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I thought I'd list a few cheap Battalions I've seen and/or used before and start discussing which are actually good and the pros and cons of each. Feel free to list any others you can think of!

First up, the classic Loyal 32 from Astra Militarum. 2 Company Commanders and 3 Infantry Squads. This is probably the benchmark cheap Battalion, and was far more infamous before Big FAQ 2 nerfed CP regeneration (so no more Grand Strategist/Kurov's Aquila wombo combo). 180 points gets you 32 bodies for board control and a pretty decent set of rules and strats, plus the Imperium keyword means they can be taken in a lot of different armies.

Another good Imperial one is the Mechanicus 17 (not sure if it has an official name, but that's what I call it). 2 Tech-priest Enginseers and 3 5-man units of Skitarii Rangers. This is another good cheap Battalion, clocking in at just 165 points. Its main drawback compared to the Loyal 32 is the fact that you have half as many bodies and weapons. Still, I think with the Stygies VIII trait making them harder to hit they are still pretty good, especially with Questor Mechanicus Knights.

The Imperium has a couple more that I've seen, those being Sisters of Battle (2 Canonesses and 3 Battle Sister Squads) and Space Marines (2 Lieutenants and 3 Scout Squads), but those aren't as cheap as the above and thus are more rarely seen. The Marines one is actually decent since Scouts can infiltrate and contest the middle of the table immediately.

Chaos has a couple of good ones. My personal favorite is the one from Chaos Daemons, with 2 Heralds (any type) and 3 Nurgling squads. Nurglings are good in just about any Chaos list. My personal choices for Heralds would be one Poxbringer (for the -1 Toughness spell) and one Slaanesh (for the Forbidden Gem and Symphony of Pain/Cacophonic Choir). Comes to about 300 points, but the utility is real.

The other decent one from Chaos I'd consider is 3 units of Chaos Cultists and a Dark Apostle and Exalted Champion, from Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard and Thousand Sons could probably do something similar). Cultists did go up in points with CA2018, but they are still decent cheap objective holders. I don't think I'd use this one unless I was already playing other CSM stuff though, in which case I'd probably have more useful characters or different units for the two I mentioned to work with.

I could mention Renegades & Heretics, but they badly need a rules update from FW. They can provide a cheap Chaos equivalent of the Loyal 32 (guess it would be the Heretic 32 or the Disloyal 32...), but without anywhere near as good of rules.

Some of the Xenos can play the cheap Battalion game too:

Tau: The "Greater Good 17" makes a nice way to add CP to a Tau army, as they use plenty of strats to bolster their firepower. Cadre Fireblades and Fire Warriors are things you probably want plenty of anyways (you could of course sub in an Ethereal, or if you're T'au sept stick in Darkstrider), and this is a good way to get them in there. Of course, many players will also want to stick a Commander in there too, as you only get 1 per detachment, so if you've got the points go crazy!

GSC: 2 Maguses (Magi?) and 3 10-man Neophyte Hybrid units could make a solid cheap Battalion to add to a GSC or Tyranids force. With the new GSC codex I suspect we'll see more of this kind of thing pop up.

Aeldari: Craftworlds can bring 3 units of Rangers or Dire Avengers + relatively cheap characters (Warlocks and Autarchs) for a little over 300 points, and Drukhari can bring cheap units of Kabalite Warriors and Archons for a 242 point Battalion. Harlequins can technically bring 2 Troupe Masters and 3 5-man Troupes, but usually they aren't terribly good without upgrades/transports/other units.

Orks: 2 Big Meks or Weirdboys + 3 units of Gretchin is something that is seen. Usually the Gretchin will be there to take hits for a big unit of Lootas, but they are also good as cheap backfield objective holders.

AFAIK Necrons don't really have a cheap Battalion (one of their biggest weaknesses is how expensive pointswise their stuff is). Tyranids don't really either. I've seen Rippers used for cheap Troops before, but usually the preferred HQ's are Hive Tyrants/Swarmlord in my experience, sometimes Neurothropes. Nids can take cheap(ish) Battalions, but I haven't generally seen them do so. Maybe I haven't faced enough of them.

Did I miss any cheap Battalions? What are everyone else's thoughts? What ones do you commonly see used?

The admech one is largely reffered to as the 'Rusty 17' AFAIK

I've heard "Pious 17" for SoB also.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

GSC: 2 Maguses (Magi?) and 3 10-man Neophyte Hybrid units could make a solid cheap Battalion to add to a GSC or Tyranids force. With the new GSC codex I suspect we'll see more of this kind of thing pop up.

GSC can't put two of the same character into a detachment, so no double magus.
The cheapest pair of HQs they can have is an Iconward + a Jackal Alphus. However there's no more than 10 points difference between the Jackal, Primus, and Magus. So any of them is a good fit, depending on what you want to do.

As for their troops, 5 acolytes clocks in at 15 points cheaper than 10 neophytes. Although with only half as many wounds at the same toughness and save. They are more of an offensive unit, rather than an objective holder.
Or a squad of 10 brood brothers is 10 points cheaper than the neophytes, in exchange for not getting access to cult creeds.
Which you take depends on what (if anything) you want your cheap battalion to do aside from generate CPs.

Don't overlook the Brazier relic on the Sisters CP battery... it gives you a massive area of solid psychic denial. Add a stock Dominion squad with its Vanguard move for extra reach, and you can deny psychics in your opponent's deployment zone from Turn 1.

For marines, do you think the point drop makes techmarines better for a budget HQ then Lts?

Sure, the re-roll wounds bubble is nice, but do you need that for both of the HQs? Especially when the tech is better at shooting (if you want to spring for a decent gun), gets a free servo arm, and rocks a 2+ save for durability.

For 15 points less.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

Space Marines (2 Lieutenants and 3 Scout Squads), but those aren't as cheap as the above and thus are more rarely seen. The Marines one is actually decent since Scouts can infiltrate and contest the middle of the table immediately.

If running a cheap Marine Battalion, can be best to go Blood Angels. CCW Scouts can make use of Red Thirst. Give one Lt the Veritas Vitae for some CP Regen and sub out the out Lt for Captain Smash. Having said that Captain Smash is a bit of a CP hog so I am not sure this build actually qualifies as a CP battery.

The other option for Marines is Raven Guard and 3x5-man Intercessor squads. Combing -1 to Hit them outside 12" and the shiny new Bolter Discipline rule, these guys are some very durable objective campers that can do some respectable shooting too.