artists, animators and riggers who would help us deliver a more ambitious game than originally planned. Being our first ever 3D game there was a lot to learn on the fly, whilst not sacrificing our ultimate goal - to deliver an awesome tactical game for the Warhammer 40,000 fans. During the development it was important for us to offer the player a world faithful to the original table top game’s rich lore. We also wanted to bring new elements, mechanics, audio and visual sights to the experience. We wanted to create interesting and compelling systems allowing players to discover and explore the Adeptus Mechanicus like never before. This has been a journey that presented many challenges along the way, but one we’re very proud of having made. We hope you enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed creating Mechanicus. The art in this book will allow you to follow the evolution through this very special project. We hope you’ll learn some of the Adeptus Mechanicus’ secrets whilst reading. The Bulwark Studios Team. INTRODUCTION
8 WARHAMMER 40,000 Warhammer 40,000 is a science-fantasy tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. Launched in 1987, it has had over 30 years of development and now has millions of fans worldwide. The Adeptus Mechanicus are one of the universe’s many races and they are the faction you play as in Mechanicus. Their Tech-Priests are the keepers and manufacturers of technology for the Imperium of Mankind. It is a role they guard jealously, using their own standing armies, engines of war and god-machines. We used the Games Workshop miniatures as the basis for the designs in Mechanicus. With the help of Games Workshop we expanded the number of designs to allow players to fully customise their Tech-Priests, which is one of the game’s best features. We also worked with the author Ben Counter. Ben has written many books for Black Library (Games Workshop’s publishing house) and he’s a real expert on the Adeptus Mechanicus. Ben has done a great job in framing the game’s narrative, creating memorable, nuanced characters and writing their engaging dialogue.
9 MECHANICUS HISTORY Overlord Szaregon is soon to wake from his many millennia of slumber. An Adeptus Mechanicus expedition, originally seeking lost technology, accidentally triggers the Tomb World’s reanimation protocol. The expedition must stop the reanimation protocol at all costs and defeat Szaregon or die trying. Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus puts you in charge of an exploritor expedition. In this apocalyptic context the player has to manage the Tech-Priest expedition from the orbiting Ark Mechanicus class warship, the Caestus Metalican. You must deploy your troops into the depths of Silva Tenebris to cull as many Necrons as possible and halt the awakening of this Tomb World. Competing demands must be managed whilst preparing your Tech-Priests for the final encounter against the Overlord. Each deployment is crucial. As the Adeptus Mechanicus you have many choices ahead of you. Choose your path and how you will face the Necrons in dozens of missions. Customize your cohort, add implants and weapons to your Tech-Priests to become powerful enough to explore the increasingly dark and dangerous Necron tombs.
10 ADEPTUS MECHANICUS
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12 MAGOS-DOMINUS FAUSTINUS Faustinius is a Tech-Priest Magos from Mars who leads the expedition. He is in charge of deploying Tech-Priests and auxilia on missions to Silva Tenebris. He is unshockable and pragmatic, and his realism in the face of battlefield losses verges on gallows humour. Faustinius believes that knowledge is the only path mankind must tread to save itself, but he is conflicted by how best to go about pursuing it. Both Videx and Scaevola believe he should make up his mind - a Magos cannot sit on the fence about how the Omnissiah’s work is to be done. They believe he is still too human to advance up the ranks of the TechPriesthood to Archmagos and beyond. Ultimately, as his subordinates, Videx and Scaevola must swallow their pride and fall into line. Faustinius was selected for the mission by the Archmagi of Mars and sees it more as a trial or puzzle to be endured rather than an opportunity for advancement. His concern for the other members of the mission is unusual amongst other Magi. While he’s still a believer in some of the less palatable tenets of the Cult Mechanicus (such as the flesh being weak and menials serving Tech-Priests for a lifetime), he is still more sympathetic than most other NPCs. He is not, for instance, an extremist like Videx nor does he skirt the edges of heresy like Scaevola.
13 TECH-ACQUISITOR SCAEVOLA Scaevola is from Stygies VIII and is a researcher on archeotech and xenos relics. She is very old, resembling a bent and haggard witch crossed with a Tech-Priest. She is a secretive and obsessive character who always seems to know more than she is letting on, and has a considerable talent for causing others discomfort with her mere presence, probably enhanced due to the fact her Lingua-technis is so broken. Other Tech-Priests, especially Videx, do not trust Scaevola; Scaevola is fine with this and revels in the reputation of Stygies VIII as a breeding ground for tech-heresy. There is something even playful about the glee with which she regards her position as a figure of mistrust and even fear. Scaevola is secretly a fully-blown Xenarite - a faction of the Cult Mechanicus who seek out xenos technology not just to study it but to employ it for the good of mankind. She was eager to join the mission because her standing in the Xenarite factions depends on her providing them with new discoveries. A fresh, unplundered xeno-archaeology site is sure to provide just the discoveries Scaevola wants. In her secret ending it is hinted at that there is something buried beneath the Noctis Labyrinthus on Mars.
14 LECTOR DOGMATIS VIDEX Videx is from the Forge World Metalica and is the mission’s chief functionary of the Cult Mechanicus. His role is to ensure that proper observances are made to keep the machine-spirits honoured and uncorrupted, as well as watching over the spiritual health of the mission’s personnel. Videx is a stickler for adherence to the tenets of the Cult Mechanicus and constantly warns against the potential corruption of conducting research into xenos artefacts. Videx is more than just a fanatic - he witnessed the destruction of the Forge World Hypnoth, where Necrons released a technophagic virus that destroyed the Adeptus Mechanicus defences and ultimately led to the planet’s dramatic fall. Videx is motivated by the horror and rage he felt at what he witnessed. To Videx, complete annihilation of the xenos is a just and logical response to what he witnessed on Hypnoth. Videx is deeply suspicious of Scaevola and warns Faustinius to be wary of her motives. Videx claims he elected to join the mission because Magos Rhesak, like him, was from Metalica and the Forge World should be represented. In truth, Videx’s real objective is to destroy the works of the alien everywhere he finds them, including the structures discovered on Silva Tenebris.
