Adeptus Mechanicus – What happens when you combine technology and religion
Strictly speaking, the Adeptus Mechanicus is not a faction but part of the Imperium. However, they form their own army in the tabletop and have numerous works that discuss them and their views.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is an exciting order dedicated to technology and the Omnissiah, their own version of the Emperor. They are the ones who keep the technology in the Imperium running and condemn humanity itself.
Most members of the Mechanicus gradually replace their human bodies with cybernetic parts. They even have their own language that is made possible by such implants: Binhär, which is said to be significantly more accurate than the Gothic of the 41st millennium. A guiding principle that is often cited:
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, I was disgusted by it. I longed for the strength and security of steel.
From the strategy game Mechanicus, a little tip on the side
Tech-Priests, however, are not just good mechanics and technicians; they are also precisely that: priests. The belief in the Omnissiah is not just a metaphor, as the Adeptus Mechanicus is a real church of technology – with corresponding punishments and rules for “heresy” and other offenses.
They perform ceremonies to appease machine spirits and hoard information, partly to keep “forbidden knowledge” and xenos technologies under wraps. Few people in the Imperium have access to such things, and even those have their access denied by the Mechanicus from time to time. Those interested in the Tech-Priests can examine them in detail in Mechanicus 2: One of the most interesting new games about Warhammer 40,000 I could only see because I got really lucky
