Praetor (Space Marine): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 22:58, 18 June 2023
In the golden age of the Imperium, before there was such a thing as a Chapter Master, hell, before Chapters were even considered a thing by Big Boy G, there was the Praetor. Praetors were one of the highest ranks a Space Marine could reach in the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, and functioned as the Legion's equivalent of a Chapter Master.
Overview
Praetors were commanders second only to their Primarchs in skill, battle prowess, and intellect. They most commonly commanded Chapter-size formations or the equivalent thereof, and the exact title they bore varied by Legion: there were First Captains, Chapter Masters, Lord Commanders, Noyan-Khans, Warsmiths, and other titles. The most senior praetors were effectively the second-in-command of the Legion should their Primarch be knocked out or suffer critical existence failure.
Due to their high rank, they obviously got to wear the really good shit: Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour, Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour, Gorgon Pattern Terminator Armour, Saturnine Pattern Terminator Armour and Artificer Armour. Whilst all Praetors came standard-issue with the Paragon Blade, they could also be armed with a bunch of gnarly weapons such as Relic Blades, Power Spears, Power Lances, Power Halberds, Thunder Hammers, Power Fists, Chain Spears, Heavy Chainswords, Chainscythes, Chainglaives, Frost Blades, Terranic Greatswords, Force Axes (If they're a Psyker) and Power Scythes, to name just the CQC weapons. For ranged weaponry, they had access to an equally diverse range of the lead/energy rainbow; Bolt Pistols, Plasma Pistols, Combi-Volkites, Combi-Bolters, Combi-Grenade Launchers, Combi-Flamers, Combi-Meltas, Volkite Chargers, Volkite Serpentas, Digital Weapons, Astartes Boltguns, archaeotech pistols, and the elusive Disintegration Combi-Gun and Disintegration Pistol.
Crunch
HH 1.0
These guys are the Chapter Masters of the pre-Heresy and Heresy eras. He packs Master of the Legion, so he'll unlock Rites of War and command squads while rolling twice on the warlord chart, but if all you wanted was MotL you'd take a cheap Delegatus instead. The real reason you'll take this guy is if you want a close-combat monster, and if you do want a monster, accept no substitutes; upgrades for Consuls quickly get into Praetor points levels for a pale shadow of Praetor effectiveness. The only real exception is if your Legion offers a special character who's better at the job.
HH 2.0
Praetors remain the go-to choice for Warlord in this edition, They come with an exceptional statline (WS6 and BS5) meaning they can be kitted out to fight very easily and with a built-in Iron Halo they have some good survivability. But the main reason you are bringing a Praetor is still because he has Master of the Legion, which allows you to take Rites of War for your army and to bring a Retinue kill squad to back him up. What's not to love? His price. A Pistol & Chainsword Praetor is 120pts, and you absolutely want to give him better wargear, so that price will skyrocket very quickly. You'll want to give him good protection to keep him alive. Except for a few choice Consuls, they are the sole bearers of the exclusive Paragon Blade, as well as Archaeotech Pistols and Disintegration guns.
Praetors can take either Cataphractii or Tartaros Terminator armor, both of which give the Praetor an additional wound, Inexorable and Bulky (2). In addition, both Terminator Praetors come with Power Weapons and Combi-Bolters as standard, but don't come with the basic Iron Halo any more, which means the Tartaros version is stuck with a 5++. The upgrade (technically they're different units) is strangely priced, as the cost for the Cataphractii is charging only for the power weapon, meaning the -1"M, +1 W and Heavy type are kinda seen as a sidegrade, while the Combi-Bolter is free. Even more interesting for the Tartaros version, which apparently compensates for the lower invulnerable save by being cheaper than the power-armoured Praetor. Thus, taking a Terminator Praetor is weirdly a good budget option, as you can spend less on kitting them out.
You have a few ways of dealing with Praetor duels; in addition to S8 AP2 ID at I1 or trying to do enough AP2 wounds with Paragon Blade at initiative, you can also try doing enough S8 wounds at initiative. It is possible with Legion-specific traits/wargear to get to S8 if you ignore AP, and the opponent will always have a 1/6 chance of failing his armour save regardless of his Invulnerable save or how many wounds he has. As you have to wound 6 times like with the Paragon Blade anyway, the tradeoff boils down to spamming S8 hits being unaffected by your opponent's Invulnerable save/wound count, while the Paragon Blade is not worried about Battle-hardened.
A few of the Legions have also been given unique Praetor upgrades this edition, which add to their already high points cost but can be worth taking depending on your list.
An Iron Warriors Praetor can spend 20 points to become a Warsmith. Not only does this provide a Servo-Arm and Cortex Controller, but it also gives them Master of the Automata and Battlesmith (3+) to help keep them alive. All in all, this lets your Praetor participate in assisting with Brethren of Iron just as effectively as any Forge Lord and can help if you're taking charge of any heavily mechanised armies (read: Hammer of Olympia) where the repairs would be welcome.
The Space Wolves can put a Jarl on the table. This is a 10-point upgrade that gives him Counter-attack (2), as well as the ability to pick the Skirmish sub-type if you intend to join any Grey Slayers or Grey Stalkers. The Jarl actually gets more attacks using Counter-attack (2) than the usual +1 for charging, but that comes at the cost of not having any of the Legion's potentially very extensive list of charge bonuses, as well as not denying the opponent's own charge bonuses (Counter-attack does not function when using Hold the Line).
The Iron Hands get the Iron Father, who pays 65 points for a Machinator Array, Cyber-Familiar, Feel No Pain (5+) (which is redundant if you grabbed Gorgon armour), and Battlesmith (3+). Compared to the Warsmiths of the IV Legion, he's more focused on being a walking tank that supports your tanks and dreads. He can't grab bikes or jetpacks, but you're not likely to have him stray far from your tanks anyway.