15 SUBDOMINA KHEPRA Khepra is a Master of Skitarii, answering to Faustinius. She serves as his military advisor as well as being in personal command of the mission’s Skitarii troops. She is tough and plain-spoken, while very aware of her place in the chain of command. Khepra is a military officer rather than a Tech-Priest so she provides a more ‘human’ outlook compared to the Tech-Priests. Faustinius finds her alternative outlook refreshing, and is always impressed by her concern for the wellbeing of her troops which is something Faustinius feels he is in danger of losing. He respects Khepra, even if the other Tech-Priests do not, and usually accepts her advice on military matters.
16 MAGOS RHESAK Rhesak is not encountered in-person during the story, but is seen via vox-logs and discussed a great deal amongst the other Tech-Priests. He led the small Explorator team that was investigating ancient Imperial ruins on Silva Tenebris and stumbled upon the Necron tombs. Rhesak was researching possible locations for deposits of priceless Blackstone and believed the ancient Imperial presence might have something to do with the resource. Rhesak is a highly idealistic Tech-Priest who believes absolutely that the grace of the Omnissiah will lead him to his goal. His zeal was enough to bring several more experienced Tech-Priests along on his mission, such as the aged Genetor Kypselos. Rhesak’s naivety to the dangers of the galaxy led to his fatal underestimation of the potential perils of the tomb complex. He died deep within the tombs of Silva Tenebris, moments after delivering a long range transmission out to all forgeworlds. Shortly afterwards, the whole tomb complex began its reanimation protocol.
17 XENOBIOLOGIS TIRESUS Tiresus is a young, brilliant xenobiologist who learned his craft under the aegis of Faustinius on Mars. Tiresus sees Faustinius as a mentor and comes to him for spiritual advice. Tiresus’ brilliance is his weakness, for he finds himself questioning the dogma of the Cult Mechanicus, especially the assumption that the Omnissiah is identified with the Emperor. He confides these doubts in Faustinius, who is unable to fully address Tiresus’ concerns, and merely warns him not to express such thoughts too publicly. Tiresus examines the Necron Tesseract. His doubts cause him to become enthralled by something imprisoned inside, which promises him a certainty and freedom he lacks in the Cult Mechanicus. He is driven to assemble the inscribed stelae and complete the Tesseract, so he can discover what is inside. This leads to a series of hidden missions within Mechanicus.
18 QUARTERMASTER RHO Rho is in charge of managing the resources on the Caestus Metalican, and supplying the competing demands of the higher ranking Magi. Rho is constantly ornery and complaining about the demands made on the ship’s stores by the mission’s many objectives. Rho is heavily augmented and is physically very far from human. Scaevola and Videx consider Rho beneath their notice, but Faustinius knows how vital the Quartermaster’s role is on the mission.
19 PRIME HERMETICON CAPTRIX Captrix is Prime Hermeticon, one of the highest ranks one can achieve as a Magi. Just underneath Faustinius, she is mainly focused on the highest priority targets within any given mission. Most of the time she will deal with targets that Faustinius doesn’t need to address personally. When a major threats appears, Captrix is the first to know, and will inform Faustinius of the threat. Captrix is heavily augmented with an arsenal of weapons, the like of which a tank would be jealous of. Towering over most Ad-Mech, Captrix has transformed her form into something not far from the legendary dreadnaughts of the Space Marines, though her augmentations are much more majestic in the eyes of the Omnissiah, and allow for higher mobility in battle. She keeps her face fully exposed, to show enemies on the field of battle that she’s not afraid of them. Her personality is somewhat lacking in comparison to a human, or Faustinius and Khepra, however she’s very bloodthirsty and willing to destroy and ask questions later. Every mission Captrix presents to Faustinius is of the utmost importance!
MAGOS-DOMINUS REDITUS Reditus is the narrator in the Teaser Trailer for Mechanicus (before he became a Servo-Skull). Reditus is a talented and wise Tech-Priest that fell in order to obtain the information about Silva Tenebris and all the rich resources of Blackstone that can be found there. He has served the Omnissiah for many years, and served him well in finding this data. As respect to his service when living, the Adeptus Mechanicus honour Reditus, allowing him to continue his service to the Omnissiah in death. He now serves as a ServoSkull in the The Caestus Metalican, as an extra pair of eyes for Magos Faustinius.
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22 TECH-PRIEST PORTRAITS
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24 PORTRAIT TROOPS
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26 OTHER PORTRAITS
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28 Tech Priest
29 TECH-PRIESTS AND TROOPS
30 CONCEPT
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34 TECH-PRIESTS
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36 TROOPS
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39 EQUIPMENTS
40 FIGHT BACKPACK
41 MECHADENDRITES CLAW DATASPIKE
42 BACKPACK MEDICAE-DENDRITES LV1
43 LV2 LV3
44 HEALING CLAW 3D RENDER
45 DATASPIKE CLAW FIGHT
46 LV1 LV1 LV2 LV2 LV2 LV3 LV3 LV3 NOISE REDUCTOR SCANNER SPOT LIGHT BACKPACK EQUIPMENT
47 LV3 LV3 LV3 SANCTUS CANISTER OMNISPEX SERVO-SKULL INTERFACE
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