When I first opened up the new Necron codex I was pleased with variety of units, the dex seemed to have units with explicit purposes. One unit though stuck out to me for all the wrong reasons. That unit was the Triarch Praetorians: an Assault Marine squad with five toughness and strength. It came stock with a plasma pistol style weapon of fail and only one base attack, it seemed destined for maybe narrative games, only to realized the real kicker!

Triarch Praetorians are 40 Points Each!!

GW you are kidding right? How does that make any sense? Your tell me Mat Ward that 5 str and t on jump infantry is worth an extra 20 points or so?

We are talking the same price as a terminator without the 2+ let alone a invul save. It was no wonder I got an urge to take a dino dump all over the Praetorians. After I took a deep breath and took care of my bowl movement. I got to thinking…

This unit is so ridiculous over costed that I had to image that GW had some reason slapping such STOP don’t play me sign on them. It didn’t help that their model isn’t particularly cool looking (compared to Lychguards) and confusing on exactly where the jump pack was? When it came time for me prepare a Necron force for TSHFT though I had to take into consideration what I could feasibly paint and buy in two weeks. It was at that point that I took a second look at the Praetorians. In addition, I do have sick desire to make “inefficient” units decent. So with those 14 days I decided Praetorians had to rise from dung hill.

This what I came up with.

First off, Rod of the Covenant was out!

I do like AP 2 like everyone else, but give me a break 6″ inch range? I get it, Necrons must be within assault range to shoot any weapon, but 6″ was extra lame sauce with that extra “powerful” single shot.

So what did that leave the Praetorians with?

Voidblades and particle casters.

If you are going to run these guys this is the way it has to be. Not only does it give you the all important extra attack on the charge, but it can cause havoc on vehicles of all kinds. You lose the power weapons, but gain rending so after you reduce some AV you have a good chance of punching through. Don’t forget the particle casters Str 6 pistols (better range then Rods) for taking out lite AV units.

Unlike Lychguard the Praetorians also have Fearless which is actually a good thing when it comes to Necrons, it means that pesky I2 won’t get in the way when you lose combat or forced to run from being shot.

The biggest problem still has to do with how does one actually get the Praetorians into assault? Not any combat mind you. This was not the unit for you to throw at Blood Crushers or Terminators. This unit is all about killing lesser prey.

Lesser prey…

Like scoring units and backfield support units. This means you either have to flank the Praetorians (using cover) or to stay close to objectives and pounce when needed.

Very specific usage and not all that reliable?

No matter what you are sinking a lot of points in.

Well when you are already in deep might as well just go deeper I say. That is why the most critical thing a Praetorian squad needs is a Destroyer Lord. The Destroyer Lord fills all the weak links (minus one big one) high str power weapon, AP 3 protection, and the all important rez orb. The Praetorians also conversely provide protection for the Destroyer Lord.

Did I also mention Mindshackle scarabs?

Depending on the situation this means less attacks towards Praetorians and hopefully even fewer models to deal with. Which comes to that weak link still staring right at you: No Invul save for the Lord, but that needs an article all to itself.

How many points is this going to put you under in the least?

390 points! for one tricked out Lord and five Praetorians and at worse 590 points.

That is still a bitter pill to swallow especially when Triarch Stalkers are just begging to be played instead.

My experience so far I just don’t see any other way to run these guys. They need the Lord to be truly effective and the same might be said about the Lord himself (wait Wraiths). For me the only problem I have run into with this unit has been power weapon wielding bad boys. If you can get an assault off even against a 30 man Boyz squads they don’t have a good chance (maybe three Praetorians die), killing you.

That is one of the biggest problems with the Necron codex: ability to deal with power weapons. In my games against Grey Knights for instance the threat of power weapons (not that every army doesn’t have this problem) has kept my Necrons at bay and it doesn’t help that my threat range is also their threat range.

Before this turns into a BoLS Grey Knight article let us recap:

What you only need to know about Praetorians: Voidblades and Destroyer Lord