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A couple of months ago I picked up a minimum legal size cron army (Trazyn, one squad of warriors and one squad of Immortals) as a non Imperium side army. Tonight I picked up a box of Praetorians/Lychguard. I'm having a tough time deciding which to go with. Both have some appealing aspects, But I can't see ever going over 1200ish points on this army. So the advice I'm seeking is based on a 1200 point army and I can only have praetorians or lychguard, but not both.

What would you cron players go with and why?

If you combine the Praetorians with a Destroyer Lord, you will have a mobile Fearless decent CC unit(though Wraiths are better). Lychguard are useful as shields for more fragile units, like Warriors but their only real tactical role is when combined with Royal Court members to make decent counter assault units. Such as adding a Cryptek with Lighting Field, and another with Gaze of flame. Having just 5 Lychguard, probably isn't going to do anything for you. My recommendation is the Praetorians if you just plan on ever having just the 5. If you are looking to expand in the future, Lychguard.

Lychguard w/shields, even just five(w/ a combat lord w/MSS, orb, scythe) can take a surprising amount of punishment, not to mention murdering enemy units (counter assault or intercepting units is preferred). The problem with preatorians is the 1 attack, its not enough, its not enough by far, lychgaurd have 2 attacks and have 4++ with a chance to deflect incoming fire, so use them.

Exalted Pariah wrote:Lychguard w/shields, even just five(w/ a combat lord w/MSS, orb, scythe) can take a surprising amount of punishment, not to mention murdering enemy units (counter assault or intercepting units is preferred). The problem with preatorians is the 1 attack, its not enough, its not enough by far, lychgaurd have 2 attacks and have 4++ with a chance to deflect incoming fire, so use them.

Praetorians get two attacks with the other option and entropic strike + rending!

Yeah, but they aren't power weapons, entripotic strike is meaningless agaisnt 1 wound models and rending is garabge when you get two attacks ON THE ASSAULT(ie not enough chances to roll sixes)

I've used Praetorians twice so far. Neither time had them do much of anything. Was not impressed.
Lychguard, though, I have found worth their points on several occasions (defensive deterrent, mostly, but as has been mentioned already, can be beefed up with Court members for offensive purposes).

However, if I'm limited on points and given a choice between these two units and more Wraiths, well... *points to signature*


but... why is this in Army Lists?
(surely it would fit better in the 40k Tactics section)

NecronLord3 wrote:If you combine the Praetorians with a Destroyer Lord, you will have a mobile Fearless decent CC unit(though Wraiths are better).

Destroyer Lords aren't Fearless so won't the squad lose Fearless also?

I have NOTHING good to say about Praetorians, aside from their use in converting Crypteks.

Build the Lychguard.

So the consensus seems to be Lychguard. My next question then, would you build all five w/war scythes, all five w/swords and shields, or a mix of the two? I've not actually played crons yet, and I'm building this list slowly as I still have quite a bit of SM/IG to paint and assemble, so all suggestions are welcome. It's kinda funny because I was leaning towards Praetorians. I figured fearless, jump infantry, a cc power weapon that also has a shooting profile of s5 ap2 couldn't be a bad thing. However, I realize things like that don't always translate to success on the table.

skoffs wrote:but... why is this in Army Lists?
(surely it would fit better in the 40k Tactics section)

Well... because I'm still new here and figured this was the logical spot as I'm still working on this list. If it's not the appropriate forum, mods can move it to where they feel it belongs. Thanks for all the replies so far.

I highly recommend lychguard. Several times I have given them my OL and a veiltek, and use them as counter assault units, then late in the game, deep strike them across the field to contest objectives I otherwise could not get to with a slow footslogging gunline.
The soak up a ton of fire with the 3+/4+, and don't let anyone tell you an entire unit with power weapons, hitting at strength 5, with toughness 5, is a pushover.

Ultra Grey wrote:

skoffs wrote:but... why is this in Army Lists?
(surely it would fit better in the 40k Tactics section)

Well... because I'm still new here and figured this was the logical spot as I'm still working on this list. If it's not the appropriate forum, mods can move it to where they feel it belongs. Thanks for all the replies so far.

QUICK! Modify the first post to include an army list!
(just put "?????" in the Elites section, and say you weren't sure which to put in, and thus were asking for advice)


But in serious response to your question, unfortunately you can't mix Swords&Shields with Warscythes (the whole unit has to take the same loadout).
Warscythes used to be all the rage with these guys ("10 S7 power weapons? YES PLEASE."), but now the general trend seems to be the "Sword & Board" loadout (it's that invulnerable save. it's too good to pass up). But you can usually make up for that loss in strength by including some Royal Court support (Lords being the most obvious choice, with Warscythes, Mindshackle Scarabs and ResOrbs. Occasionally worth considering a Harbinger with unit buffing wargear, like Gaze of Flame, Lightning Field, Seismic Crucible to make them harder to assault, or Veil of Darkness to make them more mobile).

skoffs wrote: unfortunately you can't mix Swords&Shields with Warscythes (the whole unit has to take the same loadout).

You're right, the codex says entire squad may replace, not "any unit may replace". I was just testing you guys, lol. And I agree, it's hard not to take an invul when it's offered. I've also decided down the road to use the Royal Court to beef up some units. It's really quite a lot of bang for the buck. Lots of good advice from you guys and I do appreciate it greatly. I'm far more painter than gamer, but I'm trying to turn that around.

Frankly, both the pretorians and the lychguard are rather weak in my eyes compared to other options.

IMO, GW should have come to terms with the simple idea that both are essentially the same unit with different loadout. So, why not just combine them and offer different options within the same squad?

If so, then I'd consider getting the fearless with jumppacks with a warscythe with an invulnerable save, and you have a unit that is almost as good as wraiths.

As it stands, pretorians make no practical sense and lychguard are bleh to thumbs down.

Good idea to use the pretorian kits for crypteks though. It would save a pretty penny.

You have Trazyn. Take the Lychguard.

Give them the shields, put Trazyn with them.

Now you effectively have a scoring unit that the enemy will have to go to a lot of effort to remove.

Add Obyron to it for extra fun.

Xenith wrote:You have Trazyn. Take the Lychguard.

Give them the shields, put Trazyn with them.

Now you effectively have a scoring unit that the enemy will have to go to a lot of effort to remove.

Add Obyron to it for extra fun.

Slow infantry with 1 wound each and 3+/4++ die to normal attacks and bolters, which cannot be bounced off the shields either, as the official update said they have to take the better save. T5 helps only that much. They don't have an open-topped transport either.