Goatboy here again with another Necron Unit review. This time its the Triach Praetorians – aka the Law of the Necron Legions. As usual you can read more tactics at Frontline Gaming Tactics Corner.
Overview:
The Triach Praetorians are the law enforcers for the Necron Legions. You would think that when the majority of your legions are “mindless” you wouldn’t need a law enforcement group but the leaders need someone to keep the Necrontry Codes intact. It seems weird that a law enforcement unit would be the place for a Jump Infantry squad but that’s where the Necron’s like their coppers – jumping around and taking names. I wonder if they could have an NYPD Green show where the Necron Detectives have to solve crimes, juggle a home life, and maybe show a bare butt or two.
This unit is mainly used as another assault element the Necrons can use. Their mixture of special rules and decent weapons means that they can easily handle most basic infantry. Its always nice to see decent jump infantry in a game where having a jetpack on your back just means you will be a target for massed firepower. The unit starts off with 5 and you can get up to 10 Law Enforcers. You can also take a Night Scythe for this unit – which is interesting as they are not listed as Bulky so they do not take up all the space with a bulky jet pack.
Wargear:
The Praetorians are equipment with a jump pack that lets them move 12 inches in the movement phase and have a hammer of wrath attack if they did not use their 12 inch jump. Starting off at Strength 5 means these guys will wound a lot of people with their hammer or wrath so it something to think about as you move around and set up specific charges. They are also one of the few units that start out fearless which can be an important thing if you want to hold up some units and keep them away from your important units that might get spooked and run down.
They start off with a Rod of Covenant which is a short ranged (12″) Strength 5 Ap 2 Assault weapon that doubles as an AP 2 close combat weapon. With some help from the other Triarch options you can easily be hitting on 2’s and wounding on 3’s with a really powerful anti infantry blast. You can upgrade them for free to having Partical Casters (12 inches Str 6 Ap 5 Pistol) and Void Blades (Entropic Strike, Melee, Rending) which gives them an extra attack. I feel having the AP 2 options work out better but sometimes math makes you feel stupid as having more attacks ends up winning in the end.
Special Rules:
As is the norm for Necron units they have Reanimation protocols and the stats of a Necron lord with Strength and Toughness 5. They are also jump infantry but are not Bulky, have fearless, and start off with 2 base attacks. They are not nearly as tough as some of the other Necron options but they make up for it with the ability to move quickly, keep up with some of the other fast options, and most likely get ignored due to the other wrecking ball nature of Necron Units.
Tactics:
I’ve gotten my butt handed to me twice by Praetorians when used as “extra” attacking options for a Necron Death Star. They are great at keeping up with the Wraiths as another unit that can provide some much needed AP 2 power when dealing with tough units. They are also part of a pretty strong formation called the Judicator Battalion that gives the Move through Cover and the ability to nominate a unit and reroll all hits, wounds, and armour penetrations when dealing with said unit.
I’ve found them to be great extra support for a lot of Necron armies. They can still shoot which is always a bonus as the new versions of the everliving robots seems to have lost a lot of its firepower. They are expensive but when mixed in the Decurion with other support options they can easily become part of a one two punch of a normal Necron Phalanx. A lot of the Necron army depends on each parts producing some kind of benefit and the Praetorians can give your robot warriors a strong unit to go take objectives, kill support units, and threaten a good deal of the table top.