Necron review, elite Praetorians

Before the great biotransference the Triarch Praetorians had the job of maintaining the Necrontyr rule. They made sure that the rules and laws were upheld be it in peacetime or in war. They also helped keep the Overlords in check and made sure that a Necrontyr dynasty never fell. They were like kick ass political cop warriors or something. Now when the whole Necron war vs. the Old Ones was going down the crapper, the Praetorians chose not to go into the tomb worlds for a long nap like their fellow robots. They stayed awake to ensure the safety of the Necron race. They kept vigil over tomb worlds, especially against those poncy space elves, and did their best to preserve the Necron legacy. When the tomb worlds the Praetorians watch over awaken, they return to their previous duties as weird ass kickin’ political cop warriors.

"I do look pretty badass don't I?!"

Praetorians are a weird unit. They come with Lychguard-like stats: WS 4, BS 4, strength and toughness 5, 1 wound and attack and initiative 2, leadership 10 and a 3+ save  and cost, but with a few differences. The biggest difference is they are jump infantry have one less attack and are fearless.  They are armed with a Rod of the Covenant and can swap that for a void blade and particle caster. This is another all must swap weapon option as well. They come in a 5 man squad for another bicentennial in points. They may add up to five more members to the squad for +40 points each.

Rod of the Covenant- is a power weapon. It also has a ranged attack that is: 6” S6 AP 2 and assault 1. A fairly nice pre-charge non-pistol shot.

Well Praetorians are a weird unit. First they are jump packers and that can be useful. They don’t need a transport to get to where they are going. They can just jump or deep strike instead. This allows for some tactics, but nothing we all haven’t seen before.

The fearless ability is great since this will never be a big unit that can soak damage. Ummmm….yeah not much else there so…..onto the next point.

They also come with a great weapon. Who doesn’t like a S6 AP2 gun? Well I know Marines of any flavor don’t. It also functions as a power weapon in close combat. A strength 5 power weapon is very nice. Now they can also swap all the squad’s weapons for a void blade (rending and entropic strike rules) and a particle caster (6” S6 AP5 pistol). This will give them an extra attack and is free to do (see how that works Lychguard). However, this is another weapon swap that the entire squad must do; once again, no mix of weapons.

The Rod of the Covenant is a great multi-purpose weapon. It just sucks that is being used by a one attack model. For the points cost why do Praetorians have only one attack? What a waste!

The void blade and particle caster option is ok, but it isn’t great either. It gives them another attack thanks to the pistol, but rending is so meh!  Sure entropic strike is cool, but it can be found cheaper and in greater numbers elsewhere. The particle caster shot is also meh! I mean it is S6, but so is the Rod and that has a much sexier AP 2.

I don’t see much use for the Praetorians. If these guys came with 2 base attacks then I could find a use for them. Heck if they came in at a base 25 points with void blade and caster to start, I might use them for a counter charge unit.  However, at their cost and with only one attack I’ll happily pass on these guys. I think their bits can be useful for modeling Crypteks, Lords and weird staves, but that is the only real use I can see for these guys. This is another bad that is in the Necron codex.